[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because of that ending, even though those opening seasons were magnificent of course, but just, it's just, it's lost that currency. And I think that what Ragnarok does is it kind of like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wraps it all up in bubble wrap for eternity. You know, it's always going to be good to play God of War 1 and 2, you know, because you are going to be guaranteed an amazing time. You know it starts strongly and it finishes just as strongly. And I think that is so, so incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes. Are you talking about the old series of games? Are you talking about the original God of War games?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Totally, totally. How did you find the combat this time around? Did you feel it was very different? The same? Like were you happy with it? Like how do you feel about that in general?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yeaah, and it gets so much better as you get towards the end. I think one of the things that impressed me so much about it was how it dangles that prophecy of Ragnarok and how it uses it as this


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh man, it's so hard to describe it without describing it, but it is such a-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fucking with you all the time based on your own knowledge. It's like they know how to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just amazing. And I think that's so, that's what's so clever about this. That's why like God of War 2018


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't feel the need to replay it immediately because that was a very emotional story that was kind of like, oh shit, I got hit in the feels.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I can't have that again because I know what that is. But this, I found this plot to be so clever that I want to go back and play it again so that I can like pick it apart and like notice the little things and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, that, you know what I mean? It's just, it's that level of intricacy that makes this class.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a lot, you know, it's just, it's so worth experiencing again because of how elaborately it has been built and how well it has been executed. And that I think is the, is the, is the power of this plot. So, um, of this story, you know what I mean? I loved it. You know, I like how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was going to say that the, the rendering of these gods as we, as they are here is so, cause obviously we've all just watched the MCU for the last 10 or 15 years or whatever it is and we've all read Thor comics before then and I dunno, maybe we've read some books or whatever, but you know, the way that these characters have been


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's so worth watching. You know, it really is just such a thought provoking, cool, interesting spin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Without feeling like they just threw it away for no reason, like, oh, we're going to make this character totally different because we feel like it. But they're still called that same god name. It's not like that. It's, it's grounded in a deeper reading of those characters, a different interpretation of their sort of core tenants.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, I think the open world design is a real, that's probably the biggest improvement in terms of from the last game. Yeah. From the last game to this one, that's the most noticeable uplift in terms of the gameplay design is that there are more open worlds. There are more to do with them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're doing them and they are massive. And uh, I was just, yeah, they were, they were all really fantastic. That was a, that was a big lift. They do a really good job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Interestingly, it's that idea of like saving the player from themselves because if you just opened up all of these open world areas immediately as soon as they arrive, the player will probably just do them all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They'll probably get bored and they'll be like, oh, this is too much. So what they've very smartly done is they give you a little bit of the open world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they say, you can do this part, but then you need an upgrade to get to the next part. So fuck off, go and do some story and then come back when you've got this thing. And that forces the player to go, okay, now I'm going to go have some, some time with, you know, on the main missions with Kratos and Atreus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that is so smart, I think. I really think a lot of games could learn from that. It's okay to have big open worlds.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but the way you might partition them to ease the player into them, I think that has resulted in me enjoying these worlds so much more because I'm sort of being led by Sony or I sent a moniker to these spaces rather than just feeling like, well, it's all there. I should just took every box while I'm here. Do you know what I mean? That would be terrible. So yes. Well, well said.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, yeaah man, God of War Ragnarok! They did it. Can I say, can I say they did it? Like, they did it. I just, everyone was angsty about this. Are they gonna pull this off? I 100% believe they pulled it off. I'm sure some people are gonna be like, eh, it's not that good. Some people are gonna be like, ah, the other one was better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I think personally that they absolutely nailed it. It was everything I had hoped for from this follow-up, this concluding chapter. And uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This has that same vibe where you look at it and you're like, yeah, I can do that because I've already done most of it as I played. I'll do a little bit after that. And then boom, nice shiny trophy. That is how it should be. It blows my mind that it's not like that for every video game. It's craziness. And that's what I think. That's my hot take on completionists stuff. Complete Mr. Completionist Ralph. Yes, here we go. You get a gold star.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Radical, radical design thinking right here. Let players have fun. Woah!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And not to segway too awkwardly, but it's a conversation being had in the Destiny community right now. Where, you know, Destiny has these-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The seasonal event is fine, but the way Bungie makes you play it is fucking garbage. By the end of the event, you hate it. You hate this event by the time you are done with it. And it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you see? I don't want to say because it's a spoiler. I can't say it's a spoiler, but in relation to the trolls, there is a funny moment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the, on the, on, do you guys remember the, the, when you encounter a troll on the rail line? Yes. On the train track? Yes. Did you notice that? Okay, we'll come back to it later, it won't spoil it, but that's a very interesting take on, on the, on the troll stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To suggest that this is a shit game. Like how far is that reached? You know what I mean? Because, it just, it drives me crazy. But I know that's what we're in for. It's all that sort of stuff. People just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bad faith arguments trying to convince you that this is somehow an ugly game or a shitty game or it's a DLC and it's like, come on man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good place to finish on. Kratos' dick. I love it. That's a nice finish. I wish I could see-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Should move this on before we get demonetized. Oh yeah, let's go ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I did see that there was, actually Jake pointed this out to me, that, uh, 26 years ago, on November 1st, 1996, Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain, arrived on the good old PlayStation. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which, you know, oldie but a goodie, let's just put it that way. Uh, wink wink, crystal dynamics, get your foot back together. Uh, the other one I actually saw when I was scrolling down here was that Age of Mythology came out 20 years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, I love, I was, I was always an age of mythology guy over an empires guy and I just loved it. I thought it was awesome. So I'm actually super pumped about that. And uhm, yea man, 20 years ago. Fuck, that's crazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I think, but I think from a gameplay perspective, you still had, that was back when Bioware was still making PC games, you know what I mean? And like, yea. And it was that kind of like Dungeons and Dragons thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh god, and it was, and it was such a great hybrid cause it had that kind of cinematic storytelling thing while also some proper hardcore D and D inspired like, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real time, turn time, uh, combat. That was just awesome. And I just, uh, I loved it so much. So I, I dunno, I think maybe it's my favourite Bioware game, actually. I think Mass Effect is cooler. I love that universe more. But Mass Effect's gameplay is pretty arse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, whereas Dragon Age is like, top shelf. That's why I don't like Inquisition, it got way more casual.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Contact at FriendsPerSecond.com or just hit us up on Twitter because we've got that too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hideo Kojima is the easy answer. Of course. He's the only other person we follow on Twitter, by the way. And Instagram.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like non, they like non developers that are just like cool. Sean Layden, I actually really like his vibe. Uh, whenever he talks, I'm always interested to hear what he has to say. Uh, so like him, I would definitely say, I would definitely say Phil Spencer. He's like one of them. And then you're like Jim Ryan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uuuh, man, oh, uh, Cliff Lisinski, man, come on now. That'll be a while.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Amy, Amy Hennig man, for sure. Would love to be able to chat with her. She has done some amazing stuff and that would be cool. But I don't also don't know that she, she doesn't really do many media appearances I don't think so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Andy Wilson, of course. Love to have him on the podcast one day. Big fan of old mate Andy Wilson, of course. You know, so that'd be, that'd be rad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're Italian, right? They're Italian, yeah? Oh, yeah. I'm gonna- I'm gonna- Yeah, okay, right. Okay, cool. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What about you Ralph? Uhm, I would say...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I still remember seeing, there's two games I remember seeing for the first time where my brain kind of melted. The first one was Mario 64, where I saw it and I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Literally, my head was like, I can't actually make sense of this. Like, what is actually happening? You know, the first time I saw 3D gameplay like that, it was that level of what the fuck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The other one was Soul Calibur actually, which I remember seeing at like a Harvey Norman. Harvey Norman was like a Best Buy here and they had a Dreamcast that they imported from Japan and they set it up and I still remember to this day just being like, what the fuck is this? That was just, as I said, my brain could not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very, very unique experience. It was a mix of euphoria and melancholy and it was very, very powerful and moving. And, uh, yeah, I don't think any game has like affected me that strongly in its ending than that one has. So yeah, man. Number one's Outer Wilds Influencer right here. Let's go. Lucy, what about you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's so true, that's so true. All three of those games. Yup. Sekiro, Outer Wilds, and just go Elysium all morbidly bleak. Yup. Yup, totally. Jake? Gerard, head us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually haven't played it. I'm going to be playing it in December when it, when the remaster launches.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then, then I- And I saw that stuff, and I know, I know the arc, I've heard of the arc of what this is, like I have broad strokes in my head, but haven't actually experienced it for myself, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think for me it just takes the wind out of my sails for-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what I want to know is, is how you, uh, ended up working on the show. If you could give us like a quick path to getting there, because I mean, you're a comic book writer, most recently with The Witcher Ronin, you co-created Gwent. Thank you for your service. Uh, so, so how did you end up creating like a, a, a big Netflix show that people are like really digging?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You all deserve all the praise because you created an absolutely fantastic show. It's just, it's gotta be something so cool to just point to and be like, we made that boom. See ya. So thank you for talking about it with us. We really appreciate it. Good luck at Techland. We're really excited to see what you cook up over there and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm like, either way, like I like a new style, but I was also like, but I really like the old style, you know? Me too, me too, me too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so my list is pretty boring just because I was on vacation and then I came back and I've kind of been catching up on work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, exactly. Uh, Iceland was just straight up death stranding. Lucy, I, I'm sure you agree. It's just a great place. Highly recommend. Especially if, uh, maybe you're an American and you've never been to Europe, I'd say it's kind of like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Training, training wheels, Europe or a foreign country is very easy, uh, to figure things out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeaah, but I, I played the last of us, part one. Uh, I liked your discussion, uh, that you did on the podcast without me, with Gene. Very good job. Love Gene. Shout out to him. Uh, all I really have to add to the conversation is that, uhm, I was kind of the same way about like the whole, like, does it need to be remade and the price thing and everything, but,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After completing it, I realized I love the photo mode. I had so much fun with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, to the remade cutscenes are downright fucking incredible. Uhm, to the point where I think it makes the very last scene of the game much better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just seeing Joel's face and the subtlety of it and the detail of it just makes it that little bit better. It's so good. Uh, and then also I, I think I realized naturally over time


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but I, I enjoyed it. Uh, the other thing I played and it seems like, uh, both Lucy and Tam, you both played it, is Trombone Champ. Uh, this dumb little game that went viral real quick. Literally yesterday, I think, it's a $15 Steam game that is, uh, I'd say it's musical notes on a timeline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's keyboard and mouse and you move the mouse up and down as like a cursor to match the notes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you click to hit them, uh, as you operate your instrument and it is a dumb trombone and it's like a meme.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One, I probably spent like 45 minutes playing it with somebody else here and we were both laughing and having a, and that to me is worth it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow. Look at us. Yeah, I'll do the masters right here. The SEO works for us now. The taste makers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, you have that high when you come off of fake E3 and then it's, oh, we've got a plan for the rest of the year now and then there's another showcase you've got to cover and then there's games coming out. So it's really, it's really fun and exciting. And just, you know, the giant bomb team is so, just like nothing has been shot down yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is very exciting, but it also is like, what can I get away with?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And also the reception to Tam, Jeff, Dan, and I has just been so nice. So very, very grateful. Thank you for the lovely intro. Wait, Jake, do I have to intro you now? Because even though you kind of said I'm Jake Baldino, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're too humble, uh, you'll know from game ranks, it is own channel, uhm, the biggest, you know what I'm gonna say, the biggest Metal Gear fan that I know, are you stoked for the 35th anniversary? Of Metal Gear.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I was at Blizzard the day they turned the game on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rod Ferguson, cause we were talking to them about Diablo 4, Rod Ferguson was late to our interview because he was literally pushing the button to turn the game on. Right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, this, I mean, we're really sorry, but we have a flight. I felt so bad, but he didn't have to come up. I genuinely haven't touched it, because I just, I like Diablo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I pay my five bucks to Apple Arcade every month so I can play one puzzle game. I'm not even joking, I do do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Round Guard is on there, but uhm, I play Patterned, which is the best game on Apple. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you all playing on phones? Not- none of you have tried the PC port.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But do you know what gives like a weird time for Blizzard in regards to the fact that they are


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Overwatch 2 for example. Not being a boxed product, going to a battle pass system. Extensive monetization within Diablo Immortal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, if you, if you take a look at like the mobile space in general, a lot of the free to play games, they-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tap into human psychology on the basis level to get you to buy stuff to get you to keep playing like and what amazes me about the whole thing is that activision.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any number one of those match three games that they have, they do not feel as predatory.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not sure if we did any guides or anything on it but I know we did the review but I mean that's part of the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Games media, I guess, landscape is that you provide the service, which is the review of the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking into account critically how it plays, but also predatory.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, microtransactions, uhm, which is, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what? It's been such a couple weeks. I think I reviewed it. No, I didn't review it. I didn't review it. I did the voiceover for the review. Right, right, right. But it was like, uhm, cause I believe it was a freelancer who did it, but like, yeah, we definitely talked about the microtransaction aspect and I think it all comes down to the fact that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is difficult to have a nuanced conversation about it which is where i think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More in-depth reviews, chats like this where we're providing perspective.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Personally and within the, the industry where it's like that is very, very valuable, but at the end of the day, it's not up to us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What ever the audience takes from it, you know, like someone could watch or listen to this conversation that we've had where we are all, you know, I still haven't played it, but like, I can provide my perspective, um, in other ways.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you watch or listen to this and decide, yeah, Diablo Immortal is the game for me. I'm going to spend money on it. That is your prerogative. We can't do anything about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, that 97, 98% of people who are going to get turned off by microtransactions. I would love to know the point in the game where it becomes too much for the quote unquote regular player.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but I would love to know what the insights are on Diablo Immortal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rumors and leaks and the whole, like, just the hype cycle is gonna be unbearable if you announce stuff this far in advance. And I know, like, to a degree we're all kind of guilty of it because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We are excited about this kind of stuff, and it's like, oh yea, Final Fantasy VII Part 2, um, Remake Part 2, or whatever, it's still years away, but, well, it's next year now. But I guess when that game would come out, we were still so excited for Part 2, even though we had no idea of a time frame. And it's just like, I'm at the point now where I'm like, just make something, Todd.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That, you know, and I think Bethesda were doing really well with this stuff for a while, they would like announce games at E3, they would do the half hour of gameplay and then you would see it that November. Beautiful. Why have we gotten back to this?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, why have we gone back to this protracted, ooh, it's, I know, like, this is not on...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, IGN, Orion, McAfee or anything, but because it's like, you kind of have to ask.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also think it was kind of poorly timed for Todd to talk about it, especially after the Kotaku report on Fallout 76.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I typically, I'm, I'm still word of mouth very much, so uhm, just kind of, you can always sort of tell what people are talking about, just because you'll kind of be, you know, I follow a lot of industry people, obviously, categories.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're telling me my 6am. Uhm, no, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, all over the place, because it's difficult to do, there's so much choice in terms of traffic, which is unfortunately something that you do have to factor in, like unless it's going to be this one game, like the gem that's going to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, blow through and, and get that mainstream, like kind of the real-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, it's difficult to curate, however, I also think that was part of it was because I was not necessarily a PC person for a while, like I had my PC, and then I became very console focused for a while, but now that I've got a new PC that is just for gaming, uhm, I'm much more plugged in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To Steam and stuff, and so like my wishlist has grown. Steam's algorithm is doing...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I know, I want to give a shout out to, uh, Reb Valentine from IGN. I know she does kind of like a monthly roundup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she always does call outs on Twitter where it's like, if you're an indie dev or, you know, an upcoming indie game that you want me to write about for IGN, let me know. And I always kind of like troll the replies of that tweet. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Gerard, what about you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's amazing, but also, how do you have the time? Like, you are the busiest person I know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, let me boot up, uh, let me boot up Valve. I mean, now it's all Steam Summer Sale.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I, we get obviously like a lot of press releases and stuff for indie games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, like, a lot of the time I get my indie recommendations from people that I know and trust because like, you can either


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You use it in a way that it's, you're speaking my language, like, oh, I know you like this, uh, you'll like this, but a lot of times, yeah, I'll just get like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Oh, um, oh, I need to find her TikTok. She, um, there's someone that I follow. I have a few.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And at the end of the day, a lot of the times, and this is an inside baseball thing, but you know, you are battling people's attention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the way to get people's attention is to link it to things that they already have an awareness of. And so I don't feel like it's a reductive in that regard, but like, so I think that video series, and I hope it does really well for you because that's amazing. That's the kind of stuff that I gravitate towards when I'm searching and hunting for new recommendations.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kim Chica, at Kim Chica on Twitter and Twitch, and uhm, you- hi babe!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, at Kim Chica, she does great stuff, like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the best announcements from the Nintendo Direct that you should keep an eye on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pixel art games to try on the switch, like all these curated indie lists, I think she does a great job, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That game looks really, really cute. I'm really stoked for it. I really enjoyed the first one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, nice. Yeah, who did, um, Ori? But then, like, it's Yoko Shimomura that I'm freaking out about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But stardew with proper combat and then also end of the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the social post, oh yeaah, the headline is, Steam Deck is Ruin Nintendo Directs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, they deserve it. Can I, can I be vulnerable with you lot for a moment?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I bought the other day, and I'm not even kidding when I say it's one of the best things I've ever bought in my life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it fits a Nintendo Switch. So if I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I wanted to, I could have the switch plugged into my TV, then go to bed and just lie completely horizontal, joycon in each hand, just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I spend, I spend all day like this in front of my computer and now I can just lie completely horizontal looking up. I, I mean, I also, I'm like, I, I know I'm having the best time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I also bought it because I bought an automatic Kindle page turner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Think about how much persona I'm gonna get through. Like just an hour before bed every night.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's up to, I guess, the creative side of the team who kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The original one? Cause I remember when we got an invite from Capcom to go and see an unnamed game. They were like, oh come on, it's a VR game. And we were like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, you know, okay, well, you know, just in case, we'll go down. And uhm, it was, it was Tam and Rob at the time and they went down and Tam like texted me, he's going, oh my God, it was Rose and Evil. And it turns out that the original demo was like, you would lock, you were tied to a chair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was just like a dude like freaking out around you and then something jumps out at you. And uhm, yeaah, the person that we sent almost had a panic attack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was gonna say, uhm, so I was around the other day at, uh, Max and Jen Scoville's and Max just got a quest and he downloaded Resident Evil 4 VR, which may be the coolest thing I've ever played in VR.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have to like load my gun and then pull the thing back and then I get the, I get my shotgun from over here and then the only thing I didn't necessarily dig was when I had to like kick away and it goes into third person but I was like, I just love that even though we are getting full remake,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Call him my best bitch, and I hope everyone knows that I mean that with the most love possible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love her so much. She's my best bitch. She is the best bitch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He tweeted today, he was like, I wish I could tell you stuff when I'm allowed to, I'll tell you, but he wasn't on Twitter for a while and then he came back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My cat is freaking out because she's like, I've seen you lose yourself to this game over the past few days.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you've ever watched, uh, and, and this is kind of perfect timing because GDQ is on at the moment, uhm, which is an amazing event, uh, they do speedrunning video games charity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you've ever watched a speedrun and you're like, I want to know how to do that. Neon white is a game that essentially teaches you how to speed run in a way that's very. Oh yeah. Teaches you how to speed run. Um, because the basic premise is you are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're a bad guy. You're called neon white. You are brought to heaven.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they tell you there is an infestation of demons. If you clear out all of the demons, you will get a spot in heaven.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the main conceit of the story. There are other Neons, so there's like Neon Violet, Neon Red, Neon Green, who it seems that you have some connection with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've lost all your memories, uhm, and so that's kind of the story element, there is a visual novel, like social simulator sort of aspect to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you find presence for the other characters, but you have to perform specific tricks to get the presence like specific parkour, you kind of speedrun tricks to get them. And then you build up relationships and kind of story unfolds that way. Genuinely, story? I could take it or leave it. The gameplay though. Oh my god. It's not just like getting from point A to point B. You pick up cards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Soul cards is what they're called, and if you click the left click the mouse, it fires like a weapon, so typically a card will be a gun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So either like a handgun or a, some kind of automatic rifle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So clicking normally fires, but if you right click, you burn the card and you get some kind of movement ability. So one of the cards you'll get will give you like a double jump.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of them will give you a bomb and that will destroy some part of the environment or you can jump off it. And then, so what you do basically, you get a level.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You start it, you just run it, you go from the beginning to the end. And it's like, okay, now I know how the rough thing to beat the level.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, you can hit F to restart at any point, and it just feeds- Ooh, that's dangerous.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, which I think is an Ed Sheeran song. Uhm, you see the ghost of you and so you can already kind of see that like if you're biffing a run and then you start not doing a run. Like I'm at the point now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, just, you know, keep going and keep improving, keep improving. There are some levels that I've done where people are in, like, single digits and I have no idea how they've done it because you have to kill all the demons in the levels, I'm like-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, after you've completed the level, I think after you've got the gold medal on it, it's-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't stop thinking about it. The music is also really good. The aesthetic reminds me of, did you play Paradise Killer from last year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's really good. I, like, people are saying this is a game of the year contender for me, and I think in terms of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I did get my Elden Ring Platinum, by the way. That is, that is out of my life now. True gamer right here. Congratulations. Thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is perfect, um, like, palette cleanser. It's so, it's so good. I'm at the point now where I've remapped, I've rebounded my keys for like optimum card switching and all this shit. Like, I... If you take anything away from this podcast, please, please play it. Please, it's on Switch as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, so I'm not sure if it's the team behind, it's definitely with the main, uh, designer behind Donut County. Ben Escazito, I believe is his. Um, yeah, they're the main person on this one, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I feel like I have more control, uhm, with keeping the mouse. Especially because sometimes you have to like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Spin in the air and fire off a shot. Yeah, that's what I was asking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's easy to pick up, difficult to master I would say. It's a great game though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there is, I think, 90 levels? 90 something levels? 90?!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We played it in a 6 player co-op on Giant Bomb, we did a quick look.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On whatever day it was we did it, was it last week? God.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it was, it was super fun, and I think for me as someone who is not a turtles person,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I never really watched or did anything with turtles as I was growing up. Like, I still had- I know, I'm sorry. I still found so much to enjoy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, I really enjoyed the, at the end of each level it had like a little leaderboard and said, you know, who was, who had how many kills and, uh, like there's one person who's highlighted as, they sprinted the most or they did this or they did that, which I thought was really nice, but there's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I was, I would, I never would have picked it up otherwise, because like I said, I'm not a Turtles person. Uhm, but it was just really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like fun and that sounds, that sounds like really stupid but it just genuinely like a game that we played for like an hour and a half, we breezed through half of it I think. A blast. And it was on Game Pass so it's like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was like, because I can't tell the turtles apart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A bright outfit that is gonna set themselves apart. Uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But no, it was great. And also she, her, she's actually quite powerful, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The thing about the quarry is that like, it wears its references so much on its sleeve, and it really like, goes into those schlocky horror tropes that I really love, whereas


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I haven't tried the uhm, so there's a way you can play it where you can just basically sort of make little personality tweaks and then just let it play out like a movie.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is, I think is interesting, but I haven't played- I'm enjoying it a lot, but like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was saying that like at the ending that he got, stuff seemed missing in a bit all over the place, but I guess...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Brenda Song's character looks amazing. Like, she looks unbelievably good. I mean, I think all of the character models look very good, but I think there's been particular attention to hers. Although I will say the guy who listens to podcasts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just raining it in. Just not, uh, just, uh, not doing anything. He like reacts to something he goes-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't believe Guacamelee was so long ago. Guacamelee feels way more recent than that. So good. Drink box.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm Lucy James, Lucy James Games on everything, GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Twitch, Twitter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's up everyone? Uh, I'm doing great. I hope you guys are doing good too. I'm, I'm actually kind of still in recovery mode from all the Resident Evil news that we've gotten recently. So my brain is like just fuming with like excitement and hype. So, but other than that, I'm doing great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've told this story a couple times before, but very similar to what you just said. Like, so I'll just go over it. Like, my very first intro to Resident Evil was one night back in 1999. I was playing a Twisted Metal game on PlayStation 1.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just randomly in my house, like I had, you know, magazines used to be really big back in the day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just, you know, randomly, like my brother was like a big gamer and he...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would collect like video game magazines and we'd like together like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look at the release dates, if there were release dates and kind of like count the days down. But we had like an issue of PlayStation magazine that had, uh, like a story, like a cover story with the original RE2. So like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the cover was like this really amazing drawing, and you could look it up right now, like that of uhm, Leon, like, kind of like, gun-budding a zombie, like while he's like running, or whatever, and I was just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's so cool, look at him, he's blue, and he has like cool Leonardo DiCaprio hair, you know, at the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, like, what ended up happening was my brother, uh, came home from work one day with the, like, he just like, kinda like, he came home from work, he threw his work bag at me and was like, there's a present in there for you. And I was like, oh cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So like I opened it, and it was, it was RE1, 2, and 3, physical copies, with a Leon action figure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I've seen a few patches on the, on like PS, like on the cross media bar. Like it's like update and then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeah, what happened with that there was, I guess, like the RE Engine games, like they just don't do DX12 good on PC versions. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Basically, the, these updated versions are running on updated RE engines. So it's like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, new system requirements. You probably need better, like a better computer to run the games properly like you did before. Uhm, and they completely disabled.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that, that caused like a pretty big uproar within like the modding community. And I was definitely a part of that. I was just like, people work like their lives, like they put their lives in place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Raytracing is just a massive resource hog like it usually is in other games, but it seems like uhm, cause if you guys don't know like a lot of raytracing in games, like for like gameplay is like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think Capcom understands how to do ray tracing, so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In certain cutscenes, and I have screenshots and videos to prove this, I'm probably gonna make a video about these ports because they're not very good, like the lights are just off in like certain cutscenes. So like there's a cutscene where Claire and Annette are talking to each other, and it's like a close-up shot on Annette's face, but she's like in darkness.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a shame. It's just the operation of the game that's broken, so. Get on it, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's gonna be a two part thing where it's like, if you, so, cause they use a vanity camera and with their third person mod where, you know, that basically means like, if you move the camera, you could see the front of your character's face.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's going to be his face is going to be either shrouded in darkness or there's going to be some sort of creative lens flare or creative darkness. And I think if you go into a cut scene, we're going to get, we're going to get a Kojima style blink.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think it's only unfair depending on the part of the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's interesting, right? Because it works in 7, where like after the first like Jack boss fight, like you get the call from Zoe and he's like, oh, I think I, I think I killed your, your father, you know? Like it works there cause he's just like a normie, but at this point he's like, has military training and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like honestly, like, real talk, that is definitely a problem that...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From what I've heard honestly from like, uh, some of my, my friends over in Japan, like it's, it's always a case of like, the, the current director.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like horrible in 7 and then like you actually see him become confident and like an action hero and now in 8 he's like even more capable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the DLC is definitely going to wrap up the Winter's family storyline, even though the main game kind of does that as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I really don't see the mainline series going in the molds like threat infection anymore. I feel like whatever comes next is probably going to be a completely new thing. Or, you know, probably a remake.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I personally would like to see something new or, you know, just bring back some older characters that we haven't seen in a while. My favorite character of all time is Jill Valentine, so I would love to see her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was gonna say, like, to your point, uh, Jake, I think the, like, the moments in Village and, and Seven, uh, to a lesser extent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the moments in Village that I disliked the most was when those games were trying to connect to the canon of Resident Evil because I was so much-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I was so engrossed and way more interested in like reading all the files and like looking at the environmental storytelling of like Lady D's castle, you know, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, it's really cool how like, she has a painting of her three daughters with their names, but they look like different people. Oh, because she can't have children.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here's a 13 page file. It turns out Spencer was actually here when he was a little kid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's why I'm hoping like, with the DLC they wrap it up, and then we do something new.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or like you said Jake, like just do something new with the established characters that isn't like trying to shoehorn Resident Evil into like a new story, you know, like do it from the ground up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like that RE4 VR was the, was the last step for RE4 Classic as a game. Cause it's like, we have it on every console. We've got, we had it on iPhones for a while. I owned that version of the game. It was really bad. It was like basically a PS1 version of RE4. Sick!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, we've had it on the Wii with like amazing motion controls and just, and now like VR is like the final thing. So it's like, where do you go from there with RE4? Since like RE4 is basically like RE, or um, FF7 for Capcom, you know, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's really, it's really unfortunate, but like, like I really, I'm gonna, you know, like Halo Infinite is kind of like my turn my brain off game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's lacking in a lot of areas, but I just, I love the core of that game, like the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The way the game feels to play and like the mechanics are super solid, there's just not enough game, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm looking forward to like, uhm, Callisto protocol, speaking of survival horror.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Looks amazing. I'm actually like really hyped for that. I wasn't so hyped for it when it was like a PUBG like cinematic trailer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so that I'm looking forward to. I think Bayonetta 3 comes out this year, right? Or no. Still listed. I don't think so. It's still listed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably Callisto Protocol, that was 100% gonna happen for my channel, uhm, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The big video that I'm working on now, I don't know if this is relevant to your question, but like the big video that I'm working on right now that's kind of taking up all my time is a Halo 1 retrospective.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it has, it's basically a short film. There's costumes, there's actors in it, we shot on location in the desert.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's crazy. Yeah, I'm very, I'm very proud of it, but there's a lot of work that I have to do on it. There's a lot of green screen and special effects. So that's kind of like my focus for the rest of the year is that, is that video. But if there's like a new game that comes out that I'm like, cause like, um, I don't know if you guys, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, know this about me, but like the Spider-Man PS4 game that came out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had zero interest in it. I bought it randomly because one of my friends was like, oh, this is a pretty cool game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yea, like, uh, definitely, wait, hold on, did God of War get pushed back?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. No, no, no. It's not like that. It's, it's you play as Claire Redfield and you murder Leon and then he mutates and turns into Jack Baker. Yeah, it's terrible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will, I'll play a little bit of it and see what it's all about, and I will probably tweet about it, but I don't think I'm gonna make a video on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It felt like the most like bottom of the barrel, like trend chasing type of thing, but like trend chase, trend chasing, like games from six years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the weird thing about- That is so accurate. I love it. That's the only thing about Resident Evil's multiplayer games is that it always feels like Capcom is super late to the party with like their multiplayer. It's like-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Resident Evil Resistance, it's an isometric, there's one killer, and like, it's like, okay, but Dead by Daylight exists, like, you know, they've got that covered.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah man, I want to ask actually what it was like to get that phone call or email from Disney slash Marvel about hosting a gig with them. How the hell did that come to pass?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's awesome, man. You crushed it. So congratulations. Watch out, Jeff Keely. Your, your, your days are numbered as the number one host man. Blessings coming for you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I mean, to be fair, I did try to play it, uh, earlier, uh, and failed. Obviously I got to, I was in the queue for like half an hour or so, and it was like 400 people ahead. It was like ticking down. I'm like, yeah, man, I'm nearly there. No worries. And then I get to zero and then it says like, oh, searching for a server. And I'm like, okay, sweet. Let's go, baby. I'm ready. And then when it found a server, it said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] DDoS sucks, I'm not, I think some people are mad at Blizzard, cause they're like, why isn't your security better? And it's like, well, you don't fucking know how this security works. We don't know how the security works. Like, see, these things happen. I feel bad for Blizzard in this moment because like it sucks to have a launch board like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I am more focused on like the pre build up marketing stuff and I just barely even knew that this was, if I wasn't covering the news every day, I wouldn't have even known that this was coming out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as someone that does cover the news every single fucking day and like lives and breathes all of this shit, I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What the value proposition of Overwatch 2 actually is, you know, and like now I can list some bullet points because people started spamming me like, oh, it's this, this, this and this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But all those bullet points are really minor things. Okay, not, mine is not the right word, but like they're the things that would typically come as part of an expansion or a major content update in other games. None of it I look at and think, oh yeah, man, that's why they dropped the two on that, you know? So yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you think it's okay that they deleted Overwatch 1? I mean, I've seen different perspectives on this. What do you guys think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I read, sorry, an interesting thing on Twitter where the PS, well Overwatch 2 is loaded into Sony's back, like PSN backend as Overwatch 1. So it actually shares achievements.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think you're an asshole. Cause I think no one, unless you are an active Overwatch player who had actively been researching this product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Marketing with social stuff with whatever. And with Overwatch, it's like Blizzard have this kind of secret that they're keeping. It's like they don't want anyone to fucking know this is going out. And they're just like, oh yeah, by the way, here's an update. Here's our sequel. Please, play it. I guess maybe, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, no, I mean, yeaah, I totally agree with, uhm, all of that, and I feel like, there's a really interesting video doing the rounds right now from a creator by the name of Seagull, he was a big Overwatch, you guys know Seagull? Big Overwatch dude, uhm, at like, around the launch of, uh, Overwatch, uh, Genji, uh, Genji main, like, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just really just crushed it back then. He doesn't make as much content now, but I think the first upload that he's done in a year on his channel was this video called, like, the state of Overwatch 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really just tracing all of the promises that were made about this game and comparing it to what he actually got in the end. And it's not sensationalist, it's not toxic, it's very much just like a matter of fact look at like here's what Blizzard said and here's what we got.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, it really does a good job of showcasing how much ambition was promised in the PvE side of the game where he was almost


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not Destiny-esque in terms of live service PvE co-op stuff, but it was gesturing in that direction. You were looking at something like that in that vicinity. And then that was eventually scaled back in terms of what Blizzard was promising. And then obviously that has been just delayed wholesale so they could get this PvP side of things out. And again, a lot of people theorize that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is because the PvP side of the game has been so starved for content that they just need to get something out there, you know, like just anything. And I think it's very sad that Blizzard operates that way. And it is a stark contrast to the company that they used to be where, you know, they would just delay everything until it was ready. That was what they would do. And then obviously you get like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This before that Diablo were mortal before that Warcraft 3 reforged, you know? Uhm, and the WoW community have their own views about how good the last crop of expansions have been as well as some real ups and downs there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, look, commercial realities are what they are with that company. They have, as Gerard said, they've had huge challenges. I'm sure they just wanted to get some wins under their belt. But this doesn't feel like, who knows? It's too early to say, like no one can even fucking play the game yet, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously hardcore community, they like all of the changes that are common. Sure. But your, your average punter, your lapsed or potential player, I'm not seeing them excited about the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think that is why this is shaping up to be a bit of a disappointment, even if it nails the fundamentals of what this game needed to improve for its core community.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think as well, like I wonder what this means for when they do eventually stand up that PvE side of the game, because you've had your shot with that number two. Like that's the number two matters. It's a big deal. You know, it's, it's a real beat that allow, that really draws people's attention and it's an excuse to give it another crack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we don't get two bites of that cherry. You only get the one and they've used it here. And I wonder when that PvP stuff, PvE stuff does roll around, are people going to be like, Oh, what is that? What is that? Is that, I don't know what that is. Again, more confusion, less momentum, less of like that big kind of like, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the table moment where it's out and everyone's like, whoa shit, this is incredible. Uh, and I think that's going to be interesting to see how that all lands when the time comes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I think PUBG is a really good example of where that works. Cause PUBG is like exploded. PUBG was always huge by the way, just not in like western countries these days. It's more like big in Asia and whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, it went a whole nother stratosphere when it went to free to play, like just massive, gigantic growth. Uhm, so, but then there's like Destiny for example, which went free to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really have that much of an impact on the growth of the game, I think. Not really a big deal. There's differences between those things ultimately because Destiny's free to play model is ultimately like free to try.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, I don't know, I think it will make some difference, obviously, uh, if you have the right phone for it, cause you need the right, you need a phone to play Overwatch now, and uh, as in you have to link your account as like an anti-cheat and anti-smurfing tactic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you are on certain prepaid characters, it just doesn't work for you and you're not allowed to play Overwatch. It's like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I mean, I think there's something a little bit, I know I keep coming back to Destiny, but the reason I keep coming back to Destiny is because Destiny is a very avant-garde game in many aspects. And I think one of its aspects where it sees great success is its hybrid monetization model.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not everyone is going to agree with what I will say, but they have a mix of free to try, paid expansions, a battle, a seasonal, uh, what do you call it? Like, uh, you buy a season pass. Yeah. Which comes with a battle pass essentially. And they also have a cash shop. Okay. There are lots of things to get in Destiny.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You do, you never really feel as though only the best stuff is locked behind the cash shop. And the battle pass is relatively easy to move through throughout a season if you're playing a regular amount, doesn't require an absurd amount of grind. I think that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't agree with all of uh, Bungie's monetization policies by the way, like don't even get me started on stuff like Transmog and whatever, but their mix, the different mix of things that they have really works. And I think the question here is like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What are, what are you, what are your actual core incentives that you're offering your player? You know, like is it skins? Okay, cool. Do players have a reasonable path to get all of the skins that they want in a reasonable amount of time or at a reasonable cost in the context of a free to play game?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has Overwatch 2 completely removed the ability to earn currencies to buy skins? I actually don't know the answer to that. I've heard conflicting things. Does anyone know? I've heard there are some challenges.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can complete that give you some currency, but now I think this is what's really interesting about loot boxes, by the way. Cause if you ask most of the like game, like gamers about loot boxes, loot boxes fucking suck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you ask the Overwatch community, what they'll often say, yeah, is, Hey, the loot boxes rule. They're really good. Cause they're super generous and they give you lots of shit and that's it. And it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, well, that's something worth listening to, right? Fair enough, that makes sense. But I think it's like a false dichotomy of choice to suggest that the removal of loot boxes immediately means


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To reasonably earn, like, to earn what players want in a reasonable time frame, and obviously that's a big downgrade for the game, just as it was in like Halo 5 for example, where that battle pass fucking sucks, challenges suck, the cash shop was way overpriced, it sucked, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, like again, I don't know, but I do think that there is a middle, a middle, to answer your question, Gerard, there is a middle path through this. I think Destiny's finding it on balance. And I think Overwatch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sort of had it, almost with its loot boxes, even though that model is not super popular with many people. I guess they just need to see if they can find it here in Overwatch 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's pretty astounding, cause like, I never saw anyone at the top layer of like, games, media, or...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sorry? Or analysts, like nobody. Anyone! Like no one said, this is a winning strategy, this is gonna go far. Like every single fucking person who understands how this world works is like, this is a bad idea, don't do it this way. Do it a different way and it'll probably work. Do it this way, it'll definitely fail.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone said that and it's always so astounding when you have an, uh, uh, like an enterprise like Google with unlimited resources. And I mean, literally unlimited. They could do whatever the fuck they want.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they just don't have enough basic sense to be like, let's pull in the people that understand what this is and let's build it around that. And then that's it. Cause I guarantee you, if they had done that, this would have been a slam dunk, slam dunk success. The way that Xclat, I know Gerard, you really want to speak. I'm going to stop you talk. You're very excited to make the point. No, no, no, no, no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I think as well that lack of trust was terminal. And I think it's a very big thing to ask people, hey, don't buy it on PlayStation for 60 or $70, buy it on Stadia for 60 or $70, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, if this was, cause eventually they did start to sort of like flirt with the whole subscription based model where there was some library of games, but it's very selective, whatever else. But if from the start you had come out and said, we are a subscription based service. We have a library of 100 games that are going to be available for $10 a month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And also as well, one really critical conversation point that gets mixed, missed when we talk about cloud is it's not just, Hey, stream your game and play from the cloud. It's also.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, so again, Stadia, if they had, for example, work with Hideo Kojima, he is working on a game reportedly that does leverage cloud tech. How funny that, you know, the very first developer to properly tackle this is Hideo Kojima. Maybe, we don't know. We'll see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Man, what a, again, so silly, so short-sighted, so ridiculous. Like, do you know how long it takes to make a video game, Phil Harrison? It takes longer than 18 months, my friend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But me personally, I feel like it's just, they needed, it's just PR damage control. Like they just know the fallout for this would be cataclysmic if they didn't do this. It does soften the blow a lot. It's like, hey, we tried our best. We, it didn't work. So we're giving you your money back and fair props to that. Like, you know, absolutely. They could have screwed people over. They didn't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, um, increasing their presence in terms of live streaming, that's going to be a big focus for them. I don't imagine that Google is looking to become a platform, a game playing platform anytime in the future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I only, I played through maybe an hour or so, so I think I've played up to enough where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I haven't got into that crazy stuff yet. I kind of just, I didn't put it down for any specific reason other than I just had to move on. Would you say that you loved it because of its card game or because of the other stuff or because of both? Like does this stand on its own as just a cool playable card game?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love this little like sub genre of like indie auteur, you know, like Lucas Pope and Sam Barlow and like this guy had never come across him before, but it's just, it's cool when indie devs can really, yeah, yeah, like can really make a name for themselves because they make something so awesome, so innovative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uh, then it's like, Oh, I'm going to, I'm going to buy that person's next game because I just, this person is obviously just a super creative, super interesting person who knows what's going on. You know, I love that. I love that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I think you and I both have the same one that we've been playing and, uh, Domekeeper and I have been


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Loving this. Like, I saw this at a Steam Next Fest. I gave it a crack because everyone was talking about it. And I played it. I'm like, whoa. It was immediately like the tightest game I played in terms of raw game design that I played across that whole Next Fest. You are essentially a minor, like imagine there's a dome. Okay. And on this,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Blank area. And uh, you can't go outside the dome, but you can dig down underneath and you need to collect resources underneath and then bring them back up to your dome to feed defenses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and so you need to kind of like sustain the dome when it takes damage and repair it. You need to increase its like durability. You need to increase your ability to move faster or carry more weight as you go down to mine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but there is just this tension that is present in every single moment of gameplay where every single decision


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are agonizing over because you're like, Oh, can I go down? Is there enough time to do one more run or am I going to get caught down there when the thing, when the, you know, the next wave comes, you're like, should I spend this on defense?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause my mind is getting really deep now and if I could travel faster, like I kind of need that at this point, there's just so much tension in every moment and in every decision.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and it just plays so, so well. I have probably put, look, it's a small game. You know, I probably put around 10 hours on to, into it on my Steam deck. And I've seen most of it at this point. I think if I had, I'm not sure what you think about this, Jake, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like this feels like an early access title more than it does a complete release because there's such a great concept here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You could take it so many directions, but the current package doesn't really do a lot with that. It's kind of just a few things and that's it. Um, so I'm that one aspect of it. I'm a little bit disappointed by.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Given the price tag and given how much I've enjoyed, I've gotten out of it. I certainly don't feel ripped off by it. I just feel like there's a lot further you could have taken this and I, and I hope they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A nice little backing track if you listen for it and the sound design is so subtle, like the different resource that you collect all have their own sounds and they kind of bounce around and, and, but it's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just that very, they were very aware of the soundscape they were building of the vibe they were going for. It's beautifully maintained the whole way through. Uhm, I really think it's a terrific game because I, you know, I play my fair share of indies and it's rare that one really just sort of jumps out as like, oh shit, you've really nailed something here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Simple input, uh, like quick decision making, cathartic gameplay style that would work so well if you had like a five minute session, you could, you could do this sort of game in five minutes, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, uh, yeaah, I think it's the start of something for D- for Domekeeper. I really think they'll take it further on different platforms into sequels and whatever. And, uh, I'll be really glad if they do because it's- it's very worthwhile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lucy, Lucy played this one. She was all about it. She loved it. The GameSpot crew as well. I think Tam was playing this as well. He loved it. So yeah, I've definitely heard awesome things about it. It does look fantastic. Thank you for that. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I agree. And one other thing I would say is that this week, uh, this week is the Steam Next Fest. Uh, this podcast will go up on Friday or Saturday. So there's be, there'll be one or two days left of the next fest when that happens.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, please go and check that out if you're on PC or Steam Deck. Uh, it's just hundreds of indie demos. They're really easily searchable and they also force rank them by like most played or most wishlisted.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just get in there, start downloading some stuff. I've downloaded literally 50 demos that I plan to check out this weekend. I'm super excited for that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely, for sure. I love, and I love to see stuff bubble up that gets talked about and everyone's like, Ooh, this is, this is pretty wet. Like on December is like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And soulstone survivors is this really nice looking, um, vampire survivors kind of spin off with sequel, not a sequel thing, sorry, but like another take on it, but it's 3d. Yeah. So like there's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean on the combat specifically, I think it's fine, but I do agree with that point. And one thing I didn't talk about in my review is that all of your abilities are just like dumps. And I think that's generally a challenge. Like you're dumping a resource to produce an outcome rather than.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, abilities that can be woven into your combos that make combat more expressive and more interesting. It's kind of just like, cool, you've hit enough bad guys enough times. Now you get access to the strong thing and then you press a button and it does like a barrage of punches and does a lot of damage or you throw out some batarangs all of a sudden again, lots of damage, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, it's almost like combat stalls in those moments while you dump those resources and then you continue on, right? Which I think is generally a bit of a red flag in most action, like combat games, you know, if you can't weave that stuff in. Have you said that? Haven't seen all the stuff. Maybe those abilities do come later and they're just, the ones that I've seen are just those, those resource dumps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Chop this HP bar in half, or maybe even down to a third, and let's get back onto that, not this, you know, so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, yeah, look, but they all felt distinctive to play as, which I thought was cool. I liked that. It wasn't just reskinned characters. They all had their own thing going on, which I enjoyed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, I really enjoyed the story parts of this and I'm not a bat person like you are Jake. Um, uh, but I was really into the writing and the characters, like that was actually really clicking for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as someone who's not close to that universe, I'm really keen to jump into it and like meet these characters, learn what the court of al's is or something. I don't know what the fuck that is, but it sounds cool. You know, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think I would have agreed with you had I not gone back and had a really good look at how Arkham Knight


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, and I'm okay with it being very different, but again, that difference between the look and feel of Gotham is so stark for me and just feels like such a massive downgrade that I'm just like, this is a real bummer, you know? And, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. I mean, I've been like Spider-Man for example, and obviously unfair to compare.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm not expecting this to be incredible. I'm expecting it to be a fun video game. I hope it surprises me. The same way Guardians, I think, I think if I played through Guardians of the Galaxy,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I probably would have a similar, as a preview, I probably would be saying similar things to what I'm saying now about Gotham Knights. And I never would have been able to anticipate how much I would love Guardians of the Galaxy. So hopefully Gotham Knights turns around and surprises me in that same way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, seated next to me is Lucy James, who is a producer at GameSpot, and uh, she's also on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I am glad we're doing this though because I am also in a bubble where I don't really talk to a lot of people. And I also feel like I can be challenged a little bit, like you're a little spicy, you're a little smart, you're a video game god. So I was like, let me jump into the mud pit and get beat up a little bit. That's so true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My bottom line is just like, cause I'm still just, I'm a fan first. So as long as something is going on where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the summer, or in some part of June, there is a bunch of video game stuff to just digest. I'm in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I couldn't help but just have fun. The way, it's a lot smoother than you would initially think. I like the way you can kind of progress through the open world by unlocking new rails to grind on and ways to get around faster. Like I thought that was a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty good loop. I want the enemies to be a little more interesting, but like once I fought a large enemy in a field and I'm target locked on that enemy and I'm strafing around them running really fast as Sonic, I'm like, okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is cool. Did you fight the god boss at the end of the demo? No, I didn't. No, I didn't. I didn't get to that. That was pretty rad. Sonic can fight a literal god. It became like Shadow of the Colossus where you like scale this thing and fight it. It was pretty rad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's definitely got some charm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just very, it's very, it's very rough. It is rough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, hold the quote, do the game good, and then if you don't have to do it, if you just take a break, uh, everything will be fine. I fumble it every time, every time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My biggest concern is that the open world, while I like how some of the collectibles, some of the flow, the way you play in the open world,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Me? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I was able to like, you know, kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's just a little nicer, a little cleaner, the colors pop a lot harder. It's been so long since I played it, like that was like an old blockbuster game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's, it's incredibly simple. Like, I was like, wow. It's like, I forgot. It's like Kirby. It's like you, instead of sucking things, it's like you just take a thing and then throw a thing. But it's so bouncy and like the vibe and the atmosphere and like the music. It's just like, it hits. And it is coming to all the platforms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, Switch, and I think that just makes a hell of a Switch game. So, yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's, it's also, uh, they have this whole gaming hub thing now where it's like, it's actually prioritized in the smart TV menu where this stuff is boring, smart TV interfaces, like who cares.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's on the one hand for me, it's nice because like I'm kind of in that ecosystem, so another option. Cool, tight, sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also the fact that I think it's gonna be really cool for casual folks. Because I feel like the Netflix of games thing when people talk about the Netflix of games, right? You think endless list of video games to choose from.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I really think it's not that, I think it's accessibility. And the fact that this is just so easy to get to and you can pair, they let you pair a dual shock, you know, certain third party controllers, an Xbox controller, whatever you want to your TV and play this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeah, I think it's pretty significant. It also, again, I'm super skeptical. I'm not into the streaming thing, but it plays well. It looks great. Like I did Halo Infinite and, uh, you know, snapping the targets, moving the right stick around like crazy and it felt good. Nice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and then like, also like, the weight of the character, the ca-chunk-a-chunk of them walking, especially when it cuts to the second part of the playthrough with his armor, which I thought looked incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now, uh, it's not. That's more recent. They scaled back on that. They're like, no, it didn't make sense. But he said that there's still, like, little references. So I'm like, what, a frying pan?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was like an afterthought either way. Like it's just like... Yeah, it's funny.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea, I play them all. I don't know, it's like a silly little Michael Bay thing where I'm just like, I just wanna play a video game where things blow up and, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the different, like, stories they told, uh, like, some of, like, they, they, like, kinda pushed it a little, they went a little edgy in spots, and then this was just, like, Bravo Six, boat mission. Yes. Yeah, right, sure, sure. Now it's just very much, like, alright, raid on a boat, uh, it's like, we've done that, like, a thousand times already in these games. The only thing is, like, the cool boat physics, like, that was, that was cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of them did. One of them I cried. The space one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, that had- Everyone says that actually. That was like compelling. Yeah. Like actually real good stuff. Uh, but no other than that I forget them immediately. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and he, uhm, wha- what? Was it four?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I just like stuff like that, like, you know, linear, like you're running from left to right, 2.5D. Uh, I'm pretty sure the gameplay is gonna have a little bit more than that. It might have like first-person segments to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the fact that the court of owls are in it, uh, the fact that it's like a mainstream bat family thing, like I, like I really want it to be great, but I'm still very skeptical.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, I'm interested to see their take on the, like, oh, it's multiplayer but with story. Like, I feel like they maybe might have a different spin on it. And then Factions itself was just great. So, the fact that they're like blowing it out, building it out, they realize how good it was, is cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, that's cool. If like, I can move and do things as Joel, how Ellie did in 2, like, that's pretty fun. That warrants a replay. I just replayed it, so that's why I'm a little like, do we really need this? Because it's still good. But, yeah, if it's enough to change it. It's good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The pre-order stuff in the special edition stuff, I don't usually get into this stuff, but it's very interesting because a lot of it is like, you get better shit earlier in the game, you get more like revolver capacity, you get fire arrows or explosive arrows earlier in the game and I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I wanted a little bit more new stuff, you know, I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He didn't. Yeah. Yeah. I dunno, Callisto... Good updates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm also just pretty pro these presentations where like even if it didn't like have all these things that thrilled me like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool, I watched some new video games and also this was a good one to kind of remind you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About thi- like, I was like, oh yeah, Midnight Fight Express, yes! Like, stuff like that, like good updates. Yeah, that's very true, actually, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's something about the vampires that are pretty cool, like, the way they float is very unnerving, the way they're lanky is very unnerving, it's just like, they look, I think you said it earlier when we were talking, they're like, they're a little spongy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have the, you have the PVP stuff, not PVP, uh, humans versus human stuff, which seems way more like, okay, arcane, yeah, this is like their thing. And the way they cut the trailers is so cool, like, they show all the movesets working perfectly, jumping in the air, crack shot, I'll never be able to play the game like that. But, it's, it's cool to see it all in motion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, some of the stuff, some of the stuff is very like, makes sense for them. Like the fact, New England Town, oh cool guys, I could see you guys would go for that. The fact that like they said like, oh the vampires blocked out the sun and they drained the harbor, and there's just like a dry harbor, but I'm like, yeah you guys would do that. Yeah, you would. It just feels right, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every enemy looked cool, every thing looked cool, every weapon looked cool, uh, famous voice actors, I heard JB Smooth, I don't know who else is in it, but I heard JB Smooth as one of the guns, I was pretty sure it was him. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Kirby Enthusiasm. He's a comedian. He pops up in things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I'm starting to find myself listening to, so one of their big things was like their time of day, their weather stuff and time of day and temperature with how it would affect


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, yeaah. But I just have nothing to say about this other than like, they made another one. It's crazy this time. You could say that last time. They made another one. This one's insane with the graphics and the detail.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Requirement, you have to, if you work here, if you wanna work here, you have to like, wanna have sex with cars.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have such appreciation for the designs, like the monkey with the glasses, but like, just, just seeing that trailer and seeing how incredible every character was on screen where they all were like BAM! Wink! Zoom! And like every character was like incredible with the music swelling where I'm like, man, the people that are in love with these characters,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, I can't remember the name, but it came out like a year ago and it was also icky and gross, but this one I'm hoping is better. The style is really cool. We still don't like totally have, it's like kind of a shooter but not really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some of it looked a little slow, but I still kinda, ultimately I was like, this looks a little bit like, like if you wanted to be super broad, it looks almost like a little bit like, forespoken, but like, I think this looks kinda cooler. I think the character was really cool, like some of the, some of the tricks she had up her sleeve, like with like the backwards dodges where she was like, kinda Batman throwing like quick little like, like flashbangs and stuff, I was like, okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The way the character kind of like bounds and he's got like these long legs. It like, he kind of like reminded me of like a Monkey Island character a little bit, but like everything was like really spooky and Victorian like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Seeing the character though, like it looked like there's like some progression with him getting some abilities where he's like They showed him talking to like this demon which it sounded like the darkness like and it gave me the whole like darkness vibe But uh, you know, then you see the character eventually like jumping and being like pulled by the like dark shadow behind him and stuff So I'm curious to see how it actually plays. Yeah, for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm a, I'm a art, like art history person, so I'm an art history bitch. So yeah, so seeing that and then just knowing that like I'm some art history bitches. And seeing that obsidians behind it and just liking how they craft stories and branching things. Yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So later on the characters will look like they were printed. That makes sense because I saw little differences, like I saw little differences and like some of that art at the start was like really crude. So it's cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like I didn't think it was gonna play like this incredible like Call of Duty type thing or anything like that, but I was like, uh, okay, and then the frame rate, I was like, oh boy, that's not even


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, uh, but, yeah, I, like, I can see myself just, like, exploring space and doing goofy stuff to build a ship. That excites me. And then it seems like they are, like, you know, maybe doing a cool story thing, like the music, some of the presentation. The music was so good. I'm in for that. I was so into it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What is up ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Fudge Muppet Elder Scrolls podcast. I'm Scott and I'm here with Michael and Drew and today we are going to be talking all about the dragons and also the dragon cult.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, who wants to get us started with just some, what are dragons? The general, uh, gist without diving into the deepest stuff just yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But to me, yeah, if it's in the Elder Scrolls, they say it's a dragon, that's the dragon. The same way that in Asian mythology, that the dragon's like this sort of serpentine scaled and furred kind of thing. And it doesn't have necessarily have wings. So, you know, that's not a dragon. It's a sky snake. Like, you know what I mean? And you actually see a lot of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They kind of like rank up there in that sort of like mythological spirit kind of thing in the way that they're not like a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some super organic creature with, with like, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their affinity for magic is what allows them to fly despite their non-aerodynamic frame and speak despite no lips and stuff like that. Which is a cool little, uhm, ad as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think there's, I'm pretty sure there's even been things in the lore, but it might be from Daggerfall time, about them enchanting things. Uhm, and then also, like, there's, uhm, Durnivere and his, uhm, study of necromancy and stuff like that. I mean, you're kind of limited if you can only use the Thorn necessarily, or maybe not, maybe it is all through the Thorn, but uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think there's no, there's no limit, like there's plenty of creatures that have magical sort of abilities without having opposable thumbs. You don't need to be able to like cast it with just a hand or something like that. And they're obviously very intelligent, um, immortal creatures, like they have all of time to study and learn this kind of stuff, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but so uhm, we know what they are, roughly, right? But uhm, where do they come from is the other, uh, question. And so we can just sort of start talking about, like, where...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What lands they're said to come from because beyond that we, if they are these sort of like immortal beings that have just sort of always been, then they kind of just came from nowhere and the same, like probably in the creation of time, you know what I mean? But let's just talk some geography first. So, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. Atmora and Akavira, the big uhm, talking points, but you guys wanna?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I sort of like the idea, at least in my sort of headcanon, that the Seyesi, uhm, when they were like, they ate all of the men, but then they're trying to eat all the dragons, but they failed, but then they came...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To, uhm, Tamriel, and they found what they were looking for. Okay, Riman, the dragonborn, a person who would actually be able to be permanently able to like eat the dragons and kill them and so on. And I feel like it's sort of, I kind of get the idea that, that, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are like the same kind of dragons, like perhaps different forms, like there's nothing stopping them from looking. Like we've seen serpentine dragons in Skyrim and stuff and they look quite different to other ones. So there's no reason that they can't, the dragons can't look.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Individual and maybe, you know, riff off some of those Oriental features, but I still think that in the Elder Scrolls Dragon would be associated with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those sort of immortal children of Akatosh type.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, I feel like it's kind of more in the same way that, you know, how we have like the, so like a Komodo dragon, you know what I mean? Like those kinds of things, not a actual dragon in the way that, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, no, um, yeah, so, so the Atmora, that whole idea is all from the sort of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. Yeaah. I don't know what you mean. I get the vibe that, that when Isgrimor first came, he sort of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was, uh, maybe the dragon cult wasn't even a thing yet?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As such, or, or at the same, like, power level, as such. And then, so when Isgrimor came over, he, uhm, he sort of sets up Skyrim, and with his 500 companions, and, and Nordic civilization sort of spreads, and the Falmer get beat out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then, uhm, you know, maybe a couple of generations in, the dragon cult starts being a thing, but they sort of treat Skyrim as sort of like a wilder frontier, which sort of allows the dragons and the dragon priests to sort of get a firmer grip.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On it all, as opposed to Atmora, which would have lots of other, um, political factors and entrenched sort of traditions and such. Kinda get what I mean? I'm pretty sure I can't actually remember the king.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, but what's interesting is, King Harald, who is, uhm, apparently the 13th in line of Isgrimor, some people debate the Isgrimor line and stuff, but I don't think there's really any reason to. But uhm, he was born in the first era.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And his reign starts 143, so this is all post-Dragon War kind of stuff, but he is remembered for being the first king to relinquish all holdings in Atmora and basically making Skyrim an independent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Before him, if you, if you know what I mean, like what does, um, how does that work in with the dragon priests and stuff like that? Because the dragon priests were like these priest kings and then the dragons had power over them. And the priest kings is like, where did the traditional sort of monarchy fit in?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, yeah, well there's the whole, um, so, so we know that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Skyrim sort of seems to be their, if you're trying to look at it chronologically, like their touch point, like when they sort of first started inhabiting Tamriel in a large capacity from what I remember.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but they, there's, it's Calgrontid, I think, and his buddy dragons that went down into Elsweyr, and this is all the events of the Elsweyr DLC, and they're trying to like basically use, get the power of the moons and so on, but they essentially get locked away in this, in this vault by a bunch of heroes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they get later in the writings, they get called like a demon weapon and stuff. They, they sort of, it's sort of forgotten that they're dragons as time goes by. But that's only, so there's dragons in Delswer, uhm, and that's also in part of their, uhm, mythology and so on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't actually remember how canon this is, that there were, maybe it wasn't out of, maybe it's a Kirkbride thing or something about dragons in Morrowind and why there's no dragons in Morrowind, but they were driven out by cliff racers. Like if you imagine cliff racers like these like innumerable thousands of pests that sort of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you know what I mean? Like it could be, like, it could, it could work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, absolutely, but, cause, yeah, there's concessions that have to be made for gameplay reasons, and also, it would be kinda silly if you're running around Whiterun and the dragon is like, to scale, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bigger than all of Whiterun kind of thing, you know what I mean? Cause it's rather small in game. But uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I guess we can start moving on to, uh, actually talking about the deeper meaning of dragons and their relation to time and Akatosh as a god of time because they're really, really, um, fundamental. Does anyone else want to start on this or?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, here's a little theory, I literally just, I've sort of dabbled in it and thinking about it before, but if you think about the dragons as, and dragon souls as actual like,