18 Comments

Another great show (and read). Congrats on the two years.

I agree that the year feels a little weird game-wise, but I have been loving the indies we've been getting. Animal Well, Lorelai, Nine Sols... But yes, there is a sense of things coming and going in a flash. Maybe it just goes with all the weirdness in general with the world at the moment.

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Iโ€™ll tell you what fits the vibes Perfectly, you guys starting a Substack Newsletter ๐Ÿ˜…. The only video game podcast I listen to that would think to make one (some of the only people I know that would make one ๐Ÿ˜…) and we love you guys for it.

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This was the first episode I've tuned in to and I'm so glad I found this podcast. Just really interesting and entertaining throughout, and I've got some new games I need to try! Thank you all for making this!

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Videogaming in general has somewhat lost something to it for me. I think it might be a combination of shitty games releasing, abundance of games (both in releases weekly and overall with personal backlogs, gamepass ultimate) and more factors. Sometimes while downloading a game, I get bored of it already.

Also we are basically in WW3 right now, that also might be a reason ๐Ÿคท

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Hi there! A proud user from the very first episode here. First of all congrats on the 50th episode, listening to you has become such a vital part of my routine that cooking and vacuuming doesn't feel the same without it.

So I've got 2 questions for you.

1. Growing up in a post-soviet country I noticed a huge difference in how some games or even whole platforms a perceived. For example since the 90s were a turbulent time in the region, only a handful of wealthy people could afford gaming consoles of the time. This is why to this day PC remains the go to platform for the majority of gamers here. Consequently the most popular genres were strategies and RPG's. For example, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 has a cult following and people are still playing it on local servers. Also there's no nostalgia for old Nintendo titles, and their games are often seen as being for kids and not worthy to play as an adult.

Since you are from different countries, albeit all English-speaking, are there any particular traits that gamers have there or just some things that are or used to be different.

2. Recently I was looking for game characters that I share a name with and the only one I managed to find was Igor from the persona series. I personally (no pun intended) find it very cool. Can you think of the characters that you share the name with and what do you feel about them?

Thanks a lot in advance!

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I track the games I want to play rather meticulouslyโ€ฆ itโ€™s just an OCD thing I do. But the result is that right now I own 150 games I want to play on Steam, PS5 and Switch with 264 more on my wishlists across those same platformsโ€ฆ

Even if I never bought another game from my wishlist i would probably have enough games to play to last me a decade. Thereโ€™s just too many good games. And some of them are 100 hour epics like games from the Persona series or Fire Emblem.

I have zero incentive to buy new games at this point. I do not care about graphics. Like at all. Gameplay is the only thing that really matters to me with art design a distant second.

And most games these days focus more on particle effects than on the actual core game loop. There are exceptions ofc, like Bo Path of the Teal Lotus, but I have no incentive to buy that (it is on my wishlist) when I havenโ€™t played Hollow Knight yet and that I have downloaded on my PS5.

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I feel like I am in this mode of playing older games for at least a couple of years now. I used to play a lot of WoW back in the day and ignored all other games and now I am playing catchup. From time to time I play a current game like Elden Ring, but most of the time I am playing games like Dead Cells for the first time and I canโ€™t wait to jump into Hollow Knight or Monster Hunter World. Those are 6 year old games at this pointโ€ฆ

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Hey FPS crew!

After hearing Lucy talking about "Thank Goodness You're Here!" many times, I decided to buy it and I ended up finishing it in one sitting!

I was a bit scared that I would not be able to enjoy its humour as much, since I am a Spanish guy living in the Netherlands, but I ended up loving it... even though I probably missed many references.

This made me wonder: are there games based in your city/country (or that are heavily influenced by your culture) that you would recommend to other people?

Congrats on the amazing podcast!

Darรญo

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I took a break from watching you guys due to my disinterest in gaming the past year, and I feel this episode really highlighted my feelings about gaming this past year. The gaming industry seems to be slowing its momentous growth, leading to fewer big AAA games, affecting indie sales, and especially the loss of many talented workforces in the industry.

Because of this slowdown, I've been able to metaphorically catch my breath with gaming and take time to go through my backlog, such as Cyberpunk, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Metal Gear Solid V, Elden Ring, and more.

While this year of gaming hasn't been the best I think its a year of refelction on gaming as a whole, and time to rethink our relationship with gaming and the people within the community.

Also, I love your guy's work; while this is video game journalism, it's still great journalism.

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User Question:

Say you have a friend or family member who plays games, but quite a bit more casually than you. You have the opportunity to sit with them in-person and show them an awesome game they have never played - what's your goto "showcase" game and why?

For me, I play primarily on PC and always love to show my console family and friends Half-Life 2, and it's always a hit. Despite the aging visuals, the gameplay is still awesome all these years later. We just don't get games like this anymore (even from Valve /sadface), so it still feels interesting for first-time players.

What's your favorite game to showcase to someone for the first time?

<3

Taylor R.

PS. You guys are my favorite podcast!

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First of all, congratulations on 50 episodes! I absolutely adore this podcast, so thank you for putting on such a good show every time!

I definitely agree that the vibes are all off this year, but I'm actually grateful for it. Last year was MAD and super busy. This year feels much more chilled out, and I feel like I'm able to relax a lot more with my games and play them at a casual pace. I'm finally playing through the metal gear series for the first time (just completed 2 - loved it) so I'm appreciative of a slower year as I can visit some classics.

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Absolutely love this show, and Iโ€™m not sure if you guys read this but I have a small suggestion for the podcast. While you guys are talking about games it would be nice if there was a a video of some gameplay in the corner where another person would be. That way we could see exactly what weโ€™re talking about and see all the Lucy ass games as you guys are discussing.

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I really liked games/movies mentioned section, it makes it more convenient for people to decide whether they want to jump into some specific segment if they are time-limited

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i had the thought in the vibe section that it might partially also be due to twitter's continued decline without there really being a replacement for games, in combination with the layoffs in games media. maybe most of it is happening on tiktok these days

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Another great episode guys!

This year definitely feels a bit off, especially after the banger that was 2023.

Sony already said in the beginning of it that they were not going to release any games from their main series (The Last of Us, Horizon, God of War, Marvel stuff...), Nintendo is preparing the Switch 2 release and saving their big announcements and Xbox, which had the opportunity to steal the year, decided to close a couple of studios and increase the prices of Game Pass during its first few months (we'll see if Avowed/Indiana Jones changes the sour taste of this year for them). It makes sense that some people feel a bit tired or are just waiting for what it seems will be a huge 2025.

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Hello, Tired Crew!

While many might be curious about your first platinum trophy or your debut experience at E3, I'm here to dig deeper and ask the real question on everyone's mind: what's the story of your first kiss?

Looking forward to hearing those sweet and awkward memories!

PeteyPotato

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