Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Exclusive And Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Game Informer Show, a weekly
<v Speaker 1>podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Thursday
<v Speaker 1>for discussion about the latest gaming news, reviews, and exclusive reveals,
<v Speaker 1>alongside Game and Former staff and special guests from around
<v Speaker 1>the industry. I'm one of your hosts today, Alex van Aiken,
<v Speaker 1>and I'm joined by Marcus Stewart. How you doing, Marcus?
<v Speaker 2>I am doing well. I missed you last week also likewise, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>thank you, I'm glad to be missed rap Ozzy Osbourne
<v Speaker 2>as well.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, absolutely that voice you heard, as well as Kyle Hilliard.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the show.
<v Speaker 3>Kyle, Hello, Conky hung as you guys, Oh yeah, what
<v Speaker 3>was my I was just Pauline, I guess apparently.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, because you were a monkey song aka Pauline.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you're the protagonist. Is Pauline the protagonist?
<v Speaker 2>I don't know that's accurate.
<v Speaker 1>What is it?
<v Speaker 5>The agonist that's like the second protagonist? I mean she's
<v Speaker 5>like the boarding character kick basically. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I mean she's always on screen. That's a protagonist to me.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, so it is Robin, she isn't.
<v Speaker 3>In the first couple of minutes. It takes like it
<v Speaker 3>takes like an hour to get Pauline on your shoulder.
<v Speaker 1>That's true, that's true. Okay I was wrong. Uh Charles Hart,
<v Speaker 1>how you doing?
<v Speaker 4>Oh but no?
<v Speaker 1>Nice? Yeah me too. I was gonna say, I do
<v Speaker 1>like that.
<v Speaker 2>So about I think I've considered, like, is that a
<v Speaker 2>good text message? Tone? Is the.
<v Speaker 5>Is it in the English and Japanese? You think?
<v Speaker 3>Or is the Japanese work for banana? And if you
<v Speaker 3>pay a good question curious, I feel.
<v Speaker 2>None of us know the answer. Yeah, I was just
<v Speaker 2>in Japan. If I playing the game there, I could.
<v Speaker 1>Have asked, yeah, it's too bad. Too bad. Well, it's
<v Speaker 1>gonna be a packed show today. We're gonna be talking
<v Speaker 1>about our vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines to cover story, along
<v Speaker 1>with a lot of exclusive bits in there. Marcus after
<v Speaker 1>that is going to chat through Wu Chang Fallen Feathers,
<v Speaker 1>and then we're gonna talk about Donkey Kong a bit more.
<v Speaker 1>I know we talked about it a lot last week,
<v Speaker 1>but the crew here has had time to play it.
<v Speaker 1>Kyle's probably the furthest I'm guessing out of all of
<v Speaker 1>us show.
<v Speaker 3>At the time of this recording, I've I literally beat
<v Speaker 3>the final boss and then we started the podcast. So
<v Speaker 3>I just turned off my switch screen, so I'm going
<v Speaker 3>to turn my switch back on and watch the ending
<v Speaker 3>and theory, you know how these answers sometimes there's an
<v Speaker 3>extra boss and stuff.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, yeah, and then later in the show, we
<v Speaker 1>got a couple other of smaller games zo on a
<v Speaker 1>chat through that we're pretty excited about. So before we
<v Speaker 1>get into the show proper, I do just want to say,
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<v Speaker 2>were true. It feels great and like premium and it
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<v Speaker 1>Oh wow, yeah, it was like, man, I would rest
<v Speaker 1>my head on this like a pillow. Yeah, part of
<v Speaker 1>your skincare routine going forward, or.
<v Speaker 3>Like a xylophone looking thing which like just three slats
<v Speaker 3>the beds in Donkey Kong Bonanza have to be the
<v Speaker 3>most I was that.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, he does have a weird bed.
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<v Speaker 1>think it shows, and I think in particular, yeah, a
<v Speaker 1>lot of blood. This next one has a lot of blood.
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<v Speaker 2>And I think it's worth pointing out people have asked
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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, if you there were so just a little
<v Speaker 1>inside baseball the way that printing works. And that's not
<v Speaker 1>a very condescending. I didn't mean for it to sound condescending.
<v Speaker 1>We're learning this too, is that there are we essentially
<v Speaker 1>have like an internal first wave where it's like these
<v Speaker 1>are are you know, these are the people who have
<v Speaker 1>signed up before the soft deadline, right, and so we
<v Speaker 1>send those off to the printer to begin printing the batches,
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<v Speaker 1>That's that's more so because it's we just sent it
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<v Speaker 1>your postal service might have like delivery notifications. That's what
<v Speaker 1>a lot of people are seeing that through.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I'll get by emails sometimes it's like your your
<v Speaker 3>issue is coming today. I don't really get much more
<v Speaker 3>than that.
<v Speaker 4>But I have had informed delivery forever and they've never
<v Speaker 4>mentioned the game performers whenever they come.
<v Speaker 5>It always surprises me.
<v Speaker 4>That's not It's fine because I get them anyways, but
<v Speaker 4>it also doesn't for whatever reason, doesn't guarantee that it
<v Speaker 4>will be.
<v Speaker 1>In that For what it's worth, we have shipped all
<v Speaker 1>of the issues. Now it's just a matter of the
<v Speaker 1>postal service sorting it all and getting it into you.
<v Speaker 1>So thanks for your patience on that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it is coming. I've seen people asking in a
<v Speaker 2>discord and in various spots, and you guys have gotten emails,
<v Speaker 2>so I thought be a good time to sort of
<v Speaker 2>address like it. We swear it's gonna come. I only
<v Speaker 2>just got mine, so yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And there was a little bit longer of a
<v Speaker 1>wait period with this first issue because of logistics. We're
<v Speaker 1>told yes, so you're you should not be waiting this
<v Speaker 1>long in future issues. But we appreciate your patience excited
<v Speaker 1>for you to get it in your hands. Uh and
<v Speaker 1>and yeah, again, really appreciate all the enthusiasm around the product.
<v Speaker 1>We're really proud of it. And yeah, and appreciate you all.
<v Speaker 1>But without further ado, let's get into the show. Charles,
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna kick it over to you. We we we
<v Speaker 1>both played Bloodlines too. We can talk about our open
<v Speaker 1>world and combat impressions. We've we've been able to play
<v Speaker 1>those hands on. We learned a lot about the world
<v Speaker 1>and the various intrigue and politics and figure heads that
<v Speaker 1>are that are kind of the main players within Bloodlines too.
<v Speaker 1>And yeah, I'm gonna kick over Charles to to kind
<v Speaker 1>of walk us through it.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>So Bloodlines two is pretty different from the first game.
<v Speaker 4>It is a first person RPG, and I would I
<v Speaker 4>would consider it an action RPG that were that term
<v Speaker 4>means a lot of different things depending on what game
<v Speaker 4>you're looking at. A. Yeah, you're leveling up as you
<v Speaker 4>do combat, and there's like a skill tree with stuff
<v Speaker 4>you can unlock and that's usually okay my criteria. And yeah,
<v Speaker 4>you're playing as this elder vampire named Fire.
<v Speaker 2>She's four hundred years old.
<v Speaker 4>But for the past I'm saying she because we played
<v Speaker 4>as the female version, but you can be male or female.
<v Speaker 4>But I'm probably just gonna use she for all this
<v Speaker 4>because that's.
<v Speaker 5>Just Yeah, it's a spelled fire like flame p h
<v Speaker 5>y r E.
<v Speaker 2>Gotcha.
<v Speaker 4>That is how it's spelled. And it's because the first
<v Speaker 4>the first thing she sees when she wakes up is
<v Speaker 4>a poster for a band called Fire.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I think I'll go by this because I like
<v Speaker 2>that she's known.
<v Speaker 4>She's known as the nomad, is like the term she's
<v Speaker 4>referred to as. And I assume that she has a
<v Speaker 4>different name that she's like concealing for one reason or another.
<v Speaker 4>But she just goes by Fire in the game when
<v Speaker 4>we played it, Man Pillsbury ad or something.
<v Speaker 2>Billsberry the Vampire.
<v Speaker 4>But uh, yeah, so it's first person melee combat putting
<v Speaker 4>which clan you choose, and yeah, I was We mentioned
<v Speaker 4>this a little bit on the revealed live stream, but
<v Speaker 4>Alex and I were like not sold on this game necessarily,
<v Speaker 4>Like we were excited to go, We're glad to be infighted,
<v Speaker 4>and we thought it was an interesting story.
<v Speaker 1>I think I think we agreed it would be an
<v Speaker 1>interesting story for sure. Yes, whether or not it would
<v Speaker 1>be a good game or ostensibly a good game, because
<v Speaker 1>we still haven't played the final thing, but like, yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that was kind of like our attitude going into it. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>which is funny.
<v Speaker 4>You know, you don't you don't necessarily pick a cover
<v Speaker 4>game because you think it's gonna be game of the year.
<v Speaker 4>You're like, what, it's going to be an interesting story
<v Speaker 4>that people would want to learn about and read about.
<v Speaker 4>So we were not going into it with like, you know,
<v Speaker 4>sky high expectations, and we were like gradually one over
<v Speaker 4>like over the course of the demo and the more
<v Speaker 4>we saw the game, it seems like like a I think,
<v Speaker 4>a different thing than we were expecting it to be,
<v Speaker 4>and uh yeah it is. It is like narrative based.
<v Speaker 4>It seems to be linear. There's like an open world
<v Speaker 4>Seattle you can be in. It's also does a thing
<v Speaker 4>I always like where it's like a very specific time
<v Speaker 4>and place where it's modern day Seattle, specifically at Christmas
<v Speaker 4>time and because you're a vampire, you can only go
<v Speaker 4>outside at night, so it's always all Christmas lights all
<v Speaker 4>the time. A lah like Batman Arkam Origins or something,
<v Speaker 4>and uh yeah, see any other specifics you want to cover, Alex.
<v Speaker 1>Or Yeah, yeah, I I really enjoyed what I what
<v Speaker 1>I played of the combat. I think that was something
<v Speaker 1>that a lot of even like fans of the original
<v Speaker 1>Bloodlines back in two thousand and four, the combat was
<v Speaker 1>like the main detractor I think from folks is the enjoyment,
<v Speaker 1>their enjoyment of the game. But you know, the the
<v Speaker 1>story and the RPG elements really kind of kept people
<v Speaker 1>around and made it this this cult classic. And you know,
<v Speaker 1>there's there's a lot of history going into it, a
<v Speaker 1>lot of you know, Troika, the original developer, shut down
<v Speaker 1>right shortly after it released, and then you know, the
<v Speaker 1>sequel kind of starts to get green lit in the
<v Speaker 1>late you know it's twenty tens. Yeah, yeah, yeah, late
<v Speaker 1>twenty tens. This gets green lit, another studio works on
<v Speaker 1>it first, then it is given into.
<v Speaker 4>Hard Suit Labs. Yeah, and they they not only like
<v Speaker 4>worked on it, they like revealed the game. They showed
<v Speaker 4>it off. I think it was announced at GDC twenty
<v Speaker 4>nineteen or around, remember, and it was like shown to
<v Speaker 4>press at E three of twenty nineteen. So it wasn't
<v Speaker 4>just like the concept of a game.
<v Speaker 2>It was like a thing.
<v Speaker 4>People saw a thing that we would have like featured
<v Speaker 4>in our magazine in the preview section and probably did
<v Speaker 4>at the time.
<v Speaker 5>Here we may have yeah, yeah, yeah.
<v Speaker 4>And then it was like, and we're going to come
<v Speaker 4>out in early twenty twenty, and not a lot of
<v Speaker 4>things came out in early twenty twenty for a variety
<v Speaker 4>of reasons. But then it got delayed and then delayed again,
<v Speaker 4>and then they let go Brian Mitzeda, who was like
<v Speaker 4>the lead writer on the original blood Lines that they
<v Speaker 4>brought back for this game. A few other like higher
<v Speaker 4>up people were let go, and then they announced that
<v Speaker 4>they were essentially canceling the hard Suit Labs version of
<v Speaker 4>the game and handing it over to the Chinese Room,
<v Speaker 4>which is the new developers who might know for him
<v Speaker 4>recently still wakes the deep they did everybody gone to
<v Speaker 4>the Rapture. They did dear Esther, they took over the
<v Speaker 4>developed Sorry, Alex, I basically.
<v Speaker 1>Know No, you're good, You're good. I yeah, I think
<v Speaker 1>I knew them best from probably everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
<v Speaker 1>I didn't get to the arsther until after that one,
<v Speaker 1>but an interesting pick. But then you kind of see
<v Speaker 1>with like still wakes the deep you know, some of
<v Speaker 1>that gets you can kind of see them start to
<v Speaker 1>sort of you know, flex their muscles a bit more.
<v Speaker 1>And then with this game it really feels like, oh wow, no,
<v Speaker 1>this is you are much more than just you know,
<v Speaker 1>like a walking simulator studio like this, Yeah, feels great.
<v Speaker 4>I can see why you would pick them from like
<v Speaker 4>a narrative perspective. And when we were there, we were like, oh,
<v Speaker 4>but they like tried, they tried really hard with the
<v Speaker 4>combat and it works and it feels good. So it
<v Speaker 4>wasn't just they clearly were like, this is what we
<v Speaker 4>need to do to make this game work, and then
<v Speaker 4>they execute it on that Yeah, at least from what
<v Speaker 4>we played, which is.
<v Speaker 2>I mean how much of that I forgot how much
<v Speaker 2>you get into discoversor but how much of that design
<v Speaker 2>was carried over from the heart Suit version like that
<v Speaker 2>that is that combat already in place then they just
<v Speaker 2>refined it or did they just build that from scratch?
<v Speaker 4>So the whole the whole situation they were very like
<v Speaker 4>cagey about and there's like an extent like going into it.
<v Speaker 4>They were like, hey, like, don't even ask questions about
<v Speaker 4>this because we can't talk about it legally, or I
<v Speaker 4>assume there's also some like reputational thing, but whatever the
<v Speaker 4>deal is there, it's like it was all owned by
<v Speaker 4>one thing.
<v Speaker 5>But so we can see.
<v Speaker 4>From like early trailers, there's like characters. There's a guy
<v Speaker 4>I can't remember what his name was from the correct Okay,
<v Speaker 4>there's trailers from the older version of the game where
<v Speaker 4>it's clear that they took older character models or the
<v Speaker 4>ideas of older character models and they've become new characters
<v Speaker 4>in this new version.
<v Speaker 5>There's one guy in the.
<v Speaker 4>New game called Tully, and you can see his his
<v Speaker 4>character model in one of these twenty nineteen hard Suit versions.
<v Speaker 4>But he has he's like a new voice actor. He's
<v Speaker 4>got a new attitude. He went from being like a
<v Speaker 4>kind of a gruff I think, like British dude to
<v Speaker 4>like a very like Ryan Reynolds type.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, he's a funny character. I like him a lot. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>So there's there's still not you know, there's still a
<v Speaker 1>lot we don't know about the development, but you know,
<v Speaker 1>you can see certain assets brought over. My understanding with
<v Speaker 1>the combat was like this is pretty uh. My interpretation
<v Speaker 1>of what we learned was that the Chinese Room did
<v Speaker 1>a lot of work on that piece and getting it
<v Speaker 1>to feel right and h and feel good. And so
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure if that was something that hard Suits
<v Speaker 1>started and then they picked up or or what. But
<v Speaker 1>a lot of the game has been like you know,
<v Speaker 1>they kind of it seems like they're getting like their
<v Speaker 1>shot to do it their way. Yeah, and yeah, they
<v Speaker 1>spent like they've it's been in development for like four years,
<v Speaker 1>so it's not like they just lifted a thing and
<v Speaker 1>then slapped some new paint on it like they've clearly
<v Speaker 1>been like spending time developing sous inside. Yeah, but I
<v Speaker 1>think that the the world is really charming to run
<v Speaker 1>around in. Uh, it's been a while since I've played
<v Speaker 1>a vampire game, Like.
<v Speaker 2>You reviewed Redfall last year. How could you forget that
<v Speaker 2>that last before years ago?
<v Speaker 1>Wasn't it two years ago?
<v Speaker 2>Was that your last vampire games?
<v Speaker 1>I could understand he plays a vampire hunter in that
<v Speaker 1>game as well, a little different, And I guess there's
<v Speaker 1>like some some like Elder Scrolls quests I can I
<v Speaker 1>can think, but yeah, it's it's you know, for as
<v Speaker 1>many like zombie and like were wolf games and that
<v Speaker 1>sort of thing. I feel like I I, I don't
<v Speaker 1>get there is a vampire, which is I hear great
<v Speaker 1>things about Yeah, but but my point is they're few
<v Speaker 1>and far between, and there's a novelty to to it
<v Speaker 1>for sure. I, like I said, I enjoy walking throughout
<v Speaker 1>the streets of Seattle. I think there's a lot of
<v Speaker 1>a lot of fun dialogue that you hear and pick up.
<v Speaker 1>And and one of the things that we went to
<v Speaker 1>we were going to lunch, and was that Alex. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>he mentioned to us while we were walking to lunch
<v Speaker 1>or dinner that like the NPCs are written in a
<v Speaker 1>way that like they don't want you to feel bad
<v Speaker 1>for feeding on them, trying to make them a little
<v Speaker 1>bit annoying, which is they're annoying or outright like rude
<v Speaker 1>and mean at times.
<v Speaker 2>It's like everyone in this city is a jerk.
<v Speaker 1>A little bit. So that like players don't feel like
<v Speaker 1>bad about like engaging in the various systems. And yeah,
<v Speaker 1>and I think that like it works. But yeah, there's oh,
<v Speaker 1>go ahead, go ahead.
<v Speaker 4>I want to talk about the combat a little bit
<v Speaker 4>more specifically. Yeah, So, the the way it works says,
<v Speaker 4>at the start a game, you pick your clan. Clan
<v Speaker 4>is what the game. Those are the bloodlines, that's what
<v Speaker 4>it's named after. Also, this whole, this whole world we
<v Speaker 4>didn't mention is Vampire the Masquerade, which is a t
<v Speaker 4>TRPG tabletop role playing game where you play as vampires,
<v Speaker 4>and it's kind of a game designed to be like
<v Speaker 4>we're gonna we're gonna give you every conceivable vampire fantasy
<v Speaker 4>that you could think of and try to fulfill it
<v Speaker 4>in some way. So if you play the tabletop game,
<v Speaker 4>there's like a lot of different ways you can be
<v Speaker 4>a vampire, a lot of uh uh. And there's i
<v Speaker 4>want to say, thirteen different clans you can be a
<v Speaker 4>part of that all have different abilities and they're usually
<v Speaker 4>taken from uh people will indoctrinate certain types of people
<v Speaker 4>into that clan. So the Ventru clan, for example, they're
<v Speaker 4>very like high and mighty aristocratic elite types. You wouldn't
<v Speaker 4>just bite a random person and make them venture. You
<v Speaker 4>would be like, I'm gonna go find like a CEO
<v Speaker 4>or a you know, a noble from a foreign country
<v Speaker 4>or whatever. Like those are the people that would be
<v Speaker 4>the venture because they think they're like the best vampires
<v Speaker 4>there are. In this game, you can be four clans,
<v Speaker 4>which I believe is less than Bloodlines one. I think
<v Speaker 4>there's a lot more variety in that game, and it
<v Speaker 4>was a lot more narrative.
<v Speaker 2>Based this one.
<v Speaker 4>You can be four clans and then they'll have I
<v Speaker 4>think two coming as DLC. You can be the Breuha,
<v Speaker 4>which are kind of like your aggressive boxer bruiser types.
<v Speaker 4>You can be the Banujachem, which are very stealth focused,
<v Speaker 4>stealth mainly focused. You can be the ventru which are.
<v Speaker 1>Kind of taking over people's minds.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, they're like mind control type guys. And these are
<v Speaker 4>like the high Mighty people. And then the last one
<v Speaker 4>is the Tremier, which are like blood sorcerers, so they
<v Speaker 4>use their own blood. They're like blood benders, but they
<v Speaker 4>can do that. They're the only like ranged class in
<v Speaker 4>the game because they can like make blood daggers and
<v Speaker 4>throw them off at people.
<v Speaker 1>Again teleport and like cause people to like turn people
<v Speaker 1>into bombs and explode them using their blood.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's gross. So you pick You'll pick your clan
<v Speaker 4>at the star to the game, and that's like the
<v Speaker 4>first skill tree you get. But as you go through
<v Speaker 4>the game, you can find different like mentors that will
<v Speaker 4>teach you, or essentially that I fire remember these other
<v Speaker 4>skills that she has, because she's like a four hundred
<v Speaker 4>year old vampire and you're not locked into one set
<v Speaker 4>of skills. So the idea is that she's like remembering that.
<v Speaker 4>She's like, oh, I'm I'm a band of Hikem, but
<v Speaker 4>I picked up some blood magic, you know, two hundred
<v Speaker 4>and fifty years ago in Lithuania or whatever, and uh yeah,
<v Speaker 4>so that's that was that's like the basics of the
<v Speaker 4>combat I played. I picked bandon Haikem. I did take
<v Speaker 4>a personality test that tells you what your clan is,
<v Speaker 4>and it said it was ban A Keem.
<v Speaker 5>They're very like idealized game. You take like you answer
<v Speaker 5>a couple of quits, like.
<v Speaker 4>There's like on a website like an official vampire.
<v Speaker 1>The master raid was that maybe maybe I.
<v Speaker 4>Don't know, I think I think one of the pr
<v Speaker 4>people send it to me. But yeah, so and it's
<v Speaker 4>that one is uh oh and then obviously you're vampire.
<v Speaker 4>You drink people's blood, and when you drink people's blood
<v Speaker 4>in combat, every ability has like certain little points. There's
<v Speaker 4>not I don't think there's like a word for it's
<v Speaker 4>just like a number of feeds. So like, for example,
<v Speaker 4>the Banu Cheam have a slash. They can do that
<v Speaker 4>instantly decapitates anyone, which is one of the ways that
<v Speaker 4>in it feels good. It feels good in vampire the
<v Speaker 4>mass grade lore. That's like one of the ways you
<v Speaker 4>can kill a vampire is you know, you can decapitate
<v Speaker 4>them or you can I think burn them. Anyways, Uh,
<v Speaker 4>when you use that move, it costs like two points
<v Speaker 4>or whatever, and every time you feed in combat, it
<v Speaker 4>fills up one of those points. So you can cycle
<v Speaker 4>between your abilities, you can use them all at once,
<v Speaker 4>but you have to always be feeding to make sure
<v Speaker 4>you can like replenish your like active abilities over time.
<v Speaker 4>If you're out of combat and you're like out on
<v Speaker 4>the streets and you're talking to one of these jerks,
<v Speaker 4>like we were saying, you feed on one of them.
<v Speaker 4>That's like a social feed is what they call it.
<v Speaker 4>And it doesn't kill them. You're not like draining them
<v Speaker 4>of their blood. You're drinking a little bit of their blood,
<v Speaker 4>and it puts them in like a weird like hazy
<v Speaker 4>euphoric state, so they kind of like lose some memory
<v Speaker 4>and they just kind of stumble around. But if you
<v Speaker 4>do that out of combat, all of your abilities completely refill.
<v Speaker 4>So it's like a little harder to do because you
<v Speaker 4>don't want to be caught.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and if you get caught, you're breaking the maskquarade,
<v Speaker 1>which is like this agreed upon social contract between all
<v Speaker 1>the vampires to keep themselves, you know, safe. Are the hunted?
<v Speaker 2>Are the streets like super populated with people? Like is
<v Speaker 2>it easy to isolate someone that?
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's it's Christmas in Seattle, so like there's
<v Speaker 1>snow everywhere. It feels like there's like an appropriate amount
<v Speaker 1>of people walking around.
<v Speaker 4>It's like a fat set them a lot of time too,
<v Speaker 4>So it's like late at night.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, there are people walking around.
<v Speaker 2>But it's a little more sparse because it's late.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and there's a lot of dark alleys of those.
<v Speaker 4>One of things I enjoyed them talking about is like
<v Speaker 4>the game design of a dark alley. If they wanted
<v Speaker 4>all the streets to feel really bright, so the alleys
<v Speaker 4>could feel dark and you would feel like safe in them,
<v Speaker 4>to be like, oh, I'm away from all the prying eyes.
<v Speaker 4>And also if you ever want to get on like
<v Speaker 4>a roof, you can like climb up scaffolding and stuff.
<v Speaker 4>They basically don't have any of that on the main streets.
<v Speaker 4>It's all in the alleys to kind of like make
<v Speaker 4>you feel at home there to be like if you're
<v Speaker 4>ever unsafe, you're like, oh, the alley my home.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>And there's like there's can you explain blood resonance a bit, Charles, Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>So kind of tied into social feeding.
<v Speaker 4>There's a mechanic that's in the fifth edition of Vampire
<v Speaker 4>the Masquerade. So this wasn't in the first blood Lines
<v Speaker 4>game because this is years after that Can came out.
<v Speaker 4>That is like people basically like charge their blood with emotions,
<v Speaker 4>just like a vibe that they have, and certain like
<v Speaker 4>clans of vampires will feed on those vibes of blood
<v Speaker 4>and get more power from them, and you can kind
<v Speaker 4>of sense it with like your vampire senses as you're
<v Speaker 4>walking down the street and you can be like, Okay,
<v Speaker 4>this person has a sanguine blood and that means that
<v Speaker 4>if they get like really happy or aroused than that
<v Speaker 4>I get some like bonuses from them. But it's always
<v Speaker 4>like you can see that they have the potential to
<v Speaker 4>have their blood like residents awakened. But you always have
<v Speaker 4>to like get it out of them. So in that case,
<v Speaker 4>you would have to like seduce someone or compliment them
<v Speaker 4>and make them really happy and then they'll be like,
<v Speaker 4>I'll follow you wherever hahaha. And then you walk into
<v Speaker 4>an alley and then you drink their blood and you
<v Speaker 4>get the points and those are if you get enough
<v Speaker 4>like sanguine points or colory points or whatever all the
<v Speaker 4>it's like the four humors from Renaissance times. That's how
<v Speaker 4>you can unlock abilities from the other clans. So if
<v Speaker 4>you're just doing your own ones, it's like just skill points.
<v Speaker 4>But if you're like a Banduichemi, you're trying to unlock
<v Speaker 4>ventrue skills, then it's doing there.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I really like kind of like the lore of Vampire,
<v Speaker 1>the mask guade, and how like the vampires in this
<v Speaker 1>world are kind of in on the bit of like
<v Speaker 1>you know, oh, you know in in Vampire, like there
<v Speaker 1>are certain vampires that might be like propagating old wives
<v Speaker 1>tales and myths about vampires, like stabbing in them in
<v Speaker 1>the heart to kill them, right when in reality in
<v Speaker 1>this game universe, if you get kind of staked in
<v Speaker 1>the heart, you're just kind of paralyzed and you can
<v Speaker 1>kind of come back to life. So it's interesting to
<v Speaker 1>see like come some we we we met up with
<v Speaker 1>Jason Carl on this trip, who's like a very brand
<v Speaker 1>manager at on On, at White Wolf, on on Vampire
<v Speaker 1>as a whole, uh, you know, prominent personality in the
<v Speaker 1>tt RPG space and like actual play spaces and and
<v Speaker 1>we got to get to know him on this trip
<v Speaker 1>and he was kind of like filling me in on
<v Speaker 1>you know, this this huge, vast tabletop lore that that's
<v Speaker 1>been around for so long, and I really like that
<v Speaker 1>kind of twist on it, Like you know, they're in
<v Speaker 1>control of the messaging. That is why the the masquerade
<v Speaker 1>is so important, and that that that you will get
<v Speaker 1>like staked in the heart by an NPC if you
<v Speaker 1>like do too much in the game and and kind
<v Speaker 1>of reveal that you're a vampire publicly, like you you
<v Speaker 1>will kind of get arrested for what it's worth and
<v Speaker 1>and you kind of get sent back to a checkpoint.
<v Speaker 2>Are people walking around with steaks.
<v Speaker 4>It's specifically like if you breach the masquerade enough so
<v Speaker 4>that's like doing any vampire stuff in public, then someone
<v Speaker 4>will basically spawn behind you steak you in the stomach
<v Speaker 4>and then you get a game over.
<v Speaker 2>Oh oh a vampire will do I thought you meant like, yeah, okay, no.
<v Speaker 1>No, no, no, another vampire.
<v Speaker 4>We didn't encounter them in our demo, but they've talked
<v Speaker 4>publicly that there are like vampire hunters in this game,
<v Speaker 4>and that's like a thing in the in the war
<v Speaker 4>a vampire the Masquerade. But there are like hunters that
<v Speaker 4>are like looking for vampires that we haven't encountered yet,
<v Speaker 4>but theoretically they might be like, aha, stake so the
<v Speaker 4>heart that'll kill them, and they're like they don't actually know.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, I don't know when we can get into
<v Speaker 1>the specifics. But we also encountered another like character who
<v Speaker 1>is kind of like, oh you kind of it seems
<v Speaker 1>like you just kind of stumbled into this world in
<v Speaker 1>a really funny way, an interesting way, and it's it's
<v Speaker 1>cool to kind of see all those dynamics. Yeah they do,
<v Speaker 1>and see how like somebody in the real world might
<v Speaker 1>actually end up amidst vampires, and like, I think that's
<v Speaker 1>a cool concept, and it seems like there's a lot
<v Speaker 1>of variations of that kind of stuff, and they play
<v Speaker 1>with vampire lore in general in a really fun way.
<v Speaker 4>It's also the other thing I was going to say
<v Speaker 4>is like the traversal in the city is very fun.
<v Speaker 4>It's like really cool. It is so like you can
<v Speaker 4>you have to do it like on a rooftop or
<v Speaker 4>like away from people, so there is like a risk
<v Speaker 4>kind of factor of like you can't be seen or
<v Speaker 4>else you're preaching the mass grade. Though sometimes if you're
<v Speaker 4>like moving fast enough, someone will be like, ah, a
<v Speaker 4>person just sprinted down the street, and then later they're like,
<v Speaker 4>maybe I'm just seeing things or maybe it was just
<v Speaker 4>a really fast normal person. But if you're like domping
<v Speaker 4>from rooftop to rooftop, there's like a normal sprint which
<v Speaker 4>is just like a human level sprint, and then there's
<v Speaker 4>vampiric sprint, which is like super speed. If you're vampire sprinting,
<v Speaker 4>you get like super long jumps and you can like
<v Speaker 4>glide in the air. So as you're like exploring the city,
<v Speaker 4>it's like this cool like sprinting and jumping, and I
<v Speaker 4>think it's uh. Kyle was talking about the Infamous series
<v Speaker 4>the other day. I've only played Infamous second Son, but
<v Speaker 4>I believe there's like a super speed ability in that game.
<v Speaker 4>It reminds me of it of another Heroes, another Seattle game,
<v Speaker 4>Second Son in particular.
<v Speaker 1>Is that really yeah? I would love to see that. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>The back in the Day City of Heroes, which is
<v Speaker 1>my first MMO I played, you could unlock you could
<v Speaker 1>level up your character, and you had like various they
<v Speaker 1>have like teleporting, flying, super speed, and super jumps, and
<v Speaker 1>one of the things you could do is unlock multiple
<v Speaker 1>movement options. And I loved being super speed and then
<v Speaker 1>going into a super jump and like scaling like buildings
<v Speaker 1>and stuff. And it it's kind of like reminded me
<v Speaker 1>of that a bit.
<v Speaker 2>But someonemos like crackdowny, I don't know if it's quite yeah,
<v Speaker 2>if it's quite that, but yeah, maybe it's there's something.
<v Speaker 5>It's first person, right or that's what I thought.
<v Speaker 2>Can you be third person at all? Or is it
<v Speaker 2>strictly I don't think.
<v Speaker 1>So, No, just first person?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, okay.
<v Speaker 4>It is also uh the fastest ladder climbing I've ever
<v Speaker 4>seen in a game, which was so exciting because I
<v Speaker 4>was I was like, I forgot how much I hated
<v Speaker 4>slow ladder climbing, and they definitely got better at it
<v Speaker 4>over the years, but like like the way you the
<v Speaker 4>fact that you always I feel like super speed up
<v Speaker 4>a ladder to me is they were like, we know,
<v Speaker 4>we know you.
<v Speaker 2>Don't want to.
<v Speaker 5>I love that zip up. That's a little thing, right, Charles.
<v Speaker 5>It's like that.
<v Speaker 3>You might not like highlight, but it's like I love that.
<v Speaker 3>Man like nothing. We'll talk about World War ZVR a
<v Speaker 3>little bit later, but that that VR, ladders VR. We're done.
<v Speaker 3>I don't want to do this anymore. Let's not.
<v Speaker 5>Let's get rid of it, you know, I.
<v Speaker 2>Just want to Every video game came character climbs like
<v Speaker 2>a wrestler does when they're in a ladder match, where
<v Speaker 2>they just climb unreasonably slow, and it's like you could
<v Speaker 2>zip up there if you wanted to. But I get it, drama.
<v Speaker 1>I think it is fun because you can also just
<v Speaker 1>like scale buildings. If you're like kind of using that
<v Speaker 1>vampire that's cool dash and like you can just kind
<v Speaker 1>of like run up the side of them, you kind
<v Speaker 1>of like scurry up them in a really fun way.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>Oh, you also have a freaking telekinesis. These are just
<v Speaker 4>like base things. These aren't connected to clans, so you
<v Speaker 4>can like lift stuff up, you can throw it. If
<v Speaker 4>people have guns, you can like force pull the guns
<v Speaker 4>away from them and then using the force it's not
<v Speaker 4>the force, but I'm going to call it the force.
<v Speaker 4>Using the force shoot the gun back at them. And
<v Speaker 4>that's the thing that I really like of Like you
<v Speaker 4>could just hold the gun and then shoot it, but
<v Speaker 4>something about like using your telekinesis to shoot it is
<v Speaker 4>so much more like Vampire of it, Like mechanically it's identical,
<v Speaker 4>but like, it would be really boring to watch this
<v Speaker 4>game if like the best strategy was always to just
<v Speaker 4>take guns and then shoot them with guns, because like,
<v Speaker 4>well then I'm not being a vampire anymore. I'm I'm
<v Speaker 4>just shooting a bunch of people. I'll just play Grand
<v Speaker 4>Theft Auto.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I appreciated that a lot.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>And then also my last like point I'll hit is
<v Speaker 4>mixing and matching the different clan abilities can get like
<v Speaker 4>very funky, very fast, which is cool. There's like one
<v Speaker 4>venture ability that like tags everyone in a certain spot
<v Speaker 4>and then they all are susceptible to the same mind
<v Speaker 4>control thing and you can put that on like other
<v Speaker 4>classes that have like things that are similar to mind control.
<v Speaker 4>But in one instance, they were just trying to like
<v Speaker 4>show us off the powers, and they tagged like a
<v Speaker 4>whole crowd of people. And then there's just a like
<v Speaker 4>kill yourself command that the venture can do, and it
<v Speaker 4>just like instantly kills like twelve people in your sight
<v Speaker 4>and it makes you feel like insanely powerful. Now, massive
<v Speaker 4>masquerade breach, I think anyone is alive.
<v Speaker 2>To see it.
<v Speaker 4>So it wasn't a massive maskerade breach because we killed
<v Speaker 4>all the witness and stuff. But stuff like that is
<v Speaker 4>like it's just very it's very exciting that like you
<v Speaker 4>can unlock new stuff, but then because you have the
<v Speaker 4>old stuff, it'll like make you into this cool uh
<v Speaker 4>uh amalgamation of vampire traits.
<v Speaker 1>There's also a like cloaking ability you can get that
<v Speaker 1>I forget which want. Is that a ventrue or it's
<v Speaker 1>probably band of Huchem they I don't know exactly what
<v Speaker 1>you're saying. Like you can kind of go invisible for
<v Speaker 1>a short amount of time and you can use that
<v Speaker 1>to like if you time it right, you can like
<v Speaker 1>kill somebody and people won't be able to see.
<v Speaker 4>Oh yeah, so the every uh yeah, that is a
<v Speaker 4>band Hukem thing. I think they can turn invisible. I
<v Speaker 4>was gonna say, also, every every clan has a different
<v Speaker 4>passive they get when they feed on someone in combat.
<v Speaker 4>The Band of Hichem they have like an invisibility thing,
<v Speaker 4>I'm pretty sure. But also when they feed on someone
<v Speaker 4>in combat, they become silent. So it's like a cool
<v Speaker 4>thing where it's stealth, but it's like fast stealth because
<v Speaker 4>you want to get it while you still have your
<v Speaker 4>isolence thing. But you can just like sprint from one
<v Speaker 4>place to another and just feed on everyone from behind
<v Speaker 4>without them ever knowing. Yeah, I was gonna say, my
<v Speaker 4>my big closing point was just going to be we
<v Speaker 4>were impressed. We walked away impressed. There's a lot of
<v Speaker 4>you know, more details on the cover story proper, but
<v Speaker 4>it doesn't feel like a weird game that's been in
<v Speaker 4>development hell for a decade. It felt like a game
<v Speaker 4>that I don't know, It felt like a normal game
<v Speaker 4>for lack of a better term.
<v Speaker 2>Ye, but you could also be the age on it,
<v Speaker 2>like you can't.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I wouldn't have known it was a thing if
<v Speaker 4>if you hadn't told me that it was a thing
<v Speaker 4>where sometimes you know, you pick up like a I
<v Speaker 4>don't know how long was that Gollam game in development?
<v Speaker 2>Oh wow, but I always think of like Duke Nukem
<v Speaker 2>Forever for you.
<v Speaker 4>Was sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I didn't I didn't get that sense. I mean, I
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't say it feels like a like the next new
<v Speaker 1>Call Duty, you know, in terms of like polish. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>like it feels polished and it feels fresh, and yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I feel yeah, it's cool. Also, I'm realizing it's not
<v Speaker 1>in visibility I was thinking of. It's the way that
<v Speaker 1>the teleport works. Yeah, where it's kind of like you're
<v Speaker 1>kind of teleporting out of their their site. That's that's
<v Speaker 1>what I was thinking.
<v Speaker 4>Yes, uh, there's also there's also like a super speed
<v Speaker 4>thing that the band team have that also feels like
<v Speaker 4>you're invisible.
<v Speaker 1>But uh, yeah, I think that's what I'm thinking of.
<v Speaker 1>I was going to see a lot of vampire abilities.
<v Speaker 4>I keep seeing people that are like, it's just very
<v Speaker 4>funny to have played the game and been like, Wow,
<v Speaker 4>what a cool game and seeing all the comments on
<v Speaker 4>our cover reveal or stuff related to the game that's like.
<v Speaker 1>There's no way this is a real game.
<v Speaker 2>Like it is.
<v Speaker 1>It is a real game. Though I played it, I know.
<v Speaker 4>I know it's been in development for a long time,
<v Speaker 4>but I have it is It's a real game, that's all.
<v Speaker 1>I played it for several hours.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I should have in my headline of the cover
<v Speaker 4>story it's a real game.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I promise.
<v Speaker 3>By the way, because we have the magazine archive, I
<v Speaker 3>did look and in the twenty nineteen Monster Hunter was
<v Speaker 3>it Munster Hunter World expansion cover issue? Is ice born?
<v Speaker 3>There is in fact a preview written by Jabe Gwaltney
<v Speaker 3>for Vampire the Mass Greade Bloodlines. Do you, having played
<v Speaker 3>it at the three twenty.
<v Speaker 1>Can you read the first paragraph?
<v Speaker 2>Lets That would be fascinating to go back and read.
<v Speaker 3>Oh this is okay, this is weird. It says if
<v Speaker 3>anyone named Alex van Aiken ends up working here in
<v Speaker 3>the future, I don't know.
<v Speaker 5>This is what it says. Yeah, huh, I'm just kidding.
<v Speaker 5>It was that clear that was a joke.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I didn't think jav was a prophet. See.
<v Speaker 3>Over the years, Vampire the Mass Grade Bowlines has emerged
<v Speaker 3>as one of gaming's most cherished cult classics thanks to
<v Speaker 3>its darkly enchanting portrait of modern Los Angeles, where vampire
<v Speaker 3>vampires operate under a strict law known as the Masquerade
<v Speaker 3>to keep humanity unaware they exist. We checked out the
<v Speaker 3>Unexpected sequel at E three and came away with impressions.
<v Speaker 3>Blood Lines two might prove to be a strong successor
<v Speaker 3>to the original that the original deserves. So what's the
<v Speaker 3>release date on that?
<v Speaker 5>They didn't make it? They missed it?
<v Speaker 1>That's funny, well cool, Yeah, that's kind of our topic
<v Speaker 1>on our discussion on Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines too. Definitely
<v Speaker 1>go check out the cover story if you're a digital subscriber,
<v Speaker 1>and if you're a print subscriber, that that should be
<v Speaker 1>hitting your mailboxes in the next couple of weeks and
<v Speaker 1>you can read about it.
<v Speaker 5>There.
<v Speaker 1>But a lot of good details in there as well,
<v Speaker 1>along with along with a bunch of other goodies. But Marcus,
<v Speaker 1>let's kick it over to you now to talk about
<v Speaker 1>Wu Chang Fallen Feathers, which is a new action RPG.
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, very much into souls like genre. I'm going
<v Speaker 2>to apologize in advance if I talk all over the
<v Speaker 2>place because there's so much to get into with this
<v Speaker 2>game in terms of systems and whatnot, and outside of
<v Speaker 2>getting of talking to Jessica Cogwell over at game Spot
<v Speaker 2>about this game while we were in Japan. I have
<v Speaker 2>not had a chance to really verbalize where I'm at
<v Speaker 2>this game. I will start off. I just sort of like, flatly,
<v Speaker 2>I'm enjoying the game. I think the game is very fun.
<v Speaker 2>My sort of base litmus test for for really anything
<v Speaker 2>I play for work is what I want to keep
<v Speaker 2>playing this if I was not obligated to any answer
<v Speaker 2>is yes, all right, So that's a.
<v Speaker 1>Good question to ask. I ask myself that often.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like if I just didn't have to when I
<v Speaker 2>walk away from this, no, I would I want to
<v Speaker 2>finish this game. So, and I am a Souls fan.
<v Speaker 2>I enjoy I love from software stuff. I love likelyza Pe,
<v Speaker 2>I like Neo, Like I'm a Soul's Soul's daddy number
<v Speaker 2>one right here, I'm.
<v Speaker 4>Going to change your job title and the masthead of
<v Speaker 4>the website Soul's Daddy art.
<v Speaker 5>Let's do it well.
<v Speaker 2>He used to be Dan tact, but then I was
<v Speaker 2>because I was his sole step son. But since he left,
<v Speaker 2>I think I inherited, like through succession the Souls Crown. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>So I played this game at Summer games Fest and
<v Speaker 2>I wrote a preview about it. And five or five
<v Speaker 2>Games who's publishing this. This is developed by Lindsay Games,
<v Speaker 2>who I believe is a Chinese developer. I think they
<v Speaker 2>described it to me as Chinese blood Born, which in
<v Speaker 2>the in my head I'm like, Okay, maybe calming down
<v Speaker 2>a little bit here, because I think blood Born is
<v Speaker 2>one of the best souls like's ever made. I love
<v Speaker 2>Blood Born, but it's when I played it therecause I
<v Speaker 2>played it for about an hour at SGF and I
<v Speaker 2>thought it was just fine. It was like, oh, this
<v Speaker 2>is absolutely competent, But it turns out an hour was
<v Speaker 2>not enough time to really get a sense of what
<v Speaker 2>the game is trying to do, which I knew at
<v Speaker 2>the time, but now that I've played many, many, many
<v Speaker 2>more hours of it, it's so dense with systems. So
<v Speaker 2>the general pitch is that you play as a amnesic
<v Speaker 2>pirate named bai Wu Chang who awakens in China. It's
<v Speaker 2>like set during the Ming Dynasty, and the region of
<v Speaker 2>China she's in is inflicted with this supernatural sort of
<v Speaker 2>plague called the Feathering, and what it does that if
<v Speaker 2>you get infected, you slowly turn into a mindless monster.
<v Speaker 2>And the sign that you're infected is that you sprout
<v Speaker 2>feathers on your body, and so she has feathers on
<v Speaker 2>her arm because she herself is infected. However, for some reason,
<v Speaker 2>she has not turned into a monster. So that's the
<v Speaker 2>intrigued It's well, what's special about her? However, she does
<v Speaker 2>suffer from the other side effect that being effective, which
<v Speaker 2>is you lose all your memory. So you kind of
<v Speaker 2>have multiple goals here, Like one, you're trying to reclaim
<v Speaker 2>your memory, and you're finding out pieces about her past
<v Speaker 2>and how she ended up there as you throughout the game,
<v Speaker 2>and you're also trying to find a cure for the feathering,
<v Speaker 2>because even though you're not a mindless monster now, it
<v Speaker 2>doesn't mean that you won't become what at some point,
<v Speaker 2>And then.
<v Speaker 1>So does do are you? This reminds me of like
<v Speaker 1>Sekiro a bit, where like you're kind of playing vignettes
<v Speaker 1>sometimes it almost like flashbacks by like loading into loading
<v Speaker 1>into them kind of like.
<v Speaker 2>Oh do you mean oh like those like like specifically
<v Speaker 2>those flashback seqences in Zeco. Yes, No, it doesn't have
<v Speaker 2>any of that, Like, at least from what I've seen,
<v Speaker 2>the bits of like memory that I've recovered is either
<v Speaker 2>I found a note that has something or I be
<v Speaker 2>it an NBC who like knows who Wu Chang is,
<v Speaker 2>and it's like, oh, remember that, gotcha, remember that thing
<v Speaker 2>you were doing. And then that's kind of like, oh okay,
<v Speaker 2>but yeah. And then also you're trying to find the
<v Speaker 2>source of this this plague and put a stop to it. So, uh,
<v Speaker 2>the secral comparison comes in and that this is very
<v Speaker 2>much a soul is like in a sense of it's
<v Speaker 2>not so much about like turtling up and blocking, it's
<v Speaker 2>very much about aggression and evasion, uh, and just sort
<v Speaker 2>of trying to keep moving an out maneuvering opponent, but
<v Speaker 2>very much like get in there, get some damage, dodge,
<v Speaker 2>but try to stay on them. So here's where things
<v Speaker 2>are going to get a little complicated because there's maybe
<v Speaker 2>and oh maybe too many different ways to engage with
<v Speaker 2>the combat. So I'm trying to think of where to
<v Speaker 2>start here because there's so so dodging, right that is
<v Speaker 2>your main form of avoiding damage. That is referred to
<v Speaker 2>as shimmer. There's a lot of like strange proper nouns
<v Speaker 2>for simple systems.
<v Speaker 1>That shimmer is the damage. Shimmer is dodging Okay, that's
<v Speaker 1>what you're dodging.
<v Speaker 2>You're shimmering. You're shimmering. Yes, okay, keep that in mind.
<v Speaker 2>I know it's very it's very clear. And every time
<v Speaker 2>and every time you dodge, you are rewarded with a
<v Speaker 2>point that is called skybound Might, which is essentially a
<v Speaker 2>Mana point. And when you you can have up to
<v Speaker 2>three though you can up you can unlock uh more caps. Honestly,
<v Speaker 2>you probably want to. So every time you dodge, you
<v Speaker 2>get a point of Mana that you can spin to
<v Speaker 2>cast magic spells because you can have magic spells in
<v Speaker 2>this game. And you you mean every time you shimmer,
<v Speaker 2>every time you shimmer, So if you run out of this, so,
<v Speaker 2>if you run out of skybound Mite points, you're gonna
<v Speaker 2>have to dodge, which is what encourages you to stay
<v Speaker 2>in the fight. Like running away isn't a good idea.
<v Speaker 2>It's like, oh, I want to shoot maybe a cool
<v Speaker 2>fireball or summon down lightning, or like shoot a giant
<v Speaker 2>ghostly flower pedal that explodes into like a giant just blast.
<v Speaker 2>I better get in there and try to dodge some
<v Speaker 2>attack so I can refill my skyboud might. You're your man, right,
<v Speaker 2>that is your mana okay, which I like. I like
<v Speaker 2>being rewarded for dodging. I'm more of a I like
<v Speaker 2>dodging in games a lot, like I love stylish action.
<v Speaker 2>I'm an action guy in general. So I like the
<v Speaker 2>idea that this game kind of pushes you to get
<v Speaker 2>good at it because you are rewarded to the point
<v Speaker 2>where you can actually beat enemies, including bosses, without ever
<v Speaker 2>swinging your weapon. You could just dodge constantly and just
<v Speaker 2>spam your magic if you got really good at dodging,
<v Speaker 2>which this game is very much like. The enemies and
<v Speaker 2>the bosses are very much challenging. You're like, you need
<v Speaker 2>to get good at reading movements and evading at the
<v Speaker 2>last moment so you can fill up that your man
<v Speaker 2>of points. So I like that a lot. Now you
<v Speaker 2>do have weapons. You have up to I believe it's
<v Speaker 2>five or six different weapon types, so you can you
<v Speaker 2>start the game with a long sword, which is like
<v Speaker 2>I guess canonically Wuchanin's weapon, because like people will see
<v Speaker 2>it in the story like cut scenes and be like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I recognize that blade, you're so and so. But you
<v Speaker 2>can also equip a short sword. You can have an axe,
<v Speaker 2>you can have a spear, you can have hammers, but
<v Speaker 2>you can only equip two different weapons at a time. Now,
<v Speaker 2>every weapon has a discipline tied to it, and disciplines
<v Speaker 2>are essentially special attacks that are tied to that weapon.
<v Speaker 2>So for my long sword, for example, which is my
<v Speaker 2>main weapon, like my disciplines, like one of them is
<v Speaker 2>like this sword dance or she just swirls, just twirls
<v Speaker 2>the sword around and hits a bunch of enemies, does
<v Speaker 2>a lot of damage, and you execute those but by
<v Speaker 2>hitting the left trigger. And you can have two different
<v Speaker 2>disciplines equipped at a time. So basically you can have
<v Speaker 2>two special attacks for each weapon that you're wielding. Does
<v Speaker 2>that make sense?
<v Speaker 1>So four total?
<v Speaker 2>So four total between your two weapons.
<v Speaker 1>That maddening skybound might.
<v Speaker 5>No, Well actually yes those also spend skybine mount your.
<v Speaker 1>Four I've just written this down. Well, yeah, I can
<v Speaker 1>see drawing an arrow to skybound mic.
<v Speaker 2>In the video version, can we do the like equations
<v Speaker 2>floating around as I'm talking explaining all these systems as
<v Speaker 2>you can on the audio version, Alex just held up
<v Speaker 2>basically looks like Oppenheimer's notes when he was building the
<v Speaker 2>atomic bomb.
<v Speaker 1>Plays keep going.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, okay, So the two weapons I'm going with. I
<v Speaker 2>got the long sword that I mentioned upfront, and then
<v Speaker 2>I've got a short sword, which is you know, it's quicker,
<v Speaker 2>but it also is more for magic, like it's just
<v Speaker 2>sort of like increases magic. So it's like, Okay, I
<v Speaker 2>want to use my spells. I like having that ranged options,
<v Speaker 2>so I'm going to keep this short sword on me.
<v Speaker 2>Each weapon also has a giant skill tree associated with it.
<v Speaker 2>So when I played the game of Summer Games Fest,
<v Speaker 2>the pr told me they asked me, Hey, have you
<v Speaker 2>played Path of Exile? And I said yes, and they said,
<v Speaker 2>that's basically what our skill tree looks like. And I said,
<v Speaker 2>oh my god, that's terrifying because you've never played Bad
<v Speaker 2>of Exile. It has the biggest skill tree I've ever
<v Speaker 2>seen in the game. It is just this expansive network
<v Speaker 2>of nodes and skills, and the more you zoom out,
<v Speaker 2>the more there is this game is going for that.
<v Speaker 2>I have not seen the extent of the skill tree.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if it's quite as big as Path
<v Speaker 2>of Exiles. I can't imagine it is, but it is big,
<v Speaker 2>and it's very much because of that. It is one
<v Speaker 2>of those games where you need to decide relatively early
<v Speaker 2>on what weapons you're going to stick with because you
<v Speaker 2>just you cannot afford to spread yourself too thin because
<v Speaker 2>of how dense each weapons skill tree is, And so
<v Speaker 2>the game I mentioned before that the game is very
<v Speaker 2>dodge heavy, but you can block if you are using
<v Speaker 2>a certain weapon. So you can't block inherently, but if
<v Speaker 2>you use axes for example, that like an axe, one
<v Speaker 2>of the disciplines is the ability to block. So if
<v Speaker 2>you are a player that prefers to block damage rather
<v Speaker 2>than dodge it, that's probably the weapon you're gonna want
<v Speaker 2>to use. If you're like me and don't mind getting
<v Speaker 2>in there and just dodging everything, I recommend swords. But
<v Speaker 2>so the skill tree is interesting because because of the
<v Speaker 2>path of x out design, it means that, like if
<v Speaker 2>you want to increase your base stats like your stam
<v Speaker 2>at a bar, your health bar, the how much damage
<v Speaker 2>you deal just in general, on top of unlocking new
<v Speaker 2>disciplines or unlocking more health flask or unlocking or raising
<v Speaker 2>your skybound mite cap, you have to follow the upgrade
<v Speaker 2>paths down a certain way. But it also means that
<v Speaker 2>you can't really freely choose which attribute you really want
<v Speaker 2>to focus on, because it kind of just shifts depending
<v Speaker 2>on the road. So if like, for example, I'm someone
<v Speaker 2>in most Soul's likes where I like to raise my
<v Speaker 2>staminta bar quickly because I know that's going to matter.
<v Speaker 2>So it's like I don't even care about health. I'm
<v Speaker 2>just gonna jack my skin, like all my skill points.
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna spin into stamina until it gets to a
<v Speaker 2>certain point, and then I'll focus on like other things.
<v Speaker 2>You can't do that here because when you're following down
<v Speaker 2>a path, you see that it's already predetermined what you're
<v Speaker 2>going to get, and those stat upgrades like stamina and
<v Speaker 2>strength are the small nodes in between the bigger more
<v Speaker 2>like here's a brand new move or a new like spell.
<v Speaker 2>So it's like, oh, I wish I could get more stamina,
<v Speaker 2>but if I do, I got to go down this
<v Speaker 2>path that maybe takes me down a different road, even
<v Speaker 2>though there's a skill over here that I want. But
<v Speaker 2>the in between nodes are just health upgrades, So like,
<v Speaker 2>what what do I want right now? And I'm still
<v Speaker 2>sort of I have not finished this game, it's clear
<v Speaker 2>I should probably point that out too, So I don't
<v Speaker 2>have a review yet, so I'm still forming a lot
<v Speaker 2>of my thoughts. I still don't know if I like
<v Speaker 2>this format for a Soul's like specifically, I'm leaning towards
<v Speaker 2>maybe no, just because I do like having that ability.
<v Speaker 2>I miss having that ability to like I just want
<v Speaker 2>to point put a point stamina. I don't want to
<v Speaker 2>have to look for the node that's like, okay, which
<v Speaker 2>node or which branch basically has the most stamina nodes
<v Speaker 2>that I can maybe just go down the line and
<v Speaker 2>ununlock when it might take me off the path of
<v Speaker 2>like well, I was working on getting more health flask,
<v Speaker 2>but that's that's got you know, in between, there's something there,
<v Speaker 2>so it's like, oh what do I do here? And
<v Speaker 2>in the beginning of the game, like you can level
<v Speaker 2>up pretty quickly and get some notes, but then it's
<v Speaker 2>not too long because before the sort of like points,
<v Speaker 2>the XP economy raises and it takes a little bit
<v Speaker 2>longer before you can even on upgrade one node. And
<v Speaker 2>it's so that's why I was saying earlier, like you
<v Speaker 2>really have to decide early on where you want to
<v Speaker 2>spend your points and which weapons, so that you're not
<v Speaker 2>waste especially in the early game when it's easier to
<v Speaker 2>level up. You're not wasting your time putting points into
<v Speaker 2>something that you're ultimately not going to use. You can reaspeck, thankfully.
<v Speaker 2>But still there were some things I learned early on.
<v Speaker 2>It was like, oh, if I started this game with
<v Speaker 2>the knowledge I have now, maybe I wouldn't have gone
<v Speaker 2>down this road when I did. But if nothing else
<v Speaker 2>to sort of compliment it, I guess this game it
<v Speaker 2>very much allows you to build very very specialized build
<v Speaker 2>of Wu Chang. So on that note, there's another system
<v Speaker 2>I talk about and getting into the list.
<v Speaker 1>I've got predestination Calvinism tied into the skill tree next
<v Speaker 1>to the Path of Exignle.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So one thing I like about this game is
<v Speaker 2>that it is very much not about loot and getting
<v Speaker 2>new weapons. You rarely get a new weapon. I have
<v Speaker 2>had the same like I have had three different long
<v Speaker 2>swords in the like probably twenty hours I played at
<v Speaker 2>this point, and I when you find a new weapon
<v Speaker 2>in this game, it is like an event. You find
<v Speaker 2>more armor than you do weapons, because the game is
<v Speaker 2>more about raising your proficiency what you have rather than
<v Speaker 2>here's a new one that might be just it hits
<v Speaker 2>harder overall, which I actually like because I can get
<v Speaker 2>overwhelmed and annoyed in games that like maybe we'll say
<v Speaker 2>Neo as an example, which is like you kill a
<v Speaker 2>guy and he explodes with like nineteen different swords, and
<v Speaker 2>then you got to be like, Okay, this one gives
<v Speaker 2>me one point more, so I guess I gotta shift
<v Speaker 2>this out. And then two seconds later you find another
<v Speaker 2>sword that gives you one more point more attacks. You're like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I gotta put that in, so I'm into menu constantly
<v Speaker 2>in this case. The way you also sort of improve
<v Speaker 2>your proficiency outside of unlocking like nodes for that weapon
<v Speaker 2>in the skill tree is that there is a system
<v Speaker 2>called benediction that you can only do in the save
<v Speaker 2>the like the safe areas, the bonfires basically, and they're
<v Speaker 2>basically important.
<v Speaker 4>What are the bonfires in this game? What are the equivalents?
<v Speaker 2>They're like shrines, okay, like like prayer shrines basically yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>And basically benedictions are these little stones that you can
<v Speaker 2>slot into a into it. They're like Materia and Final
<v Speaker 2>Fantasy if you really want to, if I could, Okay, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>like they don't, but they're like passive abilities. But imagine
<v Speaker 2>like slotting material into a weapon and final.
<v Speaker 1>Fantasy sements kind.
<v Speaker 2>Of yeah, And each weapon can have up to three
<v Speaker 2>so that's it's like, oh maybe one when you have
<v Speaker 2>it equipped. It raises your stamina recovery when you have
<v Speaker 2>a certain amount of skybal might points, or your sword
<v Speaker 2>hits harder when your HP is full. It's like that
<v Speaker 2>kind of stuff.
<v Speaker 4>Do the swords themselves have like uh, stats, abilities and
<v Speaker 4>ratifiers or anything like like would it be a thing
<v Speaker 4>of like would you add like I don't know, does
<v Speaker 4>more fire damage to a sword that already does fire damage?
<v Speaker 2>Yes?
<v Speaker 4>They Okay? Cool?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So I I recently got my first new long
<v Speaker 2>sword and in like forever that like inherently has like
<v Speaker 2>a fire like attribute to it, and you can't stack
<v Speaker 2>it with like, oh, I'm gonna put this benediction that
<v Speaker 2>gives me extra fire damage. So it's like for certain
<v Speaker 2>and er like, some enemies do have elemental weaknesses, so
<v Speaker 2>you can like there's a forest area I went through
<v Speaker 2>with they tell you, like, hey, there's like evil tree
<v Speaker 2>people here. If you hit them with fire, it'll really
<v Speaker 2>mess them up. So you're like, well, I'm gonna pit
<v Speaker 2>on all my fire stuff and then just tear through them.
<v Speaker 2>So you have those. On top of benedictions, there's another
<v Speaker 2>system called temporary Oh my god. Also, I should point
<v Speaker 2>out that they introduce all these systems in relatively short succession,
<v Speaker 2>and that I kind of wish they didn't. I kind
<v Speaker 2>of wish they gave me.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's possible there are more than you haven't
<v Speaker 1>seen yet.
<v Speaker 2>I think I've seen them all, just based on the
<v Speaker 2>wheel of like categories for everything that when you go
<v Speaker 2>to a safe point, I can't imagine it would squeeze
<v Speaker 2>in another one. But I guess who knows.
<v Speaker 4>Have you tried to ignore any of them? Like if
<v Speaker 4>you tried to be like if I don't if I
<v Speaker 4>don't use any benedictions, will it be fine? Or is
<v Speaker 4>it like making like a when you're losing in calmon,
<v Speaker 4>you're like, oh, obviously, I just need to read reslot stuff.
<v Speaker 2>In So this is a good time to bring up tempering,
<v Speaker 2>because that's probably the closest one. So tempering is basically
<v Speaker 2>it's your arm, your feather arm, your demon arm, basically,
<v Speaker 2>so you can find what are called bone needles or
<v Speaker 2>different types of needles that I don't know if she's
<v Speaker 2>sticking them in her arm, but that seems to be
<v Speaker 2>the implication. And you can have up to four of these,
<v Speaker 2>and you can, but you have to unlock the other slots,
<v Speaker 2>like you only have one slot open, and you have
<v Speaker 2>to use the skill tree to unlock other slots. And
<v Speaker 2>basically these are another type of passive like trait or ability.
<v Speaker 2>So like I have one bone needle, and also you
<v Speaker 2>can use the bone needles on like any weapon, but
<v Speaker 2>some are better equipped to certain weapons, so they'd be like, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>you could use this on your axe, but you really
<v Speaker 2>want to use this on your long sword, and it
<v Speaker 2>could be things like oh, and it's also a skill
<v Speaker 2>that you have to activate in battle, like you get
<v Speaker 2>an item that allows you to activate your tempering. And
<v Speaker 2>basically what she does in it actually looks pretty bad
<v Speaker 2>ass is that she like sharpens her blade on her arm,
<v Speaker 2>Like she just drags it on her arm and then
<v Speaker 2>the blade might like catch fire if that's what the
<v Speaker 2>tempering is, And you're like, that's pretty cool, So like
<v Speaker 2>I have like a temper like that of like oh,
<v Speaker 2>you can light your sword on fire, or you can
<v Speaker 2>leech health every time you hit enemies that kind of stuff,
<v Speaker 2>and then the kind of like other bone needles that
<v Speaker 2>you can equip sort of add their own little effects.
<v Speaker 2>But that is the one that I have not ignored,
<v Speaker 2>but it is the one that took me the longest
<v Speaker 2>to understand. Like I went a very long time before
<v Speaker 2>I realized it was an upgrade, or rather it was
<v Speaker 2>an ability that you had to activate manually. I thought
<v Speaker 2>it was like a passive effect like the bit addictions.
<v Speaker 2>And then but I was wondering, like is it working
<v Speaker 2>because I use the health leach one a lot, so
<v Speaker 2>I was like, well, that's useful, And then I couldn't
<v Speaker 2>tell is like am I actually getting held? Is it
<v Speaker 2>just so small that's negligible? And plus you're healing in battles.
<v Speaker 2>It was just hard to track. And then it wasn't
<v Speaker 2>until I went I got so like doubtful about what
<v Speaker 2>I was doing that I thankfully this game has a
<v Speaker 2>very comprehensive like in game glossary in editorial system where
<v Speaker 2>they will break down all of these systems like, hey, listen,
<v Speaker 2>these are the buttons you hit to do this. This
<v Speaker 2>is what it looks like. Here's here's a little video
<v Speaker 2>gif of what it looks like, so you know that
<v Speaker 2>you're doing it. And then I kept seeing her drag
<v Speaker 2>her sword in the arm and I'm like, well, I'm
<v Speaker 2>not doing that, how's that happen? And then realized it
<v Speaker 2>was like an item that I'd had since the beginning
<v Speaker 2>of a game that I was saving because I thought
<v Speaker 2>it was something different than what it was. And yeah,
<v Speaker 2>so now I'm using my tempering. But I had beaten
<v Speaker 2>probably like six bosses before I used it, so I
<v Speaker 2>guess you don't need it. And I think all of
<v Speaker 2>this is to say now that I think I've gone
<v Speaker 2>through all the systems as a Soul's like it is
<v Speaker 2>a tough game, because that's just that's just how it is. Right. However,
<v Speaker 2>what I liked this game is that it is not
<v Speaker 2>oppressively tough, like I've only been stuck on things maybe
<v Speaker 2>at most maybe like five attempts, Like generally I get
<v Speaker 2>through things pretty quickly. And again that's in the early game.
<v Speaker 2>That's when I wasn't even like actively engaging, which everything
<v Speaker 2>the game gives you to do. The hardest boss I
<v Speaker 2>came across, at least so far, was like maybe like
<v Speaker 2>eight hours in and it was very much the like,
<v Speaker 2>we're going to see if you master dodge timing, because
<v Speaker 2>that's what's going to get through do to fight and
<v Speaker 2>even that fight, yeah, and that took me probably like
<v Speaker 2>a good fifteen tries. But even then it wasn't like
<v Speaker 2>a I don't know how to beat this. I had
<v Speaker 2>figured out a strategy that was working. I just had
<v Speaker 2>it to I just had to keep doing it long
<v Speaker 2>enough and not die basically, And that was actually the
<v Speaker 2>only boss fight where I actually did come Pretty much
<v Speaker 2>ninety percent of the damage I did was just dodge magic,
<v Speaker 2>dodge magic. I was like, I'm not even gonna try
<v Speaker 2>to hit them. I think that I could do that,
<v Speaker 2>but I think a winning strategy for me is that
<v Speaker 2>I'm just going to dodge, build up my manna, and
<v Speaker 2>I'm just gonna keep throwing this like Crimson Speir at
<v Speaker 2>them and then just back off because that's just that
<v Speaker 2>seems to be a way to go. And I love
<v Speaker 2>that that's a Vallid strategy.
<v Speaker 4>And I was gonna say, my question is, after after
<v Speaker 4>all this, does it does it feel like the blood
<v Speaker 4>Born of China.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's in the sense of like the fights are,
<v Speaker 2>like I said, it's very dodge and aggression focused, and
<v Speaker 2>that's very much what defines like if you wanted this
<v Speaker 2>still Bloodborn's combat down to that that that that is
<v Speaker 2>what separates Blood Born from like Dark Souls. You know,
<v Speaker 2>like Dark Souls is very much like block, dodge, roll slowly,
<v Speaker 2>but like you're kind of blocking a lot blood Born.
<v Speaker 2>It took your shield away and it's like, no, you
<v Speaker 2>got to get in there, and that's what this one is. However,
<v Speaker 2>since they give you the magic spells, which also you
<v Speaker 2>don't have to engage with either, you don't have to
<v Speaker 2>use magic, especially if you aren't using the short Sword,
<v Speaker 2>which kind of has upgrade nodes that purely increase the
<v Speaker 2>damage you do with magic. There is a version of
<v Speaker 2>Wuchang as a character that maybe isn't like a magician basically,
<v Speaker 2>you know, like it seems very flexible and like how
<v Speaker 2>do you want to play this game? Which is nice
<v Speaker 2>and I think, you know, for anyone that maybe didn't
<v Speaker 2>like Sakaro and and even to maybe an extent Bloodborn
<v Speaker 2>where it maybe it felt a little more rigid in
<v Speaker 2>how you could like progress and grow your character, this
<v Speaker 2>game seems like you can go wildly different ways. Depending
<v Speaker 2>on just your preference as a as a player in
<v Speaker 2>these types of experiences. I think the boss fights have
<v Speaker 2>all been really fun. Like I said, they haven't been
<v Speaker 2>like oppressively hard. They're hard enough to wherey it feels
<v Speaker 2>like an accomplishment to beat them, but not like I
<v Speaker 2>want to scream into a pillow and like throw myself
<v Speaker 2>out the window hard. And again, you can always see
<v Speaker 2>the light at the end of the tunnel, which I
<v Speaker 2>think is really important for knowing like is this like
<v Speaker 2>a hard boss that is fun or a hard boss
<v Speaker 2>that is frustrating. It's like I can always see the
<v Speaker 2>light of the tunnel. I just have to keep executing well.
<v Speaker 2>And every time I screw it is my fault, and
<v Speaker 2>I know it's my fault, like it's either got too
<v Speaker 2>greedy or too impatient, and I just need to stick
<v Speaker 2>with what's working. And like the other Blood more comparison
<v Speaker 2>is that it's a lot more like Exposure in general
<v Speaker 2>is a little bit more linear, Like there are different routes,
<v Speaker 2>but they're generally sort of like corridors. There are some
<v Speaker 2>areas that are a little more open. But the other
<v Speaker 2>thing I like about this game is that maybe more
<v Speaker 2>than other souls like it makes the most like economic
<v Speaker 2>use of its safe points because you will find like
<v Speaker 2>three or four shortcuts back to the same point that
<v Speaker 2>was at the start of the section that you came in.
<v Speaker 2>It's like really like it feels special when you find
<v Speaker 2>like a brand new safe point and you can freely
<v Speaker 2>fast travel between them, which is great too, so you
<v Speaker 2>can easily just jump around without having to buy a resource.
<v Speaker 2>Oh also, there's one more system I forgot about that
<v Speaker 2>is very important to this game. Knew I was running something.
<v Speaker 2>So this is tied to your feathering, right, So you're
<v Speaker 2>slowly becoming a demon, even though you haven't turned into
<v Speaker 2>a demon. You have an inner demon that is within
<v Speaker 2>you at all times. And every time you die, you
<v Speaker 2>fill up a meter called madness, and it takes a
<v Speaker 2>while for it to fill up all the way, like
<v Speaker 2>you really got to die a lot. But when you
<v Speaker 2>do fill it up, it'll tell you, like you'll see
<v Speaker 2>like a message saying like madness to sinds. And basically
<v Speaker 2>what it does is that the higher your madness, the
<v Speaker 2>more damage you do. But the more damage you take,
<v Speaker 2>so the more you die, the more you become kind
<v Speaker 2>of a glass cannon and which is it an interesting
<v Speaker 2>system that I actually I kind of like because again,
<v Speaker 2>at this point, maybe I've gotten so good at dodging
<v Speaker 2>where it's like, oh, they're technically helping me because I'm
<v Speaker 2>dying a lot, so they're like, hey, you can hit
<v Speaker 2>harder now, but you're going to get hit more. So
<v Speaker 2>turning on I could take I could die quicker. But
<v Speaker 2>also it's like, but if I dodge really well, well,
<v Speaker 2>then I maybe that nullifies the like, you know, the
<v Speaker 2>fact that I'm more fragile, but I will still benefit
<v Speaker 2>from the like attack increase. But I think that a lie.
<v Speaker 1>It like changes the way that you It changes your
<v Speaker 1>strategy as you go.
<v Speaker 4>Can you just inherently clear it if you don't want that?
<v Speaker 2>So what happens is that once you've maxed out on
<v Speaker 2>your madness and you die again, when you go back
<v Speaker 2>to retrieve your XP, what happens is that your inner
<v Speaker 2>demon spawns, which basically becomes a many boss fights. So
<v Speaker 2>this spectral sword woman spawns where your experience is and
<v Speaker 2>if you want to collect your experience at this point,
<v Speaker 2>you have to beat her. And if you don't beat her,
<v Speaker 2>your XP's gone forever. But it's like Okay, your madness
<v Speaker 2>has reached critical mass and the demon has escaped from you,
<v Speaker 2>and now you've got to fight it. What I like
<v Speaker 2>is that she's not really hard. She's hard enough, but
<v Speaker 2>she's not like boss fight hard. Like she has like
<v Speaker 2>a normal enemy health bar, not like a big titled
<v Speaker 2>health bar or anything. And she also attacks indiscriminately, so
<v Speaker 2>if she's around other enemies, and she'll hit them too,
<v Speaker 2>and especially if the other enemies. Yeah, and other enemies
<v Speaker 2>will attack her too because they're like, we don't know you.
<v Speaker 2>So there have been times where I have won this
<v Speaker 2>fight because I was around like a tough boss, and
<v Speaker 2>then they just clash each other and then make it
<v Speaker 2>into it and then I'm just sitting back seeing who's
<v Speaker 2>gonna win. And then it's like it's like a yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's like a someone that hates you.
<v Speaker 1>That's actually cool.
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, and then when if you beat her, you
<v Speaker 2>get your souls and then your your madness goes to zero.
<v Speaker 4>Okay, if you don't beat her, do you do you
<v Speaker 4>stay madness?
<v Speaker 2>I believe you also lose your madness, Like, well, if
<v Speaker 2>she kills you specifically, like you can so I just
<v Speaker 2>had this happen where she spawned next to a hard
<v Speaker 2>regular enemy and that enemy kept killing me but not her.
<v Speaker 2>So I was wondering, like, well that still count as,
<v Speaker 2>like well I lose my souls and the answer is no,
<v Speaker 2>she has to kill and then so like I like
<v Speaker 2>every time I went back there, she showed up, whereas
<v Speaker 2>like if she had killed me, that would just be
<v Speaker 2>until you know, it happens again. So yeah, like so
<v Speaker 2>if she kills you, it goes back to zero, but
<v Speaker 2>you also lose all the souls you had if you
<v Speaker 2>kill her, or you get your soul's back and you
<v Speaker 2>get like I think, like maybe a little extra. And
<v Speaker 2>then there's also sometimes where you'll enter special areas where
<v Speaker 2>she'll she'll just come out on her own, Like there's
<v Speaker 2>like special zones where suddenly you get a notification it's
<v Speaker 2>like madness increasing or something, and then she just shows up,
<v Speaker 2>like it's like Pikachu escaping his poke ball without asking
<v Speaker 2>for it, where you're like whoa, whoa, I'm not even
<v Speaker 2>like like madness right now, but it's like, no, you
<v Speaker 2>stepped into a weird zone where like I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>the evil in the area just sucked her out and
<v Speaker 2>now you have to fight her, but then you get
<v Speaker 2>like a special item that you don't normally get when
<v Speaker 2>you just beat her when she spawns when she's supposed
<v Speaker 2>to basically. But that's the other thing you're juggling is like, hey,
<v Speaker 2>if you're dying a lot, you're getting closer to having
<v Speaker 2>to fight this relatively difficult, you know, enemy to get
<v Speaker 2>your souls back, which, like you said, Alice, I like that,
<v Speaker 2>Like I kind of like the I like the madness
<v Speaker 2>something because it does change the way you play the
<v Speaker 2>more you die. And I kind of like not knowing,
<v Speaker 2>like you can't see exactly how many like how many
<v Speaker 2>points in mad as you after you go into the menu.
<v Speaker 2>So but I kind of like not looking at it
<v Speaker 2>cause I like being surprised of like, is she gonna
<v Speaker 2>show up now? Because I've got a lot and if
<v Speaker 2>I go back to my soul, she's gonna be waiting there. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>And she also has like I think she has your
<v Speaker 2>moves or she has like some of your moves, and
<v Speaker 2>then she has moves that you haven't even gotten yet.
<v Speaker 2>So there are like abilities where I'm like I don't
<v Speaker 2>have that, and then I got it later, like that's
<v Speaker 2>a cool move. I hope, I get that.
<v Speaker 1>I like that she has the pool, like the whole
<v Speaker 1>pool of she has all the skills if she.
<v Speaker 2>Wants them, all the skills.
<v Speaker 4>And yes, how is your U? Is your notebook?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? What are we looking at here? How? How like insane?
<v Speaker 2>Like that you through side posts? Yeah, audio listeners, you're
<v Speaker 2>gonna want to go to the YouTube version to see this. Amazing. Oh,
<v Speaker 2>Pika Shue, is that sal sketch.
<v Speaker 1>You started talking about the feathering? I just started drawing
<v Speaker 1>chickens and birds.
<v Speaker 2>I might reckon crows because there's crows that you can
<v Speaker 2>kill to get a special item. All over the place.
<v Speaker 2>The crows are.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this guy is I don't know if he's a crow,
<v Speaker 1>but it.
<v Speaker 2>Can be color and black. It's basically a crow. But yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's it's a fun game like my like my biggest
<v Speaker 2>hang ups with it or like I think maybe it
<v Speaker 2>throws a little a lot at you maybe a little
<v Speaker 2>too early. I think maybe it should give players a
<v Speaker 2>little bit more time to get used to one system
<v Speaker 2>before they say, hey, here's old other thing. They like
<v Speaker 2>all the stuff I mentioned to you. They tell you
<v Speaker 2>like the first like two or three hours, and you're like, okay,
<v Speaker 2>and so it's very easy. Like it took a while
<v Speaker 2>before I felt like I truly settled in and knew
<v Speaker 2>what I was doing and making educated choices about what
<v Speaker 2>to level up, what to put in my sore, all
<v Speaker 2>that good stuff. But like I said, the bosses are fun,
<v Speaker 2>the enemy designs are like like art direction wise, I
<v Speaker 2>think it's very strong. It's not the most like the
<v Speaker 2>fidelity wise, like the most impressive game, especially if you're
<v Speaker 2>playing on Quality mode, which I represent or represent I
<v Speaker 2>should say I represent mode, yes, But it's like it
<v Speaker 2>looks nice too, like I'm in, Like, you know, you
<v Speaker 2>go to like a cool enchance at forest at one
<v Speaker 2>point that looks cool. There's like a uh like a
<v Speaker 2>snowy area you go to, Like it's pretty varied so far,
<v Speaker 2>Like some of the levels are a little annoying in
<v Speaker 2>terms of like traps that hit you that you can't
<v Speaker 2>see and they're like giant middle fingers. Like I went
<v Speaker 2>through the snow area and I was like wanting to
<v Speaker 2>screen because we're like mines on the ground that you
<v Speaker 2>can't really see unless you really look. So that stuff
<v Speaker 2>can be a pain. But when it comps downs, just
<v Speaker 2>like I'm gonna get on, get in there and fight
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of dews. The weapons are cool. I got
<v Speaker 2>a cool whip sword that's basically like Ivy from Soul
<v Speaker 2>Caliber that it's like it lets me whip people as
<v Speaker 2>I cut them down, and it's great for like keeping
<v Speaker 2>them at bay from a range. I'm not in it
<v Speaker 2>a lot. It's it's fun. I'm it's I don't know
<v Speaker 2>if I say it's better than I thought of the
<v Speaker 2>Biggs again, and when I played SGF, I was like,
<v Speaker 2>this seems competent. But the further I've gotten, the more
<v Speaker 2>I've like and the more I've kind of like wrapped
<v Speaker 2>my head around to different systems, I've been like, oh, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>this isn't. My big concern was like, is this going
<v Speaker 2>to be like another also ran, because there's so many
<v Speaker 2>Souls likes now.
<v Speaker 1>And yeah, I've got fatigue. I'm not gonna lie.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't know if I have fatigue, But it's
<v Speaker 2>just harder to stand out. Like Lies of P is
<v Speaker 2>an example of something like that came out like oh
<v Speaker 2>this is great, like this feels like original. It's only
<v Speaker 2>I did. I don't know if it's lies of I
<v Speaker 2>don't think it's Liights of Pea level yet. But I
<v Speaker 2>do think if you are in the mood for one
<v Speaker 2>of these, and also in the mood for the more
<v Speaker 2>like blood Borne side of this, where it is a
<v Speaker 2>little bit more about dodging and sometimes parrying more so
<v Speaker 2>than again turtling up, then that this is a totally
<v Speaker 2>good option for that. Like, I'm having fun with it
<v Speaker 2>and I want to finish it.
<v Speaker 5>So cool.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, to be a long wind to discussion about the game,
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, in a way.
<v Speaker 2>That it's it's surprising how much there is to begin
<v Speaker 2>to with this game a little bit.
<v Speaker 4>I don't think it's unfair to say lies P is
<v Speaker 4>Korea's blood born.
<v Speaker 5>No, I think so, Yeah, I could say that.
<v Speaker 1>We got I was I was just going to stay silent.
<v Speaker 1>I was hoping we do we have a blood born?
<v Speaker 4>What's the US blood born? Where's ours blood born? A
<v Speaker 4>healthcare system?
<v Speaker 1>I was going to say, what was that?
<v Speaker 5>What was that blood born? Charles?
<v Speaker 1>What that cybernetic souls like from like twenty the Surge.
<v Speaker 1>I know that's not the US, but it feels like,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, it gives.
<v Speaker 2>Us vibes vibes. Star Wars Jedi fallen Order there you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's really not. But it's the only like American. It
<v Speaker 2>was like I can think, yeah, yeah, it's like actually good,
<v Speaker 2>I guess.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, well cool. Let's hand it over to Kyle.
<v Speaker 1>You've been playing Donkey Kong Bonanza. You said you just
<v Speaker 1>beat the final boss. You paused the game. You don't
<v Speaker 1>know what happened after.
<v Speaker 2>How many bananas do you have? Yeah? I do want
<v Speaker 2>to know.
<v Speaker 1>How many bananas do you have? Is you know several hundred?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah?
<v Speaker 5>Oh yeah for sure, because I.
<v Speaker 1>Think I'm at like one twenty or something like that.
<v Speaker 5>It's not like Mario where it like puts that number
<v Speaker 5>front and center, you know, like you.
<v Speaker 1>Always kind of see save file.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, you know, how many does it really not have?
<v Speaker 3>I mean it's like in the menu though, like I yeah,
<v Speaker 3>like I've only seen it once and I was like, oh,
<v Speaker 3>that's how many bananas I have? Because it's like an
<v Speaker 3>actual currency in this game that you spend to buy upgrades,
<v Speaker 3>you know, so it's not really like just sort of
<v Speaker 3>an arbitrary sort of you need them to leave, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>which it didn't occur to me until I was talking
<v Speaker 3>with Jacob Geller.
<v Speaker 5>Over on mid Max.
<v Speaker 3>It's like, yeah, I guess you could technically just never
<v Speaker 3>pick up a banana if you wanted to and still
<v Speaker 3>make progress in that game, Like, oh yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Because it is just for the skill point. None of
<v Speaker 2>those you have to take up one of those skill
<v Speaker 2>points that you need, right because like there's like the
<v Speaker 2>one that makes you punch through harder surfaces.
<v Speaker 4>You can do it easter. Yeah, it doesn't stop you
<v Speaker 4>from going through.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>You you could maybe make a case for the surf
<v Speaker 1>surf uh like surf on.
<v Speaker 3>I don't think it's an upgrade though. I think you
<v Speaker 3>can do that whenever you want.
<v Speaker 2>I think the like, well, the one that lets you
<v Speaker 2>go on water, it's an upgrade, that's true.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, any it's just interesting. I wonder if that'll be
<v Speaker 3>what do they call it? Like and resident Evil people
<v Speaker 3>do knife runs and stuff like that, raw dogging it ra.
<v Speaker 4>I was watching, Uh, there's a speed runner streamer names
<v Speaker 4>smalling It that I like watching on YouTube, and I
<v Speaker 4>was watching his the vod of him playing the game
<v Speaker 4>the day it came out. It was very funny just
<v Speaker 4>seeing how someone that speed runs games starts it out
<v Speaker 4>where he was in the first area, not even like
<v Speaker 4>breaking stuff, just trying to be like, okay, so if
<v Speaker 4>I jump and then I roll and then I jump
<v Speaker 4>and do this, we we can go like three seconds
<v Speaker 4>without even touching ground. He's like already trying to figure
<v Speaker 4>out movement. And he was immediately like he got so
<v Speaker 4>excited that there was a skill tree because he's like, oh,
<v Speaker 4>we can do challenge runs where we don't upgrade anything.
<v Speaker 4>This game has so much content in it.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, That's that's what makes a good game, you know,
<v Speaker 3>the content that you can choose to not engage with.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, you guys talked about a fair bit last week.
<v Speaker 3>So I don't know if I have a ton extra
<v Speaker 3>add other than like I'm far along, like I've technically
<v Speaker 3>beaten the game.
<v Speaker 1>You know, I do have a question for you.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I am.
<v Speaker 1>What I think is maybe halfway through the game. I'm
<v Speaker 1>on layer six hundred, seven hundred something like that.
<v Speaker 4>I'm in the forest and that's six hundred.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, I So you can go back, Charles, if
<v Speaker 1>you go back to the Divide, you can go and
<v Speaker 1>just go to the other one too.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>So I'm on the second one of those.
<v Speaker 5>You actually you need to do both.
<v Speaker 3>Actually, I think before you purgase, okay, I think I
<v Speaker 3>think maybe that's.
<v Speaker 1>I've heard that the game like really picks up, like
<v Speaker 1>at the halfway point. Am I near the halfway point?
<v Speaker 1>And if so, like, can you talk about how it
<v Speaker 1>picks up, if you even agree with that, I do, sentim.
<v Speaker 3>I do agree with that. I've been liking the game
<v Speaker 3>a lot, like I really I like it. It's it's
<v Speaker 3>a Nintendo platformer from the Odyssey team. It feels great,
<v Speaker 3>it looks great, It's charming as hell. I love Pauline.
<v Speaker 3>I like seeing her grow. There's like a great sense
<v Speaker 3>of like place to that game, even more so than Odyssey.
<v Speaker 3>I would say, of just like making it a deeper
<v Speaker 3>and deeper into this world is cool. And you know,
<v Speaker 3>that's not to say I was I was not enjoying it,
<v Speaker 3>but I was getting a little sort of like, I
<v Speaker 3>don't know, exhausted is maybe too strong a word of
<v Speaker 3>like just breaking through everything.
<v Speaker 1>It was just I'm kind of at that point right now,
<v Speaker 1>and that's why I'm asking.
<v Speaker 3>It's just kind of chaotic and it's like it's you
<v Speaker 3>kind of get it, and they do do interesting stuff
<v Speaker 3>with it. But all that to say is like in
<v Speaker 3>the last like three or four levels, Like my appreciation
<v Speaker 3>for the game has grown quite a lot. Like if
<v Speaker 3>I was like like if I I was like, I'm
<v Speaker 3>not ready to apply a score to it yet. But
<v Speaker 3>as I was, and you know, like it's like you
<v Speaker 3>might look at like maybe you're listening to this now,
<v Speaker 3>and maybe my score will even be different than what
<v Speaker 3>I'm about to say, you know, because I just I'm
<v Speaker 3>still thinking through it and like I haven't seen the
<v Speaker 3>ending fully yet. But all that to say, like as
<v Speaker 3>I was playing, I was like, this is great. I'm
<v Speaker 3>having a great time. This is like eight five eight
<v Speaker 3>seven five is kind of where I'm at, you know.
<v Speaker 3>But in the last like I would say, like four
<v Speaker 3>or five levels, I would that's like gone up to
<v Speaker 3>like a nine. Like I really have enjoyed the end
<v Speaker 3>and the sort of the trajectory to the end a lot,
<v Speaker 3>Like it has really elevated my appreciation for the game.
<v Speaker 3>And it's like a thing that it's like, Ooh, I'm
<v Speaker 3>excited because I have been kind of like speeding through
<v Speaker 3>it in a way that I've been enjoying, Like I
<v Speaker 3>haven't really been trying to be completionist about it, like
<v Speaker 3>even when I play three D Mario, I usually you know,
<v Speaker 3>I try to get to the end and then I'll
<v Speaker 3>go back and like get everything. And that is totally
<v Speaker 3>what I plan to do here, Like I want to
<v Speaker 3>go back and do all the sort of bonus rooms
<v Speaker 3>and I will do want to get all the bananas
<v Speaker 3>and stuff like that.
<v Speaker 1>But I'd glad to hear that, yeah, because I feel
<v Speaker 1>like I'm like sitting at like a seven five or
<v Speaker 1>an eight, Like I think I started off really strong,
<v Speaker 1>and I think there's a couple levels in the middle
<v Speaker 1>that I'm like, Okay, I get it, Like I've been
<v Speaker 1>doing this, I'm ready for some new stuff.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, then I is.
<v Speaker 1>I'm hoping it picks back up.
<v Speaker 3>There is new stuff, and like I would almost recommend
<v Speaker 3>like like I kind of had to change like when
<v Speaker 3>I played Dark Souls. This is like I'm the kind
<v Speaker 3>of play that likes to roll through all the boxes, right,
<v Speaker 3>Like I remember playing like Golden nine and sixty four
<v Speaker 3>and I don'ld have to shoot every box like and
<v Speaker 3>and you can't really do that here, Like you can,
<v Speaker 3>but you're gonna drive yourself crazy because like every level
<v Speaker 3>is like, yeah, you can strip it down to its
<v Speaker 3>bare bones if you want, like it allows you to
<v Speaker 3>do that, but like it's it's too much, you know,
<v Speaker 3>and so I've kind of had to like push against
<v Speaker 3>that like uh temptation that I usually do, and like
<v Speaker 3>I would, I would recommend doing that even like don't
<v Speaker 3>worry about gold too much. You know, you do need gold,
<v Speaker 3>it is important, but like don't like you know, if
<v Speaker 3>you're going from point at a point B, like don't
<v Speaker 3>feel like you need to rip up every element of
<v Speaker 3>especially the way there.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, if you did it in those first
<v Speaker 2>few worlds like I did, like I have created like
<v Speaker 2>a foundation of gold that I don't think will ever
<v Speaker 2>run out to where it's like I don't need to
<v Speaker 2>do it as much later it go because I've just
<v Speaker 2>built I've amassed such a fortune because you know in
<v Speaker 2>the beginning, you're like I just want to do this,
<v Speaker 2>I want to smash everything. Yeah that I'm just sort
<v Speaker 2>of like writing on this like like the I'm spending
<v Speaker 2>the money.
<v Speaker 3>From like nineteen ninety eight, basically it's just said I've
<v Speaker 3>found it with to Marcus. But I my reserves have
<v Speaker 3>gotten pretty low in a in a complimentary way, like
<v Speaker 3>there is like I was kind I've been kind of
<v Speaker 3>impressed with the economics of the game where it's like
<v Speaker 3>you I do, I did have to make choices, if
<v Speaker 3>that makes sense, right, Okay, Like like it's like, oh well,
<v Speaker 3>I mean there's like you'll find these like trees that
<v Speaker 3>you have to feed gold to get like three bananas
<v Speaker 3>that like take a ton of money, and like I did.
<v Speaker 3>I did, at least on one occasion, have to go
<v Speaker 3>and like farm gold for a while, which is like
<v Speaker 3>there's a couple of good places to go do it
<v Speaker 3>like you can like you know, you could google, like
<v Speaker 3>what's the best place to get gold? I didn't do that,
<v Speaker 3>Like you will find you will know the places to go,
<v Speaker 3>like as you progress, Like there's there's one place in
<v Speaker 3>particular that I was like, oh, I'm gonna come back
<v Speaker 3>here anytime I need gold.
<v Speaker 2>I would just want to a tie that makes treasure
<v Speaker 2>chests spawn more often.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, I mean you could do stuff like that too. Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>but yeah, I mean I guess I guess the big
<v Speaker 3>takeaway following up like last week's conversation where you guys
<v Speaker 3>did talk about like the baseline mechanics of the game
<v Speaker 3>and like how it looks good and it plays well
<v Speaker 3>and all that stuff. Is like I have really.
<v Speaker 5>Enjoyed the ending trajectory, Like the build up to the
<v Speaker 5>end has been excellent in a way that feels very
<v Speaker 5>targeted at me. And it's.
<v Speaker 3>Like Nintendo is good at endings, like they It's even
<v Speaker 3>even the recent Princess Peach game, which was like a fine,
<v Speaker 3>you know game like geared towards the younger players, had
<v Speaker 3>an awesome ending like weirdly, you know, and Bonanza like
<v Speaker 3>is like they are pulling out all the stops, you know,
<v Speaker 3>like they it's like, all right, we've been building to
<v Speaker 3>this and here's like this is what everything you've been
<v Speaker 3>working towards, and like you're going to use all your
<v Speaker 3>abilities and it's going to be nostalgic and it's it's, uh,
<v Speaker 3>it's great, It's it's really cool. So like I I
<v Speaker 3>encourage you to see it to the end if you
<v Speaker 3>if you are sort of hitting that sort of wall
<v Speaker 3>of exhaustion, and and also like just just you know,
<v Speaker 3>just make your way through. You can always go back.
<v Speaker 3>It's very easy to go back, Like you just guess,
<v Speaker 3>do the basics of what you need to do, and
<v Speaker 3>and like go see the cool ending and then if
<v Speaker 3>you want to keep playing, you you can, and if not,
<v Speaker 3>you got to see the conclusion and you're you'll be
<v Speaker 3>happy like me for once in your life, they finally
<v Speaker 3>Nintendo will finally make you happy.
<v Speaker 1>Was the first time you've ever been happy?
<v Speaker 5>That's right.
<v Speaker 2>You're not gonna start punching walls in your own house
<v Speaker 2>to be.
<v Speaker 3>Like, I've already got the thirteen year old girl as
<v Speaker 3>my daughter's thirteen year old has got her on my shoulder,
<v Speaker 3>and I'll start punching stuff.
<v Speaker 1>I'll be a good time there. Yeah, yeah, ye, but.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, review should be I mean, I think by the
<v Speaker 3>time this podcast goes up, I would think that my
<v Speaker 3>review will be on the site, and I I would
<v Speaker 3>be surprised if it didn't make like my personal top
<v Speaker 3>five at the end of the year. You know, I
<v Speaker 3>think Claire Obscure is still my number one. But I
<v Speaker 3>like Bonanza a lot. And it's also it's like I'm gonna,
<v Speaker 3>I'm gonna, I'm gonna go for one hundred percent. It's
<v Speaker 3>gonna be like a great game to have on my
<v Speaker 3>switch and just like pop on and grab a couple
<v Speaker 3>of bananas and like, you know, go do something else.
<v Speaker 1>I do have one final question for you, Kyle, I'll
<v Speaker 1>allow it. How accurate is Pauline as a thirteen year
<v Speaker 1>old compared to a real life a real life thirteen
<v Speaker 1>year old.
<v Speaker 5>She's a lot more optimistic, she's a lot less doubt.
<v Speaker 1>You know, she seems younger to me than we got
<v Speaker 1>a game. She seems like eight with a high vocabulary.
<v Speaker 2>Is it a thing? Is that what it is?
<v Speaker 3>Or she's she's very chibby. Yeah, I would like nine
<v Speaker 3>eight nine or something like that. Because I asked my
<v Speaker 3>thirteen year old. I was like, wait, how old do
<v Speaker 3>you think she is? And she was guessing, like, you know,
<v Speaker 3>like eleven or something.
<v Speaker 2>Wait, is she canonically thirteen?
<v Speaker 1>Like?
<v Speaker 2>Is that ever? Stated?
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's in the loading screens she's a thirteen year
<v Speaker 5>old girl.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, oh, I guess maybe I'm just I haven't seen that.
<v Speaker 5>You haven't been reading all those tips. They are invaluable market.
<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of lore in there.
<v Speaker 4>Kyle, you mentioned you mentioned dark Souls earlier. Would you
<v Speaker 4>say that the Docky Young Bananza is kind of the
<v Speaker 4>blood born of Japan?
<v Speaker 3>No, because it's like that, you know, because it's you know,
<v Speaker 3>it's just pure fun that doesn't like, you know, make
<v Speaker 3>you want to throw.
<v Speaker 2>He was like, which which member of the boy crew
<v Speaker 2>is the most like the Bloodstar Beast.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure there's a different game that's
<v Speaker 4>like the Bloodborn of Japan. We'll probably find it someday.
<v Speaker 5>No way of knowing, ye I hope.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would say, yeah, good game, good game. I've
<v Speaker 2>been playing it too. You know, I was out traveling,
<v Speaker 2>but I played it on the flight back from where
<v Speaker 2>I was in Japan, so a lot of time with it.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, I'm still I probably have the least
<v Speaker 2>amount of progress of the four of us, but I
<v Speaker 2>have not gotten sick of breaking things. I love the
<v Speaker 2>destructibility in this game. I think this might have the
<v Speaker 2>best destructibility in any game I've ever played. Like, better
<v Speaker 2>than Red fash Gorilla, better than Battlefield.
<v Speaker 1>Oh I don't know about that.
<v Speaker 2>I know it's better than battle You can't you can
<v Speaker 2>bring everything at Battlefield.
<v Speaker 1>You should play the finals. I think that game is
<v Speaker 1>a contender for me.
<v Speaker 2>I have played the Finals. I mean I played it
<v Speaker 2>once with you. Yeah, I don't have I have some
<v Speaker 2>but I think just the well, honestly, that's maybe a
<v Speaker 2>good comparison of like the idea of using the destructibility
<v Speaker 2>to solve problems, like the way you do in the
<v Speaker 2>finals of like well, I'm I could do this one way,
<v Speaker 2>or I could just blow a hole in the roof
<v Speaker 2>and then that fixes the issue. Like I've noticed with
<v Speaker 2>this game, like they'll present like here is a like
<v Speaker 2>buy the numbers platforming thing, and then I just circumvented
<v Speaker 2>it by punching through a wall. And it's like it's
<v Speaker 2>cool that they're like, yeah, you can do that too,
<v Speaker 2>I guess if you want, And I take every opportunity
<v Speaker 2>to do that just to see, like, well they let me,
<v Speaker 2>I see a solution that requires breaking something, and then
<v Speaker 2>it's like yeah, they said do that, okay, and it's
<v Speaker 2>almost it's almost like the other version is almost there
<v Speaker 2>for like a joke to be yeah, you could have
<v Speaker 2>sat on that platform forever, or you could just be
<v Speaker 2>at the other side.
<v Speaker 3>Now there are definitely Breath of the Wildunteers of the
<v Speaker 3>Kingdom lessons throughout this whole game.
<v Speaker 2>One percent. Yeah, yeah, which.
<v Speaker 3>Is which is cool and I like that, but I
<v Speaker 3>also do, like, you know, I also like that when
<v Speaker 3>you go into those little triangle doors that that's where
<v Speaker 3>you get the sort of like, all right, we're designing
<v Speaker 3>a gauntlet for you that's very specific, and you know,
<v Speaker 3>like I enjoy those a lot too. You know, I
<v Speaker 3>don't always want to circumvent. Sometimes I want to jump
<v Speaker 3>on the the playground that they made for me, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, which is also very Zelda of, like these are
<v Speaker 2>the shrines of Like here's a very focused, like purposely
<v Speaker 2>designed puzzle to show off the different ways you can
<v Speaker 2>use the mechanics. Like I did a cool one yesterday
<v Speaker 2>where you're like on a wheel of dirt and you're
<v Speaker 2>trying to collect that fun. I love that one. It's like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>that's such a cool idea. You went three bananas, Like,
<v Speaker 2>of course, Alex, come on, hore you talking.
<v Speaker 5>I don't leave those rooms without all three bananas.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I have a very strictly no banana behind policy
<v Speaker 2>that has gotten me very far in life. And I
<v Speaker 2>like the tassy levels high as well.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think that makes the if you go, it
<v Speaker 1>makes the shrines more fun. To me, is like having
<v Speaker 1>a personal requirement. I have to get every banana in
<v Speaker 1>this room, no matter what.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, themselves either, like yeah, like I did.
<v Speaker 1>One other one least I've seen ones are the combat
<v Speaker 1>ones where it's just like, kill these three guys in
<v Speaker 1>thirty seconds, and it's like, okay, I would rather have
<v Speaker 1>a puzzle one. Bring back the.
<v Speaker 2>Wheel, bring back the wheel.
<v Speaker 3>Like the triangle doors, you know, you get the cool stuff,
<v Speaker 3>but those are the ones you pound and go down
<v Speaker 3>and then you do the enemy and you're like, I'll
<v Speaker 3>just knock out these three guys real quick.
<v Speaker 2>I'll yeah, they're not bad, they're inoffensive. They're like.
<v Speaker 5>At least it never not feels good to punch something
<v Speaker 5>in the face.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I I I'm like I've been tempted to skip
<v Speaker 1>those because I'm like, that doesn't too much for me.
<v Speaker 1>I just want the triangle.
<v Speaker 5>Just skip them, man, Like just what you want to do?
<v Speaker 2>You know?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I do wish. I'll say I wish Pauline had
<v Speaker 1>something other.
<v Speaker 2>Than I mean, it works, what you want from her?
<v Speaker 5>That was crazy, Alex. You there's a lot of Alex
<v Speaker 5>couple episodes.
<v Speaker 4>It's just about to praise the sound design in this game, because,
<v Speaker 4>like you're talking about the music, music is very good,
<v Speaker 4>but I also just like how everything, like the sound
<v Speaker 4>is all good and like when you pull a chunk
<v Speaker 4>of rock out, it sounds different than when you pull
<v Speaker 4>like a chunk of a tree out, and like the
<v Speaker 4>way it feels to like collect a bunch of gold
<v Speaker 4>is like I like, I don't even I don't even
<v Speaker 4>think I'm collecting this gold because I need it or
<v Speaker 4>want it. I'm just like compulsively, like I want the
<v Speaker 4>sound of the money going in my big bank. I
<v Speaker 4>don't know that way about the bananas, but I thought
<v Speaker 4>i'd get sick of that, and I can't stop. I
<v Speaker 4>really want to add it to our discord soundboard, my
<v Speaker 4>main discord.
<v Speaker 1>That I am a part of. That has been a
<v Speaker 1>sound effect for like five years. And because it's from
<v Speaker 1>the the Oh Banana, the old Older Donkey Kong games,
<v Speaker 1>I had no idea which one either.
<v Speaker 2>Like return Tropical Freeze.
<v Speaker 1>I could summon it right now, but the listeners wouldn't
<v Speaker 1>be able to hear it.
<v Speaker 2>Oh interesting, there you go. I don't remember and I
<v Speaker 2>like those games, Okay, we just oh wow, Why do
<v Speaker 2>I have no memory of that?
<v Speaker 5>I mean it's different in Bonanza, but yeah, it's more
<v Speaker 5>in your.
<v Speaker 2>Place in Bonanza. Like there's a pose that comes with
<v Speaker 2>it too, And.
<v Speaker 5>I wonder if I was in Jungle Beat, maybe was
<v Speaker 5>that in jungle beat.
<v Speaker 1>It might be sound.
<v Speaker 4>There was certainly jungle beats.
<v Speaker 1>It's more like a central like like a like a
<v Speaker 1>long winded oh, instead of oh banana, Like it's like banana.
<v Speaker 4>That's like they're remembering what a banana is the audio.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, oh banana. Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>The I was gonna say, but on Pauline singing, I
<v Speaker 4>do I do wish she changed the rifts up a
<v Speaker 4>little bit. I joke that it sounds like when you
<v Speaker 4>come back from a commercial break in hand the montana. Yeah,
<v Speaker 4>she's like doing that to open this stuff up. I
<v Speaker 4>do wish it was a bunch of different ones, but
<v Speaker 4>I think it's fine. I also do really like the Again,
<v Speaker 4>I was watching this streamer play the game. Who I
<v Speaker 4>no context of it, Like I was paying attention to
<v Speaker 4>the like all the ads and directs and just for
<v Speaker 4>work and whatever. And he there's a scene where Donkey
<v Speaker 4>Kong is confronted with odd Rock for the first time.
<v Speaker 4>Odd Rock, by the way, sounds like a battle droid
<v Speaker 4>from Star Wars, which I thought was very fun. Confronted
<v Speaker 4>with od Rock at the first time, and its just
<v Speaker 4>like sits on Donkey Kong and then the button prompt
<v Speaker 4>comes up and says, hold ell, princes make music. And
<v Speaker 4>he's like what.
<v Speaker 1>Because it is so crazy. It's a crazy bun to
<v Speaker 1>introduce out of nowhere.
<v Speaker 4>And then Donkey Kong start does he whistles? He like
<v Speaker 4>he whistles, he whistles. It was like, is that a
<v Speaker 4>I don't know that that's the thing Donkey Kong does,
<v Speaker 4>but it's.
<v Speaker 1>Just like aclined.
<v Speaker 5>I guess I knew the drum.
<v Speaker 4>I'm not I'm not a Donkey Kong guy.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and it's showing by the way.
<v Speaker 2>We've been meaning to tell you for some time.
<v Speaker 4>I've never felt such such a malice in your voice before, Like, yeah,
<v Speaker 4>so shut up and get off.
<v Speaker 1>How about you? How about you put some respect on
<v Speaker 1>Donkey Kong knew.
<v Speaker 2>He's research year right now, put some respect on his name.
<v Speaker 4>Anyways, I like it, That's all I was trying to say, Like,
<v Speaker 4>I like the banana noises.
<v Speaker 1>I think, oh, I signed you homework last week, but
<v Speaker 1>it was in the it was in the loss recording.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if we ever talked about it on
<v Speaker 1>the raw.
<v Speaker 4>You signed me homework to listen to the Don't Kung
<v Speaker 4>Tropical Freeze soundtrack. Then I listened to some of it.
<v Speaker 1>To be fair, it's like a five hour long I
<v Speaker 1>listened to I skipped through like the first like fifteen
<v Speaker 1>tracks or so.
<v Speaker 4>This is before you sent me links. I had like
<v Speaker 4>looking up those, listen to some of it, and it
<v Speaker 4>didn't really do it for me. And then I asked,
<v Speaker 4>were there songs that you liked? And then you sent
<v Speaker 4>me links. I haven't listened to those yet, so I
<v Speaker 4>haven't listened to like the good ones.
<v Speaker 2>But pull up the.
<v Speaker 1>Link right now. Listen to the first five seconds. You
<v Speaker 1>gotta say which song, which song you're.
<v Speaker 2>Listen like a personal favorite soundtrack for you?
<v Speaker 1>Alex's Tropical first one of my favorites. Yeah, okay, So
<v Speaker 1>do you.
<v Speaker 5>Go back to the Superintendo soundtrack? I mean with like
<v Speaker 5>there's you.
<v Speaker 4>Know, oh I love like symphony Yeah yeah.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, those aquatic ambience is great.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, So I need you to listen to Big Top Bop.
<v Speaker 5>I am doing that right now.
<v Speaker 1>Is Boss Poppy the Persumptuous? Wow, it's a doom song. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>there's a doom song in Dunk Country Tropical Freeze, So
<v Speaker 1>that's one of them. Now go to the one below
<v Speaker 1>that for Windmill Hills which is my favorite.
<v Speaker 2>Everyone listening to so also do this. This is everyone's yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Windmill Hills from Talk Kong Tropical Freeze. Oh yeah, there
<v Speaker 1>we go.
<v Speaker 4>That's what I was looking for. Yeah, yeah, I'm so honestly,
<v Speaker 4>I think the thing that I didn't like from the
<v Speaker 4>earlier tracks is I can tell it's a fake trumpet.
<v Speaker 4>Sounds like a synthesized trumpet, and I for some reason,
<v Speaker 4>I'm like, why are you using splendor Sugar? Is so
<v Speaker 4>easy to get to get the real thing. It's so nice.
<v Speaker 4>You already wrote this whole soundtrack. Can we get a
<v Speaker 4>trumpet player? And I can also feel that this is
<v Speaker 4>synthetic instruments, which isn't.
<v Speaker 2>That big of a deal.
<v Speaker 4>I'm just such a big fan of like, uh, I
<v Speaker 4>don't know, like all that.
<v Speaker 2>We've we've instruments.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, we've got to like a big band Nintendo era,
<v Speaker 4>especially lately of like Mario Odyssey and the Mario Karts
<v Speaker 4>have been leaning more into like the live jazz, like
<v Speaker 4>you can provide saxophone solos on like the second lap
<v Speaker 4>or whatever.
<v Speaker 2>Well they can afford it now they got that Mario
<v Speaker 2>movie money.
<v Speaker 1>That's what the That's.
<v Speaker 3>What I sent you the best Donkey Kong song.
<v Speaker 4>Just sent me, h quote Donkey Kong Complete Soundtrack.
<v Speaker 1>It's just the.
<v Speaker 5>Arcade because also listen to that.
<v Speaker 2>Is it weird that when you make your little house
<v Speaker 2>the the DK wrap that plays, it's it's just the
<v Speaker 2>course of the decay. I remember the first time and
<v Speaker 2>I sat waiting for the rest, and then it just
<v Speaker 2>looped the go and I was like, I guess I.
<v Speaker 5>Got rid of the bad parts.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I was like, is this is this avoid crediting
<v Speaker 2>like Hope if we only use like a second of it?
<v Speaker 3>I mean ultimately, I mean they have no legal obligation
<v Speaker 3>to credit Kirk Hope. I mean he wrote the song
<v Speaker 3>as an employee of Rare for you know what I mean, Like, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>he should to be clear.
<v Speaker 5>I think it's great to credit people.
<v Speaker 3>But it's not like he's like it's not like Nintendo
<v Speaker 3>is screwing him over something.
<v Speaker 4>I think he wasn't credited in the credits of the
<v Speaker 4>Mario movie I know, which is a bummer.
<v Speaker 5>He should have been.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure.
<v Speaker 4>The I I looked up the DK rap the other
<v Speaker 4>day because I was just like, what's so funny? I
<v Speaker 4>was looking at talking on sixty four because I was like,
<v Speaker 4>I don't know much about this game except that it
<v Speaker 4>introduced all these songs. And they mentioned the dk rap
<v Speaker 4>as one of the worst video games of all of
<v Speaker 4>all time, one of the worst game songs of all time,
<v Speaker 4>as like a thing it was known as, and I
<v Speaker 4>was like, I had no idea that was the opinion.
<v Speaker 4>I just thought it was really it didn't occur to
<v Speaker 4>me that people thought it was bad. I just came
<v Speaker 4>to it as like, wow, this is the stupidest thing
<v Speaker 4>I've ever heard parentheses affectionate Like I didn't. It didn't
<v Speaker 4>occur to.
<v Speaker 5>Me though, that's where someone was disliked.
<v Speaker 1>I always thought it was charming.
<v Speaker 2>It's a meme now, yeah, yeah, I mean that's why
<v Speaker 2>I was in the movie.
<v Speaker 3>They knew what they were, like, I love I love
<v Speaker 3>Donkey Kong Country, like Donkey Kunk Country one, two, and
<v Speaker 3>three for the Superintendo are like, like, uh, you know,
<v Speaker 3>I don't know what the best term is, but like
<v Speaker 3>those games that defined you, right, Like yeah, I got
<v Speaker 3>my first console that I owned was a Superintendo with
<v Speaker 3>Donkey Kong Country, right, and so like that game is
<v Speaker 3>like incredibly important to me. I loved all three of
<v Speaker 3>those games. And then I remember renting and I don't
<v Speaker 3>like Donkey KONGK sixty four to be clear, to like
<v Speaker 3>set that up, I'm not a fan of that game.
<v Speaker 5>I don't like that game.
<v Speaker 3>I remember renting it and being really excited for like,
<v Speaker 3>all right, you know these this the series that's so
<v Speaker 3>important to me. Let's see what's next, and like that
<v Speaker 3>rap is like the start screen, and I just remember
<v Speaker 3>not even being offended, but just being like, what is happening?
<v Speaker 3>Like what did I sign up for? Like the music
<v Speaker 3>of Donkey Kong Country is so ethereal and like wooty
<v Speaker 3>and spooky, and then this opens up with like a
<v Speaker 3>clown show. I was like it was weird. It just
<v Speaker 3>it really it did. It did sort of like not
<v Speaker 3>give me the best first impression, I'll be honest, And
<v Speaker 3>that is my impression of Donkey Kong.
<v Speaker 4>For the record, is the DK wrap was largely I
<v Speaker 4>was like, oh, let's just just google like that. The
<v Speaker 4>other thing I want to mention is when I was
<v Speaker 4>in elementary school, we had a project where.
<v Speaker 5>We had like three years ago Charles or something like that.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, we had it wasn't that funny. We had to
<v Speaker 4>make a trifle poster board about a treasure, and it
<v Speaker 4>was like you could kind of define treasure how you
<v Speaker 4>wanted to resulting. And for some reason, I don't know
<v Speaker 4>why I wanted to do it or how I talked
<v Speaker 4>to my teacher and do it. But my treasure was
<v Speaker 4>Donkey Kong the arcade game. I was like, such like
<v Speaker 4>a valuable treasure to whatever. I just want to do
<v Speaker 4>something a video. I was like eight years old, and
<v Speaker 4>I was like, this would be fine.
<v Speaker 1>I like that.
<v Speaker 2>No.
<v Speaker 4>I did spend weeks of the year just going going
<v Speaker 4>to class, using the computers in the computer lab and
<v Speaker 4>just printing out in in.
<v Speaker 5>Full color Wikipedia.
<v Speaker 4>Page entries of all the different songs. I have like
<v Speaker 4>staple pages of like, wow, this is too Dixie Kong.
<v Speaker 4>Is I'm really learning?
<v Speaker 5>I like study Dixie Kong.
<v Speaker 4>I know, I've never played a game where Dixie Kong
<v Speaker 4>was a playable character. But it was the thing I
<v Speaker 4>did like in elementary school, and I also like was
<v Speaker 4>so unproductive. I did have to like stay after school
<v Speaker 4>like three days before it was due to like actually
<v Speaker 4>finish the project because all I had been doing was
<v Speaker 4>reading Wikipedia entries and different members of the Kong family
<v Speaker 4>that really sounds like you're ready.
<v Speaker 2>To go to the Donkey Kong theme park in Superintendent
<v Speaker 2>World now, like you've you've proved yourself worthy to step
<v Speaker 2>through the gates.
<v Speaker 4>Like I knew, I knew the Cranky Kong Donkey Kong,
<v Speaker 4>like I knew Cranky Kong was in the original Talk
<v Speaker 4>Kong before I had I don't know, played a I
<v Speaker 4>don't know if I had a weird not at that point.
<v Speaker 2>That was like what I was. Yeah, that's important, you know,
<v Speaker 2>that's important gamer lineage to know.
<v Speaker 3>They yeah, yeah, that crystal, you know the crystal with
<v Speaker 3>the tie with the eyeballs that's in front of Dockkey
<v Speaker 3>Kong Land Markets.
<v Speaker 5>You met that character like in Florida, right that you?
<v Speaker 5>They quiz you?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, Yeah. It was a long line, but you know,
<v Speaker 2>I get it.
<v Speaker 1>Let's move on to the final game that we're going
<v Speaker 1>to talk about today. Kyle, you've been playing a World
<v Speaker 1>War z v R.
<v Speaker 5>All right? Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>Now, is it z VR? Is all three words?
<v Speaker 1>How do they stylize it? Is it space?
<v Speaker 5>Is world space war space z space VR?
<v Speaker 1>Okay, it's boring, but that's fine.
<v Speaker 3>Sorry, Yeah, I just want to talk about it briefly
<v Speaker 3>because I didn't know. It was like a lot of
<v Speaker 3>these VR games, I just kind of show up in
<v Speaker 3>my inbox like yeah, and it's I actually really like
<v Speaker 3>World war Z a lot.
<v Speaker 1>The movie or the games, the game.
<v Speaker 5>I read the book as well. I read the book.
<v Speaker 3>The movie's fine, but the games really surprised me because like,
<v Speaker 3>I really like Left for Dead and World war Z
<v Speaker 3>is one of the many that, like you know, was
<v Speaker 3>trying to do like a Left for Dead style thing.
<v Speaker 3>And I remember i'd e three like twenty seventeen or something.
<v Speaker 3>Maybe I just had an appointment for it because I
<v Speaker 3>was like on my docket, and I really had low
<v Speaker 3>expectations because I was like, it's a license game based
<v Speaker 3>on this movie that was like and the movie had
<v Speaker 3>been out for a while already, like and I remember
<v Speaker 3>playing it and being like, oh, this is this is
<v Speaker 3>pretty good actually, like I remember being shocked at like
<v Speaker 3>how good about it? And then I reviewed it a
<v Speaker 3>few years later and like it's it's like my favorite,
<v Speaker 3>like not Left for Dead, Left for Dead style game.
<v Speaker 3>I haven't played them all, but like I think the
<v Speaker 3>lies of p of Left for Dead, Yeah, yeah, I
<v Speaker 3>can't because like it's it just it's it's it's interesting,
<v Speaker 3>and then that the zombie tech they have like really
<v Speaker 3>does feel like overwhelming, Like they have so many zombies
<v Speaker 3>on screen, and they have that thing that's in the
<v Speaker 3>film of them like you know, piling up and climbing
<v Speaker 3>on each other, and it's like it's really well emulated
<v Speaker 3>in the game. So I like World Wars Z a lot,
<v Speaker 3>so I was curious about the VR version and I
<v Speaker 3>played like the first I played through the training and
<v Speaker 3>stuff and the and the first level, and like I
<v Speaker 3>was impressed, Like it certainly is scaled back because it's
<v Speaker 3>like VR was playing it on Quest three, which is
<v Speaker 3>like my platform of preference when it comes to VR.
<v Speaker 3>But like you know, it's World War Z. You move
<v Speaker 3>through a series of like blockades and you have to
<v Speaker 3>like survive for a few minutes and get to the
<v Speaker 3>next one, and like the the end of this this
<v Speaker 3>first level in Japan like had a pretty impressive you
<v Speaker 3>know asterisk for VR zombie like apocalypse, Like you you're
<v Speaker 3>facing these like two like skyscrapers and like what's the
<v Speaker 3>game that you reviewed, Marcus with the dinosaurs where they
<v Speaker 3>just like Exo exo primal, Like there's just zombie is
<v Speaker 3>sort of pouring off the skyscrapers and like making their
<v Speaker 3>way to you, and it it's cool. In VR, It's
<v Speaker 3>like it's I I was, I was impressed by it,
<v Speaker 3>so I just wanted to talk about it a little
<v Speaker 3>bit and highlight it and like it's it's it's it's
<v Speaker 3>not like you know, it's it's not like a platform seller,
<v Speaker 3>you know. I would still say maybe like Arkham Shadow
<v Speaker 3>and like Presiduvill four for quests, you know, not not
<v Speaker 3>the not resume before remake VR, but Presumevill four requests,
<v Speaker 3>Like those two games are still like the games that
<v Speaker 3>I'm like, if you were interested at all in VR,
<v Speaker 3>like those are really good and you should play them.
<v Speaker 3>But I but World war Z, like I was impressed.
<v Speaker 3>It was fun to shoot big hordes of zombies together
<v Speaker 3>with a pair of NPCs, And I was impressed by
<v Speaker 3>the final set piece, you know, and I imagine there's
<v Speaker 3>a number of other set pieces throughout the game, because
<v Speaker 3>that's how you know World war Z works normally.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, do you find that the speed of the
<v Speaker 1>zombies is like counterintuitive to like sometimes this slowness of
<v Speaker 1>movement in VR, like are you playing with like the
<v Speaker 1>teleporter kind of style.
<v Speaker 5>Or you just I just walk. Yeah, I don't. I
<v Speaker 5>assume teleportation is an option maybe, but yeah, I.
<v Speaker 1>Think it probably is an accessibility feature because I can't
<v Speaker 1>I can't do the walking in VR. I just get
<v Speaker 1>too sick.
<v Speaker 5>I get this.
<v Speaker 1>I was wondering how that would function if there's like
<v Speaker 1>hundreds of zombies like tearing at me.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's it's it was fine, like they're they're slowed
<v Speaker 3>down a little bit, but you don't really perceive it
<v Speaker 3>because of like your face to face with them, if
<v Speaker 3>that makes sense. Like I'm sure if I just was
<v Speaker 3>playing it outside of R, i'd be like, oh, this
<v Speaker 3>feels they feel slow, but in VR they feel like
<v Speaker 3>the right speed. And it's not like it's not like
<v Speaker 3>hundreds of zombies, you know, it's probably like I don't know,
<v Speaker 3>probably less than fifty, But it feels overwhelming.
<v Speaker 5>Because you're in VR, you know.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and it's like it yeah, the shooting. The shooting
<v Speaker 3>feels good, and it's like the one thing I ran
<v Speaker 3>into is like the way grenades work is instead of
<v Speaker 3>like chucking them like you would in other games, you
<v Speaker 3>actually aim and then just let go of the trigger
<v Speaker 3>and then like the grenade kind of shoots away from you,
<v Speaker 3>which is like, which It's one of those things that
<v Speaker 3>it's like it.
<v Speaker 5>It feels weird. It feels like I should just be
<v Speaker 5>able to throw them.
<v Speaker 2>But then as I always do.
<v Speaker 1>The Apples and Pokemon snap where it just kind of
<v Speaker 1>like shoots out.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, but as I'm playing, it's like, oh, you know what,
<v Speaker 3>I actually really like being able to aim exactly where
<v Speaker 3>I want to throw a grenade. Like if it was
<v Speaker 3>like that, if I was throwing it, I would have
<v Speaker 3>my own throw capabilities, which would be I would always
<v Speaker 3>you know, So I actually didn't ultimately like from like mechanically,
<v Speaker 3>I was like, you know what, it's a little awkward,
<v Speaker 3>but I would rather be able to aim exactly for
<v Speaker 3>that pile of twenty zombies.
<v Speaker 5>Over there and get a grenade.
<v Speaker 2>Under their feet, you know.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, that's fair.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, So World Wars ZVR, it seems solid.
<v Speaker 1>Well cool. I think that's going to do it for
<v Speaker 1>the show this week. I think.
<v Speaker 3>By the way, August twelfth, so I was playing a
<v Speaker 3>preview build to make that.
<v Speaker 1>Sorry I started our exit way too way too soon.
<v Speaker 3>No, I just I didn't have the data off the
<v Speaker 3>top of my head and I was like, wait, I
<v Speaker 3>wasn't playing the final game, right?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah?
<v Speaker 5>Okay, next, well that comes out well.
<v Speaker 1>Like I said, time to wind down the show. Make
<v Speaker 1>sure to follow the crew here on social media. You
<v Speaker 1>can follow Marcus at Marcus Stewart seven. You can follow
<v Speaker 1>Kyle at Kyle Hilliard or Kyle M. Hilliard depending on
<v Speaker 1>what platform. You can follow Charles at Chuck Duck three, six, five,
<v Speaker 1>and you can follow me at It's Van Aiken. Don't
<v Speaker 1>forget to follow Game Informer in those places too. If
<v Speaker 1>you want to keep up with day to day video
<v Speaker 1>game news, you know, releases of new videos and features
<v Speaker 1>and that sort of thing. That's the best way to
<v Speaker 1>keep up with Game Informer, And don't forget head over
<v Speaker 1>to gaminformer dot com slash subscribe. Get a magazine subscription
<v Speaker 1>today and you will not only be helping us keep
<v Speaker 1>the lights on and keep growing, but also you're going
<v Speaker 1>to be getting a fantastic product in return that you
<v Speaker 1>can hold in your hands if you're in the state side.
<v Speaker 1>So that'll do it for the week. Thank you all
<v Speaker 1>for listening or watching on YouTube, and we will see
<v Speaker 1>you next week. Goodbye, oh