Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Luke and Alex talk Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Trekking through Ubisoft Montpellier's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, released on January 18, 2024, we're catapulted into a 2.5D realm where action-adventure meets platforming and Metroidvania. The game introduces Sargon, navigating the cursed city of Mount Qaf to save Prince Ghassan. With time-manipulating powers, Sargon embarks on a puzzle-filled journey, encountering allies and foes in a story-rich landscape. Unique mechanics and a connected world enrich this installment of the Prince of Persia series, offering a deep dive into Persian mythology and action-packed gameplay.

At the time of recording, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has a Metacritic score of 86. According to How Long to Beat, it can take upwards of 30 hours to complete the game in full. They list main story completion at 165 hours, but that feels too short for a first time playthrough.

Luke played on his Xbox Series X and Alex played on his Nintendo Switch.

This episode is unofficially brought to you in part by Prince James Murphy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello and welcome to Low 5 Gaming, and we are back to
our roots this month.
Alex, how are you man?
I'm doing alright, you know,truckin' along, truckin'.
Hell yeah, we're into March.
No more winter.
Big Midwest update.
Mildest winter of all time,though, so I don't know what I'm
complaining about.
But hey, shout out globalwarming, and last winter it was

(00:43):
wild, so I'll take a mild.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
That's true man.
I'm livin' that home ownershiplife dude.
Now they had a shovel likethree times and if you're from
the area you know that is ablessing.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
And yet he has not taken down his Christmas lights,
which I have not made fun ofhim to this moment.
Glad I waited for that one.
Who's that guy in theneighborhood?
Do you let him ride at night,or are you shamefully leave him
unplugged?
Or are you just like full steamahead?

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Uh, okay so I have no problem running the lights
through up to like right aroundValentine's days when I'm like,
alright, good on those.
Wow, it's pretty deep dude, butthey pretty big joy, man, it's
dark out there.
Now we have this like spring,so like you know this early
spring, so I'm not gonna.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
At what point is?
At the point of no returning,like I might as well keep him up
for next year.
Oh no, I'm in that territorynow, or really should I?

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I'll get the letter out and I'll take him down this
weekend.
I'm gonna tell myself that forthe last three, four weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
You know that's fair.
It's like doing your taxes.
But um Speaking of that, my taxguy Tax corner.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
My tax guy.
They got me in.
The tax guy that I like wasable to get me in this year.
The last three years I've beenslow on setting up the
appointment, so he's been allbooked out.
They got me in the day beforetax day, which is tight, but it
also means I've just beenputting off all my book work.
Gosh dang.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Well, if you came here for tax updates, you're
welcome.
If you came here to hear aboutPrince of Persia the Lost Crown,
you're welcome.
Oh dang, what's with the shock?
Shock, dude, oh man.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
This is a throwback.
Stoke on this game.
Dude, this is a cool game.
Fuck yeah, fuck yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
It's called back to our first pod.
So our long time listeners willknow that we launched our first
five pods actuallysimultaneously, but backlog to
the very first one was a youngand much cuter Alex and Luke.
It's just been beat down theselast few years.
No, those optimistic boys.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
We went back.
We were boys, now we're men.
Maybe I don't know, just likethe idea, it's like those were
our early podcasters boys, butwe're men now.
You should see the beard onthis boy over here.
I mean this man over here, thisman.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
It's pretty raggedy.
There's the spoiler there.
But yeah, man, the first pod weever did was on the Prince of
Persia from like the late 80s,early 90s, 89, bro, hell yeah.
And Ubisoft, despite all oftheir up and downs of late,
released a slapper, but for apretty niche crowd and we were
like, hey, we're that nichecrowd, so thanks.

(03:23):
Ubisoft Don't say that veryoften.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
But thank you, no man .
It's been interesting followingthat discourse.
Like a lot of people do lovethis game, that niche target,
I'm fucking loving it.
I think more or less I reallylove it, but the sales aren't
great.
We can talk a little bit morein a little bit, but that's how
it is today with the, with thesegames, big budget games
especially and they're neverhitting their quotas unless
they're really knocking out ofthe park.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt.
So our quick, quick refresherand a nice little cute update.
This is like one of the oldestgames that we had.
We had a little floppy disk ofit and we would play it.
So it goes way back.
The Prince of Persia series,that is.
For some reason, everybody elselikes the GameCube arrow, but I
haven't played any of those.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Ironically, I know you, I was a bit.
I'm actually into getting thesteam pack during one of the
sales.
I've fired them up, but I'm thetype of person to do that Like.
I want to play the first onefirst and it's a little crunchy.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, you don't have to feel guilty to me, I haven't
even opened them.
Right on so, but you know, $5is five dollars.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
It was fantastic, it was like, how are you not going
to send it and get these belovedgames?
Dude, that series, the 3DPrince of Persia series.
And it's wild too, man.
I dug around.
There was like a weird I can'tremember if it was Dreamcast or
what but they like before those3D series, like they had another
weird Prince of Persiaplatformer that went out to Well
.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
There's Prince of Persia too, which was all right,
but anyway, but that's a sidescore.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
So this is interesting, dude, because, like
you said, people love that shit.
Shout out to the homie Stephenhe loves like that was my
introduction, even though Ididn't play like he loves the 3D
Prince of Persia series.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
So much.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Dude and like I've watched him like fucking on his
little like man cave, just likerunning around and like doing
the parkour shit that that youcan do and it's tight man Like I
don't know how Parkouring andvideo games is underrepresented.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
I think people end up liking that more than
developers like doing it Fairenough.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
It's probably pretty complicated dude Like I don't
know.
I told a pretty.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
It's pulled a pretty goofy story about the OG game in
the first pod where I had astudent that during the pandemic
would just watch me play allthe time.
And then I'd have him play whenhe came back because it was a
weird hybrid thing and he suckedat it and it was really funny.
I now teach his little brotheroh word and just randomly told
his little brother about it andhe plays it and he has to get
around the school's firewall andall these things when he plays

(05:40):
it all the time.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
And he's gotten as far as me.
Little brother or the littlebrother, yeah, little brother
Also, he plays it.
Little brother plays it.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Older brother never really cared other than to watch
me play when he was bored andadvisory.
But little brother is likepretty good at it and it's
pretty wholesome to watch.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
So if you introduced little brother to it or did?

Speaker 1 (05:56):
older brother introduce.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
I did Okay Interesting You're like it'd be
cooler if his older brother did,but I was just like hey, check
this shit out, you're olderbrother.
Yeah, pretty much, man, prettymuch.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
So that's a fun little update.
So yeah, man.
So when the game came out, itwas kind of surprise announced
last year.
I'd say Like there wasn't ahuge window.
There wasn't like people knewabout the remake they were
trying to do of those 3D gamesand that seems to be in some
sort of developmental delay.
I'll just say nicely Seems alittle confused, as what's going
on there and also, and they'relike no, we have like a 2.5D,

(06:30):
just completely different thing,about 90% cooked over here and
it's gonna release soon and I'mI'm in the small niche market of
people who are most excited forit.
So I got a pretty close torelease and I was like some nice
motivation to play it.
So let's make out play it willput on the pad, yeah that's why
we're here today.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
I was stoked on it too, man, like one.
The history we have with theoriginal 2d Prince of Persia
Like I was like then, like Ilove metrobanias, dude same.
So I was excited to see thisone come and it's been.
It's been a treat.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, no, that's a great game, might as well.
Just get into what it is.
Would you like to read yourlarge press release, you
paragraph?
Sure would, bro.
I'd rather not bring it heavilyinto the mic.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Maybe I'll just step inside, right on Prince of
Persia.
The lost crown is anenthralling action adventure
platformer developed by UbisoftMontpelier, set in the
mythological realm of Mountcough.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
How have you been reading that?
I think the screen actor say it, but cough, cough, I think it's
just cough inspired by Persianmythology, which is cool.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
I haven't really.
I mean, I think that's dope.
I didn't really like look intothat, but I love that.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
It plays into the game's aesthetic a lot, which is
really cool.
But yeah, there's lots of lorein there that I don't read, but
it's cool when I sometimes reada little bit of it.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
I have noticed that too and I do dig it, but it was
released on January 18th 2024.
The game offers players aunique adventure to save the
Prince and restore the worldbalance.
Players step into the shoes ofSargon, a young, gifted Persian
warrior, navigating throughcursed lands filled with diverse
biomes and formidable foes,utilizing a combination of
unique time powers and superabilities.

(08:05):
The gameplay promises an epicjourney across a beautifully
crafted imaginary world.
Available across multiplatforms, the lost crown
delivers a captivating blend ofexploration, combat and story,
all set against a richlydetailed Persian mythological
backdrop.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Hmm.
So yeah, man, to break thatdown, modern Metroidvania, you
have your big, your 2d, 2.5, cuzsome things are kind of through
depth.
I don't really know how todescribe 2.5, but when I'm
playing the game I sometimes getit.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, dog, I think it's like well, it's a 2d side
scrolling platformer.
But I think that 2.5 thing isbecause exactly you more or less
nailed it.
It's that what used to what Ithink it a very in its simplest
terms, would be like theparallax scrolling, like that
was introduced to gaming a Whileback on the 2d it's basically
you have your front and then theback, the background like moves
along with what you're doing orwhatever.
So there's action in thebackground.

(08:52):
But it takes that another levelright because it's multi
layered and then it's alsoshaded in a way where it's not
just, it's not like your pixellayers or whatever, it looks
like there's depth.
So, like that's, the 2.5d isbecause there's actual depth,
like visual depth to it, asopposed to just being like kind
of flat or like these picturesor whatever.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, and I say modern Metroidvania because it
definitely you'll hear otherstalk.
If you've listened to any otherpodcasts on the game, they
definitely borrowed or adaptedor Improved upon or polished
different Aspects of aMetroidvania.
These days, like it's got a lotof Hollow Knight in it, it's
got a lot of Metroid in it.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
I know I've a dude I'm Hollow Knight is like a
gaping hole in my for being aMetroidvania stand, like the
fact I haven't played like I'mHollow Knight is kind of
shameful, and I like a part ofme is feels a little bit bummed
that I haven't played a HollowKnight before this, because I
have heard so much discourseabout how much it does borrow
from Hollow Knight.
But you know, whateverAppreciate this game even more,

(09:53):
though, because I'm like thisdope shit, dope shit.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
I have played Hollow Knight and I loved it, but it
reminds me more of dread.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
I definitely felt that too man, especially at the
get-go, dread with swords.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, I would say that it stands on its own as far
as they have some unique ishQualities to it, but just the
overall style and flavor of it,I'd say, set to itself apart.
Maybe you're not gonna say thisis the most crazy innovative
game, but you're gonna say thisis a cool game and it was an
enjoyable game and they dideverything really well.
And it's just kind of funnylike Ubisoft goes so big all the

(10:27):
time and a lot of people gettired of the big.
So the fact that they justcould did a quieter, smaller,
refined experience was awesome.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
So I was reading this like it's like a reddit post or
whatever or someone.
It was one of those deals wherethey kind of tore it apart.
And then they're like I don'tmean to be such an ass about it,
because I did enjoy it, butlike there's just like this high
expectation on these games andlike I don't know man, it's a,
it's a, even though the graphicsaren't like stunning.

(10:55):
Like we live.
We're in a really weird timefor graphics, because I thought
the graphics work real well inthis they're smooth.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
They remind me of, like a scattered a morning
cartoon aesthetic right, right,but the thing is they didn't
like.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
They also didn't like wow me, but I felt I played it
on a switch.
So for me I was like this istotally fine, but I think for
someone like you played on the,the series X maybe you're
longing for a little bit more,but at times, dude there were
times though, like especiallywith that 2.5d going on in the
backgrounds, I was prettyimpressed.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, I mean it's cool.
It's just it's a very uniqueart style, the I'm not gonna
pretend to be an expert onPersian archaeology, but the
backgrounds are very lush andlavish Mm-hmm, I'd say so.
The environments of the gameare really cool.
It's a nice skin to put on thisstyle a game and then sometimes
that's all you need is like Iwant to play this style a game
and the environment that yourcharacter is in makes a big

(11:45):
difference.
So the Mount Coff or whateveris like this cursed mountaintop.
You're trying to save theprince.
You're not actually the Princeof Persia.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, that was a big like from my understanding.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
Sure, I mean all the other Prince of Persia.
You're always the prince right,Sure, I guess.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
But I'm not that big.
I never guess whatever.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
I'm really just pulling from the you know sides
curler game we played, where I'mjust this little blonde white
boy just platforming along, soI've never cared.
But the story in the atmosphereare really cool.
I love the music and I can'ttell you that it's like awesome
Persian music, but it hastricked me.
It sounds cool.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
So that's another thing.
I didn't pick this up but justby reading about it around the
internet and stuff like cuz,that's another thing where folks
are like, well, that's not,like not bangers, I don't really
care, but I, my understandingis they did.
It's like a nice infusion ofsome some Persian music, like
it's infused into what's goingon.
So that's like this subtle,like you know.
So it's got the flavor which iskind of tight.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, I like the actors.
They did a good job with that.
I like just the way theyanimate things in general on
this, so I just, I really likethe style.
So, moving on to like the bigimpressions, I've played a solid
17 to 18 hours which I wassurprised by.
Sometimes it felt like I'vebeen playing forever when I was
lost and lumbering around themap, trying to figure something
out In true Metroidvania fashionright, this game's interesting,

(13:39):
so that's.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
I've put in about 10, 11 hours, so not not as much as
I wanted to, but I enjoyed it.
All those all that time, man,because it is a, it's a good
Metroidvania and I think thatyou know you kind of nailed it
with like the poking around themap, shit, like it, like it does
that super well and that'sinteresting because you have a
couple options.
They you have that.

(14:01):
Ubisoft gave you the option tohave a guided path, right.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, like more checkpoints.
Yeah, so like it does my pride,but not let me do that.
I was like maybe I'll, maybeI'll beat the game on time for
the pod.
But I was like my pride, I waslike this type of game I'm
supposed to like look at the mapand be like right over there.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
So the maps, good bro , like in the mass, great,
different sections and like andthey and uh, you know it's
everybody that's covered.
This game was excellent mapdesign.
Everybody that's talked aboutthis game is gonna bring up the
screenshot ability that you cando that is sick for my system.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Like the Xbox small grievance, I open up the map, I
look at the picture and then itexits me out of the map.
So that's infuriating like thateither the switch.
Everyone's always complainedabout the home screen.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
This is very niche thing about to say here, but
I've always taken screenshotsand just okay on my own, and
then through so it's a slightlybetter version of that system.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
So I felt like I had invented this, and I am willing
to take credit for this use ofthis map skill, because I've
been doing this on my own,brilliantly, where I would take
a picture of whatever I couldn'tget to and then pull up my map
and take a picture.
So then I'd be because theswitch, like yeah the home
screen.
All that's really fast and likereally quick.
It's like they still do and Inever got it because I was like

(15:13):
this is actually my favorite one, you can you can get to these
places so fast and I would dothat.
But yeah, you hold down on thed-pad and it takes a screenshot.
Essentially, that is laid overyour map.
So you hover over the icon onyour map that you laid there and
it shows you Whatever it isthat you were stuck at or wanted
to return to.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
So that's gnarly.
I really like that, for becausein true metrobeneiform you
would, you know, find somethingthat you can't quite, you can't
platform through it or you can'tfigure it out clearly, tell
this is where you need to go.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
But like the yellow, the bricks with the yellow.
And or they're not even yellowbricks, but it's like a wall
that looks breakable there'swell, they're like coming
through the wall and you're likeI need know what breaks through
this wall.
Totally, I got that thing andit feels great.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
I think I'm slightly ahead of you on that, so so I've
got those pictures too, andit's like that was just kind of
a nice note taking type.
You know in-game note takingthing that I thought was a great
addition to this.
Uh, and then I, and then I'llrace him once I complete that
area, but it's a nice likereminder because you can it's
not new to be able to put stampson something or to like have
like you know, uh, metro dreaddid a really good job of having

(16:16):
Different symbols and colorcodes or whatever, but you
always forget, right, there's somuch shit going on and um.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
And this notebook gamer.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
But maybe someday I will be this was one too that as
I, as I played that map Justlike, was so expansive, like it
kept surprising me at how big,like, how many different areas
there were, like you know, likea very very unique to one
another and like we won't get inthe story too much because it
gets kind of convoluted, it'sspoilery and it's not hard to

(16:44):
follow.
But like I haven't finished.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
And there's that like , as soon as we start explaining
it, we sound crazier than weare, so so it's fun to shake
going on with it, though I doenjoy that they time is
generally cursed on this place.
So, some people do some rapidaging.
They feel like they've beenstuck forever.
Some people are like a kid, butthey've been stuck doing this
thing.
They feel like forever.
So like time is weird, mistresstotally, and I think that comes
uh you know the sands of timestuff.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Probably everybody that's played the that series of
games is going to understand orbe probably more familiar with
those types of things.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
The general rewind they've got a fancy word, but
the general rewind of it all andI'm playing these games
throughout this hour it's it's agood play because they nail the
different elements very well.
So, like we said, it's not likethis crazy innovative thing,
but their combat I think for ametroidvania and it's a
hand-to-hand combat for the mostpart are like swords, melee
combat.
I think it's really good.

(17:34):
It's really sharp.
I actually did the tutorialsrecently that I didn't know were
available way earlier and Ilearned like a bunch of things
that I could have been doingsmarter about my combats.
That was kind of funny.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Is the combat is great in this game and right
when I fired it up I actuallyplayed the demo.
Yeah, I didn't complete thedemo, but I like got a flavor of
it or whatever.
And it was interesting to mebecause you know I got this on
release day or whatever.
I pre-ordered it Like a day ortwo in advance.
But uh, you know, yeah,whatever, yeah, I was stoked on
it and I wanted to play.
But you know it shows up and Ifired up and I just tasted the

(18:06):
demo and I was so surprised Likethe demo was tight in the sense
, but I was like a little upsetthat the the actual game intro
and tutorial was better thanwhat the demo gave you.
Yeah like you know, did a reallygood job of like laying
everything out.
So I was surprised.
I was like, why didn't theyjust give us like the beginning.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
I like when they make demos where your save carries
right, so I think that wouldhave worked.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I didn't even look at , I was kind of surprised that
they didn't do it that way,because the demo drops you In a
little bit further than becauseit basically the game like lays
out some story and does a littletutorial section before it
drops you in the Mount Coff orwhatever, and the demo just
drops you right in Mount Coff.
Like it's right at the pointwhere you first like break down
the door but you have powersunlocked already and you

(18:50):
wouldn't know this.
But there's a couple differentthings like Like the air dash is
something you start with it'sused extremely like it's.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
The game is built for you, constantly dashing Right.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
So I guess it makes sense that they would give that
to you in the demo so thatpeople like know that this is
like a big part of this game.
Yeah, but it was really hard tome that like I don't know.
I was like I just think itwould have worked better.
But then if they did that likeyou, probably because it does
take you a little bit of timebefore you get the air dash so
like maybe they wanted people toknow that that existed or
something, yeah the air dash andjust dashing in general is very

(19:23):
smooth.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
It's a very quick game you have your parries.
So you have like the specialparries, kind of like Metroid
Dread, although not as intense.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
Dude, how are you at parrying?
Awful dude, I'm so bad at it.
I spam, I spam, dodge.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
I was bad at it in Dread, too, any game that you're
supposed to parry.
I just don't have thethoughtfulness and patience.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
And it does a color coded thing too.
Yeah, which is red?
You have to, you have to likeit's a very player friendly game
.
It is yeah.
And the yellow, the yellowsignals like if you're being
attacked and like the attacklooks yellow, that signals that
you can parry and you have totime it right and it does a
really cool cut scene type thingwhere you kill or a huge chunk
of their house, exactly.
Which is dope, but my timing isalways so off with it.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
I tightened up.
So I'm playing on the series Xand I have an elite controller
or whatever, so I actuallytightened up the left trigger.
Oh nice, yeah, because duringone of the boss fights I was not
hitting it, because I was toofast on it.
Or maybe not fast enough, but Ijust needed to like right there
.
So that's really cool.
The combat is fast, fluid, I'dsay.

(20:23):
As you get differentplatforming abilities in the
game, it's really cool how thecombat integrates those as well,
right, I?
think there's the one where youdo the rewind thing, where you
place like a shell yourself zipback to that and you do this
attack, or twice or whatever.
Yeah, and I was like I neverwould have thought of that,
which is why you should reallydo those stupid story.
I'll still understand some ofthe hidden moves, but like, and

(20:43):
then, once I did that, Iunlocked more of a dance which
brings, you know, the game's got, it's got the bones of it all
the way back from 1989.
Those, sword fights wereactually low key, kind of
intense.
So it's tight there and whenyou're jumping over giant spikes
you're like hell, yeah, somethings never.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
But that's a there's those big, like it's just common
platforming those big blades orwhatever.
They swing back and forthyou're buying to be the chompers
.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
I really I was really bummed, so we can transition
this to like talking about theplatform.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Let me say one thing about the combat real quick,
sure Dude.
The combat super slick to beginwith.
You can more or less buttonhack your way through fights or
whatever.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
Very fast, or you know, like figure out what works
for you.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
But what I think is really cool about this game and
what elevates that combat, isthat it has not only taken that
metrophania like flavor, butwith the combat it's infused
like fighting game stuff, likethe combos you can do, yeah,
like, if you're the type ofperson that loves fighting games
, I think you're going to lovethe combat in this game because
you can hit those combos forreally cool threads of like oh

(21:41):
shit, and that's another thing.
With that, toriel will helpteach you I'm very not great at
it, but sometimes you get thefucking baddies you like.
you can do the upswing, get themjuggle in, jump up like shoot
them with an arrow, like hitthem a couple of extra times.
If you're doing the combocorrectly, it's pretty dope,
dude.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, but yeah, yeah, no for sure.
And the abilities once againplay into that.
The platforming is tight.
It's actually last night wasthe first time that it's like
hit me with the platformingassist thing and I was like fuck
you.
Oh, yeah, so how does that evenwork?
I'm not sure, because I havetoo much pride and I didn't take

(22:14):
it up on its I've never seenthat problem, but I had heard I
had you know as far.
Maybe another seven hours Imight say, right, no, I had
heard in a pod that someone wasjust like sick of the
platforming at some pointbecause he wanted to beat it
before a deadline and he flippedthat on there and he was
actually breezing through stuffand he was he was grateful for
that.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
But I think the platform, life, that kind of
shit like I, or theaccessibility options, I think
it's cool.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
It's cool if you're just like hey man, I want to see
some other stuff.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
But, like.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
That being said, you will stumble upon a lot of areas
that are clearly platformingchallenge sections of small,
different rewards and you havedifferent upgrades all over the
map.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Hark's back to some less for me.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah, I dig those, although, Celeste, you get the
strawberry and you're like, yay,and it's too hard.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Dude, some of the shit is like, I don't know, I
may be a little bit more, butmaybe a little bit more
rewarding than a strawberry.
Definitely more rewardingbecause you can use it as
strawberries like a pride thing,yeah, um.
But, dude, like you know,you'll get like a Xerces coin or
something which I realize youcan use for some pretty powerful
items and stuff later on.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah, yeah, for a while.
It is like pride slash.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
This is going to pay off later.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
You jump over giant spikes and those.
I really want to run throughsome choppers, though I'm like
really bummed Dude, the closestthing is, I feel like the
choppers are those swinging axes.
I thought of that.
Yeah, but, but.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I do feel like, if they don't and granted, I
haven't rolled credit so itcould show up at some point I
don't feel like a wheel, butlike those fucking choppers I'd
love to see them Like.
That would be a really coolthing to sprinkle in this game.
The motto we saw my failureLike why'd?

Speaker 1 (23:40):
you got me on your fucking brainstorming table.
Yeah right, Hire me.
You already stole my idea aboutthe screenshots.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
I talked about earlier.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Yeah, so it.
The platforming is alsoextremely solid in its own right
.
So it's like a differentelement of this game, where you
have the combat and theplatforming is combat platform
and that's actually mentionedDuh, but it's very solid, made
like.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
That's what kind of.
Also gave me that Celesteflavor and Celeste top tier
platformer like one of the best,and this one like and that's I
think you mentioned earlier, butthis one did like Ubisoft did
their fucking homework, dudethey're definitely fans of games
.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
I think that's the good way.
I'd put it Like some peoplewould be like copying this.
I'm like no, they just likeknow what works in these games.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
It's a refinement and that was like that was like a
knock that I was readingsomeone's like comments on
Reddit or whatever, and they'relike.
They're like you can tell thatyou know Ubisoft, just like you
know, took all this shit.
Like they were saying thatmaybe this game could have been
better if it was built in.
I see what they're saying, Likethe idea of like if a smaller
studio or like an indie studioput this game together, like we

(24:40):
would maybe see more innovationor more, like it would like
bring it to that next level, andI think that's a fair statement
.
But at the same time, like Idon't think we can heart, I
don't think we can wrap onUbisoft too heavily for the fact
that they like cherry pick someof the best fucking things from
existing Metro Ivania is andput it into this game.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
Metro Ivania itself is like a callback homage to
games of a different era.
So you're making a 2.5 D gamein this era.
So like I'm just like, you'rejust giving people like a nice
cheeseburger.
You don't have to reinventcheeseburgers every time, like
sometimes they have some of thegoofiest.
I like a weird burger, yeah,but like sometimes I'm looking

(25:20):
at stuff and I'm like thatactually doesn't sound good on
my burger.
No, it sounds good as like youjust hit these main ingredients
but you give me a really goodbeef and really good cheese and
a really good bun, instead oflike I got three meat patties,
yeah, dog Little.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Promo from the Minnesota folks hit up Brunson's
pub in St Paul.
Okay, good, good burger programthere One of those things
though, dude, like I'm alwayslike you know, kind of to your
burger, to your burger analogy,I fucking like I'll get to what
the people came here Fucking.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
tell me how you're feeling.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
I'll fuck with, like you know, the bandito or, like
you know, the the.
No pain, no gain.
Like I said, little Brunson'spub promo here, but here's the
deal, man, I wouldn't.
I would never really fuck withthe classic double right Cause
I'm like, whatever, it's aclassic double, it's fine, Like
you know.
I had there dude, it's good,had it.
It's fire, Like I mean, I'vehad it before too, but like
sometimes this back to yourfucking analogy sometimes you

(26:12):
just want that classic doublebro.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Like good ass, classic double in a less classy
thing.
Or example Sometimes aMcDonald's double cheeseburger
is just too thin, shitty little.
Delightful patties, man.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Um different hot take .
I no longer like jalapenos onmy burgers very much.
Oh, all right, all right, um, Ilike spice.
It's just jalapenos.
Don't give me this awesomespice flavor combo that I want
on my burger.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
I'd rather go down different venues.
See, I like jalapeno, sopickled ones, not raw ones.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
Sometimes they do raw ones.
I'm like that was a hugemistake, but like a pickle,
pickled jalapeno not a clown,it's just preference.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
I'm not saying it's bad results.
I'll talk to you.
Are we getting pretty off topichere, bro?

Speaker 1 (26:55):
I suppose a nice wide array of enemies yes that
require you to do differentthings that you will find their
tells mm-hmm.
Sometimes they kick your assfor a little bit and then you
kind of figure it out and that'snot unique or new to them
either, but that each regionseems to have some different
sets of enemies.
So it just I bring it upbecause it keeps things fresh

(27:15):
and the boss battles to are likea nice epic Set piece another
way, another thing about thisgame.

Speaker 2 (27:21):
You know where we were talking about.
How did it work in the originalpop?
When you died, did you go allthe way to the beginning?
Did they start you off?
Like I'm trying to?

Speaker 1 (27:28):
remember levels had checkpoints, okay, but no, you
have a life count or any like.
There's like a timer.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Okay, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
You had 60 minutes to beat that game and then in the
3d games, I'm pretty surethere's like a narrative style
to it where the person's liketelling the story of it after
the point.
So when you die, it rewinds, itgoes no that's not quite how it
went.
Oh interesting, that's prettycool, yeah, fine.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
I bring this up because I think this game does a
really good job, similar to howdread did a Metroid dread and
probably some other new-ageMetrovanias.
But when you and I bring thisup because you mentioned the
enemies, and some of the enemiesare pretty tough until you
figure out, like, what works tobeat them, so when you die it
brings you back to we haven'tmentioned them yet, but there
are these trees.
What are the trees called?
Again, you remember?

Speaker 1 (28:09):
No, that's like the campfire or the bench Totally
depending on what game you'replaying the Metroid tubes, I
don't know what you call it.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
So, as you progress through this map, you run of
these trees and you it'sbasically like checkpoints in a
way.
You can also, like you know,the ability badges.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
That you're just about to say before I cut you
off.
Yeah, yeah, that's definitely aHollow Knight thing.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
It's like other deals .
That's a hundred percent aHollow Knight thing, so that's,
that's a big thing.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
I think it's cool and it changes how you know it
makes it.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
It adds like an RPG level to it, or layer of, rather
.
Which ones do you do who?
I do the?
So I added the one that givesyou like a half your health bar
when you die.
So that one's nice, I do theone.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Now, what's that?
Yes, small health bar.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
You talk about me like is that a personal dig or
is that like just a reference onthe game Cuz you as you go
through you on?

Speaker 1 (28:59):
the flower petals?
Well, I was.
Yeah, the pieces of heart forsure.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
But no, my heart bars alright, do, but I also use the
one that gives you the healthbar boost.
So when you go to those, yeah,so when you go to the trees or
whatever you can, it gives youlike an extra.
I don't know, maybe third, cuzI've like upgraded a couple
times.
So it's a nice boosty likelittle that, which is great for
bosses, but it's nice.
So you've got the ambulancethat you bring up, but if you

(29:30):
die it will bring you back tothe last tree that you checked
in it annoyingly here.
Although when you die at a bossit gives you the option to
restart at that boss, which?

Speaker 1 (29:38):
I which is happening.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
I tried, did that right, dreaded up, yeah, yeah
yeah, and I love that and dreadand in this it's really nice,
although it doesn't give youthat Health bar boost.
So if you choose to go back tothe tree, it will give you the
health bar boost, which I prefer, because it's usually a bit
pretty short, like usually theygot a tree pretty not?
It's not too much traversing toget back to that boss, so I'll

(30:00):
very prayer Gotta cut this bearprairie from a.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Very player friendly game.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
It is, which I think is cool man Like it's funny.
I appreciate it yeah it's funnywe're you know we are kind of
teasing this with the qualitynot quality life, but the
accessibility features.
I love that they put them inthere, but I'm also the type of
the gamer that's like I'm notgonna use it though.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Until I do like.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
I wasn't gonna.
You did use that thing.
You say no, I didn't.
Oh word, Okay.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
I'm trying to think of if I actually looked anything
up in this game yet, or if I'vejust been like really just like
holding onto my phone, beinglike am I about to look up where
to go?
I Think for one bonus thing Idid and then.
Cuz.
Like a lot of times there's aweird pride thing where you're
like I don't want to cheat it.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
I, because that's part of the game.
It's like with Celeste, youknow.
It's like you're like, oh, I'mgonna fucking.
You know, I'm gonna do this,I'm gonna feel great about it.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
It's less if it was an option Dude.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
I think that, like for, because and I think that's
a you take a shot for every timewe say Metroidvania.
But I think that like it is aMetroidvania right, and I think
a good Metroidvania dude is like.
Part of that experience isyou're meant to be exploring and
I know that there's a urge.
Especially and this is areoccurring theme on the pod is
just this, this like infiniteamount of games that we have

(31:18):
today.
But you know, like this, I Ithink that you're really gonna
enjoy that.
You truly are really gonnaenjoy Metroidvania.
If you like, just give in tothe exploration of it.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
That's when it really sings and I'll say that it's
less obscure than Metroids newer, old, where you like what.
I didn't drop a bomb on the Oneever so slightly different gray
scale block, like that'sbullshit, right.
I haven't been mad aboutanything Struggled, but I
haven't, like ever, been liketoo upset sure, sure, sure.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
So yeah, and I and I just bring it up because, like I
do think that there's a playerthat and even me and you, you
know, you just mentioned to thatlike it'd be nice to push
through, like I think there'sthat idea and a lot of folks
just want to push through to theend of the credits, and that's
fine, and I think that that Ithink having those accessibility
features to allow folks to dothat is cool, and I think that
is cool that you have theopportunity to turn them on or
not.
I'm just a type of player thatI'm like I'm gonna fucking and

(32:10):
and I think, once I let go ofthe fact that, like this month,
I wasn't gonna be able to get tothe credits, I was like, okay,
instead of plowing through this,just enjoy.
Like there's a part of the mapthat I can see is Because you
talked to that little girl andshe'll, like you can buy a map
off of her 30 bucks and hence Ienhance, which is like I like
both Yep.
But so like, as you traversethrough the map, though it like

(32:31):
illuminates, that section showbe shaded so you can tell if
you've been somewhere or not.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
So I have a little icons left behind, really like
don't know what this right toget past this.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
But I know something and that's something I love
about metrovanias is I will ametrovanias that does as well.
For me Is like when you canlook at the map and I think met
dread did the pretty good job ofthis too but when you can look
at the map and you can see, okay, I haven't been there yet I'm
gonna go poke around that areaand see what's up.
Yeah even though I know that I'msupposed to be headed somewhere
else, I'm like but I kind ofwant to see what's going on over
here right now.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
Well, yeah, and the maps interconnectivity works in
your favor.
There's definitely times whereI like did this huge section and
then all of a sudden I likebeat this little mini boss thing
and I'm like this is where I'msupposed to be.
And then, like some prize showsup, I'm like, oh, that was for
fun.
See, that's tight.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
It's fun too and the you know that in the discord you
were like I thought that wewere kind of neck and neck, but
you're a little ahead of me.
Because then I realized andthis is, I think, another
element of it being a goodmetroidvania I take a shot, but
is that you can kind of choose,you know you don't have to, even
though that I think you saidearlier like and I think I've
seen this on the internet thereone Drawback that some folks

(33:37):
have, or one qualm that thatfolks have, is that it pushes
you through the like it's alittle too linear.
But that wasn't our experience,dude, because I thought, you
know, you're in an area that Iwas like, oh yeah, dude, we're
like pretty much neck and neck,but then I realized that you did
like something out of orderthan from me and I was like, oh
shit.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
That's when you have to get the two feathers right.
And you were getting your firstfeathers was my second.
So I suppose, yeah, they havemoments like that where you can
go in a few directions.
So it's still relatively linear, but in a good there's enough.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
I think there's enough.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Exploration design, silent and the war points are
pretty generous between.
I'm glad you brought those upto sections.
So those are convenient, do you?

Speaker 2 (34:15):
think I thought that was another thing that I think
early on some folks are likeComplaining a little bit about
how there's not enough warpoints, but I think they're like
I think there's enough.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Well, you want to.
You want to get good atmastering the world and like the
little obstacles right,breezing through them, so like
when you're lost, I can see thefrustration of like Sometimes
I'm pulling up my map or likeI'm trying to get to this point
on the map and I have to go fromleft all the way to the right
and I'm like, okay, so if I gothrough that entrance, it
actually leads me in this otherarea.

(34:44):
So I'm pulling up the map likeevery 10 seconds.
That actually is frustrating.
So I can get that.
But you also want people to gothrough.
Like getting around and movingis a huge part of the
platforming Experience of thisgame.
So like that's how you'resupposed to do it, man, sure,
and the environments are reallycool.
So like just take a moment andlook at how cool.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Yeah, man, was it with the, the catacombs or
something I was likelegitimately creeped out?

Speaker 1 (35:06):
I hate those dude, that one guy that, like you, the
old man or whatever which oneyou talk about a few ones.
Dude, there's one that likesucks your soul.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Oh, that meant the gate key, dude or whatever.
He's got the big staff.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
You can beat him.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
He's like one of mini bosses you get like a cool key
from.
Oh, you beat him nice.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, you have to.
You have to switch dimensions,so I thought you could beat him
beforehand and then when he yeah, I've tried it on a knee and
you're like what's going on?
You gotta switch the otherdimension and beat his ass over
there and that's how you end upactually beating him finally.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Okay, you have a confrontation.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
It's designed, yeah.
No, it's like this other guywhere he does this swipe attack
at you.
It's kind of like a ghost thingin those little sewer disease
archives area.
It goes down your throat orsomething and then most of your
health, all of your healthexcept for one bar, is taken
away until you heal at a tree.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
Like you can't regenerate it.
Oh, that's rough, so I'msurprised you haven't run into
him.
He fucking sucks.
I might have ran away from him,because it's solid, because you
can beat him and it's not likea huge reward for it.
It's just he has this one movethat you can't block.
So if you're preparing to blockor you dodged the wrong
direction, like he gets you andthen you're kind of stuck with
him because he basically has aparasite on you.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
So, going back to the enemies and the bosses being
cool, fun designs, things thatthey saw in other games like
Metroid, dread, I'd say thebosses are very theatrical.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
They are man Not as grinding as?

Speaker 1 (36:27):
like Hollow Knight bosses, where you really like
mastering yeah, I have noreference there.
Well, it's like the same thingwith Metroid bosses, where you
kind of have to master theirflow and know when their attacks
are coming and how to dodge.
This game is similar to thattoo, although there's some
liberalness as far as like whenyou get your attacks in the
windows.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
We've been dropping the word metrobania a lot dude.
So get ready, you ready forthis?
Souls like yeah, so the soulslike.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
Metroidvania thing is like a Hollow Knight.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
Right, exactly so I do think that that's you know
they toned it down, though, forsure.
And that's what's interesting,dude too, because as I've kind
of been reading about this gameand like just kind of getting a
flavor for what other people aresaying about it, that is
another thing that some folksare like, oh, the bosses are too
easy.
Well, good for you, because Idon't think any of the boxes
that I bought were too easy.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
There's one or two.
I got on the first or secondtry, but there's some others
where I was.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
I had a fist bump, I'd be the first boss like, yeah
, I didn't die, but like dude,I'm not trying to fucking get
game overs on like, or you know,to die like on all my bosses.
Like there's something like acouple of times Sure Dread, I
think like walk that line reallygood, Whereas like there were
some that were infuriating and Ithink this one's close on that.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
This one's more accessible.
Like all the other things, likeDread, some of the ones,
towards the end I was like, oh,they're pretty hard yeah pretty
good when you beat them though.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
And I think they saw the likes.
So, like lovers, like I get it,like I understand that that's a
, that's a vibe, that's whatyou're going for, and you do
feel fucking like a beast whenyou take down a boss like that.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
So yeah, and some of us just aren't good at parrying
and we just spam dodge, so weend up losing a lot of battles,
some downsides, some things thatweren't the greatest.
There's just always the momentswhere you want to quit and play
something easier, becauseyou're tired of being lost and
not knowing what to do.
And I see you, I actually sawthis this morning and I was
mildly annoyed, so it's funny itgot in the update or not the,

(38:20):
but the outline is that thatUbisoft price system.
It was 50 bucks on release,which was a nice price point.
Probably should have been like40 or what it is now 30 for a
little bit.
They're the worst man.
So people get mad at Nintendofor never dropping their prices,
but they're like no, this is apremium product, you pay a price
.
Ubisoft is the biggest slut inthe game.
I almost never buy one of theirnew games, because it's like

(38:43):
it's like waiting tillThanksgiving to buy mad and I'm
like still plenty of plenty ofseason time.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
but shout out to the homie Ryan and the list off pod.
But he made this comment, Ithink, in his discord or
something, but about this gamehe was like, or maybe he said it
on his podcast, but basicallyhe was like I'm super interested
in this game but I'm not goingto buy it out the gate because
it's Ubisoft and it will be 50%off within like X amount of

(39:10):
months.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
I haven't bought the newest success and screen.
I mean it's already 40% off.
I'm waiting for it to get aslightly higher because I have
other games to play.
But I was interested in Mirage,but I will wait.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
I want to fuck with Mirage too, and so that one I
want to do now, want to fuckwith a little less so, because
I'm not.
I don't want like the full on,like open world, but the avatar
game looks it's supposed to bepretty cool too.
That's also like they're doingan Ubisoft sale right now, dude.
So this game, those games, arelike 40% off, which is dope.
I typically will take like a50% off threshold, like once

(39:41):
something is 50 or more.
I'm like all right, send it.
But you can almost guaranteethat a Ubisoft game is going to
go 40 to like 80% off within thefirst year of being released.
And this game is two months oldand like here's the deal.
I know sales weren't great, butit's like just release your
game for fucking $30 at thebeginning.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
I mean, they got us so jokes on you.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Well, that's.
I mean maybe, maybe.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
It's interesting because when I you know who
would I recommend this game to.
When I talked to people aboutit, they're like generally they
hear Ubisoft, they might hearthe IP of Prince of Persia, and
they're generally not superinterested, which I find
frustrating because I want toshare this game, because it's
fun, cool, so at least when it's30 months it's like much easier
to be like dude, I promise you.
It's like 20 to 30 hours long,so like although maybe that's a

(40:28):
hang up, maybe people don't wantit to be that long, but it's
like it's a long game.
It's like it's a meaty game.
I shouldn't say it's a longgame, it's a meaty, it's
appropriately length.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
And you could probably streamline it if you
put on those checkpoints.

Speaker 1 (40:38):
So like right now at 30, I would say a lot of.
If you like any Metroid game orif you like Tallow Knight, it's
such an easy recommendation.
If the whole 2D thing andyou're just an open world boy,
that's okay.
You ready for this hot takewhat's up.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Top 5 Metroidvania.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
I'd have to do a lot of research One of my top 5
Metroidvanias because I haven'tplayed a ton you do realize that
all my ratings are based off mypersonal experience and
everything's in your top five.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
That's an old joke for sure.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Anybody else, that any other downsides or any other
recommendations.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Dude, not just truly the price system that Ubisoft
rolls out.
Ubisoft's got some ill will inthe gaming community and I think
it's like somewhat deserved,you know it's like they're too
corporate.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
I think you're right.
It's like all the bigcorporations generally have a
bad rep.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Right, they make a money hand over fist, that's
just it.
So you know you do you Ubisoft,but fuck man.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, I'm glad that they I wanted to play this, like
, similar to a lot of peoplefelt the pressure to play Dread
because they're like we need toshow Nintendo that Dread is a
pro or Metroid is a profitablefranchise.
It feels the same for me forthis.
So I just think thatMetroidvania is a little bit
more niche, but it's like kindof a critic darling versus like

(41:59):
you know most people playinglike Call of Duty and like you
know your different fortnitesand things like that.
So the part of the market sharepie that ends up with this style
of game is unfortunately slim.
So I just like that they made areally cool, polished game.
I don't need another one fromthem particularly soon because
this one is really cool, but Ilike that they took a stab in
like an old genre that's kind ofharkens back to its roots.

(42:21):
I just think that it was agreat idea to make and I think
the execution was sick.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
I agree 100%, man.
I'm glad they did it.
My hope like for the cartoon,by the way, it would you're
right, the story is cool, theart's cool.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
I think it'd make a good like little cartoon series
on Netflix.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
You know, just don't cast what's his name is the as
the lead Jack Jones bring?

Speaker 1 (42:39):
him back, brother, bring him back.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
I can dig it.
No, man, I would recommend thisto anybody that likes Metro
Benias platformers.
I think this is a super silkyplatformer.
I mentioned earlier the fightsystem like reminds me of
fighting game.
So if you're like, if you likefighting games and are you know
like, I think that that's that'sanother plus for this game.
So like, if any of those thingssound sexy to you, like send it

(43:02):
.
Send it for 30 bucks, waitanother year and send it for
probably 20.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Yeah, 20 bucks.
I'll probably actually send outsome texts, but right now, if
this sounded cool to you, werecommend it for sure.
A lot of solid parts went intoit.
There's not like a huge glaringweek issue, it's just like
overall, like really solid,right on.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Well, with that man, you want to take a little break
here from our unsanctionedsponsor and then come back with
some side question.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
My dude unsanctioned sponsor, memoriam, memoriam.
This one's hard for me.
I'm probably going to have toadd out a bunch of tears and
crying.
Uh, how many of you may know.
I don't know if I can do this,but I want to.
I lost my boy, murphy, and Ijust want to shout him out.

(44:00):
He's my dog, like my actual,real dog, and I know we got some
listeners that the chicken onMurphy from from time to time.
Oh, this is pretty vulnerable.
I'm not like not sure aboutputting this on the internet.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
You could also come back later when it's less.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
That's true, but I'm just going to try again.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
I just think of boobs , I'm sure.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
Yeah, dude, this isn't a, this isn't a fun and
sanctioned sponsor for me.
But you know, I just saidMemoriam, like you said, and I
just want to shout out my boy,murph.
You know a lot of listenersknow about Murph and know that
he means a lot to me and we lostMurph to cancer, bro, and uh,

(44:51):
yeah, don't mean to be crying onthe internet and stuff, but you
know I just want to uh, toshout him out and let him know
that I love him and I know heknows that.
But you know, just let all youguys know that you know guys and
girls and shit and whatever thefuck.
If you got pets, give him somelove.
You know, if you got a dog, oh,sniff its butt for Murph.

(45:16):
I don't fully sanction that, butI don't just play, but uh, it's
hard man, cancer sucks, cancergot Murph and uh you know, sorry
for not making this one a funand sanctioned sponsor for you
guys, but, like I said, I justwanted to, uh, just want to let
people know that we lost Murphand uh, time is precious, pets

(45:38):
are precious and uh, yeah, man,uh he was, he was always there,
he's, he's there for a lot of myediting sessions, a lot of my
gaming sessions.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
He was barking at us, our first ever recorded
attempted up.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
So that's true, man On the loose, it's true, and uh,
you know, I just wanted to havethis opportunity to.
Yeah, just, I love Murph, hewas there.
He was there unofficiallyhelping me bring you all low
five gaming.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
So to the goodest of boys to the goodest of boys.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
We'll keep this one short, unless you put you on a
spot.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
You want to say something about Murph with Murph
and turf was a was a good boy.
It's good.
It's good to my homie, winston.
You know it was fun watchingthem grow up and rattle around
and do the most.
So, uh, you do.
You do very much love your dogso I know it was tough for you,
buddy.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Yes, sir, but you know, he's good as a boy.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
He was the, the goodest of boys man.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
But uh, yeah, yeah much loved you all and, like I
said, a lot of you do check inon me on how Murph's doing and
shit, and I just want to put outthere that we did lose Murph
and I haven't really talkedabout his struggles in the last
few months but he had nasalcancer and cancer is tough.
So here's to all I love, to allof you all, to the pets out
there and uh, you know, and fuckcancer.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Fuck cancer forever, dude.
All right to the goodest ofboys sidequesting.

(47:15):
I was just starting, dave thediver.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
Hold on, you got some sidequests bro, so many
sidequests.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
I haven't cashed them in yet, though I've left a lot
of them banked, that's all right, not finishing the sidequests.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
We didn't even talk about sidequests in person, but
they got sidequests.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
Yeah, they do and they're cool.
I forget about them because theway you play that game is just
kind of flowing around.
So, sometimes I meet theobjectives and other times I'm
like.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
Oh yeah, I need to collect those moon pieces with
that psychopath, dave, the diverdude, on my little trip.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
Yeah, was just starting to play.
It was the steamy D on theplane was sick dude and in the
hotel room bad.

Speaker 2 (47:52):
Did you plug it in?
Or how'd you do on the?

Speaker 1 (47:54):
dude, no outlets on Sky West, was you know, was the
Sky West?
Or as a song country, whoeverit was, I was like meh, like
they had a USB to even charge myphone.
So I was like oh, man, Icouldn't even charge my phone,
but anyway, it was sick to playon the plane.
I was immediately grabbed.
I can see why some people getburnt out 10 to 15 hours in.

(48:15):
That's kind of where I'm atright now.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
I'm Dave the diver.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yeah, it's introducing a lot of these
different small concepts andlike there's like a good news
throughout.
There's, like I'm pretty far indude and they're like and this
is the farm system, so they do agood job of like bringing you
in Um, but it was crazy and I've, you know, had some sidebar
conversations with folk like myfavorite part of the game is
like getting the fish to returnup to your restaurant and then

(48:40):
doing the little restaurant sim.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
And pretty quickly the restaurant sim becomes
pretty easy and not as big of afocus as I would like.
So like if they ever make asecond one or if they can.
Someone makes a game like thatand it's just more fleshed out
of the way that you like run therestaurant.
I actually found that ingrossing and I liked finding the
different like specialtysushi's and dishes to prepare
for specific clients or parties.

(49:04):
I always get a big thrill outof those money bonuses and like
seeing your, your, uh, your booksheet or whatever you fancy
economic terms for your uh, your, your, being niche.
I like that game a lot.
So, dave the diver, um one oflast year's darlings, we're not.
Um, one of those pods that getsthrough tons of games
throughout the year.
Helps that we're not ever usedto.

(49:25):
This is true.
This is true, probablydefinitely more than the average
gamer.
But like, not like we'restaying.
You know we're not working outlike an official site, so we're
not playing every game as itcomes out before like award
season.
Even so, like this was likelast year's huge um,
controversially indie, darling,um.
So I just think this game isreally cool.
I very much enjoyed it.

(49:45):
The humor, the animation, it'sa, it's an absolute delight and
it goes on sale a lot.
And they've done like DLCthemed packs with a Godzilla and
I'm super excited for the coolcrossover DLC.
Yeah, so I'm going to have tobuy or figure out the dredge
thing when I'm far enough inthis game, cause dredge was
probably my favorite game oflast year.
Yeah.
So the fact that they're holdinghands, doing a little high five

(50:06):
thing here would be really cool.
Small update on Majora's maskMe being lost in that temple, in
my opinion, was not my faultand I'm really annoyed by it.
I finally, after way too muchpoking around, looked it up on
line and then what I had to dowas something that like there's
this room, yeah, you flip thetemple over and there's like

(50:26):
these two flowers and you use aflower to jump across and use
your Diku, deku, whatever.
And then there's just two likedoor window sill things and like
I tried to float up into oneand then I walked in.
The animation cut so clearly Iwasn't supposed to go over there
, so I never did the one acrossthe room.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
And that's where I was supposed to go next to like
unlock the whatever next pieceof the map and like blah blah.
And that was really triggeringfor me because I was like I had
the idea it's just it wouldn'tlet me go anywhere over there.
So I just assumed it wascosmetic over there too and I
was like that's stupid.
Um, and as always I didn'twrite it on the outline, but I'm
now doing the Vikings in Madden.

(51:03):
Oh, weird word and charting ourfuture.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
You finished with George Mastow.
No still plugging away.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
I was going to like bully you and doing it some more
and, uh, I know I got the bigboss fight ahead of me.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
And I always get a little bit of a pre big boss
fight anxiety.
Sure.
Uh not wanting to finish things.
It's also like this might beharder than I want it to be.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
Think you know it's probably not.
So you're right up then to theI think.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
So I've finished the last uh temple, so I think what
you do from there is you justconfront him on the third day.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
For right now.
Yeah, uh, that's cool man, yeah, so I haven't plugged a, I
haven't like gone super far.
Like early on in the month Iplayed a little bit more off the
uh, off the pod crunch and thatwas nice.
It was like I think that withthe Zelda thing, dude, like it's
just one of those games similarwe're saying about metrophanias
is just like.
I love this.
This is kind of more relaxed,like traversing the map and

(51:54):
trying to figure things out andnot trying to rush through it.
Uh, so I also have not beat it,but I'm going to keep plugging
at it.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
How about your games?

Speaker 2 (52:01):
You still suck at 2k.
Dude, we could I don't know, Iwould show you what's up.
I probably ball all over you in2k.
I'm just going to say spendsome years by still die.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
That muscle memory probably comes back way too fast
for me.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Doug, I got my season going with the tea pups.
They are unstoppable.
I actually did lose a couple ofgames, though my undefeated
streak is over, but I'm past theall star break.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Uh well, I did a shortened season, so I mean it's
like the first time in lifethat, like virtual timbre was
doing good, and it's not like alie.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
I know it's great, it's so great.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
That's an interesting sensation.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
It's been a lot of fun.
Man cause I don't have anychannels to look, I don't have
the access to watch tea pupsgames.
So I like I watch all thehighlights on social media and I
like follow the box stores andI check in to see if they want
or not.
Sometimes I'll be walkingaround.
When I'd walk Murphy around,dude, I'd walk past a little
restaurant by my house that hasbig windows, just press your
face against the glad bar.
I mean, I've been given myscore updates by there and shit.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Howl motherfuckers.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
But yeah, man, I haven't uh.
Early on in the month I didn'tplay a bunch of 2k, I was uh,
but then I kind of just neededthat.
I needed that soul food, man.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
I needed just to do some bed job and play a little
2k and sports simulations aretoo comfortable to sleep Totally
.

Speaker 2 (53:12):
Totally, and CAA is coming out in the fall and, like
bro, we might have to do ourfirst like official sports
podcast.
Yeah, Uh, that'd be fun, man,that's uh, there's some
controversy around that.
What are they offering playerslike 600 bucks and a copy of the
game Dude?

Speaker 1 (53:27):
that's fine for me, dude In college, if you were
like hey Luke you're $600 and acopy of this game you're going
to buy anyway.
I would have been like dude andI'm in the game, let's go,
fucking cool dude.
So like yeah, there's someplayers, that's a ripoff too.
But like, yeah, for the goldengophers.
I had a student that we taughtat my school.
That's actually on the gophersand I kind of want to see if

(53:49):
he's in the game because there'sno way he wouldn't opt in.
So I want to see how far thatthere's like one person I know
of that didn't opt in, and it'slike Peyton Manning's right.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
They made the main headlines.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Yeah, but 2k, 2k dude .

Speaker 2 (54:02):
I've been playing some 2k.
I'm just one game away from theplayoffs.
The world's definitely made theplayoffs.
I'm excited to do that.
I'll probably do three gameseries, so I'll keep plugging
away.
Give me, give me thatchampionship, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Just like in real life.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Yes, sir, the other game that I've been falling into
.
His risk of rain too, so it's agame I had on switch, but I
never put too much time intorisk of game.
I used to like, really likerisk of I make you buy that.
No, it was this one that I goton a cheap sale on for physical
and I was like I'll scooped it.
I think you maybe recommendedit.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
I like had my buddy Tyler be to play it and then
like a weekend went by and hewas better than me at it.
He was trying to play out likedo not fucking stuff, all right,
dude.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
So him and my buddy Carter got like super good at it
.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
And dude, if you're down, I was like basically
playing like the little brotherwith an unplugged controller.
He's dying all the time.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Oh, dude, it's tough man, but it's fun.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
It's a good game.
It's a really good loop.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
I used to like the.
I used to like risk of rain,one better and I'd play.
I played a decent chunk of that, but now I homie, hook this one
up.
So shout out to Donnie Thanks,donnie.
So I've been playing.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
I've been playing dude because I had it on.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
But I had it on switch dude.
I never got super into it andbut he looked it up on steam and
this is one of those gamesthat's easy.
I'm like I don't know, I'm justlike play a little risk of rain
right now.
Risk rain too.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah, when you suck it's like 10 to 15 minutes.
The problem is, when you'regood, you're just like an hour
long.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
Yeah, fair enough, and I do kind of suck.
I've gotten, like you know,I've probably put in maybe five
ish hours to it, maybe a littleless than that actually, to be
honest, and I can like get aboutthree levels deep, but I
haven't unlocked any goodcharacters yet, like in that
kind of shit and that's uh, andI'm playing solo dude.
I think it'd be super fun tolike link up and play with some
folks.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
It is, unless they're way better than you like, tyler
fair enough.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
Well, we should link up, bro, those nerds Speaking of
like fucking Service games orwhatever or whatever you want to
call these like games you playwith folks.
I did end up getting helldivers to and I've dabbled in a
little bit but I've got a.
I gotta like do some of mycomputer.
My computer's a beast butthere's.
I've got some settings like f'dup with it.
Where it's it's not playing asthe gameplay itself isn't being

(56:08):
as smooth as it Should be.
So that has deterred me fromputting any more time into it.
But it's cool, man.
It's not the type of game like.
I don't do a lot of multiplayergaming, but, uh, you know I
want to.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
I want to do some more of this game because you
could drop as randoms and it'sstill your baby Is young too, so
like it'd be easier for me andI still struggle with these
styles of games, but like amission's like half an hour,
right, right, right.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
You gotta like you gotta like sync up the time with
your homies to, unless you'redoing random folks.
Yeah, so it's like you know.
So that's, I've run into that,which I but I know it's cool,
man.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
It's cool to be able to taste it and I saw Teeners
Resolution to do a game night.
Each week and I have notinitiated one once.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Yeah, well, let's get it go, let's try it, but, as
you know, it'll be, it'll be,we'll get it happening to this
is the best of intentions fromthis lonely game.
Those are the two, the two gamesI've been playing the most of
outside of Pritzvah Persia.
And then another little notefor the folks, for the real
nerds out there, the thehandheld lovers.
If you know about the play date, it's this quirky little

(57:06):
handheld system that I've maybetalked about before and it's a
it's, it's, it's a niche noveltyitem.
Just gonna throw that out there.

Speaker 1 (57:14):
Yeah, no hesitation with that, like it's fun gear
but like dude, totally.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
But it's made by panic and it is.
It's cool man, it's it's funand they have.
I recently was like you knowwhat I'm gonna?
They about a year ago almost ayear ago today they rolled out
their catalog.
So when it was first releasedit was on a season pass and
every week on that first seasonthey would unveil a new game to
you and I thought that was acool system and, honestly, if

(57:42):
they did a season 2 I would signup because I like how that
worked.
But what they decided to do andit makes sense is they created
their own store.
So they have a catalog orwhatever, and you can go in
there and you can buy theirgames and they're like, they're
not cheap, dude, they're likebetween two and twelve bucks,
which isn't expensive, expensive, but you know it adds up for
like quirky little games.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
Yeah, our at the plate most right, so that you
know.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
So it's one of those things, and for, like it being a
niche little product, I Irecommend it to handheld lovers,
but like I can't recommend itto like the the normal gamer,
you know.
But for me it's like an okay.
So what I'm driving at, though,is I finally I was like fuck it
, I'm gonna buy a couple ofthese games five bucks a piece
or whatever Because they have ashmup section, dude, and you

(58:23):
know.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
I move my shmups like I'm not good at them, but I
love them.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
I think they're dope.
So Space Master and gun trailsof Space Master is a horizontal
side scrolling shmup and thisplay date has a shoot them up.
Shoot them up, yeah, shoot themup.
It's got a crank right, so thisplay date has a crank and
that's kind of its quirky, likeweird little thing about it.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
In this particular game, space Master.
It's fun because you have ashield in the shield.
When you get hit by bulletsgoes down, but you can, if you
like, take your hand off of thebuttons and you crank it up.
It recharges your shield, whichis like an awkward thing to do
in the middle of shmup, becauseshmups are pretty like there's a
lot of shit going on and liketo try and like still move your
plane around or your spaceshipand then hit that crank.

(59:06):
It's like.
You know, I'm not very good atit, but it's like a fun little
thing to do.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
I like to see you just Hunched over this little
cute yellow thing and it'sfreaking out, is yellow.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
Yeah, it is, yeah, yeah.
And then a gun trails is theother one, and that's a vertical
or a taht or tate, depending onwho you speak to, which
basically is.
You know, I explained the.
The first one, space Master,was horizontal.
So if you play Nemesis or whatI don't know I'm trying to use
to you, it's like for the folksthat are listening.
You know, horizontal scrolling,whereas gun trails, is your

(59:37):
vertical or taht a mode, and Ireally like that's my favorite
conish mup, is the taht a modeone, but the screen for this is
a horizontal screen, and theyhaven't.
I mean, in theory, you couldhave developed it, so you just
like move the thing and, likeyou know, hold it differently.
That doesn't really matter, butthe reason I bring it up,
though, is because there's a lotgoing on and, for a small real

(59:58):
estate and horizontal, like it'spretty chaotic, but it's also
like surprisingly fun.
So like I cannot get very farat all, but it's the type of
system that you won't.
For me, anyways, the way Iapproach the system, like I only
play it for like 15 minutes Popor whatever, so like if I do
maybe like three, four or fiveruns of that, I'm like that was
fun.
I suck, I'm not gonna get anyfurther, but it's like you know

(01:00:21):
it was worth my five bucks.

Speaker 1 (01:00:25):
Well cool man there's a small team behind it too, so
fun time but those are the sidequests.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
Thanks everybody for joining us for another episode
of low five gaming.
You can find us on low fivegamingcom there's.
There's little links for oursocials.
Join the discord man.
Thanks for listening.
Y'all so dope.
You made it this far big oldvirtual hug for you.
Appreciate it and if this isyour first time listening and
you thought it was dope, give usa five-star review on your pod

(01:00:53):
catcher of choice.
If they give you that abilityand if you were like that was
garbage, keep it to yourselfkeep it to yourself, bro,
respectfully, respectfully, keepit yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
If you don't like it listen to our first pencil,
persian, be like did they getbetter?
Or?

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
worse.
Indeed, that would be fun.
Holoradus, let us know how wedid and you can shoot us an
email.
Everything is on the website.
Low five gaming comm.
Much love you all pure purepeace bro, peace, peace y

(01:01:42):
Committee.