South of Midnight Preview - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: South of Midnight Preview – November 12, 2024

Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Blessing Adeoye, and Andy Cortez

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Introduction

In the November 12, 2024 episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, the hosts delve into an exclusive preview of "South of Midnight," an upcoming action-adventure game developed by Compulsion Games. The episode offers an in-depth exploration of the game’s development, cultural influences, gameplay mechanics, and visual artistry, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of what to expect from this highly anticipated title.

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Cruiseville Announcement (00:13 - 08:10)

The episode begins with a spontaneous announcement about Cruiseville, a themed cruise event featuring the cast of Smallville. Greg Miller mentions, “[00:48] Cruiseville. This is the Smallville cruise cruise.” The hosts express surprise and amusement over this news, highlighting its unexpected nature and discussing its official status. Although this segment serves as light-hearted banter among the hosts, it sets a relaxed tone for the episode.

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Main Topic Introduction: South of Midnight (08:10 - 10:27)

Shifting gears, the hosts introduce the main focus of the episode: "South of Midnight." Greg Miller states, “[08:13] ...the topic is south of Midnight.” The discussion kicks off with Paris Lily recounting her visit to Compulsion Games in Montreal, providing firsthand insights into the game’s development process.

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Game Overview and Development Insights (10:27 - 17:09)

Paris Lily shares her experiences visiting Compulsion Games, emphasizing the studio's commitment to authenticity and cultural representation. She mentions, “[10:47] Compulsion has never done anything like this before.” The hosts discuss Compulsion’s history, noting their previous titles like Contrast (2013) and We Happy Few (2018), and underline the significance of "South of Midnight" as their latest endeavor.

Key points from Paris’s visit include:

• Interviews with the Development Team: Paris interacted with the game director, lead art director, and voice director Adrienne Ray, gaining insights into the game's narrative and artistic direction.

• Gameplay Demonstration: The game runs on Unreal Engine 4, targeting 60 frames per second on Xbox. Paris observed that the gameplay appeared polished with minor bugs, indicating a near-final state.

• Artistic Choices: The use of stop-motion animation and handcrafted environments stands out. “[11:02] ...this was about a studio visit where we kind of got to meet the team that's obviously making south of Midnight.”

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Cultural Representation and Storytelling (17:09 - 38:32)

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the game's deep South setting and its cultural authenticity.

Key Highlights:

• Authentic Representation: Paris emphasizes the game’s dedication to accurately portraying Southern folklore and culture. “[10:27] ...a lot of African American influence... creole culture influence...” The team conducted extensive research, including field trips to capture real Southern sounds and consulting with local experts.

• Character Design and Narrative: The protagonist, Hazel, is a young African American woman whose character is deeply rooted in Southern heritage. Adrienne Ray, the voice actress, drew inspiration from her own family to bring authenticity to Hazel’s character. Paris notes, “[17:09] ...there's a resilience to Hazel that feels genuine and relatable.”

• Mythological Elements: The game incorporates Southern legends, such as the character Two-Toed Tom, an alligator boss with a rich backstory. Paris explains, “[15:51] ...there's backstory to him.” This design choice adds depth, allowing players to engage with the game’s lore meaningfully.

• Environmental Storytelling: The handcrafted environments reflect the eerie and mystical essence of the Deep South. Paris recounts, “[10:27] ...all these environments are handcrafted.” The attention to detail ensures that each setting contributes to the overall narrative and atmospheric immersion.

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Gameplay Mechanics and Design Choices (38:32 - 47:35)

The hosts delve into the specific gameplay mechanics and design philosophies behind "South of Midnight."

Combat and Exploration:

• Arena-Based Combat: The game primarily features confined combat scenarios, reminiscent of praised titles like Psychonauts 2. Paris observes, “[10:27] ...very polished from what I saw.” While some may find the combat style straightforward, the emphasis is on strategic engagement within these arenas.

• Exploration Rewards: Players are encouraged to explore off the beaten path to uncover upgrades and backstory elements. Paris mentions discovering an upgrade for Hazel that deepens the narrative connection with Two-Toed Tom: “[24:43] ...you’re being rewarded for exploring.”

• Traversal Mechanics: Utilizing weaving magic, Hazel can traverse environments creatively. Paris notes, “[10:27] ...Hazel’s upgrades to her weaving magic.” This mechanic balances exploration and combat, providing a dynamic gameplay experience.

Art and Animation:

• Stop-Motion Animation: The choice of stop-motion animation distinguishes the game visually. Paris remarks, “[17:09] ...the stop motion animation in it and it looks great in action.” This artistic direction enhances the game’s unique aesthetic and complements the storytelling.

• Handcrafted Environments: Every setting is meticulously designed by hand, avoiding procedural generation to maintain consistency and authenticity: “[10:27] ...they didn’t do anything procedural with this.” This ensures each environment aligns with the game’s cultural and mythological themes.

Sound and Music:

• Authentic Soundscapes: The sound and environment director captured real Southern sounds to enhance immersion. Paris states, “[10:27] ...capturing real sounds from there.”

• Original Music for Bosses: Each boss has a unique theme song that reflects their personality and lore. “[33:39] ...all these bosses have their own theme music.” This approach deepens the player's emotional connection to the characters.

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Comparisons to Other Games and Industry Insights (38:32 - 47:35)

The hosts draw parallels between "South of Midnight" and other narrative-driven games, highlighting its unique position in the market.

• Concrete Genie Comparison: Greg Miller likens the game’s artistic vision to Concrete Genie, emphasizing their shared focus on storytelling and artistic expression: “[35:04] ...this looks like it's doing this...we want to make art.”

• Psychonauts 2 Benchmark: Paris suggests that the game should aim for critical acclaim similar to Psychonauts 2, rather than focusing solely on sales figures: “[41:47] ...it should be a critical hit for them.”

• Cultural Impact: The game’s dedication to representing Southern culture stands out in an industry often dominated by generic settings. Paris remarks, “[35:59] ...representation matters.”

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Listener Q&A and Super Chats (47:35 - 48:44)

In the latter part of the episode, listeners engage with the hosts through Super Chats, posing questions and sharing their thoughts.

Notable Questions and Responses:

• Turn Off Stop-Motion Option: A listener inquires if players can disable the stop-motion animation, to which Paris responds, “[45:21] No, that is a design choice.”

• Diversity Behind the Scenes: A listener expresses hope for diversity among the development team, and Paris affirms, “[46:36] ...people that were on the narrative and writing team were subject matter experts...” Highlighting Compulsion Games’ commitment to authentic representation both in front of and behind the camera.

• Release Date Insights: Paris speculates that the game’s release in 2025 is targeted for late spring, comparing it to Hellblade 2’s launch timeline: “[40:30] ...probably April, May of 2025.”

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts (48:44 - End)

The episode wraps up with the hosts expressing their excitement for "South of Midnight." Greg Miller shares a personal endorsement, saying, “[47:44] I can’t wait.” The hosts reiterate the game’s potential to deliver a unique, culturally rich narrative experience, positioning it as a standout title in the action-adventure genre.

Final Remarks:

• Anticipation for Release: The hosts emphasize their eagerness for the game's completion and release, considering it a “[47:44] Super stoked” upcoming title.

• Support for the Show: Greg encourages listeners to support the podcast through memberships and subscriptions, highlighting the value of community involvement.

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Key Takeaways

• Cultural Authenticity: "South of Midnight" prioritizes accurate and respectful representation of Southern culture, integrating real folklore and dialects to enhance authenticity.

• Unique Artistic Direction: The stop-motion animation and handcrafted environments set the game apart visually, providing a distinct aesthetic experience.

• Balanced Gameplay: Combining arena-based combat with exploration and puzzle-solving, the game offers a balanced experience that rewards player curiosity and strategic thinking.

• Critical Acclaim Focus: The developers aim for critical success by focusing on storytelling and artistic vision rather than solely chasing high sales figures.

• Diverse Development Team: Compulsion Games demonstrates a commitment to diversity both in their narrative and their development team, ensuring authentic cultural depiction.

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Notable Quotes

• Greg Miller [00:48]: “Cruiseville. This is the Smallville cruise cruise.”

• Paris Lily [10:27]: “Compulsion Games has never done anything like this before.”

• Paris Lily [17:09]: “There’s a resilience to Hazel that feels genuine and relatable.”

• Paris Lily [24:43]: “You’re being rewarded for exploring.”

• Greg Miller [35:04]: “This looks like it's doing this...we want to make art.”

• Paris Lily [45:21]: “No, that is a design choice.”

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Conclusion

The Kinda Funny Gamescast provides an insightful and enthusiastic preview of "South of Midnight," highlighting the game's dedication to cultural authenticity, unique artistic style, and balanced gameplay mechanics. Through detailed discussions and firsthand observations from Paris Lily’s studio visit, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of what makes "South of Midnight" a noteworthy addition to the action-adventure genre. The episode not only builds anticipation for the game's 2025 release but also underscores the importance of diverse storytelling in modern video games.

Transcript

[Angie Hicks]

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of angie.

[Greg Miller]

When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well, from roof repair to emergency plumbing and more done well.

[Angie Hicks]

So the next time you have a home project, leave it to the pros.

[Greg Miller]

Get [e-mail]. what's up, everybody? Welcome to the kind of Funny games cast for Tuesday, November 12, 2024. I'm one of your hosts alongside the best voice in the business, Paris Lily.

[Paris Lily]

I want to go on a Cruise.

[Greg Miller]

Ladies, gentlemen, N.B. there was big breaking news right before we went live. All right, they have Cruiseville. This is the Smallville cruise cruise.

[Angie Hicks]

Such an insane name for it there.

[Greg Miller]

I've seen through through my Superman Twitter feeds and everything else. Cruise Bill is an official thing that is happening. All right. If you want to go to cruiseville.com you could go cruise for seven nights next year with Michael Rosenbaum, Tom Welling, Erica Durant, the entire. Not the entire cast, but the majority of cast.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, so they are going to be there. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

John Glover.

[Andy Cortez]

So that's a lot more official than what I thought.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah, yeah. It's not just a fan thing. No, this is clearly.

[Andy Cortez]

They got a logo and everything. Bless you.

[Angie Hicks]

That's crazy.

[Greg Miller]

But scroll down because it does look like it. It definitely looks like one of those websites that, like, they're working off a template.

[Angie Hicks]

I thought it was more of a shirt.

[Andy Cortez]

I thought it was more of a fan thing. And I thought if you show this to James Gunn, he's going to get this shut down.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I mean, I still think James Gunn would probably be like, we're starting to get there. You know, what are we doing? It says coming soon. Do we, do we make the play? They got. They're advertising. They're advertising game shows. Send Greg, Ben and Jen. Can you imagine how fucking miserable my wife would be? 7 nights of Smallville, Jen. It's my dream come true. Walking around my Kalawachi cave key, having a great time.

[Angie Hicks]

Oh, my gosh.

[Greg Miller]

You strike me as somebody who would get sit on my desk.

[Andy Cortez]

What is then?

[Greg Miller]

Andy, don't embarrass yourself. I mean, if you don't know about the cave key, what am I going to tell you here? You know what I mean?

[Angie Hicks]

Is that like a Smallville plot point?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, it's a huge plot point. It's a huge plot point.

[Angie Hicks]

I'm not big time. Like, I want to make fun of this, but then I think about, like, if they announced an Arrowverse cruise, I'll sign up.

[Greg Miller]

Really?

[Angie Hicks]

Oh, dude, I'll. Are you kidding me? I fucking loved Arrow and Flash. I never got around to Legends of Tomorrow and I heard things.

[Greg Miller]

Paris, do you like cruises? Is that something you would ever do?

[Paris Lily]

I did one last year down down to Mexico, down to Cabo and it was fun. But you also have to remember I was in the United States Navy. So I literally lived a cruise for like five years of my life.

[Greg Miller]

See, I just. I've. The cruise doesn't seem. It seems like I'm just in a mall. I'm in a floating mall.

[Angie Hicks]

Mall that's on water though.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Angie Hicks]

That's neat.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Can't leave.

[Paris Lily]

You kind of get sick of it after a couple days because you see the same goddamn people every time and the food starts to just look the same. So. Yeah, I not. I'm not. I'm not itching to go on another cruise anytime soon. But it was interesting. I'll put it that way.

[Greg Miller]

Paris, talk to me about these glasses you're wearing.

[Paris Lily]

These are the Fallout Gunner glasses. Fallout themed. I wait, I don't have the whole thing, but I have the little case here.

[Greg Miller]

Microfiber cloth.

[Andy Cortez]

Here's the thing. I'm not usually a fan of Gunners, but Paris is rocking the fuck out of these.

[Greg Miller]

Let's see if Greg.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, you have.

[Greg Miller]

I got him too, baby. I got him too. What up? I'm Tony Stark.

[Paris Lily]

Why?

[Andy Cortez]

You left the set? You saw Paris is wearing them.

[Greg Miller]

Well, once I confirmed that they're cool. You know what I mean? I get them. Are they cool?

[Andy Cortez]

These are cool in them. I don't know if you'll look cool in them. Actually, you look pretty cool. Hold on.

[Greg Miller]

Awesome.

[Angie Hicks]

I think somehow it goes with the video wall, I think is the thing, right.

[Greg Miller]

Because it's pulling the yellow from the glasses and the yellow from the back there.

[Andy Cortez]

I love a good yellow filter. I love a piss filter.

[Angie Hicks]

Well, it is pissy. I can't see.

[Greg Miller]

Come on now. You know what I mean?

[Angie Hicks]

Yeah, but I love it.

[Andy Cortez]

It like helps your eyes. I have my.

[Greg Miller]

It does help them.

[Andy Cortez]

My Xbox set to that. You ever like.

[Greg Miller]

You go to Xbox Settings Piss mode?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. You turn on that like. Cuz it's like my main media thing. So whenever it hits, I think like 9pm it kind of turns into the yellowish filter and like just feels better. And it's the equivalent, I would say, of like. Have you ever just had a real good stretch to where your body just feels like really relaxed?

[Greg Miller]

You pop a bit that your eyes.

[Andy Cortez]

Kind of feel like. Like there's a. There's a relief there. If you're just looking at a blue screen all day and then it turns to yellow, there's a feeling of this. Thank you for this. You know, like is your eyes are thanking you.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, 100% like out there on that. The widescreen I use, I keep it in eye saver mode. But then when I play a game, I switch it over, I take that off and then when I forget and I put the computer back on. My God. Jesus fucking stabbed me in the eyes. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

My welcome in Gamescast he Forbes.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah, by the way, they were not sponsored. They just set the glasses. It's how easy is to get on the show, gunner. Anyways, these Forbes 30 under 30 aka New York Game Awards nominated aka Breakdance. Poppy. It's blessing, Eddie.

[Paris Lily]

Oh, yeah.

[Angie Hicks]

Oh, you won't break dance Poppy this time.

[Greg Miller]

I did. I threw it out there.

[Angie Hicks]

Yeah, well, Legume brought that up. Just recently saw video again.

[Greg Miller]

No, I mean, I've known that for a long time. It's more you taking back the night as of late. Like I told you. I saw you karaoke in this weekend with the Instagram stories or whatever. I'm keeping up on what you're up.

[Angie Hicks]

To, you know, Listen, I've been taking back the night a lot lately.

[Greg Miller]

I know. Yeah. I'm proud of you.

[Angie Hicks]

I've needed it after this last week. Thank you. I appreciate you going to break dance, Poppy.

[Greg Miller]

Anytime. Love you.

[Andy Cortez]

It was a tough week, man. Cowboys lost. It's like it's over for them. You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

You won. Did you see that?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I didn't.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Oklahoma. Big deal.

[Andy Cortez]

Anyways, Boomer sooner.

[Greg Miller]

Nope. They. They lost.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Greg Miller]

Anyways, he, of course, is the Hispanic heartthrob Texas street Latino heat clicking heads and ripping them to shreds. The globetrotting head shot and root and two and three point shooting nitro rifle from Twitch tv. Andy Cortez less than hour supplies of.

[Andy Cortez]

Hoop on Saturday and he bailed on me.

[Greg Miller]

But you went and played like seven hours of Final Fantasy on stream from here.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, but we were supposed to. Who before that?

[Greg Miller]

Okay, well, I'm glad you considered.

[Angie Hicks]

It was the thing that I liked where I was too tired. And so I text him. I was like, hey, I don't think I'm gonna make it out. And he's like, I just woke up. So I'm like, oh, perfect. Cool.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm walking in the streets right now. Like, I'm not even close to these basketball courts I told you about.

[Greg Miller]

Wow.

[Paris Lily]

Wow.

[Andy Cortez]

Schedule the tech.

[Greg Miller]

Where were you? Walking the cvs?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I always do my, my, like Saturday walk. So I just kind of. I get like a little hour in, you know, Monster Hunter now. No. No games.

[Angie Hicks]

No, I'm just podcast smoking that dope.

[Andy Cortez]

No, no, no. Not smoking dope.

[Greg Miller]

Smoking the reefer.

[Andy Cortez]

You always smell it around though. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh yeah, of course you do. You know what I mean? San Francisco.

[Angie Hicks]

I don't like Ray. Man in chat. Bless Camp Ball. You can tell by watching him.

[Andy Cortez]

Shut up.

[Angie Hicks]

Shut your pie hole.

[Greg Miller]

Oh my God. Everybody, we are in a mood today. And let me remind you that this is the kind of Funny games cast. Each and every weekday we come to you with the biggest topics, whether they be reviews, previews or just topics that need to be discussed. If you like that, of course, pick up a kind of Funny membership. With the kind of funny membership, you get all of our shows ad free. You get the ability to watch the shows ad free. You get your daily dose of me in a series we call Greg Way. Of course, that $10 also gets you good karma for supporting an independent small business. But if you have no bucks, toss our way like subscribe, share, watch live as we record it. YouTube.com kind of funny games and of course Twitch TV kind of funny games and of course podcast services around the globe. No matter where you get the show, please like subscribe, share and tell your friends about it. If you're watching live. Right now, we are talking south of Midnight. I need your questions, your comments, your concerns through YouTube super chats. You get those in, you get to be part of the show with your thoughts and opinions. Housekeeping for you. We've already gotten our reactions to the Super Nintendo World direct on Kind of funny Games Daily. After us it'll be the stream. Mike and Nick are building a theme park. If you're a kind of funny member, you can get today's Greg away about my Costco obsession. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs Delaney Twining. Today we're brought to you by Sonic at topgolf A Marvel, Snap and Shady Rays. But we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be topic of the show. Tots. Tots. Tots. Tots. Tots. Tots.

[Paris Lily]

Tots.

[Greg Miller]

Tots.

[Paris Lily]

Tots.

[Greg Miller]

Of course the topic is south of Midnight. Not we played it because we didn't play it. That was, that was. That was a misnomer that got spread around. Instead it's just south of Midnight. Because the one, the only Paris, Lily went all the way to balmy, sunny, hot as hell Montreal. Isn't that right, Paris?

[Paris Lily]

It wasn't hot. It was actually pleasant. I think I could live in Montreal, at least on my two days being there.

[Greg Miller]

I was gonna say wait till it gets cold, though.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah.

[Angie Hicks]

What is the weather like in Montreal? Like generally northern.

[Greg Miller]

More northern. Chicago. Oh, more. It's in New York adjacent. Yeah, you're getting that.

[Angie Hicks]

Okay, so you're getting like a full winter.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah. You got a brutal winter. Yeah, you got a brutal winter. You got a really hot summer. Of course, as you know.

[Angie Hicks]

Yeah, I do miss say this too.

[Paris Lily]

One of the best steaks I've ever had in my life.

[Greg Miller]

I saw this. I saw you put up this photo.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, we had a great steak in when we were in Toronto.

[Paris Lily]

As much as I paid it better, Ben. But no, it was really good.

[Greg Miller]

Where'd you go?

[Paris Lily]

I don't know. It was across the street from the hotel.

[Greg Miller]

You say, hey, I got the steak.

[Andy Cortez]

You open the door. Greg walked in.

[Angie Hicks]

So Canada has steak like that. What? You had good steak in Montreal. You said Toronto.

[Greg Miller]

We went to steakhouse. And you go to steakhouse.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Angie Hicks]

I was like, is Canada known for steaks? And I just don't.

[Greg Miller]

Montreal is known for Joe Beef, which I always talk. I always say, I never met him. I like this.

[Paris Lily]

During the ad break, I'll tell you what it was because I'll google it. I'll figure it out.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. Yeah. Well, tell us when you come back. Yeah, get your free steak next time if you mention it, we got glasses, we're getting steaks. We're doing the whole damn thing out here. Paris, talk to me about what this visit was. Of course, south of Midnight, if you aren't aware, everybody is the one stop motion game that keeps popping up at Xbox directs. We keep popping out and getting excited for Steam. Description reads. South of Midnight is a new action adventure from Compulsion Games. Explore the mythos and confront mysterious creatures of the deep south in this modern folklore while leaning, while learning to weave in ancient power to surmount obstacles and unravel your family's hidden past. We're seeing some footage of it right now. There is a 30 minute documentary out today that I have watched and I have many questions for you, Paris, but talk to me a little bit about your visit to Compulsion and what exactly you saw.

[Paris Lily]

Okay. So this was kind of a first look at south of Midnight. Xbox invited out a small group of people to go up to Montreal to go to Compulsion games. And Compulsion has never done Anything like this before. So this was their first time having people come to the studio and see one of their games. So worth tossing out.

[Greg Miller]

If you're unfamiliar, of course, Compulsion I would call a small developer. Right. They are of course, 2013 they released Contrast. That was a PlayStation 4 launch game, if you remember. 2018, we happy few. And now 2025 south of Midnight. So quite a bit of time there between games.

[Andy Cortez]

We Happy few was 2018. Yeah. God damn, that feels awful.

[Paris Lily]

That was right when they did Xbox, did the acquisition of the studio. That game came out right around the same time and ironically enough, just jumping into it. So this was like a studio visit where we kind of got to meet the team that's obviously making south of Midnight. I got to talk to the studio head, I got to talk to the game director. I got to talk to the lead art director, lead sound and environment director. I have an interview out with the voice cast for south of Midnight. I'm at best, he is, is the voice director and performance director for it. And I also got to speak to the Mocap actress and the actual voice of Hazel. So the voice actress is Adrienne Ray and the Mocap actress is Nona. Nona Parker Johnson. And fantastic. Like I said, I have an interview up on my YouTube channel. Don't ask me what it is because I never remember. But it was great though. It was fun to just have these casual conversations with the team. And then the game director did. They showed us the documentary so we got to see that. And then the game director, he played about 25 to 30 minutes of the game for us. So obviously we didn't get hands on, but we got to see it in action. I mean, honestly, it looked very polished from what I saw. Minor bug here or there, but they've not released, put out a release date. Just 2025 is what they've told us. From a technical standpoint, it is running Unreal 4 and they're targeting 60 frames per second on Xbox.

[Greg Miller]

Unheard of.

[Paris Lily]

It looked great. Yeah, I know. Crazy, right? But you're showing gameplay here right now. They have that stop motion animation in it and it looks great in action. Seeing it in person, I think this was a smart choice for them to do. And my dog's barking because UPS is here. But we're going to keep going. So one other thing is all these environments that you're seeing here, they're all handcrafted. They didn't do anything procedural with this. And I think that really added to the look of what we're Seeing here where it makes it stand out from other games that we've seen recently. Another thing, the main thing which was the big topic of conversation is this game takes place in the South. We're talking the Deep South. There's a lot of African American influence here. There's a lot of creole culture influence here. In this game they play up to a lot of the real life legends and folklore of the Deep South. One of the big things, like I had a long conversation with the sound and environmental director and they took a trip down to the South. They spent, you know, a lot of time down there and they were capturing real sounds from there. They're speaking to people from here. They're understanding the legends. They made sure talking to the studio head that they got people on the narrative and writing teams that are from these regions that understands this culture versus, as he said, you know, just some dumb Canadians decided to make a game about the American Deep south was like, no, let's get people that actually understand this because they. The big theme was let's make sure we get this right. We want to represent this true to nature. And I can say as I was watching the documentary, there was a one scene where all of a sudden you're just hearing sounds. And like, I'm from the South, I'm from Florida and I used to spend summers in Georgia and Alabama. And just hearing the environment, I go, that's the South. They got that. And some of the dialogue that you'll hear in the game is representative of that's what someone from the south would say, right? And again, talking about just all the legends and the folklore of there. Like, you got Tuto Tom on here right now. He's one of the boss characters that you'll encounter in the game. And we saw him during the June showcase as well. So I got an extended look at the boss battle with Two Toed Tom. But here's the cool thing about it. So you have some like evil enemies. Like we saw some of those during the June showcase. But then you'll have an enemy like Tuto Tom who isn't necessarily evil. And there's backstory to him. So part of what Hazel is doing is she's healing the world around her. So. So you'll see some of that in the combat. When she takes out an enemy at the end, she unravels it and you'll see, you know, the world around it. Like flowers start growing, things like that. So even with like Two Toed tomorrow, there's, there's a backstory to him that you can. And it's somewhat optional because you can have some exploration in the game where you can get a backstory on Tuto Tom. You can understand his story, how he came to be.

[Greg Miller]

And Tuto Tom is the alligator we keep seeing.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, he's the alligator. And then you can essentially heal him. So you'll have that with some of these mythical characters in the world as well. So. And Hazel, again, young African American character, young female African American character. This is something obviously we don't see a lot in gaming. Talking to Adrienne Ray, she talked about, even in her voice performance, she really leaned on speaking with her mother, her grandmother, her aunts, and just trying to make sure that she's nailing that Southern vibe and culture that Hazel would represent. And like I said, from what I got to see from the gameplay, I think they're going to pull it off. And Ahmed Best, by the way, was adamant to make sure that it was his job that we got to nail this. And he said there was definitely some tough conversations that happened along the way with some of the dialogue and the performances that were happening. And the writing team, even when they were doing this, they were on set with them. So if they needed to pivot and make a change, they were able to do that on the fly because they want to make sure that this properly represents the Deep South. And that is what I saw on display during this game. And I know there's going to be a ton of questions, so please go ahead.

[Andy Cortez]

I just have to verify that. Like Jar Jar Binks. I just had to verify.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, yeah. Just had to verify.

[Paris Lily]

By the way, I have to pause on this because I try to not be starstruck with things or I try to not show it. It took everything in my power to not fanboy. I was like, holy shit, that's Jar Jar Binks. That's. That's legendary performer in this industry. And here he is just casually talking to me about random stuff. But, yeah, he's awesome. He's. He's a really cool guy.

[Blessing Adeoye]

Did you.

[Andy Cortez]

Did you want to pop those blight boils, Greg? Did you see those little blight boils? Reminded me a lot of Dragon Age.

[Angie Hicks]

So much of this so far is reminding me of Cana Bridge of Spirits. Like, I feel like there's so many analogs from, like, how art style forward it is and how interesting and, you know, kind of mind blowing it is to look at, like, even seeing in some of the cutscenes and in the boss fights, like, they're really holding up what they're doing with the art style and like the stop motion animation. So how hard they're going, they're going with that. But then also even the idea of like the main character going around, it's not, it's not about her killing and defeating these creatures. It's about her like freeing these creatures and trying to like save the environment around her. And then also even when you talk about this being a small team, like so much of this I feel like is analoged with that in like so many good ways because I think everybody here liked or loved Kena. For you watching the moment to moment gameplay, is it anything of what you're primarily doing is action? Is it exploration driven? Like what's the balance of what you're doing from moment to moment?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. So I'm glad you asked that. And I also did an interview with the game director and I want to say his name right. So hope I don't F this up. Jasmine. Okay. Patrick was, I want to say Roy. I already screwed up anyways. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. But speaking to him, I was asking that specifically because you even saw this during the June showcase where a lot of the combat seemed very arena based. Where you're, you know, it wasn't wide open. It was like you're in a confined area where you're having these combat scenarios. And he pretty much confirmed that that is the main crux of the combat that you will see in the game. So what you saw in June is representative of what you'll see now. There are some puzzle elements as well. There is some exploration in there where you can go off the beaten path. Because part of Hazel's upgrades to her weaving magic, that's where you'll find a lot of that stuff is by exploring and not just mainlining the game. Tuto Tom. The boss battle that we saw, there were some interesting dynamics to that. That isn't just straight up combat. There was some platforming things like that that you'll have to do. Which by the way, in the Two Toed Tom boss battle we saw you actually Two Toe Tom swallows you. So you're like literally inside the gator. Right. There is a pig that is in inside of Two Toed Tom. It is the most hilarious thing I think I have seen in video games. And probably 10 years it's. I could not stop laughing at that. And this pig I guess is in the game. He's. He's in other parts of the game as well. So I can't wait to see where it goes, but it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen. But if I had a critique, it would be about the combat, because it doesn't seem very complex. I mean, she uses her weaving magic, you know, to traverse through the areas and obviously to fight some of these enemies and then eventually unravel them to quote unquote, heal that area. But it's not open. It is confined when you're in actual combat situation. So, I mean, we'll see, we'll see how it plays out. But the way everyone was explaining it to me is this is a game about exploring the Deep south culture. Right? That was why it was so important to make sure they got this right. Because I even asked the studio head a question about did you run into any scenarios where from a gameplay standpoint it made more sense to do A, but from a culture standpoint it made more sense to do B? And he was like, oh, yeah, absolutely, they ran into that. But the mandate was, let's make sure we're representing the Deep south the way that it properly should be versus just doing something cool because it's in a video game. And then someone like myself that knows Southern culture will go, well, that's not something that would happen, or that's not something they would say, or that's not something they would do. So again, that seems to be the mandate. They want this to be a love letter to the Deep South. And there is third person action adventure combat to go along with it. As you're telling the story of Hazel, which by the way, that was another thing talking to the game director, he told me we're about 15 to 20 hours of gameplay. But then the studio had, he said 20 to 25. So I'm just gonna go with the middle and say 20 hours of gameplay in here. So we'll see. And that was the other important thing that they talked about. They purposely were not trying to make this 40, 50, 60 hour game. They wanted something that respected gamers time, that tells a great story, respects your time. You enjoy the moment and you learn something. And one of the things, since I'm talking before I forget, there is a lore tab in the game. So all this Southern culture, Deep south legends and all this, there's a lore tab so that you can explore, so people that aren't familiar with they can learn more about these characters as you continue through the game.

[Andy Cortez]

When you are running around, like any of the traversal moments, I saw there's a spot where she's wall running, but looked a lot Sort of like Jedi Fallen order or Jedi Survivor it. So is it that when you are in these traversal moments, there's no combat at all? And then until you hit those arena like areas, that's when the combat would begin only. So there's obviously in those arena moments. I don't know if those are more important combat scenarios or if those are just like the only combat scenarios.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, and see, that's what I was trying to get out of the conversation that I had with the game director. It seems like the con you like in these traversal moments, there's no combat. There could be some puzzle elements to that, but there won't be actual combat. You'll be in the.

[Andy Cortez]

There won't be a roaming bad guy somewhere.

[Paris Lily]

Exactly, exactly. You'll basically enter an arena and then that's where you have the combat.

[Andy Cortez]

Gotcha. Gotcha. I don't know how I feel about that. Kind of odd.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, it.

[Paris Lily]

I'll say. Yeah, and I'm with you on that. And that's why I followed up on it. I will say, from the vertical slice that we saw, it seemed fine in action. It didn't seem weird or off. But I did wonder, was this the only type of combat that we would see in the game, or would there be a different variety of it? But it seems to be that's going to be the main variety of combat.

[Greg Miller]

I think if they are offsetting with the exploration, the story and the problem solving, puzzle solving, it would work for me. I worry about it being too turnkey of it always is like, okay, cool. Oh, here's the big arena. Here's what it is. But again, if it was building to that, I'd be fine with it. Because again, Kana, you fought, you know, obviously little things, but I remember, you know, when I think of that game, I'm thinking of getting rid of the rot with the little droplets of the black goo or whatever and having fun that way.

[Andy Cortez]

The rot. Yeah. Paris, were there any moments in the exploration where you found yourself, you know, figure out an awesome puzzle or any moments of, like, discovery that, hey, cool. If I had not stumbled upon this area, I may not have found this awesome little piece of treasure or whatever?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, he went. He did during. During the vertical slice. He went off the beaten path and went into this house. And then that's where he basically discovered like an upgrade up an item to upgrade Hazel and to provide additional backstory to Tuto Tom. So that was kind of the crux of what you're seeing from. You're being rewarded for exploring. You're being rewarded for doing something that you don't necessarily have to do in the game. And it obviously upgrades Hazel and it gives you more backstory in the game.

[Andy Cortez]

I had one more question like usually when we do a lot of these demos and stuff, they will show you your character at the beginning of the game and here's your character leveled up about 10 or 15 hours in. Was there anything like that where you were seeing a more powered up version of Hazel?

[Paris Lily]

No, because it was like a straight playthrough. Like I mean he literally hit the start button and just started playing from a certain section of the game. So we didn't, he didn't skip to later in the game. It didn't, we didn't get to see the beginning of the game. This was something God, I'm trying to remember now. I think he said this was about three or four hours into the game what we saw. And like I said it was, it was about 25, 30 minutes of what he played.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I have a lot to say, questions and conversation topics from the documentary that went out today. But before then I'll remind you that this is the Kind of Funny Games cast each and every weekday we go through the biggest topics in video games. Thanks to your support, we ask you to pick up a Kind of Funny membership. Of course, $10 gets you all of our shows ad free, the ability to watch the afternoon podcast live as we record them, and a daily dose of me in a vlog podcast we call Greg Way. However, right now you're not using your membership benefits that you could get on YouTube.com kind of funny games or twitch TV kind of funny Games. So here's a word from our sponsors.

[Blessing Adeoye]

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[Greg Miller]

Kind of Funny A lot of time in this industry, Andy, we talk about video game marketing. You know, we watch these things. You watch the game awards in sgf, it's just commercials and yeah, blah blah, blah, build hype and blah, blah, blah. Today, this 30 minute documentary drops. And I know we got Paris on to talk about south of Midnight, but I was like, I want to be briefed, I want to be ready, I want to jump in and to tell you that I watched this 30 minute documentary about how they're making this game. And it's reiterating so many of the points you talk about and you've. You've talked about already. Paris, this game literally went to the top of like my most anticipated for next year. Like, this sounds like such a Greg Miller ass game. And I think, think all the comparisons we've made to other games and this, that and the other make sense. But for me, I look at this and I go, oh, this is Concrete Genie. Like this looks like it's doing this. It has the same, hey, we have a vision of the game and the story we're telling. We're going to have these traversal elements, you know, in Concrete Genie, obviously you were painting here you are fighting it, but you're using it to make platforms do these different things. But it's like we want to make art. This is us setting off to make art. And I know that sounds goofy, but all video games are art. I'm not trying to take away from it, but them talking Paris about in the documentary, we choose to stop motion style. And then we, you know, we went and reverse engineer it back in Montreal. We went to the studio that makes the stop animation films and we learned about that and we went back. And then to the, you know, point you're bringing up, right, this documentary opens with David Sears, the creative director, talking about being a child of the south and you know, what it was like to just wander through the woods and find these different things and find these dilapidated houses and all these place. And then to move to Montreal and work in Compulsion games and want to set the game here. And well, how do you do that? And you have to be as authentic as possible. And they talk, Paris, about the people they sent down there just for six months to get swamp sounds. They talk about the musicians they brought up from the south to record with them and do these things. They talk about, yeah, like you talked about the main character, the voice actress, you know, basing it on her North Carolina relatives. Like the, you can. It's not rare because I've Done this a long time, and I've talked to a lot of video game developers about what they're doing and why, but the passion seeps through this documentary where I'm like, fuck. Like, this is something that. Even if it's. I don't think this is going to be, like, the snappiest gameplay, the most impressive boss battles, anything like, but the package they're putting together. Like, there was a scene earlier that Barrett showed that's in this documentary from the B roll of the main character showing up and having to help. It looked like her grandma and her mom get some stuff into a church. And it was like just that familial scene and the conversations they were having there really struck me, like, damn, this seems like it's narrative at the forefront on top of this. Is that correct from what you saw, Paris? Yeah. Here you go, right here.

[Paris Lily]

I think you're nailing it. And by the way, that scene that you're looking at right now, we got to see that in the gameplay, in the conversation that was happening. And that was the point that I was making. It felt like an authentic conversation that you would hear from the South.

[Greg Miller]

Right?

[Paris Lily]

Dialect, everything about it. Another thing going back to the art, because, like I said, we got to sit down with the head art director. By the way, she was the first employee hired at Compulsion. I think he said, like 15 years ago, something wild like that. But to just see the style that they put into all the art here. And again, like we already said, this is all handcrafted. Everything that you're seeing in here, everything is very intentional with what you're looking at right now. The clothes, just again, the backgrounds, all of it. The houses that you're seeing, just all that stuff is very intentional. The music in it, by the way, I keep bringing up Tutotan because that was the bosses. There's other bosses as well.

[Greg Miller]

I was going to joke around and ask for a Tuto Tom counter from someone in the chat when this is posted.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. No, because I'm telling you now, that whole sequence with him was very fun. So it's just. It's a very memorable sequence. But they all. They all have their own theme music. That's when we talk about all this original music and the people that they got involved to do it. All the. All these bosses have their own theme music, right? So I just think that's another little cool tidbit to it.

[Greg Miller]

It's funny you bring that up because that's, like one of the first things they mention in the documentary when they're going through all the different people who've worked on it and their sound person being like, it's rare to have like, it seems like in review, which you know, Tim could tell you all about. But when it's like, it's rare to have someone come in and be like, well, the bosses need their own themes. Like, we need to make music that is going to speak to who these people are in this game and then let alone then bring in the authentic, you know, banjos and all this stuff. And like the one guy they interviewed, I jotted his name down, but I think I actually got it wrong. But Kelsey or whoever, who's this singer who's like 20 years old but sounds like he's 65 and he's doing this like nuts. It's insane. Like, and it's like, damn. Like, I hope this all comes together because all the pieces they're presenting here seem amazing.

[Angie Hicks]

It could be one of those.

[Andy Cortez]

It could be an experience similar to what I had with Never recently Never. And how. I think that that is like one of the best experience I've ever had. Even though it's not going for this super deep combat, right? It's you. You compare that combat to when I'm playing right now with Principles of Lost Crown. It's like, oh, it's definitely lacking here, but it's also not really trying to be this super, like mix up the moves and do all these crazy combos. It's. It's serviceable for what it needs to be. And that's what I'm kind of hoping for this as well. Greg. Like, I'm not looking at this trying to, you know, beat my head in getting frustrated with boss fights, but give me, give me an awesome storyline, give me awesome characters that I can care about. That's the compelling stuff 100%.

[Angie Hicks]

It brings back to my experience playing even the first Hellblade game, right? Of. Oh man, you guys had a vision here as far as depicting what Sanua was going through like with her mental illness and then also with what's going on in terms of the culture you're depicting and what's going on in this mythology and all this stuff like that is a. And I think there are so many examples of these kind of games that are way more about the experiential stuff than even just the pure like game game player combat stuff, right? Like, not everything needs to be a. Oh man, this is a souls, like with those Sekiro style parries and all that shit, right? Like, I, I appreciate like, yeah, hearing what Greg has to say about it from watching the documentary and hearing how Paris is talking about it and even how the. How Compulsion is looking at. You know, anytime they see a conflict with maybe trying to depict the culture or, like, you know, choices in gameplay, we're always going to prioritize the culture of it and prioritize, like, our artistic vision of it, which may lead to, like, yeah, me, maybe me playing it and being like, oh, yeah, you know, I liked how this other game played more.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Angie Hicks]

I like the combat system of Final Fantasy 7, Rebirth or whatever it is. But I do think that opens you up to being. Being able to create something really special as far as a game like this, because I don't. Watching all the clips of south of Midnight so far, I don't think I've seen any other game that looks like this. Like, I've seen other games that do stop motion. I've seen other games with, like, a. Like a similar kind of art style. But there's something about the way this is all coming together, from the setting of the Deep south to the stop motion to the stylized characters, to all of it, that feels like a perfect mix. And it seems like it's hitting its vision very strongly.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, I would agree with what you're saying. Bless. And that was another note. Just spending the day, you know, with the team at Compulsion, you could see the passion. You could see everyone was very, like, there was this nervousness because here's these people coming in. It was like, what are they going to think of this game that we're making? But to also see the excitement that they had and the passion that they had for what they're making, they feel like they're making something unique in this genre. Right. Because, like I say again, as a black person from the south, you don't see a lot of stories about the Deep South. I mean, True Blood is something that sticks out in my head. I kept saying that over and over, but you don't have a lot of other examples of that, especially in video games. I mean, hell, what, Bayou Billy on the NES way back in the day or something. Right. But it's nice to see this. It's nice to see that type of culture being represented, because a lot. This is going to be the first time a lot of people are going to be exposed to it. And I think there's definitely an educational aspect to what south of Midnight could potentially do, because it was so funny when I was talking to the voice cast and I even brought up the Lore Tab Then the lead narrative designer, after I was. I was done with the interview, she was like, oh, you saw the Lore tab? Because she didn't know that they showed it to us in the demo. And I was like, oh, yeah. And she, she was very excited about that because she said they put a lot of work into that because they want people to understand these characters and the mythology behind them and the legend and everything. So, like I said, everything that I saw, I'm excited to see more of it. And kind of going to Andy's point, I don't think the gameplay is going to reinvent the wheel, but I don't think that was ever the point of what they're doing. I think the point of what they're doing is we're going to tell a concise story about this character Hazel. All the legends of the Deep south, and people can walk away from this having a unique experience. That's what I took from what I.

[Greg Miller]

Saw up at Compulsion, and that's exactly what I want. I have several questions for you, Paris, before we get some Super Chat questions in. Of course. This is your chance, super chats YouTube.com kind of funny games to get even more in their Super Chat away. My question for you is, again, watching this documentary, hearing you talking about it, and especially into this Lore tab, one of the things in the doc they talked about was that there are all these monsters encrypteds of the Deep south, and for the most part we don't know what they look like. So, you know, you can do whatever you want with it, blah, blah, blah. Did they. And this is a very nerdy question, hearing them talk about it, talk about it made me want to learn more about it. Did they talk about what they were using as reference for books or anything like that? Is there a reading list I can get on?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, I actually, I wish I would have asked that because I didn't ask that. So shame on me. I don't know what they use for reference other than they were definitely reaching out to subject matter experts on it. That I know. I do know that people that were on the narrative and writing team were subject matter experts on these mythologies and the legends and the creatures and all of that. I don't think, if I remember correctly, I don't think they took liberties within these creature designs. These were based on actual, you know, the actual mythology of them, on the designs behind all the creatures that we saw. So again, I think they tried to stay as faithful as they possibly could. And that was the other thing. And actually I'm all name dropping, but that was a conversation I had with Ahmed Best was the fact that a lot of these legends are passed down from generation to generation and are not necessarily documented. It's all word of mouth where, you know, so this is almost a chance for them to have a documented account of some of these legends of the Deep south in this game. You know, I know it's not going to be 100% accurate, but they're trying to be as close as they possibly can.

[Greg Miller]

Love that. Okay, great. Thank you. I'm going to tweet at them. I'm going to get some answers. I'm going to find out what book they're looking.

[Andy Cortez]

I love this journalism right now.

[Greg Miller]

Another question I have for you is, you know, one of the things you were saying, how much and all the stuff of what you see, what you've seen of it, how long until we see it? They're saying 2025. What was your vibe talking to them about how far along they are?

[Paris Lily]

Here's my vibe. And I'm saying this with zero knowledge. I want to be crystal clear from when one of y'all try and clip this and put it on the Internet.

[Greg Miller]

Don't fucking do it.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, with zero knowledge, zero hints, because they did not even hint at a release date. I want to be clear on that. From what I saw, it looked damn near final to me. Gameplay wise, I would imagine we see this in a developer direct in January. I'd be shocked if we didn't. This feels like, to me, probably April, May of 2025, I would imagine, kind of like Hellblade 2 came out this year for Xbox. I would imagine south of Midnight probably drops in that late April, early, early May timeframe as well.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. One of the things Andy said right when we're talking about this, not everything needs to be souls, like. And obviously we understand that. We love a whole bunch of different games. But the question I have for you, Paris Lily, of course, Godfather of the kind of funny X cast, does this need to be a hit for Xbox?

[Paris Lily]

I think it should be a critical hit for them. I don't. I don't think this needs to be a huge seller for them. Obviously, it's going to be on game pass anyways, but I think, you know what kind of like Psychonauts 2 think. Think of that as an example where it's like a nuts 2 was a critical darling for them, but the sales were whatever they were. I think south of Midnight should probably fall into that.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. So even though they are Going woke. You don't think they're fearing going broke?

[Paris Lily]

Oh, my Christ.

[Greg Miller]

I'm asking real questions over here.

[Paris Lily]

Let me say this. Let me say this because I think of everyone on the panel, maybe Blessing as well. I can say this. The whole, like, while I was there, none of this stuff came up, woke Sweet Baby Inc. Or any of these crazy things. And I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

Normal people don't think about that.

[Paris Lily]

Thank you. Normal people don't talk about that stuff.

[Andy Cortez]

Rational Web.

[Paris Lily]

I will say this, though. I posted today the interview I put out with the voice cast. What do you think all the comments are? It's that I love diversity. Yeah. And I would just say to those.

[Greg Miller]

People, they're not watching this rep.

[Paris Lily]

I know they might be hate watching.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Paris Lily]

But representation matters. Like, I. When I was even talking to Adrienne Ray, I was saying that her performance as Hazel, my youngest daughter, she's. She will be able to see herself in Hazel. And you don't get that a lot in video games. So I'm very happy to see something like that. I'm like I already said before, I'm very happy to see the culture that I was born into, that I grew up in, is being represented in a video game in a big way. Because like I said, I live out here in Southern California now. I tell my kids stories about stuff growing up in the south and they don't believe me. And I'm like, no, it really happened. But they. Because they're not exposed to it. But people from the south, they know about these stories. They know about the dialects and all the crazy weird, you know, sound. What is the circadians that you'll hear out on a summer day. Stuff like that. You don't get that in Southern California, but you get that in Georgia. You get that in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, et cetera. So to have that, to have that area, get this stage in this game, I'm happy for that. And I think it's needed. And it's not woke and it's not in this other crap. It's just a part of America.

[Greg Miller]

Agreed. One of the things I noticed from the documentary that I had a question for you. When we see Hazel the most the time we've seen her, right. She's in that yellow tank. One of the things here, it looked like she was in a more formal, like lace gown kind of thing. Is that a choice for the player or is that just the game? Like you were doing something and then this mission broke out and you had to go do it.

[Paris Lily]

It's again, they never specified this. I think this is just a part of the game. Now I'll say again, talk. I keep saying Ahmed Best, but he even said this in the interview because I was joking about him. You see the documentary, he's sweating. And I go, man, you really had you sweating in the. In the mo cap. And he said there's a sequence in the game that he's very proud of and is very special about some performance that they do and it could be tied to costume changes, things like that. So I'm. I'm actually very curious to see what that's going to be.

[Greg Miller]

You want to share with the class? Andy, you're giggling over there.

[Andy Cortez]

Why are you so sweaty? I was watching Cops.

[Greg Miller]

I want to get to some super chats and just good questions. We'll start with a good question from the chat Ultima earlier asked. Can you turn the stop motion off?

[Paris Lily]

No, that is a design choice.

[Greg Miller]

All right, there you go. Let's jump into some of the super chats over on YouTube.com kind of funny games. Daniel May says, paris, what was your highlight and what was your low light?

[Paris Lily]

Trying to think what my low light was.

[Angie Hicks]

Took my rosebud Thorn. How dare you.

[Paris Lily]

You know what?

[Greg Miller]

My low light.

[Angie Hicks]

I'll tell you what, My low light is mine now.

[Paris Lily]

My low light was not getting to play in myself.

[Greg Miller]

Ah, sure.

[Paris Lily]

And my highlight was that fricking pig. I'm telling y'all, when you see that pig, you're. You're going to know.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I expected you to say that. The pig in there was an additional sort of boss fight or an additional.

[Angie Hicks]

Yeah, I thought it was like, oh, and you fight the. While you're in the mouth.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You go, pig.

[Angie Hicks]

He's doing his top five.

[Andy Cortez]

Is it secretly the pig from Beyond Good and Evil?

[Paris Lily]

It should be because we're never getting that sequel.

[Angie Hicks]

Just in there with a microphone on a stage.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, pig. I like that. Not playing other one. Cool. CJ super chats and says, for games like this, I hope there's as much diversity behind the scenes as much on screen. The game looks great. Paris, what was your take on that? Because when the documentary goes through and they talk about the authenticity, they bring in a whole bunch of different voices that seem very diverse to me. But did you see that as well?

[Paris Lily]

I mean, I literally. You can see it in Compulsion Games itself. Just the people working on the games. Very diverse.

[Greg Miller]

Good. Jordan White, super chats. I don't think there's a question in here, but I read it really Quickly, we'll read it together. I just really want to have a best friend that's a professional storyteller. I'd be chilling with them all the time, turn to them and say, hey, tell me a cool ass story. They'd blow me away with dope tales all day long.

[Andy Cortez]

That's really good.

[Greg Miller]

It's like Snowbike. Mike's thoughts are becoming super chats. I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And then our final super chat to end the show comes from Jonesy.

[Andy Cortez]

Paris, dude as high as fuck.

[Greg Miller]

Send 20 bucks. Paris, I had no idea you were in the neighborhood. What was your rate, shipmate?

[Paris Lily]

I was an aviation Administration man in AZ and I Before I got out, I was an E5, so I was a petty officer second class.

[Greg Miller]

Paris, we thank you for your service.

[Paris Lily]

Thank you.

[Greg Miller]

Great preview. Paris south of Midnight is coming out in 2025 when nobody knows. But eventually in 2025. I can't wait.

[Andy Cortez]

Excited about it.

[Paris Lily]

Super stoked.

[Angie Hicks]

Same day as GTA 6. Who's going to blink first? Somebody's got to move.

[Greg Miller]

Paris, thank you for going off and seeing that for us. And of course, thank you everybody for watching this preview. Here on the Kind of Funny Games Cast. Remember, the Games Cast comes to you each and every weekday. We're all about live talk shows, usually about video games. 10am you can get kind of Funny games daily for the news you need to know about. Then a games cast for the biggest topic in video games. And then of course a stream. Up next on that stream, Nick and Mike are building a theme park. If you're listening later or just watching later, of course there'd be a new video for you to check out or a new podcast to check out. Of course, YouTube.com kind of funny games has it all. If you're on Twitch, no need to go anywhere else. If you're not on Twitch, remember you probably have Amazon prime, which gives you a free Twitch subscription. Just put in Prime Gaming and then you could give it to us and then it doesn't auto renew. So every 30 days come back and give it to us. Otherwise Amazon's just taking money from you and it's a benefit you don't use and we could really use it.

[Angie Hicks]

Yeah, please.

[Greg Miller]

Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve.