[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I agree. It's good. It's good. Like evergreen content, you know, there's, and there's not going to, cause there's not going to be many good


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I'm here, and on Twitter very infrequently, and uhm, yeah, that's it really. Just, uh, doing my thing. Lots of content going up in the channel in the next little while though. Uh, previews and reviews and stuff, so very excited to round out September. Uh, round out August into September.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fact that they even did that is crazy. And the fact that they do that with certain characters, they do throw in cool stuff because like they don't have to. They could just do a skin, but I like that. I like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, unfortunately, yeah, that's the thing. I can't find party. It's not like a, it's not like a smash tournament. You know, you can't go to like a local cafe and find people. What are you guys doing? Tony Hawk tournament. Let's go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm at the one where you said, fuck him, let him fight, let the corporation fight. I think for me, it's been going on for so long now that I've lost sight of like, what the point of any of this even is. Maybe it's just because I'm so online, like following the news, but it just seems so like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whatever now and now hearing like the corporations essentially publicly are saying one thing and then


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Through emails and through documents they're discussing other plans in other ways so it's like there's a lot of he said she said that's things that they're deliberately saying for like public posturing that just makes it all the more muddled and makes me kind of care even less.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's one guy, one of like the Adam Sandler friends that always shows up, hey, the one who talks like this, he looks just like Phil Spencer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I liked it. I thought they brought the heat. There was a bunch of like compelling things I was very excited to see. Uh, and it just felt good. I feel like a lot of Nintendo Directs have been like, there's one really cool thing. And then a lot of just like, you know, good solid other things highlighted, but this, this felt like a couple of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really cool surprises back to back. Uh, for me, the biggest thing is actually the new WarioWare game. WarioWare move it because the last WarioWare game was more of like a multiplayer co-op weird thing. This is very much a return to form, like throwback to the Game Boy Advance game where it's just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was technically where we got the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection release date.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so we know it's coming to Switch, which is cool. Uh, it's coming October 24th. Uh, so I'm very curious to see how this goes. The trailer outlined a bunch of other stuff it's going to come with, uh, like what it actually specifically collects, uh, which is nice to have that highlighted. Didn't expect to see that during a Nintendo direct, but, um, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you, do you guys wonder if they've even invested yet in terms of porting that over? Cause I feel like that's a big undertaking and I feel like they're sitting and waiting and seeing how this all goes first.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it does look, when you hold it up against the other 2D Mario games, this one does look like the one that is getting like a real injection of creativity. Like, yes, there's a lot going on in that trailer. The backgrounds, the music to the new.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Types of little looks for characters and then all the abilities and stuff. That is what got me really excited. It wasn't even the fact that, oh, new 2D Mario.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be honest, that doesn't do much for me anymore. Uh, but seeing how wacky and wild they're going with it, I'm like, okay, alright.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Instead of his hat, this time it's gonna be mechanics centered around his pants. Which I think is actually a really good actual idea. You're welcome, Nintendo. I want, I want.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really, really cool if you have kids, because I don't know, I'm talking out of my ass, but it feels like very prime for kids to run around and interact with stuff. Yes, like that's what a lot of the whole thing is here is just kind of like existing in this little


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's, it's, it's cool. It was very nice to just see all that stuff like kind of come to life in an odd way and like just look around and hear the music and get all that. And then like a mannequin, Mario and Luigi, not mannequin, uh, mascot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was so much going on on the AR screen. I feel like I would love to go through it again and just look around and ignore that. Cause I ended up kind of doing that because my eyes don't work right. Uh, cause like there's parts where you go into the different themed rooms and they built actual stuff like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like when the mansion and you see chandeliers swinging and I'm like, Oh, get this thing off my face. I want to see what they made. This is so cool. They need also just like a regular old


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rollercoaster. They need like Wario energy there. Like Wario's backwards rollercoaster where he's like, give me your money!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, do you guys like spirits within? I think that's a good way to like, let's just throw it all out here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Set things up. I think for me personally, I,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have a tolerance for Final Fantasy games, even like newer ones where there are always going to be weird, bizarre elements and it may not always come together right, but I think I just like being in the Final Fantasy mentality so much that I kind of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of clouds my judgment. I think 16 is extremely flawed, but fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think, uh, it definitely has a, so I'm glad people are loving it and I know it's always going to be people's first Final Fantasy and it's always going to be significant to people. I, one of my favorite first big exposures to it where I like really went all in was...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I played seven, but then ten was my big one. And then like I went online and people were like, you like ten? So it's always going to be like that. It's like, it's like poetry. It rhymes. It's always going to be like a thing. So I think 16.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is weird, but I still kinda like it, but I think I see people thinking like it's the best game ever. They haven't gotten through it all yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So 15, I'll lay it all out right now. I really, really like 15. I absolutely understand the criticisms and the base game. I finished it and I was like, what happened? What was that? What did I just play? But I liked it. I was intrigued the whole, the whole way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it struggled with a sort of, maybe, it's almost like they still, they had the spectacle, the combat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they're like, oh, well, like, you still need to, like, walk around and do stuff because that's what you do in Final Fantasy games. You're going to walk around and do stuff. You're going to say hello to a chocobo. You're going to go weird diversions. And I think that it kind of struggles under that more than anything because it's like a pacing thing. I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Might also just be a testament to how crazy the highs are, where it's like any sort of come down from that is just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like a Sora's Wrath, like there, there, there are parts of it that I was like, am I playing a Sora's Wrath? This is, this is wild. Uh, it just, it's, it's a, and I use this phrase a lot. It's an overused phrase, like identity crisis, but it certainly has.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some of that. And I just, crisis reference. Sorry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, especially with the combat. So the combat is one example. I like it. I enjoy it. It's fun. It fulfills the power fantasy thing. And I know I'm like bagging on the game a lot. It's an interesting conversation. Ultimately, I still


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was hoping for something a little bit more precise and a little bit, mm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A little bit more crazy, I don't know, something about it where it just kind of doesn't feel, I don't know, it's hard, it doesn't feel


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like Clive. I like, uh, you know, I like the way this story is presented. Granted, it gets kind of messy, but I love a game that just is not afraid to throw me cool cutscenes and let me just kind of like sink in that. I think Clive is very interesting. There's a lot to him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He almost looks too cool for a Final Fantasy protagonist.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't help but bring expectations in and I don't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, as long as you go in with an open mind. I always default back to like, be a comic book reader, where I think some comic book readers can be very open to new interpretations, remixes of characters, changing of the core pillars of those characters, and uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's potential for fun and I think a game series, especially one specifically like Final Fantasy, where every single one is completely different and someone can jump in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I still can't help but just like look for and enjoy seeing some of those hallmarks and stuff here and there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Knowing again, trying to go in with an open mind as possible, knowing that some of those things aren't always going to pop up, uh, and being okay with that and celebrating the parts that are. That makes sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also haven't had coffee today and I'm still moving. So I'm like living out of boxes. My brain doesn't work. Your hair looks incredible. Oh, thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, look. I think it's, at least in my opinion, like, I'm pretty freewheeling with that stuff. I think if you get caught up in making sure that you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Assess one thing exactly the way you assess something else. You start getting caught in the weeds and stumbling over your words and then you have, it gives you less confidence in how you're speaking about things. I always have to be very careful about that because I'm just like not a confident person. So I'm, I'm very like hyper aware of stuff like that, but then there's always like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's important because there's always so much more than just, oh, if you said this thing about this game, why wouldn't you say it about this game? Even the example you just cited, Final Fantasy 16 to 17 side quests, there's so much in between.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That can explain why they would be different. So to get hung up on like, well, you gave this game a seven and you gave this one an eight, like that type of stuff, I think it's not worth it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also think there's so many things in games that can pull your attention in different ways where it's like, there's one game that had terrible graphics, but I barely even mentioned them because there were so many other elements that I was more excited to talk about or evaluate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then, you know, you can't look at that and be like, Oh, well this game, you went, you did a deep dive on the graphics. Like there's at least how I approach things. I don't have a checklist. I'm not going through doing like graphics, sound, fun factor, like stuff like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I've always been like a go-by feel type of thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And credit to some folks that do like to break down game reviews systematically. Uh, there's an audience for that. There's a place for that. Some people do it very, very well. So yeah, but me, I just kind of go, hey man, I don't know. Uh, yeah, it's good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If there was a hybrid that was, so I prefer 7 Remake. I like how they cracked the code with the battle system. For me, it's the main thing you're doing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It definitely has potential whichever way they move forward, and I almost think there are other franchises experiencing the same thing, especially like as Mia Fan caught in the middle, like Resident Evil.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like, okay, are we doing like a first person thing or are we going back to third person over the shoulder? And they're, they're approaching two different angles, but they're getting at that point as well where it's like, okay, what happens next? There has to be some sort of come together and with final fantasy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I would like to see the 7 remake combat system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Move forward, but also build upon that and change that because there is still that thing that every Final Fantasy game does that I like where they try something new.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Either way, they could, they could start with one of those things and continue to rethink and iterate on it. I just prefer the 7 remake one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have a question for you guys, uh, just, just in terms of broad 16 discussion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A mature Final Fantasy with gore, with the word fuck sometimes. I was worried, but I liked it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here and there, but like, it felt refreshing just for what it was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I like that as a shake up. I don't necessarily need the next one to continue. Like I don't need Final Fantasy 17 to also be mature rated, but for now a nice little shake up. Yeah. Sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've got one. Uh, lost, definitely. I've never seen lost, but I really love it. I really love that people enjoy it. Like, I love you people, you're freaks. So I'd be so happy for you guys to have a lost game. I mean, there was a lost game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, and there, there was a Mike Bithell joint, but I would like more John Wick games. I think it's like primed for a video game, but I've seen a lot of people say they want like a third person shooter Max Payne type or like a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're, you're not, it's not really like executing the shooting. It's managing the stamina and the timing between each person. Like you're working your way through finishing everybody. There's some sort of creative angle there that like, I'm not smart enough to come up with, but I think there's something there. That was the, did you play the pistol game by the way? Uh, a little bit. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a weird thing I kinda wanna harp on is the preservation of characters and actors and we're seeing this more and more with like Harrison Ford being de-aged for Indiana Jones and like all this awkward shit that in my opinion doesn't always work where I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely is allowed to and can work in a video game. If you had Harrison Ford play Young Indiana Jones for an entire


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Video game, about it. If you have Keanu Reeves, who is, it's hard to, you know, admit, but he is getting older. A young Keanu Reeves in a, in a John Wick, like early pre, like young John Wick, like on his main adventures for the Russian mob, like that can work. And I would, I would love to see stuff like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anyway, tangent over. Excuse me. Sorry, the coffee is only just hitting now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm just glad that like, your type of person likes it, because I played it, I really liked it, but I was like, hey, I like it, I'm like a casual, I think it's a good game for people to get into, but like, I have no idea how.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hardcore Street Fighter fans, the community is going to respond to it. So I'm so happy. That's good because like it is just a good package. It's easy. It's easy to recommend, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In terms of like, compared to like, maybe other than like the nether realm games, cause you get all that fun single player stuff, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And of all the other fighting game franchises, like this is the one now I'm like, oh yeah, no, if you haven't played a street fighter or like a fighting game, this is a good one to jump in because there's so much and I like all of it. It's all like really compelling. The, the tour mode is fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's wacky and silly, but it's a good way of introducing you to the characters, the systems, stuff like that. And I talked about it in my video, but just like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The control schemes and how they can kind of gateway drug you to the next one. You know, to go from modern to classic, I think is like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Super smart and it is definitely one that I will actually go back to. I usually bounce off of these hard, but now I know like if there is like a place where I see someone playing it or like when you guys had it in the green room from the giant bomb thing, I was like, oh, I would walk up and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would, I would, I would hop in for a little while and I haven't, I can't really say that about a lot of fighting games and that's, that's big for me. Like it made street fighter exciting again for me as an outsider because like I was caught in that street fighter five thing where like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wasn't like a, like a street fighter person, but I was like, ah, you know, nobody really seems super enthused about this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now for the enthusiasm to be swirling around six, that's great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is, it feels like very organic how they do it. Like it's like how it's all presented, the amount of content in it that it does get you into. Because I've always been, I dabble, I jump into all the fighting games, uh, but I've always been like expressly intimidated by Street Fighter. And I went into this one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, okay, let's see what, let's see what happens. And slowly it kind of just like opened up and I was like, holy shit. I get this. I really finally get this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make a weird freak, go run around world war i would give it a couple of hours. It starts a little slow, but like, I mean, you could just run up and punch anybody you want. How long does it take to get?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it drew me in way more than three. I am loving the world, the atmosphere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I did like a first impressions video. I knew that, but I wasn't sure if you were still playing it now. But yeah, yeah, I try to when there's time. Cause I just, I really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just, I just, again, like, it's vibes, I just really like just going in, getting a couple whacks, killing a couple demons, you know, it looks cool, it feels cool, it sounds cool, and like I know a lot of people, it's like their passive game, and I know it's like a lot of hours, but I love just like kind of putting headphones in and turning the lights off and just kind of zoning out. Totally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Last question, uh, if you're sitting on the couch, in terms of feel, which one would you go for? Which one would you prioritize?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mine is 24 years ago, uh, in 1999. It was the Japan release, but we're gonna roll with it. Dino Crisis released.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everything was perfect. Not really. It was not the case, but I was a little kid, so everything was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dinosaur stuff was at a high. We had Jurassic Park, The Lost World.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Survival Horror Resident Evil style stuff was at a high. We were in the thick of that, Resident Evil 1, 2, 3. Uhm, and Dino Crisis was just a perfect storm of that type of stuff. Uh, is it as good as the Resident Evil games? No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Great. Yep. Uhm, the, you know, the main character, not as memorable, but just, it was, and it's an, it's one of the few of those types of games that I just never went back and replayed. So I could be totally rose colored glasses with this, but it was, it was special.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think I just got sick of some of the tank stuff after a while. Yeah. And the fact that they, uh, made you fight, uh, Deathstroke, but he's like in a tank. It's like a car combat game. I was like, wait a minute. What the fuck? That's it. It's not that bad, especially going back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Arkham Knight is interesting too because it also encapsulates, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm pretty sure it's definitely Kevin Conroy at his like meanest version of Batman. His grittiest version of Batman. Like it's very intense and it's just kind of cool as like a unique snapshot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can find meeee on the internet, youtube.com slash jakebaldino, uh, game rank sometimes, and here, of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ralph, are you watching, uhm, uh, oh god, what is this? Zack Snyder? Are you watching Rebel Moon Part 2? You degenerate. Cause I know you watched the first one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, welcome to the Friends Per Second Podcast, folks. It is episode 43.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is, this to me is, I do have color. Yes, don't even joke. I know. I went from pale to ever so slightly pale. It was...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't, I read comic books and books on the beach instead. I read, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Batman, Gotham by Gaslight, I read, uhm, what's the Green Lantern one? What's the big one?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, speaking of like entertainment stuff, Lucy, you've been, you've been traveling and you've been doing things too. You were at the BAFTA game awards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So first of all, what is, can you just like, what is BAFTA, just for some people, because Ralph knows, you know, I really know, is it like, the Oscars, kind of?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's been nice to be a fly on the wall with it. It seems like not annoying, like Hollywood stuff can tend to be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nice. That's cool. And they won stuff. They won- Alan Wake 2 cleaned up some stuff. I love- I mean, Baldur- it was Baldur's Gate 3, and Alan Wake, and uh, good games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think everybody should watch it or should tune in next year too because every year with the game awards and stuff there's always such discourse about like what it should be, what it shouldn't be, and there's always this back and forth and up and down, too much this, not enough that. Uhm, this gives you different perspective. This is a completely different way of doing it. Uh, so I highly, highly recommend that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I think we might as well just jump right into talking entertainment, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I mean, Fallout is the big thing right now. The TV show, the Amazon produced show, uh, kind of led by Jonathan Nolan and, uh, some other creative people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I cannot reiterate how much I like the ghoul cowboy mercenary. I think it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The coolest idea, I think it cribs a lot of great stuff from the Fallout world and some of the Western aspects.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, like especially like with New Vegas and stuff and just the concept of a ghoul, of course. Uh, but then without spoiling anything, just like, we're not going to have spoilers or anything, but he is key to the story. He has such a through line through the story, just by being like a wandering.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Undead mercenary man, uhm, he has so much...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It just really, really worked and kind of helped show all aspects of the world. And I'm not the first person to like have this take, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The adaptations in a minute, but I just think that it felt like such a strong


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like everybody was just like, on their shit. Like from the writing, from like, people clearly played the games, they wanted to tell their own story, but specifically within the world of the games. And uh, it, it, it worked, man. I know, I know you guys are early on in it, but am I like, you know, am I off base?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's interesting you say that because it definitely feels like, so what you're saying with rings of power, it's like Amazon as like what they produce.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, surprisingly good visual effects. A lot of set building, dude. They go to the first outpost town and I'm like, that's a fucking set right there. That's a movie set, an old fashioned movie set. They have even the vaults and like all this stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's props. All the, all the like cram and like nuka cola. Not like in your face like reference-y, but like just world and tactile objects and props. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She's flexing, she's holding it up to the screen if you're listening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nailing the feel and getting that right because I did, I mean, I, I, I know Jonathan Nolan was involved in everything, but I was like, I don't, I don't know about this guys. And it works and I think it works because of, um, character.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stuff. I think it's interesting stories with characters, so I'm not spoiling anything, but uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The plot, the MacGuffin type stuff that it revolves around, I ultimately didn't end up caring too much about, but the characters on the journey and how they interacted and intersected and how they all kind of acted as vessels to learn about different aspects and factions of the world, just, mmm, that worked. That's what kept me going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They do, they do it well. I don't know. Especially in terms of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They do it and then also they flip flop with the tone and how it can be grim and gory and creepy and then like funny and satirical and it's interesting how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the word? Cleaned up? Whitewashed? I don't know. It wasn't as grimy as the previous games. The show manages to like, you know, have a lot of gore, but also have a lot of like weird science.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's heavily influenced, but I think, I personally found that there was more to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was like a nice surprise. I guess I kinda, I kinda...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Went in being like, is this just gonna be like, you know, just new Bethesda?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It conflict, but I thought it worked. I also just am not, uh, I should put my cards out there. I have played the main Fallouts. I like them. I was never obsessed with them, but I enjoyed all of them. So I don't know. That's where I'm at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's definitely not perfect. It's not a perfect show, but I just-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, the arcane thing, the cyberpunk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's what I want. I don't wanna see it become...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want smart choices that make sense. Like Fallout makes sense because it's just so


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's so much post-apocalyptic stuff out there in media, but nothing quite like Fallout. It's just strange.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's funny, we forgot to talk about the Mario movie, which I liked. The more you think about it, that was more of the angle where they played it really safe and didn't really have too much to tell or do with it, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't need to have endless sequels, but I could use...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A little more, and I think they're definitely even thinking that themselves where they have the show, it's popping off now and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the very least they have the new PS5 and, you know, Series X and I guess, uh, patched PC, updated version of Fallout 4, but that's, that's really it with nothing on the horizon. So it's like, okay, hope, hope people go back to Fallout 76, which is finally good, but you know, that's only for a certain type of player.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love when things take a long ass time and then something comes out and it's good, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The opportunities are already open. Bethesda isn't the first people to work on Fallout. The original studio, but then of course, Obsidian. So it's like, it's already been done. So I think it's an easier conversation than something like An Elder Scrolls.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe the show will open more doors. We'll just have to wait and see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, I do. The sponsor of this podcast is Factor. Factor, uh, kills it specifically because they deliver fresh, never frozen, dietitian approved meals right to your doorstep. So if you guys are looking for like a lunch option, uh, this is it. It's two minutes in the microwave. You're good to go. But like I said, it is fresh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real prepared food, so it actually tastes good, and they have a ton of options.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's all customizable so you can essentially select, select when you get meals, how many you get, and it's pretty easy to manage. It's like simple clicks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can add stuff, you can add different proteins, you can adjust things, and uh, they're always adding stuff all the time to their menus and doing different types of promotions, so it's worth checking it out again if you haven't already.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, coming back here with some user questions to stoke the conversation. You guys know that you can always send us questions at contact at friendspersecond.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, who says, Hi friends, long time listener, first time caller. I appreciate the in-depth analysis you provide on the industry, including specific games, both young and old. That is an enormous, that is an enormous amount of information and would be seemingly impossible for most mortals to keep track of without a system in place to facilitate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you just keep a giant Excel spreadsheet tracking games, publishers, review scores, or do you use something like a CRM tool to keep track of all the games and their evolving information? I imagine this would be something you'd need on the go at interviews, conferences, etc. So curious how you manage it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bad man, it's bad. I'm not on, I mean I have one I haven't updated in so long and that's kind of a good example of my


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like any job, any industry you're in, if you're a sports commentator, or you just really love it, you love the Yankees, or you love your football team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] RIP E3 man. Look at us, real professionals. Thanks for your question.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey now with that, let's jump on over to a great interview we have with Abu Bakr Saleem, who is an actor. You may have seen him in Raised by Wolves or House of the Dragon, but he's also the voice of Bayek from Assassin's Creed Origins and he's in game development.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, he is the creative lead behind Tales of Kenzera Zao, uh, an upcoming game. So we, uh, had a good chat with him. Let's roll that now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's just jump into it. Uh, Abu, thank you very much for being here. Uh, definitely want to dive into this entire journey because I feel like you got into game development in a more unconventional way, uh, for very interesting reasons. But I think the first thing it might be easy to just hash out is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where did it start? Like what was the first game you fell in love with?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you go from gamer to, you know, as an adult, you are an actor, a working actor. How did you get into that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's where I think, uh, that you can start to see a timeline. It starts to get interesting because you are the voice of Bayek and then


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, in terms of it being a Metroidvania style game, uh, where did that come from? Did you sit down and say we want to make a Metroidvania? Did that fit the story the best? What was the approach?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Such a journey, I know you were at one point with it when you started the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Brutal. Yeah, that's what I was gonna ask. Like how difficult, you know, a small team, but also the fact that it is, it is new IP. It's a new studio, new IP. How do you, but also everybody you work with, like balance those pressures? Like how, how was that process?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why don't I ask you about that specifically, like the creative aspect, uh, the leadership aspect, the business aspect, uh, have you taken things from, you know, stage screen that you've learned? I mean, House of the Dragon, the people behind that show, or like a Ridley Scott show? Have you learned things from that that you were able to try here?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, with, yeah, without spoiling my thoughts on the whole game yet, I will say that is something that slaps you in the face immediately. We talked about this a little bit before, but people who played the demo, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As soon as dialogue starts kicking off, you're like, oh yeah, this is, this is a human journey. This, this is a personal journey. This is a real thing. So I'd say mission accomplished so far. But with that being said, uh, the game is out depending on when this podcast goes up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a couple of days. So that's when things get really exciting. Are you guys, you know, looking at additional content? Are you geared up for a sequel or the next game or a new genre? Like how are you feeling right now?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you don't want to get caught up on the, just the ins and outs of the lore. You want to pitch the actual core human, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, what's your, just, just as a pitch to players, people who haven't checked it out yet are curious. We've talked a lot about story elements. What is, uh, you know, without spoiling anything, what's your favorite gameplay aspect? Oh man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I think with that, just thank you for working on something that, you know, wears its heart on its sleeve, tells a story, uh, but also thank you for,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it covers a lot of bases, uh, you know, B vitamins for energy, vitamin C and zinc for immune health. So like there's really a lot in this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also his recent making the rounds and like doing talk shows and stuff has worked for promoting his show because I'm looking forward to watching this like travel show because he is genuinely funny.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so I was at a YouTube thing a while back, many years ago, and uhm, like, Sean and like the Hot Ones people were there, handing out, like, on platters, like, here, take like, the hot wings, and they were the nuggets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is just like chemical brutality though. This is not even the nuance of spice. It's just killer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ralph, you wrote down on the list, Dragon's Dogma. I know you chatted about it a little bit last week. Are you like at a different, did you not beat it last time and now you did?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I played, I played some of one and watching the lead up to two, I was kind of just very interested because I was like, ah, this looks like more of that, like straight up. Like they just did it again. So that, and then hearing you talk about it, this is going to sound like a, this is going to sound silly, but like I live for the butt.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so I'm playing on PS5, uh, I am pretty early, so I'm just gonna stick to like the early impressions and preview stuff. Uh, but so far it seems like a solid, uh, simple Metroidvania. I expect it to be blown out more as you go, but uhm, I like how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Interesting to play a metroidvania that as you're traversing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, the team has been talking about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Leading up to this, uhm, and it's just fun. It's simple, uh, like I said, simple because I haven't unlocked everything, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I am a sucker for like a good skill tree, a skill tree that feels meaningful or like everything you unlock is actually worthwhile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just looking at the skill tree, I can like see that and I'm like, all right, cool. Uh, it's pretty slow to dole out points at first, so I haven't unlocked too much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But just getting into the flow of the game, like, you know, like you start to get into that like comfort flow with a metroidvania, you know, that flow state, uh, I'm just starting to hit that. And I think the fact that at least the game has that and I've hit that is, is good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you notice that like, one thing I found pretty, uh, particular was how often some chunks of the map are really, really vast, where even if it's just a simple platforming segment,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, now I'm losing my voice. Even when sometimes it's just a simple, like you jump across a pit, you know, uh, but sometimes the game will just zoom out and it's like really big and it's just got like a big skybox and like you're a little dot jumping on a platform. It's cool to see. I like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well I'm gonna keep playing through it, so I might check back in or make a video, but, uh, let's move on to the show and tell segment, where everybody brings a little something that isn't a video game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I don't have anything other than Fallout. That was like the main event that I talked up. Uh, Lucy, you saw Monkey Man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For sure. Uh, now with the show and tell notes, Ralph, you didn't write down what you're gonna talk about, but I think I know what you put. What do you think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was speaking to a friend about it, and they had said, so this isn't my original thought, but it's essentially like, it isn't nostalgia play to a point, but it's also like, they're like, okay 90s kids, like, we're all adults now, and we want to keep going with the story, but we are all adults, so let's see what we can do with that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With like, artistry to it. Real artistry. Absolutely. And it doesn't, like, you don't feel like, ah, they reuse that scene, or like, they're holding that scene to kill time. Yes. It is like, from the visuals, to the sound design, to the framing of everything, it is like, it is art.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I really, I really think we could do a whole podcast episode or some sort of video on this at some point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It would have gone viral either way. If a product isn't good, it's not good. And people will find out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, with that, uh, let's wrap this up. This was a, this was a great, this is a great show. This is a great way to bring me back, guys. Thank you. It was good to talk to you guys.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a podcast that's here every other week. Uh, I wanna do the hot ones thing. Uh, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you got going on in your life. That's what he says at the end. So plug your shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you. That's really it though. So with that, uh, thank you for listening, watching, you know, clicking the like button or rating on podcast stuff does help us. Uh, the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The email is, uh, uh, what is the email? ContactFriendsPerSecond.com. I forgot it once again, but if you want to send us questions, please do, but we'll see you soon. Uh, thank you very much for watching. Tie your shoes and go to bed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yea, we've always been the on demand people and we'll play this live and the Netflix stuff couldn't handle it and so everyone was like, cool, why did we just put this on demand?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was also like from the earnings earlier this week, Azure and all the cloud stuff like overperformed. They, I pulled it up on Yahoo cause I was like, I remember, I wanted to remember the deals, but like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Expectations of 21.9 billion and actually brought in 22.1 billion, which is not a small amount.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I always, I love Game Pass as a service, for sure, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Disney, Playstation are trying it, like they bought Bungie for god's sake, they bought Insomniac, they're obviously gonna buy more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It just does feel, it feels very strange and like, I think, I think gaming used Cold War as the perfect way to kind of describe it because this has been dragging on for a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now there's no end in sight. Like, Microsoft is gonna have to pay the three bill if it doesn't go through...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Activision Blizzard's gonna have to pay the two point whatever bill if that doesn't go through from their side. It's just gonna drag on and on. We're gonna get more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] King makes so much money! King makes an enormous amount of money, and people, yea, we, like, we're guilty of it, we left it off the name, and like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my god, smart glass, that was gonna be the next big thing. Yeaah, after a partnership with Microsoft and Nokia's subsequent market struggles, 2014 they bought the phone business as Microsoft Mobile and uh, yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, in terms of, in terms of Microsoft, like I completely agree with Jake in that the games are not there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're still waiting on another Gears. Like I really enjoyed Gears 5. I'm eagerly awaiting 6.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then all of their other kind of tentpole franchises.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like Fable, I mean, obviously you've got Forza that's hitting every year, which is great, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, nothing else is really there. I'm excited for Redfall, but is that gonna be the system seller that they want it to be? I don't know. But I mean, in terms of good things, Game Pass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're making all the right moves but we haven't seen the payoff yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's why we keep having these discussions is because they haven't had a big, big, big.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Successful thing go through for a while, but it has just been these little thousand cuts of bad news for them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember people thinking that like, yea, it wasn't just going to be 2020, it wasn't just going to be 2021, it would impact all the way through 2022, beyond. So maybe that is what's happening. Well, yes and no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But announcing stuff to bring talent in to actually make the things, like Blizzard just did that with their survival game too, right? But yea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not at Microsoft, but they did include it in that bit, didn't they? It was like all of these games that we're showing will be 12 ones.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] According to thegamer.com, at last year's Summer Game Fest presentation, Xbox showed off a new gameplay trailer and then promised that every game shown, including Silksong, would be playable within the next 12 months. So maybe they'll get around it by putting a demo out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was that overwhelming at all? It sounds like there's a lot going on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did like Breath of the Wild, I played 35 hours of it in 2020-21, but I never finished it, and my worry is, uhm, I've spoken about this before, my attention span is terrible, and I can't make plans for myself in a game, I need...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A story, I need something pulling me along for the ride the whole time and so I worry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That in a sandbox, and I'll get Tears of the Kingdom. I will play Tears of the Kingdom, but I worry about how long I will actually stick with it because of the weird way that my chronically fatigued brain works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember when I previewed Breath of the Wild, like, it was choppy before release. Like, pretty bad. I remember walking away from it going, ooooh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wasn't there a thing today where someone said that they saw a job listing and it had like, uh, let me find it. Nintendo job. And it was something about like next gen hardware and everyone was like uuuh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here we go. Yeah. Uh, Nintendo job listing mentions next generation platforms and cross platform development.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh hang on, wait, this is from comicbook.com


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm going straight to the source. I'm going to the Nintendo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've been doing my, um, uh, my, like, history of, history of Zelda video. And what's quite funny, all the stories, like I'm reading all, all the old Asuka Watas, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of the stories about Miyamoto with relation to Zelda is that he's actually pretty cantankerous and disagreed a lot with the team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there was one, oh, there was one, oh, there was one story I read where basically,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He just like, the three developers came in and they showed him something. What was the one where Link turns to the paper? I think it was for that one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely. I don't need it. And also, my apartment is 650 square feet. I don't know where I'm going to go or I can't see my TV, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jesus, you end up getting over the motion sickness. So I played a couple hours of Dead Island 2 and oh boy, your girl's sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was enjoying it though, that's the thing, which I was kind of frustrated by. Like I was enjoying it, it was...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mindless, like, but also the thing that got me is that I think it's way better written.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, doesn't try too hard to go for complete photorealism, so that it looks bad, like I think it's, I think the art direction's really pretty good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hope so as well, because I don't think Dam Busters really had anything that's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hit for a while, cause didn't they do, uhm, oh god, what was that game that they made? With like the- Uh, Homefront.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, homefront the revolution. Yeah. It feels like they haven't really had much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have you ever browsed in incognito mode? Well, it's probably not as incognito as you might think. And why would it be? Incognito mode, like the Chrome browser itself, is a Google product. And Google has made its fortune by tracking your movements online. There's even a five.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incognito does not mean invisible. So how do you actually make yourself as invisible as possible online?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So obviously you want to be as invisible as you can be online and protect yourself. And with Express VPN, every time you connect to it, you get a random IP address shared by many other Express VPN customers, which makes it way harder for third parties to identify you or


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Harvest your precious, precious data. But it has other uses too, doesn't it, Ra?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I miss channel four on demand. And so if I'm, if I want to watch stuff, like come dine with me, I log in and I'm pretend like I'm back in London and I use ExpressVPN.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hard mode, where is the colon in Star Wars Jedi Survivor?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think it's bad. I don't look like a bunch. I've got like a handlebar mustache that I unlocked for him, but then I was like, nooo, Cameron Monaghan's a good looking guy, I don't want to give him all that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, of course. Every time you open a box or something, you get a little bit of experience. Or if you find a force echo or something, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't begrudge people who like Star Wars, I just cannot keep up with it. It's very exhausting as an online person. Uhm, and some of it has just been straight up bad. You know, like, talking about the TV shows and stuff, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some of it, great. Apparently the Clone Wars is fantastic, but you know, you look at something like... Ooh, Boba Fett.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but anyway, so as someone who doesn't really care about Star Wars,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I found it very approachable to- I- I-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will say, my biggest piece of advice, watch a recap on YouTube because the one in game is like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, so watch it on YouTube first.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the performances are great. I think it's a, I don't want to damn it with faint praise by saying it's a good Star Wars story. I want to say it's just a good story, period. And I think it's really pulling me through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the two things that really, um, three things that I wanted to call out. Number one, have you guys seen the trophy names? Cause they are really funny.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, it's really good. I found myself getting into such a flow state very, very quickly because it is a, to quote a Ralphism, it's a video game ass video game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love how good, I love how everyone's like, no credit, credit where? Yes. That's right. Thank you game controller. But like, I picked up that controller and I, I fell off Jedi Fallen Order pretty quickly at it. I think, well obviously it came out same year as Sekiro and you know, where I put my...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, uh, went the direction I went. But this one I was like, immediately running on walls.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even though, even though I will say, they are not so overbearing with telling you what exactly a runnable wall looks like, it's not, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I really appreciated that, but I found myself getting into this flow state.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as soon as I was unlocking shortcuts, because I still don't really like the map in it, the map is a bit...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, a little more confusing than I kind of would like, but as soon as I was unlocking shortcuts, just figuring out the way that the world worked, figuring out how combat fit into it, figuring out how Jedi powers worked into it. I love that it's called a Jedi flip by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Back around on themselves, the, the way that you can just kind of automatically recognize that I won't be able to get there just yet, but I will keep that in mind. Uhm, the way stuff opens up, I am really enjoying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Richard, Richard something, cause I looked this up today. Yes. Richard Horvitz.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say creature battles more than- I suck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause it's, what, 15 years for GTA 4, 5 years of Red Dead 2, 10 years of GTA 5.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So mine is not, I don't know, I was surprised at this one, I felt it came out much more recently, but six years ago this week was What Remains of Edith Finch, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I've never played it. As someone with a weird family who has experienced a lot of death.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] About grief and death and, uh, family members who...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe don't necessarily communicate as much. And, uh, all set in this really beautiful, quirky house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I just remember the first time I ever played it, getting completely overwhelmed by it. I mean, everyone's always gonna call out the, uh, the bathtub.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think if you've played the game, you know exactly what I'm talking about with the bathtub and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was just such a creative way to explore grief.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's kind of one of the games that I always point to when people ask me, you know, what more is there to do with video games beyond shooting or...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did notice that when we met up with Richard earlier, he did say, uh, love this project. And I was like, yay. He did say he loves this project.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, there is a bunch of exciting stuff happening on Gamespot week of May 1st that I can't really go into too much detail about, but-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know. So if you head over to youtube.com slash games, but you get to see a bunch of cool stuff that we've been working on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and we're all very excited to launch it and kind of get it out there, but I don't want to obviously say too much right now, but May 1st, youtube.com slash gamespot and there'll be some stuff on the website too. So please be excited.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I learned that the hard way because I booked a podcast appearance and I was like, yeah, I can get up at 5 a.m. Now that savings kicks in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so, turns out that's actually 4am, and we had to get up half an hour early for prep, so that was great. Drop Frame podcast, by the way, if you haven't checked it out, it's actually a great podcast with some, some very cool guys, so, yeah, but it was very


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. Uh, very excited for this next block. We are joined by none other than Joe Blackburn, who is the game director for Destiny 2. And it's just first of all, welcome. Awesome to have you here. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So tell us how, how long have you been in the position of game director? When did that start?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right. Yeah, cool. And how did it feel to be handed the reins to that sort of gig? Cause like that's a, that's a big deal, right? That's a big job in the games industry. When you, when you, when they sat you down in that meeting, like how did that, how did that go down?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, so is that obviously that is definitely a step forward in that, um, for, for new lights and bringing people into the game. Would you say that that is sort of the limit of it as far as Bungie sees or are there more things planned in the future for how to onboard people better?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, I mean, just turning to Lightfall, obviously. For anyone not aware, Destiny just launched a major expansion called Lightfall. That's dropped two weeks ago now, is it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Feels like, feels like longer, because it feels like all I've been doing for two weeks is playing Destiny, so time is just this massive blur.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, a little over two weeks, I think. Yeah. Yeah, sure, sure. It's yearly expansion. It's always a big deal in Destiny community. Uh, Joe, as we start to talk about this, I feel like there's one question that I need to begin with. You know what that question is. I know what that question is. Anyone who has played this campaign knows what this question is. So Joe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What is the veil? Can you tell us right now what the veil is, please?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you're sort of saying to us that more information on the Veil will come sooner rather than later, it will come in game, uh, it's on the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, okay, cool. Uhm, so I feel like, you know, um, Lightfall drops, and I think there's been some different phases to its reception.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, I think that was that initial phase, you know, when it just dropped and I think people had quite a raw response to it for a variety of reasons. And I think that shifted somewhat as people have moved into the rest of the expansion and experienced different parts of it, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I'm interested to get your perspective on what it was like in the studio in those opening days when obviously there was a lot of feedback coming at you thick and fast and a lot of it I'm sure was quite challenging. So what was it like being at Bungie in those, in those first few days and seeing player responses?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pivoting back a little bit to what we were talking about earlier in terms of that reception to Lightfall. Uh, as I said, opening chapter,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, right. So I mean, we've sort of spoken about, uh, play reception to the game. What's, or to Lightfall I should say, what's been like your reception to Lightfall and what do you think it's really nailed and what do you think perhaps hasn't and that you'd look to focus on going forward?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was actually really fascinating to hear your process. I didn't know that that's how you did that. Uhm, I guess coming back to that original question though, is from that week immersed in the game and feeling and seeing and listening, what were the things that have popped up for you as being like, okay, we really know this versus, okay, we've got to, we've got to direct some more attention here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which obviously has dropped, it's uh, Root of Nightmares. Uhm, lot of discussion in the community with relation to that raid and how quickly it was beaten on contest mode and it's current difficulty tuning right now on normal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I mean, you're across all that noise. I think anyone watching Destiny is going to be across that as well. What's your general take on that discussion and in particular,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bungie go into this planning to make a raid that was quite easy or did that sort of happen by mistake or like, yeah, I guess those are the, those are the broad questions that I'm asking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, yeah, well circling back to that whole live service discussion thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's quite topical the whole live service discussion because, uh, right now there are plenty or in the last 12, 18 months, a lot of live services kind of dropping like flies. Destiny is one of the true live service success stories. So my question to you is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why is that? Like what have you guys managed to figure out that other people have not?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you think that the live service market is all carved up? The barriers to entries are so high that it's not impossible, but extraordinarily difficult for someone to come along and eat your lunch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or as you described there, do you think someone could come along and do that? Because, I mean, I've got my own view on that, but I'm just interested to hear yours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So obviously final shape is next year, right? It's definitely next year. Listen, it's not getting pushed to like 2025 or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. So, uh, so obviously we know that, um, like Final Shape is going to conclude this saga. Uh, and obviously you're not going to disclose what comes next, per se, obviously. Uh, but I, I wonder if- Wouldn't it be exciting if they did? It would be pretty cool. We would love it. We would love it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but I wonder if you could give us any kind of insight at all into like what you're looking towards and what, what part of that might be somewhat different from what the destiny we understand now or see now. But is there any kind of like directional visionary pillars that you're like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is, that is one of the, the Norths for us that we're aiming for. Is there anything like that you can talk about?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well, uhm, we're out of time. Uhm, we'd like to keep chatting, but obviously we know you're busy with your quadruple booked 2PMs. Uh, but yeah, we just want to say a massive thank you for being here. It's, uh, fantastic to be able to speak to you and, you know, congratulations on the success of the game, uh, ongoing. I mean, obviously I, like many people, am addicted to it for a reason.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and love it for a reason. So, uh, yeah, just, uh, thank you for all the work that you guys do and thank you for being here with us today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I think it was really good to talk to Joe. Obviously, he's not gonna be able to give away the farm, no pun intended to any Disney fans, uh, with regards to what he says, but I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Always, I'm just, I was very interested to hear his thoughts on live service and what it takes to be successful because yeaah, like they are dropping like flies in general throughout the industry or like are they either turn up and they last for a little while or they just disappear or they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They arrive, they bomb straight away, and that's the whole narrative, you know, going forward. So, just to hear his insight into how they've managed to stand up and support that service, particularly around that culture of enjoying the game. I thought that was such an interesting thing for him to say, like, if you're gonna stick with a live service and actually manage it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then yeah, your people need to like the thing that they're working on. And one thing that Bungie has always been famous for, always, is that, well, certainly in the Destiny era, is that their people actually play Destiny. They really do. And I certainly speak to a lot of game devs who don't play their own games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and that is a differentiator. Then you can really feel that in the way that that comes through, what he said to us. Um, yeaah, obviously, you know, would've loved a little bit more of the specifics on Destiny and what's next and what have you, but I get it, like he has to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I don't do any gamer stuff, but I, I do this thing called body attack. What is that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So just basically picture aerobics. That's what it is. It's aerobics. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, uh, well, I think there's definitely need to say that there's still a lot of people that don't like this expansion and, uh, I would say that anyone who is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the fence about Destiny, plays a little bit of it, you know, jumps in and out. Those people, I think, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Generally pretty negative on this. Uh, and they're like, you know, there's not really enough here to like justify me coming back in and spending my money and time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd say that, uh, for the really hardcore players, you know, some of them really like it, obviously, because it has some really cool things. Like Strand, for example, is the new subclass. It's fantastic. It's one of the best things that Bungie's ever done. Full stop. They love it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's some cool end game activities, there's some nice new sort of guns to collect with perks and whatever. But bottom line, for a lot of players like myself, it's just more Destiny, and we're okay with just more Destiny, even if it doesn't like, pop off and it's incredible, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the same time, obviously, there are some hardcore players that are like, no, this is really shit, they hated the story campaign, they hate the new raid, it's very easy to complete, and hardcore players are disappointed with that. PvP is like, languishing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bungie does not give it anywhere near enough resources to sort of keep that scene alive and a lot of PvP players have moved on. So uhm, yeaah, I think that's how that breaks and then obviously there's like people like yourselves who just don't play Destiny and the question is like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I don't think it's the case. Like, I just think that there are still some big gaps in the game that make it very difficult to, uhm, come and become a Destiny fan. And that's one of the things that Joe mentioned on the podcast, where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We talked about new player onboarding and he's like, well, we've thought about like some system stuff, but now we're going to start thinking about how we introduce people to the world. And one of the big problems with them vaulting content, pulling


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because that's the end of that saga, and a new saga will begin, or perhaps even Destiny 3, who knows? But uhm, but for now, it just feels like you're really coming in on like episode 9 of a, you know, a 10, 10, 10 episode season, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, so yeah, look, unfortunately, it definitely has not hit the same highs that Witch Queen did. That was a real knock it out of the park kind of affair on most fronts. Uhm, this one is just a bit...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, IGN just issued their review, 6 out of 10. It's mostly negative on Steam, 33% positive, which is pretty disastrous to be honest. Uhm, so not-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, the story really sucks. Like it's hard to describe just how much it sucks, but it really, really sucks. Because like-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like the setup. The setup seemed cool. The setup is very cool and that's the thing, like we've kind of had two years of Bungie really nailing the story side of things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we've like, and we feel like we've moved past this meme where Destiny has no story or Budgie don't know what they're doing with story. Like we were past that. We were like, haha, you guys are using old information when you throw that in a Destiny fan's face. But now it's like, well actually,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We are still back there, and it feels so disappointing on that level because we just had such high hopes for it. It's the penultimate chapter in the saga, it's meant to be big, big shit is meant to happen, and it's almost no exaggeration to say


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Basically nothing happens in this expansion. Like it's essentially one cutscene split in two. You see the first half of the cutscene at the beginning of the expansion. You see the second half of the same cutscene at the end. Everything in the middle is just kind of filler that doesn't really make sense. And, um, it's just kind of a tutorial for the new Strand subclass. So, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everything good that Lightfall does is sort of under the shadow of that disappointing campaign. And it really, it really sort of like takes the wind out of the sails across the, across the board, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is. It's super fun. And if there's anything that's gonna make a Destiny fan out of someone who's not interested or bring someone back, it will probably be Strand. It's a grapple-based class. It's so mobile. It's very up, like, up close and personal. It opens up a very different playstyle to anything that's existed before in the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so it's a real, it is a game changer, I think, and Bungie cannot get enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cannot get enough credit for that, as in like, it's just difficult to overstate how good that is and how much they nailed that part of the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that's really that and the loadouts, you know, the fact that you can switch between different gear sets now very quickly. That's big. They're like the two things that they really slam dunked. Yeah, cool. Just well done. Everything else is a bit more like, eh, there's some problems with this. You know what I mean? So, um.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's, it's a bit of a bummer to be honest with you, cause I, I mean we're all very excited for it. There's still lots of reasons to be excited for the future of Destiny, but it does feel as though...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like again, coming back to what Joe said, they view it as a, as a, like they're playing sports. It's like a basketball game. And it's like you go out there at the start of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, a semi-final and you lose the match?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a very odd name, but like, yeah, cause the shapes are actually quite, um, this, this traveller is circular and what's attacking it is the pyramids, the triangular. And so, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The real enemy all along was the triangle. The three-sided shape. The three-sided triangle, that's right. So, uh, yeaah. I'm still interested.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like, and that's the thing, like, I think if we spoke about Destiny before this Lightfall launch, so I'm like, yeah, it's really exciting that you're gonna play Destiny now or whatever else. And now I've played Lightfall, I'm like, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say, you probably don't need to play now. And like, it's just that, that's, that's one of the biggest disappointments. Cause as a Destiny fan, we all want to be able to say to people, totally man, you should play Destiny, it rules, it's so cool. But like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We can't really do that right now, and Lightfall. We haven't been able to do that kind of ever, I feel like, because it's had too many issues with Destiny. And we really hoped that Lightfall was that thing where we'd be like, nah man, this is sick, you should totally jump on this. Fortunately, it's not that, and uhm, just feel like waiting until Final Shape might be the better jumping in point, fingers crossed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like, but I know that a lot of hardcore fans really didn't like 2 for its sort of like some of its changes and in particular some of its omissions. Uhm, is there anything missing so far in your playthrough or is it just, is it all there but they've just changed up some of it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I didn't love it because the jump in tone wasn't quite for me. I was very much a Resident Evil 2 and 3 dude and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, I think that's mirrored in how I approach seven and eight because seven is very self-serious and then eight starts to reintroduce a little bit of that, just a little, you know, the, the, the merchant thing and just like the, I don't know, it just, it started to get a little bit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it just started to get a little bit more funky and I really liked how straight Seven played it. I loved it in fact. But I get why, you know, why the series needs to change or whatever. My point with all this is I'm really interested to go back or to now play the remake, uh, because I don't remember much of Four. I really don't. As I said, I finished it once a long time ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was it. And so while I remember some iconic moments, it's going to be quite fresh for me. You know what I mean? And I'm interested to see how I respond to it now that I've had two and three remake, seven and eight, uh, as well as stuff like, you know, dead space more recently. And I'm trying to get those other survival horrors we've seen outside of that in the last few years, have we?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It looks fun. It looks fun. I mean, just, just briefly on a similar, in a similar vein, Nintendo exclusive, I actually also played, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now this I want to hear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really nice actually. Um, I really enjoyed it. It was not at all what I was, well, I was expecting it to be what it is. Not described. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And my brain actually couldn't do it. And as in like, I would kind of just like steer one character for a second and then steer the other character. And that was it. You know what I mean? And like it's fine because the game is very easy. You can get through it no matter, no matter like how bad you are at that. But I was definitely like, nah man, my brain can't handle this. This is not working.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, even despite that, Comet is still quite fun because it just has really nice animations and Cheshire has a number of really interesting fun forms that he can transform into that have different abilities. There's some Metroidvania woven in there as well and uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly, and it's like, I would have loved to have seen some of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I understand that it was developed by platinum in house. I don't think they outsourced it to someone else. And so it's kind of like, I, I'm going to guess that just a smaller team worked on it. Um, perhaps it was young talent they were trying to cultivate and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They went in a totally different direction than anything one could have expected. Disappointingly, it's not co-op, and you say is Tale of Two Brothers, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So weird that they chose not to do that. It feels like a real miss to be honest. I think this game would have been a better product overall had you the opportunity to do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea, it's, it's, it is, also Brothers doesn't have any combat if I remember correctly. It's just that kind of narrative puzzle exploration stuff. So yea, this definitely has a very chunky combat component. There are dungeons that you will discover and that you'll have to beat like little


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look, it's a good game. As I said, it's just not a Bayonetta game. And, uh, if you're looking for a nice puzzle adventure game, I really recommend it quite strongly in fact. But if you are looking for a Bayonetta game, I'm pretty sure you'll be disappointed by this because it's not it. Interesting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I played the demo during- this was one of the big darlings of, not the most recent Steam Next Fest, I don't think, maybe the one before, I forget, I think I missed the Steam Next Fest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Played the demo, really loved this, uhm, and yeaah, got in touch with the publisher, they sent me a few codes, and so yeaah, I sent a few out to different people, and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is the best of all the shows. It looks great. I wanna watch it. It is the best of all the shows.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've been playing a lot. Uhm, I've been playing a lot, yeaah. I mean, I, uh, briefly, uh, I played this finals, and it's like from a whole bunch of, uh, former...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dice developers who went and formed their own studio in Bach. It's really good. Like if really, if you like old school battlefield and you love being able to blow up buildings in a competitive environment, it's just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, well, no, Levolution is hard baked. Levolution is like a script. This is like literally any route. This is like Red Faction, but a multiplayer shooter, right? Uh, well, obviously I had that as well, but anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have to deal with it. Yeah, it's really good. It's in closed beta right now and they'll do future beta rounds in the future, but very much recommend putting that on your radars. It's just a really good time. Super well made. Uhm, I played Dead Island 2. Did anyone else play that preview? Was it just me? No, I think it was just you. I watched your video. Good video. I watched your video. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I actually haven't played Dead Island 1, so I don't really know how to respond to that question.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I've definitely seen other preview coverage land where I expected it to, which is some people are like, this is outdated. This isn't bringing anything new to the table. This is like old, whatever. And I'm like, yes, I actually agree with all of that. And that was very much what I thought as I started playing early on. The more time I spent with it, I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As Jake would say, video game ass video game. It's just uncomplicated and it's not trying to be a live service. It's not trying to have this big ambitious storyline that's fucking ends up fucking sucking even though it's wasted like, you know, 30 hours of your life. The open world is not too big and bloated and full of bullshit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just like, let's just make a simple ass fun zombie game, and that's what they've done. And so I ended up enjoying my five hours with it, and I'm actually looking forward to spending more time with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but I absolutely anticipate that it's gonna get a 75 on Metacritic. Some people are gonna be like, this is shit and boring. Some people are gonna be like, this is not worth the asking price. I'll buy it at sale. I think all of those things are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you want to play with your friends, or alone, I think this is going to do the job. You know what I mean? Like, it does what it sets out to do. So uhm, yeaah. Exactly, exactly. You know, and I think it's like rare for a lot of games these days, but yeaah, it does that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Weapons, they're not particularly complicated. Enemies, they're not annoying to fight against. Like, you just realize in so many games that there's like a few things that really piss you off and you're like, oh that part of it's really annoying. Denon doesn't really have any of those things. It's characterized by its lack of ambition.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but as a result of that, it's just able to nail its fundamentals very well and is just very enjoyable as a result of it so long as you're down for that, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, yeaah, played through that, and then the other thing I played through was Atlas Fallen. Which, I will have a preview up on the channel by the time this video goes live. I know a lot of people have question marks about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No one really knows what it is at this point. They're like, is this the surge, but in the desert? Or is this friggin' forespoken?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not a Souls-like, first of all, I will clarify that. It is much more like Darksiders. Uhm, Darksiders 2, I guess. With its open world structure. It is good. I like it. I did like it. I am wanting to play more of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there's definitely some challenges with it on the PC. It definitely ran like shit. Uh, but it's a preview build. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on that. Wouldn't be the first preview build that I played that ran poorly that ended up running well at launch. So we'll just have to wait and see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I would say the combat is quite floaty, and I think people who want really deliberate, precise combat, like Surge for example, which is the game they made before this, that's not here. It's much more about the spectacle, it's about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You fill up that momentum bar and it actually upgrades your weapon and attacks as you go so your little axe thing becomes a much bigger axe thing after you hit the second momentum bar and then at the third level of momentum your axe thing is like fucking huge and you just swing in massive cyclones and whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Plus your abilities become, yeah, it's actually quite a clever combat system in terms of how it scales up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but yeah, it is still, as I said, it's about the spectacle. It's not quite precise. Um, some of the encounters can feel a bit spammy, a bit button spammy as opposed to more deliberate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, yeaah, so look, I... I feel like this one has a bit of an uphill battle ahead of it, because I feel like it's gonna get compared to Fuspoken for example, which had a very similar vibe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In terms of, it's in the, it's in the desert, it's very open-worldy, like you go meet an NPC and he's like, go and kill me some, some birds or whatever and you go and kill the birds and you find a statue and you need to find another statue that connects to it and you, and you connect seven statues together in the time limit and that's how you unlock the reward and you find chests lying around.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's got a very open-worldy trope structure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, as well as a combat system that's not particularly precise. The Surge is a very hardcore Souls-like game. It's Surge 1 in particular, punishingly difficult, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is so different to that. This is way more accessible. It is an open world action game. It is not a Souls-like. It's for everyone. It's not for a select audience. Uhm, and I think some people will be disappointed with that. Personally, I think I'm a little bit disappointed with it because I really love the Surge and I was just, I would love the Surge 3.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, I'm interested enough with what they've got here to want to see more. I would say that. I definitely enjoy myself. I'm keen to see more. But there's definitely some question marks that I'm holding in my mind as I, you know, look towards a review.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, no, no. He, he was a good guy before he was a bad guy, but he crushes the bad guy role. I actually rewatched Titanic when I was on the plane to Japan. I'm like, god damn, this movie holds up. Everyone's performance is fucking rockin', but Billy Zane really crushes it, man. Every scene he's in, he just, he crushes it. Yeah, we watched it a couple of times.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This will depend on who you ask, like he wasn't saying it was a universal truth. Sure. So if you're at all interested in JRPGs, I would personally say Final Fantasy 10, similar to the conversation we had a few weeks back, where I think it's a really interesting intersection of, um, the older style gameplay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We've got a really, really bangin' storyline, main characters, and just kick ass music. Music is amazing. Some of the spectacle is, is outstanding. If you go back and watch the clips on YouTube today, they still hold up and still look awesome. Um, you know, I think there's,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lots of older JRPGs you could play, obviously, that really kind of like show you the roots of the French, of the genre style. But I think in terms of accessibility, like really getting into that style of game, I think Final Fantasy X makes it quite easy to do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 24 years ago today, EverQuest came out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone says, oh wow was the first MMO is the troll. And then obviously highlighting the fact that EverQuest was the first MMO. And there was probably an MMO before EverQuest that we don't really even know or talk about or remember.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, I think it was obviously a fascinating time. I would have loved to have been a part of that. I definitely spoke to people when I played WoW who had come from EverQuest and hearing the stories of that game and how fucking gruelling it was and like we talk about the way we complain about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The stories that I heard about what it was like to actually play Everquest, it sounded like the most horrendously awful experience I could possibly envisage. It sounded like torture.


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[Assistant] People loved it, and that's, that's, that's, you know, that's how we got our MMOs today.


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[Assistant] The former game director for Destiny 2, Luke Smith, used to be a guild leader for a big World of Warcraft guild and he


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[Assistant] He's got also, he's got some serious shit done in that game as well. Like, you know, world first or server first for this Scarab Lord, which is like a really big deal back in WoW. So, uh, yeah man, hardcore gamers make hardcore games. You're gonna thunk it. There you go. They graduate.


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[Assistant] Alright, Ralph. Yes, uh, you'll find me here on this very YouTube channel, or if you're on the podcast, then you'll find me at Skill Up on YouTube and on Twitter.


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[Assistant] I let it air dry today instead of using a hairdryer.


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[Assistant] It took like a year to come together and so, you know, I just haven't had a chance to do laundry yet.


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[Assistant] As soon as I saw it, I was like, oh my god, that's me. I've never seen myself be, uh, immortalized in fabric in such a way. Uhm, but our friend Mikey, at Obsidian, has, is like,


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[Assistant] Has a puppet of himself, like, knows a puppeteering place, and I think that's how Tam got this, cause you know who else has a puppet? Uh, Jake too.


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[Assistant] He also has COVID of himself. Uhm, and so yeaah, this one. Like, the goose.


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[Assistant] That I will get with as puppet. But it's also, it's just like, it genuinely, as soon as I saw it, I was like, that's me. Uhm, it's really cool.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and it's also like, it's super well made.


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[Assistant] So I will say, my arm, because I was on the ground, uh, behind the scenes, Jim Henson never had to deal with this shit. No, um, no, I, cause I was on the ground there, my arm actually does hurt, but that's obviously because I'm very weak. So, you know.


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[Assistant] It's one of those things that's like never crossed my mind in my life that I would have a puppet. But now I just kind of want to learn how to use it.


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[Assistant] So we can have our own version. I've got mine.


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[Assistant] I mean, Ralph, you're back after a month away. Don't ever leave us again.


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[Assistant] Too horny, according to some people, which I-


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[Assistant] I think all the time about leaving this website, but this was the first thing I saw when I logged in today and we're never leaving and it was...


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[Assistant] Anyway, this is a podcast about video games. Sometimes. Sometimes.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I know Ralph, Jake and I have been putting in a lot of time, a worrying amount of time. We're all kind of sad that we're not playing it right now, but we're happy to be here among friends to talk about it. Yes, yes.


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[Assistant] We are also going to be chatting about what is our game of the year so far? Because up until Baldur's Gate 3, it seemed like Zelda.


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[Assistant] According to Steam, I had a few hours in early access though, uhm, so I would say like 23, 24 maybe? In the last week or so?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I played, I played a lot. Uhm, I've been kind of sick this week, so I've played a lot, it's been great. Uhm, I, uhm.


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[Assistant] Well beyond the goblin camp, I'm following the githyanki stuff now. Okay. Um, yeah, and I've, I've gone to a different. Map. Area. Yeah, different map. Right.


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[Assistant] Would not like you to do a completionist run because I don't think it's physically possible.


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[Assistant] Oh, except, oh, there's no, there's one check that you absolutely cannot.


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[Assistant] I'm not getting that at all, cause one of my characters has like super high perception, so I...


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[Assistant] As long as, like, I always check that, like, as long as that character, like, my character has seen stuff, or if it hasn't of, like, a star in or someone, I swap to them.


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[Assistant] And then I ungroup everyone, I move everyone through, I disarm traps, or, and so, and if I feel like I'm getting to an area where there's gonna be combat, I-


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[Assistant] Hold down on the controller and everyone crouches and you can see the vision cone stuff.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so I feel like I've maybe just adapted


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[Assistant] Because some of that was in like the lower levels for me, and then I kind of got more and more used to the game. Cause that goblin camp you mentioned Ralph.


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[Assistant] You can do things in there, you can, the first time I went there, I intimidated my way in.


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[Assistant] Uh, and then I did something and the entire camp turned on me and I think that was the training point for me where


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[Assistant] I took on the entire camp and won.


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[Assistant] And didn't call, like, reinforcements or anything, which you can do. There are some, uh, reinforcements you can find. Yeah, I got those guys as well.


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[Assistant] And I was like, no, no, no, I'm gonna do it. And I think at that point, like, positioning became...


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[Assistant] It all kind of locked into place, I feel like it didn't until that moment. Uhm, but yeaah, it's got me thinking in, you know, like, I tweeted this out earlier, and then, uh,