Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

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Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review – Kinda Funny Gamescast (Dec 1, 2025)

Episode Overview

The Kinda Funny Gamescast crew—Andy Cortez (host), Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, and Barrett Courtney—gather to review Marvel Cosmic Invasion, the latest beat 'em up from Tribute Games (Shredder’s Revenge) and Dotemu. The discussion covers in-depth impressions, gameplay mechanics, character roster, comparisons to previous beat ‘em ups (especially TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge), strengths and weaknesses, and who the game is for. The episode features a lively, candid tone, mixing nostalgia, critical insight, and the group’s infectious humor.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Game Introduction & Context

• Game Details:
  • Developed by Tribute Games, published by Dotemu.
  • Released Dec 1, 2025 on PC, consoles, even Linux; available on Game Pass.
  • Retro-inspired, side-scrolling beat ‘em up featuring 15 Marvel heroes battling the Annihilation Wave across cosmic Marvel locales.
• Critical Reception:
  • 82 on Open Critic at show start; fluctuated to 79 on PC (04:11).

2. Review Scores & Overall Impressions

• Tim Gettys:
  • Platform: Steam (split between PC, TV, Steam Deck)
  • Playtime: ~12 hours, two full playthroughs, various characters
  • Score: 7.5/10
    • “Some games are 7.5 and that's okay... they're awesome.” (07:21)
    • “A highly recommended 7.5.”
    • Compares unfavorably in some ways to Shredder’s Revenge, but shines with variety in characters and Marvel flair.
    • Praises audiovisual experience and fun factor despite “not the most innovative.”
• Greg Miller:
  • Platform: Steam (Rog Ally and Razer Blade 16 to play on TV with son Ben)
  • Playtime: ~5 hours, co-op with son except for final levels
  • Score: 7/10
    • “I feel it's kind of a flat experience... the first level is just like the last.”
    • Less replay incentive than Shredder’s Revenge.
    • Loved as a “love letter to Marvel,” more for playing with others than solo longevity. (12:00)
• Barrett Courtney:
  • Recommends Shredder’s Revenge for genre newcomers.
  • “It’s short, it’s simple, and... kind of forgettable. But it’s a 7/10—good.” (16:41)

Memorable Quote

“Some games are 7.5 and that's okay... they're awesome. This is a highly recommended 7.5.”
— Tim Gettys [07:21]

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3. Strengths: What the Game Does Well

• Visuals and Art Direction:
  • “Pixel art design is so beautifully realized” – Tim (19:16)
  • CRT filter options acclaimed as “the best in-game CRT filter I’ve ever seen.” (19:45)
• Authentic Marvel Presentation:
  • Full cast of iconic voices (Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Josh Keaton as Spider-Man).
  • “Hearing Storm and it being her voice... just takes it up so much higher.” – Tim (20:54)
  • Loads of Marvel vs Capcom references and authentic nostalgia baked in.
• Crossplay and Online Features:
  • Fully crossplay, easy to set up parties/public/private, and join with codes. (21:58)
• Gameplay Depth through Roster:
  • 15 playable Marvel heroes, each feeling unique (not just skin-swaps).
  • Tag-team mechanics evoke Marvel vs Capcom spirit (34:07).
  • Unlocking new characters through in-game progress (24:17).
• Accessibility for Newcomers:
  • Forgiving and approachable beat ‘em up, not punishing for new or young players. (15:48)
  • “Very forgiving... you are incentivized to switch out so much.” — Greg (15:48)

Memorable Quote

“This is Marvel... the amount of callouts to specific moves or voice lines... there’s so much love there, they 10 out of 10 nailed that stuff.”
— Tim Gettys [21:20]

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4. Weaknesses & Criticisms

• Pacing & Variety:
  • “I really do feel the first level is just like the last... not necessarily a bad thing, just flatter experience.” — Greg (12:00)
  • Lacks the varied “set pieces” of TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge.
  • “Definitely needed more [gameplay breakups]; there was one section in particular I was like, oh, this is cool but we really don’t get much more than that.” — Tim (14:34)
• Soundtrack:
  • “Not my favorite T. Lopes soundtrack... good, but not stand out.” — Tim (22:56)
  • Doesn’t hit the iconic highs of Turtles in Time or Capcom’s 90s Marvel fighters.
• Replay Value:
  • Leveling is quick, which can diminish long-term engagement.
  • “Was surprised how fast I leveled up to 10... not motivated to come back.” — Greg (12:00)
• Enemy/Level Design:
  • Enemy variety mainly “what you’d expect from a beat ‘em up... the same guys over and over, different colors.” — Tim (26:02)
  • Some aerial/ground combat issues persist: “Still had issues... of lining up what plane I was on.” — Greg (27:01)
• Boss Fights:
  • Fun, but not notably memorable or innovative compared to genre standouts.

Memorable Quote

“I felt Shredder’s Revenge varied things up... Cosmic Invasion, the first level is just like the last.”
— Greg Miller [12:00]

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5. Detailed Character Roster Discussion (32:55 onwards)

• Roster Highlights:
  • Spidey, Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Black Panther, Cap, She-Hulk, Jean Grey, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Venom, and more.
  • No major secrets; all unlocks are story-driven.
• Playstyles:
  • Each hero feels distinct—varying aerial vs ground strengths, move sets, and combos.
  • Tag-team system gives flexibility (switch between two at any time; Marvel vs Capcom-coded).
  • Standouts:
    • Rocket Raccoon: Grenade with random effects; fun, chaotic play. (35:01)
    • Cosmic Ghost Rider: (“The Punisher, but Ghost Rider, from an alternate universe”; 35:48)
    • Cap: “Very well-rounded... Mario of the game” — Tim (40:03)
    • Jean Grey: Major favorite for Greg once unlocked.
• Unlocks:
  • Progression-based—defeat bosses, then unlock them for play.
  • Colorways available (no alternate costumes due to pixel art limitations).

Memorable Quote

“Cap is the Mario... you get a parry, projectile, aerial, ground options. Most well-rounded.”
— Tim Gettys [40:03]

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6. Audience Questions & Recommendations

• For Beat ’em Up Newcomers:
  • “I would recommend Shredder's Revenge probably over this... if you’re looking to get back into the genre.” — Barrett (16:35)
• Comic Recommendations:
  • For cosmic/Annihilus theme, both Barrett and Greg reference the “Annihilation” Marvel event (43:38).
  • Devs published a "best comics to read" video on YouTube (43:27).
• Game Length:
  • Not a long game—can be finished in several hours. Not much grind required for unlocks or level-ups.

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7. Final Thoughts & Closing

• Consensus:
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a vibrant, accessible co-op beat ’em up, lovingly steeped in Marvel nostalgia. Strong recommendation for fans, especially in co-op, but less essential for solo players or those seeking deep gameplay variety.
• Best Use Case:
  • Great party game, pick-up-and-play with friends, kids, or online groups (crossplay makes it easy).
• Replay & DLC:
  • Game's simplicity may limit replay. Hopes for future DLC for deeper roster.
• Comparison:
  • “Highly recommended 7.5,” but TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge remains the gold standard in recent beat ‘em ups for the crew.

Memorable Quotes

“If you're a Marvel fan, there's a lot to love here. I don't think you're gonna regret your time with this.”
— Tim Gettys [45:24]

“It's a love letter to Marvel for sure.”
— Greg Miller [12:00]

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• Game Overview & Release Details: 04:25–05:41
• Review Scores & First Impressions: 06:57–09:21
• Playing with Family (Greg & Ben): 09:43–10:48
• Critical Comparisons to Shredder’s Revenge: 12:00–13:27
• Visuals and CRT Filter Praise: 19:16–21:49
• Fan Q&A – Best for Newcomers?: 15:33–16:26
• Character Roster & Mains: 32:55–39:57
• Colorways & Unlockables: 40:40–41:15
• Closing Thoughts & Party Game Value: 45:24–46:06

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Summary Table: Quick Reference

| Reviewer | Platform | Hours Played | Score (10) | Core Takeaway | |-------------------|------------|-------------|------------|--------------------------------------| | Tim Gettys | Steam/Deck | ~12 | 7.5 | High fun, loaded with Marvel love. | | Greg Miller | Steam | ~5 | 7 | Flatter, best with friends/family. | | Barrett Courtney | – | – | 7 | Good, not as standout as Turtles. |

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Conclusion

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a colorful, nostalgic beat 'em up best experienced with friends or family. It boasts a lovingly crafted Marvel aesthetic, a sizable varied roster, and perfect co-op setup—though it doesn’t quite hit the same high-water marks for variety and replay value as Shredder’s Revenge. If you want to relive or discover the joy of arcade brawlers in the Marvel Universe, this is a safe, fun pick—just don’t expect genre-defining heights.

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For more specifics—like which character to main or how the unlocks flow—refer back to the Character Roster Discussion (32:55+).

Transcript

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[Greg Miller]

Breathe.

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Andy Cortez]

Hey, new girl. Hey.

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[Andy Cortez]

For a new plant to grow, the

[Tim Gettys]

seed has to die.

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

Hello gamers. Welcome to the Kinda Funny Games cast for Monday, December 1, 2025. I'm Andy Cortez and I'm joined by Tim Geddes. Hello, Greg Miller.

[Greg Miller]

Hello.

[Andy Cortez]

What are you all here to do?

[Tim Gettys]

Marvel baby.

[Greg Miller]

We're here to review Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

[Tim Gettys]

Nope.

[Greg Miller]

Shit. What? Cosmic Invasion.

[Andy Cortez]

I played the wrong one. No, it's Marvel baby. This is the Kind of Funny Games cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in video games. Live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcast to get all of our shows ad free. Watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show. For a chance to be a part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats. Make sure you get those in throughout the show. Get all your questions in for Greg Miller and Tim Gettys because they played the heck out of Marvel Cosmic Invasion. As a reminder, we're in 11 parts of business all about live talk shows. Cave GD talked about some stuff but I was building this this doc and building game of the year assets game

[Greg Miller]

award leaks, rumors, predictions, that kind of thing.

[Andy Cortez]

Of course, of course.

[Greg Miller]

Do you want. What would you want out of a new Dead Rising that isn't a reboot. It's more Frank West.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, what I would say is that the only prediction I care about is control resident. That's the only thing.

[Greg Miller]

We talked about that too.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh baby.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh baby.

[Greg Miller]

What do you think it is?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean it's going to look sick as shit. That's all I know. It's going to look really. Really.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. We're doing our predictions episode next week for Is that right? Next Dang Awards next week. Oh, that's crazy. That's exciting.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I mean it's usually like on the 6th or 7th like so I thought it was much sooner but this time we're in the double digits for the day.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Which is much nicer.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. I'm excited, man.

[Andy Cortez]

After this is the kind of funny podcast and then following that we're doing a little group stream. We're playing Marvel Cosmic Invasion together and

[Greg Miller]

we're giving away copies of the game. Oh, I saw the clarified if they sent this fight stick they wanted us to give away.

[Tim Gettys]

Very cool.

[Greg Miller]

Might have a fight stick to give

[Andy Cortez]

away to if you're kind of funny member Today's Greg Way is 15 minutes behind the scenes of Greg's Marvel Cosmic Invasion review. Thank you to our Patreon producers Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin with topic of the show. It's our Marvel Cosmic Invasion review. This game was developed by Tribute Games and published by Emu Dotemu.

[Tim Gettys]

You don't know is what I say. The goats is what I.

[Greg Miller]

And we're going to keep saying that.

[Andy Cortez]

And the game's available everywhere by the way. It's even it's available on Linux as well. Like this. This. You can get this anywhere you want to.

[Greg Miller]

Is that a joke? Is that real?

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

It is.

[Greg Miller]

Really?

[Andy Cortez]

Absolutely.

[Tim Gettys]

Game pass correct?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I think so.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I believe so. Available today, December 1st. It's a beat em up single player multiplayer game. The Steam description goes as follows. A cosmic battle awaits. Choose between 15 Marvel superheroes and in this frenetic action beat them up to fight against the deadly annihilation wave threatening the galaxy from New York City to the depths of the negative Zone. The future of Marvel Universe will be fought for across the stars. You looking up info on game pass?

[Greg Miller]

Just double checking. Just double checking for everybody.

[Andy Cortez]

I love that, Tim. This is a weird type of embargo review period, because I feel like you played this game in June. Like, you played this along.

[Greg Miller]

Shout out to them.

[Tim Gettys]

I know, exactly. Actually kind of. It's kind of the best thing ever, because, yeah, as you all know, we were very excited for Marvel Cosmic Invasion when it was first announced, I'm pretty sure at a Nintendo Direct. And it was like, oh, wow, this looks super rad. So we had our eyes on it. They kept announcing a bunch of characters. I got to host the ComicCon panel,

[Andy Cortez]

which was a lot fun.

[Tim Gettys]

So that was great. And we. We had our eyes, but the question was, when's the release date? They're saying it's this year. Are we going to start not believing that? And as we got closer and closer, they're like, hey, rest assured, it's this year. And we're like, but really, though. And then all of a sudden, it's like, hey, here's the review code. Like, a month ago, we had this game for a. Almost an entire month, which. Shout out to y'.

[Andy Cortez]

All.

[Tim Gettys]

That was awesome for us to be able to have so much time to. To play through this. That is not how this normally goes in the industry. So Tribute Games, two thumbs up from your great job.

[Andy Cortez]

Tribute Games. Right now on Open Critic, it's sitting at an 82.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay, cool.

[Andy Cortez]

Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Both of you guys played it 79 on PC.

[Greg Miller]

This might have updated while you were alive, though.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, wow. Okay. It was. It was 82 about four minutes ago before the show started.

[Barrett Courtney]

Open Critic, Craig.

[Greg Miller]

Open Critic. My apologies.

[Andy Cortez]

It's okay, man.

[Greg Miller]

Wow, what a nice sweatshirt. Where can I get that?

[Andy Cortez]

Nitro rifle dot com.

[Greg Miller]

Cool.

[Andy Cortez]

All available in stock right now. So Greg and Tim, both of y' all played this video game?

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Andy Cortez]

And so did Barrett over there. Now, I want to hear from Tim first, since he was the first to play it and beat it. What platform did you play on? How long did it take you to beat it? And what is your review scale or what's your review score on the kind of funny review scale?

[Tim Gettys]

I played it on Steam, so a combination of my PC, like on my tv and a lot of my Steam deck as well. But I did try to play as much on the TV as possible because for anybody that knows me, this game is very much my shit in terms of audios and visuals and all of that stuff. And I wanted it by, by my boy T. Lopes. So of course I want to hear that thing banging in my home theater. So I played on my Steam deck when I had to. It runs amazingly on the Steam deck, so I do highly recommend it there. But I am the target audience for the audio visual experience that this game provides. So yeah, a little, little bit of 50, 50 there. I played probably like 12 hours total of this game. Played through the whole thing twice, unlocked all the little bonuses that they allow you to do. Played as a ton of the different characters. Wanted to level them all up. I really, really love this game. I do think that it is a 7.5 out of 10 on the kind of funny scale, somewhere between good and great. But it's a very highly recommended 7.5. I, I think that that is a score that I don't want to dissuade you from playing the game. I think that some games are 7.5 and that's okay. And that's. It's. It's more than okay. You know, they're awesome. Yeah. And I think this is a great example of that. I do think that that number comes a little bit in direct comparison to their previous work with Ninja Turtle, Shredder's Revenge. And I think there are some things about this game that don't reach the highs that that game did. Having said that, I do think this game does something very different and is way more like a Marvel fighting game from the Marvel tag team fighting game from the 90s in a side scrolling beat em up kind of form. And it works incredibly well. Being able to play as two characters yourself and be able to get different gameplay experiences, how varied all the characters are is so impressive both in moveset and also the character roster that they have and the story mode that they, they present gives a great way and in kind of incentivizes you to play as different characters as you go. And so lot of wins. I think that the. There's a lot of fun to be had here. I played it entirely by myself actually. I played with G for like a little bit and it just like she's, you know, it wasn't for her at the end of the day, but I had a great time. Can't wait to play it with y' all later today.

[Andy Cortez]

Very cool. Tim or Greg Miller.

[Tim Gettys]

Hi.

[Andy Cortez]

You also played this?

[Greg Miller]

That's right.

[Andy Cortez]

Where did you play it? Location? Like house? Living room? No. What platform did you play it on? I do see your Rog Ally so I kind of can guess right there. What platform did you play it on? How long does it take you to beat it? And what would be your score on the kind of funny review scale?

[Greg Miller]

I also played this on Steam. Of course. That's where codes are available. And of course, with the Rag Ally, I want everything with me. The majority of the time, though, was played on the razor blade 16, the Razer Gaming laptop I have, because I was running that on the giant TV downstairs. Because this is actually a watershed moment.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, man.

[Greg Miller]

In the history of Greg Miller reviews, this is the first review I've ever done alongside Ben. Where. What. How many levels are there? 16, 18, something like that.

[Andy Cortez]

Why do we call it watershed moment?

[Greg Miller]

Google that. And what's most impressive about it is since we had it for so long and I didn't have the gun to my head to review, and there's been a million other reviews to do, this is the one that every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Ben looks at me and goes, can we play video games? And we go, yeah, you can. We go downstairs, we play video games. And we would play this in those pieces of going through and do it. And we did everything together with the exception of the last three levels. I could not motivate Ben. The past two weekends to do it, he has been all about Spider Man 2, which he's been playing his entire life.

[Andy Cortez]

Nice.

[Greg Miller]

But now he's just found a new rhythm with it of being able to do just about everything on his own now.

[Tim Gettys]

That's great.

[Greg Miller]

He wants to play that. So yesterday was like, Ben, remember? We gotta. We gotta finish our review. We gotta finish our review. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One more crime, one more crime, one more crime. And then before you know, it's time to go upstairs for dinner. So, yeah, I would say.

[Tim Gettys]

What?

[Greg Miller]

My steam clock puts me just under five hours with it.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

I am pretty much exactly in line with Tim. I think this is a good game. I would give it a flat seven because I feel, again, let's be careful with our adjectives and words here and listen to the entire conversation. I feel it's kind of a flat experience. Like, I don't feel Shredder's Revenge. It's going to come up a bunch in this, Right. I played Cosmic Invasion at SGF Summer Game Fest. Right. Looked at them and said, wow, I didn't know. You know, I've been turned off to beat em ups in the past because as a kid, I didn't like how I didn't line up. I'd get frustrated and I stopped playing. Is Shredder's Revenge like this they said yes. I downloaded on Game Pass, immediately started playing it, introduced it to Ben, which is why he was excited for this. But even Ben the other day was like, can we play Shredder's Revenge over this? I felt Shredder's Revenge varied things up a little bit more and kept me like, oh, I don't know what the next level is going to be or what's. Blah, blah, Cosmic Invasion. I really do feel the first level is just like the last level. And this isn't a bad thing.

[Tim Gettys]

They're fun.

[Greg Miller]

I'm excited for the stream today. I want to play with everybody, but I was expecting more out of it in terms of, like, I really thought, I like Shredder's Revenge. I like the Ninja Turtles. I love Marvel. And so I had really had, in the same way, playing Shredder's Revenge, like, oh, man, I'm going to want to rerun this without Ben and level up my Turtles and do the whole thing. I was like, I'm going to want to do that with everybody in Cosmic Invasion. And this game hasn't been hard for me to put down at the end of those Ben sessions and wait for Ben. I thought it was going to be one of those where I'd, like, have to fake it and be like, oh, yeah, let's go back. That's the level we left off on, right? It hasn't been. And so when I wrapped up on it, like, once we're done here, like, this will be. This sounds so harsh, and I don't mean it to, but just to talk a little bit, like, I'm not going to go back and replay the other guys. Like, I'm not. Like, I was surprised how fast I leveled up to 10, 10 being the cap. Captain America hit it so quick. She Hulk, I think, hit it really quick or is right about there. Sometimes Ben wants somebody I got to switch off. You know what I mean? Let me tell you, Ben's not great at this game, but he's good. So it's one of those, like, I expected this to be like, oh, man, I'm going to beat it. And I'm going to rerun it and rerun it and get all the extras and do all the. And I just don't have that vibe with it. I played it, I enjoyed it. I'm excited to play it with you all today. If it was that Poe picked it up and was like, hey, do you want to jump online? I'd be like, oh, fuck, yeah, I'd love to do that. But as a game itself, I'm not motivated to come back. And again, I'm not the biggest beat em up side scroller guy die. So maybe there's part of that. But I think it's a flat seven. I think it's good. I think it's a love letter to Marvel for sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Jumping off that real quick. One thing that I really liked about how quick it is to level up is because there's so many characters. I really do feel like this game incentivizes you to switch it up and then get all the characters leveled up as you're playing through the story, even just one time. And, and I, I guess, yeah, sticking to one character might be a very different experience than if you were to change it up. And, and the way the game works is every level kind of has two heroes that the story is kind of based on. Like that level story is this one, she Hulk and Rocket Raccoon and then the next one's Captain America and Iron man. And they tell you that with like a little like cut scene or just you know, kind of like story static image thing. And I would always choose those two characters for, for that mission. And I think the game did a good job of varying it up between the different duos to by the end of it I already had most people leveled up and I thought that was like a smart way to handle that. And in terms of the gameplay different like switching up, like I'm totally with you like Ninja Turtles. I feel like every couple levels had a different type of vehicle level or a different type of like set piece thing. And this game has a couple of them and I really liked the ones

[Greg Miller]

that they had but love see more.

[Tim Gettys]

Definitely needed more. Definitely, definitely needed break up. Yeah, exactly. There was a like one section in particular I was like, oh, this is cool but we really don't get much more than that.

[Greg Miller]

And I even spoilers and I mean you've played so much more so I don't think. But tell me if I'm wrong. And off the market like the ending,

[Tim Gettys]

I really was let down by the end. And direct comparison to Shredder's Revenge. I don't think the end is bad.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Tim Gettys]

It does just kind of end though in a way that I thought we were going to get more and more and we didn't. But I do think that to be positive about it, that what it doesn't have in crazy switch ups of gameplay styles with set pieces, it does with the characters. I feel like each character plays so Radically different and way more like a fighting game than a beat em Up. That the different gameplay style stuff is in the switching between the characters. And because of that, I was like, all right, cool. I get what they were doing here and I think that it really worked. It's just a best of both worlds would be ideal.

[Andy Cortez]

Napoleon blown apart with a $5 super chat. Thank you for your $5 super chat asks. I couldn't get into beat em ups. I'm 36, so I was in the era of the genre's peak.

[Tim Gettys]

Sure.

[Andy Cortez]

It just never stuck. Is this good for a newcomer?

[Greg Miller]

I. I am a newcomer to a degree. I played back in the day, like I said, and got frustrated with it. Be something special like a Death and return a Super Mario. Like, I'm committed, I'm playing through this, I'm doing this. I feel like, yes, this is a very forgiving one where again, like, to Tim's point, which I think is a pro, not a con, you are incentivized to switch out so much that when I got Jean Grey and I realized she was awesome, I didn't feel like, well, fuck, I need to go back from level one and play all the way to make her power. I just dropped her in and went and did the thing. But it does lead out the fact of, like, I also, especially without Ben, never failed at a boss. Like, I just went through and did everything and beat everybody. And again, that's me not being an expert at this new.

[Andy Cortez]

What are the options look like when it comes to difficulty? Well, we'll answer that question a little bit later. I skipped over Barrett. Courtney.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, sorry. I was just wanting to shout out the Super Chat. I would personally recommend Shredder's Revenge probably over this.

[Greg Miller]

I would agree.

[Barrett Courtney]

If you're looking for something to get you try to tantalize you back into this genre. Right. Tim talked about it a little bit earlier. I think I could sum up Marvel Cosmic Invasion, my thoughts as a whole with how I felt about the last level, which I think is. It's short, it's simple, and when I walk away from it, it's kind of forgettable. And I think it's. I think it's a 7 out of 10. Good. Obviously, like what they're going for with, you know, the Arcade Vision mixed with the kind of fighter kind of combat that you have here, really kind of hits these nostalgic notes that don't feel like unearned. They feel like they hit those notes correctly and in a way that it brings you back to being in an arcade in really fun ways. I think as a follow up to Shredder's Revenge, like Greg was saying, I feel like a lot of this game does feel flat and I didn't really see like a lot of. For me personally myself, I didn't feel a lot of those. Those highs that I got out of Shredder's Revenge and then yeah, to bring it back to that last level. Right. Like, I remember when we played Shredder's Revenge on stream, it was me and Mike for a majority of it. And the whole goal was to try to beat it in one sitting and do the stream only in three hours. And we were stuck on this last level and it kept getting more and more crazy and hectic with phases. We're like, oh shit, we're about to run out of time. And then Roger came in at the last second because it was like, you know, pick up and play even like online and shit. And he came in and he saved us and it was just such this epic moment. And the game design with Shredder's Revenge allowed for that. Whereas I don't know if Cosmic Invasion really, even though I played this on my own, a very different experience. I was thinking about like, I don't know if this game has enough to have really cool moments like that, which was kind of a big letdown for me for sure. But I, I do think it's a solid beat em up, great art style, solid soundtrack. Again, that was another aspect that I felt like I was a little bit let down by for. For coming off of Shredder's Revenge.

[Andy Cortez]

So I saw a comment from picto in the YouTube chat who said, I feel like I'll probably just wait for a sale or you can wait to try to get a giveaway when. When we stream it later after the kind of funny podcast. So stick around for that I. To talk about where the game sort of falls short in and places that maybe didn't live up to highs where you would expect from a beat em up like this.

[Tim Gettys]

I want to take that in completely different direction because I feel. I feel like we're coming off negative. But there's a lot of positives that I want to shout out about this experience and one of, one of those. God, it's gorgeous. Yeah, exactly. It's like the pixel art design is so beautifully realized. Like this is. They put so much effort into the animations and look of all these characters and backgrounds are so varied. I love the different locations you go to. It's some of the Marvel classes classics you'd expect, but more often than not they are the. If this is cosmic invasion, this is a side of Marvel that we're not getting much of in the movies. We've kind of dabbled here and there in the MCU side of things, but we're getting a lot of different places I thought were very well realized here. And beautiful in pixel art and all that stuff. Some really cool visual techniques throughout the game. I really want to give a shout out to the CRT filter because that is so big of a part of the nostalgic experience here. And I think this is by far the best in game CRT filter I've ever seen. There's multiple options. You can play just like clear 4K, beautiful, no filter at all. Or you can have a old school CRT filter or you could have the curved CRT filter. And depending if I was playing on the TV or the Steam deck, I would change it up. I think the curved on a handheld device is unreal beautiful. Like it is so damn impressive. And on the big tv I would just have the CRT without the curve because I think the curve kind of got in the way. But they give you those options. Clearly they understood but very impressed with that stuff. Sometimes I don't like the filters because it kind of just feels like you're just putting something on top of it as opposed to it like being part of the experience. This feels like it was designed with that in mind and it really, it feels like the 90s experience that we had in the arcades. But on top of that, the one production level that this game has that Turtles doesn't is the voices and you're going through the levels. These characters are talking. The turtles are talking. That's cool. That's great. The characters here talking. It's Cal Dodd. It's Wolverine from the X Men animated series. It's Storm. It is Spectacular Spider Man. Josh Keaton as Spider Man. Like it. There's an authenticity to it all that I think really kind of takes it to another level of like, man, this is Marvel. The amount of call outs to specific moves or voice lines or whatever from Marvel vs Capcom 1 Street Fighter vs X Men. Like all those games, like there's so much love there that I really feel like they 10 out of 10 nailed that stuff. Hearing Storm and it being her voice is. It just takes it up so much higher for me. So yeah, I just wanted to give a shout out to those things because I really think that those are standouts above Turtles.

[Andy Cortez]

Were there any Moments.

[Greg Miller]

Toss out one other if you don't mind. Just the other thing I want to call out because we need to get flowers and why this game is good and obviously looks how it plays and feels.

[Andy Cortez]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Another great one is online crossplay enabled. And of course when you go to start you can hit on controller Y and party up right there. Make a public thing, make a friends thing, make a private thing. You can make it and then it gives you just the room code. So if it is that you were on stream and you wanted to do it. I wanted to just fuck around at an airport on WI fi, throw it out on bs. That's a blue sky. You can do that and have that ready to go. Even if you're running into a boss that you're having trouble with being able to do. I think that's really cool.

[Andy Cortez]

I wanted to ask if there were any moments that, you know, when we think back to class classic beat em ups like Turtles in Time or anything like that where you feel like one of this level's visuals mixed with soundtrack could stand the test of time is like oh, this is an all timer right here. Where the beat kicks in, the music kicks in and it's like I'm going to remember this level in the way that I remember Alley Cat Blues or like any of those are the. Were there any big moments like that

[Tim Gettys]

I'd say unfortunately no. I'm. I'm with Barrett that this isn't my favorite soundtrack of. Of this genre and especially in recent times. It's not my favorite T lope soundtrack either. I think it's very good. I think it's like more than just okay, it's good but it's just not stand out in that way you're talking about of like oh man, these songs I specifically if I hear them I know it's Turtle in Time. Turtles in time also has 30 years of hearing those songs and the references. But I also think that like and this is just me being in the most nitpicky I could possibly be about this stuff. It's just I. I wish it leaned a bit more into that Marvel vs. Capcom one sound. Like there's like a certain just sound design philosophy that those games have with these like really crunchy overdriven guitar sounds. And this I feel like is a bit more quote unquote what you'd expect from a Marvel side scroller beat him up in 2025. That's retro as opposed to that. The love of this is a Marvel tag team fighter inspired thing from a Soundtrack perspective and I, I still love the songs. Like I'm saying, it's just there, there's. I personally wish they went a slightly different direction sound wise. But yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

When they talk about the player count, the amount of characters you can select.

[Tim Gettys]

Are.

[Andy Cortez]

Are any of them unlocked from the beginning? Are any of them secret? I don't want to get into spoilers.

[Greg Miller]

None of them are secret. All 15 have been revealed to my knowledge right now. But you do unlock them as you play.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

And it's awesome.

[Andy Cortez]

I think in. In what way? Like are we talking like it's a very kind of organic story based thing.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And it's a lot of the times and this is not spoilers. They've said this already but it's like you face off against a boss and then you get that character. That's not true every time. But there are majority of them, I would say the, the characters, as you unlock them you are facing them off, facing off against them. And what I love about that is they're using the move sets so you then you get to face off against this boss. They're doing all these cool moves and then the next mission you can choose to play as them and use those moves that were just being used against you. And I, I found that very cool.

[Andy Cortez]

Are the boss patterns just. Does it feel like you're just smash bros fighting against somebody else or are they doing anything different of. You know, when we talk about memorable boss fights with like you know of it's gonna send out a red beam. You gotta jump at the right time. Are they doing anything different or is it like that's the moveset that they.

[Tim Gettys]

These are tried and true beat them up boss fights. But I do think there's two camps. There's the boss fights that are just purely boss fights and there's the boss fights that are going to become playable characters. And they do feel distinctly different in how they fight. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

If you're gonna unlock the playable character, they're gonna be using the moves you'll be using with them. If you're playing. If you block that person, they're doing more of like oh, this is the beam I can't, I can't block. So I got to get out of the way of. But I know that that means she's going to go down there and throw out her whip or something like that after and I got to be in position to do this.

[Andy Cortez]

Led with a super chat asks how is the enemy variety? Do aerial and ground based enemies feel different? And also just from a Look, standpoint, are you seeing are do any of the different locales offer a lot of different enemy variety?

[Tim Gettys]

Aesthetic wise, any enemy variety is what you would expect from a beat em up which is say not. Yeah, it's the same guys over and over that are slightly different colors. But to the second part of the question of the aerial versus ground, I think that this is by far the best gameplay experience I've had with dealing with aerial enemies versus ground enemies because of the tag team nature of the game. Like you can have a character that their moveset is very ground based and another that's very aerial based and being able to switch to deal with them gets rid of that frustration that you have often. And I had a lot with turtles where there are these like flying, you know, drones or whatever and you're trying to hit them with a sword but

[Andy Cortez]

like you're doing the jump hit and.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes. Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

And like being able to do the flow, like the flow of a combo. Yeah, like really helps with that. Like on a gameplay wise enemy variety I think hits really well in this game. But then yeah, what you're saying, like visually it's like these are the group of enemies that we're gonna do over and over again.

[Tim Gettys]

All right.

[Greg Miller]

But they're analysis boys. What are you gonna do? Yeah, I still had. I agree with what you're saying in terms of the flying people are a solution to the flying people. But I would still have issues once I was in the air of lining up on what plane I was with where and that would annoy me here and there. Not enough to ruin the experience. But it was callbacks to why I don't like beat em ups off. I was like, I thought this was gonna solve it more than it did. But later in even being Jean Grey up in the sky, I was like, I'm. He's the back row and I'm the front. You know, stuff out. I hate that crowd.

[Andy Cortez]

I really want to talk about what characters y' all mained throughout your journey, which was the ones you recommend the most. But we'll talk about that after a word from our sponsors.

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[Tim Gettys]

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[Andy Cortez]

Afraid Soup 2467 writes on Reddit Imagine a real river whose flow is split into two smaller rivers by a mountain or something similar. If you're in a boat approaching that mountain, your choice is going to the left or right will affect everything down the line, and you'll probably end up in a completely different lake, river or ocean shortly after. That's the metaphor behind the phrase watershed moment. Thank you.

[Greg Miller]

Afraid things will never be the same.

[Andy Cortez]

And thank you also Omega Buster for your Super Chat. Earlier sending that in, but I had already found the Reddit comments. So like, you know, leave the

[Barrett Courtney]

thank

[Andy Cortez]

you for the $10 super chat. Very, very supportive of you. Let's talk characters, because this game's got a bunch of them and I remember the lead up to it. We're kind of looking and waiting for the more memorable ones, but suddenly I see Beta Ray Bill. I'm like who the fuck is this guy? So let's hear about the character roster. Let's talk.

[Tim Gettys]

Talk.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, maybe, you know, some of these are going to be deep cuts, but some of them definitely more memorable. What were some of your bigger takeaways from the character roster?

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, it's me. So going in, I gotta start with Spidey, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Like that.

[Tim Gettys]

That's my. My baseline. I'm pretty sure Spidey's even one of the recommended level one characters that they have you play.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

The first level, main level is New York. So it's like Spidey and Nova, I think, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Yes.

[Tim Gettys]

Is that right? Yeah. And I thought that was great. And it's. It's Josh Keaton Man. I'm like, I am such a fan of Josh Keaton Spidey. This is the one that Nick man jokingly hates. Yes, exactly. But it's Spectacular Spider man. And that's always been my favorite voice for. For Spider man. And he does such a great job in this game. I don't love Spidey's moveset in this. It's cool. It's fine. But, like, the swinging has just never really been for me. So it's unfortunate, as such a huge Spider man fan, that I don't like the play style. But this game makes that okay because you can always switch between two characters. And then, like I was saying, every level I'm switching up.

[Andy Cortez]

But I. Yeah, I. I guess. Before we dive a little bit deeper, I wanted to talk and ask you all about the. Like, how many of these characters are just analogs for each other and how much of them are like.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, no, no, no.

[Tim Gettys]

There are so many similarities, obviously, because of what this game is. Every character is different in some way. Like whether it's the balance between their aerial versus ground or even just the way their aerial functions. Like, sure two might have a big beam that they're shooting across the screen, but one of the beams stops when it hits one person. The other beam goes through the other people and the amount of damage being done, like, there's just a lot of, like, combat strategy. And this game is all about the fun, stylish combos. Like, this game rewards you for putting in the work to, like, come up with. With cool. And especially with the tag team nature of it all. It's. It's very Marvel vs Capcom coded, which I think is to its benefit for sure.

[Andy Cortez]

So you started off with son or the. Sorry, I'm looking at something in our KFGD chat. So you started off with quite a bit. And who else were you kind of messing around with?

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, like I said, I was really bouncing between everybody. Like there, I think wasn't really too many characters that I didn't like. But the two biggest surprises for me were Rocket Raccoon. Really, really enjoyed how fun his moveset was. One of his moves is like a grenade that he throws out. And it kind of is a random type of elemental effect that it's doing. So, like switching out, you could have this like giant, like, nuke, essentially, or it can kind of just be like a smaller shock one. And I just like how it like varied things up with the enemies because when there are just swarms of similar enemies coming at you, it's fun to see kind of different effects on them. And the cosmic Ghost Rider was the biggest surprise for me. I'm very unfamiliar with that character, but I've learned a lot in the last couple of weeks. Somebody, I think it was Langley. I'm nearly telling me it's actually the Punisher. Oh, really?

[Greg Miller]

I forgot all about that.

[Tim Gettys]

Pretty cool, but yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

In an alternate reality where Thanos conquered all the universe, Frank Castle's early life is seemingly similar to that of Frank castle of Earth616. However, when Thanos comes to Earth, the Punisher is one of the last casualties during the last stand of the heroes. And his soul is sent to hell, willing to give anything to punish Thanos for slaughtering his plan. The Punisher signs a demonic deal with Mephisto and becomes Ghost Rider. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Tim Gettys]

And I like that. I like that they, you know, there's. I would say most of the mainstays that you're like, they have to be here. I think Cyclops is probably the biggest, like, omission.

[Greg Miller]

But imagine, though, DLC they've.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And the whole build up to this, when they came and visited, we were asking them, Chat was asking them. They're like, hey, making the turtles were all fucking turtles. Like, it wasn't as hard. 15 people this. We'll see what happens. And I imagine this game is going to do well. Enough Slash has already been green lit to have DLCs to expand the story, which I'm excited for. Put more characters in there.

[Tim Gettys]

And Turtles DLC was incredible. Like, the amount of love that they put into Shredder's Revenge DLC is like, it like, the turtles are turtles. The DLC they added April. There's your gym. But wasn't April in the core game?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, was she?

[Tim Gettys]

Maybe not. Maybe.

[Greg Miller]

I only know it from Post launch.

[Tim Gettys]

But April, very different character of course. Shredder, Splinter, Yojimbo, the Rabbit. It's just so cool.

[Andy Cortez]

I think it's maybe tribute games doing the world a favor because I don't know if we're ready to see a visual as cool as how hard Cyclops's design goes with their pixel art. Oh yeah, you like? I just think of like my. Some of my favorite images ever are just MVC Cyclops and yeah, that could be really, really fantastic. Greg, who are you kind of maining and who was your roster of regulars?

[Greg Miller]

As you know, I am desperately still missing Avengers and me and Barrett love Ultimate alliance and so both of those games I main cap. So I was going to main cap here for sure. And especially because he just feels so good. You know what I mean? Having obviously your beat him up move. Sure. But then having up on why throw the shield.

[Tim Gettys]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

Bring it back. The ability to block just about anything with it. You can parry.

[Andy Cortez]

You can parry, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Hit at the right point, you parry.

[Tim Gettys]

Should have thought about that earlier.

[Greg Miller]

So nice to ping it back and daze your enemy. Get some hits in, especially on the bosses and stuff like that. It was great. Let alone then. Yeah. His ability is throwing the shield around him and spinning it up around him. I like that he has a nice drop kick. He has a whole bunch of different stuff. Double tap a D pad. How you gotta play this? A D pad, Double tap it to run and then put out your shield and slam into people and stuff. So he was my main period the entire way through. I wanted that experience. Like I know the challenges were there and I was hoping that I would like the game so much that I would then be like, all right, now I want to go back and experiment and da da da da. And I like the game and again I play with other people and today I imagine I'll run whoever. I'll let everybody else pick who they want to be and then I'll be whoever. But I honestly kind of played it as a single player cap game where I brought in, I ran with she Hulk for the most part as my number two until we unlocked Phoenix Jean Grey. And then I thought she was so fucking cool. I ran with her pretty much the rest of the way. Of course this is all influenced by Ben. Whenever I would go to pick somebody, Ben would be like, wait, I want to be that person. So then I'd get off of it. But I never expected this little four year old boy who has no idea what the fuck's happening to be so into the Silver Surfer.

[Tim Gettys]

Hell, yeah. Every.

[Greg Miller]

Every goddamn mission we'd go off on, he's like, do you think we get Silver Surfer at the end of this one? I'm like, I don't think so. I saw the outline. They're not teasing that. And then they mentioned Galactus. I'm not even sure how Ben knows Galactus is connected to Galactus, though. Might be some. I'm like, yeah, it might be, but I don't think, like, they're talking about Galactus. I don't think he's doing anything here. So, yeah, there was a lot of movement there. So, yeah, when I. I liked Iron Man, I tinkered with him, but didn't love him. I don't like his super with the gun. Like, he pulls out a giant gun and she's a beam.

[Tim Gettys]

Like, it's Marvin.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm not taking away from the experience, but it wasn't that Spider Man. I wanted to love Venom. I wanted to love. There was a whole bunch of stuff there, but, like, yeah, no, I was Cap the whole way.

[Tim Gettys]

And then.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. I've pledged allegiance to Jean Gray. I'm hoping today I get some Black Panther time in Black Panther.

[Tim Gettys]

So I would say that Cap is. I think at one point you asked who's, like, the best character to. To play as, like.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Tim Gettys]

I think Cap is the Mario. Cap is the one that's kind of very well rounded. You kind of get a. A hint at all of the different abilities you're gonna have because you get the Perry, you get a projectile. You. You have some aerial and ground options. Like, he overall is, I think, like the. The best, best, most well rounded. And then Black Panther, I kind of feel like, is the. All right, you played a lot of Cap. Take it a little just a step further. Okay. A little slightly more advanced moveset. But I really, really, really liked Black Panther. I also really, really love all of the color schemes. They give you so many options. You're constantly unlocking new colorways for the different characters. It's everything you'd want.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. So no alt skins in terms of that, but just all colors for you

[Tim Gettys]

because it's pixel art. So it'd be like, oh, yeah, yeah,

[Greg Miller]

I totally understand it, but. And then, of course, that' not talking about. You talked about the challenges throughout the game. You're getting these cubes, right. That are hidden in the levels, and there's individual challenges. And then you go out to the main screen and you use the cubes, right. To then lock into whatever the unlockables are you're blind picking what you're getting. But there's just a nice, very colorful grid you fill out. Andy that fills in. For me personally, the only thing that really matters, the colorways. Then there's like character bios and all this other Garbo. I'm like, I don't know. I would never check it.

[Tim Gettys]

Cool stuff though. I like that there's things to unlock there. But I. I really feel like the way to play this game. If you're playing there's. There's two ways to play this game. Either with your friends and you're gonna have a great time. It is what it is. If you're playing solo, I really recommend that you switch out to be the characters that they're recommending and do the challenges. Like the challenges are all the basic stuff. It's you know, kill 10 enemies with this attack or, you know, don't like get hit by whatever the environment based kind of like threat is in that level. Like if there's like a stampede of dinosaurs or whatever it is, like, don't get hit by them. I think that doing those challenges and finding the cubes, that's where I think the fun really kind of like levels up and we're talking about the difference between a 7 and a 7.5. But I do think that like from a single player perspective, like that is what makes this game really like worth playing through.

[Andy Cortez]

I have a super chat here that is kind of grayed out because I don't know where Gmail is. Just like we're gonna log you out of everything. Awesome. And I need my authentication because. But I could still kind of see it in background and it is from.

[Greg Miller]

Open it up.

[Andy Cortez]

It's from Janky with a five dollar super chat. Thank you for your support. You can write in your super chats and maybe I'll be able to read them if Gmail.

[Greg Miller]

I'm fixing you right now. I'm fixing you right now.

[Andy Cortez]

Tim finally got an LG 65 inch OLED. Can't wait to play a lot of games on it with how awesome that this TV looks.

[Tim Gettys]

Congratulations.

[Andy Cortez]

Congratulations.

[Tim Gettys]

Your life has now changed forever.

[Andy Cortez]

Dexter. I got to do like the hand on the shoulder thing because I'm struggling like reading this one.

[Greg Miller]

I just say Dexter, Dexter.

[Andy Cortez]

Schw. Schweize your.

[Greg Miller]

There's an L in there. Schweize lure.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, that was an I. Sorry.

[Greg Miller]

Look at right there.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay, there we go. Says, what comics do you recommend to go with this skin dc? Why he's making that Face. He really got you all.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm really, really ignorant when it comes to a lot of the cosmic stuff. It's never really been my bag. So Annihilus is definitely like not like my big event villain. So I. I don't have any great answers unfortunately.

[Greg Miller]

I'll kick it over to Barrett on the YouTube page. But if you went to the Steam page they put up, there's a YouTube video. Like a developer blog. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Here you go.

[Greg Miller]

The dev diary number four. They made a best thing to read before you must read. And I was like, oh that's cute.

[Tim Gettys]

I want.

[Greg Miller]

And I was expecting to be. It's eight minutes of them going through. Really what inspired this? Let me throw it over.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I met the annihilation event was like the big one with. With an Eyas. But yeah, like I said, I. I haven't read it.

[Andy Cortez]

Let's see the rest of the super chats.

[Greg Miller]

Wow, that's bizarre. Me and Mike put something in the assets at the exact same time. I was like, why is it putting up this whole thing?

[Andy Cortez]

Let's see. Oh, so is this the video talking about the comic books?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, very, very cool. What's the name of the bag? A Nihilus. That's a sick ass thing. But it also reminds me of Nihilus from Mass Effect.

[Greg Miller]

Oh sure.

[Andy Cortez]

That dude.

[Greg Miller]

Sorry. You know how you got confused by Sonic? Yes, I got confused because this is Yannick who came through and did the show when he was on our stream a while back. The dev here if you're watching live. And so I had Yannick. But then Jen has like basically two brothers. I guess I do technically like basically two brothers in laws up in Quebec named Yannick. So then you're like. It reminds me of like Yannick. I wasn't thinking of an isle sitting around thinking of Yannick. I can't help you with the Mass Effect reference.

[Andy Cortez]

I was thinking mine's on Yannick Quebec people.

[Greg Miller]

I know.

[Andy Cortez]

Very, very cool. Any other thoughts? Did you all have any final words on Marvel Cosmic Invasion?

[Greg Miller]

We always have that thing where we say it's good bag on it. I think we did a good job of highlighting the game is fun period. I just. I don't think the game's all that deep and I think that's fine. Especially for a party game. Especially for something to have to throw on with your friends, your kid, whatever. And I think especially too for a game pass whatever like you're talking about like, like playing it. Single player is a different experience than playing multiplayer And I think so often we hear in our line of work, well, I don't have friends that play games or I don't have this thing. Again, I think the party up system is so simple you'd be foolish not to just throw it up and throw out a code or you know, search for public matches and jump in and around and have fun.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I, like I said earlier, it's a very, It's a highly recommended 7.5 for me. Like this, this is a. If you're a Marvel fan, there's a lot to love here. I think that the amount of love put into this game game is worth playing through. It's also not that long. So it's. I don't, I don't think you're gonna regret your time with this. I don't think it's gonna change your life, but I really don't think you're gonna regret it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

I think in terms of comparing it to their last release, it feels like a safe kind of designed game in terms of gameplay. But if you're into Marvel and you want a bit of that nostalgic hit of, you know, running playing those arcade games back in the day, like the, this game does such a good job at showing love to, to all of that. So I don't, I think it's a fun time.

[Andy Cortez]

Very, very cool. Before we wrap up the episode, wanted to mention that I tried out a game called Constance recently.

[Greg Miller]

Oo, this one's pretty.

[Andy Cortez]

Constance is a side scrolling Metroidvania. It's like a very, very pretty, cute, appealing visual art design and it's like if Hollow Knight met Celeste. Very, very adorable. And the animations are super fantastic. The animation in this game are so damn high quality. Really, really good stuff. The movement's awesome, the combat's great so far, but the whole story of it is, you know, on its surface you are a girl named Constance and you have like purple paint hair that kind of like a lot of the way that you move around the world is you kind of doing the splatoon thing where you turn into goop to paint goop and you just kind of like go through little gaps and that's how you also dodge and do a lot of your platforming challenges. But the story largely does some cool stuff where it is a story about, about burnout and just kind of living in the current modern world and really kind of cool story turns where suddenly a level ends and then you are at your desk on a. I'm going to try to find the timecode for it. But you're on your desk at your computer trying to multitask and you're clearly like a remote from home worker.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, that's fun.

[Andy Cortez]

And you're getting messages like, hey, can you get that render? Because we need that. The client really wants this and that. And you're like, okay. So it's having you kind of click to their sort of faux version of Premiere and then another little slack message or whatever pops up like, hey, we need the text 15 larger and you're trying to multi and this is your life.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And it's just like all of these messages coming through like, hey, that render, can we really get that done? Like, it shouldn't take that long, should it? And it is just the, the amount of people in the chat that were like, man, I'm just like getting like PTSD from watching. But it's like a really cool little way to kind of turn what the game is on its head. And it doesn't last long. It's just kind of a way to break up major chapters.

[Tim Gettys]

It's crazy though.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. So you're, you're clicking through emails and you know, clicking where it's telling you what to do. But I just really, really enjoy the creativity behind it. And you're constantly going between all the different programs, checking the renders, checking saving as PNGs and getting the right format. It's really cute, but it breaks apart. What I think is super, a super fantastic feeling met side scrolling Metroidvania so far with cute characters and awesome visuals and great combat.

[Tim Gettys]

Are you planning to stick with it?

[Andy Cortez]

I want to stick with it, yeah. Because I also don't think it's very long.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna bring up is if Hollow Knight feels a little too daunting for people out there with like, you know, people getting to Act 3 after 50 hours and like that. From what I've seen, Constant is like 12 to 13 hours called constants.

[Andy Cortez]

And it's not super difficult either. That's another nice thing. There's a cool system where if you, if you die, you can respawn exactly where you died, but the enemy's a little bit tougher and you have the choice whether to do that or go back to the last sort of save.

[Tim Gettys]

I like that.

[Andy Cortez]

And so you could like, no, I'll take the risk right now and have the enemies be a bit tougher until I get another checkpoint or whatever. Or I could just go back to that last checkpoint. But yeah, pretty cute, pretty awesome. And then I'M sure on a future Gamescast, we'll talk all about me playing Anthem in the year 2020. I love that.

[Greg Miller]

I love that with you and Chris,

[Andy Cortez]

me, Chris Anka, Kevin Asx returning to Anthem because it's really the only weekend we could return to Bioware's failed games as a service live service game six years after it came out. Came out in 2019. We played it for about close to 10 hours because the servers go down forever January 12th. And yeah, was kind of really cool returning to that, seeing where its faults lie, seeing where all the potential was. But yeah, that'll do it for this gamescaster.

[Greg Miller]

Real quick. I sent it Barrett we we are going to give away 10 codes for Marvel Cosmic Invasion on the stream and a custom Marvel Cosmic Invasion fights. Oh so yeah, yeah. Why they couldn't get it in one photo I don't know. But the PR didn't take the photo so they don't blame us. But yeah, we'll have that given we won't have it here but somebody will win and we'll send it off.

[Andy Cortez]

Very, very cool. Make sure you get ready for that stream. That'll be after the Kind of Funny podcast because the kind of Funny podcast is after this. This. Thank you everybody for watching this gamescast. Appreciate you all supporting us. Make sure you watch on YouTube, watch on podcast or you can also watch on Spotify now and all the podcast versus thank you for all your support everybody. Take care of yourself, take care of each other and we'll see you next time.

[Tim Gettys]

How long to beat us.