TruVillain: Welcome to Lost My Save, a PC podcast, episode four. We made it. We did it. We did it again. Kainitsu: We did the quad. TruVillain: We we we we are here for the fourth. We did the trilogy, and now we're doing the follow-up trilogy. Kainitsu: That's right. TruVillain: I like to think of this podcast as as groups of three. It's it's just a series of trilogies. Kainitsu: Groups of threes. so are the first three the best and the next three going to be the worst and then the next three after that TruVillain: God. Kainitsu: be the next worst like Star Wars. TruVillain: Probably. And then we're gonna have to reboot it. We're gonna have to do a reboot. Kainitsu: Ha ha. TruVillain: We're gonna have to cast us as different people. So Kainitsu: shit. TruVillain: yeah. I know. Anyway, I am your host, true villain Kainitsu: My brand. TruVillain: of this show. and I am joined by my co host as always, Mr. Kai Nitsu. What's up, man? Kainitsu: Not much man, trying to get over a pretty long work day that was very challenging. TruVillain: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah, I actually because we record our show like an hour before dinner time. And Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: so historically I've been eating after the show because it's like, well, it's not dinner time yet. And so I actually ate before this show because what happens is is the show ends like hours after dinner time. Kainitsu: Yeah TruVillain: And so and so by the time the show's like nearing its end, I am so fucking done. I'm just like, my god. hungry. All I can think about is food. Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: As a little behind the scenes last episode, w the moment the show ended, I was just like, I gotta go eat. And then I just left. Like there was no Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: breaking it down. There was no after show t discussion. I just dipped. I said, peace Kainitsu: Mm-mm. Yeah. TruVillain: out, homie. I have to go eat. I was starving. And so I tried to preempt that by eating beforehand. So I'm feeling full. I'm feeling good. the only issue is is that I went shopping today. And I ended up with way too many onions. More onions than I will ever use. Because here's what happened. I was at Walmart Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and they didn't have those little fucking those little baggies for the the produce bags out. They didn't have any. And Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: I could not there was no employees to be found. And I was like, Well, I'm not I needed I needed two onions and I was like, Well, I'm not I'm not raw dogging these onions in the shopping cart. Like I'm not just like some Kainitsu: Hmm. TruVillain: kind of savage. And so I got I had to get the ones in the bag and the ones in the bag come with like thirteen. And so Kainitsu: mm-hmm, yeah, comes a lot. TruVillain: now now I have to find uses for these thirteen onions so they don't go to waste. I'm I'm basically Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, that is the challenge when you buy in bulk. TruVillain: gonna be like the guy from holes. The it's like I I can fix that. You know, with the with the onions making ointments and and potions and things. Kainitsu: Well, I mean, hey, if you tend to grill, you can use those to clean your grill and season at the same time, so. TruVillain: To clean it? How do you clean a grill with the Kainitsu: As you're cooking, yeah, with the onion. TruVillain: onions clean the grill? Kainitsu: Yeah, if I take off like char and stuff as you're grilling, and it'll season it at the same time. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I've I've never heard of that. Hmm. Well, here you go. I mean this this is why this is the best show on the internet. I mean you get you get cooking tips, you get grilling tips, you know, like Kainitsu: That's right. TruVillain: we we have it all here. we do actually have Kainitsu: One stop shop. TruVillain: a pretty fun show today. We have Grand Theft Auto News, we have I'm actually playing some some modern games, not not backlog games. Well there's some of that too. And Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: you're on you're gonna be on some Final Fantasy shit, which I'm terrified to. Behold, Kainitsu: your hits are coming. TruVillain: Yeah. But before all that I would of course like to first do a little house cleaning or housekeeping. It's housekeeping. Housekeeping, Kainitsu: housekeeping. TruVillain: yeah. we do now have a email that you can send Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: 'cause I was thinking about this and not everyone has Twitter X and so we have an email that you can send your any questions to the show. It is lost my safe pod at gmail dot com. I've it's in the show description. as well. If you wanna look at it there you can send any and all questions, comments, concerns, thoughts and ideas to that email and they will find their way onto the show. Seeing as we still have none, there's a very good chance that you'll you'll make it. You'll make the cut because it's a very low bar right now. Kainitsu: Yeah, we're the team that just accepts anybody right now and just come on in. We're also that frat house, you know? TruVillain: Well, let's let's not hold on, hold on now. Let's not get crazy now. We have standards, alright? Kainitsu: Ha ha ha! TruVillain: We're not We we have standards. So he's he's he's selling us down the river right now. It's it's just desperate. We're not we're not desperate now, all right? We're just we're open minded, all right? and so Yeah, Kainitsu: or open to new people, but not everybody. TruVillain: yeah, yeah. But also I would also once again like to thank everyone who has been listening to us up to this point. we love you. We we love to have you. I the numbers are like fantastic. I mean, for us, for like my expectations of this, you know. they're not breaking any records, but it's way more than I thought when we first set out to do this. So Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: the listens are looking real nice. and if you if you've been here from episode one to episode four, once again thank you. You know, we're we're happy to have you. if you're just now tuning in, this is your first episode, thank you as well. I will also like to say from a regional demographic, Portugal has now overtaken Bangladesh. I know, I know. Portugal came up from Kainitsu: Whoa, Portugal, huh? We got a- TruVillain: nowhere over the last couple episodes and just completely eradicated. of course United Kainitsu: man, get our get TruVillain: States is still the biggest. I think it's like seventy percent. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Portugal is number two. Kainitsu: Number two. TruVillain: We're number two, yeah, with like twelve percent. Bangladesh down to eight, I think. I don't have the stats Kainitsu: Dang. TruVillain: in front of me. I'm just off the top of my head. Japan is like one percent. We got like one dude over there. and we love him. We love to have him. Yeah, happy Kainitsu: Hey, we're happy to have them. Yeah. TruVillain: to have him. and Canada, man, really fallen. Really falling. We, you know, can Canadians. Where ya been? Yeah, we're neighbors, bro. Where Kainitsu: that I thought we're I thought we were bros Canada that were bros TruVillain: you where you been, bro? We're neighbors. Come on now. but anyway, all that is to say, like I said. Happy to have you. And we'd love to have you Kainitsu: Yes. TruVillain: on the show, your questions and things like that. also, another big thing that I always keep fucking forgetting to mention, leave reviews if you can. You know, Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: leave leave a review, go s go star it, type a little review out. especially if it's good, you know. Really only if it's good. We don't we don't Yeah, Kainitsu: I only want to hear good things about myself. TruVillain: yeah. I don't wanna you don't wanna make you don't wanna make Kai cry. You know, he might he'd he'd be Kainitsu: I do get pretty emotional. TruVillain: He does get emotional. You don't want to make him cry. So, anyway, now that all the housekeeping is out of the way, I do want to get into straight away into what we've been playing. And I'm really consternated about which one of us goes first this time, because we have we have two different experiences. Like I have a whole bunch of shit I've been playing that I'm gonna be talking at length about, but you I feel like I feel like you're gonna be reaching your final form today. Like this man this man has never missed an opportunity to diss on Square Enix, to bitch about Final Fantasy on the show. Every episode there is a mention Kainitsu: Yep. TruVillain: of Square Enix and how they're fucking up. And I knew the day would come. I didn't know it would come so soon. Kainitsu: Let's hear TruVillain: that that you know, he would play a modern Final Fantasy or a modern Square Enix game and have to talk about it on this show. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: And but here we are, and I'm terrified. And and now that I've given it that much of a preamble, I think we need to just start with you and just get it, just let Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: you power up. You know, he's about to go fucking super saiyan that he's about to grow hair and just So anyway, without further ado Yeah, Kainitsu: right? no, my beard is gonna go blonde. TruVillain: without further ado, tell us about Final Fantasy sixteen. Kainitsu: one word. And this is just just the. My heart of hearts all the time with this fucking company. Disappointment. It's disappointing. Like, it's okay. So it's like Square Enix is Death Clock and I'm Murderface. And TruVillain: Okay. Kainitsu: they're like, we got you the deepest, darkest, gift of all. Nothing. TruVillain: Wow. wow. Kainitsu: It's your favorite gift, disappointment. know, so. TruVillain: We're we're five seconds into this thing and he's already just screaming and growling into the microphone. Good God. Kainitsu: Well, it was a Death Clock reference and it was Nathan Explosion had to break out the metal boys, TruVillain: I understand, I understand. It's an emotional time. Kainitsu: Yeah, no, it's it it's disappointing because like I have I'm gonna try and do what I best I can so well how I always did my videos of critiquing this on my YouTube channel if you ever want to go watch me bitch more about Square Enix. It's my favorite thing to do my favorite pastime apparently. TruVillain: We all have to have one. Kainitsu: We do have to have a passion and yeah hating squares. I'm very passionate about it. But but yeah, no, so how I Stricted those videos for the Final Fantasy 7 remake and rebirth is I give the good first. I give you the good to let you know. There are things I do find somewhat enjoyable or that I like. And then I give you the bad, which is usually way more than the good. So I'm going to try and be as positive right now as I can. So first and foremost, and this is can can always be said. They have an extremely talented people that work at Square Enix. I don't want to take that away TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: from them in any form or all of that, because making video games is very hard. you know, being artistic and making a good style and stylized for your vision, everything takes a lot of work and all of that. So. The game is looks very good. It's a very good looking game graphically, if it, you know, that's that's kind of like their bread and butter for the most part with Square Enix. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. It does look very nice. for the record, I have beaten this. This is the one Final Fantasy game I've beaten. Yeah, Kainitsu: only one. TruVillain: th the only one it's the only one I've played past like ten hours as well. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: So now that's not an endorsement. I'm gonna let you continue. I don't wanna interrupt your rant, but that I'm not s yeah. It just so happens Kainitsu: No, it shouldn't be. TruVillain: through p circumstance that I that I've I have beaten this one. So Kainitsu: Mm hmm. TruVillain: Anyway, continue. I didn't mean to Kainitsu: And it makes me sad that this is the one that you've played through all the way, because I get your sentiment now, if you told me how you felt about this game. I'm not all the way through it just yet, obviously, and I'm still pretty early on, but I've got a lot of opinions. But anyway, the game looks very nice. The art style is a very good direction. I like the the world they kind of went with this time. It's like some more medieval, but it's also kind of like some. Game of Thrones, Witcher kind of vibes to it, you know, which is good. I like that. This is also a more mature rated game for a Final Fantasy game. They usually try to make those. A bit more TruVillain: T for teen. Kainitsu: like they usually like team rated. Yeah, they're not no go too too crazy on all of that and. TruVillain: Was this one actually rated? Kainitsu: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it has to be because if it wasn't, they wouldn't be able to say fuck so much. They'd say it a lot. TruVillain: that is true. They do say fuck a lot. So well I was trying to think about like I like what is rated about this game? And yeah, they they just they say Yeah, they say fuck a lot. Kainitsu: violence and language. And I think there's like some like, well, there's some tobacco use alcohol use and then anyway, that's T for teen. That's what you get to mature. It's we started in TruVillain: Mm, sure. But that that's teen that's T for teen. You d the the fuck is what gets you the the rating. yeah. Kainitsu: the Xbox day. If you wanted to be mature, read a game. You had to say fuck a lot anyway. TruVillain: I think more than two. I think you get two I know that's movies. I think movies you can do. Three? Is it three? I thought it was two. Okay, bet. Kainitsu: Movies is more than three that. Yeah, you could say you could say fuck three times in a PG-13 rated movie before it becomes R rated. Yeah, weird stuff. American makes no sense anyway. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kainitsu: So I do like the world that they came up with. It gets very medieval. Again, it's very kind of Witcher got Game of Thrones vibes to it. Like both those things. The story definitely kind of feels more of a kind of a Game of Thrones kind of vibe they went for as well. with her telling it now. Don't know if I have like a favorite character like Clive is he's like your main character, the guy you play as and everything. He's he's OK. He's OK. Yeah, TruVillain: He's terrible, but continue. Kainitsu: I said he's OK. Like he's not very good as a main protagonist. Mm TruVillain: He's just he's very flat, you know, like he's very just like I am good guy doing good guy things. I have tragic past. Kainitsu: I did a bad thing and it hurt me so bad and I still have a good heart, but I am a loner. But I'm not a loner anymore. Everyone's making me realize I need friends to go through this world. yeah, like, and the performance from the voice actor, it's a very, very hit or miss. the very, like the most emotional scene at the beginning of the game, like, His delivery is really, really bad. It's not, it's not very good. so TruVillain: Hmm. Kainitsu: there's a complaint with him as a character and like the voice actor is a hit or miss a lot of times. there was actually one, one scene that I felt like actually was really good because like the revelation that he has about what happened and what he's thought happened, didn't happen and all of that. and you know, he's just like coming out of a coma area all of a sudden, just like got rage. He. He did- he performed very well in that scene. That was actually probably the best well-directed scene so far, all honesty, in my opinion, that I've seen at this point in the game. But, anyway. TruVillain: Wasn't isn't he the same guy that that is in Expedition thirty three? Like the main character? Let me look I'll look that up while you're talking, yeah. Kainitsu: I'm not sure actually. I'm not sure. If you want to look that up, that'd be a cool little tidbit to find out why I go on my tirade. But TruVillain: By all means. Kainitsu: all right. Yeah, but yeah, so there's that the combat is also. Okay, like it's again, it's very flashy, very well, really good artists, very talented people that work at this this company. So it all looks very nice with the flourishes and everything that they're doing. And I don't know if I've kind of put the game in a bit of easy mode for myself or anything, because one, the leveling in this is kind of weird. Final Fantasy games are kind of known for like having like stupid high numbers for like, you know, increasing as you level TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: up and everything. The leveling in this is a lot lower for the experience needed, but you don't get a lot of experience from like most fights and stuff. it balances out, but it just feels like they don't want you to become overpowered. And that's something I really, I just hate in RPGs to be completely honest. mean, sure they want to give you, you know, I said I'm going to start with good. All I'm doing is bitching now. I guess we're not going to get the good. TruVillain: well just to stop you right there, real quick, it is the same voice actor as Verso from yeah, X yeah thirty three. Well so Kainitsu: Really? Well, he did a very poor job in this game and he did a very good job in X Mission 33, but it probably also has to do with direction. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I was about to say, so in this game I kinda feel like it's just the script he had to work with 'cause I don't remember Kainitsu: Mm hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: having any issues with his his actual like voice acting. I thought he had a nice voice. I thought he did like but I I've kinda just felt like the writing was just dog shit. Kainitsu: The writing is not great, and that can be said about most Square Enix and Final Fantasy games these days. But again, again, it's not that he's bad all the time, but like there's just some sometimes like his deliveries and everything kind of not great. Like he's already like a flat character and similar times just falls real flat. But me, I was saying about the leveling and everything is that like, yeah, it just feels like they don't want you to become overpowered. They don't want you to feel like. you find any exploit to like get leveled up super fast or anything. And for me personally, when I play an RPG, I like to get overpowered. That's what I like to do. Sure, challenge is great, but if I'm able to go and like figure out a way to just start mowing down things from just doing extra set and side quests and stuff and being rewarded for that time, I feel good about that. But I don't like it when you basically get like hand, like a like handholdy. with your experience and you can only get just enough to where all you're kind of strong, but you know, you're not overpowered. Sorry. We're not going to give you that, that fantasy and final fantasy. so yeah, I just, I, I hate that. but the combat is okay again. I, I feel like also I've been a little bit easy for one, like two things. I didn't make that point is I bought the complete edition. So it gave you some gear and stuff. And one of the things is a buster sword. from Final Fantasy seven. Yeah. Yeah, it's from the DLC. It's from the DLC. TruVillain: I was wondering, I was yeah, I was looking at that. I was like, where the fuck did he get that? Of course of course he has that. 'Cause I didn't have that. Kainitsu: Yeah, you got like three different swords that were part of the DLC package. But they're all you can't upgrade them or anything. And they all start the same amount of damage and stuff like that. And that's it. So if you like those protagonists swords, you can use those swords. So cool. I got I got the buster sword. I like you know, Final Fantasy 7 is actually probably my one of my favorite games of all time, and especially when it comes to Final Fantasy games. And anyway, but yeah, so there's that. And also, I was using a ring I think I got in the demo I played on because I honestly forgot that I downloaded the demo for this and played it to see what was going to run on my PC and just didn't finish it. So I was like, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: well, OK, but I did I did finish it on the PS5 when it first before it released originally TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: on console. But, but yeah, there was a ring you could get that gave you a couple of different things. And one of them was like, you can do all these crazy complex combinations. All you gotta do is just basically press the attack button for square to make it really simplified. TruVillain: yeah. Kainitsu: Which, okay. Yeah. Like I said, made it a little easy for me, but at the same time it's like, even while I'm, I'm controlling it now on my own, it, it just, there's cool downs and all of that. And just like how you made the point last week with, you know, the loop. that you're in with with, you TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: know, Doom Eternal, you're not doing the loop. You're not having fun and it just you're TruVillain: If you're not looping, you're not looping, man. Kainitsu: not looping, you're not looping and you're not having fun. And that's kind of how you have to do in this game if you do it that way. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: And it just feels like like an MMO game where it was like TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: because like, again, those cooldowns are so fucking long. So long. It's like, do you just let me have fun and like TruVillain: Well yeah, you have to do a again, just like an MMO, you have to have like your low cool down, then you gotta have a medium one, a high one, you gotta just go through the the loop. Yeah. Like you have to go from yeah, and then Kainitsu: Mm-hmm, your high cooldown. Yep, do the loop, gotta do the loop. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: so by the time you pop your heavy one, the short one is is cooled down again. You just go right through it again. Just mm. Yep. And then y Kainitsu: Ready to go. And then in between all that, you're just doing regular ass attacks and stuff. then. TruVillain: you they give you like these, these different loadouts you can do of abilities, but you just do the same thing for each one. Like it it you just keep you go down it's like loops on loops on loops. You just kinda do it and it's anyway. No, go ahead. Kainitsu: Yeah. Yep. It doesn't change much of anything. Mm hmm. Yeah, you know, and that's the thing. It's like it's not very deep. Like it's it's pretty simple and it. I'm kind of I'm kind of I'm just bored. I'm bored. I'm bored with this game. I'm just bored. And it's just going more with it like the combat to another thing I just hate. And this has been a thing since fucking Final Fantasy 13. is the stagger system. I fucking hate the goddamn stagger system. My TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: god. Dude, like, well, that's, it's fun to have a boss slash, like, for stupid long times, and if you hit it enough, it's gonna go down, and you can do some percentage damage, you feel like you're gonna do really big damage, but it's very minuscule damage, and we're still gonna make you have to go through the stupid HP fucking sponge, and... God damn, dude, like, I hate that TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: system. It's so bad, and it's not fun, it's- just irritating and it feels like padding. It's not good design in my opinion. And it's been like that since Final Fantasy 13. And they have that in this game too. And they have just really just again, like I there's some enemies are kind of like little mini bosses where you don't think like you should have to hit them this much, but you do like, it's a Minotaur. well, you know what? You got to hit him. Like you do like a million damage. Then he dies. That's a regular enemy, not a boss. Like it's TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: It's not fun. And I'm basically say like, it's gives you challenge and blah, blah, blah. Nah, man. Like if it does, if I'm not super engaged with your game loop, if I'm not super engaged with like how deep your, your, you, your, ability system and everything is. Cause again, it's like, you just, you're two buttons, then you're holding down, right trigger, pressing a button. And then you need to press the two buttons. It's going back and forth, going square, triangle, square, triangle, X, Y, X, Y, depending on what you're playing with. and. Yeah, that's boring. It's boring, it's not fun. And this is like, this is supposed to be like their first full on action RPG, and it's like, guys, drop the ball so hard, man. You know who you should have taken fucking, like, TruVillain: Hell yeah. Kainitsu: your cues from? Devil May Cry. Fucking TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: God of War, modern God of War. Like, Judy should have done stuff like that. It's like they're just stuck in this old... fucking game design and again I love old video games and everything I'm ritual and all that I'm old as fuck I'm 40 so I played all that stuff but this game design that they're doing with their modern stuff and like their main titles for Final Fantasy and everything man I don't it's just it's just not vibing man and the story we're having TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: is kind of stupid like I want to say stuff, but I want to spoil it because it's still kind of a new game. And I don't want to do that, TruVillain: Yeah, that's not yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: but. The story's not good. It's just, it's not good. It's stupid. It's really, it's really dumb. It has fucking like, Kingdom Hearts buys but less Nomura involved with it, you know? Like... TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: But for one good thing I will say, at least they give you... the good that you're promised. TruVillain: the one good thing. This was the good we were promised at the start. Like this was we were promised this to begin with. So Kainitsu: I'm sorry I have so much hate in my heart. TruVillain: I see that. Kainitsu: But no, they give you a doggy companion and you can pet him and he's awesome and adorable. Yes, TruVillain: I do love the wolf. I love the wolf. Kainitsu: if you give me a doggo companion and I can pet in a game that already gives you some plus points and if the dog's adorable and does adorable doggy things that's even more of a point you get. So I do love I do love Targle. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, we we love the wolf. All right. Kainitsu: He's a good care. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: He's so he's great. He is really fun companion to have in your in your combat and everything do that. He like supports you and stuff like that. That's really cool. Like having that. TruVillain: He's a great character actually too, yeah. Like in the story and shit, like when he pulls up and Kainitsu: Yeah, like I was surprised when I first showed up. I was like, shit. Okay. TruVillain: He has a lot of personality. Kainitsu: He yeah, for, for, for a wolf definitely does, but he's, he's Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. Well, I mean f he has more personality than fucking Clive. Kainitsu: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. So, I mean, there's just, there's so much to learn about this game. And like the one thing I do, I can also say that's good about this is that they didn't make another like crazy open world game, like rebirth. is not completely for fully open world, but it basically is. That's not this here, but also. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's not too bad. TruVillain: Yeah, it's like open zoned. It's like it's like Dragon Age Inquisition or something like that. Where it's like these kind of massive, like big a like but they're contained areas. Hm. Kainitsu: Right, right. Yeah, so it feels nice to see that Square can actually do something a little more focused and not have to be a fucking 100 hour experience. that's kind of nice. But at the same time, it's like all the exploration feels fucking shallow, dude. Like, I'm picking up another material that I've picked up before. there's a shiny over there. It's three fucking gill. Get the fuck out of here dude like why did you even put that there I get more from TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: killing shit You know like it TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: or even doing quests like it'll give you like a thousand fifteen hundred guilds We're doing like the dumbest quests and the quest again That can just be said for like most games like quests aren't usually the most creative, but it also depends Witcher 3 Witcher 3 You're right Witcher 3. Here's TruVillain: it's about to say it really depends on the game, dude. I mean Kainitsu: the good example Witcher 3 my god TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: Masterpiece of a game. Love that game. I'm excited to see the DLC they're coming out with. You do a side quest in that game, dude? It feels like a main quest. It's written well, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: it has well acted, it's fun, has sometimes a twist in there somewhere, and it's good. It's good. It doesn't feel like you're like, I just had to do this just to get some extra stuff for myself. They were fun and they were inventive and creative. These are just pretty like, well, I needed to go get me some of these apples. Did you get? I need apples. thank you for the apples. Here's a thousand Gil, you know, go fetch me some onions TruVillain: I need ya I need ya go we go give me some onions, boy. I need some I need some onions. Kainitsu: now I need to cook. But yeah, yeah, there's, there's a lot of that obviously with these quests. It's like, know, like I TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: literally had to go pick up soil for one of them. Like, man, I love collecting soil. TruVillain: yeah. I think I know the exact question you're talking about. Kainitsu: I yeah, dude, yeah, so yeah, so there's all of that in the TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: quest. Start fun. Exploration feels pretty shallow, like the environments look good and they they give them what you know, don't look like you know, oddly up to that. They don't look like, you know, auto generated or anything like that. They're well crafted and TruVillain: It does look nice. Kainitsu: it looks nice, but it's kind of boring. There's not really much for to go far fine for secrets all that much again. TruVillain: Very boring. There are no secrets. Like there's no secrets. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I my little rant on that aspect of a dude, like I remember very specifically, like I I enter this area. I think it might be the area that you're in on the footage or whatever, and I like to the left, there's like this kind of like big enemy, like off in the distance, and behind him is a shiny little pickup thing. You go kill him, it's a fucking like potion. And you're like Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Right? A regular-ass potion? TruVillain: What? You do this big fight. Yeah, you do this b well it's like a mini ball, so it's not like a big, Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah. TruVillain: big fight. And you do this and and that's all the loot. There is no loot in this game. There's Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. No. TruVillain: none. There's zero fucking loot at all. There's no Kainitsu: You mostly craft stuff. TruVillain: reason to explore fucking anything ever. Like at all. Kainitsu: Mm hmm. No. So yeah, so it's like there's no exploration. There's no real reward for like exploring like the areas they created and stuff and all of that. And it's it's just. It's just it's TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: just boring in a lot of ways and again like we went by another point that I just didn't finish is like I'm ADHD right now. I'm very tired. So not very well poignant with my my points here, but Again another good thing cold if they went for a mature rating and everything The first mature rated at Final Fantasy game was actually type 0 on the PSP that came out years ago And then eventually got ported to the ps4 and on PC eventually as well so it's cool that they kind of try to do a mature rated game again. Like that's another cool thing they've done with this. but it just, it just feels like a square Enix game. then that's a, that used to be a good thing to say. it, no, no, I'm just, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: God, I just, I, it, it, this could have, this had so much potential and they just ruined it to like, to prove that they can make proper action RPGs. And they felled at TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: it like hard. And I just don't TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: know, man, like I will say this. I have enjoyed the character said, and just to let you know, for anyone else, I've really played a final fancy games or anything since final fantasy five, there's always been a character named sit. Sometimes they're like TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: a main character that's real important. And sometimes they're a character that's part of your, your actual party. and this one, he's kind of part of your party a little bit here for a little while. And I like the voice actor they got for him as well. TruVillain: Yeah, I like Sid. Yeah, I liked Sid pretty good. He was a pretty decent character. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: Yeah, so I think he's actually the best well-performed person in the game. Because he just has such a distinct and awesome voice. And everything just sounds like, yeah, that's crazy what you said, dude. I'll listen to what you say forever. TruVillain: He sounds like he sounds like Jason Statham. Is who he sounds like. Kainitsu: Jason state them with a very low octave. TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. Kainitsu: But yeah, it's just, I feel like I'm gonna start. TruVillain: How many hours are you into it? Kainitsu: dude, I got like maybe 10 hours and I'm already feeling TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: like this worn out by the game so far. Like, there's like one cool, like there's been some kind of cool things, some kind of cool scenes. I hate a lot of the boss fights still too, not just because of like their huge HP bars and all of that and they take forever and you got the stagger system and that's fucking stupid. But there's also just that a lot of the boss fights, they're just, it's a sp- Spectacle is just basically playing like a fucking cinematic and it TruVillain: Yeah, yeah. Kainitsu: And that's pretty fucking boring too man because like because the summons in this game are called icons They've changed those names throughout the years were different. They've been they called been called Idons aeons icons just summons I'd Alon's have been so many things throughout the years and on all these different games, but they're just summons that's that boy comes down to it their summons and TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: and this would like again what's kind of cool with this iteration is that you know, particular summons or deities pick up particular person. Meanwhile, it's known as a dominant and that person like gets granted all of these special abilities and all that. And they can use the power of that particular summon to do crazy ass shit. And they're very powerful person. and also with some of the writing, I can say what we're kind of doing. It's like, like a classism thing, you know, or, or a rate, not necessarily racial thing. I feel like, God, I can't think of this game's name and it's going to read a refintasio. I feel like that game did a really good job with this message with like, you know, just basically about segregation. TruVillain: Metaphor. Yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah. Yeah. Remember before refintasio? Yeah. how they did about segregation and like, you know, racism, racism and stuff like that. Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah, it did okay. It was very it was very on the nose and very like ham fisted. But like yeah, it I mean, yeah. Yeah. For sure. Kainitsu: It was, but it wasn't like a bad message either. was, was, at least it was written well for the most part. Cause I mean, you actually like all those characters I liked, I was like, man, that sucks. See what they went through and what like, you know, and it's like, yeah, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: let's everyone be a thing. And they're kind of doing that here more with like classes and my guests on server-based system. But again, it's still kind of like, it's very on the nose and it's like, I see what we're doing now. want to create a world of equality for everybody because we don't longer want hierarchies and we won't want these people who have these special abilities to be used anymore and cast aside and all that stuff and it's like okay like yeah sure but yeah like how many times have we heard this story though you know like it's TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: not that can't be a bad message but I don't know I just I I already knew I was going into this I was gonna hate it TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: Like I spit money on it. I knew I was gonna hate this I'm sad I'm right that that's this is disappointing like it's again. There's a lot of there's the good stuff. That's good is really really good TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: But it's attached to fucking dogshit. So what good is it? TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, once you rub a little little dog shit on it, it stops being good. Yeah, Kainitsu: Why don't you get a little dog shit on there? TruVillain: it's you she's throw it away. You know, you throw it in the trash. Kainitsu: Just cast it aside, you know, it's not worth anything anymore. But yeah, no, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: I, I, I wish scared with square could figure out how to make games good again. I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm sad to see that they're going to probably more likely go and remake eight and nine and possibly 10 going forward. And I already told you about. TruVillain: If I'm not badly if I'm not badly mistaken, a lot of people love this game. Like, think Kainitsu: Really? TruVillain: it I think it did pretty well, I think. Yeah. Kainitsu: Really? I haven't looked at anything into that myself, honestly. So now let's see. Let's find out. Let's see what's got here on on some research. TruVillain: Yeah, let me let me let me do professional podcasting here. First off, Kainitsu: Hahaha TruVillain: F sixteen sales. Let's look at sales first. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: three million copies in its first week. Kainitsu: wow. That's actually a lot. TruVillain: yeah, lifetime sales approximately three point five million following a subsequent PC release. So it kinda topped out in its first week. Kainitsu: Yes. TruVillain: Yeah, I only got half a million after but I mean three point five milli is not bad. Kainitsu: Yeah, TruVillain: F F sixteen, Kainitsu: but. TruVillain: let's look at Metacritic. What does Metacritic have to say? Kainitsu: But with those cells, because this is just part of their industry. TruVillain: I mean user I mean user reviews eighty four, critic eighty seven. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: Hmm. Really? Man, I guess I'm just a jaded ass person, but I mean, I just I that's too high, man. That's too much praise, in all honesty, in my opinion. And also with like the sales like, OK, yeah, they sold three point five and lifetime sells. If it was so good, you think it'd be more by now, three, three, four years. TruVillain: It has a seventy has a seventy seven percent on Steam. It it had a Kainitsu: That sounds a bit more accurate. TruVillain: it had a max of twenty seven thousand players. It currently has thirteen fifty three. Kainitsu: That's a lot of people playing actually. TruVillain: Yeah, I was about to say pretty pretty solid metrics all around. Kainitsu: Yeah, for the most part, but still. Just because we know how this day and age is. TruVillain: I mean all of that is like like last of us numbers and metrics and I mean that's all like yeah pretty pretty highly Kainitsu: But the thing is, was like. TruVillain: regarded. Kainitsu: But how much do they spend on making this game, though, like how bloated was their budget budget, you know? TruVillain: They're butt it. Kainitsu: I don't even know if we actually have those numbers. They don't usually, especially Japan. They're really quiet and secretive about this kind of stuff. TruVillain: Well, the thing about Japanese games is because of the exchange rate and because their developers sometimes literally make twenty five K a year. 'cause it's just a different culture over there. These games Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Right. TruVillain: are actually pretty cheap, comparatively Kainitsu: Hmm, okay. TruVillain: to compared to like Western games. Kainitsu: Gotcha. But OK, well, if they were able to keep a pretty. TruVillain: Let's see. The core development budget for f was roughly 10 billion yen, translated to 58 million. That's pretty expensive. Kainitsu: that that is expensive, but that's a pretty low budget for like a considered to be a triple a title. Yeah, so that's actually pretty reasonable for like for a budget. TruVillain: That's pretty expensive. Yeah. Hm. Yeah, it's Japan, yeah. They again they mm hmm. Kainitsu: honestly, man, almost every triple a game, that type of budget, in all honesty. TruVillain: Yeah. This pretty cheap. Pretty Kainitsu: And it's pretty cheap. they probably didn't make a profit off of this. So it is successful in that way. So, but okay, cool. I TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Critically, commercially, it's it's all success, buddy. It's all success, homie. Kainitsu: Yeah. And I'm a I'm a hater, but like, and so is fucking Final Fantasy 7 remake and rebirth as well, you know, like those are critically acclaimed and they love them and I'm like, I'm like, bad. No, there are people out there. We're just a quiet few. TruVillain: people love those. People love those. You might be the only person that hates We're a quiet I mean I bounced off of the first remake like within like ten hours. So I I guess I'm a hater too. Kainitsu: Yeah, OK, fair. I mean, I the remake, though, man, that's that's really understandable for me, though. It was like I I was enjoying it for the most part, but. The story beats is like the changes in all of that's what really got to me and also some of the design and everything. And again, it has some of the same problems I had with this game, just. Just, you know. Enemies have way too big of HP pools, just being HP sponges, bosses like. It's literally in Final Fantasy Remake where boss is just way too long. Like, holy shit, like that first boss fight is like 30 minutes long, Why TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: do want to fight this thing that long? And that's how I feel about lots of things in this too, especially like bosses and everything. It's just, well. mean, apparently people love this game. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. People do. Haha You're all you're all wrong, all of you. Kainitsu: You people are wrong. You're all wrong. It's not as good as you think it is. I, but if it brought you value, I can't take that away from you, but this is a very subpar TruVillain: I mean I beat it. Kainitsu: product in my opinion. TruVillain: I beat it. It's the only Final Fantasy I've ever beaten. I've tried most of them. Kainitsu: It is that. I've been a lot of Final Fantasy games starting from six and onward. So, yeah, you know, actually, I never TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: beat 13 and I didn't play 13 or 13 to and it played like fucking returns either is that shit was stupid. TruVillain: Yeah, so to my experience with this game, the demo got me. It's a very good demo. Like the demo is fantastic. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it a good opening, you know, good hook. TruVillain: And it didn't it didn't pan out like through the rest of the game. First of all, this is not a role playing game in any sense of the word. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: It's not even an action RPG. It's not even a role playing game in the sense that people consider JRPG's role playing games, because I don't consider JRPG's rule. That's a conversation for another topic. Kainitsu: That might be a future topic. TruVillain: Yeah, but but yeah, dude, it's an action game. It's a very Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: long action game and and not even like a very good one. Cause as Kainitsu: It's not a very good action game. Yeah. TruVillain: you said, you know, there's this this kind of boring loop that you get into. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: there's no elemental damage. Well, there is elemental damage, but it doesn't do anything. Like it you don't have to worry about it. I think it's just so when you upgrade your sword, so your sword Kainitsu: No? Kind of. There is. Not much. You do elemental damage. You don't take it. TruVillain: your sword upgrade, you don't find like cool weapons. You have like a linear upgrade path. And so as you beat bosses, as you beat you'll unlock cooler swords or they just look cooler. But the only thing different is their stagger and damage numbers higher. You'll Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It does a little more damage. Mm-hmm. Yep. TruVillain: get this dope ass lightning sword at one point. You're like, ooh, it doesn't do lightning damage. It Kainitsu: Looks cool. TruVillain: just does damage. Yeah, it it has a lightning effect, but it doesn't do any damage. And so it's just pure damage. There's no there's just no loot in this game. Like there's just It's it's really Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: I don't know. The side quests suck. They're really bad. I think even the people that like this game agree with that. I just started s I just mainlined it after a certain point. Which I never do. I'm a big explore everything, talk to everyone, read everything. There's nothing good to explore. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I like some of the characters. I think some of them develop a little bit as the game goes on. the story was enough for me, like carrot for me to be alright, let's see where this goes, right? And where it goes is I mean Kainitsu: Nowhere. TruVillain: I mean it goes places and the ending I think is it's suitably I guess suitably emotional in some ways. Like they definitely they they twist the knobs that you think they're gonna twist emo Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: you know, to try to get you to kind of be emotional about what's happening. there's a couple decisions at the end that I was a little surprised by in kind of a good way. But it I don't know, it's just overall if it felt very incomplete. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Like when I played it, that's kind of what I walked away with is like this thing feels like incomplete. There's n like it yeah, it feels Kainitsu: an unfinished product. Yeah. TruVillain: like 'cause again, I it there's all the makings for elemental damage. Like you Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: have elements based around like your icons and stuff. But they don't do anything. There's like obvious yeah, Kainitsu: They give you different abilities, that's it. TruVillain: there's obvious placement for loot and stuff, but it's not good loot. It's just Kainitsu: a loop. No. TruVillain: potions. It's they forgot they forgot an armor system. They forgot a weapon Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: system. There's not really any stats to speak of. Yeah. Kainitsu: No. They also limit you on items as well. You just can't have like a shit ton of items. And if you have max like potions, it's like, well you can't, you can't carry it. So you get healed automatically. It's used. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: Now the boss fights, if you if you accept that the boss fights are not there for you to feel accomplished, they're there for the spectacle. They are Kainitsu: Yeah. Yep. TruVillain: awesome. Like they have some really good music as well. There's one boss where the music is awesome. Like the music is so fucking good. Like it goes into like this like dubstep sounding thing that just like, Kainitsu: yeah? TruVillain: dude, it's like eclectic and it's very just it's And the visuals, it's really cool. There's like some Dragon Ball Z shit in this game, like with the Kainitsu: okay. TruVillain: bosses. Yeah, where you're like, all right. Like I wish there was a way to just go back and play the boss fights just periodically. Like you could just pick one and just do it. Just because they are cool. They're really cool. is there? Kainitsu: Actually there is. There is a way. Yeah. I don't know if this is like a later thing they did and later updates, but yeah, there is like, there's like this, statue you can interact with and the, and the hideout or the hideaway and, yeah, you can actually replay full. Yeah. You can replay the whole, you can replay a whole chapter if you want for like story stuff. And you can even go fight certain bosses and stuff if you want to. And there's like, there's like our arcade version to get like points and shit like that. TruVillain: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. You just go replay the boss? See they knew. See they knew. They knew that was the best part of the game. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, they're just really cool visually. You're not doing anything in them. Like you're pushing a button from time to time. But like they they're yeah. Kainitsu: No. You press a button occasionally. TruVillain: Yeah, they're really And again the music is really fantastic in them as well. Kainitsu: Yeah, that's one thing I can say that hasn't been a let down. The music is very good, but again, they have very talented TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: people at this company. Like I'm not taking that away from from them at all, because these people worked hard on this, obviously. So I don't want to take that from them. It's just not a good game. Like you did good work in so many other things. But the game itself is, you know. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah, but it's you know, I don't know. I overall I was very underwhelmed by it. Again, I did get through it mostly because it's just once you mainline it, it's not that long of a game. and I figured yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, it's actually part of the sh... Okay, sorry. TruVillain: And there was enough like carrots on the stick, like I said, to keep me Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: at least trying to see where this was going. And then Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: whatever the moment y I started getting a little bored, I'd get hit with one of those boss fights, you know, with the spectacles. Like, alright, I'll I'll push on through. And at the time I don't think anything else was like out at the time and it was like, man, this could be the I could actually beat a Final Fantasy game. and I did. Yeah, this could be the one. Yep, and it did. It was. I I I beat Kainitsu: This could be the one! And I can say I did it finally! With a Final Fantasy! TruVillain: it. Yeah. So I don't know, man. It just it's one i it's like the most like six out of ten game of all time. Like it's just very a five I ca I could respect a five, yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah. I dude I'd give it a five. It's average as fuck. Yeah. TruVillain: well it's just there are there are aspects of the package that I think raise it up to a six a little maybe like a five point five if we're given half points. like the boss fight spectacles, the music. Kainitsu: I mean... TruVillain: visuals are cool. Again, some of the characters I I you know, I I grow to like them. The dog, you know, or the wolf, the wolf dog. Kainitsu: If you don't like Torgal, you have no. TruVillain: Yeah. But yeah, it's I don't know, man. I I think this game i it just and you could tell that an MMO guy made it 'cause he's the same it's the Final Fantasy fourteen guy. Kainitsu: yeah. I wonder, yeah, yeah. If that was the director, that makes total sense. You... TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. Yep. Well well dude, if you go look at Final Fantasy fourteen, the main character is just Clive, right? Like he looks just like the like I've never played it, but like the dude on all the box art and shit. It looks just like Clive. I mean I know I mean I know you make your own character and stuff like Kainitsu: Well, OK, gotcha. Well, they've changed that throughout the years, Yeah. TruVillain: that, but like yeah. but yeah, I don't know. It's i it definitely it definitely feels Well, it feels like a really watered down MMO, right? Like it's it do 'cause if it If it was just an MMO like system with loot and stuff, that might actually be more satisfying. No. No. Kainitsu: Yeah, well, you don't even get that. They don't give you like, like, dude, if this is one of those games, we're just like popped out loot everywhere. At least I feel like there's some kind of reward for doing something. yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Because for me in a role playing game, I don't give a fuck about a power fantasy. Like I don't care if the game Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: I play some of the world's hardest RPGs. I'll play it all on fucking nightmare. I'm not looking for a po but I want I want role playing in a role playing game because that's that's the key. I wanna make Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. TruVillain: choices, I want consequences of my actions, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I want stats, I want good good builds, I wanna build Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and I want loot. I want loot. I wanna find cool shit that does cool shit. This game Kainitsu: Still rewarded. Nope. TruVillain: Does none of this. There's none of this. Kainitsu: Nope. TruVillain: You go in, you push the same three buttons a million times. You hit the what is it, the right trigger, and then or if you're playing on PC. I played it on PlayStation 5 before it was on PC. 'cause every so often Kainitsu: Yep, hold it down. Do-ability. Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Well, I'm using a PS5 controller to play it, so. TruVillain: Yeah. and you swap to your second stack of abilities, you just do the same fucking thing. And they do they they're different elements, but do they do different stuff? No, they don't. Kainitsu: You change up your combat a little bit and something might do better with stagger damage and Something might do better with this thing like there's like a little TruVillain: Yeah, I Yeah. Kainitsu: it's like it's like they just give you just a little bit It's like man you it's like you you they met So just want to give like one little history lesson right quick. So, so, TruVillain: Go ahead. God. Kainitsu: I am a lecturer professor here, TruVillain: I knew we were I knew we were in for the long haul, boys. Settle in Kainitsu: So Square, back in the 90s, felt like Americans were too stupid to play their JRPGs. So they made a Final Fantasy game called Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. TruVillain: Let me pause you right there. And at the same time, Western Studios were making fucking Baldur's Gate one and two, which are fucking Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: hyper complex role playing games. But anyway, continue. Kainitsu: Yeah. This is what saying. This is how they perceived everything. Cause they're, they're games that sell very well over here, or they thought they would sell more than they did. And so they're like, well, they must be stupid. I don't understand how to play it. Let's give them a baby RPG, dude. And it's like, it's very bad. It's not a very good game. It's, very easy. Like dude, chests in that game, respawn in areas. So you can just go back and res to get as much free shit as you want because the chests respawn. There's no point in money in that game. Like so... I kind of feel like that's what they've done this. is Mystic Quest 2. But a numbered title. They made an RPG TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: or JRPG for stupid people, I feel like. It's just so... There's no depth. It's so simple. Again, there's a little TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: shiny thing over there, but it's like a little... It's just a potion or it's a little bit of money. And we make it real easy for you to do your progression and upgrading your weapons, but you just upgrade and sometimes TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: buy a weapon, then upgrade that weapon and yeah, that's how I feel that they've done with this game. It's an RPG for stupid people and if people get offended by that, I'm sorry. TruVillain: Well, it's not an RPG. It's an action game for stupid people. There is there is yeah, there is now I gotta defend Kainitsu: Well, I'm sorry, it's an action game for stupid people. TruVillain: this as a RPG lover first. Like there's nothing RPG in this game. Like nothing. This is b this game is less of an RPG than Far Cry. Like this is I mean, in some ways Call of Duty is more of an RPG than this fucking game. it's I'm just kidding. maybe. Well, I don't know, man. Call of Duty has attachments and weapons and I dunno we're not anyway. Kainitsu: Yeah, run around it. TruVillain: this game is it's a very just shallow action game with a very Kainitsu: Yeah, it- TruVillain: broad story and a wide open kind of kind of world for one of those types of games. Kainitsu: If you like bland food, this is for you. TruVillain: It is really it is really just like JRPG, the J R. P G game, you know, like it's very well, I honestly I don't even know if it's that, you know. I would I would consider like like Dragon Quest Eleven or something that, but Kainitsu: Not really, man. Because like... Right? Like I said, because like their previous games have had so much depth to them. Like even, even like that's one thing I can give at least Final Fantasy remakes, battle systems and all of that. It actually has a lot of depth to it, which was good because TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: there's still a material system and everything from the original, which that's one of the best battle systems fucking ever. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: And then they come to this and it gets, it's just so shallow and just it's... It's it's dumb. It's dumb and boring and bland and I'm I'm gonna have to finish it, but I'm gonna hate it. I think I'm gonna have to just just to give TruVillain: Are you gonna finish it? Kainitsu: like a full opinion on it. But my honestly what I've already given, it's not gonna change. It's probably the same. TruVillain: I would just I would just mainline it. I wouldn't this dude the side quests like I I Kainitsu: They're not worth it. TruVillain: s I side quested up until like probably three maybe a halfway through the game, maybe. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: And like they're all like I I lost my chicken. Will you go find my chicken? Here's a thousand and fifty Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: and I wanna say you get the same amount of gill for each one. Like I they don't even Yeah, Kainitsu: Yeah, it's almost like thousand fifteen hundred gil. TruVillain: they don't even vary it up. I think you get the same thing Kainitsu: No. TruVillain: every time, which takes me out of the experience. You're you're like you're telling me Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: every one of these people is offering the exact same amount of money for the for the fucking task. There's like a standard rate for like Yeah. It's just so like yeah it's Kainitsu: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yep, it's been a wage. But right. that the thing is like you have nothing to spend that money on. Like you like like I said, with Mystic TruVillain: No, yeah, nothing. Kainitsu: Quicks was the same thing. You just you got all this money, but you didn't you didn't have to spend it. There was no reason to like it. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: If I don't know, I feel like I'm just going to go on and loops at this point. It's not a good game. I'm I'm sorry I've spent like an hour on this. And the funny thing is behind the scenes I made a joke like I'm gonna talk an hour about this game. I kind of did. Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah, we're at fifty one minutes. Although to be fair, Kainitsu: But yeah. TruVillain: like nine minutes of that was me talking about onions. So so ha ha Kainitsu: even true even still they're like, I knew this was gonna be a ranty rant. This is TruVillain: That dude that's why I prepared the listeners. Like before we got into this, I was like, listen, you know, this is gonna be Kainitsu and his final I dreaded this day. I I knew that I didn't know it would come so soon, quite frankly. I didn't realize we'd be on our fur on our second yeah, on our second trilogy, Kainitsu: Well, I'm glad to surprise you, friend. TruVillain: by the time it came. Kainitsu: It's here. So, yeah. Yeah, there's not much more to say about this man. It's disappointing and if you have anything else to say, I think I'm done at this point. TruVillain: hm. No, I th I think we pretty much I'm trying to think if there's from my experience 'cause this is a while ago back when it first came out. No, I Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: think I'm good. I mean I think just all I got to say as as usual, rest in peace to Final Fantasy sixteen and square enix. Well on my side of things, it's a Kainitsu: A rip. Final Fantasy Sustained. TruVillain: lot more positive. It's a lot more positive on Kainitsu: We need that. TruVillain: yeah. Yeah, I got a lot to say about my stuff. Kainitsu: Hell yeah, brother. TruVillain: I've been playing a variety of things. some backlog, but also some new stuff. Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: do I want to start with the old stuff or the new stuff? I'ma start with I'ma Kainitsu: me know what you want to start with there, friend. TruVillain: start with prey. this cause it's it's the main thing I'm playing. Like if I had like a canonical, like this is the main thing I'm chewing on. it's prey. Back in the backlog. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Okay. TruVillain: now this game. if you don't know, is an immersive sim that came out in twenty seventeen by Arkane Studios. makers of Dishonored One and Two, Deathloop, Redfall. And I actually s and also if you don't know what an immersive sim is, it's basically one of my favorite genres of games. A dying genre of game, really. in which you you have they basically they create a game of a lot of mechanics and interactable environments and stuff like that, and they kind of give you a lot of agency and decision making on how you go about it. So for example, if there's a room with a locked door, usually you can hack the door, break down the door, go around find a vent somewhere to get in the room, you know, like there's there's all kind of different stuff. And this is one of those games. I love them so much. This particular game, I actually tried to play back maybe like a year after it came out and I got a little ways into it and for whatever reason Young Me was like I really I I was really kinda put off by the fact that this wasn't kind of a like a stealth assassiny kind of game. Like I was in the mood for an immersive sim, but like this is kind of more of a like survival horror kind of game. And so I was really, I think at the time really just kind of looking like a di it's just what I actually ended up doing. I think I went and replayed like Dishonored or Deus Ex or something. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: 'Cause it's like I want wanna you know, I wanna be slitting throats and, you know, doing that kind of thing. Kainitsu: I wanna be a rogue. TruVillain: yeah. And so this game is kind of like what if you took all of that immersive sim stealthy, you know, action stuff and put it in kind of more of a horror game where you're you're not really assassinating people, you're hiding and you're running. And you are fighting. There is combat for sure too. And you know, there's boss fights and things like that. But and so I just for whatever reason I just wasn't in the in the headspace for that at the time. But I decided to, you know, we're in backlog season. I was just perusing my Steam games, my Steam library, and I was like, you know what? Let me go back and let me go back and beat that one. Let me I need I need to check that one off the list. So I remember liking it a lot, or aspects of it a lot. And let me tell you, I am really glad I did. Because this game is so fucking good, my dude. Like it is Kainitsu: There we are. TruVillain: it's fantastic. I don't know I don't know why this game isn't talked about more. I know it's a cult classic, you know, for a reason, but I honestly think this game I haven't beat it yet. I'm probably I'm probably about fifty percent of the way through it, if I had to guess. based on like this the space station and stuff like that. But like, I mean it's It's in the conversation with like Bioshock and stuff for me. Like it's really good. And so basically the the premise of the game is that you kind of start the game off in this like groundhog day situation, if you've ever seen that movie where you're basically in a time loop where you wake up and do the same thing every single day. you break out of that and you realize that you're on this space station called Talos One. And there's this alien called the Typhon, which are kind of they're basically you think about the symbiotes from Spider Man. Like they're kind of these like black amorphous kind of creatures. And they've kind of broken containment and are just murdering everyone on the fucking station. And and there's this big mystery about like what you were doing there. You're like one of the CEOs of the station. Yeah, you're like a big wig on the station, like one of the top dudes. And but you've lost your memory because there's these things called neuromods, which is basically us fucking around with the alien DNA. And inserting it into our brains and trying to yeah, because what it actually does is we're we're actually able to kind of rewire our pathways to like teach us stuff. So like what they're trying to do is create a product to where it's like, you want to be a musician? Just take a neuromod and like it'll Kainitsu: Okay TruVillain: teach you, yeah, you'll be a musician. But the problem is is if you remove them, everything that happened to you up to you ta or b after you took that neuromod vanishes. And so Kainitsu: okay. TruVillain: That's what's been happening to you. They're they've been putting neuromods in you and removing them. And so you kind of have been reliving this loop. Yeah. Kainitsu: You've been a guinea pig, but you're the CEO. TruVillain: Yeah. Well, again, that's part of the mystery. Yeah, what's going on, what was happening to you, what you may have been doing to others. Like it's it's a whole like conspiracy kind of story on top of it, which is really fucking cool. I love a good conspiracy theory story. And so you got that, you got the aliens, you know, figuring out. what they are. there's a bunch of stuff I'm not gonna go into. Everything I've talked about is like the first like twenty minutes of the game. Like you learn all of this for the most part. Kainitsu: Hmm. Okay. TruVillain: so I haven't really because I really want people like if you if this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I want you to go into this as fresh as possible. but it's fun. I mean you're sneaking around there's a whole fuck ton of builds. It's the opposite of Final Fantasy sixteen. you know you can you can do all kinds of stuff in this environment. Everything's super interactable. there's there's this creature called a mimic. They're these little crawly spider symbiotes. They're kind of the basic enemy. they can turn like this game has objects similar to a Bethesda game, where there's cups and there's tables and chairs and all of it's interactable. You can pick it up, throw it, move it around. But the mimics turn into these objects. And so They hide and so whenever you're walking by one, they'll you'll see it maybe shake a little bit. You're like, fuck, and it'll like jump out at and like attack you. and it you'll sometimes walk into a room, hmm, why are there two computers? you know, as it jumps out Kainitsu: You TruVillain: at you. it's pretty fucking fun. but that being said, if you're listening to this and you're like, Man, I'm a big fucking sissy and I don't like horror games and stuff like that, like this one's not bad. Like it's not scary. Really, it's just kind of unsettling. Kainitsu: Okay. I could see that. I haven't played this game, but what I'm seeing right now, yeah, I can definitely see the Bioshock vibes. That's what I'm getting from it right now. I'm never playing it. TruVillain: Yeah. yeah. Yeah. I mean and it's I mean and Bioshock took its inspiration from like System Shock and the you know, the the immersive sims that came before it. But Kainitsu: Mm hmm. Yeah. That was like his successor. Yeah. TruVillain: dude, well let me finish that thought and then we'll get to the Bioshock comparisons. but it's not that scary. It's really not. If you're again, if you're hearing this and you're like, I'm a big sissy, it's not. There's not there's maybe like too little jump scares in the game that happened so far, like fifty percent of the but they're They're super predictable, like i it's not scary. It's just kind of unsettling, right? And not even that 'cause I mean these are just like symbiote space monsters. It's not, I don't know, it's so don't let that put you off from playing it. but there's that, and so yeah, it it definitely takes its inspiration from things like Bioshock and System Shock and Deus Ex and also their own games, Dishonored. and it has some of the best level design that I've ever seen in a game. like bar none. It is so good. Like they have thought it out. So like you have I mean it's it's like they built a living space station. So you have a space station, but then you have all the people that worked on the space station, the divisions, they all have computers, emails. If you read an email on someone's computer and you go somewhere off hours later in the game and you find the other person's computer, it's gonna have their email on it where they were emailing back and forth. Just little details like that. And there's a lot of email reading. in this game. Kainitsu: My favorite. TruVillain: Yeah. Well you get codes and stuff from it too sometimes. It'll be like, we changed yeah, we changed Kainitsu: Okay, so it's worth going through them. TruVillain: the the door code on this and you know and it's just so there's so much. It's such a dense experience and you can go through it in so many different ways. there's stuff I really want to spoil it just to get you people more interested in the game, but I won't. But there's some really cool stuff with like your abilities And just the things that you can do in this game. it's just it's really fantastic. And I really hate that I I I I dropped it back in the day. But I'm glad to Kainitsu: slapped on it. TruVillain: to Yeah, did you have you played this? Kainitsu: No, no, I haven't. So a little bit for me on this, was disappointed that this was the new prey. Yeah, so it's actually the original IP was a 360 game. Yeah, TruVillain: Yeah. That three sixty game, yeah. Kainitsu: and it was it was about had a Native American as your main character and stuff like that. And definitely TruVillain: Yep. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: had some kind of, know. some sketchy things going on with that direction. But, yeah, TruVillain: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Kainitsu: that game is fun. I still have that. Like it was a fun. It was like my very first three sixty game whenever I bought it and all that. It was a fun experience. I still think it's a fun experience. can't really buy any more, unfortunately, unless you go to like a, you know, a key reseller. But I kind of didn't play this in protest because. Pray to was going to be such a cool fucking thing, man, like it was going to be such a. TruVillain: Well, allegedly, right? Like there is yeah. They showed some like concept stuff on it. Kainitsu: Allegedly, but like it was apparently like already 90 % done. It was 90 % done though, apparently. And then they just scrapped it and canceled it. And then after TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: they got bought by Bethesda. So I was like, man, this is what I wanted. So I'm not playing this game, but I've heard a lot of good things about it. Another mutual friend of ours, like who I introduced you to, he's told me this plenty of times, like, it's a really, really good game. You should play it. You would like it. TruVillain: It's phenomenal. Kainitsu: that you played other things similar to my guys, not the prey. I want it. So TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: I kind of not played it in protest, but I should probably give it a chance at some point. TruVillain: the the prey you deserve. I I yeah to to put another point on that history lesson is they were actually forced by Bethesda this wasn't actually prey like they were gonna call it something else and Bethesda Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: came in and forced them to call this prey yeah for marketing because Kainitsu: for marketing. TruVillain: it's I don't I don't know what this was supposed to be called but Bethesda came and said no we're gonna put prey on this and I'll tell you what this game is a million times better than the first prey I don't know about the second prey, but this game is fucking dope. I did. Yeah, I Kainitsu: Did you ever play the original Parade? Okay. TruVillain: yeah, I liked it well enough. it was your typical kinda like alien abduction. Like it was kinda cool. Like and you had like the the s like when you died you went to the spirit realm of and you had to find your way back and Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: like you the game starts and you're like in a gas station or some shit and like you get abducted. Yeah, and you're like on Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. We're gonna bar. You're not, you're gonna bar on a reservation. TruVillain: Yeah, and you're like on the ship and you're watching your family just get pulped into fucking life. Yeah. It was fun, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, it's brutal opening dude. Like you see your grandpa get killed, your girlfriend gets taken away. There's also like some just, it is some really really cool things. Also that was that game was made with EdTech3. Which would brought you Doom 3. Yeah. it's a very, TruVillain: Yeah. yeah, okay. Doom three. Hell yeah. The best Doom. All right. Kainitsu: very divisive topic, sir. TruVillain: Yeah. So, yeah, so this game this game is better than all of that. Like it's so good. I don't it is so fucking good. And it I mean it's such a villain game though. Like I I I I love these kinds of games. you they are thinking man's games, you know, like you gotta be prepared to read. You gotta be prepared to to to think creatively, you know. Like you gotta you know, you just gotta and that might be why it didn't do as well as it probably should have. I think you also had your fucking prey protesters out there who were not playing it out of at a protest for a much lesser game. Kainitsu: this guy. TruVillain: but it like I don't know man. I dis what what one game of the year twenty seventeen? Let's see. Let's see. game of the Kainitsu: know. It's been so long and you know there's so many games that have their game of the year edition but which was the real game of the year. TruVillain: fucking Breath of the Wild. Man, listen, this game is ten times better than Breath of the Wild. Like, this game is so good. Kainitsu: okay, that's a very bold statement. TruVillain: What else came out that year? Horizon Zero Down Persona 5 came well. Why didn't Persona 5 win Game of the Year? Kainitsu: because everybody sucked Nintendo's dick. TruVillain: Did did Prey win anything? I don't think so. Anyway, it's not important. this game is very underrated. It is fan if you like Bioshock, if you like Deus Ex, if you like Dishonored, if you like any of those kinds of games, or if you've never played any of those and this sounds interesting, it this is it's really good. It is very Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: hard. It is a very difficult game. Well, I'm playing on Nightmare. I don't know Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: how hard it is on the standard difficulty. I think nightmare is the way to play though, because it makes the aliens a lot scarier. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: You know? Well no, it's not it's not it's not a it's not a boss ass bitch thing. It's a it's a it's I think it just makes the aliens scarier. Like I I want it to be see, I want it Kainitsu: Gotcha. Make some more challenging. TruVillain: to be I want it to be more of a horror game than it is. And so like I ramp Kainitsu: Okay? TruVillain: it up to nightmare so that when I see an alien, I'm like, fuck. You know. The mimics are always pretty easy, but like you you encounter some shit where you're like Kainitsu: Okay. Hell yeah. TruVillain: Like f like just one little example. I came across like an invisible fucking enemy that was doing some shit. And I'm like, no. god, that gave me hell. but yeah, it's it's it's really it's a really great game. it's pretty too. I mean it has kind of a similar aesthetic to Dishonored 'cause it's the same I think at the void engine, I think, as what it's built on. which is just a great bespoke engine for those types of games that they use. It it again it shares the visual stylings with, you know, kind of Bioshock a little bit. Now, Bioshock is i is the goat because of, you know, the the theming and the the art style and the music and but Kainitsu: Are we talking about Bioshock 1? Okay. TruVillain: Yeah, yeah, Bioshock One. but this game destroys it in terms of level design, in terms Kainitsu: Well, okay. TruVillain: of gameplay, in terms of just like almost everything else. And and Bioshock is aged, of course. It came out a lot long years before this one. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, game design and developments change so much throughout the years. I mean, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: Bioshock is still a fun game to go and play. Like there's a remasters. They're really good. Never played them. Check it out. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I I replayed the remaster. It's still I actually booted up Bioshock yesterday just to kinda as a comparison point 'cause I knew I'd be well, Kainitsu: Have a comparison? Okay. TruVillain: I knew I'd be talking about it on here. And boy, parts of that game have not aged well. Kainitsu: You TruVillain: You know. It's one of it's one of the foundational like I love that game, but you know, I'm real curious what Ken Levine is doing next with Judas, which is basically gonna be the next Bioshock game. Kainitsu: Yeah. Everybody is curious about that man. It's been in development and talked about for like seven years now. Who knows where we're going to get it. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah. The other thing yeah, the other thing about this game is there's multiple endings. There's choices, like that Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: basically how you play how you choose to play the game will affect the ending. And that's awesome. I love it. Kainitsu: I do like multiple endings. But not always, it depends. Like TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kainitsu: remember I told you about Gothic one. was like, apparently I got the bad ending, but I don't have any. I don't want to go back and play that right now. OK. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what the endings are, but I can kind of see them shaping, you know, like kind of I don't think there's like forty two endings or anything. There's probably if I had to guess, there's probably like four or something. because it's not like yeah, it's not yeah, Kainitsu: Okay, I mean, that's still plenty. TruVillain: it's not like you're talking to people and being like, I'm gonna kill all of your family. It's more you'll I don't wanna spoil anything, but there are there's like just the things you choose to do. Like, yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, so that's actually really interesting, because it's not just like you said, like, I made a choice with a dialogue tree. It's like actually what you're choosing to do to come to the conclusion, which is actually pretty cool. TruVillain: Yeah. Well most of the yeah, it's a very like it's yeah, it's a pretty empty game. Because like most people most of the people are dead. Like Yeah. No, it's not completely empty. There are people on it still, but it's not Kainitsu: Yeah, I mean, you're an empty space station. That's kind like the whole horror part of it, you know. OK, OK. TruVillain: a lot, yeah. and it's it's just so good, man. I I keep saying that, but it's I wanna impress that upon people that this if if yeah, it's what Kainitsu: I mean, if it's good, it's good, dude. And we need to hear good things. All I did was bitch like 50 minutes. TruVillain: Yeah, this it's i yeah, it's one of the best games I've played this year. I mean, it's yeah, it's very good. It might make the game of the year list. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Kainitsu: Damn. All right. shit. Wow. Wow. Wow. That no, that no, all that's that's a that's a very, very prestigious thing. He said, Bill is very picky. Yes, yes, we do. I did. I was gonna say something I'm gonna save that for for later. TruVillain: Yeah, I mean we still I mean we still have Don Walker and Zero Company and GTA coming, so I mean it's it's a lot. But this game is this game is mm. Mm mm mm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we got we got plenty of GTA coming. the lots of actually lots of GTA talk. Kainitsu: Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. TruVillain: both the news and the what's coming list or whatever, but Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: I'm trying to think if there's anything else to kinda discuss in this game 'cause it's so hard to talk about the coolest parts of this game without spoiling it. Yeah. And Kainitsu: Yeah, we're gonna get I gotcha. Well, it sounds like it was the last good arcane game. From what you're telling me, because after this was Redfall. This TruVillain: Mmm Did this come out before Dishonored too? Kainitsu: after this is after I think. TruVillain: let's see, Dishonored two. Kainitsu: I feel like that Disorder 2 came out pretty close after. TruVillain: Came out in twenty sixteen. Yeah, they came out close together. Yeah. Cause they have two teams at Arcane. And one Kainitsu: Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. TruVillain: team was doing this. Yeah, so Dishonored did come out first. This game is better than Dishonored Two. It is better that. Honestly, yeah. As much Kainitsu: shit, OK, I never played those games either, but I know people love Dishonored one and two. TruVillain: as I love Dishonored One, this game's better than that one, too. This is this is the Kainitsu: Wow. Wow. Okay. TruVillain: best Arcane game. I haven't even beat it yet. And Kainitsu: Damn. TruVillain: this is the bet now, that may change. Again, I'm about halfway through. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: And once I get to the other half, it may it may I may be like, actually, you know what, this game is I can this game is garbage. But as of right now, it's Kainitsu: I was wrong. It lied to me. TruVillain: this is the best arcane game. It has Kainitsu: Damn. TruVillain: it's just th I don't have a single bad thing to say about this game. If you g Kainitsu: Wow, okay. TruVillain: ask me ask me to give you a negative. Go ahead. Kainitsu: I mean, I know where I know the answer. Well, what is it you could find negative in this game? Anything at all? Wow. So it's perfect. TruVillain: Don't well ask me. Just just do it. We have to do this. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It is perfect. It is a perfect in every single I dude, I haven't even found a bug yet. Yeah. Kainitsu: Wow. So, so this is a, a, a 10 from what you're saying. Damn, damn, damn, damn. And also again, now, TruVillain: It's a ten so far a ten out of ten. Ten out of ten. Absolutely, yeah. I don't Kainitsu: so best arcane game last good arcane game. Arcane TruVillain: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Kainitsu: might be in a chop. TruVillain: Yeah, they're probably gonna get completely sold or dissolved. I hope they get sold and not like dissolved. Kainitsu: Yeah, so it would be better or they find a way to possibly be mostly independent and keep their IPs. That's TruVillain: So Kainitsu: the best scenario. TruVillain: yeah, so the other thing is is like Deathloop, I I haven't played Deathloop. I Kainitsu: her to mix things about it. TruVillain: it won game of the year, the year it came out. yeah, I got like Kainitsu: Really? It did? TruVillain: a t yeah, I got like a ten out of ten on like Game Spot Kainitsu: Wow. TruVillain: and like yeah, it's it's very highly rated. I don't know, man. Like I after this I may well there won't be time. But next Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: year sometime maybe or maybe late December, I may try Deathloop. I doubt it'll be as good as this, but Kainitsu: So I haven't played that, but the one thing I do know about it is again, it being an arcade game and being like, know, immersive SIM, people and all of that developer, you expect them to give you lots of different choices to complete the game the way you want to complete it. And it, and it does and doesn't. So you can do lots of experimental things and try to take out your targets and all of that. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: And, the whole goal is to take out eight in one day. You can really TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: only take out all of them in the one day one way. TruVillain: Yeah, it's more it's from what I understand, it's more of like a roguelike almost. Like, yeah, but like they kind of smashed it with some Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: Kind of. Because it loops, you you keep on going back and trying it out over and over and over. So it's kind of real like in that aspect, yeah. TruVillain: Yeah, but they kinda meshed it with their kind of formula here. Yeah. Kainitsu: FPS immersive stuff. Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. But yeah, the other thing about this that kind of I There's there's this whole like alternate history too, where like Kennedy doesn't get assassinated and then like we yeah, and then we like build a space elevator. There's all kinds of stu yeah, it's yeah to dig into. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a whole yeah, so there's Kainitsu: what? What? Wow. Kennedy RFK didn't die. And we got space elevators. We got space exploration. TruVillain: a whole like alternate history to dive into. I love shit like that, dude. It this this game is awesome. Kainitsu: That's pretty cool. And honestly, that was that's kind of a cool thing to do an ultimate history thing with man, like, because, TruVillain: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Kainitsu: honestly, man, like, how would I mean, what would America barely be like if dude didn't TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: get assassinated? TruVillain: Yeah, well there's that and then you know, of course we discover the Typhon, which are the aliens Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and like that kind of shapes what we start doing and then corporations get involved and yeah. Kainitsu: going forward is like it was like so I guessing you like we did the space elevator and then we discovered these things in space. OK, gotcha. TruVillain: Yeah, up in space. Yeah, we built the space station. Yeah, it's it's it gives you like a whole timeline too, like in the Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: but yeah, dude, it's it's I don't know. I keep saying it over and over again. Kinda like you kept saying, Final Fantasy over and over again was bad. But this is Kainitsu: Bye. TruVillain: if you're listening to this, I highly recommend this. But that's I'm not gonna go any longer on that 'cause I also got two more things to talk about, but Kainitsu: Well, at least it was a lot of good that we heard from my negativity. I'm such a jaded person. TruVillain: Mm. Had to bal I had to balance it out. You know, I was Yeah, I had to. but the Kainitsu: All right, TruVillain: other two things I've been playing are not backlog items. They are brand spanking new. so Kainitsu: new stuffs. TruVillain: I n I my friend of mine wanted to start running through the Halo Camb campaign evolved campaign. And so I got Game Pass to play it. and so that's what we started doing. And I mean it's exactly as I thought it would be. I mean it's it's the campaign of Halo One remade. now I will say that I'm having a lot of fun with it. It is really Kainitsu: Are you now? TruVillain: fun. Yeah, I mean it's it's Halo and it's good. Yeah, I mean it's it's i I I will say this. I think there is a lot of like what I would call pinky out analysis of this game where pe like criticism, Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: you know, where people are being like like I'll give you Kainitsu: you gotcha. TruVillain: a perfect example of this. I saw a clip come up on my social media feed of some content creator person playing a mission from this game, right? And they were like in the original game. The music was not playing during the dropping of these enemies. There was no music playing, but they're playing music during this and it changes Kainitsu: music! TruVillain: it changes the whole dynamic of the scene. You know, this is not the true intended dynamic artistry of the scene. I'm just like, dude, Jesus fucking Christ, man. It's a 2001 sci-fi shooter with a dude dressed in a fucking motorcycle outfit, shooting aliens. Like, it's it's not that deep, homie. it's a lot of fun. My friend who's playing it with me, he's never played Halo before. Like he's he's actually seen the TV show. He Kainitsu: really? TruVillain: play he's played it sporadically. Like back in the day, he got, I think, Reach and played multiplayer with us for a little bit, but he's never played the campaigns. And so he's experiencing this Kainitsu: mean, Reach was a good one to play. TruVillain: Yeah, he's experiencing this for the first time. And and he's having a blast and we're having a blast, right? Like in these Again, this kind of pinky out criticism of this game is like this isn't Halo and stuff like that. Like, let me tell you about H Let me tell Kainitsu: This is a real Halo. TruVillain: you. We we were doing this mission. I think it's like the it's the mission where you land on the Halo for the first time and you get the Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Warthog for the first time. We picked up this faceless marine and I decided to name him Ed. And he sat in our passenger seat of our Warthog with a sniper rifle. As we're zooming through this level and our warthog is taking crazy fucking damage, this thing's on fire. It's blown tires. Like we're fucking I mean, but it's surviving and Ed is just shooting sniper rounds out of the fucking passenger seat and we're like, Yeah, you know. And so we get to the point in the level where you have to disembark from the fucking Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: warthog and you go up in the little base and start killing enemies and we're up on the top of this base and I'm like killing enemies and stuff like that, and you know, we're like, We gotta leave Ed behind. He didn't get out of the Kainitsu: Ha ha ha. TruVillain: warthog, and so I'm sitting there, I turn around, and there's this elite behind me, and he's about to like kill me, and that sniper round like fucking shoots through his head. And I like Kainitsu: shit. TruVillain: look over, and way off in the distance where we parked the warthog is Ed, who fired Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: his sniper rifle across the map, and we're like, Ed, yes, you know. And Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: then the next mission, Truth and Reconciliation, you know, all the Marines die. And we're like, we Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: kinda mourned Ed a little bit, you know, this little faceless marine. That's Halo, right? Like that that's That's Halo. That's the that's why you loved those games because you would like put this personality on these faceless marines and it interact Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: with the physics and the you know the little systems that they have going on. And I'm seeing my friend have these same moments that I was having when I was a kid, you know, with with my friend's Kainitsu: really? TruVillain: co-op, yeah, like with Ed and you know, all that stuff. And and it's great. It's Halo, you know? Who gives Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Hell yeah. TruVillain: a who gives a fuck? if if the music is playing at times it's not supposed to play, you know? Who gives a fuck if the layout is a little bit different? It's it's it's fun. It's a good Kainitsu: Right? Right? TruVillain: shooter. The sprinting feels fine. The shooting is it's better than Halo One, because Halo One shooting wasn't great. It wasn't great. The reticules were too big. Yeah, it Kainitsu: Really? Okay. No, it wasn't. It it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... it... TruVillain: was too floaty. Halo 2 is when it started to get kind of dialed in. Kainitsu: Then three, then reach. Reach is so good. TruVillain: yeah, three and reach are fucking perfection, but but yeah, it's great. I I don't it you know, now I will say my big criticism, I have two big criticisms Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: of this. Number one is the price. I think fifty dollars is a bit rich for what you get with this. Game pass is is perfect for this, but I think this is a forty dollar game. I think fifty's too much. I think forty is because you could make the argument that well, and I'm sure they did, Doom does this, you know, the the primarily single player, you know, and it's about the same length and stuff like but I mean this is it's a remake, so it's it fits different in people's mind. some of the level design is definitely still dated. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: 'cause they did they really didn't change enough, honestly. I kinda wish that they had changed a little bit more, you know, made it just a little bit more modern, to Kainitsu: Hmm. Okay. TruVillain: be honest with you, but that might have pissed too many people off. Yeah. Kainitsu: I mean, I guess it would have. I there are bitches like, the music, that music not supposed to play, why are you always so bad? TruVillain: Yeah, dude, I that's why I called it Pinky Out, 'cause it's so fucking it's like, you know, you're sipping your tea, you know, you got your you got your fucking you know, aristocrat, you know, fucking outfit on and your powdered wig and shoveling, Hm you know, this this halo, it is it is just not it is not up to standard, you know, and it's so stupid 'cause at the end of the day it's fun. Yeah. Kainitsu: This isn't Halo proper, If you're not the real Halo, you're not the play-doh game of the year. TruVillain: Yeah, and I don't know. And the other issue I have is that like accor you know, per our news segment, the past couple of weeks, there's no Halo Two right after this or Halo three, you know? Like I think that that's kinda like f 'cause now my friend who's gonna be like, well now I wanna play the next two and it's like, Well man, you know, you can go play the the Master Chief editions and but it's it's a different it's a different exp it's almost like t two different games, right? There's not a progression now. The progression's weird. Cause it's like you're going from this like high graphical fidelity sprinting and aiming down sights and doing all this to this like much more archaic kind of experience. And so that's a big negative. Honestly, I s I'll say exactly what I said on the last show. I think this should have been a three pack. I think they should have done all three campaigns. Eighty bucks, all three campaigns, done just like this, and I think you're bam done. Seventy Kainitsu: Yeah, TruVillain: would be great. Kainitsu: seven doubt. TruVillain: But I think you could I think you could do eighty. If you did all three campaigns just like this, you know, where you you know, redo parts and graph I think you could have got away with eighty. especially if maybe you even had some of the multiplayer. for fifty, I would have liked to have seen them have some kind of multiplayer suite here. Eve even if you just did like Firefight, brought some of the old maps back, redid Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: and then had like horde mode or something on it. They really should have done that for fifty dollars. Kainitsu: Yeah, and then that's that's the thing too. So like granted, halo in its finest. And then what it's known mostly for is, you know, couch co-op that kind of like started the couch co-op TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: more. mean, we always kind of had that anyway with like older, console games and stuff back in the day was like internet and all that. But even still that was like the couch co-op game of the two thousands and, TruVillain: Yeah. Of course. Kainitsu: and everything. So, and, If you don't have a multi- multiplayer on top of that too, especially with Halo 2, because Halo 2 is like, my God, you got Xbox live and Halo, Halo 2. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: And it was very synonymous with just like online multiplayer. And it was just, it was exploded. I played the shit out of Halo 2 online, Halo 3 online, played a lot of Halo Reach. Hell, I played a lot of Halo 4 online and I'm not much of a multiplayer person most of the time. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: I like mostly single player experiences, but I do like playing games, but If I'm going to play multiplayer game, I'm just playing with someone else. Those are games I would actually go and play by myself because I was actually actually kind of good at them. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: But yeah, but not having multiplayer for for Halo mean cool. You got co-op, but man, you could not have that. That's a big letdown. And yeah, I do agree with you if they would have possibly done all three, that'd been a great experience. And TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: again, yes, there's a Master Chief collection, but there will be a very big difference in graphic fidelity, as you mentioned. Although the re the remasters of. of two is actually really really good. Three is where we probably not see much of a graph, you would see more of a difference I feel like. TruVillain: Well, it's not it's not just the graphics though, right? It's how the game plays. Like it's dramatically different. Kainitsu: That's true. Yeah, it's completely different. Yeah. TruVillain: Like they it was it was really funny 'cause he wanted to do the prequel missions first 'cause Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I I asked I put up him, I like, Well, we can do after 'cause they're kinda presented as bonus missions anyway. But he's like, Well, I mean if they come first in the story, I kinda I was like, Okay. And so we're playing through this and I was like, This has nothing to do with Halo One in any way. Like graphics, gameplay, like any of none of this is Halo One. And so and th those and to speak on those prequel missions a little bit, they're they're fun. They feel like tutorial missions to be honest. Like they're like they're very kinda the story it's it's kinda buddy cop, you know, him and Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Sart Johnson and Master Chief. It does set them up their relationship a little bit and it kinda gives them a bit more of a dynamic before you go into the the main game. but they're they're pretty missable. I mean, I don't know, they don't really do anything interesting. To be honest. Kainitsu: Yeah, I've heard they're fine. Like, they could have not added them and not be much of anything, but I guess they felt like, well, we've got to give them something. Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they gotta yeah, give something. It definitely feels like we gotta give something. Like it really does. but I mean it was, you know, it was a fun little intro. We had fun. Again, it it's it's fun. Like if you just shut the fuck up and play the game, like it's just too much. I mean, there's enough negativity in the gaming space in the world, yeah, without Kainitsu: In the world. Yeah. TruVillain: without just again, it's a fucking two thousand one fucking Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: shoot some space aliens. Yeah, it's not that deep, guys. And again, I've I've seen people have a lot of fun with this. Like again, my friend is he had a lot of f we had a lot of fun over the weekend playing co Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: op. Like olden times. Again, with Ed, old Ed, the faceless marine, you know, that's what we used to do back in the day. Cause you could, like with those fucking Marines, give Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: little personalities, you know, if and if you could keep one alive and you know, he it was it was great. and that's been fun. Again, it's just it feels the package needs more. It either needs more or it needed like Halo Two right behind it. Like there should have been like an announcement of like Halo Two is coming next year, guys, you Kainitsu: Something else for it. Yeah. TruVillain: know? And that would have been great. Kainitsu: I mean, we still might do it, who fucking knows with that studio right now. Yeah. TruVillain: Not according to the leak. According to the leak, they weren't even sure if they were gonna do it. Apparently, as well in other big news, this game apparently sold really ass on PlayStation. Kainitsu: I mean, that doesn't surprise me. TruVillain: It surprises me a little bit, to be honest, but Kainitsu: Really? TruVillain: yeah, kind of. I mean I don't know. I I I guess I saw their other games do really well on play. Like they really, really well. So I assumed Halo might do good too. But again it might just be 'cause it is like an incomplete package. Like it's just the Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: it's just the campaign, you know. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah. I mean, that might be part of it. Who knows, man? I mean, I, and I wasn't really too excited about this when I heard, I was like, cool. I got master chief collection. So, you know, I, I, if TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: I want to play halo one with the, you know, the, the combat, or evolved or evolved or whatever. I it. but I mean, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: it, it does. So From what I saw, meaning it does look nice, like, you know what they've done with the lighting and everything like that. does look like halo. TruVillain: Yeah, it's beautiful. Kainitsu: It looks like it feels like halo. But it's also got like. Unreal engine five ass vibes to it. Like TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: you can definitely tell they used unreal engine five to make it sometimes. TruVillain: You can tell it on you can tell it on the performance of your machine too. It's a or this Kainitsu: Hahaha! TruVillain: and the next game I'm gonna talk about, dude, they're very heavy. Like they're Kainitsu: gotcha. TruVillain: very h like they have this heaviness to them when they're Kainitsu: Hmm. TruVillain: running. that is just Unreal Engine five as fuck. 'cause it 'cause Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: it uses kinda like baked in ray tracing stuff and things like that and and the the Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: Lumen system and the all the nanite and all it's just they're real heavy. Yeah. Kainitsu: This too much. Yeah. TruVillain: And so they're not running as good as they should be. Kainitsu: Hmm. TruVillain: I mean you can get you can get, you know, your sixty or whatever you need out of but even with DLSS, like it's again, it's just not it's not to the level that you feel like you should be doing, you know. Kainitsu: Gonna have some frame drops. Hmm, gotcha, gotcha. TruVillain: But yeah, so that's Halo. campaign evolved. It's exactly what I thought it would be. And I well in some ways it's a little bit more again, 'cause we're having more fun than I thought we would be having. Kainitsu: Yeah, I mean, at you're getting some new enjoyment out of it. And so this is like you, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: just like, I just miss waste $10, $15 to go play this on on Xbox game pass, but at least you're having fun with it. And that's good. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. And so while I was downloading Campaign Evolved, I realized that this weekend is the multiplayer beta for Gears of War E Day. And Kainitsu: Yup yup yup. TruVillain: it's for people who pre ordered the game or Game Pass subscribers, which I'm a card carrying one of them right now. Kainitsu: Yup. TruVillain: and so I played a little bit of it. and it's gear it's Gears of War. Kainitsu: It's Gears of War. TruVillain: It's Gears of War. they've done some they've done some pretty cool stuff with the movement. There's a kind of jump now. Kainitsu: Okay. Really. TruVillain: yeah, like you push you push Y and like you just kinda you jump or you vault Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: over stuff. The run is a lot more you don't really hold A anymore. It's more of a traditional run. So they've really like short up the movement stuff. graphically it looks really nice. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: the shooting feels just like Gears of War. they Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: haven't really done much there. It's it's it's Gears of War. Kainitsu: It's a, it sounds TruVillain: I mean Kainitsu: like it's very formulaic is what you're saying. TruVillain: Yeah, I you know, I I loved Gears one through three back on the three Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: sixty when they were coming out. Me and my friends played them co-op game, played a fuck ton horde. they have this n I don't know if this is new. I never played four and five. So I don't know if Horde Siege is new, which is what I was Kainitsu: I don't know. TruVillain: yeah, it's but it's kind of like it's more of like an objective based horde. Like there's actual like four different teams on the map Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and you're all kind of doing different stuff across this massive map. And sometimes you're teaming up, sometimes you're coming across you know, and it's it's kinda cool. I kinda still just prefer to hunker down and play horde. you know. But it's fine. It's there's nothing wrong with it. I just I just think I don't know if I like gears anymore. Like that was just playing it and Kainitsu: It had its time. TruVillain: yeah, i Yeah, yeah, I think that's yeah. I mean people s there are people who still love it and that's great, but Maybe maybe once it comes out in the co op campaign, 'cause the campaign was always my favorite part of Gears. Like the multiplayer was fine, the horde mode was fun, but the campaign was, you know, what me and my friends really enjoyed the most. 'cause it had a pretty good story. and really good levels and in missions that you were very memorable. but playing this, I I had to ask myself, do I still even like Gears? you know, 'cause I Kainitsu: Is it still something that interests me? TruVillain: Yeah, 'cause I skipped out on four and five 'cause I didn't have an Xbox One at the time. And that was before they were putting everything on PC. Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: and I think they're on PC now, but I said but I Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: just never was inspired to go go play them again or play them for the first time. Kainitsu: I feel you on that. I've been interested in getting like the gears port, the gears one port, which I'm surprised they haven't done two or three, which is maybe just maybe didn't sell well enough. TruVillain: Yeah. I yeah, I don't know what's going on with that. Again, that's another that's another one of those they should have done like a Marcus Phoenix collection with. Like it's yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, right. And that's, and that's the thing for me with gears. actually fell off in three. I played one and two and love the games are real fun. Again, this in the golden age of couch co-op playing side to side. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: Your friend or are you know, Xbox live still kind of get its novelty going on. And honestly, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: man, like Xbox live era internet kind of peak in a lot of ways. Like he just, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. yeah. Kainitsu: he's one of those things that you just had. You just had to be there because like nowadays when you go online, you're playing video games, multiplayer stuff. People don't really talk that much anymore to strangers online or like you're playing a game again. You're supposed to have like communication. People don't really talk. And if you do have TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: someone with their mic on, it's like they're playing shitty fucking music. That's just staticky and sounds awful in your ear or it's a screaming, a screaming child in the background. TruVillain: I'm glad you corrected that. Kainitsu: And, or, or like, you know, just someone being stupid or not. think they're being funny, but they're just being annoying, you know, or there's the tryhard like, didn't listen to me. I know all the strategies. Don't remember. Yeah. But TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: the Xbox live era, man, like, dude, everybody was just trying to have fun. Fuck around, just doing, saying dumb shit all the time. Some stuff you could, could it on here. You heard the N word a lot, probably more than you should have. TruVillain: no man, I feel I feel like there's still a lot everything you just described, I think we just had more patience for it at the time. There's a lot of that going on too at the time. Kainitsu: Maybe I don't know. Still, I'm sure. But but yeah, it just just felt like a different time to be online playing games with, you know, just random people online and everything like it just it's TruVillain: Sure. Yeah. Kainitsu: it was a different time. People apparently were they they talked more now. It's going to play this game. I don't care about my teammates, you know, so. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: But yeah, anyway, I didn't finish the Marcus Phoenix story. And I'm really sad that I didn't, like, because just fell off of three for whatever reason. TruVillain: It was awesome. I love three. I thought that I played the fuck out of three. Horde was fun. Well, two had the best horde, I think. 'Cause three they tried to get too clever with it. Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: but the story was great. It was a great ending to the trilogy. The multiplayer was fun. They had a lot of smart stuff they did with it. It was just great, great trilogy Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: of games, yeah. and this is this is good. I mean this is the graphics are fantastic, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: the Kainitsu: the game looks good. TruVillain: The they have a they have a lot of effects that, you know, a lot of breaking glass and, you know, blood and guts and gore and and it is it's the Kainitsu: Yeah, Gears of War. TruVillain: again, the movement is is better than it ever has been. Like it's not but again, I just I was playing it and I was like, Man I just I just don't know if I want to play Gears of War anymore. Like I just don't I just don't know, man. It's just so Kainitsu: I just don't know anymore. TruVillain: Yeah, I'm I may take a game pass flyer out on it. when it comes out and and play the campaign, maybe get that same friend to or if you wanted to run through it, I mean, we could, Kainitsu: I might run over there. I'm actually kind of interested in this because it is it is it it's it is the prequel to the Marcus Fenix story, which I TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kainitsu: always thought was a really interesting premise to it and all that the Locus going on around and all of that because like, it's like, basically, it sounds like anti oil anti oil story. That's whole thing. Anyway. TruVillain: Yeah, that's basically what it is. Yeah, it was sp the the what is it, yellow liquid emulsion or whatever the fuck it was. yeah. We were using it for Kainitsu: Emulsion, yeah, yeah. But yeah. TruVillain: too much and it woke awoke the locust and yeah. They killed everyone. Hmm on Sarah. Kainitsu: And then they just started a huge war. There's always these underground dwellers, not quite chuds, but basically chuds. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: But yeah, I am kind of interested because it's the start of all of it. and because of that, I might want to finish the trilogy, but they never reported that they can't do it unless you own a 360 or if you own Xbox one and half, the 360 games will play backwards compatible. TruVillain: Yeah, there's no good way to do that, yeah. You can go Yeah. Yeah, you can do backwards compatibility on the Series X if you had one, I think. Yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, but I mean, don't have that. I'm not gonna buy that thing. TruVillain: Maybe they'll do that with the backwards comp it'd be cool I just need a Marcus Phoenix collection, like I'd play that, but Kainitsu: They should do that. Yeah, definitely. mean, people would I would buy it. You know, I'd like to have those games on PC like that. But then it's a whole thing. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. But I I really want to I really want to to s like and support this because like Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: It's a camp it's a traditional ass campaign and multiplayer suite game. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Like you have your campaign that they've spent a lot of time on, a lot of Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: production value. But then you also have a full multiplayer suite. You have Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: the horde, you have the which the horde the horde was fun. Like and I I think it would be more fun with friends. Gears always was more fun with friends rather than strangers. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah, most games are. TruVillain: kind of hunkering down doing stuff and like doing the siege stuff. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: And so I I'm a I'm I'm open minded, open hearted to to giving it a go. if there's time, it's in October. I don't know if I'll still be Kainitsu: you TruVillain: playing Dawnwalker or Zero Company or whatever. And we'll kinda get into Kainitsu: or yeah. TruVillain: this whenever we do releases later. but yeah, it's it's again, it's it's it's very good if and if you're if if you were really wanting a new Gears game that that did all the Gears things and and did it well, like this is it. Kainitsu: I mean, right. TruVillain: I don't know how good the story's gonna be, but you know, this was because this this just had multiplayer and fuck multiplayer though, for real in this game. Like it it's Nasher City. I I I had a I had Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: a hunch that it would be, so I booted up a multiplayer game, like head to head, and it's just Nasher. Like, that's it. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: If you're not rocking a shotgun, like you're not doing it, right? It's the same old it's the same as it always was. You Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: know, you go in there thinking, man, we're gonna have this cool head to head with the teams are gonna take both sides, they're gonna hunker down and trade fire and it's gonna be fun. Nah, bitch. Nah, man. Nasher. Nasher City, man. You're gonna Kainitsu: Use the cover system. Gotcha. TruVillain: you're gonna you're gonna fucking wall bounce and and gnash your way to victory. And that's that's that's pure here. They they kept that pure. and unadulterated in this game. So Yeah, dude, yeah, I mean it's Kainitsu: Well, again, at least you know what you're getting if you're going to get this game. TruVillain: yeah, it's gears. It's a gears ass gears game. You you're not getting anything more or anything less. So yeah. If that's Kainitsu: which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like the gears. TruVillain: what you're looking for, I mean, you know it's it's the it's the Honda Civic of video games, you know, it hasn't changed in eighty years and it's it's you get you Kainitsu: It's reliable. TruVillain: you go by Honda Civic, you know what you're getting. And it's not flashy, Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: it's not, you know, impressive anymore, but it's It's solid, you know, it's it's solid. Kainitsu: And that just made me think of a old Simpsons scene when Simpsons used to be good. Really? Well, if you ever want to see what people, TruVillain: I've never watched The Simpsons. Yeah, I don't I don't like the animation. Kainitsu: why people liked it, seasons one through eight parts of nine, least one through five are really, really good. And then kind of such, but yeah, anyway, yeah, there's this one character who's a principal. And he hopped out of Honda and someone stole the hood ornament of the H. He's like, but how are you supposed to do a Honda? That's the whole point! TruVillain: Mm. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, Kainitsu: But anyway. TruVillain: again, I've never really I just now, like within the past like few months watch Rick and Morty. So like I'm yeah. I'm really behind on I'm really behind on Kainitsu: I mean, earlier Kim Moris, you're pretty good. TruVillain: the the comedy cartoons. I was always a family guy and an American dad guy, like as a teenager. Like, yeah. Yeah. I Kainitsu: Mmm. Gotcha, gotcha. I mean, I was too. love American Dad. Still one of my favorite shows, Ben. It's still good. TruVillain: I know I always thought American Dad was superior to Family Guy, yeah. Kainitsu: It was it was everyone's shadow and at first, but once it got to season five, got real good. TruVillain: Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, it's yeah. Alrighty, but yeah, I guess that's all I really got to say on on what I've been Kainitsu: on the gears. TruVillain: playing. That was a very we're at an hour forty. That's the longest Kainitsu: Yeah, man. TruVillain: that is I mean it's only four episodes. But that's the longest what we've been playing section yet. I knew it would be. I knew it would be. I but yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah? You played three games and I played one I fucking hate. TruVillain: Yeah, dude, when I well see I was playing these, I was like, okay, well Normally the what we've been playing is pretty short, so I'm gonna fill it out pretty good and then Kai's like I started Final Fantasy sixteen. I was like, Kainitsu: Ha ha! TruVillain: no Kainitsu: He already knew. TruVillain: we may as well not even do the news Like Kainitsu: I mean, kind of. It's just like a whole episode. I said, it's like, hey, here's some, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: we've been playing and I, yeah, true. TruVillain: Well, there's not much news anyway, so and I think I'm I might cut some anyway, but they there's not much anyway, like it and all most of it's pretty quick, anyway. Kainitsu: Yeah, Mm-hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: So, I mean, you know, some of it's tying up loose ends from last week's episode and yeah. Kainitsu: some yeah some other stories and stuff yeah TruVillain: So anyway, well let's let's move into that. our first one is probably the biggest one maybe, depending on your perspective on this list, is Grand Theft Auto. is finally doing their marketing. Yeah, they Kainitsu: And this is what it TruVillain: they are doing a Netflix exclusive. It's like it's August twenty seventh, I believe. And Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, something like that. TruVillain: yeah, the trailer's gonna be whether it's like thirty minutes or something, I think is the rumor. Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: but it's exclusive for six hours on Netflix before it hits before it hits the YouTube and everything else. Basically just everything else. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and it's supposed to be, you know, the gameplay finally. We're gonna finally see gameplay. Maybe talk about online. Kainitsu: It's actually gonna be three hours. It's gonna be available after three hours. Not six. Yeah. TruVillain: I saw six. Okay. Anyway. whatever it is. Some amount of hours. Yeah, some some amount of hours it's gonna Kainitsu: It's 6 p.m. It's it's a. TruVillain: be exclusive to Netflix. And people are pretty mad about this, and I don't really know why, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: quite honestly. there's a whole Kainitsu: What if it TruVillain: like sentiment of like we have to pay to see trailers and is this is this gonna be what it is from now on. It's like no it's not. The only there are only a couple of companies and a couple of franchises that could get you to watch fucking Netflix for their trailer. Like trailers are ads. They're ads. Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: They are to entice you to play their game, to play their product or whatever it is. Most c most companies could not get away with this. Nonsense. I mean it is nonsense. It is nonsense. Kainitsu: No. TruVillain: It's it's but it's Grand Theft Auto, right? So Kainitsu: Yeah, it's it's this whole thing. It's been building up. There hasn't been a new GTA game in like fucking 15 years. Everybody's TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: like, my God, I finally can play the newest one. man. But yeah, no, can understand people sentiment about the whole like, it's a paid wall for an ad, but same time, it's like it's you're still going to see it like three hours later, man. Like, sure, it's kind of it is kind of a weird. TruVillain: Hm. Shout out to Shout to the Doggy. Kainitsu: sorry about that. was that was the puppy as that's no mad. He is he's wanting attention right now. TruVillain: Yeah, I can see that. He has he has this this lustful look in his eyes, is like crazed. Yeah. Anyway. Kainitsu: He's like, need to pay attention to me. He's, but yeah, I can understand people said me like, you got to, there's a paywall for this, but you're going to see it like three hours later for free. And again, like you said, it's, it's an, it's an ad that this TruVillain: Yeah, just wait. Yeah, just be patient. Yeah. Kainitsu: is just them to sell you something. You know, you're already going to buy. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, this is this is Netflix just wanting the Netflix for a while now has been trying to be like known as like the live events place. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Now they're really trying to break with the fights that they try to host and and things like that. And so this is just another like, hmm, let's do a live event type thing. and it's I don't know, the the whole like The whole anger around it is so dumb. I mean, and you Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: know someone'll probably rip it and throw it up on Twitter illegally anyway, like straight Kainitsu: Well, you, well, you know, TruVillain: away. Kainitsu: you know, the most of the ire from the internet and uproar is stupid. There are plenty of that can be good causes and stuff like that, but most people just get dumb. They get mad over dumb shit and they're going to just be, I don't like this. And then they're going to fucking still buy the shit anyway. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, this is Yeah, this is a s incredibly dumb. Yeah. Yeah. Like I don't I don't have Netflix right now, I don't think. Maybe I do. And I don't think I'll be getting it to watch the Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. I do because of my wife. TruVillain: trailer, you know. So if I if I do end up having it, I'll probably watch it on there, but I mean, I don't know. It's Kainitsu: I mean, I got to see it early. TruVillain: It'll be out in there. I I think I'll be at work when this happens anyway. So I probably won't even be able to watch Kainitsu: Right? I will be too, probably. TruVillain: it. Yeah, I won't even be able to watch it till it's for free for everyone anyway, so that's not really a problem. Kainitsu: Hmm. Yeah, so it's not that big of a deal. It's like, want to see the gameplay, too. You're going to, my dude. Just wait. Just wait. TruVillain: Yeah, you're going to. Again, it's an ad. And the thing is is you've you've probably already pre ordered the fucking game. And so what Yeah, Kainitsu: Right? You already know you bought that $100 edition. TruVillain: yeah, you already have the goddamn hundred dollar edition of the game. What are you whining about? Kainitsu: But I want more hype. I want that drug. TruVillain: Yeah. At that point, yeah, you're just trying to get hype. You're not interested in the trailer. It's not making a pre order. The game doesn't Kainitsu: But you're already hyped, you've been waiting this for 15 years! TruVillain: come out until November. Chill. You Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: can wait you can wait a few hours, watch the trailer, and decide if you want to pre order it. If you haven't already, like, good God, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: man. Alright, and we are back after a small technical issue. but yeah, like I was saying, the next little adjacent story to that thing was that the CEO of Take Two, Strauss Selnik, gave a investors earning call in which he was asked a Kainitsu: yet. TruVillain: series of questions, and I think this is Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: one of his responses that got some people riled up. I think you were actually the one that sent this to me, where he Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: talks about He was asked about the like the cost of computing hardware and things like that. And he basically says that let's see, the advent of streaming is something that Take Two believes is right around the corner in terms of having something that's low latency and really works well Kainitsu: you TruVillain: for consumers. Machines that weren't game machines before will become game machines. As a result, the company imagines its customer base will continue to grow as cloud gaming becomes standardized, regardless of what happens to the traditional gaming hardware market. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: That's if you believe in streaming, Zelnick said, and to be clear, we really do, and I'm happy to put a timeline on it. I think we'll be commercial streaming mode within three years. see, he says something else here I wanted to say as well. By Zonic's assessment, broader adoption of cloud gaming could be effective could effectively increase Take2's potential user base tenfold. That wouldn't necessarily produce a tenfold increase in revenue, he said, as the company's most avid customers are those who already have traditional gaming hardware. But game streaming creates great opportunity for titles that are broadly desirable even outside of core markets. and so I'll say this not to sound like a big take two defender or anything. I don't see anything wrong with this statement. Kainitsu: really? Okay. TruVillain: yeah, well, because a couple, let me let me defend myself here. because I already know, like I I'm gonna give you a chance to speak, but I already think I kind of know the tip, you know, he wasn't advocating for streaming to kind of replace anything here. He was basically asked about rising hardware costs and growing the user base. And he was saying Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: that if hardware costs are that bad and people can't afford it, streaming is a more affordable way to bring in more users. And he even goes out of his way to say that like the core base and the primary revenue driver will continue to be people with their own hardware. But streaming, if it gets low latency enough, will give more customers an option of coming into gaming that otherwise aren't gonna pay a thousand dollars for a console because the console Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: is the entry level, you know, that's the entry level. And if that's too expensive for people Well then they're just fucked. And so I don't I mean, I'll I'll hear ya out, but I really don't see that it also the other issue, or not issue but thing is they don't really own their own streaming like or anything. Like they would go through Xbox or Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: it or whoever Amazon, whoever's streaming it. So like he really like doesn't benefit from that directly at all. You know what I mean? Like or over someone just buying the game, that is, right? so yeah, I mean anyway, that's my pitch on kinda Kainitsu: I gotcha. TruVillain: how I took it. Kainitsu: Yeah. And then I can see, you know, it doesn't seem initially nefarious or anything like that, but just to me, it's just It just feels like the thing that they've been trying to push for for a long time now. PlayStation tried it years ago. Google tried it, still trying it, Netflix kinda does it too now or something. I don't know if it's ever going to really work. I don't know if streaming games is ever going to work. I don't think there's going be low enough latency for it. There's going to be too much disconnect from your actual like inputs for what you're doing. And I've heard some people play some things are like, yeah, it works pretty good. But like it means thing really depends on the game, depending on what what it needs for computing power and all of that. And yes, of course, other crossing technical or technology costs and everything is definitely making things a lot more difficult, especially in the gaming realm. Where consoles used to be the cheaper option or getting pretty expensive as the cheaper option TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: of getting into that hobby. So yeah, I can see. Yes. Being able to stream something would be an alternative if you can't afford something to TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: have your own hardware and you have more likely primary users are going to be. They're owning their hardware, but how long are they going to want that to be the reality? Again, like the game companies don't want you to own games. They don't they don't see you owning games you license games. So. This sounds like they're just going to be pushing more. It's like pushing more to like you have less ownership of anything you want in this industry. But again, he's not certainly that TruVillain: Well, I mean it's Kainitsu: that's that's going to be the new thing. And that's where it's going to go. He's just saying that it's going to be more of a possibility. I get that. But we keep hearing this and I don't like the conversation. TruVillain: Yeah, I mean it it's tough, right? I mean I think that I think it's easy to see conspiracy in Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: opportunistic moments like this where it's like this is good but I don't think that like for it's I don't think Rockstar. I mean Take Two drove up the price of Ram. You know, like I think that th they're just but they will benefit from it, you know, like or Kainitsu: Right, no, they didn't obviously. No, of course. TruVillain: they may not. I mean they're again they're they don't really have any stock in any of these things as far as I know. Like Kainitsu: At least you don't know about their personal portfolios. TruVillain: Yeah, probably. Yeah. But in terms of their games, I mean they're gonna have a hard time selling Grand Theft Auto if people don't have consoles or PCs, you know, to to play them on. And so that's where like streaming could benefit them. It's like, another avenue that we could that we could exploit, to Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: survive what is probably gonna probably hurt next generation, you know, some 'cause a lot of people Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: just aren't gonna be able to afford consoles. So I don't know. I'm not I don't I hate game I I don't like the idea of game streaming, but I also don't think that it's like this evil thing. I think that, Kainitsu: No. TruVillain: you know, if it works I've heard I've heard some you know, people who live in populated areas with good internet, closer to data centers and stuff have a really good experience with it. so and and as a kid, as a kid, a streaming service with a bunch of games on it would been really awesome because I was a really poor kid. You know, I Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: got one game every like four months. Kainitsu: Right. mean, if you're lucky, you know, right? Mm hmm. I mean, that's a good game to like, there's a lot there. TruVillain: Right. And yeah, and so if I was lucky, so yeah, sometimes there's one a year. I mean, dude, I I I milked oblivion for probably about a year. You know? Like, it is a good one. It's a good yeah, if you had to have one, that was a good one. My brother got Sonic O six. And I know. Kainitsu: no! no! TruVillain: I know. I know. Kainitsu: it probably took a year to try to play that broken ass game. TruVillain: Yeah. So I'm not saying it's great and I'm not saying that like there aren't companies that aren't pushing for you know, but I think the companies that are pushing for that are like the Microsofts and the the people I've really but I think that this particular statement was just like a we're looking at it as an avenue to continue to grow because we're probably gonna be suffering on sales because people just can't afford the hardware to play are and and especially aga take two who makes some of the most like technically demanding games Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: out there. Kainitsu: Yeah. Would that be able to stream at low latency? So that's, that's, TruVillain: You know, they you gotta Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: that's the big question. and right. internet is getting better. Like wifi technology in itself a lot better now, but again, cloud streaming, everything, dude, like still not there. I don't think, you know, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. So but yeah, so that's that. I d I don't know I really don't have much else to say on that specific thing. Kainitsu: Nah, that's a- that's about two cents. TruVillain: yeah, he he gave a lot of other answers and stuff during that Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: earnings haul, but it was all like, you know, GTAs, yeah. Well it was all like GTA's worth the money, you know, we're putting in, you Kainitsu: CEO answers. TruVillain: know, tune into Netflix, like it's just kinda just hyping the game up. as as you would Kainitsu: Yeah, As you would do for a product. TruVillain: yeah, I saw a lot of headlines from this this thing and I think it's just it seemed kind of milking it a little bit. 'cause it's nothing that you know, that might be the most Kainitsu: Yeah, some people were being like, click-baity-belly, like, he's praising the Disclisks-era! TruVillain: Yeah. speaking of praising the Discless era, Kainitsu: Bye! TruVillain: Pia there are PS five boxes in the wild apparently with stickers, little notices. now, reading through this, it seems like Like they they couldn't completely verify the veracity of this if it's real or Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: not, but according to this they seem to think it is 'cause the same text can be found on listings on the European storefronts. And it is something that probably only Europe is gonna do 'cause they they're only once to give a fuck about this type of thing. But yeah, it says im it's a sticker they're putting on boxes if, you know, the the rebels against the changing disc thing, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Says important notice from January twenty twenty eight, newly released games on PlayStation will be available for purchase on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital format only. Discs for games released before January 2028 can continue to be played on this console. And so just a little warning basically saying, Hey, after this, you know. And so it's just another, you know, again, kind of following Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: up on our last story we did, reporting on this. It It's just another nail in the coffin. It this is happening. This is happening. And I'm seeing Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: a lot of people not a lot, but the occasional person on social media being like, I just bought I just pre ordered the all nine games coming out this year, all physical and it's like, Well, bro, you do you not wanna Kainitsu: Good for you! TruVillain: play it yeah, do you not wanna be able to play that on your PS six because you you Kainitsu: That's not gonna be there, can't be able to do it. TruVillain: you you're gonna be playing that only on this console, just just so Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: you know. You guys that's not the It's not the flex that you think it is, bro. So yeah, just just nail in the coffin. Now the next news story on the flip side is Nintendo. they say that physical games still account for thirty eight point five percent of its software sales. Kainitsu: That's that's that's pretty high compared to like TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: what the the normally say or so the sisters last year or last year last last week with copies of being sold physically for some games and damn yeah that's TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: that's pretty crazy hearing that for Nintendo specifically but at same TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: time though like I guess it's too too too surprising because a lot of people TruVillain: No, yeah. Kainitsu: really enjoy the switch because of their physical media and actually TruVillain: Yeah, well it Kainitsu: Most of my games for the Switch are physical. TruVillain: Yeah. Well, Nintendo since the beginning of time and space and the Big Bang, has kind of cultivated this kind of, you know, especially with the cartridge and things like that, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: this feeling of like, you know, physical gay media collection. Even like, I mean I buy all my shit digitally on my Switch two and stuff as well on the rare occasion that I touch it. but there is I I I do I would not be opposed to buying physical media for it, you know, but part of the reason for that is well up until recently 'cause they have like the game card stuff now and things like that. It's starting to get a little dodgy, but up until very recently, everything was on the cart, you know, and and Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: they're little durable things and and there's a slot for and I mean it's just I don't know, it it feels it feels more appropriate for their their device for whatever reason. For some intangible fucking Kainitsu: Well, TruVillain: reason. Kainitsu: because it's, it's been such a thing for them and they're like, basically they're, they're cartridge technology that they're using for the switches. What they use for their DS for the longest time. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: You know, it's just, it's just been beefed up with better technology at this point. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, so it's so I mean, you know, I don't know. It's it's one of those I'm not sure why, but I I can I I just I inherently emotionally, empathetically like just know why it's that way. You know, 'cause Kainitsu: Right? TruVillain: I it's it's a really intangible thing. But yeah, it's it's interesting. So I mean, your physical your physical sales over on Nintendo are probably still gonna continue for a while. So if you're on team physical, maybe Kainitsu: Here's the thing with some of their stuff. Even the cartridge just is basically a download key. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, well yeah. They're running into the issue where their their cartridges are proprietary and expensive and they have I think they Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: they have two different editions you can buy. Kainitsu: okay. TruVillain: as a as a developer you can choose to print one and one is significantly more expensive, the one with the more space. And so Kainitsu: Hmm. Right. TruVillain: what a lot of developers were doing was they were buying the cheaper option with less space and doing that and then you had to download the rest. So it effectively became the disc issue all over again. And so yeah, and Kainitsu: Mm hmm. Yeah, the disk. Yeah, that's basically what it is. OK. TruVillain: so going into the Switch 2, Nintendo basically were like, well, we have thir forty almost forty percent of our player base want a physical game, but we kinda don't want to do physical games either. And so they started doing the the download key where basically, Kainitsu: the demo keys. Yeah. TruVillain: yeah, it's a cart it's a physical cart you put in your thingy, but it's a it's just a download key. And Kainitsu: Yep. TruVillain: it's like, man. And people will got people are Kainitsu: And it's not all games. TruVillain: really upset about that. Kainitsu: Yeah, they're they're pretty upset when it was first announced when the switch to was announced last year. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I wonder how I don't know, I don't follow a lot of Switch news, but Kainitsu: I don't know either. TruVillain: I don't know how that the temperature on that is is going. And I don't and I don't know if Nintendo Kainitsu: I mean, it's the internet. TruVillain: I don't know if Nintendo counts that into this. Like is the thirty eight five point five percent including the carts? Kainitsu: for their physical. Yeah, I mean there you are still technically buying the case and plastic. And everything so maybe I have no idea. TruVillain: Mm. there's a little link in here. I didn't see this. Kainitsu: yeah, OK. What's the fourth? TruVillain: Capcom. Yeah, it says it Kainitsu: Really. TruVillain: won't see much of an impact from the death if apparently yeah, all their like ninety percent of their games are sold digitally. Huh. Yeah. Just another Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, Capcom. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. TruVillain: yeah, I mean, again, like I said the last week, if there was if this wasn't something that every developer, every publisher wanted, you would have someone out here. like championing physical games. Like just for the brownie points. Just for the good but no one's doing even Nintendo's not doing it. Like this is just a report. Like they they're Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Right. TruVillain: not out there being like, yeah, we'll always have they're not even ch they're not championing it 'cause they know they're trying to switch off of it. So anyway, once again for like the eighth time on this fucking show, rest in peace, physical games. Our next story is Roblox in decline. This one brings me a lot of happiness. 'cause Roblox Kainitsu: This should ring everybody joy. TruVillain: is is is evil and child predatory. Roblox Kainitsu: Yes. Yes. TruVillain: ro yeah, Roblox shares plummet by seventy percent after the company reports persistent decline in player numbers. so yeah, it's this one's like another quick one. I mean an earnings call. let's see. why is it not okay, hold on just a second. Una mamento, por favor, I gotta get this window. Okay, yeah, and God damn it. These webs dude, these websites are so fucking just unnavigatable, bro, with the ads. okay. Yeah, in Kainitsu: Yeah, they are. Especially if you're on like a tablet or something like this is worse. TruVillain: an earnings call via games industry, Roblox CFO Navine Chopra, there's a name, said the company attributed the shortfall to a dearth of vintage viral games with players shifting attention to new and evergreen experiences with lower hourly monetization. Such a Such Kainitsu: Ha ha ha! TruVillain: what are you This was exasperbated by changes in Roblox's recommendation algorithm, which Chopper says optimizes for long term retention at the expense of near term monetization, while Roblox still has an enormous audience of one hundred and twenty three million daily players. God damn. Kainitsu: Really? That's their- TruVillain: This number has declined steadily across the previous three quarters with a high of one hundred fifty two million, so they've lost about thirty million. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: Monthly unique players have also fallen by 10 million in the last two quarters, with the number near currently at 27 million. Roblox doesn't expect these wins to change in the near future either. The company forecasts a year on year decline between 14 and 18% in its third quarter, with Chopper saying that monetization weakness is likely to continue. It also opted against providing an earning estimate for the rest of the year, citing increasing variability in the fourth quarter. So it's not it's not a death Kainitsu: You'll love to hear it. TruVillain: yeah, well it's not a death blow, but like, yeah, you you do love to see it. I I hope it's because some of these people are growing up, you know. They're they're Kainitsu: Yep, it's probably part of it. TruVillain: like yeah, they're they're like, Well what what's what's that baldas gate do? You know, what what what that bald is gate do? You know, like something. Kainitsu: Yeah, like, as you mentioned earlier, like Roblox is evil and it sucks and it's very TruVillain: yeah. Kainitsu: predatory on children and it has. Different issues with being predatory towards children. One, the thing you'd think first when you hear about that. And then TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: the other is basically getting child labor to make your TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: games and code and you give them tokens to go play other shitty games that other kids have coded like TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: but i've actually heard like some there actually can be some good things in roblox you can find sometimes i don't know i've never i've never been in that world and never TruVillain: I've never played it. It looks like a fucking hellscape. It looks and yeah, Kainitsu: Yeah, it is. TruVillain: it looks just really bad and I just want nothing to do with it, so Kainitsu: Nah, I know. But I'm sad that it's been so successful for so long, but it looks like it's finally on some kind of decline. I hope that decline gets more for them. Roblox, need to die. You're awful. Go away. TruVillain: Yeah, I yeah. It's what a hundred and twenty five million still a day. Kainitsu: so many people dude like man those are those fucking that's all every serial wants a boner for like I want those numbers you know like TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. I that's anyway, r rest in peace, children. quen Kainitsu: Well, mm-mm. TruVillain: qu Quake update, is our next news Kainitsu: Yeah! TruVillain: topic. Something positive, and our last kind of main news topic as well before Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: we move on to some some releases here. But yeah, so the new official thirtieth anniversary Quake mission pack adds new maps and mechanics. This is yours, so I'm let you I'm gonna let Kainitsu: Yeah. It's, TruVillain: you take it away here and 'cause I've I've never even played a Quake game, so Kainitsu: This a real. Dog man, you're missing out. So this is a real big surprise. So first off. Quake was the very first. A 3D FPS game like an actual three environment models and everything. It was made with it tech. I want to say one basically or two. I think it's two. Yeah, it is a tech two and they actually. Use this engine for other games. People bought rights to it anyway. it was real big deal, real big deal. And it got ported to lots of things. It was even actually on the 64, a really bad version, obviously. and, and, when it was on, released on the PS2, man, it had the choppiest of frames. but it was a 3d FPS and it was the new it game, throughout the years has gotten better obviously with hardware, but they actually did a full remaster of this game. Not brought to us by Nightdive Studio. Pretty good company for the most part. Although people were pretty upset with... TruVillain: Hmm. I thought Bethesda did that one, was that was night dive. Kainitsu: Yeah, no, Diedive did the TruVillain: Okay. Kainitsu: remaster for it. And TruVillain: Okay. Kainitsu: I don't know if Nightdive developed this newest chapter, but whenever they brought it, the remaster into PC and stuff, they made a whole new chapter for Quake. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: And now there's another chapter. So this has seven chapters and two new ones releasing within like the last two years, which is an insane year. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: About a 30 year old game, but it's really cool to see it's getting this kind of love and this kind of attention. if you've never played the old quake games, especially the first one with the remaster and stuff, this might be the best time to get in and check it out. It still has full co-op and everything you can do as well. it's really fun. It was a big difference between. doom or it like, you know, more hellish demonic kind of like design and everything about hell and all that shit to more of like a medieval TruVillain: Satan lovers. Kainitsu: monster type thing, but you're still in space. You're still a space marine somehow, but it's a fun experience. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. You gotta be in space. Kainitsu: Gotta be in space. You always gotta be a space Marine. But yeah, quick one is a lot of fun. Again, pretty cool. This guy big update. You never tried it. You should get it. It's like I think it's like 10 bucks. For the remastered. It's not much at all. It's worth it. Or if it's 20. TruVillain: Hmm. according to this article, it was it's the developed by Machine Games in Kainitsu: Okay TruVillain: collaboration with software, so that's interesting. Yeah. I yeah, I I yeah, I don't have much to add Kainitsu: Hell yeah. That's why it's called Machine Dawn, or Dawn of the Machine. Chapter. TruVillain: to that 'cause I never really played Quake or anything like Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: that. But I will say I do really like the you know like the Witchers doing it. I like the idea of going back to like an old game and just adding shit to it. I mean yeah, Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, give it a big update. TruVillain: I mean, why not? Right? Like if it's cheaper Kainitsu: right? And this one's free. TruVillain: content, yeah, I mean, gives people a reason to go back to their games. Like dude, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: if if if like any game I mentioned today, like Prey, bro, like they they came and added a fucking twenty hour expansion pack, dude, I'd be all over it. Kainitsu: yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. Baldur's Gate Four three, like I mean anything, any any game really, like you come back, I mean, you get people back and that's that's awesome. And it's you know, quicker development time, you're using assets that are already there, I mean it solves some of your cost issues. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. And if it's a fun new experience, it's even better. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I mean I I like this. I mean I it I I didn't know there was that many people playing Quake. Is this on Steam? See Quake Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah. TruVillain: player count. Let's see what let's see what kind of player count we rock in. one thousand and seven eleven sixty four is what we're at. yeah yeah, I mean it's yeah, what wha what are we marathons? Let's do a let's do the a marathon pulse check. Kainitsu: Yeah, not bad. mean, it's a last game. But I mean, there's probably a lot of that right now is... no. TruVillain: Marathon player count. Kainitsu: We have to see how bad it's dying, guys. TruVillain: Hmm. Kainitsu: It's in hospice right now. TruVillain: You wanna take a guess? You wanna You wanna give you just won't give me a number? Kainitsu: Let's say 400. TruVillain: Four hundred? damn, you really just no faith. It's it is thirty nine hundred, sir. Which is Kainitsu: Okay. That's much better than I thought it was gonna be. TruVillain: Yeah, but still very fucking bad. It peaked at eighty eight thousand. Yeah, when it launched. Yeah. Kainitsu: That's a huge drop off. I TruVillain: Yeah, it's Kainitsu: bet our creators are still doing better than that. TruVillain: absolutely. Let's see what R creators is at. We're just gonna do a little a little player. Any any other any other player count you wanna know about? Kainitsu: We're looking them up right now. Let us know in the chat guys. TruVillain: Mm. If we were live and people were watching, it's what we do. Kainitsu: right? No, but I have needs fun to check out right now. TruVillain: Yeah, let's see. Arc Raiders Kainitsu: We're home, we're- TruVillain: thirty three thousand. Kainitsu: that's still a pretty sizable number and a pretty healthy number TruVillain: Yeah, it's pretty big. Kainitsu: at that. TruVillain: Yeah. Yep. So I mean I mean, so it's it's about half of what Marathon's player count is, basically, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: the Quake numbers. So it's a nice little community. I think that that's it the Quake Quake has to be like an easy, easy game to like churn some content out for, you know, like yeah, some multi yeah, yeah. Kainitsu: churning out the content. Probably. mean, yeah, you got, you got the, you got the, know, like you said, got assets and stuff already. have TruVillain: The mod tools and I mean, yeah. Kainitsu: like this, like these have like map editors and stuff. Like, yeah. TruVillain: Yeah. It's gotta be an easy game to like put some content together for and put it out for. Like if you got a little two thousand player, you know, I don't maybe another couple hundred from console if it's on there, maybe. I don't I Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: don't know if the console crowd's really playing Quake, but hey, who knows? Kainitsu: The Quake, it's more of a PC game. TruVillain: Yeah, but but you know, I I do like that. I like that idea. and I think more people should do it. More developers should Kainitsu: They should. TruVillain: do it. go back, revisit games, touch up, whatever the case may be. Kainitsu: Give those games some love. TruVillain: all right, and so kinda the last thing I wanted to do here, because we are kinda again running long as always. Kainitsu: Yeah TruVillain: I kinda wanna just take a moment and look at all the releases kinda coming Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: for the rest of the year and just kinda g get our kind of feelings on kinda what we're excited for, what we're not so excited for, like You know, what's going on, you know, as well as anyone who may be listening who isn't aware of of game releases coming out. you Kainitsu: you TruVillain: know, let you know kind of what's coming for the rest of the year. let's start in August here, 'cause that's where we are at. Kainitsu: again down there man it's a lot the skin this industry is big there's lots of stuff TruVillain: yeah, dude, it's it's a lot. Yeah, I'm I'm down at August now on this list. We are of course pulling from the game spot list, which seems pretty comprehensive, for the most part, so Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Ooh. June was pretty light compared to everything. No, I say that, was pretty heavy. Never mind. TruVillain: yeah. August is kinda where it starts kiss. September's mm. Kainitsu: except yeah, I fall, holidays coming up and all that, people want to get the Christmas money and all, so. TruVillain: Yeah. And I'm not gonna go through all of these. Like there's like what in the fuck even is yeah, Kainitsu: There's too many. TruVillain: what is Iron Nest Heavy Turret Simulator? Nobody knows. I'm gonna just pick out some of the big ones. Kainitsu: no, Actually, I did see a something for that trailer for that the other day. I was like, OK, so you're TruVillain: Course you did. Kainitsu: doing you're making turrets and a sim. Cool, dude. But there's a big there's a big niche market for similar games, man, like. TruVillain: Well yeah, but what's a turret simulator? You say I said no one gives a fuck about this. Now we're looking this up. Alright, so Kainitsu: Hahaha TruVillain: okay, so coming August 6th, so I guess it's out three days ago. Iron Nest Kainitsu: Yeah, it's already been released. TruVillain: Heavy Turret Simulator. Let me look at this real quick. Just to since since you had to be like, well, actually Kainitsu: People do like simulator games like people play like trucking simulators There's there was one game that came out was the grass simulator. You grew you grew like the grass dude TruVillain: A brutal diesel punk heavy artillery game where you dominate the battlefield through a colossal war machine, take map measurements based on receive coordinates, strain the hydraulics and gunplay the cannons to unleash devastating blows. Bro, like wa is that a cat in a fucking captain's hat? What Kainitsu: Maybe. TruVillain: in the fuck? So this looks like some real like math nerd shit. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah. TruVillain: Okay, alright, well. Look forward to that. Marvel Kainitsu: Yeah, so I TruVillain: Tokon Fi go ahead. Kainitsu: was about say like, yeah, so yeah, is there anything in this August list that you are possibly looking at? TruVillain: I yeah, I was just gonna kinda go through. Not really. there's the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection volume two that comes out August twenty seventh, which I know you're looking forward to. I could give a fuck. you're not? okay. Kainitsu: not really like yeah I mean I'm a big MGS fan but Konami's been kind of half-assing these these collections like the first one that came out it's literally a port of the remasters they released in 2013 so much so that on the splash screens of each of those games you see Konami copyright 2013 so TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: I'm afraid of mine is more excited about him and he's buying them and I don't have to so I'll still get the experience if I want to. TruVillain: yeah, the the the beauty of family share. Kainitsu: Steam family shares so good. I'm actually there's actually two things on here. I didn't know one thing was releasing this month and now I'm sad I didn't I didn't keep up with it but I guess I know now. So first off more Marvel Toucan fighting souls. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: that's an Arc System Works fighting game and Arc System Works has a very special place in my heart when it comes to fighting TruVillain: Hmm. Kainitsu: games. They back back in the day, they made the best enemy fighting games. There was like guilty gear. You're so good. Blas TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: blue. There's so many, or somebody like two or three that they made. They did. They did the Dragon Ball fighters, TruVillain: Did they do that, did they do that Dragon Ball Z one? Okay. Kainitsu: dude. That was it. I wish fighters was bigger than it was. It's still. a good game and that was the fighting game I wanted TruVillain: It's pretty big, isn't it? Kainitsu: for forever for Dragon Ball and it's so good. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: So they basically do the same thing here with the Marvel. It's basically Marvel versus Capcom without the Capcom pretty much. So I was a little interested in it but the thing is like I TruVillain: Ooh, six hundred and sixty three players. Kainitsu: don't have anyone to play fighting games with and I'm not good enough to play online because if you go play TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: online you get all the try-hards and it's not as fun. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. That's my issue with fighting games I'm interested in, is I don't have anyone to play them with. and unfortunately for you, I have zero interest in Tokon Fighting Souls. Like I the gameplay of that looks fucking just unbearable to me. Number Kainitsu: Really? TruVillain: well, dude, it's like a it's like an eight player tag fighter, right? Like it's got like Kainitsu: So 3v3. TruVillain: three v three that's too many. That's that's I d well I didn't play that one either. That I don't like any of those. Kainitsu: That's what Dragon Ball FighterZ is. That's what Farmer vs. Capcom is. Okay then. I guess those are not the games for you. TruVillain: I don't like tag fighters. Yeah, I don't like hold on. I could've swore it was like eight players. They had like it was like some ridiculous amount. Let's Kainitsu: I mean, there might be a boat for that. TruVillain: see. Token. Kainitsu: But even with that, like again, with the three three three, it's not three people controlling TruVillain: Many Kainitsu: different characters. It's one person controlling three characters and having synergy in combos and stuff. No, TruVillain: Yeah, that makes it worse. I don't want to control that many Kainitsu: but that's the fun of it. Slayers. TruVillain: Hmm. There's an A. It's already out though, and apparently it's not doing too hot. People aren't too happy with some aspects of it. Yeah, it's four V four is the is the standard. Yeah, four V four is the standard. Yeah, I knew it was some ridiculous fucking number. That's all yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah. I look, is it? Okay. Damn. Okay. That is a lot. That's that's too many. Like three is a lot to juggle already. Four feels like too much. That's that's that's too much ADHD. I am ADHD person. Yeah, well, it's TruVillain: Yeah, it's got a forty two percent on Steam right now. Twelve thousand players. That's pretty good though for a fighting game on Steam. Kainitsu: Yeah, it is. But for the steep for PC specifically, it's not doing too hot because it's having performance issues. It's better on it's better on console, TruVillain: Hmm. Which is crazy. Kainitsu: but it's like it's telling you to turn off cross play on the console because PC is just jacked up right now. Yeah. TruVillain: PC so shit, yeah. Kainitsu: And that makes me sad. It's like, come on, argue like you've been releasing stuff on PC for a while now. Why can't you learn this get better on your your one day releases? Although draft TruVillain: Yeah. And also this is like a sin as well, I think. I know people just love the way these game I don't like the way this game looks, like graphically. Like I Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: don't I don't like the way it looks. I just I don't know. It's yeah, I t Kainitsu: Yeah. It's fine. TruVillain: I'm so my fighting game like like history I I'm I'm more of like a Mortal Kombat guy. Like Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: that style not like Injustice. Injustice too is probably my favorite fighting game of all time. Kainitsu: Okay, okay. Yeah, I'm on the opposite side of that spectrum. Like I enjoyed Mortal Kombat for what it was. Again, I grew up with it being like the new thing and like, TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: God, it's so violent. It's ruined our children. TruVillain: It ruined me. Kainitsu: it ruined me. I'm a horrible piece of shit. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: no, but, I don't really care much for Mortal Kombat. fighting style or gameplay and like even TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: with the modern ones like you do some cool things and it looks good and there's some cool fatalities and stuff but TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kainitsu: me. I'm more like again Arc System Works is more the type of fighting games. It's a little more akin to Street Fighter a little bit with like how you control TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: what's like, you know, sliding and all that stuff. But and with Mortal Kombat, you have to like do do do do you'd be very specific with your inputs. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I'm not the biggest fighting game guy. To be honest, I I really just when I was younger I liked those like Dragon Ball Z games like Tinkaichi and Budokai and Yeah. Kainitsu: like a boat with the bukai? Yeah. TruVillain: And I actually really like Sparking Zero. that's a it's a fun romp of a one. I had a friend I was playing that with for a while. and just just like fun, you know, like let's get some characters and duke it out. Like Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I I never play them like hyper competitively. and so like Kainitsu: Yeah, just. TruVillain: you If I if a cool looking fighting game comes out, I just want to I want to play with friends and like you know, and settle beefs and stuff, like you start talking some shit and you're like, Alright, let's go settle this shit, you know, like let's go settle the beef in the in Kainitsu: Mm-hmm, right. TruVillain: the match, you know, you pick your character, they pick theirs, you know, you fucking go for it. Kainitsu: Go throw some hands. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, and so I d I don't know. so I guess it's I'd say look forward to that, but it's already out. so go check go check it out. Not on PC though. Kainitsu: That's already up. But the one thing that it's it's going to come out here soon. It's actually in two days and I didn't know it was releasing this soon. It's actually agent 64 spies never die. Is it any TruVillain: Hmm. Kainitsu: title? And my God, is it amazing because. Yeah, there was definitely a demo you could play and here's the thing. So. TruVillain: Is there a demo or something? okay. Let me look it up. Kainitsu: The person who made this game really loved a golden eye on 64. TruVillain: okay, it's one of those. Kainitsu: And it definitely has that 64 vibes. It, it, it feels like golden eye on the 64. It's pretty fucking cool. So if you're TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: a person who has a lot of nostalgia for that type of game, yeah, definitely check it out. Agents, agency, super spies never die. there's a demo, check it out, play it. It's really fun. think it's only like 10, $20 maybe, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: that on steam, it's Yeah, I'm excited about that. And TruVillain: it doesn't have a price. Kainitsu: I guess because it hasn't released yet. But either way, it's probably not going to be that expensive. It support this developer if you like things like this. These are projects I like that are fun and weird and quirky. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Okay, well I guess look forward to that. I I don't know. I I don't I don't have a nostalgia for the for that game specifically. it the it looks yeah, Goldeneye looks terrible. Like like it well, Kainitsu: I know you don't. I know you don't. That's a me thing with my old head. It is not a good looking game. TruVillain: I mean like from a control standpoint, like the N sixty four controller and like it just it just looks bad. Kainitsu: Yes, because that was the thing, It was mostly auto aim and you had to hold down the right trigger or bumper, they call it, TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. Kainitsu: to do like actual aiming for certain things. It was different. It was actually the first time you used a button TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: like this to shoot a gun instead of like this. TruVillain: Yeah. See my my nostalgia for James Bond is Nightfire. That's that's the game that got Kainitsu: okay. TruVillain: me I love Nightfire. I still haven't Kainitsu: I never played it. TruVillain: played the new yeah, I still haven't played the new one, James Bond yet. Yeah, first I need to. Kainitsu: yeah, first light. I've heard, I've heard good things. TruVillain: Yeah, I need to. I just haven't gotten around to it. So Kainitsu: So anything else here tickle your fancy on in August? TruVillain: let's see. Of course Star Wars Zero Company, we talked about it. on one of the older episodes, so I won't like go too ham on it. It it looks fantastic. It's from the XCOM guys. A lot of them dudes that worked on that. That's yeah, but there, yeah, August 27th. Yeah. So that's a that's Kainitsu: Is your company this year or this month? shit. Okay. There it is. Okay. All right. I got you. TruVillain: a tail end. unfortunately, only like a week before Blood of Dawn Walker, which we'll get into that in Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: a second. Yeah, so but that it looks great. A good turn based tactics game. Permadeath, Star Wars story. Looks good. let me look one more time at these August releases. Yeah, a lot of indie Kainitsu: So something's... TruVillain: stuff on here that I just don't recognize. resonance Kainitsu: Yeah, same. TruVillain: a Plague Tell Legacies on here. So I a Plague Tell is one of those I really wanted to like. And I just c I I beat the first game, got about halfway through the second one, and I just fell off. Yeah. Kainitsu: But what? But the rats! The swarms are so cool! TruVillain: And I think this is they are cool. But like I and this is like a prequel or something that takes place like like a long time ago or something. Like in Rome, maybe? Kainitsu: Okay. I never played a Plague Tale. I have I think I got it for free on Epic's Epic game store or something, but I've never played TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: it. I've heard. I don't know. It just sounds like a walking simulator. Okay. TruVillain: The first one is No, it's not a walking simulator at all. the f the first one is too like for me anyway, it's too like mechanic transparent, you know, it's like this is the stealth set segment Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and you gotta throw the the the rock and distract the dude to the left and go around you know, it's very like mechanical. And not a great weight. But the second one kinda smoothed a lot of that out. And it was better. I just I don't know. I think by the time I went to the second one I was just kind of over it. If I maybe I should have given it some more space. Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: okay. And did you play them back to back? Yeah, you probably got burned out like I did with like, Survivor. Too much of the same. Back to back. TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. So, anyway, that's that's August. That's n all the notable things. September is Kainitsu: Well, I will say one thing that lasts about August and it's nothing I want to say too much, but... The fuck is a new series Sam coming out for? Like, what? Like... TruVillain: I don't know, dude. I never yeah. August thirty first, Sirius Sam Shatterverse. Kainitsu: It never dies. Alright, moving on. TruVillain: he's serious, man. All right, so September Kainitsu: All right, September. TruVillain: is when shit starts popping off. On September 3rd, Blood of Dawnwalker, my most Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: anticipated game of the year. a vampire role playing game, which just is y you may as well have just said True Villain, you know. Kainitsu: Hahaha. TruVillain: I d we've talked about it a little bit on the show. I've only watched one trailer for this game because I don't want anything spoiled. So yeah, I'm pretty excited. Are you gonna play that one? Or okay. Kainitsu: Yes, that's definitely a game I'm going to pick up. I've been interested ever since I saw get released TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: or the, the announced and everything. watched the extended gameplay trailer. That was like seven, eight minutes long. I was like, okay, that's enough. want to see of this game. I'm not going to spoil it anymore. Yeah, TruVillain: wow, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't watch that one. Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: that game looks like a lot of fun. And I hope it, it is good as it looks. TruVillain: Yeah, it definitely has the the opportunity to to let you down, but yeah, Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: c yeah, but I mean it has everything going for it, so we'll see. The day after that is Kainitsu: So far, so far, we'll know once it's released. TruVillain: Onamusha Way of the Sword. I don't give a fuck about this one, but I know you you like Animusha, right? Kainitsu: Yeah, that's yeah. Yeah, man. I was really excited about this game. I didn't think this was coming out till next year, which fuck. That's not good for me. TruVillain: No, that's the day after Donwalk. You gotta make a decision. You gotta make a choice. Kainitsu: Well, well, it says here is not releasing until December 30th, like New Year's Eve 2026. I'm really, this is, this is confusing. TruVillain: Hold on, let hold on, GameSpot. Here. Hold on. Kainitsu: Right? Did AI do this for you? TruVillain: Yeah, hold on. Any way of the sword Kainitsu: Pony Moosha, way of the sword. TruVillain: release date. September fourth, twenty twenty six. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: Really? Shit. Okay. Well- no! September's out to be a horrible time for me now! TruVillain: Yeah. You gotta make it which which I dude I that's how I feel about Zero Company and Blood of the Dawnwalker. And in a way I'm glad that that my misery is getting company. Quite frankly, 'cause I'm a petty bitch like that. I'm a petty bitch. I your your misery brings me joy. So which Kainitsu: But you petty petty bitch. Yeah, batch. TruVillain: one do you think you're gonna go with? I mean Kainitsu: Well, there's also that too for me. Wolverine on the PS5. I TruVillain: Yeah, we're getting there. We're getting there. Kainitsu: don't know what you're going to get out of these three. They all release stupidly close together in the same month. TruVillain: shit. Well let's talk about yeah, yeah. Yeah, let's talk about Marvel well we'll we'll get there actually. Hold on, I'm gonna do it kind of in order. after that is Valheim one point It's also coming yeah, it's yeah, it's also coming to PS Kainitsu: we'll release finally. so to celebrate. TruVillain: five. Now, that's notable 'cause me and my buddy, the same one I'm playing Halo with, we have a Valheim world that we've been just plucking away on for years now. Yeah, yeah, we play it every so often. Yeah, I believe so. I hope so. Kainitsu: hell yeah. Is it gonna still be available in 1.0? nice. TruVillain: They're adding a whole new region. It's the the cold north or whatever the fuck it is. It's the the icy region Kainitsu: Hell yeah, snow. TruVillain: and yeah. And they're kinda putting a kind of an end to the to the game, like story wise. And I love Valheim. It's one of the great survival games. and like I said, Kainitsu: I never TruVillain: we've been plucking away you know, on a world for quite some time and it's been a really, Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: really good time. And I highly recommend it. If you now, the thing with Valheim is you gotta wanna build you gotta wanna build because and what I mean by that is their building system is very particular. You have to have support beams. You can't just build Kainitsu: is it? TruVillain: up. Like yeah, you can't just build up. You can't just go build a tower. If you're gonna build a tower, yeah. And I mean Kainitsu: You actually have to make something structurally sound. Okay. TruVillain: and it obvious it's not like hyper realistic, you know, Kainitsu: Mm, but enough. TruVillain: there there's like a system, but yeah, so you can't just build a tower as tall as you want. You can, but you gotta build all the support beams, scaffolding Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and, you know. So on and so forth. And so that that's definitely a barrier to entry for some people. But if you have a friend who likes to do that and you just like to collect resources, it's a good time. Kainitsu: Yeah, one does one thing, you do the other, and you make the world your own. TruVillain: Yeah. apparently there's a new Hot Wheels game after that, September tenth. I don't care about that, but I do have a friend who really liked that one Hot Wheels game they put out, so Kainitsu: Yeah, I actually tried that because I felt like it was trying to to took TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: out some nostalgia for me because there was like an old, old, old ass Hot Wheels game that was on the PC a long time ago that was a lot of fun. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: Because was like you're like right behind the vehicle and you actually ran around like old like like, know, race Hot Wheels tracks and stuff was like the newer game they did. I tried it and I was like, I don't know. It just yeah, I just feel like you're just trying to get nostalgia. And I'm not gonna give that to you, sorry. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Alright, so next Kainitsu: But I hope your friend likes it. TruVillain: yeah, yeah, yeah. so next we have Marvel's Wolverine, September 15th. Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: I'm gonna be honest with you, I could give a fuck about this game. Kainitsu: Yeah, I know. I know you've said harsh things that have hurt me. TruVillain: Well, ironically, I'm wearing a Wolverine shirt at the moment. Kainitsu: I hate Wolverine TruVillain: I'm a fraud. I'm a fraud. So alright, Kainitsu: he's on my shirt. TruVillain: so now now hold I gotta I gotta give the history behind the shirt now. So basically Kainitsu: Ha ha ha! TruVillain: So basically we went to see as the same group of friends actually I went to see Spider-Man with. Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: we went to see Deadpool and Wolverine when it came out. And so Kainitsu: Okay, okay. That's a really good movie. TruVillain: yeah, and so there's a target next to I love that movie, but there's a target next to the movie theater and And my friend wanted to go there and buy some merch to wear to the movie. And so Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: he he's a big Deadpool guy. So he was buying that. And the other guy, he I think he got him a shirt. And me, I was like, Well, I can't be left out. I gotta buy something. And so like I'm not getting Kainitsu: I gotta fit in. TruVillain: like the only fucking fucker I hate more than Wolverine is Deadpool. And so I I Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: got I was like, let me get this Wolverine shirt, you know? And it's a cool looking shirt. Got the blue Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: and you know, that's that's the story behind this shirt. It's a cool looking Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: shirt, but it is also Wolverine, and so I am kind of a fraud. I will probably play this at some point simply because it is a prelude. If you w look at the Insomniac leaks, which to those of you who don't know, Insomniac is the developer of Wolverine. They also did Spider Man one and two. Kainitsu: Yep yep yep. TruVillain: their next game will be an X-Men game. Like, that's and I love the X-Men. I don't like Wolverine very much, but I love the X Men and so I will probably play this just to get that context. But it'll probably be next year when it's like on sale or something, for me. Kainitsu: Mm hmm. Okay. Yeah, sure. I I'm really torn now because that's that's too too too many money for for games in one month. TruVillain: Bro, you got you got some d well it's time too, bro. Like I mean that's some business decisions there in time. Yeah. 'Cause Kainitsu: I'm gonna have to pick and choose here. TruVillain: for me it's about time. I gotta squeeze I gotta squeeze shit in before Grand Theft Auto. I can maybe do Blood Kainitsu: Right now I feel you dude. Yeah, it's gonna be time. TruVillain: of T yeah, Don Walker and one other thing. Kainitsu: Gotcha. Shit, so. Don Walker is actually gonna be of a budget title, right? It's gonna be like, what, 50 bucks? TruVillain: that maybe? Let's I don't know. I haven't looked at price. Time is my consideration. Let's see, blood of dollars seventy dollars. It is seventy big ones, my boy. It is seventy big Kainitsu: Well, never mind. They're going full S triple A pricing. TruVillain: ones. There's an eclipse edition for 80 big ones. What does that come with? Since we're talking about releases. Kainitsu: Awesome. I'm going to write I'm going to go probably remand gaming and get me a copy a little bit off, you know, little TruVillain: Okay. Kainitsu: percentage. TruVillain: and I I meant to do this on like several episodes. if you're a budget conscious gamer and Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: yeah, you want to find the best deal, there is a website called isthereany deal dot com and what that is, is it's kind of a it kind of collates like all of the key resellers from around the internet and and it only does the the legitimate markets. It doesn't do kind of the more gray market stuff. it even has Steam on there. So basically you can go on there and you can type in a game and it'll tell you if it's on sale anywhere, like anywhere that's legitimate. So and you can Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: pretty much trust. I've I've researched this, like so when I heard about it, I wanted to make sure 'cause I don't really like buying from from like the gray key resellers because like your shit can get taken. but yeah, you go to isthereany deal dot com and it'll just tell you everywhere it's sold, legitimately. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: Steam's on there. as well so if steam has a really good deal you can see that. speaking of deals, Prey earlier it's it's six dollars right now on the Bethesda Kainitsu: Really? TruVillain: Cell. Yeah it is six dollars. Buy that shit. Like Yeah. So Kainitsu: Hell yeah. I have Family Share. I don't have to. TruVillain: but anyway, but yeah so that's a great website if you're if you're price budget conscious for sure. Kainitsu: Yeah, it's pretty cool. I actually just looked it up myself right now on that website. And if you want to get blood of Don Walker, you can get it or the the the the the $70 for 60. That's actually steam TruVillain: Okay. Kainitsu: or or the $80 version for 68, which is also on Steam is 15 % off, I guess before pre ordering. TruVillain: Yeah, they're the yeah, a lot of yeah, a lot of developers that do like a pre release sell a lot of the time. Kainitsu: What's really more like an indie thing, honestly? TruVillain: Well, they're kind of an indie studio, right? Kainitsu: Yeah, that's true. TruVillain: Yes, is anyway. so look forward to Kainitsu: Charging a triple A price, that's the thing. Anyway. TruVillain: Marv Marvel's Wolverine. the next big yeah, the next Kainitsu: Yeah, I gotta make choices for next month. TruVillain: big game for me really is Endless Legend 2. That is a Kainitsu: Really? TruVillain: that is a fantasy four X strategy game. I love Endless Legend one. now the problem is the problem I have with Endless Legend one is the same problem I have with Galactic Civilization four. Is that Age of Wonders 4 exists. And so I kind of already Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: have like a really good fantasy 4X game. Whereas Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: like Gal Civ 4, I have Stellaris. And so basically Paradox has kind of already like fulfilled these niches for me. And I've already put like hundreds of dollars into the DLCs. And so it's actually one I don't know if I'm gonna go for. I'm gonna have to see if they're doing something a little different, maybe something Kainitsu: Hmm. Okay. TruVillain: that that kind of does it. Because they are different games for sure. but they they're kind of in the same genre, you know, a fantasy four X game. But I really like Endless Legend one, because I came out before Age of Wonders four. okay, it was out I think around the same time as Age of Wonders three. and I really liked it. So if if you're into if you like the idea of a fantasy strategy game, 4X game, definitely go with Endless Legend 2, give it a Give it a look. It comes out September seventeenth. On a console as well, apparently. Huh. That's interesting. Yeah. Xbox Kainitsu: Hell yeah. That's kinda weird. TruVillain: and PS5 as well. That's hmm. Okay. Sure. Why not? Kainitsu: Yeah, well, you get, get, you finally get Anus Legend on console. What everybody's been clamoring for. TruVillain: Yeah. Okay. And a a rare Switch two game, Fire Emblem Fortune Weave, comes out the same day, September seventeenth. Kainitsu: Wow, okay. TruVillain: I kind of like Fire Emblem as a term based tactics game. I played Awakening and I played Three Houses. And I played like a really Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: old one on the Game Boy. That's my experience. But I I Yeah. One Kainitsu: They were on the advanced I think. TruVillain: of the Game Boys I had I had one of them. Yeah. Kainitsu: It was probably the advance. TruVillain: Fire Emblem's fun. It's a fun tactics game. You know, you got your your fucking anime weebishness in there. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: you know, everyone knows what Fire Emblem is. But that comes out the same day. Kainitsu: Yeah, I've never played one. TruVillain: I will probably play that at some point. No time soon. Kainitsu: The closest I have to that is Smash Brothers. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I don't it's it's not gonna be anywhere near this month that I play this game. Probably next year, when I'm like, Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's a Nintendo game, so it won't be on sale. Yeah. Never. Kainitsu: No, that's like a on-cell, that's a cell game. True, it will never go on-cell. TruVillain: That bitch will be eighty dollars eighty years from now. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TruVillain: the next one on this list, again such a stacked ass fucking month. Warhammer forty K Dawn of War 4. that is a real time strategy game. And I love the last few dawn of war games. is it four? I thought four already came out. Kainitsu: Apparently this is the fourth, my dude. TruVillain: yeah, was it three then that I hold on, let me look. Bear with me. But anyway, yeah, these are Kainitsu: One moment. TruVillain: these are Warhammer let's see, Dawn of War four. Yeah, okay. September yeah, twenty twenty six, okay. Yeah, return to the RTS series roots with deeply satisfying strategy gameplay. Take command of four unique Warhammer factions. Yeah. The these games have really good campaigns and co-op campaigns as well. I don't know if this one will. It's a different it's a different developer. It's King Art. I've never even heard of them. it was Relic before. Kainitsu: Okay. TruVillain: Yeah, so I'm I'm not as excited for this one, because again, it is a different developer. And so this is definitely gonna be kind of a wait and see. Kainitsu: Gotcha, gotcha. I think I actually TruVillain: release Kainitsu: saw something about this. I think I actually have it wishlisted. Yeah. TruVillain: Yeah, maybe. Yeah. And I've been last year I got like way into Warhammer. Like I had not really up until that point. I'd played some of the games Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Okay. TruVillain: and stuff, but I started reading the books. You know, Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: I played the the Total War games. I'm pretty excited for the Total War Warhammer forty K. so I'd I'm gonna keep my eye on this one, for sure. Kainitsu: Hell yeah. Also, 40K is beginning to lot of love the last couple of years. TruVillain: yeah. And the games are y the games hit. Like there's a lot of there's not a lot of bad forty K games. There's not yeah, Kainitsu: Yeah, there are a lot more good games. TruVillain: there's not a lot of bad forty K games. re most recently Kainitsu: They're all pretty good. TruVillain: I played, what's that fucking role playing game? that shit called rogue trader yeah I love that game I love that game it's very good it's Kainitsu: yeah, yeah. heard good stuff about it. Yeah, you had a good time with it. Yeah. TruVillain: a lot of reading there's no voice acting be ready to read but it's it's fantastic Kainitsu: It's okay to use your brain sometimes. TruVillain: and so that's really that's really it for August in terms of what I'm interested in control resonant is another big one September twenty fourth Kainitsu: yeah, that's the sequel to Control, yeah. TruVillain: yeah I'm actually not too excited for this one it looks it looks yeah Kainitsu: Yeah, Remedy Games has been they've begun not bringing people the right way. A lot of people weren't happy with the Alan Wake 2 release. TruVillain: Yeah, it it well control rev it just looks too off the deep end. You know, like they've always been weird and Kainitsu: Does it? TruVillain: like this just looks it looks like a well, it looks like a new prototype game, which I did like prototype, but Kainitsu: okay. TruVillain: I don't know. I this this is one I'm gonna keep an eye on. If it gets kinda like universal apprix. I liked control one a lot. I like the game Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: a lot. I thought the ending was very disappointing, but I liked I liked it leading up to that. so yeah, that that's Kainitsu: Okay. Well, I. TruVillain: pretty much September. Kainitsu: Never played control for good things. Tried it, got kind of bored. Yeah, TruVillain: really? Hmm. Kainitsu: I tried. I don't know for whatever reason it didn't grab me as much as other people. Maybe TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: I just give it a good good try for that one day. TruVillain: Silent Hill Townfall also comes out this I've never played a Silent Hill game. Do you do Kainitsu: Yeah, TruVillain: you like Silent Hill or? Kainitsu: I've really, no, I've never really played the games. TruVillain: Okay. Well we can move past it. Kainitsu: Yeah, I mean it's cool there's a new Silent Hill game. Konami's making stuff again, guys. That's cool. Anyway. TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. So October. We are now in October Kainitsu: Dynasty Warriors 3, it's a remaster, yeah my god Dynasty Warriors TruVillain: Yeah, so we have Gears of War E Day, October sixth. October sixth. You know? Like a we I I'm not gonna s linger on that one. We talked about it pretty well. I Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. I- TruVillain: see you you've highlighted Rayman legends. A you you you a Rayman fan or? Kainitsu: Yeah, that's just notable because that's considered to be no, me personally. I've again, never really played it, but everyone's always like, my God, Ray man is great. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah, I guess so, yeah. Kainitsu: But for Gray man, Ray man, religion is like one of the greatest, they were like, it's the greatest games they ever made for Ray man. And it was like the really good engine that they use. It'd be like a really nice 2d sprites that TruVillain: Sure. Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: were like, like campaignings. TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: let me like four games with that. and yeah, it's pretty cool to releasing it. Yeah, if you like Brain Man, and if you really like Legends, TruVillain: I don't. Kainitsu: there you go. TruVillain: I like Legends. I don't like Rayman. Anyway. I Kainitsu: And you apparently like endless legends anyway. TruVillain: love Endlegends. next up a Stala Star Wars Galactic Racer, October sixth, same days as Gears of War. that that's Kainitsu: man, gonna podrace yo. TruVillain: one of those yeah, that's one of those games I think I'm gonna like like love from afar. You know, like I like I Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: it's one of those I look at and like little kid me would have been all about it. Yeah, would have been Yeah. Kainitsu: would've... yeah. I wanna go podracing too like Anakin! TruVillain: Yeah And it but yeah. And it looks good. It looks like they really put some work into it. There's a storyline and all kinds of stuff. But Kainitsu: wow, okay. TruVillain: yeah, I I and like destruction and it but probably won't play it. Kainitsu: I will I have no interest in that I like very TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: few racing games I've ever played them one race game I played the most lately TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: has been Mario Kart 8 and that's like a TruVillain: Sure. Kainitsu: kart racer. TruVillain: So we have so next up we have f for all the weirdos in the world, we have Kingdom Hearts Collection one through three. I think this is like a it's a switch two port and it's also like coming to next gen consoles because they already have this Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: collection, but it's like a like a proper next gen port, I think, of it. Kainitsu: Cool. TruVillain: so if you're like a if you're like a mega mega sycophant, enjoy. Kainitsu: I actually used to be a pretty big fan of Kingdom Hearts, honestly. I was really into it. And I played like all of those shits leading up to three and three came out and I was like, it took too long and the story got way TruVillain: We we may be taking applications Kainitsu: too convoluted and I'm just kind of over it. I don't want to, I don't care anymore. one big thing was TruVillain: That's good because we might have to take applications for a new podcast host if you were still into Kainitsu: Hahaha TruVillain: Kingdom Hearts. So Kainitsu: You had to be the one like Kingdom Hearts. But no, but the weird thing is though with 3 for like just the story-wise and everything is that they took out the Final Fantasy characters and it's not like I want my Final Fantasy characters in there. It's just that they were really integral to the story and plot and then they're just poof gone. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: We don't need them to sell the games anymore. anyway. TruVillain: Yep. Alright. So next up is like Planet Zoo two, October thirteenth. And no listen. Dude, hold on, no, you're joking. I'm not. Listen, I I Kainitsu: guy, get my planet zoo on. We're actually excited about okay. TruVillain: dude, no, I had to stop myself from playing Kainitsu: Ha ha ha! TruVillain: Planet Zoo because it is too much I don't know that I'll play two because one dude I I I lost like two months of my life to designing my zoo, dude. It was bad. It was really bad. It's such an addictive like it's a management sim where you build a zoo, but you control like every little thing. Like there's no Kainitsu: Yeah, it's like. TruVillain: there's no like painter. You hand place fucking everything. I would spend Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. Yeah. TruVillain: a like eight hours straight designing a fucking like like little mall sit-down food area. Like Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and then the animals were so realistic and you there's breeding and trading. Dude, it was Kainitsu: Yeah, it's just basically roller coaster kai koon, but you're managing a zoo. TruVillain: Yeah yeah, or z there there was a zoo tycoon, but it's it's much like Kainitsu: Yeah, true. TruVillain: it's much deeper with like the creation the creativity and stuff than those games because they have a good Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: like the engine they use is very like I mean you're t you're manipulating terrain, you're placing rocks and I mean it's it's Kainitsu: Okay, okay. TruVillain: it's just very like if you're very creative, if you're very like O C D if Kainitsu: Mm. TruVillain: you're this game is man, dude, it's I I don't know if I'll play Planet Zoo 2. I want to. But I don't know if I can allow Kainitsu: Hmm. All right. TruVillain: myself to. It's the same way I feel about like Eve Online. It's just one of those games, like, I wanna have a life outside of a game. So Kainitsu: You're right, right? TruVillain: But look forward to Planet Zoo two. Kainitsu: Hell yeah. TruVillain: Castlevania Belkmont's curse. I never really got into those. I don't know. How do you feel? That's a pretty big one though. People are pretty October fifteenth. Kainitsu: It is it is a really big one what yeah again it's another Konami game and it's the first new Castlevania game in many a year. TruVillain: Hmm. Yeah. Kainitsu: They they haven't tried since Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 which did rule bad. So TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: they tried to move Castlevania to more of a like God of War kind of game mixed with like. Shadow of Colossus in some aspects and then it was pretty good and they made a DS game kind of tied into it and then they did Lord of the Shadow 2 and it was a different developer it was a Rush project unfortunately and it just it was a very bad sequel and then there are no more Castlevania games after that so it's cool to see I'm TruVillain: These are the these are the dead cells guys, right? Doing it. Yeah. Kainitsu: I think so, yeah. So I'm a little interested in this. I'm not sure if I will get into it. It's probably gonna be a game I wait to go on sale more likely, but it's cool to see Castlevania finally having a new game after fucking forever. TruVillain: Mm. Yeah. Well look forward to that. But like I said, November is the month every one of these games got the fuck out of, except for these three champions here. who were like Barbie rewind November twelfth. Kainitsu: I don't know why Barbie rewind felt so confident. TruVillain: A whole week they got out ahead of Grand Theft Auto, being like, Man, we are gonna take them on. Kainitsu: That's the time. TruVillain: also, Godzilla Destroy All Monsters, Melee Remastered, November third. Listen, I loved this game. When I was a kid, me and my brothers, dude, we played the living shit out of this game. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: And I'm actually a little like n not in not this month. but maybe next year sometime or late December maybe checking Kainitsu: to grab it. TruVillain: it out. If it's a good remaster, if it's like not, then no, but Kainitsu: Yeah. Yeah, I know that was a really popular game that when it came out in the PS2 and GameCube back in the day, I'd get it just so we could do it. could talk about it. How about TruVillain: Yeah. I'd have to convince someone else to to get it too, 'cause this it wouldn't yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: that? TruVillain: Yeah, it's it's a great I love this game so much. It's I'm so shocked it's getting a remake. And and and then the route going I don't know. Wilders of the essence, they they're brave is what they are. Let's see, Kainitsu: Hell yeah. Or it's a remaster anyway. What the fuck is Wilders of the Essence? Sounds like a fucking romance book. TruVillain: we gotta give their flowers though. They are releasing alongside a industry titan here. Kainitsu: Well, bully for, my god, this game looks like dog shit. TruVillain: Like letters of Kainitsu: I could be wrong. It has a demo. TruVillain: Wilders of the It's Kainitsu: So it's good. TruVillain: not even coming up. wielders of the Essence. Bro, this looks What is this? Kainitsu: It's so. So I guess it's kind of like vampire survivor. TruVillain: Yeah, this it's a vampire survivor clone. Ha ha ha Kainitsu: Yeah, cool. I'm glad you felt so confident in this to go up against GTA 6. TruVillain: I love it. Kainitsu: Good luck, indie developer. TruVillain: Yeah. And rounding out the basically the year's releases, November Kainitsu: releases. Yeah. TruVillain: nineteenth is a little little little crime simulator twenty twenty seven little indie game, known as Grand Theft Auto Six. you know. Yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, yeah, little game, little any tile. TruVillain: I'll of course be playing this. I'll be Kainitsu: I will not. TruVillain: Really? Kainitsu: Nope, I've never been much. I've never been a really much of a GTA person. I played GTA five because a friend of mine wanted me to play online with it whenever released on PC and TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Kainitsu: online released. And he, he gave me a DS. That three DS for free. was like, okay, cool. I feel like I'm coming out on this, this deal. TruVillain: Okay. Okay. Kainitsu: So TruVillain: Yeah. wow. All right. Yeah. Well I'll definitely be getting I will I kinda accidentally be like on a fucking three week vacation for this game. Well, because it's November nineteenth and I took my three week vacation last year on November nineteenth. And so it's gonna kinda I Kainitsu: haha. TruVillain: usually I take it around the same ti this time every year for like Thanksgiving Kainitsu: Gotcha. Okay. TruVillain: and I kinda just burn all my vacation time. So I'll be on vacation for this game. Yeah. but by ac by Kainitsu: Amen. Got to do it at some point. Hell yeah. Well, you're definitely going to have some time with it. Hey, it worked out for you in that, TruVillain: Pure accident. so because since it's yeah, since it's just a single player, I would have probably only taken like that Friday off or you what I mean, have a long weekend with it just for the Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: event. But I wouldn't have taken like a week off or anything for it. But I'll like accidentally, yeah. Kainitsu: We have it now. You have three. TruVillain: Yeah, but I mean I'm looking forward to it. It's one of those like, you know, just come on with it now, guys, 'cause it's been delayed so many times and Kainitsu: Right. TruVillain: it's hard to get hyped for it. I'm hoping that maybe this Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: whole thirty minute thing will kinda you know, make us all Make us all a little more hyped for it. But Kainitsu: Gotcha. TruVillain: yeah. I mean in December, all we got left is Dragon Quest Monsters, the Withered World. December third, which I think is like a it's like their version of like a monster hunter, maybe. Is that am I right on that? Kainitsu: Which one? TruVillain: Dragon Quest Monsters. Kainitsu: don't, these are all Jesus. These are all in alphabetical order. is it? I need to, sorry. there might be, I, I TruVillain: It's in December. No, scroll up. It's you you you scrolled right past December, my man. There's only one game there. Yeah. Kainitsu: honestly don't know, but yeah, it sounds like, sounds like something like that. TruVillain: You befriend monsters from the Dragon Quest series, raise them up and synthesize new creatures, Kainitsu: yep, that's what it is. TruVillain: and pit them against other monsters in battle. it's their Pokemon, is what it is. Yeah. Okay. Kainitsu: OK. Cool. There's probably like, you know, monster reading and shit like that. OK, yeah, it's a little bit both. TruVillain: Yeah, and it looks like kinda the kinda has like the graphic style of maybe that build it's it looks like kinda the builder spinoff, but instead of Minecraft they're maybe doing like Pokemon kinda. Kainitsu: Okay, okay. TruVillain: that might be okay. I liked builders actually a lot. It's really the only Dragon Quest game I've played. Kainitsu: I have a friend of mine gave me a copy of the first one. He said it was a lot of fun. I was like, okay, I never played it. TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Kainitsu: I will say this because even though December that's last thing, undated releases, dude, the fuck I own two. What? TruVillain: my god, Ion. Ion two. Good god. Kainitsu: Did you- did you- do you know the first ion? TruVillain: I'm I'm familiar, yeah. Kainitsu: Yeah, okay, yeah, it's a South Korean MMO. And TruVillain: Mm. Kainitsu: I was hyped up about Ion the first one and it came out and then I got the level 25 and I was like, this game fucking sucks. Yeah, I bought it up too and I was like, what the hell? TruVillain: Yeah, I'm looking at the Steam page right now. Says coming September twenty twenty six. I guess it's I guess it got a date. On some of these undated, yeah. Yeah, I guess it's Kainitsu: It don't have an actual date for it. Yeah, but. OK, cool, I guess they've made enough money with it being a free to play game to make another free to play. wait, TruVillain: Yeah. Kainitsu: no, I think. Pre-purchase Ion standard OK, not spanners pack, OK? TruVillain: Also apparently like Guild Wars is still pretty fucking big too, which is kinda wild. It's getting kinda like Kainitsu: Yeah, you'd be surprised with all those. mean, dude, even fucking RuneScape, like original, you know, like classic that that still has player base, right? TruVillain: Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to that. Yeah. Kainitsu: But yeah, I guess, yeah, that's pretty much running out through year for us. There's way more things I'm interested in that I didn't know. I hate September. Fuck you, September. TruVillain: Bro, September fucking sucks, bro. Like good God. my God, bro. Like 'cause I yeah, 'cause Kainitsu: There's too many things! And it's all expensive. Ugh. TruVillain: I mean, even so, like I said, there's like Endless Legend two, like just these little like dark horse kind of like side picks, you know, that Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: like you might pick up, you know, because it's like, I got time. Like right now. If Endless Legend two came out right now, I'd probably buy it and play it. I ain't got nothing else. Well, I'm into prey right now, but I could probably do like a weekend of of running some map. But like there's no shot. that in September I'ma get to that. now well, Kainitsu: No. Not with like that stacked schedule, man. TruVillain: i it isn't early access right now. So I mean I guess I could actually get it right now, but it's not the one point Kainitsu: Can't wait for 1.0 I guess. TruVillain: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and so I dude, it's it's fucked, man. Like, but you know, hey, I mean that's but next year we're we'll have a probably a whole episode about next year, maybe after like game awards or something. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: but next year's pretty fucking stacked too. You got a whole bunch of role playing games coming out, a lot of Mass Effect likes and Fable. Dude, Kainitsu: Amen. TruVillain: February is fucked, dude. You got Fable. You have God of War. Like like within like two days of each other. Like it's crazy. and then there's something else that's coming out in February. And it's like, what in the fuck? Let's see. Let me s this do since we're on this. February twenty twenty seven game releases. confirmed we have God of War. Persona Four. That was the other thing. Yeah, the Persona Four remake. So God of Yeah, Kainitsu: shit, the remaster? it's a remake, damn. TruVillain: God of War comes out February sixteenth. Persona Four revival comes out February eighteenth. Two days later. And then Fable comes out the twenty third. Like and I wanna play so I could drop Kainitsu: That's a lot of stuff and they're very close together. TruVillain: yeah, I could drop God of War or delay Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: God of War pretty easily, but Fable and Persona Four remake, dude? Like that's a that's a decision. That's a fucking Kainitsu: Yeah, those are some biggies for you. TruVillain: decision. I'm probably going fable, but you know. Kainitsu: I am not excited for the new fable. I wanted TruVillain: What's in March? Kainitsu: to be so bad. I know you do and so many other people do, it doesn't feel like TruVillain: I think it looks fantastic. Like I don't like I think it looks I think it looks great. Yeah, I think it looks phenomenal. Kainitsu: fable to me. You know what? We should have a discussion one day and just talk about it leading up to it, I think. What makes it fable for you? Right? TruVillain: Just talk about Fable. What makes Fable Fable? Yeah. it looks like March is pretty empty. So maybe Yeah, maybe do Persona. Because I I've never Kainitsu: That would be the ketchup month, I guess. Right. TruVillain: I started the original Persona 4 and then they had the the rumor that they were remaking at like three Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: and I was like that's probably true and so I stopped playing it because I just want to play the Kainitsu: Okay, okay. TruVillain: yeah play the remake and so I'm pretty excited for it because I was really enjoying it. as well. So but yeah, that's Kainitsu: Well, hell yeah, TruVillain: that's that's what we got coming up. look forward to all of that or don't and just be unhappy with your life. I mean not who am I? Kainitsu: Yep. Mm hmm. I am looking forward to it. My wallet is not. TruVillain: Yeah, it's it was really funny when I first suggested this segment, Kai was like, I'm not looking forward to anything this year and I'm like, Huh. huh. He's like, Yeah, he's like, That's Kainitsu: I don't care about these games. Yeah, no, well, here I am. TruVillain: gonna be a shitty segment, 'cause you're the only one looking forward to things. Kainitsu: Yes, yes, I said this thing to my friend so horribly that your idea is shit. TruVillain: Yeah, and so it turns out turns out it's a lot you're looking forward to, you know. Kainitsu: Turns out there was way more and there was an indie title because I'm the indie guy apparently TruVillain: Mm, you are the indie guy. I just I just play the I just play the popular shit, you know. Kainitsu: and shill. TruVillain: I really don't. I mean I guess I don't know. Prey listen, Prey was not very popular. Let me tell you, that's a dark horse pick. It's a dark horse pick. Kainitsu: No, Honestly, man, sold me on it. I'm going to actually play that at some point. It's actually going to be on my radar now. I got family share. Family share. sorry. TruVillain: Six dollars everyone. Six fucking dollars. Go go go get it. Go get it. Not y I'm t I'm talking to the audience. This is sh this isn't a show for you. We're talking to the the listeners. You know, god damn it, man. This is fucking selfish, bro. Kainitsu: It's all about me. TruVillain: but yeah, so I mean that's that's all we got for you tonight, folks. you know? That's a lot, dude. I mean that that's this is our longest show. Like this is our long this is a three hour Kainitsu: Which was a lot. Actually, this is... Yeah. God damn, dude. TruVillain: show. Yeah, we hit three. hours I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I Kainitsu: We finally broke it. We always thought that we're gonna be two and a half hours only, but now we're three. We're less than three now, guys. TruVillain: was cut I actively cut news behind the scenes while Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: we were doing the show. but yeah I as always I appreciate everyone who stuck it out this long. Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: stick keep sticking out with us. if you really want to help us out right now, I mean we don't have any kind of Patreon or it's all completely free. We're doing it for the love of the game right now. Kainitsu: Yep, that's right. TruVillain: So if you want to help us out, share it around, please leave a review. Please please go leave a a positive review if you can. If you hate the show, you know, hey, just leave a negative one. Kai will cry Kainitsu: Let us know. It's fine. TruVillain: and secretly. not on display for all you sick fucks. but and also go go to the email, like I said, lost my save pod at gmail.com. Lost my save pod, like podcast at gmail.com, or you can go to my Twitter at the true villain and just, you know, throw a question, comment, a concern, anything you want. Again, the line is real short to get on the show right now. Like there's there's no line. Of course we will be filtering. Please Yeah, Kainitsu: No age limit, no line. TruVillain: please just d keep it apolitical if you can. Like we don't want to be on here Kainitsu: Mm-hmm. TruVillain: bitching about the current regime or anything like that. Kainitsu: Yeah. TruVillain: And well we want to, but like it's not that kind of show. It's not that kind of show. So yeah, anything outside of that though, you know, hey, we can We can talk about onions if you want all day long. So Alrighty, but yeah, that's I've already said all my shit. So anyway, like I said, appreciate everyone, and we will see you next week on Kainitsu: Hey guys. TruVillain: Monday once again.