I love you boys, but I’m really bummed that yall deemed Nintendo’s big -and divisive! - holiday release is less interesting to talk about than the tenth Steam early access Hades clone of the year. If it’s a letdown I think that’s worth exploring! Its scores range from 5 to 10 so I want to know if you all, especially as parents to small children, had different views on it. My kids want it for Christmas so I was excited to hear your viewpoints. Really feels like every other week is a Steam-only roguelike. Still love yall though. If there’s one besties fan it’s me if there’s none I’m dead
Very fair feedback. To give some context, none of us enjoyed the game. I played a bit but rather than trash it, I felt like time would be better spent on a game I both like and think our listeners will enjoy.
You’re totally right that there’s value in harder criticism, but we’ve found that for some games — particular in beloved franchises — listeners really prefer we not yuck their yums. And with so many other games to talk about, we often oblige.
Good note on the Steam-only roguelikes. Will keep that in mind as we built our calendar!
Thanks for the reply! I appreciate all you do. I totally get it. Bummed that Nintendo can’t seem to nail the Mario RPG formula anymore but I’m glad to hear the group’s opinion. Keep up the good work! I hope you all cover Marvel Rivals when it comes out. :)
Every time I hear a recommendation for a Vampire Survivor-like, I have this Pavolian response to recommend Holocure, which is currently sitting atop of steam chart's trending list due to its new content update. I think "gamers" generally dismiss it due to it being about vtuber and a subculture that's been viewed as "cringe", but IMO it's one of the best Vampire Survivor like game out there and one of the best story about fandom you'll ever hear.
The game is completely free and was one of the earliest to have its own unique spin on the genre(Vampire Survivors came out in early access in late 2021, Holocure launched on itch.io on 2022) . The lead dev is an animator that worked on River City Girls that's also a fan of Hololive, a vtuber production. He just decided to work on a passion project partially inspired by Vampire Survivors. It was so successful and got such positive reviews that the company allowed him to put it on Steam as a non-commercial game. The quality of the fan game inspired a different group to make their own high quality fan game called Idol Showdown the following year, this time a 2d fighting game. Eventually, the Vtuber company had to start a game publishing label just so these people that put in so much effort making fan games can sell these game that used their vtubers' images. However, the developer of holocure declined to join the label because he wanted to keep the game free and maintain creative control.
Even without knowing anything about the backstory and vtubers, the games is just good. It has over 50 playable character with unique mechanic. 5 different stages with hard variants. A fishing and farming mini game, and the newest update added a casino mini game.
Re: the linked polygon article comparing FF7 Rebirth and Metaphor, I absolutely agree and was just having this conversation the other day. I'm a dedicated FF fan (started with X, grew up collecting all the games, have been playing XIV for almost a decade) -- and I haven't bought Rebirth but I'm over 40 hours into Metaphor. I crave that turn-based combat!! Really hoping that Metaphor and BG3 can convince Squenix they do not have to make real-time action combat games
So glad one of you revisited UFO 50! GotY for me, and convincingly. On first impression, it's not quite credible how deep it goes, and I'm so happy Griffin found the extra hours invested paid off. My big hope is he streams some gameplay - UFO Griffty?
First of all: bravo to Griffin for updating his UFO 50 review so gracefully in the honourable mentions. Which leads to my question: do y'all have any other slow burn games? You've talked before about struggling to balance reviewing games while they're in the zeitgeist with giving games enough time that you actually know how you feel about them. Are there any games you reviewed too soon?
Sad to see my suspicions about Brothership being made by somebody other than AlphaDream were correct :(
And just a small rant: When I expressed this opinion in various places online, most people were pretty dismissive. But if Dark Souls 4 were being developed by a different team, people would certainly be wary. When Baldur's Gate 4 is inevitaby being made by somebody other than Larian, everybody will obviously be wondering about whether or not it will live up to BG3.
I guess what I'm getting at is this: we must end the discrimination against fans of silly games. Silly games are serious business and we must take a stand
Haven't listened to the episode yet but didn't see it in the games- are you guys gonna do an episode on Rise of the Golden idol? Just came out this past week and it's a fantastic sequel!
Talking about Incremental Upgrades (god of war vs JRPG 3%): I think w big part of it is that in a game like God Of War, the fun is in the action and the joy of pressing buttons - a small damage upgrade in that game really doesn't manifest itself in ANY discernable way to a player. If youre playing an action game optimally, you aren't getting hit at all, so more damage just means less time pressing the fun buttons!
But in a JRPG the turn based nature means you WILL get hit, so the game is ALL numbers. Damage is unavoidable so suddenly a little more damage might actually mean the difference between winning and losing, and that creates tension, which creates fun. Add on that in most of these games levels/new gear also come with new skills/moves/buffs that change the way you play and approach the game.
Still catching up, but if you all haven’t played it yet, I HIGHLY recommend Abiotic Factor! The best pitch I’ve heard for it yet, is that it’s a survival crafting game like the first Half-Life, except you play as the scientists left behind! It’s in early access, but feels very complete. I haven’t reached the end, but some folks say it takes over 40 hours to reach the end of what’s available.
Glad to hear Griffin tried UFO 50 out again, I was bummed you guys didn't seem as excited for it in it's episode. The game Mini and Max on it feels like it would be a great topic to talk about in an episode, or maybe a revist episode. Hope you guys give the game a second chance!
Russ wanted this and I was bored so I made it. Sistine Chapel Ceiling with Russ and Justin: https://imgur.com/a/bo24at8
Thank you for this masterpiece!
Thank you for including pp leaf.
That was how Michelangelo originally wanted to paint it.
hey guys, I was surprised you did not talk about the return of the golden idol.
Long story short, is fucking great. I just beat the first chapter and I love it. and I bet you wil love it too.
Griffin talked about it I think during their most recent next fest convo, so fairly recently.
Probably the calendar has been busy enough since that he didn’t swing back to play more, considering he’s been binging UFO50
I love you boys, but I’m really bummed that yall deemed Nintendo’s big -and divisive! - holiday release is less interesting to talk about than the tenth Steam early access Hades clone of the year. If it’s a letdown I think that’s worth exploring! Its scores range from 5 to 10 so I want to know if you all, especially as parents to small children, had different views on it. My kids want it for Christmas so I was excited to hear your viewpoints. Really feels like every other week is a Steam-only roguelike. Still love yall though. If there’s one besties fan it’s me if there’s none I’m dead
Very fair feedback. To give some context, none of us enjoyed the game. I played a bit but rather than trash it, I felt like time would be better spent on a game I both like and think our listeners will enjoy.
You’re totally right that there’s value in harder criticism, but we’ve found that for some games — particular in beloved franchises — listeners really prefer we not yuck their yums. And with so many other games to talk about, we often oblige.
Good note on the Steam-only roguelikes. Will keep that in mind as we built our calendar!
Thanks again for the comment!
Thanks for the reply! I appreciate all you do. I totally get it. Bummed that Nintendo can’t seem to nail the Mario RPG formula anymore but I’m glad to hear the group’s opinion. Keep up the good work! I hope you all cover Marvel Rivals when it comes out. :)
Dead Spells?
Every time I hear a recommendation for a Vampire Survivor-like, I have this Pavolian response to recommend Holocure, which is currently sitting atop of steam chart's trending list due to its new content update. I think "gamers" generally dismiss it due to it being about vtuber and a subculture that's been viewed as "cringe", but IMO it's one of the best Vampire Survivor like game out there and one of the best story about fandom you'll ever hear.
The game is completely free and was one of the earliest to have its own unique spin on the genre(Vampire Survivors came out in early access in late 2021, Holocure launched on itch.io on 2022) . The lead dev is an animator that worked on River City Girls that's also a fan of Hololive, a vtuber production. He just decided to work on a passion project partially inspired by Vampire Survivors. It was so successful and got such positive reviews that the company allowed him to put it on Steam as a non-commercial game. The quality of the fan game inspired a different group to make their own high quality fan game called Idol Showdown the following year, this time a 2d fighting game. Eventually, the Vtuber company had to start a game publishing label just so these people that put in so much effort making fan games can sell these game that used their vtubers' images. However, the developer of holocure declined to join the label because he wanted to keep the game free and maintain creative control.
Even without knowing anything about the backstory and vtubers, the games is just good. It has over 50 playable character with unique mechanic. 5 different stages with hard variants. A fishing and farming mini game, and the newest update added a casino mini game.
This is awesome! Will check it out!
Justin had a good long Honorable Mention for the Jackbox Survey Scramble game, didn't get mentioned in here though
Re: the linked polygon article comparing FF7 Rebirth and Metaphor, I absolutely agree and was just having this conversation the other day. I'm a dedicated FF fan (started with X, grew up collecting all the games, have been playing XIV for almost a decade) -- and I haven't bought Rebirth but I'm over 40 hours into Metaphor. I crave that turn-based combat!! Really hoping that Metaphor and BG3 can convince Squenix they do not have to make real-time action combat games
So glad one of you revisited UFO 50! GotY for me, and convincingly. On first impression, it's not quite credible how deep it goes, and I'm so happy Griffin found the extra hours invested paid off. My big hope is he streams some gameplay - UFO Griffty?
First of all: bravo to Griffin for updating his UFO 50 review so gracefully in the honourable mentions. Which leads to my question: do y'all have any other slow burn games? You've talked before about struggling to balance reviewing games while they're in the zeitgeist with giving games enough time that you actually know how you feel about them. Are there any games you reviewed too soon?
Sad to see my suspicions about Brothership being made by somebody other than AlphaDream were correct :(
And just a small rant: When I expressed this opinion in various places online, most people were pretty dismissive. But if Dark Souls 4 were being developed by a different team, people would certainly be wary. When Baldur's Gate 4 is inevitaby being made by somebody other than Larian, everybody will obviously be wondering about whether or not it will live up to BG3.
I guess what I'm getting at is this: we must end the discrimination against fans of silly games. Silly games are serious business and we must take a stand
Haven't listened to the episode yet but didn't see it in the games- are you guys gonna do an episode on Rise of the Golden idol? Just came out this past week and it's a fantastic sequel!
We will definitely talk about it before the end of the year!
Talking about Incremental Upgrades (god of war vs JRPG 3%): I think w big part of it is that in a game like God Of War, the fun is in the action and the joy of pressing buttons - a small damage upgrade in that game really doesn't manifest itself in ANY discernable way to a player. If youre playing an action game optimally, you aren't getting hit at all, so more damage just means less time pressing the fun buttons!
But in a JRPG the turn based nature means you WILL get hit, so the game is ALL numbers. Damage is unavoidable so suddenly a little more damage might actually mean the difference between winning and losing, and that creates tension, which creates fun. Add on that in most of these games levels/new gear also come with new skills/moves/buffs that change the way you play and approach the game.
fields of mistria update and balatro goty nom this week. big day for the besties!!
Isometric rogue like?
Nah
Rogiso
Still catching up, but if you all haven’t played it yet, I HIGHLY recommend Abiotic Factor! The best pitch I’ve heard for it yet, is that it’s a survival crafting game like the first Half-Life, except you play as the scientists left behind! It’s in early access, but feels very complete. I haven’t reached the end, but some folks say it takes over 40 hours to reach the end of what’s available.
Glad to hear Griffin tried UFO 50 out again, I was bummed you guys didn't seem as excited for it in it's episode. The game Mini and Max on it feels like it would be a great topic to talk about in an episode, or maybe a revist episode. Hope you guys give the game a second chance!