We Played a New Witcher Game! - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: "We Played a New Witcher Game!"

Date: January 27, 2026
Hosts: Snowbike Mike, Greg Miller, Andy Cortez

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast, the crew explores their hands-on experience with the newly announced Reigns: The Witcher, a narrative card-swiping game set in The Witcher universe. Greg Miller shares first impressions after 90 minutes of play, breaking down what sets the title apart, how it caters to both Witcher fans and newcomers, and how it fits as a lightweight mobile/PC game. The trio also dives into broader discussions about their next "grand adventure" games, weighing the pros and cons of titles like The Witcher 3, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and more.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is Reigns: The Witcher?

(06:56–10:55)

• Origin of Reigns Series:

  • Greg explains, “Reigns has been around a while. By my count…this is their sixth version…like Reigns, Reigns: Her Majesty, Reigns: Game of Thrones…” (07:09)
  • Reigns is a narrative choice-driven game, originally about ruling a kingdom with swipe-left/swipe-right decisions.

• The Witcher Twist:

  • In this spin-off, Dandelion the bard tells tales of Geralt of Rivia, and you make narrative choices as Geralt.
  • Four metrics at the top of the screen track your standing with various factions: Humans, Non-Humans, Sorcerers, and Geralt’s “focus on the path” (i.e., monster hunting).
  • If any meter fills or empties, it results in game-ending consequences: "You piss off all the sorcerers...they’ll put a hex on you, they’ll hang you..." (09:21)

• Gameplay Mechanics:

  • The core loop is about balancing choices to keep all groups happy enough to survive.
  • The game has roguelite elements: your runs are story sessions that can end in failure, but permanent progress comes from leveling up Dandelion, which unlocks more stories and cards.
  • There’s a mini-game battle element akin to Frogger: “You have your attacker at the top of the screen, Geralt at the bottom…you need to get him in the right position to catch his swords to fight back.” (12:57)

• Accessibility & Platforms:

  • Available on Steam and mobile (iOS, Android); can be played on Steam Deck.
  • Quick, casual play is encouraged: “...it's very much like, shut it down, forget about it, come back home. I'm still in the middle of this run.” (21:25)

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2. First Impressions of Reigns: The Witcher

(10:56–16:47)

• Greg describes how ideal the game is for short play sessions, especially when he’s watching his son Ben and wants something less attention-draining than social media.
• Notable quote:
  • “I'm constantly looking on my phone for something to do that is a video game, but isn't that much time consuming, right? And also gets me away from the black hole of hell that is social media.” (09:47)
• The game’s art style is highlighted:
  • "...I think the art style [is] super cute...a simplistic one, a cute art style, a fun one, a cartoonish one, but it's very distinct to itself." (25:55)

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3. Is This for Witcher Fans or Newcomers?

(16:47–20:52)

• Greg shares that playing Reigns: The Witcher reawakened his interest in the Witcher universe, prompting him to revisit The Witcher 3 and compare the experiences.
• Notable quote:
  • “This game reminded me of how much I like the Witcher and how much I like the world.” (18:21)
• He notes the value for old-timers and newcomers:
  • Players who now know the cast from TV and prior games will have a richer experience, but the game is accessible regardless.

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4. The Casual/‘Swiping’ Gameplay Appeal

(21:09–24:12)

• Discussion about fit as a mobile game:
  • “Can I put the phone down? Can I turn it off and switch apps 100% come back to everything.” (21:10)
  • Sessions are quick: Greg’s record is a 30-day “run”—not actual days, but turns, which can be completed in minutes.

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5. Replay Value and Depth Concerns

(24:21–25:11)

• Greg is candid about concerns over repetition after longer play:
  • “...I worry I'm 90 minutes scratching the surface. What is the repetition like?...But I still haven't caught the assassin...so once I do that, I'm pretty sure it's different every time. But is it or is it not a lot of question marks for me still..." (24:21–25:11)
• The breadth is promising, with “89 characters to encounter, 46 destinies to meet.” (24:59)

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6. The Grand Adventure Debate: Which RPG Next?

(29:57–44:05)

• The team discusses the challenges of picking and committing to “grand adventure” games.
• Andy is considering starting The Witcher 3 for both top-100 content and personal backlog; “The Witcher 3 has always been on that list for me…these games require just a buttload of hours and time commitment, so I didn’t really have it at that time.” (30:35)
• Greg and Andy both wrestle with time constraints, review cycles, and the need to block out uninterrupted sessions for deep RPGs.
• Alternatives are debated, including:
  • Tears of the Kingdom: Praised for its magic, but Greg notes the fatigue of chasing side content and getting lost in waypoints.
  • Dragon's Dogma 2: Mike and Andy are tempted by its wacky, physics-based group combat (“It's an awesome video game…and I think it just kind of started losing me with the story.” (48:48))
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 & Divinity: Original Sin 2: Massive, co-op adventures considered, but Greg admits the CRPG combat “just cannot deal with how this controls.” (46:04)

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7. Co-op & The Allure of Social Play

(44:05–47:59)

• The group fantasizes about a true “grand adventure” online with friends.
• Mike floats the idea of a return to World of Warcraft, Andy ponders co-op mods for games not designed for it, and Andy summarizes the desire as:
  • “...we want good writing with a story. Maybe share the experience with our friends. Clearly combat is a big [deal]." (44:33)
  • “Sounds like we’re just building Baldur’s Gate 3.” (44:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On balancing relationships in Reigns: The Witcher:
  • “If you piss off all the sorcerers by making friends with all the humans…sorcerers get mad, they'll put a hex on you, they'll hang you…these are stories Dandelion’s telling.” – Greg (09:21)
• On the game’s pick-up-and-play design:
  • “It's great for loading screens. It's great for killing time before a podcast…” – Greg (24:21)
• On RPG fatigue and the burden of content creation:
  • “Sometimes I can't do this. You gotta just dive in.” – Mike (34:53)
  • “It's not that I'm not committed, it's just there's always another review, game preview, whatever that's coming around.” – Greg (50:46)
• On Dragon’s Dogma 2’s wild combat:
  • “When things happen in this game you're just like, holy—I'm…I got on top of the griffin to start stabbing in the neck and now I'm flying across the land with it…” – Andy (48:28)

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Important Timestamps

• Introduction & Banter: 01:28–05:47
• Topic of the Show – Reigns: The Witcher: 06:56–16:47
• Art Style, Platform & Preview Summary: 25:55–26:45
• The Witcher 3, Top 100, & RPG Backlogs: 29:57–46:04
• Grand Adventure Debate – Choosing “The One”: 47:59–52:10
• New Indie Shoutout (“Emberville”): 53:23–53:59

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Final Thoughts

• Reigns: The Witcher stands out as an approachable, narrative RPG that’s perfect for short bursts, and Greg is excited for the full release and future reviews.

  • “I think it’s awesome. I think it’s totally worth your money. I can’t wait for review code. I can’t wait to delve in deeper with it.” (15:59)

• The hosts all wrestle with the difficulty of committing to massive RPG experiences with so many great options—and limited time.

• The episode wraps up with birthday wishes, a shoutout to the upcoming "Emberville" game, and more Kinda Funny antics.

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Episode Takeaway

If you want quick but meaningful storytelling, Reigns: The Witcher is shaping up to be a fantastic new way to revisit (or discover) the Witcher universe: approachable, full of smart writing, and perfect for bite-sized gaming. Meanwhile, the cast’s “grand adventure” dilemma is a relatable showcase of modern gaming abundance—so many epic games, so little time.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Andy Cortez]

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[Mike]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Mike]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Mike]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

You said you were over him, but his hoodie's still in your rotation.

[Greg Miller]

It's time.

[Andy Cortez]

Grab your phone, snap a few pics

[Greg Miller]

and sell it on Depop.

[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

And just like that, a guy 500

[Greg Miller]

miles away just paid full price for your closure. And right on cue.

[Mike]

Hey, still got my hoodie?

[Greg Miller]

Nope. But I've got tonight's dinner paid for. Start selling on Depop where taste recognizes taste.

[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Mike]

if you want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com kinda funny. Hello, good morning, good afternoon and welcome to a Kind of Funny Games cast for Tuesday, January 27, 2026. I'm one of your show hosts, Snowbike Mike and today I am joined alongside my best friend.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm mad at you.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, I still.

[Mike]

You're mad at me?

[Andy Cortez]

Mad at you.

[Mike]

Cuz I want you to know that I received many dms about starting a Valorant team and the Snow Mik Mike and the Jabron boys are looking forward to the next season to be joining the Valorant Premier League.

[Andy Cortez]

I just, you know, I. I took a nap yesterday and I woke up and I was like, man, I'm so excited to play high guard with. With a good friend of mine. Yep, get on. Mike's already playing with Hang Time.

[Mike]

The Hang Time boys.

[Andy Cortez]

He's playing with Bolin and he's playing with Grayson.

[Greg Miller]

And not only that, when I asked him this morning, it was off camera too. I was like, did you play more high guard? He said, yeah, I did. He's like, I, I, you know, I played with the hang time guys. Like, oh. He's like, yeah, I needed them chirping. I needed chirping. He was like, blessing Andy. Too quiet. So it wasn't even like you were napping or whatever. It was a specific choice because he's not happy with your performance on microphone, which I've heard a lot from your subs, but it's crazy to hear from

[Mike]

your friend, from your subs.

[Greg Miller]

Got it for you.

[Mike]

Got him. And that's Greg Miller over there. Greg Miller.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm mad at everybody on this show

[Mike]

playing a new Witcher game. We're gonna talk about that.

[Greg Miller]

We're gonna talk about that.

[Mike]

A new Witcher game. Greg, how you feeling?

[Greg Miller]

Feeling great, Mike.

[Mike]

You're very busy.

[Greg Miller]

I'm on four shows today.

[Mike]

You know my main man Greg Miller is killing it for y'.

[Greg Miller]

All.

[Mike]

He's going above.

[Greg Miller]

That's happening. You got blessed on assignment. You're going on assignment.

[Mike]

I go on assignment at five o' clock, and I'm still out here having a good time.

[Greg Miller]

That's what I see.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

Andy had a flight today at 5 o'.

[Andy Cortez]

Clock.

[Greg Miller]

You know what he'd say? I can't come in. Got a rest.

[Mike]

I got a new idea for Uber. You ready for this? Talked about it last night. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

I've been waiting for a business plan.

[Mike]

No, this is on.

[Andy Cortez]

Was this the stream day? Yesterday.

[Mike]

Here's the deal, okay? I love getting an Uber, and I'm excited for a good conversation. Yeah, you are, because you never know where it could go. You get to learn about somebody, you get to hear about their life.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Mike]

It's always exciting. But you know what? I'm bored of me and Andy. We had a really long LA drive in an Uber, right? I don't do well staring at the phone for a long period of time while the car's in motion. I get a little motion. It's more like my head gets a little sideways on that.

[Andy Cortez]

Gotta open the window.

[Mike]

It's like, yeah, I would like to drive, Mike. Here's drive. The proposition that's called a rental car. I just want you to drive the car to me. You sit in the back, I drive, maybe a little light conversation. And then when I arrive, I get out of the car, you take it, go your own way. I don't need a rental car because then we got to go through everything, paperwork. You got to check if there's a lot of Red tape, a lot of, lot of talk.

[Greg Miller]

Do zip car.

[Mike]

I. I want you to bring the car to me, sit in the back. I drive it to wherever I need to go. Then you get in the front, you go.

[Greg Miller]

I mean just a flip flop on the whole idea. Why don't you just be an Uber? Dr. Why don't you just. You first off, people stream all the time from their cars be the streaming Uber driver.

[Mike]

This is, this is me just needing when, when the Uber comes, I like to be a little more active. I want to be behind the steering wheel.

[Greg Miller]

Sure, sure.

[Mike]

That's my new thing. I'm gonna. You know what? Today when I take an Uber, I'm gonna ask. I was about to say, you think I can drive?

[Andy Cortez]

You know the moments where we. There's a large group of people, but maybe the. A smaller car is ordered.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And you look at the front seat and you go. I want Mike to go, do you mind? And he's like, no, no. You could say he's like, no. Do you mind if I Dr.

[Mike]

What is the over under chance and likelihood that I get into an Uber and I say, hey my man, would you like me to drive? Maybe you could take a little chill. Chill in the back seat.

[Andy Cortez]

I think you can paper relax. I think you can talk people into doing a lot of weird. You know, like the other day Roger was mentioning how, you know, you, you slipped a guy some more money to get a. A service quicker. And, and then Roger brought up and which we've also brought up in the past and blessing brought up one point of like man wide privilege is really working for Mike all the time.

[Mike]

It's a care for your service industry employees. It was a 2020 bill. I tipped him 10 because I had $10 in my pocket. The man lit up because cash is king cash. A lot of car jabronis out there. Bust out the cash. Okay. Cash is kid.

[Andy Cortez]

Remember that?

[Mike]

Okay? And boom. He was, he was pumped up. And that's what I'm talking.

[Andy Cortez]

I almost said Cream rules everything around me. Cash was everything about me.

[Mike]

You know what rules everything around me, Greg Miller?

[Greg Miller]

What's that?

[Mike]

Video games. Especially new video games. And you have played a new Witcher game. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment because of course if you are watching live, be a part of the show by super chatting on YouTube.com kind of funny games. And remember we couldn't do this without you. So thank you to all of our best friends over on Patreon and thank you to our patreon producers from patreon.com kind of funny. Thank you to Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining. Guys, let's get into it. Let's bring up topic of the show. Today's topic of the show. Greg, you've been playing a new Witcher game. I need to know all about it. Can you tell me what is this Witcher game?

[Greg Miller]

This is Reigns, the Witcher. Are you familiar with Reigns?

[Mike]

I've never heard of Reigns.

[Greg Miller]

Reigns. This by my count off of. I've heard of Reigns. I've never dabbled in Reigns. They've done a game with. Have you played it before?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I. I thought you had dabbled in the old.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, no, no. So Reigns has been around a while. By my count off their website. This is their sixth version of Reigns. Because there's reigns like, then there's Reigns for Majesty. Reigns, Game of Thrones, Greg. Reigns. Like you're holding the reigns like you're, you're a reign as a king. I think before, I think the initial game begins with the idea that you are on the throne and you need to make decisions for your kingdom and see how long you can last. Weeks ago now, I was hit up by our friends in PR and they said, hey, we got a new game coming out that's going to be based off an ip. Do you want to get embargoed about? Yeah, sure, whatever. And then it turned out to be the Witcher. And I was like, oh, interesting. And so as you see it go here. This is the gameplay. If you're an audio listener, click on over. This is Steam and it's mobile devices, but the idea is that it is a narrative choice based game that plays a lot like Tinder. So the idea here is that you, Dandelion, is telling your stories. Of course I expect you know a little bit about Witcher, but if you don't, that's your bard telling stories of the one and only Geralt Rivia and going through all the different conversations happenstance. Your idea here is how long can you stay alive as the Witcher? When we get to the end of this trailer again and they show the gameplay of it, you see at the top four different icons. These represent your reputation with non humans, with sorcerers, with another magic user. And then it's also your commitment to like battling a beast. If you go back, like perfect. Right there, right there, right there. If you can stop or pause the little icons, let you know how you're doing with these different environments or people. And then as you make your choices. Those go up or down. If you were to empty one or fill it all the way, that's when you're in trouble. The idea here is spinning the plates and keeping it in balance as you go through this narrative to survive longer. Because if you go and you. You piss off all the sorcerers by, you know, making friends with all the humans and doing all the human requests, right? Sorcerers get mad, they'll put a hex on you, they'll hang you, they'll do this again. These are stories Dandelion's telling. So the in worlds idea here is that, you know, Geralt's over there watching or whatever and just listening to him at a bar. Dudes tell these stories that may or may not happen. Just like the show, just like the game, which are three is at least where I know it from, right? But it is this game. And again, they've been around before. I've played 90 minutes of this, by the way. This is a preview very much that I think came along at a perfect time for me. I am constantly looking on my phone for something to do that is a video game, but isn't that much time consuming, right? And also gets me away from the black hole of hell that is social media. I keep moving different things down to my home bar to take the place of Instagram or whatever, right? I'll. I'll. I brought down Audible, I bring down my E reader, I'll bring down the New York Times, like, just to get me out of that to go do something. But then everywhere I go, there's just more horrible things happening. And so a game will be there for a while, but inevitably I burn out. Pokemon Go will get. Get put in the cycle and come on down there. For me, wanting to play games often comes with. I'm sitting there on the couch with Ben and he's watching a cartoon. And for him, with games, we're like, okay, screen time's limited in terms of when you can play games in the afternoon, usually he has a cartoon while he eats breakfast or whatever, right? And so he doesn't care about me being on my phone for emails or running through Slack or whatever. But if I was playing an actual game, if I'm playing Pokemon Go, Ben wants to play Pokemon Go. And so to have this again when you see it popped up. But if you're an audio listener, you know, as you look at it on the device, you have the four icons at the top, but then you have the narrative blurb, the person you're. You're there to help or you know, answer that thing for. And like for mine right now it says this is a brand new game

[Mike]

of Star Read lots of us.

[Greg Miller]

Hey killer. There's a succubus lurking, luring peasants into the forest. She's quite tempting. Make her leave. And this is Burgrave Marquis of Denzel. He's a nobleman. Right. So I can swipe to the left, talk her into leaving and I can swipe to the right, return her head and as you go is it'll show me at the top via dots what's which ones it's going to affect. Now it doesn't necessarily tell you positive or negative. Down at the bottom you see there's cards that you have here that influence each. It's kind of roguelite, right where each one of these runs is Daniel Dandelion could tell you the same story with the same ideas. But when you go and have the three cards at the bottom you have different stuff equipped. So like right now I have Geralt gains unpredictable profit powers. Some jealous magic users are easier to upset. The next one is the vermin rats everywhere. Sorcerers are grossed out and easier to upset. I'm not in a good way with sorcerers in this run. Monsters have rights to Geralt Upset sets people more easily. Right. So it's this idea of like there's cards I can have that'll show me like, oh, whatever choice you make with a sorcerer will tell you actually the plus or minus of what you're going to get from it and run through. But it's this idea of the narrative going. And then at the bottom as well, like talking about okay, cool, here's how many days you've lasted. You see it really briefly in the trailer. We watched there too. There's the swiping thing. But almost inevitably, in my limited experience with this and of course being a New Reigns fan, I would say it builds to a battle where you see what looks to be like a grid thing with a little Geralt hopping around right back and forth. The idea here is, and I am dog shit at it, is that you have your attacker at the top of the screen, Geralt at the bottom of the screen. Right. And as it hops across, you need to get him in the right position to catch his swords to then fight back against the dragon and take a heart off. We're blocking it.

[Mike]

There's hearts for like Frogger almost a little bit.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, 100% there's. And then down at the bottom there's Geralt's health as well. He has hearts. The dragon up there has hearts. Right. You also have the spe. You know, the little icons. I forget what they call them. Not glints, but, like, the. When you're casting your spells.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

And they. They have them down there that'll pop up for you. So it's this idea. Yeah. Glyphs. Is that right? That's what I thought it was, too. So you have to hop into them. But I am so bad at doing it. I'm constantly hopping away from it when I should be hopping into it and hopping into it when I should be hopping away from it. Are you? He's constantly moving, so you're choosing if he's moving right or left. Got you.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

So you hate constantly in motion, so you got to see it coming. Like, oh, shit, I got to go over here, but I got to get back there in three turns.

[Mike]

I love that.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, so you're not. You're not stop. You're not stopping, Topping the screen, tapping the screen to stop him. He's just in motion. Yes. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

You're just tapping the screen to change left or right on that to accept it. So a very simple game mechanic that's tossed in there on top of then just the choices. And of course, what I love about this is the detail in the stories and then the choices. Right. Of Dandelion spinning the yarn. You meet the person. Like, there's. I keep. I. Again, I'm rusty on some of this. And I know you have the press release and all this stuff, and. Not rusty. I mean, I'm discovering as I play, I should say. Right. The idea here is that you will get the same base card sometimes drawn. Right. Of like, there is a murderer. Find them, find the assassin or whatever in the world. Right. And so it'll be different, but when I come back, I'll have the same setup of. This guy keeps asking me what would be best to kill a monster and what would kill a man. And, like, I have the choices to help him or hurt him, but then somebody will pop up and they maybe got killed by that. So then I can do, when I run into that guy, accuse him or keep, you know, giving him information to see if that's the thing. But of course, that helps or hurts me with the regular people and with the other people over here. It's also separating me from chasing the monsters. Like, there's all these plates spinning. And then it's the fact that every run is going to be different based on the cards I have in the story that's being told there, what were

[Andy Cortez]

the four things on top? Again, it's humans.

[Greg Miller]

So let me tap it.

[Andy Cortez]

Humans were. The second thing is upside down human.

[Greg Miller]

So the first one. Yeah. Is do humans look on Geralt favorably? The second one is, do non humans look on Geralt favorably? Okay, then the next one is, do sorcerers look on Geralt favorly? And the final one, how focused is Geralt on the path to hunt monsters?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, okay.

[Greg Miller]

So again, you need to try to keep all of those in the middle. Getting them out of whack or whatever will then send it off and then lead to one of the outcomes as you play. We're covering it right there too. It'll pop up, you meet new characters and it'll say, oh, you know this character number one. Obviously when you start or whatever of 86 unlocked, like, there's like tons of people to meet in this game and have them go through Triss Yennefer. They are in there too, to be met. It's pulling from that game and, you know, really, it feels authentic to the world and it feels like a fun way for me to re engage with this world. Right. Of what the witcher is. And as you see right there, there's the numbers popping off on the screen that just went by. The idea is that when a run ends, you get XP based on how good you did, but the XP is going to Dandelion. And so it's leveling him up as a bard, giving him more choices, more options, more cards, because you unlock new cards then too, and what they can do and so on and so forth. And then there's this thing that I'm super not familiar. And then they talk about it really briefly in the press. I. Long story short on all of this. This is 599. It comes out at the end of February or what, the 25th.

[Mike]

25th, yep.

[Greg Miller]

And I think it's awesome. I think it's totally worth your money. I can't wait for review code. I can't wait to delve in deeper with it. Right. But I'm still scratching the surface of like, I. Towards the end of my 90 minutes with it, I unlock the thing of like, okay, cool, now you can take jobs. So it's like I'm telling the stories in the bars or I can go to the job board and there's a guy who is having a dinner party and he's like, tell me a story that involves lust and this and that. And so then I go into my deck And I look for cards that would play into, like, I have a thing about romance and I have a thing about battles. And it's like, oh, yes, this is exactly what I wanted. Then you. Now I'm crafting, picking the cards to then go tell the story rather than getting a random deal that eventually you can redraw and things. It's. There's a lot going on and I've just scratched the surface. So I'm very intrigued. It's hitting where I wanted to hit right now.

[Mike]

How about just like the Witcher theme itself? How deep into the Witcher are you? Right? Are you a Die hard Witcher fan and reading the books, watching the show, playing all the games and like, how, how well does this scratch that witcher itch as opposed to just like a generic fantasy?

[Greg Miller]

So it reawakened my witcher itch. So if you've been following on Greg Way, I talked about going back to the Witcher 3, right? And kind of being like, oh man, I've been, I want a grand adventure because I've been wanting a grand adventure. But it wouldn't have happened without this game where it's like, I was. I jumped back in. So my Witcher background ride is like, we reviewed it or played it at review back in the day. I remember taking my PS4 to MomoCon in Atlanta, Georgia for kind of funny. And it was that I forget If I put 25 or 35 or whatever hours in. I remember. The big thing though is I never got at act one. I just got so obsessed with all the question marks and side quests that I just kept going and playing and doing it. But then inevitably, whatever review came around, whatever event came around and I put it down, I never came back to it. Well, not true. Show came, watched season one, fell in love. Like so many of us, they just dropped the Switch version. I reinstalled on PlayStation, jumped in really briefly. And I forget if it was just like, ah, you know, the combat isn't exactly what I want now in terms of how clunky or not even clunky, how specific it is, right? How unique it is and what they want you to do bounced off. And then, yeah, I've come back now and it started a new thing. Of course, it was immediately sidelined by two reviews, but I went, I liked this so much that I put down redacted number one that I was working on to reinstall on Switch and reinstall on PlayStation 5. Goddamn cross progression. What a fucking lovely thing. You know what I mean? So that I can rock it wherever I am doing wherever I want. And then, yeah, I'm into that now and enjoying it. But again, sidelined by two other reviews right now. So I haven't gotten deep, deep to it. But the bigger problem is, like, what I wanted from the Witcher is that narrative and is that story and are those characters and that I want the minutiae that I love, right? I want Fables. Like, Fable I think I've talked about on shows of, like, in the lead up to the Fable direct, right? I reinstalled Fable anniversary and Witcher 3. And so I started Fable Anniversary and I was like, oof, this might be too dated for what I'm looking for right now. Went back to. Then I went to Witcher 3, played that for a while, and then we watched that Fable direct. I'm like, damn, this is literally the tone and the things and the memory and the NPCs and the combat. Like, I want this game so bad that. That was kind of when I was like, you know what? I can pause the Witcher to focus on my two reviews again. I've got it not out of my system, but I see now the goalposts. But all that to be said is the. This game reminded me of how much I like the Witcher and how much I like the world. And more importantly, Mike, I think for the Witcher and me, and especially for kind of funny fans who have been here since 2015, the idea that when I started the Witcher 3, I did no homework. I remember in 20, in 2015, when the Witcher 3 came, I was dating Christine and she went back and she played Witcher 1 and she Witcher 2. And then she was ready for Witcher 3, right? And she loved it so much, she would go on to work at CD Projekt Red. And so, like, for me, I was like, I'm just gonna jump in. So you just jump in and it's like, here's Siri and here's this, and you're a witcher. And this. And I remember being like, I don't know what any of this means. I'm just gonna go do this. And so, like, so much of the story ripped past me that then to go and get into Witcher, the show back in the day and get. And I know they're different, but get grounding of who Yennefer is, who Tris is, what's going. I was like, ah, okay. Set the stages and the stakes and why they're calling them Mutant and all this stuff. So much better that this time coming here, I feel like I'm back around old friends. So it is that thing of like, the story hits way harder and me choosing, you know, like so many games. Are you good, are you bad? Are you so that like in Witcher 3 Wild Hunt playing and making those choices of just like, are you gonna beg them? Are you gonna fucking strong arm for more money? Are you gonna help on the question? Not helping them at least.

[Andy Cortez]

So you're gonna bang them.

[Greg Miller]

That does come up too.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I guess.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

It is the idea of like, oh, wow, I understand what my interpretation of Geralt is and where he is on his mission right now. So for me it makes more sense of why he would do this and what the shade is and the way I'm coloring. So I'm enjoying the RPG ness, this playthrough far more than I had in my other ones because I feel like I know the characters now in the world.

[Mike]

Well, I want to talk about your next grand adventure. Maybe it is the Witcher you stick all the way through. But I do want to come back.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, sorry. Sorry.

[Mike]

Reigns just on the. When I think mobile game, right, Andy, I think of kind of casual be able to put the phone down, pick it back up at any moment. How does this feel? Like moment to moment gameplay.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Mike]

I know it's just a swipe them up, they're calling it, but like, can I put the phone down? Can I turn it off and switch apps 100% come back to everything. How involved do I really need to be on?

[Andy Cortez]

Theoretically, also, like, could be just a Steam deck game.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, it is a Steam deck. It is a Steam game. It is a Steam deck game. Right? Like it's out there. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Or whatever. The demo.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, like, it's out there for both thing. It is Steam deck verified, I believe. Maybe don't quote me on that exactly, because I've only done on my iPhone. But yeah, like, no, it is very much like, shut it down, forget about it, come back home. I'm still in the middle of this run. But it's also the thing where, at least for me, my runs aren't 150 turns. So even if I came back and it lost something, I don't feel like I've lost something. I feel like I'm very much like, Dandelion's telling these stories. And if I come back, it's like, okay, cool.

[Andy Cortez]

Who the hell is Dandelion?

[Greg Miller]

He's the Bard. But he passed the coin to your witch.

[Andy Cortez]

But that's Vesemir.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, Vesemir is the older witcher.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's the older witcher.

[Greg Miller]

He's like. He's like. Is. Yeah.

[Mike]

Huh. Damn.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't know they called him. I didn't know his name is Dandelion.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, I watched season one. I just don't remember that.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I forget chat. Is it. Is it in the game? Yeah, exactly. In the show, he's not Dandelion. They call him something different.

[Andy Cortez]

Yes. Here. Yeah, there we go. Okay, that's. Yeah, I remember that.

[Mike]

Okay. And then let's get to these boss battles. I have a couple questions. You talk about day runs. Right. But we'll just run back these days, right? Building up to 100 days or whatever a run. It's like Oregon Trail, where all of a sudden I fail and I'm back to day zero and we restart everything 100.

[Greg Miller]

Because these are the. Yeah. These are stories he's telling. So they have the end. So, you know, especially getting the feel for it originally. You know what I mean? Like, I wasn't. There's a quick tutorial, but I'm like. I'm probably talking to Ben and doing whatever. So I kind of. I. I saw the thing of, like, don't fill in the thing, but you fill in the thing and it starts like glowing rainbow colors. I'm like, that has to be good. It's not. That's when they're like. They're fucking pissed that you're helping out the sorcerer so much. They think you're a demon. They're gonna.

[Andy Cortez]

They hang.

[Greg Miller]

They chop you up. They do this. And then there's all these different unique kills for deaths for Geralt that you unlock and have there as well, stuff like that. So. No, it's very disposable. I'm trying to figure out if I forget if I can look at my actual leaderboards and see. I think my longest run's only been maybe 20 some days. Like, it's in the. In, like, days are incredibly quickly as you go. It's about balancing it all and doing.

[Mike]

Yeah. What does a day look like? How many swipes? Is that a boss battle at the end? I see. And he's currently playing it on his computer. That fast, that easy, right?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. No, I mean, it's super easy to jump into, Right? No, I mean, it's not even about the days. It's not about the boss battles. There's ones where, like, three turns in, I have a boss battle I'm fighting, you know, a drowner. Or something. And then there's other ones where I just go for double digit days and die because I said something or did something or wasn't paying attention.

[Andy Cortez]

And then, yeah, this mini game is super hard, right? I was like, I got a sword. I got a sword.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you got to like, okay, so I got to figure out how to get in, how to get out, how to get the glyph, how to get the sword as you go through and do it, but dodge the attacks, right? It's like, like very, very interesting in a way that a game's just super chill. And like, again, like, how chill is it? It's super chill. Like you can sit there and debate and hem and haul your thing.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, here you go. Yeah. High scores. Right Now I have 30 days. 30 days. My high score is number one, 30 days. Number two, 20 days, 16 and then 12.

[Mike]

And do you think that's all in one sitting or is that a lot? Yeah, great doing it. Put it down, come back to it. Is it one sitting? I can complete a good chunk of it.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, 100. Yeah, you can. You can sit there and get a. You can do multiple in one sitting. Yeah, for sure. And again, it's great for loading screens. It's great for killing time before a podcast. It's great. Like that's what it is. And it's giving, I think. I think the six dollar price point's very attractive for what it is. I worry I'm 90 minutes scratching the surface. What is the repetition like? You know what I mean? Like, they're dealing with different cars, I'm doing the different things, but I still, I still haven't caught the assassin murder or whatever it is. So it's like once I do that, I'm pretty sure it's different every time. But is it or is it not a lot of question marks for me still that I would love to get the game and really invest time into. But I'm super high on what I've seen. It seems good again here I'm like, yeah, for victories, right? It says, you know, 32 monsters, portrait gallery, 89 characters to encounter, 46 destinies to meet. I've only done four of those, so there's a lot of good stuff.

[Andy Cortez]

It's one of those where it feels like it'd be perfect if I was in a waiting room. Yeah, there you go now. Okay, well, when you first offered me this code, it's like, well, I only have Steam, I don't have iOS.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm like, where's the Android code, you know.

[Mike]

Well, guess what, Reigns, the witcher launches on PC back iOS and Android on February 25th. I think 2026 for 5.99 preview might

[Greg Miller]

have only been Tesla.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, okay, got you.

[Greg Miller]

You know, in the same way, I

[Andy Cortez]

don't understand how devices to account for,

[Greg Miller]

you know, Kansas is over there using a coconut phone. I don't know how Android, how they're trying their testing stuff, you know.

[Mike]

Greg, any final thoughts on your preview for range the Witcher before we move on to maybe a grand adventure?

[Greg Miller]

Ooh, again, super into it. I. One thing we haven't talked about and I. I'm sorry, audio listeners, if I'm doing you dirty by not getting. I think the art style super cute. It, you know, it is if you've seen Reigns before, it is that Reigns art style, which I would consider a simplistic one, a cute art style, a fun one, a cartoonish one, but it's very distinct to itself. Maybe even a little South Park, I guess, if they all were Canadians. But as you go through it and do it like, I think it's fun to see everybody having their own identity. I think it's fun to see when Jennifer pops up or Dandelion, like, oh, yeah, that's them for sure. Like that. That makes sense. It's a fun addition to the world in a world that I think is still so interesting in what they can do with it and the fact that they keep doing cool stuff with it. So I'm super high on it. I'm looking forward to playing the final thing.

[Mike]

Okay, great preview there. Of course. Remember, super chat away. If you have any questions for Greg, we'll circle back to those at the end of the show. And also get ready because after the ad break, we're going to talk about Greg, Andy and Mike's next big adventure. What is the game that we should go out on an adventure with? Let me know in super chats. But of course, we couldn't do this without you and we couldn't do this without our fantastic sponsors. So let's take a word from our sponsors and we'll be right back.

[Greg Miller]

This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. Do you know how much money Mike was wasting on hidden subscriptions that he wasn't using? Well, it turns out Mike didn't know either until he started using Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions. It monitors your spending and it helps lower your bills so you can grow your your savings. Rocket Money tracks your subscriptions and has the ability to cancel within the app with a few taps, saving time and avoiding charges. It automatically categorizes your transactions and tags them to reveal spending patterns and add context. Getting Ready to Buy the Steam Machine Rocket Money helps you save for big goals by setting budgets and getting personalized insights and regular reports. It consolidates checking, savings, loans and investments into a single dashboard to give you a clear view of your financial picture. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join@rocket money.com kinda funny rocketmoney.com kinda funny hey you. Join us in person for our live in review of Howard the Duck. That's right, Howard the Duck joins MCU in review Wednesday, January 28th at 7:30pm at Cobbs Comedy Club for SF Sketch Fest. You can come watch me do all the podcasts within a podcast. Love Andy will be going. Nick will be shopping for pants during it, but everybody else will be there too for you to come hang out and see. All you have to do is go over to kind of funny.com sketchfest right now to get your tickets before they sell out because come and watching a bunch of people talk about a very old Howard the Duck movie is really selling tickets fast.

[Mike]

Welcome back, Greg. I think you have a fun one to swipe with me and Andy before we go.

[Greg Miller]

I just, yeah, again, I, I don't, I, I, I asked you during break that I do. Okay. I felt like I was kind of all over the map and it's, you know, I want to give the writing credit for how good it is situations it does. So here's Hans the Peasant is presenting me with this. Whenever witchers are in Ban ard, which is the town we're in, my clients ask me to bring belt straps to bed and prod them with red hot pokers. Deflate their desires. And then my options on swipes are we are pretty wild, which would obviously continue the legacy. Or we're terrible in bed to try to do it and I'm going, we're terrible in bed. You know what I mean? Let that play out. And that moved my stats. But look, now they're upset at me and look how close I am too focused on monsters on this run. You know what I mean? It's happening.

[Andy Cortez]

I got my, my stats too high up with humans as I was playing a little while ago and I, I want to disappoint the humans. You know?

[Greg Miller]

You want to.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I was like I got to disappointed you.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

But I did kick ass at the minigame. If you saw me do the mini game.

[Mike]

I saw the minigame. I think I'm going to be real good at that minigame. I can't wait to try it.

[Greg Miller]

I'm excited to see you try that.

[Mike]

Greg, you said that this game scratched an itch for you to want to go back to the Witcher. Of course. I've been watching Andy Cortez streams and he brought up, hey, I'm looking to play the Witcher 3, maybe on a long stream. Downloaded some mods to make it look extra pretty. So it sounds like the two of you are gearing up for a possible next grand adventure. Is the Witcher 3 the right choice for you? Is this where you want to go?

[Andy Cortez]

So there's several reasons for it, because I know that. I know that I want to have something to be able to say about the Witcher 3 when it comes to the top 100.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Whenever we do, our final sort of

[Mike]

top 100 has been knocking on Andy's door lots. Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

And that's why I just played through all of Nier Automata. And the Witcher 3 has always been on that list for me where it's. It came out around a time where I just wasn't gaming a whole lot. And I know that these games require just a buttload of hours and time commitment, so I didn't really have it at that time. And then it just kind of kept on getting tossed down. And then as. As I would be on every show, you know, whenever you get the question of what's your. What's your deserted island game that you would take with you, it was always the Witcher 3 because I knew it would last forever and it would. You know, there's a lot of content there for me, but with the rumors of this dlc.

[Greg Miller]

Yep, that's my.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know if it's even true or not. Like, it's more of just. It's mainly top 100. But it would also be great timing for. If this possible DLC comes out, because I didn't. I didn't want to wait until right before the Witcher 4 came out because I wouldn't get to vote on this for the top 100. And I feel like I really need to give it its due because I know that it's one of the best games ever. So I really want to give it a shot. Yeah. Downloaded a bunch of mods for it and, you know, made it look extra, extra pretty.

[Greg Miller]

How far are you? Have you not started?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I haven't started, no. But I hopped in when it first came to the PS5, well, when we got the PS5 switch update or whatever. And I played for maybe two hours.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

And. But it was around the time of Chris's vacation, I remember. So I played a bit of it back home on my. On my PS5 at my parents house and it was just. I was in between machines and I. I prefer, you know, my PC with my controller and all that. So I want to give it like the proper actual shot of like, let me. I want to just dive into this for 12 hours one day just like.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, See that's what I need to. That's what I feel like I need to is just like a clear Runway to go ham on it. Because even those couple nights I did it in between my redacted reviews, it's the idea of like you're scratch. I mean I was talking about scratch the surface on a mobile game. Scratch the surface there where it's like I'm doing things that I remember vaguely doing. I even went and looked at my trophies on PlayStation. I did way better on PS4 than I thought I had with the 20 or 30 hours I had done. And so to come back and be in it, it's like, okay, cool. And really feel it. But it's like the nights where I'm doing nothing but talking to people, right. Which is always a sign of any good rpg. But it is like that thing of like, man, I really want, I need a good run. And I feel like this is what killed the Witcher 3 for me before was just the idea that, well, yeah, but there's things I need to be playing for work. There's things I need to be talking about on content. So it's like trying to find that time to get in there and really get in the weeds with it. Like, where are those gaps? And so yeah, I've been looking for that grand adventure since the new year, which is, you know, very normal for me of like, cool. What is the giant rpg I keep saying. Like, you know, I like it when things line up for me in terms of content. So like that avowed new game plus new races, new stuff like that will scratch the itch, I feel like. But that's still February 17th or whatever. Like there's still so much time before then, which really isn't that much time with other reviews. But I need it now to be playing something and do it. So I don't know. Witcher 3. I want to get back to you, but I do have two redacted I'm on right now. And it'll be interesting to be able to talk about redacted 1 in relation to this when I can. But I can't yet. So that makes it complicated. I feel and ties my hands on some things. But I. The other thing, in terms of the grand adventure, I have nobody. Everybody calm down.

[Andy Cortez]

Everybody relax.

[Mike]

Talk to me.

[Greg Miller]

I mentioned this in passing on Games Daily today, but it is an actual thought I've been having. I'm playing a lot of Switch right now. Playing Redacted one on Switch. And I'm playing. I'm gonna play Redacted two on Switch. Even though both these games are available on other platforms. Could play them on other things. But I was like, you know what? Jen hates the Rog. I need to be able to play. Ben switches whisper quiet.

[Mike]

MacKinnon knows button.

[Greg Miller]

So, like, the more I'm on Switch and then Ben. I don't know if you caught Greg Western. Ben's obsessed with Smash Brothers now. So I played Smash Brothers all weekend, and I only play as Link. So I'm playing Link and I'm like, God, I need Ocarina Time. Do I want to do a replay of Ocarina Time? But then I catch myself and I'm like, greg, you're not allowed to go replay Ocarina of Time until you play Tears of the Kingdom and you finish Tears of the Kingdom. And so it's like, I need a grand adventure. I feel like he's making a lot

[Mike]

of rules up for this grand adventure, which I appreciate sometimes.

[Andy Cortez]

A lot of restrictions.

[Mike]

Exactly. It's like, you gotta do this, gotta do that.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Sometimes I can't do this.

[Mike]

You gotta just dive in.

[Greg Miller]

You don't understand. I'm CEO. I have to worry about this place in the games cast headlines and everything else. So it's like, I can't. I can't just off for a week and not play Redacted one and right Acted two and go play a goddamn old game.

[Andy Cortez]

Ever heard of Elden Ring?

[Mike]

It's pretty good. I mean, here's the thing. You guys bring up the Witcher. And Washburn always yells, my ear. My buddy Wash, he's like, the Witcher 3. Mike, just play the Witcher 3 for me. I'm very similar to Greg as I played a lot of Witcher 3, but I got addicted to just chasing down those question marks and figuring out what the hell was going on in that first world. I burned myself out. But now there's just so many grand adventures that I want to go on.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Mike]

I bring up my Short list right here. You ready for this?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Dragon's Dogma 2, Baldur's Gate 3. Dead Silence. World of Warcraft. Baldur's Gate 3.

[Greg Miller]

You played. Wow.

[Mike]

I've Crimson Desert.

[Andy Cortez]

Are you still paying for a while.

[Greg Miller]

See, that's the other problem too.

[Mike]

You bring up these, and I'm like, I would love to do the Witcher, but at the same time, what if I did Dragon Dogma 2? What if I did Baldur's Gate 3? Finally, what if Crimson Desert is in March? Why even start this?

[Greg Miller]

It's gold. It's. That's my thing too. Honestly. That was again. That you're talking about when I started the Witcher 3 again. But then, yeah, like two days later in that playthrough, Crimson Desert got announced, and I was almost like, oh, maybe I don't want to burn myself out on an open world notes and whatever. I know it's not. They're not the exact same, but it was like. And so it is the thing. I mean, what do we want to do here?

[Andy Cortez]

Here's what.

[Mike]

We played the Witcher 3 co op, but it's technically not co op. We just live in Andy's world and watch him do things, but we're not allowed to do things.

[Andy Cortez]

They have a co op mod.

[Mike]

They have a co op mod, but you can't do anything in it.

[Andy Cortez]

Here's what I'm. Here's what I'm worried about. Watch what I'm worried about with Crimson Desert. And in the hour to two hours that I played of the Witcher 3, the writing was so sublime, so good, and already the characters felt so real. And I'm like, I don't think Chris

[Greg Miller]

does not have that stuff.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't think it's going to have

[Mike]

that the way the pros and the

[Andy Cortez]

cons, as much as I want that to happen, right? So that may kind of sour the experience, but I. Okay, well, this has nothing to do with my. My first point, but as an aside, I have a feeling that. I don't know why. I have a feeling we're gonna get Crimson Desert codes in like a week. I don't know why.

[Mike]

It's out of nowhere.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay. I mean, it feels like one where they're just like, hey, go. Hey. The game's done. Okay, well, maybe like a couple weeks.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

We're gonna give you, like a month to play it, you know, Like, I have a feeling.

[Greg Miller]

And that I agree with. I think. I think if they're confident in it and everything, it seems like coming out of Pearl Abyss is they are confident in this, then yeah, we should get it as soon as they're ready because they're gonna. They should want us to experience everything.

[Mike]

But you're a man of content, Andy. You'll hold your. You'll hold your viewers back by not giving them the content.

[Greg Miller]

And this is the thing I think about a lot with.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what I mean?

[Mike]

Well, if you get in the crimson desert and don't give them. Give them the witcher, because you'll be playing redacted. Will call.

[Greg Miller]

I think about this a lot, you guys, is, you know, as nighttime streamers, you know, with your second job or whatever. It's like I could never do it because obviously for me I have. Especially with Ben or whatever in life and running the business.

[Andy Cortez]

I guess I have to think about a rental family. I'm thinking every once in a while, what's that? Maybe if you hired just like a six foot four.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, a rental. A rental. Dad. Gotcha.

[Andy Cortez]

Just like look close enough, you know,

[Greg Miller]

or it's like it's just time for me to cut the cord. You know what I mean? Jen, Ben, entertain yourselves. Why do I have to be the goddamn court jester all the time up here?

[Andy Cortez]

I need you to go up to them, be like, can I be a bad father for a week?

[Mike]

Let me just.

[Greg Miller]

Let me ask you for one week. You know, again, for me it's that balance where it's like, you know, I'm always shocked when I talk to you. I feel like I prioritize the games I need to play and want to play. Right. And so it's like that keeps me current and I'm able to do everything and you see me play at my desk and block out time. Whereas even for you guys to go home and give up three, four, five hours streaming something that is old. When I know you're trying to make a review, I'm always shocked or impressed by it's better word.

[Andy Cortez]

I. I'm gonna make my case for Tears of the Kingdom because I loved Breath of the Wild and it was one of the best gaming Me too. Experiences, exploration, discovery. It was truly a magical like, wow. Gaming feels back in the way that we had those, you know, those playground discussions like you did when you were a kid, talking about all the cool secrets you're finding. But it and it and it managed to be so magical and amazing despite me not giving a single about what was happening story or character wise. Yeah, and Tears of the Kingdom is all of that with the amazing cutscenes. And character like it. It did all of the. It still managed to recreate the. The magic and discovery and exploration. When we talk about how when I played God of War, Ragnarok, I was like, it's a better game. But it wasn't as magical as 2018 for me because that was like my first time experiencing that. The same with. The same with something like Ghost of Tsushima and go see Yote where like that moment is still so awesome for me. To the kingdom, like clears that. Here's the kingdom was able to still wow me.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And you're able to play it better and it's gonna look nicer, of course. And the story stuff just like, I still need to get it clipped out. I've been worried to clip out these things just for spoiler purposes because I want people to experiencing them. But like, man, I was. I had. It was buckets of tears, man. Like, it was like holy by the

[Greg Miller]

end of it again, remember, I liked Tears of the kingdom. I did 30 or 40 hours as well into that or whatever. My problem there is the witcher problem where I was like, I'm gonna do every shrine and I had a fucking map littered with waypoints. And then I was so lost anymore. And what the story was and whatever that didn't resonate. I walked away for other reviews and stuff. So. No, I know that. And you know, I love Zelda. So it's like, I know I need to get back to it. I'm kind of in your camp in a weird way where I like what I've played with the Witcher, obviously. But one of the things that kind of holds me back from turning it on sometimes at night is the fact of like, well, I know this won't be a quick jaunt. This won't be. I'm gonna do one thing. I'm gonna take down this base. I'm gonna do this shrine. It's going to be. I'm gonna get involved in a conversation, in a quest, and if I stop that and come back a week later, I won't remember. So I need to see the questline through tonight. Whereas I think tears even tell me if I'm out of turn here. The story is spaced out a bit. And it's not even when I hit a story moment. It's not like I'm locked in for 30 to 40 to an hour. In terms of what I played of like finding the teaser.

[Mike]

Yeah, you're right.

[Greg Miller]

Getting the flashback and doing whatever.

[Andy Cortez]

You're getting bits and pieces here and there. I also Think that I experience it in the best possible way with the order that I did things in where every next. Every next reveal was stunning to me because I did it in the right exact perfect order.

[Greg Miller]

And see, I think that's when I come back to tears. That'll have to be what I do is that I'm really. First off, there's two things you do. Number one is follow the story. And like I'm gonna. I'm not gonna Golden Path and I'm still gonna do shrines but like I'm gonna keep on the main thing. I'm not gonna do what I did before, which was they want me to go that way, I'm going that way and I'm gonna unlock everything and I.

[Andy Cortez]

Number one, I'm going to be a bad father for a month.

[Greg Miller]

No. Number two, I'm going to sit there and get good at combat. Because it's not that I found the combat hard. I just find it clunky and not fun. Like I never I in tears and I don't remember breath well enough to make this comparison, but in tears, I remember every time I got into battle going, ugh, all right. Fuck me. Like I would run away from creatures. Not because it was hard. Not an Elden Ring thing. Just because I just don't like fighting you. This isn't fun. This isn't Ocarina of Time swinging block. And I'm there. So it's like I need to eat for a while. Not in terms of losing, but in terms of not enjoying so that it just becomes second nature and I can kick the shit out.

[Andy Cortez]

It's the. It's one of the games. Or I'm like, not every game needs to control like a souls like or a modern action rpg, but this one does.

[Greg Miller]

And.

[Andy Cortez]

And it's still a masterpiece to be. Despite me not loving the combat, you know. Yeah, I once I kind of got the. The hang a bit more and like. But I was still fumbling buttons all the time and trying to find the right arrow and the right, you know, bomb to throw. Whatever Good ass game though.

[Greg Miller]

I feel like put a few more hours into redacted one.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Turn my eyes maybe to redacted two because I don't think that's gonna be that long kick on this. Or maybe fuck them both off and just go, I don't need to. Who do I need to be there?

[Mike]

There was talk about the Witcher for a little bit with Andy. He's gonna play it. Both of you.

[Greg Miller]

We.

[Mike]

We share with you.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. So what you Want. You want. You want me to just torpedo the other two? Redacted 1 and 2 and we just play the witcher.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Mike]

You Andy for a whole Saturday play 12 out of the witch.

[Greg Miller]

Whole Saturday. I like how that Saturday now changed back to us.

[Andy Cortez]

Now the one thing I wish, Mike, is I wish there was a co op mod for Dragon's Dogman too.

[Mike]

I know you wanted that because that like the four. Four player party because that.

[Andy Cortez]

That game did everything so perfectly in terms of the wild wackiness of combat.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

With everything being so physics based and. And I still loved hiring other people's like homies to kind of be a part of your squad.

[Mike]

You like that?

[Andy Cortez]

One of my favorite moments was creating Kevin Quala to be your sidekick and then getting him on my squad and he was just like a bowling ball wrecking everything.

[Greg Miller]

Like those are funny and.

[Andy Cortez]

And there's just such a goofiness to the combat that makes like it would only be more fun with friends and I really would like maybe there is a mod or something like that. But I really wish at that game that I could have experienced that with friends because I. I did fall off near the end of it.

[Mike]

We're throwing some things in the pot. We want good writing with a story. Maybe share the experience with our friends. Clearly combat is a big. For you guys. Well, because I was gonna put. Sounds like we're just building Ballers Gate 3.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, see, I love Ballers Gate 3 combat. I like. I, I'm. I like that style of. I like the, the spontaneity and the improvisation of. Oh, I guess I could wait. Yeah. Shoot the rope up there. Oh my God.

[Greg Miller]

It's.

[Andy Cortez]

The platform cuts down and now it lands on. You know, I love how interactive everything is. I really want to do a. Either Divinity Original Sin 2, right?

[Mike]

2. That is correct.

[Andy Cortez]

Am I mixing that up with the other one?

[Mike]

No. You think it have Pillars of Eternity?

[Andy Cortez]

Man. I always. It

[Mike]

Path of Exile.

[Andy Cortez]

Too many of us, you know. You know, but divinity original sin 2 is one that I want that when that sort of, you know, had its kind of remaster or whatever the hell it was recently where they kind of

[Greg Miller]

like I think put on more platforms.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, yeah, Larry. And kind of had a little bit of a marketing phase with it. I. I want to do a full ass campaign of that. Or just Baldur's Gate 3. And it's like we play it seriously and we don't kill every NPC. We can kill NPCs but like not every one of them.

[Mike]

Yeah. Me and Roger can't make that promise.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I mean, you're evil.

[Mike]

Yeah, me and. Me and Roger will be evil.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Tyson from hell. His father was Satan. Of course he's gonna be evil, Andy. I mean, like, what do you want, Bryce?

[Andy Cortez]

Tyson, I'm rolling.

[Mike]

I'm role playing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I tried. I overbreak Baldur's Gate 3 again where I knew I wanted the grand adventure and I wanted the writing and I did all stuff and I jumped in and immediately got to that first combat section like, all right, now this is why I just can't do this. I just cannot deal with how this controls.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, what if. What if okay. In. Well, I don't. Okay, you and Roger are going to go on a grand adventure with grand adventure later in the year.

[Mike]

He was pumped up on the Switcher Co op or Witcher Co op. But it's not true Co op like that.

[Andy Cortez]

Because I just want to do a ballers gate like big ass marathon.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

What?

[Mike]

Why are we avoiding the endless gobstopper? Why are we avoiding the goat of goats? Why are we avoiding a game that changed an industry? Why are we avoiding. No, why are we avoiding a Titan? Why aren't we playing World of Warcraft right now? Like, ask yourself why you're not an Azeroth. Right? Because it's not like why you're not role playing as a Blood elf or as a Tauren. Hey, you're battling for the Horde.

[Greg Miller]

I did multiple nights playing with it. I did the co op, I did the controller mod. I'm good. I'm good.

[Mike]

Why are we not playing the greatest game of all time?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, because the next time we do go, it has to be the perma death sort of thing.

[Mike]

You died early.

[Andy Cortez]

Several times. I had to restart so many times. But like, it's just not like that. I don't seek World of Warcraft for that. You know, I'm immersing myself into it mounts. It's a different experience for me.

[Mike]

It's a great experience, special experience.

[Andy Cortez]

It's an awesome experience, but it's not what I'm seeking. Whenever I'm thinking about what I get out of something like Baldur's Gate 3.

[Mike]

Interesting because I'm just not.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm not reading dialogue. I don't give a about what's happening. World of Warcraft, you're playing with friends.

[Mike]

You could. Yeah, no, but you're big world.

[Andy Cortez]

You're playing with friends though and that like that. Theoretically we would still be playing with friends in Baldur's Gate 3 if we

[Mike]

were to do it.

[Andy Cortez]

But it's. I don't know, it just feels. I don't know.

[Mike]

Sometimes you gotta lock in. Here's my problem is you guys bring up the Witcher and I don't think I'm going for the witcher. I like the Witcher a lot. I don't think I'm going back for it.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Mike]

I think I'm heavily leaning into my next grand adventure to be Dragon's Dogma 2.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Mike]

I really liked what Andy brought up with the four player party. Kind of creating your own sidekick character, having others come. This is one that I didn't spend a lot of time in that I would like to try and in hopes that I fall in love.

[Andy Cortez]

Dude, it is so hype. Like the stuff that happens in this game just action wise are the stuff that's like it's, it's content creation dream. Like when things happen in this game you're just like, holy. I'm. I got on top of the griffin to start stabbing in the neck and now I'm flying across the land with it and I just hope I don't fall down because I'm just up here on this damn bird. It, it's. It's an awesome video game, man. And I think it just kind of started losing me with the story.

[Mike]

I think that's where I sacrifice story for more gameplay and moment to moments right in the combat side of things. So that's like the Witcher clearly has the story that you want. You have Witcher 4 coming up. It's like I'm willing to sacrifice that for a little more combat oriented.

[Andy Cortez]

Dude. I. Yeah, I think you will if you got super into it now. I think one of the downsides was it was a little bit too much of a good thing with the combat because you were always getting kind of interrupted into fights.

[Mike]

No quiet moments.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Like they, I, I wish. It's weird to say that like I want less of this good thing, but it did kind of spoil how good that thing is when you're constantly, you know, if I'm eating pizza every day.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You're like, it definitely was too much of a good thing where you couldn't run, you know, 50 yard to 100 yards without, you know, another coming at you. Yeah, another sort of, you know, here's a, here's an encounter with some big ass monster.

[Greg Miller]

My Far Cry 5 problem. Just trying to go anywhere in a turkey's chase go away.

[Andy Cortez]

But it was still so badass and there's like A lot of wow moments with what some of the monsters do. There's just one. I'm like adventuring through a cave at one point and I hear like some growling and this big, like almost yeti dude starts like fighting me and then jumps up and then like sticks on the wall like, whoa, dude, this is crazy looking. I can't believe that. I think Capcom just really kills it with sort of with how those encounters kind of, you know, can be so unique. And it's not just dragon and bipedal guy that's going to like punch you.

[Greg Miller]

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

[Mike]

A lot of great games out there, guys. The issue is stepping up to the end of the diving board and taking a leap and said, I'm committing to this.

[Greg Miller]

It's not that I'm not committed, it's just there's always another review, game preview, whatever that's coming around.

[Mike]

Crimson Desert. That it is. If that's how it is. Crimson Desert, Right.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, I was frantically going through the schedule. Right. It seems like after February. No, it's not.

[Andy Cortez]

Crimson Desert will deliver on all of the. The combat stuff that Dragon's Dogma does. Yeah, it is very physical. It is very like you fucking uppercut that enemy and if you uppercut the enemy and the enemy hits another enemy, they are going to hit each other and stumble. Like it has all those physical properties.

[Mike]

They got me from Plaque Black Desert online. I've already. I'm already a believer in this team. It's more just a story like we've talked about. It's like, can they deliver on the narrative? Can they deliver on the writing with the NPC?

[Greg Miller]

With the exception of Avowed, the week of the 16th doesn't look terrible. February 16th, maybe the week. You know, I would like to say the week before. Maybe you could start in, but there's a lot of stuff happening there that I'm sure we're all playing and doing stuff with too.

[Andy Cortez]

My birthday in February 16th.

[Greg Miller]

Happy birthday.

[Andy Cortez]

Thank you.

[Mike]

Greg's birthday's coming up. Have you thought about getting him something?

[Andy Cortez]

When's Greg's birthday?

[Greg Miller]

Three months from today.

[Mike]

Oh, big deal.

[Greg Miller]

We're talking about maybe pizza place, sweatshirts from every single.

[Mike]

You can get him.

[Andy Cortez]

Today's Roger's birthday, right?

[Mike]

No, that was last week.

[Greg Miller]

Well, no, it's today.

[Mike]

Today might be today.

[Andy Cortez]

Happy birthday, Roger.

[Greg Miller]

What kind of friend are you? It's on the calendar.

[Andy Cortez]

Happy birthday.

[Greg Miller]

Happy birthday, Roger.

[Mike]

Happy birthday. You say happy birthday. You know what I mean? That's your happ. Happy birthday. We already Gave them Happy birthday.

[Greg Miller]

Gotcha.

[Mike]

Okay, when you're filming on the buzz you already got when the buzz gets

[Greg Miller]

recorded, that's the day.

[Mike]

That's the day. Watch the buzz. Keep up with all the kind of funny content. Thank you to everybody that tuned in on of course a very fun preview that is coming to your phones and PC as well with the Witcher. If you want to get engaged with the story and the world some more, that's a fun way of doing it. And of course helping us kind of navigate our grand adventure. Seeing the pitfalls, seeing what's holding us back from jumping into some of these things and also seeing in our minds what we want to play next. What is that big one? I look forward to seeing more and hearing more. But guess what? If you're a kind of funny best friend out there watching live on YouTube and on Twitch, we're not going anywhere. We have more fun coming your way and we got a great one, Andy, because you're going to sit down for a kind of funny podcast where you go inside of a man inside of Nick Scarpino.

[Andy Cortez]

Excited here.

[Mike]

How healthy is he?

[Greg Miller]

What's that colon look like?

[Mike]

What's he looking like right there? I feel pretty good about it. Then after that, more streaming fun with me and Andy and so much more. Greg, you had something before we.

[Greg Miller]

Sorry, I put in assets a long time ago because during the ad break somebody was like, Greg really needs to look at Emberville. This was announced today. I saw the IGN article and I already wish listed it before I went on all the shows. But to be clear, the IGN article reads emberville announced for PC aims to be like Diablo Light meets Stardew Valley. And I am incredibly intrigued for this.

[Andy Cortez]

I was DM'd by the one and only Cohhcarnage and said check out the the game that I'm working on. What?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no way. This looks awesome.

[Andy Cortez]

I think he's like producing it or something.

[Mike]

Look at me. Louie over here.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, look at me.

[Greg Miller]

Very excited to do this early access this summer. So look, keep your eyes peeled and that go wish list right now like

[Mike]

I did Mike and Greg over here. Chop liver.

[Greg Miller]

Here we go. Doesn't even know Roger's birthday.

[Mike]

I recorded on the buzz.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that's all you got for me, Roger.

[Mike]

And with that kind of funny best friends, we will be back for more more gaming discussions on another kind of funny games cast tomorrow. But don't go anywhere kind of funny podcast coming at you right now. Goodbye, Goodbye.

[Greg Miller]

So long

[Mike]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Mike]

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[Andy Cortez]

It's good to be away. Hey, new girl.

[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

For a new plant to grow, the

[Mike]

seed has to die.

[Greg Miller]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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