[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was messing around with some really fun weapons, like hot swapping between them in the middle of combat, using my jet pack in the middle of the field to like get a better position.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and I was like, there was a moment where I was like, oh snap, they, they built this game like a shooter. So I'm going to play the rest of this game like a shooter. Um, there are some moments that maybe I use stealth to get by, uh, like one side quest really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, leaned into stealth, which I thought was really interesting. But other than that, I go into these caves, I go into these science facilities and I fight all these robots and all these pirates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or whoever I'm siding against and I'm just lighting up the room. It is a ton of fun. As when you start to play it as a shooter and when you get those guns. And like one example I think is great is I picked up a six, like a six shot revolver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if I go into like a, like a gun bench, I would never build that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I picked it up and I was like, okay, let me see what this, what I'm working with here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That thing melted enemies in one go. It was just like BOLD.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was, I was really impressed, like, not just cause like, oh, Bethesda's like, historically the Fallout hasn't really been a great shooter, and that's why you invest your skill points in VATS or whatever, so, uh, but I came in as like, it's not quite Destiny, but they got something here for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't care all that much about the sort of dissonance between the, cause the main story they tell you is like, hey man, if you get involved in some crimes, we ain't gonna say shit. And I'm like, alright, sure. Uh, so when I go out to like do side quests where you're just lighting people up and you're just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your main action is shoot, and maybe sometimes you can get away with stealth, uh, and maybe you could, you could spec into stealth and like get that, that tree maxed out right off the bat, and you can get like some wild multipliers with silenced weapons for sneak attacks, but that approach isn't necessarily sustainable when you think about how encounters are designed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you go into these more or less combat arenas where you have like low level goons and you have like a couple of high level enemies and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This, these, these environments aren't designed for stealth. It's not like a Deus Ex game where you are meticulously understanding


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Enemy patrol patterns and I have different tools that have different types of effectiveness.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not knocking guards out, dragging their bodies, like that's not what this game is. So, and this game does funnel you into a lot of combat scenarios. So what are you gonna do? You're gonna shoot your way through. And the fact that they've put so much thought into how guns are built and how guns work in this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, you go and play this thing like a shooter, no matter what. Uhm, and, like, even you look at the combat skill tree, it's just how much more damage do you want to do with a type of weapon? Do you want your sword to be swinging that thing around with 20% extra damage, or do you want to do that for your rifle, your laser rifle?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, your grenade launcher, so, uh, there's a heavy emphasis on first person, oh, well you could do third person too, but there's a heavy emphasis on it being a shooter, which...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Again, I'm kinda glad that they leaned into something, uhm, cause if they didn't then I'm like, ah, what else, how else could they make that up? So, definitely a shooter with some RPG elements, for sure, but uhm, that's how you're gonna get through this world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's not how you get around the world. That's just like at all. Yeah, you like fat travel is the only way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are, there are some emergent moments that come out from when you go, when you fly to a planet's orbit, uh, like before you choose where to land, because you have to do that in some cases, uh, there are, but the, the game will present that with you within like a couple seconds of being in orbit. So the game kind of knows that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey, I know you flew to this planet because you wanna go there, but we're gonna tell you straight up, like, oh hey, there's uh, this, this ship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there are, there are cool things in there, like I ran into, uh, there's a whole side quest chain that I ran into that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had, like, I had to stop by this planet to make it to the actual planet that I wanted to go to, but when I went to that, the one in between, uh, to fuel up so I could make the next jump, I ran into another side quest that I fell down this rabbit hole where I was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, there's some of that personality comes through in those little emergent moments. So like, and that is kind of one of my favorite aspects of it. And like, speaking of the dogfighting real quick, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I agree it is very simple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's some side quest chains where you have to engage in like Star Fox style fleet battles. And I was like, hell yeah, let's go. And there are moments where my ship was just like, I rocked with the default ship for quite a while, but then I hit a moment where, oh, I need to either upgrade or I need to buy a new ship. And when I did that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I generally felt like the ship was functioned differently, like turning was way tighter, uh, the weapons were stronger. I could do like maneuvers I couldn't do with the other ship. So I like that there's an element when it comes to the ship combat and the actual ship building, I do like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I came in and started, you know, blasting fools and like really engaged, like really coming out on top. I was like, Oh yes. I'm really glad that the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So like that is one of the things I really liked about Starfield.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think that's one element I was surprised with, or maybe not so much surprised, but I did spend a lot more time in it than I had anticipated, because I had done it in Fallout 4 Settlement stuff, I played 76, and like I get the appeal of it, I just in


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, okay, there's kind of two things to this, is that I really like engaging with those systems, cause like, it's Animal Crossing style, I'm a, I love,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even if there's nothing on these hundred-something planets, even if they're barren and maybe there's a cave or a facility to loot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whatever, I just like landing on a foreign planet and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it's not quite right. I felt like I was like on a home buying show or something like, choose your home planet. And it was really, it was really cool. It's like, oh, this is kind of a tropical-ish planet with a nice horizon. It doesn't seem too hostile. So I'm going to post up here. And then I, that's when I started to get involved in the outpost stuff. There's a lot of cool stuff you can do with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Building, or like putting together a facility to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in the Fallout games and your mileage is going to vary whether or not you think that that stuff is cumbersome. I think some of it is, still is, but it hasn't improved, but it works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I just like tinkering with this. I get lost, I got lost for like a whole day. Like, okay, today, couple days before embargo, I already finished a bunch of quests, main story, whatever. I am just going to see where this takes me. And I was like, huh, wow, I really like that I have settled on this planet. I got some of my crewmates chilling here doing some work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause the thing with 76, it's an online game and I could share that space with other people. Uhm, and, and in 4 it was kinda like, well this is our first iteration of this style thing, so like, okay cool, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then at the end I was like, alright, what am I farming these materials for really? It's like, well it feeds into the research stuff, but then I have to go through like the menus and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do the inventory management thing, and this game has terrible inventory management, so it doesn't make me feel like I want to engage with those systems on a higher level. Uhm, so in a way, the way, like, the, some of the user experience elements kinda push back on, like, uhm, man, I don't feel like engaging with this anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So they have, they have something there though, and I think the possibilities are kind of, maybe they're limitless with this sort of thing. Maybe they can build out a whole ass planet that you built yourself. That would be cool to see someone like months down the line of other players doing that. So there's a lot of potential in the Outpost system that I really enjoy, that I like, but to what end is always the thing in the back of my mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just, I just stopped caring, uh, honestly, at some point you gotta just stop caring about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Managing your weight, uh, or your, your encumbrance and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Be like, okay, these are the, these are the only weapons that I'm carrying and I'm not collecting any more space suits. I'm not collecting any more helmets unless I see that they give me if I'm going to equip them because they give me better stats.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Otherwise, I'm not gonna worry about them because it's not worth the hassle. Even though I can sell them and make credits, I had to a point where I had so many credits that I paid off my house, uhm, I got my new ship, I decked it out, so at that point, I'm just holding out some money in case I run into a vendor who has ammo or health packs that I just need to stock up on. Uhm, so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At a certain point, I stopped, I stopped like actually picking everything up or looking at every little thing, especially when you're bloating, uh, dead bodies where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not gonna pick up their weapon. I'm not gonna pick up a regular ass Grendel, because I got one that has a billion other buffs on it, so, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eventually you kind of learn what you want or need to pick up. It's credits, it's ammo, it's digipix and med packs. And aurora if you want man, you can do drugs in this game. That gives you bullet time, which is kind of rad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes I just pull up the minis, boom, hit Aurora, and I'm just like, Max Payne type shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's, that's pretty interesting. Then I have the thing that counteracts my addictiveness to that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't necessarily think that this game is necessarily built for that, unless you are specifically looking to pick up materials.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's when it gets complicated and that kind of goes back to what I was saying about app posts and managing your materials because they're so heavy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like, well, I'm going to send this ship, this, this, this shit, this, this stuff back to my ship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then you have to worry about inventory management on your ship's cargo ship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's the least exciting part of the game, but uh, yeah, that, and I will say that that is not the egregious, the most egregious thing about the user experience in this game, because let me tell y'all about maps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, like I said earlier, there's something whimsical about landing on a planet even if there's nothing to do and even if it's like randomly generated. I like seeing what the atmosphere is like. What is it actually like on the ground level? But the procedural generation stuff, I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I kept landing on planets at random just to see what it's like and at a certain point I just told myself I'm not going to do this anymore because it's not worth the time of jumping from menu to loading screen to, to, to the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The landing animation to getting out of my cockpit. There's just too many steps involved to once I get on that planet, I know what the deal is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There ain't gonna be nothing for me here. Unless a side quest or a mission leads me to this planet, I don't necessarily have any business being there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, unless I'm, again, like I said, I was looking for an outpost, but that was way I was done with the game and like that's kind of what I was getting involved in, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, uh, it doesn't, I, when you mention if I would have preferred, like, fewer planets that are a lot more, like, well thought out and denser, uh, I would always prefer that over the latter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, I mean, that's not what this game is going for. Like, at a certain point I understood, like, that's not what this game is going for. I mean, they do have dense...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Building an atmosphere, building culture, building an interconnected web between all of these societies and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I think that there's, there's more to like, if they were to go with fewer planets, denser cities or denser planets, like they could have teased out a little bit more in the overall world, which would affect other elements of the game. Um, but that's just, I don't know, that's just kind of where my head was at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mentioned in my review too, this is probably the, I mean, this is, maybe it's not saying much, but the most polished Bethesda game. I had a couple crashes, like maybe three crashes in 60 hours of playing this game, and I played it on a minimum spec PC. I played it on my high-end PC that has a 3080 Ti in it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Series X, Series S, played on all platforms, and it was pretty consistent, and, you know, features like FSR2, which, uh, you know, SuperSamp, or scaling your image so you can play in 4K without having the demand of 4K on your PC, was so clutch, uh, boot, put everything on high, and it was, you know, there are some,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No matter what game it is, it gets dense enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I also mentioned that the 30 FPS cap on Series X and S is like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of disappointing that you don't have that option. I think we've grown accustomed to, I've always been a PC gamer, but I think also on, with these high end consoles, you kind of, you know, I could pick my options. I want lower res, higher frame rate, things like that. Uhm, this game is locked in whatever it, on the X and S that they give you. Uhm, but at least, you know, I'm not running around and getting like unplayable chugging. I didn't come across any of that. Uhm, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, not the, unless it like drops to like 720p and then up res's from there. Maybe I could see that, but that also does take a lot of resources for them, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I imagine, this is me just speculating, but at some point you need to cut your losses and be like, this is what we're gonna roll with, this is what we're gonna like, we're gonna optimize for this in particular because if we take time to optimize for other specs,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This game needs to come out at some point, it needs to be, you know, if...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are things that we can get away with just doing 30 FPS, 4K, and if we want to up-res, so I can imagine that there's a demand on the development side to accommodate for those sorts of things, which is why PC ports are, you know, generally more demanding for developers to pull off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think it's the, the series X and S are, are powerful enough to do that in the same way that I can bump settings down on PC to get higher frame rates. Uh, like those things are physically possible but,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I imagine them at some point like, let's just roll with this and make the best experience within these parameters, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, manipulate the systems to make it feel full, like Persona 5 has like the faceless, uh, like shadows just walking by, and it makes those, the subways and the city feel so full, and kind of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The NPCs do like some really dumb shit, like this is, this is not how humans act. But the fact that I was walking through a market that there's a ton of people there, I think that adds to the believability of being in that world. And so I think that's one thing that I do really like about Starfield.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, absolutely. And uh, like I called out the Crimson Fleet questline in particular in my review, because I still do feel like that is one of the best Bethesda questlines that they've done. Because my favorite thing is that it integrates the best parts of this game. Like it makes you involved in all the different systems, whether it be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is, uh, at least present in that. And that's a long questline too. I'm like, yo, this is main quest quality.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Where you are bouncing between two, you're, you're like, not to give away too much, but you're, you're essentially an undercover agent. Uhm, but there was a point where I'm like, oh wait.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, I'm an undercover agent, but as I do one of these quests, I kinda get attached to some of the characters on this side.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe I don't care so much about the characters on this side, uh, so it was really fun to actually make those decisions about how I approach things, who I side with, what I say to them, um, and like ship battles, big firefights, um, just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a showcase of other things as well, and it's, it's a brilliant questline, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I really gotta, really gotta hand it to them for that. And ever since I finished that, I was like, Oh, well, where I want more of that. I want to seek out more than I can't not. I haven't really found anything to hit quite on that level, but there are other quests, side quests, chains that, uh, tap into certain aspects that I really like about this game and maybe like the, that Crimson Fleet quest line as well. So, uh, there's where it clicked with me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if I expect them to dramatically change their formula, because I think, uh, I think I mentioned at the top that, uh, there's still, there's still things that you could tease out of this formula.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a way, I talk about Fallout New Vegas a lot, because it's one of my favorite games of all time. Again, that is an Obsidian joint, but it's, it showed that Obsidian can come into what is, what was essentially kind of a, like a janky, I mean the janky foundation, because when that game launched,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was the buggiest game I ever, ever played. Some people couldn't even run it, even on consoles. But there was a magic to how they wrote that game, how they chained quests together, how they, uh, choice and consequence and how it played out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Certain things that you did that you weren't even involved in a quest, but you did something else. You killed a certain character here, or you said something to a character here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now when I do discover whatever quest line it's like, wow, it completely changed the track I was on and the level of role playing in that game showed that there's still magic to be shown in the Bethesda formula because uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the end of the day, like, when I, when I think about roleplaying, it's choice and consequence. Uhm, and that's probably one of the weaker parts about Starfield. So uhm, I, I don't want.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think Starfield is a step back in some regards, and it's that, that I think it's a step back in being able to influence outcomes. Like yes, there are still moments you can influence the outcomes of the game, but the way in which those are reflected is minimal, I feel like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then they do some things really well, like with combat, and uhm, just showing fidelity and density in some parts. I'm like, oh, okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe this, this kind of foundation isn't as janky as we were led to or, you know, they, they figured it out at some point that yes, there's still bugs, but we can still build big and beautiful worlds within the system. We're not held necessarily held back by the technology on that front. So it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They did some really advanced things in this regard, but then they had to take some steps back in other regards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, and whether or not that influences Elder Scrolls 6, I'm not sure. But I don't see them straying too far from it because it is still a unique thing too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, Bethesda makes, the reason why we keep referring to them as Bethesda-style RPGs is because, I mean, some games try to do something similar, but there, there's a uniqueness to how they build their games. Whether you like them or not, you can't deny that they have a mark on like the vast,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or like, they have a, they have a pillar in roleplaying games. They have a lane. And they have dominated that lane.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Again, like whether you like it or not, they definitely have a style and people like things about that style and there's value in that still. So uhm, yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think it'll be in game of the year conversations, because, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So behind the scenes a little bit more, it's also about, uh, like how many people played


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because of that name recognition, recognition too. It's like, oh, from the makers of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, like, of course I'm going to play their new IP, the first IP in 20-something years. So it has, it has a lot of weight behind it. Uhm, and that's, that doesn't even, it doesn't even involve a conversation about its quality. It's just the fact that people are jumping into this on such a high level, or like, so many people are just jumping into this period. And uhm, like people are going to find things to love about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And to what degree they're, they are going to love the things that they find. Who knows, but I think it will be in the conversation. It's stiff competition though, like even if you absolutely love this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that the fervor and the passion behind people who absolutely love Tears of the Kingdom and people who love Baldur's Gate 3 is, that's a tough hill to climb. And I don't think, even I like, I love Final Fantasy 16, uh, and Octopath Traveler 2, those are my two favorite games of the year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That, that's a W for me. But I am not gonna fight y'alls, y'alls, the Baldur's Gate Sickos and the Zelda Sickos on this, man. Y'all can have their fight. I gotta say, yeaah. So, uh, it's really interesting. I think it'll be like nominated, uh, among different, um, organizations. But in terms of winning, I don't see that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We appreciate it. Starfield correspondent. Hey. Great review. Great coverage. Come back soon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And with that, I'm reporting live from San Francisco. I'm out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey folks, sorry to interrupt. My name is Jake number two, the editor of this podcast. And before we get any further, I just wanted to give you a heads up that they do touch on some spoilery stuff in this interview. So if you haven't finished God of War, I highly recommend skipping ahead about an hour. If you're on YouTube, you can just check the timestamps below. But anyway, with that, let's get back to the conversation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, I've gotta get power to that switch over there. Maybe I can lift that box up. I was about to say that wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, hold on, we have to stop something real quick. We have to introduce our host as well, Lucy James. That's right. Incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lady from GameSpot, from Giant Bomb, from her Twitch streams. You're always funny. If you're, if you're a West coast viewer, like I am, you can chime in late times and see her play games. It's a great time. Lucy the amazing. Thank you for hosting today, Lucy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone slept on it. It has seriously one of the best DLCs in, in gaming. The Jack the Ripper DLC is phenomenal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's heartbreaking. It really is. It sets a precedent, because here's the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All it takes is one. It takes one publisher, one developer to get away with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then everyone else goes, well, they did it so we can do it. And that's kind of, I mean, maybe it's just a jaded way to think, but that's kind of how I felt about the early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Monocetation process of DLC stuff, right? You know, obviously we all remember Street Fighter Cross Tekken, how Capcom put all their DLC on their disc, and then people were like, why is it all here? It's all done, this is bullshit. Uhm, but it kind of just takes one to kind of get away with it, and then the industry kind of changes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can kind of see those NFTs being evidenced with that. So to me, it's a shame that the industry at large is just forcing the consumers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now you could argue, oh, well you can go buy the game physically. Right, but the DLC is not with the physical game. You could still pull the same old BS if I buy the game physically and then there's an update that erases content or


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or makes that content invalidated, or what if I don't have internet out the box? You know, it sounds crazy, but there are genuine people who don't have good internet in the country, in the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wish there was kind of, if you are going to do this, I feel like there should be a mandate of there will be a game of the year edition to, to come out that will have everything incorporated because there are, there's even some companies that do game of the year editions that don't have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's frustrating to say the least, I think it's not fair to consumers, and it definitely sets a precedence that the thing that you own digitally is not actually yours forever. It will go away at some point, or it has the ability to change, which I think is messed up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yeah. I do, I do want to chime in real quick though, Ralph, because you said earlier about, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, what happens when content goes away? There are passionate communities out there that are trying their best to preserve games that are going away. And there's one community I'd love to highlight as we like talk about the ending on a higher note for this cause it's obviously a little bit depressing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I was in high school, I was, I was obsessed with the game called City of Heroes. Uh, I was not a big World of Warcraft guy. Uh, I did not like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so there is, like, you know, the alternative to World of Warcraft was City of Heroes for comic fans. And it was pretty expensive to maintain a, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A, the expansions and, and the online services. And eventually, uh, that team would go on to make another free MMORPG that was basically a different version of City of Heroes. And then both of those went free to play and then both of those got shut down and disappeared.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The community though, however, loves this game and is so passionate about this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can play City of Heroes on a fan-made server called Homecoming.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's the same game again with modern day improvements. You can play it in 4k. It comes to all the DLC packs. Like you can, they've made modernization of the changes for customizing characters. They've added assets. Like not only do they preserve what people grew up playing with this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They now improved it so that people who were like, I wonder if City of Heroes is still around or whatever happened to that. They can go and experience this renaissance of a game that they used to love. And I love that. That to me is saying, hey,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey company, you know, we get it, you moved on, but like we wanted to keep playing this thing. It's almost like we need more of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do a ton of, of fundraising for those guys. I should check in with Frank and Kelsey and see how they're doing cause, uh, that's not, that's not a good time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think $70 is too much if you've already purchased The Last of Us and The Last of Us or PS4. I think that if you are someone who's never experienced The Last of Us and this is you playing it for the first time,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you are someone who's been loyal to the franchise, who has purchased it separately,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I believe that if, I think 70 bucks is too much, if you are someone who has already played this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think regardless of, of what's being redone about it, you're asking a huge price point for a already con- a highly regarded but also controversial IP that is up and down all over the place for the last several years, uh, in terms of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Capital D discourse. Uhm, yeaah. I just- I- I personally think 70 bucks is too much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I loved, I loved both games. They both had a ton of faults, but I loved them intrinsically through and through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I, I don't, I have to see more. Like I think, I think Ralph said it best, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hate to say this, go the Netflix CGI Resident Evil animated route where you just have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've heard early grumblings that the new Resident Evil Netflix show is actually pretty decent. Oh hell yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I as a, as a inaugural gift to my fellow friends at G4, I rented a movie theater. I bought a bunch of booze and we went and saw it and it was like doing our own little riff tracks live because I have never felt more hurt.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I went, I saw it twice. I went once on Thanksgiving by myself and then the second time I had to bring friends because I couldn't make things up. I had to say, this is what happens in the movie. And they were like, what? And I said, let's go to the theater. I'll pay for it. Let's go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just want them to pick a lane and tell us what the lane is. Is this going to be a PAX where people can come in person and there's panels and there's events and there's tournaments and there's cosplay and all this stuff?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or is it, hey, this is a window into the industry and games journalists and content creators and streamers are coming to talk to games, uh, games media or games folks and the games they're making. And is that it? Because to do both.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think it works. It doesn't work. And if you're gonna go that route, you gotta copy what Gamescom is doing and clearly let both lanes exist in their own fashion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Depends on, depends on expenses. Can you spend a quarter million dollars renting a big old booth from the Los Angeles Convention Center? Quarter million is a very, very small amount.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It wasn't a big one. It was just, uh, we were at the Nintendo booth and he came by and forced all of us to leave. And then I had my Sony appointment and I went over there and they forced all of us to leave cause Kanye showed up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My, my favorite E3 story, uh, happened in 2019. Uh, previously before that E3 happened, uh, I flew to Japan, uh, for a preview event for, uh, Sekiro.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as I was out there, I extended my trip for two weeks so I could enjoy a vacation. And at the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we both the next day, like emailed each other, like, man, we went so hard, we shouldn't have done that, but it was so fun meeting you and hanging out. Fast forward to, to E3 2019 a couple months later, and I'm, I'm walking by, uh, just one of the halls and the translator recognized me and goes, completionist. And I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nothing will ever top that for me. That was just such a top 5 E3 thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look, all I want, I want one of two things. And they're very easy asks. One.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make a website that just memorizes all my login information so that every year I don't have to create an account and act like I've never been to the show before. Comic Con does the thing where once you're signed up and you're in their system, you never have to remake an account ever again. It's always good to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hire a company to do all your data storage because man oh man, uh, I don't want to get, I don't want my information doxxed again. I'm sick of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm gonna tell you about a little game called Vampire Survivors.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, with three for three. That's, uh, no, uh, in all seriousness, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not surprised by Nintendo not hitting the landing as much as I would have loved them to have in the last year or two of their releases. Uhm, Mario Strikers Battle League was a huge important title to me that, uh, wasn't bad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it wasn't great either. It was just fine. And I think like games that are just fine, I think make me more mad than games that are bad or games that are good, you know, because it's like, yeah, you were so close to the finish line. You just had it at a little.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember it for being not memorable. And that's, that's not a good thing. Oh yea, that one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, uhm, but I will say, you know, there have been plenty of surprises for me. Vampire Survivors was definitely the one that I didn't think was gonna, was gonna take me down a rabbit hole that I am now at 150 hours. Uh, I, I have tried, I have tried, have you tried streaming it Lucy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's nuts, it's nuts. I've tried to stream it several times now and it just does not, does not work. Uhm, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think for me personally, you know, checkpoint wise, I guess like talking about stuff that's like, been really good so far, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Horizon was incredible, and it just kinda felt like we forgot about Horizon for big and that was- I wonder why.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, same thing happened Breath of the Wild, right? Like Breath of the Wild came out, everyone forgot about Horizon. You know, Eldering came out, everyone forgot about Horizon, but both games, phenomenal pieces of work. Uh, I was, I was more impressed with the second one in terms of how clean it was and what the final product was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, honestly, I hate to sound like a snob, but I haven't bought as many games in 2022 than I normally would. I've been pretty conservative with my choices.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I don't know what that is, maybe it's just because the games that are coming out aren't for me, or if I'm just not as excited. I think I'm more excited to talk about games and to see previews for games than I am to actually play games nowadays, if that makes sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you're right, actually, Modern Warfare can't sell that short. I don't know, God of War just seems... Sorry, I'm in God of War mode. God of War just seems so... Just, it's sweep season, you know what I mean? It's coming.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They shut down the online servers on it, right? So you can't complete it? Did they?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have you guys ever played Klonoa? Yes. No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. I've never played Klonova before. Oh, oh honey. First time. First time playing it. My favorite genre of game is action platformer, 2D platformer, 3D platformer. I love platformers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On, on specific platforms, like people are enjoying Klonoa. So immediately I go, Hey, you know what?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All my friends on Twitter are saying Clonoa is great. I'm gonna play Clonoa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Picked up Klonoa and said to myself, you know what, maybe I should do a video on it. I'm still debating if I should do a video on it. Because after I've put in about, it's a short game, uh, I've put in about five and a half hours. And I'm bored.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm bored and I feel bad. It's really simple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like painfully simple. I don't care about the characters. The music is something I just don't care about. Like I just, I have no investment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I feel bad because I feel like I'm letting the Klonova fans down. I feel like everyone who played Klonova has a pretty huge affinity for it and nostalgia bone for it. And I just can't get into it. And I'm, I'm debating if I should.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Finish it if I should complete it because I found out there's also when you beat the games, both games, there is a hard mode where it's, if you get hit once you start the level over and you have to like, complete the stage completely 100% and that's, that's my business obviously so I'm in,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm conflicted about it because I, I appreciate what it did and where, and why people love it so much, but I don't know, Jake, maybe you can enlighten me because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It, I'm, I don't get it. There's, there's hitbox issues. There's, there's attacking enemy issues. The lore is, is nuts. I don't know what's going on. There's 12 stages. This is a short game and I don't know what's happening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh no, don't tell me that, no, not like this, no. As someone who had Serenisalgia for Tombaugh, uh, that was also one that, that, that, it was fun, it was fun, but it definitely was blown away by, by what I played.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, uh, I'll just say this last thing about Clonoa that we can move on. Uh, the hitboxes I think were my biggest problem. It's not very forgiving. Uh, whether you're close to an enemy or not, it can bop you pretty easily. And Clonoa has like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This grab maneuver, I don't know if it's a gun or a grappling thing, uh, it feels very,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, it just seems very, uh, the hitboxes and the, and the, the essence of it is just, just doesn't seem to click with me. It feels like it should be a little more snappier. It should be a little more, a little, I shouldn't be so close to the enemy to grab them. It should be, it feels like it should be almost like a scorpion kind of maneuver of get over here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just a little bit, but I don't know, I'm, I'm gonna sit on this, it's not my final feelings, I'll let you guys know in a fortnight how I feel after I get to the end. Yeah, I wanna hear you play it on the hard mode.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hear two is better than one, so I, and I'm, I'm almost at the end of one, so I haven't got to play two yet. You got that calling for you at least. Okay, definitely report back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm looking at a gameplay, uh, demonstration of it right now and I have to tell you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that the top right most recommended video is a video by a guy named Skill Up and it says, uh, Plague Tale Innocence the review. Please don't skip this. And right underneath it is, uh, a Plague Tale Innocence before you buy, buy a game. Look at us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You all spoke up. The comments have been positive, by the way. Thank you guys. You all said that, uh, you'd like to hear what happened in the week of gaming, not just the day in gaming. So I curated this list.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's going to be, uh, there are more games that, that came out on these days, but these are the highlights, the ones that we all know and appreciate and understand. So I'm going to try and go through the week of gaming, uh, year, many years ago, July 10th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] July 16th. You guys ready? Ready. Hit me. Always.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, July 10th, uh, we had, uh, Yumi Kojūō, Doki Doki Panic, 35 years ago, 1987, La Famicom, for you Mario 2 fans out there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Double Dragon 5, The Shadow Falls came out 28 years ago on Super Nintendo. Double Dragon 5 was 28 years ago. That is, that is, I remember playing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, Warhammer Vermintide 2, four years ago on the Xbox One, 2018.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Moving on to July 11th, we had Street Fighter II Turbo in Japan, 29 years ago on the Super Nintendo, 1993.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 25 years ago, that's fucked. That's properly fucked. That's the whole point of this segment is to make all of you feel nostalgic and bad at the same time. Yup, yup, yup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I always say this wrong because I've never played the game seriously. Everyone says, is it Suikoden? Suikoden. Suikoden. Suikoden? Suikoden 3 came out 20 years ago on PS2. Oh man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Kirby Air Ride, in Japan, 19 years ago, 2003.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Dragon, is it Dragon Quest? Dragon Quest 9 Sentinels of the Starry Skies came out 13 years ago in Japan on the Nintendo DS in 2009. And then, uh, more recently we had the Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XII's The Zodiac Age came out 5 years ago on PS4.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] July 12th we had Ape Escape 3 in 2005, 17 years ago in the PS2. And then we had Mario and Luigi Dream Team came out 9 years ago in 2013 on the Nintendo 3DS. That's basically it for July 12th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, this one's for you Jake, July 13th, the original Metal Gear came out 35 years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Super R-Type in Japan, came out 31 years ago on the Super Nintendo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, again this week, Persona 3 in Japan came out 16 years ago in the PS2. And more recently we had Captain Toad for the 3DS and the Nintendo Switch came out 4 years ago in 2018.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that came out 24 years ago on the N64. Star Fox 64 3DS. 3D came out 11 years ago on the Nintendo 3DS. That was another good pen. Good version. Yea. God of War 3 remastered 7 years ago on the PlayStation 4. And, uh, 2 years ago we had Death Stranding on the PC.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Donkey Kong Japan edition, 39 years ago on the NES, uh, as long as Donkey Kong Jr. 39 years ago, because that same day, the NES, the Famicom came out 39 years ago. So those were launch titles for the NES, Famicom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Legend of Mana Japan came out 23 years ago on the PS1, and then 13 years ago we had Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition for Xbox 360 and PC.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, our last day, we had one of my favorite games of all time, a very unwritten gem, Brave Fencer Musashi. Where the PlayStation 1 came out 29 years ago. I've never even heard of this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If that's, once, I hope that's a game that gets brought to PlayStation Premium. Cause if that's happening, that's a day one download for me. The game's incredible. It's a Gerard ass game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, it's like what? It's so good. It's like hybrid hack and slash, hybrid action platformer. All of the puns are about food, like all the, everything's about food, but it's not, has nothing to do with food. It's got, it's got voice acting on the PS1. It's actually really fun. Anyways.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD came out a year ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Friends Per Second Podcast. I am your host for this week, Lucy James, and joining me is Gerard Khalil, aka The Completionist.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a disaster pod. It's fine. It's the weekend. We can be excited and we can do all this kind of nonsense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, uh, we are hitched up on his channel. You know him, you love him, Ralph aka.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Depending on what we go with, you'll see that we have the lovely Jeff Keighley on, Ralph and I chatted to him about all things Game Awards, Gamescom, Summer Game Fest, all of the games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, just because pure desensitization, because I talk to so many people, but I, I, I, Jeff is also like, you'll see in the interview, like he's just so used to the kind of back and forth and he's, uh, he's really good value and so I really enjoyed chatting to him, I think it was a great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Content creators, you know, like breaking embargo is a big one. My new fear, newfound fear is, uh, accidentally hitting live and actually just be streaming myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm just gonna be talking about what we've been playing, uhm, you all have a steam deck, I don't. It's becoming- I'm getting-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe when I'm driving home for Christmas, I don't drive and also it would be a flight. Maybe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I set up Steam Link so I could get the feeling of playing my PC games on my TV.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, now I'm gonna have nightmares about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's your trauma bombing like? Honestly, like gaming fears, there's like, I don't know, losing saves, losing, uh, a friend of mine lost, uh, when he migrated his, uh, old switch to an OLED. He lost like all of his Animal Crossing shit. So, you know, strange things have happened, you know, you could lose, lose everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but we wanted to start, uh, this week's episode by talking a little bit about what's been going on with Bungie recently in particular.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, the kind of abuse, uh, online harassment that a lot of the Bungie staff members have been on the tail end of, uh, the receiving end of, sorry, and, uh, the steps that Bungie are kind of having to take and why is it...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The gaming seems to have this problem, whereas other mediums, uh, don't-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have it the same, the same way, uh, Ralph as the, the destiny boy, the bunny boy, I'm going to throw to you, uh, to give us a better overview of the whole situation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A Destiny fan but follows, uhm, obviously I know a bunch of people who work at Bungie, uh, they are kind of always at the forefront when


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Things happen for, uh, social justice or change like they'll speak up about abortion rights or, uhm, lgbtq plus, uh, members of staff like wanting to feel safe and included and they seem to have a very progressive culture i would say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the receiving end of any of this but it is very nice to see cuz i feel like community management in general is a very thankless job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're getting that shouted out by the internet and then you have to kind of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Siv that information into what is useful criticism and feedback for the team, but also what's noise, you'll get insults thrown at you. And so to see bungee, you know, actively like taking a step back to ensure the safety of their employees is fantastic, but it's like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you have other, other studios, very similar, like Warframe, for example, uhm, and it just, it just feels like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you hear this, when you see this kind of vitriol come to a breaking point, it's like, what else can people do? Like, is community management, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And kind of build each other up that way, right, in order to be taken quote unquote seriously, you know, it's, it's different. Whereas other me, like, I don't know. How would you, I mean, how would you even.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I dunno. It feels like, it feels like, it feels like video games, at least,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are a little bit more of an endearing medium because you play it, like you experience things in a different way, but it also feels like they kind of intertwine with each other a lot more, I guess. I don't know, film for me seems like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whereas with gaming it feels a little bit more ephemeral and, you know, those experiences like Overwatch came out in 2016, I'm still playing and talking about it in 2022, whereas Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's who I was in 2001 and that was how I enjoyed that film back then. You know, that's, I don't know if that's just how I process pieces of media, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I will have spent over half my life on social media.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, the mod community, you know, like, they got together and fixed Dark Souls, they, uhm, you know, games that have come out, like, full games. But that's an interesting example, because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I think one example that I think which is more in line with the question you were asking is when this community, uhm, you know, actively changed a game and made it better, I would say the Sims 4 community, like, uh, when the Sims 4 launched.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Compared to previous versions, even base game, it was not as full of features as it should have been. Like toddlers were missing, swimming pools were missing, and uhm, people were not happy with that game for a long time, but the Sims community


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Team, uh, is very, you know, they do streams, they talk about upcoming changes and, and, uh, new content and stuff. One of the big sticking points was, uhm, skin tones. And for a long time it was not representative and that's where the community kinda came in and like, shout out to xMiraMira here, uh, she made a pack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As custom content and then picked up in the community being like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I believe they work together to actually get that in the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so that is, that is, you know, the community seeing an issue with the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking, you know, speaking up about it and making the change and then the community team bringing it to devs and like it getting implemented in the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then you get, you know, there's that kind of stuff, and then you get...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, yes, you get like the great things that community can bring, like, you know, raising money for people who are sick. There's, um, people who role play, people who find friends, like there's so many great things that can bring, but then there's this line where shit like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mass Effect 3 happens, shit like, uhm, I think, wasn't it, they sent a bunch of cupcakes to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bioware and they were really nervous about them but like no one ate any of them because they thought they could be poisoned and it's similar with the pizza being sent to bungee where it's like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a kind of vaguely non-threatening way, vaguely threatening way of saying we know where you live or, you know. And so, uhm, doxing, uhm, that became common practice. Like, tracking people on like, people's family, that's the other thing. Like, why would you fucking reach out and develop this family?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think, I mean, I, uh, I mean, I guess before this, this chat's kind of rounding out, but like one thing that is happening and it's, uh, it's in the TV space.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's fucking fascinating. I don't know if you have seen what's happening with American Horror Story at the moment. A TV show I have not watched since like season 3.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Still pretty big but it's definitely on the decline and a couple weeks ago some of the like all of the biggest fan accounts. For american horror story bro a fucking and posted this joint letter that basically said the company is not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the TV company FX, whoever, is not promoting this show anymore, they're expecting us to do it for free, and the show is not as good anymore, and so it is basically like this labor, this emotional labor they are putting on the fans, and we're not doing it anymore. All the biggest American Horror Story Twitter accounts are just not posting about the new season. At all. They're just fucking done.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those, those Twitter accounts, like who are the people making gifs, who are the people uploading videos of your game or whatever to YouTube and it's like, it's, it's wild to see just how.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any final thoughts from anyone before we throw over to Jeff?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I mean, I make, uh, with Tam and Jeff over at Giant Bomb, we make the very online show. And I've always been interested in internet culture.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please consider this my plea to go and do so, cause it changes the way you think about social media. But the more I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The longer I spend on the internet, I genuinely think we as humans are not built for the internet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think, I don't think we are able to process the sheer amount of information that we are, uh, that is on hand to us every single day. And I also don't think it is helping our interpersonal relationships.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Speaking of, let's throw it over to our interview we conducted with Geoff Keighley that was done entirely virtually.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, we've had, uh, we've had Suzie, Sphere Hunter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hell yeaah. Uhm, well, so, I mean, this is gonna be quite an all-encompassing chat. I think one of the things, you know, that people, you know, when you talk to people who don't necessarily work in games, they always go, how did you get to where you are? And I think,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, everyone has their own story, but Jeff, what's your story? Cause you've kind of been...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All around and now you've ended up in this, in this amazing place as kind of like the Game Awards, Summer Game Fest and now obviously Gamescom opening night live.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was gonna say, so like, you kind of, you got those roles early on in your career because you were good at games, you knew them, you understood them. As your career has grown, like what, uhm, what else do you think has made you successful in kind of changing, uh, from being in the more journalist space to doing things like the Game Awards and Summer Game Fest?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was gonna say, so the game awards is pretty uniquely positioned because you kind of have the awards part of it where you are looking back and celebrating the games that have released, but you also look forward, you get announcers and new trailers and some people kind of, I don't know, not take Umbridge, but kind of think, oh, it should be about- Oh, they do. Because they're already out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you think about people who say that? Oh look, I mean...


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[Assistant] How do you see the show evolving? It's obviously getting bigger and bigger every year, but do you foresee any sort of meaningful changes to format or are there things that you've wanted to try with the game modes and it just maybe hasn't been, um, you know, the right year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Speaking of, uh, other sort of tentpole gaming events, obviously E3s.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Planning Summer Game Fest, wanting it to be digital, like having that in front of mind. What were your other objectives when you were putting the show together for this year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If, if E3 does come back next year, how do you see it coexisting with Summer Game First Playdays?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did it annoy you when people would say Summer Games Fest instead of Summer Game Fest?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, let's talk about your other, your other tent pole event coming up, uh, going to Germany for Gamescom opening night live. I'm, I'm, I'm really sad because Gamescom is one of my favorite shows, and I know we were talking before, I could have gone- You're not coming, Lucy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As much as I miss the pork knuckle and the tiny coach. Why can't you come for three or four days?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, how are things going for opening night live? Are you excited to go back to Germany?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, no. Have a tiny cult for me. I'll be back next year, hopefully.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So with uhm, you know, you've got opening night live, you've got game awards, summer game first. Is there anything else you're working on? How do you find, how do you find the time? That seems like a lot, Jeff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I think that's a pretty nice place to, to leave it. That's like final hours back on the table. I'm pretty excited. Jeff, thank you so much for joining us. It's been so nice to chat with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and he did like 10 core field lane and, um, that-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He did the episode of black mirror with the gaming one, uh, play test with Wyatt Russell.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that was him and like it's really funny if you watch that episode cause there's all these edge magazines in it and the main woman in that is like a games journalist who tries to get this guy to go and break an NDA on a, I used to do black mirror coverage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's, I mean, we went off on a little TV tangent, as we are known to do, but we should probably get back to some of these video games?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess we're gonna really start because Cult Alarm is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At its core management sim, you run your own little cult, so that involves


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bringing followers in, making sure they are aligned with your cause and your cause is just following you, uh, planting crops, cooking for them, taking care of them when they're sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Holding sermons and rituals and then the other part of it.


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[Assistant] You're sacrificed by these four evil gods and then another mysterious fifth one brings you back to life and all they ask in return is that you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The thing that I love the most about Cult of the Lamb is, and there's a lot to love, it's quirky, it's funny, I really love the art style, it's kind of like got this 2D.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, yeah, pop up book, pop up book. It feels really nice to play. It's lizard brain shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It has this kind of, uhm, one of the things I love about Persona, right, is the stuff you do and the social simulator stuff affect how you are in the metaverse or in the TV.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And very similarly in this, it's like you can do various things in the cult and in the outlying areas where you can unlock tarot cards, you can, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do rituals that give you buffs, you can, uh, by doing a certain amount of things, you unlock, uh, different abilities, different starting weapons in the, in the battle bit and every single thing just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. And it's just very funny as well. It's like, uh, you, you, you get followers who will just, they'll ask you to do the weirdest things, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you can, you can smooch your, your betrothed, your, your, uh, partner, but this is another thing is that when they get old, you can't smooch them anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's great. And like, I think, uh, Ralph, to your point, I like that it is, it's finite. Like, even, even looking at the skill trees and stuff, uh, all the different various things that you unlock, it seems everything is just manageable and everything is attainable. And I'm just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And also, I haven't tried it out yet, but the Twitch integration is very cool. Like you can-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So as you're, when you recruit people into your cult, if you are playing on Twitch and you have everything enabled, you can, uh, your people who are watching you on Twitch can, uh, be named as your followers in the game. Just a very clever little way of incorporating.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, amazing. Well, uh, that's what we've been playing. Uh, last episode we asked all of you at home for some questions. Ralph, what's the email address again?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Easy, uh, so easy to remember, and so easy to remember that I have to ask you every time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Jake, do you want to pick a question? Cause we've got a great selection here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, so not, uh, gaming or, I guess like not screen related, but I really like, uh, crochet and cross stitch, which I find very- Really? Yeah, I find very meditative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I'm really bad at starting loads of projects and finishing them, but for Secret Santa one year I did crochet a soleil for Tam and I put a wire frame in so he could praise the sun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I like, I like doing stuff like that, and so the minute I'm working on a small piece, it's like just a little one in a hoop, which is like a just a little leopard, but I find it really


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everything happens so much, uh, whereas with things like crochet and cross stitch, it's just counting and I find that very, very relaxing. Uhm, it doesn't really give you much time to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you can stick something on in the TV in the background, but it's really like that's max what you can do. So if there's a show, I just want to blast through or something. I just stick that on and I just stitch away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I made a batgirl for one of my nieces, like one of those lovey dolls with like the blanket attached. So I made a batgirl, I made an elephant, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then at the minute I'm cross stitching a big Totoro piece.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, that's, uh, a very, it's a lot of grey. And it's just like, okay, I'm just going to do massive blocks of grey and it's not as fun. But, uh, I, yeah, I was, I was doing a Gengar, but I left all the purple stuff back in the UK, unfortunately. Sorry, Tam. I'll get round to it, eventually.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You guys wanna pick one more? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, Gerard, do you wanna pick a question?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, despite being in, uh, the GameSpot family, uh, I do have Switch Online, but I don't. What, what is on there that I could...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know that that's where Shovel Knight's bounce, uh, came from. Was inspired by Zelda 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, so that's my secret shame. That's a secret.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, GeoGuessit, like, so we went through a big phase of playing GeoGuessit, me and my friends, one time we got a zero foot away thing and honestly I'm still riding that high.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But please, if you have any more questions for us, uh, contact ourfriendspersecond.com, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This episode, we were like, as we were planning, we were like, oh, we won't go that long, won't go that long, and then, you know, we only get together every other week, and we get, we were really long. But, Gerard, uh, to take us away, what, uh, what is, this, this Fortnite, this, this week or so in games?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're now saying stuff like I went to press events for, like I remember going to the sleeping dog shit, I was at a gamescom when PT came out and now I'm just like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you everyone for watching, uh, or listening. Uh, remember you can find us podcast services. You can find us right here on the Skill Up channel. If you are enjoying the show, please rate and review. Uh, thank you to everyone who left comments on the last episode about how much they enjoyed this project. Oh my god, yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, so thank you again everyone, uh, you can find us. Well, I'm Elise James Games, Ralph.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Walk, man. Very important to walk, man. If you define person, it won't go walk for you, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very original product. And the good thing is, as you buy something, what we say, now confirm, from the company where you go and go, go, go, go, you go also get the opportunity to win prize. Now why they gonna call her a free prize? You'll travel, you'll get better, eat plenty, so many things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do Mommy the Jig. Make this name register for your mind. Do Mommy the Jig. Because, hey, now the next big thing for the entertainment industry for Isadu Bodo Nigeria, and the platform when they push up now, Adult Nation Entertainment. So adults, naive now, naive, naive. Continue. We see your good work. More power to your ego.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to introduce by my immediate right, the beautiful, the leg table.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ladies and gentlemen, she's our elder sister- no, that one will cause problems.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ladies and gentlemen, Zini Porch!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which action? No, you know the, you know the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So ladies and gentlemen, our guests, eh, our guests, nah, in every sense of the word, legend. And today we go learn. You know what you do always do, when you give people their flowers, when their feet still smell out. If you are Gen Z, please, I'm giving you the next 10 seconds to grab a notepad and bairo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you go write today, you go learn. You see the big act song they celebrate today, eh? Especially if we look at the genre of hip hop and R&B for inside this country.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This not the pioneer. You follow for those who will be saying they'll be the pioneer. That one are number one. Then number two, the, the kind perks when they enjoy for that industry today. He'll be the person who will be saying he sacrificed in fame. He put himself on the line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Home! Home! Home! Home! Wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But no vexu, because the next one where you went, I know say, not plenty things. At that time, do you think say...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That song opened a new chapter in the Nigeria entertainment space. You know, people come begin the discourse and people come they talk about them. Wait a minute till we inspire that song.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, did you face any challenges from, you know, from any quarter?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow. So, Baba, eh, I think one very important


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I was going to emphasize that the exposure around Africa was there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The money, if for example for 1999, you don't take part of projects when we say bring 20 million, the money dead yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And me, from when we, we smaller, they grow up, we know say, the remedies, plantation boys, maybe rough, rugged and raw, these are the groups where we say, all the bad is them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it is indicative of the fact that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] General example, no, they work. You said you have done 21 years and we know that God's grace in sound health of mind and body, there'll be more years with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, he said he was- He said he was- He said he was-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, so, nervous, Baba, because uhm, on the same platform.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When Nin talked about this incident, he shared his own side of the story.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He said that he had written to, he had written letters and they said that threats.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although you can say it's from a position of ignorance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You, you, as you they discuss the situation, you they mention their names and they talk the experience. Now very big lesson to people when they say, then they watch. Make them understand, say, in the good way you they do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it like a patty? Have you seen? Imagine a patty of like meat and no one really knows what meat it was by the way, but they say it was chicken and it has like little chunks of corn in it and it's just deep fried and you have it in a little paper sachet thing and that's the thing you would feed your child for lunch when you were growing up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's status. Yep, I can see it. I can 100% see it. You're not wrong. We're gonna make sure. Austin's editing this episode. Make sure you've flashed it up on screen. Our podcast viewers, we apologize, but you're just gonna have to trust us. He definitely looks like Lord Farquaad. You're right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hello, what's going on? Uh, it's been nice, actually, this last little while, cause the release cadence has broken. We're all able to get a little bit more sleep now. I don't know about you guys, but I am getting some more sleep. No, you're still going all hammer and tongs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually looked at my pile of shame. It is terrifying because I think I reviewed maybe like 22 games this year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And when you say it like that, it doesn't sound like that much, you know what I mean? Uhm, and then there's like 14 on my list of my pile of shame where I'm like, I really wanted to play like an immortality and signalist and tiny kin and ollie ollie world and zenoblade 3 and like, oh man, pentamon obviously, which, hey, speaking of pentamon,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Poor thing launches the same ring the week as Elden Ring gets completely pushed out of the news cycle and Lucy is not done sticking the knife in. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, such a, such a good question, isn't it? I mean, I, go on, you go. No, I don't know. That was me just being like, ah, so many games. Uh, yeaah, I mean, cause it's so interesting, cause I mean, I look at the Steam 250, which uhm, I mean, Austin, when you edit this, you can bring that up and show it on screen and just scroll down it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the top list here, number one, Vampire Survivors. Number two, Stray. Number three is God of War from 2018, a PC port.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Number four, Powerwash Simulator. Uh, obviously a scandalous omission from the Game of the Year nominations, by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Spider-Man Remastered is number five. Again, that was from back in the day, the PC ports.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, then you've got stuff like Teardown, Dwarf Romantic, great game by the way, Neon White, which makes you get to look in later in the indie section, The Looker, which is a spoof on The Witness, and Persona 5 Royale, which is, you know, obviously the PC port, long awaited. So, uhm, quite an eclectic mix there, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That, that isn't probably as reflected in the game of the year nominate, like nominees themselves. Cause you've got obscure little titles like 2D top down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, whatever, roguelike stuff, you've got weird power washing games, you've got a-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like a voxel based destruction game. You've got this really chilled village building game in Dorf romantic. Uh, there's quite a spread there. And, uh, I do agree that, you know, there is often a very homogenized list of nominees for, for game of the year. That's pretty standard. Like you Oscar bait stuff, right? It's the same in the games industry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me just pause and ask a question. Just because something is really popular, like Stray, do you think it-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was the most perfect tuck-up that you've busted out of nowhere. It was amazing, okay? Uhm, but I don't think, I think there's something in Vampire Survivors. Vampire Survivors has really birthed the sub-genre, right? It's a whole new thing that so many other games have tried to ape in the last little while.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Versus Straya is just a cute little cat game. And again, I liked it, but also I think, ehh, it just really deserves a nomination for game of the year. That's the one where I look at it and I'm just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anyway, um, and I guess in a similar vein, what do you guys think? Cause Lucy made her little sound about Horizon. Clearly she is not a fan of Horizon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think Horizon deserves a nod for this. I think this is a really interesting case for different reasons, because I think it is, it is the quintessential big blockbuster schlocky summer


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Avatar is a fantastic movie. Okay. It just is. And I, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will fight anyone that says otherwise. It is so ridiculously cliche, dumb, like yes, it is the quintessential summer blockbuster.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you know, the spectacle of it, the shit that goes down, you just want to sit down for two and a half hours and watch a big ass movie with cool shit going on. Like James Cameron, man, he knows how to make those movies and he never misses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that this is that same thing where it's like, I don't think it's art. You know, it doesn't, Avatar doesn't stay with me because I felt something, but it stays with me because I'm like, God, that was such a fucking cool scene or God, that was pretty, you know? And that's the impact that Horizon left on me personally. And that's why I really liked it actually.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I know, which I said in my review and everyone's like, dude, that's so rude. And I'm like, no, I mean it as a compliment. And they're like, that's probably worse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, I think I definitely saw some people talking about it. Um, I don't think anyone was saying that it doesn't have narrative. I think it's sort of about whether or not you would classify it as narrative in certain definitions. And I, yeah, I mean, I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It obviously is intending to present a very shattered narrative that leaves gaps for you to fill with your imagination. That in itself, I think is just as valuable as, uhm, a straight up narrative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We'll tell any person cause actually that's probably a good time to talk about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, well we're gonna be actually, uhm, well I am gonna be flying to LA for the game awards, uh, and- I am too. Me too! No, I mean, sorry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's awesome. That's very cool of them. I'm always a sucker for a Xenoblade soundtrack as well. I haven't actually played three yet, but uhm, every Xenoblade I've played has always been top tier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] True, very true. I think that's a good- I would say you haven't played, um, um, what do you call it, uh, Plague Tale yet, but- She was great in the first game. Really crushed it. Big step up versus the first one as well, like just huge difference. And the first one was bad, but just found a whole other level with this one. I think it was really, really top tier. I really hope she takes that one home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I actually wouldn't say Destiny 2 this year, but don't get me started on the reasons why, but definitely not. Uhm, I really would not put it up there. As much as I love that game, it's had a lot of challenges this year, so yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You should be the voiceover lady for the whole awards, not just one category.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I wonder, I actually want to know how this list came about, like I want to know...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, how does this list originate? Do they give you, as a member of the judging panel, do they give you a list of games to vote on? Like a pre-populated list? Nope. Or you just list your own?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so that means a whole bunch of journalists decided that Diablo Immortal should be on this list for the best mobile game of the year. Uh, essentially yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone universally despised for, like, not universally, but most people, just like, absolute derision and hatred. It was just, that was it. And it was kind of just like, how does, don't understand how that gets on a list then. I don't care how good the graphics are. Like, clearly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did hear a lot about BoneLab when it came out. It hadn't played it, but everyone was going on about how that is just the best thing that you can get your hands on this year for VR. Like that was, it was the Half-Life Alex, the one that everyone's like, you gotta, you gotta check this out, you know? Yeah, especially cause they're coming off


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I haven't played any of those games except for Lego Star Wars, but I did play the first Mario Rabbids, so I know that one. But I would be very happy to see Lego Star Wars take the win on that. I think that was a fantastic game. I really loved it. I just thought it was the whole top to bottom package.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] However, as much as I love that, I've got to say Arcane is just like unbelievable, just truly remarkable, like just incredible. And so I, you know, that would be my personal, it would edge out edge runners. There we go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm still watching Rings of Power right now, it's taking me so long to get through it, I just have to do it in short bursts because I fall asleep, so uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is, this is, this is the Sonic block. We're gonna talk about Sonic, okay? We're gonna try and let it not get out of control, because that's what's happened this last week. It's been, it's been a wild ride, obviously, to catch anyone up on Sonic. Uhm, the Sonic Frontiers dropped last week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the review period, I think most people were like, this is pretty cool, it's got a lot of problems, but most people are like, this is a pretty fun game. I personally was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is okay, but I'm not a fan of this. I think it has quite a few problems and I don't recommend it. Uh, I think I was only one of very few, like kind of negative reviews, I think. Most reviews kind of tended more towards the positive side.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I got a lot of shit on Twitter for that man. Ooh, the Sonic fanboys were not happy with me. That was a big thing. And I was just coppin' it left, right, and center. But then luckily, Dunkey stepped up to the plate, man. He's like, poor skill up. He is coppin' too much heat. I'm gonna take some heat off him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, and so then, Dunkey did his thing, and put out his video, and uh, obviously ended it with, uh, a little, there was a segment at the back end of the Dunkey video, cause basically he shat on the game. And there was a section, a segment at the back end.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Showing the user score for Sonic, which is like 8 point something or other on Metacritic. Comparing that to stuff like Hades or Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild, it's kind of like the same, the Sonic score is the same or higher. The point he was trying to make was that Sonic fans have low standards and that they like this thing when really it's shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that obviously became the whole thi- this whole thing, and like, donkey was trending, and it just became a very...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Toxic conversation, obviously. Uhm, and by the way, we'll get into the Ducky thing, I think, cause I just think it's interesting. But I think Ducky as well, and his rights to just-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Throw a thing up there, okay, like I don't think it necessitates that level of toxicity coming back. He's semi-satura, semi-comedian, he can do whatever he likes. Yeah. Uhm, but obviously a lot of people don't agree, and that's their right to be able to say that as well. So, Sonic Man, what a clusterfuck, hey.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I don't think you, your video wasn't like, actually Sonic is perfect. This is the greatest game ever made. Right. It has no problems. Yeah. You were just like, hey, here's some stuff, but I really love this and I really love that. And I get that. And I think as well, like in, like, I mean, what, what were the, what were the things that really resonated for you then? What, what were the things you shouted out?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I definitely, yeaah, that was my biggest takeaway from it. I'm like, this is a version of Sonic that I think can definitely work in the future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I, uh, that was, they arrived at a template that I was like, yeah, this is super cool. And I'm down for these open worlds. I'm down for the exploration side of it. Um, but yeah, I've really just viewed it as kind of a proof of concept, like a prototype because.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultimately, like as an example with the open worlds, there was no real difference between those worlds in terms of like how they manifestly played, you know, like they had a different colour, you know, there was sand instead of grass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] versus having something distinct about them that exists in that one space versus others. So I really struggle. I just got really bored of the game because I was like, well, I've already seen this. I've already done all this before and now I'm just doing more of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and even the combat side of it, I was like, well, yeaah, I can do some combos where I have to hold a different button, but most of the time if you just press square or hold square, it's fine. It does the job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and I think that the way that enemies were designed didn't really bring out the best of that combat. It was just kind of, you could do it if you wanted to, but it was just like, it was quite optional, you know, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, so uhm, but I'm really glad that Sonic people are enjoying it, like that's cool, and I'm glad to see that, uh, that, you know, they had that response to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, could I jump in there and ask, could you just briefly outline the games that you have worked on slash directed? Cause not everyone's going to be familiar with your CV and it's a pretty crazy ass CV. So yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A few small RPGs, a few small fanbases here and there, so yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What, I only played the opening section of the game later, as you described it. Are there any characters in the game that sort of cynically use the cloth, uh, to shroud their, you know, their more malicious nature and you know what I mean? Any of that sort of stuff going on?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Does that mean that you would like to pursue the occult stuff in a sequel or that there is not enough on the table for a sequel?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's very weird. It's him and old timey Japanese dudes just talking about their careers and it's full of gold. I recommend it highly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have, oh sorry Jake. No, please go ahead. No, I was gonna say, I think this is a very difficult question. So whatever, we're right near the end of the interview, but you have worked on some of the most iconic, memorable RPGs for a long time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you say there are some like golden rules? Cause you, you've spoken briefly about like, you know, dialogue systems and like, here's what it goes through my mind when I think about building those. But do you have like a set of core golden rules that you think really make for a great RPG experience knowing full well that the RPG genre runs from like God of War through to, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is the things we need to think about when we're designing a good RPG.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, in that context, did you play Disco Elysium?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, right. Cause I think it's the way you describe consequence and getting players invested in outcomes and also having weird ass options just for the sake of entertainment value.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is going to floor you. That's all up in that. So I wondered if you had any thoughts about, I mean, not just J.S. Coliseum, but do you think are there any, are there any RPGs in the last like five or 10 years that have really stood out for you and been like, man, they totally nailed that one. Holy shit. That was amazing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, well that was the interview with Josh. Uh, as we said, intimidatingly intelligent. Uh, we were saying out of recording that most of our knowledge of history goes back to about 1984 when Back to the Future came out or whenever that was. And it stops about there. So it's interesting to hear from a guy who knows a little bit further back than that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but before we move on, we're actually going to be doing our first ever ad read, which, you know, that's a new thing that we're doing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We feel like to do that properly, we kinda need to get rid of Lucy, and you'll understand why when we start doing it. So Lucy, could we just ask you to just hop off for a little bit? We're gonna talk about some man stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sorry. Okay. Bye Lucy. Alright boys, so now that the girls are gone, let me ask you, are you taking care down there?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm trying. I feel more compelled to now, that's for sure. I don't know if I want to talk about this, Ralph. What do you mean? Well, I think in front of hundreds of thousands of people, it's extremely important that you share with everyone your hair trimming regime as powered by Manscaped. Have you guys ever used Manscaped before, before it was sent to you? I have not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is, it is, uh, obviously we don't want any rusty scissors anywhere near your most precious, uh, assets. And yeah, Manscape obviously sell personal grooming stuff. I actually have used it in the past. It's very good quality stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It says reduces nicks, snags, and tugs in those delicate places. And so that's what it does, which is nice. It's water resistant, so you can use it in the shower. Just don't clog the drain, depending on how much you've got going on down there. Yeah, yeah, nasty animal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's it. There's also, uh, in the, uh, the performance package 4.0 package. I've said package twice. Package for your package.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it comes with the Crop Preserver Ball Deodorant and Crop Reviver Ball Toner, which will change your hygiene regime.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uh, trust me when I say this fellas, your balls will thank you. And actually that has a TM next to it. So I think they've actually trademarked the phrase, your balls will thank you. Which, to be fair, that's a pretty good move. I would trademark that too. Plus it also comes with some boxes and a shared travel bag.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And all of this is 20% off when you order with the special offer code FPS at manscaped.com. 20% off free shipping with manscaped.com. You can click the link in the description below.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that's all we have to say on that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It looks beautiful, soundscape is amazing, um, it's got a lot going for it for sure. I don't think it's bad by any means and certainly the reviews don't indicate that, but I just was finding it frustrating enough that I was like, I don't want to keep doing this. And I had other things I was working on, so I just, I just put it to one side, but that was it for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. I think it's about immersing yourself in that kind of feeling, in that world. You just sort of seamlessly move through it. Like obviously you want to have some puzzles, but the puzzle should not be, what can I interact with? It should be, how can I utilize it? And I was finding so often,