Get Played - Telltale’s The Walking Dead with Scott Seiss

Episode Date: September 2, 2024

Comedian Scott Seiss joins Matt, Heather and Nick to talk about Telltale’s The Walking Dead series, how the Hitman games create funny situations, his new book The Customer Is Always Wrong, and more! 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/getplayed Wanna 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.

This is a HeadGum Podcast. Oh my god, you guys. I just got the door locked. I can't fucking believe this is happening. It's just like a movie. There are zombies everywhere. They're breaking into the studio. Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh no! Oh my god! My leg is trapped under a mic stand. Oh no, Nick! Oh wait, no, Ranch is trapped behind the producer's desk! Oh fuck! We only have time to save one of them! What are we gonna do?

Ranch! Ranch! Let's save Ranch! Let's save Ranch! We're gonna save Ranch! Oh come on! Oh come on! No, no, we're saving Ranch. Yeah, no, come on! We simply don't have time. Oh, let's get this table moved out of the way. All right, the table's moved. All right. Oh, thank God we saved ranch.

Oh, wow, I'm just a scared guy. Come on. Oh, no, we didn't have time. We only have time for one. Yeah, yeah, there's no time. There's time for me now, too. No, no, no, no, no, no. I think we're out of time.

We're out of time. You decided so quick. All right, I'm going to pack up my stuff. I'm going to put my stuff in my bag. Yeah. Wait, has anybody seen my keys, actually? They're not even here yet. Oh, wait, actually, Nick, Can you move your leg one second? My keys are right behind your leg. Yeah, okay. Okay, thanks Oh, yeah, thanks. I'll just put this back real quick. It's stuffed with it pinned under this microphone stand. Hey, we're gonna need your wallet

Are you like can I have your wallet cuz you're like not gonna need it. Well, you're gonna need currency if the Wicked county is collapsing. I don't know, maybe the government will come back. I'm just saying like for safekeeping maybe I should take your wallet. You gotta do it right. We gotta hurry, we gotta hurry. They're gonna be in here at any minute. It just wasn't even a moment of hesitancy. Like I would have picked ranch 2, alright? Like I would have sacrificed myself, but just to have a moment where it's like a dilemma.

Nick, you're not gonna eat this gun with one bullet, right? I mean it brought that just in case but kind of have it with me at all times I just can't take it. I don't think you're gonna have any use for it Come on Alright so we got his wallet, we got his gun, ranch is okay Um, you know what before I feel like we're gonna have a lot of difficulty finding like an adequate shelter for the next few days So I might take a little nap here? Yeah, yeah. You know what?

Ah! It took all of my strength but actually freed myself so I can come with you now. You know what? I'm gonna put this board back over Nick's leg. Ow! Well, fuck! Put that back and you know what? I'm just gonna shoot him in the leg real quick for good measure.

Come on! Nick will remember this. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahah [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING Welcome to Get Played, your one-stop show for good games, bad games, and every game in between.

It's time to get played. I'm your host, Heather Ann Campbell, along with my fellow host, Nick 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 premier video game podcast,

where we used to talk about bad games, then we talked about good games, then we talked about some games, and then we just talked games. And that's what we do now, we talk about games. Talk about games. It's been a process of simplification, I would say. Just stripping away layers until we got it.

What is the core of this show? And the core is we're an enthusiast podcast. That's right. Enthusiast gamers who also are, some of us have some difficulty in social settings I do find for yourself Hey adding to the mix today, we have a fantastic guest with us, a comedian and actor. You can preorder his new book, The Customers Always Wrong, which is everywhere. September 10th, Scott Seas is here. Hi, Scott.

Hi there. Thank you for having me. Hi, Scott. Thanks for making time for us. What a hoot. Oh, of course. Congrats on the book. I want to give you a little bit of a runway to tell us about it.

Oh yeah, please. So it's a humor book. It's called The Customer's Always Wrong. It's filled with like a bunch of rants and bits about the most annoying parts of having a job. It's meant to be kind of reflect the experience of like going into the break room, hiding from your boss and complaining about work,

with your coworkers, like a very cathartic thing. And it kind of expands on these TikTok videos that I do making fun of like the worst customers imaginable. Yeah, it's a- go on. I was gonna say, it feels weird to sit next to you on the couch because I know you from my phone. It's a very odd experience. I'm a huge man.

Well, he came out of the phone. Yeah, people don't realize that I am very polite in person. No, of course. I don't yell. I'm not mean. Yeah, you haven't yelled at me yet. Yes, okay. There you go. And I yelled at you to say I'm nice on the podcast beforehand. He's nice. But that sometimes happens where I'll meet people and they'll be disappointed and they'll be like, yell at me.

They want something else. Yeah. Yeah, they want something. Give me a little bit of the juice. Give me the juice. I'm sure Nick will get you there over the course of the next hour. Yeah, I'm already pissed off. I'm pissed. Okay, we were talking before we began

because you and I have a similar experience. We've all worked retail in various capacities, including ranch, but you and I have a similar experience is we both worked in call centers. I worked, it was my first video game job. I worked at Activision in customer support. You worked at Ikea. Yes, exactly. I worked the I was my first video game job, I worked at Activision in customer support. You worked at Ikea. Yes, exactly.

I worked the Ikea call center, and like these videos that I do where I kind of just take like something a customer says and then do like the reply you would want. It kind of like, it almost feels like the thing that you would do at a call center where you would put someone on mute and you'd go, this is such a fucking asshole.

You know what I mean? Where it's like, someone's like, I've been a customer here for 40 years. It's like, oh good, I hope that you're dead soon. You know what I mean? Like it's like someone's like I've been a customer here for 40 years. It's like oh good I hope that you're dead soon Like that kind of thing is what I do in the videos. That's what I do in the book Yeah, and so yeah, man Yeah, it was a lot of fun writing it the Ikea call center is probably tough because somebody is calling to complain about something They probably can't pronounce right you have to figure out you have to guess how to spell. Yeah

Hedge of a gig it's like like, okay, just give me 45 years to look that up real quick. Yeah, it was very difficult. You had to kind of like, you know, we were talking about it earlier, like people would send photos of like where they were in the process of assembling it. Oh, interesting. It's like, bro,

you just gotta start all the way over. Buy a new one. You fuck this up. This one is ruined. I think your experience working retail, and I think your expertise kind of ties in with the news pay we got, which is that GameStop, rather, is launching GameStop Retro. We were looking at this before we began recording. Yeah, there was an announcement,

maybe it's come out a couple weeks ago, but it was just pushed to me via the algorithm that GameSpot, GameSpot? GameStop, you made me do it. I know what you're talking about. You made me do it. You made me do it. Maybe it's come out a couple weeks ago, but it was just pushed to me via the algorithm that GameSpot GameSpot GameStop. You made me do it. I know GameSpot is the site with that with the reviews That's now kind of defunct. GameStop is the Greek hater that it was kind of defunct. Like SushiStop Yeah, like SushiStop, which derives from GameStop. So I don't think SushiStop is nationwide by the way. I think that's a local

Oh really? Yeah, I don't think it is. Oh wow surprising. It should think it's a little really yeah, I don't think it is oh wow surprising It should be it's pretty good. It feels like a good. It is a chain Stop I've never been actually I've never been treat yourself. It's pretty good Ranch you get sushi stop. I have been yeah, not bad right? Okay, it's fine. It's okay. It's better than Sushi I prefer sushi spot It's fine. It's okay. It's fine. It's okay. It's cheap. It's better than gas station sushi. I prefer sushi spot. That was my favorite place.

It's different. It's different. It's different. It's different. It's different. It's different. It's different. It's different.

It's reviews. So anyway, GameStop has now GameStop Retro, which is going to be a branch of GameStops that only service up to the PS3. So you can get games from Dreamcast, you can get games from NES, you can get games from Game Boy. Now, when I heard about this, I assumed cash grab.

I assumed here's a company that is going to be predatory and extort us for these old games at extremely high modern prices. Shocked when I went on the website and the prices were okay. Like 44 bucks for Pokemon Gold, which isn't, oh, that made Matt choke. Oh!

But given that, like some of- Wait, was that a shoot cough? Did you actually cough? No, I swallowed wrong. Okay. So that was real? Please move on. But I was surprised because we've become very desensitized the packaging not all the manuals the maps etc, but still

44 bucks not too bad that being said I Did do a little bit more research and found that they have no way in store of differentiating between reproduction carts and original cards So there is a possibility that the inventory is flush with repros Oh, so how are you gonna be willing that you're gonna be willing to roll those dice right well? I'll go to this store as often as I go to a regular games Stop it's hard zero times. How dare you? Don't like going to an IRL GameStop. That's fun

I think if you get like disc based games, it's not gonna be repros Yeah, like you get PlayStation 2 games Dreamcast games, etc. Like I immediately It's a dream cast game. What does that mean? Oh cuz they can be burned about they can be burned They can be they were okay. They were burned you can burn them pretty easily talking shit. No, hey, no, no Whoa, whoa, I have no smoke for the pretty easily. I thought you were talking shit. No, hey, no, no, no, whoa, whoa, whoa. I have no smoke for the Dreamcast. I love the Dreamcast. All right, so Scott, let me bring it to you.

So you have a, so I'm curious, are you someone, do you ever shop at a GameStop in person? I, you know, I haven't in years. You haven't in years. But you know, like from working retail, because I always felt like so much empathy for those people behind the counter, because it's like, they have to try to sell you the Prima strategy guide.

They have to try to sell you the warranty. They have to try to get you to preorder next year's Madden. And like I just, it's just, I just feel like, ah, fuck, I know you got to go through all this shit and you're doing a good job doing it, but I'm just, it's a note. It's a hard note for me from all of this, you know? Oh, absolutely. It's like, bro, I'm not going to help with any of your KPIs. I'm not going to help with any of the shit

you're trying to prove to your boss right now, and I'm sorry. So it's a separate location. This isn't just a section of GameStop. No, separate locations. A separate location. Like a branded GameStop retro. Okay.

And also, to speak- Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Yeah, I do too. Especially since it'll be like driving down resale prices, which is the whole problem with the retro games like world right now. That being said, I was, the retail that I worked first was an electronics boutique,

which was eventually swallowed up by GameStop. Oh yeah, right. So I can speak to that, like pressing people for the insurance policies, pressing people for like, please buy the strategy guide. And as I was like 18 when I started, you know, like, and so they had to explain to me how profit worked. Cause I was like, wait, but the games are expensive.

And they're like, yeah, but we don't make any money on the games. And on some of the systems, we lose money. And I'd be like, what is economics? What are you saying? What are you saying? And they'd be like, so push the strategy guides, push the insurance policies on like,

oh, if your game breaks down or like, you smash it or whatever, you can come bring it in and we'll replace it. And who wouldn't trust like an 18 year old girl saying, me being like, no, I'm serious, the insurance policy's a great option for you. And they'd be like, well, I'm getting this from my grandson, so.

Yeah, right. Give me five years of the policy. And that would do it. Here's my social security number, just in case. That was direct cash for us as retailers too, like as the individual seller right it's a crazy system Well, you would make like a hundred percent commission not a heart I don't know what that means now it wouldn't be like that their insurance policy would be all for us

That's what you were saying, but I'm saying that it would be a direct it directly Influence our paychecks like the more you sold the more bonuses you got each month right and on Working on minimum wage at a video game store, that was like the only way to be able to buy the games. Here's my problem with the separate locations though. Like you're saying like a grandparent comes in to buy a game. I don't think they're going to understand the difference in the branding of the stores. Like it's going to be like, did you have Black Myth Wukong or whatever? And they're going to be like, this is actually GameStop Retro,

and it's gonna be like, are you fucking kidding me? Why are there two stores? That's so you have it for the Game Boy then? No, no, it didn't come out for Game Boy. I think I've said this on the podcast before, but when I was working Activision Support, we'd get those calls from frustrated parents who like they bought the wrong version of the game,

and they didn't understand why I Couldn't fix it for them This one lady was so mad because she bought Her son had a GameCube and she bought Tony Hawk for the Xbox or vice versa It might have been worse than that I think it might have been that her son had an N64 and she bought Tony Hawk for the gate for the Xbox sure and she's Like I don't like why isn't working. It's like it's like the game my son wanted That's like I don't want to I don't tell you you about the wrong thing like well. I opened it

Well, so I had a thin your fire and that sucks. I'm sorry There's nothing I can do to help you is it at all possible that she was also mad because she was talking to you I definitely did there was a day when there were a bunch of issues with Call of Duty dedicated servers and everyone was mad And so there was like a campaign on the message boards to like get everyone to call in and talk to the Activision call center And people were like posting about like who they were talking to and I saw somebody like I talked to Nick You know the fuck he was talking Yelp reviews written about me From when I worked as a like a reservationist at a restaurant and people couldn't come to their reservation

like on time and some of these this restaurant like had like a Fee like if you canceled within a certain amount of time you'd have to pay still they didn't waive the fee even though I Read I signed the document saying that I would pay and in shit like that just horrible horrible stuff Yeah, getting yelled at as an adult by another adult too is it's rough Yeah, it's rough. Yeah, we do that to your shell. Yes, are you screaming at ranch constantly what we do? I should you got I'm I'm not in the room for that yeah, yeah, okay? It's just voice memos of us being like Branch? Shouldn't be. Cash with DraftKings! Pick a player and choose if they'll have more or less of a stat like yards, touchdowns,

catches and more. Get your picks right and you'll win cash! Download the new DraftKings Pick 6 app now and use code PLAYED. That's code PLAYED for new customers to play 5 bucks and get $50 in Pick Six credits guaranteed, plus one month of NFL Plus premium on us. Offer expires 9.19 only on DraftKings Pick Six. The crown is yours! Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org in Connecticut. Must be 18 plus. Age and eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction.

Pick six not available everywhere including New York and Ontario. Voidware prohibited. See terms at picksix.draftkings.com slash promos. One per new customer. Reward issued as $50 in non-withdrawable Pick Six credits that expire in six months. NFL Plus Premium offer only available to new and former NFL Plus subscribers. Additional NFL Plus Premium terms at nfl.com slash terms. ["Walking Dead"] Okay, we're gonna talk about the telltale

of the Walking Dead today, but there are a couple other things you talked about that were game related you pitched to us. One of which, we're all just don't understand what it is. You did standup in Fortnite? Oh yes, yes, I did standup comedy in Fortnite, the game. What happened? Like what is this, what happened?

On standup island. On standup island. Yes, you have to go to standup island in order to view it. Okay. I've never even played Fortnite. I really don't know how to access this. What it would say, it was a comedy club that they kind of premiered with their like creator mode.

And so you could like, it was to show off like that you could film yourself doing something and then like make your own kind of like little movie or performance within Fortnite. And it was a comedy club produced by Trevor Noah. There were lots of comics in it. There was like Preacher Lawson, Matthew Broussard, and I was one of them. And we to the we went I went to like epic studios

I put on a motion capture suit. Oh, wow I did my like five minute set and then you know I like made a joke about death and they were like you can't say death in fortnight They were like no one ever dies in fortnight's they just respawn and I was like, okay I'm sorry, and then I tried doing a joke about amber alerts and they were like, no one ever dies in Fortnite. They just respawn and I was like, okay, I'm sorry. And then I tried doing a joke about Amber Alerts and they were like, you definitely can't do that joke either. I was like, oh my God, I'm so sorry.

So I had to kind of like, you know, adjust or whatever, but it was a super fun experience. And like everyone who worked on the project was like super nice. They like, after I did the set, like they showed me a video of it and I was watching a Fortnite character do like my movements, my nervous, my gestures.

It wasn't like, it wasn't you, it was like. No, so it didn't look like me. It was a Fortnite skin of a, it looked like a soldier slash fast food drive-through cashier. That was like what they picked for me. And he was, but he was doing my movements and it was my voice and it was just super cool man wild. I would have asked for like Peter Griffin or something

They had three skins they were like you could choose it was like a cow suit with like I don't know utter grenades or something like that, and then there was the fast food guy in a cave, man Yeah, one of the one of the funniest parts about it though, I was doing it and they were like, the director was like, this is gonna look like a club. This is gonna look like a standup comedy club in Fortnite. And there's gonna be a bar in the back. Yeah.

And he was like, but you can't say anything about the bar because this is Fortnite, no one drinks alcohol, whatever. And he goes, but Bender is gonna be back there serving drinks. He was like, Bender from Futurama is going to be serving slurm back there. And he was like, so if during your set you want to say, please enjoy some slurm in the back at some point, you can slip that in wherever you feel comfortable with. And I was like, I don't think it's going to come up naturally in my set.

So like right at the end, I just like shouted like, and get some slurm, like drink slurm. Like didn't know what to do. But I hope everyone enjoys slurm in Fortnite tonight. Wow. Look, I'm interested. I'll give it a sip. Why not? Yeah.

Is that, wait, was this a, was this a limited time thing? Is, can people still see this? Is there video of it somewhere? I'm pretty sure you can still view it. Yeah, you just, I mean, there's like a certain island code you have to put in, but it's for Stand Up Island. And you can go there. And like a certain island code you have to put in but it's for stand-up island And you can go there and like the reason I never watched it because they Gamified it where like the players could then vote on who was their favorite comedian that they saw and I was like I can't take

But it was it was really fun it was definitely the wildest place I've ever done stand-up. That is crazy, and like, so you had to, yeah, you wore the ping pong suit. Yeah. Had you never worn one of those before? No! Or was that like, that was a completely new experience? No, it was a completely new experience, and they had, like, I had a helmet on that had a camera,

like about like a foot in front of my face, and they had like a fake microphone so I could like feel like I was doing stand-up. And when the first take, you know, I was trying to be professional, trying to be like, I deserve to be here or whatever, you know, and they were like, okay, go. And as a comic, like I always just take the mic

off the stand, you know, it's a very, it's a motion that I know very well. And I took the microphone out and immediately slammed it into the camera that was in front of my face, knocked it like broke the helmet and I Went oh fuck me like it's loud Say can I restart this and they were like yeah sure that's fine

Embarrassing I humiliated myself This reminds me I don't know have I told you guys the gig that I did in VR No, I think you may have done maybe maybe I there was um I think you may have done this. No, no. I think you may have done this. Maybe. Maybe. Sarah Silverman had an online company, which their name was like, JASH? JASH, yeah. JASH, yeah, those were in a few people. Yeah, so they had like a VR room

where they were booking people to do comedy gigs. The difference between what you did and what I did is that I was in a VR helmet and I was doing an improv show with my partner. My improv partner was in a different room because they had body cams pointed at us so that they could like track all of our motions. And also I was blind.

So like, I'm in a room, but the only thing I can see is the comedy club we were in, in virtual space, not the space that I was in in my real world. Oh, you were in a pass-through camera. Yeah, no, there was no pass-through through camera. So once I put on the helmet, I was in the VR space, trying to do an improv show in a room where I didn't even know where the barriers were

of the thing. And they also, it was designed so that there would be live audiences so that you could interact with the people on stage. So all the people in the audience did was keep coming up on the stage and then the proximity vocals would make it so that like, I'd be like, hey, is that, be careful over there, grandma.

You don't want to fall out the window, like to my scene partner. And then suddenly somebody would come up into my face who I couldn't see, and they would just be like, hey, what's up? What's up? What's up? What's up?

What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up?

What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? speedrunning throwing up. Like that sounds like a nightmare. I love when you're on the new frontier or something and they're just like, yeah, we're just gonna test out something that doesn't work. Yeah.

And then other people do it who are insane. Yeah. That's wild. To that point, the Fortnite experience sounds more fun. It was a lot of fun. It does, yeah. It was. The only bad part was that no one could laugh

like while the audio was getting recorded. So it was like, is this funny at all? This feels like my worst nightmare, but at the end, everyone in the room would go, we thought it was funny. That's usually how it goes when we record this, just us. We're like, I don't know. Ranch will just be like, good show.

Wait, Heather, Ranch, you both play a fair amount of Fortnite. Have you hopped into any of these experiential things there? Have you seen like a DJ set or anything in the game? I went to a Fall Out Boy concert. How was that? Awesome. It was just like an arena, and then there was just a video of them on a screen. Oh, so there weren't like Fortnite characters playing their music? Oh, that's video of them on a screen.

Oh, so there weren't like Fortnite characters playing their music. Oh, that's a little bit of a disappointment. No, it was literally just like a big Jumbotron screen with them at a live concert. It would be funny if they had those at like arenas, like actual sized arenas kind of, but your character in Fortnite,

you still get like a bad seat. You're just like super far away. It just kinda sucks actually. Actually, they'll figure out how to do that. They'll figure out a way for there to be pricing tiers for virtual experiences where you have to pay more. No, I take it back. I take it back.

No, Matt, it's done. It's happening. I did the concert that was, or I went to the concert that was, the guy who sings that song with Justin Bieber that was like super viral a few years ago, I don't know the name of that fucking. Despacito?

No, no, no, no, no. I can't think of his name. The only song Nick knows. It's like the name. The only song in the past 10 years. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, that song, whatever the fuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, there it is, Killer Roy. So I went to his concert event, and the way they made it sort of an interactive experience is that you went through his entire life. So you start on the street where he grew up, like a Fortnite facsimile of that, where he's playing a gig on his front lawn. And then you follow his career path

by following him through these virtual spaces until you're in his fancy house. And in order to progress to the next part, you have to smash everything in his fancy house because it's a crazy party. And so you're smashing the TV and smashing crates or couches or whatever. And then you follow him into a big arena

where they are doing a video version of him singing the concert, and then also motion captured versions of him on stage. And you're flying through the air and through rings and shit and getting experience points. I didn't enjoy it, but I also, it was my first week in Fortnite. So I was like, is that what this is? but I also, it was my first week in Fortnite.

So I was like, is that what this is? Yeah, right. Yeah. Like how often does this happen? But now all of these major, like Lady Gaga's in the game and Ariana Grande and all, it's just like pop-up events and it's not usually as elaborate as that one as far as I can tell. Interesting. Yeah I feel like I saw Steve Aoki doing a DJ set in like the Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog.

And I was like alright sure yeah. It's all tracks. No I think I feel like I just saw a video of that and I was like I don't know how this came together but, why not? All right, let's uh, I do want to ask about a couple other things You're a fan of the hitman series. This is something that Has played a lot of I I love what the how they've repack. I don't know how they repack what the title of it is now the They repackage it as like one game And they're all yeah, I'll look up exactly what it's called. But I was super hyped on I hadn't played any of them really but then when Hitman 3 was coming out I was like I could see myself really liking this. Let's get one and two on board and I just blazed through those and then just like the idea that you can just kind of do anything in those games is so it's like

It's they're very funny games on accident. They're hilarious, that's what I love about them. It's like, they can be as serious as you want or as silly as you want. Like, it's like, you could play it and be like, okay, I'm gonna sneak in, no one's gonna know where, like, that I was even here when I take out a target. Or you could be like, I'm gonna lead everyone

to the same bathroom and kill like 300 people with a banana peel. And that's what I'm gonna do in this map. Like, they're just hilarious. The first one I ever played was Hitman Absolution. Which was like, I think on the PS3. And I loved it, I'd never played a Hitman game before. And then like, it was like one of those things

where I went online and I was like, oh, everyone thinks this is the worst one. And no one likes this at all. I thought it was fun. But then the newer ones, Hitman, like one, two, and three, I just think that the map design is so good. Yeah, they're super fun and just like also like I think it's called the World of Assassins. Hitman World of Assassination is the bundle. Yeah, but now they have this thing where there's like weekly challenges or things like that.

So it's sort of more of a live service type thing where there's they'll update the targets now. And it's like the same maps and, you know, just reskinned characters and stuff. But like you can it's now just like a forever game. You could just play it forever now. It's kind of amazing. I have a question. So TikTok is becoming sort of a pre-cog with its algorithm and showed me a bunch of Hitman content this week, even though I don't follow any Hitman games and have never really talked about it before in my life.

Oh my gosh. So it's very, it's great. Brilliant. Whatever they're doing over there, fantastic. I also haven't watched any playthroughs. And here's what I saw. Okay. Was the bald guy walking through-

1847. Walking through a kitchen and murdering workers by shooting them either in the head with a silencer or throwing fire extinguishers at their heads or shooting them once in the legs so that they scream for a moment and then throwing a frying pan at them. Is that what the game is? You don't have to do that you can do it

That's the best part about it I love you framed as killing workers Just trying to do their job Like a guy cooking at like like a It'll be like a guy cooking at a stove, and you're clearly at the back of some hotel room or a big casino. It's a huge environment, and this dude was just walking up and murking these people,

but I assume there was a target. It's like you have to kill one guy. Yes, that is a part of it. There's a target that you have to reach, and then part of it is like, you get like points for how you do it. So you'll get points deducted if you kill anyone else other than that target. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. And then there are people that play through it, like there's a bunch of YouTube videos where it's like,

I kill everyone in this map. Like, I'm up in the air. And it's like, okay, that's super fun. But most of the time it's like, you are going through a kitchen, you knock out the chef, you put on the chef's clothes, now you can be in the kitchen, then you walk up and you hit the waiter on the back of the head with a frying pan, now you put on the waiter,

it's a lot of putting on people's clothes and then getting closer to the target and then poisoning them or something like that. I feel like within these maps too, if it was at a hotel or something, the chef is somehow in on it. So you don't feel like that bad about like, knocking the chef out and taking his outfit.

Cause it's like, oh, the chef works for this evil guy who he knows is evil. Oh, okay. Cause it looked, from what I was seeing, it looked like two people like discussing the menu on a clipboard and then he just walks up and like shoots both of them in the back of the head. And I was like, What is the game?

Like reservation day we can send these two people home. They don't have to come in In an underground agency one of those two people murdered We're enjoying the specials But that's kind of like you have like that freedom in the game where it's like you can be as violent as you want as Stealthy as you want It's just like as long as you kill the target by the end and get out Then you win and it is like a like I don't know and it's interesting that the game can like even like account for certain things too

Like I don't know it's I would be interested to see you try it cuz I Heather I think you might find a satisfaction in playing the game because it's cuz This game sort of suggests. what if stealth is combat. You have to sort of think about stealth that way in these games because you have to get to your main target and you can't just walk up and do it. You could go guns blazing, but there's a very low percent chance chance that you're gonna succeed that way. You have to sort of be clever and think of the game as a puzzle kind of almost. Which I know you also don't like.

I just said another word. You're describing two things. Yeah. Stealth and puzzles. Yeah. But you get to kill. You do. Yeah.

And you get different, there's a bunch of different weapons. You can just go in with the, you know, one of those like, you know, strings. Piano wire? Yeah, piano wire. Yeah. There's a bunch of different weapons You can just go in with the you know one of those like you know piano wire piano wire Yeah, that's pretty fun. How did you figure out what he was doing doing from that motion? What do you mean? He just matches kind of waved his hands around randomly? Yeah, like he was working a speed bag, and you just went your mind went straight to piano wire straight to piano wire. Didn't all of our minds go right there? You could go in just with a piano wire. Yeah.

I barely moved. Yeah. Okay. You did play Baldur's Gate three. Is that correct? Oh yeah. That was my, I think that's like my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game.

I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. I think that's my favorite part of the game. Okay, you did play Baldur's Gate 3, is that correct? Oh yeah, that was my, I think that's like my favorite game of all time now. It's my favorite game too, I love it so much. I finished it twice, Matt's finished it twice. I finished it once, I'm on my second playthrough though. You're close, you're near the end though, right?

I'm in Act 3. I thought you finished it up, I apologize. No. But it's, I blazed through the first two acts in the second playthrough, because I just knew how to do everything. Yeah. So there's just no learning curve, now I feel sort of like overpowered in some ways too.

I can talk about Borders Gate 3 all day, but I'm like, can you give us like an overview of like what your approach was, what your play style was, did you murder any NPCs like Heather did? That's not, I did not. Did you murder people? No, I didn't. Who did you kill?

I didn't kill, they came after me. Oh my god, I cannot handle this every fucking week. You're criticizing us for killing people. I kept looking through this every fucking week. I looked in a box. I looked in a box. You killed Karla. No!

What? They came after me. I looked in a box. She did not come after you. Yes, she did. She came after her because she killed everybody else first. Oh, you killed the other tieflings. Oh my God.

The peaceful tieflings. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children.

The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. The children. I'm hearing about it. I opened a box in a town, they tried to arrest me, I tried to leave, and they wouldn't let me leave, so I shot somebody with an arrow, and then it just aggroed, like in waves, the entire town, which then created a tone for my entire playthrough, where I met Karlak

in the forest. But she knew what you had in your reputation. On site she just attacked me and it wasn't until weeks later that I even knew that she was a character. I will give you credit for just rolling with that playthrough because I think that is the thing a lot of people I think would have just been like

I'm just letting another say but you just were like let's just live with the consequences. And to give you just a little bit more grace I think just in summary the list of people who she didn't kill is way shorter There were a few people who didn't attack me and they're in my party now and they're my friends That makes sense. That makes sense Okay, so what kind of character did you play and and who like who are like some of your party members? Who are your romance? You can just give us an overview of your problems. Yeah, I mean, I played as a rogue, a half-elf rogue,

and then I met Astera and I was like, oh, I'm playing as you. I can't have you in my party, I'm sorry. And then, you know, I romanced Shadowheart, like, you know, a basic bitch. I did, and then I had, who was I? Oh, I had Lae'zel and I had Gail. That was like my main party for my first playthrough.

But I wanted to play it like a game of D&D where I didn't like save scum or anything. If I failed a role, I was just gonna keep rolling with that. And I did that through acts like one and two and everything. And then once I got to act three, I was so fucking invested in my character and like the relationships that I started really like,

really considering redoing roles, because I was like, well, now I just want the story to end exactly how I want it. And this is like, I have too much invested for this not to go like a well-written story. So I played through like the ending maybe three different times and then sat there and chose what canonically I wanted to have

into my character. But I just love the game. And I mean, it hit at the right time because I had just gotten into D&D. Like I only played like in person a couple of times, but all of a sudden I had no nothing about Baldur's Gate 3. And then at the time I was like,

oh, there's a whole like D&D game that I can just play right now. And so I sunk like fucking 200 hours into it, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So good. It's so good it's excellent even if everybody says you and then like No idea what the story is right the writing is just phenomenal like the the performances, like everything about it, man. Yeah, it's an excellent game. It's staggering. All right, I have one more question.

This is for everybody. I'm curious about some video games we've been playing now. What are you playing? What are you playing? Hey, it's me, the Resident Evil Merchant, asking you the question of the week. What are you playing? Malabaraka, What are you playing?

Thank you Resident Evil Merchant. You're welcome. I actually I am playing a new game. I haven't mentioned this. Wow. In the thread even Oh, I'm gonna text you guys over the weekend. I wanted to save it for the show I love it. So I just didn't want to you have my number. Uh, I Think I do have it. Yeah I do I do I do have the number. Can you share your contact? I don't have your number. No, I think it's just better if I have yours. And then.

No, but if you send me your contact info, then I can get that card. No, oh, yeah, yeah, no, I'm good. Can I be honest, because I also have your number and I tried to call you once and the pickup sound was a dial-up modem. Like, what is your setup? All right, so I don't have a data plan

because I'm not like an elitist. So I have a, what do you call it, a modem hooked up into a ethernet cable, which then I have into a WiFi blaster that I then WiFi blast my iPhone. So you probably, sometimes there's some errors and you might get the dial-up part of it when I'm still managing data.

Well, I would present up over an IT guy or something, take a look at what you got, what you're working with. Yeah, maybe we're joking with that. Do not send anybody. Okay. Not yet. I need to clean up some things where are you staying these days well I there's a decommissioned best Western about 45 miles outside of

Los Angeles and that's where I'm staying for the moment it sounds apocalyptic to be honest why are we talking like West Covina or something you're in a condemned hotel Altadena Altadena North Altadena right at the mountain. Wow yeah, there's a decommissioned Hotel and you know if you go in the lobby they still got all the keys in those places in that wild Yeah, I mean, so you just you just broke into a shut down hotel And what if you leave money you're checking in and I checked in I checked in I checked in I checked in it sounds like you did you do diligence if it was under otherwise unoccupied it seems like no harm no foul thank you very much I'm just you know be safe please share your contact info

I started to because after after I finished Chrono Trigger after we had recorded the episode I had finished it. Oh yes. And I was, every time this had been happening to me, were recently, I think it's because- Yes, sorry to clarify, we did a Chrono Trigger episode, you had not finished the game yet. A couple days afterwards, you did finish the game,

you did see it through the game. And recorded an epilogue for the episode. Yeah, and we put that in at the very end there. I was very pleased with my ending, I loved it. I loved that game, I think more than life itself. It's a beautiful, wonderful game. I love it. But afterward, and this happened after Elden Ring DLC.

This happens now this year, I think, because there's just fewer games coming out this year that I'm interested in, so there's not something hot and fresh ready for me to jump into right away. So I went, I did a rare, rare move. Went to the back catalog. What's in the back catalog? Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Is he about to say it? Oh what? No. Uh, no.

I know what you're excited about. And I did not, I didn't start And I did not start Mother 3 Heather. I didn't start it. So just let's rip that mandate off real quick. I didn't start it. But I kind of wanted something that I knew wasn't going to be very challenging for me or ask that much of me. So I know that I would like these games.

I just have never really played one with much seriousness and not finished one before. So I loaded up the Nathan Drake collection and I started Uncharted Drake's Fortune, the first game. Oh wow. Okay, great. And I'm absolutely certain this is not a new observation. Nathan Drake is a mass murderer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Yeah.

I got an achievement in the first area for getting 50 headshots. Yeah. I'm just headshotting everybody. You can just do it. If you see Indiana Jones acting that way, you'd be like, this man is horrifying. Yeah, and so knowing that the next games after these games

are The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2, I can see how Neil Druckmann gets to the idea that maybe violence is bad in my people. Because Nathan Drake is just shooting other treasure hunters. And you hope that they're treasure hunters. And Bruce Straley, who co-directed, was the other director on Last of Us Part One and one of the people who created the series,

it's like, yeah, I think that was largely a response to the Uncharted franchise and criticism of the Uncharted franchise for sure. Because the platforming, very fun. And I feel like finding treasure is cool. That's like, if I found some treasure,'d be pretty fucking stoked I'd love to do that. Uncharted 1 is also like very video gamey and you think about it as a PlayStation 3 game it wasn't like it you know there's all sorts of stuff like

what like you know the parts where you're like dodging barrels of TNT and you're like in a speedboat or whatever or like you know there's a lot of like relic collection that feels just like, you know It feels almost like Banjo-Kazooie. It feels very video gamey Yeah, but it's just that you were dealing with like this is starting to look like reality like the the graphical fidelity is reaching a point Yes, like I'm killing actual yeah, that's what made it a little weird and upsetting makes it weird And then and then Uncharted 2 and 3 start to get more like, you know And then Uncharted 2 and 3 start to get more like, you know,

they start to remove some of those video game elements and lean into like it being like an adventure a little bit more, which makes it feel even more asynchronous. So it's an interesting experience. Because I bought this game when I bought my PS3. Actually, wow. I just never like never finished it. I just moved on to God knows what else. Are you playing it on the PS3? No, I'm playing it on my PS5.

Okay, I getcha. But I do have, I have all the discs for, I bought all of them. Yeah. I don't know what was going on. I knew that I would like them. And I was like, they're probably just never gonna make another system, this will not be available.

Of course it's available on PS5. So I'm playing that. I guess it doesn't take that long to finish all three of them. So I might be sticking with these first three at least, and then maybe jumping into four, which everyone says is fantastic. And then the other one.

The Vito one. I did start the Vito one not long ago, actually. Yeah. The one that has the two women is the protagonist. Lost Legacy, is that what it's called? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was also very good But I I mean I'm enjoying it. Yes, that's one Chloe and then the other girl. That's right

Yeah, but so I'm enjoying that it is funny because I guess under in this updated You know bundle it tells you what you've done better than your friends. So that's funny. When you've cleared an area, it'll be like you've it's showing this to me. It's like you've killed more people than Chef Kevin. And I'm like, OK, good to know. That's great. I wish that feature was in more games. Yeah, it should be in every game. That's a great that's a great way of making a game sort of like a strand game.

Yeah. Like if you just had a little light information about how your friends played. There is, yeah, I mean that is like a thing in Telltale's The Walking Dead, but it's not as personalized. It doesn't say what the choices of like the people your friends list made. Yeah, it'll be like everybody in the world. It pulls the overall pull. Yeah. Scott, any games you're playing right now?

Yes, I'm on like a rogue-like kick or whatever. I'm doing Hades right now for the first time. I've never tried it before. It's fucking great. It is. It's amazing. And then I also, I made the mistake of downloading Slay the Spire to my phone.

Oh yeah, God. Oh my God. Yeah, it is a time suck. It's like, there's a timer on the game. So it's like, I can see that a run takes me like an hour and eight minutes or whatever. But for some reason, when I have a free 10 minutes, I'm like, I can do a full run right now.

I could fit this in in the next 10 minutes. And then I just spend an hour looking at my phone, building a deck that sucks, but Slay the Spire. So fucking good. It's so fun. I mean, this run-based deck builder game. And yeah, I put so many hours into that on PC. And then yeah, when the phone version,

I was like, oh, I'll miss her on this. And I was just surprised by how well executed it is. Because it's very, like a lot of, sometimes you'll get the mobile version of something that's like, this doesn't really play very well. It's very playable on a phone. Yeah, oh, it very it is. Because it's very, like a lot of, sometimes you'll get, have the mobile version or something that's like, this doesn't really play very well. It's very playable on a phone. Yeah, oh it very much is. The only issue is if like, if your fucking hand

gets so massive, it's pretty easy to play like a card you weren't meaning to. But that just could be my clumsy fingers or something like that. But everything else works so, so well. Yeah, I'm obsessed with it. Yeah, it's an awesome design. I do wish runs were shorter,

because yes, it is. I just like, I have had that installed on my phone and then I've had to delete it, because I just like, I can't do this anymore. Oh, really? That's always my cycle, I feel like, with games. Like I had the same thing with Marvel Snap. I was just like, and Hearthstone too.

I did that exact same thing with Marvel Snap. I had to delete it. I was like, this has got to go, I can't do this anymore. I love it, but this is all I do, you know, it's too absorbing and it's too available, that's the whole issue, yeah. Yeah, I've just started, so I mean. Enjoy yourself. I'll probably end up

deleting it in like the next three days. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nick, what are you playing? Well, thank you so much for asking Resident Evil Merchant. You're welcome. I'll try not to blow V8 too much this week. I

What? Try not to do it say blow V8 All right, I didn't I've never heard that word or expression blow V8 like like just talk at length like like be a blow Hard, okay, the same or right okay the way blow V8 sounds is like what you look like Like a water corpse exactly exactly that exactly that somehow wet and dry I'm a lost girl! You have to stop saying the most horrific things and making direct eye contact with me. Why?

I just don't know who else to sell it to. Looking at Nick's like looking at a blank mirror. Like a vampire's mirror? Yeah, like when you... Yeah, exactly. You're just seeing a reflection of the room? Yes. All right, I'll take it. All right.

I think it's fair. Okay, so I'll try not to talk too lengthy about this. Elden Ring, I finished the base game. Yes! I went with the Ronnie ending. I'm so glad I finished this game this time. I did beat Millennia. Love to hear it.

I did end up using the Mimic tier, and it was one of those things where I was just like, I played it a couple more times. It took like two days off the game. I played it a couple more times. And then I just like, I was like, ah, what happens if I throw in the Mimic tier in there? And I was just like, oh, I'm just gonna win the next time.

And so like I used a rune arc and I went and I won. It was kind of easy mode, but it was still gratifying. And my Mimic tier did die on the second form, and I still was able to bring it home on enough gas in the tank. But it was the sort of thing, it was just like, I do kind of easy mode, but it was still gratifying. And my Mimic tier did die on the second form, and I still was able to bring it home on enough gas in the tank. But it was the sort of thing, it was just like, I do kind of wish, we'll see, I'll save it for another playthrough.

All that said, I really loved how it ended. I thought it was very satisfying. It's really hard, like with Baldur's Gate 3, to land the plane on one of those big, meaty, sprawling, 100 plus hour games. And I think the ending has elements of anti big, meaty, sprawling, 100-plus hour games. And, you know, I think the ending has elements of anti-climax, but it still is just overall does a good thing of, you know, just,

I think I already said this, but just like landing the plane. That's all you want. You don't want it to be like a mess. So now I'm about 10 hours into the DLC, Shadow of the Erid Tree, and I really, really love it. A couple of complaints I'll say real quick. I wish there was a little more enemy variety

I'm not sure if you you guys felt that like I know it's super time-consuming to you know to model and bone and animate a New carrot a new enemy and balance and everything But I just feel like if pots have fought so many pallet swap trolls and finger creepers at this point You know I just like I kind of I do really admire like the Diablo expansion approach of just like every enemy is a new enemy, is something you didn't see in the base game.

I also wish there were achievements. I'm kind of surprised there are no achievements in the DLC. Oh, interesting. I guess I didn't notice. No, there's none, yeah, no, at least on Steam. Maybe you just didn't get any. No, there's none, I looked it up. Maybe you're just bad at the game and you didn't get any.

Matt, I am bad at the game, but I looked up, there are no achievements on Steam. You're not bad at the game, you didn't get in. Matt, I am bad at the game, but I looked up, there are no achievements on Steam. You're not bad at the game, you beat Millennia without any assistance other than a Mimic tier. I think that's good. That is true. Anyway, I was gonna say, the positives overall about the DLC, because I love it so much.

The environments are awesome, the level design is just so expansive, so impressive. I'm trying to use exclusively new DLC weapons and armor and ashes and war of spirit and spirit ashes Which all just like make it feel like you know something of a new game, and that's really fun I love the sword a milady the allies blade. It's so great. What's your most frequent Instagram comment? It's so it's so fun. And I also say that there's some great boss fights,

the Black Jail Knight, I've been using his great sword, he's just like a guy you just like find in like a little alcove, the Lion Guardian who I think is very memorable, the, I think, is it Rulana, Riana, the Twin Moon Knight? Rulana, yeah. Really, really fun fight. Rinala. Awesome. Rinala, I have it backwards. Also the Black J black jail night. Yeah

Is my nemesis he's a cool ass fight. It's a good fight. He's tough. He was really really hard He's got a big health pool. Yeah almost snapped my fucking controller and half trying to take him down Yeah, I am. Yeah, I really had to be like you have those moments I feel like with with souls games where you're just like I have to just play the game I just like a lock-in I have to not try to you know, whatever just just muscle my way through this I'll also just say just from a design standpoint that the use of the the shadow tree Fragments like as a way to balance and accommodate for players of whatever level coming into this game We're just like oh, that's just such a smart way to do it

I'm just like there's just like a separate level pool that you use. As you explore this game, you become more powerful in this section of the game only. It's not anything novel to say this incredible game is incredible, but I am really, really enjoying my time with it, and I'm glad I'm playing the DLC. Heather, what are you playing? Well, I'm continuing on the Chrono Trigger journey.

Wow, I love it. I am not much farther. I didn't have a ton of gaming time this week, but I am going to head towards the horizon and try and beat this game finally. I'm also really grateful for all of the Discord comments and Instagram comments of people who, like me, have been playing the game over and over and over again

but have never actually completed it. I challenge you, like me, have been playing the game over and over and over again, but have never actually completed it. I challenge you, like me, to finish the game finally, hopefully on this run. The other- Did you ever see that, sorry, just to interject, did you ever see that Hard Times headline that was Earthbound fan excited to play it for the first time? That's funny.

Yeah. So I was playing that. The game that I'm excited about, I kind of want to talk about the game, even though I haven't played it yet, because it is being played. And that game is Star Wars Outlaws. And there is a lot of hubbub this week

about the state that the game was in when it was being reviewed by games journalists, and then what happened today to those games journalists. So everybody got their early review code. Reviews have been all over the place. Front of the pod, Gene Park really enjoyed it. And the reason he gave for enjoying it was that it's a really fun game to vibe in,

in that there are these recognizable Star Wars environments with incredible detail, and it's kind of just nice to exist in them. And for me, that made the game sound so attractive, because my favorite part of any Ubisoft game is the environment. The gameplay loop is fine, but getting to go to Northumbria in Vikings

or in Valhalla and get to experience sort of the archeologically accurate area of that game, it's like, that's why I'm there to play. And if they're doing that in Star Wars, like there was a review I saw that was somebody who had found the most Isley Cantina using exclusively landmarks that they remembered from the movies. So they were able to walk through the neighborhood

and find it because everything kind of tracks. And I was like, oh, this is great. And specifically, it's great in a way that the game that I never played, Hogwarts Legacy, was for Hogwarts. Like if you're a super fan of Hogwarts, you could be like, oh, I know where the bathroom is because I watched those kids go up those flights of stairs. That's the place where the kids shit and piss on the floor

and they use spells to make the feces and urine disappear. This is canonically the case, according to J.K. Rowling. Yeah, it didn't hit the floor though. Oh, okay, right, right. Yeah, it would be under their robe while standing. Got it, got it, got it. So if they were raised in regular earth rules, they would have to unlearn those rules

to just shit and piss while walking around. Wow. Is that real? That's actually canny? I've never even heard that. That's real. Yeah, they did, there isn't like toilets there. Whatever many insane thoughts.

This is another thing you did not need to add. Just kept that in your brain, kept your mouth shut. So reviews have been really, really mixed, and I've been watching a lot of like gameplay videos and getting myself hyped up for this game because I wanna go in eyes unclouded, like knowing that I'm in for a very mixed experience and it is not going to be the Star Wars game of my dreams.

But today Ubisoft launched a patch, like a pre-day one patch. And if you were a games journalist who'd put in like 50 to 75 hours on this fucking game to review it, your save was destroyed by the patch. Wow. So like people like who had invested huge amounts of time

already can't play the game that they were playing and a huge number of people on like Twitter or like TikTok were devastated by this experience because it's like well how does that buy us any like goodwill to do something like that to people who are like trying to give your game a fair shake. Yeah, that does happen sometimes. You got an open beta or something like that. You're saved, just isn't gonna work in the full game. But that is frustrating for it to happen so close to release.

Yeah, the game comes out tomorrow as a record. As a misrecord, yeah. So anyway, yeah, I'm really excited to play that game. It probably will put a bookmark in Chrono Trigger for me for a bit, but only based on how good the game is. Like I could come in next week and be like, guys, Star Wars is dog shit. I hate it.

I hope they have an Exegol DLC. I saw a little, I saw the thing that I was like, okay, I'm buying the, I saw, the thing that I was like, okay, I'm buying the game right now, was if you point your gun, you've got a little guy with you, a little squeaky guy, right? You don't have to sell this to me, I'm gonna get it. Absolutely. He's like a little cat lizard, you know,

like a little squeaky guy. And if you point your gun at the little squeaky guy, your character will go pew pew pew, and it'll go ah, and like fall over and play dead. And I was like, that's it, that's the whole, I'm sold. Yeah, that's dead for sure, just, I'm gonna buy it too, yeah. Yeah.

But that's what I've been playing is Chrono Trigger and the hype cycle for Star Wars Outlaws. We'll all find out for ourselves next week. Let's talk about Telltale's The Walking Dead. These were the episodic adventuretale's The Walking Dead. These were the episodic adventure games based on The Walking Dead comics. The first episode of the first season was released April 24th, 2012. Ultimately, five seasons were produced up through the end of Telltale as an entity.

Yes, there is a Telltale now, but it is a new company that acquired the old Telltale's assets. So we had The Walking Dead season one, the Walking Dead season two, the Walking Dead Michonne, the Walking Dead A New Frontier, and then the Walking Dead, the final season. Scott, so what is your history with this series? Like, what got you into these games? So, I mean, this hit at the right time for me

where like I had been reading the Walking Dead comic, I was watching the show, and then when the game came out in 2012, I played the first season and just fucking loved it. So you were immediately in on it. I was immediately in on it. But then, so I think I played the second season and then I played like some of the other Telltale games

and never actually finished The Walking Dead until literally like only like a month or two ago, I downloaded like the complete collection of all these and just played through again, like first season, second season, all the way through the final. So this is like super fresh for me. But I just, I love it. I love any game.

I love any game where you make a decision and like, or a dialogue option, or you say like, Kenny, let's go on a supply run. And then text pops up and says, Kenny hates you for that. I just love that. That is a gut punch every single time. Like no matter how little it is, like, and the games can be silly,

but I just get so emotionally invested where I'm like, does he really hate me for that? Or like, you know, Clementine knows that you lied to her or whatever. And it's like, can we resolve this now? No, she's walking away. It's there, you know, theyine knows that you lied to her or whatever and it's like can we resolve this now? No, she's walking away. Yeah, it's there. You know, they're transitioning to the next sequence But I I love like I feel like it's the best adaptation of The Walking Dead. Oh, yeah Yeah, I mean I this is that so I really like the the series. I never actually finished all of it

I actually was thinking about going back and doing it because you know There is that that remaster that came out in 2019, 2020, or whatever it is, that complete collection. I'm waiting for that to go on sale. But I played season one as one package because I'd heard about it, I got it, and I played all of it when it was already out. And then season two, I was playing episodically,

as it was coming out, and I was just super in on it. Those first two seasons and then the 400 Days, which was the prequel to, I think, the first one, Like as it was coming out and I was just like super in on it those first two seasons and then the 400 days Which was the prequel to I think the first one which you know It just kind of added to the world I think it was a prequel or between the two and then I never played Michonne and I played some of a new frontier But then I kind of fell off and I feel like that was partly like also I forget when the wolf when a wolf among Us came out, but like, I love that game.

And I feel like, but it was also like kind of getting just kind of worn out of the telltale formula, more so than the Walking Dead games. And so like, I never actually finished it, but I did replay the first episode, which for anyone who doesn't, hasn't played this series, like each episode is like a few hours of game play. Like all put together a season is like maybe about 10 hours

and so then it's divided usually into five episodes or so. I think for listeners who aren't familiar with the games, we should describe the games a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Which is that they are ostensibly adventure games, like in the tradition of LucasArts games or whatever, but they are telling a story where you are piloting a character,

not in a way that is like running him through the world and shooting zombies, but in a way where you are having interactions with other characters, you make decisions with those characters, and those decisions are remembered by the game engine, actually, like, by the characters. No.

Meanwhile, those events are punctuated by sort of quick time style events where you are fighting individual zombies, or bosses, or interacting with the environment as like fucking shit is collapsing on you, or whatever. There are environmental choices that you have to make as well as character choices that you have to make. Like you have to choose between individual things

on a mantelpiece that you cannot ever go back and then re-choose. It is a... And sometimes life or death decisions. Yeah, right. One of these two people is going to live and one is going to die, it's up to you, and then you have to live with that.

Yeah. And so as a game experience that represents the walking dead, it is grim. It is hard to swallow, it is sad, it is dark, but it is also extremely effective. Yeah. And that's why this game was, it sold more than a million copies

for its initial season, making it the most successful adventure game of all time. And it was on a ton of top 10 lists. And some people even called it the game of the year, that first year that it came out. It felt very different. And because it is not photorealistic, but is sort of a pseudo cell shaded

comic book graphic novel inspired art style, it also has aged really well. Yeah, it looks, it still looks good. Yeah, I will say the aspects that haven't aged as well as someone who just played it, and Scott, you can weigh in on this as well, is like, I feel like things like the QuickTime events feel very dated, you know, like the mash the button

and then to get an action or like move a cursor to the right place in the screen. But like the art style, like, it still works. And then the voice acting, and particular like in the first season, like so much of it is anchored by Lee Everett, and then the voice acting, and particularly in the first season, so much of it is anchored by Lee Everett, the player character who's voiced by Dave Finoy

and Clementine who's voiced by Melissa Hutchinson, and they're such great performances with such a great dynamic. But yeah, I think that stuff has aged really well. Oh yeah, the look of the game is beautiful, in my opinion, I think it looks great. But I think, like you, I was a little burnt out on the telltale formula, because there was a period of time

where like one was coming out, like it seemed like every couple of weeks. And they had a bunch of different IP, they had a Game of Thrones game, they had a Borderlands game, they had a Darkman game, they had a Minecraft story mode, which you covered in the podcast, they just kept going back to the well.

They had a ton. It got exhausting. And then for a mode, which you covered in the podcast. They just kept going back to the well. And it got exhausting. And then for a period, and then we had like no telltale games for a while. And then that's why I like going back within the past couple of months, I'd given myself like time to miss it a little bit. So I didn't really feel as it like it was outdated. I was like, it was almost, it was nostalgic.

I was like, oh, this is fun. I remember playing these games all the time. But as you go through the seasons, the walking dead, the final season, they actually kind of change the gameplay a little bit where they do make it a little more interactive, where you are walking as Clementine throughout the world and fighting.

It feels like more like a traditional action game, almost the final season, yeah. It's less of like the first season, but you're still making like dialogue choices and choices with the environment. It's just really good. The choices feel impactful. The thing with the Telltale games is I think they got

a lot of criticism for like, it was like the illusion of choice. Yes, right. Right, where you're like, okay, I'm gonna save this character instead, but in the next episode, that character is just shot in the head anyway, because the writers are like, there's too many branch, okay, I'm gonna save this character instead, but in the next episode, that character is just shot in the head anyway

because the writers are like, there's too many branching paths, we can't do this. But if you're just playing it one time through, it feels like your story is impactful. It does 100%. And I feel like that's important. And also, and you know, look, Dr. Bray, everything back to Baldur's Gate 3, but like a game that does manage to work with all of those, you know, possibilities to it does manage all those different branching paths.

But I mean, that was a game with like, what, like a 700 person development team. It was insane. Yeah. And going back to what you were saying, Heather. So like, like, yes, the LucasArts formula itself had gotten very tired LucasArts had shuttered the point-and-click adventure games were dominated by like they were a lot of like like puzzles with moon logic and that felt very stagnant and so Telltale was at first like they were using LucasArts properties in part like they were they were doing you know Monkey Island games a Sam and Max games but But yeah, when they actually like, we're like, okay, we're gonna kind of rethink what an adventure game is,

and maybe we don't need all these puzzles. Maybe we can massively simplify things. Maybe it can be more about just like interpersonal relationships and consequential dialogue. Like it did feel like a revelation at the time. It felt like something very, very new back in 2012. Matt, what's your history with the Telltale games? So I was playing, I played these episodically.

I think I got, well, maybe after the first season. Are you a Walking Dead fan? I love The Walking Dead. I do agree that this is the best presentation of this world and story. I think it's very, very good. I fell off the show at some point. I fell off the comics, and then I heard that it ended and I went back and like wrapped it up because I wasn't that far away

From just finishing it in real time, but then with these games I think I jumped in on season one before the DLC came out which is the the 400 days and then From then on was just super into it. But I've been looking at, I've been looking up things on my phone for the last couple minutes, because I was like, I think I've done all of them. I have not done the final season. Yeah, the final season, because it kind of came out

partly after Telltale had closed. So I think it was kind of a weird, are they actually gonna finish this thing or whatever? And yeah, I never get around to it either. I had to, I think I got the whole collection on Steam at one point when it was like on sale or something. So I would like to play them on my Steam Deck again, because I do love these games. I know that like you said, Scott, that like the characters just feel so good, and like you do get so emotionally invested

in the choices that you make and stuff. And it is, I think it is because it is just such a sad environment that the smallest light feels like the most horrific thing you could do to somebody for some reason. But then also you have to make horrible choices. Do you have beans? I do have beans, I do. Yeah. Do you have beans? I do have beans.

I do not have beans. What are beans? I don't have beans. She knows you lied. I do love, look, there's very often times just three dots as an option for dialogue. Yeah, there's lines. Let me not say anything.

Okay, Ranch, you were also a Walking Dead fan. You had not played these games, but you did watch a play through of the first season. Yeah, first season and a little bit of the second season. What was your reaction? I cried a lot this morning. And the streamer that I was watching, she also was just having a mental breakdown

at the end of the first season. Yeah, yeah. I joined her in that. The thing is, because like the relationship between Lee and Clementine in the first season is spectacular and it's just so, so well done and does predate the Joel and Ellie thing by just like a little bit.

This is the thing, it's remarkably similar to Last of Us in terms of it's like a surrogate father, you know, an orphaned girl, like the two of them are like going through this apocalyptic zombie world, like it's like the same fucking thing, it's just minus the gameplay, you know? I think a lot of that has gotta be influenced because also, first off, if you're at Naughty Dog

and this game comes out, like, barely, like, you've already made your game. You already know what the story beats are. You've already recorded your dialogue. You're through everything. This game comes out, you must be like, son of a bitch! But both of them, I think, are influenced

by Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Yeah, sure, yeah. Bitch. But both of them, I think, are influenced by Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Yes. I feel like everybody is coming from that fountainhead and exploring these similar stories over and over again. Like Mandalorian is also effectively the last of us in that it's like guy with a ward. But yeah.

Lone Wolf and Cub, another common influence I feel like for these. Yeah, yeah. Lone Wolf and Cub, another like common influence I feel like for these. Yeah, yeah. But also I feel so much for how nervous it must have made them to play Walking Dead and be like yikes, we are so close to this. Yeah, cause yeah, it came out within a very close window and then not only that, every two months it came out within a very close window and then not only that every two months it came

For five dollars or whatever it cost per episode Yeah, I mean it is it is just kind of like one of those remarkable coincidences It's like that year that every game had jellyfish in it for whatever reason you know two years ago But you know it just happens all the time like there's like you know There'll be like two snow white movies at the box office or Armageddon and deep impact will come out But those are very oftentimes like like imitative the one of his reaction to the other they they make they're making You know tombstone because of Wyatt Earp and then tombstone actually coming up before a wider There's no I don't think any evidence that there was any sort of cross pollination,

there was any sort of inspiration being drawn from one to the other. They just happened to come out at the same time, yeah? That's my understanding. That's possible, yeah. By the way, I will say, I did know some people who worked at Telltale and some people who lost their jobs and the layoffs and the the

collapse of that company. And I did get the sense without you know, a betraying any sources or anything that like it was a pretty punishing crunch towards the end. And they they did part of the the issue with the company is that they were just taking on so many projects to try and stay solvent and they just it was just an untenable unsustainable situation, but yeah, I I know like people who worked on you know, I won one one developer in particular who worked on The Walking Dead and was like a really seems to have been a really cool experience to work on that game, but also like

It was just like a tough corporate environment. Yeah, I would imagine having to repeat the crunch every couple months to like finish an episode is, I mean I don't know exactly what the timeline was on this, but like I would imagine probably making one full game to release is probably a little easier on your stress level to, instead of having to do it every couple months. I don't know.

Yeah. I don't know, I've never worked on an episode of games, so I don't know. I do, hmm. I'd be interested to know. I'd be curious, yeah. Yeah. There's gotta be some sort of pressure where it's like,

once the first episode is out, everyone's immediately asking for that second one. Like, you know, and then if you delay that, then it's like, I don't know, I feel like it feels bad somehow. That's probably why I didn't jump into the last one too, because I was probably just like, I'll have to wait for the next one. Am I going to remember to get this? I also feel like there must be some pressure of success because the game was so widely

acclaimed and you aren't, perhaps you have the story, of course you have the story mapped out, but to maintain that level of quality, the difference between being like, okay, we're making a game versus we are making a game that I hope isn't a disappointment to people already invested in this has to be a very unique pressure.

Yeah, so I will say, I love The Last of Us, and particularly the first game, you know, the PS4 remaster in particular just played the shit out of, I loved it so much. But at the time, I think I was trying to be a little bit more of like, you know, actually I think The Walking Dead is a more effective and a little bit better version of this.

And replaying The Walking Dead, at least the first part of it, there is the point you get towards the end of episode one where you have basically like a stealth combat sequence, but it's all covered through, you know, point and click adventure action and QTEs. And I did get to that point and I was like, man, I kind of wish I was just playing this, you know?

I kind of wish I was just like, I could wish this was just a video game right now, you know? So from that standpoint, it's just like, I don't know, games are a thing you play, and I do really like when there's just like really tight gameplay in something. I know that's a super simple thing to say, but it's like, the thing that always appealed to me about the Last of Us games is just,

I feel the gameplay is so incredible. Those combat sequences are so intense. I'm getting kind of emotional hearing you say this because it does feel like my thesis on games coming out of your mouth, and that makes me really happy. I also get frustrated when I am sort of barely interacting with and watching an event happen in a game versus like having some sort of technical influence

and capacity to control the thing happening. Like it feels, part of the reason I fell off of these games was I was frustrated by the experience of playing them. It wasn't that it wasn't effective. It was that like, I'd be like, but I wanna go look in that cabinet. You know?

Right, yeah. Yeah, and you look, obviously, it's a lot less resource intensive to be like, hey, I'm gonna press these buttons and this canned animation is going to play as opposed to like, I have to have this whole combat system to figure out all these different approaches the player can take.

But yeah, I do kind of have that feeling. All that said, I really do like these games. And I will say, I think the feeling of consequence is to me always effective. Like I do really feel like fuck, I just really like chose to save that little boy, but it meant this other guy's son died. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like, there are moments like this

is just like, Jesus Christ, this is a grim thing for my character to have to come to terms with, you know? And for me as the player to have to come to terms with. What are beans? She knows you lied. No. Everyone knows what beans are. You're a fool to not know what a bean is.

No, I've never heard of beans. You're obviously lying. It feels just so dark what you're doing in the games. The Last of Us, obviously, super dark. But The Walking Dead, I just feel like it's such a mainstream property now that to have like a game release and be like, you have to fight a dog to the death for food You know like that is so intense and I feel like because the game looks like a comic book you wouldn't expect it to go as Far as it does

With the with those kind of decisions it also it even follows But just because we're the last of us comparison is already. It even follows the Last of Us arc of the, by part two, you're playing as the daughter. You're playing as the child character, you know? I was about to say, I feel like we're talking a lot about the first one because it's probably the most memorable to us because it's the one we've all started the most probably.

Well, it's fresh in my mind too, but yeah, it did have a particular impact. But even the choice, like the narrative choice in that first game to have Lee be on his way to prison for a crime of passion and then having the player, you at home, me like 20 years old or whenever the fuck this game came out, like trying to think about like,

I think it's better to lie about what I was doing when the outbreak happened instead of reveal to somebody that I was gonna that's like that's such a I don't know that's like a very nuanced lie to put in a game like that other people in the game do like what's his fucking his like his buddy that's like his son dies or whatever son's name is Duck I know that Kenny, Kenny, Kenny Kenny like will react to that in a specific way but then you tell him the story and he's like,

you know what, that guy sounds like he deserved it or whatever, and you're like, okay, I don't know. I need you being on my side with this Kenny. I'm about to go, a tone for a crime. I found in this game, because usually when I'm playing these games, and we've talked about this on the pod before, I feel like I'm looking through a window

and it's not really scary and nothing really exists and that's why I can kill the horse in Red Dead. But with the Walking Dead games, I felt it was a very effective way of making me feel empathy because the choices were, it wasn't just like, well, here's how we can distill it. When you shoot the horse in Red Dead, nothing happens. Yeah, you just get another horse.

When you have to make a decision between two characters, one lives, one dies, it matters in this game. And as such felt like really effective and a little bit sickening storytelling to like really bring you into the world of The Walking Dead where you're watching, you know, Rick Grimes and his dudes and you're kind of just like blissfully entertained by like the horrifying things that they're doing

on a weekly basis. With this, it was like, oh man, I'm gonna tell a lie to this person and That's gonna bother me and like Rick Grimes lies to like literally everybody comes Right. It's I really I thought it was really effective. Yeah What's that? I'll never lie to his son Carl Carl He's He won't lie to him though. You won't lie to him. I think that's always talking about Carl.

He won't lie to him though? He won't lie to him. I think that's not true, is it? Maybe lie to protect him. Yeah. You have to do things, as a father you have to do things that you wouldn't necessarily do. Where are you going with this?

It feels like he just wanted to say the name Carl. I kind of was better off saying it that way and I kind of wanted to drop my impression. Moral. Moral. Yeah. Yeah. I've been caught. Yeah, it's... We have to thank the Walking Dead because I'm not sure Death Stranding would exist without it. That's true, yeah.

Sure. Hideo might not have ever known that the coolest guy ever on Earth was on TV and he could have put him in a video game had that not been for the Walking Dead. There also is something about the Walking Dead, the aesthetic that like, I know it's similar, the world of The Walking Dead seems grosser and nastier to me than The Last of Us does. Yeah it is, it's a grimmer. But like it seems, no like yucky, like it looks like it fucking stinks.

No I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a little bit more just like immersed in human misery. Not that that's not a part of like The Last of Us, but it is really just like, oh, people are so, become so depraved and so animalistic, you know? Does there exist, because I've wanted this to exist,

honestly, frankly have pitched this exists, but I don't know, given my limited media literacy, is there a show that is a zombie show where everything is hyper-realistic? So for example, you can't drive a car because there's no gas. Or like, the food is only good up to a point. Like is there any zombie media that really addresses that,

that anybody knows of? God, I played this game in early access. Now I can't remember the name of it, but there was- Project Zomboid? Yeah, Project Zomboid. It feels like it kind of delves into that a little bit. Oh, wow. Yeah.

I don't even know what that is. Piano wire, piano wire. Yeah. Coral. Yeah, I always't even know that is a wire piano wire Carl Yeah, I always thought there's the one thing in any sort of apocalypse fiction I'm always just like why aren't people riding bicycles right like it's just always like I feel like so much easier to find a Working bicycle than a horse yeah, you know But I guess horses are just more so and also horses need to eat and horses need to eat yeah

But like the fun thing about the the world of the walking dead It's kind of like Mad Max rules kind of we're like you can just decide to be like a new type of guy And you're like I'm like Negan and now I have a bat that I named Lucille And she's hungry like in like in that type of shit Or you can be like that guy that I came here with his fucking name is but he has a tiger He's just like yeah, I'm a guy with a tiger now, and he wasn't like that before he worked at like an office And now he like, yeah, I'm a guy with a tiger now. And he wasn't like that before. He worked at like an office. And now he's like, now I'm a guy with a tiger. Yeah, what was Scrotus doing before the fall?

Yeah, what was the people leader, there was lore with him, I can't remember what it is now. He did what he did previously. Managed to best buy. Yeah, like is there, I don't know, I mean are there any moments that stick out to us? Were there ever like looking back on this? I was like, oh yeah, I mean the dog thing was like part of, like that is a thing, just like you have to do something so brutal, again the last of us part two, you also have to

fucking merc a dog. But it's like- Fuck and merc? No, I said fucking merc a dog. I don't want to fuck and- Oh that's sick. That's part three. But it's like and Merck no I said fucking Episode one or you know season one is probably the most memorable to me. I do remember enjoying Because the the new frontier

Clementine doesn't factor into it until about the last couple of chapters. I believe it's a new family. So it's just like a new type of different vessel for storytelling. Just to get some new characters in the mix there. For some reason I'm remembering the unhoused man that lives on the train. I'm like I love that guy Yeah, he's a clutch guy. It's like do you want to share gin with him? Back to hit man There's a way to turn off those notifications, isn't there? Like you can play it blind.

Yeah, you can do a minimalistic UX, I think. Oh, interesting. But I think that's part, to me, like that's just part, like seeing that stuff as part of the game. Like I lied, to me, I think, I feel like that's kind of the experience. Yeah. I feel like a memorable season one decision was like telling, I mean, I don't know how spoiler we're getting,

but like telling someone that, whether or not you're bitten, you're being bitten and the group comes over and it's like, do you hide the bite? Do you not hide the bite? And like, that's a choice where I'm like, oh, that's a choice that's in all types of zombie media. I don't think I've ever made that choice as a player of a game.

Like, I love that one. Well, part of the tension of that choice is that you want to beat the game. Yeah. Right? Cause like, you can choose to tell people that you want to beat the game. Yeah. Right? Cause like you can choose to tell people that you're bitten. It's like one of the final scenes you're with that dude. Right? Is that, I mean, is that what we're talking about?

I think the choice is, I think it might be like the last, like leading into the last episode. Oh, well, I'm thinking about the time when you're like sitting across from the guy in the chair. Yes, yes, yes, I'm thinking about the time when you're like sitting across from the guy in the chair. Yes, yes, yes. But it feels like those moments only have tension because there's game. Right, right, right. Right, because otherwise you'd just be like, you'd tell everybody.

Like, if it was me, I would fucking immediately, I'd be like, guys, I've been bitten. And it wouldn't make a difference in the real world because they'd be like, oh, okay, well, we're gonna quarantine you until you turn and then shoot you in the head. And I'd be like, great, thanks so much. We're all on the same page here. Do you think that's what they're gonna do? You think they'd shoot you in the head beforehand?

On sight, yeah, that's what I'm doing. I think they'd shoot you immediately. On sight, yeah, it's possible. What? Yeah. Well, I mean, the people in the game also. What? You don't think so? Right between the eyes. I think it'd be, I think people, I think, like, I got bit by a you don't think so right between the eyes I think you'd be I think people I think and like I got bit by a zombie

I think someone's like taking a shotgun turn that putting a new one your head I'm assuming these people know each other maybe a little bit more than the walking dead people do if Nick said I was bit by a zombie. I would not instantaneously kill him I'd be like I'm sorry Nick, that's so sad, sorry buddy, and chop his head off immediately. Wow. Chop!

I thought we were talking about the characters within the game. There's no one else to do it for, every single one of you in here. The Kenny character is like, this guy is psycho, dude. He could do anything at any time, he's killing people on sight no matter what, and I feel like the game does such a good job

of building pressure by like, whatever you choose, you feel like a complete dick. Like everyone treats you like an asshole. There's no, they're impossible decisions. Right, exactly. It's like you steal food for the group and everyone's like, you're a fucking thief. I'd rather die than be with you.

Or you take, like you don't take the food and everyone's like, you're gonna get us killed, bro, if you don't steal that food. But that tension is there with the bite, where you're going, if I tell them about the bite, do they trust me more, or do I not have help for the rest of the game? Right, right.

Yeah. Well, and so I feel like I've read criticisms of these types of choices in these games in particular, and the criticism is that, ultimately, at the end of the game the small choices don't actually matter because There's like a course correction for a there's only so many outcomes and like there's not like yeah I think Scott was talking about earlier. Yeah, definitely I mean right but I but I mean like that's I I just don't know how you solve that yeah without having you know

Cuz like you can't have like trigger endings to you know to the nth power You know in terms of like like I don't know how you I think all these things kind of you're just gonna end up Fundling you towards a few a handful of possibilities. Yeah, because like you can't like You know like leave Clementine behind and just like be like that's it for Clementine. You never hear from her again Yeah, she's the protagonist of the series. Right. It's like, for instance, your Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough where you didn't have Lae'zel the first time through.

It's amazing that the game works all the way through without Lae'zel. That feels miraculous to me. But ultimately, you still have a half dozen endings that you can choose from at the very end, regardless of your choices up to that point. But it is still like the journey is part of it, that you can make these choices

and you have to live with them. I don't know, I dismiss that criticism a little bit. I understand the feeling, but I do think part of it is just having those moments, having those feelings that you have to sit with for a second. Somewhere, right now, some maniac is working on this game. Like there's some indie developer

who's trying to solve this problem. And in like 10 years, a game's gonna come out and it's like, no man, there's almost 10,000 endings. And every choice you make matters. And it's gonna be like a disco Elysium-esque game. Yeah, it'll be like an animal world just out of nowhere. Here's this design no one was thinking about that just like, you know, like, I was like,

holy shit, oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. We'll look forward to that. But for now, I do think the Walking Dead games are worth playing if you're a fan of graphic adventures, and I'm sure a lot of our listeners have already played through them.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I mean, just, I'm really, it's our listeners have already played through them. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I mean, just, I'm really, it's really encouraging, Scott, to hear that you played through it all recently and you did have such a positive reaction to it. Yeah, and I think the final season, particularly, it feels as strong as the first two, in my opinion,

or even just the season one. And it feels like it's almost like a sendoff to the entire genre of Telltale games or something. So I would recommend people play it. I thought it was really satisfying and I wept like a baby as we all know what you're talking about. So Clementine underrated video game protagonists

I think for sure. Yeah. So cool, yeah. I'm gonna keep playing it. I have had fun returning to it. Ranch ranch you gonna watch any more of it yeah I have to I'm so attached to Clementine I think we got time for a segment all right hey oh my goodness I got a segment. What? Can our producer, Richelle Chen, Ranch, identify dudes from video games?

It's the return of Dude Ranch. So here's how this will work. I'll name a dude, I'll name a dude, and Matt, Heather, and Scott, you guess if Ranch knows who this dude is. So it will be a yes if Ranch can name the franchise. So like, you know, whatever if I it's like Oh, that's that character is from the legend of Zelda. They don't she doesn't need to name the specific Zelda game. Okay

I don't know ranch. Well, here's what I will say ranch You want to give a little bit of your background with video games I mean like I would say you you were somewhat knowledgeable about gaming But you are not like an avid gamer you play fortnight you played but you are not like an avid gamer. You play Fortnite, you played Resident Evil 2 recently. Yeah, I would say that in the past year, I've been exposed to games because of this podcast. Okay, got it, got it, got it.

But I played Fortnite before and have very broad knowledge of games in general. And you've absorbed a lot of Kingdom Hearts secondhand. Yes, because my boyfriend is obsessed of Kingdom Hearts secondhand. Yes Understood ranch understood. Yeah, I call you ranch Okay, and and because we're talking walking dead today the theme is horror games This is a horror game edition of dude ranch. All right first up. Oh, and when everyone can take can take a guess separately Does ranch know this dude? Leon S.

Kennedy. That's a yes. That's a yes. Matt says yes. Yeah, that's got to be a yes. No ranch. What franchise is Leon Kennedy from? Resident Evil.

Okay. So that's right. And that get point. Let's go. Both on the board. Next up. I'm proud of you. Next up, Freddy Fazbear.

Yes. I'm gonna... I'm gonna say no. I'm gonna say no. Ranch, who is Freddy Fazbear or Fazbear? Five Nights at Freddy's. Wow! Scud has two points.

Ranch and I are locked in. We're locked in. I said no because for a moment I didn't know. I was like, wait, who is that? I just wouldn't have shocked me if that somehow skipped Ranch's desk, if she just didn't know. Well, Heather, you and I are just too old for it, is the thing. What the fuck?

Who is that? Who is that? Who is that? Who is that? Who is that? What? No, that's one we're're on the other end of we're too old for five minutes. I watched the movie. I went to the movie. I saw the movie too.

We all saw the movie. I didn't see the movie. You don't need to see the movie. It's tough. Joel Miller. Yes. God says yes. I'm I am. That says yes. I'm, I am gonna say yes.

And if, well, I'll explain why later. I'm gonna say no. The Last of Us? Wow, Matt and Scott both get three for three. I said yes because, and I hope it's because of this, Ranch loves my impression. Really? Is that why? Yes. Wow. Thanks for sparing my feelings. That's almost as good as your Carl.

Ellie, it was one of them comic books you were looking for. Wait a minute, those are kind of similar. I have like one guy. one vaguely southern guy. Yeah, say Clementine Clementine Freddy Fazbear Say a damn it Bobby damn it All right next up Sam Porter bridges No, absolutely not no. Yeah, let's go my first no no

No, absolutely not. No. Yeah, let's go my first. No no Ranch who is Sam Porter bridges no idea Wow everyone gets a point Next up wait who is it from no you get to know no he's from Death Stranding. Yeah Death Stranding ah James Sunderland No, no no's all around. No. Wow, from Silent Hill. Silent Hill 2 specifically. Everyone else gets a point.

Rance, could you play Silent Hill 2 for us, please? Like actually play it? Like play the game. Watch a play through. Watch a play through. Let us know what you think. Yeah. I'll play it. Okay, great.

There's the, yeah, the remake's coming out. What? I feel like if I had to suffer, so should Ranch. Oh, it's not good? No, it's excellent. It's one of the best of all time. It's really great. Scary. It's scary.

I'm not sure how, I mean, it feels a little clunky to play now. Wait for the remake. Wait for the remake, yeah. The remake's coming out. Okay, next up. Alan Wake. Alan Wake.

Alan Wake. Yes. Yes. I'm also gonna say yes. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna say no. Heather says no. Ranch, what franchise is Alan Wake from? Alan Wake.

Wow! She got it. I guessed yes because there's a Fortnite skin. All right, next up, Alucard. No. This segment is so funny because it is just a list of names. No.

Everyone says no. Ranch, you know what Alucard is from? No. Castlevania, the Castlevania franchise. Dracula's son. All right, we got a couple more here. Next up. Tiffany and Claire. I don't even know.

No. I don't know what that is. No. Ranch, do you remember Tiffany and Claire? Mary-Kate and Ashley, sweet 16, license to drive? That is correct. They are the two playable characters who are not Mary-Kate and Ashley. Who is your main in that game?

Mary-Kate. Does she have better acceleration? What was her stat? I just like her name. Fuck. All right, finally. Freddy Krueger. Yes.

No. No. Matt says yes, everyone else says no. Ranch, do you know Freddy Krueger? The Friday the 13th game no it is a nightmare on Elm Street Wow Scott wins overall Quite a showing that's this week's get played our producers for a shell Chen ranch You're underscore underscore start our music is by Ben Prenty Ben Prenty music.com our art is by Brigade design Duck Brigade comm and hey check out our patreon patreon.com slash get played where you can find our interior

Pre headgum back catalog plus ad free main feed episodes including our patreon exclusive show get animate as well Matt What are we watching this week? We're watching Violet Evergarden, and we're on episodes eight and nine I believe as this week and let me tell you it's picking up picking up stuffs happening. We keep saying it's picking up Let me tell, it's picking up. Picking up! Stuff's happening. We keep saying it's picking up, let me tell you. It's picking up. Yeah. Patreon.com slash get played. Scott, thanks so much for being here.

Thanks so much for having me. The customer is always wrong, Scott Cease. Tell us again about the book and anything else you wanna plug. Customer's always wrong. It's a great gift book for anyone you know that has bad days at work often. It's super funny.

If you like my videos, you'll like the book. You can get it anywhere. You get books and you can go to scotseas.com for standup tour dates and more. Awesome. Thank you so much for being. This was so fun. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Great. I love talking games with you. Oh, yeah. I do. I don't have any. I don't take any pleasure in this as

I hate to do this to a guest. You did get played, though though and I'm very sorry. Damn. Matt, can you say that again in a southern voice? You got played. Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or!

Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! Cor-or-or! That was a hate gum podcast.