Video Gamers Podcast - Split Fiction, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Tides of Annhilation - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

The Video Gamers Podcast is back with another incredible episode of This Week in Gaming. Gaming hosts Josh and Ryan are diving into the latest gaming news as we get hyped for the most recent State of Play. From Saros to Borderlands 4, Tide of Annihilation and more. All the video game news you need, each and every week from the Video Gamers Podcast! Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Ol’ Jake, Disratory and Gaius 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

With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Hello fellow gamers and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. On this episode of This Week in Gaming, we're breaking down the gameplay reveals from the state of play. We've got some awesome games we're excited to talk about, but first, some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me, we've got all these games to talk about, but first some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me,

we've got all these games to talk about, but he asked if we could just make this the Metal Gear Solid Delta episode. It's Ryan. Ugh, tastes like poison. I will say this, we got the longest look at Metal Gear Solid Delta, the remake, so far. And so we're going to talk about that here in just a little bit.

Oh, it's going to be good. I love it. Yeah. So I'm actually, you know, I saw a lot of conversation online, just like people like to do online. But it's like there were people that were like, oh, this is the worst state of play. And then other people like, what are you talking about, man? We got like a whole bunch of good looking games. Yeah. So we're going to talk about it. And the beauty is, if you are not a PlayStation person,

fear not, neither am I. But most of these games are coming out on PC, and a few of them are cross-platform. So this is not like the days of Sony exclusive are over, buddy. They're over. We're all going to get to enjoy these games. Love it. Games for everybody. That's what we need.

I will say this, dude. Before we get into the show, the days of exclusives, I think it's time to be extinct, man. It is weird. It's a weird thought because you think back to certain games like 007, that was N64. Even like you mentioned, 007 that was that was N64, you know, um, different, you know, even like you mentioned, Metal Gear Solid, that was PlayStation. So the thought of just exclusives being gone, you know, Halo with Xbox, you know, it's, it's, it's a weird thought, but also why not? Like, why, why can't these games just be for, for everybody? I, I know that there are people of the mindset that go, I bought a PlayStation so

that I could play PlayStation games, right? Like this is the, uh, you know, this is the thing where I bought this. I want to be able to play these games. I get it. But at the same time, you are in theory saying, I don't want other people to be able to play these games. And it's like, I just want to play games, man. I don't care what platform it's on. Not everybody can have every gaming platform. So the more people that get to experience these games, the better, in my opinion.

I understand the thinking of the gatekeeper, where it's like, this is my console, and so you shouldn't be able to play games on these. But dude, I mean, the more people that can play games, it's the better for everybody. There's really no downside there other than trying to like justify your choice of console. But then that gets into like the whole console war thing. And I stay as far away from that as humanly possible.

Dude, I'm all, you know, like, like honestly, if they make the games for everything, then the consoles, then it's not about the games anymore it's about the consoles let's let's step up these consoles they have to pack them to the brim with the best tech and you know that that's what's going to dictate what people buy you know so like that's you know that's going to be ultimately better for the consumer is that they have to give everyone the best option you know because all the games are going to come out in all the systems. So this, this one has better performance than that one, you know, so then it's all about performance and what you get verse, Oh, this is an exclusive for this one or that one.

Console gaming is not going away. Like people love to sit on their couch and play on their big 70 inch TV. That is not going away. There's no danger to consoles by games being available on multiple ones. And I'm with you. Maybe they start getting innovative and saying, hey, this console, we're back to Blu-rays. You know, you want to play this on your TV and have really good high-end video and audio.

Like, there you go. So I definitely could see a world where they move consoles into like more of like the home automation stuff where it's like, this is controlling your speakers. This is controlling the lights in your house, that kind of thing. I'm with you, but we got such a check already. We're not even four minutes in. Back to state of play.

Oh my goodness. I, I, you know, listen, we, we got to do a little bit of housekeeping, Ryan. And this is awesome because we have two new Epic supporters to thank. Dude, the people that go out of their way to support the show and just make sure that they are bringing this podcast to the world are incredible, dude. We would not be here if it was not

for people supporting us. And so we want to say a huge thank you to two Epic members, sloppy stew and dice. Rono man. Y'all rock. Thank you for signing up for Epic status. Everybody else is listed. You owe a thank you as well. Cause this is that almost the show going, that almost sounds like, like a recipe. Like you take your dice, Rono, and then you mix it in the sloppy stew. And then, you know, no, no, no, make sure you dice your Rono up very fine. And then add it to your sloppy stew and then stir three times four turns. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We've been brewing too much in kingdom.

I'm the potion. I got a, I got a potion empire. I'm I'm usually in jail, but, but other than that, when I'm not, I'm the potion. I got a, I got a potion empire. I'm, I'm usually in jail, but, but other than that, when I'm not, I'm brewing, quit sampling your own goods, Ryan. But I think maybe that's the problem. Oh man. Yeah. So, and then on top of new supporters, we have some more reviews. We promise we're going to try to keep, we're going to catch up on these a little bit. So we're going to read two for you and man, dude,

people are upping their game on the reviews. Like, we're going to try to keep, we're going to catch up on these a little bit. So we're going to read two for you and man, dude, people are upping their game on the reviews. Like, I love it. I love the fact that it's almost like this fun competition for people to be like, dude, I'm going to leave the most epic review imaginable. It, you know, number one, it's great for people that are looking at the show and they're going to this must be the best podcast in the world. Number one, it is. But number two, we love the creativity that y'all are bringing on these reviews. So this one comes in from cashflow thrift and it is titled a

true masterpiece of gaming discourse. And it says, I've listened to more gaming podcasts than I've had hot meals, but the video gamers podcast stands out like a shiny pixelated beacon in a sea of monotonous noise. The hosts have this uncanny ability to make even the most mundane game sound like the second coming of Mario. The banter? Chef's kiss.

It's like listening to a group of friends who've just discovered the cheat code to life, but in gaming terms. If you're looking for a podcast that could turn even a non-gamer into a console hugging enthusiast, this is it. Just a heads up though, after listening, you might start describing everyday tasks in terms of XP gains and boss fights. 10 out of 10 would respond for this podcast. Oh man, what a, that's, dude, what do you got to say about that? Like poetry, poetry, poetry, poetry, emotion, man. It's just a, what a,

what a description and app description of, of what we offer here at the video gamers podcast. Darn right. All right, Ryan, you got one for us too. I have one as well from, uh, the wild zombie villager, which, uh, I also, he lives in a square, a 600 square foot bedroom. There you go. Or one bedroom, something like that.

And, and even we have zombies that even listen to us, you know? Yeah. So can't, can't complain there, but, uh, it is titled this got me back into gaming five star review from again, the wild zombie villager. I love this show. It is fun, family friendly and just two awesome dudes. Uh, this is me ad libbing here, stress awesome, but also, uh, dudes who love gaming and are committed to this show TLDR it's got me back into gaming PS.

Paul will be remembered PPS helldivers to or fail guard. That's the easiest decision ever Was that a question? There was a question mark at the end, but I will tell you right now hell divers to If I don't need to show you my shirt here, right? Yeah For democracy. What a review though, man. I genuinely, I know we talk about it all the time, but to see these is just, it's such a cool thing every day to see the people that took the time out of their lives

to leave us a review, to show that they care about the show and they care about us and To kind of help us with all this crazy thing. We're trying to do here, but it man, it's so cool It it really it it never ceases to amaze us Honestly, we're just two goofy dudes who love video games and turn on some microphones and talk about it The fact that so many people in the world have just been a part of this is incredible, dude. I mean, we say it all the time, but we are absolutely blown away.

I mean, this podcast is growing in leaps and bounds, and that is 100% because of the listeners in the community and the fact that people are telling their friends, and they're tagging us in social media, and it's like they're helping spread the word. And it's just, dude, it's humbling. Like, honestly, like, I mean, the fact that people want to listen to us, you know, and we love it. But the thing is, dude, like we're gamers with you. Like we say it all the time, our community, dude, we're right there playing games with you. We've been playing the headliners. We've been playing rivals. Like we're, we're, we are the gamers.

Like, you know, we're not some dudes that are like apart in some way and talking into microphones and stuff like that. Like we're, we're in the trenches with you people. We're genuinely active. We are on our discord. We are there every single day. We're communicating, talking to everybody. Um, hop in.

If you, if you've got a game that you want to play and you don't have anyone to play with, we'll play with you. It's that simple. We got this kind of thing we're trying to push. No gamer left behind. We are here for everybody. So is our Discord. Somebody there will play a game with you.

So come on down and hop in there. And you're going to have a good time. The other thing is, too, is just, if you just want genuinely good people to talk to, like dude, like, that's the other thing, man. People are always talking. Like, yes, we talk about games a lot, but people are sharing, you know, what's going on in life sometimes. And I mean, I, you know, humans crave like interaction, but I get that people are like,

I don't want people trolling me. I don't want to get, I don't want to get into politics. I don't want none of that. And it's just like, dude, I love it that people are like, I don't want people trolling me. I don't want to get, I don't want to get into politics. I don't want none of that. And it's just like, dude, I love it. It's like if you want to be part of a family, like this is the family and everybody is welcome, dude. As soon as somebody joins and they say hello, I love that we get like five or six people that are just instantly like, dude, welcome. It's awesome to have you. What kind of games do you like and stuff like that? So don't take our word for it.

Come try it out. Links in the episode description to our Discord server. It really is awesome. So all right, man, let's just get the bad news out of the way, Ryan. I mean, I hate to start off an episode like this, but it is the breaking news for the week. And it's like, we've got to tackle this, dude. This just breaks my heart, man.

I this is unfortunately part of the industry that is the gaming industry, and I hate it. I mean, I think everybody hates it universally, except for CEOs and shareholders that are wanting to make money. But we did get news that the Marvel Rivals team here in the US was just straight up canned. I mean, all of them, just let go. I think they're all based out of Seattle, right?

The group in Seattle. They were based out of Seattle. That's absolutely right. Yeah. And so the dude, I don't get this, man. Like we talk all the time about live service games and we're sick of everybody trying to have the live service game. But if you hit that live service game, you're filthy stinking rich.

I mean, Scrooge McDuck swimming in your piles of gold kind of rich. It's what every game developer in the world hopes for. It's why we have to suffer through so many crappy live service games that fail. And you would think you would think think Ryan that if you hit your live-service dreams like they did with Marvel rivals that they would be buying people Lamborghinis at this point man. Oh my god my eight-year-old son who will never stop talking about a Lamborghini would be just yeah that's just like the car for a kid like that's that's when you've made it when you cut.

Okay. I am a kid. So I was going to argue with you, but I get to Lambeau's like the gold. And I know Ferrari's forget Porsche's Porsche's are ugly, dude. Have you seen the GT three? It's at all. All right. We're turning this into a car episode.

Yeah, we can't, we already got sidetracked in the intro. Listen, it's just like, um, Hey man, like let's, let's make a really awesome, uh, live live service game. We're going to, we're going to do something that's, that's, you know, been done before, but we're going to do better than anything I've ever has. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be a successful smash hit. We're going to, uh, release all these characters kind of consecutively every month and a half,

two months, you know, Oh, okay. It started okay it started it's going well awesome let's do another release okay it's going even better man we we have hit the gravy train we're gonna keep chugging along this is oh wait what oh we're laid off oh what okay well that makes no sense what the heck man, man? Like it just, all of it, I don't understand the thought process of investing this much in starting this game and this development team and whether or not they were there just to kind of like start the game or help the games launch, you know, whatever the case may be, what they did was working and working very, very well. Why the heck would you change a dang thing, dude?

Like I do not understand money. That's why, because, Hey, our games is success. Everybody's loving it. We're exactly where we want to be. Now let's start trimming people so that we can make even more money. What half a percent like 2% like what, how many points do you need to like make it look good on the books? Like to where you're going to jeopardize like the future of your game.

Like what, like how, how many little dots in, in figures on that spreadsheet need to be in the black for it to make sense to do something this, this risky To me, I mean, I understand it's out there, it's already successful, it's cemented in, you got Tim the Tap Man, Ninja, all these big time streamers, all these big time pro gamers, esports guys that are all in love and quite honestly obsessed with this game, including us. We're gonna have to.

I was gonna say we cut off too. Yeah, including us, and we're even, this comes out Thursday, we're going to say we kind of including us and we're even, you know, this, this comes out a Thursday. We're having a community night, uh, Friday, right? Yeah. Tomorrow. So tomorrow, tomorrow night, Friday night, we are going to have a community night. We're going to get on. We play a lot of, uh, custom matches, six V six. We'll, we'll do. And we had the other, uh, week, you know, we had like 20 something people on where we're shuffling people through and through and splitting teams up. But like, needless to say, we're all obsessed with this game. To me, it just I can't see a world where and maybe that's just like the the part of me that's not obsessed with money. I can't see a world where it makes sense to risk the future of the game for, for a couple of points on a spreadsheet. I just don't get it, man.

I think the, the issue here is that because these guys have kind of done what they needed to do, the company is saying, thanks. Now you're, you're just gone. Yeah. You know, at that point. And I, I I'm assuming that Nettie's does not view this as like a risky move for them because it's like, Hey, you're, you're, hey, your job here is done kind of thing. So this obviously took the world by storm. There's been a very negative reaction from gamers on this.

Rightfully so. I mean, this is just crappy, dude. I mean, it sucks. It sucks for the people that are affected. It sucks for us as gamers because it's like, this is the hobby we love, man. This is the passion. And then you find out that these companies are treating

these developers like garbage. The Netties did come out with a kind of like an announcement or response to all this. And it's just PR speak, which bugs me. But it basically says, we recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel rivals development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development

efficiency for the game. This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions. Sounds like they're getting a pizza party to me, right I Know you guys are very unhappy, but have you ever had pizza? Have you ever had a pepperoni pizza? We got a couple larges right in there and then some chips and you know, everything's cool, right? We're all good No, it's not even Papa John's man That's that's worse than nothing

Oh, no. That's worse than nothing. That's the worst. I'd rather have nothing. If you get Little Caesars as your pizza party man, like, oh. A $5 large, baby. So anyway, that's enough of this, man. It sucks for everybody. What are you doing?

This is why we really don't like AAA developers that don't care about their people. That's not to say all of them are like that. But man, it just sucks. So all right, we got the bad stuff out of the way, Ryan. Let's talk about the Sony state of play. Ryan, we got a lot of games to talk about, dude. This state of play gave us a lot of games to take a look at.

Dude, one of my favorite things is just loading up like eight different game trailers. And then just watching one and being like, ooh, what's the, it's like Christmas almost. It's like opening up a present, you know what I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to get. What's this Soros game? Like, what is it? And then it opens up and I'm like, is this like Returnal? Like, ooh, I always wanted Returnal. Yep. Yep. It's like, I feel like DJ Khal Khaled is like another one another one. I'm just like I just keep watching trailers I'm like I just I can only get so excited, you know, and I just keep going but you know, here we are Yeah, so let's dive into it man

I mean I touched on this at the top of the show But a lot of these games are coming out cross-platform Which I absolutely love kudos to you Sony for understanding that there's a lot of gamers in the world. A few of these are like PlayStation exclusive, but this first one is I don't know if you say it's Saros or Soros or whatever. But this is basically the spiritual successor to Returnal. I did not play Returnal until like last year when it came out on PC. I love roguelike games, I love difficult games, I like shooter

games, like Returnal was that kind of oh man you really need to play this. Did you ever play Returnal? I had played it, I never owned it but I was at a buddy's house and he had me do a few runs because he knows that I was getting into roguelikes and he's like, you got to check this one out. He's like, Returnal is awesome. So I've definitely dabbled in it. I would not say that I am a competent

or very knowledgeable on it, but I have played it and seen it. And what I did play was awesome. Yeah, for what Returnal tries to be, it definitely nails it. So this game, Sauros, is, we didn't get much. This is one of those trailers where it was really just a cinematic trailer. And it's like, dude, if you're going to do that,

give me four seconds of gameplay at the end. Just give me something, dude. So I know what this game is even going to be. Now, you can tell it's Returnal. It's the same studio. I mean, at the end, they show some alien boss. Again, it's cinematic, but it's like he's shooting out this giant spiral wave of bullets or energy

balls or whatever. So it's like you can absolutely tell that this has the same DNA as Returnal. But that's the only thing we got. And it wasn't even gameplay. I will say the visuals are super cool. Who doesn't want like, you know, a sequel to Returnal? Take what you've learned.

Heighten that, you know, like spiff it up a little bit. But we just don't know a whole lot about this. Other than that, it's coming out in 2026 Yeah, and it's like dude. We're still early 2025. You gave me a gameplay trailer that cinematics and you're telling me It's almost like two years away. Yeah That's that's before delays or who knows what else happens like miss me with that dude I'll watch it. Oh, that looks pretty cool. And then I'll totally forget it exists for like a year and a half.

You know, that's yeah. So because we don't have a lot to talk about, that's all we're saying. I mean, it was a cool trailer, but you know, we're kind of to the point where it's like, if you're not giving me something else, then I don't really know like what we can talk about on that. Yeah. So one game that we did get to see an awful lot of Come on.

Was Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater. This is the longest look we got at this game. I gotta say, dude, I'm pretty impressed. Like I know that this game has had some issues in its development. It got delayed. You know, it's one of those things where, you know, was this gonna come out last year?

No, it's coming out this year. And then we did get the reveal that it's coming out later in 2025. But Ryan, you're the Metal Gear Solid expert. Like what did you think about this, man? I, um, it's, it's hard to describe how excited I am because even though Metal Gear Solid 3, uh, was not my, my favorite overall as far as gameplay and then kind of the memory of the games, I do think that is the best game in the series.

I think Metal Gear Solid 3 is the best crafted, the best gameplay, the best story. I think overall it's the best, you know, in that series. So for it to get a remake and for it to be done as well as it looks like it's being done, I am, uh, I am very excited, especially for people like you that have never had the pleasure to play it. Yeah. Um, it is going to be a whole different world. Just watching some of the gameplay and you know, you were asking for gameplay. This showed some gameplay and just, just to see it, I instantly, I was like, Oh, Oh brother, man, I am, I am so excited. I am so amped up. I am ready to just dive just straight into the mud,

so to speak, into this game. And dude, it's gonna be, dude, I'm telling you, I promise you, you are going to love this game. If you liked Metal Gear Solid V, you are going to love Metal Gear Solid III Delta. I liked Metal Gear Solid V a lot. Yeah. So that's the case. You're gonna love it. of Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta. I liked Metal Gear Solid 5 a lot. Yeah.

So that's the case. You're going to love it, dude. I will say this. This really got me hyped. We've been talking about this game for a while. I know that you're super excited about it. I went, dude, it really looks like this is a full remake. This isn't just a remaster.

We got a view. We're not even bringing up the Days Gone remaster because it's like, dude, it's so it's so negligible. And I know that there's people that love it. And it's like, that's really cool. But like, dude, like, this is this is the problem we have with remasters. Like, it's just there's there's nothing to it. But with Snake Eater, like, this is a full on remake of this game. And I got to be honest, dude dude the second they showed me a dude that had like bees all over him and he's like a beehives in his hands and I'm like oh

here we go here we go it's getting weird again it's so weird the one thing with like goes freaking Kojima and stuff like his his villains and his his boss fights are just so memorable like you're you're're not gonna have like a part of this game that's like a impactful part within the story that you're not gonna remember. It's not gonna be like, oh, who did I fight there? No, you are gonna remember every section of this game and it's gonna be like just a different chapter.

Like this was this chapter, that was that chapter. And they're gonna all be so memorable and the interactions and the battles. It's going to be just something that you've never experienced before. And I'm, I am so stoked to just kind of sit back and watch it happen, dude. You don't even understand. I'm like, I'm a giddy. I'm like a kid before Christmas, man. I have never fought a boss that has beehives for hands, Ryan. Dude. So like, is this really a guy? Is this like, is this his thing? Is he's got bees?

Dude, there's like, there's an old man like called the end that like, he just like has like moss on him because he doesn't move. And he's like a sniper. And, and there's, uh, Kojima never fails to disappoint, you know, or to, to, uh, excite with, um, he never disappoints with his, with his enemies. Like his bosses are just crazy. You know, there's, there's just nothing like it and they're over the top. They're obnoxious in a good way.

And it's going to be something that you will, you will for sure remember, man. There's, there's just something about it that I just can't even wait. And, and I haven't played middle gear about it that I just can't even wait. And, and I haven't played middle gear solid three in a very, very long time. So I'm almost going to be kind of getting back into it with you of like things that I forgot. You're like, Oh, Oh man, I totally forgot about this part or that part. So it's going to be something else man. I'm, I'm so stoked. And to be clear, this is the first, I know it's not the first game,

but this is the, the furthest back. Like this is what starts the whole story. So yeah, this is, yeah, this is what starts kind of the, with the original boss, you know, and, and stuff like that. So it's, I don't want to, you know, the story, even if I told you every step of the way with the story, you wouldn't, you wouldn't understand it. It ain't going to make no sense. And it wouldn't make sense.

I know the story and I don't, it doesn't even make sense to me. So I couldn't even the story, you wouldn't understand it. It ain't gonna make no sense. And it wouldn't make sense. I know the story and it doesn't even make sense to me. So I couldn't even, it'd be hard to explain it. So yeah, they did not do us any favors as far as that goes with the kind of linear timeline. But this one is, it's something else. So it's gonna be very, very good. The reason I asked that is for people that are like, we're like me where it's

like, dude, I just didn't ever get into the metal gear solid games. It's like, this is your chance. This is why they are making this one because it's like, now you can kind of dive in at the start of the story. Play this current modern game, get an idea of the craziness of, you know, beekeeper enemies, fire guy. There, there was another fire dude, you know, it looks like he was wearing a scuba thing with fire shooting out of it. There's

another electric guy. There's the old man guy. Like this is all the things my brain's picking out is just like, what are, what are these weird dudes? Fear, pain, sorrow. There's all, there's so many. Yeah. Yeah. So that comes out August 28th of 2025. And they said, this is for real. When this, when people asked about their release date, they said, no, for real. For realsies. We're, we're, we're actually going to release it this time. Yeah.

This time for real. All right. So we're going to take a quick break and then we're going to come back and talk about the look we got at borderlands four. Are you crushing your bills? Defeating your monthly payments. Sounds like you're at the top of your financial game. Rise to it with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card.

The credit card that rewards your good financial habits. Earn points for paying your credit card bill in full and on time every month. Level up from bill payer to reward slayer. Terms and conditions apply. All right, we are back. So we did get some more gameplay for Borderlands 4. I know that we initially kind of said that, hey, I've been a big fan of the Borderlands series.

It's dumb fun. It's kind of stayed the same over the last couple, you know, like Borderlands 2 was the height of the franchise, Borderlands 3 wasn't as great. And then you had your kind of offshoots like Tiny Tina's and some of this other stuff. And it's like, they're all just the same to me at this point. So we got this look at Borderlands 4. I will say that the gameplay does look very smooth in my opinion, but is there anything different about Borderlands Four that stood out to you? You know, I hate to be that guy, but it just looks like kind of the same of the old. Like to me, it's just, you know, to me, I saw nothing that piqued my interest or drew me in.

And so, yeah, I think it's just kind of the same of the old. The only, I really, I watched this trailer like two or three times, like legitimately, because I went, what am I missing? Like I'm just, I'm seeing borderline stuff. I watched it twice. I will say the thing that jumped out at me and it took me like two or three watches was the movement I think is enhanced. If I had to pick something out, like you have a grapple hook now and you have hovers and they showed a part where the guy grapple hooks past a group of enemies,

shotguns a couple, whips around and chucks like a grenade down as he's like flying by and it blows up the group. And that's when I kind of went, okay, like I think maybe they have tried to up the game on the movement in this game. And I remember kind of trolling Halo Infinite when we got the reveal of like the grapple hook because we were like, this is it. This is what we've been waiting 10 years for

is a grapple hook in Halo. But I was wrong because that grapple hook freaking made Halo Infinite, dude. It was freaking sweet, dude. And so it's like, if we throw a grapple hook in Borderlands 4, does that like make this game sweet? All of a sudden? I know, I get, yeah, I mean, I don't want anyone

to take this the wrong way that I'm like trashing Borderlands that I just think it's gonna be horrible or anything. I just I guess I'm maybe just a little more pessimistic because I want it to be good, but I just don't see anything that's like blowing my mind. But who knows maybe maybe when it comes out it's it's something that does, you know, until you really get to get your hands on it and play the game. You truly don't know. They could put all the different mechanics or movement things in the world, but unless they, they work well within the environment, it's, it doesn't make sense.

And so, um, who knows, man, I hope it does. And I hope that it is something that I go, man, I was, I should have been on this one from day one and it's just something amazing. So I got, you know, it's just kind of one of those things. It's just like a weight and weight and C type game. I think that we as gamers have gotten cautious. Like we see this with Ubisoft and I'm not going to troll Ubisoft, but it's like, you know, we are seeing some studios that they go, Hey, this worked.

Let's just regurgitate this over and over and over again. And it's like, I loved Borderlands. And so it's like, I don't want to see that happen. But that was our criticism with Tiny Tina's Wonderlands was it's like, dude, this is literally like it's the same game. Like, yeah, there's some humor and there's, you know, the pony and all that stuff. And it's like, but stallion. And it's like, it made me laugh.

But it's like, dude, where like improve your game. If you're giving me sequels and you're calling this borderlands for borderlands four should feel twice as good as borderlands two. And it's like, if you're just regurgitating it over and over again, I start to have a problem with that. And so maybe it's going to be great. I am with you. I want it to be fun because man, what a good time with friends Borderlands can be. But until we see like what sets this apart, I am with you. I'm a little hesitant, man. And I hate that because I know there's

people that love Borderlands. I love Borderlands. But I'm just getting worried that this is just another regurgitation, man. Yeah. Well, hopefully not. Hopefully not. Yeah, I hope Yeah. Well, hopefully not. Hopefully not.

Yeah, I hope not. At Borderlands 4, we did get a release date on that one, September 23rd. So they've got some time. But please do something with it, man. It's like, you know, what's the meme with the stick and the dude's poking? It's like, do something.

Do something. Come on. That's what I want. Do something, Borderlands 4. Give me something neat, man. Oh, boy. All right, I'll tell you what. My opinion on this game was not super good,

and then it changed after I watched this trailer a second time. So we did get a look at a new IP called Tides of Annihilation. Annihilation is just a good word, dude. Yeah, oh, it's so good. I love using that. Playing Rivals, like, oh, I just got annihilated, man. Oh, annihilation.

Yeah, it's definitely a key word for sure. So Tides of Annihilation looks legit, in my opinion. Now, I will say the first time I watched this, I kind of went, this looks like Stellar Blades slash Dark Souls slash whatever. We're seeing a ton of these games now, as much as I like dark souls combat and stuff like that, it's like we're kind of starting to get flooded with it, whereas like every game is dark souls combat. Like we just had somebody in our community talk about the berserker

cause on the berserker game that's coming out and like, aren't you hyped for it? And I kind of went, it's just like every other Dark Souls game, man. Like, you know, we've got, I got Black Myth Wukong. I've got Dark Souls. I've got, you know, like there's a thousand games that have copied this formula at this point. So we're kind of at the point where I think we're getting

a little numb to it. And so that was my initial impression with Tides of Annihilation, but then I watched the video again and I kind of went, okay, like there's actually some cool stuff here. So what did you think about the trailer before we get a little bit further into like what some of the stuff is? I guess I am not typically like this type of stuff does not But typically, this type of stuff does not usually resonate that deeply with me. I'm not big on this style of game. I'm not for the kind of East Asian, like, kind of Final Fantasy look type stuff. But I did watch it multiple times.

And watching some of the stuff, I'd see, you know, I noticed on the second or third pass. I'm like, oh, okay, that looks kind of cool. You know, in the in the gameplay, I'm like, oh, I didn't notice that the first time, you know, with some sort of mechanic or some, some attack that that looked really neat. it has stood out a little more than the others. You know, these battle royales came out, everyone's doing a battle royale all of a sudden, you know, and then it's like, where do you find the one that makes the most sense for you? What resonates with you? So for this, with this type of gameplay, from what I've seen so far,

it did look more than what I would have expected to like be okay with, you know? It definitely, it resonated a little bit more than what I would have expected to like be okay with. You know, it definitely resonated a little bit more than, than what I would have thought. Yeah. My second watch through on this, I started to see a lot more. Yeah. It was like, okay, this is really cool. Like the graphics are phenomenal.

Like, this is nothing with like the way that the game looks. I actually love the visual art style on this. Um, it did kind of remind me of expedition 33, where it's this, I don't even know art style on this. It did kind of remind me of Expedition 33, where it's this, I don't even know how to describe it. It's like a realistic, but kind of over the top, very stylized, futuristic-y kind of, I don't even know the term for it. It looks real good.

Yeah, it looks real good. But what got me was where I started to realize, like, this is tying into like Camelot, like you are summoning and you see this in the game. She summons various nights of the round table to fight with her. And so when you see this, like Spectre kind of shoot out and we see different ones, like one freezes people where it's like, Oh, well that's kind of cool. And then another one, it's like, he's kind of like almost like a glowing orange, where it's like some Oh, well, that's kind of cool. And then another one, it's like, he's kind of like, almost like a glowing orange where it's like some big tanky night and he smashes into this boss.

And that's when I started going like, okay, like number one, I love nights with round table. I love like Camelot, King Arthur, all that stuff. And then it was like, to be able to summon these nights to help you fight was almost reminiscent of like Enderlilies where it's like, you don't actually do the fighting, but you're summoning things you do fighting in this game too. But I actually loved that idea of like summoning help to, to, to do these things.

And then the combats over the top, it really kind of started to win me over after watching it again. So I went from like being kind of blase to like, like, I'm kind of, I kind of want to see more. But if this game holds up to what it looks like, then this might be one I'm actually pretty darn interested in. So we're running a little low on time. Mind's Eye, we got a glimpse at this game called Mind's Eye

that I went, dude, this is just GTA. This is like GTA with like a futuristic vibe, but like the driving was so like GTA. And then like the characters and the walking around and I was like, I mean, okay. And then come to find out that it's actually made by like some of the original GTA devs and stuff. And I was like, okay, this makes a lot more sense now.

I'm not crazy, this makes sense. I thought mind's eye looked pretty good, dude. Like I kinda almost went like, I have GTA at home, like why would I play this GTA? But then it's like a futuristic kinda GTA, which I was kinda getting down on. That's the hard part is it's like, when you got these guys that leave from another,

kinda developer base and they have almost a style to them and then they go and they create what they are known for. Yeah, maybe good, but it also it's like already, you know, I already got GTA. What makes me want to get this? I do, you know, I think that the futuristic look to it would be really neat. But is that going to be enough for me to buy that over something else? You know, that's that's always the hard part with these types of games is when they when they look so similar to something else Like we just mentioned with the BRs like all the battle royales like why is this battle royal better than the other ones? Like what what's the draw? What's the catch? What is gonna bring me into it? So

Yeah, I don't know. I don't think it's enough for me, but, um, but who knows? I I'm easily excitable, man. We know. It does look really good, like polished wise. Like I was watching it and I was like, dude, this looks like a really good title. Yep. Here's the only thing it is. It's very much GTA, but like, are we going to get GTA six this year?

Can you imagine releasing a game that's basically like, Hey, we made GTA in our own format, but now we got to go up against GTA six at the same time. It's like, I could, I could definitely see a delay. Well, I hope it comes out this year. Cause I paid a lot for it in our draft. So yeah, you did. You paid everything. I did. So I will say mine's eye looked pretty darn impressive from like a gameplay and we did get a pretty good bit of gameplay on it too. So I thought that one looked good. And then we have to talk about Split Fiction because Split Fiction is releasing in just

a few weeks. I don't know if people realize that, but it is releasing March 6th and we are halfway through February, a little bit more at the point of this episode releasing. So it's like, it's coming people. It is coming real soon. And we got a look at more of just the story kind of trailer. But of course, with them, they showed off a little bit more of the game play. I am getting really excited for split fiction, dude. Yeah, no, I, I am, uh, I am with you as well as someone who, um, dude, I mean, we both, we grew up with couch co-ops,

we grew up with games that, you know, that just you could play together, you could rely on each other. And the thought of a game that builds its core around that, something that that's the entity of the game. That's what the game is about. I am all for I'm going to desperately try to get my daughter who's in her teenage years and is like I'm a teenager I don't like my dad anymore type type you know things so like but she's getting into games. this one and I think it'd be something that we can play together and bond over. And I think that'll happen kind of on a wide margin throughout a lot of people that play this game. So I am stoked. And beyond that, like, it just looks cool. Like all the gameplay, all the, all the missions. I, we talked about it before where there's little, if there's a side quest, you know, it's a side quest cause there's a whole portal and you can go to a different world. Like that.

I love everything I've seen so far. And I can't wait to jump into this one. I'm with you a hundred percent on this. I remember when I first saw it, I went, cool, that'll be fun. But like it takes two was fun, but it wasn't anything like super great. It was, it was a good time. Right. But it's like, I think they've taken it and I think they've elevated what they

learned from it takes two like legitimately. And I have to give credit because this is from Hazelight Studios. Every game that they have done is focused on the co-op nature of the gameplay. So a way out, it takes two. I can't remember the other game that was similar to a way out that I also played. I mean this is what they focus on right? They're like, dude, people should be playing games together. These are the type of games that we make and they absolutely know what they're doing in that one. I'm very excited for Split Fiction. We will be covering it as a deep dive.

I think the plan right now is we're going to cover Evowed and then we're covering Split Fiction as soon as we can on that also. So I'm still in prison in kingdom come dude. I don't know what you're talking about. I know you're going to stay there for a while too. Um, yeah. So I, that's one, it's just going to be dumb fun, man. I love it. And listen, you know, we say this all the time. If you think split fiction looks great, but you're like, I don't have anybody to play with. Yes, you do. I guarantee you that you can find somebody to play games with that is an awesome gamer that is part of our community. It is free to join our community. Nobody, and we're very, very passionate about this. Nobody should, should say, I want to play this game, but I don't

have anybody to play with. So if you want to play split fiction and your only thing holding you back is you don't have a gaming buddy to play with, come join our community. We will absolutely make that happen for you. Um, We'll join you. You know what I mean? At some point if we have to, but this is something that we're, we are absolutely passionate about and we're going to keep saying to people, no gamer left behind in this regard. Come play games with people and split fiction just looks incredible to me, man. So it's one of those things that does it, man. I think so, man. What did you think about the state of play overall?

I mean, I got Metal Gear Solid 3. So I am beyond stoked, dude. I think it was good. I think there was a lot of other good kind of highlights to it. But I am so stoked for Beat KeeperGuy and FireGuy and ElectricGuy, as you described them. And I love that that's how you described them. And I love, I love that. That's how you described them.

Cause you didn't know them. Cause you haven't played the game. Ryan is reading my notes. He described them as beatkeeper guy, fire guy, and electric guy. Those are, those are the enemies. So, uh, I love it. I can't, I can't wait to battle those guys. I'm sure, um, they will, they will love those descriptions as well, but it's, it's kind of be good.

Oh my goodness, man. Uh, Ryan, giving people an insight into my dumb brain. I think it was a good state of play. I'm not going to lie. I mean, maybe we're easily, you know, like excitable and stuff like that. But I mean, metal gush, solid snake eater, borderlands for tides of annihilation, split fiction, mind's eye. We didn't even Borderlands 4, Tides of Annihilation, Split Fiction, Mind's Eye. We didn't even talk about Metal Eden in some of these other games that were kind of revealed as well.

I think, I mean, what's not to love? Yeah. It was solid. We didn't get Red Dead Redemption 3 announcement. It's like, come on, guys. Not everything can be the announcement of the sequel to one of the best games ever kind of thing. But I don't understand the criticism

with saying there was nothing here. I think there's a lot to be excited for. So, but then again, we're excitable guys, right? That's true, man. We just love video games. That's all it is. It's like games, man. All right.

Well, listen, that does it for this episode. Thank you for joining us. Hey, as a quick reminder, if you have not done so already, please make sure that you follow the podcast in your podcast app. It's a plus button It's a follow button on Spotify or Apple podcast It makes sure you rate us five stars if you haven't done that already And if you do listen on Apple podcast, let us review We'll read it on the show and we'll you know, see if you can one up all these other awesome reviews

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