Video Gamers Podcast - Black Myth: Wukong, Delays on Delays and Hi-Fi Rush is Saved - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

The Video Gamers Podcast is back with another incredible episode of This Week in Gaming. Gaming hosts Josh, Paul and Ryan are back chatting the latest gaming news. This week we talk about the mid-tier reviews for Black Myth: Wukong before our deep dive, chat about the latest announced delays for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and get excited that Hi-Fi Rush has been saved by Krafton. All the video game news you need, each and every week from the Video Gamers Podcast! Thanks to our LEGENDARY Supporters: Disratory and Ole Jake Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Discord: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q   Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Samsung Galaxy. Ever captured a great night video only for it to be ruined by that one noisy talker? With Audio Erase on the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can reduce or remove unwanted noise and relive your favorite moments without the distractions. And that's not all. New Galaxy AI features like NowBrief will give you personalized insights based on your day schedule so that you're prepared no matter what. Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra now at Samsung.com. Hello, fellow gamers. Welcome back to the Video Gamers Podcast. It is Thursday, so you know what that means.

We are going to be talking about recent gaming news over the last week. Make sure to follow the podcast so you don't miss any episodes. And if you like what we do and want to help support the show, we do rely on listeners to sign up through Patreon to help pay the bills. Starts at five bucks a month. You'll get some perks like bonus squad cast episodes, a thank you on the show and more. Go check it out at MultiplayerSquad.com. We would also love if you'd rate the show five stars, leave a written review in Apple Podcasts,

and tell a friend about the show. I am your host, Paul, and joining me, you might just once again find him connecting beat hits by chaining attacks in time with the music of the game it's josh oh boy what the people don't know is i have absolutely zero rhythm so these rhythm games not the best for me but you do like them i do like them i'm just not very good at them man i hear you well we've got one of the best ones of the bunch getting saved, which will be fun to talk about in a minute. And then joining Josh and me, he might once again find himself waking up to Ms. McFarlane

helping her with jobs around the farm, but this time on PC. It's Ryan. I think you're muted. Dang it, I am muted. Yeah, right on the intro. And I have to leave that in too so that'll be fun well do you want to repeat what you were saying ryan oh i just said stupid is the word we use around here and i guess that lines up so well right now dang it very fitting oh ryan and i are always down for some red dead talk it's it's gonna be fun

all right so guys talking about recent gaming news the biggest news of this week is the fact that black myth wukong will have released when this podcast releases josh is happier than a pig in mud you darn right unfortunately for this episode, we are recording right before the game releases. So we haven't played it yet, but we are going to do a full deep dive. However, the reviews are in, and I got to say, I'm a little shocked that the ratings are as low as they are. I was really hoping for a 90 or higher on Metacritic. I think we all kind of agreed Black Myth Wukong was like the favorite for Game of the Year up to this point. I have watched multiple video reviews. I know you guys

have been checking it out as well. It sounds like the game has an awful lot going for it as far as like the boss fights, the graphics, a lot of the gameplay, but it does sound like it's kind of riddled with technical issues uh and the story seems pretty underwhelming from what i've seen josh you were the most excited out of all still are is this game more likely to be whack myth wukong or crack myth wukong uh i i'm assuming that crack is the good one so i'm still saying it's crack myth Wukong, even though cracks, don't do crack people.

Okay. Crack's bad. But I also know that whack is even worse. So yeah, I mean, it's funny because this is a classic example of if you read the reviews, everybody seems to really enjoy the game. They just complained that it is very buggy,

that it has some crashes and some technical issues. So we have said many times, hey, that can really ruin a game. If it's bad enough, it can truly bring a game down and ruin the experience. I am ever the optimist. And so I choose to look at all these people saying this game is awesome. It's a ton of fun. Maybe the story doesn't make sense, but dude, it's like, I mean, come on, man. I'm a dark souls Elden Ring fan. I don't care about no story when it comes to those kinds of games, you know? Um, and so I am optimistic that when playing this, if I am not plagued with crashes and bugs, that I'm going to have a much better time than the review scores might indicate. Because again, a lot of people have said,

Ooh, this game's a lot of fun, man. And that's kind of what I'm looking for. Yeah. Hopefully it's just not like a star Wars with Paul for you. Oh, right.

Look at the birds and it would crash. Don't look every time. Paul, don't just don't look at the birds or like the Callisto protocol, right? Like that's a game that was just unplayable for us. Yeah, I know. And so I have the hope that, you know,

a patch coming, you know, day one fixes some of the technical issues. You know, we all have very good computers. So maybe that's not quite such an issue for us. So yeah, I am still very optimistic. I cannot wait to get my hands on this game. I will say I am a little surprised that the review scores are not higher,

but we're going to find out. Like you said, Paul, we're doing a full deep dive on this, which we are trying to get out very quickly since we know people will want to hear our thoughts on it. So you'll get it right here as soon as we can get it out to you. We've got something like nine days

to play as much as we can, and it's about a 40-hour game. So we're going to have to crack out as best as we can get it out to you. We've got something like nine days to play as much as we can. And it's about a 40 hour game. So we're going to have to crack out as best as we can. I prepped my wife this morning and I literally told her, I said, I said, baby, I'm out of town for three days for my job. Ryan is going to be out of town for four or five days. And I told her, I said, I have to play this game when I am back. You may not see me because I'm going to be just grinding this game so that we can talk about it. I will say that IGN did mention having a lot of crashes and issues, even with a 4090 GPU. I know that Game Ranks, I watched there, like what you should know about Blackmuth Wukong. And the one thing that they said, which would drive me wild,

is that they would finally get a boss to where they're almost going to kill them, and then it would crash to desktop. And I was like, ooh, if this game does that a lot, where you've fought this boss 28 times, and now you're three hits away from beating them, and it crashes, that's going to make a lot of people rage.

That would be really bad. That's like a two-point deduction right there that would be bad that's rage quit territory 100 yeah so the fact that the game has an 82 on metacritic oof that's that's pretty mid guys do you think that that takes this game out of game of the year territory or do you think it's still got a puncher's chance i think it has a chance because again if you look at these everybody said i had fun the combat is spectacular the boss fights are spectacular the world is spectacular the main complaints are i don't understand the story and the game crashed on me or the audio cut out or i fell through the floor. So yes,

those things are infuriating. And again, those can really tank the reception of a game. But it tells me that there's something quite good underlying there that I am excited for. So I'm going to say I think it still could be in contention. They just need to get these big issues fixed quickly. So you're saying there's a chance yeah i think i think there will be a chance for it but man the closer we get the more i'm like in space marine 2 i know right dang it because it's like this was one of my most hyped games of the year i remember the very first time I saw the trailer for Black Myth Wukong, I was like, yo, this game looks good, man.

And then now it's kind of like, I'm still really excited, but I'm kind of like, well, I mean, there's always Space Marine 2. I'm a little bummed that it's a silent protagonist also. I was like, oh, that's a little boring. You don't speak Chinese, Paul. We'll see. also i was like oh that's a little boring chinese paul yeah i i i will see the story is already we know it's not really going to be very strong i will say that i looked back at the game of the year winners for the game awards and eight out of the last nine did have a metacritic score of 90 or higher it's stuff like balder's gate 3 96 elden ring 96 Ring, 96, It Takes Two, 88, Last of Us 2, 93, Sekiro, 90,

God of War, 94, Breath of the Wild, 97. So it's very unlikely, I would say, that we see a game get an 82 on Metacritic and win Game of the Year. But it's always possible. But it's been a little bit of a weird year. I think maybe like Final Fantasy 7's probably got a shot, maybe even something like Dragon's Dogma 2. I mean, who knows at this point? It's been a weird year for games. I don't think it'll be Helldivers 2, even though I think all of us might actually end up naming that the game of the year when it's all said and done, but we'll have to wait and see this last stretch. All right, so moving on to our next story here. So after such a long time with no delays, it seems like this is now an epidemic. Every week now we've got several delays to talk about. This week we saw two games get pushed back. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, which

we have talked about a lot. That's the 15th century action RPG that has been pushed back now. Also Terminator survivors, which is an open world survival game with up to four player co-op. I don't think we've talked about that on the show, although I know we shared it internally in our shared doc that also got pushed. Both of those games are now coming out in 2025. What are your guys thoughts?

It's likerah's taking over yeah you get a delay you get a delay you get a delay i don't i just don't get um to me i don't understand the most of the times i'm sure these developers and the project managers and stuff have all been doing this for a very long time how are you so far off of your planning and your foresight and on even giving yourself a cushion before you kind of announce a timeline or a date for projected you know release to where you just keep having to have these delays that's the part again i'm not a developer i'm not in this industry but i don't understand not being able to predict these a little bit more accurately and we're seeing it all over all these

games all the time so i don't know i'm i don't get it i think i can tell you why why no press is bad press it's free publicity for the game if you have a reveal release date trailer guess what you're on euro gamer and ign and kotaku and all this stuff and then the game gets pushed and guess what you're on euro gamer and ign and kotaku and all this stuff and then the game gets pushed and guess what you get new articles written about your game i i part of me wonders if it's strategic because pushing a game back maybe you get a little bit of ill will but all the free publicity that comes with it i feel like it's got to be a net advantage and because we've always said like why do they just just don't give a release window? Wait until you're three months out, like Nintendo does, and say, hey, we've got this game and it's coming out

in three months. But I have a feeling it's a business move. So here's the kicker for me on this one. Avowed, which was one of our most anticipated games for this year, and we kind of said, hey, if there's a game that has a chance of game of the year of out, looks like it might be it got delayed to February 18th of 2025. Right. And they just said,

Hey, we want to give people time. There's a lot of games coming out. We're just going to delay ours. It's ready to go, but we're just, you know, we're giving gamers some time to play their backlog.

Kingdom come deliverance too is very high on my hype meter and they finally said you know what we're gonna have to delay our game they delayed it to february 11th it's one week before avowed comes out they're all pushing to the same time and not only that okay can you imagine being the avowed devs where you were like what the heck guys yeah one week before our game like that's the that like that's the risk you take right when you're the first one to say hey we're gonna delay and you pick a date somebody else is gonna come along and say we get to release the week before you now! Like, what the heck, man? Come on, dude. One week apart. You couldn't have picked a better date than that.

It's so funny. And we've made jokes like this in the past. I don't remember what it was. Was it, um... Oh, gosh. Prince of Persia. Didn't they delay because of another game, but then that game got delayed

also. And so we're like, well, now people are delaying over other games and they're all just ending up being delayed anyway. But yeah, it is a very funny coincidence that now it's looking like February, 2025 might end up a little bit jam logged anyway. Oh my goodness. Like I'm very hyped for both of those games. I cannot wait to play them both, but like releasing an epic RPG, that's probably a hundred hour game one week before another epic RPG. That's probably a hundred hour game. It's like, come on, man. Like a vow just needs to now go, Oh, we've made some great progress. We're going to bump it up two weeks. And then they go February 2nd, right? Yeah. That's where you got to start. Like like then you get into this like release wars thing that would be a baller move I will say the delay of Terminator is less surprising because we still have not seen any gameplay so even though this game got

announced quite a while ago the fact that we've seen nothing tells me it must be in fairly bad shape still to push it back so I don don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I would love to see a fantastic Terminator game, especially up to four player co-op. So I still have hopes for it. I just want to see more. I want to know what they're actually developing on it. Yeah, this is the kind of delay where I get worried like Kingdom Come 2 and Evald and some of these other games stalker 2 saying hey we're gonna delay it i'm not worried about those delays at all like i feel like that's a good thing this when you don't have much to show off on a game and you've been developing it for a while and then you say hey

by the way we're gonna delay something that's where i start going like what's going wrong yeah at that point so it definitely a different vibe between those two delays, you know, or those two games and why they got delayed for sure. Yeah, it's funny. Not all delays are created equal. Yeah. Well, especially in the case of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, they were already basically just remaking the first one. And we've seen a ton of video footage and it's very promising. I still am worried that the melee combat won't hit with all three of us. That's the one thing. Everyone says it either works for you or it completely kills the game. So I think a lot of it's going to hinge on that.

But man, if that game doesn't look fun, I'm really looking forward to testing it out eventually. Yeah. And Terminator, hopefully, will have something to offer as well. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take a short break, and we'll be right back. This is an ad from BetterHelp Online Therapy. as well. All right, well, let's go ahead and take a short break and we'll be right back. Embody the green flag energy and find it in others. BetterHelp offers therapy 100% online and sign up only takes a few minutes. Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com.

All right, moving on to our next story here. Now, it hasn't been terribly long since we talked about how Microsoft was closing a whole bunch of studios. They were looking to cut costs. We talked about how that included shutting down Arcane Austin, who made Redfall, also Alpha Dog Games, who made Mighty Doom. And I think what shocked us the most, and for most people, they were shocked at the fact that Tango Gameworks was getting axed as well. And they are the people who made Ghostwire Tokyo. They made some pretty big hits with The Evil Withins and Hi-Fi Rush, which was a super

surprise hit last year. Well, we got news here this week that Krafton, the publisher of PUBG, they have stepped in to acquire the studio. And they've also said that they're going to continue developing hi-fi rush ip which means we're going to be getting sequels spinoffs whatever it might be we're going to get more of it which i think is a great thing i'm really glad to see that this poor gaming studio that was actually pumping out great games and got surprised laid off at least they get some second life here i think this is a really good wholesome story that we get to cover yeah did have either of you played hi-fi rush i don't think i'm the only one right i've not i've only watched video of it okay so this game came out of the blue it was announced at i don't know last year's games com or something like that and they basically just

said here's this game oh by the way it's's available now. You can actually play this right now. And the world lost their minds. And the game was fantastic. Dude, Hi-Fi Rush is a great, great video game. And then it got axed. The studio got axed and everybody went, what the heck, dude, this studio made a fantastic video game that was beloved by just about everybody. It got phenomenal reviews. This is like one of the coolest things to happen in gaming in a while. And then Microsoft went, yeah, we're just going to ax that studio. And everybody went like, what? Yeah, exactly. Like, why? Like, shouldn't you be rewarding these guys? So kudos to Krafton for stepping in and saying, nah, this is a good development team. These people obviously have

talent. They obviously know what they're doing and we're going to pick it up. We're also picking up the IP because I want to see more Hi-Fi Rush, dude. Like, this is the kind of game that everybody enjoys playing, whether you've played it or not like you play it and then you go dude this game's great you know and so that's the kind of stuff that i want to see like more of not more live service games that fail and flop because people don't know what they're doing and things like that like reward these studios man so i i have to give crafting credit in this regard like thank you for doing this i i hope that it pays off for you because ultimately i know you know

they want to make money and and that's what they're hoping for but at least they're given this franchise and this uh developer another shot at it at least yeah it's not that you know and it's not like uh like you said they they created this hit then they got the ax so to have um to have crafting come in and pick them up probably for pennies on the dollar you know i'm sure they got a great deal and then they can come and financially back them and and reward them for what they created it's it's one of those things we keep we always talk about delays and layoffs and all this stuff it's cool to see something neat happen like this where it's a good story you know in the industry you know that are seem to be more and more rare yeah because we talked a lot about how

it's not just good enough to make good games like you also have to be kind of lucky and in the case of uh tango gameworks they just had the bad luck of being under this umbrella where they were the ones that got cut i mean they've only made five games and like three of them sold millions of copies between Evil Within, Evil Within 2, Hi-Fi Rush. So I'm really glad to see them get saved here by Krafton. All right. And then moving on to our last story of the week. So we are now a couple years in of there being rumors about bringing Red Dead Redemption 1 to PC. And kind of famously, Red Dead 1's code was a horrendous mess. A lot of people said we'll never see it on PC, but there have been hints here and there where we thought maybe a port was on its way. And now it does seem far more likely that we're going to get an announcement soon that it's coming to PC.

There is a PlayStation Store page that has a description of Red Dead 1. And it reads, experience the epic Western adventures that defined a generation now on PC for the first time ever. So this really sounds like there's an awful lot of smoke here. And I think we're probably getting an announcement soon. This would be fantastic because I have a confession, guys. I never played Red Dead 1. Which is wild. It's so good.

It's not my fault, man. I was poor. I couldn't afford a PlayStation 1. 3? 1. 1? I don't know what to from the 90s you know but i i will say like you know everybody raves about red dead redemption 2 you know it's the prequel to red dead 1 i kind of want to know what happens. Like, I mean, I know the general story of stuff, but to be able to play that game on PC, which I'm sure if they do this, they're probably going to remaster it and really do it up.

Like that would be amazing, but it's always been like out of contention because like you said, Paul, you know, people have dug into this and they've always said, dude, we cannot reuse this code. We would have to rewrite this entire game from scratch. Like why do that? You know, the game's already been out. It's old. People have played it and it's like, not everybody, man. I'm one of those people where I would absolutely get very excited to get my hands on this and be able to play it. So Ryan, I couldn't remember. Did you and I ever play Red Dead one together? I know we played Red

Dead revolver, which like a lot of people don't even know exists. And we loved that game. We were on board with this. So we did play Red Dead 1? Yeah, Red Dead 1. Because Red Dead 1, you could skin the horses, right? Oh, I think you're right. Yeah.

I remember skinning the horses. And then I think my mom or something was mortified. She's like, oh my God. I mean, you and I both love Red Dead 1 also, right? I mean, Red Dead 2 is a better game. Absolutely. Oh, for sure. But Red Dead 1 is fantastic.

I mean, it laid all the groundwork. I mean, having the open cowboy world, all the little choices you get to make on the quests and getting to see where things lay out and just having john marston for a whole game is a lot of fun i think he's a really fun character um i will say it's a little bit of a bummer that it's not a complete remake i would have loved to see them remake this game with red dead 2's engine oh my goodness it does that would be incredible that and i know that's like too big of an ask we're not getting that it does sound like they are just porting the ps4 remaster that just came

out not long ago it kind of sounds like they're just porting that but we'll be able to bump up resolution and frame rate for me that's enough i'll i'll buy it for that it's been such a long time since i've experienced it. So I'm really excited. I cannot wait to jump back into this one. Is it too much to ask, though? It's not like Rockstar doesn't have the money. And it's not like they don't have the staff. And the game, all the original codes, the story, everything is there.

Why not just remake it in the updated engine and make a buttload of money they know anyone that has played it will buy it again anyone who loves red dead 2 will buy it anyone who hasn't played red dead 1 will most likely still buy it so i mean i don't i don't see why other than just not wanting to deal with it why they wouldn't do that well are you gonna buy this one yes but so am i what are they gonna charge are they i mean are they gonna charge 70 bucks for this just porting it to pc like that like i bet it'll be 50 that's my guess 50 bucks that's still a hefty price for a port you know yeah here's here's my thing right is i mean red dead 2 one of the greatest games ever

made we all you know we all agree on that yeah okay maybe we don't agree on that but so here's the thing like like somebody like me you know i get this pc port i can finally play red dead maybe it's not remastered so the graphics are kind of oldish still kind of thing but it's like there's the risk that for somebody like me i pick this up and then i go but go, but this isn't nearly as good as Red Dead Redemption 2. So I feel like I've taken a step back in that regard. When you played the first one and then you got to play Red Dead 2, you can go, oh my goodness, look what they did, man. This is a masterpiece.

But going backwards is a lot harder sometimes. It is harder, but you have the story. So for me and Ryan, it was so jarring to play Red Dead 1, and it'd start out where they're like, John, you got to go hunt down your old gangmates. And we're like, okay, I don't... Why? What? Who? Were we on bad terms? What's going on?

And then you're yelling out to Bill Williamson, and that name doesn't mean anything to you the first time you play it. And then Bill shoots you and leaves you for dead. That's how Red Dead 1 opens. And it was so interesting to jump right in the middle of the story and then years later, get to go back and see the early days of the gang. It is funny to go the other way. But for you, Josh, it is kind of like getting a new sequel, which might even be more exciting where you get to see, okay, I saw how Dutch led us astray. I got to kill Micah. I had all this satisfaction. Now I get to see where the story goes next because it is the end of the cowboy era. So you get to see, all right, here's John's

story all the way up to like 1910 or whatever, when the game ends. So maybe the story is also a pull, if not the graphics. The fact that Red Dead 2 is the prequel to this would absolutely help out in that situation, because I am going to feel like I'm just playing a slightly more janky continuation. You know what I mean? Like a budget sequel? Right. Yeah. Like a budget, like budget like hey let's tie this story up but i mean everybody says the game's really good so i mean obviously it's got something going for it but yeah you're you're right in that regard like being able to just continue on and know you know

what happened prior to that would be very helpful for somebody like me that never got to play red dead one yeah and that's what part i mean i love after red dead 2 when you got to play Red Dead 1. Yeah, and that's what I love after Red Dead 2 when you get to play in those areas that are from Red Dead 1 when you go down to Mexico and stuff and you're going to all these different gang hideouts. You're like, I remember these places. It definitely doesn't look the same. The graphics are a lot better, but yeah, I'm stoked.

I'm very excited. I'm a little bummed that Josh has had the end of Red Dead 1 ruined because I've talked about it multiple times on this show. But it is a very affecting ending of that entry as well. So if the end of Red Dead 2 did something for you, the end of Red Dead 1 will as well. So the story is really fun. And I love the relationship between John and his wife and how they're very hot and cold in how they deal with each other. It's always a lot of fun. Yeah. All right.

And then, Ryan, I know you kind of wanted to mention a little bit of an update to Astro Bot that you noticed. Oh, yes. I saw. Actually, I didn't. I think it's from maybe a month ago or a couple weeks. Me and my son booted it up today just for some pre-Astro Bot hype. There's a new update where they put a bunch of bots and a bunch of new artifacts in the game. If you're wanting to get ready for the release soon, hop in there.

Get your platformer skills dialed back in. I hopped in this morning and right was right away it was it was a lot of fun um just getting in there and doing kind of the thing again i it's it's crazy how much just a little game like that is so enjoyable astrobot is also really high up on my it's really high on my list too guys i was just gonna say the fact that i've never played astro's playground because that's what came with the ps5 right it wasn't that little showcase ps5 thing that they did yeah it was basically a tutorial for the controller which is so wild right right and so it's like somebody like me where i've never even dabbled in astro's playground but i hear really fun things about it and then the the gameplay footage that we saw for astrobot blew me away

i mean it blew us all away you can go back and listen to that episode when we came out and we were like oh my gosh we got to talk about this game like it comes out september 6th man you know like the only reason that i think we're not like jumping out of our seats for this is it's right in the middle of freaking blackmuth wukong star wars outlaw and space marine 2 yep is it's right in the middle of freaking blacksmith wukong star wars outlaw and space marine 2 yep and it's like well these i mean those are pretty huge games but i think all of us have said like i'm probably gonna play this game on my own you know like because i want to play i'm borrowing somebody's ps5 to play this at some point because this game just looks incredible it looks like the perfect throwback to like the arcade 3D platformers of old

with new awesome mechanics and, you know, the graphics and boss fights and all this stuff. It looks like it's got a little bit of everything. Like, I think this game looks great. Like we're talking about game of the year possibilities. Dude, Astro Bot could wind up being like a sneaky game of the year contender if the game is anything like

what we saw from the trailers. Well, talking about the truncated timeline, you've got nine days to beat Blackmuth Wukong before Star Wars Outlaws, and then you've got seven days to beat Star Wars before Astrobot, and then you've got three days to beat Astrobot before you get Space Marine 2, and then you've got 10 days to beat Space Marine 2 before God of War Ragnarok on PC. So my goodness, we are going to be busy here for the next couple months. I got to go apologize to my family, guys. Yeah, I'm just going to lock yourself in the office for the next month. I'm going to put a cot in here.

I'm going to get a little mini fridge. Yeah. Oh, goodness. All right all right well that wraps everything up here for this week in gaming please make sure to follow the pod so that way nothing passes you by and go check out support options for those bonus episodes and everything else at multiplayer squad dot com also josh runs our socials and we want to give him something to do so go say hello to him there or troll him on socials whatever whatever, whatever you want to do. You can find us everywhere at Video Gamers Pod. Thanks for listening. And until next time, happy gaming.

See ya. All right. See everybody.