Moonlighter 2 Review, Octopath Traveler 0 Preview - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Moonlighter 2 Review, Octopath Traveler 0 Preview

Episode Date: November 17, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, Andy Cortez

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Episode Overview

This episode features in-depth impressions and discussion of two major upcoming games: Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault and Octopath Traveler 0. The hosts provide a detailed Early Access review of Moonlighter 2 and a preview (with hands-on experience) of the forthcoming Octopath Traveler 0, along with lively banter and classic Kinda Funny antics. They break down gameplay mechanics, progression systems, and art style, and share both their highlights and constructive criticisms. The conversation also touches on their gaming habits and preferences for the roguelite and turn-based RPG genres.

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Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault – Review & Impressions

(Starts at 05:47)

Intro & Context

• Moonlighter 2 is the sequel to the 2018 indie hit, expanding on the dual gameplay loop of dungeon crawling and shopkeeping.
• This is an Early Access review, with transparency about features still in progress.

Art Style and Visual Upgrade

• Hosts note a significant step up in visuals from the first game, moving to a 3D art style while retaining that “indie look.”
  • (Tim Gettys, 07:41) “Something about this, the art style, I think, in Moonlighter 2 really, really struck me and it is a step up.”
• Comparisons made to Titan Souls and Death’s Door for visual style.

Dungeon Crawling & Loot Systems

• The core gameplay maintains a roguelite loop: run through dungeons, gather loot, and sell in your shop to fund enhancements.
• The loot system is now a mini-game, not just about picking things up but “manipulating” loot for higher rarity and value.
  • (Tim Gettys, 11:35) “The way that the loot works in this game is ... there’s a mini game to be played in your menu where you can make loot more rare.”
  • Chain of loot interactions — burning, armoring, shielding — can maximize value strategically.
• The risk-reward “extraction” aspect is emphasized: stay longer for more loot, but risk rarities dropping if you die.
  • (Tim Gettys, 13:21) “If you have a lot of sick ass stuff in your, in your inventory, you might want to consider leaving because you risk losing out on a lot of money if you don't bounce early.”

Shopkeeping & Economic Play

• Selling is its own metagame: pricing items, reading customer reactions (emojis), and “gauging the market.”
  • (Tim Gettys, 21:41) “When they are full on smile with gold money eyes, I'm like, ah, you. God damn it. ... I kind of like test out the market in that way.”
• Permanent progression lets players upgrade weapons, healing, inventory space, and the shop; feels rewarding but sometimes slow.
  • (Tim Gettys, 22:59) “I do feel like sometimes I'm not progressing as fast as I would want ... but it is nice to be able to find a blueprint for the weapon type that you enjoyed.”

Combat & Weapon Variety

• Four weapon types, with upgradeable variations and special blueprints.
• Example: the spear leaves “arrowheads” that can be sucked back to hit multiple enemies, adding tactical layers.
  • (Tim Gettys, 18:24) “Whenever you attack enemies, it drops arrowheads ... when you hit Y, it sucks all the arrowheads back towards you. And any enemy in the way gets hit by it.”

Elements & Passives

• Game features elemental effects and passives (burn, foam, electricity) akin to Hades boons, but hosts wish elements combined more creatively.
  • (Tim Gettys, 19:51) “I don't feel super stoked about the way that the elements kind of intertwine with the weapons. I think there's more to be had there.”

Early Access State & Platform Performance

• Substantial content even in Early Access, more reminiscent of Hades 2’s early launch.
• PC version is recommended for now; Steam Deck performance is currently subpar.
  • (Tim Gettys, 17:17) “This does not. I would say the most early access it feels is playing this game on Steam deck where it doesn't run great. It's a bit under optimized.”

Highlights & Criticisms

• Highlights:
  • Loot rarity mini-game
  • Combat feel and weapon variety
  • Satisfying economic progression
• Criticisms / Wishlist:
  • Shop/town customization feels underdeveloped
  • Desire for deeper integration of elements in combat
  • Occasional slow meta-progression

Notable Quotes

• (Tim Gettys, 12:02) “The item rarity and how to get it is kind of one of my highlights in a game that is largely about dungeon crawling and cool boss fights with neat weapons ...”
• (Greg Miller, 13:21) “I love the min-maxing game. I love the like when I feel like I am outsmarting the system or when I feel like I have done something so smart that I'm rewarded for it.”

Final Thoughts

• Enthusiastic recommendation for roguelite/action fans—especially those who like “one more run” games.
• Early Access is robust enough for current play unless you’re Steam Deck-only.

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2. Octopath Traveler 0 – Hands-On Preview & Impressions

(Starts at 32:12, deep dive from 33:45)

Series Context & Host Relationships

• Octopath has become a “mainstay” Square Enix series, with its HD-2D art style and anthology storytelling.
• Greg Miller has a track record of loving Octopath 1 & 2 but never finishing them, despite sinking “40 hours into each.”
  • (Greg Miller, 32:12) “This very year, on this very show, we did a whole gamescast about me walking away from turn based RPGs ... but in there there were the exceptions. I talked about tossing out Octopath 1 and Octopath 2 ... played a bunch of them on my switch.”

What’s New in Octopath Traveler 0

• Features character creation with small but meaningful choices (appearance, favorite meal, etc.)
• New “town building” system (as opposed to solely house-building)
• Story structured around a single main protagonist, your custom character, with associated cast.
  • (Greg Miller, 38:08) “Letting me have just the smallest amount of agency ... Western RPGs feel a different way for me because of choices in ownership. It really gave me my character ... to then go from.”

Battle System & Accessibility

• Classic turn-based combat is snappy and information-rich; weaknesses are revealed and stored as you encounter enemies.
  • (Greg Miller, 35:00) “The fact that with Octopath ... I feel like the action and the combat is so snappy and so satisfying, which is a big part of it.”
• “BP” system for empowering moves adds strategic depth and fast flow.

Town Building Mechanic

• Grid-based, simple placement of houses/structures for new town residents.
• Adds management and light sim elements, but not “Building walls from scratch” level of involved; some hosts wish it was deeper.
  • (Tim Gettys, 41:50) “I was a bit let down that it is like, place a house down. Place a house down.”

Art Style & Technical Comments

• Still visually HD-2D, but some nitpicks about lost pixel consistency and high contrast (“crunchy” backgrounds, mismatched pixel art assets).
  • (Tim Gettys, 45:34) “There's two squirrels. And both of these squirrels have different pixel counts. ... It really fucks with me.”

Writing & Tone

• Positive response to “over the top villains” and fully voice-acted cutscenes, but some English lines are awkward.
  • (Tim Gettys, 39:51) “Some lines of dialogue being read to me are like, just outright terrible sometimes ... But the story of what's happening is kind of what's keeping me going.”

Demo Availability

• The current preview demo is available for the public and progress carries into the final release.

Progression & Replayability

• Preview has some linear gating; hosts hope the full game “opens up” more after the introduction.
  • (Greg Miller, 47:55) “Right now I feel like I'm in just such a... I'm treading water until finally they're like, all right, cool. ... Everything's opened up.”

Should Newcomers Start Here?

• Accessible as a prequel and standalone story; hosts advise waiting for reviews if undecided.

Notable Quotes

• (Greg Miller, 36:35) “Octopath Traveler 0 and the way it tells its story ... the characters just chewing the fucking scenery ... just being the most over the top bad guys. That works for me.”
• (Tim Gettys, 41:50) “I'm so cool like shockingly, really enjoying. And this is the game that I asked to play on my LA trip recently ... I want to keep on playing. I don't know if I will stick with it but right now at least like I want to go home and play more.”

Final Thoughts

• Positive early impressions; both Greg and Tim find themselves wanting to play more.
• Recommended for fans of the series or those interested in accessible, story-driven JRPGs.
• Release date: December 4, 2025 ($49.99).

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Moonlighter 2’s risk-reward:

  • (13:21 – Tim Gettys) “If you have a lot of sick ass stuff in your, in your inventory, you might want to consider leaving because you risk losing out on a lot of money if you don't bounce early.”

• On Octopath 0’s appeal:

  • (35:00 – Greg Miller) “The action and the combat is so snappy and so satisfying, which is a big part of it ... I get into a vibe, like literally a flow state of switching between characters ...”

• On frustrations with writing:

  • (39:51 – Tim Gettys) “Sometimes lines of dialogue being read to me are like, just outright terrible ... But the story of what's happening is kind of what's keeping me going with it.”

• Technical Nitpick:

  • (45:34 – Tim Gettys) “There's two squirrels. And both of these squirrels have different pixel counts. ... It really fucks with me.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 05:47 – Introduction to Moonlighter 2 discussion
• 06:59 – First impressions and Early Access context
• 11:35 – Loot mini-game explanation
• 13:21 – Overview of risk and extraction mechanics
• 18:24 – Weapon types and standout abilities
• 19:51 – Elemental passives and their current limitations
• 17:17 – PC vs. Steam Deck performance
• 32:12 – Octopath Traveler 0 preview begins
• 35:00 – Combat and series appeal for Greg Miller
• 38:08 – Custom protagonist and story differences
• 41:50 – Town-building mechanic mechanics and accessibility
• 45:34 – Art and pixel nitpicks
• 47:55 – Preview limitations and hopes for the full game
• 46:55 – Should newcomers start here?
• 49:01 – Release, price, and episode wrap-up

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Conclusion

Moonlighter 2 is a robust and creative expansion of the original’s formula, with major new loot and combat systems. Despite being Early Access, it’s highly playable, but town/shop development could be deeper and Steam Deck users should wait for further polish.

Octopath Traveler 0 is warmly received for its blend of classic HD-2D visuals, improved custom protagonist, intriguing town building, and its uniquely bombastic JRPG storytelling—providing a solid jumping in point for both series veterans and newcomers. A few translation oddities and minor visual inconsistencies aside, it’s tracking well for its December release.

Both games are celebrated for their “one more run“ hooks and engaging progression, making this episode essential for fans of roguelites and retro-inspired RPGs.

Transcript

[Tim Gettys]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Tim Gettys]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Tim Gettys]

Ugh.

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[Greg Miller]

Hey.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Still got my hoodie?

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[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Recruitment for Arknight's Enfield Beta Test 2 has officially begun. Head to endfield.griffline.com and complete the recruitment survey for a chance to join beta test 2 when it starts on November 28th. What's up? And welcome back to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Monday, November 17, 2025. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined today by Greg Miller.

[Greg Miller]

Hi, Tim.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Hello, Greg. And Andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Hello.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Hello. Little goofy mood?

[Tim Gettys]

A little bit. I'm excited for pizza. Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah, I'm very excited for pizza.

[Greg Miller]

Pizza day is always fun here.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah, it really is.

[Greg Miller]

Because we're too healthy.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

We're way too healthy. You're not funny. 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 podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify or Apple podcasts to get all of our shows ad free and a daily exclusive show for a chance to be part of this show. Your YouTube super chat, your questions, comments and concerns in and we'll get to them throughout the show. Some housekeeping for you. Big news. On January 28th, we're doing a live in person in review. It's going to be us live reacting to or not live reacting us reviewing Howard the Duck.

[Greg Miller]

Howard the Duck.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Pretty big deal that we're gonna be part of SF Sketch Fest the first time. We've talked about it a lot, but Roger and Joey were like, you know what? We're actually going to apply rather than

[Greg Miller]

do this half ass last minute. Greg's on Drucker's thing or whatever. What if we did this? Yeah. Now I'll always have a problem with Sketch Fest.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Okay. Why?

[Greg Miller]

It's a great event, but you may or may not recall years and years and years and years and years and years. Probably 2015, Sketch Fest rolled around and brings in comedians of all sizes. There was a struggling podcast that was very small that was coming to San Francisco and we had been back and forth a long time on Twitter and everything else. And this was finally when we were going to do a crossover episode. And then Southwest canceled their flight. They never got to come hang out with us. And then they went on to be the biggest stars in the world. Of course, I'm talking about the indoor kids. Kumail, Emily were supposed to come to the original spare bedroom and hang out long before he was in Eternals, long before the big sick. And it's that thing where now we're just, you know, I'm never able to catch him. I talk to him and her all the time. Like, can you come? I can't come. I can't do the thing. Can't do it. You know what I mean?

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I still believe one day I'll draft

[Greg Miller]

an email right now.

[Tim Gettys]

Long before Silicon Valley, during Silicon Valley,

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I remember we hung out with him while Silicon Valley was happening at Comic Con. That was back at ign. Anyways, everybody, you can go to all the links not here for this one. Cataphony.com sketchfest I'm sure, I'm sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Give it a shot. Why not? Type it in.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

We're at 11 person business open housekeeping on slack. That's Smart. That is smart. That is smart.

[Tim Gettys]

That's sticking on his feet.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

But I nailed it.

[Greg Miller]

I didn't remember there.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I nailed it. You know what I mean? Sketch fest. We're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Games Daily was a humongous episode with us live reacting and deep diving into every single game awards nomination. After this, we're getting a new Arc Raiders content stream with Mike and Nick showing off all the new stuff there. If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg Way is going to be live on Patreon and then out for everybody else. You can check it out then. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's start with the topic of the show. Moonlighter 2 the endless vault. You both have been looking forward to this game for such a very, very, very long time. It is finally here. The Stream Descript Scream Stream Steam Steam Description kxo. That's a rough one.

[Greg Miller]

We got started early today.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Live the double life of a fearless adventurer and a crafty merchant. Dive into vibrant dimensions brimming with shiny loot and pesky enemies. Grow your shop, tinker with weapons and gadgets as well as make your mark among a ragtag community of castaways. I need to talk you guys through what just happened in my brain. Okay. GameStop games spot very difficult for us. We get it wrong all the time. Even though we know what's right, we say it wrong. Right. Steam Deck Stream Deck Two things that exist. Two things that exist that I get wrong. I have to think about in my mind of what. What am I trying to say? To me, SD means Steam Deck. And so here Steam Description Greg wrote sd I got caught up in the which one of these is it? And then I got.

[Greg Miller]

And you brick and you fall apart.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah, exactly. The developer Digital sun, The publisher is 11 bit. This is the follow up to 2018's Moonlighter which had a metacritic of 81. This is coming out on Wednesday right around the corner. Around the corner.

[Tim Gettys]

Early Access. Yeah, Coming out of Early Access.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

You have been playing this game.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

What do you have to say about it?

[Tim Gettys]

Tim Gettys I have played 18 hours of Moonlighter 2. I have not beat all of there is to beat in the video game. It's. It is an early access title. There are chunky. It's a chunky. Yeah, it's a chunky Early Access. You know you're not getting this super light experience. There's a lot to do here in this video game. And there are some menus that you, you know, you go into. And it says, under development. You know, we are working on this. You know, they're constantly kind of reminding you that this is going to be an early access title. But yeah, Moonlighter 1 was always a game that I wanted to get super into. And I just don't know what was happening. Did you ever get into. No, never did.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, man, that sucks.

[Tim Gettys]

Something about this, the art style, I think, in Moonlighter 2 really, really struck me and it is a step up.

[Greg Miller]

Kevin, let me get you a Moonlighter 1 trailer. Of course, Moonlighter 1 gets that distinction and tossed around quite a lot around kind of funny lore, because it was one that I completely missed. Kevin, I'm gonna toss it into housekeeping because that's what I've opened. I'm sorry. Moonlighter 1 was a game that I missed, that we all missed. Nobody talked about. In like two months after release, there was a subreddit thread of like, this is the most Greg ass game I've ever seen. And he's not talking about it. I found it, saw it, bought it, fell in love and played so, so much of it. Just the idea of going through and doing your dungeon runs and you come out of that dungeon with, you know, do I risk it to go get more stuff? Do I fight more people? Because whatever you're bringing out with you, you're then able to sell in the shop to then upgrade your character, you know, get better stuff, become more better. But it did look like this, which was very, you know, we thought we had this whole conversation about the game awards and this is such an indie look, right? Like, how would you describe this? I would describe this as an indie looking game.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

What's the game? This reminds me of Andy, visually. 2016, maybe.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, you're the one where you went and fought the giants.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Titan souls.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

100%.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. The developers of Death's Door.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yes. Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

So, yeah, this Moonlighter 2 really kind of struck me with its 3D art style and them saying, what if we could take that formula and really kind of, you know, bump it up and. And be a worthy sequel, not just something that's kind of more of the same. And Moonlighter two, I am having a real good time with this video game. I really, really like it so far.

[Greg Miller]

I. Kev, can we go back to Moonlighter 2 footage?

[Tim Gettys]

I'm not super comfortable in, like putting a score on it or anything yet.

[Greg Miller]

What ballpark are you in? Is it seven?

[Tim Gettys]

Five? Eight?

[Greg Miller]

Okay, thank you very Much.

[Tim Gettys]

That's what I'm for. Having a really awesome time with it. I do have, you know, some, you know, feedback for what things could be improved and things that I'm enjoying about it. But it is an early access title and that's kind of what the early access period is for. But yeah, so far having a great time in this world, getting, looking forward to the next run and looking forward to really kind of min maxing and finding the game within a game. That is finding the loot. The loot in this game is not. You're not just finding shit in a treasure box and taking it back home to sell. They have made that part of the game like a mini game unto itself. If you could bring back that little shot, Kevin, that it showed the kind of menu of the loot that you have found. The way that the loot works in this game is every. You can kind of there. There's a mini game to be played in your menu where you can make loot more rare. Right here. Here you go. This is the perfect spot. If you notice what happened there. The way that the, the way that the game works is you might find a piece of loot that says, hey, this treasure is worth this much. This is how much you've sold it before. However, if you, if you burn it with another item, it'll gain this much more rarity. And so you might find an item that says this burns something, this burns loot or whatever. And if you burn something, it destroys it, but there's other loot that will put a shield on or that'll. It'll armor up like the item. So you want to armor it up and then you burn it so it doesn't get destroyed but its rarity ticks up. Then you might find another piece that says, hey, for all of your shielded items in your box, in your little like loot crate or whatever, this item will triple the rarity for all of those items. And you have to place it on the corner of pieces or whatever.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Cool.

[Tim Gettys]

And, or only anything in this row will things get upgraded. So it's like, it's a really fun thing to not. You're not just like grabbing shit. You are finding ways to kind of game the system and go, ooh, there's two boxes here. And I don't want to just. I don't want to just complete all of the min maxing immediately. I want to see what's in both of these treasure boxes and, and go, oh, okay. I can really kind of prep and leave this situation with the best loot possible.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

This sounds super cool. Is this a highlight to you? Yes. The game so far.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah. I, you know, in my, in my segment that nobody else is going to take up called my Joy Cons, which is why my first.

[Greg Miller]

Don't do that. Don't shit on a great idea you got.

[Tim Gettys]

Thank you.

[Greg Miller]

I think it's a great idea. I think we should. You're. No one's going to. Let's take it up. You make me a little graphic.

[Tim Gettys]

Here are the Enjoy Cons everybody. Just imagine audio listeners, you know, it should go.

[Greg Miller]

It should go. They should come on the sides.

[Tim Gettys]

It'll just be like a red version of me and a blue version of me.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I was thinking Joy Con so other people can do it. Ah, see, you say nobody's going to take it up. Nobody takes it up.

[Tim Gettys]

Worried about Nintendo?

[Greg Miller]

I'm not worried about them cowards. They've never sued anyone.

[Tim Gettys]

So the, the item rarity and how to get it is. Is kind of one of my highlights in a game that is largely about dungeon crawling and cool boss fights with neat weapons that upgrade in kind of creative and fun ways and how all of this sort of melds together is a really cool end product. But yeah, I would say the, the item rarity and how you are getting items to become more rare and realizing how much more you could sell that shit for and then realizing what then you can buy with the stuff that you are selling. Super exciting and like a lot of fun. Which I, as somebody who's, you know, kind of in my older age, become more of a Fran Mirabella.

[Greg Miller]

Oh no.

[Tim Gettys]

Just love being in that spreadsheets. I love the min maxing game. I love the like when I feel like I am outsmarting the system or when I feel like I have done something so smart that I'm rewarded for it. It gets me really, really excited to then. To then go back home in the middle of a run. There's also a really neat feature that whenever you are low health, a little icon will pop up on the bottom right. Because this is a roguelite. This is like almost an extraction type of game where you can go out on your run and in the way that you select your rooms in Hades, you are in this case, you are seeing a map and you might be at this point on the map. If you've ever played Inscription Audience, you'll know what I'm talking about. You'll see a point on the map and you'll go, all right, I'm seeing on the map that this room will lead to another treasure room. But if I go the down path to that treasure room I'm not super interested in, it'll lead to a really cool upgrade. And so you kind of pick your path from there and when you do so you are, you know, the longer you stay in these runs, the more risk you have of dying because you have a limited amount of heals and a limited amount of health. And you will get a little notification pop up on botterat being like if you're low health it'll kind of be flashing to be like hey, you can leave right now if you want you, you and you probably should because you're pushing you pushing you and you risk losing a lot of your shit. Now you don't lose everything on a run. If you do die out there but all of your shit lowers in rarity like a devastating amount. So if you have like, if you have a lot of sick ass stuff in your, in your inventory, you might want to consider leaving because you risk losing out on a lot of money if you don't bounce early. It's. It's a really cool loop so far and the boss fights so far have been really fun with kind of like bought telegraphed boss fights with boss moves that you would expect where it's all the, you know, these lights are, these spots on the ground are flashing. Avoid those. Here comes this laser wall dodge roll through that. Like the movement feels awesome. I do wish some things that in my con section of things that I would love to see improved on the depth of the town and the shop customization. I wish could be. I wish could feel a bit more meaningful because one thing that I really loved about my time with Fields of Mystery, which granted is more of a, a cozy type life sim game where you are dealing a lot more with like the denizens of the town and how you're customizing your house and things like that. I, I don't have. I don't feel like I have a whole lot of ownership of the shop so far.

[Greg Miller]

Got it.

[Tim Gettys]

You can upgrade it here and there but I want, I want to be excited about adding a new wing to the shop or you know, like there isn't a whole lot of that yet so far that I've experienced and hopefully that does get a bit more deeper as you go on because like I said, is it, it is an early access title.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

How early access does it feel right now? Like does this feel like something that you could recommend people playing or it's like hey, you should probably just wait till 1.0.

[Tim Gettys]

I think games have gotten so much better about hopping into early access not. And not doing it too early. I think there is plenty here to see. In the same way that when you hop into Hades too at launch, when it first came out and we're like, whoa, this. This feels more complete than a lot of video games when they come out. But you would still see temp art here and there. There are definitely like temp menus in here where you go, all right, well, we don't have this done yet, but it's under development. This feels. This does not. I. I would say the most early access it feels is playing this game on Steam deck where it doesn't run great. It's a bit under optimized. It's enough to where I didn't want to play it because I was having enough fun playing it on my PC and decided to tell Greg, hey, can I request a code for another game? Because I'm going on a trip and I Moonlighted two just is not working great on. On Steam Deck so far. You can get like a choppy 30 frames. Maybe like it might drop to 25 every now and then. It's choppy enough to not look good and not feel great in a game where you want to be as responsive as possible.

[Greg Miller]

Silky smooth.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, if I'm just. If I'm turn basin, then that's a different story. But there's a lot more of you wanting to have your timing correctly in this video game. But yeah, the, the loop of the combat. I think you would really, really vibe

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

with Tim with how they look like. All right, I see this.

[Tim Gettys]

Four different weapon types. You have your standard sword, and there are different variations of those four different weapon types that you find blueprints for along the way. You might find a blueprint that says, hey, I can eventually save enough money to upgrade this great sword to where how I'm using it is a lot different. Now. The. The way the. Each weapon sort of has their gimmick about it. One of my favorites is the spear. The. The way the spear works. Whenever you attack enemies, it drops arrowheads and those arrowhead pieces drop down. And then when you hit Y, it sucks all the arrowheads back towards you. And any enemy in the way gets hit by it.

[Greg Miller]

Real cool.

[Tim Gettys]

And that it feels so awesome to do when you like, you're doing enough damage as it is and you're dodging at the right time. And then when you hit Y and you're lined up perfectly with where the arrowheads are coming back to you, and they magnetize towards you. So you could run around and kind of hit a lot of different people as they sort of get sucked back to your origin point. But it's really cool to see that effect happen. I. I do wish that a bit more could be done. Like I mentioned with the. I was talking earlier about the. The shop customization, but I wish more could be done in terms of combat with how the passive abilities work. The passive abilities here are essentially your boons from Hades. You know, you hop in, you see a Zeus boon, you're like, all right, we're going to have electricity here, or here's Hera. We're doing fire or whatever. The way that they work here is you. You can unlock passives like burn, which will do damage over time, or you could do foam, which will slow down enemies. And then the foam eventually, kind of as it's on them for a while, explodes and does a bit of damage after the fact. And there's electricity, which will kind of stop enemies from moving. And, you know, you have the chain lighting and all that stuff that I love. But whenever I run into one of these kind of when you look at your map and how you're kind of exploring these. These levels, you might see a piece on the map that says like a question mark. And whenever you do the question mark, it's kind of like a chaos boon.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

Where the, the chaos boon might be like, hey, for the next three rooms, you. Anytime you try this move, you'll take damage, but if you survive, then you're going to have this little effect or whatever. The way, like, I don't feel super stoked about the way that the elements kind of intertwine with the weapons. I would. I think there's more to be had there. Maybe I just haven't played enough, but I'm hoping that we can get some more creativity with how the weapons and the. The elements kind of intermingle together. I wish that there was a bit more kind of unity and. And synchronicity there, but overall, like you, Andy. Huh?

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Synchronicity.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, good word. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But.

[Tim Gettys]

But overall, like, I'm having so much fun with this video game so far. I. I have been kind of trying other games that I couldn't really talk about yet, but this game has taken up a lot of my time and a lot of, like, one more runs or moments where I come back with a ton of good loot and I go, oh, I don't really want to sell these yet. Because the way that the selling works, Tim, is you open your shop during the daytime after you're done with the run, and you go put these little things. So I might have like a purple item with a certain amount of rarity, but I've never sold anything that expensive before. And I want to find a purple item with way less rarity to kind of gauge the market.

[Greg Miller]

What are people buying?

[Tim Gettys]

Because when people walk into your shop, there's tons of times or I feel like an idiot where I underprice a out of something and the little like shop guy will walk up to your little thing and he'll see an item and they will react in kind.

[Greg Miller]

Emojis go off above their head. Oh, cool steal. That's fair. That's a little shitty.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

But I'll buy it.

[Greg Miller]

And that sucks.

[Tim Gettys]

When they are full on smile with gold money eyes, I'm like, ah, you. God damn it. Actually, that's the wrong price. But then, yeah, so like, you kind of like test out the market in that way. So there's been a couple of runs where I come back with awesome loot that I have not just found, but manipulated into making way more rare with the way the system works and how much fun that system is. And then I get back and I'll be like, well, let me sell this one purple item to see what it's worth. Oh, it's going for that. And that's kind of a. A steal for this dude. Hell yeah. So I'm gonna price this next one that's way more rare. And the rarity adds like, way more extra money on top of what you're getting. And you use that money to upgrade your weapons or go to this lady that like gives you more heals or you can upgrade how much Health Heal is giving you whenever you're in a run or you're upgrading your health bar. Or there's another. There's a lot of different people in these towns that or in this town that have. All right, that's the person that's going to give me an extra slot in my inventory. And each. In each slot that you're buying is way more expensive than the last. So those are like things you want to be saving for.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Are you satisfied with the permanent progression so far?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah, so far I'm having a real good time with it. I do feel like sometimes I'm not progressing as fast as I would want in terms of the things that I'm buying, but. Or maybe just the price of following upgrades. But it is nice to be Able to find a blueprint for the weapon type that you enjoyed, like the, the great sword, which I really enjoy using. But I wasn't a big fan of how the first version of it operated. But then I found a blueprint for a special type of great sword that somebody was, somebody in the town told me a rumor about. And so I found it, brought back the blueprint, had it built, and now it operates in a different way that I enjoy using it a lot more. Where the Greatsword has like a meter on it and it's the sharpness meter. And in order to get the sharpness up, you have to use your y, your special button which is like a stab and that brings the sharpness up. And the higher the sharpness, the more damage it deals. And I wasn't enjoying the first iteration of it, which operated a bit differently. But now the second version, when your sharpness is up, the sharpness will go down over time. But the more you upgrade that the, the, the less it goes down, like quicker. Right. So now I'm having this super powered weapon that is always kind of at his sharpest level anyway. And then there are secret rooms in these journeys where you can find a dude who says, hey, I can upgrade your weapon. Right now the blacksmith will kind of like meet you in the middle of a run. And one of the upgrades might be, hey, the, it only takes like it takes way less to get it to its max sharpness level now. So it's like oh shit. Now I only got to do kind of one medium ability to get the sharpness way up there. Now it's like full powered for a lot longer. It's just, it's doing really creative stuff weapons wise. I think it could be more creative. Intermingling the elements, the foam, the electricity, the fire, all of that stuff could be a little bit more creative.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Do you think that that is the direction that they're going? Like with it being an early access, does it seem like there's signs of them intermingling a little bit more in the future?

[Tim Gettys]

I don't know if I'm that early enough. I've beat, I've beat like two of the bosses and any idea how many there are? So I see, I, I, I see three worlds. I've tried the three. The third world, okay. And I've, I haven't gotten to the final boss there yet. But whenever you beat a boss in like one of these like areas, you're going to essentially you unlock the night version of that level, which is a bit tougher. Enemies do a bit more damage and I'm assuming if it's not the same boss it'll be the. If it's not a different boss, it'll be the same boss with like new patterns, I'm guessing. Or else that'd be a pretty big miss if you're just kind of fighting the boss over. But yeah. So so far I've. I've seen three worlds with. With two bosses completed so far with all kind of different sounding soundtracks and shout out to the goat Christopher Larkin who's working on this soundtrack.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Who Dang, I didn't know that worked

[Tim Gettys]

on Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight Silk Song and among other things. But so far like the soundtrack is banging in this one and I'm really, really enjoying my time with it.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Awesome.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, this is like a. If you, if you give a about like fun games of action with good action and great progression and especially like the Roguelite one more run aspect. I think this is like one to really, really keep an eye on. If not just get in right now if you got nothing going on in your life.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I mean Greg, you were the biggest fan of this game.

[Greg Miller]

That's right.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I know you've been talking about you've been waiting for. You were mad when it like wasn't showing up at different showcases and all that stuff. Clearly you've been playing a ton of it.

[Greg Miller]

No, sadly I haven't, Tim. As you know, it is review crazy season and so I had picked up a little game called Octopath Traveler 0 and I was like I'll kick the tires on this till Moonlighter gets here. And Moonlighter got here and. And I put down the preview for Octopath Traveler and went and played Moonlighter. And this is not at all I love Moonlighter. I loved what I played of Moonlighter too, but I put moonlight. I played 30 or 45 minutes of Moonlighter 2 and I was like damn, I actually really feel like that Octopath game. So I went back to Octopath and

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I want to hear all about your thoughts on Octopath Traveler 0 right after award from our sponsors Arknights Enfield is a real time 3D RPG with strategic elements from publisher Griffline coming to PlayStation 5 PC and mobile devices in early 2026. Experience an immersive story and explore the frontier world of Talos ii. As you command a team of up to four operators in stylish real time combat. Gather resources, plan and construct your production lines with the automated industry complex factory system to feel the true satisfaction of a management sim and to transform the planet through industrial growth. Beta Test 2 is the latest playable experience for Arknights Enfield and introduces a rebuilt storyline, a brand new explorable region, revamped combat, a deepening AIC factory system, multiplatform support, and much more. Recruitment has already begun and you can visit enfield.griffline.com now to complete the recruitment survey for a chance to join Beta Test 2 when it begins on November 28th. This episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. There's a gift that can bring your favorite holiday traditions and memories to life each and every single day and it's called the Aura Frame. No lie. Aura Frames are undeniably the best gift I have ever given family, friends, partners. Everyone loves being able to have beautiful frames showing off their loved ones and favorite memories. You can order the frame online and preload it with photos and videos using the Aura app so it's ready to go right out of the box. There's unlimited storage so you can add as many photos and videos as as you can find for a limited time. Visit or frames.com and get $45 off or's bestselling Carver Mat frames named number one by wire cutter by using Promo code Kinda Funny at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code kinda Funny this exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so order now before it ends. Support this show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions along apply or frames.com promo code kind of Funny this episode is brought to you by Factor Fall Always feels like there's just so much more stuff to do. Shorter days, busier routines, back to school. It's all just a lot. That's why so many of us here at Kind of Funny Love Factor. Their chef prepped dietitian approved meals make it easy to stay on track and enjoy something comforting and delicious no matter how hectic the season gets on many occasions, Factor has completely saved Greg and Jen with when they needed it most. You can choose from a wider selection of weekly meal options including premium seafood choices like salmon and shrimp at no extra cost. Enjoy even more GLP1 friendly meals and new Mediterranean diet options packed with protein and good for you fats. Eat smart@Factor Meals.com kinda funny 50 off and use code kinda funny 50 off to get 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for for one year. That's code kinda funny 50 [e-mail] for 50 off your first box plus free breakfast for one year. Get delicious ready to eat meals delivered with Factor offer only valid for new Factor customers with code and qualifying auto renewing subscription purchase. And surprise, we're doing a special live recording of In Review as part of San Francisco Sketchfest. What movie are we doing? It's a Marvel movie we've been avoiding for years, but it's finally time. It's Howard the Duck, baby. We're doing it live. It's going down on January 28th. Grab a [e-mail] sketchfest before they sell out.

[Greg Miller]

The email reads subject line come to sf. Then the body reads. Dearest Kumail, I hope this letter finds you well. I'm writing this on kind of funny Gamescast Live. I just told everyone about how the indoor kids and kinda funny almost crossed over one Sketch Fest. But Southwest canceled your flights and ruined our plans. Let's make it right. Come hang out with us. Don't worry about whatever movie you're filming. They'll understand. Your closest friend in the world, Greg. Greg Miller game awards winner 2015 that's how you do it.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

That's how you do it.

[Greg Miller]

Everybody book guests.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

You know what else you do?

[Greg Miller]

What?

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Do it. Sky did. Going up. Doing some crazy stuff that I'm incredibly excited about. Sky super chats in saying I've purchased tickets for Sketch Fest. Hopefully I can get a decently priced flight from Minnesota. Excited to finally see kind of funny in person. So yeah, that's. That's going to be a lot of fun, Sky. Thank you so much for that.

[Greg Miller]

We're super happy to have you there, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

You know what I mean.

[Greg Miller]

I told you not to have a kid. I said look at me. It'll ruin your life.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah. The chances of me being. Me being there are unfortunately fairly low. We'll see.

[Greg Miller]

We'll see.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Weird sleep schedules.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I don't understand what's going to happen. I'm just throwing myself into. We'll figure it out, Andy. We'll see. I don't know. I probably won't be there. But everyone else will be there.

[Greg Miller]

Of course.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I don't know. We don't know who everyone means. It's going to be great. It's going to be worth it. I promise you. And you don't care about me anyways. It's okay. Greg, do you care about Octopath Traveler 0?

[Greg Miller]

Tim. I care quite a bit about Octopath Traveler 0. It turns out I did a great way about this last week at Embargo. This was the embargoed Greg way I had done because, yeah, you know, this very year, on this very show, we did a whole gamescast about me walking away from turn based RPGs and how Persona 5 I've never been able to finish Expedition 33. It's just, I get, I see it, I understand the quality. I just get so bored with the gameplay that I have to walk away from it. And there's a litany of others, but in there there were the exceptions. I talked about tossing out Octopath 1 and Octopath 2, which were games I sunk. I forget now it's all a blur. 40 hours into each of them or whatever. Never rolled credits on them, but played a bunch of them on my switch. I specifically Remember Octopath Traveler 2 dominating my time on a Quebec trip with Jen. But it was one of those where I think we weren't reviewing them, I was playing them later. So inevitably another review came along and took me away from it and I never got back to it, even though it holds such a special place in my heart. So When Octopath Traveler 0 swank through with its preview build here and stuff and it was like, yo, do you want to play this? I was like, yeah, I want to try it, but I'm so burned. And yeah, the Greg way was after that night, one with it of just building a character which is different for the series. Just getting into this world where you're eventually going to build this town and then playing on words beyond that even. Right. I was floored by how much I enjoyed it and how much it clicked and how much I was like, oh man, this is. I didn't even know I had been looking for this in this moment. And this is here now and I'm really enjoying it.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I am so thrilled to hear that. Obviously very, very important franchise, like I love that it has now kind of become a mainstay for Square Enix up there with the, you know, final fantasies and the, in his art style, the Kingdom Hearts and all of that. Where when we saw the state of play last week and they're like from a beloved Square Enix franchise and they're talking about Octopath, it's like, damn man. Like they've kind of earned that title with you know, Octopath the Traveler 2 being a lot of people's like game of the year the year it came out. And so yeah, I, I will also say I'm. I don't get you, Greg. I. I don't get.

[Greg Miller]

I don't get myself.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah, I know cuz it's like the whole like I Don't like turn base. I don't like this.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't like this.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

And it's like your answers of like the ones that you do like are the most turn based things imaginable with Pokemon and then with this. Right. So it's like trying to figure out what is it, you know and is.

[Greg Miller]

I don't know.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

It's a great question.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. I think you know more than anything. And let's go because we're going to talk about Octopus, about the Traveler 0 and how much I. Why I already like it so much. The idea, I think to compare it. And again, let's get the cards on the table everybody. Expedition 33 just walked away with the Most Game award nominees of all time. I am not saying it's a bad game. I'm just trying to talk to you about why for some reason it doesn't click with me. Octopath Traveler 0 and the way it tells its story. And I know Andy, you've been playing too. We had a very top level conversation out there. There's something about the characters just chewing the fucking scenery in like the three villains you're seeing in this story trailer just being the most over the top bad guys. That works for me. And I think another interesting wrinkle to it that I don't have time to figure out in the lineage of like since I never was the Final Fantasy person, I never was a Chrono trigger guy and I've tried to come back to that in the past and stuff like that Suikoden where Jared Petty always wanted me to go play those. I think some of the tropes of turn based RPGs, especially turn based JRPGs, work for me in a way it might be for so many other people. I've seen this done all this or whatever. Specifically for Octopath though, the over the top villains you're getting, the characters they surround you with and the fact that they're all voice acted and able to. I'm able to enjoy it both like an HD 2D movie of sitting there with my Rog ally letting the cutscenes play or stopping it all and paging through one by one to read the little word bubbles and stuff like that. It doesn't have me on the edge of my seat in terms of like what's going to happen next. But I am so engrossed in the story of what I need to go do. Then I think you jump in and you pair it with a battle system that I have always enjoyed so much because I think it gives you all the information you need at a glance, at your fingertips. Persona, right? If I wanted to know what this. And this is more of a Persona 4 thing. Persona 5, I don't remember as well. But like, you know, if I want to know what this character I'm fighting is weak to, I have to call in Reze. She goes and tells me, and then I know, okay, what to do, then I got to remember and da, da, da. The fact that with Octopath, like when you go into a battle, green cap, if you can get any fights up, you know, below each character are these little boxes that are question marks to start if you pause right there. But as you attack them with your weapons and fill them in, you learn what their weaknesses are. So I don't have to remember when I come back through a thing, thing, years later, hours later, whatever, that I have to open the thing and do the thing. What was that goddamn thing? Blah, blah, blah. I feel like the action and the combat is so snappy and so satisfying, which is a big part of it. Right? As you see your team over there, your BP up there, right as you go through and do your normal attacks, you earn the BP right every turn and then you can use them to make your moves even stronger. It's all stuff we've done in a million other JRPGs and turn based games. But the way that I can at a glance, see it all and know who everybody is and have it all ready set to go, the way I get into a vibe, like literally a flow state of switching between characters and having them go through and do these battles and stuff, and then having it wrapped up in this gorgeous art style, this world, I'm super connected with this story that I find interesting and I do want to know, like, I am the way they tell it in chapters, right? Which again is an Octopath thing. And then to talk about zero and why I think zero is working for me even more than what one and two did. Did you play one and two?

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, you didn't either, right?

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I played like two. I don't know why I said it. A little two fifths is what I was meant. That's the weirdest way to say that. But two fifths of one.

[Greg Miller]

So letting me have just the smallest amount of agency of making my character, choosing a hairstyle, choosing a color, choosing an eye color, giving them a name, picking your favorite meal your mom makes, like, they do a bunch of like really little small stuff. But back to what we were just talking about in Gamescast, right. Western RPGs feel a different way for me because of choices in ownership. It really gave me my character of Vex is who I named here after, of course, Laura Bailey. Being Vex and being in this world and then making a few little decisions, but being like, all right, my dad is this and I'm going to do this and I fight around that. Like, it gave me such a great starting off point to then go from. And then I am the team leader. I am doing this Octopath 1 and 2. I loved and I loved the different stories you got, but inevitably I'm so into the dancer storyline, but I've gone as far as I can and now the next chapters, five or six or seven or ten, whatever levels higher. So I need to go do the other chapters. And I'm not feeling this very trite warrior story making this in quote unquote, one character story, but surrounding it with characters who have interesting threads and have their own permutations, reasons for fighting, you know, tragedies, successes. Like, I really, really vibe with that. Andy Ranting.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

No, I like it. How much have you played of this?

[Tim Gettys]

I've played about 3ish hours of it. I played through the beginning hour and a half twice because I, I gave myself like a certain like, color of brown eyes. But some, A lot of these shots could sometimes look really blown out and suddenly just looked like my character had white eyes.

[Greg Miller]

Cataracts.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And so I and. And created a, you know, a character with darker brown eyes. But I'm. I'm really liking it so far. I, I like the story a lot so far. I think the writing is pretty bad. I. I just want a character to drop a bar every now and then and I'm like, I'm getting no bars. There's a lack of, severe lack of bars here, Tim, even so far as like, some lines of dialogue being read to me are like, just outright terrible sometimes. Like one person going, you know, hey, you're gonna get this thing. Because your friend here, he was chosen. Friend goes, what do you mean chosen? And he replies with, yeah, you were chosen. Like, there's. Sometimes they drop like that. Sometimes I'm like, man, did this. Like, did. I don't know, was there like a, A translator working on this game or like with. I don't know, was something lost in the English translation. But the story of what's happening I is kind of what's keeping me going with it. And one reason why I want to keep playing it because as somebody who's generally not a turn based type of. Of player. I really love the. The sort of loop of come back and build this town up and this thing was destroyed and you're going to build it up. We're going to build back better. And so it's not really a. I saw creed in the YouTube chat asking like a house building like mechanic. It's more of a town building mechanic. You're not like you know, using wood to like I'm going to put this wall up here and put this. You're basically just like looking at a grid and saying I want to place a house here because I got a new person that I recruited who is really good at bringing back wood or stone or whatever for the town and I'm going to house you here if you want. And like that becomes their little area so early too.

[Greg Miller]

In this preview. Like it's clearly there's a lot going on but a lot of gated by. Okay. Now you got to go do these other quests that are outside of it.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

By the way, demo of what I think we are previewing is available now.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I'm.

[Greg Miller]

Progress carries over.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm so cool like shockingly, really enjoying. And this is the game that I asked to play on my LA trip recently. I asked for a code because I was like well Moonlighter 2 doesn't run on Steam Deck but this will. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I've got on your Rog ally though.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I'm sure it does. I'm sure it looked better on the Steam deck though.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Oh specifically.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. I want to keep on playing. I don't know if I will stick with it but right now at least like I want to go home and play more. Like that's where I'm at with it. Which is not something I could say for a lot of different turn based games. It's. It's scratching the right. It's for me right now. And I would have played more Moonlighter 2 last night but kind of the same thing happened with Greg. I'm like I'm feeling this right now. Even though I want better writing. I'm enjoying the story of the things that are happening.

[Greg Miller]

Not that I think you're. I mean I. I know what you're talking about and are you. How are you out of like the prologue? Has the big thing happened?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Greg, I want to follow up with what he just said. Do you see yourself sticking with this one? Because I. I know how much you loved specifically Octopath 1.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I feel like less too. I don't really even remember you playing too much.

[Greg Miller]

Octopath two is the Quebec trip. Octopath one was a bunch of L. A trips.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Where I was playing on planes.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Those you didn't finish. Do you see yourself actually finishing this one? Or do you think this is a franchise that you kind of just. You get what you get from it for the hours you put in.

[Greg Miller]

I hope that I finish this. You know, we are in an interesting time right now. There's redacted and redact or whatever, but I can make time for this right now. It's more the. You know, we talk all the time about trying to fit in games in anybody's life amid all the things happening amid all this stuff. And then you toss on being a dad and da, da, da. So when the director's out there being like, there's a hundred plus hour game, that's when it's like, oh, yo, Yui, what do you say?

[Tim Gettys]

You're already thinking of pushing me away.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. So. No, the. What do you get scared? Koi koi.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Huh?

[Greg Miller]

When you get scared. What's.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, like the.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean? Like, that's. I would love to do that. I would love to commit. I would love to get a full fledged. I've rolled credits review out on the gamescast in the coming weeks, but, you know, we'll see what life brings.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

It seems unlikely, but like you. Do you want to.

[Tim Gettys]

It's there.

[Greg Miller]

The desire is there. Yeah. This is definitely. I wish I could just wrap myself in the blanket and sit there and play and I've played it on the big screen on my tv. I play it a lot on my rog.

[Tim Gettys]

I play it on the Tim when. What was the word of the day that you brought up during Synchronicity? No, no, it was.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Which. Is that even a word, by the way?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah. Synchronicity is a word.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

What's the difference between that and syncretion? Is syncretion not a word?

[Greg Miller]

What's.

[Tim Gettys]

That's not a word.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Okay, cool.

[Tim Gettys]

What? Oh, gosh. It was. When something just doesn't look like it's a part of the thing. It. You know, we were looking at a game that was by Pocket Pair, who is making like a hollow knight style game. And there was incongruous. Thank you. Thank you, Creed. Thank you, thank you. There is. There are some incongruous parts of this HD2D experience for me that talk to me, really stick out for me, and they're like the smallest little nitpicky things. Well, first off, visually, I wish the game was a less crunch. Was less crunchy visually, in terms of contrast, know that I'm with you. It's like if something's in shadow, it is black. And it's like, I wish there was just like. Let's turn down the contrast a tiny bit again.

[Greg Miller]

I would never. I love the Octopath series. I would never claim to be an expert as somebody who's not rolled credits on either of them before, but played a ton of them. So I have the. I look at this and go, it looks like Octopath travel.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

When the reviews pop last week, I forget whose I was reading, but they were like, this seems visually like a step back from two where there's some. In this one zero. There's, you know, great HD 2D art, of course, but then there's like muddled things in the forefront or background in a way two didn't do. I can't speak to that.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I think like, there are some 3D assets that could be better utilized and, you know, can be done artfully better. But there's also a moment, Tim, where you're walking through a forest and there's two squirrels. And both of these squirrels have different pixel counts. And it like, it really fucks with me. One isn't way further away or one is. They are both like near a road. And one of them, like, they are just the complete different pixel count where it's. Why did you choose to do that? They're both the same size. You seem at the same perspective. You're not using less pixels on this one because it's way further away. It's like they are just different shaped beings. And it looks like they were bought from two different texture packs. Yeah. Though the 2D like, oh, we're supposed to.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

You and I have different pixel counts.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah, but like, I don't know, in a world that, you know, tries to kind of keep things similar looking, when of the wall on the back of a bar and all the stuff on the wall are like using similar shaped pixels. Whenever you see that, it's like, oh, that really just me up. I hate those goddamn squirrels, dude.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Azar super chats in and said, I never played any Octopath travelers. Should I start with this one? This being, I assume, a prequel.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, this is a prequel to everything else. I mean, the other ones too are anthologies. And I know it's the same world, but I don't think you. I don't think you're going to be hurt anyway. And I'd wait for reviews on this one to see what you jump in. Like we were talking about earlier, I think Octopath 1 was obviously well received. Octopath 2 was like, Paramount 2 seems to be standard right now, even where we're at with this one. Off this preview, I'm having a lot of fun here. Is this town builder going to be additive? Is it going to subtract? Is it just going to be that? Like, there's a lot of questions still after a long game on this of how it'll net out. So I would say wait for reviews, but two is a super safe bet.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I was way more into the idea of having like a deeper building mechanic. I was hoping this was going to be like, I'm going to. I went out to go gather some wood on that after getting, you know, going for that one mission. And now that I've gathered all these stuff, I want to like, build this house wall by wall. And, you know, I'm not looking for the most in depth sort of experience, but I. I was a bit let down that it is like, place a house down. Place a house down.

[Greg Miller]

I like that. I have no problem with that. My complaint so far, and granted this is just the preview, is that it just let. Open up, open up. Let me go. Let you know what I mean? Like, why, like, there's like three tiers, maybe even four to the village of Wishville that we're rebuilding, right? And like, because it's like in the trailers that you should see get destroyed or whatever. And then it's like, all right, we're rebuilding it. So it's like, let me just go and put stuff. Right now I feel hampered of like, well, I wouldn't put the fucking house here. But I can't get to the other four platforms, so I guess I'm shoving it here. And granted, you can move stuff after you place it, like, with no penalty. And like, I would be way more into, hey, the tutorial's done. Now you're set to go. Yeah, you're going to have to get more residents and do stuff like that, but go ahead and start laying it out how you want. Right now I feel like I'm in just such a. I'm treading water until finally they're like, all right, cool, You've got the keys of the kingdom. Everything's opened up. That's when I'm going to be like, all right, cool. I want to animal crossing this and like, put a walkway here and put a well there and do this kind of thing there.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Yeah. Very cool.

[Greg Miller]

Very cool.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Any final thoughts on Octopath Traveler?

[Greg Miller]

I'm excited to play more. Hopefully you'll hear from me in December about it.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

I hope so. And hopefully you enjoy it. December 4th when it releases Jay Z's birthday.

[Tim Gettys]

That's so soon.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Never forget.

[Tim Gettys]

But that's the same day as metroid Prime.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

It is 4.

[Tim Gettys]

What are we talking about?

[Greg Miller]

What are we talking about? Too many games.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Oh, Elden Ring I keep forgetting about

[Greg Miller]

Domination says is this a 60 or $70 game? It is a $50 game. 49.99.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

Oh, for them. Good for them. Well everybody, this has been the kind of funny games cast. Thank you so much for joining us today. Our day is not over. The boys are about to hop into some arc creators and show off content that has been added there.

[Greg Miller]

Wow.

[Host (Tim Gettys)]

And of course, every single day we do this show. We do games daily. We have a great time. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you today. We'll see you forever. Goodbye.

[Tim Gettys]

Bye.

[Greg Miller]

See you forever in your nightmares.

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