Video Gamers Podcast - Backlog Breakers - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are cracking open their ever-growing backlog and catching up on what they’ve actually been playing lately. From forgotten purchases to surprise obsessions, we talk about why our gaming libraries keep getting bigger while our free time shrinks, and which titles finally broke through the pile. We’re sharing honest impressions, quick hits, and a few confessions about unfinished saves, burnout, and rediscovering why we love video games in the first place. Whether it’s clearing classics, dabbling in new releases, or bouncing between genres, this episode is all about the joy and guilt of modern gaming. If your backlog is judging you from the home screen, you’re not alone. Tune in for laughs, recommendations, and real talk about how we choose what to play next in today’s video games landscape on the Video Gamers Podcast!   Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser, and Dettmarp   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, PeopleWonder, Bobby S.   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/SKQvqrbT Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the video gamers podcast. 2026 is off to a great start with some incredible looking games. We had a great holiday break. But what do podcasters play when they don't have to play something? Well, we tackle our backlog or we pay out on bets we made. On this episode, we're chatting epic gaming slumps, indie darlings, and lost bets. but first some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me.

Rumor is he's steadily making his way towards the center of the galaxy, except he's gotten sidetracked about 9,000 times already. It's Ryan. This game and we'll go into it is not what is conducive for, expansive for me. Like it's, I, I'm, uh, ooh, ball. Oh, ball. Oh, ball. Yeah.

I can't think of another game that might be more distracting to Ryan trying to accomplish the main mission than the game that he's been playing. So, yeah, we'll get to that here. We'll get to that here. And joining us, we finally wore him down and told him he can't be the indie expert if he doesn't play the best indie games of the year. But all we really want to know is, did he cry? it's ace what a strange question to ask about the game i played uh the answer is yes multiple times yeah you better up otherwise you're a psychopath ace so oh man all right listen thank you for joining us everybody we are back into the flow man the episodes are flowing we are playing games

like we are just living the best life in 2026 right now man so thank you for joining us. You know, this episode is going to be, you know, we're hinted at it, right? We had a break. We take that every year. And during that break, it is kind of a sigh of relief because, you know, in all honesty, we put an awful lot of work into this podcast. Like legitimately, you know, three shows a week plus prep, plus social media, plus the

community, plus, you know, editing. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. We do it because we love it. But it is a lot of work. And so having a break from that, especially around the high. holidays is really nice. And one of the things that goes with that is we don't have to play anything. There's no podcast game.

There's no hot new release. There's no, oh, we have to cover this because it's getting a ton of hype or anything like that. There's no hijacked. You know, somebody got hijacked and has to play a game that the listeners chose or something like that. So we get to just sit back and go, what do I want to play? Like, what do I want to play?

And for some of us, that was very easy. for others it was a choice that they didn't have and then for others it might be one of the biggest gaming slumps that they have had in a very long time so we're going to get into all that here in just a second but guys we got to thank somebody real quick longstanding member of the community we love thanking people but the great dingus con

did what we love to see and they said you know what I was supporting you at the rare tier on Patreon. But guys, I'm going to up my game and I'm going to support you at a higher tier. So thank you, Dingus Khan, for up in your pledge to epic status. I hate you both so much. We're doing poor Dingus Khan. Thank you. Because you guys are doing the really dumb.

Oh, you're a real one, homie. Thank you very much. We'll never join you. I know that's what you guys want. We appreciate it. Thank you, Dingus Khan. I'm sorry that these two dinguses over here, uh, Wait, is that family then?

Twice removed. All right. So guys, let's get into this. I hinted at this. Ryan, we're going to start with you because you lost a bet. I did.

Betting man, as some would say. Yes. And some would also say you're probably not very good at betting because I feel like you lose more bets than you win. As, you know, just seems the case here. But you lost a bet with legendary Jake. who, you know, has been around since the beginning of this podcast,

through a fantasy football league that you two were in. Yes. And one of the bets made was that Jake gets to pick a game for you if you lost. And you lost like everybody expected. Oh, hold on. So what game did Jake say, hey, Ryan, you know, I'm picking this game for you to play? First of all, I want to say it was the VGP league that we played in. We did play a video gamer's podcast, fantasy football,

league. I did lose. We did bet. I think it was overall points or best record, something like that. He beat me out on that. I did go to the semifinals and then I lost, unfortunately, in that. But I am a gambling man. I am won for just the gambles. So whether it's in my favor or not, I just like the bet. I like the chase. So whether I can win or not, it's there for me. I did lose. And the game that he picked was no man sky. So this is the game that it's, it's been in the news recently with just like it's renovation and, and updates and what it's become from launch.

What was the, what was the date that it came out? 2018. Oh, goodness. The long time, I'm trying to think right now. It was one of the biggest disasters. 16, 17, 17, 18, somewhere around there. I know because I waited and I went to three best buys to try

to find it. And I found it, played it, empty, desolate world, full of nothingness, and I sold it on Craigslist like a week later. I was like, forget this. So I got rid of it. And then Jake found that out. So he's like, all right, I'm going to make you play No Man Sky. So that was the game that I was told to play. I've played probably

17, 18 hours so far. I don't, I'm not sure. So I'll preface this with like, I am again, like we said in the preamble and all this stuff, is that I'm easily distractible, easily excitable. These things, I, like, it's like, oh, you need these specialty gloves to get this fruit off of this plan. I'm like, oh, okay, what do I need to get these things? Then I go to get those things and it's like, there's something else. I'm like, oh, let me go get that.

And the next thing you know, I'm two light years away. Solar system's over. solar systems on this other like area and then I'm chasing you know Atlas or whoever the name of the lady is and and I'm just going all through so I've been playing quite a bit

how much of the game like that I've been saying true to like the thing I've been exploring I guess you would say I've been exploring I have to laugh at this because I have played a lot of No Man Sky I think No Man Sky is spectacular It's so cool it's so cool dude It is we've said many of time, but it's one of the greatest

turnaround stories of a disastrous game launch and over-promising things and then massively under-delivering. Hello games caught so much flack for what they promised in No Man Sky and what the game released as, and they have spent nine years. The game came out in 2016. So,

well, 10 years now. You know, we're in 2026 now. So 10 years, they have spent just absolutely creating more and more content, amazing content for No Man Sky, upgrades. like and it's all been free all of it dude like this is the crazy part in a world where companies are making games and then chopping them up before release just so they can release a dLC i'm

talking about you donkey conanza you know uh you know and like and then you have you have hello games in no man sky where they have released expansion after expansion after expansion and they don't charge for it and it just continues to improve this game no man sky in my opinion is absolutely phenomenal. I have played this game probably four or five different times and I have put probably 15 to 20 hours into this game each time and I get distracted and then just eventually fall off like I do and then go back. This is why I've played a four or five times because it's one of those games where it's so in depth that when you go back to it, you go, I don't remember where I was. I don't remember what I'm doing in this game. So I start over. And then I make it far.

and then I fall off and then I go, oh, you know what I should? And then I cannot imagine a worse game to make Ryan play. And that's not saying anything against No Man Sky. What I'm saying is Jake is diabolical to make you play this game

because I can't think of a game that would like mess with your ADHD more than No Man Sky. Well, that's, I mean, it's like you said. That's why I love Red Dead so much. Like, because I could just wander. And then like that's, unfortunately, you can wander infinitely in this game, endlessly throughout all solar systems

and realms and worlds and hyperdrives and then like, oh, I have to craft this to make this and then it didn't help that I was in some nexus zone and this guy just random just dropped me a bunch of stuff. So I had millions, millions of credits all out of nowhere. And so I'm like, oh, this is sweet. So then I'm like buying stuff and and trade. and things and then and then I was oh man it went to another level at that point because then I'm trying to craft all this crazy stuff and upgrade my

ship and it was it was definitely something different but I could tell how much work from day one because I literally played it day one to where it is now like there's actually a direction with this game

as infinite as it is there is a direction you can do or you can just go and explore the worlds like literally worlds infinite like and go off as far as you want and try to hit the center of the galaxy and stuff the galactic center like there's so

so much to do it's it's untapped potential and there's there's a lot there so it's definitely a cool experience I am not done with it yet I still have that pitch I do I definitely still have that itch to keep playing

and check things out and look more because I'm really starting to develop like all the extra gear and the upgrades and all the things you need and the equipment. So I kind of want to see what else I can do, you know, as I explore. So it is cool. And I love, I love exploration. I love you can go through and you can analyze the worlds and check out the plants and the trees. Start learning the languages, which is fun. Yeah, you can upgrade and then you find out knowledge centers and all that stuff and you trade for knowledge and unlock words that you can learn and stuff.

So there's so much there. So it is, they have done a lot. So kudos to them. It is definitely a different game from what it was 10 years ago. So it's much better than what it was the first time I played. So seeing what they've done with No Man Sky, does that make you even more excited for Light No Fire? Um, no. No.

I'm way more excited for Light No Fire than I ever was, No Man Sky. I'll see it. I'll see it when it comes out. Like, we'll see. We'll see. See, No Man Sky is not my kind of game, but I love what it represents as this redemption story within gaming,

as well as the memes that have come from that, where any time they put out a free expansion update or whatever, everyone's like, no, Sean Murray, I have money. Yeah, yeah, honestly, and we've said this many a time,

it's like, guys, just rest. Rest and work on light, no fire. Like, No Man Sky is done. It's everything you ever dreamed it was being more.

Like you've paid your debt to society at this point. Like just give us light no liar. You can rest. Yeah. Yeah. If you haven't checked out No Man Sky, it's absolutely incredible. Somebody like me that loves progression in a game, like, oh my gosh, dude, they just feed it to you with all the gear upgrades and your ship upgrades and you learn the languages

and it's just you get new ships and then you fly better and then you can fight better and they add more like just random events. and there's combat, which is good. And it's just, there's a thousand systems in No Man Sky that all works so well. And I will say this. I feel like the barrier to entry for No Man Sky is not that bad. And I've been referencing. And so, you know, I love you, dysertory.

But, you know, we compare it to Star Citizen sometimes where it's like, you know, Star Citizen is overly complex, in my opinion. And No Man Sky does a better job of introducing people to a. it systems in a way that's easily understandable and is fun to kind of engage in and things like that. And I'm not trying to slander star citizen. I'm just saying there is a way to have a complex game and have people like ease them into it and all the different systems and make it fun and kind of, you know, because they start you off on that initial planet. And they say, hey, go build this. This is how you fly. This is how you fight. This is how you make it to the star station thing,

you know, and this is how you start interacting with the aliens and vendors and things like. that. I think they do a great job of easing you into No Man Sky to where before you know it, you're just in it and you're having a blast and it's awe-inspiring in a lot of ways. And also, please give us light, no fire. All right. Listen, we're going to take a short break and then we're going to hear about what Ace played because I really want to hear his thoughts on this because he has not shared him with us at all. And I'm dying to know. So we'll be right back after this break. All right. We're back. Ace. I kind of, uh, I kind of, uh, I, controlled you a little bit on this one. I teased this a little bit. Um, but what did you play over the

break, Ace? Unsurprisingly. Yeah, I did play some rivals. Yeah, I did. I definitely played some rivals. Had to get my Luna Snow in for the week. Yeah, you well, of course, you got the tattoo. You know, I have to. It's basically a requirement. It's an obligation. But in a pre-show for our Patreon, you know, subscribers, you know, subscribe on our Patreon. We have a pre-show that's really good. You definitely want to check it out. The last few have been pretty great. Yeah. I told you that I would finish Expedition 33 over our winter break. And as I continue to be, I'm a man on my word.

And I did finish Expedition 33. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Now, when you played it, where did you stop? Had you made it through act one yet? Okay.

So you didn't make it to, we won't spoil things for people. say how much am I allowed to say here? I would not spoil the end of Act 1, but I think you can go further than that. Like save that part, you know what I mean? But it's tough. It's really hard to say what I'm thinking about the game without that. I can say, okay, let's just do this. Spoiler for the next two minutes, if you haven't played Expedition 33 and you plan on playing

it. Take a break here. Take a break right here. I will say. Okay, you've been warned. Some of the best stories that have come into fiction lately are about grief. And I don't think I've played a better representation than Expedition 33 when it comes to that. Dude.

Like when we think of really emotionally impactful games, two games now come to mind for me. And that's Disco Elysium and Expedition 33. Yep. Oh. Amazing games. Part of that is because both of them have quotes I think about now pretty often, which is, And Disco Elysium, it's, I don't want to get better. I want to get worse.

And that has so much impact on the characters and what that means. And then my quote from Exhibition 33, first of all, XSatrix is The Sound of Renoir's Kane. Oh, yes. It's in my brain forever now, right? I think about that. Like you guys, we did the rerun of the best gaming sounds or whatever. I was like, Kane.

Yeah, yep, yep. but when he said if saving you means losing you then so be it I was like that is like really impactful that's deep isn't it yeah I know

and finding out that like that's not even the real Renoir I was like oh my gosh this game just keeps throwing curveball after curveball that's awesome man that's so cool what did you think about the game

as a whole ace like I mean that's kind of the million dollar question is like what is your like if you had to rate it What would you rate it? It's absolutely a 10 out of 10. That's not even a question to me. As someone who enjoys turn-based combat, enjoys RPG, like,

relationship-building elements like that, like persona. Like, if you love persona, you're going to love Expedition 33. For sure. Right. Like, there's no reason you don't. See, what's weird is, I love Expedition 33,

but I don't love persona. I think persona's a little bloated and it's got a lot of weird subsystems and stuff. It's not as streamlined as Expedition 33. That's fair. Which I know some people like, you know. persona is a lot more of the tell instead of show, I think, is part of its issue as well. Yeah, that's fair.

Where X-Pers133 has all these massive set pieces and things like that is trying to tell you through that instead. I got to ask you another question, Ace. You mentioned Renoir, but Renoir's combat song. Oh, it's, you know, is it not incredible, dude. It is not, I mean, dude, that gives me chills just thinking about it every time. I listened to it while I was playing rival. I was like, yes, I know. I feel so bad.

And I know we're back to Glaze and Expedition 33, but I just, it's funny because Ace started it, didn't make it to the end of Act 1, which I thought was crazy talk. I'm not going to lie, Ace, you know, even I made it. And then it's like, even I made, I mean Act 1. I know. Well, not in your, you stopped before at the end of Act 1. No, I finished Act 1. I was at the beginning of Act 2.

Oh, before you stopped playing. I hadn't picked up Monoco. Oh, okay, okay. I thought you said you stopped before act one. No, no, no, no. Before you picked it back up. Okay. So, all right.

Well, but what's funny is I remember you going like, wait, there's more because you hit like the end of act three or something. And then it was like, wait, there's still a whole bunch of game here going on. Yeah, because I hit like the end of act two. Everyone gets erased. And Verso was sitting on the dock with the letter from the Patriots. Like, oh, wow. What an ending.

All right. One of the things I love about Expedition 33 is how the story. story comes together as you get more of the story because there's, I distinctly remember being like confused at one point. And maybe it was the end of back two and going like, I'm, I feel like I'm losing this like storyline here. And then trust me, they explain it later on. Everything comes together. You get these like, oh my gosh moments where everything starts to make sense. And then you're like, oh my gosh. Like, okay, that totally makes sense to me. The whole thing's a work of fiction. And only she's real. Yeah.

Wait, what? I know. So I do have one more question for you, Ace, on Expedition 33. Is it overrated? No. Exhibition 33 is not overrated because there's nothing that has come out recently that I could compare it to to say is better than it. Right. Nothing in the genre of the turn-based tactical RPG like this has come out that I could say, well, why would I play X-R-33 when I could play this?

Right. And there's nothing I can think. of. Like, even like, that doesn't, that doesn't mean that it's not overrated. What are you talking about? How is that? Because there's not something else that you can play? Because there's not something that's better than that in each genre?

No, I'm not starting to. Right. We don't have time to go into it. But like, I just wanted Ace's opinion as somebody that played and beat the game. Okay. Okay. What ending did you pick? I went with Mayel's ending, which I know is not the common ending.

Dude, okay, listen. And this is not very spoilery, but I'm just going to say. Josh wants to see the world burn, okay? Josh never wants to deal with his trauma and grief. No, it's not that. I am sympathetic. I see everything, all of the hardship and the agony that Mayelle went through, and I went, I cannot put her through more of that. She deserves a break.

She deserves a break from misery and agony and everything that she went through. And I cannot intentionally cause her more pain and agony. And that's why I sided with her. I happily did because some people need a reality check. Some people just need you to smack them on the back of the head and say, we got to move on. Dude, she's been smack down enough, dude. Okay, you're, imagine being so loved that your family is going to war over you because you died. And then not being able to pull together as a family to get over your grief together.

Yeah, Josh. Yeah, Josh. What do you think about that? Ryan has no idea of worry for talking. No, I watched. I did not finish the game, but I watched everything for sure. Sometimes it's time to stop painting, all right? I don't, you know what?

I know everybody goes with Verso. I don't regret my choice. Okay, maybe I regret it a little bit because it's really not the best ending. And I do agree with like the just facing your grief and stuff like that. Have you watched the other ones, Josh? The other endings? I did watch Verso's ending. Part of the reason I feel this way is just because that is the whole story of Persona 3 is accepting death as a part of life and just moving on.

But like, what, dude, you, you talked about in the beginning, like, about grief and stuff. It's one of my favorite musicians. He's really kind of come to fruition lately, but it's Stephen Wilson Jr. He's kind of like a bluesy kind of fulky style guitar guy. But in one of his songs, he says, grief is only love that's got no place to go. And it's like, that one always hits a movie. Yeah, I'm like always like, oh, grief is only love that's got. no place to go, man. That's

Woo. So, yeah, that's good. Man, I'm glad you finish it though, Ace. That's cool. I am too. I'm glad you love it. I have, we make all our jokes and our stuff about how I feel about Exposition 33. I think it's an amazing game. I still, I still believe it's overrated for what it is

from the, the screaming from the rooftops that everybody says, but that doesn't take away from a great game. I think it is amazing. Ace proves that. Josh proves that. A lot of the people. for it, but he appreciates. I just like picking on Ryan. I think it's amazing. It's just not for me. And I think it's just, it's, you know, I think you'll enjoy the movie when they make this into a movie.

Oh, dude, I'll watch that movie. My biggest thing with Expedition 33 is that I consider it a generational game. This is the kind of game that you hope that we get like every five years. You know what I mean? To where it's like, there's not many games that come out that rival what that this kind of game is. you know, we got God of War and Red Dead 2, we got cyberpunk, we get Eldring. I consider Expedition 33 in that kind of tier of game. Like I said, they're generational type games. Whereas gamers, we hope that we get these every, you know, I'll say three to five years. And then we're lucky if we do and people remember them.

And that's kind of that magic that we capture as gamers and that we hope for. And Expedition 33 is like that game that delivered on that. All right. stop bullying me for not playing Expedition 33. That's really the worst part to come of all this, is that we can't troll Ace anymore about this. For the big indie game. I beat it. Right.

I beat it to the end and I even beat some of the content after that. There you go. All right. Well, Ace's job is safe, I guess. All right. Well, for me over the break, guys, I have hinted at this. I had legitimately, I think, one of my worst gaming slumps like ever. Oh, dude.

You were going to so much. Yeah, we let us know religiously, like over and over and over. I was lost, man. I, you know, every gamer has been here. We've all been here. This is the thing is that every gamer can relate to this, right? I got time to game. I got nothing I have to play for the pod.

And I can't find a thing that I want to play. Guys, I'm going to go through the list of games. Now, this is a two week time span that we were off, right? Two and a half weeks, I think. Here we go. You guys want to hear the list of games that I went through. trying to get something to stick? Okay.

Witch fire, which actually stuck for a little while. That was kind of the number two game. Dishonor 2 bought it, played it for like an hour and a half. You did not like that one. Uninstalled it. I tried to do an Expedition 33 replay.

I installed it. Ryan even caught me out on it because he was like, oh, I guess this didn't stick. I installed it. I started playing the new game plus. I made it like 40 minutes in. And then I went, I can't do this, man.

I've done this before. I try playing risk of rain too with a buddy. It's like it's fun, but I feel like I've kind of tapped out most of that content in game. I made a promise to Ryan and other people that I would try Spider-Man. So I bought Spider-Man and I played like five hours of Spider-Man.

And then I went, no, this ain't doing it for me either. You know, like swinging around the city is great, but the rest of the game's kind of me. Ryan, you called that one also. You know me well. I tried getting back into Rocket League. Which, Lords of the Fallen, Ace and I, I played one session, one session of Lords of the Fallen with Ace and then I uninstalled it. Ace knows because he never asked me again.

He knew right away. I knew. I knew. There was no point. There was never another mention of Lords of the Fallen from me or Ace because Ace knew 100% that after that one session I uninstalled the game. This is nothing against any of these games, guys. These are all great games. Like, I just, it was me.

I could not get into anything. And I felt like a guy that was just floating adrift in an ocean where, and then I started getting into demos, right? So I tried the Super Meat Boy 3D demo, you know, because that came out. I tried to the time I have left demo. So I got into some of these indie game demos. None of those stuck. I was like, nope, nope, nope.

And I literally was like, in our community, I was just like, guys, I am in the worst gaming slump. I can play anything I want to play. It doesn't have to be for the podcast and I can't find anything, man. And then, and then a hero comes along. Our very good friend, awesome member of the community, Bobby S, I get a little notification. You have been gifted a game on Steam. You know, and I go, oh, what's this? And sometimes we go, like this is an amazing gesture but like we're a gaming podcast like we don't need you to gift us games necessarily like you know we play them for the pod and things like that but i get you have received a gift and i went oh okay well let me see what this is and bobby gifted me the last of us too

and i went why not guys i you know i swore i wasn't going to play it i swore i wasn't going to play it because I know what happens, you know, and I was like, nope, the Last of Us was awesome. I'm not going to play The Last of Us 2. I don't like where the story is going. Ryan called me an idiot. He was like, bro, you've got to play The Last of Us 2. It's the continuation of the story. And Bobby gifted it to me, and I went fine.

I think what I needed to get out of this gaming slump guys was a really good AAA title because I start playing it. and within like an hour, I'm like, okay, this is it. Like, this is it. I'm engrossed. I'm in. I'm back with Ellie and Joel. The story's playing out.

I know the story of Last of Us too. There were no like, you know, surprises for me on this one because I didn't plan on playing the game, so I knew what happened. But dude, I get into it and I am in. And it just, that's all it took. It just, so thank you, Bobby S. Number one for getting me out of this stuff. But also.

Last of Us 2 really good guys like really really good game I think you know I'd like a lot of the parts of it like if I'm if I'm gonna talk about like how do I feel about the game as a game as a whole

I don't think that the it is as good as the last of us won in the way that it tells the story and kind of has the twists and things like that it definitely has some of those like oh my gosh moments number one, you know, what happens to Joel.

That sucked. I was not happy about that. But then there's other parts in the game where I am just like, I think I even told you guys, I was like, pro, this game sucks, dude. And I don't mean that the game sucks. I mean, the world sucks. The world does.

Everything is sad. Everything is sad and everything is bad. And like, why am I so invested in watching this suffering and this struggling? And like just this crap going on to these people. But I'll tell you what The Last of Us 2 does masterfully is it tells a story from two different perspectives. And Ryan, you brought this up. So again, I'm going to give you credit because you went, bro, Abby's story is awesome.

And I went, I don't care. I don't like Abby. I don't know who she is. All I know is that she does bad things. You know what I mean? And then as you start to see like Abby's side of things, it is an awesome example of storytelling from two different sides, right? Like, it's one of those things like, no villain ever thinks they're the bad guy.

Yeah. You know, they think that they're doing the right thing for people or for something, you know, and then that's why they're motivated. And it's like, I'm in The Last of Us 2. I'm 30 hours deep. And I start questioning, like, who's the bad guy here, man? Like, is it Ellie? Is Ellie actually the bad guy?

Is it Abby? Like, is Abby the bad guy? Like, I, I don't know. And anytime a game does that, dude, you know you're on to something. So I will say this because we're running low on time. I have a few complaints. I think that they bloated the game a little bit. You know what I mean?

And this is a minor complaint. But I do feel like the last of us, too, my playtime and that was like 30 hours. And I was whining a little bit to you guys. And you got to say it's a minor complaint. We heard a lot. Oh, we heard a lot. Yeah, it's true. It's true.

It's true. Because it's like, I felt like this should have been like a. 20-hour game, not a 30-hour game. So there was times when I was like, guys, this is artificial bloat, it's aggravating me. I'm running out of time because I really wanted to beat this game before we got back from our break, you know?

That's the problem. That was your problem. That's why you felt like it was bloat, dude. Because I never, ever felt like that because I played it the week it released. And so I never, I never felt like oh, oh, why are they doing this? Why are they doing that? Like, oh, this

is too much. It was just part of the journey. No, dude. You can say what you want. I still, I, I, so to people that are wondering, yes, I did complete the last of us too. So add it to my very short list of games. Roll credits. Yeah. So the very short list of games that Josh

has actually beaten. Uh, it is now on that list. I'm very glad that I played it. Dude, I got some questions. So okay. Okay. One. The pillars at the end, pillars on the beach. Was that Oh, yeah. Oh, that was bananas, dude. Dude, wasn't that nuts? I didn't recognize

Abby. That was the thing. I did not know who Abby actually was because I did not recognize them. And then I was like, oh my gosh, dude. I told you, I was like the resort at the end. You're going to, it's going to freak you out. Oh, yeah. Oh, terrible. Yeah. Yeah. That one sucks, dude. Yeah. So that's that's crazy. To me, like, I

just, I played this. So all of those things that happened were in the moment. First time I've seen them. It was before the, well before the show even ever was thought of. Or well, maybe not thought of. But like, before the show existed.

So I saw it all in person. So to me it was all a shock and crazy shock and awe and stuff, which made it even more impactful. But like what overall for you, even though you felt it, there was some bloat or some drag or other things, what would you like rate this as? Like what does it,

what does it feel do you maybe? Do we have a record of your first score on the last one? I don't know. Like in hindsight, I would say that the last of us is like a, 9.2, the first one. And I would say that the Last of Us 2 is like an 8.8. Like, I think they're close.

That's fair. I like certain aspects. Like, you guys were right. You said the gameplay, like the gameplay elements of Last of Us 2 were better. Like the combat was better. Your options for combat were better and things like that. I know you don't think there's bloat, Ryan, but I do. Like, even though I was trying to finish it.

Like, there's certain parts of like the story with like Abby's story with going to the hospital. Where I'm like, why? like why why why why why do I have this three to like three hour thing where I'm going to the hospital get like medical supplies like it just doesn't fit like it felt like bloat to me to a certain degree um again first world problems it's bloat for a triple a title that was quite enjoyable enjoyable I'm like I will say this like memorable moments though it's it's got a bunch of them like the combat scene at the end where you know Ellie and Abby are facing off was like that's burn into my brain forever now. Yeah. Like, oh yeah. I still don't really know who I think like the villain is, which is an amazing, like, thing to walk away from this game with. Like, you know, like, and just the fact that.

I'm getting goosebumps right now. I know, right? This world sucks, dude. The amount of just terribleness that goes down that you are not only witness to, but part of at times is, is unbelievable, man. So amazing game. Everybody should play it. You guys were right.

It's like if you've played the last of us, you really need to play the last of us too because it's just a, it is a master class in storytelling. And when you tell a story this good, it's hard to not just get invested in it right away. So, and it absolutely, like I said, hands down, fix my gaming slump. I'm good to go, boys. I'm back to being able to enjoy games again. So thank you, Bobby, for the awesome gift. And, you know, for, you know, just gifting that to me. So I played it.

And then, you know, for Ryan and Ace telling me I was an idiot for not playing. it originally. It kind of gave me a little bit of the motivation to go, okay, I'm diving into this one, man. Have you ever felt worse shooting a dog in a game? No, no, I haven't. And honestly, like, dude, there's so many moments in that game where I'm like, I hate, I hate that I am doing this. You know what I mean? Like, I hate that I'm doing this. Yeah, so. Yeah, there's a lot. It doesn't make you feel good. It is not a good game by any means,

but it is a spectacular game at the same time. So, All right, listen, that's going to do it for this episode, everybody. So, you know, Ryan with No Man Sky, he's going to keep playing it. That's huge props there. Ace finally beats Expedition 33 and rates it a 10 out of 10 and says it's not overrated. Thank you, Ace. And me finally playing The Last of Us 2, even though I said I never would. I crumbled under the gift pressure, but I'm very, very thankful that I had that opportunity at the same time.

This is also a reminder. If you have some of these incredible games on your backlog, We say it all the time. We have people that come into our server all the time, and we talk games with them. One of the favorite questions for new people is, hey, what are some of your favorite games that the community asks and stuff like that?

And it is a good reminder that if you have not played some of these just awesome, amazing, you know, generational type games, this is your reminder to do that because you're missing out on some of the best gaming that exists out there, people. So quit dilly-dallying and do it. Anything, anything after like 2016-17, 17, like it holds up.

No matter what. Yes, it really does. It holds up, especially with updates and then like PS5 releases and remasters and whatever. They all do it. So like all of them hold up, play these smash titles. They're what they are for a reason. Yeah, they really are. So, all right, listen, join our Discord community.

There's a link in the episode description. Support this podcast. We give you a ton of perks. We need your support to do this. You know, we say it this way. We hope that we are providing entertainment value to you. We hope that we are making your commutes better, your chores, better, your gym sessions better.

And if you're like, yeah, dude, I freaking love you guys. Then think about just supporting this podcast, you know, in return so that we can continue to do this for many more years to come and keep providing the best content that we possibly can. There is a link in the episode description. It only takes a few minutes to do that. And not only do you get to do that, but we also give you. a ton of awesome perks at the same time to really make it worth your wild there also.

Boys, it's good to be back, man. I'm so excited for, I said this before, but I'm so excited for 2026. I freaking love doing this podcast with you guys. I love our community. I love chatting video games. It is just, I am amped for this year and for what is going to happen, not only with this podcast, but with gaming in 2026 as well. So that's going to do it for this one, everybody.

Until next time, happy gaming. See ya. For those who come after, peace out.