Get Played - Dialogue Tree: Too Many Games!

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

Heather, Nick and Matt talk some more Cyberpunk 2077 and look back on Heather's year of Fortnite before diving into their discussion on how packed this year is with video game releases and the games they haven't finished or skipped! This month's We Play, You Play: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @getplayedpod. Check out Get Anime'd, our Patreon exclusive show on patreon.com/getplayed. Join us on our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/getplayed Wanna leave us a voicemail? Call 616-2-PLAYED (616-275-2933) or write us an email at [e-mail] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Hey, if it isn't Matt Apodaca, my favorite customer. Welcome. Welcome to Russ's Deli. We're really happy. What do you want? What do you want for lunch today? You know, just the usual. Just, you know, Turkey Avocado Club sounds perfect. You're my Turkey Avocado King.

Oh, come on. Let me make that sandwich up. You know what? I'm going to give you a free pack-in soda with that, and it's going to be a delicious lunch. You hit the park. You hit a park bench. You go wherever it is you want to go. But here you go.

Here you go. Oh, look at that fresh sandwich. Oh, hey, Matt. Hey, thanks for coming in. Good to see you, regular. Hey, so before you go, I know you got that turkey avocado there. But I thought I'd set you up with another sandwich. Here's a roast beef.

Yeah, with some Havarti. So there you go. Go ahead and enjoy that, bad boy. That's so nice. Thank you. I haven't even touched my other sandwich first. Now I have the second sandwich. You haven't touched this one either.

You got this peanut butter and banana. There you go. Enjoy that one too. The third sandwich. I know it's going to be a hard decision to make because now you got three sandwiches, but can I interest you in a little bit of a burger? We got a fresh burger right off the grill. You know what, buddy?

I'm just going to slip that into your bag right there. You can figure out which one you want to eat later. This is so nice. This is certainly more sandwiches than I can ever eat. I don't know if I can have this many sandwiches today. Maybe this week I could save, I could, you know, eat these the rest of the week. French toast. Boom.

Bacon. Boom. Egg. Boom. Another slice of French toast is a breakfast sandwich right there in your bag. There you go. I can't eat this right now. I already had breakfast. Wow, that looks good. And you know it goes great with a breakfast sandwich, a lunch sandwich. Here's a grilled cheese with bacon on it. There you go.

Enjoy that bad boy. These all look delicious and unique, but I- Have some soup with that. A little tomato soup on the side. Ow, ow, fuck, ow. It's loose. Ow. Tuna sandwich, tuna melt.

Here's one of each of them. Cold tuna, hot tuna. Cold tuna, hot tuna. This is too many. This is more sandwiches than I can eat. I'm going to end up neglecting some of these and maybe possibly throwing some of them away. And I simply can't fathom throwing them away. Absolutely not.

Do not do that. Do not do that. You've got to eat every one of these sandwiches. We got to, you know, actually, this is a surprise announcement. Today was the S3 Sandwich Centertainment Sexpo. And it was we announced a midnight release of this drop of this sandwich.

Here it is. Yeah, I kind of gave a keynote at the Sexpo when I was talking through this new sandwich. We gotta come up with a different name for whatever that is. S3 Sandwich Centertainment Sexpo. You know, not a lot of thought. It's gotta be S3 if you change one of them. What, sexpo? Ah, yeah, you know, not a lot of thought. It's gotta be S3 if you change one of them. What are you doing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's gotta be S3. It's gotta be S3. It's a big industry event, S3. It's just that sexpo sounds like something else. Well, I mean, I'm no judgment. If you want to fuck a sandwich, you can fuck a sandwich. No, I'm not. I'm not gonna do that.

You want a sandwich you can fuck? This way. Here you go. Peanut butter and marshmallow cream. That's a fuckable sandwich. It's on a hot dog bun fuck this way. Here you go. Peanut butter and marshmallow cream. That's a fuckable sandwich. It's on a hot dog bun. Go nuts. We confront the disease of more and the paradox of choice and add them to our backlogs as we discuss too many games this week on Get Played. Free! Welcome to Get Played, your one-stop show for good games, bad games, and every game in between.

It's time to get played. I'm your host, Heather Ann Campbell, along with my fellow host, Nick Weiger. Oh, that's me, Nick Weiger, and I'm here with our third host, Matt Apodaca. Hello, everyone. Hello, everyone, and welcome back, Bucket, to the premiere. Wow. Video game podcast, Get Played. Did you forget the name of the show briefly?

What? It felt like you stumbled between get and played. What is this? What do we get? What? Wait, did I really? I might have had like a minor stroke in between those two words. That may have been what it was.

Yeah, I have no awareness of having paused. But I just did it then. Are you sure that's not just the way I talk? It might just be your pattern of speech and I'm just now picking up on it after knowing you for 20 years. I just like the idea of you following up the premiere video game podcast with forgetting what the

show's called. But apparently that's not what happened. It's the premiere video game podcast. It's everyone's favorite show. It's a triple A podcast. We know what the show is. You know, I don't have to say. it's everyone's favorite show it's a triple A podcast we know what the show is you know I don't have to say I don't have to say what it is

because you're already listening to it so you know what it is yeah you know one thing I do have to say is that each month we do our own format here on Get Played where we take a the end of the last episode of every month we do a full episode dedicated to one game, one playthrough experience. And the game we're going to do this month is Cyberpunk 2077,

The Phantom Liberty. So that episode will be coming out in two weeks on Monday, October 30th. Look for that. And please play along if you like, though, by no means necessary. Yeah, maybe we can all get gonked together, huh? What do you say? Gonked is like my favorite one, to say. So yeah, they have a lot of

for people who aren't playing the game or watching the anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners, there are a lot of made-up future slang. And yeah, I do like gonked. The one I like is Delta. We get a Delta out of here. Oh i like is delta we get a delta out of here oh that is good delta is out of here i think we should just like you know plan for the future

that we want so i think we should start incorporating the cyberpunk slang into our daily lives so that hopefully they catch on and just become things we say. Your takeaway from cyberpunk is this is the future that we want. I mean, it's the future we're going to get. So I think, I think we might as well just like, just be ahead of the curve. Yeah,

sure. That makes sense. Sort of know what everyone's talking about. I guess I like preem. Preem is, preem is good. It's really useful. Uh, what about, it's impossible to say preem without sounding shitty. Hmm. Preem is good. It's really useful.

It's impossible to say preem without sounding shitty. I don't know. I think it sounds pretty preem when you say it. Oh, this is a preem sandwich. Yeah. No, it's just preem. But if you said a sandwich was preem, I would immediately think, well, this is one of the best sandwiches ever. Is it supposed to derive from supreme or premium? What is it supposed to be from?

Supremium. Supremium. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like since both of those things have preem in them, somebody was probably like, oh, well, preem is the root of good. Right. And specifically, it's for sandwiches.

Yeah. This turkey club is preem. Ooh, this hot pastrami is preem. Dude, I would do anything for a hot pastrami right now. That is a really good sandwich. It's one of the best ones you can get. Or do you like it on rye bread? You know, I'm not a big rye guy, but I'll eat it how it's given to me.

I'm not typically picky about it. I don't do substitutions. I'm not typically picky about it. I don't do substitutions. I'm not a substitutions guy. I'm with you. Rye is, look, I like a rye bread, but oftentimes, maybe you're not a rye guy because you're not a dry guy because sometimes that rye can come in a little bit dry if it's not fresh. Here's the thing about me that I don't know if I've really discussed. I think I am a dry guy.

I'll eat a plain piece of toast. No butter, no nothing. Wait, really? Yeah. Matt, that's the opposite of preem. That's insane. I don't know. I let the bread do all the heavy lifting, baby.

I don't know. I don't get it all gunked up. You're gunked, dude. That's what's happened. Oh, you probably think I'm some kind of dorfer don't you a dwarf head wait is that one yeah i just read it uh it's like a drug addict oh wow i'm picked up on dorfer yeah i haven't heard it either that one was kind of new to me uh but you know it's it's entered the vernacular where did you read that in the source book where were you

seeing that wiki i have to do that's the secret text of cyberpunk right in front of me. Yeah, it's just the cyberpunk fandom. Oh, interesting. Wiki. So, you know, there's a bunch of ads on my screen as well. It's a big mess over here. That's a good sandwich. Chicken salad.

That's a preem sandwich. I don't like a chicken salad. What podcast is this? See, Heather, you truly don't remember, do you? You know, my New Year's resolution is to cut back on sugar and add more protein to my diet and stay on track with my fitness goals. And Magic Spoon makes that easier and more delicious than ever. Growing up, cereal is one of the best parts of being a kid.

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off right with a delicious bowl of high-protein cereal at magicspoon.com slash getplayed and use code getplayed to save $5 off. Thank you, Magic Spoon, for sponsoring this episode. I first gave AG1 a try because I was tired of taking so many supplements every day and wanted a single solution that supports my entire body by filling in nutrient gaps daily. I need energy. I wanted to simplify my morning routine with easy habits. Since drinking AG1, I've felt energized, strong, and nourished.

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And AG1 ingredients are sourced for absorption, potency, and nutrient density. AG1 is a supplement I trust to provide the support my body needs daily, and that's why I'm excited to welcome them as a new partner. If you want to take ownership of your health, it starts with AG1. Try AG1 and get a free one-year supply of vitamin D3K2 and five AG1 travel packs with your first purchase exclusively at drinkag1.com slash getplayed. That's drinkag1.com slash getplayed. Check it out. The podcast is Get Played, and we're going to be talking about, look, this is part of our responsibility, I think, hosting or at least our self-imposed obligation, our sense of duty, if you will, on this podcast is we feel like we have to talk about as many games as we can get to.

But that's just impossible. That's just the nature of this medium. And so we're going to be talking about that in a little bit. But before we get there, before we get to that central topic. Yeah, it's like we are like we're the premium television podcast. OK, guys, we last week we watched all Yellowstone and CIS. Yeah, we're Republicans now. Yeah, we watched all of I May Destroy You and And we got like five episodes left of. We're back. Yeah.

Like, imagine just trying to watch all TV. It's impossible. Yeah, it's impossible. It'd be undoable. It'd be undoable. I feel like it's more like reading every book. I think you could watch most notable TV more so than you could actually play through most notable games. I think there's just such a time commitment.

But we're going to talk about that in a second and what it means for someone who has this as a hobby like us and for like a lot of our listeners. But before we do that, first, the question we put to the panel is, what are you playing? What are you playing? Hey, it's me, Ash Ketchum from Pokemon. And I'm a Pokemon master. You may hear my voice every week on Get Animated, the sister podcast. And as I threaten there, here I am, motherfuckers. I'm here to ask you guys, what have you been playing? And Nick, I choose you. Again, I don't like that you threaten us. I wish you were a little less aggro, a little bit friendlier, especially if you're going to cross over to the main feed without permission. So I just say...

I don't need permission. I was going to say, this is sort of the issue, right? Because you originated on this show. You were on this show first. This is my show. Yes. No, it's your show. Nick, I think the only way forward is to just cower and just

give in to Ash's demands. No eye contact. No fucking eye contact. Yeah, no, yeah, you're right. No problem for me. Sorry, sir. But I think, you know, Ash, you did say you'd be back on this show.

And as I see it, you're welcome anytime. Thank you. I am. I'm a time traveler. That doesn't sound canonical. No. You're a time traveler? What do you even mean?

Which Pokemon is that happening? Any Pokemon that you harness all the way to their absolute unlocks the ability time travel. And so I'm a fucking time traveler. To me, that's just a lie. That just sounds like you're lying. You're lying. Oh, interesting. Do you know why it's a mystery?

You want to know why it's such a mystery who my dad is? Why is that, Ash? Because it's me. I fucked my own mom. Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. And I made me. I'm a perfect being.

You're like Fry from Futurama? Wait, is that true? Oh, that does happen on Futurama. Fry is his own grandpa. Yeah, so it's a little bit removed. Yeah, but it's pretty. Oh, Jesus. Wait, that ups is his own grandpa. Yeah, so it's a little bit removed. Yeah, but it's pretty Jesus. Wait, that upsets you? Yeah. Why would you fuck your grandma?

Well, why would you fuck your mom? My mom's hot. Well, yeah, but if you're traveling back in time, you could hit your grandma. Yeah. Nick, I don't know if you'd be asking this question if you'd seen Ash's mom yeah all right i installed mr mime as my surrogate dad and i fucked my mom hey what are you playing uh i guess yeah i'll just go ahead and uh answer that ash Ash. I'm going to time travel back to the assassination of JFK

and I'm going to shoot him like five seconds before Oswald gets his first shot off just so that Oswald's upset. This is Stephen King's nightmare. Wait, is that also a thing? No, he wrote a whole book about just trying to undo the JFK assassination via

time travel. Is he a good author or like just an author? I like Stephen King. He's had some problems. You know, he he's battled some substances and I think he was in an accident of some kind. Yeah. So who knows what's going on in the inner machinations of Mr. Stephen King?

I looked at the date 11-22-63. That's the that's the name of the book that's about a time traveler who tries to stop JFK's assassination. It's written by Stephen King. It is very, very boomer. I mean, it's just a... There was a Quantum Leap episode

where somebody can't... Like, Sam? Do you know Sam Beckett, the time traveler? Yes. No, yeah, yeah. I've seen Quantum Leap. Yeah, he goes back in time to try and stop Jeff K. But he but he's he's time travels into Lee Harvey Oswald.

Yeah. And then he finds out that he saved Jackie. That's right. Yes. I saw this. I remember this was a two part episode and I saw this like when I was a kid. And they've it's a really crazy concept. Yeah. Well, yeah. a two-part episode, and I saw this when I was a kid. What an insane concept! Yeah.

Well, yeah, I mean, the whole thing is that he never really leapt into notable people. They were always kind of... So this was like a break from the format. It was like, oh, he's going into a known historical figure. Yeah, I remember it being a good episode, but I don't know if it holds up. I was a child!

Me too! And so was up. I was a child. Me too. And so was I. We all were children. We all were children once. Hey, Nick, I choose you. What are you playing? Thanks, Ash. Ash is unhinged. I'm right here.

I thought you left. Sorry. No, I'm right here. I'm here to listen.. No, I'm right here. Okay. I'm here to listen. And if you guys don't tell us what you're buying, then I'm going to take you to task. I may get taken to task because I wish I had something new to talk about. But I guess it's fitting for today's topic that all I've been able to make time for is Cyberpunk 2077. And I do. Look, I am still really enjoying it. I have had look there was last week I talked about a bug I'd encountered and over the in the interim, they had released a patch which addressed

specifically that bug. Wow. So, you know, that's that's been patched and they've done a lot of they've done a lot of additional updates and fixes since the 2.0 release. Look, it's a blast here. Here's the thing I guess I'll focus on for this particular discussion, which is that mobility generally has been improved a lot. And it's so fun, especially if you spec for reflexes and you get all the dashes and the air dash uh it's just like you can just kind of zoom around the map and it's great not

just for combat because i'm playing a melee focus build though i still end up using guns a lot and uh just for for zipping in and out of encounters and ducking behind cover and such but it's also great for just for getting around the map because there's a, there's a lot of just walking around with these sorts of open world games. And on that note, you know, I think the driving is improved, but I still much prefer riding a motorcycle.

I just think the motorcycles are so much more maneuverable. There's so much more fun to control. It's great to squeeze, you know, the white line to squeeze between uh traffic uh to lane split and then also uh it's one of the rare instances you can see a 3d version or i'm sorry a third person version uh of your character model uh i said for a game that's that largely lives in first person so i i do kind of like hop uh hopping on that hog and zip it around uh but

yeah but it's been mostly cyberpunk for me. I do want to note one game that's now on my radar that I bought on the Steam store because it just released. It was an early actress for a while. It just had its official release this past week. As of the episode, if you're listening to this episode on release date, it's called Space Wreck, is an isometric uh rpg and um i haven't played it yet so you know i can't attest to it but it but i there are the has been had gotten a lot of very positive buzz it does like very much hearken back to like fallout one like fallout one and two like those you know those those really those 90s uh era isometric games um and it is like a a

hardcore role-playing experience that apparently you can play without combat so uh i'm i'm kind of looking forward to messing around with this uh and uh you know one of the a throwback to, um, one of the, uh, ancestors of a, of a game like Baldur's gate three. So it, it's, it's, it looks like an interesting, um,

experience and hopefully I'll have some real impressions for you, uh, in the coming weeks. But yeah, that's mostly been cyberpunk for me. Um, uh, Matt,

how about you? I'm also been playing, uh, cyberpunk and, uh, right now, uh, I'll be,

this will be untrue when this episode comes out uh but i'm uh i'm in palm springs i've been here i'm here for like a week uh i won't get into the particulars uh and i'm frankly talking about it much more than i thought it would be but the reason i bring it up is that i uh been wanting to play Cyberpunk, but I didn't bring my PS5 with me. Right. And so what I did was I brought my iPad and have the remote play app on my iPad. And I brought my PS5 controller. Nice.

And I've been using that. And let me tell you something about that. It works perfectly. It is so fucking good. Wow. Really? If you have strong Wi-Fi on both sides at your home base or if you're hardwired in, which is, I think, recommended.

Yeah. But if you're in a spot where your PS5 can't necessarily be hardwired without being an inconvenience, but can be close enough to Wi-Fi where it's usually not a problem, it works great. I've been having a blast. And my Airbnb has a TV where I can airplay my iPad to the TV. So it's just like I'm playing at home, but just no PS5.

And if there's latency, it's very, very minimal, and I can't notice it at all. I've been playing and having a great time with it. And right now, yeah, i'm in the middle of the phantom liberty stuff but let me tell you these these romance options you know in my first play through i was a was a male v and was romancing pan am right and it's so hard not to just go back down the pan am road for some reason i just she's great but i know that judy is an option for me right because judy uh does will not romance a male v uh but will romance a female v which is what i'm playing now

and her next quest line hasn't popped up yet and i'm so nervous that something's wrong with the with the game uh or like with uh with the quest line because i would like to pursue that because i heard her story is great and i would like to know more about judy um but so, it's been a dead end. And I think hopefully her next quest, it's like a side gig, pops up for me soon. But I shouldn't even be focusing on that because I should be mainlining the Phantom Liberty stuff

in time for the episode, which I will. I'm pretty confident that I'm going to finish that stuff. Yeah, you got a little bit of time before we record. There are five Mondays in this month. Yeah. We'll be able to get there. But I've been really enjoying it. I sent you guys, I don't know if you saw this,

I sent you guys a funny bug, kind of. I don't know if it's a bug or if it was just an accident, but I was at the Aldecaldos camp, and I'm sort of just standing there because I was like doing something like I was like looking at my phone but didn't pause the game and an NPC

walks into frame walks toward the fire pit that everyone's kind of sitting at accidentally walks into the fire catches on fire and everybody around the fire pit that everyone's kind of sitting at. Accidentally walks into the fire. Catches on fire. And everybody around the fire pit runs away screaming. That's the correct response. That should happen.

Right? In a scenario where the video games AI players are supposed to react normally, but it shouldn't happen. I don't think it's written that the character is supposed to write is supposed to walk into the fire. It was an accident because he just sits down like normal and is just like on fire. But it was such a funny, funny thing to witness. Such a. At least the bugs in this game are good. Yeah, they're they're fun.

They offer some unintentional comedy. The you know, the I was I was just looking if there was any additional romance in Phantom Liberty. I guess there isn't, which is a little disappointing. But what are you going to do? Hmm. Hmm. Because it is because the romance options are a little bit limited. Yes.

Like, it's like, there's one, there's one male, female, there's one, there's one, you know,

female, male, there's one male, male, and one female, female. And like, that's it.

Yeah. I mean, you think, you know, we've said this, we've said this a lot, but you would think there just would be more options in general or at least you know more combinations well yeah because there's also like

the the other approach is kind of the hades or baldur's gate 3 like you know all characters are kind of pansexual and available to the player character. Yeah. Yeah, they took a different approach, but I think specifically for its future, it feels a little bit restrictive. But I don't know, you know, whatever. I think more than anything, it just kind of feels,

it's like a little bit less, it feels a little bit less fun for the player because it's just like, well, I'm so limited in who I can choose. I guess I'm going with this person. Yeah, that fits my character's body type. I think in the future, the very near future, all of the NPC dialogue is going to be AI generated and you'll be able to romance literally anybody on the street in a game like this. and I think we will look back at these like very very curated romantic storylines with a bit of nostalgia

that's my Nostradamus-ing of the video game industry for the day I think we'll see some games like that I think some of them will be very bad and I think a lot of like there will be like some dating sims like some cheap dating sims that maybe kind of take that approach but i still think there will be a place for stuff that's just fucking written at least i like i like to think so i think there there will still be a a place for these sorts of you know really crafted

curated storylines i don't know because i also like you can't you can i don't know. Cause I also like you can't, you can, I don't know. Maybe that, maybe that, uh, the algorithmic, uh, fucking procedural, uh,

generation of, uh, we'll, we'll get to a point where that sort of stuff is possible though. Who knows? I hope so. Uh, Heather,

what have, what have you been playing? Guys? It's been one year since I started playing Fortnite. Wow. Yeah. We first started playing Fortnite last October. That's right.

And so my introduction to Fortnite was... This was for people who didn't listen to that. That was a month where each of us subjected the others to, in turn, a game we thought they would not like. And we thought you, Nick, wouldn't like a shooting game with teenagers. Right, exactly. And I don't, because I don't play games. Stop smiling.

I'm not smiling. Matt's smiling. What? Yeah, no, you were right. Nick didn't like the shooting game. I'm not a big gun game guy, and I'm not a big online multiplayer guy. So we all like you subjected me to this. I actually ended up having a good amount of fun, even though I was bad at the game, because

it is just like a really fun design, and it's just such anarchic fun. But really what it led to, Heather, as you were saying, is that you're super into this game. You're super into Fortnite. I have never stopped playing Fortnite, uh, over the course of the last year, uh, save for the,

um, months when we were trying to expand our international reach on the podcast. And I was in Amsterdam and, uh, I was just like, there was no, the timing was wrong. Like I was just always online when nobody else was,

uh, because I didn't have a ton of Dutch or European friends. But, you know, I've been back in the States for a bit and I'm playing Fortnite. And there is a OK, there's two things that are happening in the game. One, it's Fortnite nightmares, which is their Halloween themed content. And it's really fun. which is their Halloween themed content. And it's very weird to realize that my initial foray into Fortnite was during a theme.

Like I, I started playing during Halloween and I was just like, oh, this is Halloween stuff. I thought, you know, and then later it became regular Fortnite. Uh,

so it's neat. I feel a little nostalgic to be returning to that time here in 2023 um the other thing that's potentially happening is there's a lot of rumors that the island itself is going to revert to the original first season island. Wow. Because they've been teasing all of this time travel stuff in the on the Twitter account and also in game. There is dates that seem to refer to the first season. And as somebody who joined in late, I'm really excited about that because I don't know what this game has evolved from. I only know that at any given moment I can be a Terminator wielding a lightsaber while throwing ice walls

from My Hero Academia and also using like a witch's broom at the same time. I guess the lightsaber and the witch's broom didn't overlap, but you get the idea.

Yeah. So to see the original island I'm really excited about. I hope they do it. I guess the lightsaber in the witch's room didn't overlap, but you get the idea. Yeah. So to see, and so to see the original island is I'm really excited about, I hope they do it. I'm sure I could watch YouTube videos of it, but that's not the same. No,

I've never played a game that changes constantly like this. And it's, it's very endearing. So, yeah, just a shout out to the Fortnite battle bus on our Discord, who continue to be fantastic squad mates and also showed up for one of your shows, Nick. And celebrated an IRL meetup in Los Angeles recently. Oh, fun. Yeah, lots of fun.

Who are the new seasonal ads? Who are the big licensed characters that are in Fortnite right now? Announced this week, the Halloween skins are Alan Wake. Yawn. Looks like my dad. More like Alan Go to Sleep. Next. Yeah.

Jack Skellington, which is they've got enough Disney properties in here with Marvel and what else Tron is in fucking Fortnite that I really hope at some point they put Sora from Kingdom Hearts in it

and that that would open the gate to Square Enix characters because I really think that the game needs Sephiroth and Cloud as skins. So those are two and then the final one is Jason from Halloween. He's got an adorable

emote where he's playing his own song on a keyboard and he looks really serious about it. That's cute. And he stabs the low notes. So it was top hand. That's cute. And he stabs the low notes. So it was top hand. He's like, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. And then he goes, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.

With a knife. It's pretty good. Yeah. It's a merry old time. I certainly like Halloween more than Christmas. And that's my take. And that's my take. And that's what I've been playing.

Halloween versus Christmas. Where do I land? I guess I probably like Halloween more. I don't. I'm not super into either. But I'm not like a big holiday dude. But I guess I like it as a kid I like the idea of getting presents but now I'm like I don't fucking need any of this shit

what are we like you know like so now I'm since I'm less into presents I feel like Halloween just the general I don't know the spooky season is kind of fun it's an excuse to watch horror movies yeah I guess on the whole horror movies. Yeah, I guess. And on the whole, horror movies are better than Christmas movies.

I don't, there are very few Christmas movies, I think that really scratched the itch of like, I'm going to watch a good movie. I don't know. Yeah, there's a handful, but there's not a lot. Whereas horror is kind of its own genre that gets,

you know, I mean, it's not like there's a lot of great Halloween specific movies, but there's a lot of like horror, although Halloween is pretty good, but they're like, but they're like horror themed. Yeah.

I wonder if, I like pumpkin more than peppermint. I like pumpkin more than peppermint. Here's a question. Where do you class? You like, you like peppermint. I like,

I like both, but I would say that I do like pumpkin more than I like peppermint, but I like peppermint. Here's a question. Where do you class... You like peppermint. I like both. I would say that I do like pumpkin more than I like peppermint, but I like peppermint. Where do you classify Nightmare Before Christmas? Is that a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? Christmas movie. You say Christmas movie.

Yeah, it's more of a Christmas movie because while it does take place in Halloween town, his whole thing is Christmas. He's like, I get he got Christmas pilled and he wants to go do Christmas now, too. And if your movie has Santa in it, then I got bad news for you, sweetheart. That's a Christmas movie. That's pretty convincing. I also think that the movie starts with the end of Halloween.

Like you would like if it was a Halloween movie, the first event wouldn't be. And that was Halloween. See you again in another year. Weren't you saying just Fortnite specific? Isn't there an issue where Jack Skellington, they had to scale him down? So like he didn't he wasn't super tall and had like a like a you know a disproportionate hit box or whatever he looks a little bit like a person in a jack skellington costume like a halloween costume of jack skellington which you know i i wish that i wish that he could

be canonical but then you wouldn't be able to hit him with bullets. There'd be it'd be interesting. I know this is a different game and they've obviously taken the correct approach, but but it would be an interesting version where there was like, you know, size was just everything was scaled appropriately. and a character like Levi from Attack on Titan, famous short king, was proportionate, and then Jack Skellington was loomed over him instead of them both being the same size and that being a little awkward. But I mean, that would completely screw up the balance because then high-level players would all just pick

the smallest skins. Unless you also gave them less hit points. That's an interesting idea. So you could play as a skinny bitch, but you'd only have like, you'd only be able to take two shots compared to like 30. Right.

And then if you play as like Hulk or Iron Man Hulkbuster armor, then you'd be able to, you know, you'd take a lot more damage, but you'd be slower. Again, I feel like this is Apex Legends or Overwatch

that we're essentially designing. Sure. Yeah, Fortnite's doing its own thing. I don't play any of these games, so what the fuck do I know? And, you know, a little while ago, I said Alan Wake, more like Alan Go to Sleep. I've never played it, so I don't wish that on him. I just was kind of making a joke.

I can't speak to that. Thank you for correcting the record, Matt. It's very nice. For all the Alan Wake heads out there, I'm not coming for you. So don't come for me. All right? That's a... Because Alan Wake 2 is on the horizon.

It might come out this month, actually. I don't know when the release date is. Maybe that's another one. Maybe that's one we'll talk about not having time to play. But that's just one. Maybe that's one we'll talk about not having time to play. But that's, that's just a little cross promotion, but it, it does create a little bit of weird.

It's just like, it's that's kind of a little, a bit of an ill fit for Fortnite. It feels like, but again, that's part of the fun. Like what if they had the guy from silent Hill two and Fortnite,

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off that's code get played 50 at factormeals.com slash get played 50 to get 50 off All right, let's talk about our topic, which is too many games. Too many. Too many games. There's just too many. There's too many fucking games. This, I believe, just basically came out of we were trying to talk about what to cover this week, and we're like, ah, there's too many fucking options. And so we landed on, why don't we just talk about that,

which I know is a well-worn territory uh and talking about games but you know like this crush of fall releases that we get every year uh going into the holiday season is very much a relic of video games being part of the toy industry and you know it being back in the day of just like it's the same way that they were they were thought of as children's products they were were thought of as toys. They were sold at toy stores. And, you know, this is back in the 8-bit days and before. And they had to have everything out for Christmas releases, for holiday releases, because that's when they did. The industry does the bulk of its business.

And it's kind of turned into its own thing where now it's basically like our like game summer blockbuster season. Now that games are such a a massive industry in and of themselves and you can see that this is going back to a thing we were saying earlier you can see every summer blockbuster at the cinema if you want not that everybody does but that's a possibility yeah but managing the game equivalent is on. It's unfathomable. I mean, there's individual days where multiple hundred hour video games come out in the same day. Right. So, like, you can't do it.

Abednego, what are you smiling about? I'm just enjoying the show. I'm just enjoying the show I'm just enjoying the conversation I'm just listening to my friends talk and being like I agree are there any books that take a hundred hours to read for me every book I'm trying to think of even just like the

biggest of big boys something like you know going back to Stephen King, The Stand. Does that take a hundred hours to read? I don't think so. If I'm reading The Stand. That's a routine thing for games. Yeah. If I'm reading The Stand, I'm calling it The Sit because I got to sit down if I'm reading that bad boy.

Matt, earlier you apologized to Alan Wake. You might want to start getting ready to do another one to do it i will not be issuing any further apologies i get the the only so the only really way to stay sane here is just to surrender and just abandon hope that you're going to play all these things and just accept that you can only pick a few things uh but we're going to talk about what we picked and why and what we missed and what we maybe wished we had made time for over the course of this entire year so far. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you right now, to preface the segment,

I fucked up. How do you mean? I just didn't get to any of the shit that I wanted to play this year. Oh, just in general, you fucked up. I played myself i i'm calling it right now i got played this episode i got played wow i i started jedi survivor or whatever oh heather which is matt has just said over and over again is an incredible game just oh my god it's so good it's so good. It's so good. Fucking...

I haven't played that shit. I've played like the first moments and I was like, this tutorial is taking me forever. I'm gonna stop. And I love Star Wars and I didn't play that fucking game and it's on my crossbar, my crossbar media thing on

the PlayStation 5, whatever the fuck it's called now. It's there. It's glowing. It beckons me. I think that game of the non-Andor Star Wars things that have come out in the last few years is the best

Star Wars story. Those two games in particular, I think they're fantastic Star Wars stories. And this game, if this year wasn't so bloated with great releases, would be in the Game of the Year conversation, I think, at least for me, maybe for others as well. But because the year is so slammed, it's forgotten.

It's lost to just how packed the year is so slammed, it's forgotten. It's lost to just how packed the year is. What is your... Both of you. Because the first one that occurs to me is Jedi Survivor. What is the number one game that occurs to each of you where you're like, ah, fuck. Do you mean a game we didn't get to at all? Or that you had to drop for the show,

or that you just got distracted? The one I had to drop is easy, and I'm planning to return to it, but it's Baldur's Gate 3. I wish I had more time for that game. I wish it was the only thing I was playing, but I'm playing other things. But I think the game is so for for me and it's so well done and i am excited to return to it so that's kind of that's that's kind of an answer but but i'll also i'm going back to it

um i think that my big answer is uh is persona 4 golden uh because i love persona 5 so much and uh it's uh it's the only game in the series I've really put any time into. It's certainly the only one in the game in the series I've finished. They released Persona 4 Golden this year, I believe. Maybe I'm wrong. Did it come out last year?

No, it came out in January. No, it got released in January of this year. And I kind of wish I'd just gotten into it, just played through it on Game Pass, and it's still just sitting in my queue. So that's the big one for me. I mean, I don't know if there are big, big ones, because I have at least dipped my toes

into quite a few games this year uh you know i didn't finish i mean i haven't finished so many games but like i haven't finished baldur's gate 3 yet i haven't finished um armored core uh and i was really enjoying that um but like as far as games that I just missed completely, this is going to sound crazy because I am a coward. But when the Dead Space remake came out, I was pretty excited to give it a try. And I think we even floated it internally

amongst the three of us as a as a we play you play. Yeah. Yeah. That one was definitely on my on my radar. And, you know what? We could have done that. I think that's the month we decided to do Metroid Prime remake instead. I could be wrong.

I can't remember exactly what the order was, but but it was it was like there were a few different things we were talking about. And that's the one we landed on. Yeah. But like I was I was interested in, know i've never played dead space there i heard raves of the uh of the remake and i guess i was just in the mood to get scared so it's like okay i could i could do that i could think i can do this uh but you know i also never touched we had we had such a good time nick with yeah um i i fell off of diablo 4 i never even finished the diablo 4 campaign that i'm thinking about speaking of times we've had fun uh yeah but uh and i know that it's like in a diablo 4 is in a

worse state now than it was when it launched. But we had such a good time with Kirby and the Forgotten Land. There was a Kirby Deluxe re-release on the Switch. Kirby Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Didn't even try. Didn't even get it. And I loved Kirby. This was the year I decided I loved Kirby.

I wish I hadn't installed 35 copies of Hogwarts Legacy on my PS5. I put in a combined thousand hours into that game. No, I didn't play a fucking second of that game. No, and it's come out so many times. Like it had the initial next gen launch and then it hit last gen a couple months later and then it just

came out for Switch like a couple of months ago. It's like, get over it. Stop. Stop with this. I'm just gonna shout out games that I should have played. Okay? I get a list too psvr2 should have played more of that i fucking i got gran turismo and was like i'm getting a racing chair didn't get a racing chair you should have gotten a racing chair uh i didn't play enough

of octopath traveler 2 downloaded it, it's ready to go. That's on my list as well. It's supposed to be incredible. Didn't play a second of the Resident Evil 4 remake beyond what we did. Did play Last of Us Part 1 remake with my wife who really loves Last of Us and she played the whole thing and I watched

and it was really sweet. But I didn't play uh street fighter 6 after that initial launch period no time just didn't do it uh the aforementioned fucking jedi survivor uh i didn't play aliens dark descent and i love an aliens license have not beat Baldur's Gate 3 still I'm in the first chapter the first chapter because I that's a that's a big chapter because I fucking killed too many NPCs

on accident I just found out that there was a I killed a potential party member oh I didn't even know. That's on you. It's not on me. She attacked us.

Mm. She just opened up on my party and I fucking slayed her and then, what's his name, was really upset. I was like, how could you have done this?

A stand-up? Were you in the midst of slaughtering a village? Because that's the kind of thing you would do. No. Look, I have never, except for the Goblin Village, rolled into a place with slaughter on lock.

OK, I have I have been guilty of somebody says you can't go in that room. And I'm like, that's not the kind of character I am. I'm getting in that fucking room. And then I open the door and they're like, we said, don't go in that room. And they open up on me and then I have to wipe them out. And then everybody witnesses, right? They come to those people's aides.

And they like, just if you, if you encounter somebody who's like, I have to eat all the cheese that I find, let them eat the cheese or don't show them where the cheese is. I never played a second of Starfield. And I really, really wanted to play Starfield.

I did fucking beat Final Fantasy 16. What was I thinking? Hey. You know, this game I don't think has really come up on this show at all. And I don't know if it's on either of your radars at all, but I was interested in trying it and just never got around to it. But I've heard nothing but great things from people that have spent a lot of time with it.

Marvel's Midnight Suns. Does that have any interest to you? Matt, that's at the top of my list because it's a late 2022 release. Yeah. But it's like a tactical combat game that supposedly has a really 2022 release. Yeah. But that's the, you know, it's like a tactical combat game that supposedly has a really good story to it. I'm not, I don't love Marvel. I like don't really just, it's just not a thing I was ever into.

And, but I, but I've heard, but you know, the kind of gameplay this has is really, you know, seems super compelling to me. And this was a game I bet I would love if I had some time for it. But I'm also like, am I going to play a 60 hour tactical combat game? I don't know. You might. Probably not.

I mean, I might, but I don't know. I was interested in it because, yeah, I do like Marvel and Marvel games like and I have not played a ton of tactics games, but I think with the right... I played the Marvel Rabbids, the first one. I never finished it, but I played that. Mario Rabbids. Mario Rabbids, yeah. And man, I mean, let's put the Rabbids in more things.

Rabbids are great. That game has a surprising amount of tactical depth. I mean, it's like, you know, if you like that game, I mean, you'd like like XCOM. Yeah. And this is the XCOM developer. So, you know, it's... I don't know.

I mean, yeah seemed it's that game that game definitely was on my radar and I'm just kind of like the kind of guy that's like just dumb enough to be like I like this one because it has the characters that I like like like I would just that's like enough for me to be

like I should try this one but it's on it's still it's on my wish list waiting for a deep sale. That's where a lot of these games go to die, unfortunately, is the wish list. And then they do get purchased when they hit the arbitrary threshold I've decided. And never to be played. 67% off. Great.

That'll go in my library and I'll log zero hours in it. Exactly. I know the feeling. Very common. Yeah, that one's on my list. Keep going, Matt. I was going to say,

are either of you Pikmin people? Did you ever play Pikmin? I was not a Pikmin person. I did play the first Pikmin and I enjoyed it, but I did play the first Pikmin and I enjoyed it. But, you know, it was not the masterpiece. I think I maybe had expectations for and didn't really keep up with the franchise after that.

I can't remember. I think it was Pikmin three that everyone's like Pikmin three rips. Maybe it's Pikmin two. But I saw Pikmin four. I mean, I know Pikmin four did come out. Yeah, it was one I was planning on just passing on. All four Pikmin games are available on Switch. And it's like the only Nintendo property where that is true.

Like where all the games are on it. And it's so crazy to me. I guess it's easier because there are fewer of them. But you can play any pikmin any of the pikmin games on switch now which is great if you're a pikmin fan uh but i've not i've never played one i did play a little bit of play i don't know if that's what you call it but um i experienced rather pikmin bloom are you familiar with this? It's like Pokemon Go, but Pikmin. Yeah, it's a mobile one, yeah. And I liked that for like

two days, and then just didn't keep up with it. Right. And another game that I did purchase and have not had time to play yet, Oxenfree 2 Lost Signals. I loved the first Oxenfree so much.

And this is like a sort of like two lost signals. I loved the first oxen free so much. Um, and this is like a, Hmm. Sort of like supernatural mystery adventure game. And when the second one was coming out, I was like pretty hyped for it and bought it on release day. And then just still have not, I don't even know what was out. It came out in July.

So July was pretty packed, if I recall. But I just didn't even get a chance to play it. I have my. Did you have more on your list? I mean, there's like a million games. But like, yeah, what did you have? I've got a few here i do have one question that i'll put a pin in but i do want to ask both of you because i

think it's a game that i kind of would expected both of you to be into and that we haven't talked about it on the podcast but yeah marvel's midnight suns was mentioned persona 4 gold and dead space remake uh here's a big one we taught we did we did a whole episode about coffee talk on this podcast coffee talk episode two hibiscus and butterfly came out this year and i had a little bit of a visual bug i was dealing with on the pc version uh that i just just kind of made me it had to do with like you know i've said before i have this widescreen monitor and it just like didn't didn't support that resolution and i couldn't find a way to make it both

playable and aesthetically pleasing and I don't know if that's a thing that's been fixed in an update. I haven't tried it again. I haven't tried to play it on a different platform but again, a game I really enjoyed. A game I played all of. I streamed a good amount of when I was

streaming and I finished on my own uh the first one and then just have not really put any time into episode two but that's one i plan on returning to um uh ryogaga toku uh rgg uh which is the developer of yakuza uh slash like a dragon released two games this year at least has released one and then has another one that's coming out in november uh like a dragon ishin which i saw at least has released one, and then has another one that's coming out in November. Like a Dragon Isshin, which I saw is coming to Game Pass soon. And then Like a Dragon Gaiden, the man who erased his name, which is coming in November. And I was like, fuck, I loved Yakuza 0.

I played the shit out of it. I finished. I didn't 100% it, but I finished a lot of the quest lines, a lot of the side quests, and finished the game. And that's the only one in the franchise that I've played. And after I finished it, I may have even said this to my guests, I was like, I want to play all these games. I just didn't make time for

it. That is one where just looking at that and looking at how the backlog is growing even further, I was just like, I just got to fucking make this a project. I've just got to get like, go through and just play through all of their, these games or play through at least the big ones. Yeah.

Just really dig in on this franchise that I know I'll really love. Cause I really liked the one game that I played in it. But yeah, there were two more that came out this year and they're, they're both supposedly or at least the first one was well received. And I'm sure the second one will be good as well uh there's a game that came out a puzzle game maybe just for me here uh but but chance of sonar uh is the one i've heard a lot of uh of buzz about and uh that one is you know uh it's it's just i like again i haven't made time for it yet but that one's on my radar

and then finally the other one is and this one I'm going to do because I already downloaded on Game Pass and I know it's like a game. It's like six hours long, but Cocoon. Which came out just in September, I think, and there was someone in the in our discord who had recommended it to me specifically, and I apologize for not having your name at the ready. But this is one of the developers of Limbo and Inside, which we've covered on the pod. I was behind this one. It is very puzzle-focused,

but it is a game that just I'm sure is completely up my alley. So yeah, those are what I got on my list. But I did want to ask both of you about uh assassin's creed uh mirage which is heather you put so much time into valhalla and matt you know i know this isn't prince of persia but it is like you know a ubisoft game this kind of prince of Persia ask. And I know you love that franchise.

Have either of you considered putting any time at Assassin's Creed Mirage? Matt, why don't you go first? I haven't been able to consider that because every time I get an Assassin's Creed game. I jump off of it. And it's not even from disliking it. I think they're really fun and they're great games. But I've tried so many times with Assassin's Creed, and I think just how big they are kind of turns me off of it. I understand that this one has more of a stealth focus

and is maybe smaller than some of the other ones too, which is appealing, but I haven't... That one was one that I was considering. That was on my list as well, but I just don't know if I'll get to it this year at all, ever. Heather, how about you? Well, I recently dabbled a little bit more in Valhalla because I've had Viking madness.

And one of the things that I cannot bear is to return to a video game. Actually, maybe i should have talked about this for what what am i playing um you return to a video game and there is every icon is incomprehensible it's been a year or or more than a year and you're like i don't know what any of these lights up at the top of my fucking map mean i don't know what you know which one is a quest which one is like interesting landmark

or treasure or what. Like, I just want to keep going and doing a little bit more of the story DLC for the Siege of Paris, which I dropped. I

don't, I guess I don't like Assassin's Creed games. I like Viking stuff. Oh, that makes sense. And the idea of like seeing the reviews where they're like sneaking

is a return to form in Assassin's Creed. And I'm like, wow, that's I'm not that interested in that. Although I did see a special move where the main character.

I don't know what his name is. Maybe it's Basim. I'm not sure. You're right. It's Basim. All right. It's great because you meet that guy in in valhalla um there is a move that he does where he's so fast that the uh animus cannot keep up with what he's doing so it just looks like he's glitching from murder to murder, which is kind of a charming special move. Like somebody who's teleporting all around the screen

because the animus can't render how fast he's moving. Great, cool. But I'm not, yeah, it's just not, I'm not really into Assassin's Creed games on their own. I'm into eras of history. And if the Assassin's Creed game happens to cover. I'm into eras of history. And if the Assassin's Creed game happens to cover that, then I'll be into it.

Then I'll be like, oh, okay, I'll fucking jump in for this. That makes sense. If there was a 1920s Paris Assassin's Creed game, I'd play 300 hours of that. Or like, man, can you imagine a Paleolithic Assassin's Creed game, I'd fucking I'd play 300 hours of that. Or like. Man, can you imagine a paleolithic Assassin's Creed game that would be hype as fuck, like

if you're if it was just a game that was exploring everything we know about. Like pre Mesopotamian society and you were an assassin, that would be great. But yeah, no, I'm, I'm skipping it. And not if you, I did you ever play Far Cry Primal?

That's the only game I can think of. That's like that. Yeah, I did not. I didn't either, but I, that feels like they get that game. That would be extremely your shit.

Yeah. Um, uh, yeah, that's, uh, by the way, it's bold a sore in our, in our discord who, uh, recommended cocoon that's on the way it's boldasaur in our in our discord who recommended cocoon

that's on game pass um and uh yeah i am i am looking forward to checking this out but it's it's another one in my backlog currently here's a question for the panel is there a 2022 game you missed that you planned on getting to this year that you still haven't gotten to? God of War Ragnarok. Yeah. Yeah, that's it for me too. I got that bad boy in shrink wrap like a fucking idiot. I've got... Fucking idiot. Why did I buy that week when I knew I was going to have time for it? Several hours this summer that I spent

playing God of War Ragnarok and I just had to bounce off for Cyberpunk or whatever it is that we were... i you know probably fortnite yeah uh yeah no yeah you wanted dessert not your vegetables um i my first one that comes to mind for me is Horizon 2. Horizon Forbidden West. Was that 2022?

Maybe it came out the same year as Elden Ring. But I got it last year. Time is so fucking hard to track. It came out in 2022. Early entry. But yeah, I never finished it. And I finished the first one, I think the week this one came out

and was like super into it. And then Elden Ring came out and was like, well, I'm going to play Elden Ring. And just, yeah, never got back to this. I also never got back to, I mean never got back to I mean it's kind of a joke on our show at this point but I never got started with Strangers in

Paradise talk about shrink wrap oh sure yeah I played enough of that to know it was super fun but I didn't want to play it alone yeah we should have just covered it. I was going to say the... I mean, we could next month. I was going to say the

game... My real answer is Ragnarok, which Heather mentioned, but the other answer, and it's back on my radar, Matt, for the factor you just said, it's on deep sale currently, and I am thinking of buying it. In 2022, there was an indie game called Domekeeper that came out that was really well received.

It's a roguelike and it's about like, you know, you're a minor and you're just trying to dig deeply while like monsters are attacking your sci-fi habitat. And it's, you know, it's aesthetically very cool. And I just it just seems it's the kind of game that i know i'd really enjoy uh and i just like have not made time for it so uh but yeah that that that's one that's that definitely i don't know maybe i'll get to it at some point but that's that's one from last year's backlog that i still haven't played it's so it's so tough like because yeah in the in the even over you know this oh yeah no that's that's why I included man who erased his

name because that one's coming up and there's no chance there's no fucking way in hell that come November I'm going to be making time like all right here we go there's I mean when this episode releases at the end of this week spider-man fucking 2 comes out and I'm getting that and I'm

dropping whatever I'm doing it's too many games I love my Spideys it's too many fucking games here's a I mean like should we should we try to come up with some sort of positive resolution

to this should we try to be like hey let's try to have some sort of plan of action let's try to say like hey this is you know what i can't get to everything but this is maybe this is one thing i want to prioritize or is the right way to end this just like accepting the chaos accepting the misery the impossibility of being able to tackle everything. All three of us just straight into the camera like at the end of Oldboy, just looking horrified. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, of the games that we talked about, most of which are unpurchased. So I think those will just be where they are currently. I'm not going to be doing I'm not going to jump into Marvel Midnight Suns. That's not a resolution that I'm going to get into. But when there's a

lull this year, if there is a lull, I wouldn't mind getting back into Horizon Forbidden West and finishing that. I feel like that's an easy box I can check. Right. And that's actionable. Yeah.

I think that's a good, I think that seems like a good plan of action. Yeah. That seems like a good way. I mean, because like, I'm just looking at that, like, and, you know, a game I didn't mention that I've just like, I kind of gave up on, but Jagged Alliance 3.

I played Jagged Alliance 1 and 2 on pc as a kid these are again tactical games and these are you know i fucking finished those games those games were those games were were big and daunting hell yeah um and and jagged alliance 3 came out this year and it's like one of those games where it's like it's been 20 years 25 years since there's been a proper sequel uh and i just sort of like, it was like, well, look, I don't know. Maybe it was maybe,

maybe like 10 years ago or 15 years ago, if this game came out, I'd have time for it. But now I'm just like, I'm just going to kind of ignore it. I kind of accept that. I'm probably just never going to get to that. And that,

that I can make peace with armored core six. Another one. I know both of you played that game. I think that game is probably up both of your alleys a little bit more than it is mine I can kind of make peace with just not playing that so interesting Nick doesn't seem to like perfect video games I'm sure it's awesome but I but I'm also like look if I'm going to make time for Armored Core 6 shouldn't I just play fucking Bloodborne

you know from soft game that I've never played and that's part of my calculation with those sorts of things of like I should finally get to Bloodborne I should finally restart Hollow Knight and actually finish it because I love Metroidvania so much and I know that's what everyone says is the best one and I just

have never gotten all the way through it speaking of bloodborne on my list also lies of p i heard lies of p is great lies of p is supposed to be awesome yeah when it's about fucking pinocchio yeah yeah maybe we should cover it if this that's you know that's that's what that that we're we're in in some sense extremely, in a big sense, extremely lucky to have this podcast and to be able to monetize a hobby. But it also turns into, well, the only way we can justify actually playing something sometimes is to turn it into content.

Well, and this is the the thing because we've changed formats uh you know from our previous iteration where we would cover a game every single week right uh like a bad or weird game and then uh from there we scaled back and we would do like three episodes like that a month and then one episode where it was like you know just, just kind of talking about games. And now it's like, now it's this, where it's like a different format, sort of like, not format, but a different topic every single week. And we're still like, games, what do we do? What do we do?

Any situation we put ourselves in, we can find a way to make it hell. No, the problem is not the show. The problem is that this is a punishing hobby, A, financially, which is a thing we haven't even talked about. Like, you know, like, not at, hey,

not everyone is lucky enough to be able to classify these expenditures as business expenses. So, like, if you're going out of pocket for all your games, like, that's, like, fucking absurd because these things are so fucking expensive uh and then be just like so demanding of your time like we none of us have children like if you have fucking kids how the fuck are you supposed to make time for a goddamn 80 hour

rpg what the fuck are you supposed to do do you know what i'm gonna do at the end of this as of the airing of this episode this week I'm going to fucking get Super Mario Wonder I am going to play Super Mario Wonder you know what that's a good that's a good bit of positivity Super Mario Wonder is a game that I am 100% going to play regardless of anything else that's

going on in my life and it's going to be the first Super Mario game where I actively avoid a power up oh because you're not going to get the elephant. Heather, this is ridiculous. You're going to go out of your way to avoid the elephant? I'm going to play hard mode. No elephant. There's going to be a part you can't

progress through without the elephant. I'm confident they're going to do that to make you use it. No Mario game ever makes it impossible to do something without a power-up, does it? Super Mario Sunshine made that game uh impossible to uh be fun

uh there i think there might be a tutorial say like a segment or something where you have to use a particular ability sure and then you can like i don't know immediately jump off a cliff reset so your regular mario and pro and progress without elephant Mario. I am.

I am 100% looking forward to playing that game is only elephant Mario. But I, but yes, that is a game. I'm definitely going to make sure to make time for. And you know what? The other one, I probably won't make time for this,

but review contingent. I, I, I'm, I'm gonna't make time for this but review contingent I I'm gonna I hope it's well received because I might is the Robocop game that's coming out November yeah they fucking love Robocop it looks kind of good I've seen play

throughs of it and it's I mean the only thing that's good about it is that it it still functions as satire because of the absurd violence of RoboCop against all of the NPCs. You can't run, so you're just marching through these rooms, blowing people away really graphically, or grabbing them by the throat and throwing them through the wall. Look, uh, of course,

a, R I a, a R C a B, but, but it does seem like a fun thing to fly to be Robocop. Yeah. It seems pretty good. Yeah.

I don't know. I think, I think of the list that i've got i think the one i am definitely going to to i mean i mentioned cocoon i'm definitely gonna play that but i think i'm also gonna go back to coffee talk too i think i just like i really that's a really chill vibes game and i i'm i'm pretty sure i'm gonna actually play that one uh any other thoughts on this yeah on this crushing discussion i think it's it's, you know, it's a blessing and a curse, isn't it? You know, it's great that we live in this, well, I don't know if it's great that we live in this world, but it's great.

Certainly not. It's great that so many good video games come out and we get to be, you know so lucky to to play so many great video games uh it is unfortunate that so many good ones uh don't get talked about on the show uh and that we just never get to mortal kombat one we didn't even talk about mortal kombat one that's out people seem to like it if you like mortal kombat uh you know what i what i've kind of realized and look i listen other video game podcasts too and i i think just just uh the the thing is because this is these genres are so fucking big all right maybe these games are so fucking big and even individual genres are so fucking big that like you can just be like a fighting game person that can just be

your identity you can just dedicate yourself to that. And we have like, you know, we have Heather, who's part of our show, who is the most into fighting games. But I also, Heather, I feel like you're most focused on Street Fighter. Yes? Yeah, yeah.

So I think we just had kind of, I think you kind of just have to. I mean, I accept as a listener, I don't know if our, maybe what I would say to our listeners who are hoping for us to cover everything is that we all have our own individual tastes and focus. And we are going naturally. The podcast is just going to center on those things, the things that we're most interested in and most knowledgeable about. We're going to we're going to die before we can play all the games. We're going gonna die before we can play all the games hmm we're gonna die

before we can play all the games that's the big takeaway yeah yeah and that's a shirt we're gonna put that on a shirt hey that was our discussion of too many games.

How about a segment? All right, sure. Here's a segment for you. Can Heather and Nick guess the game based on a brief clip of the boss theme? It's time for Who's the Boss? Love it. This was hard last time, I think. This was hard last time.

It might also be hard today. Okay, great. But we'll see how it goes here. I'm confident that you guys will do a good job. So all you have to do is hear a brief... I'm going to play a brief clip of a song. You have to tell me what game it's from. And if you can tell me what game it's from, you get a point.

You can get a bonus point if you can tell me who the boss is. Okay, so here we go. Why don't we start off with this one right here. This sounds so familiar. Any guesses? This plays during a boss fight. That's right. Can I? And I just have to pick the game? Yes.

Donkey Kong Country. Oh, yeah. Heather, that is correct. Oh, yeah. Would you like to maybe get a bonus point and tell me who the boss is? Nope. I'll just guess it's K. Rool. That is correct. King K. R so uh who else is gonna be uh

so you both had one one you go yeah you both have one one uh that's that's pretty nice i was thinking oh the the i kind of got stuck there mentally i got i got i blocked myself and i was only thinking in terms of jrpgs and i like, of course it could be fucking any game, you stupid idiot. So I'm hopefully I'll get past the mental block now. It can be from any game. And so why don't we hear the next song? Here we go. Heather.

Heather. Metal Gear Solid 2. Wow, Heather is correct. Any guesses on... The Boss? Nope. Nope. I did know this was a Metal Gear.

But as for which one it was, which boss it is, I'll just guess Olga. That's the first boss, right? I believe that is the first boss, but it's incorrect. That is the theme for Solidus Snake. Oh, it's Solidus. Yeah, so Heather has two points, Nick has one. Moving right along, here is the next one. Silent Hill 2. Heather, that is incorrect.

God, what is that? I think I know it. What is that sort of just thumping bass? Is this a horror game? I know you're not going to give any hints. I'll say yes, it is. Oh, I think I know what it is. Ah, I fucked up.

Is it a Resident Evil? Okay, well, want me to just tell you what it is? Resident Evil... I mean, I'll guess it because we covered it on the pod. Resident Evil 4. It is from Resident Evil 4. That is correct. Now, which boss? I can't remember the names of any of the fucking bosses.

Is it the big lake monster? It is not. Heather, would you care to guess? Yeah, it's that big ogre. Hmm. The big rock-throwing ogre guy. I'll give it to you. Mr. Spaghetti.

I don't know what his name is. What is his name? El Gigante. There it is. Oh, okay, okay. It's El Gigante from Resident Evil 4. Yeah. A great one. As soon as I opened my dumb mouth, there it is oh okay okay it's El Gigante from Resident Evil 4 yeah a great one as soon as I opened my

dumb mouth I was like I recognize this uh here's another one here we go let me refresh what the score is is uh Heather 3 Nick 2 Heather 3 Nick 2

here is the next theme. Weiger, is this Metroid Prime? That is correct. Wow. Is this... Is this Ridley? Nick, it is not. I don't know the names of these characters,

so I'm just going to say Mother Brain. No, it is the titular Metroid Prime. It's the titular Metroid Prime. It's the titular Metroid Prime. Okay. But... God damn it. It's okay. Are we tied?

I overthought it, because I was like, it's not going to be Metroid Prime in Metroid Prime. Yeah. But it was. It was. Moving right along. Wait, are we tied? It is a tie game. Okay, great. Here was. Moving right along. Wait, are we tied? It is a tie game.

Okay, great. Here's the next boss theme. Heather. Nick. Oh. I heard Nick first. I'm going to guess this is very Final Fantasy. I'm going to guess this is very Final Fantasy I'm going to guess recency bias

Final Fantasy 16 that is correct any guesses on the boss it's fire guy ifreet that is incorrect this is Ifrit. That is incorrect. This is...

Titan. Also incorrect. It is, of course... Ultimalius. Of course. How could we forget Ultimalius? Yeah. Nick's in the lead now.

Four to three. And this is the final song. Here we go. Oh, shit. This is so familiar. Uh, Heather. Heather. Elden Ring. Incorrect. Incorrect.

What the fuck is this? I've also... I've played this fucking game. God damn it. I know we know what this is. Um... I don't know tell me it's Colossus 16 from Shadow of the Colossus

we just fucking covered it boo boo I lost I'm so dumb cause I lost and I'm dumb and I'm bad at the game. Boo! This is why the game is hard. We covered that game last month. It is fresh in our minds.

We've heard that song a bunch of times in our lives and hearing it now in this context and it's guess what this is. You're still like, I don't fucking know. Yeah. Well, it's also because there are too many games. There's too many. How could you remember everything all the time? Thesis proven. Yeah.

But Nick is our winner. Nick is the winner of who's the boss. Hell yeah. I guess I'm the boss. Oh, shit. That's this week's Get Played. Our engineering is by Alex Gonzalez, Dead Air Alex G on Twitter and Instagram. And also, you know, we're going to be playing Cyberpunk 2077, The Phantom Liberty for this month's pod.

But we are also watching the anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners on our sister show, Get Animated. And if you check out that show on Patreon.com slash get animated. You'll listen to us be berated by Ash Ketchum every week. That's right. But yeah, we're watching. What are we in episodes five and six? This will be five and six this week. Yeah.

Yeah. Five and six of cyberpunk edge runners. The show is clipping along lots of reveals. And even if you aren't a big fan of cyberpunk, the game, people like the anime. So great anime. It's on Netflix.

Feel free to check it out and then check out the check out our shows. Well, also Matt did something, which is that now all of our episodes on our Patreon are organized by the series we covered. So you can find our backlog of all of our Evangelion, Full Watch Through, Lakerous Recoil, Chainsaw Man, all the myriad shows we have covered over the course of GetAnimated's existence. So that is all available now on our Patreon if you want to dig into back catalog and and watch any of those shows along with us in the past. Hell, yeah, I said it earlier. I got played this week.

It was me. Yeah, I got it.