Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - Our Top 3 Video Game Developers - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: May 12, 2022

Greg, Andy, Blessing, and GameSpot's Lucy James come together to share each of their Top 3 game developers! Time Stamps - 00:00:00 - Start 00:05:45 - Housekeeping 00:12:52 - Our Top 3 Game Developers 00:55:50 - Ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up everybody? Welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast. I'm one of your host, Greg Miller, alongside Forbes 30 under 30, aka the future class of video games, aka the OK Beast. Blessing, Adio, Ye Jr. Greg, right here in front of me, I have sitting this beautiful, beautiful, big portable device. Hold it up. Hold it up. Let me see. This is as close as I can ever get to. Yeah, I have, so like a while ago I talked about how I was going to gift my nephew. a switch for Christmas. That ended up not happening because I ended up not traveling for Christmas

because Omicron got crazy. So fuck that kid. Yeah, no, yeah. He's good. I was like, he'll live. If he dies, he dies. But I actually go to Houston this weekend. I'm going to visit with him and the family.

I'm finally going to gift him the Switch. And I've been trying to figure out what games do I get him. Because like, I think I'm going for sure give him Mario Odyssey because like that's a favorite amount on the switch. Well, let's stop right there. Now we'll go one by one in introductions.

Everybody will give you their game. How does that sound? Oh, that's perfect. That's perfect. For context, he's like eight years old. Hispanic heartthrope, Texas treat Latino heat, clicking heads and ripping him to shreds. The globe trotten, headshotten from Twitch.tv.

He's a nitro rifle. It's Andy Cortez. Andy, what game would you give? I'm going to, two recos. Two recos. Mario 3D. You're literally the first person to step up and you're breaking the system, but okay, cool.

Mario 3D World. And leave him a little 30 bucks on the system. Oh. Put a little 30 bucks on there and be like, whatever you want, man. There's probably some, if it's like my nephew, probably some My Hero Academia shit on here or some sort of anime thing you like or whatever. Go ahead and just go buck wild.

Or buy that little indie game that costs $7. You know, there's a lot of stuff like that. I like that. Okay, hold on. I'm putting this down. Oh, I got this typed out. 30 bucks. What are you putting on there already, Blas?

Mario Odyssey. Mario Odyssey. Then she works at GameSpot.com. giant bomb and she's obsessed with filing cabinets ladies and gentlemen it's lucy james games hello lucy james hi thank you for your filing cabinet recommendation by the way i don't even know if it helped at all it was just the most generic you know filing cabinet off of amazon but i hope it helped you get inspired to get your own so i don't know it really did it really good good what would you give this seven to eight year old boy on the nintendo switch uh two things one of them's free one of them's

free, so it doesn't count. Minecraft. Isn't an eight-year-old boy, can't go wrong. Yeah? And also eight-year-old boy, can't go wrong. And I say this because of a chilling life experience I had where I met my, like, brother-in-law's nephews, and they came up and they were like, oh my God, you work in games.

Like, do you play Fortnite? And they were so excited to meet me and meet someone who works in games. And I said that I didn't play Fortnite, and my stock. Just plummeting. That's a heartbreaker. So put Fortnite on that bad boy. Yeah. I think you say galgun.

I wasn't sure what you're calling it. Is Fortnite and Minecraft those are you two? Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. Got you got it. You can't go wrong with that.

Yeah, 100%. So we have Mario Odyssey. We have Mario 3D World. We have $30. We have Minecraft. We have Fortnite. We have, I would say, V-B.

If we're just putting out two, we're just putting, I'm sorry, what was it? V-Bucks. V-Bugs. Well, don't lock him into the Fortnite. ecosystem. If he has the 30 bucks, you could use that right there, couldn't me? Yeah. Yeah. No, that's

that actually perfect. Yeah. And I also like this because, like, Fortnite and Minecraft are free. So yeah, Greg, give me two, because I got money to spend now. Thank you very much. I would say from the new hotness, and I don't know this kid, but I assume he's a kid, Lego Star Wars, the Skywalker saga. Ooh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's that on there, right? And then from the old guard, I'd get

Mario Kart. Like, there's a reason. The attach rate's insane for Mario Kart, right? It's just too much fun. And then you could play, and you could just literally beat the shit out of them. Mm-hmm. That was playing. He also switched sports. That is a good one too. That is a good one too. And here's a seventh recommendation.

You all were just talking about it, Greg and Barrett. Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I think a kid that age, I could be any superhero I want. I just beat the shit out of bad guys as the superhero that I like from the Marvel movies that I watch. Cool. Awesome.

I was thinking it, but I didn't say it. But that would also be another hot one. So right now, I got Marvel's Ultimate Alliance 3, Mario Kart, 8. Deluxe, Lego Star Wars, the Skyworks saga, Fortnite, Minecraft, Mario Odyssey, Mario 3D World, in an extra $30.

Right. This kid's can ball in. Real quick. Is slime wrencher on Switch? This kid's not a loser. Yeah, no, he's not a loser. He's a cool kid. Maybe inside. I was confused when Lucy said this, but then I thought she landed the plane, but then Cameron Kennedy's

calling in this. You were saying that Fortnite's free. You have to buy Minecraft, right? Is Minecraft's not free to Yeah, Minecraft you have to buy, but Fortnite's Make sure the way you introduced it, I think it sounded to me. It's how like you were saying, Minecraft. Yeah, exactly. Just make sure we're on the same page. Also, slime rancor is in fact on Twitch.

But this kid ain't no fucking loser. He's not a dork. It's a fun game. Look at Lucy James. You think Blessing's nephew is this dorky? You know what I mean? You think you look at Lucy James. I know, how excited were you for your wearable duvet cover three seconds ago?

You told me this kid is that big of a loser. I gave him into the Discord group and I was like, guys, Tam got me a blanket. that you can wear. And I, although you all went, ooh, we're all losers, yeah, for sure. We know that. For sure. It's a pot called the kettle black over here.

You know how it works. Because this is the Kind of Funny Games cast. Each and every week, ladies and gentlemen, we come together to nerd out about all the things we love and sometimes don't love about video games. If you love nerd not with us, you should go to patreon.com slash Kind of Funny Games. Over on Patreon.com slash Kind of Funny Games.

You can hear the ballad of Jorge over on Kind of Funny Games Daily's post show right now. But more importantly, You could be watching live. Just like Winstances, Madeline Stanley is an Omega 3R. If you're watching live right now, you're a trog. Thank you so much. Make sure you're popping off in the comments with your answer to the question we have from Mr.

Evil 37 coming up. Because, of course, if you support us on patreon.com slash kind of funny games, you can write it to be part of the show. You can get the show ad free. And you can get the exclusive post show. We do each and every week. Blessing, Tim Getty is down today. Snake both eyes.

Normal thing. Exactly. Yeah. We can't get away from him. I know you and me had to go to Memorial Service for his eyes before this. Did you have time to do a Bless Who? Oh, yeah. I did it during the Memorial.

Thank you, perfect. That's how Tim would have wanted you to do it. Yeah. No, I was doing the blessing. If you've never heard of Blessu, it's America's number one game show, and it's our post show game show that you should stick around for and it's a great time and yada, yada, yada.

And then, of course, you can hear the Ballot of Jorge over on Kind of Funny Games Daily with me and Jorge. Don't know what that is. I got a lot of questions about that. Yeah. Well, you know, just listening to kind of funny news. Actually, Andy, I will say, it was actually kind of a wholesome post show. Oh, let me check it out.

I know it sounds a little weird when Greg introduces it as the Ballad of Hoare with no context. Are you telling me that's not a selling point? I put up a Twitter video today. I put up a Twitter video hashtag pray for Jorge, and it was the breakout of 50 seconds where I just screamed about Horre. Is that not getting people to click on it? If you got no bucks toss their way and you don't want to hear the ballot of Jorge, no big deal. YouTube.com slash kind of funny games. Roosterheat.com.

services around the globe each and every week for a brand spanking new episode. Chalkful ads, no posho, no Jorge, but you still have a good time. If you want to go a little bit further to support us, why not? Use the Epic Creator Code kind of funny whenever using something on the kind of funny, no, that's not wrong. When you're on the Epic Game Store, you can use the kind of funny code. We got a few bucks kickback. If you don't play on the PC, you're playing your Fortnite on your Switch,

you're playing your Rocket League on the PlayStation 5. Of course, the kind of funny creator code works there as well. Please use it and tell your friends to. you're a blessing, right? You're about to gift some kid a switch. Put the code in beforehand. You know what I mean? Then the kid just doesn't ever,

I think it's, but I think it really lasts for like a season or some bullshit and then they're like to put it in again. Well, the thing that I'm worried is that, oh, maybe I could see, like, because I would set it up under my sister's email, right? Like, I'm not going to set it up with my email. But maybe I could hit her up and be like,

yo, let me set this thing up for you. Oh, that was one of my questions. Well, that was one of my questions. When you're talking about the 30 bucks and downloading Fortnite and stuff. Like, I don't know, yeah. Like, you know, for me, even as a kid, right, there was that thing of like, oh, turning on a system for the first time and, like, putting in your own information in. Like, I don't know how kids do it, I guess, the modern day. Because, I guess actually, none of that makes sense.

You didn't do that in my day. You know, you fucking blew in the cartridge and you plugged it in and it worked. Yeah, exactly. So I don't know how you make us, you make anything for them. You know, you got a miracle that games worked. Honestly, I think about, I think about often of like, how do these kids even figure this out? Because, yeah, like, back in our day, we just put in the NCC4 cartridge to turn it on and it works. Whereas, like, little Israel over his name is Israel.

Little Israel has to, like, find an email. I'm sorry, your nephew's name is Israel? Yeah. God, your family tree is just the coolest fucking names. Oh, yeah. Very biblical over in my family. I love it. Like, he, like, is he going to make an email, memorize the password, like figure out an avatar?

He already has, but he probably already has a bunch of emails. At eight years old, no, that's not a, like, no. My brother put in his info. I put it in my info a bit. and I accidentally... I accidentally bought something on my brother's card without knowing. Nice.

I bought like a $50 card for my nephew of my brother's like, did you just, uh... I was like, oh, shit. When I gifted my sister a Switch Light, who I think at the time she was going into high school, like I set all that up for her because, you know, even though she's a little older, like, no, I knew she wasn't going to set that shit up, you know?

Oh, you could be a cool uncle. who reserves him a good email address that he can carry on with him. Oh. You know? Oh. We're going to run out of emails. Izzy brizzy.

Yeah. A little Izzy. And you could do that cute thing. You could do that cute thing if like every year on his birthday, you could send him an email and then when he's 18, you can read him. And he was just like, I smoked him at a fortnight. just for 10 years. See, I've heard this before

and obviously I have a child, as you all know. And I thought before about this doing the email address and send them on. Like at 18, do you think they would care? Was it going to hit at 18? When are you sentimental? You know what I mean? When do you want to read all this stuff from your stupid?

I mean, maybe 13. I feel like 13 is a good age. Yeah. I mean, like, I set up my first email address when I was about 10 and it was a misspelling of my own name. So I would say, do it for them. We'll see, I think... They're gonna be more sentimental at 18

when they're, you know, going into a next chapter of their life, rather than 13, when they're like fucking snarky and shitty, you know? That's true. I don't care about anything. Like, they're watching Disney movies. Like, maybe they're not one of the snarky shitty ones.

Maybe they're the ones that, like, are well behaved and get good grades and watch Pixar movies for a living. You know, like, I... 13, that's their job? For a living. Yeah, they do it to make money. But, like, they're the kids that are, like, well-adjusted and, like,

have a good feature ahead of them. as opposed to like, I don't know, man, one of those Barrett's, he like disobeys everybody and breaks the rules. It's fucking Barrett out there doing Ollie's smoking reaper. I can picture it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you can picture Kind of Funny, let's talk about some housekeeping. First and foremost, Kind of Funny Wrestling features Jeff Grub and Lucy James

brutalizing their opponents this week. Please check it out over on YouTube.com slash Kind of Funny Games. We have so much fun making that show, and it's going so incredibly well. Lucy, you had quite the debut. How did you feel? Well, I was in the middle of doing some voiceover. and one of our freelancers,

Alessandro, hit me up and he was like, are you watching Kind of Funny right now? And I think you can hear me on the voice of a go, oh, God. And I guess I switch over, it was so fun. Because I saw the picture of me in game, and I had no idea that I was going to debut.

And not only that I would debut, but I would be facing off against Joey. JNW. Joey, No well. The unstoppable force of Kind of Funny meets the immovable object of GameSpot.com. Can Lucy James defeat? JNW.

you and stop Joey Noel's reign of terror in the steel cage. You can only find out on YouTube.com slash Kind of Funny Games. Please go check it out as Barry Show Summit right now. Also, be like our Patreon producers. Anonymous Fargo Brady, Tyler Ross, Delaney Twinning, first responder, ND, Julian the Gluten Free Gamer, Alex J. Sandoval, James Hastings, and Casey Andrew. Today we're brought to you by me undies and credit karma. But Tim, rest in peace.

Before he was bit by the snakes, I'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin the show with topic of the show. St, Stots, Stots, Stots, Stots. Mr. Evil 37 writes in to Patreon.com slash Kind of Funny Games and gives us this gem. Hi, all.

I am curious what everyone's top five game development studios are. Not necessarily in order or the ones that make the best games, but the studios that you personally love or prefer for one reason or another. Maybe you just like the people there or the studios vibe.

Mine are probably, and he lists a whole bunch of stuff, but I don't want to get nobody's head. We'll come back to Mr. Evil 37. He can close it out with what his favorites are. But I saw this question. Again, Blessing was working on Blessu. I was there consoling Gia looking at my phone while we were at Tim's funeral.

And I was like, wait a second, this is a great question. Push Gia in the hole. Then they put the dirt on her. They're both buried together now. It's going to be like Undertaker Kane. It's going to be great. She'll fall alive, yeah. Can't you get out of it?

You know what I mean? Undertaker got out of it a bunch of times, Andy. You're going to tell me, Gia can't. I love this question, Mr. Evil 37. So I thought it was a great one to jump in and go for, especially as much as we've been playing a bunch of different games right now. And we are so hyped for different games coming out this year and in the foreseeable future. So we will do this in the classic kind of funny way, everybody.

We will begin with Lucy James the guest. Then we will go clockwise to Andy to me, to blessing, and back around. We will each give one pick at a time, one pick at a time. I encourage you to try to not double up on studios. Try to, you know, get outside the box. This is like you're drafting your fantasy team here, even though it doesn't have to be the best by anything. That's why I wrote down nine here.

I see that... I wrote down six or seven. It looks like other people have six. Okay. Yeah, when I first joined the dog, it looked like some people had five. And I was like, all right, we'll see about that. I'm sure me and Andy aren't going to both pick a studio that starts with F and ends with software. I love that.

I mean, no, I'm just putting that in. Lucy, as the guest, you get to go first, what is your first pick for the board? My first pick would be Arcane. Thank you. Good pick. Thank you. Just do you want me to go into like the full rationale? Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.

Oh, we gotta, we gotta fucking fill this podcast with something. Please talk. No, I mean, I just think when it comes to game developers, there are very few with a pedigree of, I would say hits, but I feel like arcane games don't necessarily sell or really permeate into the mainstream as much as I would love them to. But in terms of just games that are quality and that have such an incredible sense of world building. Every single world

that Arcane makes feels so precise and they think through kind of everything. They think through the past. Every world they create has such a sense of place when you're in it and when you're playing around in it. And I think what they also do is, which I love,

is they're very player first. And so typically, you know, if you see this, if you see a thing in the environment in an Arcane game, it's like what way can I manipulate this or dick around to get to my goal kind of thing and that's what I really love is that they

give you that sandbox and like Dishonoured one and two are two of my favorite games of all time I think Death Loop was is a masterpiece they're so stylish and every time I've spoken to any of them they've always been the nicest which is also which is also lovely

we got to present them with the Game of the Year award for Death Loop last year and like they almost cried they were so appreciative they were so nice about it and it was just very special. So I love Arcane. I'm very excited to see what Redfall is. Yeah.

I keep thinking about Redfall because that's a game that I, like, I think could be anywhere between like bleeding edge in terms of like a game that comes out, a multiplayer game that comes out from a studio that's so talented that comes on us like, oh, this is different. Oh, man, no this is hitting. All the way up to it can be like maybe a borderlands if it lives up to its full potential because like from watching the trailer and watching the gameplay, it seems like that's what they're kind of going for with it.

And in some ways, you can kind of see that DNA in Death Loop where Death Loop has the different levels for the loot, right? Like they have the legendary, they have like all the different stuff there. They have like, you know, a big open world that you can quote unquote open world that you can like run around and take out enemies and do all that stuff with. And if they're, if Red Falls the next step in their evolution, I think it could be special. But also it's one that I'm scared about because we have not seen that much from it. But yeah, Lucy, I'm right there with you. They're on my short list, my nine short list of studios. mainly before their level design and their design ethos, I think is so unique to them.

And it's something that very few studios do in terms of making immersive Sims that feel like you can really exist in levels and search around every corner and have something that you can find or something that you can use to get a leg up on your enemy and go for different cool stealth takedowns and all that stuff. Like they really prioritize player freedom in a way that very few developers do. and they're going for this kind of game in a way that few developers do. Like we've seen DASX fall by the wayside. We've seen like Feefe and like other immersive Sims, first person shooter immersive Sims fall by the wayside. And like as these other games are going away,

somehow Arcane keeps doubling down and making these games and now they've become popular for it, right? Like they've found super success doing it. Like I think Barrett Courtney is the one that always describes Deathloo as being their pop album. And the fact that they're able to come out and actually make that and put it out and actually have it work. and be a thing that's success, I think, is very impressive. And, yeah, I can't wait to see what else they do in the future.

I have a feeling that Red Fall is going to stray the most away from what they've done. And I think that Redfall will be something that they work on and make, and obviously they want it to be the best game possible. But I think it's going to be sort of the bridge until the next big title that they want to make. Like, almost as if Red Fall is like, this one's for the fans, and the next one will be for us again, right? Like Redfall, I feel is going to be more of that, much like, you know,

Blessing already talked about how Barrett calls Death Loop their pop album, but I feel like Red Fall is going to be there. Anybody can play this. You don't have to necessarily care about the stories or the worlds that we create. This is going to be a multiplayer action, fun game, with some of the DNA in terms of, you know,

controlling things. And I'm sure there's going to be all sorts of mind control and telekinesis powers. and all sorts of things like that you've seen. Yeah, that you've seen in arcane games, but I feel like this is sort of the bridge until the next dishonored or the next death loop or game of that ilk. But I don't want it to be that.

Remember, Ninja Theory made that multiplayer. Damn it, Lucy. That's the point I'm trying to get to. I wanted to say, we haven't talked about what, so I wanted to do the synopsis of what is Redfall. Because it's one of those that Redfall got to, announced right. We knew about it. We've heard about it. But an open world co-op shooter coming summer 2022, right? Barrett was just running the debut trailer for it. Red Falls is an open world co-op,

first-person shooter from Arcane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored. Continuing Arcane's legacy of carefully crafted worlds in love of creative game mechanics, Redfall brings the studio's signature gameplay to the cooperative action in first-person shooter genres. And so yes, my question was, and Lucy's question too, because it's the one is you talk about being a bridge, Andy. Do you think it's a bridge people want to actually be on, or do you think it's going to be like Ninja Theory when they were right before they got picked up for Xbox? What was

that fucking game called? Real edge heads, no. Bleeding edge, baby. Bleeding edge. Yeah. Is it going to be, I mean, bleeding edge, you know, obviously didn't move the needle and went away pretty quickly. No, I don't think it's going to be on that level. Like, especially when Bleaning Edge was coming out, there were talks about

it already, like, yeah, we worked on this. We kind of put it by the wayside for a bit to work on dishonor or whatever. I don't think it's going to be that at all. I think it's going to be something that they still try very hard on and try to make a larger game, especially with all the publicity that Xbox has been given it, and we're starting to see it at these big, large conventions, or not conventions, but just events and showcases. It's still going to be a heavily showcased product, but I have a feeling that it's kind of like,

we're going to make it. And by the way, we also have our second team start. the work on the next big single player game we're working on. Yeah, I think the fact that it's Arcane Austin is the thing that gives me a bit of hope for it. Because, you know, Arcane has two studios. There's Arcane Austin and then there's Archie Leon. Archie Leon is the one that did Death Loop. Archie Austin is the one that did Prey. And Prey came out in 2017, which means that, like, to some extent,

they've been working on Redfall since then, right? And I'm sure they've also been working on Death Loop and they collaborate and all that stuff. But this is the next project from the team from Prey. And Prey was a game that, honestly, I think like going back to it, because I went back and played it this last fall after beating Death Loop, I think Prey was super underrated. None of people talked about Prey. And I think part of that is when Prey first came out,

it came out on PS4 and Xbox One. I think it had performance issues and things here and there that kept it back. Going back and playing it on Xbox Series X on GamePass and having FPS boost and having it run like a dream, Prey is ridiculously good. And Archie and Austin is a ridiculously good developer. And so, like, I think if they're putting a lot of their energy and this is their main next project after Prey, then I got a lot of expectations for what Red Falcon be. Blessing, as somebody who just played Prey recently, and I mean, the grand scheme of things, I know you didn't just play it yesterday.

One of the things I remember being cool about it for some, but a turn off to others, was how nerdy it was. Like, obviously, we talk about these RPGs and we talk about all the stuff you do in them and you're reading, you know, text logs and doing this kind of thing. I remember Prey really being a RPG, an RPG player's RPG, where it was, here's a whole bunch of text to read, here's a whole bunch of weird stuff that's going on, it's super sci-fi, but it's not necessarily the most approachable. Is that true? Do you think that had part of the reception to it, that it was denser than some games were?

Yeah, for sure. I think it is their most hardcore game. Like, if we're talking about the arcane design ethels, all their games are very similar, right? Their first person versus them. You're going around, you're reading a lot. you're reading emails, you're getting calls, and they have very similar gameplay structure. Though I would say, like, again, Death Loop being the pop album, right? Death Loop, I would say, is the most approachable one.

And then in the middle you have dishonored. And then on the other side you have Prey being the one that, at least for me, in my opinion, was the one where I was like, oh, damn, this is hardcore. And I think it's not even the fact that it's super nerdy necessarily. I think it's just more restrictive in terms of upgrades and leveling up and the options. Like, you really got to figure out the way you want to play. You got to figure out what skill tree you want to go down. You know, if you're using certain abilities, that's going to, like, take you down that evil path.

And so if we're going to commit something, you've got to commit to it. Whereas Death Loop and even Dishonored, I feel like there's a lot more freedom, specifically in Death Loop, there's a lot more freedom to, like, play the way you want and bounce back and forth between, okay, this mission, I'm going to use this weapon load out and these abilities, whereas, like, in this next mission, you can change. Prey felt way more grounded and also more difficult. Pray was a way more difficult game than Death Loop and Dishonored as well. So I think a lot of that stuff held it back.

But I do think that initially the thing that really held it back was its technical performance, which now on Xbox Series X is fixed. On PlayStation 5, it's not as much fixed. You know, I'm sure it's better than it was on PS4 and Xbox 1, but I played it for like about an hour and a half on PS5. And I was like, ooh, I do not like this frame rate and I had a switch. And so like I think in a in a great case, they could put out a PS5 remaster or like a next gen remaster for prey. and that brings in a new appreciation for it or do like an arcane remaster collection where they take everything from the last couple of gens,

bring it forward. But also, like, they're owned by Xbox now, and Xbox does have FPS boosts. And so in a way, that's kind of a moot point because you basically have it remastered now. But yeah, like, I think Redfall, if it is what Andy Sokma out, right, which is, hey, here's one for y'all, right?

Like, the last few were for us, here's one that is purely a, we want to make a game that people play together and have fun with, and that's going to build an audience with GamePass and all that. I think it could be a hit. I think it could be dope.

I hope so. Yeah, it's just one of those things that, you know, outside of their usual to an extent, right, that I think it'll be interested to see how it's received and if it, you know, crosses over for everybody. Andy, what is your first pick for Mr. Evil 37's top five game development studios for us personally? From Software is my number one.

I mean, what more needs to be said, y'all? They started inspiring the whole games industry over 10 years ago and have not stopped. And it's just continued and continued. And more and more studios are taking cues from their game design philosophies. And I think it's really cool that we're starting to see more and more people be open to playing these games because a lot of the DNA has been slowly leaking into all of the games that other people have been playing over the past seven, eight years, ten years. Yeah, I mean, I just, their catalog, and I'm talking from software, like, starting with Demon Souls. Obviously, like, I didn't play Kingsfield.

I just, I'm not aware of that era from software. I'm talking about, like, the Miyazaki run from software. Demon Souls playing that on PS5, having that remake, even though that was BluPoint remaking it, you could see that they obviously are kind of experimenting with a lot of weird shit systems-wise and stuff that I legitimately find fascinating and fun. A lot of people don't love some of the systems that happen, like the world state in Demon Souls. It's just things, it's elements like that in game design that push it to another echelon. of creativity for me.

Bloodbourne was my first from soft game and I've said it before but it was a game that chat convinced me to play and I was like, I'll do it on my birthday but I'll just play a couple hours and then here I am just like mega fan. I forget Andy, that was recent.

How was that last? That was two years ago. Okay. Two years ago, yeah. It was February of 2020 was the first time I hopped into Bloodborn and just like, all right, I'll play this for a couple hours but just for you all, you all wanted this on my birthday stream

and fell in love with it, obviously, and then hopped into Demon Souls with PS5 and then played Dark Souls 1 and immediately saw, like, just, Greg, it's like if you were in a coma for 20 years, Greg. Yeah, right? And then you woke up and you were like, wow, you know what? I like baseball.

And I was like, well, let me tell you about the steroid era of baseball. Let me show you some tapes of Mark, McGuire, Sammy Sosa, just hitting Dinger's 700 yard, uh, just crushing it. And it's like going back to that game, going back to Dark Souls 1 and seeing, man, for a second one, if I went to B-roll, I was hoping he was going to have Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa Burel. God, I wish I was that quick.

Just seeing, just seeing the makings of God damn, they have just been on one since like Dark Souls 1 really. And how ahead of the game they are. in terms of game design and level design. And again, I think Dark Souls 1 is the best level design I've ever experienced in any game. And it's just a testament to them sort of stick into their guns. And we hear stories about how Demon Souls didn't sell well on PS3.

And a lot of people, I think, you know, Demon Souls is going to be a, I believe it was going to be a Sony game. and Sony kind of like played it and it was like, nah, this ain't it. Huh? It was shoe. Yeah, it was shoe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there was just like, this is not it.

Like, what are we doing here, y'all? And I think it's just a testament to from Software and Miyazaki and that vision of like, we're sick into our guns. We know we have something special here. And obviously, I'm very, very late to the fan base. And I'm just really enjoying this journey that they've sort of taken me on. And with Eldon Ring coming out now, it's like, God damn. It's almost one of the things where it's like, great, you got to retire after you win the Super Bowl, you know?

What else are you going to do after this? How do you see a role again? What are you talking about? Look at Tom Brady. John Elway. John Elway did that, Greg. Remember that? Yeah, I don't know.

I just think that they are just constantly doing the right things and evolving in the right ways when it comes to how to bring a new level of creativity to their sort of style of game. and now Sol's likes are just so ubiquitous all over the industry. Yeah, from Software is my number one with a bullet. Worth pointing out today as we're recording, Bandai Namco has confirmed that Eldon Ring is now shipped over 13.4 million units as of the end of March 2020. Lucy, you're one of the people playing Eldon Ring. Do you agree that this is a good top five pick?

Yeah, this, like, if Arcane hadn't have been my number one, I would have said like From like despite the fact that I didn't originally have it in my list because they just... Sometimes sometimes it just passes you back No I think From Software I just for all the reasons

Andy mentioned but also because in terms of sort of the gaming PR media scene whatever it is we find ourselves in from don't do what everyone else does like they rarely give interviews instead they

but when they do whenever if you get Miyazaki in an interview, he will say something that's just so sweet and profound. Like, the reason behind the messaging system in Dark Souls is just such a beautiful little thing that he turned into... Did you ever hear that story? No. It was, so he was driving, and there was this big snowstorm, and people were struggling,

and so there was this kind of traffic jam or something, going up a mountain or something, and they were each helping each other, but they couldn't get out of the car to say, thank you. So it was just kind of people helping each other, but expecting nothing in return really to help them get out of this situation. And so that's where the inspiration for the messaging came from. The first strand game, people say.

Yeah, they did call it that. They did call it that. The first strand game. And so it's yeah, just like the fact that you know, so much of Dark Souls and Soulsborns are the mystery, right? It's unlocking it by yourself. And they as a developer kind of play into that by not, like, they won't do the post-mortem and edge talking through everything and confirming

theories and whatever. They're not putting Vati out of a job. They kind of just let the community, yeah, thank God. They just let the community kind of do all that. And it's, I've never seen a game promote as much positivity. And I'm really glad that it's over the get good, because that's what it was for a long time. But now it just is the positivity and helping people along and grouping together and overcoming these insurmountable challenges and it's like it's so special

and also as a huge fan of dark fantasy it's just I've started to read Berserk because of FromSoft and let me tell you that is an incredible read the trigger warnings of pretty much everything you can think of if you want to pick up

berserk I'm not even kidding like everything you can think of is probably in there but like with Tam and I Patch Wolf and playing Eldon Ring in the minute, I'm like so immersed in it that like even though Berserk is not done by Fram Software, it has so much of it in Framsoft games that I'm like, I just need more. I'm playing Eldon Ring all the time, but I'm like, I just need more of it. And I don't think any developer makes games as all-consuming as they do.

You talk about positivity though. Thank you, Barry. Here we go. Mark Weir stepping up to the plate. You talk about positivity, but Tam was anything but that in, Blessings first experience of Dark Souls yesterday. Tam was playing defense the whole time. We'll see if I were going back to Dark Souls. Wait, wasn't you doing that to you as well though?

Oh yeah, of course. Yeah, that's part of the journey with Tam. But yeah, I don't know. I just think that everything that they've done and just every time there's a new indie showcase of some sort, or just any sort of showcase, it's always, here's a say souls like and what does that mean you drop your currency when you die or you have these sort of bonfire like things that reset the world and the enemies and you have to be more thoughtful with your

combat and it's just sort of i i don't want to say it's making the industry boring because i think those are my preferred ways of playing combat anyway but it's just really cool to see how different developers are sort of putting their own spin on that formula Yeah, from software is another one that was on my short list. And I think, you know, when I, the fact that I can tell you that right now I'm looking forward to the next armored core game, I think should speak to it all. Like the fact that, like, I've never been an armored core person, but knowing that from software that that is reported to lead the next thing, I'm like, oh, damn, all right,

give it to me. Because now I'm in for whatever they're making. Like the, I've beaten three, I want to say, yeah, three from software games so far. And like all of them have ended up on my favorite games of all time list between Eldon and Sekiro and BloodBorn. And for me, the thing that makes their game special more so is, I would say, the combat systems and, like, how engaging, how good the combat is. Like, Bloodborn especially, I think, really pulled me in when I had the first moment

of picking up a different weapon and then clicking the button to change the form and then going, oh, shit, all right, I'm playing a different game now. Like, this is an entirely different way to approach combat for me. You know, that plus the virtual system, like breaking down all the systems that are in each of the front software games to their question. to their core, or to their different parts, it's such a fascinating, like, oh, wow, they really sat down and really thought about this

and really turned this into its own thing. Playing Sekiro was another one where I was like, I can't believe they've done this. I can't believe they've created a combat system unlike anything I've ever seen before, where it does feel, people will describe it as playing a rhythm game because it is all about the countering and the pairing and figuring out the rhythm of your enemy,

and it really does feel like a rhythm game. And the fact that they're able to pull that off and make it a thing that builds and varies with each enemy. and goes crazy by the time you get to the end of the game, I think it's just so impressive. That plus their world building and their method of storytelling. Like, I don't want to ruin one of my other picks on my list,

but a lot of it, I feel like it is rooted in what we've seen before from like Shadow Colossus and Eco and games like that that are a lot about interpretation and you being thrusted into a world that has had a lot happen and you kind of gain the narrative as you go. From software, I think, took that and really ran with it. it and really made it a thing where not only is it interpretation, but it is, no, there's an actual story here. Like, we've thought through every nook and cranny and how we're going to place items and place

NPCs and place characters and all these different places to where you are gaining the narrative. You are in this world as an archaeologist, an archaeologist, and you are taking everything in and finding the narrative on your own. I think that is such a powerful way to do it and such a trusting way to do it for the players that are jumping into those games. And I think for that, those games are so satisfying to play because, is that reason. And I think we talk about all the time, but like, there's a, there's a certain

amount you have to work for while playing, playing those games. And I think it really does, um, work to their favor because the people that come out on the other side of like actually working for it and like beating the bosses and fighting the narrative and really allowing themselves to get lost in the world, come out being like, this is, this is one of my favorite experiences ever because there is nothing like it. Uh, for me, my first pick here out of the five, of course, will not be surprising anybody. And I'm sure it's on a lot of people's list. But I'm going to choose naughty dog while they're still on the table. You know, it's funny to come off of everything you guys are saying about from software

and what Blessing was just saying about the journey and getting through it and the bosses and stuff and like have one of those experiences. Like, as you know, like I played through Bloodborn on stream and on my own a little bit and stuff like that. And by the time I rolled credits with it, I was like, I totally get why people love this. This just isn't why I love video games. And naughty dog is why I love video games, right? Like I think you look at The Last of Us, you look at The Last of Us,

two you look at the uncharted series and that is the kind of experience i want when i sit down in the couch and turn off the lights and pick up the controller like i want that movie meets game i want that thing where i'm getting something that is emotional and uh what and not having to be that that doesn't mean dark right we're looking at last of us part two which is so dark and so crazy right but like something that can be uncharted can be that pulpit adventure can be that you know Indiana Jones feeling to it. And I think especially, you know, for as long as Nottie Dog's been around. And for the Nottie Dog, I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the start of the PS3 cycle, right? I'm talking about Uncharted Drake's Fortune on. What gets me so excited. You want to just count out, you know, the important years of Crash Banticoot and Jack? For what I'm talking about, yeah. For the Nottie Dog I know and the Nottie Dog I love, yes, I do. We will act like that doesn't think. No, no.

What I'm saying is the fact that as we sit here now in May 22, talking about Nottie Dog and talk about what we saw in The Last of Us Part 2, what we saw with Uncharted 4, what we saw with Chloe and Nadine's Uncharted, right, Lost Legacy. Nottie Dog is only getting better, and I think they've always been getting better at visuals and storytelling. I really think they're getting better at gameplay, and I think they've really stepped up to that call, right?

Because even when I was there with Uncharted 1 through 3, saying how much I love those games, there were some people, sure, but the shooting feels like ass, I don't like the circular reticle. I don't like just the monster closet of pirates that you would have in a Charger Drake's fortune. And these are all criticisms that obviously are valid and I can see their point. Whereas for me, the story and the visuals and the experience, right, the blockbuster moments, you know, outweighed those frustrations if there were those. Or the fact that I just don't look to games for that precision headshot and clicking, you know, clicking heads like a nitro rifle over there.

And so to see NoddyDog step up to that with their most recent games really makes me fascinated to know what comes next. You know, we talk about it so much on PSI Love You, whether it be, all right, cool. Yeah, factions, but what's after factions? And then is it this last of us remake that they've taken on or whatever? All of that, I'm like, yeah, sure, that's going to be great. I can't wait for it. I'm so excited for the first time a new trailer drops at Game Awards. And it's the black screen and it's Noddy Dog logo, and we don't know what's about to happen after that.

Like, I don't know what character I'm about to see. It gives me chills thinking about it. I got goosebumps. Right? And it's one of those where I think there are so few game developers that you can sit there and close your eyes and visualize that and get the goosebumps. Because we've had it before, right? I remember watching Game Awards and having it go black and having the Nottie Dog logo pop

up and be like, is this uncharted 3DLC? And I was like, oh, holy shit, that fucking thing with the ants and the fungus, that was them. And it was like, you got that last of us trailer. We were off to the races with that. Like, I love that experience from them. And I love that ride with them. So I can't wait to see what they do next.

And it's because of their track record and what they've done since then, especially, again, you know, last of us part two, I think it's a masterpiece and I know a lot of people want to argue one way or the other, but from my gameplay mechanics of how much fun that was to play, and I mean, that's a weird thing to say how much fun it was or slink up behind people and slit their throats or run up and hit them with a bat or whatever,

but it did. It was like such great stealth gameplay. Not even like serviceable, not even whatever. Like right now to close my eyes and think about the first time Ellie drops in and you have to get down in the tall grass and work your way through that giant thing where the silent people are out there doing their whistles and shit. You're like, what the fuck is going on? Like, so good, so good.

Lucy, you've been nodding along. You agree with me? I love that game so much. And, like, I completely agree with you. I think there's a suspension of disbelief you have to have with uncharted one, two, three in terms of, yeah, you are this, you know, lovable guy who just, yeah, murders so many people, but also there's like the fact that the shooting doesn't feel good. I'm one of those people who like just can't stand the shooting in those in those early games, but then seeing what

they were doing with four in particular lost legacy, like taking this adding the stealth gameplay, making it better, refining it, giving you more options and then when it comes to last of us part two, not only was the writing just beautiful. It was wonderful. I loved that game so much. But it was one of those games where, yes, early days of pandemic, probably not going to touch it for a while. But when I was playing it, it was one where I just, I was so taken in by it and I was going along for the ride so much that I would just play it in long stretches and loving everything that they'd done. And I think I'm really, I'm really glad that they are one of Sony's, you know, Premier Studios, if not Sony's Premiere Studio, because they're given the money and the time to make pieces of art,

like The Last of Us part too. I think they're also just kind of the most surface level impressive. Like I can't really, I can't really show a non-gamer what makes from software games special to me. Sure. When it comes to all diving into the lore and finding all the little Easter eggs and pieces of dialogue and reading descriptions and stuff. But in a five-minute sequence, you can show somebody. the most insane cutscene

anybody's ever seen in a video game and how does this look so good and how are they pulling this power from a PS4 and we're into the gameplay and all of the sort of conditional moments of while I'm

against this I'm against this wall so therefore my character animates this way but if I'm here my character does this in the animation they just think of every little detailed way to make that moment feel unique and not feel canned. Like a lot of, you know, they could have gone half ass and just say, hey, we're going to have two animations for the throat slit or whatever, or two animations for the whatever action

it is you're doing. But everything they do is so conditional and so, I guess, dependent on where you are and what you're doing. They're just so impressive writing-wise. And I think, thinking back to my first experiences with Uncharted, I, it's why, I think Nathan Drake is primarily why I gravitate towards the funny asshole jerk character. Like, Nathan Drake is the reason why I love Guardians of the Galaxy and Chris Pratt in that role. And I love Robbie Downey Jr. and Iron Man. I love the sarcasm and the quips.

And it sort of further cemented what I love about the Spider-Man, the Spider-Man characters that I've loved in my past of like, I love the dude. who's just a cocky asshole and he's funny as hell and he's making me laugh. And even when he's in danger, he's going to hit you with a stupid one line that's going to make you laugh. Yeah, they sort of, they kind of showed non-gamerers that this is what games are now and this is how we're doing them. And it's it's not just bleeps and bloops. Like this shit is really impressive now and you need to kind of see what we're bringing to the table. Yeah, I think like if you, whether you love Nottie Dog games or you don't like, him as much. I think the thing that I would say

is that they're affecting. Like, Lastmas Part 2, especially for me, was the game that by the time I finished it, I didn't completely agree with it, but, like, I couldn't deny that, like, it had moved me in a lot of ways, right? Like, I think of the scene where it was Joel and Ellie going through the museum and how, like,

how good of a scene that was, right? And how touching it was, right? I even think of, like, the times where they are going into the violent aspects of Last, of LastVas Part 2 and what Ellie's going through and how that affects, you know, how she deals with Abby and all that stuff. And like, again, like the, the message there I felt was like, man, this is doing a lot. And I don't know, I don't, like, to this day, I look back and I'm like, I still don't know how I feel

about that. But I do know that they went for it. And I feel like they go for it a lot more than you see a lot of other big AAA developers of this level, go for it. And that's why they're at where they're at, right? I think that's why, like, you know, Andy was talking about the influence of from software. I think Nottie Dog is in a very similar way in terms of narrative and cutscene and, like, putting together a good-ass video game story that has the characters that grow, has the characters that you love, right? I think Nottie Dog did so much of that starting with Uncharted 1 through 3. And when LasW hits, you know, we talk about on PS-Lovie that, like, PlayStation

took a turn, you know, after the Last West, where you see so many other PlayStation games take influence from that. God of War 2018 took influence from that, right? Like, Ghost, Horizon, like, all the days gone, so many big PlayStation first-party games took influence from the success of Nottie Dog and Incharted and Last West, because they really set at home with it. And you only see them grow, right? Like, Last and Spar II, I think, did so much for cutscene and presentation and lighting

and cinematic gameplay. And the actual gameplay system is now satisfying they are, right? Like, talking to, Andy was mentioning how, like, it feels like they've really accounted for so much in terms of, like, location, all that stuff in gameplay. And it almost feels like it is, like, the design is so good. It feels like the game is improvving. Like, it feels like, you know, when I'm playing is Nathan Drake and I, and I, get into a punch out or a punch fight with somebody and then like Sam intervenes and like

punches them across the table and it's like this is gameplay this is not cutscene like this is happening here I don't see many other developers doing that because doing that is so hard and like they put in a lot of work into their games and so yeah I'm right there with you blessing it's time for your number one pick but I'm already changing what we're doing here right we're going to be here until 730 at night if we do five so we're listening it to three so I'm making even tougher now right you we each have two you can pick three but that's how it's got to be can i do honorable mentions at the end at the end we can do our quick fire honorable mentions sure don't worry okay uh my number

was such great discussions about these studios i don't want it to stop you like uh uh well i just say you know yay and then we move on yeah um my number one's gonna be nintendo and these are in order right we're not ranking these by name you can do whatever you want i again i think it's like feel out the question do what you want okay i'm not going to rank them i'm just to say nintendo is one of my three then um nintendo of course they're a small developer known for games like Mario 3 and Mario 64 and Legends All the Breath of the Wild. And they put out so many of my favorite games. I think they're very easy answer, obviously, because they've been around for so long and they put out so many masterpieces and classics. But, you know, I think that still

stands, right? The fact that they have put out so many masterpieces in classics. And when I go through my rolodex of games that really impacted me growing up and still to this day, right? Like, I go, I start at Mario 64, right? Like, I have Mario 3 that isn't just an incredible game and an incredibly designed game, but is a game that means a lot for me and me getting into video games and me playing video games with family, right, and the memories I have with it. And that goes into Mario Kart and the multiplayer stuff as well, right? But I also think of games that I'm playing today still from Nintendo that still to this day blow my mind. Like for me, there might never be a year like 2017 where the switch comes out and then I played the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and

my mind was blown by it. And then later that year I got Mario Odyssey. My mind was blown by it. Mario Odyssey specifically, right, like reached back to the inner child in me who was obsessed with Mario 64, because Mario 64 was one of my first games I ever owned, and like running around, going through the different levels in Mario Odyssey, like, going through the story, having the, like, the Disney-esque moments in Mario Odyssey, having the New Donk City music number go. And then that, like, then connecting me back to how much I love Donkey Kong 64, because the original Donkey Kong was playable in Donkey Kong 64. Like, there's so much history and connected tissue between Nintendo games, and there's so much to love in terms of how they think about design and how they think about, like, you

No, like talking about From Software, talking about Noddog, right? Like, Nintendo games aren't hard, for the most part. Some of them are. But, like, for the most part, Nintendo games aren't grueling, right? Nintendo games don't have, like, these crazy-ass stories, crazy-ass cutscenes. What they do have is such a good idea of what the player wants. And what is... They're fun.

Like, they're purely fun, and they're purely so easy to get lost in. And, yeah, like, I think I'm going to forever be a fan of Nintendo in their games because of it. So, yeah, they're easily the first one on my list. One of the things I've gotten, not shit for over the years, but I always feel like I have to justify before I even say it is that I don't ever mean as an insult, but I think Nintendo's so great at making toys. And that's not to say, like, build quality and like that, but it's what you're driving at that. Their games are just fun. Like, I feel like there's so many different experiences with video games, and I love that. That's why I've stuck around for so long.

But, like, obviously, when I sit down to play a naughty dog game, I'm expecting something far different than Mario Odyssey. Mario Odyssey is always going to be this relief, right? It's always going to be this joyous occasion like you're saying, what's around that corner? How do I get that the next hat? Where are we going with X, et cetera? And you look at Kirby, you look at Zelda. I'm not saying these games can't be challenging.

They can't be that. But it is this idea of like they're making a game with a very specific thing in mind. And it's a very specific core mechanic. It's a very specific visual style. Or like how Captain Toad's treasure tracker works. But the idea usually at the center of, all of them is they just want it to be a fun game that knows it's a game it's not trying to

be more than a game i think you know so many the experiences i'll talk about or you know go on and on and on about over beers about video games are these oh well it got me wrapped up in this and i cried and i did etc like they just want you to smile and have fun and play and play a video game and that's something that is really powerful i got nothing okay good they make good games you hate nintendo I wish I had Nintendo growing up I love Nintendo games now but I wish they were as entrenched in childhood as they are from I imagine the rest of you

like I was PC I had my was playstation I had a Game Boy color but all I had was Pokemon because my parents were just like just got Pokemon she doesn't need anything else but like I wish I'd had like a GameCube I wish I'd had an Instagram I wish I'd had those seminal experiences of Nintendo in the 90s, and I'm sad that I didn't. But it doesn't mean that I don't love Nintendo.

I think it's enjoyment just like not in a cynical way. I think it is just, their games are just pure joy. It's like pure fun, distilled down. And, you know, Miyamoto is this bastion of game design and good reason for it. their philosophy is like it would be fun and that's why you know if i'm ever feeling in you know a slightly more down mood i know that a nintendo game will probably be the cheerier option for me so yeah yeah and i think to to add on to that right and add on to what greg was talking about you know you talk about how like you wish you grew up with it with nintendo and i was just talking to somebody

i think it was like either yesterday the day before about how i wish i grew up with more pc gaming because I missed out on like tycoon games. I missed out on strategy games. I missed out on RTS. I missed out on like a lot of the first person games that I knew I would have I would, I know I would have loved back then like Unreal Tournament and like the old thief games or DSX and all that stuff. Right. But like in that same conversation I was talking about that I was like, but at least I had an N64 and like I had friends with the Super Nintendo that I got to go back to because I think in terms of growing up with with games and how games can hit you in different areas, right? Like nothing will hit you in terms of video games. Right. I don't think there'll be

anything they'll hit as hard as a Mario game or as hard as like a Zelda game or as because like, you know, a lot of it comes down comes down to the fun, the fun of it and the joy of it. But I think that when you just tell down like what makes a Nintendo game joyful, what makes a Nintendo game fun, right? It comes back to game design and it comes back to like art direction and music, right? And like Nintendo knows game design. Like they're just good at, they're good as hell at game design. And it goes all the way back to like the original Mario Bros where there's the famous explanation that I think about was Miyamoto. I'm going to assume it was Miyamoto who was talking about how like, yeah, like the reason

why you put this Gumba here is because that makes you jump, right? That makes you learn the jump mechanic. And we have these blocks here so you'll jump into the blocks, possibly getting the mushroom. And then like the level design goes from there, right? Like when they talk about Breath of the Wild and how that harkens back to the original legend of Zelda and how, yeah, no, we templated it. when we were templating breath of a while, we templated it like an original Zelda game so that we were creating a game where you could go any direction, right? Where it has that same design ethos

and same energy of, hey, it's an adventure, go whatever direction, find what you will, meet the people that you will and have fun, right? Like, the way they think about their games are so pure and I think come back to how do you make a thing fun, let alone their art design, which oftentimes is like bright, colorful like it catches the eye and there are design oftentimes ages better than so many other games we see on different platforms because like oftentimes you'll see it you'll see developers go for fidelity you'll see developers go for realism whereas like i'll pick up a Mario game on GameCube today and go no this looks good like this still looks good right i'll pick up windmaker and like these games look timeless because they just know what they're doing like they have like

i think the easy comparison that people make is is disney right where like i'll sit down and watch Finding Nemo, it'll still make me cry to this day. Whereas, like, Nintendo, they do, they have that same energy of what are we creating and how do we make it timeless and they do such a good job of it. Lucy, we come to you for your second pick of three now, remember, but before then, two things. Number one, we're going to check your mic settings. That last segment you were cutting out just a little bit, so we want to check on that. Number two, I'm going to tell the rest of the audience about patreon.com slash kind of funny games.

Remember you go to patreon.com slash kind of funny games to watch the show live, just like, Rauli is, Cameron Kennedy isn't Paul Morar. Of course, you get the show ad-free. Of course, you get it with the exclusive post show where we play, bless who. But for right now, it's the ad thing, because of course we're going to talk about sponsors. So, here's Tim, before he got bit by the snakes.

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That's Credit Karma.com. Welcome back, everybody. So Lucy James, what's your second of three developers? Okay, second of three. I went for Remedy because they are just cool. So yeah, when I was thinking about this question, it was like, what developer whose games do you really like and but also kind of have a really interesting design ethos? I think Remedy, I just think that's really cool in terms of the games they make, the people, who work there, but also they are so weird.

The games are so weird, like Alan Wake. First of all, the fact that they got a game about a depressed writer released as an action game. Sorry, my cat. Hi, Peanut. Get that close. Um, got released. Um, but then it's just like all of the nods to pulp horror that they put throughout their games, the fact that they made their own remedy verse, the fact that, you know, like,

control is this mix of, what would you even call it, like the, is it SCP, the weird online stuff, SEP? SEP, I think. Oh, I know what you think. It's like weird spooky stories online and stuff, meets X-Files, meets Twin Peaks. And it's such a weird concept for a game. And like, even now, how would you describe control succinctly? You know, you are a bureau of a weird old house that keeps changing and also somehow you get powers.

And then Hideo-Kaddeo-Kadima's there. You know, but the fact that the building is like hidden also is so cool. Yeah, and no one can find the building. There's this janitor that's dope as fuck. And there's a bunch of moles and you're going to have to clean it. But yeah, it's just they make such strange games, but I'm really glad that they do. And I think as well, and I can't wait to see what happens in Alan Wake 2 because they have this kind of, their games have this undercurrent of being unsettling. You know, obviously with Alan Wake 1, it's the.

it's Mr. Scratch, it's all of the devilish smoke monster-esque stuff, it's people acting weird in Bright Falls. And then in control, it's, you know, Jesse Faden's there, she doesn't know what's going on, she's deliberately not being told. You, the player, are not being told us why this world is so weird. And so I can't wait to see them go full on feet first into horror in Alan Wake because they're so good at being unsettling. And I think as well, like their gameplay stuff has gone. better. Sure there have been pitfalls. I think control was maybe a little too hard when it came out. Alan Wake playing it recently. Gameplay-wise, it does feel a bit funny. And like, it definitely has a way it wants you to play. But then again, there are also the people who came up with Max Payne.

And I can't wait to see them remaking Max Payne. Max Payne. Knowing what they know now. And like, those games are already fantastic. And like, just imagine it in the Northlight engine and just bring it up to... Or are they making it unreal? I forget, but just bringing it up to date with visuals and gameplay and hopefully making them a bit longer. I think they are masters of tone. And I also think they have really good music selection.

Shout out to Poets of the Fall. Every so often, man, I think about replaying control on PS5, just to get all those visuals and the ray tracing and all that jazz. Yeah, I was never a massive Allen Wake fan. I remember playing it, and it was one of those spending night at a friend's house I played some of the game he played some of the game and by the end of it I was just like

that it wasn't really fun gameplay wise even though they have the history from Max Payne being kind of gameplay focus and introducing cool little not gimmicks but you know bullet time kind of a little gimmick kind of something you want to show off to people

and I think control like made everything just feel so goddamn cool All of the traversal, flying, floating, I think that was the same year as Jedi Fallen Order. I was like, this is the better Jedi game for me. Like, I prefer the powers here throwing shit and making things float and creating the shield rock and upgrading it to the point where you can explode it after you've gotten so many shots hitting you. It's normally a game I probably wouldn't go for because it is kind of freaky. It's eerie.

It's creepy. There's weird-ass creatures that are chasing you, and some of them are unbelievably fast and awful to look at. But I think that game just nailed art direction. Like that game, more so than anything, was like really fun to play, had a really neat gameplay loop with awesome ways to kind of upgrade your character and find out what the hell is happening in this world. Very confusing. But anytime you walk into a room, you get that big, font treatment hitting you. It's like, this is like the best part ever.

And lighting and like just colors that they use. Yeah, what a fucking game. And I'm excited to see Alan Wake kind of taking some gameplay elements from maybe control and like making that game a bit more active in its gameplay as opposed to like shining a flash ad and running away sort of stuff. Yeah. Control really sold me. Like I had played the original Max Payne on PSU back in the day.

day. And I remember being a little bit into the action, but then overall just not really digging it, just because, like, especially for a young me, the greediness and like the drugs and all that stuff just didn't hit me in that way, let alone like having other third person shooters I ended up getting anyway that like I felt played better back in the day, picking up control. And for like, first of all, like feeling how it played, right, getting the levitation stuff, getting the, having the, oh, what's the weapon call? Because it has a cool name. it's like the the something

the directors yeah no it's something like that though somebody look it up but like getting that thing and having it changed the different forms and having it go from like shotgun and all the stuff cool as hell like

the service weapon like how cool also known as the director's gun me and you were there okay yeah I was going for service weapon but like having that stuff but then also having the world building, which was the thing that really sold me, you know, having like, finding the notes of like, yeah, man, somebody brought in a pencil to work and now pencils are banned. Like, nobody's a lot of pencils anymore.

You can't bring cell phones in here because the cell phones might attack. Like, these aren't accurate, but like, these are the energy of, like, all the different lore tidbits that you'd get. Like, one of my favorite parts was getting to a certain area in the game and, like, seeing a guy in, like, a cage just staring at a refrigerator. And, yeah, and her being like, hey, like, are you going? good like you need help and he's like my somebody was supposed to come replace me i've been staring at this refrigerator for 24 hours straight like please find my replacement and then you leave you come

back and he's gone and like there's blood on the floor and the fridge is still there and you're like what happened and then like that teleporting to the motel oh yeah every single time you teleport to the motel like that game has such specific unique energy that i like i can't go over every time i think about the world building and like the visual style of that game it always blows me away yeah so much style and I think that's you know one of the things about Omega 3 calls up the end of control going through the blank and is one of the most op experience especially with the song going so hard that was the fucking moment that I remember doing all that stopping hitting the share button downloading the clip and then hitting up Tim I was like you're never going to

play control right he's like now like watch this like this is so fucking cool a top somebody else in the chat earlier yeah oh there it is uh Calhan uh Fudka said quantum break underrated I enjoyed the hell out of quantum break for all of its like faults and weirdness But again, you know, you said they make weird games, right? Luce, maybe I'm pretty worried your mouth. But I think they make unique games, right? Like, I think that's the thing. Like a remedy game, whether you are going to love it or be totally put off by it,

it's going to be something so unique. And I love that somebody's out there creating it. I love that they get to keep creating it. Andy, what's your next pick? Your number two of three. This is pure nostalgia right here. Because nothing in current day has made me believe but

BioWare is my second pick Not even Legendary Edition was like That's enough for me That's enough for me to know The magic is still there They did a good job with legendary edition I mean I think the

The most faith I have Is that Vince Ampella as a whole Has showed that EA can take the single player route And be successful with it and not have to shoehorn in multiplayer type things that will eventually make players not like your game or just kind of be an annoyance and maybe it's a system or a service that never gets used. But yeah, I mean, like I think overall, like this list that we're kind of building eventually kind of became the best developers as opposed to like not only just our favorites.

But this is definitely like one of just like my favorites where like the original mass effect trilogy. is my favorite trilogy of all time. And I love Dragon Age. I never played Dragon Age 2, and I love Dragon Age Inquisition. And I think a lot of people give shit to Dragon Age Inquisition for being like Game with a Year that year saying it's like super weak. I love Dragon Age Inquisition. I don't give a damn what any all say.

It was a fun-ass RPG with a lot of the same elements that made me love Mass Effect, which are building relationships and not only having fun with gameplay, but figuring out, you. you know, who are you going to bang, right? And that's the number one priority that everybody should have. And I think the faith that I have, I mean, seeing all these sort of tweets and press reports from EA and people up top in bio are talking about how Dragon Age 4 was going to be a multiplayer game, they decided to take away multiplayer elements and go single player only. And I think small hints like that are showing me that they are steering. back in the right direction.

I didn't love what I played of Mass Effect Andromeda. It just always kind of felt off. And I've never liked the question of like, yeah, but all of the old Bioware people are gone. Like, how can they still have the same spirit there? It's like any good game developer with good heads on their shoulders can make a good game. Like they know what game they're trying to make. It's not like people working at Bioware now or like, well, we're going to make this a completely different experience. No, they know what they're going for. And if, and if they're talented

enough and they have the right people working on the team without a whole lot of interference from higher-ups on the EA side, I know that the people at BioWare are yearning to get back to their golden age of game development. And I'm stoked for whatever Dragon Age 4 is going to be, and I'm stoked to keep on seeing little hints here and there about Mass Effect. And anytime Michael Gamble tweets out, had a great meeting. today. I'm like, yeah, you did, Michael. Yeah, you did Big Dog. And I can't wait for whatever Mass Effect 4 is going to be. Okay. I'm Shepherds not back or is it back, but you don't already know it's a Chevrored's. Well, allegedly, that was just someone at the shop.

Listen, we hire people, they just write stuff. They've never played the game. They just write the games. Why would they shop? And right. So, Andy, to answer your call, favorite developers, not best developers. I'm for number two, I'm picking Yofon. Elphonic, of course, made Friday the 13th. They made Predator Hunting Grounds, and they are making Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, which, of course, full disclosure, I'm a voice in,

but come the fuck on at this point. Like, you think that's what's doing, I mean, the people who made Friday the 13th and Predator are fucking making a Ghostbusters game. You think I want to be on here. And so to disassociate Ghostbusters from it, right? Like, I look at you, Andy Cortez,

and I look at you, Blessing Adioje Jr. year. And I look at you, Lucy James. And I'll be honest, like there's plenty of times I feel jealous of all three of you and your multiplayer experiences with video games. Because for me, for the longest time, I feel multiplayer is something when I, oh, multiplayer video games, I'm immediately thinking of N64. I'm immediately thinking everybody in the room playing smash or playing wrestling or playing Perfect Dark or whatever. Maybe I'm thinking of me and Poe playing whatever thousands of hours of Madden or NCAA football. And so, you know, blessing, when you

come in and you talk about like, oh man, me and me and Yami play this thing all weekend long, and then loose when we live together and you'd have your overwatch dates with the lads and all this stuff. And then, of course, Andy playing everything with Snowbike Mike in the middle of the night and yada yada, I often feel like modern multiplayer like, and it hasn't passed me by, but it's so rare that a game will come in and get me and I am in this multiplayer groove and I want to be playing it. And I'm not a shooter guy. And that's so much of what it is. And I'm not a PC person. There's so much of that's what it is. And so as we look at Friday the 13th, here like for as janky and buggy and all these things that go into the fact that you know friday

thirteenth of course started as an independent game then it got the license they had it was you know gun publishing it nobody was ready for the success this game was going to find like i will never forget the nights of playing this with kind of funny best friends and i will never forget playing it as a team and doing the awesome let's play we did the awesome let's plays we did the studio i'll never forget having dinner with uh hunter and alexus pence and talking about how great this game was and then getting Hunter on and like I tweeted out of like hey we're playing friday 13th right now and everybody coming in and hunter jumping up down being jason or running from jason like there's friday 13th is by far not a perfect game but what it does is encapsulate a horror movie

so well in a way that i was even prepared for and it took like a lot of reflecting on in terms of first off i got into when i got back into when i got into the game i went and bought all the friday 13th movies on whatever crazy Xbox sale it was. And so after playing however many hours of the game, to then go watch those movies, he'd be like, oh my God, like,

I knew they were being true to the movies, but like literally I've seen the cabin they're in right now. I know so well because I played so much of the game. Like, that's how it was. But also the fact of the way the game played, you'd be watching someone else play and you would do the thing of like, oh, why are you running in there?

Oh, why are you hiding? Why would you try? Like, you had those same things you yell at a horror movie. And like, the gameplay working like a horror movie, Jason working the way he worked. There's plenty of stuff of, I think Jason was like

way too O.P. Like, you know what I mean? But then it was the whole point of just trying to survive or get away. Like, I had so many positive memories of Friday 13th. And then even Predator, which is not a franchise I'm as into by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy. Like, those

were so, those streams were so much fun, Andy. We played so much Predator. And the amount of times trading that off for fucking Nick talking shit and then immediately getting found out or, you know, It was so much fun. Not even streams. Like the amount that we played that just off stream because we were bored and we just all wanted to have fun and we wanted to progress the gun that we were unlocking or whatever.

And you mentioned that Jason was O.P. in Friday the 13th. And you could be O.P. and Predator. And you brought up the moment, yeah, unless you were Nick where there was a moment where all four of us run through a brush clearing of grass. and we just see Nick as the predator looking up at the trees and he's like oh fuck and he sees all four of us staring at him and suddenly we're the predators and he's like fuck but fuck and he runs away as the predator and it's it's just like there's so many great moments like that that um i think generally it's easy to kind of dunk on the asymmetric formula because it's a formula that is not necessarily intended to last right like when you're talking

4 v4 gameplay or 8 v8 or 5 v5 or whatever there's always uh replayability i think asymmetric games can kind of get old faster than what you would normally experience but those experiences are like some of my favorites in gaming yeah i thought i think predator was as buggy as it was an absolute fucking blast and not just because we were playing with friends that definitely you know um like made the experience better but i think it was still an absolute blast Yeah. And so, you know, I hope, I mean, I hope beyond fucking hope that Ghostbusters carries that over. If I can, like, because I mean, you know, I'm committed. I've already talked to Snowbike Mike. Like, when the game drops, like, that's going to be, I'm taking a week off of all the regular shows just to sit there and play it in costume nonstop and try to platinum it and do all these crazy ideas shit with it.

But like, like, I'm hoping that that game's fucking awesome. And like, a grant, I don't expect anyone here to be as into it as I am. But I hope when we all play together, it's fun, you know. We'll have to wait and see, though. moving on to blessing what's your number pick of two or three it's tough because i could pick i could go by like the oh who's the developer that i think is like the one of the best developers that's also my favorite or i can go for like a truly fan favorite one like gregg just did i think i might go fan favorite and with that i'm going to go team eco uh team eco team eco isn't around anymore now they are their gen design and they're working on a an unannounced project for Epic because they're partnered. But historically, this is more of a

nostalgic choice for me in the way that Bioware was for Andy, where I think when I think of my favorite trilogies in video games, I do think that the Eco Shadow Colossus, the Last Guardian trilogy, is very much up there for me, especially when I talk about Shadow Colossus and Eco specifically, even though I do love Last Guardian and I can talk about in a second. Like, Shadow Colossus is a video game that I could play yearly and still look forward to it every single time. Like, it is almost like reading like a parable or like going back and like playing something that is like such a simple, but such a, I think like powerful and engaging story, right, and engaging experience and going through and hunting down the 16 colossi and taking them out one by one and saying what's going

on with your character. Like I've told, I think I've told the story all the time of like when I was in high school, or no, when I was young, I had my friend Addison, who, like, would let me borrow games all the time. And you let me borrow Metal Gear Solid 3 and Shadow Colossus in the same week. And, like, that was a mind-blowing week of video games because, like, Meliger Solid 3 showed me, like, what video game narrative could be. And then Shadow Colossus showed me what, like, video games can be, right? How video games can be art.

And I was young enough to where, like, I had never thought about video games that way because I'd grown up with the NST4. And, like, when I got a PS2, I was playing, like, Spirty Man games and Spy Hunter and shit. I wasn't playing shit that was like moving. And so like playing MGS3 followed by Shadow Colossus was such an experience. And Shadow Colossus was one where I was like, I was thinking about it in the way where, wow, I can't believe how incredible the music is. I can't believe how gorgeous this game looks, right?

And even, you know, looking back at the PS2 version back in the day, like even that looked mind-blowing. Even for a PS2 game, like seeing the scale of the Colossi, having like going through the process of figuring out how to climb up these things, right? And like going through the story and seeing what's happening to the main character as like his body starts to get degraded over time and like you start to put together the pieces of oh man things might not be going as they seem in this video game. It was such a special experience for me. And I think in the ways that we talk about video games living on through other video games and inspiring and influencing other video games. So much of that or so much of Shadow Colossus and Eco I think do that. Right.

Like I see Eco in Journey when I play Journey, right? I see Shadow Colossus in, like, most from software games, right? I see Shadow Colossus in Breathful Wild. I see Shadow Colossus in so many of my favorite video games. I think they're an incredibly influential developer. And, yeah, like, Eco, I mean, is special for it in its own ways as well, right? It is an early PS2 game where it is a puzzle game that you are leading along this girl across this castle so you can escape all these shadow creatures, right? Like, such a cool, different, unique game.

And then you go into The Last Guardian, which is one that I think, really, I don't want to say underwhelmed, but one that kind of flew under the radar and got a lot of dings for how it ran, because it did have issues in terms of the camera perspective, the camera perspective being problematic. And then also, like, I think frame rate wise has some issues there as well. But that stuff bumps me out so much because I think the pure message and art of The Last Guardian is so good. Like, it is such a work of art for me in a video game in terms of what the story was, how they went about gameplay design and puzzle design, and the connection that you really form with this giant bird dog creature, Triko. I thought that game was

so powerful, and by the time I finished it, it was one of my favorite games of that year. I think that was 2016. That was one of my favorite games of 2016. And I know that doesn't go for everybody, but I fucking adored the last guardian. And so Team Eco is my second pick. A great pick from a great man. Lucy James, begin to final round of picks. Number three. Okay, so again, I, like blessing, I'm kind of torn between this.

However, you've got to go with your heart sometimes. So I'm going to pick Maxis. Oh, wow. Yeah. Just because thinking back to my relationship with gaming, I don't think I would be as into video games as I am, if not for the Sims, and

showing that it was you know, it was a whole different world of video games and it introduced me to so much. Like, the first video game community I ever found was through the Sims. Like, my first experience with modding a game was through the Sims. But I also think the Sims team has been so progressive since the very beginning, like, allowing same-sex relationships back, way back in the Sims 1. And I'm not, I'm like, you know, just even, and even thinking about Sims 4 is, you know, the fact that your Sim can choose pronouns, decide whether or not the you know, your Sim can be pregnant or not, regardless of gender. There were missteps, don't get me wrong.

Like, the skin tones, hairstyles were not good enough. But, like, this kind of feeds into the point where they have such an open relationship with the community that I want to give a shout out to X Miramira here. Like, she made the melanin pack, which was, you know, she made a pack full of skin tones with the Sims. And then the Sims team saw this and were like, we fucked up. We didn't do this good enough. And so we're putting this into the game.

And like, they're, they're so LGBTQ positive as a team and, like, as a community. And I don't think that's really thought about enough. Like, the Sims team really kind of goes above and beyond to try and make an inclusive space for the players. And, you know, thinking back, like, the Sims player base, you know, it was kind of unheard numbers of, you know, the amount of girls that they got into. gaming like back in the back in the late back in 2000 even when it when the sims one launched and like what it's done for people figuring out their own gender identity you know they can make themselves in the sims and um and you know live live their lives in the sims but but also it's just like

i'm not going to say that weren't missteps because the sims four launched and it was feature boss like there were no pools there were no toddlers there was shit's all going on in that game until we're all the toddlers man Yeah, they completely skipped a life stage. There were no toddlers. You went from baby to child in the blink of an eye, which is how I hear it happens in real life too, Greg. It's going pretty quick.

You've seen Benjamin. He's going bigger every day. Every time I see him, I'm like, okay, God, tall than me. Taller than Nick. But, and I think as well, like, there is also criticism to be heard with regard to just the sheer amount of stuff packs, game packs, expansion packs that are in the Sims. It's at the point now where I think to get the complete set, you're talking hundreds, if not a thousand dollars or something to get every single one.

But like the fact that they are so open to modding, to community creations as well. And I love it. Every year I have a good month where I just sort of hyperfixate on the Sims. And every time, and it's because I know every time I jump in, there's going to be either a cool game pack. like last year I was all about cottage living. Or like some really good custom content that I can install or really cool challenges that the community does and to see the way that Maxis kind of supports that way is very cool.

Not a perfect, like none of these developers are perfect at all. None of these games are perfect. But like I'm thinking about the last 20-something years of my gaming life, the Sims has had such an important and profound effect on that. And that's just me. And that's, you know, it's had that impact for so, so many.

To Tos City, I know the impact of the Sims. I've enjoyed playing the Sims myself. Many of times, it was one of the first reviews I ever did. And that was when I was in college, like long before I did, or anything like that. But for me, Maxis will always be SimCity. And SimCity, you know, and I, there's the most recent one that was a complete disaster with it's always online bullshit or whatever.

But still a game I had a lot of fun with. Still a game I enjoyed playing. It was no SimCity 2000, and that's a game that I put. hundreds of hours into on PC. Like I just played nonstop, did all sorts of stuff with that. But like SimCity is such an important franchise to me in terms of gaming and all the different ones.

I mean, I even joined SimCity DS. I remember always giving Jack DeVries shit at IGN for his review of it, which was totally fair, but I just liked it more than I think whatever he scored it. But I think the quality was still what it was. Like SimCity for me is such a special game. And that's why for me, Maxis is so special and why. I wish they would make another SimCity.

I wish they could get a shout at that. but I digress Andy what's your third in final pick oh man this one's so tough because like do I go even further down the fan do what your heart tells you Andy listen to your heart

well my heart beats like a machine I knew it I fucking crushed it heart machine makers of hyperlight drifter, makers of solar ash.

Solar ash comes out and I'm like, man, this isn't what I want. This is like, I just wanted another hyperlight drifter. What are you all doing? And then I played it and I loved it. And I think the team over there just has such a good idea

of what feels good and what works in video games. I think Hyperlight Drifter, much like from software, I think HyperLy Drifter has was sort of that first indie top-down game that influenced a lot of these these isometric action adventure games that we see coming out from a lot of these indie developers, whether it's pixel art or 3D. I feel like they were kind of one of the first ones to make that a possibility for a lot of these indie developers

and show that you don't just have to make a side scroller anymore. can make a top-down Zelda-like with a dope-ass dash mechanic and a shotgun and a pistol or whatever guns you want to use. But while still telling a really important story and you can still have tone and mood without any dialogue, we can make you feel certain things with just visuals and awesome color palettes. And I think they just, they knocked it out of the park with I have a blight drifter. I talk about it all the time.

one of my favorite games ever. And then Solar Ash comes out and it looks to be just not solar. It looks to be just not HyperLy Drifter. I'm like, what? Man, this isn't what I wanted. But you know what? Color scheme, be damned, I'm in, you know. And it's essentially a colorful, perfect color palette version of Pathfinder, Pathless.

Yeah. And the Pathless is this Traversal game and Solar Ash scene. too have kind of been coming out around the same time. You could tell the development started around the same time, but they have a lot of the same DNA. And Solar Ash is incredibly fun to play. And when you start to get into a groove and you start to feel that movement, the momentum feels so damn fun and Traversal feels incredible.

And I ended up beating the game. I was like, damn, that was a really good game, even though it's a genre of a game that I necessarily didn't even want. And I still enjoyed it. And to see them kind of going back to their roots with hyperlight breaker and knowing that it's going to kind of take a lot of cues from rogue lights. And the fact that it seems to be sort of influenced by, oh gosh, I can see the logo of this game in my head. Blessing, it's the game that Emmett really loves. Oh, Risk of Rain, too.

Risk of Rain, too. Yeah. Taking a lot of cues from that. it's a rogue light with a lot of rogue light elements and it's a action 3D game with a dash mechanic and cool ass weapons and great colors palettes and they just get my style they get exactly what I want and I just feel like they are kind of always on the right path of making dope shit even though it isn't what the community wanted they make a new thing and they go you know what that was pretty damn good actually keep doing what you all do we we believe in you all

Fantastic. A great pick. Good job, Andy. A great pick from a great man. My final pick for number three is another one that is a favorite. And I think, you know, there's plenty of other amazing studios to put out here that I would argue are, you know, the Mount Rushmore of games and yada, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to say deck nine. Of course, deck nine is coming off of my favorite life is strange and entry, Life is Strange True Colors. Before that, they did Life is Strange before the storm. Before that, you might not remember. remember because it feels like deck nine came out of nowhere they were idle minds if you if anybody remembers idle minds if you're super old like me they they did pain on ps3 which is a game i covered non-stop for igin they if you were an old time podcast beyond a fan they were the ones working on ruin which became warrior's layer which was then canceled and never came out which was that diablo vita game that i was in a demo for during an earthquake and look fucking awesome but like i'm giving you like Touchstones of like old fucking IGN podcast beyond memories for it.

That looked awesome, but just never became a thing. And I don't mind kind of just, you know, went quiet. It was 2017, I think they said, you know, we're focusing on narrative games and yada, yada, yada. And obviously that is narrative games, a burgeoning market, right? And I think a lot of that has spurred on by Life is Strange, which of course was created by Don't Not.

You know, that was 2015 when Life is Strange came out. And I remember when Life is Strange before the storm got announced, It was going to be by this company, deck nine. It was not going to be by Don't Nod. And I remember being like, why would I? I don't need Chloe's backstory. I don't need a story without powers. Like, what is this actually going to be?

And I was blown away by how much I loved before the storm. Like I had such a great time with Before the Storm, you know, finding Rachel Amber's story, finding Chloe doing like the, they did so much interesting stuff that, you know, Don't Nod hadn't done in their games yet and played around with it. And I don't think ever did again. And they, because deck nine does such creative stuff. But like the whole thing if you haven't played before the storm, like there's a section where you have to help out with the school play.

And so you get up there and you have to try to memorize your lines. And like you can cheat and like, because it's some Shakespeare one. I forget which one. So you can have the book open, but you can try to do your own thing and blah. It's like such a nifty little weird idea. And then to have them,

I really think step out of Don't Nod's shadow with Life of Strange True Colors and Alex Chen story and how great that was. And again, for as unexpected as that game is, both in terms of like, her power is empathy. Like, what the fuck? Well, that's going to be stupid as hell.

It's awesome. The way they do the cliffhangers for the episodes, the way they, you know, make Haven Springs this amazing town. The way they, you know, give you an open world in an open town square way of going around and exploring and talking to people and finding stories you might have missed and gameplay mechanics you never would have expected.

And they just really, I feel like came in and ate, don't nods lunch, which is crazy to say, and especially to look back at don't nod, right? Which again, yes, they make Life is Strange, they do this thing. Then they make the vampire or vampire, right? And I was like, ah, that wasn't my jam,

but then they do. Life is Strange 2. And it was like, okay, Life is Strange 2 was enjoyable, but it didn't have the impact of Life is Strange 1. It didn't have the impact of before the storm war or what would become with true colors, right? And then they do tell me why,

and then they do Twin Mirror. And it's that thing where suddenly I'm like, okay, I don't know if I'm hyped, just sight unseen on every don't nod game. whereas a deck nine talks about whatever they're going to do next. I'm like, yeah, I'm in, let's go. Let's play it.

It's wild how they flipped for me. I think they did that for me as well, where Twin Mirror I was so excited about it. And then as you got close to it, I noticed that nobody was talking about it. And I was like, oh, no, am I the one that's in the wrong here? Like, I'm excited for this. And then, like, I got the code.

And I was like, I'm going to wait to see reviews. And like, yeah, sure enough, they weren't great. Like, deck nine, I think they do everything you were talking about, Greg, in terms of like, they up the ante and find the different ways that we, which they can just, they can not just make a choose your own adventure game, but they can make something that goes beyond that. And I think the neighborhood in Life Strange True Colors isn't only in addition to the life strange formula. It is necessary for that game and why that game is good. It like does so much for, I think, the central message of finding community and, like, meeting these people and feeling

like you belong and allowing you to, like, walk around and go into the different establishments and then go into like side quests essentially in these different establishments i think does so much for that and also like you know i talk about the ways in which they might compare to don't nod right i think one of the things early on that i found with deck nine is that i think their cliffhangers exceed don't nods like the i think it was because before the storm was like three chapters i want to say and it's been long and so i might be wrong about it wait i'm open and i'm looking and see if i get Chapter two, I want to say ended on like the raws cliffanger. And I remember from that point being like, oh, I love before the storm.

Like, this is a fantastic thing. Like it was a... You're right, episode three. Episode three episodes. Yeah. And I want to say episode two was the one that like it was, um, they ended on like a dinner table argument. And I remember that moment being like, shit, I really got to finish this because this is

incredible. Like I think they've really, they've taken the reins of Life Strange in such an impressive way. And I am very much looking forward to whatever technology. does next, whether it is another Life Strange game or their own different adventure game. Well, remember, they're teamed up with Telltale. They're doing the Expans, the Telltale series.

Oh, is that them? Yeah, yeah. So it's one of those. I don't know shit about the expanse, but I'll play that game. Lucy, would I like the expanse? You know me. You know me. See, there you go.

No, I don't, I don't know if he would. Like, season one is a bit touch and go. Like, I almost bounced off it. But then when I got to season two onments, I was like, oh shit, this is some, like, this is massive. meets Battlestar. So this is, you know, a Venn diagram of things

that I would like, but season one, I would say a slow-going. I would love it if you watch the expense. Well, I'll just play the game and then we talk about that, not with that.

It's kind of like how I play Doctor Who and Lego Dimensions and now I'm a Doctor Who expert, you know? Fuck you, Greg. I almost bounced off of season one. I remember these guys. I almost bounced out of seven,

off of season one as well, loose. And I never, I think because of season one, I never started season two, really, in a serious way. Like, I kind of started the episode. And it was Jane and his fucking

hat. Stupid ass hat. But talk about a character, talk about a superpower that Greg is like perfect for Greg empathy. Like that's just like, that's the, the Greg ass thing of all time. My superpower is empathy.

God damn. You fucking nerd, dude. It's like, fuck you. Bressing, what's your final pick? What's your final pick? What's your final pick? Uh,

final pick is so tough because like, as I look through, there are so many developers left who I consider are my favorite developers. And for me, the more I sat with this as like you guys are going through your picks, the more I was like, no, I think there's only one that I can go with. And that one is Rockstar. Rockstar is special, not only for like what you hear me talk about all the time with GT Online

and how much I love GT5 and how much I always go back to online to play racing, getting the highest yada, yada, do all the different things, just exist in that world. But for me, it does go back to the nostalgia factor too of the PS2 era and how dominant Rockstar was and how much they meant to me during that era. Like I opened up in a different tab, rockstar.com slash games to just go through like, oh yeah, okay, let me jog my memory of all the different Rockstar games that they put out.

And like, they were on a run from PS2 to PS3 era. Like so much so that it's kind of a bummer to see that they've put out like two games in the last decade. But when I go through, right, like it is the Max Payne series, which I forget if they just co-developed or published because I know Remedy did that as well. But like Max Payne series, there's a like midnight club. There's obviously the GTA games,

which means so much to me, especially going back to the story of again, the friend, the same friend Addison who let me borrow Shadow Colossus and Mel GER solid three. I would go over to his house all the time to play video games even before that. And I remember going to his house and him having GTA three and sitting in him like going through like the story

and whatever and like blowing shit up, and me being like, oh, whatever man, seems like a video game. And then getting it to Vice City and him doing the same thing in my city. I'm like, why you keep showing me these video games? And they got San Andreas and did the same thing. And I was like, I don't know, man.

Like, these games seem all right. And then you let me borrow San Andreas and I took it home and I played it. And that's when I realized that this shit is magical. I could not believe the game I was playing. Like the fact that is San Andreas especially spanning three different cities, right, the real world counterparts being Los Angeles, Vegas and San Francisco, it having like a desert, it having country, it having mountains you can climb, it having like a hangar that you can own,

having all these different establishments you can go in, right? Like, that game felt so expansive and even going back to it with the GTA trilogy that released last fall. Even though now that map doesn't feel as big, it still feels big, right? It still feels, like, it still feels so impressive, especially when you look at the diversity of land and what they did with it. Like, one of the complaints or, like, nitpics that you can make with the GTA trilogy specifically is that, like, they get rid of a lot of the fog.

And so, like, if you fly far out enough from St. Andrea's, you can see the whole island of St. Andres, which you weren't able to do in the PS2 versions. And doing that with GTA trilogy, it's like, huh, this place is small, but it looks like such a playground. It reminds me of, like, seeing a Mario 64 level zoomed out. And it's like, wow, they designed the hell out of this. GTA, San Andreas, I think, has the same thing in its map, where you look at it zoomed out and it's like, God damn, they really did this. Like, they really figured out how to make this whole state available in this game. you to run around it and like that was such a moment for me experiencing gta san injuries and then that fed into like experiencing other rock star games the warriors was another one that meant so much to me on the ps2 that i could not get enough of it like that was my that was my first experience with the warriors because i hadn't watched the movie and like getting into the game and getting into the gameplay once i realized that it was the first of all once i realized it was a movie i was like oh snap i got to watch the movie and like i did now i'm a fan of the warriors because of this rock star video game um but like that was such a such a special thing right gta 4 bully like the

list goes on in terms like red the list that goes on in terms of how many fantastic memorable iconic games they made um and to this day right like they're still putting out great great stuff right they've had some bumps in the road being gta trilogy but like their last thing was red dead redemption too and even though i didn't gravitate to that as much i was bored by it and i know like that one is one that is a bit divisive the people that love red dead redemption too fucking love red dead redemption too and i think there's a lot a lot of merit there in terms of what they do with it technically and what they do with it in terms of really Red Dead you went through the Cowboy experience.

Red Dead Red Dead Red Dead Red Dead Redemption 2 a game I did not vibe with or enjoy, but I sit here and I can tell, I say it's a masterpiece. It kind of goes back to our remedy conversation where I'm glad that people are making unique games and Rockstar is making something that they know, even though it will sell a

gajillion copies, won't appeal to everyone, right? Like, but to sit there and watch the snow physics and God, the testicles on the horse, you know what I mean? And everything else. Like you can really get that. Yeah, you can really understand. what they were going for. But I'm not even joking, though. It is a masterpiece, obviously, even though I don't like.

And they also made Oni. And so, yeah, Rockstar is my own pick. Can never frigate an Oney. Wait, did they make Oni? They published it. I was going to say, Bungee made Ony, right? Yeah. Okay.

All right. All right. So, ladies and gentlemen, for each one of us, the lists look like this. Lucy picks Arcane, Remedy, and Maxis. Andy picks from software, BioWare, Heart Machine. I pick Naughty Dog, Elphonic, Deck 9. Blessing picks, Nintendo, Team Eco, and Rockstar. we have a post show to do.

We're going to do Bless Who, but everyone gets one honorable mention. And you get like 280 characters to say why you picked it. We're not going to do the whole thing, all right? So, Andy, we're coming back to you now to pick your honorable mention. Insomniac. Why? They just don't stop, man.

They just keep putting out banger after banger and it's going to continue and continue. Just keep going. Fair enough. For me then, my honorable mention would be Drinkbox. Even though nobody saves the world didn't work for me, I still love that catalog of Guacamale, Tales from Space, of course, severed. And they're another studio where we're,

as soon as they say they're doing something, I'm excited for it and I want to know more about it. Lucy, I skipped you, sorry. What was yours? I'm saying aid software. Oh, okay. That's real good. Wolfensign, like, Jesus Christ.

Hell yeah. Those games do not have, those games don't have the right to be as good as they are. Like, Wolfenstein too, unbelievable. So good. The OG Wolfstein or the latest one? The latest one. And that's machine?

Oh, machine. Sorry. No, yes. You are right. I mean machine games, not IT software. Why do I say ID? Oh, because it's made on ID. Doom.

It's made on ITTECH. And you're in ITTECH. Yeah. I mean machine games. That's why. That's embarrassing. It's not embarrassing. You're fine.

You're fine. You're fine. Yeah. But I'm a woman on the, I'm on the one on the internet, Greg. But you're a woman on a kind of funny show this deep. People you did know that there's between machine games and software. Are you games journalists?

Is that what they do at GameSpot? Yeah. Jesus, blessing. I didn't expect you to turn it up. Damn, he's the only one. I learned from you, Greg. I learned from you. Blessing, I would never be.

What's your honorable mention? I'm going to forego my explanation to name two honorable mentions. Rare and Kojima productions. I'll say no more. Okay. You don't need to. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been the kind of funny games cast each and every week.

We gather together to talk about the things we love and sometimes don't love about video games. If you love that, you can go to patreon.com slash Kind of Funny Games, where, of course, you can catch the post show we're about to do with another thrilling game of Bless Who. If getting stuff for free is more your jam, don't worry, YouTube.com slash Kind of Funny Games,

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Of course, follow Lucy, James, games all over the place. You're streaming a lot. When do you stream, Lucy? I'll be streaming again on Tuesday, Tuesday, Thursdays. I'm still continuing with Resident Evil Four. And then I'm in such an Eldon Ring place in my life that I might go back to the very beginning and do all those. Stay back everything I said. Oh.

Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, it's been our pleasure to serve you.