
Loading summary
Greg Miller
Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra. That's the OG it kicked off this whole Zero Sugar energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch.
Blessing
So if you've been living in the
Greg Miller
White can branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe. And every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.
Snowbike Mike
Are you dreaming of the perfect prom?
Greg Miller
But there's just one thing holding you back. Speak English, Mom. Welcome to Ethnosync Ethnic Modification.
Blessing
What is this place?
Greg Miller
We help you reach your true potential. How are you feeling?
Barrett Corny
It's good to be Hawaii.
Greg Miller
Hey, new girl. Hey. Look at what you've done to yourself.
Barrett Corny
For a new plant to grow, the
Greg Miller
seed has to die. Slanted Rated R Only in theaters March 13th.
Barrett Corny
Side effects may occur.
Greg Miller
Spring is here. And there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's made perfect for you. Choose your sweetness. Dial it up or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry or vanilla. Or make it a spring classic with lavender. Because this season, there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks.
Blessing
Ugh.
Ryan
You said you were over him, but
Blessing
his hoodie's still in your rotation.
Greg Miller
It's time. Grab your phone, snap a few pics and sell it on Depop. Listed in minutes with no selling fees. And just like that, a guy 500 miles away just paid full price for your closure. And right on cue. Hey.
Blessing
Still got my hoodie?
Greg Miller
Nope. But I've got tonight's dinner paid for. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste list. Now, with no selling fees, payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. This episode's brought to you by Aura
Kevin
Frames and Shady Rays. But we'll tell you about that later.
Greg Miller
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Kinda Funny Games cast. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller, alongside Forbes 30 under 30 aka New York Game Awards. Nominated aka Fresh Haircut. Blessing. Eddie Oye Jr. Good day, Greg. How are you?
Blessing
I'm doing well. How are you doing?
Greg Miller
I'm great. Is it a good day?
Blessing
I think it is.
Greg Miller
I'm excited to see if you guys think they landed the plane you were. You've been getting higher and higher and higher with dispatch. And here we are two episodes in. Done. I'm excited to talk about over there, of course, the Boss Baby himself, Barrett Corny. Hey, Barrett.
Barrett Corny
What's up, Greg? How you doing?
Greg Miller
I'm good. I always love when you get to come be actually on the set. It's a rare Barrett appearance. It's not rare.
Blessing
We were literally.
Barrett Corny
I was on the show.
Greg Miller
If you were to look back, I don't think this kid's been on the desk in two years.
Blessing
He'd never have behind. You got to have him on the desk.
Greg Miller
I think I've been on the desk
Barrett Corny
more this year than any other year.
Greg Miller
I'm going to be honest, Dale. Usually you're back behind the glass. Glass. You're over there doing the damn thing.
Barrett Corny
I don't think I read.
Blessing
I don't recognize Barry.
Greg Miller
Like Garfield. He looks like a different person.
Barrett Corny
Uncommon Chat saying uncommon.
Greg Miller
Uncommon. Okay, I'll take that. I'll give you that. Of course. Because this is the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday we give you the biggest topics in gaming. Whether they be reviews, previews, or just things we need to talk about. We cover them here on YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Twitch TV, kindafunnygames, of course, podcast services around the globe. Fuck Tim. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll do that. I'll do the pound here. You know what I mean?
Blessing
Well, I think. I think Tim never does the pound.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, I noticed it on Games Daily today. I was like, oh, he doesn't do like. Wait, no, we gotta have a conversation about.
Blessing
Tim's not a team player, you know, I mean, he doesn't do the pound. He hates Halloween. Yeah, that's pretty much it. That's Christmas. It's Christmas.
Greg Miller
Oh, he's. Yeah, I mean, I think he's. I mean he's anti holiday. Yeah, he's more anti Christmas.
Barrett Corny
Anti Christmas. Tree ruins game showdown by just being too good again.
Greg Miller
I know, right? That's annoying. That's the worst part about it.
Blessing
It's the thing where I try to make questions that would never know, but
Greg Miller
he somehow knows him.
Blessing
Yeah, why do you know the fucking modes in Team Fortress 2? Who taught you that? Dude sucks.
Greg Miller
Of course, besides just hating Tim, you could love us and pick up a kind of funny membership. With a kind of Funny membership, you get all of our shows ad free. That's more than 80amonth. You get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller. In a series we call greg with it's 15 to 20 minutes of exclusive podcasting each and every day. And hey, two episodes today. And on top of that, of course, you get good karma for supporting a small independent 11 person business. Doing the impossible. Doing a 2:46pm Gamescast today after going through all the breaking news about Steam stuff. After streaming a game we all ran off, we all played it, we're here to talk about it. But I'm still getting ahead of myself. If you're not aware of everything I'm talking about, remember some housekeeping kind of funny games Daily covered the new Steam machine, the new Steam controller and the VR headset that I'm not gonna ever remember the name of Riggs Frame Steam
Barrett Corny
Frame Steam Frame Framework. Not a great name.
Greg Miller
I don't like it. Remember of course before that even there was a live reaction to the Mario movie Nintendo Direct thing with Bless and Tame which sounds like it feels like it was a lifetime ago if not yesterday and then before this was an Nvidia sponsored Doom stream with Andy and Nick. If you're a kind of funny member, like I said, you get two Greg ways today. Number one is the formerly embargoed one I talked about Preview of Octopath Traveler 0 and the second one how to Talk to your non gamer partner about your gaming needs or also want you to talk about Patreon and Quips. You'll understand. Thank you to our Patreon producers who are probably quipping right now. Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin the show with what is and forever will be topic of the show. Today is Wednesday, November 12th. That means if you didn't know the final two episodes of dispatch came out today concluding their four week eight episode run. We did Games Daily, we did the reactions, we did the stream. While all that's been happening or after it's been happening, all three of us ran to our desks, Barrett to the couch and we all played through these final two episodes to come in and give you a spoiler free review of Dispatch the entire season. Okay, spoiler free review of Dispatch Season one. You assume there's gonna be season two. I know there's all these rumors. Now what we're gonna do is do that spoiler free, review it, give it a score, have some fun, talk it out, not get into specifics. Then we're going to do an ad break. When we come back from the ad break we are going to do our spoiler cast for Dispatch where the gloves will come off. We will just talk about everything that happened there. We will all have a good time. I urge you, don't panic. You can don't have to turn it off yet. Turn it off when we get there. Then when you play it tonight, tomorrow, three years from now, you can come back and Listen to that second half of the episode. And if that wasn't enough to keep you around at the very, very, very, very, very end, after the spoiler cast section, we're going to kick it over to the one and only Snowbike Mike, who went down to Los Angeles and did a sponsored interview with arknights and End Field video game down there that he went and played that we're gonna get to go watch tomorrow. He hung out with Griff Line, the developers between arknights, Enfield and It's gonna be a fun conversation to see what's up there and get a preview of what we're playing tomorrow on stream. But I digress. What are you laughing at?
Blessing
Me and Nick talked to Aaron Paul. Did that ever release?
Greg Miller
No. We were wondering about that.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Okay. We should figure that out.
Blessing
I forget what the plan was, but
Greg Miller
I feel like the plan was what are we going to do with more Dispatch content? And then we kind of got away from it, but you know what I mean, you talked to your Paul.
Barrett Corny
That was cool.
Blessing
Yeah, it was cool. It was a good time.
Greg Miller
Was the content, like, good? Was it worth it? Like, is it something that needs to be seen, you think?
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Okay.
Barrett Corny
I think so.
Blessing
Okay.
Greg Miller
All right.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Okay. Maybe we should put up as a highlight, you know what I mean?
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
What? 10 minutes?
Blessing
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
The game just fully completed. I think, like, that might be like a fun, you know, we put it out later this week kind of thing.
Greg Miller
Maybe the weekend. Yeah.
Ryan
Yeah.
Blessing
The conversation that me and Nick had before the game came out, before we knew anything about the game.
Greg Miller
What are you going to do about it?
Blessing
That'd be great.
Greg Miller
Spoiler free. We have all beaten Dispatch, episodes one through eight. Barrett, start me off down there. Top level. What did you think of Dispatch?
Barrett Corny
This is a tough one because we're literally coming. Right?
Greg Miller
I know, right?
Barrett Corny
And I both just finished it 10 minutes ago because that last episode was a little.
Greg Miller
Not even that blessing literally went, I'm ready.
Snowbike Mike
God damn.
Greg Miller
He's got to say.
Barrett Corny
And so now that we're back here after a month, you know, we. When we did our review so far of just the first two episodes, I think I was the coolest on the first two episodes. Yeah, I think the. The pacing and the kind of framework of the first two episodes and the pacing around several things of comedic beats, of breaking up the story with the gameplay and all that stuff wasn't quite working for me. And I wasn't quite there yet of like, all right, I. I get the premise. Let's move past that since then I've only gotten higher and higher, higher on this game. And I think episodes three through eight have really kind of addressed those things. Like once we got past the first big story hump, I think the, the biggest needed to do it being kind of a, you know, bad, bad people coming together to be. Try to be good people kind of thing that we've seen over. Yeah, some kind of Suicide Squad, some kind of Guardians of the Galaxy. The biggest thing this game needed to do was sell me on the relationships of this team. And I think even just from episode three, it does that so well all the way up until the end, where even just like a little, kind of little character moments, whether it's in the dispatching stuff or in the big story, I'm grinning ear to ear because they have really, I think, sold me on this team, on this group and all of their personal dynamic, one I. One on one dynamics. I think it's so well performed. I think this was such a great cast to, to carry. To carry the story. Right. Aaron Paul, why am I blanking on Jeffrey Wright? But then also Invisible Laura Bailey. Like that team was so well cast. And even, you know, some of the, the streamer people, like moist, critical, as like sonar. Like that started to work for me in those last couple of episodes and you know, I won't get too deep into that, but I thought this was just as a telltale, like experience, a type of game. I haven't played too much of, like, I've played, you know, the Batman stuff here and there and all that, but I truly adored this experience. I think it being not something new in terms of the premise, but I think new in terms of how it tackles the poor family dynamic of this found family coming together, learning to grow with each other. The setting being kind of this office workplace comedy thing, I think sets it apart from all of those kind of stories that we've seen before. And yeah, at the end of the day, I really adored this. And I think, you know, past those first two episodes, I really, I was blown away by it. I think this is overall, I think a 9 out of 10amazing game. And I think to me this is easily a contender. I think this was a really fun story, very gripping and honestly funny. The humor really started to grow on me after like the first, like three or four episodes for sure.
Greg Miller
So, Blessing, you were hot out of the gate on this one. I think even saying you were what, a nine? And when we did the first two episode review.
Blessing
Yes, during the first two episode review, I gave It a nine out of ten. Even with the idea that as I was giving it the nine, internally, I thought there's no way that it keeps this. It maintains this, you know, throughout the entire season. And now, having finished the last episode of the season, I'm moving up to a 9.5.
Greg Miller
God dang.
Blessing
This is one of my favorite games of the year. It is. I'll say my favorite Telltale. I don't even want to say Telltale, like, right. Because, like, there's Life is strange and all this stuff in terms of what exists in this world. But I guess when we're talking about
Barrett Corny
the lineage, your own adventure game type of thing.
Blessing
Yeah. Like choose your own story. But in terms of the lineage of Telltale.
Greg Miller
Right.
Blessing
Like I. Telltale. Telltale. What am I saying?
Greg Miller
I noticed this the other day when I was driving. You're saying Telltale.
Blessing
I think that's just my accent. I don't know. I'm saying in my brain, I'm saying telltale, but I think it just comes out.
Greg Miller
Welcome to me and roof.
Blessing
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Greg Miller
Up on the roof. The roof. Sorry.
Blessing
But yes, Telltale. Yeah. This is one of my favorite stories that I've experienced of. Probably even. I'll go as far as to say one of my favorite superhero stories of the year. If not probably my favorite superhero story of the year. I love this game that much. I love.
Greg Miller
Let me pull you over.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Because I appreciate what you're saying here. What other superhero stories of are you tossing out?
Blessing
Yeah, because I. Superman. Thunderbolts.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
Fantastic Four.
Greg Miller
Okay, so you're talking. I was thinking traditional video games. You're getting.
Blessing
No, I'm just talking about superhero hell.
Greg Miller
Yeah. Okay.
Blessing
This is some of my favorite superheroes.
Greg Miller
What about video game stories with you?
Blessing
Yeah, yeah. I think it's. It's weird because it's a different thing when I bring in a clear obscure, which is like way more serious and way more trying to do more and all that stuff. But yeah, as far as what? This exists in the realm of comedy. Superhero shit. Right. Like a fun story to get invested in the characters and all that it knocks out of the park. I love this game.
Barrett Corny
Greg, what about you?
Greg Miller
Thank you so much, Barrett. Yeah. Everyone knows I'm a Telltale fan from long, long, long ago. And I've been around a long time with this. And yes, of course, if we have. I didn't do it at the top. I should have. Sorry, everybody. Of course. This is the developers ad hoc publisher is ad hoc with some critical role partnership stuff. Ad Hoc is comprised of some former Telltale devs you would know about. And of course, the Steam description on Dispatch is Dispatch is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter, manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes, and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero. I wasn't cooler on it, but I was in a similar place with one and two of like, okay, I want to see where this goes, but I really don't like the gameplay of it. And that's not to say it's bad. I just don't vibe with the dispatching. I didn't find that to be a mechanic. That was, man, every time we came to it in those first two episodes, I wasn't like, I can't wait to do this again. And I guess really the second episode, right? And maybe I was even tipping my hat that I played episodes three and four beyond that. And so I want to say I said, what, 7.58? I forget. I think I was somewhere in that for the early goings of it. And so when Bless came out at that time was like nine. I'm like, this kid's fucking crazy. You know what I mean? And throughout this game, I never, ever, ever was excited to sit down and dispatch people. I did not. It's again, not that it's bad. I just felt like it was such a stick in the spokes of getting going. And it's almost to a degree how I felt about old Telltale when it would be like, okay, cool, I want to play this Back to the Future game. Oh, I don't want to do any of this shit. I don't want. I just wanted to make choices, which is what the Walking Dead became, where it was like, okay, cool. It's just to choose your own adventure. Some qte, obviously, but not like, I need to have a gameplay mechanic in here. So I understand putting that in here. I understand why it's here. The hacking thing, the same way. Never stoked when this pops up either. It's like, okay, cool. For me, no spoilers. In episode seven, penultimate episode, I felt that was like. When it was like, oh, I still don't like dispatching, but this is working narratively so well.
Barrett Corny
And that was like when I kind
Greg Miller
of recontextualized the other ones too. And to my point of finishing this and putting it down and being like, man, I never liked the dispatching of dispatch, which is the gameplay of Dispatch, right? This is still a 9 out of 10. For me, this isn't an amazing experience. This is a game you have to play. You should play. I would put it in the category of best stories this year in terms of how much heart is in this, how much character is in this. The way they made me care, the way they made me feel.
Blessing
Greg, can you plug in your mic something?
Barrett Corny
Your audio kind of went out there for a second.
Greg Miller
Better now?
Barrett Corny
Yeah, keep going.
Greg Miller
Cool, dude. I didn't miss anything. Now it seems like everybody's still with me, but thank you, Kevin. I'm not saying anything. The way everything connected that opening to episode seven, I was like, ah, you fuckers. And I think, you know, the not biggest feather in the cap I can say. But in a time right now where there are so many games to play and we are still on redacted and redacted and there's so many other things to go off to do, let alone double back, blah, blah, blah. Like finishing this game was immediately like, I got to do another run. I got to do another run and I want to make that other choice and I want to do that other thing and I don't want to. Even though it's not much gameplay in terms of the choices you're doing in the. I don't want to watch a let's play of it. I want to go back and like when we get to the spoiler cast in the second half, there's like things in there. I'm like, how could you have done it another way? What else could I have done? Like, I need to know that kind of shit. Like, this game is special. Yeah.
Blessing
One of the things I love most about it is that the choices matter. Every choice you make feels like a consequential. This means something in terms of these character dynamics or this means something as far as how it's even going to affect gameplay. I think that's one of the reasons I'm so strong on it, even on the gameplay realm, because I liked dispatching a lot. If anything, one of my thinking of things that they could have done better one. I'm with you. As far as the hacking stuff wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed it. Puzzle Poppy scratched that edge of it, but I would have even. I like dispatching so much that I would have taken another mode that was just the dispatching. That's how much I enjoyed it.
Barrett Corny
I like how long you could go like, yeah, like, I think there's something
Greg Miller
to that to be said where hacking by the end of any hacking session, like maybe any episode, whatever. I Don't try to say here I needed more time with hacking, and I think I would have liked dispatching if I spent more time dispatching, if that makes sense. Yeah. The fact that they are used sparingly hacking. I went into the accessibility options and I was like, just, I don't want to. I don't want to be able to fail because it would always be like that last life where I'd be like, oh, you wanted me to do I. But then I'm like, I'm too late. I make a mistake and I'm fucked. So I was like, let me figure it out for what you wanted me to do, then go and do it rather. And if it was me doing that, if that was the one gameplay mechanic, I feel like I could have gotten really good at that. And same thing with. Same thing I talked about in episodes one and two and again made it to my head that I played three or four was the idea of, like, I wish stats just made a little bit more sense of, like, what valor is to this kind of mission. Yeah, it doesn't need to spell it out for me, but it was sometimes where it was like, okay, cool, well, none of this matters. And I'm trying my best, but I'm sending them, I don't know.
Blessing
Combat. Were the two where I was like, we got to clean these up.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, it wasn't until, like, episodes five and six, where, you know, you're doing two dispatch sessions, an episode, like, kind of doing your two shifts with a lunch break in between, where I was starting to put together, like, okay, like, this is. This is why this is important. This. You know, when you get a choice kind of thing in a mission, right. Where it's like, oh, you need to help your heroes choose between these three options. I was always like, okay, which one is going to be which? And, like, starting to understand that more being more exposed to dispatching rather than it being tutorialized, I think was a weird choice with how sparingly it was. But, yeah, I was still really into it. And I agree with you, Greg, of like, in terms of it being used as, like, almost like hitting an emotional, like, beat. Like that episode seven moment, I think was really strong and powerful. And I think my. My only critique with the dispatching is that I wish we had more of that. I still think it was a great way to have, like, kind of conversational moments with the team and have, like, these little kind of relationships be teased at between everybody. And I thought that was, like, a great way to do even more Storytelling without getting in the way of, like, trying to introduce too much stuff into the actual main story.
Greg Miller
And I agree with that. And it's again, one of the reasons, again, like, now, you know, this is the classic, who are these fucking Z team heroes, whatever. And by the end, like, it's like, oh, man. Like, I really dig these guys. So, yes, I want to go back and listen with even more background of what I know about who they are
Blessing
and where they're going and to come back. Right. To finish the point I was making earlier.
Barrett Corny
Sorry.
Blessing
The thing that I really, really love that the game does that I think really elevates it, is that this is kind of on top of what you're saying. It. The gameplay influences the story. The story influences the gameplay. Right. Like, you're talking about not disposal anything. We'll get to that in the second half. But you will have things that happen within the story and then you start your dispatching and it really affects it, right? Yeah, like, the choices you make really affect that. And also the same thing as far as, oh, okay, this is where you're having a lot of these relationships form in the dispatching mode. And then you go out into the story and you're more informed about who these characters are or you have a sense of, all right, this is what Gollum's up to. This is who this character is doing. Right. And those portions of the game feed into each other in such a strong way. And it makes it so that, you know, Dispatch can't work as a TV show, in my opinion. Like, Dispatch has to be a video game one, because I do think the gameplay is important to it, but then also the choices are so important to it as well. Like, I can't wait to get into the conversations we have about how we made different choices. And toward the end of the game, I'm. It's that fun thing I'm in. I'm in between a rock and a hard place where when I play these games, I like to be definitive. I've never gone back and replayed a Life is Strange. I never go back and replay RPGs where I. I see a journey because for me, that's my journey. I don't want to make. I don't want to have a different journey. This is so far the, I guess, biggest example of me coming out of a choose your own adventure game and being like, fuck, I really want to replay this and see what the other side looks like. Because the changes, the differences feel so dynamic. And I love that.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, 100% I'm keeping my playthrough. I really adored it. And in terms of, you know, Robert's, like, personal journey, his relationships with other characters, but then also just all the other outside things, I was. I was really happy with the entire thing. So it's almost. And it. It sucks too, because I want to go back to the dispatching and see if, like, oh, can I maybe do a perfect run of just like an entire playthrough where I don't mess anything up? But then it's like, I hope they update that.
Blessing
Just give me all the dispatching segments all in a row and do that. Let me just get a perfect run.
Barrett Corny
What I think, like a boss rush mode.
Greg Miller
And I know ad hoc is watching and it could be there, but it's. I'm not gonna have an easy way to check. I think it'd be really cool, a new game. Plus to bring in the team I already have with the stats I already have. And then start from the beginning, just add. And yeah, by the end it's going to be broken. Everybody's 10 out of 10. But that would also be, like, encouraging me to play where it was. Those things that I fucked up. I was like, ah, I shouldn't have done that combo or whatever.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. I think in terms of just two. Two negatives, there's. Again, this is tough to talk about without spoilers, but there is a certain beat with Chase, Jeffrey Wright's character that I wasn't fully sold on. And I don't think they ever really pay that off in a way that makes sense in, like, one of the middle episodes, which we'll. We'll talk about later. And then also in terms of the hacking stuff, I was getting into it, but the annoying one that I really hated was the. The waveform thing where he had to line it up because it never felt like it reacted to, like, how you move.
Greg Miller
If I can. This is the back to it, right? Where it's like, we're in some. Are we. I think you're in dispatching and in hacking so sparingly to then add a new hacking mechanic that's only in there, like, for two things where it's like, all right, now I was going through and it was like, all right, well, if I'm going this way. And it got bigger. What? No, that's not how it is. Weird. Up, down. Okay.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, exactly. And like, you know, adding the virus stuff I thought was like a needed element to make that feel fresh and like, like, oh, God, like, you know, more stakes in it. Of like having like an enemy chase you down in this, you know, silly little hacking game. But. And you know, they use that enough where you get used to it, where, you know, you're doing some difficult sequences at the end. But yeah, that, that waveform thing, I was like, what. What is. What is going on here?
Blessing
Hacking was the only moments for me where I was like, all right, I gotta do this. And like, not in a this sucks kind of way.
Ryan
Just.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
Everything else is just more fun.
Greg Miller
And that's my thing where it's like, I think that again, is such a complement to the writing and the choices you're making in the animation and the performances. But it's like that stuff is so 10 out of 10 that for me to get to a gameplay mode that's in the sixes, that's. It's okay. Yeah, like. But the 10 out of 10 is so good. I think it only brings it down that point where I'd never be like, I mean, again, you can fucking fail them all and still get a story. I'm not sure if you get a different ending, certainly.
Blessing
Yeah, well, maybe I am. So many quotables in this game, right? So much good writing, so much good comedy in this game. It is rare that I am playing a video games nowadays and I'm nowadays and I'm laughing to myself.
Greg Miller
It's funny because when I was doing, I was laughing, you guys were doing. You weren't back there yet, blah, blah. And then when I heard you guys laughing around the room, I was like, okay, good. I'm not alone.
Blessing
Hilarious game. The soundtrack also, I really love. They do such a good thing too with like. Actually, I'll save it to the spoiler segment. Good. What do they call it when motifs. Good motifs that come back. They dance and do all that stuff.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, yeah. Great needle drops. I always loved the logo treatment every episode too, of like, how is it going to pop up? This one, this episode? And then kind of alluding back to what I was talking about earlier of like this story being like a Guardian Suicide Squad kind of thing where I feel like those stories, because they have to focus so much on the kind of core team this doing that story, but then also, you know, doing kind of typical telltale stuff where it's like, okay, now we've got like a possibly a, you know, love triangle going on here. And then also we're gonna set up like a villain stuff. I was honestly impressed how well all of those things were pulled off by the end because, like, we were, you know, like, we Were like episode four
Greg Miller
and you were still like, it's. I don't think they're gonna rush this villain at the end.
Blessing
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And like, I wasn't convinced that.
Greg Miller
So you were happy with it?
Barrett Corny
Yeah, I was. I honestly was. Like, it wasn't the most in depth thing, but I think the, the way that they're brought in, in, in kind of the, the final half of the game, I think really worked for me. It's not like, you know, they're the most in depth character or anything, but again, the relationships and how this game sells you the relationships and knowing the backstory of the villain and all this stuff, I, I thought was really well done and I was surprised by that. Yeah. Especially being at the end of episode four, being like, now we're. Are we really gonna get back to this at all? And I, I thought they, you know, stuck the landing.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
And I think for the villain, especially right where it is like the villain isn't the main character nor even I, I would go as far as stupid. Not even the main antagonist.
Ryan
Right.
Greg Miller
Like, it really is Robert's own demons and it is trying to figure out your, like that's been the motivating thing and the kick in the ass for the story. But I wasn't hurting when they popped back up. I was used to, I was with you of like, oh, they're going to pop back up and be not cool. Not or not well done. And it popped up. I was like, oh, you know what? This is fine. Power grabbed.
Blessing
They're cool as hell.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
Like, I fucking loved like moments where the villain would speak and I'm like, man, there is a level of intimidation
Barrett Corny
that this character, I think the performance really carries it.
Blessing
Matthew Mercer fucking kills it.
Greg Miller
Right?
Barrett Corny
Like.
Blessing
And yeah, I think they do such a good job of again, giving all the characters their own moments. You know, it's. I think it's tough when you have a team of characters and then also you have individual characters that are big characters in the story and I think they treat the team as a team, but all of the parts of the team work in tandem to like really give that team character. But then when somebody like Blonde Blazer comes up and she has a moment, I'm like, oh, shit. Yeah, no, you're a good character. And like another person comes up, I'm like, oh, shit. Yeah. Like, all of you are carrying your own, your own weight as far as what you bring to the store.
Barrett Corny
That's my boy Roy.
Greg Miller
Not enough Roy.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Blessing
You know what I mean?
Greg Miller
But no spoilers on that one. We do have a super chat from Vesper Pest. Remember, if you want to be part of the show before the spoiler cast, what you thought so far, Keep it spoiler free and let me know if you do spoil stuff in there. I'll save for the spoiler cast, but Vesper Pest says, fun game, but as a woman, all the women equal hot. Slash needs fixing, slash needs Roman options. Made me tired. Just felt a bit fan service, the IMO especially. Start of episode four. I can understand that. Yeah. I mean, obviously, if you're new or not. Haven't played through it all, like, not every female character is romanceable, but that's also not what you're saying. You're saying they're either hot, they need fixing, or they're a romance option. I would go out to say, well, no, no, no, you caught me. You caught me in the triangle there where I was like, well, Prism. Prism doesn't. Isn't. Isn't a romance option. Doesn't need fixing on, but she's hot. Yeah. Fuck, yeah.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, I do definitely understand that feels like a. A slippery slope that a lot of these games do fall down to of, like, giving you romance options and. Yeah, I think that's a fair point.
Greg Miller
Yeah. The only thing I would. And I'm not arguing at all, but I feel like all the superhero. The male superheroes are hot, too. Sure. One's a bat, one's Gollum.
Blessing
I don't know if Water Boy's hot.
Greg Miller
Okay, fair, fair.
Barrett Corny
You see him without his goggles, though. Like, I don't know. He's got pretty eyes.
Greg Miller
He does have pretty eyes.
Barrett Corny
He does have pretty eyes.
Greg Miller
Crazy new Mateo says some of the influencer VO's took me out of it. Don't want to name names, but I felt it felt like a marketing gimmick more than hiring based on talent.
Blessing
I couldn't disagree more.
Greg Miller
I was gonna say, honestly, the same thing. And this is. I. Granted, I got to interview a few of them when I did the.
Barrett Corny
The, you know, I guess, cast interview,
Greg Miller
by the way, I did. I hosted the cast interview. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. But, no, I was of the same thing. Ready to be like, honestly. And this is not a comment on her talent, but when Alana was announced in this game, I was there, much like, oh, they're bringing a bunch of streamers in to do throw away. Oh, yeah. Hey, you're like, I'm. They're. They're the B team. The B. The fact that everybody in here. I Feel like, whether it's jacksepticeye, whether it's Alana, whether it's Gollum, who. I don't know.
Blessing
Young Gravy. That's what I was gonna comment on. It was like, Young Gravy gave one of my favorite performances. Just on the comedic level. Everything he said during the dispatch mode had me dying.
Barrett Corny
Like, even some of the emotional stuff, like, near the end of, like, he just did. He did kind of sell it a bit of, like, being this Gollum character and, you know, him feeling certain ways about, like, where the team was going and. And I. I was very surprised by that. And then shout out to Alana, like, I. I do think. And this is more so talking about the cast as a whole, but focusing on her a little bit of. You know, I've heard Alana in video games before, and, like, to me, I think, like, yeah, you can make that comment, but I think they were so well directed that I do think that they, like, really fit these characters. And I thought a lot about that while listening to Alana give her performance. And the. The subtle little moments, like, if y' all take a moment to check out Alana's Instagram reel where she talks about the. The Gib line, uh, in episode five or six or something like that, I'm
Greg Miller
gonna throw it in. I'd love to watch that.
Barrett Corny
And that was such, like, a. A small, small moment that you feel kind of the emotion behind it. And I think the voice directing team, I think, did a really good job of pulling everything they could out of these people who are not voice actors at the top of their list of all of the things that they do.
Blessing
And I think they casted them correctly. These characters fit the VOs in ways where I forgot. I don't think I thought about the fact that Young Gravy was in this game. Like, I saw the trailers or whatever, but, like, as I'm playing, I'm not really thinking about the VO's in that way. And I just found myself laughing out at what Golan was saying. And then as I'm reading the credits, I'm like, oh, yeah, that's Young Gravy. That makes sense for the way Gollum was fucking talking. And I'll say the same about, like, what's her name? Malevola. Every time she talked, I think, because we know Alana, we're like, oh, okay, that's Alana Pierce.
Greg Miller
But I was so. But, like, by the end of that game, I wasn't thinking, thinking, yeah, when she popped up the first time, and it also seemed like she was being used sparingly. I was like, okay, this is how they're gonna do it. And then when they really got it in there and let her be the character and everybody was their character, like, damn.
Barrett Corny
It really hit me in the credits, like, for the final episode of seeing her, like, splash screen or.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
Title. You know, she's like, one of the coolest people we know. And I. I always think about that, but that really hit me of, like, damn, that's the homie. Like, I. I worked with her back in the day, and that's insane. Of just, like, all the cool she's doing. And it just, like, seeing her credits in this game, in particular, this incredible game, it was just like, goddamn.
Blessing
It's so funny because for me, watching the credits, it was the thing where I was like, oh, yeah, they did just hire influencers, though. Like, fucking. Jeffrey Wright and Aaron Paul are the stars of this game. Like, there was a. There was just. There were decisions made about where they wanted to take the performances and the voice talent here. And I think they made a lot of great decisions. I think they picked the right people.
Greg Miller
Kevin, can we watch that Alana video with the sound up? Cause I'm a fucking winner. I'm Alice Bruno Malevola.
Ryan
My last name's Gib.
Blessing
That. That was my stepdad's last name. And they were like, do you want to give her a last name? Because the line was just written as Malevola. And I was like, if I wanted to do that, I would do it for my stepdad. And they kept it in. I know I recorded that, but I had no idea if they would keep it, so. Wow. I think that was recorded, like, just a little bit before he died. I guess I didn't know when I recorded it that he wouldn't still be here by the time the game came out, but. Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah. Now that is, like, immortalized in a game that.
Greg Miller
Oh, fuck.
Blessing
That millions of people have played. And. It doesn't mean anything, obviously, but, like, I'm like, oh, well, now he's, like, related to this character I played, and that's just really sweet. Yeah. Oh, man.
Barrett Corny
My name's Victor.
Blessing
That's awesome.
Greg Miller
Alana's really cool.
Ryan
Yeah.
Greg Miller
I did a Greg Way last week about how cool Lana was, and I think that's another back to, like, you know, hosting the conversation between the cast. Right. And hearing them all talk about similar stories to that, where they were all approached by the team for these characters, and that's why Prism is just Thought Squad. That's just how she is, you know what I mean? And God damn, does she have some lines. I want to talk about the spoiler cast eventually, right? But all that thing of like, they made these characters with these people in mind so that when they're in the booth and they have them either ad lib or they want to change something, they were totally open to hearing that. And I think that really shines through on why this is so special when you play it. And again, why for me, even though the game somebody went through, it's gone now as a regular chat, not a super chat. It was from one of the fucking peons, you know, they wanted super chat. It was saying like, shouldn't gameplay count more in a review? Like, well, a review of anything is that person's opinion. So I'm telling you that I would argue that the amount of people who are drawn in to play a telltale like game are not coming in for the game playlist. You know what I mean?
Barrett Corny
So this whole thing, I would also argue like, I know video games and art and all this stuff, but to me, what is the art trying to accomplish and how well does it accomplish that? And I think all the little things in that, like you can talk about on a objective scale or whatever, but like, I think this piece of art accomplish the. Accomplishes what it sets out to do. Just yeah, video games are right.
Blessing
Video games aren't the. We oftentimes when we talk about them in a review sense, it's easier to kind of break down, oh, the sound was amazing, the music was amazing, the gameplay was this. The, you know, visuals were that. But at the end of the day, if you believe that video games are an art form, then you have to look at the thing holistically in the same way that we reviewed Ninja Gaiden for a few weeks ago on this channel and like, and everybody agreed that that game is great, but you know, that's a game that I, I think that story is dog water. I don't give a fuck about the Ninja Gaiden 4 story. However, gameplay, some of the most fun gameplay I've had in a video game this year. And so I gave it a good review or I gave it a great review in fact. Right. Talking about it. But like, you know, I'm not going to look at Ninja Gaiden for a game titled Ninja Gaiden 4 and be like, the story was bad. 5 out of 10, you know what I mean? That I look at a game like Dispatch And I, I'm so in love with the story because so much of the bulk of your experiencing this game is the story, the characters and all that stuff. Right. I'm not then going to go, oh, the dispatching was an 8 out of 10, therefore. Yeah, of course video games are a special thing because they can be so many things, but you got to look at the hole.
Greg Miller
Our final super chat before we kick it over to spoilers. Don't click off yet. Remember, there's an interview at the very, very back Kyle super chats and says, I like the fact that even the little choices felt important. Even the choice of my favorite donut had weight and I can't wait to explore every variation. That's the thing about it where on the one hand I'm so excited to talk to you about spoilers. On the other hand, I'm trepidatious of did we make enough different choices because that's always a fun thing where I think we all might have made a very similar choice early on from our conversations in the beginning.
Barrett Corny
Right.
Greg Miller
So I'm wondering how that spirals out in the end of what you actually got. Even when Barrett was like, hey, I just did this. Am I close to? And I'm like, you do it in this section. He's like, yeah, like, well, I didn't do it in that section, but I imagine that's almost. I want, I want to know that variation in a second.
Barrett Corny
Interesting.
Greg Miller
Anything else to say? Recapping? I say it's a 9, you say 9.5.
Barrett Corny
Barrett a 9.
Greg Miller
It's an amazing game right there. Everybody a contender for sure and the kind of funny game of the year conversation, but is there anything else spoiler free. You want to get out before we move on here and let it all go? Oh, okay.
Barrett Corny
Play this game if you haven't already. This is a team that learned a lot from their years at Telltale and I think they've got a very bright future because they are no longer beholden to the engine, a shitty engine. And I think, you know, they've got a good creative energy with each other that I think this is. I'm excited to see what their future.
Greg Miller
100%.
Blessing
I guess the last thing I will say is I do appreciate how they shifted away from the Tale thing on the gameplay level. Right. Like, I think it's. I think it's a bold choice to go. We're not going to make a choose your adventure game where you're walking around the environment interacting with things. I know as we play Dispatch the gameplay makes sense for the type of game that it is and you know who the main character is in the story. But I don't think it should be overlooked of how like how much of a strong shift that is from what the genre does. And I don't know. I really like that as a choice for this game. Right. Trying to figure out on a gameplay level how do we make this continue to be an engaging thing, a fun thing, something that's going to intrigue and bring people in. And I think they did an excellent job of finding a new way to do an adventure game. So.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And I'm excited to see what other types of little genres or whatever they might dive into that makes sense for the stories that they want to tell. Because that was something in my preview that they talked about of like, you know, finding the story and then creating something in that that makes sense for the story.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
One final chat out there. I like Astral lady said the quicktime events got in the way of my enjoyment. Felt like I was watching Dora lmao Cinematic mode all the way. I think that's another thing I thought was really cool that again, tailoring this experience and understanding they're trying to bring in people who maybe do want to consume this as much like a TV show or movie as possible. So yeah, cinematic mode, you do the QTEs, no fails, all these different things. So you could get through it right now. Of course I'll remind you we couldn't get through each and every amazing workday here at Kinda Funny without your support. If you love what we do, pick up a kinda funny membership. $10 gets you all of our shows ad free. That's more than 80 episodes a month. It gets you your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series we call Greg Way, including today's Octopath Traveler 0 preview. And of course you get good karma for supporting 11 person small business. Right now we're going to take a break and come back with a spoiler cast because you're not using your benefits. So here it is. What Go Kevin.
Kevin
This episode's brought to you by. Aura frames or frames are the one gift that never get old. It's the perfect gift to bring your loved ones closer and share memories every single day. No lie. Aura frames are undeniably the best gift I have ever given families, friends, partners. Everyone loves being able to have have beautiful frames showing off their loved ones and all of their favorite memories. Aura frames are incredibly smart and easy to use allowing you to upload unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. Plus you can order the frame online and preload it with photos and videos using the Aura app. So it's all ready to go right out of the box when you gift it to somebody named Number One by Wirecutter. You can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $20 off their best selling Carver Matte frame with the code Aura20. That's a U R a frames.com promo code Aura20. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Shady Rays. Let's talk gifts. Not the kind that get tossed in a drawer, but the kind that actually gets get used and appreciated. The holidays are coming up fast and Shady Ray sunglasses are an easy win. You don't even need to think about it. I'm doing the work for you. Every pair is polarized, durable and lightweight. They've got a ton of great looking high performance styles that hold up no matter what you throw at them and the price Way less than you would expect for the quality. And here's what sets them apart. If you lose or break your shade, Shady Rays has your back with their lost and broken protection. No hassle, just a solid guarantee. So whether you're picking up a pair for someone on your list or grabbing one for yourself, Shady Rays makes gifting simple quality builds looks great and actually worth it. Start your holiday gifting early and head to shadyrays.com and use code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Shadyrays.com use code funny on December 12th,
Blessing
Disney invites you to go behind the
Greg Miller
scenes with Taylor Swift in an exclusive six episode docu series. I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect. The only thing left is to close the book. The end of an era. And don't miss Taylor Swift. The Eras Tour, the final show featuring for the first time the tortured poets department. Streaming December 12th only on Disney. And we're back to the kind of Funny Games cast as we move into the spoiler section of Dispatch. This is your spoiler cast for Dispatch, Season one or the only season that exists. Spoilers, bro are up. This of course is your chance to get out before you. You should play. You should go play this on your own. And if you have and you're already here, congratulations on living our life. Blessing. Yes, I let Barrett lead off the review section. I'm letting you lead off the spoiler section. What do you want to talk about?
Blessing
I want to talk about who you chose between Blonde Blazer and Invisighal. The most important question of the season. Episode four, comes through.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
Actually, no, you know what? Before we get there, I want to set the scene because Episode four. Oh, man, I love this fucking video games.
Greg Miller
We gotta talk about episode four. Yo. That was an opening to episode four.
Blessing
That's crazy. Episode four, I think, of this game has maybe one of the best utilized sex scenes in a video game ever.
Greg Miller
Wow.
Blessing
The way that it looms over the entire episode in the way that, like, even as I'm dispatching, I'm like, what happened? You know what I mean? And I like the scenes go on. You see Invisigal, and it's like, all right, let's see how this goes. And she immediately, immediately is talking to you about it.
Greg Miller
I thought it was such a nice turn. Usually, right where usually that kind of shit happens. And then it's the will. They won't. They don't engage. But the fact that she blurts it out right away, you get to engage with it and see what you want to do with it. I was like, oh, that's a really cool way to do it. But they played us like a fucking fiddle.
Blessing
Yeah. To I guess set it up for me.
Ryan
Right.
Blessing
Like, I. That first episode.
Greg Miller
Yeah. Did you kiss or no kiss?
Blessing
I did kiss with you, actually.
Greg Miller
I. I did not kiss. So I don't know what the other option plays out as she basically, like,
Blessing
pulls away and it's like, oh, I didn't mean to kind of like, give that. See.
Greg Miller
And that was my fucking. Thing is, I. When it was happening, I was like, I'm not. The game wants me to lean in for this kiss. I don't. This is clearly. She's, like, setting me. And I mean, we know it's a game and whatever, but I was like, this is a job interview. She's not talking to me as romantic.
Blessing
But that's the way I play these games. The way that.
Greg Miller
That's why you can't win your job interview.
Blessing
That's what we made out. But, like, I play this game. I play. I try to play these games in the way of, like, what kind of choice would I make? So I'm not trying to be in the video game mind of. Well, of course this isn't going to be romantic. I'm in the mind of, like, this girl, this woman, this hot superhero woman has been flirting with me the entire night. And we're sitting Alone on this thing. Like, I'm leaning in for the kiss. And so I think from there I had it decided in my brain. Oh, Blonde blazer. We're going for it. Like, this is going to be a thing. We're going to make it work out. So opening up episode four in that way and having it. Having that sex scene, I think loom over the entire episode.
Greg Miller
It's so hot.
Blessing
To the point where you get to the end and they give you that choice. And I'm like, bravo. That's such a great way to do it. Because ain't no way I'm going blonde blazer after that. Ain't no way I'm choosing blonde blazer. I want to leave this gal to
Barrett Corny
go back to that super chat he was talking about, like, the fan service y opening of episode four. Do understand that and that that is a fair criticism to me. I love that more for the push and pull Invisible is having in terms of, like, what we learn later on of just like this inner turmoil she has of, like, working for Shroud and then also, you know, having this internal kind of thing pulling her to actually try and be a hero. And to me, that. That sex scene that's happening in her dream is less about, like, a little bit about her being attracted to Robert, but also a bit more of, like, this desire to like, have that part of her life actually be, you know, be what her life is. So, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Greg Miller
That's one of the things I'm interested to see. So it's like. And chat. Let me know if you've. There are people still here live. Congratulations. Thank you. Did anyone go in Romance Blonde Blazer? Because I want to know how that nets out. Like, is that a. And not even the kiss in the beginning. Right. The way it goes from there with putting on her dress and doing the stuff. Can you be an item with her by the end of it? Like, I don't know.
Blessing
I think, though, I guess I assumed that there are the three options of romance Invisible, romance, blonde blazer, or end up with nobody. Because that's how I ended up is I just ended up with nobody.
Greg Miller
Did you end up with invisible?
Barrett Corny
Oh, yeah, I ended up with invisible.
Blessing
Yeah, I tried. I tried and failed.
Barrett Corny
Wow.
Greg Miller
How does yours end then?
Blessing
Well, she becomes evil.
Greg Miller
Yeah, mine too.
Barrett Corny
Oh, shit.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Blessing
So she doesn't become evil in yours?
Barrett Corny
No.
Blessing
Huh.
Barrett Corny
I wonder. So, like. Because here's my thing is, like, I defended her every step of the way.
Greg Miller
So you didn't fire her when the rest of the Team wanted her.
Barrett Corny
No.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I did. And that's what, like, on my stat screen for episode eight, I have the one that's neglected in Visigal. She embraced villainy over heroism.
Barrett Corny
Wow.
Greg Miller
And I was like, I did it once. You know what I mean? Like, and like, the entire team was like, we don't feel comfortable. And it's like, it's similar to here. I can love one of y', all, but if everybody hates one of you, I'm like, I gotta.
Barrett Corny
To me, I took that as, you know, they're. They're lashing out while feeling down. And the thing that solidified defending her in that moment wasn't even like, oh, I'm trying to romance her, or whatever. It was flambe. And his argument of, like, you know, like, y' all let me back. And I was like, a total dick. And, you know, like, I. If that didn't happen, like, you know, I don't know where I would be. And it was like. And so, like, it was like, I made this decision and then, like, morale went down. So, like, my final couple of dispatches, like, all of their morales were, like, down. So I think some of their stat stuff was decreased, but I was like, morale is going to be down now, but I think this is going to be better for the team in the long run.
Greg Miller
God damn Crow. Seven Blast is. Well, I fired her and still ended up with her.
Blessing
What?
Greg Miller
That's crazy. That's the thing of, like, what these little things are. Now, Granted, I'd have my save rebuilt by ad hoc because I lost my first four episodes, but they gave me the big choices and I gave them what I did, and they gave me a save that I thought was pretty much the same.
Snowbike Mike
The.
Barrett Corny
The thing that. Sorry, now we're just kind of going all over.
Greg Miller
Yeah, whatever. Who cares is what it's about.
Barrett Corny
The thing I wasn't sold on was, like, how much Chase hates her. And, like, the. In the episodes when he gets drunk and, like, yells.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And, like, yells at her because, like, it's teased throughout the first half of that show, the. The season of, you know, like, him not trusting her, like, oh, she's my least favorite, and all this stuff. And it comes to a head in that episode where he's drunk yelling at her, and I was expecting almost of, like, oh, he brought her in and she did something, like, really up to him personally or something like that. And, like, that never came back in a way that I felt like, was fully sold to me. Yeah. And especially with, like, his moment where he saves her. I was like, I. I see where they wanted to go with that emotionally. I just. That was the one aspect of this entire season where I was like, you didn't quite sell that to me.
Blessing
It definitely. It felt like it came up out of nowhere. I chalked it up to like, okay, well, he's drunk. And maybe it's the thing of he's seeing me flirt with invisible. And maybe he's just like, non approving of this thing of me flirting with somebody who formerly was a villain or whatever. But that felt like I had to take the leap to kind of put him in that mind state as opposed to the game actually telling me this is why he's so mad at.
Greg Miller
See, And I think the way it played out for me, where again, this is the sign of a good choose your own adventure game. Right. Where I feel like I made every right choice. So to get here and have not be with her, even though we kissed in the locker room, he leaned in. Oh, yeah.
Blessing
Oh, you gotta lean in.
Greg Miller
You gotta lean.
Blessing
You gotta lean.
Greg Miller
Yeah. Even though we kiss in the locker room, even though, like, you know, she saved me at the end. Right. How did you. For a shroud. What did you give him?
Barrett Corny
I gave them both.
Greg Miller
Yeah, me too.
Blessing
Yeah, both.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Blessing
What happens when you give them both?
Greg Miller
He's like, robert, these look exactly the same. And Robert's like, yeah, the only way to beat you since you know how
Barrett Corny
to do everything, is to be unpredictable
Blessing
and like, the wrong one in no shot.
Barrett Corny
Really?
Blessing
Wait a second.
Greg Miller
Okay, so he puts the wrong. Oh, this is interesting, because you ended up.
Blessing
I didn't do that.
Greg Miller
So he.
Blessing
He.
Greg Miller
You put the wrong. He puts the wrong one in, he wigs out, he throws up. All the other people start throwing up because they're all like, hive mind connected.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
And then like when he's like on the ground, whatever, invisible comes up and stabs him in the throat.
Blessing
Okay. For me, it was. I. And I knew I played it wrong as soon as I did it, but I gave him the fake one and he's like, nice try. Throws it away. Give me the real one.
Greg Miller
Did he kill the dog?
Blessing
No.
Greg Miller
Okay.
Blessing
Because I gave him.
Greg Miller
I was not gonna be able to put up with because.
Barrett Corny
And that was the thing was like, I. I gotta make sure this dog fucking lives. And it was one of those like. Like he already is calling out about the fake one, so I gotta just give them both. And to see what ha. I. That was the only time in a decision I paused.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
Because that was Like I don't give a fuck about anything else. If anybody else dies, who gives a shit?
Greg Miller
Beef's gotta make it live. Beef's gotta make it.
Barrett Corny
I wish.
Blessing
I see, I wanted to do the thing where I gave him the real one so he would be like, nah, give me the. Like, he throws that one away. I think if you replay it, that's what I assume if somebody in chat did it that way, let us know. But yeah, I gave him the fake one, he throws it away, I give him the real one, he puts in the real one and he becomes fucking like, like super powered up and is like on the verge of, okay, well, I'm about to take over. And then that's when invisible comes through, stabs him in the neck.
Barrett Corny
Oh, interesting. Yeah, for me it was, yeah, he throws up, he gets messed up and then he pulls out the gun that he used to kill your dad and he shoots it. And Invisible has been invisible the entire time in front of you. And she takes, oh, that's crazy. And so yeah, that was like her like, like actual true heroic moment. And that's why everybody at the end for my team all welcomes her back because she had this like actual self sacrifice moment. She ends up living. But that was just like still like a big like, oh shit, I guess
Greg Miller
she kills him and then she picks up the mask. Yes. And she gives you a look or whatever and then she goes invisible with the mask and is gone.
Blessing
Oh yeah, I left out the part where he does, when you give him the actual thing, he, when he's powering up, he's like, okay, well now my predictions are telling me that if I leave you alive, you're gonna come after me and so I'm gonna now shoot you. So he pulls out the gun and that's when Invisigal stabs and takes up the mask.
Greg Miller
This is the stuff which is like,
Blessing
this is fascinating because I think one of the things I really like about Shroud as a villain is one he comes through. He's cool as shit, he's fucking dope. I love villains. I just like, I predict your every single move type of thing. But the fact that me and Greg's story Invisigile is the one who kills him and then takes up the mask, I just viewed it as, oh, the next game Invisible is gonna villain and that's gonna be a dope. Like she's really the villain here. To hear that she's not the villain in your story.
Snowbike Mike
No.
Blessing
Blows my mind.
Barrett Corny
Everybody's friends and like, like the Person that I cut that I know people want us to talk about was Sonar, because I. I.
Blessing
Did you guys cut sonar?
Barrett Corny
I. I cut sonar.
Greg Miller
I got coop.
Blessing
I got coupe.
Barrett Corny
I. I really liked coupe in terms of just, like, what she added in terms of the dispatch, like, stat stuff. And so. And, like. Like, in that episode, story wise, it was like, Sonar got, like, tied up in the gym or whatever. I was like, all right, well, he's. He's kind of a. So, like, I'm just gonna cut him. And then you get the chance to welcome him back to the team at the very end, and, like, they start arresting him, and everybody else is like, no, hey, he's one of us.
Blessing
And you say he got tied up in the gym.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And, like, the episode where you have to decide, like, which one you cut.
Blessing
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
Someone led him into, like, the workout, like, room or whatever at the dispatch. And, like, because they're gonna promise to show him, like, boobs or some. It's when they're all being competitive, so they tie him up so he can't be, like, out there, like, actually dispatching. So that was kind of.
Greg Miller
So did you get him? He came back to the team.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. And so he. He's getting arrested at the end, and then your entire team's like, no, he's one of us. Like, he fell to, like, he got cut.
Greg Miller
Okay, sorry. Because I know where this is going, and I want to bring it into the scenario. Was. So when he. When you were. When everything's going wrong in Torrance and it's all exploding, was he working with the red guys and coming through and doing.
Blessing
He was.
Greg Miller
So that was Coop on my game because. Okay. Of how it worked out. Right. I couldn't. I did not stop her before she got there. And so then we go and play out the attack on sdn. Right. And all the stuff's happening at the end for me. She's being led in handcuffs to the car, and the team goes, hey, whoa. She's one of us. She looks scary. I understand why it'd be confusing. And they cut over to Robert and Mandy. Blazer on the car. And Robert goes, is this my call? Or whatever? And she's. You're drinking a beer with her. And she goes, you know, it would have been. But she was. She was. She said, you're weak. She said we were weak or whatever. And so they just let her get put in the cop car. Yeah, that was one of my.
Blessing
I assume that's a. If you fail the.
Greg Miller
I think so, too. Yeah. Because you stopped Stopped, I assume.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, I saw I was able to stop sonar in the final, like, dispatch thing. They're kind of like your final boss, I would say, in the dispatch part of the game.
Blessing
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And so because you're just getting bombarded by all of these calls, but then eventually it was like, okay, do whatever little calls I can just to keep my health bar up and just focus whenever I can on sonar and not get distracted by all of the. All calls.
Blessing
The worst luck during that segment where I kept trying to go after Coupe because she was our boss. Right. And I would set it up to where I would have the percentage advantage, but it was usually around, like, 65, 70. And I failed every single time. Like three in a row of me having the advantage and failing three times in a row.
Greg Miller
For me, it was. I was just running out of team. I was like, sending it out there. I was doing them, and they'd be resting and they'd be, get send. I'm like, water boy is not the guy. But you're the only guy. And he'd go out, he'd fail the mission.
Barrett Corny
Like, God, what else?
Greg Miller
I mean, there's. I mean, I have. So I have all of it written down here or whatever in terms of where it went out. What did it get? What did they call you at the end? My final screen is your Robert was an everyman. I'm sorry. An everyman. Your Robert always kept everyone guessing what he'll. What he'll say or do you remember off your final stat screen?
Blessing
Mine was an everyman as well.
Barrett Corny
I was a true hero. Your robber always tried to do the right thing at the right time.
Greg Miller
I was trying to do that too. I thought I was doing that. Couldn't do it. Couldn't keep it up.
Barrett Corny
Not a choice thing. I just want to shout out, like, the relationship between Robert and Chase, like, that really, like, was driven home. Like, their performances with each other and the rapport together was so great. And pulled that along in the first half. But then when you get the cliffhanger, like, I've been waiting for these last two episodes all week just because of how last week ended with Chase sacrificing himself and all that. And the way episode seven starts with the flashback of them and, like, really driving home of, like, right, he looks like an old dude, but in reality, like, he was Robert's older brother in a way. And, like, the way that they sold that and all. Again, all the other relationships, I think in. In lesser ways, I was just so goddamn good.
Greg Miller
Yeah. I think, you know, when in episode two, when Robert comes to SDN and Chase is there, and then he gets the review, White, let old man hug you. Why would you be like, I thought that was so good, but it was also like, again, why I want to go back and do it again? It was like, oh, that's cool, but I don't fully understand this relationship. You know what I mean? And then to get to the end and get that episode, I mean, after the cliffhanger of six, get that start of seven of him as a kid, the crying and the Twinkies, and then keep up after getting the keyboard.
Barrett Corny
And that's like. That's just, like, to me, like, really good storytelling that, like, pays off in a way where little moments maybe don't work for us. And, like, the. The first half and you're saying, like, kind of motifs, but also callbacks that, like, really paid off and recontextualize your thinking of story beats early on with those last couple of episodes.
Blessing
So I. I'm not proud of this moment.
Greg Miller
I'm gonna grab a Coke, but I'm listening.
Blessing
There was one scene where I looked at my phone, looked back up, and a major thing happened. And I was like, how the. How the. Did we get here? How did Chase for you in the. In that final battle, Chase took, like, the gem from Blonde Blazer.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Blessing
Was it that? Because I. I remember her getting blasted through the building. Yeah, that was it. At that point where she just puts the thing in on Chase.
Barrett Corny
For me, they don't show that of, like, her going to Chase and putting the. The gym.
Blessing
He just shows up, and he just
Barrett Corny
shows up as a surprise and.
Blessing
Okay, well, that.
Barrett Corny
And I imagine, like. I don't like. I imagine if you romance or go down the Blonde Blazer route and actually hang out with her, that you learn that probably because no way. You don't think that she tells you about, like, the, like, oh, my superhero thing. Because I've seen scenes that I haven't seen from, like, the last couple weeks of her with brown hair. So I do wonder stills in, like, Instagram, like, clips and.
Blessing
Oh.
Barrett Corny
So I do wonder if there's a moment if you learn about that.
Blessing
I was very confused.
Barrett Corny
That makes that a bit more satisfying because I. That was another moment where it was.
Greg Miller
Yes, she does. During the date scene.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
I romance her. And it was. This is somebody over there.
Barrett Corny
Because to me, that was like, oh, this would have been a more satisfying reveal if it was like, if there was a layup to it. And then I thought that makes more Probably a layup to it if you actually go down. And because I was confused, I think
Greg Miller
there was a missing thing there because, like, I thought it. Not cheap isn't the right word. But she gets blasted through the wall. It's a big deal. Like, you know, they step back through the glass and the way she hits. I was like, oh, is she paralyzed? Yeah. Or is she hurt? Is she dead? So then for it to be like, no, she was 100% fine. Nothing. She just went and gave it to Robert.
Barrett Corny
Like, it felt like a little bit.
Blessing
Okay. That makes me feel not crazy then because I was like. I think I looked. My phone looked up and I was like, chase, what the fuck is. What are you doing here? What happened to blonde blazer?
Greg Miller
Thank God he's okay, though. I don't. I didn't want to lose it.
Barrett Corny
Well, for now, let's not be afraid
Blessing
to kill characters, guys, you know?
Greg Miller
Also kind of true.
Blessing
Yeah, Let him come back. Yeah, I mean, I do like him, though.
Greg Miller
Like a character.
Barrett Corny
Especially, like, I imagine he did the TV interview at the. The end too. Like, trying not to swear at first.
Greg Miller
Yeah, we can't believe it. Very good. Very, very good.
Blessing
So funny.
Greg Miller
I put down everyone. Not everyone. The major ones for every episode. Did you throw alcohol or water on flambe in episode one?
Blessing
Oh, I don't remember. I want to say water.
Barrett Corny
Alcohol.
Greg Miller
Alcohol, yeah. So it burned off his eyebrows.
Blessing
Oh, I definitely did water there. Yeah.
Greg Miller
We already talked about kissing the reporter. They. Did you attack the reporter when the reporter was mean to you and said something really out of line about you being a failure? I just walked away from the podium. But then I saw this one of like. Did you attack them?
Barrett Corny
I'm like, oh, no. I. I answered.
Blessing
Was it the. Was there three choices or only?
Greg Miller
Yeah, there was. I think you could have responded. Whatever.
Blessing
I think I just want attack.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah. Did you fist bump Roy to the toilet?
Barrett Corny
Of course.
Blessing
No, I did not.
Greg Miller
Oh, yeah.
Snowbike Mike
Hell yeah.
Barrett Corny
You got. You. You gotta.
Blessing
I played the way I'll do it in real life. I'm not fist bumping at the toilet, bro. I'm sorry.
Barrett Corny
But if it's. If it's. You know, if it's a bro like that.
Blessing
Not at the toilet.
Barrett Corny
I don't give a touch. And now we're connected for life.
Greg Miller
Remember? He doesn't. He doesn't.
Blessing
That is true.
Greg Miller
He gyrates his hip.
Blessing
I touched my thing. No, I'm.
Barrett Corny
But like inner hands. But you're doing outer hands.
Blessing
Oh, you don't know how I Pee.
Ryan
Whoa.
Blessing
That's crazy.
Greg Miller
Jinkers. QQ says, who's in the cat costume in episode eight?
Barrett Corny
I. That's just like, they show them they are, right? Yeah.
Greg Miller
I think it's I in episode one, when or two, when they're walking around SD and whenever it was his introduction, they showed it. And I think I read it at the time of like. I forget what what Blonde Blazer says. I just took it as like, oh, that's a creature. That. That's what they look like.
Barrett Corny
Well, they do tease in the credits of episode eight. Like them taking the mascot, like the thing off and then like someone's hand like covers their face or something like that.
Snowbike Mike
So.
Greg Miller
Okay. I really like when they put the Irish step the coffee.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
And then goes into Robert. He drinks it and he looks at me, he goes, you need this. Take this. That was great.
Barrett Corny
I've had those co workers before.
Greg Miller
Okay, so anyways, then what type of donut did you do in episode two? I did it along, John.
Blessing
I don't remember.
Barrett Corny
I just did the basic glaze, I think.
Blessing
Oh, I probably did glaze. I definitely did glaze because I remember the joke now.
Greg Miller
I think this would have pertained mainly. Did you ask Blonde Blazer out at episode two?
Barrett Corny
No.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
Episode two.
Greg Miller
This is right before Phenomena man shows up. She hasn't broken up with him yet, nor has she revealed a relationship in the parking lot. You can ask her out or not. I did not. Because again, I was like, I must
Blessing
have changed because I was going after it. Yeah.
Greg Miller
Let you down easily, I guess, because then Phenomenate man shows up.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Advice you guys to dinner. And Blazer does the don't come.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Did anybody go?
Barrett Corny
No, I did not. But I really want to hear from the 10% of people chose to go.
Greg Miller
Awkward ass. Where they go to Italy or Japan or something. Like, I would love to do that. We already talked about in episode three. Who. Who you cut episode four. I added water boy over a Phenomenon. Yeah.
Snowbike Mike
Yes.
Barrett Corny
I didn't want to put up with
Greg Miller
that on the team. I can't have Travis Willingham, sad ass walking around.
Barrett Corny
I did like that. I. I assume that whoever you choose, the other one does also join you for. Yeah. But yeah, I chose Waterboard. I was like, give this kid a shot at the table, you know? Phenomenal Phenomenon. Give him a little bit of time.
Blessing
I was scared he'd kill me.
Greg Miller
But it was. It was funny. On the drive to work today, thinking about getting. I was like, man, I haven't seen like, is. I thought when I Said no to phenomenon. I was like, clearly. We'll see you throughout the other episodes, though, because you're Travis Willingham. You're gonna have. No, no. Just gone until that last episode. Like, damn. They really.
Barrett Corny
And I love that, like, he and Blazer have a little bit of a. Like, a moment. Not as, like, just like, as a tie together.
Greg Miller
This is. Okay. He's respectful.
Barrett Corny
I hope this is appropriate. And like, all this stuff, his fucking. Yeah.
Greg Miller
I thought. I thought we said cool it on the fruit baskets or whatever. He's like, I mean, more months for $899. Whatever. A snow. Mike. Mike, move. I heard.
Barrett Corny
Oh, God.
Greg Miller
And then we all went to the movies with Invisigal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Barrett Corny
Hot, hot.
Greg Miller
Did you tell. When you were. Did you. Did you have that conversation outside the taco place? Did you have the conversation with Team Z and tell them you were Mechamin Man?
Snowbike Mike
Yes.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
I mean, you have to also, man, that. That is definitely one of my favorite scenes in the.
Greg Miller
Dude. The bar fight.
Blessing
The bar fight. The way they framed it with, like, the. You know, you're hanging out afterwards, eating the tacos or whatever. And then they transition into the fight.
Barrett Corny
So good.
Blessing
Really.
Barrett Corny
And that's one of those things where I'm thinking about, like, how passionate they were to do this in a different engine. Stuff like that. I'm just thinking about, like, how badly this would have run if this was, like, telltale produced. Right. But then also, like, that the framing of that entire episode is so good of starting with the flashback of, like, you, like, taking down Flambe and, like, how that all comes back together. And it gave us one of the best songs of the year. I'm a. My name is Robert.
Blessing
That was, like, the only credits.
Barrett Corny
I got a tiny little peen.
Blessing
That was the only credit role where I'm like, I gotta say, I gotta get to the end. Yeah. I'm letting this role.
Greg Miller
A lot of people are commenting. That phenomenon is hilarious throughout. If you do choose him, he's just depressed all the time. Which I know from the end there he still has the depressed buff, but I guess you have to put up with the entire time if you want.
Blessing
I. I think Waterboy was a bit much for me as far as, like, his personality, him being like, you know, I don't know how to describe him just being water.
Greg Miller
A little loser.
Blessing
Yeah. But I think it was more so like him. But that every time he talked, I was like, okay, I'm over it.
Greg Miller
I don't know. Over it. I. I didn't think I was afraid he'd be too much based on seeing him in episode two. Right. Whenever his introduction is. And then I liked him. I thought they used him a right amount. And I thought it really paid off at the end when. And I think he sprays shroud in the face with water and it actually stops him. And he goes, I did something right.
Barrett Corny
I'm helping. But then also, like, emotionally, I think episode seven or whatever, where you're in the break room with him and he's kind of doing his own. Like, I'm mad. I'm like, knocking stuff over, but then I'm. Yeah, I put the cup back. But then he breaks. The vending machine is like, get that damn junkie out. Yeah. And so, like, I think he was used the right amount for me personally, I don't think he was overused.
Blessing
I turned that into a star, though. Water boy, man, let me tell you. I brought a zero.
Barrett Corny
He carried the smarts. And he had another big stat.
Blessing
I made him very vigorous.
Barrett Corny
I gave him vigor, whatever that is.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I made him vigorous. Arvel has a question. Did everybody tell Blonde Blazer about her areola showing?
Ryan
Yes.
Greg Miller
Yeah, you have to. But back to it. There's two scenes that'll stick with me, I think, forever from this are the bar fight set to the music or whatever, and then the house party set to the music when they dance.
Barrett Corny
Yes.
Greg Miller
But I want to call out the bar fight. And it's quoted in the YouTube chat, but it's. I loved it. Of like, oh, Prism temporarily blinded me temporary. You. Blah, blah. Like, I was like, shout out to
Barrett Corny
the small arm dude who comes back, like, in the final episode. He's like, break their arms.
Greg Miller
Yes. Break their arms. He's like, it'll be a weird crime scene.
Ryan
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And then, like, the. The callback to, you know, like, you calling the slimy dude, like, him having a small dick. And then, you know, punch up.
Greg Miller
Yeah. Oh, my God.
Barrett Corny
He's like, going up against.
Greg Miller
He's got a special move.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. Like, later on, he's like, my perfect dick.
Greg Miller
My dick, my dick.
Blessing
So many good callbacks. So many good running jokes.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Did we. In episode seven, did we forgive Invisible for working with, you know, I mean, being the reason you blew up.
Barrett Corny
Yes, forgive.
Greg Miller
In the locker room, there's a conversation, and then, like, one of the options is, oh, yeah.
Barrett Corny
She reveals to you that I just told you.
Greg Miller
It's like, who cares? I knew you were a bad guy. Doesn't matter. You're a bad guy to me.
Blessing
Yeah. Well, No, I think I'm complaining because there's one. I remember her being like, I don't know what to make. Oh, no, that's later.
Greg Miller
Sorry.
Blessing
I'm thinking of a later thing. I think I forgave her.
Greg Miller
Okay.
Ryan
Yeah.
Blessing
I'm thinking of when she reveals that she's working with the bad guys.
Greg Miller
Gotcha. Okay. Okay. Did you smash the bartender with the glass when you were sitting there? Yeah, me too. Me too.
Barrett Corny
Oh, no, I didn't. I kept it.
Blessing
Cool.
Greg Miller
Oh, wow. Look at you try. Just goes and kills them all the same, though.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, yeah. Cool.
Greg Miller
Now we're into, like, so much stuff we've talked about. I want to make sure. Yeah. I assume we all cut invisible loose though, too, right?
Blessing
Yes.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. No, no, no. Oh, you're talking about the scissors. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
Greg Miller
Okay, cool, cool, cool.
Blessing
Oh, no, I didn't do that. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Greg Miller
See, I cut her. That's why I'm still like, why? Yeah. Why couldn't we be together? You know what I mean? Sucks. What did I do wrong? What did I do wrong? Ad hoc.
Barrett Corny
Well, this is an interesting one. So one of the stats that was called out to me as well was like, you had that conversation with Chase early on of you told Chase whether you would or not kill Shroud, and so I told Chase I would not kill Shroud in that episode. And then I decided to not kill Shroud at the end. I also do wonder if there's a little bit of that factoring into the story as a whole. I don't know.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I never got the chance to kill him. I said I would kill him too. And then, yeah, like one. I. I didn't like, didn't write it down. Oh. So, yeah, hold on. I didn't kill him. All right. I said I would kill him. Didn't get the chance. And then my one here. Yeah, you and 22% of players watched as Invisible killed Shroud, denying you the chance to exact vengeance or show him mercy.
Blessing
Yeah, that was same for me.
Greg Miller
Look at dope scene, though.
Kevin
Look at her.
Greg Miller
Look at him. Look at her. Just icing.
Blessing
Whoa.
Barrett Corny
That's crazy.
Greg Miller
Again, like, I know we were way out of the review now, but, like, we talked about how great the writing is, how great the voice actors are, how great the story is. So beautifully animated. Like, what a gorgeous game to watch.
Blessing
Oh, yeah, dude. Blonde blazer coming into the bar afterwards.
Greg Miller
Yeah, dude. When you're being tortured wherever she comes in and she like, lights up, it's
Blessing
such a good looking scene. And Then I don't. I forget the exact line. But her essentially being like, you know, I'm not gonna be able to take out all of you, but either all
Barrett Corny
of you can leave or half of you can die.
Greg Miller
Yes, yes.
Blessing
And then fucking Shroud. Being like, I've been 33.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
But also being like, I can tell they're nervous or whatever. I forget the exact line. But him sensing that and being like, all right, let's go. We can't do this.
Barrett Corny
And just, like, the cinematography of it all. And I think that's like, the main thing that carries shroud for me, of just, like, the use of, like, color and framing around him, I think also kind of like. Like, brought him up a little bit, even though he's a bit more basic of a villain. But I think that's why he gives, like, a big impression. Like a. Like a Darth Vader in episode four.
Blessing
Right, Exactly.
Greg Miller
So fucking cool.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Those were all the major choices. Is there anything else we need to clear the mechanism? Get out. We can always double back another time.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Say something on a regular show.
Barrett Corny
I don't know if there's anything else that's.
Greg Miller
I want to. I was. Last night, I was talking to Jen about it. I'd like to do another one with her.
Kevin
And then.
Greg Miller
And the problem is I want. I want to do different stuff, but I'll leave it up to her. So you run the risk of just doing the same thing.
Blessing
You guys favorite episode. I think mine was episode four.
Snowbike Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
I mean, what a start. Come on, Come on now.
Blessing
It's like, what a start. And it wouldn't end. And, like, the way the start in the end kind of work together for. For, like, a strong middle.
Greg Miller
It's so tough because I feel like, you know, again, it works so well as a whole. And it got better in, like, the one. As badly as I want to go replay it all all the way through. I just think there's something about episode seven in this flashback to start with Chase and then establishing the relationship we kind of. That they hinted at, but here it is and now I know it and keep up. And then to end it with Blonde, Blonde Blazer and him on the thing and then the explosions going off and like, damn, fuck this.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. And like, for me, I think gameplay wise, like, episode seven and eight, like, really stand out in terms of the dispatching. What you were alluding to earlier of like. Like you really feel like the. The team hurting in episode seven of the dispatching with Invisible out and with all of that and then like episode eight where you slowly have to bring the team all together in terms of like finding their locations and all that stuff. Like that really worked for me. I think a gameplay wise, I was like, man, I. I wanted more of this throughout the entire thing.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
I think in terms, I really loved last week's episodes, episode five and six, like five being centered around to me, like flambe and that whole reveal and then you revealing to the team at the end and then him going like essentially like off and like Gollum saving you. And then coming back in episode six where you know, you have like the little house party thing and then him coming back, like, to me, that whole framework really like worked for me. And then the end where, yeah. Chase says keep up and like that whole. That again, it's been a long week to wait for these episodes. To me, I really loved last week's episodes and I just. Because I think I was the person who got this opportunity of either killing or showing mercy to Shroud. I showed mercy.
Blessing
Oh, wow.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
What happens? Oh, just you beat the.
Barrett Corny
Out of him and then he just. He gets taken away in like an ambulance.
Blessing
Okay, cool. Very cool.
Ryan
Yeah, look at that.
Blessing
I'm excited to see where they go for assuming there's going to be a Dispatch two or Dispatch Season two.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Blessing
I'm so fascinated based off. Off our conversations, what they do with it. Cuz I thought the easy thing was okay, okay, cool. Invisible is now the villain, right. She's the leader of the thing. But hearing about how Baird's story went.
Greg Miller
Yeah, it's always the thing, right. Of like. Yeah, I'm like, oh, well, you know, Coop could do something. Coop doesn't have to be bad in everybody's game. So it's always hard to do this and then try to pick the canon endings.
Blessing
And also like, I mean, the game's called Dispatch, so I feel like you kind of have to stick to the dispatching part of it. But the fact that you're back in the Mecca suit, what does that do as far as, you know what Robert.
Greg Miller
But I think that could also be an interesting way to do it. Right. Where you shake it up and it's not Robert Stor anymore. You're another somebody else. The. Maybe a different city. Maybe you get some of the people sent over there. Other people. That effect.
Barrett Corny
Yeah, yeah, I think I would prefer that like to. To me, it's like one of those, you know, they just talked about this in like in an interview or whatever. Or I think on fronts per second, maybe of like, hey, this wasn't a thought for us three, four weeks ago of doing season two, but now it is a possibility with how big it has gotten.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
I think, you know, which I don't
Blessing
believe, by the way.
Barrett Corny
Yeah. You know, like the way this ended
Blessing
there, you know, there's gonna be a season two.
Barrett Corny
I. I don't know. To me personally, it's like I think Telltale got so. It got so tough to enjoy Telltale's series the longer they went. And I think it's because of these permutations.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Barrett Corny
And I think it's like, how do you even try to build a season two with how different things can end for so many people in. At the end of season one and have it actually be satisfying. So to me, like, I know this will probably be a, you know, a minority take, but like, I would personally, either different person's story in the world not containing these characters, or they're off to do a. A different thing and find a different level of gameplay to introduce from a different genre like the dispatching. Right.
Blessing
I don't.
Barrett Corny
To bring into.
Greg Miller
I'd be surprised if you think that's as a minority take as you think it is because again, like I've said a lot as we've talked more and more about Telltale now in recent months. Right. Of like, I think one of the big misses for them, as much as I love those games, is there never should have been. There should have been no more Clem after season one.
Blessing
Yeah.
Greg Miller
You know what I mean? Like the fact that we got multiple more seasons playing as Clem. Seeing Clem now there's a graphic novel of Clem. It took so much of the juice out of that ending.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
And so to end this here and have it be. That was your world. And then like, I would look at it if I'm in Ad Hoc's writers room of like, let's make another one and. Yeah, let's put it in New York or whatever. You know, you know, Hoboken, New Jersey, since they want to be in like Torrance, which if you're not familiar, is not a big LA town.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
You know what I mean? Put it into a smaller town over there. And yeah. It's the idea that, you know what? Now that track star's back. Because that's. I feel like. And that has to happen.
Barrett Corny
Right.
Greg Miller
He can't really die. He wants to get back in the race and so he's going to be dispatchable over here.
Barrett Corny
Right.
Greg Miller
And he comes with one other Team Z member. And they mention Robert, but they never go into the details of Jiri fucking let's all go to jail or he married her. You know what I mean? Like we don't have to do that kind of thing. Which I think would it's not. I don't think this ending is not so seared in my memory in the way of Walking Dead season one, which was so serious. Like this is a comedy. It is a bunch of stuff. Aaron Paul's so good at being Robert Robinson that if you're gonna you could just give me him as Mecha man too that he's being dispatched in Hoboken, New Jersey or whatever.
Barrett Corny
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Hey, why'd you move out here? I had a bad breakup. I don't want to talk about it. You know what I mean? Then just leave it at that. We then you as yourself color in the picture.
Barrett Corny
Like yeah, there's a bunch of stuff. There's ways to do it for sure.
Greg Miller
Yeah, we'll wait and see how they do that is the end of your spoiler cast for Dispatch, everybody. But it's not the end of this episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast. Of course, as I told you at the top of the show tomorrow, the one, the only Snowbike Mike is gonna walk me through his hour long demo of Arknights Enfield in a sponsored stream over on YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Twitch TV, kindafunnygames, podcast services around the globe. But we wanted to put the interview he did right here. So let me read my official blurb. Mike went down to LA to interview the team from Griffline about their upcoming game Arknights Enfield. He spoke with the game's producer and lead designer about their studio, the game, and all the upcoming features to be Showcased in beta test 2, launching November 28th. This of course, is Mike talking about the stuff that he would then go and play an hour of to show you tomorrow on stream. But right now it's just a fun Snowbike Mike interview. So we're gonna sign off here and this will close out your episode of the Kinda Funny gamescast. But remember, like subscribe Share Ring the bell. Leave a notification, Pick up a membership on YouTube.com kindafunnygames patreon.com kinda funny apple Spotify to get all of our episodes ad free. And of course tune back in tomorrow when we have a whole new programming day for you kicking off with Kinda Funny Games Daily. For now, we turn over to the master of height, Snowbike Mike.
Snowbike Mike
What's up everybody? It's Mike here in LA for a very fun sponsored segment. I'm here with the team from Griffline to highlight their upcoming title Arknights Enfield and I'm actually with some of the team behind the game to of course spotlight the game and talk about the upcoming beta test number two where players can jump back in and have some fun ahead of the release. Of course I am joined by Light Zhong the producer and lead designer Ryan. Guys, how are you you both feeling today and congratulations on the beta announcements.
Greg Miller
Yeah, really good, really exciting. Yeah, nervous but exciting.
Snowbike Mike
Exciting times is right. An awesome live stream showcasing beta test number two and of course we're here today to dive a little bit deeper into the game and talk about it. But of course I want to talk about you two first and the team at Griffline so of course Light tell me about your role, how long have you been with the team and some of your favorite stuff about the studio and team.
Greg Miller
I'm the co founder of the Hyper Grips so I have a long time being with this company and many things I did in the game is to to do the whole control about the game, to do the graphic design and also the players know I'm a UI designer in the game so I I always enjoy to make a wonderful UI design I can design for the players. That is really amazing about it.
Snowbike Mike
You got a lot going on. You are the guy to talk to then. That's very exciting. And of course we have Ryan here, lead designer. Ryan, tell me a little bit about yourself, your role with the team and how long you've been with Griffline.
Ryan
Yeah, I'm the lead designer of the
Greg Miller
Akni Enfield and also the Aknights the original title and I'm also one of the co founders of Hypergriph and so I'm in hypergriph since 2019.
Ryan
My part in this game is mainly on the system design and the engineering of the game.
Snowbike Mike
A lot for both of you is right so I got the right people here. So let's talk about the upcoming title of course Arknights Enfield. Right around the corner we have beta test 2 for some of the audience out there that might not be aware of the game. What is Arknights Enfield?
Ryan
Enfield is an extension work of Arknights in our next flagship to title. It is a large 3D real time tactical RPG making role playing a core gameplay element of the title. Players can play and feel like an RPG be the character they like as they battle and explore the world.
Snowbike Mike
Very exciting stuff there. The next Flagship title. It's exciting. Big stuff right there. Let's talk about the game because of course it is kind of team focused. I see you have four players, the whole party on the screen at all times. So what does that lead to? Combat wise and kind of bring something different to the genre as well.
Ryan
Having four characters on screen at once is interesting. The gameplay will be a lot more creative as it opens up a lot of tactical options. Players will need to select characters to build a team. Fighting as a team will make it easier for players to showcase multiple characters at once and this might be something that players are really interested in.
Snowbike Mike
Can you guys talk about some of the synergies? Maybe some of your favorite synergies. Different. Different party members teaming up together that you really enjoy.
Ryan
The first interesting team build would be the starting team given to players as they start the game from the beginning and progress through the stages. This team includes the administrator, Chen and Perlica. The administrator skill set is designed to trigger the combo skills of other characters making the Endman a core character of many team builds. In fact, while playing the game ourselves, the Endbin remains main core character of our team even till late game.
Snowbike Mike
Can you talk about the behind the scenes of also going from the first arknights? Do I need to know the story from the first game? Is this a spin off? And as well 2D to 3D? What kind of excitement is that?
Ryan
And field is actually extension work of Arknights so there are designs that is actually inherited from the original title. We are also trying to cater to new players who will be joining the Arknights universe in Anthony. So it is actually designed for both the old and the new players alike.
Snowbike Mike
You guys are going with mobile and console as well. What kind of excitement is there around the console market and space?
Ryan
While we're making Enfield we try to continue this challenge by adopting less of a mainstream artistic approach and more next gen so that it would look something like a major AAA title that I've always dreamed about. So when I play these AAA titles I set the controller down and I would say maybe I can do the same thing in Anfield and I open up Anfield. I look at what we did and of course there are some improvements to be made but I think we're definitely getting there. We are trying to get to AAA quality and I think it's actually within our reach. Justin liked mentioned that our artistic approach inclines towards realism. To achieve realism we would need an additional details but our game is an anime game. It's a cartoon game that Means we need to achieve a higher graphical fidelity to able to render these features of the game. To do so at the mobile devices and also at the top gaming PC rigs, this challenge actually becomes a lot harder.
Greg Miller
It's really hard to make, but it's really exciting to finish it.
Snowbike Mike
Of course you are constantly working. You are nearing the finish line. We have beta attest to coming out right around the corner. Can you talk about some of the inspirations behind the game? You talked about what motivated you seeing other games. Can you talk about some of your guys favorite inspirations that you brought into the title?
Ryan
Our earliest design inspiration is from our experience playing many factory and automation games. So people who play Anfield would directly notice that key titles of this genre such as Factorio Satisfactory and the Dyson Sphere Project and Mine Industry. This made us realize that there are plenty of options in creating this factory building game and Anfield actually allows these possibilities to come true. We tried to balance out the advantages and disadvantages of the other factory building titles and we did a few sacrifices here and there, but we also added a few gimmicks so that we can actually have more players who can enjoy factory building and according to their temperature. The other approach I must mention is from the visual approach. So we have plenty of inspiration for the visuals of Enfield. Things like Dune by David lynch and of course by Villeneuve. These offer plenty of inspirations for the graphics and scenes in Enfield. Of course I also enjoy a lot of works by Mr. Hideo Kojima.
Snowbike Mike
You guys have a lot going on and I think when fans fans see it they get very excited from the flashy combat, the awesome world and character designs. But you did bring up the kind of resource management slash factory builder that I really love and I get excited for. I'm recently playing Jurassic World Evolution 3, roller coaster tycoon, always right at Kerbal Space program. Trying to send my rocket up to space and I saw that. Fascinating that you already have so much going on in the game from exploration and combat and then to add on this factory side of things is really exciting. Can we talk a little bit more about that and what players will be doing on that side of the game?
Ryan
There are functions that the factory can provide as players play and they can set up automated production lines while making transformations to the world. They can also mine resources which can then be used to assemble equipment. They can make changes to the world so that they can travel around more easily.
Greg Miller
Easily.
Ryan
Players can also make a few combat towers by using the factory system and that's how the factory system segues itself together and meshes itself with the RPG system.
Snowbike Mike
You guys have done a really good job of. There's people excited like me to dive deeper into that and really go to a very deep level. And then there's also players that maybe just want to enjoy more of the combat and the RPG side of things. You guys created these blueprints inside of the factory system. Tell players hopefully like that. Can you talk a little bit more about that and kind of the ease of access with the blueprint system?
Ryan
Blueprint system is actually something that we think is kind of necessary for factory building games because it can really help players to get the most fun out of this type of gameplay. Blueprints will also help RPG players to ease off the stress of setting up their factory and make it easier for them to get in touch with the genre. Because not everyone plays factory games. And there is also a social element to the blueprint system. Skilled factory players can create blueprints that they can share with other players. Blueprint system to myself while I'm playing Anfield itself. It's an awesome tool to help me save what I did for my factory so far and it makes it easier and faster for me to try out new things, new design and it's easier to repair my big mistakes in case I can just reload a blueprint that I saved earlier.
Snowbike Mike
Can we talk about the Gacha system with characters and how you guys are approaching that and maybe looking at the fans feedback and how you'll work with that first.
Ryan
Gacha is a business model of a game. Games are more than just a business model. There are other gaming qualities to be focused on upon. Only a high quality title can win everyone's approval. When making games. Whether it is Gacha or not, I believe we should use our unique form of delivery to create a distinctive title that leaves a strong impression upon our players. This is why we came up with a game like arknights. We have this belief that the business model of the game should not be a barrier to gaming content. Player experience and action as to gameplay should not be hindered by it. So while making arknights, we follow the strict rule that non paying players can also have a complete gaming experience and various gameplay modes. In fact, such players should be able to engage in various gameplay constantly and even access content that is normally reserved for paying players. Our team has placed the fun of playing the game as one of our top priorities. We we don't want a player to feel excluded if they're playing with a paying character or non paying character. They should be able to get the fun by playing the game in the style they choose. Paying for the game shouldn't be the only way that they can get fun out of arknights or Anfield.
Snowbike Mike
Ryan, can you tell everybody out there when does the beta begin? When can they jump in?
Ryan
Yeah, it will begin November 28th.
Snowbike Mike
Guys, to wrap this up, you both are very busy and I appreciate you giving me your time and having some fun getting to know you guys in the games. Is there anything you'd like to end the show with? Out to the gamers out there about yourselves, the game, the team behind everything, arknights Enfield.
Greg Miller
I have a lot of things I want to say but first of all thank you for playing our games. Your support is really important for us. Please let me know what Tyler think about Enfield. We are waiting for your feedback. Thank you for supporting us. We are very confident about out developing continue to develop the field, develop the world into the very future. And thank you for joining us, joining the world of arcnights and archnects nfield thank you.
Snowbike Mike
Congratulations guys. We'll see you for the beta test and hopefully for launch very soon.
Episode Date: November 13, 2025
Hosts: Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Barrett Corny
Main Topic: Full season review of Dispatch – a superhero workplace comedy adventure game
This episode delivers a spoiler-free, in-depth discussion and review of Dispatch’s first season. The hosts—Greg, Blessing, and Barrett—break down their personal experiences across all eight episodes, touching on the game’s story, character dynamics, gameplay, and what makes Dispatch a standout in the adventure genre. The group reflects on choices made, their emotional resonance, and where Dispatch sits among narrative games this year. Key moments include debates on gameplay mechanics, representation, voice cast, and how well choices feel like they matter.
“Spoiler free review of Dispatch Season one. You assume there's gonna be season two. I know there's all these rumors. Now what we're gonna do is do that spoiler free, review it, give it a score, have some fun, talk it out, not get into specifics…”
— Greg Miller [05:09]
“Every choice you make feels like a consequential. This means something in terms of these character dynamics or... gameplay… I like dispatching so much that I would have taken another mode that was just the dispatching” ([16:29]).
“There are so many quotables in this game, right? So much good writing, so much good comedy… I’m laughing to myself.” – Blessing ([23:54])
On Narrative Engagement:
"I was blown away by it... This is overall, I think a 9 out of 10 amazing game. And I think to me this is easily a contender."
— Barrett Corny [10:46]
On Replay Value:
“Finishing this game was immediately like, I got to do another run. I want to do that other thing... I need to know that kind of shit. Like, this game is special.”
— Greg Miller [15:42]
On Choices and Consequence:
“This is so far the, I guess, biggest example of me coming out of a choose your own adventure game and being like, fuck, I really want to replay this and see what the other side looks like. Because the changes, the differences feel so dynamic.”
— Blessing [20:39]
On Influencer Voices:
“The subtle little moments... if y’ all take a moment to check out Alana’s Instagram reel where she talks about the Gip line... that was such... a small, small moment that you feel kind of the emotion behind it. And I think the voice directing team did a really good job of pulling everything they could out of these people who are not voice actors.”
— Barrett Corny [30:12]
Alana Pierce’s tribute:
“That was my stepdad’s last name. And they were like, do you want to give her a last name?... Now that is, like, immortalized in a game.”
— Alana Pierce (clip played and discussed) [32:13-33:15]
On Review Philosophy:
“What is the art trying to accomplish and how well does it accomplish that? All the little things... you can talk about on an objective scale or whatever, but I think this piece of art accomplishes what it sets out to do.”
— Barrett Corny [34:15]
“This is a team that learned a lot from their years at Telltale, and I think they've got a very bright future because they are no longer beholden to a shitty engine... I’m excited to see what their future…”
— Barrett Corny [36:41]
For full spoilers including dramatic choice consequences and alternate endings, check out the latter half of the episode!
Next up in this episode: An interview with the Arknights Enfield team (begins [76:07]).