April 15, 2025 • 54 mins
Alex and Luke Talk Balatro
In this episode, Alex and Luke go all-in on Balatro, the breakout roguelike deck-builder that’s equal parts poker, chaos, and obsession. Developed by LocalThunk and released in early 2024, Balatro blends classic card game mechanics with deck-breaking combos, jokers with wild effects, and a vibe that’s one part casino fever dream, one part endless strategy loop.
At the time of this recording, Balatro holds a Metacritic score of 90, and according to HowLongToBeat, you can complete the game in 7 hours—but good luck stopping. This game sinks its teeth in fast and doesn’t let go.
Both Alex and Luke played on their Steam Decks, chasing multipliers, unlocking jokers, and debating the most degenerate combos they could get away with. Join them as they unpack what makes Balatro feel so addicting, how it slots into the growing roguelike canon, and why it's been living rent-free in their brains.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alex (00:22):
Yo, what up, everybody?
Welcome back to another episodeof Low Five Gaming.
You got me, your host, Alex,and my co-hosted brother Luke.
What up, dude?
Luke (00:32):
Preparing not much.
How you doing?
Alex (00:34):
Doing well.
We're recording this in thedaytime.
We gotta bring that daytimeenergy.
Luke (00:38):
Yeah, yeah.
I even got my bubbler overhere, dude, because I'm, you
know, super cool.
Brought to you by Clarbrun.
Alex (00:45):
So no big deal.
Clarbrun's alright.
Clarbrun.
Luke (00:49):
I haven't seen Clarbrun since college.
Uh, my roommate, we used toalways make fun of Clarbrun, but
he would just buy all of theCarbruns, and it had the most
satisfying can open of all time,famously.
It just just like explodes outof the can.
Not any fizzing, but you canhear a Carbrun being opened up
down the street.
Alex (01:06):
Where the hell do you get some Clarbrun, dude?
I haven't even seen thatoutside of like northern
Minnesota.
Luke (01:11):
Winona, I guess.
Um this was almost 10 years agonow, because yikes.
Alex (01:17):
Uh wait, how does this can?
Luke (01:19):
Of Clarbrun?
Alex (01:21):
That you got right now.
Dude, you've never hadbubblers, brother?
Oh, I thought you were sayingyou were drinking Klarbrun right
now.
Luke (01:29):
Dude, it's from the makers of Klarbrun.
Alex (01:32):
Oh, interesting.
I see.
And if you came to this podcastfor Black, I'm on the same
page.
Luke (01:37):
We're gonna discard the Klarbrun and Bubbler talk to get
to the real hand.
See what I did there, dude?
Dude, I'm so good at this.
Nice.
I'm so good at this now, dude.
It's crazy.
Alex (02:16):
Oh, that's right.
We played Bellatro.
Belt Beltro.
Bellatro.
Listen.
I don't know how to pronouncethis correct, dude.
Luke (02:24):
I haven't heard anyone saying other than Bellatro, and
I don't want to learn a new way.
Alex (02:28):
Uh it's an Italian word for joker.
I might be understanding.
Nice.
But yes, that is uh thepronunciation of this game has
definitely been discussed on theinternet.
Sure.
And uh I think there isdefinitely a Bellatro camp that
we clearly land in.
What is the other one?
Hmm.
If you gotta look it up, is iteven a camp?
(02:49):
You know what I'm saying, dude?
Oh, Balatro.
That's saying the same thinganother.
That's stupid.
Bellatro.
Belatro.
That's stupid.
I don't know.
Bellatro.
You know what, man?
If we can come, if we can comewith Ocarina of Time Energy for
like I don't know, for me, 37,38 years, like I or I guess that
(03:13):
game's not even that old.
I'm older than the game.
Luke (03:15):
The point is.
Did life really start until weplayed that game though?
Alex (03:19):
If you really have to be honest, the point is if we're
Ocarina boys, we can be Bellatroboys.
I'm pretty sure it's the way tosay it.
I'd have to ask an Italianbruh.
Luke (03:30):
Nope.
No, you're allowed to do thatthing, but no.
Alex (03:37):
Fair.
But anyway, uh cool game, dude.
It is cool.
It is cool.
Why this game?
This game, I guess I kind ofselected this one.
It was both uh on both of ourradars, hard to miss in the
zeitgeist of gaming, but it kindof came out of nowhere back in
2024, 2023, end of 2023,something like that.
Luke (03:57):
Yeah, last year.
Yeah.
I remember um it's kind offunny.
We were doing Minecraft Club,where we're paid to supervise uh
little sweaty sixth graders asthey scream and play Minecraft.
Sure.
And uh friend of the pod,sometimes Carter, was like, I'm
super excited to play thisBellatro game, and he showed it
to Tyler and I, and we werelike, That looks um okay, I
(04:19):
guess.
And then it like I justremember that conversation.
He said he'd been following itfor like a decent amount of
time, and he was excited for itsrelease, and then it released,
and it was like huge, and I waslike, Oh, that game he was
talking about that one time, andthen I somehow made like a
whole year where I just ignoredit, even though it was pretty
clearly gonna be a game I wasgonna enjoy.
I just ignored it until hebought it to me for me for
(04:40):
Christmas, indeed, and then itwas time, and then uh recently
got put on the the cellulardevices, or at least it's just
become popular on the cellphones.
Um side note, great cell phonegame.
So a lot of the buddies areplaying it too, so it was a fun,
it was a fun go.
Alex (04:55):
Did you end up springing for the cell phone uh version?
Luke (04:59):
No, but I probably I didn't, not because of the the
ten dollars is actuallyincredibly affordable.
I think it's cheaper on thephone than it is on like Steam.
Alex (05:07):
Uh $9.99 or something like that on at least on Android.
Yeah.
Uh so it's about the same.
Luke (05:13):
It runs really well on the phone and it crashes my Steam
Deck out of nowhere.
It always crashes and boots meout of the game.
So uh that made me want to buyit on the phone, but I also knew
like would all of my poopsextend by 10 minutes because I'm
too busy playing Bellatro.
Would I perhaps miss some uhnice moment in my child's life
as they're playing because I'mtoo busy trying to sa, you know,
(05:35):
multitask Bellatro.
So I decided against it, but itwas tempting.
Alex (05:38):
Right on.
Yeah, no, you you brought uplike uh how we kind of sat on
it.
I think it was one of thosegames that like everybody was
super into it.
And it wasn't even that I waslike trying to be super hipster
or anything, be like, I'm toogood for Bellatro.
I think I was just like, Idon't know if it's my time.
And and so I I also like sat onit for about a year because
this this game dropped inFebruary on February 20th of
(05:59):
2024.
I think it may have been anearly access, but at this point
I'm just making shit up.
So, you know, podcasting.
Luke (06:06):
Well researched.
Yep.
I appreciate it.
Alex (06:09):
But it did, it totally exploded though.
It's it kind of took overeverything everybody was talking
about, everybody is really intoit.
And I was like, you know, Ijust don't know if I need any
crack cocaine in my life rightnow.
Luke (06:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Backlog's already big, and thenyou see this like uh very
addicting style game.
And uh, I will be honest too,uh, the allure of poker didn't
do anything for me, and ifanything, it was more of a an
inhibitor to me actually playingbecause I wasn't like craving
any side of poker, and as we canget into later, like poker
(06:39):
doesn't really play like this,isn't real poker by any means,
it's kind of loosely thestructure, but that kind of kept
me away because I just couldn'treally envision a world where
that gameplay was super funbecause I just kept getting
stuck on the poker aspect of it.
Alex (06:54):
But that's created some complications for the for the
game itself, too, and how it'suh living on the app stores and
whatnot.
But before we get too far, Isuppose there's a good point
just to kind of let the folkswho maybe are not familiar with
the game know what it is, right?
So this is a a deck builder,would you say?
Poker like almost a poker-like,roguelike deck builder.
Luke (07:12):
I wouldn't even say it as anything like poker is so
loosely in the framework.
Sure.
Like if you know poker hands,poker hands are involved as a
scoring system.
So anything from a high card topairs to a royal flush.
And then it is a deck builder.
Yeah, has deck buildingelements for sure, the way that
you can add cards and do allthat, yeah.
Alex (07:35):
Yeah, developed by a fellow that goes by local thunk
and uh I believe has continuedto keep his true identity under
ramps, like besides like thegotta keep all that lattro money
from the hose, dude.
They're gonna be trying to betrying to have his baby soon.
Right, because it's a it's ait's a one-man team, right?
So it's kind of cool that umthis was developed by just one
(07:56):
person.
I believe it came out of aCOVID project.
I mentioned poker, and you saidnot quite poker, and that makes
sense in in truth.
I guess some of the inspirationcomes from a Cantonese card
game called Big Two.
I'm gonna say heard of it,dude.
Have you?
No, okay.
Me neither.
So like when I was like lookingup some of this stuff, I I came
(08:17):
across that and I was like, Oh,that's cool.
Uh, but I yeah, I had no I Ididn't really understand.
I was like, oh word, all right.
Luke (08:24):
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, it's a roguelikedeck builder.
Uh the scoring is structuredaround um basically poker hands
plus multipliers.
Those multipliers range in avariety of things, uh, gives you
different targets, it adds somerandomness to each run.
Um and you have a store youvisit in between your battles,
(08:46):
similar to a lot of these typeof battler roguelike games, and
you just keep beating the littlemini bosses until you get to
the end, and then and then youdefeat it, and then it feels
really good.
You ever beaten it?
Alex (08:58):
Yeah, one one time.
One time.
Oh my god.
One time.
Uh I mentioned crack cocaine,dude.
Uh I knew I knew you would lovethis game, especially because
it's kind of right up the alley.
Luke (09:10):
More of a weakness for these deals than you.
Alex (09:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I I mean I like them, butum, you know, for instance, like
I knew that you poured, youknow, hundreds and hundreds of
hours into uh Slay, Slay theSpire.
Not to say that these games arethe same, they are not, uh, but
they're similarities.
Luke (09:24):
Yeah, they have some through lines for sure.
Uh Slay the Spire is better,but that's just my baby girl
right there.
Alex (09:30):
Yeah, I I don't know.
That's that's like we couldspiral into that.
Like, I think it's it'sinteresting, right?
I think that this game, it's agame, clearly, but Slay like
falls into more of yourtraditional like video game, I
would say, where this has likevery strong like tabletop card
game that is a video game.
I don't, you know, like there'sno like when you when you
(09:51):
mention like bosses, you don'tlike see an animated boss or
like it's just another anotherhand, right?
Luke (09:56):
Yeah, and you know, you're tiptoeing around it.
I'd say not on accent or toavoid anything, but I'd just say
it's like very much moreappealing for a non-gamer person
than usual.
So like I wouldn't have as muchhesitation like our sister
doesn't really play video games,but I can oddly enough like see
her if you gave her like a 10bucks to like buy this game,
(10:17):
like she'd probably have fun.
Sure.
Learn it faster than like aslay the spire.
Like, if I handed handed slaythe spire to my wife, she'd be
like, what the fuck?
But uh she might get Blaccioafter a few hands.
Alex (10:31):
I think it's interesting too, the way that it's rolled
out.
Like it doesn't do a ton ofhand holding, like you can read
you know the different thingsthat your cars are doing.
You mentioned earlier the youknow, you've got your your
typical uh deck of cards, so yougot all your face cards, number
cards, all that kind of stuff.
The jokers play an interestingrole in this game.
So there's not just four jokersor two jokers or how many
jokers come with your deck, butthe jokers actually impact how
(10:54):
your your scoring works, right?
And uh, there's a ton ofdifferent things.
Totally.
And then you got your tarot,tarot cards, your planet cards,
and your vouchers, and those allin turn have effects on your
your hands as well and yourpoint system.
But you know, you can you canread how each of them affect
your hand, but you're still it'sstill like a you're like
(11:14):
testing it, at least the waythat I played through it, it's
like you test it out, you kindof like put it in there like,
oh, okay, I see how this works alittle bit.
And then it's like you kind ofbuild on you know, each that
each run, you kind of build onyour knowledge, and you're like,
okay, because it's gonna bedifferent every time, too,
right?
So you're like, oh, that didthis for me this time, and then
the next time you you jump in,it's gonna be slightly different
because you're getting fullydifferent cards, fully different
(11:36):
hand.
Uh, and you you start to likeintegrate things and it it
changes your strategy and howyou play.
Um so it's interesting becauseit's not like here's how you
play, it's kind of like you'replaying now.
Here's like this extra thing,figure it out, try and try and
beat it.
Luke (11:51):
You can like if you put it down and you pick it back up in
the middle of a run, it's alittle disorienting because it
can get kind of not necessarilydense, but kind of complex in a
way as you go along your run,you're like, okay, I'm going for
straights.
I have this joker where astraight can be formed in only
four cards instead of five, andthen you're like, ooh, I run
into that, and that booststhings up.
(12:13):
Uh, but it's not like an overlylike like I'm playing Elden
Ring still, and like I'm tryingto figure out systems sometimes,
and I'm like, I have to do wetand then wet and then wet.
Whereas this, it's like it'sit's complex, but it's not
overly intense and intricate andout of control, although it can
be a tad bit disorienting.
(12:33):
Right.
Alex (12:34):
I want to kind of set the table too, so folks, you
probably if you if you haven'tplayed this, you've picked up
the fact that there's thesecards in there.
But to give you an idea of thevisual layout, that's uh what I
really love about it right offthe bat is you are you you've
got this CRT filter going on,right?
So it's kind of got this oldschool look to it.
Um a little bit fuzzy, the thecorners and edges of the screen
(12:57):
are rounded to give you thatfeel that you're you're playing
this game on a oh dude.
It's subtle.
It's subtle but cool.
It's subtle but cool.
I mean, me being a person thatlike totally F F around with
shaders and all that stuff tomake my retro games like look
retro, like I totallyappreciated what was going on
with the with the look of thisgame.
Certainly has a gnarlyaesthetic, but I guess I never
(13:20):
pieced any of those puzzlepieces together.
Yeah, check it out.
Check it out next time you'replaying, you'll you'll notice
the CRT puzz.
No.
Uh and then the music too, man.
Like the music's kind of fun,it's like pretty hypnotic, it's
not a repeat.
Uh I'm pretty sure.
Like, I don't think it uh it'sone of those things.
Are you listening?
You're you're probably playingon bed like volume 80%, like
(13:41):
just vibing out, dropping awayinsane.
Luke (13:44):
Uh no, I keep it pretty low, except for when you get
like a super sick hand, like onall the crazy multipliers going,
like the sound of all yourpoints going up is pretty
orgasmic.
So like I'll have to tickle upthe noise a little bit just so
it can be like and I'm justsitting there like you get the
little flame thing going on thecounter, that's when you know
you're going bonkers, dude.
It's sick, dude.
Alex (15:02):
Dude, this this game totally tickles the same part of
the brain, like the lizardbrain that uh a game like um
like Vampire Survivors would.
Luke (15:10):
Yeah, I've almost bought Vampire Survivors again like 10
different times.
Alex (15:14):
Oh dog, um do you have that on your phone too?
Luke (15:19):
I did for the longest time, yeah.
And then it was a bit too much,and then I had it on Game Pass
when I had Game Pass last.
Alex (15:26):
Sure, sure, sure.
Um man.
Uh but yeah, so you know, samesame brain tickle as vampire
survivors, same tickle as uhslot machine.
Luke (15:35):
Yeah, just you know, hitting that like man, that
really good itch that feels waytoo good to itch.
Like a mosquito bite type, likeoh, and your leg twitches a
little bit.
Yeah.
When those numbers go crazy,you feel pretty great about it.
Alex (15:49):
So let's let's go over the different cards as that we
mentioned earlier.
So we got the Joker cards,provide unique effects that can
significantly uh alter thegameplay dynamics.
Tarot cards, what do those do?
Luke (15:59):
Uh well, they have a wide variety, same with the spectral
cards, they can do differentthings, but mostly the tarot
cards can uh which I read astarot and I know that's wrong,
but I refuse.
It's alright.
Alex (16:12):
Throw it into the chasm, bro.
Luke (16:13):
Yeah, throw it right into the chasm.
Um nice.
The tarot cards, they likeusually do something specific to
your actual deck of cards,meaning like the jokers think of
it being on the top bar of yourscreen and they like apply
abilities or different rules towhatever you're doing, whereas
your actual deck, what you'replaying, is like the poker
(16:34):
hands.
So like you can put amultiplier on your king of
hearts or make your ace ofspades uh um like a lucky card,
and like you can delete cardsand things like that, and like
destroy them.
So that's what the tarot cardsdo.
The planet cards increase howmany points you get off of a
scoring a specific hand, so youcan upgrade your pair, meaning,
(16:56):
like if you throw in a pair,it's worth this much more than
usual.
So if you cheese that you canhave like a pair be worth way
more than like a royal flushjust by the way you're upgrading
as you go along on that run.
Alex (17:08):
Planet cards are kind of what opened this game up for me.
I was like, Yeah, did a wholebunch of runs and then I finally
figured out how to use thosecorrectly, and I was like, all
right, now we're scoring somepoints.
Luke (17:16):
Or how about like I like the intricacy of even like with
the jokers, they can give youmultipliers both plus your malt
and times your malt.
So like putting your puttingyour time.
Alex (17:28):
There's some there's some math involved too to really make
that work.
That uh took me a while tolearn some perm DOS.
Luke (17:34):
Yeah, you know, perm DOS.
It's just the times you putthat to the right because it's
the last thing to get counted.
So, like, oh that's why yousaid PEMDOS.
I get it now.
Shouts out to all my middleschool math teacher friends.
Um yes, this is how they shouldbe teaching math, dude.
What the fuck are they on?
Right?
Get some fuck are they doing?
It's better than what they'replaying at home, dude.
(17:56):
I got 2K.
I know what the casinos thesechildren live in now.
For sure.
God I've never actually likeconsidered how important an
epilepsy warning is before avideo game until I play fucking
2K, but that's a story forlater.
Um and then vouchers.
Vouchers will do perks and thatinfluence that they're how do
(18:17):
you feel about vouchers?
Uh I don't use them as much asthe other ones.
Sometimes if it's a really goodone, like it increases the
amount of hands you play or theamount of discards you have, or
even how many cards you can holdin your hand.
Alex (18:28):
I'm glad you brought those up because we hadn't brought
those up yet.
But yeah.
Luke (18:31):
You get a certain amount of discards.
There's the amount of playhands that you play.
Discarding is life.
I hate the jokers that likeincentivize you not to discard
because I just can't not searchfor the best hand and discard,
but yeah.
Yeah.
Um, so it's a great, great gameto play if you're like watching
something in the background.
Like if you're one of thoseNetflix watchers that just has
(18:53):
it on, you need to get thisgame.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Alex (18:57):
Dude, I I do know what you mean.
It's funny.
The the majority of my timeplaying this game, though, has
been like on the deck, thesteamy D, playing with my Steamy
D in bed.
And then um, and then justbeing like having game choice
paralysis and then um not beingable to decide what to do, and
then just being like, you knowwhat, fuck it.
And then uh it's a palettecleanser almost, yeah.
Yeah, fire up, fire up Malatro,and then all of a sudden three
(19:19):
hours have passed, and you'relike, oh shit.
Yeah, yeah.
Luke (19:22):
But you know, if your wife decides to re-watch Friends or
something awful like that again,and you want to partake in
Friends, you could just playBilatro in the inside.
Alex (19:31):
Is this an example or a real life uh scenario?
Luke (19:34):
Uh I'm sure it's real life for somebody, but not here.
Alex (19:38):
Right on, right on.
I think so.
I mean, with all the differentcard variances, I also don't
really use vouchers.
The only other thing that Ithink is worth mentioning is
that the setup, right?
So the setup of the game, youand you unlock these over time
as you win, right?
So, like, or as you gaincertain point amounts, I think.
Um so you get to choose yourdeck at the beginning of the
game.
Yeah.
Uh so you got like differentthey have different names,
(20:00):
different colors.
So like the blue deck does Xand the yellow deck does Y, that
kind of deal.
Sure.
Um, and that might set it up sothat you have like one less
hand per round or one less uhlike just just various different
things to like change up theflavor of of each run, right?
And I'm under the understandingthat you've what you've beat it
with all the all the decks now?
Luke (20:20):
No, uh I beat it because I beat it with all the ones that
unlock a new one.
And then I've gotten to thepoint where I now have to beat
it on like the big blind, littleblind, like the different chip
difficulty settings that youunlock when you beat it.
So I've unlocked one of thosebecause I beat it on the there's
the base difficulty, and thenthere's the next one up.
(20:41):
I've beaten it once there, sonow I'm trying to beat it with
the new deck on base difficultybecause I just wanted to do that
and it's fun.
And you know, it's a roguelike,so like you gotta get used to
whatever it is that that deckoffers best.
So it takes a while.
I think it takes a few runs tounderstand the benefits.
Um there's one that was supereasy, it's like all of the it
(21:05):
was like all hearts and spades.
So like you could reallysynergize with flushes super
effectively, and like that was areally easy one to beat.
Um so there's stuff like that.
Alex (21:16):
Yeah, there's I mean it's fun, like it's there's so many
different things, so manydifferent variances of the game,
ways you fight.
I mean, you're basically tryingto break the game to like get
your points.
You're trying to like break itto cheese things, and then uh
you rack those points up and youeventually win.
For me, there was a there's ajoker that worked really well
for me.
I had my my malts all set upreal nice and from different
jokers like offering differenttypes of malts, but there's one
(21:38):
that was like I can't, and thenthey compound too.
Some of the some of the jokershave compounding effects.
So if you don't like if youdon't use uh face card or
whatever, uh it will like forevery round, it'll compound the
amount of multiplier for you.
And then, you know, so you endup it's just and it also that's
like interesting stuff becauseit'll make you like you know,
(21:59):
we've mentioned like how it'spoker hands, but once you start
adding all these differentthings in there, you have to
like like all of a sudden, likea pair of two, like you bring up
earlier, is gonna be strongerthan like a full house because
you've added either a bunch ofplanet cards to it or you've got
different malts that are likehelping you out there.
Luke (22:16):
Your deck can even get so weird that you can have like uh
I think Tyler got like a five ofa kind flush or a six of a kind
flush because he had like youknow, so you can unlock really
weird crazy combos if you'relike getting into that aspect of
it.
It is funny when you're superdependent on one type of hand,
(22:36):
and then when you're doing likean epic boss battle later on,
like they simply just throughchance, you just do not get any
of the cards you need, andyou're just so fucked because
you can't use the one the onestrategy you've built up to
dominate with.
Alex (22:50):
And what is what is that called again?
Uh for the for the boss hands?
Uh like they added basicallythey've they nerfed like a
whatever.
Oh, that's what they that'scalled.
Yeah, the boss blind.
Luke (22:59):
Small blind, lar blind, lar lar blind.
Small blind, large blind, bossblind.
Alex (23:05):
Yes, right on that a few times.
Jeez.
And you can also skip theearlier runs, right?
Like, what's that all about?
I haven't even really gotteninto that too much.
Luke (23:13):
I just played all now.
Took me a little while tofigure that out.
Uh, you have the option to skipthem, but you don't get the
free thing.
You get a thing, but you don'tget access to the store in
between battles.
So like it's kind of a riskreward thing.
Uh on the higher difficulty,you don't earn any money for the
small blind.
Yeah.
So you end up skipping that oneand just getting whatever the
reward is a lot of times.
(23:34):
Uh right.
Sometimes you even like the thejoker you get is you get a
multiplier based on how manytimes that you've skipped
blinds.
So it's true.
So you know the game, thereplayability is pretty crazy.
Like it's there's really a lotof stuff that I I I've played 30
hours and I honestly feel likeI've discovered 15% of the game.
Alex (23:56):
Sure.
And uh there's there'srumblings.
I think local thunk has gone asfar to say that there will
eventually he doesn't he didn'tlike give a timeline or
anything, but there will be likea there'll be like a version
update um where he adds a wholebunch of of uh Joker cards or
whatever.
Well, he's gotta pay off allthose baby mamas, you know.
Yeah, presumably, presumablyidentity.
Uh but yeah, this game, I mean,critically acclaimed, dude.
(24:19):
We mentioned it came out onFebruary 20th, 2024.
We sat out for about a year,but a lot of people didn't,
neither do the awards, folks.
So they got the the GoldenJoystick Award in 2024.
Also, the game awards gave itthe uh best in best indie, best
debut indie, and uh best mobilegame.
Luke (24:37):
All right, all seems fair.
It was pretty crazy.
Like people had the game of theyear discussion, they're like,
Can you really give it to this?
And a lot of people were like,Yes, you should.
And it wasn't a you know, Ihadn't played it at the time,
but it wasn't a crazy argumentfor people.
Alex (24:50):
It was pretty cool.
Word.
Uh so if you had to give thisgame how many jokers out of
five, bro?
And then who would yourecommend to?
We've teased it, but I'd loveto know.
Jokers, dude.
Luke (25:02):
I'm going a full four and a half jokers.
I'm Homer Simpson the critic,food critic.
I think I've made that joke, soI'm just gonna move on.
But it's really addictive.
Oh, uh Homer Simpson in anepisode becomes a food critic,
and everybody in the town getsmorbidly obese and hates him
because he's too positive aboutall the food.
(25:22):
And uh and then someone makesfun of him, so he starts being
like overly cruel.
He's like, I give this fouronly four thumbs up.
Um yeah, like a four and a halfto a four.
I think it's really cool.
Um if there's like a real game.
Alex (25:40):
I would be subtracting points for the fact it crashes
on you all the time.
That's fucking sucks.
Luke (25:45):
Yeah.
Um, and also sometimes you'replaying the game, you're just
like, ugh, I can't these fuckingcards, and like I get this
weird feeling where like I can'tplay it for a while.
Like it gets not necessarilyoverwhelming or over I don't
know what it is, but sometimes Ijust get like caught in a run
and I'm like, I fucking hatethis.
So like for anyone who's like abig, big old video game player,
(26:06):
I'd I'd be like, you haven'tbought this yet, it's cheap,
you're gonna like it, it's worthyour time.
And then surprisingly, there Iwould recommend this game to
even like maybe someone who'slike kind of gamer curious more
so than like not full ungamer,but someone you know more
casual, but someone who's playedlike a little bit because
you're gonna need a little bitof tech.
(26:27):
Like, I wouldn't reallyrecommend this for mom and dad.
They don't have the techliteracy to really enjoy it, but
like someone slightly higher upthan them.
Sure, pretty wide audience, iswhat I'm getting at.
Alex (26:39):
Yeah.
Uh rewinding slightly just uhto talk about that crashing
thing again.
I'm also the impression, youknow, this one-man team, local
thunk dude.
When this went out there andpeople started to dig through
like the code, uh that it waslike apparently the code is
super bloated, like it's notstreamlined code, and like a lot
of coding people were like,look at this shitty code.
(27:00):
But it's like here's the deal.
If it fucking works, it works.
Like, who cares if it'sbloated?
So there's so there's that.
It's not the cleanest code, andthat's probably why it has a
little bit of uh a problem oncertain versions of the Steam
Deck.
But is that a Steam Deckproblem or is that uh a blotcher
problem?
I'm not really sure.
But well, you know what?
I have a Steam Deck as well,and it didn't happen to me, but
(27:20):
I know it happens to a lot offolks because I looked it up
when you told me.
Luke (27:23):
Yeah, and I've done some of the solution things, and I
don't know.
It's uh it's a little bit ofboth, man.
Alex (27:29):
Indeed.
I'm gonna give it five jokersthough, or five celestial cards,
or five terracards.
Top ten of all time, dude.
Nah, bro.
But like I can't really, Ican't really, aside from the
fact that I'm gonna be able todo it.
I'm gonna put my second four.
Luke (27:41):
I'm gonna full four flat.
Alex (27:43):
There we go.
An eight out of four out offive.
That's a really good ranking.
I need to hold firm.
See, I don't have any, I don'thave any notes as a thing.
I gotta give it a full five forespecially with the type of
game it is.
Like, I mean, that's just it,you know.
When you're rating anything,it's difficult.
You put a five, you put like uhsome fancy restaurant next to
McDonald's, they all get ratedin the same Google rating, dude.
(28:03):
So it's that's just how it goessometimes.
But uh, but this is some reallygood McDonald's, bro.
You know, this is high-end fastfood, I'll give you that.
Uh but that's just it.
I think the only like, and it'snot a knock, the thing is
because it's the type of thegame, type of game that it is,
so you can't really knock it forthis.
I don't know we didn't mentionthis earlier, but a phenomenal
card game would be uh shit.
(28:24):
What we played.
It's a deck builder a whileback, uh, kind of got the this
the creepy vibes to it.
Slay the spire.
No, no.
Uh you know, like pull yourteeth out and put them on the
scale, that kind of shit.
Luke (28:35):
Oh god, yeah.
Um there's like three games inone.
Um totally blank.
I don't know what that'scalled.
Great podcasting right now.
We did a whole episode on it.
I know, I can see the art in mybrain.
I'm gonna pull it up.
Inscription.
Inscription.
Alex (28:54):
There we go.
Great work, IT.
Yeah.
So inscription, dude.
Like inscription is a deckbuilder where you've got like
like a boss.
It's a it's another game that'smore video gamey.
That's totally different.
That one had a whole meta thinggoing to it too.
That was cool.
Indeed.
So, but the thing is, is likeso.
I don't really oh, I bring thatup though, because like
(29:14):
inscription, like you're you'regoing somewhere.
I think with this game, likeyou're you're playing to beat
it, dude.
It's like your candy crush, youknow, like it's not really the
it is about dopamine hits,there's no doubt about that.
Luke (29:24):
Or like even for streaming, too.
Like, I've seen a lot ofYouTube shorts of different
streamers who are just likeputting together crazy combos,
and I'm like, I don't watch anystreamers, but I'm sure if I
did, I would have seen a lot ofthis game in those.
Alex (29:37):
Yeah, see whereas whereas Tetris is the goat.
Same thing.
You can't really beat it.
But you can't beat this game,right?
So then there's no, and that'snot even a spoiler.
That's just I mean, you beat itin the sense that you like
reach a certain like spoilTetris, dude.
Luke (29:54):
Or you meant I'm talking about this game.
Alex (29:56):
Or uh no, you're gonna be a big storyline spoil.
Luke (30:01):
It's just like not that I know of, at least.
Alex (30:03):
Um, you read you reach your point threshold, and you
can even choose to keep playingindefinitely if you want.
Luke (30:08):
Yeah, you do it, you find your own fun in it.
I mean, hitting differentgoals, the unlocking, it's part
of the lizard brain continuum.
Alex (30:15):
But but I gotta give five, dude.
I gotta give it a full send.
That's crazy.
Gotta give it a full send.
And uh let me see.
Uh as who's I I'm on board.
Like, I think just aboutanybody, uh, your Candy Crush
folk that need that dopamine,like they they're gonna love it.
Like, honestly, I do thinkanybody can really figure out if
they give it enough time.
So, like, you know, even yourmoms, your pa's, but like, you
(30:35):
know, I think it's anybodythat's looking for some like
lizard brain dopamine hits likekill some time.
Luke (30:41):
Like, you know, this isn't uh you're we re watching The
Office for the seventh time andyou just want it on in the
background, you just throw throwthat on and you got Bellatro.
I mean, yeah, you know, you'rewatching The Bachelor like Alex
does, and then you just play TheGolden Bachelor.
Only bro.
Only the Golden Bachelor.
Alex (31:01):
Word.
Well, that's it, man.
Malatro.
Uh, with that, let's take alittle break.
Come back with a side question.
This month, Lo Five Gaming isunofficially brought to you in
part by Slides.
(31:21):
What do you know about slides,brother?
Luke (31:24):
Like at the park, or are we talking sandals?
Alex (31:26):
Oh shit.
I was talking sandals, but youknow, slides at the park are
dope too.
Sliding into DMs?
I don't know.
Internet like that, brother.
Sliding into DMs, sliding downthe park, slide.
I'm talking for your feet,though, my man.
I'm talking about.
I'm a burke boy.
Does that count as a slide?
Hey man, you tell me.
Luke (31:44):
I'm sliding them line, but I feel I want to be like
slides.
There's not as much of a bougieconnotation, so I don't know if
I fit.
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonnainclude it.
Alex (31:53):
I'm gonna say burkest stocks are slides, brother.
Okay, just you know, crunchyslides.
Dude, I mean like elevatedleather slides for sure.
Luke (32:03):
German engineered elevated leather slides.
Alex (32:05):
Indeed.
They still go on your feet,they still got the same strap
over the top.
Maybe a little like I gottabust mine out.
Luke (32:11):
We're in our Minnesota fake, fake spring second winter
phase.
That's why I'm bringing up.
Alex (32:16):
I keep I keep slides by the door year round, though,
because I ain't trying to throwmy shoes on all the time.
I'll fuck I'm I'm wild,brother.
I'll I'll like put on my slidesand bring the trash out in the
middle of the winter.
Like maybe some snow gets on mysock, but I'm like, I don't
want to put my shoes on.
Luke (32:32):
Yeah, you know, usually I agree, but with the boys and the
boots and all their nonsense,our front door gets packed, so
they get tucked away at somepoint.
But I have been thinking aboutit specifically because uh going
in and out of the house for thegrill, my guy.
Oh, yeah.
See, that's what's gettinggetting good mileage on the
grill already, so I'm very happyabout that.
Slides are perfect.
Alex (32:52):
Gotta bust out the slides, gotta bust out the perks.
Uh, I recently purchased somenew slides, new Nike slides.
I'm uh I end up getting Nike.
We don't have to get into whyI'm not like shilling Nike out
here is whatever.
But when you got a size 15 putcertain brands you gotta go
with.
Luke (33:10):
Dude, the intro to slides is brutal, though.
Like even the cheapy ones,breaking them in is like a
process.
Alex (33:16):
This is true.
I I'm learning that right now,relearning that because I've
been rocking an old pair ofslides since 2019.
And the reason I got a new pairis because I'm like, okay,
these old ones, you know, theystill work, they haven't broken
on me yet, but they look theylook like they've uh they're on
their last limb.
A bit ratty.
Luke (33:34):
Um like I'm tired.
Once it gets hot enough, I justhate wearing socks.
Uh I prefer not to wear socksas it is.
100%.
Um, so I'll wear my slides towork and then two stories here.
One, if you are a teacher,specifically within the age
range I am, if you wear sandalsto work in the fall when it's
(33:54):
still pretty hot, kids justdon't bat an eye.
But if you do it in the springwhen they know you better,
they're like, oh, who broughtthe dogs out?
Woo woo woo woop woop.
So there's that, but also I'mold now, so apparently one needs
to lotion their toes, or elsethe your toe knuckles will get
ashy and crusty.
And uh you better believe Ihave no fucking time in my life.
(34:14):
I like put lotion on it liketwo days in a row, and I was
like, this is this is not worthit my time here.
So I have the crusty.
Alex (34:23):
Look the KD of podcasting, KD of teaching.
Luke (34:26):
My crusty, my crusty ass toes.
Uh, so I had a girl this yearwho just immediately saw that
and was like, oh hell no.
And then she just, you know,would come into my classroom
every day and let everybody knowhow crusty my toes were.
Alex (34:39):
Dog, she does that again.
You gotta pull up some clips ofKD just playing ball and being
like, this man don't care abouthis feet either.
Luke (34:45):
No, I just let it ride, dude.
I'm like, hell yeah, they'recrusty.
I told it to my wife and shejust laughed.
We don't give a fuck.
Yeah.
I got no time to be lotioningtoes.
So uh the slides, you know, I'mI'm letting it all hang out,
dude.
Letting them dogs out.
So I feel you.
I can dig it, dude.
Alex (35:02):
I'm so excited that the Berkey boys right now.
Officially slide weather again.
Yeah, that's what's up.
Unofficially brought to you.
We ain't getting no money fromslides, we're paying for slides,
but that's what's true.
Luke (35:11):
I'd take Burke money, dude.
I mean, I'd take anyone'smoney, but if they're like, I'm
just gonna send you some burks,I'm like, shoot.
All right.
Although breaking in Burks isrough on the feet, dude.
Alex (35:22):
Yeah, rough.
That's that's fair.
That is that is the thefallback, but once they're
broken in, might hell yeah.
That's what's up.
Luke (35:38):
Now that we're sliding back into programming here, back
from our unsanctioned sponsor.
I'm on a roll here, dude.
I'm so fucking good at this.
What do you what do you beenplaying lately?
Anything?
Alex (35:50):
I'll let you go, man.
I re-listened to our lastepisode the other day, and I'm
like, shit, like I'll let Lukego first.
So I got some time at the end.
He doesn't get answered.
Luke (36:00):
So last one I talked about, uh, I held off on talking
about foundation, right?
I talked about uh Prince ofPersia.
Okay.
So Foundation, super happyabout this.
Uh I don't play a ton of earlyaccess games, but as you've been
listening for a while, you'dknow that I'm a I'm a big city
builder guy.
I really like to play differentsimulation games and city
building games, and if I can getinto it, it's like it's bad
(36:23):
because I'll just get absolutelylost.
But I bought the game like in2001, maybe, or like really
early on, and uh loved it, andthen would just periodically
come back to it and be like,whoa, they changed this up, oh
they changed that up.
So before launch, I had like 70hours in it.
And then it's pretty funny.
(36:44):
Uh a few days before I thoughtit had launched because I saw
like different people's stuff onthe internet, but I think they
were playing like an earlier, solike I put a good like decent
amount of time in and had apretty bustling thing going, and
then I woke up the next day andthey're like, here's the 1.0,
and I didn't realize I wasplaying on like the final final
version of the beta.
So then the final final, likethe some of the new changes that
(37:06):
has a completely new cosmeticlook, which I thought was an
interesting choice, but stilllooks really good, looks really
cool, plays really well.
Um, and then just being in andlike being part of the
community, as far as seeing whatlongtime players like myself
had to say about it, and thenseeing what a bunch of noobs had
to say about it, and then justthe rush of different tips and
(37:27):
fixes and things that camethrough in the public community,
I thought was really cool.
Um, so it is a gridless citybuilder where villagers follow
like kind of organic paths, andthose paths turn into roads more
or less.
And it's really chill.
There's like a combat part ofit where you send troops off to
do missions, but other thanthat, like you're not defending
(37:48):
against anything, you're not onlike a huge like it can get
pretty nitty-gritty andintricate with supply chains and
making sure things are goingright.
Um, but it is very relaxing ina way, or at least passive,
perhaps, is a better way to putit than relaxing, because I get
like all hunched up close to mycomputer, like that meme you
sent me the other day when I'mplaying this game.
(38:10):
So to call it relaxing is alittle bit out of control.
And the last thing I'll mentionabout it that I think is makes
it unique is that um a lot oflike the bigger buildings, so
like you have these, you havelike your regular stuff supply
chains, but like you have like amonastery, like a military
fort, and like the what I'lljust call like the city
(38:33):
administration, and thentaverns, like those are all
modular, so like you create andadjust sizes and pieces and
stick things together.
Um, which if you watch somegameplay, that's gonna make a
whole lot more sense as far aslike like your people need to go
to a church, so you can buildlike a church and you have like
a main hall and you need toattach like a bell tower.
(38:53):
So, like, there's a creativecomponent, like you can make
things look really cool, and uh,I constantly want to comment on
people's Reddit posts thatwe're not playing the same game
because they can come up withthe most beautiful creations,
and mine looks dope, but nothinglike that.
So I love that game.
It's uh I think it's the firsttime I've ever been on like a
journey of an early access gamethrough launch, like from so
(39:14):
long ago, too.
So I've been playing it almostfour or five years.
So to see it in an early stateand then move all the way
through its 1.0 launch, it waspretty, pretty gnar, dude.
My little my little bro grewup, you know.
Alex (39:27):
Nice.
Uh so you're playing that onyour on your uh PC, or are you
playing that on the Steam Deck?
Luke (39:33):
Uh PC the whole time, yeah, for the last few years.
So I haven't tried it on theSteam Deck, but I don't see that
being particularly fun due tothe smaller screen and all that.
Okay.
So I got that.
I'm still playing Elden Ring.
Uh I've hated it and loved itabout four more times since we
last spoke.
Alex (39:54):
Nice.
Luke (39:55):
So um that's just a whole thing.
I finally bought 2K.
I'm trying to think of the lasttime I owned 2K.
I've never owned 2K on theXbox, I'm fairly certain.
So, like at least two, three,four years since I've bought 2K,
and uh man.
What the hell has happened tosociety and culture?
(40:16):
What is what is life, dude?
I hate it.
I mean, it's kind of fun.
I'll play some more of it, butI hate it.
Uh I hate what it's become.
If we go back to my fond 2011NBA 2K, it was the best one
ever, and it's just been a it'sbeen a slope downhill ever
since.
You don't like the gameplayitself?
The gameplay proper?
Gameplay itself is pretty good.
(40:36):
Uh, there's some small thingsthat I have grievances with, um,
but for the most part, it'spretty good.
Uh the difficulty is annoyingas fuck.
I've really struggled withfinding something that feels
fair where I'm not just winningall the time or losing all the
time.
Uh, it looks beautiful.
Um it's cool, but every menu isa nightmare.
(40:57):
The amount of times that it'sslow because an ad wants to or
like makes me go to the homescreen from whatever screen I
left off in just so it can feedme two new daily ads.
Not trying to buy your virtualcredit or whatever, like all
that stuff.
Everything is so clutteredbecause they're trying to pack
so much fucking shit in thegame.
I feel like I'm in the worstcasino having a bad time.
(41:17):
Just and then once you get inthe game, you're like, this
feels good, and everything elseis so clunky and like just bad
interface.
Alex (41:25):
And like for so long, I just put my blinders on.
I just put my blinders on and Igo straight to it.
Luke (41:31):
We need literal blinders, it's like everything's neon and
flashing, and like and I'm justlike, What is oh my god, like I
feel ancient.
Like I need to take like Iliterally like when halftime
shows up, you can't just skiphalftime and it's like four
different load screens.
You know what I'm talkingabout?
It's funny.
Uh yeah, I guess I literallybrown because I can't handle all
(41:54):
of the different flashinglights that come in and off the
screen.
I'm like, just give me back tothe simulation.
It's so bad, dude.
Uh but I zone out and I justpress A a whole bunch until it
skips through.
It's so bad.
Uh the gameplay is tightthough.
So buried deep, deep withinthis carcass of glut and just
shame is a good game.
(42:14):
Buried deep in there, and thenJesus Christ.
Can't wait to whip you up.
Oh, you know, you probablywon't still, but we'll see.
You'll just get me quick.
Alex (42:28):
You wanted to do this digitally today so that I
couldn't beat you and do thiswise.
This is crack.
Luke (42:34):
I'm not ready yet.
I gotta play as a team otherthan the wolves.
Dog.
Uh the hardest part is likeremembering their like getting
comfortable with their releasepoints.
Yes.
So I can't imagine playing witha team for the first time.
Uh I'm I do you turn off theoverlays that like show the
little arrow going up to theperfect point?
Alex (42:54):
Yeah, I turned that off right away.
Luke (42:56):
I don't even remember that being on in this version.
Alex (42:59):
Maybe I turned it off to like the first time.
Luke (43:01):
I thought I'd turn it off, but I it was just right there
again, and then I hated being inthe menus.
Um someone needs to, we needyou know, Elon Musk to get his
chainsaw out to 2K and trim allthis fat.
Alex (43:12):
You know what I mean?
Are you ripping packs?
You doing all that kind ofcrazy shit?
Luke (43:16):
Fuck no, dude.
No, I just want to play as theTimberwolves.
Even like the My Career thing,like I was instantly kind of
annoyed and I was like, thisshould be a fun mode.
I like already hate whatthey're trying to do with it.
I'm like, just let me play aslike they didn't let you get
drafted by a team.
Alex (43:31):
Uh dude, I don't even mess with any of that stuff.
I just go and I play myseasons.
Luke (43:35):
I know, but they're just like, what team do you want to
play for?
I'm like, bitch, I don't get tochoose.
That's not part of the fun.
Like, oh, they don't uh there'sno like draft.
You're just like on whateverfucking team you want to be on.
And I'm like, uh interesting.
So foundation, dude.
Love that game.
Smaller dev team, probably likea double A game, or maybe
indie.
(43:55):
I don't really know.
Uh super sick though.
Love that.
Super chill vibes.
Just getting my getting mybread, getting my wheat to my to
my windmill, to my breadsmith.
You know, it's there you go.
Then sell it at my markets.
So yeah, what do you beenplaying?
Alex (44:11):
Man, this and that.
I've been uh I think the lasttime that we talked, I was
saying that I was about 20 hoursdeep into Pokemon Emerald.
I played a few more hours ofthat, but uh I've shifted, I
shifted over to Final Fantasy,uh, the original Final Fantasy,
the remake of it, though, like aremaster of it that for the
PSP.
(44:31):
Um but it's still the originalgame.
That's been a lot of fun.
I probably poured about 14-ishhours into that, maybe a little
less, I don't know for sure.
Uh but similar to Pokemon, I'velike it's just one of those
things.
It's very similar to what we'resaying about uh both those
games, very similar to whatwe're saying about Bellatro.
It's just been great to be ableto rock and roll those while
(44:52):
something else is on or whileI'm doing something else, a
little multitask gaming.
But I was really enjoying thethe Final Fantasy, and I I got
to a part of the game wherethings are still trucking along.
Very, I mean, they both arelike both Pokemon and the Final
Fantasy, the original FinalFantasy are super similar in the
sense that you've got uh yourrandom encounters and the combat
(45:13):
is similar.
Um I would say I would I wouldventure to say that Final
Fantasy, even though it's anolder game, a little bit more
complex, there's just differentthings you can do.
You got a party, um that all dodifferent stuff.
But I mean, whatever, dude.
Similar to Juxposa too,Pokemon.
Yeah, well see, that's just it,I guess.
Yeah, so maybe maybe they arethe same.
(45:35):
I don't know.
Uh similar itch.
Yeah, no, for sure.
And but it's it's interesting.
Like I reached a point where Iwas kind of trucking, trucking
on that game, and then it's it'spetered, it has petered out,
but not like not that I'm notgonna return to it.
It's just kind of both of themhave been.
I've actually gone back toPokemon recently too and picked
it up because they're prettyeasy to pick up once you like
(45:56):
get oriented over to where youare on the map, and you can like
kind of continue the flow.
But that's been a lot of fun,dude.
Like I've never played thatgame.
I hope that I push through tothe end of it.
I think I'm probably about aquarter to halfway through.
Uh so my hope is I get thatknocked out of the, you know,
checked off the list in the nextcouple months here.
Just keep it as a slow burn.
But uh other than that, I toohave played some 2K.
(46:17):
I knew you picked it up, and Iknow I'm not supposed to talk
about it on the pot anymore, butbecause you picked it up, that
gives me an excuse.
And I haven't been uh but Ihaven't been getting into it
like I had in the past where I'mgoing through my seasons or
whatever.
You were you mentioned earlieryou gotta play as different
teams.
I'm like, well, Luke's playingthis game now, I'm gonna have to
whoop them up.
And I know that we're not gonnaboth play as a Timberwolves.
So I'm just gonna play uh theyhave the bird like a play now,
(46:42):
and then I play uh I just lookat the games of the day, and
then I tell Google to pick arandom number between five, one
and five, and then and thenwhatever number that is on the
list of the games of the day,uh, I'll play as one of those
two teams.
Uh, and again, I just randomlychoose the uh you know whatever
it tells me.
So I've been I've been brushingup my skills with other teams.
(47:03):
Um, but it's tricky, man.
Like you like you mentioned,like you can like I'm really
good with the Timberwolvesbecause I'm so comfortable with
their release points and allthat kind of stuff.
You know, I was playing as thePacers and I'm decent with the
Pacers now, but the thing is, islike um Halliburton, dude,
Halley should have a decentthree-point, but I haven't got
his release right, so like I putup bricks.
Luke (47:24):
Yeah, it's brutal.
I feel bad.
Nas Reed just flings the ballout of his hand, right?
And like I cannot get it down.
I mean, I hit him sometimes,especially when I turn down the
difficulty finally.
Uh just a side rant.
Uh, if you have eightdifficulty settings, that's
inherently annoying because thatmeans there's not a true
middle, and I just don'tunderstand who's in the room
(47:45):
that's like, let's have eight.
Alex (47:47):
Are there sliders too?
I can't remember.
Luke (47:48):
Probably there is, yeah.
So I guess I could look upcustom sliders, but I think I
just gotta I just gotta play,shockingly.
And then uh when I eventuallyget good enough where I can go
on the next one up and not loseevery single time, that'd be
pretty sweet.
Alex (48:06):
Nice, yeah.
Uh, but that's just a minor onefor me.
Another big one that's been alot of fun is I end up getting
this thing called a retro tink.
And what that is, is it's thisbox, it's this fancy box that
upscales uh retro hardware to amodern television, right?
So basically, I have connectedmy PS2 and my Dreamcast to this
(48:31):
retro tink.
And soon I dude, I'm still onmy eBay shit.
I picked up a Nintendo Wii for50 bucks.
Luke (48:39):
Sure.
Alex (48:40):
Uh I've got that coming soon, so that will be connected
to it as well.
But it's fun because I've gotthis, you know, a nice new TV
that I got around Black Fridaytimes.
Uh, but the thing is, you know,I've got my little my little uh
CRT in the background for noone because we are not gonna
share that we don't like shareout our video all the time.
But anyways, like that that'sthe thing with my retro, my
(49:00):
retro setup is like it can bereally charming to play on like
my small little retro like CRTTV.
Uh but a lot of the times it'slike, man, I'd much rather just
be sitting on the couch likeplaying video games there,
right?
Or you know, taking advantageof this big screen.
But that doesn't really makesense for your PS2, your 64, and
all these other like systems.
Because if you connect those,even if you well, first of all,
(49:23):
there's uh the cable system setup.
So you've got like componentcables.
If you're lucky, those arepretty nice.
Otherwise, you've got likedifferent they all use different
cable setups, but when youconnect those, you might need to
get a converter, like a littledongle that will convert those
into an HT HDMI signal.
Um, if your TV, because TVsdon't have like component
(49:44):
endpoints anymore.
Uh, but when it does that, likeit just gets degraded so bad.
You connect it, you connect aPS2 to a new TV, dude.
It looks like garbage.
But this retro tink makes it,so it looks absolutely stunning,
dude.
It's awesome.
And it runs that and it alsogets it going, so it runs at uh
you know full 50 60 uh 60 framesper second, so it's running
(50:05):
smooth as well.
So you got like a nice picture,and then it's got all these
profiles that you know, allthese nerds have like figured
out essentially shaders ifyou're familiar with shaders,
but um these different profilesyou can add to them to make uh
to different flavors ofdifferent types of PVMs,
different types of like CRTs,all these different uh you know,
to get to get to recapture thelook that you would get from
(50:27):
from like an older television.
And you can also just do pixelperfect, you know, and then uh
so that's been super fun, dude.
I've been playing a whole bunchof PS2 games, a little bit of
Dreamcast, and uh and it's kindof uh is uh breathed a whole
bunch of new life intoespecially PS2 uh for me because
my Dreamcast library, not thatbig, but PS2 I got a lot of
(50:47):
great games, so it's uh that'sbeen super fun, man.
Um big side closed shop talkval back of the shop, dude.
Dude, I've been tinkering.
You he made the joke lastepisode about uh motorcycle
maintenance.
Yeah, I was like, yeah, 100%,dude.
I I love that stuff.
Like uh just getting thesethings to work, setting things
up, like uh it's kind of funbecause I've reached the point
(51:09):
with the with the with the PS2where it's like it's all set up
and it's rocking and rolling.
I I gotta do some things rightto clean up some file names and
whatnot.
But like a lot of times I'llspend a bunch of time like
getting a device to work the wayI want it to, and then I'm
like, well, I don't really feellike playing anything on it
right now, though.
You know, yeah.
But it's like, but I've gottenthe I've gotten the point with
my PS2 though, where it's like,this is dope, man.
(51:30):
It like it looks, it's likerunning great, it's purring, and
I can play these games.
So I've been playing, uh Iplayed a little bit of dark
cloud up to the point where itgot difficult.
And then I was like, oh shit,this isn't the like I mean it's
fine.
Like I just wasn't like Iwasn't quite ready to like pour
a bunch of time in there, but Iwas like, all right, I'm good on
this for now.
But I've been playing, dude.
(51:50):
I love uh the time capsule ofold men's uh one because uh
there's like a weird point wherelike two, three years, that's
too soon.
Luke (51:59):
But once you get to a certain point, it's like the
perfect deal where you rememberthe names or you're just like
whoa, totally.
Alex (52:06):
So like uh yeah, and he got a fucking cannon on him, let
me tell you.
Luke (52:12):
And he's fast to chuck it to Randy.
Alex (52:15):
Yep, no, for sure, dude.
So like and then NFL 2K on theDreamcast.
I was playing a game of thatlike uh the other night.
Um, just like loading up thoseuh the those Viking teams around
that pocket were just so good.
We didn't like win any fuckingchampionships, but but but the
teams are real nice.
Uh so fun to play with, fun toplay like that, dude.
Uh playing some uh from likeNeed for Speed Underground 2, if
(52:35):
you remember that one.
Uh man, just like uh justhaving a ton of fun with it,
man.
Like, and it's uh I'm excitedto show you the next time you
come through because like it'slike I said, it's like it's
breathing a whole bunch of newlife into my PS2.
Um, and it's been it's been funto play.
Luke (52:50):
I'll play Lord of the Rings Two Towers, dude.
Alex (52:53):
Got that game, and it can be done.
Luke (52:57):
It's the only the only one.
Alex (52:58):
Word.
And what I think that's good,man.
I think that's good.
I think that's what I got goingfor side quests.
Still reading, still readingbooks.
Nice, which is nice.
Nice.
But with that, dude, and withall you listening, thank you.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you for listening, folks.
Uh head to low5gaming.com.
(53:19):
Click on that Discord invoit,invite invite.
And you are to our Discord.
You are invited to our Discord.
Get on over there or follow uson the socials, do whatever.
Just keep on listening to us.
Do whatever you want.
I don't give a shit.
Uh well, I kind of care.
Edgy.
I care that you're happy.
Stay happy.
And if you're not happy, here'sa big virtual hug for y'all.
Luke (53:43):
All right.
Alex (53:47):
All right, man.
Take it easy.
Peace.
Get a haircut, you hippie.
Dude, I fucking wish.
Yo, what up, everybody?
Welcome back to another episodeof Low Five Gaming.
You got me, your host, Alex,and my co-hosted brother Luke.
What up, dude?
Luke (00:32):
Preparing not much.
How you doing?
Alex (00:34):
Doing well.
We're recording this in thedaytime.
We gotta bring that daytimeenergy.
Luke (00:38):
Yeah, yeah.
I even got my bubbler overhere, dude, because I'm, you
know, super cool.
Brought to you by Clarbrun.
Alex (00:45):
So no big deal.
Clarbrun's alright.
Clarbrun.
Luke (00:49):
I haven't seen Clarbrun since college.
Uh, my roommate, we used toalways make fun of Clarbrun, but
he would just buy all of theCarbruns, and it had the most
satisfying can open of all time,famously.
It just just like explodes outof the can.
Not any fizzing, but you canhear a Carbrun being opened up
down the street.
Alex (01:06):
Where the hell do you get some Clarbrun, dude?
I haven't even seen thatoutside of like northern
Minnesota.
Luke (01:11):
Winona, I guess.
Um this was almost 10 years agonow, because yikes.
Alex (01:17):
Uh wait, how does this can?
Luke (01:19):
Of Clarbrun?
Alex (01:21):
That you got right now.
Dude, you've never hadbubblers, brother?
Oh, I thought you were sayingyou were drinking Klarbrun right
now.
Luke (01:29):
Dude, it's from the makers of Klarbrun.
Alex (01:32):
Oh, interesting.
I see.
And if you came to this podcastfor Black, I'm on the same
page.
Luke (01:37):
We're gonna discard the Klarbrun and Bubbler talk to get
to the real hand.
See what I did there, dude?
Dude, I'm so good at this.
Nice.
I'm so good at this now, dude.
It's crazy.
Alex (02:16):
Oh, that's right.
We played Bellatro.
Belt Beltro.
Bellatro.
Listen.
I don't know how to pronouncethis correct, dude.
Luke (02:24):
I haven't heard anyone saying other than Bellatro, and
I don't want to learn a new way.
Alex (02:28):
Uh it's an Italian word for joker.
I might be understanding.
Nice.
But yes, that is uh thepronunciation of this game has
definitely been discussed on theinternet.
Sure.
And uh I think there isdefinitely a Bellatro camp that
we clearly land in.
What is the other one?
Hmm.
If you gotta look it up, is iteven a camp?
(02:49):
You know what I'm saying, dude?
Oh, Balatro.
That's saying the same thinganother.
That's stupid.
Bellatro.
Belatro.
That's stupid.
I don't know.
Bellatro.
You know what, man?
If we can come, if we can comewith Ocarina of Time Energy for
like I don't know, for me, 37,38 years, like I or I guess that
(03:13):
game's not even that old.
I'm older than the game.
Luke (03:15):
The point is.
Did life really start until weplayed that game though?
Alex (03:19):
If you really have to be honest, the point is if we're
Ocarina boys, we can be Bellatroboys.
I'm pretty sure it's the way tosay it.
I'd have to ask an Italianbruh.
Luke (03:30):
Nope.
No, you're allowed to do thatthing, but no.
Alex (03:37):
Fair.
But anyway, uh cool game, dude.
It is cool.
It is cool.
Why this game?
This game, I guess I kind ofselected this one.
It was both uh on both of ourradars, hard to miss in the
zeitgeist of gaming, but it kindof came out of nowhere back in
2024, 2023, end of 2023,something like that.
Luke (03:57):
Yeah, last year.
Yeah.
I remember um it's kind offunny.
We were doing Minecraft Club,where we're paid to supervise uh
little sweaty sixth graders asthey scream and play Minecraft.
Sure.
And uh friend of the pod,sometimes Carter, was like, I'm
super excited to play thisBellatro game, and he showed it
to Tyler and I, and we werelike, That looks um okay, I
(04:19):
guess.
And then it like I justremember that conversation.
He said he'd been following itfor like a decent amount of
time, and he was excited for itsrelease, and then it released,
and it was like huge, and I waslike, Oh, that game he was
talking about that one time, andthen I somehow made like a
whole year where I just ignoredit, even though it was pretty
clearly gonna be a game I wasgonna enjoy.
I just ignored it until hebought it to me for me for
(04:40):
Christmas, indeed, and then itwas time, and then uh recently
got put on the the cellulardevices, or at least it's just
become popular on the cellphones.
Um side note, great cell phonegame.
So a lot of the buddies areplaying it too, so it was a fun,
it was a fun go.
Alex (04:55):
Did you end up springing for the cell phone uh version?
Luke (04:59):
No, but I probably I didn't, not because of the the
ten dollars is actuallyincredibly affordable.
I think it's cheaper on thephone than it is on like Steam.
Alex (05:07):
Uh $9.99 or something like that on at least on Android.
Yeah.
Uh so it's about the same.
Luke (05:13):
It runs really well on the phone and it crashes my Steam
Deck out of nowhere.
It always crashes and boots meout of the game.
So uh that made me want to buyit on the phone, but I also knew
like would all of my poopsextend by 10 minutes because I'm
too busy playing Bellatro.
Would I perhaps miss some uhnice moment in my child's life
as they're playing because I'mtoo busy trying to sa, you know,
(05:35):
multitask Bellatro.
So I decided against it, but itwas tempting.
Alex (05:38):
Right on.
Yeah, no, you you brought uplike uh how we kind of sat on
it.
I think it was one of thosegames that like everybody was
super into it.
And it wasn't even that I waslike trying to be super hipster
or anything, be like, I'm toogood for Bellatro.
I think I was just like, Idon't know if it's my time.
And and so I I also like sat onit for about a year because
this this game dropped inFebruary on February 20th of
(05:59):
2024.
I think it may have been anearly access, but at this point
I'm just making shit up.
So, you know, podcasting.
Luke (06:06):
Well researched.
Yep.
I appreciate it.
Alex (06:09):
But it did, it totally exploded though.
It's it kind of took overeverything everybody was talking
about, everybody is really intoit.
And I was like, you know, Ijust don't know if I need any
crack cocaine in my life rightnow.
Luke (06:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Backlog's already big, and thenyou see this like uh very
addicting style game.
And uh, I will be honest too,uh, the allure of poker didn't
do anything for me, and ifanything, it was more of a an
inhibitor to me actually playingbecause I wasn't like craving
any side of poker, and as we canget into later, like poker
(06:39):
doesn't really play like this,isn't real poker by any means,
it's kind of loosely thestructure, but that kind of kept
me away because I just couldn'treally envision a world where
that gameplay was super funbecause I just kept getting
stuck on the poker aspect of it.
Alex (06:54):
But that's created some complications for the for the
game itself, too, and how it'suh living on the app stores and
whatnot.
But before we get too far, Isuppose there's a good point
just to kind of let the folkswho maybe are not familiar with
the game know what it is, right?
So this is a a deck builder,would you say?
Poker like almost a poker-like,roguelike deck builder.
Luke (07:12):
I wouldn't even say it as anything like poker is so
loosely in the framework.
Sure.
Like if you know poker hands,poker hands are involved as a
scoring system.
So anything from a high card topairs to a royal flush.
And then it is a deck builder.
Yeah, has deck buildingelements for sure, the way that
you can add cards and do allthat, yeah.
Alex (07:35):
Yeah, developed by a fellow that goes by local thunk
and uh I believe has continuedto keep his true identity under
ramps, like besides like thegotta keep all that lattro money
from the hose, dude.
They're gonna be trying to betrying to have his baby soon.
Right, because it's a it's ait's a one-man team, right?
So it's kind of cool that umthis was developed by just one
(07:56):
person.
I believe it came out of aCOVID project.
I mentioned poker, and you saidnot quite poker, and that makes
sense in in truth.
I guess some of the inspirationcomes from a Cantonese card
game called Big Two.
I'm gonna say heard of it,dude.
Have you?
No, okay.
Me neither.
So like when I was like lookingup some of this stuff, I I came
(08:17):
across that and I was like, Oh,that's cool.
Uh, but I yeah, I had no I Ididn't really understand.
I was like, oh word, all right.
Luke (08:24):
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, it's a roguelikedeck builder.
Uh the scoring is structuredaround um basically poker hands
plus multipliers.
Those multipliers range in avariety of things, uh, gives you
different targets, it adds somerandomness to each run.
Um and you have a store youvisit in between your battles,
(08:46):
similar to a lot of these typeof battler roguelike games, and
you just keep beating the littlemini bosses until you get to
the end, and then and then youdefeat it, and then it feels
really good.
You ever beaten it?
Alex (08:58):
Yeah, one one time.
One time.
Oh my god.
One time.
Uh I mentioned crack cocaine,dude.
Uh I knew I knew you would lovethis game, especially because
it's kind of right up the alley.
Luke (09:10):
More of a weakness for these deals than you.
Alex (09:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I I mean I like them, butum, you know, for instance, like
I knew that you poured, youknow, hundreds and hundreds of
hours into uh Slay, Slay theSpire.
Not to say that these games arethe same, they are not, uh, but
they're similarities.
Luke (09:24):
Yeah, they have some through lines for sure.
Uh Slay the Spire is better,but that's just my baby girl
right there.
Alex (09:30):
Yeah, I I don't know.
That's that's like we couldspiral into that.
Like, I think it's it'sinteresting, right?
I think that this game, it's agame, clearly, but Slay like
falls into more of yourtraditional like video game, I
would say, where this has likevery strong like tabletop card
game that is a video game.
I don't, you know, like there'sno like when you when you
(09:51):
mention like bosses, you don'tlike see an animated boss or
like it's just another anotherhand, right?
Luke (09:56):
Yeah, and you know, you're tiptoeing around it.
I'd say not on accent or toavoid anything, but I'd just say
it's like very much moreappealing for a non-gamer person
than usual.
So like I wouldn't have as muchhesitation like our sister
doesn't really play video games,but I can oddly enough like see
her if you gave her like a 10bucks to like buy this game,
(10:17):
like she'd probably have fun.
Sure.
Learn it faster than like aslay the spire.
Like, if I handed handed slaythe spire to my wife, she'd be
like, what the fuck?
But uh she might get Blaccioafter a few hands.
Alex (10:31):
I think it's interesting too, the way that it's rolled
out.
Like it doesn't do a ton ofhand holding, like you can read
you know the different thingsthat your cars are doing.
You mentioned earlier the youknow, you've got your your
typical uh deck of cards, so yougot all your face cards, number
cards, all that kind of stuff.
The jokers play an interestingrole in this game.
So there's not just four jokersor two jokers or how many
jokers come with your deck, butthe jokers actually impact how
(10:54):
your your scoring works, right?
And uh, there's a ton ofdifferent things.
Totally.
And then you got your tarot,tarot cards, your planet cards,
and your vouchers, and those allin turn have effects on your
your hands as well and yourpoint system.
But you know, you can you canread how each of them affect
your hand, but you're still it'sstill like a you're like
(11:14):
testing it, at least the waythat I played through it, it's
like you test it out, you kindof like put it in there like,
oh, okay, I see how this works alittle bit.
And then it's like you kind ofbuild on you know, each that
each run, you kind of build onyour knowledge, and you're like,
okay, because it's gonna bedifferent every time, too,
right?
So you're like, oh, that didthis for me this time, and then
the next time you you jump in,it's gonna be slightly different
because you're getting fullydifferent cards, fully different
(11:36):
hand.
Uh, and you you start to likeintegrate things and it it
changes your strategy and howyou play.
Um so it's interesting becauseit's not like here's how you
play, it's kind of like you'replaying now.
Here's like this extra thing,figure it out, try and try and
beat it.
Luke (11:51):
You can like if you put it down and you pick it back up in
the middle of a run, it's alittle disorienting because it
can get kind of not necessarilydense, but kind of complex in a
way as you go along your run,you're like, okay, I'm going for
straights.
I have this joker where astraight can be formed in only
four cards instead of five, andthen you're like, ooh, I run
into that, and that booststhings up.
(12:13):
Uh, but it's not like an overlylike like I'm playing Elden
Ring still, and like I'm tryingto figure out systems sometimes,
and I'm like, I have to do wetand then wet and then wet.
Whereas this, it's like it'sit's complex, but it's not
overly intense and intricate andout of control, although it can
be a tad bit disorienting.
(12:33):
Right.
Alex (12:34):
I want to kind of set the table too, so folks, you
probably if you if you haven'tplayed this, you've picked up
the fact that there's thesecards in there.
But to give you an idea of thevisual layout, that's uh what I
really love about it right offthe bat is you are you you've
got this CRT filter going on,right?
So it's kind of got this oldschool look to it.
Um a little bit fuzzy, the thecorners and edges of the screen
(12:57):
are rounded to give you thatfeel that you're you're playing
this game on a oh dude.
It's subtle.
It's subtle but cool.
It's subtle but cool.
I mean, me being a person thatlike totally F F around with
shaders and all that stuff tomake my retro games like look
retro, like I totallyappreciated what was going on
with the with the look of thisgame.
Certainly has a gnarlyaesthetic, but I guess I never
(13:20):
pieced any of those puzzlepieces together.
Yeah, check it out.
Check it out next time you'replaying, you'll you'll notice
the CRT puzz.
No.
Uh and then the music too, man.
Like the music's kind of fun,it's like pretty hypnotic, it's
not a repeat.
Uh I'm pretty sure.
Like, I don't think it uh it'sone of those things.
Are you listening?
You're you're probably playingon bed like volume 80%, like
(13:41):
just vibing out, dropping awayinsane.
Luke (13:44):
Uh no, I keep it pretty low, except for when you get
like a super sick hand, like onall the crazy multipliers going,
like the sound of all yourpoints going up is pretty
orgasmic.
So like I'll have to tickle upthe noise a little bit just so
it can be like and I'm justsitting there like you get the
little flame thing going on thecounter, that's when you know
you're going bonkers, dude.
It's sick, dude.
Alex (15:02):
Dude, this this game totally tickles the same part of
the brain, like the lizardbrain that uh a game like um
like Vampire Survivors would.
Luke (15:10):
Yeah, I've almost bought Vampire Survivors again like 10
different times.
Alex (15:14):
Oh dog, um do you have that on your phone too?
Luke (15:19):
I did for the longest time, yeah.
And then it was a bit too much,and then I had it on Game Pass
when I had Game Pass last.
Alex (15:26):
Sure, sure, sure.
Um man.
Uh but yeah, so you know, samesame brain tickle as vampire
survivors, same tickle as uhslot machine.
Luke (15:35):
Yeah, just you know, hitting that like man, that
really good itch that feels waytoo good to itch.
Like a mosquito bite type, likeoh, and your leg twitches a
little bit.
Yeah.
When those numbers go crazy,you feel pretty great about it.
Alex (15:49):
So let's let's go over the different cards as that we
mentioned earlier.
So we got the Joker cards,provide unique effects that can
significantly uh alter thegameplay dynamics.
Tarot cards, what do those do?
Luke (15:59):
Uh well, they have a wide variety, same with the spectral
cards, they can do differentthings, but mostly the tarot
cards can uh which I read astarot and I know that's wrong,
but I refuse.
It's alright.
Alex (16:12):
Throw it into the chasm, bro.
Luke (16:13):
Yeah, throw it right into the chasm.
Um nice.
The tarot cards, they likeusually do something specific to
your actual deck of cards,meaning like the jokers think of
it being on the top bar of yourscreen and they like apply
abilities or different rules towhatever you're doing, whereas
your actual deck, what you'replaying, is like the poker
(16:34):
hands.
So like you can put amultiplier on your king of
hearts or make your ace ofspades uh um like a lucky card,
and like you can delete cardsand things like that, and like
destroy them.
So that's what the tarot cardsdo.
The planet cards increase howmany points you get off of a
scoring a specific hand, so youcan upgrade your pair, meaning,
(16:56):
like if you throw in a pair,it's worth this much more than
usual.
So if you cheese that you canhave like a pair be worth way
more than like a royal flushjust by the way you're upgrading
as you go along on that run.
Alex (17:08):
Planet cards are kind of what opened this game up for me.
I was like, Yeah, did a wholebunch of runs and then I finally
figured out how to use thosecorrectly, and I was like, all
right, now we're scoring somepoints.
Luke (17:16):
Or how about like I like the intricacy of even like with
the jokers, they can give youmultipliers both plus your malt
and times your malt.
So like putting your puttingyour time.
Alex (17:28):
There's some there's some math involved too to really make
that work.
That uh took me a while tolearn some perm DOS.
Luke (17:34):
Yeah, you know, perm DOS.
It's just the times you putthat to the right because it's
the last thing to get counted.
So, like, oh that's why yousaid PEMDOS.
I get it now.
Shouts out to all my middleschool math teacher friends.
Um yes, this is how they shouldbe teaching math, dude.
What the fuck are they on?
Right?
Get some fuck are they doing?
It's better than what they'replaying at home, dude.
(17:56):
I got 2K.
I know what the casinos thesechildren live in now.
For sure.
God I've never actually likeconsidered how important an
epilepsy warning is before avideo game until I play fucking
2K, but that's a story forlater.
Um and then vouchers.
Vouchers will do perks and thatinfluence that they're how do
(18:17):
you feel about vouchers?
Uh I don't use them as much asthe other ones.
Sometimes if it's a really goodone, like it increases the
amount of hands you play or theamount of discards you have, or
even how many cards you can holdin your hand.
Alex (18:28):
I'm glad you brought those up because we hadn't brought
those up yet.
But yeah.
Luke (18:31):
You get a certain amount of discards.
There's the amount of playhands that you play.
Discarding is life.
I hate the jokers that likeincentivize you not to discard
because I just can't not searchfor the best hand and discard,
but yeah.
Yeah.
Um, so it's a great, great gameto play if you're like watching
something in the background.
Like if you're one of thoseNetflix watchers that just has
(18:53):
it on, you need to get thisgame.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Alex (18:57):
Dude, I I do know what you mean.
It's funny.
The the majority of my timeplaying this game, though, has
been like on the deck, thesteamy D, playing with my Steamy
D in bed.
And then um, and then justbeing like having game choice
paralysis and then um not beingable to decide what to do, and
then just being like, you knowwhat, fuck it.
And then uh it's a palettecleanser almost, yeah.
Yeah, fire up, fire up Malatro,and then all of a sudden three
(19:19):
hours have passed, and you'relike, oh shit.
Yeah, yeah.
Luke (19:22):
But you know, if your wife decides to re-watch Friends or
something awful like that again,and you want to partake in
Friends, you could just playBilatro in the inside.
Alex (19:31):
Is this an example or a real life uh scenario?
Luke (19:34):
Uh I'm sure it's real life for somebody, but not here.
Alex (19:38):
Right on, right on.
I think so.
I mean, with all the differentcard variances, I also don't
really use vouchers.
The only other thing that Ithink is worth mentioning is
that the setup, right?
So the setup of the game, youand you unlock these over time
as you win, right?
So, like, or as you gaincertain point amounts, I think.
Um so you get to choose yourdeck at the beginning of the
game.
Yeah.
Uh so you got like differentthey have different names,
(20:00):
different colors.
So like the blue deck does Xand the yellow deck does Y, that
kind of deal.
Sure.
Um, and that might set it up sothat you have like one less
hand per round or one less uhlike just just various different
things to like change up theflavor of of each run, right?
And I'm under the understandingthat you've what you've beat it
with all the all the decks now?
Luke (20:20):
No, uh I beat it because I beat it with all the ones that
unlock a new one.
And then I've gotten to thepoint where I now have to beat
it on like the big blind, littleblind, like the different chip
difficulty settings that youunlock when you beat it.
So I've unlocked one of thosebecause I beat it on the there's
the base difficulty, and thenthere's the next one up.
(20:41):
I've beaten it once there, sonow I'm trying to beat it with
the new deck on base difficultybecause I just wanted to do that
and it's fun.
And you know, it's a roguelike,so like you gotta get used to
whatever it is that that deckoffers best.
So it takes a while.
I think it takes a few runs tounderstand the benefits.
Um there's one that was supereasy, it's like all of the it
(21:05):
was like all hearts and spades.
So like you could reallysynergize with flushes super
effectively, and like that was areally easy one to beat.
Um so there's stuff like that.
Alex (21:16):
Yeah, there's I mean it's fun, like it's there's so many
different things, so manydifferent variances of the game,
ways you fight.
I mean, you're basically tryingto break the game to like get
your points.
You're trying to like break itto cheese things, and then uh
you rack those points up and youeventually win.
For me, there was a there's ajoker that worked really well
for me.
I had my my malts all set upreal nice and from different
jokers like offering differenttypes of malts, but there's one
(21:38):
that was like I can't, and thenthey compound too.
Some of the some of the jokershave compounding effects.
So if you don't like if youdon't use uh face card or
whatever, uh it will like forevery round, it'll compound the
amount of multiplier for you.
And then, you know, so you endup it's just and it also that's
like interesting stuff becauseit'll make you like you know,
(21:59):
we've mentioned like how it'spoker hands, but once you start
adding all these differentthings in there, you have to
like like all of a sudden, likea pair of two, like you bring up
earlier, is gonna be strongerthan like a full house because
you've added either a bunch ofplanet cards to it or you've got
different malts that are likehelping you out there.
Luke (22:16):
Your deck can even get so weird that you can have like uh
I think Tyler got like a five ofa kind flush or a six of a kind
flush because he had like youknow, so you can unlock really
weird crazy combos if you'relike getting into that aspect of
it.
It is funny when you're superdependent on one type of hand,
(22:36):
and then when you're doing likean epic boss battle later on,
like they simply just throughchance, you just do not get any
of the cards you need, andyou're just so fucked because
you can't use the one the onestrategy you've built up to
dominate with.
Alex (22:50):
And what is what is that called again?
Uh for the for the boss hands?
Uh like they added basicallythey've they nerfed like a
whatever.
Oh, that's what they that'scalled.
Yeah, the boss blind.
Luke (22:59):
Small blind, lar blind, lar lar blind.
Small blind, large blind, bossblind.
Alex (23:05):
Yes, right on that a few times.
Jeez.
And you can also skip theearlier runs, right?
Like, what's that all about?
I haven't even really gotteninto that too much.
Luke (23:13):
I just played all now.
Took me a little while tofigure that out.
Uh, you have the option to skipthem, but you don't get the
free thing.
You get a thing, but you don'tget access to the store in
between battles.
So like it's kind of a riskreward thing.
Uh on the higher difficulty,you don't earn any money for the
small blind.
Yeah.
So you end up skipping that oneand just getting whatever the
reward is a lot of times.
(23:34):
Uh right.
Sometimes you even like the thejoker you get is you get a
multiplier based on how manytimes that you've skipped
blinds.
So it's true.
So you know the game, thereplayability is pretty crazy.
Like it's there's really a lotof stuff that I I I've played 30
hours and I honestly feel likeI've discovered 15% of the game.
Alex (23:56):
Sure.
And uh there's there'srumblings.
I think local thunk has gone asfar to say that there will
eventually he doesn't he didn'tlike give a timeline or
anything, but there will be likea there'll be like a version
update um where he adds a wholebunch of of uh Joker cards or
whatever.
Well, he's gotta pay off allthose baby mamas, you know.
Yeah, presumably, presumablyidentity.
Uh but yeah, this game, I mean,critically acclaimed, dude.
(24:19):
We mentioned it came out onFebruary 20th, 2024.
We sat out for about a year,but a lot of people didn't,
neither do the awards, folks.
So they got the the GoldenJoystick Award in 2024.
Also, the game awards gave itthe uh best in best indie, best
debut indie, and uh best mobilegame.
Luke (24:37):
All right, all seems fair.
It was pretty crazy.
Like people had the game of theyear discussion, they're like,
Can you really give it to this?
And a lot of people were like,Yes, you should.
And it wasn't a you know, Ihadn't played it at the time,
but it wasn't a crazy argumentfor people.
Alex (24:50):
It was pretty cool.
Word.
Uh so if you had to give thisgame how many jokers out of
five, bro?
And then who would yourecommend to?
We've teased it, but I'd loveto know.
Jokers, dude.
Luke (25:02):
I'm going a full four and a half jokers.
I'm Homer Simpson the critic,food critic.
I think I've made that joke, soI'm just gonna move on.
But it's really addictive.
Oh, uh Homer Simpson in anepisode becomes a food critic,
and everybody in the town getsmorbidly obese and hates him
because he's too positive aboutall the food.
(25:22):
And uh and then someone makesfun of him, so he starts being
like overly cruel.
He's like, I give this fouronly four thumbs up.
Um yeah, like a four and a halfto a four.
I think it's really cool.
Um if there's like a real game.
Alex (25:40):
I would be subtracting points for the fact it crashes
on you all the time.
That's fucking sucks.
Luke (25:45):
Yeah.
Um, and also sometimes you'replaying the game, you're just
like, ugh, I can't these fuckingcards, and like I get this
weird feeling where like I can'tplay it for a while.
Like it gets not necessarilyoverwhelming or over I don't
know what it is, but sometimes Ijust get like caught in a run
and I'm like, I fucking hatethis.
So like for anyone who's like abig, big old video game player,
(26:06):
I'd I'd be like, you haven'tbought this yet, it's cheap,
you're gonna like it, it's worthyour time.
And then surprisingly, there Iwould recommend this game to
even like maybe someone who'slike kind of gamer curious more
so than like not full ungamer,but someone you know more
casual, but someone who's playedlike a little bit because
you're gonna need a little bitof tech.
(26:27):
Like, I wouldn't reallyrecommend this for mom and dad.
They don't have the techliteracy to really enjoy it, but
like someone slightly higher upthan them.
Sure, pretty wide audience, iswhat I'm getting at.
Alex (26:39):
Yeah.
Uh rewinding slightly just uhto talk about that crashing
thing again.
I'm also the impression, youknow, this one-man team, local
thunk dude.
When this went out there andpeople started to dig through
like the code, uh that it waslike apparently the code is
super bloated, like it's notstreamlined code, and like a lot
of coding people were like,look at this shitty code.
(27:00):
But it's like here's the deal.
If it fucking works, it works.
Like, who cares if it'sbloated?
So there's so there's that.
It's not the cleanest code, andthat's probably why it has a
little bit of uh a problem oncertain versions of the Steam
Deck.
But is that a Steam Deckproblem or is that uh a blotcher
problem?
I'm not really sure.
But well, you know what?
I have a Steam Deck as well,and it didn't happen to me, but
(27:20):
I know it happens to a lot offolks because I looked it up
when you told me.
Luke (27:23):
Yeah, and I've done some of the solution things, and I
don't know.
It's uh it's a little bit ofboth, man.
Alex (27:29):
Indeed.
I'm gonna give it five jokersthough, or five celestial cards,
or five terracards.
Top ten of all time, dude.
Nah, bro.
But like I can't really, Ican't really, aside from the
fact that I'm gonna be able todo it.
I'm gonna put my second four.
Luke (27:41):
I'm gonna full four flat.
Alex (27:43):
There we go.
An eight out of four out offive.
That's a really good ranking.
I need to hold firm.
See, I don't have any, I don'thave any notes as a thing.
I gotta give it a full five forespecially with the type of
game it is.
Like, I mean, that's just it,you know.
When you're rating anything,it's difficult.
You put a five, you put like uhsome fancy restaurant next to
McDonald's, they all get ratedin the same Google rating, dude.
(28:03):
So it's that's just how it goessometimes.
But uh, but this is some reallygood McDonald's, bro.
You know, this is high-end fastfood, I'll give you that.
Uh but that's just it.
I think the only like, and it'snot a knock, the thing is
because it's the type of thegame, type of game that it is,
so you can't really knock it forthis.
I don't know we didn't mentionthis earlier, but a phenomenal
card game would be uh shit.
(28:24):
What we played.
It's a deck builder a whileback, uh, kind of got the this
the creepy vibes to it.
Slay the spire.
No, no.
Uh you know, like pull yourteeth out and put them on the
scale, that kind of shit.
Luke (28:35):
Oh god, yeah.
Um there's like three games inone.
Um totally blank.
I don't know what that'scalled.
Great podcasting right now.
We did a whole episode on it.
I know, I can see the art in mybrain.
I'm gonna pull it up.
Inscription.
Inscription.
Alex (28:54):
There we go.
Great work, IT.
Yeah.
So inscription, dude.
Like inscription is a deckbuilder where you've got like
like a boss.
It's a it's another game that'smore video gamey.
That's totally different.
That one had a whole meta thinggoing to it too.
That was cool.
Indeed.
So, but the thing is, is likeso.
I don't really oh, I bring thatup though, because like
(29:14):
inscription, like you're you'regoing somewhere.
I think with this game, likeyou're you're playing to beat
it, dude.
It's like your candy crush, youknow, like it's not really the
it is about dopamine hits,there's no doubt about that.
Luke (29:24):
Or like even for streaming, too.
Like, I've seen a lot ofYouTube shorts of different
streamers who are just likeputting together crazy combos,
and I'm like, I don't watch anystreamers, but I'm sure if I
did, I would have seen a lot ofthis game in those.
Alex (29:37):
Yeah, see whereas whereas Tetris is the goat.
Same thing.
You can't really beat it.
But you can't beat this game,right?
So then there's no, and that'snot even a spoiler.
That's just I mean, you beat itin the sense that you like
reach a certain like spoilTetris, dude.
Luke (29:54):
Or you meant I'm talking about this game.
Alex (29:56):
Or uh no, you're gonna be a big storyline spoil.
Luke (30:01):
It's just like not that I know of, at least.
Alex (30:03):
Um, you read you reach your point threshold, and you
can even choose to keep playingindefinitely if you want.
Luke (30:08):
Yeah, you do it, you find your own fun in it.
I mean, hitting differentgoals, the unlocking, it's part
of the lizard brain continuum.
Alex (30:15):
But but I gotta give five, dude.
I gotta give it a full send.
That's crazy.
Gotta give it a full send.
And uh let me see.
Uh as who's I I'm on board.
Like, I think just aboutanybody, uh, your Candy Crush
folk that need that dopamine,like they they're gonna love it.
Like, honestly, I do thinkanybody can really figure out if
they give it enough time.
So, like, you know, even yourmoms, your pa's, but like, you
(30:35):
know, I think it's anybodythat's looking for some like
lizard brain dopamine hits likekill some time.
Luke (30:41):
Like, you know, this isn't uh you're we re watching The
Office for the seventh time andyou just want it on in the
background, you just throw throwthat on and you got Bellatro.
I mean, yeah, you know, you'rewatching The Bachelor like Alex
does, and then you just play TheGolden Bachelor.
Only bro.
Only the Golden Bachelor.
Alex (31:01):
Word.
Well, that's it, man.
Malatro.
Uh, with that, let's take alittle break.
Come back with a side question.
This month, Lo Five Gaming isunofficially brought to you in
part by Slides.
(31:21):
What do you know about slides,brother?
Luke (31:24):
Like at the park, or are we talking sandals?
Alex (31:26):
Oh shit.
I was talking sandals, but youknow, slides at the park are
dope too.
Sliding into DMs?
I don't know.
Internet like that, brother.
Sliding into DMs, sliding downthe park, slide.
I'm talking for your feet,though, my man.
I'm talking about.
I'm a burke boy.
Does that count as a slide?
Hey man, you tell me.
Luke (31:44):
I'm sliding them line, but I feel I want to be like
slides.
There's not as much of a bougieconnotation, so I don't know if
I fit.
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonnainclude it.
Alex (31:53):
I'm gonna say burkest stocks are slides, brother.
Okay, just you know, crunchyslides.
Dude, I mean like elevatedleather slides for sure.
Luke (32:03):
German engineered elevated leather slides.
Alex (32:05):
Indeed.
They still go on your feet,they still got the same strap
over the top.
Maybe a little like I gottabust mine out.
Luke (32:11):
We're in our Minnesota fake, fake spring second winter
phase.
That's why I'm bringing up.
Alex (32:16):
I keep I keep slides by the door year round, though,
because I ain't trying to throwmy shoes on all the time.
I'll fuck I'm I'm wild,brother.
I'll I'll like put on my slidesand bring the trash out in the
middle of the winter.
Like maybe some snow gets on mysock, but I'm like, I don't
want to put my shoes on.
Luke (32:32):
Yeah, you know, usually I agree, but with the boys and the
boots and all their nonsense,our front door gets packed, so
they get tucked away at somepoint.
But I have been thinking aboutit specifically because uh going
in and out of the house for thegrill, my guy.
Oh, yeah.
See, that's what's gettinggetting good mileage on the
grill already, so I'm very happyabout that.
Slides are perfect.
Alex (32:52):
Gotta bust out the slides, gotta bust out the perks.
Uh, I recently purchased somenew slides, new Nike slides.
I'm uh I end up getting Nike.
We don't have to get into whyI'm not like shilling Nike out
here is whatever.
But when you got a size 15 putcertain brands you gotta go
with.
Luke (33:10):
Dude, the intro to slides is brutal, though.
Like even the cheapy ones,breaking them in is like a
process.
Alex (33:16):
This is true.
I I'm learning that right now,relearning that because I've
been rocking an old pair ofslides since 2019.
And the reason I got a new pairis because I'm like, okay,
these old ones, you know, theystill work, they haven't broken
on me yet, but they look theylook like they've uh they're on
their last limb.
A bit ratty.
Luke (33:34):
Um like I'm tired.
Once it gets hot enough, I justhate wearing socks.
Uh I prefer not to wear socksas it is.
100%.
Um, so I'll wear my slides towork and then two stories here.
One, if you are a teacher,specifically within the age
range I am, if you wear sandalsto work in the fall when it's
(33:54):
still pretty hot, kids justdon't bat an eye.
But if you do it in the springwhen they know you better,
they're like, oh, who broughtthe dogs out?
Woo woo woo woop woop.
So there's that, but also I'mold now, so apparently one needs
to lotion their toes, or elsethe your toe knuckles will get
ashy and crusty.
And uh you better believe Ihave no fucking time in my life.
(34:14):
I like put lotion on it liketwo days in a row, and I was
like, this is this is not worthit my time here.
So I have the crusty.
Alex (34:23):
Look the KD of podcasting, KD of teaching.
Luke (34:26):
My crusty, my crusty ass toes.
Uh, so I had a girl this yearwho just immediately saw that
and was like, oh hell no.
And then she just, you know,would come into my classroom
every day and let everybody knowhow crusty my toes were.
Alex (34:39):
Dog, she does that again.
You gotta pull up some clips ofKD just playing ball and being
like, this man don't care abouthis feet either.
Luke (34:45):
No, I just let it ride, dude.
I'm like, hell yeah, they'recrusty.
I told it to my wife and shejust laughed.
We don't give a fuck.
Yeah.
I got no time to be lotioningtoes.
So uh the slides, you know, I'mI'm letting it all hang out,
dude.
Letting them dogs out.
So I feel you.
I can dig it, dude.
Alex (35:02):
I'm so excited that the Berkey boys right now.
Officially slide weather again.
Yeah, that's what's up.
Unofficially brought to you.
We ain't getting no money fromslides, we're paying for slides,
but that's what's true.
Luke (35:11):
I'd take Burke money, dude.
I mean, I'd take anyone'smoney, but if they're like, I'm
just gonna send you some burks,I'm like, shoot.
All right.
Although breaking in Burks isrough on the feet, dude.
Alex (35:22):
Yeah, rough.
That's that's fair.
That is that is the thefallback, but once they're
broken in, might hell yeah.
That's what's up.
Luke (35:38):
Now that we're sliding back into programming here, back
from our unsanctioned sponsor.
I'm on a roll here, dude.
I'm so fucking good at this.
What do you what do you beenplaying lately?
Anything?
Alex (35:50):
I'll let you go, man.
I re-listened to our lastepisode the other day, and I'm
like, shit, like I'll let Lukego first.
So I got some time at the end.
He doesn't get answered.
Luke (36:00):
So last one I talked about, uh, I held off on talking
about foundation, right?
I talked about uh Prince ofPersia.
Okay.
So Foundation, super happyabout this.
Uh I don't play a ton of earlyaccess games, but as you've been
listening for a while, you'dknow that I'm a I'm a big city
builder guy.
I really like to play differentsimulation games and city
building games, and if I can getinto it, it's like it's bad
(36:23):
because I'll just get absolutelylost.
But I bought the game like in2001, maybe, or like really
early on, and uh loved it, andthen would just periodically
come back to it and be like,whoa, they changed this up, oh
they changed that up.
So before launch, I had like 70hours in it.
And then it's pretty funny.
(36:44):
Uh a few days before I thoughtit had launched because I saw
like different people's stuff onthe internet, but I think they
were playing like an earlier, solike I put a good like decent
amount of time in and had apretty bustling thing going, and
then I woke up the next day andthey're like, here's the 1.0,
and I didn't realize I wasplaying on like the final final
version of the beta.
So then the final final, likethe some of the new changes that
(37:06):
has a completely new cosmeticlook, which I thought was an
interesting choice, but stilllooks really good, looks really
cool, plays really well.
Um, and then just being in andlike being part of the
community, as far as seeing whatlongtime players like myself
had to say about it, and thenseeing what a bunch of noobs had
to say about it, and then justthe rush of different tips and
(37:27):
fixes and things that camethrough in the public community,
I thought was really cool.
Um, so it is a gridless citybuilder where villagers follow
like kind of organic paths, andthose paths turn into roads more
or less.
And it's really chill.
There's like a combat part ofit where you send troops off to
do missions, but other thanthat, like you're not defending
(37:48):
against anything, you're not onlike a huge like it can get
pretty nitty-gritty andintricate with supply chains and
making sure things are goingright.
Um, but it is very relaxing ina way, or at least passive,
perhaps, is a better way to putit than relaxing, because I get
like all hunched up close to mycomputer, like that meme you
sent me the other day when I'mplaying this game.
(38:10):
So to call it relaxing is alittle bit out of control.
And the last thing I'll mentionabout it that I think is makes
it unique is that um a lot oflike the bigger buildings, so
like you have these, you havelike your regular stuff supply
chains, but like you have like amonastery, like a military
fort, and like the what I'lljust call like the city
(38:33):
administration, and thentaverns, like those are all
modular, so like you create andadjust sizes and pieces and
stick things together.
Um, which if you watch somegameplay, that's gonna make a
whole lot more sense as far aslike like your people need to go
to a church, so you can buildlike a church and you have like
a main hall and you need toattach like a bell tower.
(38:53):
So, like, there's a creativecomponent, like you can make
things look really cool, and uh,I constantly want to comment on
people's Reddit posts thatwe're not playing the same game
because they can come up withthe most beautiful creations,
and mine looks dope, but nothinglike that.
So I love that game.
It's uh I think it's the firsttime I've ever been on like a
journey of an early access gamethrough launch, like from so
(39:14):
long ago, too.
So I've been playing it almostfour or five years.
So to see it in an early stateand then move all the way
through its 1.0 launch, it waspretty, pretty gnar, dude.
My little my little bro grewup, you know.
Alex (39:27):
Nice.
Uh so you're playing that onyour on your uh PC, or are you
playing that on the Steam Deck?
Luke (39:33):
Uh PC the whole time, yeah, for the last few years.
So I haven't tried it on theSteam Deck, but I don't see that
being particularly fun due tothe smaller screen and all that.
Okay.
So I got that.
I'm still playing Elden Ring.
Uh I've hated it and loved itabout four more times since we
last spoke.
Alex (39:54):
Nice.
Luke (39:55):
So um that's just a whole thing.
I finally bought 2K.
I'm trying to think of the lasttime I owned 2K.
I've never owned 2K on theXbox, I'm fairly certain.
So, like at least two, three,four years since I've bought 2K,
and uh man.
What the hell has happened tosociety and culture?
(40:16):
What is what is life, dude?
I hate it.
I mean, it's kind of fun.
I'll play some more of it, butI hate it.
Uh I hate what it's become.
If we go back to my fond 2011NBA 2K, it was the best one
ever, and it's just been a it'sbeen a slope downhill ever
since.
You don't like the gameplayitself?
The gameplay proper?
Gameplay itself is pretty good.
(40:36):
Uh, there's some small thingsthat I have grievances with, um,
but for the most part, it'spretty good.
Uh the difficulty is annoyingas fuck.
I've really struggled withfinding something that feels
fair where I'm not just winningall the time or losing all the
time.
Uh, it looks beautiful.
Um it's cool, but every menu isa nightmare.
(40:57):
The amount of times that it'sslow because an ad wants to or
like makes me go to the homescreen from whatever screen I
left off in just so it can feedme two new daily ads.
Not trying to buy your virtualcredit or whatever, like all
that stuff.
Everything is so clutteredbecause they're trying to pack
so much fucking shit in thegame.
I feel like I'm in the worstcasino having a bad time.
(41:17):
Just and then once you get inthe game, you're like, this
feels good, and everything elseis so clunky and like just bad
interface.
Alex (41:25):
And like for so long, I just put my blinders on.
I just put my blinders on and Igo straight to it.
Luke (41:31):
We need literal blinders, it's like everything's neon and
flashing, and like and I'm justlike, What is oh my god, like I
feel ancient.
Like I need to take like Iliterally like when halftime
shows up, you can't just skiphalftime and it's like four
different load screens.
You know what I'm talkingabout?
It's funny.
Uh yeah, I guess I literallybrown because I can't handle all
(41:54):
of the different flashinglights that come in and off the
screen.
I'm like, just give me back tothe simulation.
It's so bad, dude.
Uh but I zone out and I justpress A a whole bunch until it
skips through.
It's so bad.
Uh the gameplay is tightthough.
So buried deep, deep withinthis carcass of glut and just
shame is a good game.
(42:14):
Buried deep in there, and thenJesus Christ.
Can't wait to whip you up.
Oh, you know, you probablywon't still, but we'll see.
You'll just get me quick.
Alex (42:28):
You wanted to do this digitally today so that I
couldn't beat you and do thiswise.
This is crack.
Luke (42:34):
I'm not ready yet.
I gotta play as a team otherthan the wolves.
Dog.
Uh the hardest part is likeremembering their like getting
comfortable with their releasepoints.
Yes.
So I can't imagine playing witha team for the first time.
Uh I'm I do you turn off theoverlays that like show the
little arrow going up to theperfect point?
Alex (42:54):
Yeah, I turned that off right away.
Luke (42:56):
I don't even remember that being on in this version.
Alex (42:59):
Maybe I turned it off to like the first time.
Luke (43:01):
I thought I'd turn it off, but I it was just right there
again, and then I hated being inthe menus.
Um someone needs to, we needyou know, Elon Musk to get his
chainsaw out to 2K and trim allthis fat.
Alex (43:12):
You know what I mean?
Are you ripping packs?
You doing all that kind ofcrazy shit?
Luke (43:16):
Fuck no, dude.
No, I just want to play as theTimberwolves.
Even like the My Career thing,like I was instantly kind of
annoyed and I was like, thisshould be a fun mode.
I like already hate whatthey're trying to do with it.
I'm like, just let me play aslike they didn't let you get
drafted by a team.
Alex (43:31):
Uh dude, I don't even mess with any of that stuff.
I just go and I play myseasons.
Luke (43:35):
I know, but they're just like, what team do you want to
play for?
I'm like, bitch, I don't get tochoose.
That's not part of the fun.
Like, oh, they don't uh there'sno like draft.
You're just like on whateverfucking team you want to be on.
And I'm like, uh interesting.
So foundation, dude.
Love that game.
Smaller dev team, probably likea double A game, or maybe
indie.
(43:55):
I don't really know.
Uh super sick though.
Love that.
Super chill vibes.
Just getting my getting mybread, getting my wheat to my to
my windmill, to my breadsmith.
You know, it's there you go.
Then sell it at my markets.
So yeah, what do you beenplaying?
Alex (44:11):
Man, this and that.
I've been uh I think the lasttime that we talked, I was
saying that I was about 20 hoursdeep into Pokemon Emerald.
I played a few more hours ofthat, but uh I've shifted, I
shifted over to Final Fantasy,uh, the original Final Fantasy,
the remake of it, though, like aremaster of it that for the
PSP.
(44:31):
Um but it's still the originalgame.
That's been a lot of fun.
I probably poured about 14-ishhours into that, maybe a little
less, I don't know for sure.
Uh but similar to Pokemon, I'velike it's just one of those
things.
It's very similar to what we'resaying about uh both those
games, very similar to whatwe're saying about Bellatro.
It's just been great to be ableto rock and roll those while
(44:52):
something else is on or whileI'm doing something else, a
little multitask gaming.
But I was really enjoying thethe Final Fantasy, and I I got
to a part of the game wherethings are still trucking along.
Very, I mean, they both arelike both Pokemon and the Final
Fantasy, the original FinalFantasy are super similar in the
sense that you've got uh yourrandom encounters and the combat
(45:13):
is similar.
Um I would say I would I wouldventure to say that Final
Fantasy, even though it's anolder game, a little bit more
complex, there's just differentthings you can do.
You got a party, um that all dodifferent stuff.
But I mean, whatever, dude.
Similar to Juxposa too,Pokemon.
Yeah, well see, that's just it,I guess.
Yeah, so maybe maybe they arethe same.
(45:35):
I don't know.
Uh similar itch.
Yeah, no, for sure.
And but it's it's interesting.
Like I reached a point where Iwas kind of trucking, trucking
on that game, and then it's it'spetered, it has petered out,
but not like not that I'm notgonna return to it.
It's just kind of both of themhave been.
I've actually gone back toPokemon recently too and picked
it up because they're prettyeasy to pick up once you like
(45:56):
get oriented over to where youare on the map, and you can like
kind of continue the flow.
But that's been a lot of fun,dude.
Like I've never played thatgame.
I hope that I push through tothe end of it.
I think I'm probably about aquarter to halfway through.
Uh so my hope is I get thatknocked out of the, you know,
checked off the list in the nextcouple months here.
Just keep it as a slow burn.
But uh other than that, I toohave played some 2K.
(46:17):
I knew you picked it up, and Iknow I'm not supposed to talk
about it on the pot anymore, butbecause you picked it up, that
gives me an excuse.
And I haven't been uh but Ihaven't been getting into it
like I had in the past where I'mgoing through my seasons or
whatever.
You were you mentioned earlieryou gotta play as different
teams.
I'm like, well, Luke's playingthis game now, I'm gonna have to
whoop them up.
And I know that we're not gonnaboth play as a Timberwolves.
So I'm just gonna play uh theyhave the bird like a play now,
(46:42):
and then I play uh I just lookat the games of the day, and
then I tell Google to pick arandom number between five, one
and five, and then and thenwhatever number that is on the
list of the games of the day,uh, I'll play as one of those
two teams.
Uh, and again, I just randomlychoose the uh you know whatever
it tells me.
So I've been I've been brushingup my skills with other teams.
(47:03):
Um, but it's tricky, man.
Like you like you mentioned,like you can like I'm really
good with the Timberwolvesbecause I'm so comfortable with
their release points and allthat kind of stuff.
You know, I was playing as thePacers and I'm decent with the
Pacers now, but the thing is, islike um Halliburton, dude,
Halley should have a decentthree-point, but I haven't got
his release right, so like I putup bricks.
Luke (47:24):
Yeah, it's brutal.
I feel bad.
Nas Reed just flings the ballout of his hand, right?
And like I cannot get it down.
I mean, I hit him sometimes,especially when I turn down the
difficulty finally.
Uh just a side rant.
Uh, if you have eightdifficulty settings, that's
inherently annoying because thatmeans there's not a true
middle, and I just don'tunderstand who's in the room
(47:45):
that's like, let's have eight.
Alex (47:47):
Are there sliders too?
I can't remember.
Luke (47:48):
Probably there is, yeah.
So I guess I could look upcustom sliders, but I think I
just gotta I just gotta play,shockingly.
And then uh when I eventuallyget good enough where I can go
on the next one up and not loseevery single time, that'd be
pretty sweet.
Alex (48:06):
Nice, yeah.
Uh, but that's just a minor onefor me.
Another big one that's been alot of fun is I end up getting
this thing called a retro tink.
And what that is, is it's thisbox, it's this fancy box that
upscales uh retro hardware to amodern television, right?
So basically, I have connectedmy PS2 and my Dreamcast to this
(48:31):
retro tink.
And soon I dude, I'm still onmy eBay shit.
I picked up a Nintendo Wii for50 bucks.
Luke (48:39):
Sure.
Alex (48:40):
Uh I've got that coming soon, so that will be connected
to it as well.
But it's fun because I've gotthis, you know, a nice new TV
that I got around Black Fridaytimes.
Uh, but the thing is, you know,I've got my little my little uh
CRT in the background for noone because we are not gonna
share that we don't like shareout our video all the time.
But anyways, like that that'sthe thing with my retro, my
(49:00):
retro setup is like it can bereally charming to play on like
my small little retro like CRTTV.
Uh but a lot of the times it'slike, man, I'd much rather just
be sitting on the couch likeplaying video games there,
right?
Or you know, taking advantageof this big screen.
But that doesn't really makesense for your PS2, your 64, and
all these other like systems.
Because if you connect those,even if you well, first of all,
(49:23):
there's uh the cable system setup.
So you've got like componentcables.
If you're lucky, those arepretty nice.
Otherwise, you've got likedifferent they all use different
cable setups, but when youconnect those, you might need to
get a converter, like a littledongle that will convert those
into an HT HDMI signal.
Um, if your TV, because TVsdon't have like component
(49:44):
endpoints anymore.
Uh, but when it does that, likeit just gets degraded so bad.
You connect it, you connect aPS2 to a new TV, dude.
It looks like garbage.
But this retro tink makes it,so it looks absolutely stunning,
dude.
It's awesome.
And it runs that and it alsogets it going, so it runs at uh
you know full 50 60 uh 60 framesper second, so it's running
(50:05):
smooth as well.
So you got like a nice picture,and then it's got all these
profiles that you know, allthese nerds have like figured
out essentially shaders ifyou're familiar with shaders,
but um these different profilesyou can add to them to make uh
to different flavors ofdifferent types of PVMs,
different types of like CRTs,all these different uh you know,
to get to get to recapture thelook that you would get from
(50:27):
from like an older television.
And you can also just do pixelperfect, you know, and then uh
so that's been super fun, dude.
I've been playing a whole bunchof PS2 games, a little bit of
Dreamcast, and uh and it's kindof uh is uh breathed a whole
bunch of new life intoespecially PS2 uh for me because
my Dreamcast library, not thatbig, but PS2 I got a lot of
(50:47):
great games, so it's uh that'sbeen super fun, man.
Um big side closed shop talkval back of the shop, dude.
Dude, I've been tinkering.
You he made the joke lastepisode about uh motorcycle
maintenance.
Yeah, I was like, yeah, 100%,dude.
I I love that stuff.
Like uh just getting thesethings to work, setting things
up, like uh it's kind of funbecause I've reached the point
(51:09):
with the with the with the PS2where it's like it's all set up
and it's rocking and rolling.
I I gotta do some things rightto clean up some file names and
whatnot.
But like a lot of times I'llspend a bunch of time like
getting a device to work the wayI want it to, and then I'm
like, well, I don't really feellike playing anything on it
right now, though.
You know, yeah.
But it's like, but I've gottenthe I've gotten the point with
my PS2 though, where it's like,this is dope, man.
(51:30):
It like it looks, it's likerunning great, it's purring, and
I can play these games.
So I've been playing, uh Iplayed a little bit of dark
cloud up to the point where itgot difficult.
And then I was like, oh shit,this isn't the like I mean it's
fine.
Like I just wasn't like Iwasn't quite ready to like pour
a bunch of time in there, but Iwas like, all right, I'm good on
this for now.
But I've been playing, dude.
(51:50):
I love uh the time capsule ofold men's uh one because uh
there's like a weird point wherelike two, three years, that's
too soon.
Luke (51:59):
But once you get to a certain point, it's like the
perfect deal where you rememberthe names or you're just like
whoa, totally.
Alex (52:06):
So like uh yeah, and he got a fucking cannon on him, let
me tell you.
Luke (52:12):
And he's fast to chuck it to Randy.
Alex (52:15):
Yep, no, for sure, dude.
So like and then NFL 2K on theDreamcast.
I was playing a game of thatlike uh the other night.
Um, just like loading up thoseuh the those Viking teams around
that pocket were just so good.
We didn't like win any fuckingchampionships, but but but the
teams are real nice.
Uh so fun to play with, fun toplay like that, dude.
Uh playing some uh from likeNeed for Speed Underground 2, if
(52:35):
you remember that one.
Uh man, just like uh justhaving a ton of fun with it,
man.
Like, and it's uh I'm excitedto show you the next time you
come through because like it'slike I said, it's like it's
breathing a whole bunch of newlife into my PS2.
Um, and it's been it's been funto play.
Luke (52:50):
I'll play Lord of the Rings Two Towers, dude.
Alex (52:53):
Got that game, and it can be done.
Luke (52:57):
It's the only the only one.
Alex (52:58):
Word.
And what I think that's good,man.
I think that's good.
I think that's what I got goingfor side quests.
Still reading, still readingbooks.
Nice, which is nice.
Nice.
But with that, dude, and withall you listening, thank you.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you for listening, folks.
Uh head to low5gaming.com.
(53:19):
Click on that Discord invoit,invite invite.
And you are to our Discord.
You are invited to our Discord.
Get on over there or follow uson the socials, do whatever.
Just keep on listening to us.
Do whatever you want.
I don't give a shit.
Uh well, I kind of care.
Edgy.
I care that you're happy.
Stay happy.
And if you're not happy, here'sa big virtual hug for y'all.
Luke (53:43):
All right.
Alex (53:47):
All right, man.
Take it easy.
Peace.
Get a haircut, you hippie.
Dude, I fucking wish.
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