← The Besties
The Besties
Reanimal Is Like Limbo with Friends
01:00:40
16 years ago, Limbo launched on Xbox Live. It wasn’t the first puzzle-platformer, but its molasses-thick layer of fairy tale horror inspired a generation of grim, mostly wordless contemporaries. Arguably, the most successful of the bunch has been the Little Nightmare series, created by Tarsier Studios. Today’s game is the latest evolution of this sub-genre. With Reanimal, the Tarsier team adds co-op to the mix. Is playing with friends (or a computer companion) a clever addition or does it undermine the horror of being alone in a cruel, dark world? We have conflicting answers! Plus, The Besties pick through Sony’s recent State of Play and share their favorite announcements.
Loading summary
Transcript356 lines
- [00:00]
A
I want to be the one responsible for naming the monsters in these Tarsier Studios horror games. Your little nightmareses and your re. Animals. Because you'll be like getting chased by like a big nasty man.
- [00:14]
B
Skin man.
- [00:14]
A
A big nasty skin man.
- [00:17]
B
Is that it? Did we, did, did we do it?
- [00:19]
A
Is it skin man? No, we can do better than that. But then who do you think you are?
- [00:21]
C
Hideo Kojima?
- [00:23]
A
But then you get out of a. You get an achievement. It's like that guy's name the whole time was the sniffer. And it's like, was that supposed to be scary? Like, am I supposed to be scared of. I would call him something way cooler and way scarier than that. Like, I gotta be real.
- [00:37]
C
Go ahead. Wait, wait, wait. No, fresh. Let's. Let's skip Griffin.
- [00:40]
B
Go for it.
- [00:41]
C
What would you call the sniffer that would be more scary than the sniffer?
- [00:46]
A
Flesh getter. The flesh getter.
- [00:49]
B
Yeah. But he's just a player at that point. He's just out there to.
- [00:53]
A
Yeah, I guess.
- [00:53]
B
Meet and greet. I guess so.
- [00:56]
C
I mean, if you put flesh in front of pretty much anything, it does make it scarier. You know, like if you go, hey, the sniffer doesn't work. Flesh sniffer.
- [01:04]
A
That I don't like something.
- [01:06]
C
I don't like that.
- [01:08]
A
Toss that in. Just anything. I'm just saying I was so scared of this dude and then I got at you and it's like you got away from the sniffer and it's like that whole time.
- [01:18]
C
It's crazy, but I love the farts. That's him. That's his voice. That's why he doesn't talk. Did I mention that? That's why they don't talk in this game.
- [01:26]
B
Oh, thank God.
- [01:27]
C
Yeah. Yeah.
- [01:46]
A
My name is Griffin McRoy. I know the best game of the week.
- [01:49]
C
My name is Christopher Thomas Plant and I know the best game of the week.
- [01:52]
B
My name is Russ Freshik. I know the best game of the week.
- [01:56]
A
Welcome to the besties where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment. Our reporter in the field, Justin McRoy is still out of commission, still recovering from his carpal tunnel surgery.
- [02:07]
B
He's not reporting on anything because he can't really play video games. I guess he could play one handed video games.
- [02:12]
A
Yes. We were able to play some Nagano Winter Olympics 98 on our stream yesterday because we all took just one button. He was able to do that. But yes, he sat out this one. We hope for a swift recovery in time for Resident evil fucking at least. But this week we're not talking about Resident Evil. We're talking about Reanimal, the latest game from Tarsier Studios, who you may recognize as the creators of Little Monsters 1 and 2. Some pretty, I would say, revered 2.5D horror platformer.
- [02:44]
B
I think they're 3D. I'm gonna go so far as to say 3D games.
- [02:47]
A
Yeah, I guess 3D games.
- [02:47]
C
So revered that neither of you remembered the actual title of game, which is Little Nightmares.
- [02:53]
A
Did I say Little Monsters? Yes, that's the Little Gaga game. That's the Little Gaga. Jesus Christ, guys.
- [03:00]
B
Great. Howie Mandel, early 90s jquill.
- [03:04]
C
Here's what you need to know. Sixteen years ago, Limbo comes out, makes
- [03:07]
A
a lot of money.
- [03:08]
C
People say, we gotta get in on these puzzle platformers. Tarsier Studios comes in, they make two of these big boom, bam. They're the new hot faves. Instead of making number three, they make this because they add co op. We'll talk about that.
- [03:23]
A
They also made a bunch of LittleBigPlanet stuff. DLC. The first game, I think they made the PSP or the Vita. Little Big Planet, I wanna say. And then Little Big Planet 3. I know that those games have a mixed reputation from a game fuel perspective, but I adored them.
- [03:37]
C
That would explain why the jumping's not very good.
- [03:40]
A
So that's what's coming up next as we discuss Reanimal. The human stomach is one of God's most marvelous creations. It is confusing how it works down there because it's not just a squishy bag that turns food into poop. It has a whole community of wonderful organisms living in there helping you out. Sometimes those organisms could use a little bit of support. And guess what? Ritual is here to do exactly that with Symbiotic Plus, a 3 in 1 supplement of clinically studied pre pro and postbiotics to support a balanced gut gut microbiome with daily use. I genuinely really enjoy having ritual be part of my daily ritual. I take the men's multivitamin every day, and it's nice to know that that's filling in some of the gaps in my diet. And if you need something similar to help your tummy become the best it can be, consider synbiotic plus from ritual. Get your gut going and support a balanced gut Microbiome with Ritual. Symbiotic Plus. Save 25% on your first month@ritual.com Besties. That's Ritual.com Besties for 25% off your first month.
- [04:58]
B
Okay. Did anyone here play Little Nightmares 1 or 2?
- [05:02]
A
I played them both.
- [05:03]
C
Yeah, we did on the show, Right.
- [05:05]
A
Pretty sure we did both for episodes of the show.
- [05:08]
B
It's possible I might have been too scared. This feels very much in line with those games insofar as you're a cute little childlike being running around in a very scary world, and generally speaking, you're up against very tall people who do not like you.
- [05:27]
A
I really think, jokes aside, I think knowing Tarsier's sort of, like, background with littlebigplanet stuff actually helps kind of inform a lot of what this game is achieving stylistically in terms of, like, they play with scale so much. You are. You are kids in this game, but you are not. Like, you're in the wrong world. Like, you are in a world that is too big for you. Not from, like, a traditional, like, I don't know, you're a small child type of way, but in a, like, you've climbed up the beanstalk type of way.
- [05:59]
B
And what's crazy is the people that are chasing you are even bigger than the world. Like, they're too big for the world.
- [06:05]
A
That's what I'm saying. So, like, the. The. There is a surrealist type of, I don't know, core design principle behind these games.
- [06:13]
B
Yeah.
- [06:14]
A
That is really. I don't think anyone's doing anything quite like it. And also, mechanically, like, it's a very interesting type of game because it's not a puzzle platformer. It certainly is. Not that the puzzles are like, go into this scary room and avoid this guy and get the key and bring him back. I never felt like I was being sort of cerebrally challenged.
- [06:33]
B
Yeah. It's not hard. It's certainly not like, Limbo in that way, because it's not challenging for the puzzles.
- [06:38]
A
I think there needs to be. Maybe this genre exists already, but for games like Limbo and Little Nightmares and Reanimal, for me, it reminds me of the Eric Chae kind of games from the 90s, like the out of this World or Heart of Darkness, where it's like, you're gonna die over and over and over again. And the checkpoint is right at the beginning of the room. So it's not like they're making you worried you're gonna lose a bunch of progress. Instead, it's like, I'm going to face this situation over and over again until I figure out, like, the right kind of way to get through it without being, like, horribly killed instantly.
- [07:14]
B
Yeah. It feels more rollercoastery or like you're in a Disney ride in that way than it is a puzzle.
- [07:20]
A
Game it's about. It's a peril platformer. You are imperiled all the time. I like that. It's a peril platformer where you're imperiled all the time, but if you die, it's like, I don't know. It doesn't deal with a lot of mechanical types of fear like, oh, you're gonna lose these precious resources or you know, you have to manage this or that. It's. It doesn't. Just doesn't do that.
- [07:41]
B
I was also there say. I will also say this as a person that gets very scared very easily in video games, for some reason I don't get scared as much as I do excited when I play these games. Sure. In particular, or I guess this one in particular, I got a little scared playing the little Nightmares. But for this one in particular, it just feels more like, yeah, like a dark room ride than it does like. Like Resident Evil 7 where it's like, oh my God, I'm like horrified to open any door.
- [08:16]
C
Right.
- [08:17]
B
Doesn't necessarily feel like that. Which is good because like the characters you're playing as, despite their small stature, are not babies. Like they're pretty brave given the circumstances.
- [08:29]
C
But yeah, I want to pull at that. But first, just very quickly, if it seems like we're not going deep in the story, part of that is because these games are basically like, push further into the darkness is a story, find more appears.
- [08:46]
B
I mean there's more than.
- [08:47]
C
There's more to it.
- [08:48]
B
It's not like a back rooms situation where it's just like weird stuff's going to happen. Like now clearly you are children, I guess in this environment where like seemingly the society has been like de skinned and then taken over by these new beings that are really unpleasant and you
- [09:09]
A
are trying to find your friends. You are separate. You and a boy and girl who are the co op characters. Yeah, maybe brother and sister are trying to find their friends who like all you know is that they were looking down a well at one point. And maybe this is inside the. The story is so. Is so abstract and genuinely very creepy. Like there are moments that will kind of suggest something extraordinarily sinister has happened in this like group of friends without necessarily getting especially detailed about it, I don't think. And that I think plays to the strength of the game, which is just like it is so atmospherically, oppressively pretty scary all the time. It moves between sort of like arcs. Like this is the one inside of this city where there's human skin suits just sort of Draped all over the place. What's the deal there? Now we're in this, like, flooded corridor. What's the deal here? Now we're in this house full of weird spider children. What's up with that? Like, it moves between those, but they're so, like, I don't know. The design of this game from pretty much every angle hit pretty good for me. And I think that's sort of in their. In their lineage.
- [10:27]
B
Yeah, very much a game that. Where you could take any screenshot and, like, hang it on a wall. Yeah, it's really that impactful.
- [10:34]
C
So the challenge for me with this game is the decision to go co op basically prevents it from being a horror game. It cannot be scary twofold. And let me be clear, you can play it in single player, but if you play it in co op, the point is, like, you're hanging out with your friends, you're talking the idea of sinking to the mood. That's not going to happen. That's not how playing video games online works. And when you're playing in single player, you have the challenge of waiting for the robot to do the things that you need it to do. And I found myself pretty early on having to experiment and like you said, kind of like live, die or repeat to be able to solve puzzles, which undermines the horror. I say all of this not to say that it's a bad game. I think it was more of a. Oh, I wish I had gone into it with a very different mindset. Because if you are going into this thinking, oh, this is going to be a great horror experience, you're not going to get it. If you go into this thinking, I love games like It Takes Two, but I would prefer them to be a little creepier, a little Grimm's Fairy Tale. I think you're going to really, really click with it. But yeah, the decision to really embrace the co op, I think is. I mean, I guess it's a smart one. And, like, that's where I think the business is going.
- [11:59]
B
Little Nightmares 3, which was developed by a totally different studio because of an acquisition that was done with Tarsier Studios by Embracer Group, so on and so forth. Both of them are now in co op. I think co op has been something that has been asked for probably since the original. I agree with you that that's part of the reason I didn't find this game scary. I didn't really have a lot of issues with the AI when I was playing in single player.
- [12:24]
A
In fact, if I could just interrupt real. The AI Sometimes, like, a lot of this game is big man in a scary room with stuff all around. You have to kind of scamper around and hide, like a borrower to make it through, because if he sees you, he'll kill you instantly. Sometimes the AI will be, like, moving to the other end of the table that you're hiding under and you're like, oh, shit, I should follow her. Because obviously she's the video game. She knows exactly where to go. Which honestly, on one hand seems like. Well, it's removing a lot of the gameplay if the robot is, like, showing you how to get through these encounters. But also, like, that's always been the most annoying part of these games for me is the, like, okay, so I just had to guess my way through, like, which way this guy was going to be looking. Now you have a little help sometimes from your. From your pal.
- [13:03]
B
Yeah. It feels like you're chasing someone at times, which you're right. Like, given the circumstances, at times feels quite good. I wasn't bothered by it. I do agree also with what Plant said earlier about the mood when you're playing in co op because you don't have the, like, wacky hijinks that an It Takes Two brings or a split fiction brings. So you're really just, like, going through these grim environments and you just naturally won't maintain that tone. That being said, in a lot of ways, I think this game is better for, like, newcomer beginner people.
- [13:36]
A
Yes.
- [13:37]
B
Than it is it. Then It Takes Two for a co op experience because really all you're doing is like, running, jumping, pushing a button. There's a little bit of very, very light melee combat, but largely speaking, the stuff you're asked to do is very light versus, like, It Takes Two or split fiction. You might be flying a plane, you might be shooting stuff.
- [13:57]
A
I also feel like this game is a better, I don't know, newcomer experience than Little Nightmares or Little Nightmares 2, which I think those games are great. But also, like, I don't know, they had some rough edges mechanically that, you know, they also were of sort of limited input. You're just sort of moving a little guy around an environment and avoiding big guys. But I felt like this game was a bit more dynamic and interactive. Like those segments where you're sneaking through this laundromat full of human skins. It felt like, oh, well, there's actually a lot of different ways I could kind of get through here.
- [14:37]
B
There's also very splashy moments, too. Like I was on the verge of, like, an uncharted where you're like. There's a sequence in an ice cream truck that's like incredibly exciting and thrilling. So I think they do. It feels like they're really balancing what is. The core gameplay is like sneaking around a room, hiding from a big guy versus like we're gonna like have a big bombastic moment at the end of each chapter.
- [15:01]
A
Yeah.
- [15:02]
C
I also think, just visually the art direction is more my speed. Ironically, I think Little Nightmare's art direction made more sense for Co Op. It's a bit colorful. As weird as it is to say that this game's very bleak. I mean, the color is pulled out of it. And where Little Nightmares was doing, I would say more of like the German expressionism.
- [15:27]
B
Like I thought it was like a Grimm's fairy tale. Like.
- [15:30]
A
Yeah.
- [15:30]
C
Or like really stilted. Like it was more in line with the Tim Burton kind of like creepy, but kind of funny grotesque. This is, I mean, bombed out. It's. It's. They. They commit to the bit, to say the very least, which I like.
- [15:50]
B
This game also is. Appears to be set like sometime. I don't. Obviously it's not our world, but like around the 80s, the technology that I've seen in the game is like, like, you see computer. There are computers.
- [16:04]
C
Yeah. Yes, you're right. All over.
- [16:07]
A
Yeah. There's a sequence where you are like in a war zone. That maybe did not vibe that way for me that it was the 80s, but I don't know. It's really hard to tell really, to pick this game apart. I'm sure there are people. It is the type of game that I think people are going to Write hour long YouTube essays breaking down what actually happened. Yeah. I mean, that's my shit. I'm glad. I think it's cool when a game is doing enough stuff that it can support that level of sort of dissection and discussion. Because there's obviously an enormous amount of symbolism happening here just with the core cast. But also this is a huge man who can teleport through skin. There's a lot of seemingly biblical references and a lot of shit to kind of break down.
- [17:01]
B
There's a very cool sequence where you're going through a movie theater and the movie theater is filled with just dead bodies, like sitting in all the seats. And the only way to get from one side of the movie theater to the other is by like, like scooching your way.
- [17:17]
A
Let me just get through the. Let me just.
- [17:19]
C
And.
- [17:19]
B
And me. While this is happening, there's like a movie playing on the Screen that's just like a fucking ring level. Like weird shit happening, rabbits are eating each other and like crazy shit like that. So like they. Yeah, the tone is really spot on.
- [17:31]
A
I don't know. I felt like this was an easier experience than Little Nightmares, which honestly does get rid of the fear aspect of it. Even playing in solo, it didn't feel super scary. It doesn't deal in a lot of jump scares, which makes the ones that they do pop out there, I don't know, hit pretty good. But it's just weird. You're seeing weird sort of incredibly stylish shit all the time and not having to repeat those gameplay segments over and over again and just getting to the next cool thing. I don't know. I felt like it was a good decision. I enjoyed this one a lot.
- [18:10]
B
Yeah, me too. It's exciting to see that they landed with a new franchise and they can kind of do their own thing. I know people were kind of let down. I didn't play it, but people were let down by Little Nightmares 3. Saying it wasn't like a complete experience and to some extent felt like a retread of the first two games. Like a greatest hits, if you will. And this feels, you know, not that different. Obviously the base is the same, but it feels like they're doing their own thing.
- [18:35]
C
I feel like it's gonna be huge. Right? Like you take the series that people already like and then you add co op right now. Yeah. Damn this guy. I'm very curious to see what they do next.
- [18:47]
A
Let's take a quick break and then let's talk about the most recent PlayStation State of Play event where a lot of stuff was announced. Apparently Legacy of Kain is back in a big fucking way, guys, in 2026. Who'da thunk it? We'll find out about that and more after this short break. Your finances are your boat that you are sailing through the choppy waters of life. And friend, I gotta tell you, I'm looking at it, the hull, it's got quite a few holes. And those holes are in the form of mostly subscription fees to services and applications and games and platforms that you no longer use. It's really tough though, to go down there and do an inventory of all those holes because the bottom of the boat is where old Man Carruthers sleeps. And that guy gives me the willies. That's why I use Rocket Money. Rocket Money is not afraid of Old Man Carruthers. It is in fact, a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitor your saving and help you lower your bills so you can grow your savings. I use Rocket Money quite often, and every time that I do, it almost always catches something in the dragnet. Some app we signed up for for our kids and forgot to cancel before the free trial was over? Oh no, lots of stuff like that. But if you need help sort of keeping track of where your money is going, they can help you set budgets and it automatically categorizes your transactions so you can see where all your money is going to. It's really just a great tool to help you understand the state of your finances and maybe even get them in a little bit better shape. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join@RocketMoney.com Besties that's RocketMoney.com Besties RocketMoney.com Besties
- [20:42]
C
Today's episode is brought to you in part by Factor. We are in the thick of winter. It's gloomy. The idea of having to cook dinner at the end of the day is just a lot. Which is why I enjoy Factor. It makes healthy eating easy with these fully prepared meals designed by dietitians and crafted by chefs. It's so much easier than having to put together a whole meal at the end of a hard day. Factor Meals always fresh, they're never frozen and ready in about two minutes. They feature quality, functional ingredients including lean protein, colorful veggies, whole food ingredients and healthy fats. And there are so many options, some that are just perfect for the season. I'm really into the penne rosa and meatballs. Get some garlic, green beans and peppers on the side with that one. Or the Korean style salmon. Just the best. Roasted garlic chicken. These are meals that they're hearty but also make you feel good. And you can get whatever you want. You want to focus on keto or high protein or low carb or Flexitarian or GLP1 support. They've got you covered. Design the menu around what it is that you like. I really enjoy Factor. I enjoy that it tastes good, that I feel good and I don't have to think at the end of a hard day. You want to check it out too? You should go to factormeals.com besties50off and use code besties50OFF to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor New subscribers only. Varies by plan. One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active.
- [22:40]
B
Legacy of Kain is a franchise that I didn't I only like dipped the toe in with Soul Reaver.
- [22:45]
A
Oh, dog, sure. Yeah, dude. When we got our PlayStation 1, it was Christmas 97, I think. And we got three games. I got Final Fantasy VII as, like, a me present, and I fucked my shit up. Like, that changed the trajectory of my whole.
- [23:00]
B
So many discs alone.
- [23:02]
A
So many discs. Right. And then Travis, I think, got Resident Evil, and Justin got Legacy of Kane or maybe Flip those two. And Legacy of Kane Blood Omen. Is that the first one? Yeah, the first one. And that game scared the fucking shit out of me. It opens up with a 3D, rendered cinematic of, like, a woman being murdered with a big knife, and it's like, Holy shit, I'm 10.
- [23:26]
B
Well, that was one of the games announced at State of Play because. Well, not that game in particular.
- [23:31]
A
No, no, no, no, no.
- [23:31]
B
Legacy of Kain Defiance is being remastered. It was one of the announcements as part of State of Play.
- [23:36]
A
Yes.
- [23:36]
B
A game that I literally had no idea existed.
- [23:39]
A
So Legacy of Kane spawned off Legacy of Kain. Soul Reaver.
- [23:43]
C
Right.
- [23:43]
B
I played that.
- [23:43]
A
A different character, and that was more based around, like, there's a shadow world that you can kind of like morph into. And it was a 3D action platformer. It was pretty fucking lit. They made a couple of those. And this game, Legacy of Kane Defiance, is like the mashup. You're playing as both of them, as. As Kane and as. As Asriel Raziel.
- [24:04]
B
Yeah. Yeah. What's interesting is it wasn't particularly well received, that original game, so it's interesting that it's being remastered. It's also, like, at this point, fucking 30 years old.
- [24:17]
A
It looks it, too. Even this. The footage of this remaster, it's. It. I don't know, man. It is a weird. That's a weird era to try and remaster. I feel like that, like, I don't know, mid PlayStation 2, I want to say, kind of territory. It's hard to really spit shine that one. I don't know why. There's also a new Metroidvania search action game, I believe, starring Legacy of Kain Kain from Legacy of Kain.
- [24:49]
C
And there's a demo of the canceled Legacy of Kain game that is included with Legacy of Kain Defiance, which feels like the whole reason that any Legacy of Kane fan would want to have to play this thing.
- [25:04]
A
Yeah. Legacy of Kane Ascendance is the new 2D platform. Any. I don't know why we started with that. I think it's just the one that surprised me the most. Oh, yeah, maybe. Yeah.
- [25:13]
C
Yeah, I mean, there's some other stuff I'm looking right now. Control. There's a new one of those. There's a new Silent Hill.
- [25:20]
B
Okay. Yeah, there were a couple, I think, larger IPs, and you mentioned Control. That seems like a good place to start. Control. This is the sequel to Control. It's Control. Just resonant, I think, is the. Yes. And they've made it into something that looks a little more like an open world game. You're like actually running around in the city. And in terms of combat, it's not a third person shooter as much as it is like a melee.
- [25:47]
C
Yeah.
- [25:48]
A
I didn't play a ton of Control. I played a lot. It's a game I have tried to get into a bunch of times and have never really managed to crack through. But this seems wildly diff. Like this felt. This looked like a Platinum, Platinum game. When the person started to zoom all over, like shifting gravity to land on the walls and doing sick combos and shit. I don't know. It just felt like a different. A different beast.
- [26:11]
B
Yeah. The original Control had moments that were like, very wacky, but usually they tended to be more in the like, cut scene, not cutscene, but like those sequences in Alan Wake 2 where, like they get fucking buck wild. Like that's where it kind of made its bones. And then the actual combat had some wacky moments, but mostly it was like telekinesis and shooting guys. And this feels like they're kind of blending the two a little bit more, where you're having those wacky moments within the combat itself.
- [26:37]
A
Yeah.
- [26:37]
B
Which I think is a good thing. I think there were other things that kept Control from totally being fantastic, that hopefully they'll address things like itemization and gear and things like that. But just as like a look like seeing you running through a very fucked up New York City.
- [26:55]
A
Yeah, it looks sick.
- [26:56]
B
Looks really fucking sick. I'm pretty excited about that one.
- [26:59]
A
Not a joke. I am so excited for Death Stranding 2 to come to PC. I believe March 21st was the date that they gave.
- [27:06]
B
Yeah, it's coming in March.
- [27:08]
A
Our goatee 2025 I always wanted to play more of, but my gaming time these days is so profoundly limited. The idea of being able to squirrel myself away in my office where my PS5 is, to play like long stretches of Norman Reedus walking Sam is just unthinkable. So having this bad boy on the old Rog Ally X. I pray to God it will run.
- [27:33]
B
Hopefully it runs.
- [27:34]
A
I hope it will run. I have no Idea. But I think they are adding dlss
- [27:39]
B
and like dynamic whatever. That'll presumably let it run on devices.
- [27:44]
A
I think it should run.
- [27:44]
C
Yeah.
- [27:45]
B
Yeah.
- [27:46]
C
Hey, speaking of great uses of our time, Metal Gear Solid four is coming.
- [27:52]
A
I can't believe it, man.
- [27:53]
B
Yeah. So Konami announced the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume two, which is not a surprise. Like, the first one was called Volume one, so it doesn't really shock the world that There's a volume two. It does bring us Metal Gear Solid 4, which is obviously a franchise, a title that we probably all have strong feelings about. I certainly don't have the most positive feelings about it, but it's there.
- [28:21]
A
MGS4.
- [28:22]
B
Yeah. I don't. I don't like that game.
- [28:24]
A
I don't know, man. I played it once. I don't like it.
- [28:26]
B
Very good. First act where you're in the war zone and then kind of.
- [28:31]
A
I remember the ending being pretty fucking lit.
- [28:33]
B
Yeah.
- [28:33]
C
I mean, if you're watching a novel, it's probably pretty good as visual novel, Right? Remember that wiki that you could read? Hey, we should get it out of the way. The number of people have been like, hey, you're gonna play that, right? Because you played all the other Metal Gear Solid games. Here's the scoop. Maybe it's a big. Maybe I will commit to playing it. I don't know if we're gonna do a full Metal Gear Solid four retrospective episode, because that's kind of the.
- [28:59]
B
I mean, the problem is it's so different from chapter to chapter that if you go and you like, realistically, are we gonna spend 30 hours playing Metal Gear Solid 4 for an episode? Probably not.
- [29:10]
A
No way.
- [29:11]
B
So all we're going to really get through is maybe two or three of the chapters and, like, not representative of like. Yeah, a good chunk of the game.
- [29:19]
C
Yeah. It also.
- [29:20]
A
I'm so curious about it. It's.
- [29:22]
C
It's.
- [29:22]
A
It's the only one that I haven't like, played a bunch of. And so I would like to.
- [29:26]
B
I mean, you beat it, right?
- [29:27]
A
Yeah, sure.
- [29:28]
B
So you've. Yeah, yeah. What about Peace Walker? Have you played Peace Walker?
- [29:31]
C
I was going to say barely.
- [29:32]
A
That was the PSP one, right?
- [29:33]
B
Yeah, I barely played Peace Walker. I've heard.
- [29:35]
C
Very good news for me. I'm very excited about that because it takes a lot of inspiration from Monster Hunter. Right.
- [29:41]
B
My understanding is Peace Walker is the, like, what would become metal gear solid 5. Like the stuff that they introduced where you're like, capturing people and bringing them
- [29:49]
A
back to your base system and all that jazz.
- [29:52]
B
But then I get it confused with Portable Ops. I think Portable Ops.
- [29:54]
A
I get it confused with Metal Gear Acid, which was this trading card game based Metal Gear Solid game.
- [29:58]
B
There was Acid, that was that. And then Portable Ops, I think was the PSP one. And then Vita was. Was this one?
- [30:05]
A
I don't know. Can't keep them straight.
- [30:06]
B
Hard to say.
- [30:07]
A
Still curious. Maybe not excited, but curious.
- [30:10]
B
Curious. I am very excited. I'll say. The announcement that got me most jazzed was Castlevania Belmont's Curse.
- [30:19]
A
Oh, hell yes.
- [30:20]
B
This is made by Motion Twin and Evil Empire team members that did dead cells. Dead cells. And obviously dead cells had that Castlevania dlc. So I'm sure they got real chummy with Konami in that process and now they're making their own thing. I'm not sure. And this has maybe been revealed, but I'm not entirely sure. Like, is it a Dead Cell style roguelike? Is it a more traditional Castlevania game? I'm not entirely sure. Looking at the trailer, it looked more like a roguelike to me. But either way, I'll play either of those fucking games. And it's quite honestly nice to see Konami making video games again. Like they're legit making games again. Like.
- [31:03]
C
Like that new Silent Hill. We got a. Yeah, a new Silent Hill.
- [31:07]
A
Yeah, sorry, I know. We want to talk about Silent Hill. This Castlevania Belmont's Curse game looks so goddamn good.
- [31:13]
B
Yeah, it looks great.
- [31:13]
A
I'm so excited for this fucking thing. Are you kidding me? You guys did it. You guys had a good turn here. Proud of you.
- [31:19]
B
Yeah. But yeah, it's economy good. Good for them. They're making games again. And they're making a brand new. In addition to the Silent Hill game, we got last year, scary 60s Japan, Silent Hill game. We have another Silent Hill game which has a very good name, let me say.
- [31:34]
A
What is it?
- [31:35]
B
It's Silent Hill Townfall, Town Fall.
- [31:39]
A
That happens in all of them. So, like, I don't know why this one needs to have it specific. Like, pretty much every town has a bad time in the Silent Hill games.
- [31:48]
B
But how many of them have puns right there in the title?
- [31:53]
C
Zero.
- [31:53]
A
Yes. It is like Downfall.
- [31:55]
B
Huh? That's great, right? Sounds like it was Downfall.
- [31:57]
A
Yeah, I didn't think about that.
- [31:58]
C
Also, it's first person, which looks good stuff. Let me get really creepy in that space. I'm all about it. My big thing that I am cautiously, very excited for is Star Wars Galactic Racer.
- [32:16]
A
Man, y'. All.
- [32:18]
C
Yeah, yeah. Get hyped. Because it's being made by Fuse, which is a whole bunch of people who came over from Criterion. And the game itself, now that they've shown more of it, looks like a mix of like classic need for Speed, Criterion game and Motorstorm, where you are like hardcore crashing vehicles into each other, slow mo explosions. It looks sick.
- [32:50]
A
Has Fuse made anything yet? They only formed like a few years ago. And I don't know if that thing actually really.
- [32:56]
C
I don't know if this is their first thing or not, but I remember
- [32:58]
A
the announcement of them forming and like, God damn. There is not a genre of game that I used to love a whole lot that I feel like I haven't played a good one of in a while. Besides these, like Criterion games. I used to fucking love me a Need for Speed game. A big open world. I know Forza Horizon scratches that itch for some people. It's never really clicked for me. I would be so stoked for that shit to come back and with Star wars shit on it too. Get out of town.
- [33:26]
B
So the immediate question that I think everyone had was whether Sebulba is in it. He is indeed in it.
- [33:30]
A
Yeah, that was the first question.
- [33:32]
B
Apparently the other big reveal was that Ben Quadinaros is in it.
- [33:39]
C
Yeah.
- [33:40]
B
Who the fuck is that?
- [33:41]
A
Ben Quadinaros is. He is a God. I don't know.
- [33:46]
B
What is that, a Star wars character or.
- [33:49]
C
It is a Star wars character.
- [33:50]
A
He looks like he's from A Bug's Life. He does.
- [33:52]
B
He.
- [33:52]
A
He looks like he is from A
- [33:53]
C
Bug's Life and his name is Ben.
- [33:55]
A
His name is Ben Quaternaros and he's a Podracer and he's got. You would recognize him in the film. His face is sort of manta ray shaped, kind of like a big open kite. Okay. And he's got sort of shrek antennas. You know him?
- [34:12]
B
Yeah. And his name is Ben.
- [34:14]
C
Yeah, Ben Quadinaros.
- [34:16]
A
You know him. You love him.
- [34:17]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [34:18]
C
You keep acting like you're not like very human with this character.
- [34:20]
B
Well, I mean, at that point, Sebulba's name should be like Gregory.
- [34:23]
C
Oh, well, that's his first name. Sebulba's his last name.
- [34:26]
A
Oh, hey, did either you guys play the fucking God of War 2D game that came out?
- [34:32]
B
I did not. I heard it was not great.
- [34:37]
A
It didn't look great.
- [34:38]
B
Reviews were pretty moderate. It's a shame because, like the idea of a side scrolling Metroidvania search action God of war game is pretty enticing.
- [34:46]
A
Yeah.
- [34:47]
B
But it Sounds like maybe it didn't quite make the splash that they were hoping, especially given the fact that the franchise has been on ice for a while and will continue to probably be.
- [34:58]
A
They are Sons of Sparta is the title for that.
- [35:02]
B
They are working on a remake for the first three games. So there's that. But this is obviously like a brand new spangled thing. And I think at this point, like, expectations for search action games in particular are very, very high.
- [35:14]
C
Yeah.
- [35:15]
B
Because you have games like that Prince of Persia game, which is so fucking good. And obviously silksong and the, like, standard has been raised.
- [35:22]
A
Yes. It's just weird. This was like, for the God of War original trilogy remake. That was just like a title card. Right? There's like nothing.
- [35:31]
B
Yeah.
- [35:31]
A
Which like you said, you.
- [35:33]
B
To me at this point, what that means.
- [35:35]
A
Yeah, to me at this point, seeing a title card for some big thing is just a. Like, all right, shut the fuck up already. Like, it's good. We'll do it, I guess. Shut up. Like, it'll be 2036 or whatever and we'll. We'll give you back the.
- [35:49]
B
I mean, but it's just a remake. Like, it's just a rem. Like remaster of the originals, like, I guess.
- [35:54]
C
So it's a remaster or is it a remake? I thought it was a remake.
- [35:57]
B
My understanding is it's a remaster. I don't think it's like a full making.
- [36:02]
A
It's just such a. It's such a tonal different, like, thing from the most recent God of War games. And I don't know, the idea of an ecosystem existing where. Where Sony is selling, you know, both of those types of games on the same gamestop store shelves just seems a little bit weird. And then this. Yeah, this Sons of Sparta game just didn't look very. It didn't look very exciting. The combat didn't look very exciting, which is like. That's kind of what you.
- [36:29]
B
Yeah.
- [36:30]
A
What you want from your God of war.
- [36:33]
B
Okay, here's what I'm gonna say. I'm very skeptical of that.
- [36:37]
C
Yeah.
- [36:38]
B
Because I think they can say whatever they want and call it whatever they want. But there's no. I think we all think that a remaster is the equivalent of an HD rerelease. Like Legacy of Kain remastered HD rerelease. The problem is if it's a remake in the style of, let's say, like The Resident Evil 2 remake, for example, making it from total scratch, ground up, changing gameplay things and all that stuff, you're not going to do Three games at once. You're just not.
- [37:04]
A
Yeah, that's crazy.
- [37:05]
B
Way too much work.
- [37:06]
C
But the games are not so short, right? So, like.
- [37:08]
B
No, the games are not that short, are they?
- [37:10]
A
No, not. Yeah, they're legit.
- [37:12]
B
I mean, I wouldn't say they're long long, but they're pretty long.
- [37:14]
A
Yeah.
- [37:15]
B
And it would be a lot of work. So I think it's. I think they're going to do what they did with Delta, which is Metal Gear Solid Delta, where they just basically up, you know, redid all the graphics. Like they. They did all the. A lot of work to that, but largely speaking, didn't, you know, make that many changes.
- [37:31]
A
Yeah. Okay, so Saber Interactive is making a John Wick game.
- [37:37]
B
Yes.
- [37:38]
A
Did we know about that or is this a new.
- [37:40]
B
I think that's a newly announced.
- [37:41]
A
I tried to look up Saber Interactive, and I think they have done mostly licensed games.
- [37:50]
B
Yes, that's true.
- [37:50]
A
They're one of those studios that has done, like, a bunch of different stuff and also assisted in the development of the Halo remakes and. What else? Remastered the first or Tomb Raiders 4 through 6.
- [38:08]
B
They're working on a Turok game. They. Let's see. Have, like, Painkiller as a franchise. Had a release last year.
- [38:17]
A
Okay. Just, like, looking at the Wikipedia page, they have eight titles listed as TBA in development. And it's like Jurassic Park, Survival Kotor Remake, Untitled Avatar, the Last Airbender title, Turok Origins, Untitled John Wick title. I don't know. It's just like, that's a crazy amount of shit to have on the. On the boiler all at the same time.
- [38:41]
C
I don't know.
- [38:42]
B
They have a pretty big slate.
- [38:43]
A
It didn't seem like there was a lot there. Like the footage that they showed of John Wick spinning around and shooting dudes. I don't know. I wanted a little bit more, I guess.
- [38:53]
C
Yeah.
- [38:53]
B
I think it's still too early.
- [38:54]
A
Yeah.
- [38:55]
C
Yeah. Hey, how are y' all feeling about Marathon? Because it comes out now in, like, a week, right?
- [39:01]
A
Yeah. I've had a fun journey with it where, like, when I was still playing Destiny 2, I was obviously into it, and then just. It's gotten maybe the most negative press routinely out of any game I've maybe ever seen in development between just sort of like, negative initial reactions to it and then, like, all of the, like, AI shit and the using other people's. The plagiarism on, like, the textures and. I don't know, it feels like that game stock has really, really dropped so far down But I do also like how bungee shooters feel. So I don't know, man.
- [39:39]
B
It feels like High Guard did a speedrun of what Marathon is experiencing over the course of two years. Where Marathon has been, you know, had some high expectations and then the beta came out and people were not thrilled. And then obviously all the AI stuff. Whereas High Guard, like had a bad initial reaction, came out, had some complaints about it, they made some changes, and then they like laid off their entire studio because no one was really playing the game. So things are, from the live service standpoint, not the safest investment, I would say.
- [40:11]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [40:14]
C
I will say to add some texture to the High Guard thing. It's hard to know what any of the decision making. It's hard to know why any decisions have been made superficially. Because now we're finding out that Tencent was funding it and a lot of the business decisions there. I don't know. I would be hesitant to say that people got laid off because there wasn't enough players.
- [40:40]
A
Yeah.
- [40:41]
B
I mean, there are not enough players. I looked at the other day and it was like 3,000 concurrents. Like, they're not. They do not have.
- [40:46]
A
There's a lot of reasons why that is true. Right. It's not just like the game is of equality that it attracted 3,000 players. Because I actually heard the game was. I didn't play it.
- [40:57]
B
Yeah, I heard it was okay. I think it's more just a competitive set and then also like, yes, it's
- [41:01]
A
the most competitive game to wander into. If you wander into it with anything other than your fucking ready, best loaded lock, stock and barrel. If you limp into it, sort of half measure, like it's. You simply cannot.
- [41:13]
B
And the people that are into that super hardcore are already playing.
- [41:17]
A
Right.
- [41:18]
B
So they're already playing whatever.
- [41:19]
A
So, like, I don't know how Marathon is a. Is like a success story. I haven't followed it particularly closely because this extraction shooter genre is like not my jam, but like Destiny's my fucking. Like, I played so much of that game.
- [41:35]
B
Yeah.
- [41:35]
A
And the feel of it is what kept me kind of coming back. So, like, I don't know, I would. I would be curious to check out Marathon, but just, I don't know, there's so many. There's visible stink lines coming off of it from a, I don't know, reputation standpoint.
- [41:51]
C
I think the advantage that Marathon has for all these games is if you're willing, if the parent company is willing to wait it out and keep investing in it, these things can turn around We've seen that a million times and Sony has put so much money into Marathon, but really Bungie, that it's very hard, if not impossible for me to imagine them doing a High Guard or a Concord Concord to this project. That would seem. I mean, never say never. Like that would be horrifying. But it seems less likely just to
- [42:30]
B
put a bow on it. The other challenge that Marathon is facing is a very similar looking extraction shooter called Arc Raiders. Came out several months ago and is massively successful. And it seems hard for me to imagine that people are gonna abandon whatever they're doing to just drop and do another one. Especially one that might. I mean, we'll see what the reviews are. I think if the reviews are good, that's shot. But yeah.
- [42:56]
C
Hey, last thing is this the year that I get into a fighting game? Is that gonna happen?
- [43:04]
B
That's the game you wanna talk about? Chris Plant.
- [43:06]
C
That's the game? Yeah, the last game. I think the most important game. Marvel to Koen. You wanna talk about it?
- [43:10]
B
Oh, oh, I thought you were gonna mention Dead or Alive.
- [43:12]
A
Dead or alive 6.
- [43:13]
C
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not gonna talk about that. Teaser trailer. That's. I don't need that. Marvel to Kon is what I'm gonna talk about because it looks sick. It's anime X Men fighting each other. Like, yes, I definitely want to be Wolverine in Spider man getting in the ring. The only problem is I have to learn how to be good at fighting games.
- [43:34]
A
But other than that, that's the only issue.
- [43:36]
C
Yeah, it's a small problem.
- [43:37]
A
I was gonna.
- [43:38]
B
I was gonna say I thought you were gonna talk about Pragmata as the last thing. That game continues to look really good. I'm pretty excited. It's basically dead space, but you've got a little AI girl riding on your back giving you like instructions and hacking enemies.
- [43:52]
C
Have you. Have either of you played it yet?
- [43:54]
B
No.
- [43:55]
A
Nope. Okay, is there like a trailer out for it or something?
- [44:00]
C
I played it at an event, I think last year, but.
- [44:03]
A
Oh, buddy, I don't get invited to those anymore.
- [44:06]
C
It's a puzzle game. So basically you have to play two games at the same time. Henry Hatsworth style.
- [44:13]
A
Love it.
- [44:14]
C
A reference that three or four people are gonna enjoy. It feels so cool. I. I am so damn excited for this game. It's gonna be great.
- [44:25]
A
I don't know that I want to like stake my reputation on it or anything, but I think that 007 game looks pretty cool.
- [44:30]
B
Yeah, it's gonna be a good Game. I'm excited about that game.
- [44:33]
A
I'm still embarrassed about how I didn't know it existed. And I was like, wouldn't it be cool if the hitman. If the hitman James Bond gave you, like. Yeah, that's. That's happening.
- [44:42]
B
Does he use disguises? Because James Bond doesn't really, like, really go in disguise that often.
- [44:47]
A
No. Yeah, I mean, Casino Royale mostly just rolls up like, hey, guys, I'm James Bond. I'm gonna kiss all your girlfriends and I'll have your cars.
- [44:57]
B
And he does movie.
- [44:58]
A
He does. He does all that stuff.
- [44:59]
B
Yeah.
- [45:00]
C
First, should I tell you that. So there is an infamous press event for this game at Game awards, I guess. Yeah, I think we talked about.
- [45:09]
B
Yeah, I think we talked a little bit about it.
- [45:11]
C
And Lenny Kravitz was there. And I don't think I told Fresh this. I actually ran into Lenny Kravitz after the event and I am a cheapskate. And I asked if I could actually just catch a ride with him because I think that we were like live in the same area. And then he said, are you going to go my way? And I said, I can't believe how
- [45:32]
A
long you fucking dragged me along for that story, Chris. I feel betrayed.
- [45:37]
B
I hate it. Okay, we got some reader mail here. This first letter comes from Aaron talking about Mugenics. After listening to this episode as well as the wonderful interview on Post Games, I'm starting to understand eugenics a bit more. This is a brief segue side note from me saying, definitely listen to that episode by Chris plant interviewing Edmund McMillan on Eugenics is really. Is terrific and really hit that.
- [46:01]
A
You really got to hit that m so much.
- [46:06]
B
Anyway, Aaron writes, I have a daughter with down syndrome. Chris's interview with Edmund brought up the idea that eugenics are used today. And I wholeheartedly agree. With the advent of genetic testing, some Studies report that 60 to 90% of fetuses diagnosed with down syndrome are terminated. My daughter is so loving, gentle and kind. I can't imagine life without her. This game just brings to one person's mind the worthiness of people with intellectual, genetic, physical or other atypical. I'm all for it, even if it's not my kind of game. Yeah, it really was a terrific interview. And I think the game is, I think for a lot of people, bringing up some interesting thoughts in ways that, like you probably wouldn't imagine coming from a weird cat fighting game.
- [46:45]
A
Russ, can you comment Winky Sinclairson in a letter that says colorblind options in Mugenics would be cool.
- [46:49]
C
Okay, I need to check for that.
- [46:51]
B
Good, good note Winkey. When I was playing the game, and I played it for quite a while before the game actually came out, I was sending in some feedback to the developers regarding colorblind stuff and what I found was actually the game is pretty accessible for colorblindness because anything that has color tied to it generally also has some sort of pattern or iconography that indicates like what it is.
- [47:20]
A
So that would be like what the different classes kind of color code. The cats.
- [47:23]
B
Yeah, the different classes are different colors, but you don't necessarily need to see the colors because you can see there's icons that indicate, oh, this is a holy spell or this is a healing spell, whatever. The only area that I ran into colorblind issues was the danger area on the floor. There's a thing where you can like see the targeting area of enemies and it's for enemies specifically it's red and there are areas in the game that have red floors or dark floors and it's really, really hard to see that. So that is a note that I gave the developers as far as I can tell. And trust me, I played a lot. For me, that was my only issue.
- [48:01]
A
Right.
- [48:02]
B
Obviously everyone has different colorblind requirements and things like that, but for me that was the only issue that I ran into. And it's pretty playable even despite that. But always room for improvement there if
- [48:13]
A
it's honorable mentions time. I mean, I would love to just keep talking about Mugenics because it is the other thing that I have been playing and I, I, I don't know, I, the longer, the more time I spend with it, the more I feel like I agree with Russ. Pretty confident it's going to be a fucking contender this year. I, I, it continues to throw surprising exciting shit at me. Just constantly run. Starting out as one thing and then because of some twist of fate turning into a completely different thing and learning how to like pivot when like your ideas stop working. I don't know, it's like something that never happened for me in Isaac. Where in Isaac, like you're working and you're trying to get this good build and it either peters out or it doesn't and you turn into a God in this one. Like I had a team that was just really strong. I had bred up a team of real killers and my strongest was my fighter who was like the up close melee attacker, had like crazy speed, could go anywhere in the map and just like totally the DPS was out of control. And then he got inflicted with a thing called blood. What's it? Blood Frenzy.
- [49:26]
B
Blood Frenzy, Yep.
- [49:28]
A
Just from a random event on the map. And now all of a sudden, anytime he kills an enemy, he immediately takes another turn and that he has madness on that turn. So he will not. You don't control him. The AI controls him. And he can't differentiate friends from enemies. And when this happened, I was like, fuck, I. You know, he killed one of my teammates, like, pretty much right away. And I was like, well, I guess I just won't use him. Like, I'll just keep him towards the backfield. But then I realized, wait, can I do something with this? And swapped around his equipment so he had like, really low speed. And then I could just get him to the other end of the map, have him kill somebody. And then as he works his way back around, he'll just fucking wipe the floor with everyone with before he can, like, reach my cats. And it just turned into this puzzle game of, like, how can I send this super soldier to the other side of the field to, like, clean them out without him reaching me and killing me too? And it's like, I don't know. That's just like a challenge that I wasn't anticipating when I was like, setting that run up. And I feel like it does shit like that every single time you play. It's really. The sandbox of this game is truly out of sight. It is so vast.
- [50:39]
B
Yeah. I frequently think about binding of Isaac as the comparison. And you're right. When you're on a build, you're hoping for increase in damage or spread shot or homing shot, whatever it is. And everything's sort of building on each other. But the interactivity of the way the abilities and the passives and the items all work in Mugenics.
- [50:58]
A
Yeah.
- [50:58]
B
Mean that you really have to constantly reevaluate who is your star player, who are you supporting? Who are you keeping in the back? Do I need more healing? Do I need more items? Like, half of this game I spend just like staring at my inventory list.
- [51:14]
C
Yeah.
- [51:14]
B
Thinking, like, what do I take? What do I toss at the end of a run? Do I don't need it anymore? And there's like, limited inventory space. There's just like so many ways to kind of min max it.
- [51:25]
A
Even the breeding side of things. Like, I will set up an intricate system where I'm like, trying to get cats with perfect stats and have two different sort of family trees that I can sort of mix together to like, avoid inbreeding and like spend all this time like working on this perf, this perfect cat warrior engine. And then I'll go into a run where someone will get mutated. I just had one where someone got mutated with a mutation that makes it so that they can reroll their level up choices. And it's like, well, fuck, I have to dismantle my entire operation because I want that on. I want that on more cats. Like that's a crazy, crazy benefit to have. It's just like I am genuinely thinking I can play this game for the rest of the year and I'm going to have to peel myself away from it. Sometimes I think to play other stuff. I had a hard time honestly with Reanimal knowing that I had this one waiting for me whenever I was done.
- [52:20]
B
But yeah, I still have not beaten it properly. There's like an actual ending to me.
- [52:26]
A
Interesting.
- [52:27]
B
I don't think that's like a delete all your cats ending, but just like a. There's a credits roll and then there's like a after the credits which is like a large chunk and I'm still working my way through. I feel, it feels like I'm getting close. But yeah, no, it just keeps going. And there's still countless challenges that I could be doing.
- [52:47]
A
The quests. The quests. Like each quest is like an item that locks into your character when you leave like the home base with it. And then you have to keep it equipped at all times and they're so wild. I think I talked about like the bubble one that I was stuck with last week where it like gave everybody Knockback five. So if you like hit anyone, you and them would go flying away from each other and just bounce off the walls until both of you died eventually. I don't know, they have to be played in a very specific, weird way that you have to build for. And like trying to figure out how you're gonna do a run where you have the stopwatch that only gives you five seconds to make your move before it does it for you. Like is a different kind of challenge. It's really, really remarkable game.
- [53:31]
C
I'm not gonna spoil anything here. So fresh especially you can keep your headphones on. But I watched a video of the ending, first ending of this game and then immediately after, very fun stuff happens. It's like, oh, twist. That's not the end of the game. There's more. And now YouTube has been serving me these about once a day with more and more. What I think I am watching is the real ending of this game. And it's never the real ending. The game is in the level to which it goes. It's pure chaos at this point, each time I get served one of these. What a charming game. Fresh you Delicious and Dungeon. Have you been watching it?
- [54:17]
B
I've been watching Delicious and Dungeon. I realize I'm late to the party on this one. This is a anime on Netflix.
- [54:22]
A
I only watched it a few months ago. I only watched the first season.
- [54:25]
B
Really delightful.
- [54:26]
A
Really kicks ass.
- [54:28]
B
The premise, if you haven't seen it, is just there's a fantasy world and there's this party of people that are struggling to rescue their sister from the belly of a dragon. But they have no money and they realize the only way to really fund this adventure in a reasonable way would be to go through the dungeon and eat their way through all of the monsters that they fight and kill. So it turns into a half cooking show, half adventuring show.
- [54:58]
C
Yeah.
- [54:58]
B
And very similar to Monster Hunter. There is a clear passion for food on the part of the creative team because they spend so much time and energy making the meals look fucking fantastic.
- [55:11]
A
Also a passion for similar to Monster Hunter, like an ecology.
- [55:15]
B
Yeah.
- [55:15]
A
That is the thing that really characterizes this whole series for me and like, it is. Why I was so impressed with it and churned through that first season in just like a few days is the idea of just like a show set inside of dungeons that is about the food chain inside those dungeons and the like reproductive cycle of this monster. And I don't know, it's just a really, really interesting way to do a genre that is so, you know, thoroughly explored at this point.
- [55:45]
B
I would love to. I don't know if I don't think they've made a video game yet, but it like has so many video game notes of like, oh, I've met this monster before and I realize if I use like basil, it'll be like plus 10 strength or whatever the fuck would be really cool.
- [56:00]
C
I strongly recommend checking out the manga. Not that one is better than the other, because the anime is one of the most beautifully anime of last year. But the manga is so good at letting you sink in to the ecology of it and the recipes and like, you know, breaking a monster in half and seeing how its inside works. It's great. I very quickly just want to chat about Bord Griffin. You mentioned this a few weeks ago and I'm doing an episode of Postgames later this year about basically like how a family game has evolved since the Wii and the Kinect and after the big companies Ceded that territory. And all these new people are coming. So I reached out to them and they sent me one. So obviously that caveat there. But holy moly. Has it been a revelation in our house?
- [56:55]
A
Oh, wow.
- [56:55]
C
It's been incredible. Incredible because I've talked about this before. My son is neurodivergent. Playing traditional board games has been a challenge for any number of reasons. And this has completely clicked. It is like the world.
- [57:11]
A
Can you remind people sort of what it is?
- [57:12]
C
Oh, yeah. Thank you.
- [57:14]
A
Board.
- [57:14]
C
Basically, imagine the world's biggest iPad. It's humongous. And you put it on your table and then it comes with a whole bunch of little baggies full of pieces that are like board game pieces. And you pick a game from the giant board tablet and it'll say, hey, go grab the pieces. For this game, it looks like this. Looks like this bag. You open that up and then you put the pieces on the board and they interact with the game. So you might have a game that's like very traditional arcade game, like a Asteroids, where you put a little like spaceship on it and then you can shoot asteroids together. And there's like co op or versus modes.
- [57:55]
A
They got crossfire too. Look at that. It feels fucking great. Crossfire.
- [58:00]
C
There is a virtual pet in there. There's a cooking game, which Mosi loves. He goes and gets his giant chef's hat and lets us know that we are going to be playing the cooking game each night. And you chop up all the pieces. Kind of like a diner dash sort of thing.
- [58:19]
A
Very limited interaction. That one is more like managerial. I feel like overcooked, like trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning than.
- [58:27]
C
Yes. I don't know.
- [58:28]
A
It didn't give me cooking mama vibes, which I would be here for.
- [58:32]
C
And there is a lemmings game, which I think might be his favorite. It is so good. The only real challenge with it is there's not like a marketplace for games for it.
- [58:45]
A
That's it. Yeah.
- [58:47]
C
So there aren't a lot of games for us. That's perfectly fine. Because we have been desperate for, like a game that we can all play together as a family. And now we have like six or seven, which is just an infinite surplus of where we were. The other thing that I will say about it is you might be skeptical looking at it and like, it's just another video game on a screen. Like, why not just play video games together? And the point that my wife made who does not play video games is like, oh, I like this so much. We're Looking at each other when we play it because we're like all around the table. We're not just looking out at the tv. And it's true. It is a much more physical experience than when I play Switch with my son, which they both are great. They just serve different functions.
- [59:45]
A
And also having the tactile stuff there that you are actually touching and moving. I feel like the board is kind of a mixed bag for me. It works so well. And it kind of has to because if it was the type of thing where sometimes when you put the pieces on the board it couldn't figure out what it was, it would be instantly like, oh, this is fucking garbage. It really works super duper well. We haven't played ours in like maybe a couple weeks at this point because we played a lot of it and. But there's. I don't think they've dropped any of the new games yet. And so like these specialty like co op local gaming devices that are sort of family oriented. This and like the next playground is one that I'm like a huge fan of, which is the like little cube that is basically a connect or like an eye toy. It works really well. And my kids, like, we still will check in on that one because that actually, that store, they are, they are putting up a lot of games on that. But like, I don't, I don't know, there's a. It's like 500 bucks, 600 bucks. Yeah, I don't, I forget how much. And so like to spend that much money on a thing that is like not a iPad, which is going to get 100 million games released for it every other day. I don't know. I struggle with the value proposition of these types of things, but the technology is so fucking cool. And if there was like a storefront where like, if I could play DD on this thing. Yeah, I played so many tech demos at like, you know, nerd events and shit of like, here's the, here's a, you know, virtual tabletop playing on a big touchscreen. Like, that's fucking cool. And this feels like a vector through which you can kind of get that into the, into the house. But you would have, I mean, the business model for it would have to be pretty dramatically different. And I'm not sure that that's like a pivot that can even take place.
- [61:39]
C
My big hope is that this is a first generation product and that they do get that price down. Because you mentioned the next playground, that's like 250. I think I'll go to the map
- [61:50]
A
for the next playground, guys, as we have to wear our kids out or they won't fucking sleep. And sometimes it is the only way that we can do that is to get them to play fucking Fruit Ninja for a while.
- [61:59]
C
It's also just the new Kinect. If you've been missing a Kinect, it's just. It's waiting for you. And I think the benefit of getting the price on is one, not only do you get, like, more people to buy it, I think you get more people to develop for it.
- [62:11]
B
Sure.
- [62:12]
C
That is the thing that you're starting to look for, right? So, yeah, it still feels like early days for borid, but I am. I'm looking forward to chatting with them because I'm very curious what the plan is. Like, are they gonna do the D and D thing? Like, is it just a family thing? I don't know.
- [62:28]
A
They've done a thing that I feel like a lot of companies have tried to do or like, have demoed and then never actually released. Like, I think it's. I think it is, as a product, pretty fucking incredible. I just don't know that the backend is going to, I don't know, be what I want it to be. But I don't know. I'm. I am also a sucker for, you know, for tech and early stuff and cool shit. And this is cool shit.
- [62:53]
C
So do we got anything else?
- [62:57]
B
I think that's pretty much it. We have some patrons to thank over@patreon.com the besties. We've got Chris Z, we've got Ben, and we've got Smooch the Wizard and Lord Eyeball. Thank you for being members. Thank you to everyone else for being members. Over@patreon.com thebesteds new content coming at you all the time. New episodes of the Resties and bracket battles and all sorts of good stuff happening there.
- [63:23]
A
For next week. Maybe we're gonna be doing Resident Evil Requiem. It depends on when we get code for that game. And so we would love for that to be the episode next week. Partially for SEO reasons. I'll just say. Zurif Mercenary is a big. A big, big game to discuss, but also because I want to play it. I am excited for this one and I can't believe it's big. It is almost here. So that's our goal. We will stay tuned to our various channels and we'll let you know if the plan changes. But that's our hope. Is Resident Evil Requiem next week?
- [63:57]
B
Indeed. Plant, do you want to recap what we talked about today.
- [64:00]
C
Yes, I definitely want to do that. And I'm definitely prepared to do that. We are talking. We. We talked about the animal. We talked about so much stuff from State of Play. I'm gonna put all of it in the newsletter. I'm not gonna list everything that was in State of Play right here. But I will say we also talked about Mugenics. We talked about Delicious Dungeon, which I believe is on Netflix if you want to watch that. And we talked about Bored, which, speaking of SEO, very challenging SEO to find.
- [64:31]
A
Oh, no kidding. Yeah.
- [64:33]
C
But good luck. I think it's a board dot fun. Maybe. Maybe that's right there. That's great. It actually is. Right?
- [64:43]
A
So we might be back next. We will be back next week maybe with Resident Evil Requiem. So stay tuned. Stick around. Come on back here for the besties. Because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games?
- [65:01]
C
Sa.