Video Gamers Podcast - Breaking Down Expedition 33 – Full Spoiler Dive into Story, Bosses, and The Ending(s)? | TWIG | Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and John go full spoiler-mode on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. From the game’s hauntingly beautiful world to its bold story choices and jaw-dropping ending(s), we spill all the beans. This is absolute PEAK gaming experience. We break down how Expedition 33 makes its narrative so emotionally impactful, and how it stacks up among the greats of the genre. If you've finished this video game—or just want to know what all the hype is about—this is your definitive Expedition 33 breakdown. Your weekly hit of gaming news, deep dives, and everything video games—from the Video Gamers Podcast. Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, and Gaius Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz 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

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and end the gommage once and for all. Today is the day we go full spoilers for Expedition 33. That's right, there is so much that needs to be talked about that we're heading back at talking all the things we couldn't talk about before. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh, and joining me, he might not have loved Expedition 33, but he's about to have his mind blown because he has no clue where this story goes.

It's Ryan. Is that how that works? Like, I'm just going to just have my mind blown from it. I mean, I figured I was going to bring this pillow and take a nap real quick. Dude, Ryan, if you listen, I know it's fun for you, man. But, man, if you've ever been more wrong in your life, I don't I don't know how, to be honest. But with that said, the story in Expedition 33 we're gonna talk about.

And if you don't think this story sounds amazing, well then we need to check you. I'm ready to hear it. I'm ready to hear it. All right, and joining us, the man who shed tears with me, the man who grieved with me, the man who understands the emotional journey and toll this game can have on you, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i still recovering from it. But I gotta tell you the one little bit of reprieve I've got is the fact that I think this is probably the first double deep dive in video game pod.

We have done Rust a couple of times. Yeah, we've done Rust and then we did like a return to Rust like a year later, but I think, oh, take it back. Deep Rock Galactic. We played Deep Rock Galactic, and then we had somebody go legendary and say, hey, I'd actually like you guys to play this again. There's been a lot of changes.

So come on, Deep Rock. And we were like, don't twist my arm, man. Well, it's in rarefied air. I think Clear Obscure is certainly in the top two candidates for game of the year so far and with the amount of hype that's getting and With GTA 6 off the table. I am thrilled to be diving back into Into this world with you guys tonight. So here's the thing with this I know because we did our initial deep dive where we gave our impressions of the game

We kind of broke the game down for people what it's about that kind of thing I don't know that I have seen more people in our community pick up a game and play it like together at the same time as this. And one of the things that we know from experience and we are seeing from our listeners and the people in our community is this game, you absolutely need somebody to talk to about this game

like after you beat it. I mean, it is literally like I can't tell you how many people been like I just beat act two and they're like, dude, DM me. I need to talk to you about what happened, you know, or where the story is going and stuff like that. So this is your warning. Officially, if you have not played Expedition 33, do not listen to this episode unless you are a weirdo like Ryan and you're just like,

dude, I'm never gonna play this game. If you're never gonna play Expedition 33, number one, shame on you. Number two, shame on you again. And then number three, then you can maybe understand why this game is so great. And because we're going to spoil everything in this so i mean i don't know how much more i can warn you uh spoiler alert big flashing red lights you

know i just i don't want anybody being like i can't believe you guys spoiled this you know and it's like dude we told you it's gonna be going to be in the thumbnail for this episode. So that's on you if you didn't realize it. But yes, we absolutely need to talk about the story, the characters, where this game goes, because people that have played it, people that have beat it completely understand, and they're going to be amped up like we are right now. And honestly, I'm kind of curious to see if Ryan has like a heart at all Oh, you know to just be like okay guys like I didn't know this is what happened in this game like a turn-based combat

But oh incredible one of the best stories ever told in a video. Oh my god listen I'm just here, so I don't get fine I do have a question for Ryan, but first a very brief bit of important housekeeping. Huge shout out to Kakarot and Jake Snyder for signing up for Rare Status. Thank you to both of you for supporting this podcast. What a guy. Man, guys we've been thanking a lot of people lately man we have I mean legitimately it has been amazing we've been getting lots of new supporters and lots of people lots and lots of people coming into the discord man and then I

mean the efforts of the community have been extremely noteworthy to the point where we were recently as of this recording recognized by Spotify as being number 18 in their top Podcasts in the leisure category out of a million Yeah out of a million podcast number 18, so that is pretty awesome guys Wow Yeah Dude, it's it's crazy to us. I mean, we we've always said we're just a bunch of dudes that freaking love video games. And we love talking about them. We talk about

them the way that you would with your friends, because nobody does that. You know, we've always felt like it's either like industry, like being very official, or you know, I'm I'm an expert, or I'm a critic or something like that. And honestly, a lot of the podcasts that I have checked out get way too political. And dude, I don't play games for that, man. I play games to escape and relax and unwind. And so we always just said, dude, let's talk about games like we, I mean, we are friends, you know, let's just turn on some microphones and record that.

So you heard it here first, everybody. Josh and John are not experts. So anything they say the rest of this episode, just, you know, let it just, you know, people that know of me know I'm no expert, man. So all right. Well, listen, let's let's get into this, guys. Ryan, I promised a question for you. Yes. And I'm going to I'm going to And I'm gonna make this hard on you, because I know your answer otherwise.

Apart from Red Dead 2, what video game has the greatest story that has touched you or that is memorable to you that you have played? Ooh, on the spot. No prep. Oh gosh. I know, I took Red Dead, because you were like,, you were just being like Red Dead 2. Yeah, that's easy. Yeah. And that's why I was like, no, no. I would say Last of Us. Okay. That's a good one. Yeah, that's, that's just, yeah, the ability to, um, like the, the desperate nature in that world and what they had to go through and where they were trying to get and then what happened You know at the end of the game and stuff So I would say last was probably probably one of the better stories I've seen Okay, I mean that's a great pick even though I didn't finish it. I know how the story ends. It's got the twists It's got the characters you care about it's got those oh my gosh moments like those sorts of things to it

I I'm very curious because we're going to break down all of the story and spoilers for Expedition 33. I'm just kind of curious if it like if it matters to you at that point. Not that you're gonna go back because we're staring down Doom the Dark Ages right now. We're staring down Elden Ring, Night Ring coming out at the end of this month. So it's like I don't expect that you're gonna go back to Expedition 33 but I am very curious if like knowing what you're going to go back to Expedition 33. But I am very curious if knowing what you're about to know makes you go, OK, I kind of get it.

I'm very much story driven. That's why I love action RPGs so much, because I can get that kind of flow of action and combat with typically a decent story. So I am excited to see where it all went. And like I said before, I love the story. I love the world. I just can't get past turn-based combat. how far did you make it? I don't remember.

I'm pretty sure you said you beat act one. I beat act one. Yeah. So I went through act one and I'm like, this is, this is a gut punch from the end of act one. Yep. All right. Well, listen, we promise full spoilers. Here we go. John, Ryan, you're going to have to just jump in when you, you know, you're like, guys, I need a second to cry for a second here. But I mean, we've already talked about how incredible this game is. We're not going to rehash that. I want to start off with the very first, oh, like, oh, moment in this game. And to me, that moment is, well, I mean, well, actually, let me back that up. The first old moment is the beach when you land on the beach,

but they kind of showed this in the trailer a little bit. So this is not such a spoiler, but like the expedition lands on the beach. We meet Renoir, you know, for the, for the first time, I, I gotta say, number one, I love the styling. I just love the look of Renoir. He's like this dapper gentleman. He comes out, he's got the little bit of like white in his hair.

He's a handsome fella too, dude. You can't deny, like there's something about Renoir coming out looking all dapper and handsome and then just freaking murdering people in this expedition, man. To me, that was the first like, what is happening moment in this game? Was it the same for you guys?

Yeah, it was for me for certain. So you mentioned that they alluded to it in the trailer and I think they did, but still when I saw it, I was like, whoa, oh my God, like immediate stakes raised, like right off the bat. Like these guys don't stand a chance. You know what I'm saying? It must be, it must, you know, it rings to me like

in World War II Normandy, like when they were storming the beach. And it's like, you've just got like all these troops in the boats heading towards the beach with an unknown future. And as soon as they get let out, they're just mowed down, absolutely mowed down. It's like how absolutely helpless and vulnerable we are I don't know. I thought it was just such a brilliant and shocking way to get them into the world

That's what it was. It was shocking and that's the exact same thing I was gonna say too is it's like it's that storming the beaches where it's just that just Chaos quick like glimpses everywhere and you're like what the heck is going on and everybody's dying and it's just just chaos, quick like glimpses everywhere. And you're like, what the heck is going on and everybody's dying and it's just chaos, you know? And so it was a big introduction into this new world, which was very, very like startling, you know, if you will, like to bring you into what you're about to play. It was the first glimpse for me where you went,

these guys are not gonna pull any punches. Yeah. You know, like this is not, this is not a story where they're gonna dumb it down for the the lowest common Denominator or to try to make it appealing to the widest range of people or something like that John you touched on something in our deep dive and and this is the first time where we hear the cane Like the ground that read one of the most iconic sounds in video games are oh, yeah My gosh people that you know people that are listening to this cuz again if you haven't played the game like, thump the ground that Ren- One of the most iconic sounds in video games already. Oh my gosh. People that, you know, people that are listening to this, cause again, if you haven't played the game,

don't listen to this episode. But dude, that, I think there's not a gamer out there that doesn't hear that cane thump and just that sound and can hear it so perfectly in your head, dude. Oh my goodness, man. It's like the Metal Gear alert sound. Like everybody knows what that is, you know? Yeah. So, all right. So everybody, you know, this is It's like the Metal Gear alert sound. Everybody knows what that is, you know? Yeah, so

Alright, so everybody you know, this is early on in the game. Everybody gets slaughtered you get separated You know, you are Gustav you're trying to find Mayel. You know, this is where things go from here. I Mean, you know, there's there's not a lot of like spoilery type stuff at that point I mean you ultimately find Mayel, you have Luna, I can't, my brain wants to say Luna. It's Luna. Yeah, it's Luna. Luna, yeah, like an AE. But it's Luna, yeah.

Okay. Like part of, half the time my brain goes Luna and then it's Luna. Because of how it's spelled, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I'm just gonna, is there anything other than the end of Act 1 that jumps out to you guys, spoiler-y-wise, that we need to talk about? Not at this point, but something that I loved, and I guess we won't go into it too far, but there is a very hard pivot at the end of at the end of act two with regards

to like kind of the direction of the game. And, um, we were, when we were like exploring act one and act two, there were certain like design choices that you go like, ah, does that even really fit in this game? Like what, where does this art direction come from? And I was noticing that some in in act one and two and it sets up just a great set of spoilers for act three. But you know, what I started to notice going into act one was certain consistent aesthetics that ended up leading to a big pay off that we'll get to in a moment. So like the, the, the, the gestural's for instance, was one of them. And then the, um, similarities between some of the characters and their counterparts like Gustav and Renoir, for instance. like Gustav and Renoir, for instance. I started picking it up. I was like, is Renoir just an older Gustav?

There's like things that they were planting without going nuts in the exposition and blown it off. And I think they banked it very, very well for when they do the reveal. Yeah, the only other thing that I'll talk about, and I'm pretty sure this is act one But the I'd love to that when you're going to the gastro village you you start to meet the like Saka pate Saka pot. Yeah, I can't even say it's Saka potate or something

That's it it's like he starts seeing the Okay, well these are fun to fight you're fighting weird doll, like wooden doll things that just love to fight. Yeah. The only one to do is fight, man. And then you get to the, oh, you must face down the ultimate sucka patata. And then you're like, oh, and this guy was actually like somewhat tough. I mean, he's firing cannons at you. And you're like, okay, like I feel like that was my first glimpse of like a legit boss fight in this game And it's just such a weird like juxtaposition of like these really kind of cute like puppets It's like all they want to do is just fight man puppets with funky hair. Yeah, yeah, they hit you you're like oh

So let's skip ahead because we have a lot to talk about at the end of this game. I don't want to spend too much at the beginning. But you get to the end of Act 1. Oh my goodness, you meet Renoir. He comes out of nowhere. You know, you're slowly making your way further and further towards the Patreuse. Renoir comes out of the blue. He's trying to talk to Gustav.

And then it happens, dude. He just wrecks Gustav. And this, I got to say, this was the moment where my jaw hit the floor. I literally paused and just stared at the screen for a second. And I was like, Oh, man, this game is going to go places that I did not expect. They are not afraid to kill off main characters. This Ren why dude, who the heck is this guy?

Like, why does he care so much? What did you know? What did it like? He kills Gustav, man. He's the freaking main character in the game Yeah, I loved it felt it felt very much like Ned start dying at the end of Game of Thrones season one or I was like ah nobody's safe Nobody's safe from there I personally

Was not Disappointed though because I think Gustav was a little bit of a weenie for sure. He was such a father figure to me. No, he was so lame, dude. He was such a nice guy. He was a lame old man. In what way did you not like him?

I just felt he was just kind of like a dweeb, man. He was not, he did not embody like the leader of Expedition 33 to me anyways. Like he's going to go in there and he's going to make the difference and set everything right. Like that's not the feeling I got. Again, that's as far as I got. But I was not disappointed when that happened. That's as far as Gustav got too, buddy. Me and him, we're on the same path. Now, OK, Ryan. OK.

Now, did you, knowing what you know, did you think or anticipate or believe that Gustav comes back later in the game? Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup. Pick any two breakfast items for $4. New four-piece french toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or english muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. I did not, but I also thought it was weird, like you mentioned, like the looks and the similarities, and I'm like, man,

all these guys kind of look similar in the same I'm so there was like some sort of sense of there's more than meets the eye There's more than the picture that shows just like the rest of the game showed you within that first act Like there's always something else around the corner or behind that that picture or you know, whatever it may be so, uh, yeah, I I didn, I didn't think too far into it, but it wasn't just like cut and dry. John, did you think he was gonna come back? Gustav, like in the story, did you think there was like,

there's surely no way this guy's dead dead? Well, I thought it was gonna tie into Verso, Renoir. I don't know about Verso, Renoir. I don't know about Verso at first. When Gustav dies. My initial impression was that there's some sort of time thing and Renoir is older Gustav. That's kind of what I thought too, legitimately. And there's something about that where like older Gustav

who has lived in this world, like is trying to stop, ultimately killing younger Gustav is like better than allowing him to live in whatever, you know. And become an old man. That's kind of where my brain was going. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, so at this very moment in the game, because this is the first jaw-dropping moment,

and I love, I love when people start playing and they come at guys. I picked up Expedition 33, saw all of us talking about it. They start playing and they're like, dude, this world's beautiful. The combat's great. Like these characters are fleshed out. You instantly care about them from like 20 minutes into the game because they do a masterful job of making you care about these characters. And then you just kind of smile and you're like, oh man.

And then you see it and then they come back to it. They come back and they just go, just finish act one. And then we get the spoiler tag so nobody knows. And then it's like, of course we're clicking it because we're like, we know what happens. And then it's just like, what the heck did they do to my boy? Like I can't believe it. Like I haven't cried in a game like this in years and all that. And it's just like we just know what's coming.

And it's hilarious to me because without a doubt, people are like, just beat Act one and they always comment on it. And that's why we're doing this episode, man. Like, honestly, because, again, people need to talk about it. They need to, like, share these these moments with people which says so much about the game itself so okay so Gustav dies we meet verso do you like verso more than Gustav Ryan doesn't like Gustav so I'm guessing so at that point. Verso was way sweeter than Gustav right away yeah I will say I did like verso's character, but I think it's because it came with the mystery of like who is Verso?

What is he doing here? He's got that look like he knows something that he's not telling people. And you're you just kind of have this glimpse of like this guy knows more than he's saying and he's going to be my route to kind of unlock a little bit more about the story in this game. But John, did you like Verso more than Gustav the same in different? You know, I actually, I had the opposite opinion. I kind of was really growing on Gustav.

If nothing, if for nothing else, then I really loved the interactions between him and Sophie where it was like, clearly there's something here that failed, but there's like a lot of reminiscent love and stuff. And then when, when Sophie died, it was like, clearly there's something here that failed, but there's like a lot of reminiscent love and stuff, and then when Sophie died, it was just brutal, you know, right for me, right out of the gate. And so I had steak in Gustav that I didn't immediately have in Verso.

Once Gustav died, and at the end of Act One, there was the scene where Mael, she witnesses Gustav being killed and then there's the sort of chemistry, if you'd call it that, between her and Renoir. At that point, to me, it became the story of Mael and Renoir and the other characters were supporting characters, including Verso. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I mean, I do think this is where Mael leaps

to the forefront of the storytelling. And it's like, hey, she's, I don't wanna call her the main character, but she's kind of the main character at this point. Gustav was the main character. He dies. It becomes kind of now about Meiel. And if my timing is right, that fight where Gustav dies is the first glimpse we get at the kind of black and white scene with the girl that looks like Meiel.

We don't really know who she is at first. She's, you know, ultimately she's Alicia. But you know, if I remember right, that's that moment where we get that kind of snapshot and maybe just a few seconds of that black and white world and it's like, wait, what's going on here? It looks like Mayelle, except she's horribly disfigured. She's got this mask on, that kind of thing. And you're like, wait a minute, what's going on here, dude?

So, okay. So, I will say this, as Act one's over, we're in act two. This is where I started getting like these, these spidey sense of like the paint. This is not what the painter seems in this game. And I remember even going to work because I, you know, I was the only one that was playing it at this point and my, my buddies were asking me about it and they're kind of talking and saying what makes this game special and all that. I'm trying to explain the story spoiler free a little bit, but I kept saying I have a theory about the paintress.

I don't know why, but I don't think that the paintress is bad. Like I think that, you know, they're all going to try to kill her, but for some reason I feel like this game is going to have this twist or something oh boy does it but to me the twist was the paintress is not this evil creature maybe she's trapped there maybe she's misunderstood that kind of thing but did you get any of that like kind of hinting at this point in the game too John? Yeah well I think they did a really good job of foreshadowing a lot of this stuff without really selling the farm. There is a line of dialogue early in Act One where they say the paintress almost looks sad,

and I was like, there's something to that. And then even as you kind of get closer and closer to the monolith, she is not physically positioned in a stance of power. She's like almost weeping. I love it. Absolutely, dude. She is. She's got her head down on her arms, which I like. She looks like she's crying. Like legitimately that's the pose is if somebody was sitting on the ground crying. So now I want to ask you like in these types of games, then even in like moves and stuff, do you guys typically try to, when you're playing it

or watching it, do you try to figure out what's coming up next or what is gonna happen? Or do you just like to live in them? Because I tend to like to just be in the moment and almost not think about the future and experience what's happening so I can almost react to it real time and not just be constantly wondering.

So you, Josh, you said- I love trying to figure out. It's just a challenge to me to be like, okay, this is what I think, this is what I don't think, this is what I think the twist is that's coming up. And that kind of, yeah, I mean, that's just the way my brain works because it's like when you start to tell a story like this,

and again, this goes to how masterful this game is because John said it too, That's just the way my brain works because it's like when you start to tell a story like this. Yeah. And again, this goes to how masterful this game is because, you know, John said it too, like they give you these nuggets, like a second playthrough of this game, you would pick up so many little glimpses and hints and things like that. That it's like in looking back at it, you're like, Oh my gosh, dude, like again, even the pose of the painter, she looks like she's crying. She looks like she's crying. She looks like she's mourning or something. And then it's like, why would she look

that way? If she's this super evil being that's just wiping out an entire age of people, you know, so I kind of approached this and I remember bragging about it going, ah, here's my theory, dude, the mattress isn't bad, they're gonna have something where you know, she's a good person or something like that, or she's been corrupted. And now they have to go cure the source of the corruption or something like that. I was a little bit. So yeah, I think Ryan, I think I'm more like you. I like to experience it as it's happening. If for nothing, I had this terrible experience with my wife who, we went to Scotland a couple of years ago

and one day we were kind of having like a hangover recovery day. And we decided to get a bunch of like cheeses and cured meats and watch Braveheart, which she'd never seen. And I loved Braveheart growing up. Absolutely loved that movie. Put it on and right when the,

gosh, what's her name? The female protagonist at the beginning gives young William Wallace the flower. Oh yeah. Sarah goes, oh, she's gonna die. He's gonna basically declare war on the English, she called out the whole thing right up. I was like, oh man, just totally ruined this movie. I wanna be in the moment and experience it

with the characters and not worry too much about what I think is gonna happen. And honestly, man, some of my very favorite movies have an ambiguous tone to them. Memento is one of my favorite movies. Yeah. Yeah, and that's a movie where I think you learn a little more about it every time you watch it. And I could see this being that type of game also,

the more you, if you were to play it again two, three times, you would be able to just interpret the story just a little bit deeper. Okay, so let's skip ahead a little bit in Act 2 because ultimately you wind up working your way towards the monolith. You're somehow, your ragtag party of people is getting closer and closer to, you know, actually facing down the Patrisress along the way we meet Monoko as like a kind of mid-game party member that you come across I did not really care for Monoko that much he is very

strong I kind of went I'm very attached to my party already we've got CL we've got Meiel we've got Luna we've got Verso at this point I'm used to these people I'm not sure that I want to just play this new character. That is also weird. He's a guest role You know, I'd loved his kind of sense of humor and his voice acting and stuff, but I kind of Yeah, his foot fetish. Yep You know, but it was kind of like I've already attached to these these characters. I've built my party on them

I don't want to thrust this new character into the party and try to learn him and all that. Even though he is pretty darn strong in his abilities. And the whole like, absorbing abilities from other creatures that you come across and fight I thought was pretty cool, but I just didn't really jive with him that much. Kept him in my party for like an hour or two and then I was like, I don't really I don't know man so did you did you use him very much John? I started in a similar position where you were where I was almost like irritated that he came on board like I got I got so my party was pretty much the girls for like most of it where I, Myelle more and more ended up becoming like my glass cannon where I'm like, oh my gosh, this, she can hit hard,

but she needs, she needs some protection. And Luna became, you know, she's a very versatile character and she ended up healing. And then she was also got the great elemental damage. And then Cyelle, I loved I loved her combat dynamic, her combat mechanic. So it ended up being mostly them, and then if I needed some light damage,

I brought Verso in her once in a while. But by the time Minoko came in, I was like, you know, like I have to like earn all of his skills separately, and then it's just kind of like a lottery system as far as like when you'd be able to maximize on them But towards the end game he was a main he was he was like I never left my party very strong I just got some very strong. I just I don't know I didn't feel the bond to him I guess you know so it's funny how you get that when you can only have so many characters and like I'm not a turn-based

Guy, but like I know that you get attached to certain ones even if they may not be as good you're more comfortable with this other character and you're like I don't want to switch man I like this one. Yeah. Yeah. So okay dude we could we could this could be a two-hour episode man legitimately okay but what I want to do is to me the standout one of the the standout moments in act two and Ryan I I kind of sent this to you because I knew you were you were done playing. Yeah, I

The axons, okay so it you know The big thing is you can't get close enough to the paintress without taking down this magical barrier that exists the only way you can do that is if you get enough of the chroma to You know forge this weapon that can pierce this veil. And the only way to do that is to take out these two axons.

Right. So I'm like, oh, this is cool. I love me a good boss fight. I went to Visage first. And this is where Ryan, I think this is right when you were like, hey, I'm done playing this game. And I was like, dude, I just saw one of the coolest looking levels ever. It's nothing but a bunch of faces. It almost came across as like a horror level,

which I thought was incredible. Yeah. You have the option of like just going straight to the axon and fighting them, or you can like weaken him by going and taking on these three masks that are like anger, happiness and sorrow or something like that. I wanted to see everything. So I went and I fought those.

I thought those fights were really neat. You get to this massive boss fight with Visage. He's on just a different scale as far as this gargantuan creature than anything else you've fought in the game at this point. I got my butt kicked like multiple times in a row on this one. I also had a moment where I was like, I am the dumbest gamer alive because the first time I fought him, he summons these masks through this mirror

and these masks wreck you and put all kinds of debuffs on you. And the very first time I attempted this fight, I broke one of the masks. And then it was like, the mask is unable to go back into the mirror. And so it just breaks. I couldn't figure out how the heck I did that.

After about five attempts, another mask pops out of the mirror and I noticed that it has like a glowing eye. And that's when I was like, wait a minute, Ryan even knows he's like, yeah, you just shoot it. And I had this moment where I was like, wait a minute. And I shoot the two eyes and then it's like, the mask kit returns to the mirror and so it breaks. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like I have the biggest idiot in the world right now man. How did I not know this?

Yeah, they snuck that shooting in that shooting dynamic in Pretty cleverly like did you get to some of the petank? You know a little like circle Yeah like I remember like gosh this thing is freaking hard to kill and Like I what I didn't realize is like you shoot the orb And then the orb is kind of all over the place. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but So then after Visage you go to siren. That's the order. I did it in did you do the same order John?

Yeah, that's the order they recommended. So yeah I'm gonna say this dude the siren fight and the level was one of the coolest levels I have seen in a game. I don't know, dude. It's like you get there. You just came from this horror level. There's this everything is dancing. There's this gigantic axon that is like a ballerina just like slowly dancing off in the distance. The music is beautiful.

They're talking about how she weaves wonder and all this stuff. And I am just like in this zone. I make it to the boss because you see her dancing off in the distance the whole time. Luna is reacting very strangely and the music and I'm just like, this is crazy to me, man. I know she's gonna kick my butt but darn it is this isn't like the most beautiful scene at the same time man so I make it to the boss I'm standing right at the platform before you fight her and

I just vibe out for like five minutes straight dude no lie I took a video I sent it to Ryan I said I know you're done so I'm gonna spoil. I sent it to Ryan. I said, I know you're done. So I'm going to spoil this. I said, I don't know why this scene is hitting me the way it is hitting me, but legitimately I put my controller down. I sat there for five minutes straight and I just watched Cyrene dance. She's trailing the flower petals. This beautiful music is playing. She's freaking as tall as a skyscraper in the sky. And I just went, this is one of those gaming moments for me that I will remember forever. Like, I talk about it, right?

We did this in our best gaming moments episode, flying over Hogwarts on my hippogriff, watching the sunset will stick with me forever, dude. I don't know why it's a random thing, but I totally vibe to that. Halo three war hog level. Halo three war hog level. Absolutely, yep. Senua. Absolutely. Yep. Uh, uh, Senua saga, the, the fire level, even though, you know, that level was creepy and oh my gosh, like there's just these

game memories and that watching siren dance, knowing that I was about to just fight her. I'm telling you, man, it was just a hit in a way I wasn't expecting. I didn't even play the game and I was vibing. I went and I watched it and I was like, okay, I like this. Like I was vibing with it too. So I totally, totally get what you were saying on that. It really was man. I don't, I still have the video on my phone.

I ran out and I showed my mom, I was like, look at this boss fight. And she's like, oh, that's really pretty. You're weird. You know, just like, I, that's really pretty. You're weird, you know, just like I don't know man, but So let's let's jump to the end of act two this is where you finally make it to the monolith You're there you come up to the paintress. Oh my god excited. She's larger than life I mean, she's huge This is one of the things I didn't realize initially in the very beginning of the game is this is Like a freaking hundred foot tall like creature

We meet my mom at for the first time ever and you're like who the heck is my mom Renoir shows up again. He's like begging you. Please don't do this. I'm not gonna allow you to do this This is where the story Really really took off for me. I mean it was fantastic before but this is where the story really, really took off for me. I mean, it was fantastic before, but this is where it became Oscar worthy, quite possibly one of the best stories I've ever seen in a game.

It- Or anywhere. Like legitimately, dude, is that kind of hit where it hit for you too, John? It did. This is really where it went from being kind of a Linear pretty straightforward story about you know hopelessness and a grand antagonist and you know some supporting characters to a oh

Wow, this is this is a lot deeper than I thought deeper Yeah, and I don't know if it's too early to say this, but you know that it ends up becoming like, the story is about the cycle of grief, you know, like rather, rather than just like fighting some big world ending enemy, it's like this perpetual cycle of grief that you're, you're playing through and how the different parties, parties are affected by it and stuff man I just brought dude. I'm yeah, all right, so I'm gonna try to give Ryan the cliff notes on this Yeah, let me know man. I want it. So here's the thing dude at the end of act two

I I finished act two which I thought a lot of people think this is the end of the game You're fighting the Patriots. This is the whole what the whole game is about We've been getting these little glimpses and snippets of this other world with Alicia, right? So Ryan, you saw the girl that looks like Mayel. She's just figured she wears the mask. That world that we're seeing is the real world in this game, okay?

Like the actual real world. What we discover in the end of Act Two, as you get to the paintress and you start trying to fight her, is that there is actually this family that Renoir and Verso and Mayelle are a part of in the real world. Okay. Now Mayelle's real world name is Alicia. And so the girl that you see that is disfigured is Alicia, who is Mayelle, but in the real world. And in the real world, this family, what was the name of that family, John?

Can you remember? The D'Sondre family. The D'Sondre family is Verso, Renoir, Alicia, and the mom who is Mamon, and they are painters. They actually can paint life into these canvases. They're like gods almost in a way. Where it's like whatever they paint comes to life and they can create these worlds and things like that. And so you get this kind of reveal that there is this real life going on. Apparently there is a

faction called the writers. So this is maybe DLC stuff coming out where the writers have either lied to or betrayed the painters. And that's what caused the house fire that that that disfigured May Alicia who is Mayelle, right? Which is why she wears the mask. So in real life, Alicia is disfigured. She got she got burned. She can't speak because her vocal cords got burned. She's horribly disfigured She wears this mask because she thinks she's ugly at that point and everybody's very sad about what happened to Alicia and verso And I this verse don't die in the fire Yeah, yeah

I I had I actually like put my thoughts and kind of summarize the story to this point because it took I had to like it's hard I will yeah, please cuz I'm like wait what okay, so So here's here's kind of the brief summary all right the Dessandra family as Josh was saying it's Renoir Who's the father Aline? Who's the mother? Clea who is the sister? Verso who's the brother and Alicia who also is Mael in the game. They possess the ability to create these immersive worlds through painting on a canvas that are powered by their thoughts and their painting styles, and they bring things that are in

their real life into the game, like Monoko and I can't remember the little totem's name, like Monoko's friend's name. Oh, uh, Nako? Nako, yeah, thank you. But they're like inspired by their dogs, like their pets in real life. Okay. And the gastroles are all, you know,

paintbrushes because they're painters of soda. Oh, what? That's crazy. Yeah, again, there's all these little seeds that get planted through the games that really pay off between Act 2 and Act 3. Anyway, so by projecting their consciousness into these canvases, they're able to kind of like

live inside these worlds as like an escape, but the longer they stay in them, their health, they start to like kind of lose themselves. So Aline and Renoir, both artists, like in the very literal sense, Verso is a musician and they kind of like to stay in them a little bit. Aline warns Renoir not to lose himself in the painted worlds.

Their son Verso creates his own kind of realm and fills it with these mannequin gesturals and characters that are based on his childhood toys and pets so like Esquia is like a toy it's something that was based on a toy that he grew up with. This world is once this sort of joyful space that they shared that that Verso and Clea specifically shared together however when this tragedy struck and the fire happened, it kind of like consumes the family. Verso dies, Alicia is badly burned, and Aline, the mom who's kind of like shattered by this whole situation,

ends up refusing the fact that Verso, you know, you think about mothers all the time where they kind of like refuse to accept the family death of the child and they go into this like endless sort of cycle of grief. So she enters the canvas to escape from it and becomes the Patris to try as as she might to stave off the death of like an avatar of her son who she created who ends up being like Gustav and She uses her powers which is like ends up being this chroma stuff the stuff that ends up being Currency in the game or whatever to create Lumiere, which is the world modeled after Paris and repopulates it with painted versions of her family, including the recreated Verso Gustav. So Renoir, who is disturbed by Aline's obsession in declining health, Renoir, the husband,

and you know, he's basically lost his wife at this point. He comes into the canvas as a being called the curator who ends up initially being a helpful entity for you because he like levels up your weapons and helps you in this fight against the paintress because ultimately he wants his wife back in the real world. Determined to, you know, end this sort of, Pantress's influence. He creates these entities called the Axons who are like, they are similes of his family. So there are actually four Axons, one you just don't see on screen, but there's four Axons, one for each member of the family That are there to destroy Lumiere the city, but Aline that the mother resists causing this massive event called the fracture which splits Lumiere into and

Eventually it ends up imprisoning Renoir and slowly fading. I'm like, he lost me here. So yeah. Yeah, okay, I'll cut to the chase. So humanity ends up blaming the paintress for all this stuff, but in reality, the paintress is like trying to retain the world while Renoir is actually trying to destroy the world.

And the numbers that you see on the monolith where it's like one year at a time is actually her putting all of her effort into trying to hold off this destruction of the world. She's trying to give these people like as much time as humanly possible to get over to their side of the fracture and figure out what's actually going on and stop Renoir. We actually find out that

Renoir is more or less immortal. Like you can't really do anything against the guy. Um, wait, so what? Okay. Let me, let me, let me cliff notes this. Let me cliff notes this. Okay. True. Could then, and then maybe I'll have a little less Tragedy strikes the Dessandra family okay, so dies because verse Oh painted the world that you were playing the game in they go into that painting because it retains a piece of versus soul Right, okay So verse so kind of lives in this painting so they come into the painting because they want to be around their son or the memory of their son. Eventually they spend too much time in the painting.

The mom kind of starts to lose it. She refuses to leave the painting. Renoir goes into the painting to rescue the mom who doesn't want to leave. Renoir goes, I'm just gonna destroy this world so that you will have to come back to real life. The mom goes, no. And this is the conflict that they have in the game.

The mom is the pain. Renoir is Renoir who's trying to destroy the world. So Renoir would go maje everybody instantly if he could, except the mom is protecting everybody. So the mom is the pain. This kind of goes into the twist, right? Where I was like, I don't think the pain is bad. So the mom is the pain, but this kind of goes into the twist, right, where I was like, I don't think the Patris is bad. So the mom is the Patris, but she is trying to hold back

Renoir gommaging everybody. Because they're equal power, she can't hold him back completely, so every year, she kind of has to let Renoir like win a little bit. And that's why she stands up, wipes the number, and then all of those people of that age go maje. It's not the paintress doing it, it's Renoir doing it. So that's the big twist, number one.

The other twist is that, you know, the paintress is not actually bad. She's actually there to protect everybody, you know? And then along the way, we get the outside family is crazy and dysfunctional, but here's where it gets really weird because now you start to go, well, what about the beach? If Renoir is trying to gomage everybody, why is he killing the expedition that's trying to kill the

Patrus? Right? Well, because those are painted versions of the outside people. So the Patrus is actually the one that paints the in the game Renoir who kills the expedition because it's like if you kill me, everybody dies. Right. So now you have a lean making painted versions of Renois. You have Renois making painted versions of himself. You know, it gets really weird, man. It gets really crazy. It gets deep though. So what are they like, you know, to go into the painting, are they like jacking into the matrix

Yeah, basically because their bodies out in the real world were kind of like frozen. Yeah, really? Painting. Yeah, it's such a cool like scene actually It's it's like a prologue actually between act two and act this is wild, dude Slash Alicia like you see her in the outside world and she comes into this art gallery and is looking at Clea and sorry, not Clea. The frozen parents. Mamon and Renoir, yeah, just literally frozen

staring into a painting, really cool visual. And you get the thing that says, like her sister even says they're fighting still, like they're fighting in the painting and all that stuff. Yeah, oh, that's wild so this is like the big stuff. Now I will say this at the end of act two, when you start to get kind of this narrative and everything, I got lost, dude. Like I was like, okay, I thought I knew what was happening with the story, but

now we're jumping to real world stuff. Like there's the paint, there's the mom and the dad that are fighting. Ren wall keeps talking to Verso and he's like, Verso, you know why I have to do this versus like you don't need to do this. Mayel doesn't understand what the heck's going on, but she keeps meeting this girl that kind of looks like her. And so you get this thing where like there's stuff going on. And I just at the end of Act two, I just went, I don't understand

this story at all, man, like now I'm really lost. Well, wait, hold on, hold on. So then I have a question. This is personal. Like what those like kids that you meet that are like, oh, I was just playing and blah, blah, blah. And they're like the ghost looking guys. Like, where are those? Those are the real representations. Okay. Where they're missing the face and they're kind of shadowy. That's the real world representations of people. Oh, what? Yeah, and several of them are verso. Right. Oh, okay. There's a little boy that you meet. Yeah, the one on the cliff side. With a little cap. Yeah, that's verso. That's the real world verso as a child that painted this whole world that you're in. So you're getting like this glimmer of his influence

on this painting that you're actually inside of this whole time, dude. Dude, what? I'm telling you, man, it gets bananas. This ain't all of it, dude. Okay, so let's skip ahead to act post act three slash epilogue because we're running out of time here. You, I think these acts kind of serve to fill in the blanks and go,

you're not dumb Josh, we're going to kind of spell some of this out for you, but without just laying it all out. Like I kept waiting for the explanation because you go back to camp, you're talking to people. Verso is kind of saying, yeah, Renoir is my father, you know, you're kind of putting the puzzle pieces together here, but you're still not completely sure what's going on. Mayel kind of starts coming into her own power and stuff like that. You get these new abilities because now she realizes

that there's a real world person that can interact. So this is where you start getting some crazy abilities where she can influence Chroma and like do all this stuff. Fast forward to the end of the game, you fight Renoir again. This is the fight where I keep playing that music where I keep going, dude, this rock song. Oh, I don't even understand how much I've had to hurt here. Josh talk about this song. Okay. Here's why Ryan, because

you know what's going on now, right? You've made your choice. Verso is like, we have to stop Renoir. He's going to wipe out this whole world. We don't want that to happen. So Renoir says, okay, this is it. If you won't listen and let me kill this painting and save our family, then I'm going to have to kill you because I'm going to do whatever I'm going to do to save our family together.

And it would only kill you in this painting. It wouldn't really kill them in real life, but it will cause them to come back out. And this is, he doesn't want to force this. He really wants people to make the choice on his own. This is also why Renoir is so relatable to a certain degree, why he's such a good like villain, because it's like, dude, I kind of understand this guy's point of view. Swat my family back, man. Right. Exactly.

And so so then the boss fight comes and that's where this music kicks in. Ryan and the music kicks in in this epic freaking boss fight where Renoir is standing there he's got his cane with them uh actually I think he even looks like the curator at that point because it's like his real world representation that freaking rock soundtrack starts roaring and I'm just like here we go boys I can't tell you how many times I listen to that song but the visual is there where you're like, okay, this is, this is going down. Incredible boss fight. He resummons the axons to that fight.

And the skill is fights bananas. Okay. And then you, you finish the boss fight and this is where the game throws one of the craziest moments at you because you've because you've beaten Renoir, Verso and Mael come together and they start talking and they basically disagree with each other and you have to side with one of them. And you have to act and the game puts it, they're facing off against each other. They're kind of arguing and the game says side with Mael, side with Verso, and whoever you side with,

you know, you were fighting the other character to the death. So these people that have been at my party for 40 hours, it's like, wait, you're going to fight to the death and you have to decide which one you're going to choose. And I, this is another moment where I just went No No No, you can't make me choose John who did you choose?

guess mail Yeah, yeah, I chose mail as well And and I went back and replayed it and got versus ending as well. I chose Mayel as well. I'm not done. And I went back and replayed it and got Verso's ending as well. And I felt like I played the ending first that I wanted. You know, I, man, there are two- So hard, man!

Well, it is hard, but I knew at that point kind of what the end result of either was going to be. One is if you side with Verso and the family has to come to terms with the fact that he's dead and they escape the painting and they try to patch up their tattered family. But the idea of Mael continuing the delusion was a much more appealing and sort of sadly poetic kind of situation for me. And there are two sounds in this game that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Number one is Renoir's Cane and number two is that very last beat where you get to look into Myles eyes and she has the paintress you know the paintress covering on her eyes with that discordant piano cord oh dude when it happened I literally like I felt my stomach drop like I was on a rollercoaster or something I was like but you have done this is one of the best endings I've ever seen in a game ever. It was so good, man. So, so good. I'm going to lay this out for Ryan real quick, right? So we both sided with mail. I went the whole game. I'm playing as mail. She's in my party. You're bonded with her. You just

the struggle that she's been through. She's seen her parents die. She's seen everybody die. She's an orphan. These expeditions have been slaughtered in mass. I mean, this poor girl has lived a life that nobody, nobody would want. You finally get to the end of the game and it's like she can finally put everything behind her. So I pick Mayelle, I fight Verso, I kick Verso's butt, by the way.

It goes to the ending of the game. Everybody's back. Goose stops back, Lumiere is- What? Back to its height of the game. Everybody's back. Gustav's back. Lumiere is back to its height of everybody's around. Sophie is back with Gustav. You see them, they're all dressed up. Everybody's going to this opera house. Life is amazing. Everybody, Ciel is happy. She's got her husband back. Luna is happy. She's got her boyfriend or whatever. SGA is still there and he's all being SGA and all this stuff. They go into this opera house and you see Verso at a piano and he looks older and kind of dapper almost like Renoir just a little bit.

And he looks at this piano everybody sits down it's this big happy occasion. And then Verso looks at this piano and he kind of hesitates for a second. And he's like I don't know how to play this thing. And I'm about to give this concert in front of everybody. Right? Because Verso was the musician of the family. And so it's like, well, this is the natural. And he looks down and you can tell like he doesn't know why he's there or what he's doing. Like he's like, I don't, I don't remember how to play music. And that's when it goes to Mayelle and it kind of gets dark and like black and white and grim. And you see Mayelle's eyes kind of like

do this paintress thing where she's creating this world on her own at that point. And so she is creating all of this stuff because you're still in the painting. And so she is living in the matrix in this false life that she wanted with all of her friends back and her family and this stuff, but it's all fake. And so she paints her this glow in her eyes. She paints Verso right then and there to be like this master musician.

And then he starts playing the piano and then the game cuts out and you're just like, what? I don't like that ending. This is not the way it should be. You know what I mean? Like I like you should live in the matrix. This is all fake, man. And dude, I get chills still thinking about it, but this is what this game does, man. If you're the other part that I will say is when you beat Verso,

do one of the best voice lines I've heard in a game is male is holding him at this point while he's dying and starting to kind of like gomage away. And he just goes like, I don't want to live this way. Like I don't want to live this way anymore. And it's like, dude, it's the most like touching and he's just kind of repeating that over and over. Mayel's crying and it's like,

it's this most touching like heartfelt like no moment, dude. Ah, it's crazy, man I didn't I didn't do the first so ending but my my John you did and it's like verso ends the painting But then that's the end of verso to like what so what happens in the verso ending again? Yeah, that that's pretty much it. So verso ends the painting He has this point where he reconciles with the boy, the boy without the face that you see throughout the thing. And he just kind of just says, it's time to go.

It's time to go. It's time to end this. And he gomages out. And then it cuts to a scene where they are burying his memory, basically. They're letting go of Verso's memory. Mael is quite sad. They're all very clearly outside of the painting at this point. So she's Alicia, which is all

disfigured and can't talk and all this stuff. Yep. And so they kind of just have a touching moment as a family where they recognize, you know, there's been this sort of bitter tragedy and there's been a lot of fighting between the members, but it all came out of grief. But the cycle of grief functionally ends in that. It's a much more Hollywood type ending, I would say. But you've killed this world where all of these people exist. They're sentient, they're self-aware, they think this is their life. And you've ended all of that.

Do they? Is it? Yeah, it is. Yeah. I mean, the people in the painting, you're playing the game in the painting. All of those people, Mayel and Luna, like Gustav dying, like all the parents that have died and been gomaged in the struggle with all these expeditions. Like all those people think that's real life. I mean, it is their lives.

Yeah. All those people think that's real life. I mean, it is their lives. Yeah, but at the same time, they are all just painted. You know, they may think that they're self-aware, but it's hard to, this is one of those existential things. Like, are they really sentient beings, or are these like similes of sentient beings? Do they actually have a soul? Are they just really good programs, you know, doing what they're designed to do? What? What an incredible freaking game, dude.

It's the Matrix. It's it's it's part Matrix, but, dude, it's it's bananas. And the thing is, is that you I mean, we've just explained all this in an hour at a very truncated short kind of thing. When you discover these things naturally in the game and you get those chill bump moments and you get the, oh my gosh, like I might cry, you know, like I'm holding back tears because of this realization or this revelation, you know, Mayel and Verso facing off as enemies all of a sudden, and you have to pick one, like that's a freaking, like that's so hard to do,

getting the ending that you're like, wait a minute, like this is not happy, this is not the way that I wanted this game to end, like all of it is just a gut punch, dude. It's one of the most masterful stories I have ever seen in a video game. And they claim that the movie has been greenlit on this already. Oh, wow.

If they can pull this off as a movie, dude, I will be absolutely, I mean, just ecstatic and honestly amazed because this is true. This ranks up like Red Dead 2. We always talk about it's one of the best stories in a game That you can like this is up there. I've said it before This is up there with like the best of the best of the best Stories in a game dude. Yeah crazy to me. Yeah, I would agree with that I think it's going to be very difficult to to pull this off adequately as it is in a movie. It's just so many

layers and then again just such a big pivot between Act 2 and Act 3. But I could also see there like the Watchmen, the Alan Moore comic, the Watchmen, that was once considered to be completely unfilmable. I really liked the Zack Snyder version of that movie, but they made some changes to make it filmable, which purists were really against, but they made a really good story out of it. I could definitely see an adaptation of this story being made to be movie friendly, and I would be stoked to see it. Yeah, I would too.

That would be cool, and hopefully we get a Bella Thorne instead of Bella Ramsey for mail. Oh boy. All right. We're already we've already gone way too long. I mean, listen, if you want to talk about this game, come to our Discord server. I mean, it's all we're talking about right now. Okay, seriously, as someone who has not finished the game, I just see nothing but spoiler tags and we've had it for probably weeks And it's it's pretty cool to see how many people have jumped in Hopped in on the game and are just so excited to play and talk about it Like Josh said in the beginning you just want to talk about this game. Our discord is the place to do it

It's really cool to see like people like, I beat Act 1. And then you go, yeah, how do you feel right now? They're like, dude, I don't like this. And then they go, OK, I just beat Act 2. And then you're like, you know what's coming. I know what's coming up. And you don't know. Right before this recording, Ace was like, I just got through the prologue.

I wish I wasn't recording myself. I'm kind of emotionally wrecked. I mean, this is one of those games games man. It's an all-timer But we just had to talk about some of the story stuff and and just talk about spoilers because it's been bursting out of us man, so Like I said come to our discord chat with us about this, you know, that's gonna do it for this episode I'm all emotional again, man. Just talking about all this stuff. I'm freaking amped up and I'm remembering all this I'm gonna go blast that song again too with the final

Renoir boss fight because man there's what a moment what a moment in a game but thanks for hanging out with us everybody again the link to our discord server is in the episode description if you want to be like Kakarot and Jake Snyder and support this show there is a link in the episode description to do that it really does make a world of difference. Make sure you follow the show so you get all our episodes the day that they release. And if you haven't done so, take a second to rate us five stars. If you're on Apple, write us a review and we'll read some of those on the show as well.

That's going to do it for this one, boys. Until next time, happy gaming. See ya. Toodaloo!