Triple Click - Activision Blizzard and Guardians of the Galaxy

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

Maddy, Kirk, and Jason go over this week's explosive Activision Blizzard allegations, then talk about the new Marvel game from Eidos Montreal, Guardians of the Galaxy. What works and doesn't work? Are the rough edges too distracting? And are we all suffering from Marvel fatigue?One More Thing: Kirk:  Beverly Hills Cop 2Maddy: Nancy Drew: Mystery at Magnolia GardensJason: Elden RingLinks:WSJ Article on Activision: https://www.wsj.com/articles/activision-videogames-bobby-kotick-sexual-misconduct-allegations-11637075680Iron Pineapple’s Elden Ring impressions: ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzFR5HsPcng“The Neutron Dance” by the Pointer Sisters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-jdhorGtQI&ab_channel=PointerSistersVEVOSupport Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/joinJoin the Triple Click Discord: http://discord.gg/tripleclickpodTriple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/ Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/jointripleclick 🚀  SUPPORT TRIPLE CLICK:Join Maximum Fun | Buy TC Merch💬 JOIN THE TRIPLE CLICK DISCORD🎮 Triple Click Ethics Policy📱 SOCIALS | @tripleclickpodInstagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitch

It's infrastructure week here on Triple Click, which means we're dedicating $800 billion to making your podcast faster. Welcome to Triple Click where we bring the games to you. This week we're talking about Guardians of the Galaxy, a new game about superheroes in space. But first, a little bit on the latest from Activision Blizzard. I'm Jason Shrier. I'm Kirk Hamilton. And I'm Maddie Myers. Hello.

Hey. It's us. It is. Hello. Hello. Again, my friends, we are back for another episode of this all podcast, triple click. This little old thing. This old podcast.

This old thing we make. Speaking of things we make, we are able to make this show because of all of you fine listeners. Yeah. You guys help us make this show. We have no ads. We have no other revenue except for everything we get from members of maximum fun. So we are very appreciative to all of you out there. And hey, if you are not a member, you can become one today by going to maximum fund.org slash join.

And not only will you get that fuzzy feeling, that warm fuzzy feeling that comes of supporting your favorite podcast. You will also get a monthly bonus episode from Triple Click, including last month's episode on Outer Wilds, where we dug into the new expansion. And this month, we are doing an episode that I'll hit probably like early December, right, Kirk? Like at the end of November, early December. Maybe a little later than usual due to Thanksgiving. Yes.

We are doing a beans cast where we spill the beans on something where we talk about battle royals. Battles Royale is what it says in the sheet. Battles Royale with cheese. And also Squid game. Even though Squid game is not a battle royale, squid game will factor quite a bit. So we're definitely going to be able to be able to be able to be talking about battle royale.

We'll be talking about battle royale, the original. movie. The actual thing. And we're going to spoil Fortnite, right? We're going to spoil the beat on all of Fortnite. We're going to spoil. And all of PubG. So definitely just get up to date on the lore for those games.

Spoilers, your favorite brand will appear in Fortnite one day. Which one? Which one? I think we're going to talk about some Dangarampa maybe. It'll be fun. So yeah, looking over to that. That'll be at the end of this month. And yeah, if you become a member today and you're not already, you have so much bonus content

to listen. We have so much good stuff. We've been releasing one every month for the past two years since the show started a year and a half ago. And there's lots of good stuff in there. Anyway, on with the show. Let's do it. Let's do it, shall we? So, today we're doing a triple play.

But before we even get into that, it is, we're recording this on Tuesday evening. News broke today that is really taken over my day and really just been a complete bombshell. About Activision Blizzard, as we speak, there are about 150 people protesting. outside of Blizzard's campus in Irvine, California. They're doing a walkout to kind of give the short version of what happened. The Wall Street Journal published this big bombshell report that essentially laid out painted the picture of Bobby Kodick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard,

as someone who was well aware of many of the abusive abuses and misconduct allegations that have been talked about since the lawsuit hit over the summer, the California lawsuit. And basically he was aware, not only that, he perpetrated some of them, and there are all sorts of just wild details in the story. It's worth checking out. We'll link it in the show notes. But there's a ton of stuff in there.

In response today, almost immediately after the article hit, the employees of Activision Blizzard through their kind of employee spokesperson group, ABK, a better ABK on Twitter. Union approximate, but not literally a union. An employee council. Yeah. they said, hey, we are walking out today. We demand that Bobby Codick resigned, that he be replaced, that he be ousted as CEO. Shortly after that, the board of Activision Blizzard put out a statement saying they stand by Bobby Codick, so it doesn't look like he's getting ousted anytime soon. But boards have changed their mind before. Crazier things have happened. By the time we're

recording this, like I said, on Tuesday, by the time this episode hits on Thursday, who knows what might have happened. But I think this was worth worth just mentioning because it's such a big story that just continues the biggest story of the year. And it's just been pretty nuts, pretty wild. Yeah. It's pretty depressing. We published a story at Polygon. Our editor-in-chief, Chris Plant wrote a story that calls for Bobby Codick to resign. And I agree with it. And that was a big deal that we did that today, I think. And I don't know. I think the guy should resign. that's not controversial with you too. No. Unless it is, Kirk.

It is not. No, this story was really depressing. I agree. It was amazing reporting, I thought. It's the kind of stuff that just doesn't usually come out. Just because it's so easy to fudge this kind of stuff up, like every time they get into the particulars of any given alleged incident. And then it turns into all of this kind of HR speak about, you know, alcohol was involved and all this other bullshit. And this happens over and over again. This is a very long, very well-reported. with a ton of stuff in it. And it just keep reading that stuff, and it just is, it's just very depressing.

Like, it's very dispiriting. It kind of pulls you down each time you read it because it's always this mire of garbage. When the overall picture that is painted by this reporting, and then, of course, everything that's happened this year is actually really clear. So, yeah, I don't know what's going to happen. This all just happened.

I'm just sort of watching from the sidelines and feeling bummed out about it. So something that really struck me about this piece. The detail that really stood out to me was about Jen O'Neill, who is a woman who was appointed as the co-leader, quote-unquote, of Blizzard Entertainment. So what happened was over the summer, when the news broke, Activision pushed out J. Allen Brack, who was the president of Blizzard, and they assigned Mike Ybarra and Jen O'Neill to be the quote-unquote co-leaders of Blizzard. Three months later, Jen O'Neill suddenly resigned. This was two weeks ago in early November,

Jen O'Neill suddenly resigned. Turns out, as a Wall Street Journal, reported, Jen O'Neill sent an email that was pretty explosive, essentially saying, I don't have faith in Activision leadership to do this. I've been sexually harassed earlier in my career at Activision, and most striking that she was paid less than her fellow co-leader than the other person who was doing the exact same job as her at Mike Yavara. And that to me was pretty stunning, because the lawsuit was essentially one of the things alleged in the lawsuit is that that Blizzard and Activision Blizzard had a problem with pay disparity with paying women less than men. And their response was to do this good thing of putting a woman, giving a woman a spot-in leadership at Blizzard to help turn things around.

And then they paid her less than the man who was doing the exact same job. Like, what in the fuck? Yeah, it kind of says it all. And also, it sounds like they didn't listen to her email, which was sent a month, within a month of her having that job. And then she left two months later. I mean, I'm sure that was like an early sign from her of there's a whole lot of problems here we need to work on. But then, of course, she left. And I mean, the pay disparity is disgusting, but also just the fact that she was framed as this token who was elevated to that position.

But it doesn't, at least to me, I don't have any inside knowledge on this, but it doesn't to me seem like a true opportunity for her. It just seemed like a false, just a tokenization of. her and not a chance for her to have actual power to make any significant change of the company. I mean, I do think that Coddick should resign, but reading these stories has not given me very much faith in Activision Blizzard as a company. And if I worked there, I would be looking for another job because I was in a situation that wasn't so dissimilar from that at a much, much smaller company. And I did get another job because I didn't have any faith in our CEO. Yeah, and we had a union.

So it's not like a union is like the solution here. I mean, yeah, I've been thinking about this all day. Yeah, I've been thinking about this all day. How in like, I think it was like 2020 or 2019, basically after the deadspin thing happened at Katakku. Our company, our editorial staff took a vote of no confidence in our then CEO, Jim Spanfeller, and 97% of the staff said, hey, this guy's incompetent. He should not be your CEO.

And then nothing happened, literally nothing happened. Like they didn't respond, that nothing, nothing. And he's still the CEO. And now all the images on our articles have disappeared among other things. Yeah. So, yeah. So it's kind of just like, and what happens often when there's like a cultural shift or when there's like, when there's toxic management that is just not taking care of is you just keep losing people.

And Blizzard has already been losing tons of people. Activision as a whole is losing tons of people. And eventually the company becomes unrecognizable. And we've seen that firsthand. and we'll see what happens with Activision Blizzard. But like right now, it seems like they want to maintain the status quo. And that will mean something very different on the ground level where the workers actually are. And I wouldn't be shocked to see a lot, a lot more people start leaving in the coming months.

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want to work there. Yeah, especially after today. Like, I did have some, I don't know why, but I was surprised that the board backed Bobby Codick. I just didn't think they would with stock prices falling and all that. I just was like, oh, well, clearly they're going to get rid of this guy. He's been there forever. But, you know, they can give him a golden parachute. It'll be sickening.

But, like, surely, they'll oust him. Nope, they're not for now, for now. We're recording this Tuesday night. We don't know what's going to happen. Yeah, I mean, he's made them a lot of money. The executive, so the kind of like biz perspective on this is, one, he's made them a ton of money over the years. And they have faith that he'll continue to do that. and two, I don't think there are a ton of like immediate successors in place.

Like there aren't a ton of people with the experience and cachet that could immediately take over. So I'm sure that's kind of part of the calculus here is like, well, if he's gone, who's going to take over and do even half as good a job at making us more money? So yeah, I don't know, lots of actors here. You just don't get the sense that boards are like very decisive bodies that just act very quickly and are very reactive in that way either. Like there's not a lot of flexibility in most corporate boards. It doesn't totally surprise me that there wasn't a huge change as a result of this.

It's a bunch of people who have other jobs or like who are retired business people who like sit on boards for nice jobs. It's always easier to not make a change. Like the kinds of changes that really need to happen are so difficult. And it's easier to just keep doing the same old shit over and over. Yeah, we'll see what the, I think it'll take a little longer to tell what the impact of this Wall Street Journal story will be. But I would imagine that despite public. statements, there has been quite an impact behind the scenes from that reporting because it's a shocking article. Oh, I'm sure internally, I mean, just from the reporting that my team has done,

we know that there are so many staffers at Blizzard who are deeply unhappy with what's been going on prior to today and knowing how much worse it could get for them. And like, that to me makes me hopeful that people will leave and form their own companies, people will maybe form other organizations or unions, like this is the kind of last straw situation that can get people to a better place. Like, again, you know, we're not the center of the universe, but, you know, we have triple click now. And like, we were all very sad about Jim Spanfeller, like mucking up Kotaku. And it was, there were days that felt very dark. And now we have a pretty cool podcast and we each have other things going on in our lives that are pretty cool. And so in that way, I'm like, well, maybe this will be

the last straw for individual people to make a change and do something else. I don't know what that is. It's true. It's true. Okay, let's talk about something a little bit lighter, shall we? We're a lot lighter. Does it get much more light than the Guardians of the Galaxy game? Let's talk about a fun video game. Today we're doing a triple play and Guardians of the Galaxy,

a game that is about a union of people who travel to galaxy. It's really just all about organized labor. It is. It's about disagreeing with your peers and power systems. Finding healthy ways to resolve those disagreements. That's a really good point. Even if that means sometimes throwing one of them over a cliff or... Or taking the long way around.

Also, it's true. Yeah, I'm not sure if the game presents throwing rocket across the cliff as the best outcome for that problem. Did you do that? Jason, did you throw rocket over the cliff? No, I would feel too bad. I wonder if anyone did. I took the long way around. I did.

You see? Oh, Kirk did. Kirk is a girl. I think the second time, I think there was the second time we had given a chance. And I was like,

I'm just going to let Peter Quill be an asshole here. And we're going to see what happens. Wow. And so, did Rocket hated it. That's why it's called role playing. Yeah. Guardians of the Galaxy is a game that came out in October of this year.

It's developed by Idos, Montreal, a company in Canada, that recently switched to a four-day work week, I should say. I'm just after shipping this game, which is pretty wild. I was actually just talking to someone who just moved over there. I was like, oh, they got you. He was like, I don't think I'll be able to work any place that doesn't have a fully work week.

Yeah, I bet. Wow. I know so Montreal, they made this game. It's a single player action adventure game was announced at E3 of this year. It was a very, very quick, like, announcement to release type of thing, which was cool. It's been pretty well reviewed, although sales seem to be underwhelming. Seems based on like Steam concurrence And not a lot of people are playing it

Maybe Marvel fatigue, who knows And yeah, it's a pretty cool game I'm curious to hear Some quick impressions from you guys And like where you're at, Kirk, you want to go first? Yeah, I'll go first since I guess I'm the only one of us Who hasn't done one more thing on this game So I'm the mystery, I'm the mystery man

I'd say I'm the mystery man in the middle Though I don't want to presume too much about both of your takes You know what they are I do, but they shift, you know, and they could have shifted. I never like assuming. Anyways, I've played like 10 or 11 hours of this game, so I'm probably like two-thirds of the way done with it. Sort of like entering what feels like the third act. I've been treating it kind of like a TV show and just because it kind of feels like one.

I do like it. I find it entertaining. It's pretty messy in a lot of ways, both narrative and sort of technical, just in the way that it's presented. And that sometimes feels like a missed opportunity to me and sometimes, feels totally fine. I'm not like over the moon about it, but I am finding it to be just sort of this rollicking, entertaining story. And I'm most struck by the story to gameplay ratio, which is really weighted towards story and writing and dialogue in a way that I just find. This is interesting. And I think, you know, we can talk about more today. Maddie, quick thoughts.

Uh, hate it? No, I'm just kidding. I don't. I talked about it on my one more thing. Those are my thoughts. It sucks. Uh, no. I, I, I, you know, I'm struggling. I don't know if I'm going to beat this game, guys. I don't know. I played a lot more of it since I talked about it on my one more thing. There are more things about it that I like, but I feel I am one of the only people I know who doesn't like it. The only other person I know who also isn't super jazzed about it is Mike Mahardi, my coworker.

And he and I were talking about why. And he had a theory that it was because we're both editor. and managers, and there's so much management in this game, and so many people talking to you about their feelings. And that's all I do every single day. Every day. Too close to home. And like, the last thing I want to do at 6 p.m. when I log out of Slack is talk to four people who are upset about their personal problems and can't get their job done. And I love all my colleagues so much. And I love both of you. And, you know, we've all worked together. It's great. But I play video games to get away from that vibe at my life. And like, you are a manager. Like Star Lord in this game,

one of the key differences between this game and the movies where nobody really respects Star Lord and he's kind of a joke is that in this game, he's truly the leader of the Guardians. And although everybody kind of jokes around about that, they all really rely on him. Like, you can't get anything done in combat without somebody asking you to tell them what to do constantly. Like, if you don't direct Gamora, she will be like, tell me where to go, Quill, like, I've got my knife ready, and she just can't figure it out herself unless you go over and like hover over her little button. And you tell her not only to use her knife, but which of several attacks she should do with

it. And then you do that with every single other team member. Like they can do some basic attacks without you, but any of their special attacks, they need you to tell them every single time. There's no like, okay, like... It's kind of like Maddie, when I have a microphone, and I'm like, Maddie, what should I do with this microphone? I just don't know. Thank God. That's not out of the show words. It is. It's a lot of management, though. You know what I mean? And that plus all the talking, I'm like, man, I've been in Zoom calls all day. You know what I'm saying? There's a lot of Zoom calls. There's a lot of jokes. There's a lot of bits. I love it. I love it.

Guardians of the Zoom calls. This game. There's so much talking. And yeah, so I'm struggling. I'm struggling. I don't know if I'm going to finish it. But Jason, you're pretty high on it, right? What do you think about it? Yeah.

It's funny. I like it a lot, but I don't think I'm going to play anymore. Damn. Really? Yeah, so, okay, so I got to like chapter, I don't know, eight or something. I talked to Cosmo. Oh, wow. So I'm farther than both of you.

Yeah. And then so. Well, how far are you, Kirk? Because I'm pretty far. Like chapter 10 or 11 maybe? I think we're around the, same spot. I'm in the creepy cave with Mantis. Oh, okay. You're ahead of me actually.

Okay. I'm not there yet. Okay. Cool. So yeah, but I'm probably about to be there. Yeah, so I really like it. I find the writing to be super sharp and interesting and engaging and funny and it's cracking me up and it's just fun to play. But I don't know. There's nothing that makes me feel like, oh, I have to be playing this game when I have a bazillion other games to play and that kind of feels like a flaw. I mean, it's a Marvel movie, right? Like, it's, it's popcorn. It's like, I don't really need.

Or like a Disney Plus TV show maybe, but same. Sure. But even the Disney Plus TV shows has, tends to have a little bit more. Or maybe like I'm looking for the, waiting for the twist at the end that'll really get me. And that's what I'm watching for. Something like that. Guardians, it doesn't really have anything that's compelling me to just keep finishing. Like, I just don't care that much, even though I enjoyed it when I played it.

And I do this a lot with games where, like, I'm enjoying them and then I'll just stop because there are a bazillion games to play. And like, unless something has some sort of, like, driving mystery or, like, gameplay that really makes me want to, like, have to keep playing, I generally don't finish a lot of these games. And plus, I have dang and romp on my switch. And so I have to spend all my time playing that shit. Right.

Yeah. Very important. That's true. You have no choice in that matter. Which we'll talk about. Yeah. I think it is true, though. Like, the overarching conflict in this game is not, like, the stakes are, get increasingly

higher. I won't spoil it for you, Jason, in case you do continue playing. But like the stakes of the sort of mysterious cult that you discover and like, oh, more and more people are getting converted to this. The stakes keep getting higher and you learn more about them and people are in danger. But there's just something missing in terms of my emotional investment. And that could just be because I'm extremely cranky. But I don't know. Kirk, you're making a face like you agree with me, which is validating.

Do you agree? Is this face true? I do. There's generally, there is a sort of a missing aspect to this game. I really like what this game kind of stands for and how it's structured, but there's just a kind of messiness to it overall that does sometimes, like I basically think it's fine, and I've been playing it in a mode that I've actually been feeling lately a little overwhelmed by games,

and I haven't been playing many things. Like I played a bunch of death stranding because I'm going on this other podcast to talk about it, and that was cool and, like, kind of sucked me in, and it was so low-key and satisfying in that way I talked about last week. but there's all this other stuff I need to be playing more of or want to be playing more of because I want to see what happens and like finish inscription, you know? But every time I think about playing them, I don't.

This game, it's like so low impact. There's almost not even a game. I'll play for like an hour and a half. I just did this last night. And it'll just be cutscenes and a couple of choices. And then there was kind of this space battle that was really easy and just kind of funny and a lot of banter. And then more cutscenes.

And like we went to like three different scenes. settings, and it was kind of just like an episode of TV, and I barely had to do anything. And it was kind of fine, like it was so low impact. But the story itself, like, doesn't totally hold together as tightly as it would if, like you said, Jason, if it were actually a Disney Plus show. Like, there's a great kernel in the narrative, which is basically they've manifested a way for, like, the enemy to really be the grief of each of these individual characters. and they're all having to deal with whatever their great losses.

Like, Grude is the last of his kind, and Drax's family was killed, and Quill's mother died, and Gamoro was, like, super traumatized being raised by Thanos, and Rocket, of course, is this. So I've now listed them all. Yeah. They each have, do Rocket. Do Rocket. What are all of Rockets' trauma? He was, of course, he was a science experiment and was horribly treated.

And I think, like, it's actually really cool that they're exploring that because the story of this game exists in a place in between the first movie and the second movie in a way that would have been really cool to see. Like, I think that this story about these people is the most interesting one, because the first movie was an origin story, and it was about them all coming together. And the second movie was actually a movie that split them all apart, and they all got their own stories. And that was okay. Like, I've, I've really come around on that second movie and think it's really good. But there was never, there's never been a movie that's about them as a team where they're together the whole time, and it's just their existing dynamics against one another, as they've, they've,

try to do something together. That only happens toward the end of the first movie or toward the end of the second one. So anyways, I think that's all cool. It's just not quite holding together for me. Like the idea is great. The banter is often really fun. But there isn't this feeling of like, and now we've turned this high concept and this banter into like this gut punch story that's like funny and moving and really

gets you. It's always a little rough or a little rushed or a little like jarring or like overlapping on itself. it's because it's too long games have to be like 20 hours that's the problem i don't know if it's the length though no i'm not sure i do i actually think it's a decent length honestly and i'm saying that as a person who doesn't intend to play any more of it but that's mostly because again i'm very cranky and i don't think the writing is as funny as you two do and i think if i thought it were a little better i would like it more but i it's also super by the numbers am i complaining too much doesn't matter i already

started this sentence got to keep going it's very by the numbers like this this game does a lot of things that so many video games do. Like it's a story about like, oh, the pressures of fatherhood and like parenting. It's also a story about like grief and trauma and like, oh, these characters are deeply traumatized heroes and they're struggling with that. They have PTSD together. It's also a story about like friendship and overcoming that and friendship is in love and side of us all. Kingdom Heart style is going to be what unites us all in the end. And like it's, I don't know.

Like the scenes where Peter, there's so many scenes with Peter Quill, like flashback scenes with him as a kid with his mom. And I just was like, why isn't this working for me? Like, why am I not sad? I keep seeing people tweeting that they're crying, playing this game. Am I cold? Am I cold and dead inside? No, you're not. So I think that some of this really is.

I think I am. But I appreciate you lying to me, Kirk, go on. No, I really, I think that's because I feel the same way. Like, as much as I'm sort of enjoying, I enjoy, like, some of the banter. are just, there are little lines of dialogue that I'm like, you know, the hit-to-miss ratio on some of this banter is like higher than I would have expected, given how much of it there is. There's some good lines in there. Yeah, but the actual scenes, like those flashbacks, for example, there is actually, like,

there's a technical roughness to it that goes beyond just the fact that, like, often dialogue cuts other dialogue off, which happens constantly in this game. Yeah. And there's a real problem where, like, someone is saying something and it's maybe, like, character development, and you go through a door and they're cut off by, like, the next line of dialogue because it just feels overstuffed. Like it isn't the writing itself. It's the way that it's been implemented in like the game engine or whatever it is. Because it's constant. It's constant. Like they never have moments without dialogue. Like even the moments when Peter's by himself,

he will talk to himself. And you can choose what topic he will talk about to himself. But that blew my mind. Well, he's also pretending to me the other guys. And he and he will just be talking to no one. And I'm like, game, let me have a moment by myself. But like because there's dialogue every two seconds, you're right. It will overlap in ways that are unintended. Like you'll be interrupted by like some fight dialogue from a guy you just accidentally stepped into his orbit. And now he's talking and you're missing out on what Gamora was saying before.

And you'll never hear the rest of it. And yeah, that's just a tough thing about it. So that's one of those polished things. And there's just a lot of stuff like that in this game. The audio as well, as cool as it is sometimes to, you know, as true to the brand as it is to like, here hit me with your best shot in the middle of a fight scene, a lot of times those

songs kind of come on in a weird way. The audio mix is a little bit odd. They don't quite sound, like they don't hit as hard as they should, because it's like overwhelmed with other audio. And then the fight kind of ends in a really jarring transition. And then it's like this wrap-up scene

with your XP bar filling up and the song kind of goes away. And there's just this sense of it all being held together with duct tape and glue. a little bit that just does kind of over the course of playing it undercut the sort of delivery of this story. Mm-hmm. I'm going to say something nice because I feel like I've been too negative.

I'm going to say, I think Cosmo's really funny. Oh, my God. I almost don't even want to say anything about Cosmo because if the person listening to this is even considering playing this game, I feel like it's almost worth it for Cosmo and I don't want to like say anything more. It's the best gag in the game for sure. Which is valid. But I will say more.

generally, part of what I like about the introduction of that character and what I like about this game in general is just the fact that I do like Marvel Comics and the way that Marvel Comics feel. Like they take place in our real worlds, unlike DC, where it's like Gotham and it's all these sort of facsimiles of our world. Marvel is our reality. So there's like real stuff in there. Just like nowhere and, uh, well, you know what I mean. Like you have like Peter Quill, like, is supposed to be a real dude, but he's interacting with these absurdities and like you. sense the bigness of that world through Peter Quill in a way that I really enjoy. Like, he feels like a guy who's been around the block of this universe, but he also has a

Walkman and he has, like, you know, his posters and stuff. And that juxtaposition of, like, real guy plus goofy stuff is charming to me. Like, I just find that enjoyable. And that's the part of the Marvel universe that has always worked for me. And that sense in this game of, like, all of this stuff is normal to these characters, and that's why it's funny. Like, something freaking absurd is happening. Like, there's absurd enemies, but, like, to these characters, it's just another day, and they're reacting accordingly. That's charming.

Like, that just works really well as, like, a humor conceit and also just a world that you want to hang out in. And I liked it. Like, I liked, you know, walking around the alleyways of nowhere or whatever and, like, getting trapped in the glass box by Cosmo. Like, some of those moments. where I'm like, it does make sense the characters are shooting the shit here.

Like, they have nothing else to do. Like, some of those world-building elements I did really enjoy. But then I'm like, well, that's because I like Marvel Comics. I'm just complimenting the world-building elements of Jack Kirby. So it's interesting.

It feels to me like a game that is, it feels like a throwback to like the old licensed single-player linear Marvel games. It's like a better version of those older ones. It feels like a game, this feels like a game that like, THQ would have published in 2010. Like, oh, hey, it's the new Guardians of the Galaxy game to coincide the movie.

Or the conceptually, if not in terms of the actual specifics of the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it's better. It's like better quality, better writing, clearly made with a lot more time and care than those games were, which were like, oh, let's copy the plot of the movie and turn it into a thing that, like, kids will buy it at Toys R Us. But I think that today is refreshing because we just saw an Avengers game that was like part of the games as a service treadmill type thing where it's like we want you to play this forever

and here's a game that comes out and it's just like no you don't have to play us forever just like play through this game and beat it um and so that i really like about it but yeah i don't know i mean i'm with you kirk on the unpolishedness getting to getting to me after a little while but um for me i think it's the length or maybe i don't know i can't really put my finger on why i just have no interest in continuing to play even though i uh i enjoyed what i I did play. Maybe it's because the combat, it just feels like it doesn't feel like the game is challenging me at all. It's just kind of like going through the motions. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if it was a TV show and I didn't have to worry about all that, all the blasting of enemies for no

reason. I don't know. You know, so to, yeah, to defend the game here, because I am going to finish it. I'm actually surprised that one of us who's going to finish it. But I'll totally finish. It's a couple hours left. I mean, you have to defend, I'm not attacking the game. Well, no, but I guess to stand up for the game a little more or to say some other things that I like. about it. I really think it's cool that there's a game, as I mentioned kind of a little while ago, that is this far on the story side of the gameplay story divide? Like, it's actually really interesting how this game picks up the Telltale Games mantle in a few different ways, or that takes the baton from Telltale Game. Pick your sports metaphor. I think that that's really cool,

because when Telltale Games imploded, there was kind of this question of like, well, they did a lot of really cool work in this. They made a Guardians of the Galaxy game that I never played. And they made Tales from the Borderlands, which I think of as a very Guardians of the Galaxy style game, which I did play and really liked. And there was this question of like, well, are we going to get more games like this that are these kind of mostly narrative, really talky, lots of dialogue and character stuff, really focused on that.

Licensed properties that are telling a story elsewhere in that world. Yeah. Right. And even in the broader conversation about like Mass Effect, where people were at where Mass Effect and like, could there just be a story mode of Mass Effect where there's no combat? This game isn't that, but at the same time, the combat is such a nothing burger in this game for me. I just don't care. I don't think it's fun.

It's like you were mentioning the management aspect of it, Maddie. I like the narrative part that you're playing a manager and you're dealing with these conflicting personalities in the story. But yeah, in combat, I'm like, I don't want to manage you guys. The shortcuts on the controller are madness, like where you hold on the left trigger to trigger. to trigger Peter Quill's special abilities. You hold down the left finger, then click the left thumb stick. And then I think press a face button. It's just like I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

So that stuff is just who cares. And it could almost not be there. And then it really would almost be like a Netflix interactive, like one of those things that Netflix is putting out where it's a kind of an interactive TV show. I feel like that would be a better thing. That would be cool. Like this kind of feels like that. I kind of agree.

Like it would be way easier, quote unquote. but then I could just focus on the actual story. Although, I will say, I feel like there's some tension between whether decisions matter in this game. And I was confused by it. Like, for example, I spent almost the entire game agreeing with Rocket. But it doesn't matter because Rocket will get angry at you no matter what you do. Kind of had a feeling.

I was wondering about that. And I was genuinely confused by that after the first like five hours or so. I was like, I kept going back to Rocket in the ship and trying to talk to him and being like, why are you so mad at me? Like, I literally agreed with every single prompt that was like side with Rocket because just, I don't know, I'm cranky and little. Like, this doesn't happen in Polygon. I think it's all right. I think it might side with one person and then they love me. Of course.

And that's what I do every day. I pick one person to side with and I'm like, today it's Mike Maharty. It's Mike all the way. He gets his way. It's like, submit we'll remember that. And tomorrow, it's. It's going to be on a Diaz. And we'll just, we're just going to have to wait till then.

But no, no, of course not. But I just so happened to side with Rocket because, you know, I would read every prompt and I'd be like, I actually grew with Rocket on this. And I ended up signing with him a lot. But he gets mad at you no matter what you do because that's the overarching plot of the game. And he would be like, oh, you're always siding with your girlfriend, Gimor or whatever. And I'm like, I literally never did, bro. Like, I never took her side.

And like, that's fine with me. But then don't make it seem like those choices matter. Like, I don't need them to matter. genuinely. I don't care at all. Like, I don't need a thing to pop up and ask me to be Paragon or Renegade. That doesn't matter to me. You don't need to have that in your video game. I'm fine.

But don't, if you are going to include that, I'm going to assume it will matter because I've played Mass Effect before. Well, you know, well, it's not an assumption. It says in the top right. Like, sometimes it doesn't say anything, but sometimes it says Rocket will remember that. It uses the total problems. Right. But, Maddie, to be fair, I mean, I think there might be cases where your choices matter.

Like, I don't think we should, without. about having finished the game. I don't think we should definitively say. Right. I think they're more subtle, though, because... Yeah, but the overarching rocket thing that you're talking about, for sure. But I think there might be different endings and, like, different permutations of stuff. I would be surprised if there were...

Yeah, like, for example, there's, like, a part where you can choose either Groot or Rocket to do something. And I chose Rocket, even though I, at the time, I was like, it's insane that I'm choosing Rocket. No one would do this. And I did. And then, like, later looked up, like, the cutscenes to be like, okay, I probably should have with group for that. But like it was really fun to like see how it played out. So like I know there are that's at least one situation I know about where there's actually like a wildly different thing that happens depending on what you choose, which is very cool actually. Right. And you get into a little bit of so

looking at for example, this studio's previous output like they made the DSX games which were also branching narrative games where they know they're I'm sure aware of all the compromises you have to make in order to have any branches at all since it's very difficult. You have to make things that most people won't see. Only 50% of people will see the rocketer group thing, right? So you're making stuff that half your players won't even see, et cetera. The bigger the choices are, especially toward the end, maybe you're like getting stuff off.

That's all tough. When I look at this game and I think of it as in some ways a kind of a vanguard or like it's ahead of its time almost because it feels like it could be a Disney Plus interactive show that would be really delightful and cool. And if they made that show, they wouldn't have to spend a whole bunch of time in resources figuring out what turned out to be a kind of shanky combat system, they could just forget all of that and put all their attention and resources into making a story

that does really branch, the way that some of those Netflix stories really super branch. And like, it could be a really cool thing there. That's the most exciting thing about this game to me, is that it feels like a sort of a prototype, just not the perfectly place, you know, time and place for that. But it does kind of feel like that, and it could be a cool thing in the future.

Yeah, but then the counterpoint is that, Telltale made of Gardens in the Galaxy game. None of us have played it or cared about it. Yeah, but that's different in a number of ways. That was combat-free. But yes, I mean, that was a certain formula. Yeah, I don't know. I always think about how these AAA games all have to hit the checklist of like,

you got your crafting, you got your skill tree, you got your combat, you got your blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's like little workplace benches where you can level up your weapons. Always always a workbench. Yep. But like, and I always think about like, wow, what would be? this AAA game look like if it didn't have combat in it and what would the kind of like, I don't know, gameplay loop look like. What would you do other than talk and read dialogue?

Would you do anything? Is that necessary? I don't know. I always think of Disco Elysium as like the one potential prototype for games like this or one potential archetype for games like this. And yeah, I don't know. It's a good thought experiment. I mean, I think the thing to think about is Bander Snatch. Like, is to think about a thing that you just watch on your TV through your streaming surface rather than something that you play on a game console or a PC because then you're talking about a whole different audience. But the choices, but then you don't have the choices, right? Unless I'm saying you do have the choices and you play Bander Snatches interactive. Sure, sure, sure. Well, no, you do because it's like a choose your own adventure. It's like Nighttrap or whatever,

like certain videos play depending on what you chose. And what we need is a return to night trap is really what it is. Right. We need FDES. Literal VHS tapes that you just watch. Yeah, that's the real I can't wait for us to go back to that, honestly. Should we do a beans cast on Nighttrap? Or we should go back to Choose Your Own Adventure books in that tradition of just been. Yeah, sure. If you'd like to side with Rocket, turn to page 29. If you'd like to sign with Groot, turn to be 507.

I'd probably read that. That would probably be kind of fun. I would read it. I feel like it's, it makes me sad that I didn't like the story more because I agree, Kirk, like there's so much about this that I'm into. Like, I'm so down for a game that's story-based. and like in Marvel's Avengers, the part I liked was the single player stuff with Kamala Khan. Like the story and the cutscenes and stuff in there were actually pretty cute.

It's just that then that's not what the game is. And this is like the game that dares to be what Marvel's Avengers couldn't be because it had to be a game for a service. Like it couldn't just be a single player experience where Kamala Khan and like maybe there's some other characters in there and it's mostly about her. And that's, that's cool. Like it's cool that that's the genre of game that this is. It's just tragic to me that the story. overall is not, I don't know. No, I'm with you.

Like the fact that it's not as successful as it could be feels like a loss, given that it is doing so many things that I value and think are cool and would like to see more of. It's also, it's funny, you know, Jason, you had added your addendum to Maddie's spiritual successor list of the rival. And it's kind of like the sort of rival that players decide, like, this is the rival. Because the narrative around this over and over has been like, this is what we wanted from Avengers, which is absolutely true. And yeah, those first few hours of Avengers feel very similar to this

where it is kind of like you're playing a Marvel movie and it has that just easygoing, fun thing, you know? It's quippy. Yeah, quippy and exciting. Although I would argue that Guardians does the characters a lot better than Avengers. I would agree. I would agree.

I feel like these are like, they feel like they're trying to be the MCU characters but they work on, they work despite that as opposed to Avengers. Avengers feel like feels like B-movie, like knock-on. like a bunch of actors pretending to be Robert Sennie Jr. I think some of the performances in Avengers are good,

but they're so hobbled by not even having a chance to do what Guardians is doing. And I totally agree about this take on these characters, which we mentioned, I think, in a few one more things, about how this does, like the rock eye playing rocket really kind of sounds like Bradley Cooper. But now that I've played the game for 10 hours, which is longer than I've spent watching any Marvel movies, right? There's only two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. This is a lot more time with these characters.

and I've really come to, I think of them, I have a hard time even like conceptualizing some of the characters from the film. Like the Drax in this game is similar to Dave Batista's Drax, but he's his own guy and I actually really like, am very familiar with that character now. And this Peter Quill also is such a different energy. Holy cow. And is a good character, I think.

Like I really like his sort of, he's always kind of pushing and he's a little whiny, but in this way that like he's coming from a good place and he's always kind of staying on, He is very much a manager. He is, yeah. And you can kind of see how he's an effective leader. He's much more of a manager than Chris Pratt's Starlord, who just seems like a sort of lovable

buffoon type who, like, you know, failed upwards. Whereas this Star Lord, it's like, you can kind of get why he's in charge. And he actually tries to negotiate people's conflicts in a relatively skillful way. And sometimes he bails on it or whatever because something else is more exciting is happening. But, like, more often that, he's really trying to solve problems. And that's interesting to see. I mean, it's more compelling to play as a character who's actually to be.

trying to achieve something than a lovable goofball, which really wouldn't work. Yeah, that's very true. The Pratt version wouldn't be a fun protagonist to play as. It wouldn't be nearly as fun. So we have to call it soon, but one more thing I want to bring up, which is that I think that for me, part of why I'm not going back also is Marvel fatigue. And you guys might feel differently because you're both more into like the comics and the Marvel universe than I am. But I am like looking at this than looking at the horde of other Marvel games that are getting announced. And I'm just like, yeah. Yeah, the shows, I mean, shows because there's so much more low impact than a game, you can just turn on a show and zone out. Whereas a game, you have to be so much more actively involved, that to me is part of it. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, are you guys getting marveled out?

I mean, I am for stuff like this. Like, I'm, Guardian stuff is fine. I don't read a lot of Guardians comics, but I'm not like such a fan that I really super care about the characters already. Whereas something like the Wolverine game, like, yeah, I'm going to play it. I'm going to play that video game. And even if it's really bad, I'm going to get something emotionally out of it by just being like, oh, this is an interesting take on Logan.

It probably won't be bad. But you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm going to enjoy it on some level. And I probably have a soft spot for Marvel's Avengers because, as people probably remember from that episode. I've read a lot of Kamala Khan comics and I really like them. So that meant that I was bringing some context of that game that I'm not bringing to this game. I just don't have that. So I have Marvel fatigue about Marvel characters that I don't already like is basically what it is. But if I already like them, I'm willing to make some space in my

heart for them. But the other ones, I'm like, you really got to do more to impress me than this, you know? I do have some Marvel fatigue because I watched those movies a lot and found them to be very entertaining and then there came a point where it really finally hit me how similar a lot of them are and how much more fun it generally is to watch actual movies and how they're kind of not movies like most of them like when I was just going and watching more old films you know I don't know like you just watch some good movie from 1975 and it's like oh Beverly Hills Cop for example yeah yeah I'll see like buy one more thing no maybe not that but um you realize you're just watching them for the end credit scene

and you're like, man, what am I doing this? Right, the feeling that they never end. They're like TV shows in that same way where it's like they're just aren't, they aren't self-contained things. I think that a lot of people also with I gather that Eternals is sort of a disappointing film. I just watched Shang Chi, which was perfectly fun, especially the first half of it, like some great action scenes.

But even that, I was like, it just is a Marvel movie. Like it's just its own little weird thing. And looking at everything they just announced and all the stuff and then write even more games. definitely kind of feeling that. Like the music, the hero moments in this game, all just give me that like, oh, are enough. Like, I'm just not moved by it.

I'm not actively repelled by it. I'm just sort of like, yep, here we go again. Like, there's the theme music, and a heroic thing is happening, which is a shame because that should be exciting when that happens. But because it's become so kind of standardized, it's like lost a lot of its spark.

All this said, I'm pretty excited for the new Spider-Man. God, I'm not going to lie. I guess. I mean, I'll watch it, right? It's inevitable. It's going to have those other Spider-Man's in it, I think. That's right. That post-credit scene. Yeah, and Doc Ock. I'm ready to see. I'm ready to see Doc Ock again. Anyway, let's take a break, and then we will come back for one more thing. Look, it's a rough world out there, especially lately. I get it.

So let's take care of our minds as best we can. I'm John Moe, host of Depresh Mode with John Moe. Every week I talk with comedians, actors, writers, musicians, doctors, therapists, and everyday folks about the obstacles that our world and our brains throw in front of us. Depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, all those mental health challenges that are way more common and more treatable than you might think. The first time I went to therapy, I was so ashamed and I was like, I can't believe I got to go into therapy. Like, I thought I could be a man. And Humphrey Bogart was never in therapy. And then my dad said, yeah, but he smoked a carton of cigarettes a day. Give your mind a break, give yourself a break, and join me for Depresh Mode with John Moe.

You're in the theater. The lights go down. You're about to get swept up by the characters and all their little details and interpersonal dramas. You look at them and think, that person is so obviously in love with their best friend. Wait, am I in love with my best friend? That character's mom is so overbearing. Why doesn't she stand up to her? Oh, good God, do I need to stand up to my own mother? We never know when we'll see ourselves in a movie.

but that search for recognition is exactly what we're going to talk about on the podcast, Feeling Scene, with me, Jordan Cruciola. Each episode, we'll bring in a guest to talk about the films that they see themselves in and also the ways that movies have fallen short. So join me every Thursday for the Feeling Seen podcast here on Maximum Fun, or wherever you find your podcasts. Hello, we're back, Kirk Maddie. It's time for one more thing.

I'm going to go first because I played Eldon Ring, you guys. I played the next game from From So, software in conjunction with George R. Martin, which is hilarious because after playing Eldon Ring, it's just like, this is a fucking From game. It's like weird beasts and mysterious maiden women saying enigmatic things and like enemies with ridiculous names. I like imagining the trailer from this like, from the guys who brought you, Bloodbourne, and Game of Thrones. Right. Right.

Eldon Ring. So yeah, I played Elder Ring. I played three hours of it, maybe more like two and a half, during one of the network tests this weekend on the PlayStation 5, and it's pretty cool. It killed some bosses. Oh, it's pretty cool. Got a horse, did some double jumps.

Yeah, it's really hard to get a sense of it from such a short period of time because it's an open world game and you're just kind of dropped in this. It's got a very similar intro to Breath of the Wild where you start off in this cave, at least the demo. I don't know if the game, I think the game will start in the same place,

but you start off in this cave. there's like one section that's a tutorial section but eventually you just get out of this cave and you wind up getting this big picturesque frame of like the whole world and it's like boom like in your face you can see all these places you can go to this massive castle on a hill

and then this tree over here and it's just like go off and explore the game doesn't say that but it's implying that doesn't it actually say like go find somewhere to die in a ditch or something isn't that what the guy says to you yeah and then you go in there and you got your combat, which feels very Dark Souls 3-ish, and you got your jump-in, which is Sekiro-ish, and then you got your bosses who are just like freaking bosses.

Some of them feel kind of Blood-Born-ish. There was one dude who reminded me of who I thought who reminded me of Father G from Bloodborn, and there was a lot of just like to take him out. You have to do a lot of countering. And then there's one big boss at the demo, some dude called like Marget or something who just has this ridiculous catchphrase every time you die, it just feels like a soul's game except it's an open world. And I don't really know what that's going to mean from just a few hours of playing it.

Because what I saw is a lot of different caves and little like dungeons where you can go in and like fight some dudes and then fight a boss and then get some weird item that like either you don't understand yet or you have to really take the time to experiment with. So I didn't really have a ton of time to just like play around with that and figure out just how rewarding it is to do all this little exploration. And then you're just constantly just surrounded by things that will try to kill you and we'll just totally mall you. I was texting with Steven Tatillo, our former boss, I could talk a little bit.

And he was like, where can I go that isn't just going to murder me? That isn't like super hard. And I was like, that's funny because this is the from experience. I don't think you can go back to your PS5 dashboard and load Ratchet and clang back. But if you have Souls experience, which I do, you, you kind of learn the bits and pieces of it. And I was able to kill like three or four bosses by the time the demo was up. And you just kind of learn the rhythm of it.

And you die a couple times. And you learn all the bosses attacks. And you learn out a counter and you learn out of dodge. And it just, it definitely had that rhythm that it's just like, oh, yep, playing a soul's game, ready for this. And so like at the end of it, I was like, yep, I'm ready for February. I'm ready to, like, sit down and just like immerse myself in this thing. But I don't really know, like, it's still too, too little time to really know.

what the open world is going to bring to the table and what that's going to mean and if it's going to be a good thing for a souls game because souls game or typical souls games level design is so tightly crafted and meticulous that it's it's really hard to imagine it as like this big like you can explore in any direction type of game but um after playing it i'm i'm pretty optimistic it's it's pretty good i will say to anybody who wants a really in-depth preview of this or look at that network test i watched the video by this guy iron pineapple who's a really hardcore YouTuber, like, PVP, um, Dark Souls player. And it was a very interesting video because it was like, what would happen if someone who knows everything about Souls games, like,

and played the crap out of the network test and like, just is like, I can tell you about power stancing. I can tell you how all the different weapons work and how PVP works. And it's, he's very excited and we could link that in show notes, because it is kind of fun to look at that, even though I don't play Dark Souls on that level.

It was a cool video and he's pretty excited about it too. Um, So yeah, definitely going to play this on PC, definitely going to play the hell out of it. Oh, yeah. That's our February. Okay. Your turns. Maddie, you want to go first?

Sure. Second, I'll know. I guess. Second? Yeah. So I played Nancy Drew Mystery at Magnolia Gardens with my fiancé. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Interesting word you just used. I know. Anyway, it's a board game. Everyone's putting rings on it. I got Eldon Ring. You got wedding ring. Yeah, whatever.

Whatever. Anyway. So this is a board game by a hunter killer, which Kirk and I both played Death at the Dive Bar is the other sort of of a similar scope. There's sort of like, oh, this is a hunter killer. Yeah. So Hunter Killer usually does like. Is that the one that's like an escape room in a box, like that sort of thing? It's like a murder mystery in a box.

Yeah. And these two are both like $30 and it's like everything you need for this one mystery is in the same box. And Hunter Killer also does like subscription boxes and stuff where it's like six different. boxes that come over a period of time and there's like a whole plot and it's way more expensive. I haven't done any of those and I can't speak to them. But this Nancy Drew game, very fun, definitely a lot more family friendly than the other hunter killer because there's not a murder in this one. There's a poisoning and the character who's been poisoned is in the hospital, but young Nancy

Drew unless you to help because she also gets poisoned and she's like, I've already put together all my case notes. She leaves you a letter and she's like, I've done basically all the work for you. I just need you to read through them and figure out who did the poisoning. And so you do that. And since these are all fictional characters, they're not based on any book that I know of. Perhaps they are. I'm just not up to date on modern day Nancy Drew reboots, of which there are many.

But I'm not familiar with the characters or the mystery. And so I assume it's original. But everybody's, it's all drawings of people. And it's not intended to seem real in the way that the previous Hunter Gillar game was, where like everything was like very literal props. This game is a little bit more just presented like a board game. But the mystery part is still difficult. There's still like a code to crack and pieces to put together.

It was really fun. And if somebody was listening to us talk about the Hunter Killer Box and they were like, I'd love to play this, but like I've got a really smart six year old and I don't want them to have to solve a murder. And like that person might still enjoy the Nancy True version that doesn't have anyone getting murdered and is, a little lighter in terms of how things are described. But I don't have to be quite a smart six-year-old because it's also really hard. But yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend these games.

I think they're really fun. How long did it take you to like finish though? Like two, three hours. Admittedly, we had an entire bottle of champagne over the course of that. So we probably could have, because you know, we just exchanged drinks, et cetera. But that's how Nancy Drew does. Yeah, I think so. I think that's how you solve a mystery.

So yeah, that was a slightly different vibe than the listener might be playing it under. But we took three hours to beat it. You'd probably do it in like an hour or half. Well, Mazel Tov to you and Dina. Yeah, it's very exciting. Indeed. Very exciting. Kirk finishes off with your one more thing.

Well, my one more thing is Beverly Hills Cop 2. This has become a Beverly Hills Cop slash 80s movie podcast. We're the Beverly Hills podcast. Welcome to Copcast. So after Maddie's one more thing last week, Beverly Hills Cop. One, it got me thinking about Beverly Hills Cop because I watched Beverly Hills Cop too so many times as a kid because we had it taped on VHS. Like we just had taped the TV edit of it. I feel like a lot of people around our age or a little older grew up with this where he just would like tape a couple things on TV and then every time you'd stay home sick. Like for me it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was all the Simpsons. Great stuff. Every Simpsons episode. Beverly Hills Cop too. They live actually. I had they live and I watched that movie a whole lot. So there were a couple others like that. So some movies were. better than others, but I just kind of watched Beverly Hills Cop 2. I'd never even seen

Beverly Hills Cop 1 until way later, and I think I'd only seen it once or twice. So I was like, well, I'm going to watch Beverly Hills Cop after you talked about it last week. And I watched it, and it was great. I was like, man, this movie really holds up. This is a good movie. Obviously, it has some, like, whatever, dated tropes and stuff. It's pretty good. By and large, very good movie. It's funny. It's funny. So I was like, well, I'm going to watch Beverly Hills Cop 2. because I know the narrative is that it's not as good as the first one, but I had all these just sort of memories of it. What's it going to be like watching it?

Especially watching the unedited version. Not as good. It doesn't hold up. Kind of a bummer of a movie. An interesting one. This is so Tony Scott, Ridley Scott's brother, the sort of action director took over. And it's interesting.

It's built as being more of an action movie. Like there's bigger gunfights in it. But actually, the editing is really unfortunate. There's a lot of that like snap cut editing where you don't even see impact. It's like punches or bullets, so it just feels weirdly destroyed. It feels like a TV edit, even though it wasn't edited.

It's way more sexist than the first film in a way that really bummed me out, especially by the end. It just is like all this casual misogyny in the movie that sucks. And made me just think about the things that the first movie does well. In particular, there's this, so his friend Jenny, the whole story of the first one is that their old friend who's kind of this fuck up gets murdered. And then Axel goes to Beverly Hills to figure out what happened to the guy. and why these guys killed him.

Incidentally, the henchman is a young Jonathan Banks, who is a pretty good goon, but it's funny knowing what range he has. Anyways, he goes and he meets up with their mutual friend, Jenny, and she's this, like, major character in the first movie, and their relationship is really great. There are just these scenes where they're, like, she's talking about his mustache, and he's kind of talking about her hair. Do you remember this scene?

It's almost like they improvised it, and it's, like, really kind of this warm friendship vibe, and it's unusual and really nice. And there's just, like, a cool vibe. He's kind of more chill and just laughing at stuff. He's driving this kind of crappy car. He's lower status. And then he became such a movie star between then and four years later when he made the sequel.

And now he's got this sweet Cadillac. And the whole movie is just slicker. Jenny's not even in the sequel. There's no energy like that at all. And then there's just a lot more kind of nastiness than the script. And then the action scenes aren't even that good. There's a chase scene in the first movie where that semi truck is like smashing through cars. That's the opening.

That chasing is wild. I was like, I cannot believe how much money they must have spent on this chase scene because they destroy so many cars. And like, I assume use a body double for Eddie Murphy who's like hanging on a rope off the back of the truck. Like, I mean, it's the 80s. So this percent double probably got significantly injured. I mean, I have no idea. I have no sources on this. But like, it's wild shots that they're doing of this opening car chase.

And I was like, this is when I was Googling like, Eddie Murphy wasn't even famous yet at the time. How do they get the money for all this? I have no idea. But it's great. It's an incredible opener. It's incredible, and like nothing in the second movie comes close to it. Also, it's accompanied by the Neutron Dance, which is a future strong song, one of my favorite songs ever, the Pointer Sisters song that plays. And so the license music in the first one is also better.

Like the theme song is better than in the second one. The Heat is On is a better song than Shakedown, Breakdown. Anyways, Beverly Hillscop, one, way better than Beverly Hillscop, two. We won't even speak of Beverly Hillscop 3 because that movie just doesn't, we don't even need to go there. The aliens three of the Beverly Hillscops. The aliens three of the Beverly Hills. I was going to say it's or the Godfather three of the Beverly Hillscopr.

Yeah, no, really. So true. Really, yeah, third movies just turn and generally good. But anyways. Well, except for Lord of the Rings. Right. That's kind of different. Maddie, I was glad that you inspired me to watch those.

And yeah, Beverly Hillscop 1 holds up. People should go check that one out. Cool. Well, that is it for this week's episode. We will be back next. week on Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving morning. We'll come at you. Talking about Beverly Hillscop 3, right? Talking Beverly Hillscop 3. Watching Beverly Hillscop for Thanksgiving. Very excited for that. Kirk, Maddie. See you both next week. Yep. See you next week. Bye.

Triple Click is produced by Jason Schreier, Maddie Myers, and me, Kirk Hamilton. I edit and mix the show and also wrote our theme music. Our show art is by Tom DJ. Some of the games and products we talked about on this episode may have been sent to us for free for review consideration. You can find a link to our ethics policy in the show notes. Triple Click is a proud member of the Maximum Fun Podcast Network, and if you like our show, we hope you'll consider supporting us by becoming a member at Maximumfund.org slash join. Find us on Twitter at triple clickpod.

Send email the triple click at maximum fun.org and find a link to our Discord in the show notes. Thanks for listening. See you next time. Maximumfund.org. Comedy and culture. Artist-owned. Audience. Audience supported.