Mouse: PI For Hire Review, Replaced Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

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Kinda Funny Gamescast – Mouse: PI For Hire Review & Replaced Review

Podcast Date: April 14, 2026
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Andy Cortez, Barrett Courtney, SnowBikeMike

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Episode Overview

This episode features in-depth reviews of two highly anticipated indie games: Mouse: PI For Hire, a 1930s-inspired cartoon noir "boomer shooter," and Replaced, a cyberpunk 2.5D cinematic platformer. The panel dives into game mechanics, pacing, art direction, classically inspired design, and how these stylistic titles live up to years of hype. Expect strong opinions, memorable banter, and plenty of analytical insight into both games’ strengths and flaws.

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Mouse: PI For Hire Review

General Impressions & Thematic Overview

• Mouse: PI For Hire is described as a "boomer shooter"—a throwback to classic FPS games (Doom, Quake) but with a hand-drawn 1930s cartoon aesthetic.
• The game stars Jack Pepper, a mouse private investigator, and features jazz-influenced soundtracks and visually striking rubber hose animation.

[04:44] Greg Miller on the Game:

“Mouse PI for Hire, on the kind of funny scale is a 7.0. It is good... As you play this game, it gets better and better and I think it starts introducing so many really cool mechanics and things that Jack can do far beyond shooting in level ideas that aren’t shooting. And it’s like, damn, this is great. Mouse PI for hire.”

Key Discussion Points

Game Structure, Pacing & Mechanics

• Early Game Struggles: Starts slow, feels repetitive ("moves like molasses"), with rooms of enemies and little variety in objectives.
• Improvement Over Time: Mid-to-late game introduces new gameplay mechanics and abilities, making it much more engaging.
• Length & Editing: Game is “too long in the tooth,” with unnecessary filler and late ability unlocks. Would benefit from editing and tighter pacing.
• Boss Fights: Preview boss fights were excellent, but the full game’s bosses didn't fully deliver on that promise.
• Level Design: Levels often feel repetitious, with shortcuts and biomes that lack distinctiveness, many blending together.

Art, Storytelling & World Building

• Visual Style: Gorgeous, but the uniformity of mouse/rat character designs makes characters hard to distinguish within the story.
• Story: Overly ambitious, fails to be impactful due to muddled presentation and indistinct characters ("two main damsels in distress...both named Betty").
• Voice Performance: Troy Baker praised for Jack Pepper’s voice, alongside strong supporting cast. Performances outshine the script.
• Worldbuilding Fun: Game is loaded with 1930s/film noir/cultural puns and references (esp. cheese jokes), which are divisive in humor but add personality.
• Detective Minigames: Investigation mechanics (clue boards) feel superficial, more about recapping than real deduction — Andy: “I still want a developer to crack a way to make that fun and interactive and make it feel like I am the one putting the pieces together...” [08:19]

Economy, Collectibles & Minigames

• Money feels inconsequential, as upgrades quickly become unnecessary and there’s little incentive to engage outside primary weapons.
• Collectibles (newspapers, baseball cards) mostly fluff, except for a “baseball card minigame” that is polarizing among the hosts.

Humor & Dialogue

• Cheese puns and noir references (“Hot dog man in the chat says, Barrett, maybe cheese puns are just nacho thing.” [31:41]) are frequent; some hosts enjoy them, while Barrett feels the humor is flat and forced.
• Is it funny? Blessing: “It is trying to be funny, and I think it is funny… not every joke hits for you. Of course not. But you assume it’s hitting for somebody else…” [28:34]

Core Criticisms

• Too much filler, padding, and late-game ability gating.
• Level design lacks memorable, interactive elements or meaningful shortcuts.
• Mechanics like money, collectibles, and minigames feel undercooked or irrelevant.
• Detective elements are superficial.
• Narrative is convoluted, and character differentiation is poor.
• Humor/puns may not land for everyone.
• Art style, while gorgeous, sometimes works against gameplay clarity and character distinction.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I had so much more fun when I was like, cool, this story’s not going to hit… Instead, I’m going to lean and enjoy the performances…” — Greg [15:05]
• “It’s very… inoffensive. It’s by the numbers. It’s, you know, it’s a fine time…” — Barrett [11:20]
• “It’s a game that previewed really well and never quite lived up to the previews.” — Andy [07:08]

Platform, Performance & Price

• Works well on Steam Deck; minimal issues.
• $30 price point seen as fair. Not on Game Pass at launch.

Replay & Recommendation

• Greg & Andy Score: 7.0 ("good, not great").
• Barrett: Lukewarm, finds it repetitive and unsure if will finish.
• General summary: Worth playing if the aesthetic or genre appeals, but expect a slow start and some tedium.

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Replaced Review

General Impressions & Thematic Overview

• 2.5D cinematic cyberpunk platformer set in an alternate, post-nuclear 1980s America.
• Developed by Sad Cat Studios, renowned for its striking pixel art and atmosphere.
• You play as REACH, an AI trapped in a human body within a gritty, dystopian world.
• Price: $19.91, ~10 hours playtime; free demo available.

[44:48] SnowBikeMike:

“It’s been a mixed bag… There’s some moments of like, oh wow, this game has some sauce to it… and there's moments of frustration where I’m like, you know what, I’m getting kind of bored. I could put this down and not go back to it.”

Key Discussion Points

Presentation, World, & Story

• Visuals & Atmosphere: Universally praised — “gorgeous,” “one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen,” with incredible lighting, character sprite work, and dynamic camera use [45:16].
• Story: Deep, engaging, and full of impactful reveals. Tim: “The story in the world have captured me and kept me on this fishing hook…” [46:15]
• Cyberpunk Vibe: Eerie, engrossing, directly comparable to the likes of Blade Runner 2049 and The Walking Dead’s comic slow-build tension.

Gameplay, Controls, & Combat

• Cinematic Platformer: Movement and animation modeled on realistic physics; “slow” pace reminiscent of classic Prince of Persia, not a “fast” platformer (Mario/Katana Zero).
• Action: Batman: Arkham–style "free-flow" combat; parry-driven, occasionally exhilarating, but largely repetitive. Combat feels solid but not exceptional — “I’m higher on the combat than Mike is. I think it’s a little better than fine. I don’t think it’s great, but, like, it’s good.” — Tim [53:54]
• Pacing: Overall, the game is slow-moving, deliberate. “The game is slow… If you can meet that pace, I think you’re really going to love this.” — Tim [58:41]
• Platforming Criticism: Checkpointing can be punishing, some segments poorly signposted or hard to decipher [46:54, 60:02].
• Not For Everyone: Both Tim and Mike stress this repeatedly; strong chance this game will only click for certain players—especially those patient with sometimes obtuse puzzles/platforming.

Audio, Voice Acting & Sound

• Music & Sound: Top-tier; dynamic, atmospheric, with unique sound design throughout.
• Voice Acting: Absence is sharply criticized—no voiced dialogue, conversations are text-only, which diminishes the cinematic impact. Multiple hosts express a wish for a director’s cut with full voicing akin to Disco Elysium or Hades. [60:23]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I love replaced. I love this video game, and it will undeniably be a contender for me. This will be in my top 10 at the end of the year… but I would not recommend this game to everybody.” — Tim Gettys [54:35]
• “It is a good game. There’s a good game to it. I like the price tag. At 20 bucks… I do think that there’s going to be some people like me that will find some frustration… and some parts that kind of slow down.” — Mike [48:42]
• “Story is incredible, the world and characters and what they got going on. The thing it reminds me of most is the first time I read The Walking Dead comic…” — Tim [50:19]
• “It’s not one of those, like, ‘Oh, it gets good four hours in.’ It’s more the experience. You just start to get so sucked into it...” — Tim [49:23]
• “It reminds me of Trek to Yomi… the combat was kind of, you know, similar to this where it’s like, yeah, the combat’s fine or whatever, but it just didn’t deliver storytelling wise. It sounds like [Replaced] may kind of be in a similar camp or opposite camp, rather, where narrative is doing some really cool shit...” — Andy Cortez [57:16]
• “This game needs voice acting. ...I would pay double for this game if it has [had] voice acting.” — Tim [60:10]

Scores & Recommendations

• SnowBikeMike: 6.5–7.0 ("fine to lowercase good").
• Tim Gettys: Personal 9/10 enjoyment, critical 7.5/10 for general audiences.
• Greg, Blessing, Andy: Eager to finish/play the game; strong appeal for narrative and presentation, but all acknowledge its niche appeal and frustrations.

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Additional Noteworthy Segments

[35:38] Barrett Shouts Out: Tamashika

• Described as a “weird, super weird acid trip, lo-fi” run-and-gunner with procedurally generated levels—recommended for “the freaks and sickos out there.”

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Panel Consensus & Closing Thoughts

• Mouse: PI For Hire: Strong aesthetic, charming performances, but held back by slow pacing, repetitive gameplay, storytelling confusion, and underdeveloped mechanics. Consensus 7/10.
• Replaced: Visual/aural marvel with an intriguing narrative and atmosphere; may frustrate with its slow pace and some obtuse platforming. Loved by those it clicks for, but not broadly recommendable. Range: 6.5–7.5, with Tim personally at 9/10 appeal.
• Quote [63:32] Mike closing on Replaced:

  “If people come to me and they’re like, hey, I’m looking for a cinematic platformer, this is now going to be in my back pocket. Hey, this is something special. And it might be for you, it might not be for you...”

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Timestamps by Segment

Mouse: PI For Hire Review

• 04:44: Greg’s overall take and score (“It is good… 7.0”)
• 07:00: Andy’s parallel review and critique
• 10:32: Barrett’s impressions (“moves like molasses,” doubts continuing)
• 14:41: Minigame and collectibles discussion
• 15:05: Visuals, story struggles, and how art style affects gameplay
• 18:20: Ability upgrade pacing frustration
• 22:23: Lockpicking minigame, undercooked mechanics
• 28:34: Humor, cheese puns, and whether the game is funny
• 31:02: Barrett on the humor: “I don’t think it’s a game for you.”
• 34:46: Final closing thoughts, recommendations

Replaced Review

• 43:03: Mike’s first impressions, near-completion thoughts
• 45:16: Visuals, atmosphere, and story draw
• 46:54: Combat, platforming, and frustration points
• 49:23: Tim’s high praise, comparison to The Walking Dead
• 54:35: Tim’s “9 in the heart, 7.5 critical” deliberation
• 55:08: Blade Runner 2049 question; pacing/atmosphere discussion
• 57:16: Andy’s Trek to Yomi comparison
• 58:41: Mike and Tim underscore the game’s “slow” feel
• 60:10: Lack of voice acting – Tim: “Biggest bummer.”
• 63:32: Mike’s closing (cinematic platformer recommendation)

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Summary Table

| Game | Panel Scores | Recommend If You… | Criticisms/Cons | |------------------------ |----------------------|--------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | Mouse: PI For Hire | 7/10 (Greg, Andy), | Like classic shooters in a unique visual & | Pacing, repetitive, undercooked gameplay systems, | | | Barrett unsure (lukewarm) | comedic world, love noir puns | indistinct story, bloated, slow burn | | Replaced | 6.5–7 (Mike), 7.5* (Tim), Tim personally 9/10 | Love atmospheric, slow-burning cyberpunk tales; cinematic platformers | Slow, frustrating platforming, repetitive combat, no voice acting |

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Final Thoughts

• Both games are bold, stylish indies with a clear sense of identity.
• Mouse is best for boomer shooter or noir fans who can tolerate a repetitive, slow burn.
• Replaced is worth it for those seeking a painterly, story-driven platformer—be prepared for patient play and some frustrations.
• Neither is for everyone, but the panel celebrates their ambition and artistry.

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Memorable Quotes

• “It’s not elevating a boomer shooter…” — Blessing [18:20]
• “I love replaced. I love this video game, and it will undeniably be a contender for me.” — Tim [54:35]
• “This game needs voice acting. …I would pay double for this game if it has [had] voice acting.” – Tim [60:10]

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For more in-depth impressions, check out Kinda Funny’s full video discussion or join the community on Patreon for further exclusive content.

Transcript

[Tim Gettys]

Go to boot.dev and use code kindafunny to get 25% off your first year on the annual plan. If unwanted thoughts are taking over, don't wait to get help. Visit nocd.com to book a free call with their team. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com kindafunny if you

[Greg Miller]

want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com kindafunny Foreign. What's up and welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined today by Bear Courtney.

[Barrett Courtney]

Tim, do you like to slurp your soup? Chat is wondering.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, no big of a slurpee. If I'm alone, I like to slurp. I don't like to be rude to the people around me.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

And when I slurp, Andy, I slurp ramen places.

[Andy Cortez]

Take that as a sign of respect, though.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, but like, I. I'm not going to say what I was about to say.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

All right.

[Andy Cortez]

Do you feel.

[Barrett Courtney]

What is it, like, a little bit too nervous to. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's another word.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I just. I want it. I always want to be so culturally sensitive, and I feel like I often see people trying too hard to be sensitive, which then becomes informative. You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

A friend. Mirabella, we'd call it.

[Mike]

I don't know what to say.

[Greg Miller]

You Greg Miller?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hello, Tim. How are you?

[Greg Miller]

I'm fantastic. Are you?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm great.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm excited. I'm juiced up. I'm energized. Are you energized?

[Greg Miller]

I'm very energized.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Father of a newborn.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, I guess I'm very tired, but having a mic in front of me makes me happy. Yeah, it's. It's been very, very good to be back.

[Andy Cortez]

I never. I never feel that way.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Barrett's at the desk. That never happens. God damn it.

[Andy Cortez]

Did you get it? It was a little bit of a joke. Having a mic in front of me never makes me happy.

[Greg Miller]

Got it.

[Andy Cortez]

That never happened.

[Mike]

I didn't get it.

[Greg Miller]

I didn't get. Of course. That's Andy Cortez, everybody. How are you, Andy?

[Andy Cortez]

I' in.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Good.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm all right.

[Greg Miller]

Like your hair.

[Andy Cortez]

Thank you. Bloodborne movie. Pretty cool.

[Greg Miller]

Any thoughts on that real quick?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, goodness gracious. Shout out to Jacksepticey. For looking at the landscape and saying I'm going to figure a way out to do this. And I mean never fan a better time to be a fan of. I did see an awesome tweet. I'm blanking on the. The content creator's name. She was. You guys are going to Love bloodboard in 24 frames per second. Huh? Great tweet.

[Greg Miller]

That's hilarious.

[Andy Cortez]

Tweet. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, good job. The Internet. Sometimes the good sometimes.

[Barrett Courtney]

Sometimes.

[Greg Miller]

If you're watching live on the Internet right now, you can be a part of the show by super chatting on YouTube.com/kind of funny games. Just like Christopher did saying Tim, soup or sandwich? Soup.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh yeah, I'm with it. Do you.

[Barrett Courtney]

Do you like to dunk your grilled cheese into a tomato soup? Yeah, yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You like to dunk everything in your soup?

[Greg Miller]

Yes. Yeah, everything. Remember, we couldn't do this without our producers on patreon.com kind of funny. So thank you to Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm twining for now. Let's begin with topic of the show. We got a twofer everybody. Really exciting. We have Mouse PI for Hire and replaced. Two highly anticipated games that we've been seeing for, it feels like years each. Both very artistically driven games that I'm very interested in how they performed. I played a bit of replaced. Mike played a bit of replaced. Mike will be joining us in the later half of the show. But y' all have been playing Mouse PI for hire so we're going to get your reviews for that. Of course. The Steam description is as follows. Join private investigator Jack Pepper on a guns blazing, jazz fueled adventure in and Mouse PI for hire. Mouse combines the charm of hand drawn rubber hose animation inspired by the classic cartoons of the 1930s with the adrenaline and action of an explosive first person shooter. I was watching a trailer of this and then they were talking about the 1930s and it got me thinking. We're about to hit the 30s.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

That is kind of nuts.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, that's crazy. You know what are we going to call them? The 30s? We're just going to call them the 30s.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And then it's like forever. Is that now the. What we used to call the 30s? Now we have to say the 1930s.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. How we call the 1830s? The 1830s? Because I'm talking about the 1830s all the time.

[Greg Miller]

That's true.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes, you are.

[Greg Miller]

The dev is Fumigames. The publisher is Playside. The release date is April 16, which is Thursday and the price is $30. Both Greg and Andy have finished it. Barrett has been playing as well, but has not completed it yet. Will he have interest in completing it? We'll find out soon. But I want to start first with Greg Miller.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hi, Tim.

[Greg Miller]

Hello.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

How are you?

[Greg Miller]

Think of Mouse PI for Hire.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Mouse PI for Hire. If you aren't watching and the description didn't give it away. A lot of people call it a Boomer shooter, right? This is a throwback to the games of old. Your dooms, your quakes. Let's run Gun throughout the world. Obviously in art style, there's a lot going on beyond that. But at a base level, it's a throwback to games of old. And I think it runs into some of the exact same issues of those games. Mouse PI for Hire, on the kind of funny scale is a 7.0. It is good. What I would say about it and stick with me because it'll be a walk for one hot second. Is that playing it? I started much lower than that. After two hours of it, maybe even three, I was like, damn. We had done a preview where I had been high on it. Coming out of it. I wasn't expecting to really like a Boomer shooter. It's not what I usually play, but Troy Baker's performance as Jack the world, the visuals which are gorgeous, the jazz soundtrack, I was like, damn, I really like this world. And. And I think it was bless on that one. That was like, yeah, but I'm more concerned if they can keep it up. And two hours, three hours in, I was like, damn, this is what we were afraid of. That this is just going to be a room after room of goons to shoot and do all this stuff. As you play this game, it gets better and better and I think it starts introducing so many really cool mechanics and things that Jack can do far beyond shooting in level ideas that aren't shooting. And it's like, damn, this is great. Mouse PI for hire. I would have gone in and encouraged them to cut hours out of it, shrink it down and give me the suite of abilities from the very start. Because even though I end so high with it, where I really enjoyed my. I really enjoyed this run that doesn't negate everything that came before it. And that's why I settle on that seven where for a while I think it was okay. It got high up on the good, it even saw great. But when you put it all together and we go through all the litany of little things here and there, that again, I think a seven's a good score. I recommend A seven. Especially if you look at this game and go, I'm interested in that. Get out and play it. Especially for a $30 price point. Right. But it does hold itself back from greatness. It's a game that could have used some editing. And it's also a game that I'm very excited to see what they would

[Greg Miller]

do a sequel with Andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Greg, I am right there with you. I am at a 7.0. Should we take off our shirts?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Show the guns. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm at a 7.0 for mouse PI 4. Higher. Something just fell out of the chair right now. Fel. I think it's a game that previewed really well and never quite lived up to the previews. And when I say that, I mean, like, those two boss fights in the preview were awesome and super fun. And I thought to myself, if this is what we're getting in the preview, if you can expand upon this and give me more boss fights with cool patterns and things like that, this isn't just going to be a room. It's not just going to be room to room of just shooting every enemy possible. And I don't think the boss fights quite lived up to that. Where I thought, like, man, if this keep. If they could keep this up, this would be an easy eight. Like, this is a great video game. I think it's a good video game. Still, I do think it's a. A little too long in the tooth. I think it continues and continues on. And there are some crooks.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Beware.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, that's the trailer. Gotcha. I was like, here we go. I thought there was gonna be something.

[Greg Miller]

They're so freaking ruined by Greg Miller.

[Andy Cortez]

I love Troy Baker in this role. He's. He's awesome. I think a lot of the supporting cast is amazing as well. And I. I fell sim felt similarly to. Because you are your. Your PI Your private investigator reminded me a lot of the issues that I had with Alan Wake. When you get to the string theory board and you're investigating, you're putting your clues up where it essentially just becomes. It's not a gameplay mechanic. It is a. We're gonna just kind of recall the things that you experienced and try to help you piece this together. But I still want a developer to kind of crack a way to make that fun and interactive and make it feel like I am the one putting the pieces together as opposed to just like, let me put this clue up. And then I read about what happened, put up the next clue. I read about what happened and you're just kind of recounting what you experienced. I. I'm still waiting for someone to kind of like crack that code and make that a fun, cool experience and make me feel like I am doing detectiving, you know. But other than that, I think the. The game is, you know, really fun. I don't think it necessarily progresses in a way that makes a whole lot of sense to me. Story wise, I would say gameplay wise with abilities and. And you know, the. You unlock abilities in the way that you would a Metroidvania, but it's not a Metroidvania. And it kind of just feels like they're. We're giving you new things to kind of play with. But only for the last two hours of the game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Or only the last hour of the game.

[Mike]

And that.

[Andy Cortez]

That kind of bums me out. I would love to see that evolved and. And be a bit more wellth thought out, but O. Overall, I think for 30 bucks this game is awesome. So like, definitely recommend it at a 7.0.

[Greg Miller]

And am I wrong in saying it's game pass?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I did a quick Google there. I don't think it is.

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. No.

[Andy Cortez]

Because Today replaced and Hades 2 are on game pass, so.

[Greg Miller]

Wow, what a day.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. It is not currently planned for launch day game pass or any game pass for that matter.

[Greg Miller]

Barrett's Courtney, you've been playing. My question for you is what did you think of Mouse PI for Hire so far and do you plan to finish it?

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, after six and a half hours all on Steam Deck, shout out. It does work like right out of the box on Steam Deck. Haven't really run into any issues there. Mouse PI for Hire so far is a game that moves like molasses in its. In its opening hours. And to hear the hour count from you two at the end of this. Right. Like Andy, I think it took you like 18.

[Andy Cortez]

About 18 and a half hours. Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

And then roughly the same, bro.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Who knows? I played Rog ally x like 90% of the way, which by the way, by the time I I was on vacation, by the time I got home and put on the oled, I was like, oh, what a mistake. I should have been playing on this. It's gorgeous. However, Steam Clock has been all over the map of like 17, but my in game save says 13, so take it with a grain of salt on what I actually ended up doing.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. And like six and a half hours and even being a little bit before that hearing how long it was taking Andy, I was like, man, I don't know if I want to keep up with this, if this is the pace of the game for the entire time. I'm, I don't know if I'm going to be truly invested for another 10 to 12 hours from here on out. Uh, I think the, the, the promise of the art style, you know, is, is nice at the beginning, but I don't think they really do anything to like, expand upon it in really interesting ways. It's like a nice, like, flash of like, oh, like other developers trying to do like a callback to the, you know, the 1930s art style. But I don't think they really play around with it in anything in any way that's like, really interesting. I think the flow of the Boomer shooter is just like a very, it's just kind of rinse and repeat over and over again. The highlights were like, the boss fight that you guys previewed a couple of months ago. I was like, oh, this is really fun. But that was, you know, 10 minutes of entire six and a half hours in the, the beginning here, and then everything with the, the story in the world. I think to call back to what you're saying, Andy, about like, you know, the, the kind of like, Clue board that you're putting all these clues up for that isn't interesting mechanically. I think they do that you constantly of like, what you have found out because I think so much of the story is so forgetful and because missions are taking so long, beats just become like all of the stakes become so watered down because, like, nothing really seems to be very interesting and how you're connecting all of these clues and different, you know, investigations that you're going on. It's just after six and a half hours, it really feels like, I don't know if this is the right word for it, but it's the word that keeps popping in my head. It's like, it's very, it's inoffensive. It's very like, it's by the numbers. It, it's, you know, it's, it's a fine time. I would say I was, I'm having an okay time with it, knowing the length of it. I really don't know if the, the highs that you guys are talking about in the later parts of the game are really going to be enough to have me stick with it. But that's mainly why I wanted to be on this episode, to hear, like, where this goes. I will say it's like it, it plays like, solidly, you know, I, I, I'm not like, oh, man, it, you know, playing the, you know, first person boomer shooter stuff. Like, it all flows pretty well, but it nothing like, really sticks out to me of, like, oh, man, like, I'm constantly, like, engaged in fighting these, like, four or five different enemy types over and over again over the course of these hours. And, yeah, like, being six hours in, a little over that. Like, I. In my head, I'm like, I should be, you know, like, maybe halfway through this game and to hear you might be. Who knows? But. And, like, it's cool, too, to like. Or. It's interesting to see a lot of stuff from this trailer that, like, I have not seen yet. I'm like, oh, that seems interesting.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Why couldn't we have kind of, like, showcased a little bit more of, like, the weird stuff that we're gonna do in this game a little bit earlier to keep me tantalized, to keep into going on this journey that so far is kind of forgetful to me. Overall, I shout out to the little baseball card game minigame that you have there. I do really like that, but I don't need the tutorial. Every time I play.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, I think it's kind of bad. I don't like, I played the baseball.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

They have, like, a Gwent in there. I played it once and I was like, never again. No, I don't want to do this.

[Barrett Courtney]

I kind of like it.

[Greg Miller]

So I mean, looking at this, obviously it looks beautiful and, like, this style is, like, iconic, and you see them really kind of putting it to use. Do they continue to put it to use throughout the game? Like, do you think that the style is earned?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I. Yes, but no in the same breath. So stick with me. Right? The style, I think, is great. Again, seeing it on the giant oled tv, I was like, this is so much more gorgeous than my rog ally on the small screen was giving it. I really appreciate that. The problem I have is in line with what Barrett's talking about. I am the story whore. That's why I play video games. Right. That's why I love it. The story here is they try to do this gigantic thing and it just can't support its own weight, and it falls down and it's the board. And we have two main damsels in distress that we both named Betty. So I'm like, playing like, 2 Betty. I come to the other Betty. I'm like, well, that's the Betty from before. And it's like, no, it's a different Betty. I'm like, whatever. The problem is, you can only do so much with the mice in this game. And you see so many mice and rats and shrews or whatever that, like, all the characters blend together in terms of antagonist and protagonist. It's like, okay, like, I don't know who any of you are. I don't care about what's happening here. Da, da da, da, da. And so I really feel that is part of the art style pushing back, where since nobody can be in a colorful coat or this kind of crazy thing that would stand out, all the people. I'm like, when you get to the end and, like, they start trying to tie it all together and they're referencing people like, who is he again, I don't remember what that guy. And, like, it's a weird one where I think for me, I had so much more fun when I was like, cool, this story's not going to hit, and it's not even. It doesn't really matter. Instead, I'm going to lean and enjoy the performances because I'm going to keep saying how great Troy is in it for sure. But surrounding him are another group of really talented voice actors. For all the main people you talk to, like, we saw the reporter, Wanda, the kid you talked to, there a few other people. McDam, you. You really do bring this. I enjoy your performance, but I don't need to be trying to keep track of what's going on or what our relationship is. We're just having fun with it. So the style works. It just doesn't work in telling a compelling story. I think it works in telling or giving you a compelling game to play back to it. I'm not the shooter guy, but I felt stakes were so low that I was never challenged in a way where I was annoyed with a boss fight. I was challenged in a way of shit that's on me. I got to run it back. I got to do this. When I would die in the giant arenas, I'd be like, okay, cool, I gotta go over there and get the armor. I gotta get the health. It was a callback to. I did grow up playing Doom on my PC. And so it was a nice little throwback of, like, right, that's how I need to play this. And even a more modern Doom, where, you know, I would default a lot of times if there are a lot of Doom. All right, I'm trap them coming around the corner. But they do shake it up with, all right, here comes the tank that's going to rush you. And it would flush me out. And then it was all Right, Cool. Now let's go on the move now. Let's run out there and attack. All these different things.

[Barrett Courtney]

See, I was, like, running into that. Even when they started introducing different enemy types, I felt like there was always. And I never did it on purpose. I felt like there was always ways to kind of like, break or cheese. A lot of areas that didn't seem

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

like the sam, if you want cheese puns, you're gonna fucking. Oh, my God, choke on them in this game.

[Barrett Courtney]

Like, none of the. At least what I've encountered so far, like, none of the, like, kind of designs for the arenas feel very interesting or engaging that make me want to utilize even the small amount of abilities outside of just weapons that I've gotten so far.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You're right. No, you're right on the money there. And I think that's, again, a callback to, like, you know, a game of old, right? Of just going through this and, like, what. It's not elevating a Boomer shooter. And I think in the way it does elevate with these abilities where we've seen them before of, right. Using your tail, helicopter, using your grappling hook, tail, like, running on the walls and stuff like that. Like, that shit should have been there from the beginning because Playside is so good at using that. Later on when we get to those levels and you put it in there, it was, for me, that, ah, awesome. And it's a little bit the opposite of what you were talking yesterday with Pragmata, where you were like, just when I got bored with something they gave me, like, this game lets you get bored with it and sit in the boredom long enough to be like, all right, well, this kind of sucks. And then it starts giving you new things, like, oh, okay. And, like, at the end, or not even the end, but towards the, you know, three fourths of my journey, I did have to have that conversation. Like, I'm. I'm not like, Stockholm, right. Like, I'm enjoying this. Like, I had such a Not visceral reaction. It was thinking it was an okay game now, where I'm like, no, the quality shining through. But, Andy, I'm right on that.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. I mean, you know, you're unlocking abilities near the end of the game and

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

literally the last hour, your last hour with this game, and there's no, you know, you go back to the hub world and get to go clean things up. Like, your last hour of playing this game, you get a new ability.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

This isn't one. This isn't one of those Situations where you go, oh, I remember those other two worlds that had a. A part of their level that looked like I could wall run now. I could go do that. You're giving it at the end to kind of just mess around with near the end of, of the way. The, you know, the last several levels or whatever. The, the grapple hook there. There aren't ever moments where you go, you have that Metroidvania moment and go, oh, that's what those hooks were in the other spots. Let me go check that out, see what's there. Also money in this game, so inconsequential. Don't worry about looking for extra money. You're never going to need it. You only buy paper, newspaper, collectible collectibles and you buy the baseball cards for the baseball game. Other than that, like I had.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You can buy ammo, which I always found interesting, like before you go. But it's like you get it in the game. I start killing people, I get ammo. I don't know why I would be buying this.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. So that was. I feel like the economy was just very. It was initially thrown out there and then wasn't really thought out, you know, for the rest of it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Can I jump in here? Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because I want to piggybacking off of that. Andy's 100% right. And again, I think that's why I'm seeing the flat seven in the game again. For the kind of gamer I am, I had such a great time of wait. Hit down first off, really great. If you're ever lost, hit down on the D pad. It shows you which direction to go to the next thing. Awesome. Thank you. But do that. And they're like, all right, cool. I am going to go left. It wants me to go right. Go left, find a bunch of money, find a safe to lock pick with your tail. You go through in this little lock picking game that I like. Yeah, exactly. And they stick with me. It is cool. Remember that? Put a pin in that. You do that, you get the blueprint so when you go back you can upgrade your weapons and yada yada, you find a new baseball card. You know, stuff that in game moment, right. Feels so good. You've never seen any of that. That in game moment feels so good. And then you get back to the hub world to use all that and it feels so inconsequential. Cool. I found newspapers. They're not leveling up my abilities. They're just a collectible. And then yeah, you can buy. There's ones hidden levels you can buy them when you find them in the one shop. Great. You can buy the baseball cards. I don't like the baseball mini. So why am I doing that? I'm upgrading weapons. Well, I've upgraded the three weapons I actually like and now they are fucking awesome. So I'm not going to. I'm not even bothering with the other ones or I'm upgrading them just to upgrade them. It's like they have a great idea that then isn't fulfilled. And that's what I feel like a lot of this is Back to the lock picking. Right. The lock picking. You see the tail go through and get to the other side and unlock it. Awesome. I like that a lot. They then add in. Okay, cool. This one's timed. Okay. I like that a lot. Okay. Now there's thorns in here. And it's time. You only have a certain amount of moves. Awesome. They're also brain dead easy that I only failed two and it was because I was like talking to Ben or something.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Be like, oh, I ran out of time.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. There was one that I failed and it was because I didn't pick up on like using a certain amount of moves.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Then it like auto locks me up

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

and I liked that. I was. I wanted more of that. I wanted something stakes to that. I feel like they again, why I'd be excited for a mouse two right now and I'm excited for a mouse one. It's a seven. You should play it, I think. But why I'm excited for a mouse too is they have so many great ideas that they just don't follow through on. But they get so close to it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. It's got all the elements.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Like it has all the elements that would make a really compelling, fun first person shooter. I just don't know if all of the math sort of maths out. You know, like the certain percentages or. Or certain elements of the game just aren't super well thought out. And. And that stinks because I think the game has awesome like set piece moments and cool. You know, I want to say biomes but just cool settings that you are sort of adventuring through.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And. And I would love to hopefully see another game that you know, kind of connects all of the dots together perfectly. Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

And going back to the feeling of inconsequential. I would say go bring that back to level design as well. There's so much where it feels like you unlock a shortcut after being in like in that same area you'll loop around a hallway and unlock a shortcut. It's like, why was that shortcut there? There's just like, a lot of weird, like. Like, level design ideas that. It's like, I wish these were touched up a little bit. And just to make it a little bit cleaner, a little bit more, like, touched up a little bit. And, yeah, playing around with just, like, the art style and all that stuff starting to feel inconsequential with the areas that you go to. Like, one of the recent levels that I did was, like, you go to. Was it Tinsel Avenue or whatever?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

Like, they're Hollywood and stuff, and I wanted to see them, like, play around more with that idea where. But, like, that level just kind of felt like every other level of just kind of going through hallways. Okay, now you're in a larger area. Do a little bit of arena fight and then keep going down other hallways. It's like, man, like, if we're doing, like, Hollywood stuff, like, have a little bit more fun with it. There's like, one tiny moment that's a reference to a movie, and it's like, oh, this is cute. This is neat, or whatever. But, like, if you're going to evoke some of these things, especially, like, with the time period and all this stuff, like, have more fun with it. And it seems like they do eventually

[Andy Cortez]

writers have a lot of fun.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I've seen so much in these.

[Andy Cortez]

In the stuff that Kevin's playing them

[Barrett Courtney]

where I'm like, how have I not

[Greg Miller]

seen any of this?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And to your point, later levels, you go back to tinsel for new areas of it, and they do do more with it. There is a level that is strictly, like, just one liners from movies left and right, where you're like, okay, that's cute. I like what you're doing here, but. But, like, your point in my point, it's just like, why did we have the filler? Why did we have the fat? You have the steak. Just give us the steak rather than the sizzle all the time.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And so I think that's the thing. And to your point with the shortcuts, it's one of the reasons I called out, that when you beat the game, it's just over. Because I was going through, like, we've seen it, I think, once or twice in some of the footage Kev's been playing. But if you haven't, there is an overworld map where you're in the hub world and you're like, all right, cool. I'm gonna investigate this thing. And there's a Few point where you have three different cases going, so you have different places that you can go if you want to. You can pick them in order. You climb, you know, you hold X on your car, and then you go to this overworld map where you drive this little car around and go to these different jobs. And so when I was doing these things and it was like at the end of a mission, unlocking a shortcut to back, I was like, oh, I'm gonna be coming back to these areas. There's gonna be a reason to come back. I'm gonna get side missions when the game is over, I'm sure there's going to be some. No. So. Oh, then what the point? What was the. You know, why am I. What are we doing here?

[Greg Miller]

Andy, as a shooter, how did it feel?

[Andy Cortez]

I thought it felt awesome. I mean, I. I didn't expect to like the action as much as I did until we played that preview, because I was just always. I've never loved the 2D card sort of, you know, look or. Or the feel of shooting an object that is a 2D card. Just a, you know, PNG of a character and an animated character, similar to the, you know, old dude games. I felt the same way with those as well, but I thought it felt awesome. I. I think the gunplay feels good. The action of it all having that dash ability and a lot of different weapons to mess around with and have fun with. I. I really kind of fell in love with the. The D varnisher.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, wow.

[Andy Cortez]

Weapon. Because when you upgrade that, it is essentially every weapon hat. Well, most weapons have a secondary fire or secondary ability where it's a right click that does the secondary attack. And the D varnisher shoots a. Like a glob of the varnishing liquid or whatever. And then it kind of just aoe affects a lot of enemies around it and you see them all start to get affected, then they all eventually melt. And I. I loved that. I had a lot of fun with it. And it. You get that satisfying sort of thing in any game whenever you have a. Similar to pragmatic when there's you. You use like the. The little dome that captures all the enemies and it's like, oh, you're all in there. And I'm. I'm just kind of affecting everybody in this moment. It has that sort of satisfying vampire survivors thing going on there with that weapon. But I thought. I feel like I've had the most success with the. Just the standard ar. The Tommy gun.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

The James gun.

[Andy Cortez]

The James Gun?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes. Yeah, that was my. When I. By the time I unlocked that, I had maxed out the pistol and the shotgun. I was like, why would I ever use this? And then, lo and behold, it became my number one gun that I used all the time and was just grabbing ammo for. Can I give you a couple more things?

[Greg Miller]

I have a question for you. Oh, please. I love that you. You said there's a lot of cheese puns.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

So many.

[Greg Miller]

You. You made it sound like that's not a good thing.

[Andy Cortez]

It's the drug in this world. It's like the alcohol.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Well, like blue cheeses.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Fondue is like drink drinking. Fondue is like drinking whiskey. Blue cheese is like doing cocaine, I guess.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

People are cracked out of their heads on it or whatever. You know what I mean? It's not that.

[Tim Gettys]

It's.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's to the point where sometimes they're talking and I'm like, is this a reference to something I should be getting? Like, we've got.

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We've gone so through this. I'm like, I don't even know what's going on anymore. That's an actual reference.

[Greg Miller]

My question there, though, is like, is the game trying to be funny and is it funny?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It is trying to be funny, and I think it is funny.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think it's like every time we do an interview about a comedy, right. Where it's like, does every joke hit for you? Of course not. But you assume it's hitting for somebody else somewhere out there. And again, I think the performances are so good that I like the way it's. But it's like, there's a tortured backstory for Troy's character here of Jack Pepper and his two friends that, like, they don't bother introducing well. And then by the time they do, I'm like, that, right?

[Andy Cortez]

That. Yeah, that was kind of a. That was a fumbled bag. I feel like that could have been a lot more impactful.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So much editing, just bringing this all together and shrinking it from 15 or 18 hours down to nine. Seven would be so much better.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it's one of those where you could tell. The QA did an awesome job of making sure there weren't a lot of, like, bugs or making sure that things weren't breaking here and there.

[Barrett Courtney]

But, like, the moment to moment game.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, solid. But in terms of kind of zooming out and seeing the project in its hole and. And going like, do all of these pieces sort of match up with each other? Does this story beat then lead into this story beat that, and does it effectively make the user feel stuff like they should in that moment? And I think because it is a game that lets you. It kind of suffers from that open world game issue where if you experience a story beat here and then you experience that Next story beat 20 minutes later, that's awesome. That's how you should be affected by that. But in some open world games, you go off and you explore a world for seven hours and you come back and go, oh, I. Oh, that probably would have hit had I experienced that immediately. And it kind of suffers a bit from that. But I still think that the, like, overall, the writers had a lot of fun with this, and they made me giggle. And in a lot of different moments, there is a. I mean, there. There's a plin plan reference for all the Dark Souls lovers out there. That's how, like, these are some. There's a lot of, like, awesome video game reference.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

A lot of it.

[Andy Cortez]

They had a lot of fun with it. Go ahead, Tim.

[Greg Miller]

The chat just blew my mind. The character's name is Jack. Pepper.

[Andy Cortez]

Pepper Jack.

[Greg Miller]

It's Pepper.

[Mike]

Jack.

[Andy Cortez]

Pepper Jack. Cheese.

[Greg Miller]

Good stuff, guys.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Barrett Courtney]

And again, so as a for a question for y', all, is that something that gets better over time? Because in my first six and a half hours sim, I don't think I've chuckled once.

[Greg Miller]

Wow.

[Barrett Courtney]

So it's. It's one of those.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I don't think it's a game for you.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And I don't mean that a dismissive Barrett way. I just mean, like, if you're. If you're six hours in and it's nails on a chalkboard still.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You're not turning the corner.

[Barrett Courtney]

Because I think it's like, yeah, there's a lot of, like, puns and. And references, but it's also like, it's, I think, leaning a little bit too into the, like, let's play this straight of PI detective thing where it's like, there's never. There's not like a. Like, let's actually, you know, feel like we're, you know, doing a bit more tongue in cheek on the PI story where I. I feel like it's just. It's so by the numbers that, like, a lot of it doesn't land for me.

[Greg Miller]

Hot dog man in the chat says Barrett. Maybe cheese puns are just nacho thing.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, they're not.

[Barrett Courtney]

I hate them.

[Greg Miller]

Any closing thoughts here on Mouse PI for hire game for Greg?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think again, and this doesn't work for Barrett. But no, nothing. I think if you look at it and you're, like, interested by that, especially if you look at the trailer there, where there's a lot of crazy stuff happened that Barrett hasn't even gotten to, I think then you would be inclined at least try it. And I do understand $30 is $30. I would expect eventually a game pass. I would expect, you know, I mean, this is going to be.

[Andy Cortez]

I think it's an awesome price, something.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, I agree. I agree. I'm not saying it's a bad price, and I'm saying support developers, but I'm saying if you look at that, you're like. I think you. When you watch the stuff, it should be clear if that'd be interesting to you, if you'd want to run that, if you'd want to try that out, especially knowing that, again, I think it gets better the longer you play. The three things I want to toss out real quick. Sorry. Back to it. Of, like, the art style and does it work with. It works well. I think in a lot of different ways. I hated it a few different times when it came to taking damage. I think that they don't use that 3D sound so that it's easy to identify where you're getting shot from or like, somebody's yelling. So it'd be like, I'm getting hurt. What is hitting me? Why? There was one fight where I died, like, three times in a row thinking I was, like, backing into something. But no, I was getting, like, one shot. It was like a whole, like, what's going on here? I think there's directional call outs in, like, maybe a red. Use a color there would have been very helpful. Right. And it's the same thing with call outs in the game. Jack will. Will do something. Will pull a lever and like, oh, wow, that's crazy. And it's like, I don't know what. What. Where was I supposed to look? I didn't see what was going on with it. Right. And then also this being an older, you know, a callback to a different kind of game, they do the worst callback, I think possible, which is they end the game on a boss fight. I hated the only boss fight I didn't enjoy where I turned to Andy and I'm like, am I doing this right? Is this really what it is? He's like, yeah, my. This sucks.

[Mike]

You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

This. And it was just bad checkpointing there too. Usually checkpoints were pretty forgiving. Outside of there, I was not happy with myself. And then the final thing I want to call it is from kebabs over there. Kebabs in the chat says, I feel like this. I feel like this is like Batman. I keep forgetting he's a detective in these trailers because he's doing everything except investigating stuff. I felt that same way early in the game. And then they start peppering in him crawling through vents with a flashlight, him undercover at parties. And I was like, damn, this is cool. Like, I wish again we had put more of this early, shorten this thing up, gotten us there. Andy nailed it. The parts are here for what should have been a great game. It's just a little too bloated. I don't think you should miss it, though. If it sounds interesting to you, I think it is a good game. It's a 7 out of 10. I recommend. I enjoyed my time with it. I'm glad I did it. I wish it was shorter.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm right there with him.

[Greg Miller]

I like.

[Andy Cortez]

I can't believe I agree with Greg.

[Barrett Courtney]

First time ever.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

All right, so let me tell you about Starfield.

[Greg Miller]

We're going to take a. Oh, actually, no. Before we take a break, Barrett has a game he wants to.

[Barrett Courtney]

Well, to answer your question, Tim, from the beginning of the show, will I continue on with this game? See, seeing the. What we, like, saw in the footage that Kevin's brought up, like, it's one that I. I, even though I'm having the time that I'm having with it, like, I do want to stick with it because I do think there is going to be something here that I enjoy. It's just every time that I. Every time that I started up, it just feels so slow. But I want to get to the stuff that Greg and Andy have experienced that they've talked to me about of, like, oh, there's like, this really cool moment later on. So I want to stick with it. And so I wish I had put more time into it, but I was bouncing between a lot of games this weekend. I played a little bit of replace. I played a lot of redacted that I can't talk about yet. I finished near Automata. And let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that is a fantastic video game.

[Andy Cortez]

Yes.

[Barrett Courtney]

But one game that I also booted up this weekend that I only played for, like, about an hour, I showed this to you yesterday. It's a game called Tamashika. This is one that we showed off in some. I think it was like every game coming out this month or something. This immediately sparked something in my brain. Visually, what you're looking at is the best way I can describe it is a nightmare I probably had at like five years old. But it's, it's something that I'm really into. It's a weird, super weird acid trip, but like way more intense. It's like a combination of Tim will get this like the beginning cartoon of

[Andy Cortez]

the Grateful movie, but then also the

[Barrett Courtney]

most like lo fi weird that you would see on like the Adult Swim in between shows that I just really adore the simple premise of it. It's just kind of running gun, you've got a gun, you got a knife. There's these weird green dudes with ties and they're trying to kill you. And when I first booted it up, it seemed like really small and simple. There was like six total levels. The first five levels are all really quick tutorials. And then there was a full level that you played through in a checkpoint fashion. And then you played that level again after you completed it checkpointed and you play through it and try to get through this one big level all in one go without dying. And that's where you enter your leaderboards. And I was like, oh, this is like a cute little thing. This is really neat. But then I booted it up yesterday and I realized, oh, every day the full level changes. They procedurally generate the levels every day. And so every day you can check in and play this like really weird trippy arcade shooter with a different type of challenge and enter into your leaderboards. And it's honestly really sick. And if I just wanted to shout this one out for the freaks and sickos out there because this is one of the games that I put some time into this weekend and I thought it was really neat and really cool and I just wanted to shout it out.

[Mike]

Hell yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I like it. That neon white cool.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, 100%.

[Greg Miller]

We are going to take a quick sponsor break but when we get back, Mike's going to join us to talk about replace.

[Tim Gettys]

This episode is brought to you by boot.dev. if you're listening to this show, there's a solid chance you one, like video games and two, at some point in your life have been interested in learning software development. Moot.dev combines those things because they know the smartest way to learn is to never get bored. It takes your coding from beginner to expert the fun way through a hands on RPG like experience. If you're ready to put in the time it takes, just like Kevin is.

[Andy Cortez]

My favorite feature is that you could

[Barrett Courtney]

find a solution that works but Then afterwards you can hit Solution and see the way that they were trying to teach you to do it. That's really cool.

[Tim Gettys]

With a curriculum designed for builders with gamer sensibilities in mind, boot.dev welcomes you to the most captivating way to learn to code. You can learn backend web development from start to finish in Python, SQL and Go. That's why you'll learn by doing the things you'll be actually doing at a job building real projects. So go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan. There's no better time to give your coding dreams a chance, just like Kevin's doing. Again, go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan. This episode is brought to you by nocd. You finally sit down to game. Just you, your controller and zero responsibilities. When your brain decides that's the perfect time to ask did I say something offensive earlier? And not realize it. And suddenly relaxing and enjoying yourself is impossible. Instead, your brain grabs onto the thought and will not let it go.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Go.

[Tim Gettys]

That kind of relentless thought spiral isn't just anxiety. It could actually be ocd, a condition that's way too misunderstood and way more common than most people realize. But it doesn't have to be that way because OCD is highly treatable with the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs erp, or Exposure and Response Prevention, which has proven to be the most effective treatment. And that's where NOCD comes in. NOCD is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment and it's covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans. All their licensed therapists specialize in ERP therapy and will help you learn to take the power away from intrusive thoughts in live, face to face virtual sessions. If unwanted thoughts are taking over, don't wait to get help. Visit nocd.com to book a free call with their team. That's nocd.com this episode is brought to you by Shopify. Picture this. It's late at night, you're scrolling through your feeds when all of a sudden you see it. That one product that you've been looking for. You click on the link, add to cart before finally hitting checkouts. As you're filling in your address, you realize you don't have your card anywhere near you. Then you see it. That purple pay button that has all your information saved, making checking out as simple as a tap on your Screen Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Heinz to brands just getting started. And what if I get stuck? Well, Shopify is always around to share advice with their award winning 24. 7 customer support. See less carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their Shop pay button. Sign up for $1 per month trial today at shopify.com kindafunny go to shopify.com kindafunny that's shopify.com kinda funny

[Mike]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

the treat you deserve. Pepsi Wild Cherry and Cream. Treat yourself K Pop Demon Hunters Haja

[Tim Gettys]

Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Trick's Meal have just dropped at McDonald's.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi?

[Tim Gettys]

It's not a battle.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day. It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor.

[Greg Miller]

It is.

[Tim Gettys]

It is our larger honor.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side

[Greg Miller]

and participate in McDonald's while supplies last.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Welcome back to the Kinda Funny Games Cast. Everybody know your eyes don't deceive you. I've jumped into the host chair. It's me, Greg Miller. And let me tell you I've been looking forward to replaced for four years somehow. And it's finally here. Except we got review codes late. Then I was already on Mouse. Then I is on redacted that you'll hear about tomorrow. So I haven't had the chance to play it. However, Master of hype Snow Bike Mike sure has. Hi Mike.

[Mike]

Hey, what up, Greg? Thanks for having me. I jumped on. I got to play.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you did.

[Mike]

I was prepping for today's gamescast plays with Andy and then just kind of rolled into like hey, let's throw Mike on the show. Let's talk about it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Timothy Gettys, you've played.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, it's a similar thing where it's just like. I didn't.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We're all busy.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. I didn't think I was going to be able to play this for review or to hit the embargo for review given what's going on in my life. But I started playing and I couldn't stop playing. Now I will say, hell yeah, haven't beat the game. I'm not done. This is definitely a review so far.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Love that.

[Greg Miller]

I don't need to put a score on it at all. I'm not prepared to period how much I can give thoughts on it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Don't be a lot powered a lot. A score so far.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I'll give a score so far. That's that. That's fair. But I'm about eight hours in.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, shit.

[Greg Miller]

I think Mike, correct me if I'm wrong. Sounds like you have about an hour left and I have about two hours left.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay. Oh, I think you're well within your rights there.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I'm right at the end. I saw someone's full playthrough go up today. I'm an hour away.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Andy, how much have you played?

[Andy Cortez]

I only play the demo. Yeah, I've been busy with.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

What did you think of the demo? Were you excited for it?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, I really love the demo.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I'm excited to dive in. If you don't know. Everybody replaced Steam. Description reads like this expose the sinister secrets of Phoenix Corporation is reached. An AI trapped in a human body. Set in an alternate 1980s America scarred by nuclear catastrophe. Navigate a dark cyberpunk thriller in this narrative driven 2.5D platformer blending cinematic exploration with fluid free flow action. The developer of course is Sad Cat Studios publisher Thunderfold. The release date is today and the price is a very nice 1991 snow. Mike, Mike, you've got the finish line in sight. One hour away from finishing replaced. What do you think?

[Mike]

You know what, it's been a mixed bag, Greg, actually throughout this playthrough I'm at about.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

This is on my fantasy critic. Could you please be more positive?

[Mike]

Probably about nine hours in looking at the finish line right now and I've had some moments of like, oh wow, this game has got some sauce to it. This is really, really cool. And then there's moments of frustration where I'm like, you know what, I'm getting kind of bored. I could put this down and not go back to it. And so I've kind of layered it up like a cake here, Tim. Ooh, talk about the cake.

[Greg Miller]

Me up, Mike.

[Mike]

Okay, let's talk about the sauce that I brought up. That 2,5D visual world is unbelievable. Okay. It is gorgeous. The team over at Sad Cat Studios really put it in on this. I mean, the lighting to the character sprites, all through the animations. There's some cinematography going on in certain moments of the game where they pause and you're not moving, but they're moving the camera around and really showing how awesome and detailed this world is to the of course, fun walkman that you're going to pull out of your pocket and really dive deep into. Hey, here's some side notes for you to learn more of the lore in the world. There's some hacking going on in this that you'll use it for. And so every part of the world, when it comes to visual, the details all deliver. It is something awesome. On top of that, the story is great. There's something really cool cooking on in this story and I don't want to spoil any of it for you, but there are moments where I'll read something or I'll learn a bit, a little bit more. I'll go, they're doing what?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And it's like, oh, the story in the world have captured me and kept me on this fishing hook where I'm like, hey, I'll play more of this. Right? And then we add on the Batman Arkham free flowing combat, which I think is a mixed bag that I just put us fine. I think there are moments that you'll add new tools to the toolkit of the Arkham style combat that are really fun and awesome. There's even some boss fights that are really cool. But I think a lot of the time you'll go into another combat situation and go, this looks and feels the exact same as the other one. Right. And I don't know how to perfectly put my thumb on it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Right.

[Mike]

It's like, I guess in the Arkham games, Maybe it's the 3D world that I love bouncing all around on. Yeah, maybe it is just the, hey, I fell out of a ceiling and I'm fighting the same 10 guys again and again in this game that just like leads to the. It's fine because like there are some really cool fight scenes where you're like, okay, we're trying to get John Wick with it and we're really setting up some really cool atmosphere and world building with this that I like. But the other 70 of the time like, that's another fight encounter that isn't the most fun and engaging that I want it to be. And then finally, to get down to it, some frustrations is the platforming. I have a lot of platforming frustrations in this game, from checkpointing to trail mapping guides here. I think there's a couple of moments where the world is so well built and you're going to add in this really cool tool, Ice Pick. I think it's a pickaxe almost like Minecraft, which they said super fun, but like you're going to lure a Croft Tomb Raider pickaxe into a wall and sometimes it blends so well into the shadows in the wall that you can't really see it. And I wish they just did a better job kind of trail mapping where I need to be. That's a small frustration. My biggest one is the checkpointing system. When it comes to the traversal here, if you fall and die, there is a good amount of times where you're going to be put back at a checkpoint where you go, oh, I really wish you just put me right where I fell. Because you go back quite a ways. He's already slow as is. And you're like, oh, like, this is fuck me. This is fuck me. I shouldn't have fucked that up. That's my bad, right? And so that one really hurt right there. And so those are some of my frustrations. But like I said, the world and the look to this game mixed with the Batman, Arkham Combat, it really made for an awesome cinematic platformer. I like that someone used that recently on Darwin's Paradox and I like that.

[Barrett Courtney]

Right?

[Mike]

Like, I think this goes up there. If someone was to ask me, hey, I'm looking for a game like Limbo and Inside, I want that cinematic platformer. I'm like, hey, this is a good game. There's a good game to it. I like the price tag. At 20 bucks, there's a free demo. I do think that there's going to be some people like me that will find some frustration. Some parts that kind of slow down. You're like, you know what? I'm good on this. And then I think there's going to be other people who are like, yo, I'm in on this. This is a must play banger. And so I'm going with a 6.5 out of 10. A fine to a lowercase good. I could go 6.5 to 7 is where I'm really at.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay, an okay score from the one, the only Master Vibe Snow Bike. Mike, I'm excited about that. I want to talk more about that. But, Tim.

[Greg Miller]

Yes?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Where are you?

[Greg Miller]

I love replaced. I love this video game, and it will undeniably be a contender for me. This will be in my top 10 at the end of the year. Having said that, it's hard for me to even think of where I would put it on the scale here. I don't disagree with a single thing that Mike said. I think the biggest thing is this game is not for everybody. And I even think that if it's for you, it might take a little bit for you to be. To realize this is, for me, how it is for you. Because the. It's not one of those, like, oh, it gets good four hours in. It's not that type of thing. It's more the experience. You just start to get so sucked into it that the frustration and that stuff kind of just becomes the zone you're in. And so much rounded is so good that it's like, the story's incredible, the world and characters and what they got going on. The thing it reminds me of most is the first time I read the Walking Dead comic, where the more you learn about what's going on in the different groups and the interactions between things, you're like, wow, that's crazy. That's crazy. I just don't want to put this game down because I want to know what happens next, and I want to know how they're going to handle the. The situation that's being presented to you and all that. I didn't expect to be so high on the story.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Obviously, this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. Like this. It just speaks to esthetics that I love so much. And the cinematic platform is the best way to put it. Like, it's wild because you see some of the combat and you see even just, like, some of the platforming. And it's like, I've always questioned, there's this game, and then there was that other one. I forget what it was called last. The last night. Right.

[Andy Cortez]

Last night. And it's like Transformers.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

It's like, how is this gonna be a video game that you play? Like, it looks super sick, but, like, what am I actually doing?

[Mike]

Like, what.

[Greg Miller]

What is. What's the interactivity? And is it just gonna be repetitive as hell and, like, kind of a walking simulator? And what's it. Where's that gonna be? And I am. I think that this game kind of does the best it possibly can at looking this gorgeous and Also being a video game that comes with a lot of limitations. This game reminds me a lot of the original Prince of Persia games that also kind of had that cinematic platformer look to them where the animation of the characters is clunky in a realistic way. Like it's how people really move and really would jump onto things and they really rewind.

[Andy Cortez]

The animations are phenomenal.

[Greg Miller]

It's phenomenal. But to have that level, you're not moving around like Mario. This isn't Katana Zero. It's like and. And I think that with that it's obviously it's like it's not that type of game. But it's still hard for you. Where I'm like, yeah, but I like my platformers fast and, and fun and very fucking over the top action. And it's like this game is slow. It is not fast. And then you get into some of the combat and it is fast and it is this ark of you're bouncing back and forth and the more abilities you get, the toolkit you have. Where I'm at in the game I am thrilled with. But Mike's right. You are kind of just doing the same thing over and over and over. I'm still having fun doing that every single time.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Mainly because you're doing it in new locations every single time. And the locations are so stunning. The amount of art in this game I simply don't understand because I am looking at the background constantly seeing all the graffiti because there's so much like storytelling going on.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I don't think a single piece of graffiti was reused. It's like every single thing is. Is new and you're. You're learning about the world through all of it. And you see these like backlit scenes, front lit scenes I like so much of. It's incredible. Like I really don't want to say too much. Like Mike was saying, there's a couple like story elements and like reveals that happen.

[Mike]

So cool.

[Andy Cortez]

You sold me so hard on this.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

100%.

[Andy Cortez]

Like I think the game looking this way is one thing to hop into an experience that's just visual and awesome. I talk about all the time that like my dad and I will put on whenever I go visit my parents back home. We will put on the most mid ass sci fi movie just for the visuals and this game being able to deliver a story that has you all this pumped up about it and it looking this way, it's it. I definitely feel like I'll be more in the Tim camp of yeah, the combat is not the best, however. Everything else just kind of outshines. And you sort of are immersed so much.

[Greg Miller]

And I would say even that the combat is. I'm higher on the combat than Mike is. Like, I think it's a little better than fine. I don't think that it's great, but, like, it's good. I think it's good. I do think that the platforming, like, Mike is saying, some of the puzzles, some of the signposting of, like, what you're supposed to be doing, that is. It can be a drag. It really can kind of take your experience down a bit. And. And that isn't ideal. Right. Like, and that's why this makes it hard to kind of talk about it, because of how much I love it. It's like, I'm talking about this game. Like, it's a nine out of 10.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And it's like. Like, in my heart, I'm like, I. This. I'm gonna say it. I love this. Like a 9 out of 10. It's not. It's not.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And okay.

[Greg Miller]

And so that's why it's like, I don't know. I. I feel like from the critical point of view of, like, would I recommend this to people? It's like, I would not recommend this game to everybody. Like, that is straight up a fact. So in that sense, it's like, I'd probably give it a 7.5.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay.

[Mike]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Swimming at 7.

[Greg Miller]

But it's like, I. I feel the 9. I feel that this is amazing. I'm going to think about this game for so long, I cannot wait to beat it. And that's the thing is, like, if by the end of it, the story comes together and the final moments are as good as I expect them to be. Yeah. Maybe I stand on that nine.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Damn, you're saying all the right words. I'm right there with Andy. That taking in Mike's criticisms and your criticisms as well, I feel like the story will pull me. But I have a question about the story from Kobe, who super chatted just like you can on YouTube.com kind of funny games to ask us questions about the games we're talking about. So would you say it's like Blade Runner 2049, slow, vibey, but engrossing as hell.

[Barrett Courtney]

Sci fi.

[Mike]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, it really is. But I think that it's. It's a little less. The story's not vibey. The story is pretty direct.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay.

[Mike]

Like, the.

[Greg Miller]

It's not like, oh, man. Like, you really got to piece all this stuff together. There's a lot of that stuff, but they're really just like, it's, it's. They keep it simple and they keep it straightforward. It's the Walking Dead. It really just has that thing of you always know why you're going, where you're going. You know, the big goal, you know what's going on. I mean, just starting off like, I do not want to spoil anything because there's the moment that Mike was talking about me and him both off about it yesterday. Talking. It's like there's this reveal that's like. That is one of the coolest sci fi things I have ever fucking heard. Like, so cool. But the start of this game is there's a man that is like working on AI stuff. Something happens like an explosion and the AI is then in the body of the human. You are playing as an AI in a human's body?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

That's fucking sick.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's cool.

[Greg Miller]

And they just keep delivering on that premise throughout the game so far. So, yeah, very, very happy with all that. And the one thing I want to say about the combat is like, there was. There's a. You were just kind of in these like, combat scenarios where you're facing off against like a dozen enemies at once very often. But every time they add some level of visual stimulation that doesn't just feel like cool shit for cool shit sake. It really feels like you're on this journey. And they've built it out so well. But there's one fight scene that's the same type of fight you've had a million times, but there's a projector. And the moment that you're like, well, this visual style can't look any cooler. You're fighting in front of a projector and your shadows are being cast and everyone's shadows are being cast. And it's like, this is John Wick. Music's playing and you're like, this is awesome.

[Andy Cortez]

Kevin, can you bring up what I linked to assets? Because this reminds me of another game that we experienced a couple years ago that had everything else vibe wise. Like everything vibes wise was so high. This is a game called Trek to Yomi.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I remember.

[Andy Cortez]

And it, the combat was kind of, you know, it seems like very similar to this where it's like, yeah, the combat's fine or whatever, but it just didn't deliver storytelling wise. And it's like it had all the visual stuff that kept me along for as long as it did. But ultimately I was like, all right, well, if the combat's going to be this average or okay, at least deliver on narrative. And it didn't do that. It sounds like this may kind of be in a similar camp or opposite camp rather where hey, the combat is fine. However, narrative is doing some really cool shit and this seems like totally my shit.

[Greg Miller]

I think it's your shit, Andy. Story wise, I. I'm going to be very surprised about what you think about the gameplay because yeah, it's slow.

[Mike]

It's all cap all caps. Andy, slow. I brought up, you know, yesterday when we talked about the games cast plays coming up, I said you should jump off of my save an hour in because the opening of this game slow,

[Greg Miller]

like you really are going to be

[Mike]

put through it, but you're going to be rewarded with some dope story, some awesome world right there. Like it's beautiful to watch, but it is slow to get through.

[Greg Miller]

And, and I really think that it's important to say it's not that the beginning of this game is slow. The game is slow. The game is so it's like if you can meet that pace, I think you're really going to love this. But if it's just too frustrating and there's moments where you're doing platforming that feels hard to control and like the combat is so snappy to feel play it. I'm like, I always feel like I'm in control of what I'm doing and I'm actually very impressed with like the button canceling. There's a lot of stuff coming at you at certain points, like bullets are flying, people are kicking, people are charging at you. And it, it is very rhythm based of just like, okay, this type of Perry Perry is that this type of Perry Perry is this like very Perry focused and you're kind of just like having to react to all this stuff. And I can't believe with how slow the game is, how fast it's the

[Mike]

reaction animation that it kind of goes up a gear. It's right like you clearly flick on a gear when you're in combat of like, oh, he's moving faster now. He's bouncing off enemies like I wanted. But like still not full Batman. He's still like a couple steps behind that. We're like, oh, what if you like went a little bit farther across the screen but it's like, oh, you went up a gear. And I could appreciate that because yeah, he's slow all the time.

[Greg Miller]

Some of the puzzles you'll. You might be there frustratingly for an hour just being like, what am I? I don't even understand what you want me to do, you know?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And so that can kind of. Kind of suck. But then once you get past, you're like, you're moving on. Here's my biggest problem with this game, period.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay?

[Greg Miller]

And it breaks my heart that this is the case. This game needs voice acting.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It is.

[Greg Miller]

What? No, no voice acting.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Voice acting needs it.

[Greg Miller]

I saw someone in the chat being like, I would pay double for this game if it has had voice acting. And so would I. This is one of the most cinematic games I've ever seen. And it just. It's lacking a level that would take it so much further.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like, reminds me of Disco Elysium and then the director's cut of that.

[Greg Miller]

Maybe I didn't play, so I don't know. But, like, this, to me, it. I couldn't stop thinking about Bastion. I couldn't stop thinking about Hades, Hades 2, where it's like, you know, the. The game looks so good. It has this style, and it's like, the writing's so clever and so good. And then in Hades, these characters are being voiced. They feel so alive. It feels so cinematic. And, yeah, this game, I constantly. I'm just like. I can hear Andy's voice. I can hear you, like, doing the characters, and I'm like, this. It. It's frustrating to me that it's not there because. And I get it smaller, very small team, you know? Like, I get the budget of this game, like, how many years it was in development, but. But the writing, I think, is so good, and so many of the characters are so great that, like. And the music is so damn good, and there's hints here and there. Like, the sound design in this game is so good, where there's so many, like, I was saying, like, unique art that it doesn't feel like things are repeated in the same way. There's, like, a lot of sound effects that you only hear once. There's like, one. A TV that'll be on, and you actually hear the TV on.

[Andy Cortez]

There are.

[Greg Miller]

There's, like, talking. There's voices on it, and it's only in one location, you know, and, like, a lot of that type of stuff. And I'm like, wow, this is so premium. And then it feels like you're watching those Kingdom Hearts trailers that didn't have

[Andy Cortez]

time to sound so awkward.

[Greg Miller]

It's being presented in such a way, and it just feels like it's missing such a key component.

[Mike]

So, yeah, that.

[Greg Miller]

That, to me, is the biggest bummer.

[Andy Cortez]

Take me back to Reacting to those trailers, man, that was a good time.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Damn, what a time for games. I talked about this in today's Greg Away. I love that we're having so many different conversations and scores about games in an artistic, creative way. Because I feel like, you know, you saying to Mike that you agree with everything. Me hearing Mike and be like, I totally get that. I feel for me, the story will win out over and like from the demo that me and Andy played, right? Like, that simplistic combat and just beating up waves of guys was fun. And so I wonder if it's gonna wear me down and get mundane or if it's gonna be like Starfield where I'm just happy to be fucking picking another lock. I don't care.

[Andy Cortez]

Be interesting to see were there any options to take away the litter box? The litter boxing.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You heard litter box?

[Greg Miller]

Like a cat litter box. I'm like, what? No, there's not. Which is kind of unfortunate because. So I played this mostly on my tv, but a lot of it is on my Steam deck as well. Plays beautifully on the Steam deck, but Steam deck with letterbox, it gets kind of tiny and there's options to change the font from like the pixelated, stylized thing to a more what they call simple font. And I feel like that's a requirement on the Steam deck or else you just aren't going to be able to read what it's saying. But when I played it on my ultra wide monitor, then there is no letterbox and I was like, oh, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, nice.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, man, this is cool.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hell yeah. Any final thoughts on replaced, Mikey?

[Mike]

No. Like I said, I think if people come to me and they're like, hey, I'm looking for a cinematic platformer, this is now going to be in my back pocket. Hey, this is something special. And it might be for you, it might not be for you, but they. This team did something really cool and that story and that world is going to drive you. The combat is going to be fun to engaging. And it's like, yeah, there's something here, there's something really here. But there's some frustrations for sure.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'll be interested to see if they stop me because that's my thing, especially for a frustrating platform section.

[Barrett Courtney]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And I know. No, I know there's been patches and things, but some of the things you guys are putting out are like the puzzle Y kind of things that I hate. Now, of course, I'm playing with the. The world playing, so it's always so much nicer of being able to do a quick Google.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, yeah, honestly. And like again, this isn't a compliment to the game. It is a heavy criticism. But like I, I do wish that I wasn't playing this game for review. I think I'd enjoy it even more if the moment I get stuck and frustrated I could just be like, I'm looking at a lot. Tell me like just what, what am I doing? Like I don't got time for. I don't want to do this shit, you know. But yeah.

[Mike]

And not that big.

[Greg Miller]

Like no.

[Mike]

Yeah, this is looking like it's going to end at about 10 hours, maybe 12 if you're really, really slowing it down. But like I think there's going to be a solid 10 hour experience. Play that in a week. You're going to have a good time.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hell yeah. Everybody, before we get out of here, I got some super chats for you. Jesse Wilson. Super chat and says just wanted to let you guys, this is a serious one too. I'm not building to a joke. Just wanted to let you guys know that my adoptive. My adopted daughter is a shaken baby survivor and is non verbal and this morning she said tots tots tots with Gamescast.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow, nice.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, a lot of love for that in the chat. So thank you for that. Jesse 0sp0 says Happy Birthday or I'm sorry birthday tax. Happy birthday. Glad to see Tim back and him bringing home stars in the bank. Hashtag Gregson. I take back my happy birthday.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But he says love everything do thank you Andy for being on my side. Ever since we teamed up for a 7.0 on mouse, we're right there together now, aren't we? The one one says congratulations to father of the bank. Go go. Monster Truck says to Barrett we'll make sure he knows play Fallen Aces, a noir FPS immersion sim. Barrett. So I'll let him know that that's what he should be doing. And then Sasquatch ONI says Disney in shambles cancels Mickey Boomer Shooter. We talk about Disney grasping at straws as we often do on Kinda Funny Games Daily. Everybody, that's another Kinda Funny Games cast in the bank. You got your reviews for Mouse? You got your reviews for replaced. Of course. We are far from done here on Kinda Funny because we are a network all about live talk shows. We're rolling right into the Kinda Funny podcast where me, Kevin and Tim will sit down for the Dadcast to talk about Tim's first three months as a father. And then after that, Andy, Mike are jumping into replace, aren't you?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Mike]

For gamescast plays, we're going to dive deep into it and he's going to play what will be probably the first hour of the games.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hell yeah.

[Mike]

A great.

[Greg Miller]

So you're starting up your playthrough of this?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, that's exciting.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Catch all of that? Of course. Live, twitch and YouTube.com kind of funny games. If you're watching later, listening later on podcast services around the globe like subscribe, share and remember, you can go to YouTube.com kindafunnygames to catch all of our content there on demand. For now, though, the games cast is over. We'll see you tomorrow for yet another embargoed review. But until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you. Throw it. Throw it, Mike. Throw it, Mike. Throw it, Mike. Yeah, he's got it.