Get Played - Soulsborne Games with Sam Brown

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

Sam Brown from The Whitest Kids U' Know joins Matt, Heather and Nick to talk about FIFA, FC Ultimate Team, and dig into the world of "Soulsborne" games. Stream The Whitest Kids U’ Know on the Shout! TV app starting May 1st! Donate to Al Otro Lado here or go to gum.fm/charity and donate today.You can also consider volunteering with the organization, which offers opportunities that are both in-person and virtual. The best way to get involved is by filling out an application on their website at alotrolado.org/volunteer.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @getplayedpod.Music by Ben Prunty benpruntymusic.com.Art by Duck Brigade duckbrigade.com.Check out our Anime watch-along podcast Get Anime'd and our complete Get Played, How Did This Get Played? and Premium DLC back catalogue only on patreon.com/getplayed. Join us on our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/getplayedWanna leave us a voicemail? Call 616-2-PLAYED (616-275-2933) or write us an email at [e-mail] Advertise on Get Played via Gumball.fmSee 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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Oh My god guys I am so excited to play the Elden Ring DLC that's coming out I feel like I got to go back into the game and and like check out where my guy like where's my character been all This time and like yeah, I don't remember anything. I don't even remember what's in my inventory. I don't really remember I've been thinking about doing this to you. I don't remember my build at all I just remember like having a blast when we were doing it. I think I'd like to boot it up right now as well. Yeah. Yeah, well let's all boot it up and let's look at our character's inventories. Alright, cool.

Yeah, it's been years, it hasn't been that long but it feels longer. It feels like a long time. Alright, oh okay I remember this, I have the giant ant head shield, because I thought it was really funny to have that ant head, remember that ant head shield? Yeah, yeah. It was pretty good. Let's see, I got stone sword key, cracked pot. Oh yeah, this is all coming back, right?

I'm remembering this stuff. Yeah, death root, the dark moon ring. Oh yeah, I got like a dectus medallion. Right, right, right, right, the end of the two halves. All right, roo-roo raisins, I think those, I think those I feed those to the yeah, right to torrent right yeah Giants prayer book I remember that being pretty interesting. Wait hold on what this is I got a dead dog's dick I think it was for a quest didn't you like reunite like you had to bring it back to a cemetery or something Oh, that sounds right like yeah, you have like, assume the dog and give him his dick back.

This dog was cursed to play fetch with his dead dick until you could actually return it to him. Yeah, I know. I remember that. I've got black dumpling in here. The sword of, the sword of Milo. Okay, that's a spinal sword. That's good. What's, what is this? Your own mother's sadness.

Your own mother's sadness. Your own mother's sadness. What boss was this from? Well, you know what? Cause remember we were playing on PS5 and like the DualSense controller has a way to like feel how you feel. Yeah.

That's imported through the back paddles, I think. I have something here called Morgoth, Omen King's taint skin. I don't remember that. I don't remember that. I have something here called morgoth of omen king's taint skin. Why but I Don't remember that. I don't remember that. I know it's like it's this it's not the whole Thing it's just the skin. It's just the top layer. Yeah. No, I do remember this right? He's all nasty looking so he's sort of like I mean he looks if I'm being honest You look the whole skin looks like taint skin, So I don't know what makes this one so special. It doesn't give you that much.

But I remember that was pretty tough. Okay, I'm encumbered and I don't know why I'm carrying three Bic pens. Like, why do I have three Bic pens in my inventory? I don't even remember where I picked those up. Like, why didn't I drop those? I think you get those in the same biome where you get Morgoth's taint skin.

Oh, okay. I think it's all the same area. It's like the same quest line. Those are, you know what too, like they, those are actually, I wouldn't drop those because those help you out big time in Rinala's library. Okay. Yeah. Okay, okay.

All right, let's see, well, I got the, oh yeah, I was just gonna, the little weapon I used to go through the game, the winged scythe. Oh yeah, that was a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah, you were scythe-billed. Yeah, and then, oh, what's this? I got another dead dog's dick.

You, I think, I remember reading about that. Was it quest bugged? That's sort of like a known glitch. Oh, got it, got it. I have a bunch of, I went on this whole thing with spirit ashes. I had so many different spirit ashes. I remember there's the clean rot night,

Finlay of course, the fanged imp, but I'm seeing one right here that says your bitch ass. Yeah, it's weird, cause I got that one too. I got another spirit ash too for a Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oh, Ruth Konda forever. That's the one where you summon her. You summon her, yeah.

And she fights alongside you? She fights, yeah. But then she dies at like the worst possible time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have Giza's Wheel, Shibiri Grape, Toilet Lid. That's a really powerful shield. Okay. That's like an S tier shield. So you could do a lot worse in the toilet lid.

Do you want to rank shields in an upcoming episode? Oh, that's a good idea. We could do a lot worse Do you want to rank shields in an upcoming episode? That's a good idea we could do yeah like the the sheet like we could do it like Agents of shield and it's all our shield tier list. Yeah, that's a good idea for a future episode Matt Okay, wait hold on hold on this one. I do not understand how this got here Dead dogs take I do not understand how this got here Dead dog stick I think you modded your game. I did I download the dead dog stick mod I'm realizing. Give me your controller. Give me your controller. Okay. He used a duping. He used a duping glitch

There's 150 dead dog sticks in his inventory. I was playing on PC. I got some mods, I'll admit it. You somehow modded it so like when you attack it doesn't swing it, it just shoves them in your own mouth? It's the dead dog dick redemption mod. We die and die as we discuss all things FromSoft Games this week on 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 Weigert. That's me, Nick Weigert, and I'm here with our third host, Matt Apodaca.

Hello, everyone. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the premiere of premiere video game podcast where sometimes we talked about bad games. Sure. And then we talked about other games. Right. Because playing the bad games every week made us miserable and so then we started playing other games. And this week we're doing just that.

We're talking about other games. Not just other games, games that some would consider, including myself, among the greatest games ever made. Wow, we're gonna be spending some time in that neck of the woods when we get into it. And joining us for this exercise, our guest today from the whitest kids you know streaming May 1 on shout TV for free. Sam Brown is here. Hi, Sam. Hey. Hi, Sam. Thanks for being here.

You're welcome. I'm so sorry that it's not me and Zach, like it was supposed to be. It's, it's fine. Yeah. I feel like, I feel like you're stuck with me. We're happy to have you. We're stuck with me.

We're thrilled to have you. We're happy, we're more than thrilled to have you. Honestly, I didn't even want Zach here. You guys had a date with the Davis sisters, the hot Davis sisters, but the hot one didn't show up. Who are the Davis sisters? I don't know, I made them up. Oh, I thought you were doing... I thought you were referencing some act from the big band era. Yeah.

Can I ask a question of the boys? I wish I knew that much about the big band. So when it's like the Playboy concept of like, oh, you're going on a date with those two hot sisters, are you imagining that they are actual sisters or is it like conceptually, they're not literally related? That's a good question. That's a good question.

All women as sisters. I mean I do too We're all sisters in a sisterhood of sisters. Yeah, that's right I mean I think it was a thing where it was like people were like, oh, yeah sisters and they weren't thinking about it and Then like and they're like, oh and twins. Yes That's why I was thinking of the chorus like fantasy. And they don't think about like, yeah Oh, those are, you know two girls that used to take baths together with children. Yeah, because I would imagine like if it was like a threesome or something and you're all making out. But then the sisters started making out, there'd be a moment where you'd be like, oh.

That'd be too, right? That's an incestuous act. It would take you out of it. I need to call the police. But I think there are, I think there is a segment. An incest police over here. Hello. I think there is a segment of a horn dog that is into that.

They are into the taboo. But I think the line that most people draw is step, right? Cause that's where like porno ends up being all step. Yeah. Yeah. I've heard. One day. One day you'll see a porno. One day I'll get one of those porno mags in here. Sam, I wanted to ask you, because we are going to talk about Bloodborne games.

We're going to talk about the Dark Souls games. Sekiro. We're going to talk about all that. From software. From soft games. We're going to talk about that in a minute. But I wanted to ask you, because're gonna talk about that in a minute. But I wanted to ask you, because another thing you talked about doing was FIFA. You are a FIFA head.

It ties into the whole like blood-borne thing. Yeah. This is, I was excited. I'm a new dad, and FIFA right now is like perfect for my life, because I can just play it for 15 minutes. Right. And then put it down. Oh, I just played a match, put it down.

The thing that I got into recently, and it started like before FIFA used to play, and I call it FIFA, it's now FCEA. Oh right, they lost the FIFA license, right? But I used to play the Winning 11 before that. Oh, yeah, the Konami games. I think he has three or ps2 Back in college and and me and my like in New York We had like a group of friends and we had this ongoing tally of who owed who a burrito over You know, it was just gambling on

FIFA we knew like it was just gambling on FIFA. We knew like, it was like one of those things where you would know like what players were like, had something bogus about them. And that just like continued on and on. And I feel like, I don't know, do you think that like, that in the world of video game fans, do you think that the sports video game fans are the nerds?

That's interesting. I think they're certainly viewed as like casual or like, yeah, I think maybe there is a case for that. Wow. I think the general, I think the kind of gamer that's playing like an FPS game or a fighting game, they do kind of look down on someone

who plays sports games, right? But on the other hand, I feel like stat min-maxing and stuff on sports games is like the thing that I hear about sports games. It's like you spend like a hundred hours in a menu before you play an actual round of the game. And that feels to me like nerdish. Oh, I had no idea how nerdy FIFA was to like two years ago.

I used to always, I was like addicted to Going deep into the player creator and creating myself Oh, yeah, like just like spending like hours. I was good at it like I would I would make the player like look like me and I would be like hey look. I'm the quarterback of the New England Patriots cool Yes, sit on the bench Brady quarterback of the New England Patriots. Cool. Yeah, sit on the bench, Brady. And it was like so much fun to it. And then like there was the games like the the basketball,

the NBA games, they would do the thing where they had like Spike Lee direct them. But that was great for me. And then like, well, FIFA did a really cool thing where they had like a really good like involved storyline Where I think that's the point where they completed it you could just buy the storyline You could like buy like, you know, they would come out with a new one every year But a couple years ago. I checked out ultimate team. I was like never into it

Yes, and do you know what ultimate team it is? My understanding is that it's EA's most profitable product now. I bet. Yeah. This is where you can, I'll let you describe it. It's turned FIFA into a card game. It's basically like Magic the Gathering, but with the players.

Wow. And you know, like it's pretty brilliant because it kind of, like in one way it levels the playing field where it's like, I don't know, like you have like base levels of the cards and then you get more like elaborate versions of the cards. And the fun thing is too, it's very like supportive to the like, the rise of women's sports where it's like you have those teams that have those

Those people like who are on the women's World Cup teams right and they're playing on teams with with you know it's it's What do you call it go ahead? Yeah, you know and So it's it's cool because it's like I'm not I like watching soccer I'm not the biggest soccer fan But a way I get to know the actual sports sometimes is through playing these games and I get to know like oh This is you know like Messi's a great player. I mean that one I knew yeah sure I think there are a lot of sports fans who are like that who like maybe their understanding of the NBA or

Or is from from 2k or their understanding of the NFL is from Madden. Like they play MLB the show, but they're not gonna sit down and commit four hours to watching a baseball game on television. Well, there was also this like statistic this week about like the WNBA draft and how like a few years ago, it had like less than 500,000 viewers.

And now it has like millions and millions of viewers. And I would have to imagine that this like multi-pronged injection of fandom from video games, from like EA's collaboration with them or what, like that there is a drive to make it as popular as it possibly can be, And that's been maximized. I can speak to the WNBA side a little bit more specifically real quick, which is that this was a college game,

but the college game, a women's game between Iowa and South Carolina was the number one rated basketball game of the past five years. Just basketball. That includes the NBA. That includes men's college. So like, yeah, there are a lot more eyeballs on the women's game right now.

Good way. Crazy in a good way. That's insane and it shouldn't happen. That's absurd. How many of these girls are sisters? Yeah. Yeah. Ha ha ha.

But going back to FIFA Ultimate Team, my understanding is, I have not messed around with it, but you can spend real money to buy real players. Is that kind of how it works? Or by the chance of getting a real player? Even more, yeah, it's the chance of getting a real, you can spend money on packs and it's this thing of like, it's gambling. It's this thing of like-

It's like loot boxes. Oh yeah, yeah, loot boxes. And I have this much, and it'll tell you, you have this much percentage. You have, you can spend 20 bucks on this pack of cards and you have an 80% chance of getting a player rated, like a diamond rated player. Yeah.

And it is addicting. And like plays you so well in that that like giving you that itch of addiction like because Also, the thing is is that like on top of this on top of this like oh wow This is a cool card that looks cool and all that you then get to go play online Yes, and play against people and all of a sudden you have this edge. You have this gear. And I mean, like it is, it is Destiny. It is like all these games. It is, you know, like Elden Ring, you know,

or not to jump the conversation, but like, it is one of those things where you can get the competitive, but like. But in Elden Ring you can't spend real money to get a competitive edge. But in some of these games you can. Like get the competitive, but like, but, but now then we can't spend real money to get a competitive edge. But in some of these games you can't like hearthstone, which is a game, a card game I played for a while. And then I realized, like once I started spending real money on it, I was like, this has to

stop because it's, it is absolutely addictive and it's designed to be addictive. It is predatory. And then it is something, especially the way hearthstone is balanced, which is like basically fundamentally Magic the Gathering, just simplified, the most powerful cards are like essential to compete at higher levels. So you have to spend real money or grind for thousands of hours, literally thousands of hours to have a chance

of winning at the highest level. Yeah, I mean, there is that grind and there is that thing of like, they'll circulate certain cards in certain ways and then they also have this whole like economy to it where They have challenges based on Trading in cards. Yes, like every card has a numerical value and every player is like oh the better players are rated like, you know, like 88 and above and

players are rated like you know like 88 and above and They'll be like are we're releasing this card you can Get this card if you trade in a team that's average is 88 so you trade in all these and Yeah, and they do it in a way that like it's like you can't like have doubles of certain cards like you you'd have to like Get rid of those and burn those so like I don't know You can't have two Rinaldos on the same roster or whatever. You two of the same Rinaldos So it's not like you it's not like you are just stockpiling all these cards the whole time it incentivizes Trading in your cards incentivize is like like taking part in the commerce of the pop.

Right, sure. And then like certain cards you can actually go on a market and sell, not like with money, but like with the game points. Sure. This is like the most boring episode of your show. No, no, it's really not. This is gripping. All the other ones are.

I'm weighing making a recommendation because I did you like other card games like is that Marvel snap okay? Yeah, Marvel snap. I look Marvel snap great design I just was playing it too much on my phone But I'm really like Marvel snap because I'm almost I kind of want to recommend Bellatro Bellatro rocks watch shows a poker based rogue leg So like you know in the kind of the same way that that sports kind of makes the FIFA I would recommend Bellatro. Bellatro rocks. Bellatro is a poker-based rogue-like. So, you know, in kind of the same way that sports kind of makes the FIFA, you know, the FIFA mode more accessible.

This one, since you already know the rules of card games, of a standard 52 card deck, it's like a little bit more easier to on-ramp. And it's not real money. It's not real money. It's single player, too. But it's endless. And you can just play it. That's the thing I was maybe going to not recommend is that you could just play it for the rest of your life

And I want to preface what I was saying about FIFA 2 is is that the I'm you know I maybe have bought like a pack here and there like a $5 pack. It's like No, I'm embarrassed. I am embarrassed. I spent so much money on Final Fantasy Record Keeper. There was like a mo, I don't even know if it still exists, a mobile phone based game where it was the same like you'd buy a pack of chance to get a character

that you could then drop into your party. And it would be like, oh, I really want Cloud. So I'll spend 99 cents? Sure, I'll spend, okay, that was, I'll spend 99 more cents. If I had to guess how much money I spent in Simpsons Tapped Out, it is not less than $200. Yeah.

Like it's definitely more than that. To Fortnite's credit, none of the things you spend money on in fortnight change the game at like the game itself No, that's that's part of the genius of it. It's it's like all it's all cosmetic. Yeah for sure Final is your keeper by the way was I it changes the game cuz I'm laughing seeing Peter Just to just to put a bow on Final Fantasy Record Keeper, it went offline September 29th, 2022. Oh, well. Everything you love, just go the way.

All of that money I spent on trying to get Cloud. I mean, they have us by the balls. That's the other thing I wanted to mention. That's the thing, yeah. The other crazy thing about this is that You know like it's one thing if you're playing Grand Theft Auto Grand Theft Auto 5 when did Grand Theft Auto 5 come out boy? I feel like it's 2013 now. Yeah, yeah, and they just build on that and people are you know one year for my brother's birthday

You just had his birthday. Happy birthday Nate. Happy birthday Hey, this is your brother. Oh, you guys are the same brother. Yeah, I mean But And twins. But That game like it doesn't turn over it's like gonna turn over in like what? 2026 they're gonna. Yeah the next one and so like all your money is still like hey you bought something that costs a lot of money It's still there right yeah, FIFA something that costs a lot of money, it's still there. Right. Yeah. FIFA, it's, I have till like October.

Like I'm building up this thing that's gonna disappear soon. Wow. So it's gone at the end of the season. At the end of the season, yeah. I mean, and I wonder like, it's one of those things where I'm like, oh, this game would be like so much better if this was just like, if I could be proud of this team

and if I could just keep building it and building it and building it. But it's just gonna, I know it's just gonna go away. Well, if they made a subscription, and I hate to give them this idea, but you could make FIFA Eternal and it could be a subscription service like Netflix and it would be a single service like Netflix, and it would be a single game

that they would update graphically, like they have with WoW or Final Fantasy XIV, but you could create a roster and raise that roster and continue to play with those guys. I mean, who wouldn't pay money for that? Here's the thing. Why? Like, they're already, it's why is clear to us

because we would be like, oh, it's more enjoyable. Yeah, sure. And I think more money for them, right? If it was a subscription service? I think with subscription services, I think they're always gonna make more money versus an ongoing subscription of having like, getting people to go back to the well over and over again,

because they make so much money from whales. I think so, I don't know for sure. I mean like like They have people on the line for for $80 a year. Yeah much is subscription yeah, that's already and then like throw on throwing the fact that like I Mean the people at the top the whales yes game Are like they're in for it And when they you know get that new game, and they're probably paying 100 bucks

for the special edition, and they're probably like, once they get the new game, they're spending the money on those packs. Yeah. They are subscribed to it, you know, in that way of like, and they can grind, but they can also be like, oh, I could also just like, you know, some of these are just people who like stream FIFA.

Yeah, it's people like that, or it's like Ted Cruz, and you're like, this sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, because wasn't he like, he spent like a bunch of money in Diablo Immortal or something, if I'm remembering correctly. Oh, okay, I can't remember what game he spent money in,

but yeah, it is wild. We talked about it before on the podcast, but that congressman, the San Diego area Republican congressman who got busted for spending campaign funds at the Steam store. And then he gave a tearful press conference, like, I'm sorry. What is our world? I was just trying to play Waifu Select. I see that and I'm like they're just like me yeah which one would you more likely vote for? a guy who spent a ton of money at steam store or a guy who's like you know we've

got to check in on these video games we've got to regulate them I'd be like fuck I'm gonna vote for the Steam Store guy. Yeah. At least he knows what I like. The problem is they're the same guy. That's the issue. Yeah. They're just picking.

Yeah. Sam, this is all fascinating context. Super fucking fascinating. FIFA Ultimate Team is such a huge game that we've never spent any time talking about. It's funny, because that's like where I was, you know, I listen to you guys. Yeah, sure.

And I'm like, oh, they don't like sports games. We pretty much ignore sports games. You guys just did racing games, right? Yeah. We talked about this pretty recently, yeah. Yeah, well, you know, it's funny is that, you remember my birthday, like 2011 or 2012, when we went go-karting?

Yes. That was very fun. Awesome, thanks for the invite. In the height of me. Matt was 11 years old. It was in the height of me having a steering wheel and playing Gran Turismo. Oh wow.

And I knew the sort of physics of like, all right, this is when you're supposed to turn into a corner. And we started, we were going. And I remember that I was so excited about it. You put on the mask. I wore a racing suit. Like a onesie, yeah.

That we had from the, from White-est Kids to the go-kart track like a full-on my like big foot gravedigger sketch outfit And We started and I was like, oh like and I got out like this like early lead and I realized like oh am I just gonna like smoke everyone and be this thing where I invite everyone everyone to go-kart on my birthday. And I'm like, oh, I'm out in front of all you, screw you guys. And then Trevor rear-ended my friend Dan so hard,

or I forget who is who in this situation, but my friend Dan and Trevor got into an accident so bad that one of their helmet flew off. Like went up in the air. And so they had to shut down all the go-karts. Oh my God. And so like, you're just racing, you're racing, and then all of a sudden, cut power.

And all of a sudden, like, my go-kart stops, and I just see Heather's go-kart, like, coming by me. And I was just like, oh,-kart stops, and I just see Heather's go-kart coming by me. I was just like, oh, I'm the Donkey Kong in this race. And Heather's the toad. OK. And then, but no, you were great. You got the fastest lap on that first pole position race and then you won the second race.

Like, no problem. And it was like, yeah, of course. That's what I would expect. I love racing so much. Every time I- Racing is combat. Racing is everything. Anytime it's combat, I'm in. But every time I play like virtual reality

Grand Theft Auto, or not Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, I am like virtual reality Grand Theft Auto, or not Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, I am like button presses away from getting the entire car rig, like to get the seat and the adjustable wheel that has the motors in it and the pedal. Like it is so intoxicating and it's such a great temptation to be like,

you could go all in on this. And then you could become, to your point, you could micromanage the specs on the car in Gran Turismo, and it would be such a rabbit hole, you could never stop adjusting that car and getting some kind of effect in the game, or being like, hmm, I guess this differential doesn't matter as much as I thought it did

so I can sell this part back and get more money towards this engine that I've got my long play in on. But ultimately, real go-karting is better. Yeah, I guess. It's great. I guess. No, no, it was great. I mean, I remember we went for sushi after that

and everyone, like no one talked because everyone was exhausted because the whole time it was like hours of adrenaline just pumping and everyone was like, I haven't been this tired in years. Like, just like quietly eating sushi. And I'm like, that was fun, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. It's like when you go paintballing with a group of friends and then after you're all just kind of quietly traumatized,

it's like, oh wait, no, this is not something people should be doing. That being said, we should go paintballing. I've never done it. It's the best. Whoa. Yeah, I've never done it. Dude, it is the best thing you've ever done. I'll tell you what, my first time, not gonna be with you.

I'll give you what my first time not gonna be with you One year we were in Texas with the whitest kids and I forget what we were in we were in Austin for But it was Darren's birthday was right around that and so we all went paintballing. We were with Josh Fadum and I remember paintballing with him was the funniest experience because he was on my team one of the times and it's like basically capture the flag. Yeah, you know it's like you're playing and Eventually one of the teams gets whittled down and we knew that like I think it was Darren was like by the flag He was the last one left and once it happens you're like okay like communication like hey is everyone okay all right how many and we're like all right so who's alive and from like way in the back you hear Josh go I'm still alive like he just like hit out in the furthest back part of the great memory of Josh we played, the last time I went paintballing,

we played battle royale style. So it was like no teams, no nothing. Oh wow. And it was the most adrenaline I have ever felt in my life because everybody got, it was like a minute to run out in anywhere before it was like, okay, guns active. So you got to set up somewhere.

And the first thing I did as a terrified person was I found dead grass and just started digging. It got under the grass. So I was like, I'm so scared. I'm so scared. You built yourself a ghillie suit. Were you allowed to build structures? grass We allowed to build structures Blue liquid I

Swear this works. I Feel better trust me. I just go coat coat myself in mud assuming everybody else has heat based vision Was that a thing that the paintball like operator offered or was that a thing you asked to do I didn't that I mean it like I was just a passenger on the paintball truck So someone just arranged it and they arranged a Battle Royale. And it was like one of the things we did was Battle Royale style. Because I have to think with the rise of those sorts of games that that would probably be a thing. Because back when I did paintball, which was, you know, whatever, 20 years ago at this point, like that was it was always games. Yeah.

I think a repeat customer who wins a lot, probably scariest motherfucker alive. That is always the funny thing is there will be those times you go with like a big group and they're like, hey, yeah, Probably scariest motherfucker alive Times you go with like a big group and they're like hey Yeah, there's some regulars here that want to jump in oh Guys and they have like their paintball guns look like m16 There's no way I know that's not an m16 They're always silent too. Yeah, they just like give you a nod like you know from underneath the most terrifying motorcycle helmet. Yeah. Dude that's like worse they like blow you a kiss.

Played a, we played Iron Man when we did it which was you don't get out if you get hit. It's just you have to be like ow I'm too hurt to like wow. That was pretty funny. hit it's just you have to be like I'm too hurt rewinded back to the days of chillaxing on the beach and all-day fun with Spring Break on DraftKings Casino! Play exclusive games like Fan Fave Rocket. The excitement is endless, the vibes are right, and the cash prizes could be huge! New players, start playing with just 5 bucks and get 100 back instantly in casino credits

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which offers opportunities that are both in person and virtual. The best way to get involved is by filling out an application on their website at alocholotto.org slash volunteer. All right, Sam, one more question for you which is what are you playing? What are you playing? I am the Resident Evil Merchant and I'm here to ask you what are you playing? And all I want to say, Sam Brown, such a fan. Thank you Resident Evil Merchant you're welcome you're welcome you know I've been following you around town for the last few weeks yeah you know trying to build up like set up for the episode so I really got

an idea of what we might be able to talk about I just was a social fan you have interesting garbage. Oh Please please don't We should have stopped this sooner honestly We have a guest you have to be cool with the like act let's also just maybe just not give the merchant a heads up Of who our guest is going to be Change the permit no don't do that don't do that You force my hand have to change the permission. No, don't do that. Don't do that. That's how I log into my email. No, no, no. You forced my hand.

I'm changing the permission. I don't want that. Yeah, I'm waiting on a job application, so you can't give me like two weeks. Wait, what is your email? Wait, but you're a merchant. What? Yeah, don't you have a job? You have a job.

You're a merchant. No, you... This whole gig was predicated on the idea that I lost my job. Do you guys not remember? Well, I know that, but I mean, like, also, like, I figure you got some side hustles going on. Yeah, but not in the world of Resident Evil. I was asked to leave. Imagine what I had to do to be told to leave a Resident Evil. Wow.

I know. The Umbrella Corporation gets to run freely and release the Plaga. Nemesis is still hanging around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mr. X. It's a rough place. He puts his cap up and puts it on his head again. And those guys are all employed. Yeah. Man, I received my last workman's comp check, which I had to lie to the government to get.

Anyway, yeah, so I need that email open for like two... I have to stop you right there. I let so much slide. What? You cannot lie to the government. That is, you can't do that. That's a red line for us here at Get Played. You can't do that.

Heather, I know most of all would be furious that anyone is lying to the government. And I know in this show we do jokes and we're kidding. I'm so serious right now. Okay, okay, I feel chastised, I'm sorry. What is your email? You check your email through a shared Google Doc? Yeah, grapekitten123 at gmail.com.

So you just went with like the default one that they make you sign up? Yeah. But you shouldn't need like he can change the permissions on the Doc. You can still get into your inbox. Is that how that works? It's not. Yeah, it's fine. It's one document. I'm constantly getting locked out.

I don't know what's happening. So the resident you mentioned doesn't know how email works. It's not yeah, it's fine. It's one document. So constantly getting locked out. I don't know what's happening. Okay, so The resume for mention doesn't know how you know works So sometimes I put little notes in there in the sheet just oh Matt you gotta stop doing that I know but like it was a thing that I was like, I don't it's I get we should have well intentioned and then it's Kind of spiraled out of control and I'm like now I'm like kind of obsessed with doing it. Yeah I don't understand what you're talking about, but I hope if it's a way to get me employment, I'm in. Guys.

Yeah. Sam Brown, what are you playing? I mean, I was just talking about playing FIFA. Yes. Playing. As a new dad, you don't have a ton of time for gaming. Don't have a ton of time yeah, I mean like like I have you know not to again like like jump the the topic but I have like

Played blood-borne and gotten part way through but then like like the you know, like the story-based games Been a while. Yeah a while since I've had like You know like the story based games been a while. Yeah, a while since I've had like You know in a good game like that's kind of like a book you know where you have to get to a certain point before it like completely has you and and And so so yeah right now FIFA and one last thing about or I don't know how much we're gonna talk about FIFA more but like one of the things that and maybe we'll tie this into the whole subject,

but the thing that I like about these games is the element of chess. You know, you were talking about the battle. Yeah. The fact that a driving game is a battle. Yeah, combat. Combat, yeah. This is the same thing, it's combat.

It is like you, there is a strategy, and the reason that I think I'm so drawn to FIFA as the like, I think it's like the ultimate sports game kind of like the video games version of that is because soccer is just dots. Like soccer is a game about positioning. It's a game about like you know when you kind of make your move against your defender and about the formations and that kind of thing where

Where you move on the the the field? Can affect the way your opponent is moving towards you and And it's about dragging your opponent out of position and then being able to switch the field on them. And it's one of those things where I'm not great. People are amazing at this game. And it's one of those things where when I go online, I used to lose nine out of ten matches I would play online. And then I would look up different strategies, different like have to like look up like,

oh, like do these adjustments when you're coaching with the like how your players will play, you know, like what they'll be, you know, pressing hard on defense if how like where they'll be positioned on the field and all that. And all of a sudden I started winning, I think probably like 50-50 now, which feels good. That's great. And there's games where I'm playing someone and I know I'm better than them.

And it's like that thing of like, when you know you're playing bad and you know you're playing against someone that's worse than you, you can have that thing of like, all right, I'm gonna win now. And you can like will yourself to like, you slow it down, you play like a little bit more confidently.

And yeah, that sort of control to like, like that sort of like, it mixed with the whole thing of like, oh, I know the buttons in a certain way, and I know certain like tactics and moves to do. It's like that kind of like street oh, I know the buttons in a certain way, and I know certain tactics and moves to do. It's like that kind of like street fighter kind of thing. Yeah. Is like, when you're in that sort of zone,

and you're able to do that, when it's like, I'm losing like three nothing, and then I win the game four three, and there's only like 20 minutes left in the game, and I'm able, it's like amazing. Yeah. You're feeling like completely in sync in the game and I'm able it's like amazing. Yeah, you're feeling like like completely like in Sync with the game the flow state. Yeah flow state. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's a that that is not

Some so that used to be my experience of Mega Man Like Mega Man was one of those games where if like you just down a little bit, you could beat the game. But your impatience and your frustration and your own personal laziness are the barriers that you have to overcome in order to beat Mega Man. Because you miss a jump once, and then you're like, oh, okay, fine, fine, fine, fine. And you race all the way back to that jump,

and you fuck yourself over again. Right, or you die on the way back because you're trying to sprint through all the stuff you know what to do. Yeah, but if you slow, like it's a really, and I don't know a lot of things that teach that skillset of like pulling you back towards flow when you want to be aggressive and like dominate a thing

without thinking, without like entering your patience state. So that's really cool that that's like a, I like hearing that, that's nice. I just like, like that, I remember as a kid, when I realized that what the games were doing, and you know what, Mega Man is actually an example of this, I'm thinking of Mega Man 2, but like, you know, platforms that would appear

and then disappear, and you had to jump on them at a time sequence. And when I realized what they were actually testing was patience and how hard that is for an eight or nine year old kid to be like, I just need to wait for this thing to happen so I can do it. But when I had that, I was just like, oh, I see what they're doing here.

It was one of the first times I understood what it was to like design a game, you know, that this challenge was put in place to test an individual's ability to wait for the right moment. It's also for me, what makes Fortnite so addictive is that that is not necessarily how you win at Fortnite. Like there are times where patience is rewarded

and there are times where if you're too patient, you're punished for it. Well now we're full on into FromSoft, but keep going. And you have to like negotiate the space in between those two opposites in order to win a round. And it's still a little bit of gambling based on skill. Like you're gonna rush into something and you'll be like, fuck that guy was just better than me.

Or you'll rush into something and you'll be like, oh, I fucked up, I suck. But if you hold back, it doesn't guarantee a win. And it's also one of those things where you do get to a point where you're gauging how other people play. And where you can be like, all right, this guy, like I, in just like a one-on-one matchup, I'm gonna be able to beat this guy Yeah, I can feel confident in this situation and you there like you see the guy like, you know, they're there

They don't know you're you're there and they're like bopping around you're like this person And then but there's there's also the times where you you're foolish about it and you're too overconfident and you rush in I was big into like COVID war zone. I was big into COVID. Loved it. Quarantine COVID war zone. Like those two things hit at the same time. And it was a thing where I had the people I played with.

And you know, like that Verdanse, at the same time. And it was a thing where I had the people I played with and like that Verdansk, like when the Verdansk map and then the next map I played a lot and I had my people that I played with. And it was like those games where they have that level of cooperation where you can get into that flow state with other people, that's amazing. Yeah.

That's like, yeah. No, we did have some moments, and maybe you'll feel differently either, but I did have some moments where we were really in sync as a team playing Helldivers 2, and those are the moments where I'm like, you know what, I like playing multiplayer games sometimes, even though it's mostly a single player experience for me. That's the game that the two guys shout out to Griffin and Bennington But they they were like you need to get hell divers, and I'm like guys. I have a kid Yeah, I got a kid hell divers I Wonder if you could even play it in the kind of increments you have for gaming because it always feels like some of those some

Of those sessions really like I feel like you need like 45 minutes to an hour to get through Yeah, yeah, you want it to be quicker because it is Imperative that you spread democracy as quickly It is you does end up taking like yeah 45 minutes to an hour But a great a great great if you have the time a lot of fun. We have time Matt. What are you playing right now? I'm still I'm still playing. I mean I'm in chapter 10 still of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I'm really, really loving it, but I had a moment over the weekend where I was like,

I think I'm gonna eject the game. Wow! And it wasn't cause anything, nothing put me off of it. I was just like, I think I just need to do something else so I could rediscover why I love this Because I was I was having fun, but I I was about to go do another side mission I was like am I just gonna do all these Right gonna do all these fucking side missions

I've been doing all of them, and I never do this completionist yeah, and so like I never do that I just want I want to plow through I almost was like I'm just gonna go to the next main story Mission I don't fuck all these side missions, but then I was like I can't I've done ten chapters worth the side missions Yeah, I'm gonna stop now right and so I am that so to rectify that I almost just ejected it completely And was gonna just play the Final Fantasy 16 DLC that just came out, The Rising Tides. But that to me was then not different enough,

even though it is a very different game than Final Fantasy VII. Yes. I just was like, I just, I don't know what to do. So I just didn't do anything and I just like froze. And like for like, I think the longest stretch in a while, for like five days, I didn't play a single game. Wow.

It was just like, I can't do this right now. I instead watched Demon Slayer. Oh yeah. But then I got back into Rebirth and was like, I'm glad I didn't skip. Because I'm having fun. Yeah. I am just really enjoying the game. It's very, very good. I really love Kate Sith. I feel like you don't get that much Kate,

you get some Kate Sith in the original Final Fantasy VII. He's a little cat that rides on a big- Moogle. On a moogle. Yeah. A moogle? Like a big white kind of overstuffed, that doesn't correspond particularly

with any specific animal, kind of like a bear, cat, hyena. He's sort of like a theme park mascot version of one though. And the thing about K-Zip... Friend! Let's see if we can get a picture for you. He's just so, I hadn't heard him speak before, and I didn't know he had a little accent.

He has a little accent. What kind of accent? It's a little like Scottish accent. Oh, Scottish, okay. It's so cute. They're like this guy. Got a little wing sometimes. He rides that?

Yeah, but there's a big version of it. It's a cat, a cat that rides that, yes. Yeah, I'll get specifically the final fantasy one. Haven't you heard of fantasy? No, I only know sports teams. Yeah. He's a nerd. Get him. No, I only I only know sports teams He's a nerd But I've been I've been really playing that and I know that

I'm I'm past the halfway point. Okay, so there's like there's no point in stopping I just need to get to the end of it so I can truly just do something else. Yeah I just need to get to the end of it so I can truly just do something else. Yeah Here there's what Kate Sith looks like so Kate Sith is the cat on top of the much larger Marshmallow Marshmallow me Moogle. Yeah, and so I just I love Kate Sith. I'm in does the Moogle have a voice I don't think so. I thought that it's just an inanimate object. I think it is. Yeah Puppeted I'm in Cosmo Canyon right now. Okay. And the home of Red 13. Yes.

And Red 13, also a guy I love. He's a big talking, like tiger guy, basically. I don't just like the cat guys. Sounds like you do. Yeah, it sounds like you got a cat there. I mean, I have a cat, and cat guys Sounds like you do. Yeah cat thing. I mean I have a cat and he does look like You like Kate Sith and you're in red 13th homeland and you're very excited about it. It's The thing that can you name any of the human characters? I mean Tifa certainly

But you know Barrett Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah cloud of course. She just said cloud. Yeah. Well, know, Barrett, Cloud, of course. That's a, there you go. But she just said Cloud. Yeah, well yeah, I learned it from Heather. But I'm really, really enjoying it. The thing that the game does really well is that, because I played the original so recently,

when I'm experiencing the parts that are like one to one, I'm like, wow, it's just like the old game. And then when it diverges, I'm like, well, this is now just crazy stuff. But the stuff that they keep similar, I'm very happy to see again. And so going up and seeing, ah, fuck, what's the guy? The old guy in...

He was a cat, you'd remember. Well, yeah, this is the real thing'd remember he also has a weird name too uh um this is a good Hagen okay when you go up and see him I was so excited to see my friend I loved him in the original game and then seeing him in this I was like there he is and you know once you what you it shows the dialogue boxes and it always puts like question marks like who's, I was like, there he is. And you know, it shows the dialogue boxes and it always puts like question marks, like, who's this? I was like, you know, gotta fucking tell me who this is. It's my old guy, Bugenhagen, I love him.

But that's it for me right now, just a lot. I'm in the Final Fantasy. I might be too deep in. I might have to pull myself out. No, I think you go just go all the way at this point. Well, I'm gonna finish this, but I might have to take a break and play like... I don't know. Something else. Maybe go outside or something.

That makes sense after you finish Rebirth. I've been out there. It sucks. You've been out. Yeah. Okay, I won't go out then. I am gonna finish Rebirth. This is my solemn vow. Yeah. To finish it. But who wants to go next, Nick?

Oh yeah, I can talk real quick. I've been playing this game that is in Game Pass' version of Early Access, which is called Game Preview. It is called Lightyear Frontier. And the top line of this game is it is a survival game But you have a mech so it's that that alone is such a good hook So I was like, okay survival game with a mech. Yeah, I want to try this thing. I'm gonna get beat up

Yeah, I mean it like it's it's well, here's the thing. It's a very peaceful game. Okay, there's not like combat It's more just you go to this world, you go to this, there's a loose story for this game and you can actually like, you know, finish the whole story campaign, at least as much content is out right now for the version that's in game preview. But basically it's like you are dispatched to this planet,

but the travel takes so long that by the time you get there, there's no one there So it's just a completely abandoned world with a lone satellite Who is orbiting around and is like very chatty and is kind of like your NPC companion But it's you you're a person you're an individual and then you have a mech that you can use for getting around and exploring And and terraforming and what have you. The thing that I wish this game, and first off, it's in early access. All this stuff is going to be rebalanced or whatever.

So these aren't even, this is all stuff the developers know far more intimately than I am going to be able to articulate. I'm sure there's also stuff they sense and stuff they're testing. That's why it's in early access. But since, again, the fantasy aspect of this is like I'm in a mech in a survival game,

you kind of want the mech to really feel powerful. And I feel like it doesn't quite feel powerful enough. Like I'm kind of just like, oh, I'm just buzz sawing through trees with one. But instead, it kind of just like, oh, like I'm just buzzsawing through trees with like one, you know what I mean? But instead, it kind of feels like the same way you might chop away at a tree in Minecraft or Pal World or Lego Fortnite. It's the same sort of, it's got the same sort of pace to it.

So it doesn't feel like there's a noticeable difference just between being a normal protagonist of one of these games. But I do really like the art direction. This is a really colorful palette. It's, again, it's peaceful in the description, so it very much kind of evokes that. It's like a very calming game to play, very tranquil.

There's feelings of just like camping, which is very comforting. My main issue with the game, and this is, I'm just going to read a little bit from a rock-paper-shotgun piece by Jay Castello because I think this is just like a really well said version of this I'll just read this for Bandom quote the thing is building anything in light your frontier felt kind of mean the planet is gorgeous and like I was saying earlier it's untouched it has not been colonized the planet is gorgeous all twisted multicolored trees and flowering shrubs and glittering crystals.

Rattling my mech's spiked arm to harvest them for resources and using them to forge giant bits of machinery didn't seem especially cozy, wholesome gaming to me. And so yeah, that aspect does kind of rub against it. But also, and this is in the same piece, Castello postulates that this game is maybe going to go there, going to talk about this thematically

in its final release. But it does kind of feel like, again, there's this beautiful, untouched world, this incredible ecosystem, and then I'm going in and industrializing it, and that kind of puts you in a shitty position, but maybe the game is ultimately gonna have some comment on that.

Anyway, all that said, if you like survival games and you like something where you just go around building stuff, harvesting resources, I think it's a hoot, and I think it's really well done. So light your frontier, that's what I've been playing. If you were surviving on a planet and you had a mech, or anywhere, if you had a mech but just didn't have a home, would you sleep in your mech?

Yes. I probably would just sleep in the mech, yeah. I would sleep in the mech even if I had a home. Are you imagining it being like you're sleeping in the cockpit or is it like the like kind of suit, like the brotherhood of steel thing where you're sleeping standing up? I wonder if you could sleep standing up

if your body was locked. Like, I don't know, like I don't see, I feel like the worst part about sleeping in any non-laying down position is the head nod. But if my head was locked in a position, could I just sleep? You're describing something they tested at Gitmo. Nighty night.

They do have those flight pillows that like now wrap around your whole head. Oh yeah, I've seen those. I've seen those. They got like a little hole in the front. It's so weird. That's upsetting. Heather, what are you playing? Well, I continue to play Fortnite every day of my life and I'm also playing Dragon's Dogma,

which I am shocked I haven't bounced off of yet, considering that I did bounce really hard off Final Fantasy. And I think that was only because I didn't, I couldn't make the space to really enjoy it. And when that space is available to me, then I'll be able to be like, oh, I'm sitting down to really invest in Final Fantasy Rebirth. But with Dogma, I don't feel anything particularly pressing about the game, so I can go in, do a mission, go out.

But what I wanna talk about is Fallout the series, which I've been playing, and he's fucking great. And I, look, there are a million different versions of Fallout the television show, which wouldn't be good. And that was what I assumed was going to happen because most video game adaptations are not good. But this fucking show rocks and I'm watching it with my wife

and my wife knows nothing about Fallout. And she is every day she gets off work and goes, can we watch Fallout? Wow. And that is such a success. And she's like, what is this game? Is this game like, is it like Last of Us? And I'm like, no, it's pretty different from Last of Us.

And she's like, what is it? I'm like, it's a first person role playing experience. And she's like, I kind of want to try it. And wow, for a TV show to sell my wife on playing Fallout? Like what a success. And I know that there are a lot more players currently playing Fallout than there have been in a long time because of the successes of the TV show.

Even Fallout 1 and 2, which are like, you know, these isometric games from the 90s that I played on PC back in the day, but like those, their sales have gone way up in the Steam store. Yeah, it's, I don't know, it's just a fucking great show and it shouldn't be, but it is, it's legitimately great. One of the things that Fallout, the ways that you could be

like, oh maybe this will be good, is Fallout is a game that's not built on the characters, it's built on the world. Yes, right, yeah. It's not like, hey, here's our central story. It's like everyone has a little different take on what's going on in the world, but it's like, these are the characters within this world, and so they were able to use it as a vessel

for their own stories that are similar, but different from the stories we've already seen. Yeah. And it's such a richly realized world already. So that's cool. I haven't seen it, but everyone I know who's seen it loves it. So I gotta check it out. I mean, it's like actually good.

Like actually good. Not just like I'm a gamer, therefore I like Fallout. My wife is the control group in the test of whether or not fallout is good And she's like I want to write for this show, and I'm like yeah, it's so fucking great um So yeah fallout is what I've been playing For the for what are we playing well there you go yeah my fiance has seen there's a billboard for it And it's like one of those big Amazon billboards that has, there's like a big gear or something

that's spinning. It's the vault door. It's the vault door. Yeah. She saw that billboard and took a video of it, and she's like, what is this billboard? I gotta see this show. The door is so interesting to her.

She's like, I gotta watch this. Well, they've also redone, they've redone the bus stops in LA to look like vault entrances. Oh, interesting. Oh, really? Yeah, so you get like, if you go wait for a bus at like Beverly and Fairfax. You have to stand inside of a vault It's so funny when like things you're describing when you see in real-time marketing work exactly the way they are trying it to work It's like me watching an ad for like the Arby's fish sandwich. I'm like, I'm getting that

That's just a white screen with text the great thing too about with fallout like like that lends itself to this whole thing too is that the what do they call the the aiming system that they have in it that's that's that's yeah that's yeah Like, you can be like a non-gamer and like be playing this first person shooter just fine because you have that option of slowing things down. It also justifies the people in the show's incredible aim. Cause you have to imagine that all of them are using VATS.

And so like if a guy like pulls out a gun and blows another guy's head off, you're like, yeah, I've seen that happen in the game I've done that And that goes back to like the the origin of fallout 3 which was like, you know But that's just taking over this franchise that interplay had and all of the existing fallout fans are like they're gonna ruin it And then they find its first-person shooter. It's this exact same reaction as happened with Metroid Prime. Like they ruined it. It's gonna be horrible,

but they find ways to kind of like, as they did with Metroid Prime, they found ways in their design to make it so that it appeals both to new gamers, been to people who are already familiar with it and ends up working really well. Back when I was a video game journalist, Fallout 3 came out like right at the height of my time

as a journalist. And I got to go to like a huge Bethesda event out in Washington, they flew me out. And at the end of that event, I got this huge bag of Fallout stuff, like Nuka colas and Pip-Boy bobble heads and like some kind of, you know, fake watch that looked a little bit like a Pip-Boy

and T-shirts, all this shit. bobbleheads and like some kind of you know fake watch that looked a little bit like a pit boy and T-shirts all this shit, and I was so fucking poor that the as soon as I got home I put all that shit on eBay right because I was like oh my god Okay, this is like made out of ceramic. This is like an actual thing. I can I'll definitely get a hundred dollars I told I told my my wife that because she's like, I'm surprised you don't have any like fallout stuff in your like, your hole. And I was like, yeah, I did.

I had a lot of it, but I had to sell it all on eBay. And she's like, that's the worst thing I've ever heard. All right. Well, let's talk about FromSoft games or Soulsborne games, however you want to classify it. So Sam, this is one thing that y'all pitched when you were going to come on the show. I'm curious, like, what is your relationship with the Dark Souls and the Bloodborns, which you already talked about, and what are the things that you're going to be doing

to help them get to the top of the game? So I'm going to start with the Dark Souls. I'm going to start with the Dark Souls. I'm going to start with the Dark Souls. I'm going to start it. So Sam, this is one thing that y'all pitched when you were gonna come on the show. I'm curious, what is your relationship with the Dark Souls and the Bloodborns, which you already talked about, of the world? So I should, you know, I gotta give the other part

of White as Kids a little shout out here. I started to get into these because Zach was into these. Zach was obsessed with these games, and I remember him really early on being like, it's amazing if you're in a hallway and your sword's too big, you're gonna have problems swinging, because you would.

And like, this was at a time when like, you know, like if that was a problem in your game, your sword would just swing through the wall. Yes, exactly. They would just like, don't worry about the collision for the environment. No, no. It's like, oh, your sword's powerful.

It's going to swing through everything. Yeah. Like that is the thing. I will say, and I've talked about it over the years in this podcast, but like these games took me a while, basically a decade to warm up to. Like it was Elden Ring that got me finally is like,

okay, I get it. This is crystallized with me. I understand why, you know, I maybe bounced off of Demon's Souls, which I played on PS3. I maybe bounced off of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3. Even though I went into all of them with an open mind, but I was just kind of like, maybe these aren't for me. And maybe I just don't have the time to commit to them.

But then when I got to Elden Ring, I was like, oh wait, though this is absolutely brilliant design. This is such an amazingly realized world. I love this, and that's what led me to, Bloodborne is still the one I haven't played to Sekiro, Shadows Die Twice, which has become one of my favorite games of all time. That's, yeah, a friend of mine's like, you gotta play it.

It's incredible. It's so fucking good. So I'm almost exactly the same path cuz Zach was like you got to play this game it's really cool start playing it and I I remember you know like there's the whole thing where you have the the fires and I you know was like reading the messages but didn't really like get what the point of the messages if you haven't played like there's an online component to these games

where you can leave messages to other people playing the game that can kind of give them hints of what they should do, but it's also a way that people can fuck with you. Yeah. And like, make you jump off a cliff and stuff like that. For sure, and it's also like cryptic by design because you can't like write anything, you can only pick from some selected book and you have your words. sure, and it's also cryptic by design because you can't write anything.

You can only pick from some selected book and you can write words. You'd be like, liar, a head. And you'd be like, okay, so one of these chests is not a real treasure chest or something like that. Yeah, or it'll say, try jump, and you'll go, okay, so I have to jump off here for a secret, and then you jump off a cliff and you die.

You're like, okay That person was a 12 year old Whoever wrote that But so I played that for a while And like it was the kind of thing where I was like and I didn't really get the mechanics completely But I played it to the point where I like rang the bell at the top of the chapel And I beat that guy and then I started you know you get to this period where you're like

You get scared you get like legit scared because this video game if you die you drop all your souls And then if you die again without picking up those souls they're gone and that can be like without picking up those souls, they're gone. And that can be like 15 hours of you playing that game, and that's just gone, and you've lost it, and all you've achieved in that time is maybe unlocking a door that gives you a shortcut to an area.

And so I got to that point where I rang the bell, and I was like, getting to this, and I was like, further in the game than I ever had been and it's like I don't know which way I'm going and like this all unturned to I'll go left and I walked out into the middle of the field I'm like desperately looking for a fire and a giant wolf with a sword in its mouth came out of like just like ran up to me it was like a cut scene and I was like oh no and then it gave One swing it killed me and I was like alright. I'm done with this game

Just completely defeated me And the thing with those early games too is that like if you're not powerful enough to beat something You just have to get more powerful. You just have, you can't, like you're on a track and you have to like grind and kill the same three skeletons until you can level your guy up, until you can, or you need to figure out the pattern to the enemy that you're fighting. So you either have to be like good enough or you have to just grind which is like an interesting

like fuck you that the game gives you you know it's like you screwed if you do screwed if you don't kind of thing because there is like this thing too where I've seen people do it not me because I'm bad at games like this I did beat Elden Ring with not not without help of course but there is like, you can take down almost any boss, I think, with no good armor, no good weapons, no good stats. Like, it can be done. Oh, you can watch video of every boss being beaten

by someone with like no armor. Naked with fists. Exactly, yeah, yeah. If you're patient enough and I guess skilled enough to learn the pattern and not get hit at all. Because if you get hit, that's not good. Yeah. It's also because the games are so difficult,

they allow for the rise of like a memetic legend, like Let Me Solo Her. Sure, yeah. Which is like if you ever see somebody so good at the game that it is worth talking about. Like how few games that, like as good as I've seen people in Fortnite be, I've never been like, yo, you should have seen what this guy did.

But like the game is so challenging that when you see somebody with a hubris to be like, I got this, I'm naked, I got a pot on my head. That then you taught like, the reason that we know the name of that player is because people had to be like, I saw the craziest shit I have ever seen in a game. It was a guy who was naked

and he beat the hardest boss by himself. Like that's so crazy. The thing that I like, and that is a thing aspect I love about it is just because I'm just like amazed by mastery by humans of anything. Like anyone who's like super, like whatever, you'll see like a video of a fruit cart vendor

in a different country who's just like super good at chopping like mangoes and watermelons like super efficiently. So like, that's amazing. I could watch that all day. in a different country who's just super good at chopping mangoes and watermelons super efficiently. That's amazing. I could watch it all day. But I will like, so Sekiro, a game I finished that was still probably a top three accomplishment of my life,

not just exclusive to video games. When I finished Sekiro, I feel so good about myself for doing it. But if I watch videos of a Sekiro, I like I feel so good about myself for doing it. And, but like, if I watch videos of like a Sekiro speedrun, it's just like such a level above what I am able to accomplish at my peak that it's just like, it's astonishing to witness and I can just admire how grand humans can be. It's like the same way like I feel like I ran one marathon in my life, it took me four hours, the world record for a marathon

right now is like two hours and four minutes or something like that. So someone can run the exact same distance at half the time. That is unachievable in my lifetime, and I just can admire that it exists. Yeah. Yeah. I Googled, let me solo her just to get some more info, and I missed this story from February of this year. Yeah.

Elden Rings, let Me Solo Her is retiring. Quote, I've had my fill of fighting Millennias. After slaying Millennia over 6,000 times in his over... In his over 1200 hours in Elden Ring, the iconic Let Me Solo Her is hanging up the pot once and for all. I've had my fill of fine millennia As he told IGN adding that it was a great joy to help so many tarnished brave one of the game's toughest fights So did did you is that how you beat millennia? No, I did it. I Did it I didn't wow I did let me solo her like wait actually let me solo her

Yeah, you teamed up with let me solo her. Yeah, I did I was like That's insane It was a great cuz I was like it was like this thing where it was like oh This is this boss is like the hardest boss in the game And then I'm going to like summon people yeah, there's let me so and that's how I found out about the whole thing back and like Didn't, didn't do a thing. That's like casually mentioning that you've met and hung out with Bigfoot.

That's insane. Yeah, I kissed this guy, I didn't really, I didn't realize he was the Pope, it was weird. You kissed him. I said, it's said you wanted information. I know and I would have let him blow me. He was asking. That is wild. So you found it, you just stumbled upon it while playing, like just playing solo, playing on your own, and then you look up who it is or you told somebody about it and you found

out? I was, I think I might have been streaming at the time or something, like where people were like, oh, you gotta do that, you gotta do that. Oh, wow, okay, that makes sense. But yeah, that was the thing of like, oh wait, I don't need to help, and they're like, no, the name is Let Me Solo Her.

I probably had some help. I certainly didn't do it myself. sure cuz I had Heather would get in there and help me Take down some bosses that I wasn't accidentally trying to kill you but that was but like summoning players in Play in that game with some of the most fun. I had playing Well, this is getting me so hyped up for the DLC and I DLC, and I thought I had closed the book on Elden Ring. It's weird, right?

But like, and it's been a long time. In game years, it's been essentially 100 years since Elden Ring came out. But like the idea that like maybe I'm gonna boot up Elden Ring and pull out my old cursed toilet armored double sorting nightmare person and like play again? Well, I mentioned this in the podcast last week. I am playing again because I'm playing

in anticipation of the DLC. And I started a new character. I was doing a strength building, playing a vagabond. The thing that I am realizing is, or I'm appreciating more, is just how good the early game is. Like in terms of just like easing you into this world, but like also not like risk, like a lot of games the way this happens is like,

okay, like a Metroidvania, it's like you're gonna acquire your abilities one by one, slowly over time. Here you kind of just have access to everything pretty much. There's some more stuff that you find later on, but you get a lot of stuff front loaded in the game, and it's just kind of just have access to everything pretty much. There's some more stuff that you find later on, but you get a lot of stuff front-loaded in the game and it's just kind of like, go ahead and experiment with it, you know?

It's so like, I think the design, like playing it again and going back and starting new, you really like appreciate the design of the game. And the way that they lay out, there's that first like camp of soldiers that you approach incredible I'm sort of like you're able to kind of like use that like sneak element that that like element of like I'm gonna like slowly go around and kill each one of these guys and there's the one night that's like a bigger night and

slowly go around and kill each one of these guys. And there's the one night that's like a bigger night. And it's a task. And you kind of like, you know, when you remember that, like when you first experienced this, you were like surprised that that one night was stronger than all the other nights. And that he's got this crazy spear. And that was like caught you off guard

and brought in that fear and everything like that. And then there's a fire right by there. And the one that goes through the canyon, and that's where the giant jumps down. You see that first giant. And I remember seeing that and being like, holy shit. And thinking that that was a boss. Yes, right, for sure.

And that's just a guy in the world. And like that's... And I'm gonna talk about, this is sort of nerding, and I'm gonna talk about sketch a little bit. It's like, I do sketch teaching, like partly because of you. Sketch comedy. And one of the ways I talk about sketch comedy

and like heightening in sketch comedy is it's not a path It's it's you're widening a frame. Mm-hmm, and that's one of the things that this game does so well Yeah, is like you start with this like really small box of your at this camp and you are not as strong as these other guys at the camp and you can spend a half hour going around and killing each guy at this camp and clearing it out and It expands and you venture a little bit further out and all of a sudden the the scale of the guy That you're fighting is bigger and then all of a sudden you realize Oh, wow, this game's a little bit bigger than I thought and the castle's all the way over there But then like you realize that that castle

is just a small part of the map. Yeah. And that map, eventually you're like, oh wow, this map is really big. And then you realize that's just a third of the map. Yeah. And that there are different layers to the map, and then you realize there's the underworld elements,

and all that stuff. And it's like, that's so much fun to experience and to go through. And it's so funny to do it, like I'm replaying and playing it as a vagabond. Oh wow, okay. Where it is like that thing where it's so funny seeing like your character like be like naked

and pick up a helmet and like just be like this guy with a helmet running around killing people. It's like getting covered in blood. Right. But yeah, that element of it is so cool. And to go back to my experience with it, and the thing that I think really clicks with it is I was saying earlier that Dark Souls, it's on a path.

You're like, oh, if I can't beat this guy, I just gotta get better. Well, you can approach this game that way but also it's so big that you can also just turn around that's kind of what they face you with immediately with the what is it the tree night yeah it's a yes yeah there's there's the that's the genius of this of this game and I think why it had I mean this is whatever is that the reason it had I mean, this is whatever is the reason it had such mainstream success versus like the other games are all also extremely popular and critically regarded. But like

the way this one the reason this one exploded so much is because it did the open world aspect so well. And then just allowed you to have the approach of like this was just anytime I was banging my head against the wall. And elder animals like, go do something else. go do anything else, go wander anywhere else on the map. But yeah, like Sekiro is like pretty linear. And so there are some parts where it's just like,

okay, I'm gonna lose to this boss 99 times in a row so I can beat him on the hundredth time, you know. I love that though. I do, I love that too though. I absolutely love failing as learning. One of the things that really enriched my whole Elden Ring experience was There's that it's one of the first What do they call them?

Elder jails or ever jails Those like the they're like a little elevator thing on the circle disc and you go down. Oh, yeah Yeah, it's something jail, but jail's spelt all funky G-A-Y-L-E That's lit up. But one critique about this game love it so much. Yeah, it's like they could expand the vocabulary of it a little bit It's like they could expand the vocabulary of it a little bit. It's like every character, like how many M-named characters are there? You're like, is this Monica or Melania or, you know, it's like...

Right. Well, that's a R.R. Martin thing, isn't it? Oh, is it? Like, isn't that like one of his like things? It's like, oh, all of these people have a name that is reminiscent of another name because many years ago, they all come, are descended from the same king or, you know, It's like oh all of these people have a name that is reminiscent of another name because Many years ago they all come are descended from the same king or so you know like all that shit Yeah, well it could also not be that way

Confusing are they called ever ever ever jails yeah ever jail Ever gaol Yeah, that sucks D-E-R-G-A-O-L Yeah That sucks No, Matt, it's good. I refuse to admit that it sucks I've heard your argument and now I will say it's good One of the first ever jails I encountered I was like I'm gonna beat this guy like I'm going to like Do this and I think it was like four like hour long not four hour long session

But like four separate like hour plus sessions of playing the game where it was like every time I went back I was just at that campfire Now go back to the ever jail and I try a different approach to it And I would go back and go back and just hitting my head against the wall Then I beat him and I got my first like really powerful weapon Yeah, and it completely changed the landscape of the game, right? Yeah, and like that was such a funny thing to where it was like I was talking to people and I was like Oh, yeah, I got this cool weapon and they're like, oh, yeah, that's a really good early game weapon. I'm like

I remember there when we were When we were all playing it like when it was new before we had done the episode about I I feel like there was like a two week period where I was like Yep, I'm still fighting the fire giant like I just like never gave up on the fire giant I need to like every time every time I got in there and was playing I was playing I was fighting the fire giant and losing and it was so that was More than any fight in that game was more Demoralizing every time I lost but I just had to I knew that I could do it if I just kept trying to do it

Yeah, it felt impossible that one felt impossible when you get into that late game the Opposite is true of what we were just talking about where it's like there isn't anywhere to go You've already like be everything and your options of which way you Walk is like get slimmer and slimmer and and I was getting killed by like stuff Near the area too that I was like I maybe am under leveled to be here at all But like I can't go anywhere else because I'm dying Nearby like it was it was so fucked but

because I'm dying nearby. Like, it was so fucked, but... But it's great to be like, like, I mean, it means something that you're, that you're, like, underpowered in that area. It means that you were, like, playing above your, your, your character in that way. Or I was flying a little too, I was a little too big for my britches.

And, but also, how many games have we played that we've all enjoyed, where you reach a certain point and you're just like, I know how to play this game, I have all the gear, I'm suitably leveled if there's a leveling system, I've maxed out the skill tree, this is no challenge to me anymore, I'm just gonna blaze through to see what the ending is. And that's like, those games can be fun,

those can be games I've enjoyed, but there's not that level of personal achievement that comes with tackling a game like this. Yeah, I can't say any of the things that I have done in Dragon's Dogma. I don't remember any of the events. And I know that later, much later in the game, that there are iconic enemies.

I've seen footage of a sphinx that looks really cool. But like in this early game, there's nothing like the Crucible Night where I personally, because we all did different things on the Crucible Night and I was like, oh, if I can outrun it with my fucking elk, then I can beat it. And so like my first challenge in Elden Ring

was walking out of that cave and being like, I've got this guy and doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it until I beat him. Because that, it's a game that allows for any kind of play. Like you can be cautious, you can be, you can set your own difficulty level by what you attempt to do in Elden Ring. Whereas with Dragon's Dogma, it's fine.

But there's nothing I can find in the game that I'm not supposed to be doing yet. Like, it's like, ah, there's a fucking cyclops. And I'm the first big monster. I have visions of the first big monsters in Elden Ring. And I'm like, oh oh fuck, here we go. And then like, you start seeing the health bar go down and I'm like, this isn't nearly as terrifying

as I want it to be. Yeah, for sure. Because the bar has been set so high by FromSoft Games. If you see a big guy, he's gonna, he's gonna murk you. Yeah, and it's like the, you know, again, games I've enjoyed, like the Kirby Switch game, the subtitle which I can't remember right now. Forgotten Land.

Yeah, that's, no, it wasn't Forgotten Land, right? Was it? I think so. Maybe it was. Whatever the Kirby Switch game where you turn into a card has a mouthful mode. Kirby sucks everything. Yeah, Kirby sucks everything.

But like, that's like, I was like, I was like, this is really fun, like nothing in this. Kirby sucks you off? Yeah. Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Nothing about that. You were right, man. You were right. I was kinda right, I fucked it up. No, you forgotten land nothing about that you were right you're right. I was kind of right I fucked it up. No you didn't know you were correct. No, I fucked it up. It's okay

Matt don't be yourself up Amateur our over here a game. I really liked but it but just like, I go through, I think through that whole game, it's the same thing you're talking about Dragon's Dog, but I was like, oh yeah, that part was cool, you know what I mean? And it's a thing I realized, I think probably not until I was an adult as a gamer, is that I think for a game to really get into my bones

for it to use its strength as a medium, which is interactivity, like it needs to either have super consequential decisions, like a disco Elysium or like a Baldur's Gate 3, or it needs to have a degree of challenge where I feel like I can't do it until I can. And that's why a game like Sekiro or games like, you know, I play, I like a lot of like kind of more challenging precision platformers, like a super meat boy or a Celeste or a Cuphead. Like these are games that like I love and that I think about

so vividly because of that struggle. Which is also strange, Nick, because the Discord, like our own listeners don't, I would say, will pigeonhole me as a Twitch-style gamer, like a challenge combat gamer. But you talk about games like Sekiro or Cuphead. I think of you as somebody who sees a challenging game and is like, I'm gonna do this until I beat it.

And that's not the way you present. You present as somebody who likes the cozy game. Well, I do like a cozy game, and I do actually really like a story is the other thing. Like, and again, big thing Framsoft games do really well is they, like you were saying about widening out the frame, like they give you like not all the information but enough information for you to like just wanna know more.

That lady's in an egg. Yeah. Yeah. We watched a three hour lore video about this. Yeah, tell me everything about the turtle Pope but But I forgot about the turtle. Oh my god. Never far from my Like it's like Where was I going this oh, yeah, like I like a game with a story. I like a game with a narrative

I do like a cozy game I do like a comforting game But I also do like a challenging game and I and I think it's I don't know I think I think these games are challenging In in the way that a well-designed hard game is like it's it's unfair at times, but it's always achievable one thing I love too with it was like how hard it is and One of the things I love about about video games. I really loved the game witness. Did you guys play witness? No, but I heard by the guy who did braid Jonathan blow game is it it's it's on an island I'm a bunch of like fucking 3d. It's very misty. Yeah, I never actually played it

But I've heard I've heard good things about it. One of the things I like about it is, what was that? Well, I thought you liked Braid. Do you not like Braid? I love Braid. Witness, I was like, oh, this is not for me. I appreciate how well it's made, but it was not for me. But I did like the storytelling in it, where you'd get like little sound clips and they'd be like a TED talk

Yeah, I was like who's done this before be like an actual like TED talk Yeah, clip from like or like you'd see something and it Video thing and you think it's gonna be like a cutscene thing and then it's like a clip from a Tarkovsky film And you're like, okay And then but like with the sort of, I mean, not to spoil it, but like, there's like puzzles within the clip, which is like a weird thing.

But like, the thing I loved about that game was that it wouldn't tell you how to play it. It would teach you how to play it. Right. It would, like, through the difficulty of the puzzles and through like kind of you know like The what it presented itself to you you would learn how to play there was no like sort of tutorial Moment in the game other than completing these puzzles yeah, and then you realize that like oh like with

There's the the thing of like oh, I'm completing these puzzles on these pads And then you realize like oh, there's actually puzzles within the oh, I'm completing these puzzles on these pads and then you realize like oh there's actually puzzles within the world that I'm in yeah and That style of gameplay that sort of like communication is like the ultimate for me and that that's very much What like what these from software games do yeah? they like through how difficult they can be they teach you how to like Approach them and how to beat them and how to beat the problems which I mean It's you feel like you're you have a different

Connection to the game because there is that like sort of the story that it's telling you like the Millennia and all the stuff and all these details which like I'm still confused on I don't know why that lady was in an egg What were what were the fingers and why the fingers have to die I don't know right yeah Like they had all the great intimate goes going so well when the fingers were in charge But you know like there's that there's that story and then there's the story about like like of How you're playing it and the way you're approaching it in the way you think about it and the way you

interact with the game and the way you build your character and you know like early game I think a lot of us are you know using a lot of Strength and using a lot of like those kind of weapons as yours You know hand-to-hand combat weapons and later game you start to dip more into that magic and Start to rely more on that and see how that like affects and that's like the great thing, too Is that with all these bosses there is that like a whole pattern thing feel like Mega Man like this boss is you know like? Susceptible to like This kind of weapon and that kind of weapon, but there's also the the combination. That's a little bit like

You're figuring it out you get to like kind of go off the tracks a little bit right like figure out Combinations of this spell with this weapon is good against this boss. There's actually like very few that are like, oh, this weapon's the weapon that you use against that boss. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. There's not a clean like solution to like break any of these. And just to go back to what you were saying earlier,

cause I think it's a really great point. I think it's a key point about these kinds of games. And for me, what's kind of like ruined a lot of the AAA, you know, default game approach that you encounter. Cause like, if you're in an instance like this, like you might be in one of these games, if you're in like a difficult fight and you're not sure what to do,

so many games would have like an NPC companion who's like, make sure you duck when he swings his arm, like they'd be telling you like, okay, it's time to jump on three. They'd be hand holding your way all the way through it where you're not actually discovering anything on yourself, you're following instructions. And that is the default approach.

And a lot of that is put in there because there is such a fear, oftentimes not from the developer side, but from the publisher side, of players stumbling at any point of getting roadblocked and then bouncing off of the game and returning it and posting a bad review and telling their friends it sucks, you know what I mean? These games are like, guys, video games are a hit. Exactly, yeah. You don't have to sell people on the idea of enjoying a video game.

Right, exactly, and it makes it more enjoyable and more of an achievement for you to figure it out on your own. Yeah, well my Mega Man 2 was the Super Mario All-Stars Lost Level. Oh yeah, sure. Which is just the like, from soft of its time where it's like, oh we're just gonna be punishing. We're just gonna try and trick you. And deceive you. Yeah, the original Super Mario Brothers 2 Japan that got released over here eventually, yeah.

Yeah, which had that problem, where they were like, hey, that's not gonna sell. Right. These Americans, not so smart. I mentioned this in the pod. They don't appreciate a funny joke where you burn. Yeah. It's like, that's a lot of the Mario Lost Levels jokes.

It'll be like, oh, this thing, like like you'll like a mushroom that hurts you a poison mushroom How about that in the same place like you're like oh, it's Mario Brothers. I know this game Mushroom I wonder what this one does oh, I'm dead one of my favorite things and this is actually another thing I talk about in my sketch class is like There's a level I think it's like level four and to put into context it's so fucking hard this game is so fucking hard but it's like that's the great thing about it's all about timing and the kind of like dexterity and then it's also trying to trick you constantly and it's one of those things where we used to play in college

We would play where we would trade every Continue like so you'd have four lives then you have to hand it off and that would sometimes be 30 seconds right and When you get to like I think it's like level for one at the end of it It's like one of your like kind of starter of starter Mario maps, but they're the bricks, where the, you know the classic flagpole? You actually have the opportunity to jump over the flagpole, you see like the bricks are close enough, and you go, oh, I've never, I've heard stories.

This is like, you know, like there have been tales foretold. And you jump over, and all of a sudden you're in that area between the flagpole and the pipe with with the castle in The background you're like oh crazy You're like walking and you're like oh well. What if I don't go down the pipe? I don't have to go down the pipe now. I'm gonna like Run and see what else is out here, and you start running and you're off The map of like what you think the game is. And all of a sudden you kind of reach an area,

looks familiar, you're like, oh, it's a warp zone. Of course, of course that's what would be here. There's one pipe and the warp goes to level one one. It's worse than dying. It's basically like, hey, fuck you for breaking the rules. Gotta go back to the beginning. I mean, extremely funny. So funny. So like, oh god.

If you don't stop and go like, wait I don't want to do that, you just reset the game. Or I think what we did was we were like, well we have to go in. We can either let the timer run out, or we go in the warp pipe. And it's like, all right, yeah, that was just like we just hit reset on the game. OK. Next time, don't do that. I think I mentioned this before on the pod.

But on my block in my childhood home, there was a family, the Nagatsugi family. And the parents are from Japan. And the son was my brother, my older brother, Nate's very good friend. So we'd go over to his house all the time and he had a Japanese Famicom. And so that was my first time playing console games,

other than Atari, like playing Nintendo games, was a Japanese Famicom. So he had Super Mario Brothers 2, like the Japanese Super Mario Brothers 2. So I played that before I played Super Mario Bros. 2, like the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, so I played that before I played Super Mario Bros. 1 US. And so when Super Mario Bros. 2 US came out, I was confounded. It was a completely different game.

This is pre-internet, and Nintendo Power is certainly, Nintendo Pravda is certainly not saying anything about this. So it wasn't until the internet that I found out what the fuck happened. Yeah, and like here's the thing, is like I heard rumors that you can jump over the flag. And I was like, oh, like as a kid was like, oh, I gotta try and jump over the flag, I gotta try and do this.

I was like, you can't do that, like it's impossible to do that. Like you can't jump just right, you go over the flag. Cause it's someone played it and like told someone else about it, and it looks exactly like Mario, the world was so weird when we were kids. Without the internet, without any sort of way to get word.

People used to talk about, oh, Nintendo Famicom, and I was like, what? There's another top-loading Nintendo thing, what? Yeah, shut up. Get out of here, liar. You fucking liar. You just wanted me to look stupid, don't you? It is a funny sort of joke on a joke on a joke,

the idea of releasing this impossible version of Super Mario Bros. 2 and then not releasing it. And it's almost like a version of the One Pipe. Like, they made a Super Mario Brothers 2. Some kids got access to it. And then another meta level of that is that then when they told their friends, no, this isn't Super Mario Brothers 2,

that their friends would laugh at them. It's like the game version of a poison mushroom. Right. They're like, no, I think I'm gonna believe Nintendo on this one. I don't know why Nintendo would lie to me. We got to wrap things up in a second, but I do, before we do so, I want to give Heather some time

to talk about Demon's Souls, the original, for PS3. A game I played at the time, but did not play much of. But you were one of the first people I know, who I know personally, who was advocating for these games. So the world might be mended. And then Dark Souls comes out later, obviously, and that one's a sensation.

So yeah, when I played, one of my final reviews as a journalist was Demon's Souls. And I was like, guys, this is fucking crazy. Because I think it was Demon's Souls is the first time, like the very first like staircase you go to in Demon's Souls, you go to go up a staircase and a boulder hits you and kills you. And I was like, whoa!

Oh man, somebody made this with a sense of humor because that's so fucking funny. And it was so impenetrable and it wasn't like a, it wasn't a shared, there was no community of Demon's Souls players. So if I'm like, oh, there's this really good game and they'd be like, what's it like? And I'd be like, hard, mean.

And they'd be like, oh yeah, I don't know that I wanna play that. But I would find like, I think Jordan Morris, I talked to at length about Demon's Souls, and I think he got on board. But yeah, I was like, in one of my final reviews, I was like, I feel like this is the sort of game that we're still gonna be talking about in 10 years.

And I was wrong on Demon's Souls, but right on the genre. It felt like the genre, it felt like witnessing the birth of something and not being able to share that birth with anybody. But what do you mean you're wrong about Demon's Souls? They re-released it and- It's true.

That's true, that's true, but I still don't, I feel like when people talk Souls games, they're talking Dark Souls, they're talking Elden Ring, they're talking Sekiro. Bloodborne, yeah. Like, I don't think, I know that they re-released it, but I don't know that Demon's Souls was like, it feels like it's not in the dialogue

about Souls games as much. And I don't mind that, I'm not saying anybody's wrong. It was very different. It was, there was a hub world and you had to go into these different doors in order to access, it was not a continual experience. It was very like Mario's ship in Mario Odyssey. Sure.

Odyssey? No, Galaxy. And you'd go to, or the the castle you'd go to different places and Jump through a painting and then you're in a new world one of the things I love about these games is that they are very much like Elaboration on the last one in some way where they do like have that new feet like with Elden Ring. It's jumping yeah and Yeah, and yeah that so starting you got to start somewhere basically yeah and so that all makes sense should

we should we should I set up that thing I think we should roll this clip okay alright so let me just set that I mentioned earlier that Zach is great at these games he loves his games if you don't know Zach, Zach Kragger, he's in The White Kids You Know. If you want someone to fucking hate because they are so talented and good looking and actually funny and they're like, oh, what am I gonna do?

I'm gonna go direct a great horror movie that's gonna be remembered forever. And you think like, you're like're like oh my only thing is I'm good at video games at least And then you realize like oh, no. He's way better at video So when we when we started In during pandemic when we started we we set out to raise money to crowdfund them an animated movie That's coming out at the Tribeca Film Festival And we we would do these streams and he kind of started this stream called collective souls Where he would try and no death run

Dark souls. Wow, or demon souls not dark. Uh, and This is The end of his successful. Let's see, December 30th, right before New Year's 2021. Wow. This is the end of his successful Demon's Souls run. You see it's almost four hours in. I appreciate a big sword. I'm really happy to see it two-hander. sword. I'm really happy to see it two-hander.

I've watched this moment a few times and it is very impressive. Yeah. Well also this is the point, especially if you're streaming, you got to be on one ass cheek because you're almost at the finish line. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's got an audience. Yeah. That's been there for four hours, right? Don't get greedy do it. That's what the chat say Someone saying it's happening Dude no death run. I just fucking no death run demon souls Just fucking no death run this shit fucking hard to do hard enough dude thank you all for being

here with me you're fucking late we fucking did it. Midnight cowboy buck. I'm holding to it, my man. I fucking practiced. That's awesome. That rocks. So I was at his wedding. Thank you, guys.

I, you know, I like, when Barbarian came out, I went and saw it with him in theaters. I've done like good comedy shows with him. I haven't seen him in theaters. I've done like good comedy shows with him. I haven't seen him that proud. That... Maybe his wedding, maybe his wedding. He was crying at the wedding. He, yeah.

The palpable joy and accomplishment that you can feel there in that clip, I just think it's so great. That's amazing. Yeah. ["Skyfall 3D World of Warcraft III Remake"] ["Skyfall 3D World of Warcraft III Remake"] ["Skyfall 3D World of Warcraft III Remake"]

All right. Shall we do a segment? Let's do a segment. I have a segment here. Yeah. And I told Nick, I told the group chat earlier that I prepped a segment. And Nick said, I hope it's very hard.

And I think it might be. Okay. You famously do very hard segments, so I said in jest, I hope this is extremely hard, and we'll see, we'll see if it delivers. Not unlike a Souls game, this I think will be challenging. This is gonna be a spin on an old segment we've done before, I think we've done a segment

like this before, it's called Who's the Boss? Who's the Boss? I think in the past I played a boss theme. Yes, and we had to determine who belonged to With all these games your Dark Souls your demon souls Dark Souls 2 Dark Souls 3 Sekiro Elden ring all the bosses have like very specific names. Okay. Yeah, so I'm just gonna name one of these bad boys You're gonna tell me which one he's from. Okay. Yeah, so I'm just gonna name one of these bad boys. You're gonna tell me which one he's from. Okay. Oh, okay God so so I have not played Dark Souls 2 or Bloodborne So those will be kind of black holes for me, but maybe I can do it by process. I'm gonna tell you right now

And this is gonna make everybody that loves Bloodborne really mad. I forgot about Bloodborne Not even on here wasn't even a. How do you play Bloodborne? I did but I didn't I bounced off it. Yeah, it was just the wrong time Yeah, it's a it's kind of like a bounced off Sekiro is just the wrong time but like, you know, I'd like to do it I played Bloodborne. I haven't beaten it. I did bounce off it. It's it's like The they've got guns in it. Yeah, sure. That's like the big thing. Yeah Spookier with guns release release it on PC. I hope it comes to PC here we go How could it be spookier? You know these games are like it's like oh, it's it's

Olga of the maggot face Spooky in the Tim Burton-y way of like tri-corner hats and stuff Everything's like a little more gray What if it had stripes? We fucking got his ass Okay his first one, his first boss Old Monk Old Monk. Old Monk. Old Monk.

Beep beep beep. Heather. Demon's Souls. That is in Demon's Souls, that is correct. Heather is on the board. Anyone's game at this point. Next one. Royal Knight Loretta.

Elden Ring? That is Elden Ring. Sam with the point. Wow. Nice. Here we go. Here we go. How about this? Corrupted Monk. Corrupted Monk. These are bosses. Dark Souls? I'm sorry, it's not dark souls. It doesn't take away my point, right? No, it doesn't take away your point. You have to get all the way back to that question and pick up the point again.

All your points. Corrupted monk? Corrupted monk. Beep beep beep. Demon souls. It is not demon. So I don't remember it from secure What maybe it is and it's it's a it's a boss. I've forgotten. I'll guess Dark Souls 3 Fortunately is not Dark Souls 3. It is however secure. Oh, what is the boss in second? I can look this up now He's called corrupted monk. Okay. I'll see if I can recognize him

Maybe he's like probably at a top of a staircase or in a swamp like totally sure like in a closet Do you know it's really funny? And not not to Dog on your format or anything. I just know the conversation was this good is like we didn't get into what's going on with the DLC At all no didn't get into what's going on with the DLC at all. No, we didn't. Yeah. And I'm like, part of me coming on here was I was like, I can't wait till they tell me what's going on with the DLC. I saved it for the pod. All I know is that they're in a trailer, they're pushing in on the egg, and I think it cracks, and I'm like, uh-oh, lady's coming out of the egg.

That's all I know. I don't even, what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. Also, I don't know the names of any of these fucking people like I go in I'm like is it big is it a monkey? Or is it small maybe this will help you out. Okay, so this is from me boo village This is the issue. This is one of those areas of the game. This is like the area of the game that Is one of the areas I didn't like as much but um so I think it's maybe not Sorry, I didn't pick one that you like I'm just saying no it's fine

excuse about this the rotten Dwayne the rotten Johnson the rotten the rotten beep beep Heather Dark Souls is incorrect dark Souls 2 it is Dark Souls 2 I knew that from the pause You know I Was hard yeah The next how about this you got to two points Sam's in the lead Sam's in the lead gaping dragon PPD Pornhub See that you're gonna love it gaping dragon People eat pornhub

See that you're gonna love it Gaping dragon Gaping dragon beep beep heather that's that dragon on the Dark Souls bridge. It is in Dark Souls It is in Dark Souls, that is correct. Yeah. Gaving Tricks. Some of these I picked because the names were kind of just funny to me. Yeah. Yeah.

How about this? You know what that sounds like, don't tell him. Magma Worm Macar. Dibidwipe. Heather. That's Elden Ring. That is Elden Ring, correct. Heather is now in the lead.

It is very weird when the Elden Ring ones pop up. It's like I don't, I wouldn't go like, if I saw it on something and go, oh it's from in the lead. It is very weird when the Elden Ring ones pop up. It's like, I wouldn't go like, if I saw it on something, go, oh, it's from Elden Ring, but when you say it, I'm like, huh? Yeah. It's probably because you died to it 40 times, and then it just burned in your subconscious somehow. How about this, the Storm King?

The Storm King. The Storm King. I'll guess Dark Souls. That's incorrect, Nick. Demon Souls? It is from Demon Souls. Wow, three points. Three points, tie game. How about?

Yeah, we're all tied. No, it's a tie on two of the three there. Zero for Nick. Tied up. Tied all around. Old Demon King. And what's funny also is hearing those names out of context, you know that the sound of it is, oh, oh!

Oh! You see a bar of, like, meal on the entire screen. But like, hearing the phrase, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit. They're like, oh, no, that's fine. I'm also like, like, you know, like, to be these characters, I'm 48. You know?

Like, I guess old. I don't know. To be these characters 48 Guess old Old Demon King That I'm be but it be dark souls 3 it is dark souls 3. Yeah. Wow, what a pull How about this the headless ape? I know this one. I know this one. I'll give it to Nick. I'll give it to Nick. Sam did get it. I knew it because it was Sekiro.

Because he knew it. The Headless Ape is from Sekiro. Yeah. How about the Regal Ancestor Spirit? Hmm. I'm going to say Dark Souls 2. It is not Dark Souls 2. I'll guess Elden Ring it is from held Elden Ring nicks on the board He's got the sec a row point can I talk to you just say talk about the headless ape real quick yeah

First off like the guardian ape and You kill the guardian it was already like a challenging fight So you fought this guy whatever like like 25 times and you finally kill him like I fucking got it. It ends like a boss fight does like it ends like with the enemy vanquish or whatever. But the ape has been you've decapitated the ape. And then the ape comes back to life and you have to fight him in his headless form. So you're not ready for it for

the first time. So you're not ready for it for the first time. So you're gonna die like immediately. And then now you know, okay, and I only have to beat this guy again. I then have to beat his headless form after this, which is even more challenging. It's a pretty amazing fuck you in the same way as the warp pipe

that takes you back to level one, one. Yeah, they've got a lot of those fuck yous where you're like, I beat it, I beat it. Then it like evolves and you're like, what the fuck? Yeah, it's like this first time you're in the millennia fight and she gets her second form, you're like, no fucking, no, there's no fucking way. Cause you also get the dopamine hip of triumph.

Right. Yeah. Where you're like, oh, I did it, I did it, I did it. And then, no, no, no, no, no, no. Then that gets rug pulled, yeah. And it's not like, because sometimes there have been games that do that, but usually you're like, oh, that's it. It's like, it feels easy to beat the first, the misdirect,

but no, this one, it's still very challenging. And there's that whole thing of like, I hope I start at defeating. Yes. And then it's like, no, you still have to and it's like no absolutely like yeah this is the game it's so mean to you this next one could be for all the marbles dirty colossus that's like when you like finger a girl and then you like. When you like have to poo.

Dirty Colossus. Dirty Colossus. I just like to say it. I'll guess. I'll throw a wild pitch. Dark Souls 2. It is not Dark Souls 2. Dark Souls 3.

It is not Dark Souls 3. Beep beep beep beep. Nether. Dark Souls 1. It is not Dark Souls, it is in fact Demon Souls. Oh wow. I gotta see this dirty colossus. Is it the one where you fight in the arena and it's like a? It's like a top floor and a bottom floor to make the list

I did play through all the games to learn all the boss I'm looking at this guy does look kind of dirty Yeah, it's like he's hard yeah It's a there's like the dung night. Isn't that one of the character? There's like the dung knight, isn't that one of the characters? The dung knight. I love some dung eater! I love some dung eater. That's the armor I wore for all of the rest of the game.

That shit-faced, pimple armored, grotesque. That does bring us to the end of the game, and Heather is the winner. Wow, that's Heather. You won. Who's the boss? I did, okay. I guess that makes you the boss. I thought we were tied with four points each. No, no, I took it away to give to Nick because he didn't know the answer. Okay. I cheated there. I am cheated. We all tied. Hey, that's a sweet skip played. Our producer is Rochelle Chen. Ranch yard underscore underscore sardine social media. Our producers, Rochelle Chen, Ranch, Yard, underscore, underscore, Sardin, social media. Our music is by Ben Prunty, benpruntymusic.com. Our art is by Duck Brigade Design, duckbrigade.com. Also check out our Patreon, patreon.com slash get played where

you can find our entire pre-Headgum back catalog, plus ad free main feed episodes and also our Patreon exclusive show, Get Animated. Matt, what's up this week? This week? Oh, y'all are ready for this week. Because on Wednesday, May 1st, as of this episode coming out, just two days from now, the beginning of anima ham, Anna mayhem, Anna mayhem. And folks, we're watching a random anime. In the middle of the run of a? Look, I'm explaining it bad, and I know that. It's fucking crazy stuff. We've got a, we're using a random anime generator

to pull up a random series. Then we were watching a random episode from that series. It is a series that none of us know, and this first episode is a series none of us had heard of. And then, so we were just live commenting on this, you know, completely siloed off piece of anime that we have no context for. And honestly, that first episode was a lot of fun to record.

Yeah, it's been a blast so far to record. I'm looking forward to the rest of Animahem. And I'm not usually as an enthusiastic plugga at the end of these episodes. You should check us out on patreon.com slash get played for Animahem. Also check out The White-est Kids You Know, streaming free May 1st on Shout TV.

Great sketch show, a great guest. Sam Brown, thanks so much for being here. Fucking great sketch show. It's so great. It is a great, look, if you haven't seen White-est Kids, fucking watch White-est Kids. It is a great fucking sketch show. I'm so excited that we get to re-release it

because I think a lot of people haven't seen it. I know a lot of people haven't seen it. That's just the reactions I get when I go around and go, hey, I'm from Whitest Kids, and people are like, ah. Uh, can you get away from me? I'm trying to eat dinner. What are you doing with my garden hose? I sent license and registration.

But yeah, I'm so excited to be working with show factory and having it re-released and being on streaming and soon there's gonna be a box set and Yeah, I think it's so cool and they're such a cool distributor and yeah, I can't wait. Awesome. People have seen it That's great. You're getting a physical release the box set. Yeah, that's so physical media rules Yeah, it's great and and Sam I'll also mention that this episode will be out first But then next week Sam will be on my other podcast dough boys So listen for that as well those are really fun app anything else you want to plug

Hit me up on Instagram if you check me out at that Sam Brown I have information about sketch classes that I teach. I mentioned sketch classes, I teach those on Zoom. And also, right now I'm doing a GoFundMe for our friend Elizabeth Hayhurst. Heather, you helped out with this, and we're trying to raise money for her.

She's now suffering from stage four cancer, and it is a huge help to her, and I have the links to that on my Instagram so if you look me up at that Sam Brown, you can hopefully donate some money to her. There you go. Cool. Thanks so much for being here.

What a delight. One that was. And after that, I want to say to someone else, Matt, you got played. Ouch. Fuck you.