0123 stygian

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Channel 3 is the future Welcome crew to one of your 3A

(00:30):
Channel 3 podcast where we take a member of the Channel 3
community, discuss three games of their choosing, go through
some honorable mentions and someother odds and ends for a nice
little video game discussion. That's the first time in like 5
weeks I've probably done the actual introduction.
That's that felt that felt smooth, right?
That felt smooth. But that that that's Ray.
I'm Dan. Go for it, Ray.

(00:50):
I'm here. I mean, it's it's smoother than
your Internet connection tonight.
That, that, that no. No, that was that was all PC
that was PC centric my my Internet connection.
'S been fiber. Fast baby.
That's that's what I'm trying. To say where are the fibers?
Where are the fibers? The fibers, The fibers are here.
It's my computer's smoking for some reason.
You. Know Joel got you a new monitor,
you got to get some new computernow.
I'm blaming, I'm blaming some kind of malware or some some

(01:13):
some garbage service junk in here and OBS, OBS thinking it's
steam, Steam elements all of a sudden stream elements.
I was going to say, did you update OBS?
We know we don't update OBS. No, I didn't think OBS until it.
Crashes on us. I think I may be at that point I
feel like I've skipped 4 updates.
That's probably that might have something to do with it because

(01:35):
the new one just popped up todayand like we should probably do
this, but I didn't want to do itbeforehand and have an episode
101 O1 situation on our hands and screw up the audio so.
And I'll hold on. No, we're good.
We're good. Anyway, we have a guest here.
He's gonna talk about some games.
It's it's Scigian. Stigian, how are you doing
tonight? I'm doing good.
I'm doing very, very good. I'm, I will say I'm probably, I

(01:58):
might not sound like it, but I'mdefinitely a little bit on the
tired side. A.
Little jet lag there, huh? A little bit, yes.
I did just get back from LA lastnight so thankfully I was able
to sleep for a full 8 hours compared to like the past three
nights sleeping only 5 or 6. Did the Dodgers beat the Yankees
again? Or I'm sorry.
That was just. Uncalled for.

(02:19):
No, sorry. That's how we wrapped up the
last podcast. I figured we just we tied
together the post credits just upset Ray.
We we just finished the Subway Series, which we didn't win, but
we won the last game of the series.
But the Phills took down Cincy two or three over the weekend.
It wasn't looking good on Friday.
That's the end of sports talk. I was just saying, did anybody
go to the game? Can you, can you drive through

(02:41):
the streets of Philly right now?I heard they were.
I heard they were packed up. It, it, it, it's, it's much like
a, it's much like a, a New York City summer day.
It's just another day in New York City.
Just hot garbage lining the streets, yes.
It's piling up there. They're having a good time.
Hot garbage piling the streets. I know what that.
Yeah, they're, they're having, they're having some, they're

(03:02):
having some sanitation issues over there.
We'll. Say they're having fun.
That's as far as I'm going to gointo that conversation, But it
is it is hot garbage lining the streets.
And yeah, you can. You can Google that one for
yourself. Let me tell you, when I start
getting stories down in South Carolina about stuff going on,
you know, it's we're having a rough time.

(03:23):
Anyway. We're going to talk about some
games eventually, I guess, yeah.We were venturing real close to
like podcast. I mean, that was only about 3
minutes, but that was real closeto like, next thing you know,
it's 45 minutes and we remember to actually do what the podcast
is supposed to be. We got to be real careful.
Oh man, let's jump into it. We we've got games here.

(03:45):
Game number one's Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter, Monster
Hunter world, Monster Hunter 3, Monster Hunter, all the monster
hunters. So just so many.
So I'm just sitting I'm going tolet you lead the way here.
You start talking about Monster Hunter, whichever, wherever
you'd like to start, and I'm just I'm going to follow you.
Where, where? Where are we going here?

(04:06):
Might as well start it where I started then.
First ever Monster Hunter game Iplayed was Monster 3 Ultimate
and finally enough with that I Igot it because it looked cool
and I had had my I think the first edition of 3DS for a
little bit at that time and I was like, I have to Monster

(04:29):
Hunter 3 Ultimate. I was like, I have no idea what
this is. This looks cool I'll grab it.
Started playing it and then thiswas like when I was like much
younger than I am now like maybewhen I was like in my teens, I
think started playing it and I was like, this feels really
weird. I'm not the biggest fan of it.
And so I stopped playing it and I went to like other stuff like

(04:51):
probably like Mario or other things, something like that.
But Fast forward a couple years,I'm older, I'm wiser in quotes,
I'm better, much better at videogames.
And since I have a lot more experience at that point, when I
started playing a game, I was like, oh wait, this is actually
a lot of fun. Why did I not stop?

(05:14):
You know what? It's probably because I was bad
at video games. I didn't understand that yet
back then. But no, I started playing 3
Ultimate, I got a good chunk of the way through the game as
well. There's like there's like
different ranks of difficulty that you play through with the
quest and everything. And like base games, just like

(05:37):
they're low rank and high rank quests.
And the ultimate series of the game, which is basically like
the second level of each game entry is there's low rank, high
rank and rank called G rank, which in later games is called
Master rank. But I managed to get into G rank

(05:57):
and then I just kind of dropped off from there because I won.
It got really, really hard as isappropriate for the game.
But also too, I was just like, Iam having a lot less fun
grinding for this than I am going to be playing a lot of
other games and I haven't been beat it so.
So this was not a a type of gameor series that like you played,

(06:20):
this was kind of out of out of your norm.
Yeah, I. Was very much out of my norm out
of the blue compared to the other games that I've been
playing 'cause you know, I was playing like the side squirrel
Mario's Sonic's on the 3DS. I played Kid Icarus Uprising a
ton. Probably, and probably still is
my favorite 3DS game of all time.

(06:41):
And that's where that game will stay buried, because there's no
other way to. Play.
I was about to say, yeah, I was like, and then we will never see
another entry of that game ever.Unless soccer I decides to pull
something out of a hat and makesmake it for the Switch too or
something I don't know. The problem is that that's one
of those 3DS games that's got A2screen that like, it's not a
menu, it's like a fully functional second screen that

(07:04):
you need to use to play the game.
So yeah, like, unless that that was the thing I thought like we
were talking like switch to conspiracy theories and Ray
thought the C button might be connecting a, a second screen or
like your switch or your phone or something.
And I was like, Oh my God, they may be able to revive these 3DS
games. Like the rumors got really

(07:26):
creative. The rumors got really creative.
Yeah. You were gonna attach your
Switch 1. You were gonna make your phone
the second thing the people weregoing out there with.
That one stuck. I I couldn't, I, I was like,
that's really interesting and bold if they can make that work.
But like that was that's the only way you're gonna get
uprising again, because it's a, it's a fully 2 screened game.
I I don't know. I will say, I will say you

(07:49):
could, you could play the game without the touchscreen.
There were control, there were control styles where you used
both the circle pad and the A buttons to control your reticle
and movement at the same time. And it I mean, was it clunky?
Yes. Could it work?
Yes. Was it much better to play with
the stylus? Absolutely.
But now. That you have memory.
With two joysticks like it's so doable.

(08:13):
It's basically like any FPS shooter, just third person and
probably a little bit more higher octane than most.
Get that, get that, Get that joycon mouse working.
Yeah, yeah, get the joy. Con Yeah, exactly like you want
to do crazy flicks on with the stylus.
Here you have a joy con mouse instead.
Have we have we forgotten about the switch to use mouse

(08:35):
capabilities has has? Does anyone use it for anything
yet? Dragon Drive comes out in like 2
weeks so we'll see. I'm just saying that we have
this, we had a feature and I've I don't, I, I haven't, I haven't
even attempted. If people use it for like the
FBS games that they're going to be on Switch, I'm sure that

(08:55):
actually since the switch to actually is is decent hardware
compared to the one, it'll function a lot better.
But if you're trying to use likea mouse controller type thing
for an FBS and you have a computer, just use a computer.
If these if these switch lobbiesbecome KBM lobbies basically
because of mouse control, it's going to get it's going to get
wild. It is.

(09:16):
Going to get wild. I'll tell you, you make Splatoon
4. You let me, you, you let me
connect my mouse to that. I'm I'm back.
I'm back. Prime 4.
Prime 4 is going to be the the the measuring stick for this.
It will be, yeah, kind of the side it's worth it.
So Monster Hunter is it Now he wants to talk the.
Whole series, we don't even knowwhat's happening.

(09:38):
Oh, I'm asking so you know, it started as a, as you know, this
is totally like out of the norm.Just kind of pick this up.
Is it in the norm now since you've played multiple games?
In the series, it is definitely a returning series for me 'cause
I, like I said, started with three UI, skipped over 4 and 4.
Ultimate. I completely skipped over those

(09:58):
entries 'cause I just. Where?
Where were four and four. Ultimate.
Yeah. Where were, where were those?
Where were four and four ultimate.
Those were the 3DS. Well, it's also 3.
DS we'd had. We had three more entries on the
3DS. Oh.
My God, there was that many on the 3DS?
There's first, there's just, there's so many Monster Hunter
games. Yeah, it was.

(10:19):
It was 3DS, It was 3 U, then 44U, and then Generations and
Generations is where the cut offwas.
There was going to be Generations Ultimate on the 3DS,
but that got only released in Japan, and then we got
Generations Ultimate on the Switch one in the US, which was

(10:39):
strange decision making on Capcom's part, but that's what
happened. Yes, Monster Hunter X.
Yes, yes. Monster Hunter Cross.
Monster Hunter Double Cross. So world is next.
So after three you go to World. No, actually, I went.
I went once I found out about Amazon or Generations, I went
with that first actually. And that I had a lot of fun with

(10:59):
because I got to experience someof the older maps, some of the
stuff that I hadn't experienced in the past since 3U Beat was my
old game. I didn't play one or two.
And those additional entries portable.
Oh, we're not even going to talkabout Frontier.
But no, I went. I went to Generations next, got

(11:20):
the experience all like the older monsters, newer monsters,
stuff I've missed on the previous games and then four as
well. And the whole new introduction
of the hunter art system, which kind of led to it kind of
skipped. It was skipped over in World,
but it led to like the silk vinemoves in, oh God, the name Ryze
later on. But Generations was a really,

(11:43):
really cool game because again, old biomes, old monsters being
brought back. And then of course, new variant
monsters, which is not rather than like, 'cause we have
monsters that have a subspecies,what's called a subspecies,
'cause you have like bass Rathian standard, like green

(12:05):
flying fire breathing Wyvern. And then you have a pink
Rathian, which same type of thing, stronger poison attack
does a couple more flips to makeits attacks more flashy.
That's just like a beige example.
There's tons of variants of monsters out there or
subspecies, but generations added in variants which were

(12:25):
very, very different subspecies of monsters to the point like,
you know, they were considered mutations.
Like there is a crab monster andone and the variant for that was
one of its claws got really, really big and really, really
hard. I couldn't tell you the name of
it, but it was basically. That's called Kingler.
They did it in Pokémon. It's actually King.

(12:47):
That's Kingler. Yeah, one variant I do the name
of is Thunderlord Zenoger, and that's basically just a Zenoger
that's amped up, has significantly stronger Thunder
capabilities. The Zenoger is basically a
Thunderwolf that strikes with lightning attacks, is a very

(13:09):
cool monster in my opinion, one of my favorites.
But Thunderlord is basically just a hyper amped version of
that much significantly stronger, more variety in terms
of its move set. And then like I said before, the
generation with generations, theart system that was just really,
really cool and the style systemas well goes new to generations

(13:30):
of course was the arts and then hunter styles, which gave which
one changed the move sets of each weapon depending on which
style you are in which determined your play style as
well. There is a style called Guild,
which is basically bare bones what you're used to previous
entries minus a couple things taken so they could be dedicated

(13:51):
to other styles. And those were those.
And those entries were actually really, really cool because
there is one, my personal favorite was one called Adapt,
which is much more evasion focused because if you dodged
attack like right at the last second, you did this little
dodge, completely nullifying anyincoming damage, complete
vulnerability. And depending on what weapon you

(14:13):
were in, you had a little bit ofa running Sprint at the end of
it. And in my case, I made dual
blades for that game. If you were in a certain mode
when you dodged, you did a little spin attack at the same
time. So you dealt damage on the
dodge. And that just seemed like the
coolest thing ever to me back then.
And then of course a scale that makes every single hit deal

(14:34):
double damage or strike twice. So it was like I'm just tearing
through these monsters like nobody's business doing these
dodges left and right. Without no doubt they were a lot
of fun with of course, you know,some limitations like some
classes can control can equip 3 arts, some classes can her
styles can equip one art. So it was a lot of pick and
choose what fits you and what fit your play style best.

(14:56):
And that just added so much morevariety to a game that already
had a ton with like the monsters, weapon choices, armor
choices, builds like this is incredible Monster Hunter RPG.
And then of course Generations Ultimate just added on to that
with new arts, new styles, new monsters, and of course new

(15:18):
story to end game content. And so as the games go on, so if
you go to generations in the world and Ryze do you and they
keep adding, they keep adding stuff to it, Do you feel that
all the additions make the game harder?
Did it just is it just more options and and the same level?
Is it easier? Other people might have a
different opinion on this for me.

(15:39):
Since I want yours, I want yours.
That's why I'm here since my experience is in order going
three you generations, Genalt, world world ice born, Ryze,
sunbreak and now wild. Every single entry has that
things added and things taken away.
So many unique differences that like I'm just learning a new

(16:02):
play style every single time. So like, sure, some basics are
the same in terms of the base game play and like, you know,
basic move sets, but the weapon,sword and shield, probably the
most basic thing you could run with with world.
They've changed their moves at aton.
Dual blaze got changed a ton. And then you go to like Ryze
with all these different arts and stuff and you go to Wilds

(16:23):
again. Even then there's like things
are being changed left and right.
It's it's crazy, honestly. I my opinion is that in some
cases it does make the game harder because other weapons you
felt comfortable with playing nolonger feel comfortable and you
have to relearn them. And some people that some people
might find that very irritating.Otherwise other people might
find it like, oh nice challenge I could relearn the weapon that

(16:46):
I've been playing for like 507 hundred plus hours that I feel
like I'm learning something new again, which I think is great in
terms of game mechanics, qualityof life stuff.
This luck of the draw depends onwhat the change is compared to
like the previous entry, like whether it's good or bad in the

(17:07):
eyes of the player. Personally, I can't well going
from out of the addition of the clutch claw in Monster
Underworld Ice Born was probablythe most gimmicky thing that
pissed a lot of people off because it was the same routine

(17:29):
because well, one it they completely changed the addition
of that completely changed monster behavior where to a
point there a period in time where if you hit a monster or
like do some like a heavy attackon it or something or hit a
certain HP threshold, I couldn'ttell you what it would stagger
back and then stand there panting for like 3 to 5 seconds
straight programmed in for a clutch claw opening.

(17:52):
Now is that Monster Hunter? No, a monster, like a monster
might take a step back or something to like catch a break
or a breath or something, but the stand there just look
dumbfounded while it just gives you an opening to hit it with
something that completely decimates the monster in terms
of damage 'cause you can clutch all you can grab onto a monster,
you latch onto that like a freaking grappling hook, and you

(18:14):
can turn it by striking its headand send it flying into a wall
and deal so much more damage in an instant than you could in
like probably 5 minutes worth ofgameplay.
It just didn't. It just didn't feel sporting.
Is that what it? Yeah, it felt cheesy.
It felt really cheesy. And it felt like you were
achieving the game in a game that's not designed to be

(18:34):
achieved in most ways. And since that was like a
certain, you're sure, certain monsters, you're going to find a
strategy that works for them if you can avoid a really, really
annoying attack. But if that's the case for all
monsters across the game, it's like you're ruining the gameplay
man. So with all these games, which
one, which one hit you the best?Personally I like Ryze the most

(18:57):
Ryze sunbreak that felt like well one it was a game.
I grinded end game conda the most and it was a game like even
if it was the same over and over.
Oh I'm sorry can I curse on this?
I just. You're fine.
That's the. You're you're fine.
It's it's 1 little bleep that appears in there and it's just
funnier that way. Cool, I'll try to lay off it,

(19:21):
but it's the, it's the same Ryzeis like even if it's the same
stuff over and over and over again, it's the game I just
didn't get tired of 'cause I I was still enjoying myself.
I enjoyed the silk bind moves and the changes to the move set.
Like that's the that was the first game.
This is before Sunbreak came out, which is the expansion to
Ryze that I built a weapon classor like a a weapon loadout for

(19:46):
every single weapon type in thatgame and even like and depending
on the weapon as well, I built different elemental builds as
well. Like that was unheard of for me.
I've never done that for any forMonster Hunter, let alone any
game I've ever played. Like if there is a load out I
liked, I stuck with that and just kept on going.
Now granted, did I have my main weapons absolutely like charge
blade, long sword. I stuck with those for the most

(20:08):
part, but I just had fun building stuff and experiencing
the other weapons because like Ihad the time because I completed
base Rise and I was like. Not much end game content
compared to sunbreak. It was like I had the time,
might as well put it in like playing the other weapons, see
how they feel. I was like, Oh my God, some of
these actually are really, really fun.

(20:28):
And then of course, the silk bind moves just added so much
variety. And just like then also I'm I'm
I'm a big anime fan and I kind of like those kind of styles of
games where just like a lot of of flashy stuff where you do
some really, really sick moves, fast moves.
And that just kind of filled that niche for me with Ryse,

(20:50):
along with it being a very Japanese themed game.
But of course, the monsters werefun to fight.
They had unique move sets. We had new, new monsters,
returning monsters. And then Sunbreak just added on
top of that with some really, really cool themes with the
whole, I don't I want to say like Transylvanian kind of theme

(21:11):
with where you had like a vampire monster and a werewolf
esque monster along with some ofthe new additions.
And of course new returning monsters in both the base
expansion and then post expansion release that just
knocked things out of the park with how difficult they were.
And then of course, more and more end game content that I
just, I was fine with because the nice thing with Sunbreak end

(21:33):
game compared to previous entries, even with like world
and ice porn, there was a, therewas a, a mode of quest mode that
constantly got harder and harderand harder the more you played.
And most games don't do that because there's no easy way to
do that. Like, because if you're doing
stuff you're adding like new quest, you're adding new event

(21:54):
quest online for people to download, which was how it was
done in the older games. They posted event quest online
and you downloaded them to the DLC menu.
But with Ryze, it was a built inmechanic and you just kept on
playing. It just kept on getting harder
and you could get keep on benefiting, making stronger
weapons, stronger armor, and youjust have fun with it.

(22:15):
Now Wilds is a step above because it's just one.
It looks beautiful to the weapon.
The weapons like feel really, really nice for this game, which
they did wonderfully compared tothe beta because there is a lot
of things that people weren't happy with with that game, but
they listened and they executed,which a lot of cane companies do

(22:39):
not do. And as a monster Under fan, I
can be really appreciative of that.
But in terms of just sheer playability and enjoyment
factor, Ryze Sunbreak all the way, 100%.
And I'll, I'll wrap you up with this here.
Give me, give me like a standoutmonster.
Give me, you know, if you think about monster hunt, you're like,

(23:00):
Oh my gosh, this was this was the monster.
It was just so great to battle. Or I mean, it was just so awful
to battle. Whichever 1 you want to.
Come with. Oh God, God, sheesh, that's a
great question. I'm trying to think back of all
the. Monster Hunter players are
yelling at their speakers right now.
It. Was like, it's obviously this

(23:23):
one. It's obviously that one was like
dude, dude, no, no, no, no, no, no chill.
Well, I will say the first, the first monster that popped in my
head was Sunbreak Amatsu, which is a very, very cool elder
dragon lore wise and bio and biology wise.

(23:46):
Because it's a monster that generate its IT generates its
own storms. It rides on air currents.
It doesn't have wings per SE, but it has like a lot of like
frills on its body and it controls air currents around
itself so it can fly. And every elder dragon in the
game is a walking natural disaster, a matzo even more so.

(24:08):
And it was the main boss of a older entry of the game.
And I was just always fascinatedwith the design of that monster
and the concept of it. Because one thing that I did
back in high school when I got bored in class, I would just
browse the Monster Hunter wiki because I had a app on my iPad
that was literally just a built in online wiki to the entire
Monster Hunter collection. And I was just like if I was got

(24:32):
bored just pulled up a random monster.
I just started reading the lore and the biology behind it.
It was like this stuff is cool. And the Matsu really stuck in my
head and I was like I was like afan favorite.
If this this is ever monster, ifthis monster has ever brought
back, I am 100% going to be happy and I will be playing it.
And Sunbreak just did just that.The IT looked amazing, the fight

(24:56):
was amazing, the soundtrack was amazing like that was a fight of
of fights. It was it was so much fun.
It was it kicked your butt like nobody's business, especially if
it's your first time playing, it'll catch you off guard and
you will just get wrecked. But once you know it, like it'll

(25:16):
still held like a truck, but you'll have fun fighting it.
And then runner up will probablybe Violet Mizitsune, which was
also a sun break edition. A little subspecies that they
added at the end there. Also really cool really hard
fight but Amatsu I think takes the top.
Ray, we, we've gone soft over the over the, the rapidly

(25:39):
approaching 3. You know, it used to be somebody
come in and say we, they, they want the series.
We'd say we, we drop a hard no. Then at some point we're like,
yeah, we can, we can, we can work around a series they could
tie together. Then somehow stitching came in
and pulled 2 series on us to open things up here.
He said, he said, I want God of War, which God of War the
series. And like I, I just, it might be

(26:01):
just be the Midsummer vibes. He just, he got us here, but he
said he wants the whole series. So I'm, I'm going to ask like,
where does it, where does this begin for you?
Because I was a fully formed adult when this came out.
You were not when the first one came out.
And I like, how did you wander into God of War?
It it started with my dad. Our first at home gaming console

(26:25):
was the PlayStation 3. The fat 1, not the thick one.
Yeah, the the the OG that had the backwards compatibility and.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And that was I think one of the
God of War one was one of the first games that he ever got for
that console. And you know it's rated M for
Mature 18 plus but. And earns it too, in every way

(26:46):
possible. Yeah, Oh yeah.
But I was like at at some point he just started letting me watch
and I enjoyed it that time. Like it looked cool.
It it looked, it looked a lot oflike it was really, it was
really flashy. The monsters look cool, the
combat looked awesome. And at some point he's let me

(27:06):
play it. I can't remember whether or not
it was after he had gotten the God of War or no which.
Which one game was the collection?
He got the God of War one and two collection disc.
That's what it was. But yeah, that they had
upgraded, they made some upgrades to the the PS3, yeah,
'cause the original was the an end of era, an end of PS2 era or

(27:31):
like ladder end. So it looked great on the PS2,
but they needed, they needed to touch it up a little bit for.
The yeah, yeah, I'm sure they did 'cause that game looks like
for a game back then it looked phenomenal.
But I can't remember if it was after my dad finished God of War
Three that I started playing thegame because I distinctly

(27:53):
remember for for some reason, for some reason the ending of
God of War three got to me and Iactually started crying.
It was like I didn't think this is so sad.
Kratos just got killed. Sorry for spoilers for anyone.
Spoilers for a 15 year old gamer.
Yeah, you're good. Spoiler for the spoiler.

(28:14):
He's he's back. Don't worry.
Oh yeah? Oh yeah, I'm sure people already
know, but no, I I started playing God of War one.
I love that. Played God of War 2, love that.
Played God of War three. Love that.
That's such a great opening level though.
Like the first God of War. Oh my God, the.
Kraken and like it it's just oneof those ones where like I I did

(28:36):
not know what I was walking into.
I I was just kind of like I was like what's what's a good game
out? I, I was at a point where I had
some free time on my hands, so Ididn't know I wasn't in touch in
the middle of a dark ages guys like here buy this, like, all
right, fine. And I take it home like, Oh my
God, this level's great. And like the QuickTime events
are happening and just chaos allaround you.

(28:57):
Your attacks are just wiping things.
Oh yeah, you're you're sucked inright away.
Yeah. And then there is a point in
time in college that I started replaying the series and I like
from one again and I went all the way through three.
Unfortunately my original 3 discstopped working on the PS3.
Don't know why. So I just bought the remastered

(29:18):
version on my PS4 and I want to say yeah, this is before I ever
touched Ragnarok because I didn't play God of War Ragnarok
until I got it on PC and I only had my piece, my first computer,
my first like PC tower after after college.

(29:39):
So. So it had.
After college or my senior year?Hold tight.
So before Ragnarok, though, it'sbeen a couple of years that the
the Greek narrative was tied up for for Kratos.
And then 2016 rolls around and there's a trailer that drops

(30:00):
live at E3 and guess who's back?And you, you learn like, whoa,
wait a second, God, God of War is back?
It's got an entirely different look, vibe and it's it's going
after a new set of gods. Like, yeah, where where were you
at at that point? And what was your reaction to
saying like, Oh no, God of War was because like 3 ends the

(30:24):
story. Like it?
It buttons the thing up. It, it, it buttons up.
It buttons up the entire Grecianstory.
Like all those gods are the one.Like all the gods that Kratos
headed out for are dead. Like any anything that got in
his way, it was. Everything, every nothing is
left from Olympus, Yes. Nothing is left from the
Olympus. The only thing we knew at the
end of the game was that after he got rid of the hope that

(30:47):
Athena gave him, he was alive. That was the last thing we knew.
And then, of course, nothing since until Ragnarok drops.
But not not not Ragnarok, just the the God of War untitled
2018, just no subtitle God of War.
Not Ragnarok. Right, right, right.
Base God of War. Yeah, God.
Of war, you're God of War 2018 because the naming conventions

(31:08):
got frustrating me keeping tabs.God of War 2018 announced in
2016 and is is back. So you ended up playing this one
on PC though. That's where I got lost.
That's why I went back. I was like, wait a minute, are
you jumping to Ragnarok? We're jumping around, we're
good. Yeah, yeah.
I mean I when I, I keeps when it'cause when I say God of War, I
mean God of War one. I mean it's like the North for

(31:30):
the PS4 God of War. I would just say 2018 but we get
we're we're in God of War Norse country now but.
Yeah, well, but before God of War 4, I had AI had me and a
friend like we're both huge fansof the series.
And I know he like had already played like all of the God of
Wars. And I said like, and I, I went

(31:53):
to him and was like, hey, do yourecommend playing these?
And it was like, absolutely. It was like, OK, I need to find
a way to play these 'cause theseare games that work.
Yeah, your your portables, your PSP, your Vita, the the
Ascension and whatever the yeah.I think ascension is the well.
Did I play ascension? I can't remember, I'll have to
check my collection. I I don't remember 'cause I but
they did put out a disk. They did put out a disk of these

(32:13):
games, yes. Yeah, so I found out that those
disks exist and then I immediately bought them up,
started playing them on my PS3, completed all of them.
Story wise. I didn't 100% the game because
that'd be crazy. I'm not that desperate.
I just wanted to experience the story ascension.
I couldn't tell you if I played that game or not.

(32:33):
That I I do know that was like. It was a little rougher.
A bit of a dumpster fire. It was.
It was a little rougher. We'll say yeah.
Yeah, but I mean, not terribly pertinent to the story, if I
remember correctly, if I did play it.
But hearing about, you know, Kratos finally back is like, we
finished Greece. Where do we go next?

(32:55):
And it's like, because there there's all these different
options, all potentials for likework they could do next.
Or do they just end it there? Because Kratos story in the in
Greece is done. And then they announced like, Oh
my God, we're in a completely new realm, new new part of the
planet and it's Norse mythology.And he doesn't remember.

(33:16):
And his family's not murdered. He's.
Yeah. Number of really, really messed
up gods and stories in that mythin Norse mythology is insane.
Some of them put freaking Grecian myths to shame and
they're horrible. Those gods are horrible.
And finding out about that, it'slike, and then the the new, not

(33:41):
to mention the new comic, I was like, OK, this actually looks
really freaking cool. It, it felt like such a leap
from the end of God of War. Again, not having really played
the the portables, like it's just such a leap when you get
the leviathan acts and it just felt so none of the the
original. Like it felt more tactile for

(34:02):
me, not that like they weren't visceral and bloody and violent,
but like just the way the controller handles and the way
the, the action feels and like just the way the leviathan acts
just slams back into your hand. It just, it feels, it feels
entirely different. Even though it's really only a
couple of years in reality laterfor us it feels like a multi

(34:26):
generation leap. Like it feels like a 20 year.
Leap yes, that the gameplay in that game is leagues above the
other God of wars in my opinion.Like, of course, you can't meet
the classic God of War game style because that's just has a
whole nother feel of its own. But God of War four just started
something completely new and it was incredible because and

(34:48):
especially in terms of difficulty and like building up
your skill set. Building up your skill set in
the previous games was learning how to dodge better and then,
you know, timing your attacks and making sure you don't get
swarmed by enemies so you don't get mobbed and killed in an
instant because of how unfair the game can be.
In God of War Four, it feels like it's so much more skill

(35:09):
based with all the moves that you can do, all the skills that
you can equip. Of course, changing your armor,
among other things, working withstripes.
Skill trees and new talents, yeah.
Yeah, so, and especially when you get to the end game combat
in in God of War Four, that was like, this is like hard but fun

(35:30):
kind of hard. Of course there are going to be
like, you know, some monsters that are going to go get pissed
off at because it's a hard game.You are going to get mad.
But it is going to be like when you look back, I was like, yeah,
that was actually kind of fun. And of course not the gameplay
alone, the story was incredible like I, I knew a good chunk of

(35:52):
the story already in and out because I've been watching like
YouTube compilations and stuff. It was like I, I don't have it
like I didn't have APS 4 for thelongest time and oh God, no
wait, I think things changed. What changed?
No, because I'm. You're saying you're that, that

(36:12):
you, you waited for this one forPC, you said.
I I'm trying to remember 'cause that might not entirely be the
case 'cause I got APS 40. God, I'm trying to remember now.
Oh, I started God of War on PS4.I never finished it.

(36:32):
That's what it was if I remember.
If I remember correctly, they never finished it 'cause I beat
I started playing Persona 5 Royal.
Oh, there goes 120 hours. Of your life, that's that.
You're done. Yep, and then Horizon 0 Dawn on
that console as well. There goes another 80 to 100

(36:54):
hours of your life. Yep, Yep.
That accounted for that accounted for a year of your
life right there. Yes, yes.
But alas, you came back and yeah, you're you're sure.
Starting with the narrative too,because that's why I wanted to.
I wanted to ask you about because yeah, yeah, yeah.
You talk about like the, the Grecian end of the story ends
and you're here and like Kratos has a new life and it opens up

(37:17):
with his, you know, his wife is dead.
You're, you're burning her. And that's kind of the, the
impetus of the story. And like, oh, no, you've got a
kid now. Which like, for anybody who's
not aware, like the the first game opens up with like, Oh no,
you have violently murdered yourentire, you know, your, your,
your wife and child. And that's why Kratos wants to
kill Ares and, you know, wants to kill the God of War and

(37:40):
revenge for that. And that's where you get the
name of the game and it come, you know, So now, like, OK, this
changes things. He's got a yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm I'm I'm paraphrasing. Nightmares, non-stop torture,
yada yada yada. Little, little, little
paraphrasing, but like just he had this jump where like now he
he had another family. He's got a kid again and like

(38:00):
he's cold and distant and also just like that, that unleashes.
And then like the narrative of the first story comes back
because the blades of chaos comeback and like the the story all
ties together with what happens to him reaching God status and
all of that ties into this. So like it's not like it's an
entirely entirely new thing. Now we're we're back in in all

(38:24):
of it all ties together. So it wasn't like, oh, we're
just ignoring everything happened before.
No, it all matters. The Athena cutscene in that game
chills. Chills, man.
Well, the music too, in that. Oh my God, it was so good.
It was so good. So I, I'm going to, I'm going to

(38:47):
wrap up and ask this. So you've got 2 eras of God of
War, you've got the Greek era, you've got the Norse era.
What's your What's your pick if you got to pick one of them?
God, I got to say Greek because I think well, it's it's classic

(39:11):
Kratos, classic rage induced Kratos.
But it was also like a good story because the in in one it's
him getting revenge on Aries forscrewing him over 2.
It's him getting revenge like going after the.
Gods. The gods are.
The gods are mad because they killed a God, Yeah.
You, you kill kill the God. And of course, non-stop

(39:33):
nightmares serving Athena. And then?
Big Daddy. The start of three I'm trying to
remember was him alley with the Titans to get revenge on the
gods and like. Fully Gettys.
Destroyed that world. But with the sub games you had
him dealing with the fates also like while reconciling with his

(39:56):
nightmares, trying to find ways to end his suffering.
One of them was finding his brother.
And so like and through that entire thing like his goals
changed. He was like, there was, there
was character growth, but also just the combat in that game was
like so fun compared to any other game I played at that
time. And then of course, just the

(40:17):
nature of Greek mythology and history, I was like because of
those games I was obsessed for agood amount of time.
I just love the idea of the godscontrolling different aspects of
the world. Not to say that Norse mythology
is and is like not as good as Greek mythology, but I just, I
found more, found that more interesting and I think just

(40:38):
enjoy that era of God of War more.
Now. Is that partially influenced by
my current play through a God ofWar Ragnarok?
Probably because I haven't I haven't had as much motivation
to fully complete the game. I've gotten back into it,
thankfully. Not an unpopular take and not an
uncommon take. Yeah, yeah, I like, I, I enjoy

(40:59):
God of War Four. I enjoyed played straight
through demolish that game, 100%of it as soon as I could.
It was. I enjoyed the crap out of it,
got it, wore Ragnarok. I don't know what it is, it
could just be something on me. It's no, it, it's the, they're
not too overwhelmed. They did they, they, they, they,
they were thinking about splitting into two games and I

(41:21):
think when they jammed everything into one, I think it
just became too much. And it was just kind of, yeah, I
think it just there, there's a little too much not filler in
there, but like you needed a break.
It's a lot to be in. Yeah, and and some of the side
quests too is just like some of them are just annoying.

(41:43):
I just straight up annoying and just take you so out of the out
of the out of way out of ways. It's just feels strange
sometimes. So like, why am I doing this?
This contributes nothing to the story.
And like this is like some worldbuilding like that that that now
is a nice thing that sub the side quests in God of War Four
had for them you. They were side quests, yes, but

(42:04):
was there world building with them?
Absolutely. They had contributed to the
story of the game. They contributed to the story of
the world that actually told youmore about the environment that
you are in. Some of them was just like basic
hunting and extermination quest,sure, but others were like
really good. And now it seems like a lot more
just side jobs and God of War Ragnarok like one of them is one

(42:28):
one of which is very, very annoying.
And I had to look up a reason asto why it was annoying was the I
forget what they're called, but it's a gang of bandits that live
in the ring of nine in Midgard that are wolf hunters.
So anytime if you activate that side quest from then on until

(42:49):
you complete it, anytime you aretraveling and in in the open
world, whether it be by boat or by sled pulled by wolves, there
will be random moments where Kratos cuts off all conversation
saying like wait I hear something wait the wolves are
bothered wait wait. It was like why is this
happening? Like I is there is my game

(43:09):
glitch isn't my game broken? But no, it's just a single sub
quest that breaks the entire dialogue of anything that goes
on until you complete that quest.
That's probably might be a SO. But yeah, gotta wear Ragnarok
length side quest. Probably my biggest gripes with
it. So otherwise story wise, like
going to Asgard and stuff has been pretty cool.
All right, now we move on to game #3 we've got Okami HD,

(43:33):
which the name of it translates to Okami Magnificent.
Magnificent Version, that's what.
Oh, really? That's, that's, that's what the
name of this game is. Okami Magnificent Version, one
of the last, well, the HD first of all this game.
What system is this game not on?As I'm reading through it, it
was like originally on PS2 but then they put it on the Wii and

(43:57):
motion controls and on PS4 and every system you could possibly
an HD remake you know, eventually makes it to the
Switch. This game is an odd one.
One of the last ones on PS2 and they go with the cell shading
just because the PS2 can't handle anymore.
On top of that, like can we please make this a little

(44:18):
simpler? Game does not sell well.
Studio shuts down, wins IG NS game of the year, just all weird
stuff. Everyone loved the game.
Everyone who got the game loved it.
Apparently just no one got the game and then they put it
everywhere and people keep playing it and and everyone
loves it. So tell me is did you play any

(44:39):
original version of it or is yougot it on the Switch and this is
the first time we're playing it?I got it on the Switch and that
was my first time. I had known about the game like
loosely prior to getting HD, butthen I saw it on the Switch.
It was like, oh, I know what this is.
I've always kind of wanted to play this game so I'll get it.
And I did and for and since and since you actually mentioned

(45:03):
that like the cell shading and whatnot for the since that's
what the PS2 could handle. I think that adds to its charm.
Especially. In terms of like the art style
and game design, but like I I just thought it would it would
like like like you said, I just thought it was a great game.
It was a lot of fun to play. The combat was interesting and

(45:25):
especially with some of the all the different weapon types and
abilities, not to mention like the celestial brush techniques.
It was a really cool game. And of course, like I thought
when I, you know, of course, I'msure everyone gets this
impression when they initially start the game.
I thought it was like when we get to that first initial Orochi
fight in that first area outsideof I think is it called Kunafa

(45:47):
village, Whatever the starting village is, I was like, there's
can't be the entire game, right?It was because like, and it
seems so small. Like I, there was talks about
like all these celestial brush techniques.
I have 4:00 and I'm going to fight Orochi right now.

(46:08):
I was like, what, where's the rest of it?
And I'm pleasantly surprised to find out, Oh, there is a lot
more to do more, more areas, more storylines, more cool stuff
to do. And it was just I, it was great.
It was great, so much that I came back like one or two years

(46:28):
later after initially playing itto do a new game plus run
through of it and I still had just as much fun.
It's funny, you talked earlier with Monster Hunter about, you
know, enjoying anime and, and having like the Japanese culture
influencing the game. And I learned so much about
Naruto from reading the descriptions of this game and

(46:51):
the main character, the main character being a Mataratsu and
which is sun goddess is what I learned that part we learned
Okabi can mean wolf or God as a pun.
Apparently the word there and fighting Orochi.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, thisis how we fought.
This is why Orochi Maru exists. And This is why this I was just

(47:12):
nerding out, actually watching reading one thing after another
and say, oh, This is why everything in Naruto.
This is where they came with allthese names.
This is. Like.
They, they just, it's just all really Japanese culture based.
They put it all together. Yeah, I'm sure like it
references a lot of like the same mythology.
Yeah, I I did not know that. Now, are you a fan of Legend of

(47:33):
Zelda games? Because the director of this
one, Hideki Kamaya. Kamaya.
I'm gonna say I think it's Kamaya.
I don't think it's Kamiya, Stephanie Hideki, It's probably
Come Here says that it was a lotof based on Zelda games because
really, because they love the Legend of Zelda series and it's
like, we're gonna make a game that kind of goes with that

(47:55):
style of it. I did not know that.
No, I had I my first ever Zelda game was Breath of the Wild and
I'm pretty sure I played that after I played Okami HD.
Oh. There we go.
You're, you're part of that group.
I'm I'm also part of that group that plus the Zelda began in in
2018 or 2017 I guess, if if we count the Wii U version.

(48:17):
Oh no, no, that was a. Switch in 2017 there were.
Previous entries that there wereplenty of Zelda games like and I
honestly thought that somewhere interesting.
It was like, it's not entirely my cup of tea.
So if, unless, unless I feel like really, really pressed to
get it, I'll get it. But no, my first ever Zelda game
was with Breath of the Wild and that was and I bought that with

(48:43):
tears of the Kingdom because it was this was like what after
tears of the Kingdom got released because the Nintendo
had like the two game voucher bundle and it was a better deal
to do that than by the two gamesseparately.
So that's I said I I Tears of the Kingdom looks freaking
awesome, but I know I need to play Breath of the Wild first so
I'll just skip both of those. So Karl, you talk about the IT

(49:05):
has the fancy like combat systembecause it's not just fighting.
You get to do these paintbrush strokes essentially.
Did you find that to be like interesting?
Was it was it fun to have that aspect to the game?
Did it feel just kind of in the way because you kind of freeze
the game to do, or did it did itfeel like it belonged?
It felt like it worked. It felt like it really worked

(49:28):
with the combat because like a majority of your brush
techniques, like the one that you're going to most commonly
use and as in combat specifically is your slice brush
technique because that's how youget like a special loot item
called a demon Fang. And that's you use that to like
buy certain items in the game, upgrade things, if I remember
correctly or no, you buy stuff to upgrade your weapons with

(49:50):
demon fangs and even with like the freezing of the game.
And The thing is, it's probably a little bit better on the
Switch to because you're able touse a touch screen rather than a
joystick, which makes it a lot easier and faster in my opinion.
I don't like, I didn't, I didn'tlike trying to use the joystick

(50:10):
with brush techniques. It just felt clunky.
But being able to do that, it felt like it just works 'cause
like the freezing made sense. I mean, you're basically
freezing reality to make use your brush technique.
So it wasn't completely out of the ordinary.
I was like, Oh my God, this is agame free.
It was like, it doesn't suit combat at all, but it does.
You're basically you're a God, you're adjusting reality with

(50:31):
these techniques and with and ofcourse, like as you progress,
you Start learning all these different techniques and then
upgrading them to get new moves and it just adds to combat and
just becomes really, really cool.
Now, granted, could you play a majority of the game without
ever using a good chunk of theseattacks?
Absolutely doesn't make the gamea lot easier yes, because there

(50:52):
are plenty of enemies that you need to use these techniques on
to beat them. So whether but whether you're
forced to or not use them, they're still fun to use.
And especially when the culmination at the of all these
techniques at the end of the game and how they each play a
part in developing who Amaterasutruly is and actually beating

(51:12):
the final boss, it just makes the whole thing even more cool
in my opinion. Now you played, I think you
played through the game twice, yes.
Was what was there a difference in how you played each time
through or was it just, I just want to play this twice just
because it's so great and I justkind of want to run through it
two times? The second time it was

(51:33):
definitely I wanted to play it again because I just remember
having so much fun with it. I was like, you know what, I
feel I need another game to playon the Switch right now.
Let's do Okami, let's do anotherrun through that.
There's a new game plus. I haven't done that yet, so
let's do it. But well, with with the second
play through, I mean like I knewwhat I was doing.
I had I can't remember whether or not I started now.

(51:57):
There was certain weapons that you had taken away from you
because they were from special weapons that you acquired later
on in the game, I think from bosses or something.
Oh no, there were weapons that you had to buy.
That's what it was. But you start a new game plus
like with all your all your gearand stuff, you go back to Ground

(52:19):
Zero with brush techniques, though.
But that made the early game very quickly because you're able
to like just kill things really,really fast, which definitely
helps 'cause the difficulty on New Game Plus wasn't exactly
much higher until you got like much further into the game,
which I think makes it a little bit easier to play through a

(52:40):
second time, especially new GamePlus.
But what compared to like the first play through?
Like I didn't know what I was doing.
Like it was a good a lot of points where I was like, I just
got lost and like I had no idea what I had to do until.
So I had like run around like where am I supposed to go?
Like I, I think I've checked everything out and then I found
go to a corner in the like a forest here or something and I

(53:01):
found like, Oh no, wait, has this been here the whole time?
Am I just dumb? Am I blind?
There were, there were multiple moments like that and it was, it
was really refreshing. It was like, Oh my God, I'm
actually like feeling lost in the game, genuinely, not just
stuck because the game sucks. And were there a couple points
where I had to like, look up walkthroughs?
Like, yeah, 'cause I was just like, I'm just not thinking

(53:23):
about these things hard enough, or I'm just missing something
that can be completely obliviousand I'm never going to find it.
And there's like one or two things like that.
But playing in the second time through was like, I knew a
majority of what I was doing. I knew where like some of the
hidden stuff was. I actually did 100% play through
of the game on New Game Plus, but that was like, you had to
collect these beads for it. And I was like, I'm not doing

(53:46):
all that. I'll like, I'll follow like the
hints that they have in game forsome of that stuff.
But other things it's just like I'm not going to bother with
hunting at myself. I'm just going to use a guide.
Second play through definitely was a lot or no.
Second play through was almost just as long simply because just
of all the gameplay and of course the finding all the beads

(54:09):
that I did. But I think I was still six
hours shy of my original play through time.
All right, so we move on now to the honorable mentions number
one, Metroid Prime Remastered. Yes, that I'd never played a
Metroid game before. The only Metroid game I had
played up until this point was on DS with Metroid Prime
Pinball. There you go.

(54:32):
So you really knew how they rolled around in in ballpark.
I was, I was like, wait, is he about to tell us?
The only Metroid game I've played before is like Metroid or
something Like I couldn't have got.
I didn't know where that was going.
And well, well played, well played.
More more fall experts If. You want Metroid Prime Pinball?

(54:53):
I'm your guy. Have I beat the final boss?
Wait, have I beaten the final boss in that game?
I don't know. I think I got killed every
single time. The final boss is really hard.
I wasn't aware a pinball game could have bosses but I guess.
Well, someone's never played Sonic spinball.
I've clipped, No, Yeah, I can tell you right now I've not
played Sonic spinball. You're missing out.

(55:14):
I can't vouch for mentoring, butyou're missing out, Ray.
You got me on that one. Oh my God, what system is that
on? What is Spinball on?
It was a Sega. It was a Sega Genesis.
Oh, yeah, I didn't want a Sega. It's got is that that's got.
We got to fix this. Moving on.
Sorry. So what was like?
What was it like? This is your first your first

(55:35):
Metroid game. It was cool.
It was really, really cool. I liked not having a completely
clear objective. I think.
I mean, they're like, it was, itwas, it was fairly linear, but
you didn't have a waypoint the entire time, so you didn't like
if you got like turned around orsomething.

(55:55):
You had to figure it out for yourself.
Yep. Yep.
Too bad. Yep.
And then, but like the over the world navigation wasn't terribly
tricky, of course, thankfully, like there was a lot of
backtracking as you unlock new abilities and weapon types.
And I, I enjoyed, I enjoyed thata lot because the, the classic
game feel of not being, not having your hand held 24/7,

(56:19):
which is something we are sorelymissing these days.
And we really need more games like that, which which is why
I'm excited to play like assuming I'm, I'm really hoping
that Metroid 2 and three get remasters as well, because I
would love to play through thoseon the switch as well because
I'm sure I would also enjoy those.
Like I I enjoyed Metroid Prime Remastered so much that I was
like, I really hope these next games get remastered because.

(56:41):
I want to play them. I don't know how they haven't
done it yet. I'm concerned it doesn't.
Yeah, right. Or they'll probably have their
hands full with finally getting Prime 4 out the.
Freaking war. I'm concerned that that game
still doesn't have a release date.
It doesn't. Yeah, they don't release.
They don't put. They do 60 days release dates.
They put a, they didn't put a console.

(57:01):
They they, they only have two months to do, I think.
I think they only have Septemberand something else October.
The end of the year is freed up,baby.
GTA6 vacated. No, no, but they're doing one.
It's it's like 1 game a month. They're doing a game a month and
they're all mapped out. October, November is not
somewhere. There was only two months
available still. Is it those two?

(57:21):
I thought it was September or something.
Maybe they're still already in September.
Like Nintendo's got a game each month, so we're running out of
we already have spots for this one basically.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we are.
What's the we'll just have? To wait and see whether or not
they actually release remasters.They have, just just remember
they have a September direct every year.
I thought there was a July Direct coming.

(57:42):
That's the rumor. I, I don't know, but they always
have a, they always have a September direct and November's
just there. We've got a rumor of a direct
right after Donkey Kong releasesto like make it clear that it's
not about Donkey Kong, that it'sabout whatever's happening
afterwards. That's our, that's our rumor at
the moment. Don't worry, when this releases
and then two weeks go by and there's no direct, we can all

(58:06):
come back and say that. Much like the connecting extra
screen button, there will be no accountability for.
What's let's do this? What?
What's the best suit slash and or upgrade?
Oh, your favorite one? Oh.
Oh no, I'm gonna have to look upa list 'cause I can't remember

(58:27):
off the top of my head. Oh, we have the two we have the
you know your pumped up Varia suit when 'cause you you have a
normal suit, but then you get itall beefed up.
Or the faison suits, Ice beam, X-ray, thermal vision, charge
beam waves, plasma beams. Grab the gravity suits I.
Have to. The boost ball Mor.

(58:53):
Morph ball was cool because that's just the roll around as a
ball. It's it's.
Very cool to see in Prime in particular.
Not that you've played other Metroids.
But yeah, but you've, you got tosee it in 3D, Yeah, for the
first time. Like, how are they going to do
this? What are they going to do?
OK, OK. I think God, the the boost, the

(59:14):
boost ball was really cool because I just love the idea of
just going into into morph ball form and just zooming
everywhere. Not to mention it made like
navigating through corridors super fast because you just send
it. I'm awesome.
Look in, look in look in look ingrapple Bean was cool.

(59:36):
The faison suit. Oh God, I can't remember what
the appearances because I remember really liking the
appearances of one of the suits.Yeah, the yeah, the faison suit.
I love how that one looked. And of course, how like the
morph balls appearance changed over the time as well.

(59:57):
That was cool. I think what was the one that I
used the most? There was, Yeah.
The the, the, the, the, the waveBuster.
That one, that ability I think Iliked in terms of in terms of
the weaponry, I like that the most 'cause you're just shooting
a a tracking laser and you can just burn through enemies.

(01:00:19):
It was really cool. Let let's move to a different
area 1, which involves much morepain and suffering again, but
this this time with some more color and flair.
And Celeste and Indie Beauty started with a little little
crunch actually put together there for a a conference and

(01:00:40):
then developed fully into into Celeste, one that I finally
cracked myself in the last few months.
So happy to happy to discuss here with a it's great
soundtrack and painful but strangely encouraging gameplay.
I don't know, that was my take. I'd like it was it was.
It was never like a negative where you're dying even like you

(01:01:01):
finish the levels, like you died127 times this level, like you
learn by dying. It's OK, like patching on the
shoulder at the end of every level.
But anyway, so you put Celeste on here as your second honorable
mention, not the Celeste series.There's only one of these.
You couldn't do a whole series. Yep, there's one.
The last. Game.
No, I that was, I picked that upon a whim, I think 'cause I

(01:01:22):
thought it was released on Switch.
It had been out for a while at that point.
Yeah, again. Again, a game that's available
everywhere, on subscription services and on sale for like $3
all the time. Yeah, I have it somewhere.
Right. You probably have it three
places, right? I guarantee it, you know.
I that I got to say, I got to say that's probably my favorite

(01:01:43):
thing about the Switch is that like there's all these games
that get released on it and you can just play it freaking
anywhere. Well, that that was the beauty
of it when the Switch came out, because you only had two games.
But the the indie market, they were very open and available to
indie games and that benefited them greatly.
It really, it really did. I the, the number of indie games

(01:02:04):
I have on the Switch is actuallypretty, is pretty crazy, but
they're like some games. I was just like, I saw it was
like interesting for 5 bucks. I'll get it, I'll play it.
Was it worth my time? Probably not.
It was 'cause this is just basicplatformers where you just
collected crystals for 30 minutes and then you finish the
game. But there is, there is, there is

(01:02:26):
some really cool games on that. Collecting strawberries.
Not crystals, but you do crystals.
The last actually had a decent freaking story, yeah, which
definitely was really, really cool.
I love. I love the dynamic between
Madeline and what we lovingly refer to as Madeline I.
I did not. I did not know, cannot, not

(01:02:48):
cannot. But I did not know.
I never searched on the Internetvery far to see there was a name
for the for your other half in the game.
But that, yes, the story is beautiful there.
The the story is beautiful. The character development is
really, really cool, seeing the struggles of both of them as
they climb up the mountain. But there are eventual
acceptance of each other that hey, we're the same.

(01:03:09):
We're we're here. We're a part of this together.
We got to work together and see through our differences.
And not destroy each other. And I'm not gonna destroy you to
move on. Yeah, exactly.
And just like that character, then it was really, really cool.
And then the gameplay was so simple, but it was so cool.
And of course, each like area had its own unique mechanics and

(01:03:34):
gimmicks, which of course, I mean for a game like this are
necessary by all means necessary.
But they worked in such a way that it kept things interesting.
It wasn't terribly annoying. Of course, it's a, it's a game
that is designed to make you frustrated.
It is a very punishing platformer, but in a way that
you learn in a it's a game stylewhere you have to learn from

(01:03:57):
your mistakes and figuring things out on your own is so, so
satisfying. Ori Ori's death count is nothing
compared to Celeste. Like there, there were I, I, I
died at least three times as much in Celeste as I did like my
first run in Ori. And at least you know, it's
just, there's something about when you get to the end of a

(01:04:18):
level and it says like you have died 127 times, but it's always
got this like encouraging, like I, I don't know how they did it
where like it rubs in your face.You died triple digits, but
like, don't feel bad about it. You did, you did great.
And like, there's a reason you there's a like it makes, it
makes. It just.

(01:04:38):
It does this thing where it's like you learn by dying.
You have to, and it's like really positive and encouraging,
which is like the whole, again, there's a, a whole philosophy
and then again behind the developer and like the the
entire story for the developer with this one.
There's a lot out there to, to, I'm sure you can spend a great
deal of time understanding the, the psychology and philosophy of

(01:05:02):
this game. But it's, it's, it's so weird
that this little like $5 thing on sale you had that you get
with just like, OK, it's a platform where you have to jump
and, and do some double jumps and stuff with, and you're
trying to, you know, you collectsome strawberries along the way
and then crystals and tapes and everything else and like, yeah,
no, there's a lot more to it. It's weird.
Yeah, I will like the extra levels that they added in.

(01:05:25):
That was a nice touch as well with the with because you have
the standard A tracks, which arethe base story chapters, but
then you have the B&C track, B&Csides for each level.
And it's just, it was, it was just new, new challenges, stuff
that was actually like, like, OK, we're we're taking our
skills that we've learned through the play through the

(01:05:45):
game and we're kicking them up anotch.
And it was, it was a lot of fun playing through all that stuff.
So did you go so far? Like were you after all the
golden strawberries and the crystals and the and the tape?
Like you got all the tapes and everything.
I I collected all the tapes. I collected all the
strawberries. I did not collect all the golden

(01:06:06):
strawberries. I think I only have one golden
strawberry and that is the firstlevel.
Yeah, that that's right, ChatGPT.
There are multiple collectibles in this game.
For anybody who's writing a trivia question about Celeste.
Don't be tricked by what ChatGPTspits out at you.
Sorry, sorry, I I felt oddly specific.
It's trying hard. It's it's, it's doing it's best,

(01:06:27):
Dan. No, it is.
Yeah, there is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rolling credits on the game is beating 1/3 of the game
basically. At most literally, Yeah.
And then not to mention the extra levels after you complete
the main story too. I wouldn't.
I wouldn't know. I'd be the main stories.
Like I can't, I can't do this tomyself anymore.

(01:06:48):
It's like I'm out, I'm done, I'mgood.
There was, There is one. There is one more.
There is an extra chapter, chapter 8, which took you into
the heart of the mountain. Which you needed the crystals
for, yes. Yes, you needed the crystal.
You needed all the crystals for that stuff was tricky, but it it
took away your double dash ability that you got at the end

(01:07:10):
of the main game and in at sync at some point.
It took away your ability to recharge your dash after landing
on ground. Oh no, it does that right away
once you enter that area. I remember that it immediately
takes away that ground landing dash.

(01:07:32):
Oh God. It it was, it was, it was a real
toughie, but I managed to get through that.
Well, for those of you who do it, there's an extra tagline on
Channel 3 for that, so good luckif you're putting yourself
through that misery and suffering.
Oh, there's an extra. There's a tagline for Celeste
Chapter 8. There, there, there is a there's
a Heart of the Mountain tagline.Oh, how do I apply for that?
Do I just have to say that? Just take a screenshot.

(01:07:53):
Just take the screenshot of your, your, your final stats.
You'll you'll be so. OK, easy.
Since you went through that suffering, it's there for
somebody. It's not for me, but.
Is there is there a tagline for Chapter 9, the farewell chapter?
Jesus Christ, what are you doingto me?

(01:08:15):
I, I, I got to go back and look and see now and I, I don't think
there is. I, I know I did Heart of the
Mountain, but I did not, I did not look to see if there was an
achievement on Steam tied to that.
And, and I was still, I was still recovering from the game.
So I I didn't want to dig any deeper.
I, I, I wouldn't be surprised ifthere was an achievement for
completing Farewell I think, I think.

(01:08:36):
It just called farewell. I I wasn't doing that for
Channel 3. I feel like I remember seeing
that now, yeah. It yeah, and that is an
exceptionally hard level. I have not beaten it.
The only way I have pseudo beaten it was with the assist
mode that the game gives you because I wanted to play through
and see what the rest of the level was like and actually
complete the Berry so I could see the end of the story.

(01:08:58):
And dear God I was like how in like my thoughts was like how am
I supposed to do this? Because the game is great and
the the movement capabilities you have in that game are insane
but farewell makes you like it requires you to learn them and
be good at that advanced mechanics.

(01:09:18):
And you have to be precise in a lot of the game to begin with.
Like you can't, you can't miss an angle or anything like so
that that's where you don't die because you suck you, you die
because of the the sheer level of precision required for this.
I can't imagine. No, no, I'm done.
Great game recommend Everybody plays it.
Don't, oh God, don't do that to yourself.

(01:09:40):
No, that's not fun anymore. Don't 100% unless unless you're
like brace yourself for the difficulty that you will
experience. Celeste is actually one of the
few games I have done a speed run of because I was part of a
gaming club in in college and when was one of our events was a
speed running event and I did selection for one of them.

(01:10:03):
I did chapters one through 7 base game only in about I want
to say an hour, 35 minutes. Wow nice.
Nowhere near like world record level because like some of them
are doing like doing that crap in like 30.
Yeah, we're just picking up and doing it so.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
And it's like I I learned like the advanced mechanics to the

(01:10:24):
point that I was, you know, commenting enough to get some of
them. And like I, you know, learn the
levels, learn some skips. The amount of times I played
through that first chapter. Oh, my gosh.
I am so used to that level. Yeah.
No, it is. It's, it's it's it's tough, it's
challenging. It's a lot of fun.
I really enjoy it. Not not to mention, because I

(01:10:45):
want to say this before we move on from Celeste, Lena Frickin
Rain, the composer for Celeste was just like her soundtrack is
incredible. Like that is some of the best
video game music done in that style I've heard in a long
freaking time. To bring back that classic type

(01:11:07):
of the. 8 bit MIDI type of type of music like you listen like
especially like the chases and the quote UN quote boss
sequences like you're feeling. Oh my God, yes.
Like I could listen to that soundtrack on that, like on
loop, it was there. And especially what is it?

(01:11:28):
It's the boss fight against battling and when you fall from
the mountain the first time. The the the the final time
you're battling before you merge, basically.
Yeah, yeah, that though. Oh my God, that's probably my
favorite theme. It is so cool.
The energy in that music so perfectly fits what you're doing

(01:11:49):
in that moment. And it's just I I've always had
my eye on her ever since. And to find out that she did Pig
Step for Minecraft, like I didn't even have to listen to
this song. I already knew it was going to
be freaking good and by got it wise.
Well, before we transition to your final honorable mention,

(01:12:09):
we're going to insert a 32 minute cutscene introducing the,
introducing the Oh good, no, he did a series again.
No, he did a series again. Now.
Now first of all, he he said theZeno Blade series, which I think
I appreciate. So you're referring specifically

(01:12:30):
to the games with Zeno Blade in the title and not the Zeno
titles, which would also includeZeno Gears, etcetera.
OK, 'cause again, from a librarian perspective, this
series is a nightmare of making sure that I tried to capture as
much as humanly possible accurately.
So we're we're sticking with theNintendo, the Nintendo oriented

(01:12:51):
Gears games. It's Xenoblade only.
I haven't played Gears or Sagas.I know Gears got it.
Yeah, I said Gears, Yeah, but but again, like the yeah, you're
talking about the the four games, right, basically comes
down to. Here, Yeah, Xenoblade 1X2 and
three. Yeah, so last here, I I, I will
kick it to you and and again, I'm just I'm just here to shout

(01:13:12):
out the pain and the rear end. This was to enter this one into
the library. But again, it was the action, an
action, an action RPG. And again, like heavy, heavy
anime influences heavy, you know, not your not your
traditional turn based JRPG, butyou see a lot of the the JRPG
influences here. Little, little different than
the way a lot of the older school ones work.

(01:13:33):
But but how did you wander into this one?
Because we have not talked any kind of RPG aside from you like
some elements, maybe in a coupleof them up until now, But this
one's, this one's a role-playinggame now.
Oh yeah, it's RPG is definitely not my main type of game by any
means. But so like games like like

(01:13:56):
Final Fantasy and other things like that, online Mmos, like you
will never see me playing those.I do not have the time or
passion for that kind of stuff. My, my brother, he plays Final
Fantasy like on end. He's been doing that kind of
stuff. Starfield, all those like space
exploration games, just like like I find it hard to get back
into Minecraft, like that's likeand that's like that's like

(01:14:17):
probably the most one of the most basic role-playing games
you could probably get into. And just like I just I just
don't have interest. I can't stick with it that I
played Minecraft the time when Iwas a kid.
Yes, I was a kid. I I crave something more, but
not just yearn. For the mines, no.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do not yearn for the mines by

(01:14:37):
any means. I didn't even back then.
I was always playing creative mode, but no, I had known about
Xenoblade One, the first original game, for a while
'cause I think. Was was the Wii part of your
household? You mentioned kind of the

(01:14:58):
PlayStation influences. So yeah.
So you're, this is, this is breaking into Nintendo territory
now, which we hadn't really. Yeah, the 3DS was there, but
this was not a 3DS. This was.
Yeah, it was. Wii, WI U, Switch.
The first ever gaming console I touched keyword touched was a
Game Boy Color. I believe that a.
Classmates brought. In during during kindergarten

(01:15:20):
back in grade school and I remember playing AI think a
Power Rangers game and a Ninja Turtles game on his Game Boy.
But and then I didn't, and then I didn't play anything.
I didn't own a Game Boy. The first gaming console I owned
was a red Nintendo DS Life. So I have a bunch of like old

(01:15:46):
old classic. So where did where does
Xenoblade come in then? Like how do you how do you get
to this? I got to it via YouTube.
I'm pretty sure I found cutscenes of the game on YouTube
and I was like this is cool I'm gonna watch more of this and I
did. And there are plenty of them.

(01:16:06):
I, I joke, but like, there are plenty of them in this series to
to watch, Yeah. Yeah, I like, like, but mainly
campaign cause like I, I am a campaign guy.
If I I want a game to have a good campaign I am.
I am that guy who plays Call of Duty for the campaign.

(01:16:27):
Now granted do haven't played anything since Black Ops 3.
No everything sucks since then. Even Black Ops 3 sucked but.
We're not going down this road. Nope.
No, we're not. But I I very much like campaign
games. There was a YouTube channel
called Gamers Little Playground that does literally basically

(01:16:50):
they call it video game movies where it's literally just a four
or however many hour long video of the campaign and any related
cutscenes of a certain game. And I watched so many things on
that Channel. I wouldn't be surprised if
Xenoblade was one of them on that Channel.
But I found it on YouTube and like you said, I know we at the

(01:17:13):
next Nintendo console I had after the New Nintendo 3 DSXL,
'cause that was the last Nintendo console I owned before
the Switch won. So I just went straight from the
3DS to the Switch. I didn't even touch the Wii.
I knew about the Wii. I've played on a Wii before
because like a friend or the reccenter, but I never owned one
because we owned my family. In total in this household we

(01:17:40):
have APS, three APS, 4A, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Both in me and my brother have aswitch one.
I have a switch OLED. I have a I've owned a switch
light it unfortunately kicked the bucket.
I have a. You don't say a.
Switch light. Huh.
I have two Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3, DSXL, specifically

(01:18:01):
one of the the first one I ownedthe screen stopped working, so I
bought another one and then I have my PC.
So we have a lot of consoles here.
But the Nintendo family, we had no foot in for some reason.
I want to say it was probably the just the justification there
was the games that my dad was interested in because he was he

(01:18:24):
played a lot more video games back when I was younger.
The justification was that the games that he wanted to play was
on like PlayStation and Xbox. Yeah, he wanted to do the God of
the God of the aforementioned God of wars of the world.
Yeah. Yeah, God of War, Call of Duty,
that kind of stuff. So did you have to because
Xenoblade 2 I'm trying to remember I think was out for the

(01:18:46):
switch 1st and then they eventually went back and did
Xenoblade one, then 3 came out and was released fully for the
switch as well. And then finally, just like
recently, they did X. Which I'm probably playing now.
OK, so that's I was gonna say. So you just kind of worked your
way around over the course of time of like, OK, I'm finally
getting to this then. Yeah, I yeah, I've always, I

(01:19:10):
actually. So funnily enough, Nintendo put
Xenoblade One on the New Nintendo 3DS.
It was one of the Keystone gamesfor that console.
Or it could handle it. I didn't realize it was only I
didn't realize it was with 3DS. It actually looked really good

(01:19:31):
for the 3DS. The main reason being the main
reason it got put on there was because of the C stick because
it was basically your right joystick to control the camera.
And so which means that my C stick got really, really worn
down because all things considered, that C stick sucked

(01:19:51):
it. Feels so weird.
It feels so weird. It's hard to use and Xenoblade,
Xenoblade 1 and Hyrule Warriors on the 3DS are probably the only
games that actively use that thing.
But I saw that Xenoblade One released on the 3DS, so I bought

(01:20:12):
it and I actually got a good wayof the way, a good deal of the
way through the game to the point that I was in I think, if
not the last chapter, like one or two before the last chapter
of the game. The unfortunate part is that I
soft locked myself and I couldn't get out of it and at

(01:20:37):
that point I had sucked so much time into that game and I was
like, I can't be bothered. I, I can't do this again.
I, I, I can't. I'm not strong enough.
Yeah. Yeah, I, I was, I was at that
point. I, I, I'm not, I can't be
bothered to reset and start fromzero because I could not
recover. I got stuck in the boss room and

(01:20:59):
the respaw respawning puts you back in that boss room and I
could not load as previous save because I had not saved
beforehand. So Grant, now I can't, I can
confidently can't confidently say I have learned from my
mistakes. But once I found out that
Xenoblade like I knew about Xenoblade 2, I I looked at it

(01:21:21):
saw some of this stuff where I was like this what is this crap
ignore it. But then Xenoblade 1 Definitive
Edition came along. I was like Oh my God, I can play
through the game again got it immediately.
And I did once when I when I started playing Xenoblade 1 and
I just re enjoyed how I re experienced how much fun I had

(01:21:44):
playing that game with like withthe characters or story.
By God, the story is probably the biggest selling point for
that game. Oh my God.
And the art system with the combat and like, but not overly
complicated, but just complicated enough gear system
with the gems and stuff. It, it, it, it, it's a

(01:22:05):
phenomenal game. And then of course, the
revamping of character models and then launched in on the
Switch was a significantly superior console to the Wii and
the 3DS. It it, it was, it was a great
experience. And at that point I had vowed I,
I know like 2 was released. I know 3 is coming.

(01:22:26):
Let's play through the whole series.
Screw it. And so like I I played and
completed one. I did the DLC of one as well
which was awesome. Melia is my favorite character
in that game, but my God does she get screwed over hard.
The love of her life was right in freaking fun of front of her

(01:22:49):
and he gave her no attention. Like I I felt so bad is one of
those moments he he just wished you could be in the game.
Just give them a hug, tell them it's going to be all right.
Plus just her character development was just incredible
as she because we get introducedher as this pompous stuck up

(01:23:10):
Princess and then she learns to be accepting of other people and
other cultures and learns to grow as a person and get a
unique viewpoint on the world. Not to mention the terror of
nearly losing her entire civilization and and her
species. So yeah.
And then of course, the DLC justadded on to that with her

(01:23:32):
reclaiming her throne as the queen of the Hyundai.
So and then but yeah, after thatmoving into two play it through
that. I have to admit I kind of
enjoyed the story. And once you got to a certain
point, the combat got a lot moremanageable, especially with all

(01:23:53):
the elements and blade combos you could do.
Just the start of the game is just rough.
You just have to power through it.
And the first time my brother actually got the game for
himself and I played a little bit, but this is like a long
before Definitive Edition for one released.
And I was like, this feels so weird.

(01:24:14):
I do not like it. But then passed forward a couple
years. I get it for myself.
And I was like. Once you get to build into it,
it it flows a little better, yeah.
It definitely flows a lot better.
Did I play? Did I complete all the side
quests? Heck no.
I could give a say a word. Ain't nobody got time for that,

(01:24:34):
as they say, Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Xenoblade one, I, I, I already knew before him since I played
it before on the 3DS, that thereare so many time limited quests
and if you don't do them you getscrewed.
Like there's like certain sub side quests like in GAR Plane
and then Colony 6. Like if you don't complete those
by a certain point, you can't doanything afterwards.

(01:24:57):
But was, you know, blade two there?
As far as I was aware, there wasn't really that much pressure
for any of the side quests. You do them or you don't pretty
much. And I to me they seem pointless.
So I said no, not doing it, don't care.
But I like I like the development of the game.
The different blades was really interesting.
I hated the gotcha system. It's just because, like, you

(01:25:19):
know, trying your luck to get different blades is just a pain
in the butt at the I will say behaving a it it having a gotcha
element. Thank God there wasn't
microtransactions. So so we didn't have to buy core
crystals to get generate new blades.

(01:25:40):
You just had to grind for them. So thank God for that.
But I I liked the the characters, especially porno,
the golden country that just improved on the gameplay so
much. It was significantly better than
base than base 2 and and also itwas a good DLC because it set

(01:26:01):
because of the, the DLC was a prequel to the base game.
So I told you the details of like how we got to where we are,
yada yada, yada. And I really enjoyed that.
That was also part of my play through the series is that I did
the base game DLC, base game DLC.
That way I just had the full story and then moved on to three
and that was that. That was it was a beast of a

(01:26:26):
game, both it and its DLCI. Love how I loved just all the
little nuances 3 brought in from1:00 and 2:00 because from the 2
clear factions and enemies one had the very obviously Xenoblade
one type the next very obviouslyXenoblade 2.

(01:26:48):
With Kevis and Agnes being more Kevis being like being more like
the Homs in one and Agnes being like the Blades in 2.
Not to mention how their arts function as well with Kevis arts
being on the reach time rechargelike 1 was.

(01:27:09):
But with Agnes characters their arts recharge based on your auto
attack recharge which 2 did. And I have to say like this
little like it did not click forme until like much later in the
game. I was like, wait a second, Oh my
God, they've just brought the game mechanics from the previous
two game into this one. How did I not miss see this?

(01:27:32):
And then not to mention like allthe different like
customizations you could do, thefact that you could switch
between party members at at willduring combat.
That was freaking cool. The Oro Boros mechanic as well,
the merging between them. That was really, really cool.
And then just the general world building, like you're, you're
finding out all these things about the world and seeing all

(01:27:53):
these places that you've been toan older game.
It's like, Oh my God, it's a freaking nostalgia trip.
Every single place I step and all these like different
character stories as well. I was like, these are really,
really, really cool. And then of course, the ending
of the game too was like, it left me wanting more because

(01:28:14):
yes, we can't. We've finished what?
What Noah started Noah and Mio started with wanting to end
Mobius and rule in free the world's give them back to
control to the people who who put that world together with NIA
and Melia being the 2 Queens of the factions and of course being

(01:28:39):
imprisoned by Mobius. Freak those guys.
And then once you know the, you clear, you clear the main story
and then you see the relationships budding between
the the six main cast, especially Noah and Mia.
That relationship you could see was clearly developing
throughout the entire game, yet nothing was acted on because

(01:29:00):
they had a greater task at hand.And then you finally seen the
culminations like, Oh my God, we've been waiting for so long
for this moment. And they actually, they actually
kiss each other in the end, which is for like, I, I, I love
romance. I, I, I'm a big sucker for it.
Sometimes romance anime is some of my favorite ones.
So long as it's good. So long as it's good.

(01:29:23):
I don't like trashy romance so long as like there's good
colored character development and the characters are likable,
yada yada yada. But seeing that culmination of
their relationship at the end there was really, really nice.
But seeing them all of a sudden torn away from each other as the
world separated. Because the the whole concept of
three was that it was an incomplete world that was a
force to merge together. And to see them torn away like

(01:29:48):
they were was heart wrenching and leaving me one thing for
more. So I'm really hoping that we get
a Xenoblade 4 that finishes properly, finishes the Xenoblade
story because it is not over by any means.
As to whether or not that'll happen, God knows.
I really hope it does happen though.

(01:30:10):
And then of course the DLC, God that DLC was hit me right in the
fields because I'm seeing all these older characters, all
these clear characters that are based off other people that got
caught up in the merge. And the whole thing that

(01:30:31):
happened going into the world building of Zeno 3.
And then of course playing as Shulk, playing as Rex learnt,
meeting these new characters. And then of course seeing all
these old locations. I when I I hadn't even seen
Colony 9 in the DLC, all I had to do was hear the music and I

(01:30:55):
almost burst out into tears. Like I almost started tearing
up. I basically did because I just
hearing that music after so longand having just all the emotions
and the memories of that game. Yeah, the investment.
In all of it. Yeah, exactly.
It's just like, Oh my God, I've made it.
I, I, I'm, I'm here. I'm experiencing this.

(01:31:16):
I'm feeling the feeling this. I see calling and I'm like, I am
freaking home. I am home.
Oh God, I'm getting emotional thinking about it.
But playing playing through that, bringing back old
characters from ones with with Elvis and in in reconnecting

(01:31:40):
both like the the sort of created reality that is 1 and
then the actual, what would I call it?
I guess synthesized reality thatis 2 with the core crystals and
the Aegis Aegis crystal Aegis blades being a basically that
that world being basically a computer simulation and seeing

(01:32:02):
that culminations like this is areality that we're stuck in now.
We are these blade amalgamationsand we have to fight against
this pseudo. I just OK, every single blade
game is a pseudo God. I don't, I don't know about
Xenoblade XI, haven't gotten to the end game there yet, but 1-2

(01:32:23):
and three, there's always a God at play.
And each of those games you killsaid God and you kill God again
in the DLC in Prazino 3, which is very funny, but I just yeah,
I, I just it the culmination of everything is like the, the, the

(01:32:45):
8 the Alvis fight at the end of the DLC was like I'm being
thrown back to the final Boston Zeno one, because that's what
this reminds me of. And and then, of course, was her
name. AI think her the character's
name was a but a Shulk and Rex giving themselves up to control

(01:33:05):
whatever the planetary system iscalled.
That, that, that, that that giant planet robots.
Yeah. In a distance.
Yeah. I can't remember what it's
called. God giving themselves up to
control that so they could stabilize the world to the point
that hopefully however many years down the line, someone can

(01:33:28):
finish what they started. And Zeno 3 was exactly that.
So I really enjoyed that. And then Zeno X, I'm playing
through that now. I already thought the game was
cool. I was sad I couldn't get to ever
get to play it because it was only on what?
What was that game on the Wii orwas?
It the Wii UI believe for that one Xenoblade was we, that was

(01:33:52):
we U. Gotcha.
Yeah, at the concept of X, like I could see if it wasn't tied
into the story at all of 1-2 or three.
So I was like, if I play it, I play it.
But. And then of course I found out
Xenoblade X got definitive edition.
I was like, oh great, I'll get it, I'll play it.
No reason not to. And I'm having a good time.
It is a long game, but not long in a bad sense and a little bit

(01:34:17):
of a completionist. So I'm like I'm doing every side
quest. I'm doing like as many basic
mishes as I can, completing all the Infinity missions before I
can send you into the next storychapter.
And then of course, just flying around in a scowl.
You're you're flying around a fully loaded map Grant and this
is done back on the Wii UA fullyloaded region in a flying robot

(01:34:42):
like I think that was unheard ofback then to have a fully loaded
region that on that scale and it's just it's just freaking
cool. Now I am, I am absolutely not
min maxing my character because I'm seeing all these like guys

(01:35:04):
like I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm having trouble with some of the
monsters that I fight and whatnot.
Like I'm getting annoyed becausejust sheer defense, like high
defense, high health pools, yadda, yadda.
And I see these guys online and what and whatnot from like both
from like the original game and now of people min maxing,
augmenting their stuff, doing all these things to make
themselves super, super strong. And then I see a comment saying,

(01:35:26):
yeah, I did all this. It definitely helps.
But now the rest of the game is too easy.
I was like thank God I'm not doing that and I can actually
experience a challenge now when I do the actual proper story
content. Am I heavily over levelled for
it? Yes.
Does does fighting, do these bosses with the scale make
things super easy? Yes, but it's still cool.

(01:35:50):
So I'm really looking forward tofinally finishing this game so I
can move on to something else onthe Switch.
Because that's like kind of beenmy pattern for the past like 2
years is that I find one game toreally lock in on the Switch and
I just play that and then I willplay other things on the side of
my computer when I sit on that. So I'm looking forward to
finishing it. We'll see how it goes.

(01:36:11):
And now we go to the future. A game you are looking forward
to? Okami's sequel, which was.
Oh my God. A very quick announcement 6
months ago. Just hey, it's happening.
A game so popular we've revived the studio.
I screamed, literally screamed when it clicked what I was

(01:36:32):
seeing on that live stream. I was in AVC with friends and
they can attest that I like I peeked my microphone Discord cut
out. Finding out that Okami was
coming back blew my mind and I am so excited to see that game
come back. Do I have any idea what they're
going to do for it? No, I don't think anyone does.

(01:36:54):
Are there speculations? Rumors, 100%.
I haven't seen them but I'm surethey exist.
But I really hope that we hear something about it soon because
that is a game that I would absolutely buy day one.
I do not care what state it is in, I am getting it.
So we're going to take a quest now question from the Channel 3
history books to pick for you todiscuss and we'll pick you a

(01:37:16):
simple one here or maybe not pick your favorite Pro
controller. Woo, Favorite pro controller?
OK when we say pro controller, does that mean like pro the pro
pro controller in quotes 'cause we have the pro controller for
Switch one, Xbox Elite for Xbox controllers.
I don't know what the pro pro controller could.
There's APS five equivalent as well.

(01:37:38):
But you hadn't you had an answer.
What's your? What's your?
Favorite out of the ones that I have used?
He's looking very clearly at something.
I'm looking at the tune right next to me 'cause I I have AI,
have a Switch pro controller, and I have an Xbox Elite Series
2 next to me that I recently purchased.

(01:38:00):
The I don't I don't know which one is what.
In terms of functionality and customizability, I think the
Elite series. 2 The fact that you brought that up answers the
question. Sorry, Switch.
That's the right answer. That's the right answer.
The pro, the the the. But I have to say the Switch Pro

(01:38:22):
controller is really nice. And apparently the Pro Con for
Switch 2 is also really, really nice.
Little more programmable as I understand it too, yeah.
Which is cool, but I'm also likeI'm I'm severely used to playing
handhelds so I'm totally comfortable with joy con.
So I'm good to play with whatever controller.
So it's just having the joy con or not the joy con, the pro con

(01:38:43):
right there dedicated to my switch.
I just pick that up and play Mario Kart whenever we have our
cups or gangs Knights. So and then the Xbox, the Xbox
elite series 2 it it it feels nice.
It's got a nice feel to it that I can change like the joysticks,
the tension on them. I can put in the paddles and
remap buttons if I wanted to, even though if it gives me an

(01:39:05):
aneurysm trying to play with them because adding adding those
new buttons and all of a sudden definitely is going to take a
while to get used to if I play something that uses them
regularly. So far I haven't hit that point.
But yeah, I have to say series elite 2 based on feel.
Now I will say my controller currently has issues some of the

(01:39:27):
but I bought this controller second hand for 80 bucks, which
is definitely not it's MSRP. So it it it's been well used.
The A button and Y buttons have issues with responsiveness.
They don't function all the time.
The right bumper this is same deal doesn't respond all the

(01:39:51):
time. And then the left bumper, I
think I just completely kicked the bucket and this would this
all happened in the series of like two or three days since I
bought the console, since I bought the controller at first
it was just the a button. It was a little bit like like
every now and again the button wouldn't function properly when
I'm trying to like advance your dialogue on a game.
And then I started playing rocket league with Ian one night

(01:40:12):
and then the Y button stopped functioning properly.
The all right button stopped functioning properly and then
the left button just gave out while I was just playing.
I was like, I cannot do this. I need my older controller back
and the reason I bought the series too was because I have.
The setup I'm currently at now and then my computer that is now
in my room that I built recentlyis actually the same computer

(01:40:36):
that I brought in for AC-3 con. I realized I have this extra
computer. I don't want it to sit gathering
dust. I'll just put it in my room and
play stuff on there if I really want to play from the comfort of
my bed. And I have to say it's kind of
nice. So I wanted to have two
controllers so I didn't have to disconnect and then reconnect to
the controller between the two computers each time.

(01:40:56):
But now that I have a non functional, not entirely
functional elite controller, I still have to do it anyway, so I
have to get it repaired I guess.I don't know.
Last question we asked, what's been your favorite feature on
Channel 3? Favorite feature clubs?

(01:41:22):
I think the different the, the clubs is a really, really nice
touch because it's an easy placefor people to gather.
It's it's like Facebook groups. So I, I understand the concept,
but the fact that we can like host events, they have the, the
dedicated group chat for it as well.
And granted, a lot of this is just my personal experience with

(01:41:44):
the Mushroom Kingdom racing group club.
Now I have like a lot of fun with those guys.
I'm I've met some great people, but also just like there's that,
but also just scrolling on the feed on channel 3, it's just you
can see some really cool stuff in general.
Channel 3 is amazing. I I really like how it is simple

(01:42:10):
as that. I just really like how it is
sure like is it has its fair share of bugs and it's still in
development, but for in development website it's pretty
freaky good. With one with one guy building
it, yes. With one guy building it insane
and however many concurrent users it's gotten right now.
I think the last number was like5000 in Joel's latest post about

(01:42:31):
that metric. It's pretty good.
Pretty good. And on that note, we've made it
to the end of Another Warrior 3.Thank you, Citian, for being
with us. You can find a podcast at C3 dot
GG slash podcast Tropic every Wednesday morning at 3:33 AM
Eastern on all the major platforms including Spotify,
YouTube Music and Apple Podcast.I'm Ray.

(01:42:53):
Dan puts this all together. Our theme song is by Castor
Garden and for our executive producer, Joel Willis.
Have a good day everybody. Channel 3 is the future.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}0123 stygian

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Dateline NBC

All Episodes

0123 stygian

Stuff You Should Know