Almost Gamers
Join us in a casual conversation with friends about gaming. It's a humorous journey into what we are currently playing, sometimes poorly and not usually on trend. We also talk new and upcoming releases, gaming news, best of lists, and are never afraid to go off on crazy tangents.
Almost Gamers
Episode Twelve: The Dungeon Part 1
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Beware as we enter The Dungeon, where our party is low on sleep and full of vodka iced tea. We get fan mail, Andy finishes KCD2, and there is much rejoicing. Matt is loving his 33rd Expedition while Andy collects some Monster Train Cards. For this Boss Battle, the duo must pick video game settings they'd like to visit for a year. It's a harder to plan than you think.
Matt, what was that cloth under your uh record player?
SPEAKER_01So it's it's like a cleaning cloth. It actually came with like a cleaning kit that I bought. It was crazy, it was vacuum sealed, so it was like a nickel thin. And like I opened it up, like and then I opened it up and it's like I guess slightly bigger, but it's like a towel. And I'm like Beautiful. I yeah, so now I can clean my records. Wipe them clean. Yeah, wipe them clean. Don't let the government know.
Intro
SPEAKER_01Hello, hello, hello, yins. Welcome back to the podcast. That's right. Andrew, today is gonna be an interesting one. I have officially not been awake for 24 hours. So um let's see. Let's see what happens. It's gonna be, it's gonna be one, that's for sure. I uh first off, I want to thank our ever-growing listener base. Um, you guys are fantastic. Yeah, um, I really want to thank everyone for continuing to stick with us.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And uh I think you saw, Andrew, we have officially first fan mail. Finally! I mean, thank you, everyone. We understand how shy it is, and and and you know, time is tough. But uh yes. Yeah, from Sarah. Sarah, who Renee's friend, yes, my niece's friend, who suggested it was our first suggestion, our first episode suggested. And we listened, and we listened, talked, and we talked about Zelda, and she uh she said she enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_03So and she offered us advice, yep, uh, and said definitely what was the second one?
SPEAKER_01I uh Tears of the Kingdom. That's what I didn't know. T-O-T-K. Key, yes, that means Tears of the Kingdom.
SPEAKER_03You're right. That you know that's how almost gamer I am. But uh I appreciate it, and I do intend to play it, but we talked it's probably two episodes ago now that I said my daughter's not quite ready for it.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, but I do intend to buy it, and I think that's the one I'm gonna go with when I'm ready. And she's ready, I should say.
SPEAKER_01All right, all right.
SPEAKER_03So thank you very much for offering some advice. Yes, appreciate it, and if anyone else also, uh, and I've been begging and and and pleading with people, uh asking for fives on Spotify, and we received three new ones. No way, yeah, really. We have four total. That's pretty good, and we're at a five on Spotify as of now. Probably could change based on this episode, maybe. But uh, yeah, so uh my wife did the first one. Uh she did five, and I think she she genuinely thinks we're a fun podcast. So it counts. So I think it counts. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know who the other three were, but apparently our begging, my begging worked. And thank you. And I'll try not to beg too much this beg a little. It's fine. A little bit. But thank you for voting, or not voting, rating. Yes, you can you can eat this month.
What Yinz Playing?
SPEAKER_06What's playing?
SPEAKER_01Right. This is the part of the show where we talk about what we are playing. So this always seems to be like one of us is is really good and the other one's pretty terrible uh since last time. So um I have a feeling this time you did better than me.
SPEAKER_03I think I did based on early talking.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Um, I I did a good amount of playing, but I really only played one game.
SPEAKER_03So okay, well that's good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I played one game, but it's a new game that we haven't talked about.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. It's a new game. Wasn't your future quest, though, to finish a certain other game?
SPEAKER_03Oh, well, yeah. I finished it.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I finished uh Kingdom Come, Deliverance 2.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03And uh there wasn't much more. I think uh actually after we did talk about it last time, I said a couple hours and I was right. It was it was not much more. I finished probably two days after the podcast. So cool. Uh it was a fantastic game. Uh you know, you can listen to it many times, and now I'm sure a lot of people are happy I'm moving on because they're probably tired of hearing about it. That's fine. Well, I think they're excited for you.
SPEAKER_01I'm excited for it.
SPEAKER_03Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03There was one moment where I kind of went out of character and I I laughed because it it was one of I was kind of giggling and laughing because there was this part, it's really hard to give you the whole element of what was going on, but it was a s technically a stealth, which is like sneaking moment, and I was having issues, and I found the AI had trouble trying to figure out how to fight me on a uh up on a above a ladder. Like I climbed a ladder up to like an upper balcony of a farm, essentially. So every character would just come up one at a time, and I would just kill them as they came up. Yeah, so that I spent actually like three hours trying to master it because every once in a while some would like get up there and I didn't hit them at the right time, and they would fight me and kill me. It was a very difficult moment because it was a whole camp that aggroed me. And so I didn't So you one by one killed everybody then the king. And I just said, I'm going with this. Okay. I respect it. It's not RPG friendly. It wasn't I wasn't really role-playing the character at this point. I was just kind of being an idiot. And I I laughed so hard. But every character would just wait at the bottom of the ladder and climb up one at a time, nice and neat, and I would just kill them as they got to the top of the ladder. And uh that that was probably like a silly moment, but overall, great game, fantastic. I I hope I can't wait to see what they're gonna do. But yeah, I finished it. Alright. Yeah, I'm happy that I finished it too. It felt good.
SPEAKER_01We need like a fanfare here.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04There it is.
SPEAKER_03That's very appropriate, very appropriate, very renaissancey.
SPEAKER_01Uh all right, should I uh Yeah, you go ahead, Matt. Me go? All right, so I have spent now probably an additional, I don't know, 20 hours on Expedition 33. Yeah, yeah. So I have some thoughts. Right. Uh, all positive, definitely all positive. Loving the game more and more and more. It has some old school RPG, JRPG elements to it. Um, they're all for people who don't.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01What is J E R P G? Oh, it's it's a Japanese role-playing game. Right. So it doesn't necessarily have to be Japanese to be a JRPG. It's more or less saying classic style, like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, yeah, turn-based, usually turn-based. Usually. Now they're modifying it. Yeah, they can't be modified, turn-based, but typically story heavy equipment and leveling up are a major parts of the nice of the game.
SPEAKER_03Go ahead. Sorry.
SPEAKER_01No, that's great. Good, good point. Uh, there's some sections, if you will, that switch to a fixed camera angle. Uh very Final Fantasy VII-ish, you know, where like the camera doesn't move, but you might be like way, way far in the distance, and you gotta kind of figure out. They're not really a they're more of a slight silly exploration section that means nothing, but it's just kind of neat. It's a good throwback. So, you know, you tell if they're kind of on point with that kind of things. Uh another throwback that I'm not it's interesting. There is a 9999 max damage per hit.
SPEAKER_03Uh it doesn't go up to a thousand.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't go up to a thousand. Apparently, later in the in the in the end game, if you will, there is a thing you get that can and that's where the game really starts to pick up, apparently.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, but for right now, it's just uh like my my main character, Mael, I'm like kicking ass with her, and I'm making her she's like my damage thing, and I almost have to like stop increasing her damage because I can't do any more.
SPEAKER_05Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01But then I realized, well, what I need to do then is hit get more hits in. So it's neat, it's a limit, but it makes you kind of think different rather than just trying to max out her damage stat, you gotta kind of think differently. So everything in this game I feel like is just thought out for a reason. Love that, love that. Uh one of the characters um I felt uh Gustav is his name, and um I really enjoyed him. He was like very easygoing, kind of handsome, and I'm like, he gave off a familiar vibe, and I couldn't quite figure it out. And then I realized he's mocapped and voiced by Charlie Cox, who um Daredevil.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's right. Also did Tristan. I've seen him in the news lately. And yeah, and this could be like a news segment, but he has said he had doesn't play video games.
SPEAKER_01No, but based on this, he wants to start yes, yes, and he he feels a little bad about all ever all the credit everyone's giving him. He's like, I didn't really think anything of this role, but thank you everyone for yeah, you know, loving it. And he did he did a great job. He was he's a perfect character, and just it's so him. As soon as I realized it was him, like, oh yeah, it's it's just I never saw Daredevil soon yeah. Oh, yeah. Uh so that was cool. I I enjoyed that. Um, I did talk a lot about the parrying, and it has not gotten easier. If anything, it's gotten harder because the enemies will do kind of like that thing where you think they're gonna attack, but they'll pause for a second, and you just got every enemy is different. I kind of hate it, but it can be a game changer. Like there will be a battle where it it took me like 10 turns and I just couldn't even beat it. Reload, same deal. Reload, nail one of those parries, win right there. So it's it can really turn the battle, so it makes me want to get better at it, but I won't because I can't. I know I should just dodge because dodge, as I mentioned, yeah, it's so much easier and you don't get hit. But damn, I want to parry.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01The thing is our team dodge from last time. Or team dodge. Um, and another neat thing, so uh in a lot of RPGs, you have like classes, you know, you have your fighter and your healer, and this is sort of like that. You have your your three of the characters are straightforward, they're not too out of the normal, what you normally see in an RPG. But the other ones are I wouldn't say complicated. Um, if anyone's familiar with some of the Final Fantasy games that have job classes, it's something like that where you don't won't just have a fighter, you'll have a dancer or like a green mage or something weird like that. And like there's counters that you have to build up, or in this case, there's uh playing cards or you have to rank up to like an S class, or there's just very weird things you have to like learn in the system. It was annoying to me at first. I'm like, I just kind of want to play this new character I got, but if you take the time and learn it, it's rewarding, it's neat, and it adds a whole other element that just I've never seen in a game before. So and on that note, uh that's my favorite part. You usually I get bored with games starting around the halfway point, but they keep introducing new shit. I and it just makes it neat. Like I'm like, oh, I just like there's a whole gradient thing that you get about halfway through the game. It just adds a whole it's a whole other separate mechanic. Like and it's crazy that that that late in the game they introduce a whole new mechanic, but it just keeps shit fresh and exciting. That's cool. And I think that's uh cool for me, especially because I get I get bored. Yeah, uh that's pretty uh pretty easily. Yeah. Um, and I also want to say that the music, very good. There's you know, you have your battle music, your typical battle music. And a lot of times it's the same battle music, maybe with a little bit of variation throughout a game, especially on you know classic JRPGs.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01But this one, it kind of reminds me of uh Octopath Traveler, where every region has its own battle theme. So again, that's constantly changing. Yeah, and even the bosses, every boss, I think it seemingly has their own, you know, it's not just not just a boss battle. Right. There's a different for every boss or at least bosses in the region. So that's constantly changing. So keeping it new and fresh. So I really, really um appreciate that, you know, just a little subtle keeping it fresh, keeping it real, keep me going. Uh, path markers are another thing is very interesting. That's been a lot of controversy lately. Yellow paint has been the thing. And it's tough. I understand it. You want to make the game, you want it to be obvious where you have to go, right, but not too blatant.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And they do a pretty good subtle. That's another thing that changes. Like in the early game, the early levels, uh, you notice there's lamps.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's the lamps are the way to go. So the other way is the bonus area. So you know, and I love that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Um, in another stage, it's rose petals. And it's not obvious at first. You kind of have to figure it out on your own. Once you start to notice it, it's like, yeah, it's cool, it's subtle. And yeah, but I love knowing the way to go and then going the other way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I that's my biggest problem with a lot of games, is just I always want to go the opposite way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then like which one? Yeah, you go a little bit this way and turn back. Go to the that way, which one was the right one? There's nothing worse than realizing you went the way they want you to go and you can't go back. And you're like, I missed probably a treasure chest that I don't need.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's the problem being OCD and trying to get every collectible, every item.
SPEAKER_01There are a lot of good collectibles so far. Um I'm enjoying all that back. So yeah, it's keeping me. I'm still excited. So are you gonna keep with this? Oh, absolutely. You're gonna finish it, you think? Oh, I there's no way I'm not finishing this game. Nothing because the story, and I'm gonna what I still don't quite know what I still don't know quite what's going on. I have some ideas. There's some major twists uh that happen.
SPEAKER_03So it's yeah, I mean, there's a reason is probably I well, there's some new contenders, but it might win game of the year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I uh so far it is for me. So far? So far, and I I don't know what you know the next couple months might be. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But Borderlands is never really game of the year material.
SPEAKER_01No, it's it's like just the game that we spend the most time with for a good decade.
SPEAKER_03Easily, especially with DLC.
SPEAKER_01Well, that sounds good. Yeah, anything else? Uh no, yeah. That that was that was all I played.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I decided to follow up on something I told everybody in my game that I played. Well, pretty much the whole time. I I haven't played anything else. Uh Monster Train 2. Oh, shit. Wow, really? Remember that?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I remember uh Slay the Spire too.
SPEAKER_03You're trying to come up with a name of a similar game, and Slay the Spire is a fair comparison because it seems to have I never played Monster Train 1, so I I don't know anything about it. Were you lost? No. Uh there is a story-ish, but I don't know. I'm not really following it. But yeah, so the the Monster Train 2 is very similar to Slay the Spire. So if you know Slay the Spire, you're good to go.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But it is a deck builder game for those people who are interested. And I just was maybe going to talk a little bit about what a deck builder is.
SPEAKER_01I I'm just thinking that, yes, because that's it, it's a it's I would say it's a niche genre. Very you know it. If not, people are like, huh?
SPEAKER_03Exactly. I think the two and I have them written here, the two most popular and most famous are probably Pokemon and Magic the Gathering. I think those are the only two.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you're talking about like real physical ones.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Like I'm just relating it to what people might know.
SPEAKER_01Oh, people that don't know, yeah. I would say though, for the digit, though, it's a digital item. Uh heart stone.
SPEAKER_03Oh, really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's see.
SPEAKER_03I don't know that game. Yeah. So and those those are probably your classic. And the basic gist of a deck builder in all forms is you collect cards, which is why it's called a deck builder. Right. And every card has usually some element of an attack, and some of them have a defense, and they somehow tell you exactly what they do. But it it's basically one enemy versus your guy versus an enemy, kind of one form or another. And I was actually thinking one of the earliest forms of that would be war. Yeah, it's funny. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, yeah. It'd be war. Yeah. The classic card game war. So if you know war, you kind of know how to do a deck builder. And they have extensive like buildy spells. Sometimes you can enhance with equipment. But uh as a person, you have uh health, you have a health bar as a person. Your cards have health, but you have a health, and once your health gets down to zero, you lose the game. And that's essentially how they all work. Okay. I mean, for most of the part. And this one isn't much different than that, except that enemies are they're actual bad guys, they're not cards. So you're not playing against somebody else who has cards as well.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so you're that's neat. That's an interesting twist, because usually it's always yeah. Yeah, like cards versus cards. Yeah. But they're just bad guys. And it's kind of like a tower defense in the sense that you're on a train, and then why hence why it's called monster train. And the train that you're the compartment you're on has th four tiers. So enemies enter obviously in the first tier, and then as turns progress, they move up, and then they move up again. And on the fourth tier, you can't place any of your cards, which take form of of like your heroes or whatever you want to call them, but they get to the top tier, and that's the heart of the train, and that's where if they destroy the heart of your train, you lose. It's also roguelite, too. So we're throwing that in there if you're confused. It's a genre mashup. Yeah, it's a genre mashup. So it's everything and a roguelite, like we've talked before, is a type of game where you play and you keep going and you keep going and you keep fighting bosses until you lose, or you beat the last boss. Otherwise, if you don't beat the last boss, you start over again. But not everything you've done goes for naught. You eventually you sometimes upgrade, and in this case, when you upgrade, you earn new cards with more powers, with more abilities. So you you add to your overall deck, and it's a permanent addition. So on that element, it's very fun. It's it's fun to like level up, so you always feel like you're progressing. The thing I think I like and I and I guess I haven't really made this clear, but so far I love the well, I actually I love the game. I I've played it numerous times. It's it's it's really fun because as a deck builder, it has a lot of fun broken runs. Like I call them broken. But cards just interact with each other and you feel like a good way, broken as in too easy. Yeah, like sometimes like you just I've been I've been numerous times giggling like a little kid, like laughing at how much damage I'm doing. Like you just said, like I'm seeing thousands and numb, you know, like a thousand point damage eventually. It's really well done like that. Like like they're broken, but in a good broken. I'm sorry, yeah. So and that's kind of key with the deck builder, because you want to feel overpowered at times because you lose a lot and you have to start. Like I said, you start over, but you you earn some stuff, but then you're always like, maybe I can do better. And then you try out. So I think overall, I think you, Matt, you would love it. I think ultimately. Like, I think it's something you should buy, and it's not full considering full price, it's only for full price, it's $25.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So cheaper in.
SPEAKER_03It's cheap. And then I got it on sale for like 10% off, and I'm sure it'll be on sale again at some point. So I I'm I'm over the moon about it. It's reminds me of Slay of the Spire. The only thing is with these, it's a cheaper game, so there's not like I said, the story, I'm not really like it's I'm not invested in the story, but you have to kind of make your own objectives after you beat the first run. It took me about ten hours to beat all the bosses that are currently on the game. They did say they're gonna add more bosses, I guess. I don't know if That's in the DLC version, but you kind of have to make your own objectives eventually. You're gonna be like, uh because there's so many collectibles, there's so many uh interesting uh cards and stuff. So you kinda have to like find your own reason to keep playing, and that's the only downside. Like you might get bored, you might be like, oh, I beat it. There's a difficult quality amplifier, so you you start at level zero and there's ten. So if you want to truly beat the game, I view it as you have to beat it on level ten, different quality. So that's where I'm going for.
SPEAKER_01I wonder if they'll add things to they mind. Because that that that scenario reminds me of Vampire Survivors, yeah, where supposedly early on, yeah, once you got beat it so many times, you're like, Yeah, I'm done. But I went I just went back to that game, I don't know if you know, like a couple months ago.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, they added a lot. Really? Yeah. I mean, I knew they were always adding stuff, but there's a lot of new characters, a lot of new paths and um scenarios and stuff. So I wonder if they'll do something like that.
SPEAKER_03It sounds like they're gonna really keep adding, and and there's some free stuff that they do have intended like paid DLC. Oh, good, good, good. So yeah, I think uh oh, the other thing that was kind of interesting about it is it's a two-deck build system. So you you technically always have two decks every run. One is your primary, and then you get a champion, which is like your main hero, and they do they have the best abilities and they can upgrade their super abilities, but then your second deck build can kind of enhance it. And I guess there is a reward for winning every single variation of all the decks, which is what I'm kind of doing. Uh oh. Yeah. It really attacked my OCD of just completionism. Okay. But I don't I don't know if I can do it all. Right now we need to play other games. Yeah, you're right. Uh it's getting kind of bad right now. But I I f I foresee myself running out of steam. Okay. Uh as far as artwork is really cool. It's cartoony but neat. Uh artistick-y, nice animations. Uh, music is good. I won't lie. Most of the time I'm just kind of playing on my laptop. My laptop speakers stink, even though they're supposed to be premium.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, even even the best. Or even yeah.
SPEAKER_03I'm not gonna put my headphones on for like the same track playing over and it's like, but it's upbeat metal music. It's kind of sounds or is it gent or did gent?
SPEAKER_01Gent it it is gent. Um, but gent's not usually upbeat.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's kind of like upbeat gent.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's upbeat gent. All right, I'm looking at this out loud.
SPEAKER_03It's it's elements, so yeah, it's kinda there's like actually like symphony, and it's it's very appropriate. It's not gonna wow you.
SPEAKER_01So it's gent and night wish.
SPEAKER_03Maybe.
SPEAKER_01That sounds about right.
SPEAKER_03I think that sounds good to me. So you know, I wouldn't listen to it otherwise, but I I don't really listen to it a ton because it's just kind of in the background. But oh, what's neat too is they uh they play the they they actually pop up, it's kind of like old school MTV and stuff where they pop up the credits for the song. Oh, sorry, and the name of the track. Well, actually, I just think the name of the track. Okay. So you can maybe if you're interested. Oh, I like that track.
SPEAKER_01I really do like that, huh?
SPEAKER_03That's a nice little touch. So uh I think that's all I got. Oh, I guess uh man, I've meant to talk about this before I started. I will not lie, like I actually kind of hated it at first. I was overwhelmed. I was they toss you in, there's not a ton of tutorial, and but everything you hover over explains everything, but you're you gotta learn it, you gotta master it. It took me probably two, three hours of playing to before I really got the gist of it. And I was about to send it, or well, not send it in, but return it essentially.
SPEAKER_01I feel like there's a fine line with that. Yeah, like if it's games are too simple, they'll lose your interest. Yeah, they're too complicated, they'll never get your interest. Right. So, yeah, that's cool.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, Oh, is this for me? This seems so intense. But I I will swear, like, you might feel overwhelmed, especially if you're not really an expert on deck building. But it as far as deck building, roguelite, there's a little element of tower defense. It it is really worth your time. Just give it at least three or four hours of like you gotta do a couple. Each run's a probably around an hour. Like a run takes you an hour if you go all the way to the last boss and beat them. So if you do a couple runs, you'll start to really feel the flow and learn all the mechanics.
SPEAKER_01That kind of reminds me of your advice you gave me with Darkest Dungeon. Yeah. If you had not said the things you said about not giving up and some other tips, I would have given up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and said I yeah, I well, I only played that game for about 30 hours and then gave up. But I love those 30 hours.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I 100% was the same way. I dedicated myself quite a bit to that, probably more than 30. And I I really tried, but after a while, I was like, I don't want to be this stressed out.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, games that you need to give them a chance.
SPEAKER_03And this one is well worth it. And it and like I said, it's not expensive considering how much games are. It's well worth your time. All right. And man approved. Yeah, and I think you would like it too. Yeah. Monster Train, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Monster Train, sorry, not Ghost Train.
SPEAKER_03Did you say Ghost Train?
SPEAKER_01I did say Ghost Train.
SPEAKER_03Ghost Train is a that's another one.
SPEAKER_01That's a very, very infamously bad song. I think it's Ghost Train by Ghost Train. It doesn't matter. Do not look it up.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Yeah, so hopefully I didn't confuse everybody. I tried to explain.
SPEAKER_01And uh think everyone will appreciate that little overview. I uh Any more. I had another one I completely forgot. What? I played Royal Match. Whoa! Thank you, Haley.
SPEAKER_04Too bad it's uh a couple weeks late.
SPEAKER_01I didn't even talk to you all day about this. Well, you you know, I had some time to kill these uh past couple days, and I'm like, all right, she talked it up. I actually years ago, she talked it up and I installed it, never played it. Yeah, yeah, I remember you saying that. I actually ended up deleting it, but I reinstalled it. And yeah, I it was fun. It it at first I'm like, yeah, this is just like all the others, but then I started getting those power-ups and arrows you can combine the power-ups, and I started to have a lot of fun. It was neat.
SPEAKER_03It's a time killer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it is a good time killer. Um, it's funny, like she suggested, you know, I try to have um, you know, self-control and not use the power-ups.
SPEAKER_02That's why I did.
SPEAKER_01I didn't even feel a need to use it. That's what I said. That's why I said I'm shocked. Yeah, I'm like, all right.
SPEAKER_03Like I got to a point where I saved up whatever X amount of them. And then before you knew it, I never had to, I never ran out of those power-ups. Right. I guess, yeah, whatever.
SPEAKER_01Maybe I'm not far enough. But yeah, it's fine. Uh but I do want to point out I like the soundtrack. It's a lot of trombone. You probably don't know if you noticed that. I always turn that off. Like I played it at work. I did, yeah. I played it at work because annoyed people. I have I have my earbud in, um, but it uh it got a little monotonous, but it was kind of funny. Yeah, it was a little bit. Well, it's a trombone. It was a lot of trombone.
SPEAKER_04In case everybody knows, Matt is a trombone player. Uh or X, maybe. There's telling me one in this house.
SPEAKER_01And by the way, it is very rusty. It is a rusty trombone. And not well lubed.
SPEAKER_03Uh Drybones Carl proves.
SPEAKER_01Let's just let's just move on from that.
Boss Battle: VG place to live for a year
SPEAKER_01All right, this is our spotlight segment where we do something fun and presumably well thought out. Sometimes. Sometimes. Uh Andrew, this was actually your idea. So you want to go ahead and uh introduce it?
SPEAKER_03Okay, yeah. I just kind of came up with this randomly, but I thought it would be interesting to find a a setting, a place that is in a video game, obviously, that you'd want to live. And Matt said maybe for a year versus a vacation.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I didn't want to be vacation or just someplace you show up to look at and then get the fuck out. Yeah, or like forever. Oh, you're not, it doesn't have to be forever either.
SPEAKER_03Just a like just a kind of a Haley put it, Haley stressed this, a sabbatical. Oh, sabbatical. That was a nice term for it, I guess. All right, I like that. And so uh Yeah, so we're gonna do that.
SPEAKER_01It's uh I love the idea when you mentioned it. And I know you did too. Yeah. I think we both had the same thought then a little while later, like, oh, this isn't actually that easy. Yeah, I I just was my my problem was I came up with three right off the bat. Really? And then I'm like, oh, those are kind of all the same.
SPEAKER_04That that was where I went.
SPEAKER_01I went to a lot of the same. I feeling we're gonna have some overlap, but but then then I'm like, all right, now I'm gonna get creative and really bring it for some other ones.
SPEAKER_03And also, like, do you zoom out? Like, oh, I live in this world or do I live on this actual place? Yeah, I've started getting complicated.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I tried to limit that. Um, and I also tried to not necessarily put myself as the main protagonist slash hero. Okay. Because that changes your visit. Although I definitely did that for the one.
SPEAKER_03And the one last thing was like a lot of these places are going through a lot of shit. I mean, they kind of that's the problem.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Because by default, they have to have conflict.
SPEAKER_03Right. Otherwise, it's just I always assume this is like when it's not in conflict.
SPEAKER_01Not in conflict.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. So I went with like non-conflict version.
SPEAKER_01Okay. For some of these. Okay. Yeah, I I I varied it up, so but I will explain. I'm excited. I think it's gonna be neat. It's gonna be neat.
SPEAKER_03Alright, we'll see where it goes.
SPEAKER_01All right, your idea, you start.
SPEAKER_03Me? Yes! I was looking forward to yours. Uh well, I don't want to I I don't want to ruin one I think you're gonna pick. So I Okay. I'm just gonna go with a safe one. All right. Witcher three, Novigrad.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh, you went specific with Novograd.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like I I started to zoom in.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay. And I I yeah, I didn't I didn't do Witcher because I thought, yeah, Priam is gonna pick up. All right. And Novograd, okay. Not not Toussaint. Well, I never played those.
SPEAKER_04Oh, you didn't!
SPEAKER_03And I was I was sad because I feel like those would win. Oh, you wouldn't.
SPEAKER_01Because that's like France, wine country. Yes, you would you would love Toussaint. Yeah. But uh Novograd, okay. Uh, explain, explain.
SPEAKER_03Well, here's my thought process. And this is gonna be a theme. I think I'm gonna do the next couple very similar. I love medieval slash Renaissance, whatever time period, but I love the bustling town with markets and just random people. Even though I'm antisocial and I hate talking to people and I hate my voice, I hate everything. Good podcaster right there. So everything, you know, you should know that up front. But I just love bustling towns in in medieval. I don't know. It just it seems like it would be the heart of everything. So yeah, Novigrad be bustling. Yeah, and when I played the game, it wasn't quite on the level of uh of a like a Bethesda game because you couldn't go into most of the places, and that's why I knocked them a little bit, because yeah, on the surface you see people walking around, but you can't go in their houses, you can't talk. So some of them you can.
SPEAKER_01So it's why it gets a little knock, but but I I would I would think that town was so big being able to I would get exactly I got lost to begin with.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's that's the like and that's the thing with those kind of games, it's a trade-off. Like Skyrim's or Skyrim, I shouldn't say Elder Scrolls has cool, like you can go in their houses, but there's like 10. And it doesn't feel bustling and big and massive as much as Witcher 3 nailed.
SPEAKER_01I think Novigrad is the largest medieval game city I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_03Right. And it shows it honestly. I I just I kind of wish Witcher 3 and like Skyrim or whatever, Morrowind Oblivion would just mash up some level, you know? Like that would be the ultimate game for me. And I think they're getting there eventually, and it's gonna get there, but I I love Novograd. It was so fun to walk through that town. You go through the docks and see all the like the sailor types doing their thing. I don't know, it was just a cool town. I would live there. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Although I I couldn't probably afford the rent there, but yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then there's other logistics like we we you know, it's probably stinky as shit, literally.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, it's not and a lot of mine are gonna be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you stay there for a year. I'll stay there for a year. It's a year, it's a sabbatical, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03And then, well, go ahead, man. We won't get into other stuff.
SPEAKER_01All right, I'm gonna, in a similar vein, talking about bustling cities, but in a very different perspective. Right. I would live on the Citadel.
SPEAKER_03That was my that was the one I was gonna start with. I said I would I would probably ruin it for you. Figured, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So that is from the Mass Effects series. Right. It is a huge ass space station. I mean, I don't know how to call it. It is the Galactic Center. Coolest ass Crousant, but uh in space.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um it's and it can shoot you through everything, like literally.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's actually kind of like a weapon. It can actually technically move, yeah, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but it uh whatever.
SPEAKER_01You know the Lord better than me. It it but it from yeah, it it's the galactic government, it's it's huge. It has it's um it's one of those things that's almost like a ring world kind of a deal where you know it ha obviously has its own gravity and whatnot, but you can like look up and you can see the other section of the circle, if you will.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01Um is huge, you know. Again, it's a bustling city, but it's a it's a space station. So we're going future rather than than medieval. And I just think, yeah, for the same reason. It's like if New York City on steroids in space. So bam. And it's the world of the mass effect, which one of the best. Yeah, I actually had trouble figuring out where I'd want to live in the Mass Effect world.
SPEAKER_03That was where I was like, I kind of I don't want to say like Mass Effect in general. I thought that would be cheating, but uh yeah, that's why, like too zoomed out, you you like that. I think it's cheap, but with your the Citadel.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and again, though, only for one year. It'd be like living in New York City. I don't think I could handle that for more than a year. No, yeah, just it's not at the It's cool at first, but it's too much, especially yeah, at our age. Well, those creepy little keepers walk around all the time, no one knows what the fuck's up.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but you know they're up to no good, which they were. Were they? Yeah, yeah, they were. I love a good creeper.
SPEAKER_03Creeping, why you see it? Creeping keepers. All right, yeah, that's that's that's a fantastic pick. And that was one of the right answer. That was like one of the first ones that popped into my mind. I tried to balance maybe some more future because everybody knows like ancient times kind of sucks because there's no technology. So I I wanted to get some you know, sci-fi or science fiction, I should say.
SPEAKER_01I um so I want to uh yeah, I'm gonna throw this one right here because it was a toss-up between the Citadel and uh installation zero four, okay, better known as Halo. Oh it was the original Halo, but now to talk about Ring World.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh same deal, futuristic, looks cool, but not a bustling city. But it's just that viewscape. I kind of I want to be on a planet that's not a planet. Yeah, you know, where you look up in the horizon and you can see the rest of the planet in the horizon because you're on the inside of a circle. If you don't know the game, it's hard to describe. But think about living on the inside of a giant planet-sized circle. So the your horizon is more the planet.
SPEAKER_03That's really neat.
SPEAKER_01Plus, I assume every time you walk around, you have a kick-ass soundtrack.
SPEAKER_04You're just everybody knows a good soundtrack makes everything better. How is the show?
SPEAKER_01Shout out to Martin O'Donnell. Um, the I I cannot answer that in one sentence. That is like an hour-long discussion. So I think I like it, which really we may have lost. You're one of the few. Yeah, that I I really love aspects about it. I fucking hate other aspects about it. All in all, I'm glad they tried. But let's try again.
SPEAKER_03Are they gonna try? I have no idea what's gonna happen. Is that done? Yeah, yeah. If we find out, everybody, we'll let you know. Maybe we'll make our own. Maybe, yeah. Me and Matt, we're pretty creative. So, uh let's see, where should I go? Where should I go? Let's go another safe pick that I don't think Matt would have picked. But I'm gonna go with uh a uh Dark Horse, Starfield, a game that has gotten so much hate for no good reason.
SPEAKER_01Also on my list.
SPEAKER_03New Lantis. New Oh, really? Okay.
SPEAKER_01I just like, again, bustling, urban Oh, oh yes, because that that that would have been like, yeah, like the Citadel, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's like the Citadel, essentially, if you're into bustling, metropolitan kind of fun stuff. I picked it because why not? It's fun. It I I walked into there. The only downside is it's massive, and it's like I said earlier, 90% of it isn't really you can't explore.
SPEAKER_01But a lot you can though.
SPEAKER_03But there is a decent amount. Yeah, and they try, and I guess this is why they got a lot of hate. It was a massive game, and they couldn't make all these fun interiors. You go into these giant skyscrapers and you go to one floor. Yeah. I don't know. Not that I would want to go to 99 floors. Like, where's the trade-off between and that's why like ultimately I didn't care. I get why people wanted that element, maybe, but at the same time, I didn't need it. So I just loved New Orlando, I loved the look. It's a little safe because it just it's futuristic Earth. So we'd have pretty much everything we need have now, but in the future. But it is a cool city, I think it was cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I yeah, that so then yeah, my first three off the bat was Halo, Mass Effect, Starfield. I'm like, oh, that's the same. But m my Starfield, if I Oh, Mass Effect. I I didn't I I had had I had you not, yeah, and this is dumb, I really wouldn't want to live there for a year. Yeah. Any any moon of a ringed gas giant just to watch the ring rise.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, part of me wanted to pick something obscure, like, yeah, oh my god.
SPEAKER_01I mean, uh yeah, right. Uh that is my dream in life. Yeah. Elon, I I know you're a crazy man, but I feel like the only one who can make this happen in our lifetime.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I want to watch a a ring rise. I want to be on a on Titan. I want to be on a moon of Saturn and just watch that ring.
SPEAKER_03I tell you what, we should do that. We should do a Starfield Love episode because Oh, we're gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01Well, I want to do an episode where we talk about games that got hate they don't deserve.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I think oh my goodness, so many of those moments. And it's sad because people have been bashing it for so long now that it that is the new narrative. It was a mistake and was a joke. And it really wasn't.
SPEAKER_01Nothing else, beautiful vistas.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and that's that's all I really wanted, to be honest. I'm a Vista man. But not the Windows Vista. Oh no, that one was that okay?
SPEAKER_01No, wait, I'm pretty sure that was. No, you know what? I don't know. Who knows? Toss up if you guys are not.
SPEAKER_03You're next.
SPEAKER_01All right, all right. I'm for my for real, for real, for real. Okay. Might be a hot take here, but I'm gonna go with The Lands Between.
SPEAKER_03Don't know it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you do. Elden Ring. Oh. That hellscape. Hear me out. Hear me out.
SPEAKER_03I actually almost picked the Elden Ring one.
SPEAKER_01Um, first of all, it can only be if I grab the kind of reincarnation immortality perk.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Uh if that's part of it. That's part of it. But I'm thinking, think of this as a work trip. Like my company sends me to the lands between for a year, and I'm like a surveyor or something like that. All right. Granted, everything can kill me, but there's a lot of cool shit to look at. Beautiful, yeah. A lot of crazy motherfuckers. Yeah. But again, as long as I come back to life, yeah, you know, maybe a little weaker than I was before, whatever. It's the same as like passing out drunk.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, absolutely. Uh, I think it it could be neat. A year might be a little long, but you know, that's what the company says, that's what the company wants. I'm signing.
SPEAKER_03So you're just talking about in general. You're just gonna go there.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah. No specific. Ugh. No, I don't what what what part of that would you want to stay in?
SPEAKER_03The part I almost went with was the um the city.
SPEAKER_01Oh, the city.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean that's Do you remember the golden I forget what it was called.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was nice at one time, but when you get there it's half buried.
SPEAKER_03That was the only place I debated about because otherwise.
SPEAKER_01No, not the general the world, the world of the lands between. Okay, the lands between.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You would just go there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, again, I just travel. Travel and uh whatever the comp you know, take my little car and you know, check out the checklist. All right.
SPEAKER_03Give them a little Tylenol headaches.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know. Sure.
SPEAKER_03They probably have a lot of headaches there.
SPEAKER_01I would imagine there's a lot of pain colors being dispensed. Alright. So there you go. Lands between between.
SPEAKER_03And I I debated about this a ton, but Oblivion weighed so much on me. It's one of my favorite games, and we've talked about it numerous times. I had to pick a city. I wanted to pick a specific city, and I went with Skin Grad. You don't remember that?
SPEAKER_01I I I I don't remember believing enough to and the map, it's kind of a circle. So you got the Imperial City in the center. Yeah. Where is it on the on the compass face? Any idea? I want to say it was it's towards the left. Okay. And I it's a it's a main hub. It's pretty much because I know I never made it to anything southwest.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, southwest. Southeast, southeast. I never made it southeast.
SPEAKER_03All right, southeast, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know what it's out of.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's it's towards maybe. It's like west of it, I think. And I haven't played in a long time, but I just I was watching, I watched a bunch of oblivion tutorials, slash videos of different towns, and I tried to pick one that I loved, and I just I always always came back to skin grad, and like a lot of people rated it high. It just reminded me again of like a Novigrad. It was a classic medieval town, like tall buildings, not super tall considering like not skyscraper tall, but like you know, like medieval Europe tall.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03And like claustrophobic, but I wish I could remember better.
SPEAKER_01But all right, yeah, you're painting a good picture. So yeah, a lot of good brothels.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, of course. You gotta get your uh you gotta get it on with those uh what are they called, the lizard people. What are the lizard ones? That's funny.
SPEAKER_01I was thinking Argonians, I was thinking the same thing. Why do we both go with Argonian harlots? I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Because they they live they live on that edge.
SPEAKER_01All right. So this is one of another ones where I'm talking about the general world. Okay, this is we're zooming out general world of Pokemon. Yes, but think of it on this lens. So Pokemon is very cutesy, gotta catch them all. Yeah, you know, and they're very kindly catching all these creatures. I'm talking about. No, I'm going there for a year as like the predator. Uh, you're gonna kill them all. I'm there to kill them all. Yeah, Metallica.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Metallica. Hey, we mentioned them again.
SPEAKER_01So I'm thinking you're like going there for trophy kills. Right. Like, I want like a uh Charizard like skull, you know, for up in my wall. I'm making Pikachu burgers. Like I'm in there just I am literally collecting them all.
SPEAKER_03And and you're collecting them all, but you're oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01They're not going to anybody else. I'm not I don't have a ball. I have that three dot laser, the fucking staff man. I am just getting they don't even know what to expect.
SPEAKER_04Like, hi, do you want to join a gym?
SPEAKER_01I'm like, I'll show you a gym.
SPEAKER_03I'm not gonna lie, man. I think you're on to something. Because this could be a crossover. Crossover predator versus Pokemon.
SPEAKER_01Somehow I don't considering how much they already try to sue other companies for uh making very similar games. I oh yeah, remember the big uh nope. Uh Pow World. That's the Pokemon with guns that uh they tried to sue out of existence. So really yeah, are they still around? Uh it's still around. Um I don't know if the lawsuit's still pending. I don't know. But um yeah, so I I don't see a lot of chance for uh Pokemon versus Predator to exist, but uh we should we should probably try.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Uh I think you're on to something, honestly. That sounds like cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I did.
SPEAKER_03Very nice.
SPEAKER_01All right, throwing it back to you.
SPEAKER_03All right, back to me. Let's just keep it Abergate. Oh yeah, mid evil. And this is a recent one, but it's Baldur's Gate 3. Baldur's Gate. Uh you know, yeah, I don't think you've gotten to Baldur's Gate in your game. I haven't. And it's the same reasons for every other medieval town. It's bustling, it's fun, a lot of crazy shit going on.
SPEAKER_01I see a theme here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I'm very medieval. And it doesn't get much better. So but I I felt like they did it really good justice. It felt grand. It felt like the hub of everything at the time. So I recommend it completing the game, man. So but it it is although there is one section, and if you get there, you'll understand there's these mages at a fountain, and they're for some reason like showcasing magic.
SPEAKER_01And oh, is is that in quotes like an innuendo? No. No, they're not. I thought we're back to that.
SPEAKER_03No, not that kind of magic. Real girl. The real magic. Not that fake magic where you fuck each other. No, uh, this magic, I don't know what they're doing, but it's like because Baldur's Gate is your classic RPG where everybody's kind of in the same spot forever. So they just stay there and they do the same magic over and over again. Okay. And it's the same sound effect every time you walk through the center of town, and it's if you stand there for a couple minutes, it's just the same sound effect over and over and over and over and over again. So you have to leave. And most people want to kill them. And I've I've read online that some people do lash out and kill them. So that was uh the only annoying part of Baldur's Gate. But it felt like a really cool town, but it's similar to everything else, and I have like one more, very similar. Nothing nothing as cool as your picks.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I got two more. What do you got?
SPEAKER_03I have quick. I think well, I have one, two, three, four, five, six. Well, like the couple the the three of them are just kind of like quick hitters that I know. I wasn't gonna maybe put them on, but I'm gonna put them on. All right, I'll because we're not going too long here.
SPEAKER_01All right, I'll I'll do one and then we'll go back to you for some quickies. All right. Next one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Dr. Mario.
SPEAKER_03You know what? It was funny. I was looking at that and I saw Dr. Mario and I was like, I thought a man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, you're kind of like a little bit of a little bit of a little bit. So those of you who don't know, I am a licensed pharmacist. Doctor? Yes. Uh that's the Dr. Firecake. John Williamson. No, no, I'm a little lesser doc. But uh, you know, Dr. Mario. He's the pillpoo. He throws these crazy ass pills.
SPEAKER_03Did you play the game? Yeah, I played the game.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I never played. Oh, it's pretty tough. It's like Tetris, sorta.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but you gotta match the pills up something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you gotta match the pills up. And you know, I feel I'd be really good at this. Again, this is not like work sabbatical thing. Like they send me to this. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I thought that was training for farming. Weird.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, it should be. So I would go to this weird world where I just throw like pills at bugs and people live. I mean, I feel I could do that. Plus, I'm then in the world of Mario, which is kind of a head trip to begin with. I mean, you got fucking weird ass turtles, you got like guys that have fishing rods and hang out in clouds. I mean, if you really look at the world of Mario, like it's crazy assistant. Yeah, yeah. So I feel like it's a hell of an experience. Like I won't be there too long because I don't know if I could get the fuck back out. But you know, Dr. Mario just cuz sounds nuts.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So you're just gonna live there for a year.
SPEAKER_01Push pill with the residency.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Okay. Learn from the doctor.
SPEAKER_01Learn, learn from I I don't know, you know, if how how his valid his credentials are, but where do you think Dr.
SPEAKER_03Mario went to school?
SPEAKER_01Um, probably in Luigi's basement.
SPEAKER_03Okay. I I was just wondering, because like you think about it. Mario is Italian American, essentially.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But he's a Japanese creation.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Do you think he would go to Japan for schooling, or do you think he would stay in New York? Uh I mean, I don't know if it's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot of med schools in New York.
SPEAKER_03So probably.
SPEAKER_01But I don't know if you get like a more of a scholarship if you went to Japan, you know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's what I mean.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because you have to have some inroads there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Huh.
SPEAKER_03Mario, talk about it. Come on, our podcast. We'll deep dive into your medical career. Short, very short-lived. Matt will live there with you. Okay. Interesting. Uh alright. Give her some quick hoes. Okay, this is this one, we're going again medieval-ish. I but you guys, you you guys and gals should know by this point I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan. And I was trying to think. I didn't go with Marrowind. I was thinking of Marwind places, but I went with Skyrim, because Skyrim's my basically my favorite game of all time. And I tried to pick a city. It was really brutal. Because Rifton, Rifton was one of my favorites. Too many thieves. But yeah, it was like thieve-y, a little bit aggressive. I had to go with Solitude.
SPEAKER_01You know. Oh, for the looks alone. Looks, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And it was only because of that outcropping of looks so badass. It's just such one of the best looking uh, you know, vistas I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just Google Google Solitude.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, Solitude for just that outcropping of stones. That's just one of the best, best created video game created areas. So yeah, that was one of my yet another medieval. Wow. Yeah, I mean, almost 90% of them are medieval. And I felt bad. But I'm I'm a medieval man.
SPEAKER_04Alright. Alright.
SPEAKER_03We go to Renfare every year. Sometimes three times a year. You uh I have more. Are you done? I have one more. Do you want me to keep going? Give a couple or two. I'll do another medieval one. Okay. Knock this one out because this is technically my last medieval. So it's no surprise I loved uh Kingdom Come Deliverance too. Yeah, I assumed that was gonna happen. And this is an actual real place. It's I think it's ruins. But Trofsky castle? Trovsky. Trofsky. That's gonna sound terrible. Sorry. But it's a castle in there, and it's a true medieval castle. And I don't know. Even though you have to shit on the side of a castle, I don't know. I still do it. You literally shit out. It's just a hole on the side of a castle and you just don't. Yeah. And it's funny because you see, if you ever see a castle, and I hope we do, but I mean in real life. It's funny because like you see all these like weird white specklings and weird discolorations on the stone, and everybody's like, that's just shit. Literally hitting the walls. And you're gonna live there for a year. Just hold it. Well, I did I did want to say this. I would bring enough soap for a year. I don't think I could live without soap.
SPEAKER_01Sell soap for like the castle. Well, you know what?
SPEAKER_03There is an alchemy recipe for soap.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I okay.
SPEAKER_03But I doubt it's Irish Spring.
SPEAKER_01Not body wash.
SPEAKER_03No. It's not body wash, and I doubt they're using it every day.
SPEAKER_01True that.
SPEAKER_03And I always laugh because there was like this moment in that game where you're walking through towns and it's always like this brownish, and we're like, yeah, that's shit. Nice. So you're walking through shit. And they just throw their shit on the side of the road.
SPEAKER_01Still, you want to live there.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I don't like yeah. I want to experience it for a year.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. I got yeah.
SPEAKER_03I don't know if I will I need to.
SPEAKER_01The fact you know that it will end what gets you through it.
SPEAKER_03The smell would be interesting. Yeah. But you get used to it. I would think you would. Hopefully.
unknownWhatever.
SPEAKER_03You'll find out. Might be the biggest mistake. Go ahead, Matt.
SPEAKER_01Alright, well. So my my last one, unfortunately, I needed, I wanted to pick at least one.
SPEAKER_04What?
SPEAKER_01Um like one what? Classic medieval. But it's more, you know, I wanted sword and sorcery. That's why I went to classic sword and sorcery. So I not shitting on walls. No, none of that. None of that. So I decided on the world of Final Fantasy IV specifically. It's never even played. An old old school one, but it's your classical.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but yeah, medieval issue. Again, uh with some caveats. Like I wanna go there as like a mid-level mage.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01None of this hero shit. I ain't trying to save the world. I'm just, you know, maybe taking a few classes, uh, maybe teaching a few classes, doing a few spells here and there. But I yeah, I I want to see like the whole like the magic thing and some, you know, maybe some mon not a whole lot of monsters mind used, a coup a couple monsters here and there. And just uh, you know, kind of uh in enjoy the whole the castles, obviously.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and the and the I tell you what, and though you're in a castle, it's pretty neat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but again, this is like magical time, so I can just I guess poof away my poop. Poof away your poop. Yep. So that's a level I think a mid-level mage could learn this.
SPEAKER_03And there's disease resistance spell process.
SPEAKER_01There you go. There you go. So that's why you won't get the play. But again, I don't have to help others necessarily. I'm just there. I'm just there to chill, like a background character.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01You know, not the background, no, not a red shirt, mind you. Like I'm not dying.
SPEAKER_03You're not gonna die.
SPEAKER_01No, but I'm just like, yeah, off on the corner.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's fair.
SPEAKER_01You know, you have you're over like walking.
SPEAKER_03There's plenty of people who just are there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, you ever walk into like a scene and there's like a third mage on the left.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's me. That's where that's Hornabet. Third mage on the left.
SPEAKER_03Sounds like that's good. Uh a skit.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03All right. So Matt's the third mage on the left. Yeah. But he went medieval. I did.
SPEAKER_01I I had another one.
SPEAKER_03We'll go for it.
SPEAKER_01Let's see. But I I was hoping, I don't know if you're gonna pick it. I'm gonna save it because I don't know if you picked it or not.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, so my last couple are not particularly great.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03I I saved them for the last because that's when people are like cashing out. Like, all right, skip, skip, this is way too long. And these guys have been talking a lot. So I have to do this one. My Minecraft Realm.
SPEAKER_01Oh, your own. Yeah, my castle. Medieval castle.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But technically, it's not medieval times. I alright, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_03So I love my castle, even though it's not technically done. Right.
SPEAKER_01Once it's done work in progress.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Once it's done, I'd 100% live there. Even though there's some crazy creepers and shit. But I'd live there for a year. Okay.
unknownSure.
SPEAKER_03Although I don't know, it'd be interesting to see everything in block form.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that could either cool or nightmare feel.
SPEAKER_03So one of them, and I debate about this a lot, was Mist. Oh. Like the original Mist. Interesting. And that was my introvert side.
SPEAKER_01You know, it was weird because I wanted to maybe pick up puzzle sim. Yeah. Because, you know, I I love, even though I've ever done it once, yeah. Um, escape rooms.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And what I felt would be really cool to be in there. Because I was almost at Blue Prince, but I'm like, for a year, eh.
SPEAKER_03And that's why I was a little bit like Mist is so like you're on your own. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you do have those books where you can the linking books.
SPEAKER_03And also I haven't technically a family, so I was like, how do I keep my daughter entertained while we're in this weird ass island? So that's why I was like, I don't know how I feel, but I think Mist always represents like that element. That was like the first game I ever played, was just so realistically beautiful in some ways.
SPEAKER_01And you felt like you were transported there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I I'll never forget it. It was one of the best moments of gaming in my lifetime because it was just so unique. It was difficult. It was just one of the best puzzle games. And I think the island was cool. And then there's that whole book element where you touch a page or whatever, however, but you warp into that new realm. And I just thought that was really, really cool. And I just I don't know. A little terrifying, but it could be cool. It could be. We could make some fun. I feel like if our family my family went there, we would have some fun. But it would be lonely. That's the only that's the big downside, to be honest. Yeah. And also if those brothers were there or the sons or whatever. Uh Atreus' sons. Yeah. But I I like again, I assume it's like not in that period of.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, you're going for the happy times when it was like fun.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So yeah. And then the next one in a similar vibe was uh a fallout vault.
SPEAKER_04Um the like the the iOS game? No, just Oh oh, you mean you'd want to be living a fallout vault? Yeah.
unknownOh shh.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I think that'd be kind of neat.
SPEAKER_01Okay. One of the good vaults, hopefully. That's what I was gonna say. Literally, I wrote that. One of the good ones.
SPEAKER_00Was there really ever a good one?
SPEAKER_03Well, I think there had to be control ones.
SPEAKER_01I mean, any vault that I was locked in with Ella Purnell would be a good vault for me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But um But spoiler, and I wanted to say it before. Yes. Because you stressed that we don't do very well.
SPEAKER_00Very bad at that.
SPEAKER_03So if you're interested in the show or the video game, mostly the show, skip ahead or whatever you have to do. Alright. That was a good spoiler of a Yeah, you go.
SPEAKER_01I like it.
SPEAKER_03But most of the vaults are a science experiment on people mostly very brutal and they don't know it. Yeah. Yeah. That's the big thing, is people don't know they're being spearimented on it. They're lab rats, essentially. And by the end of the show, you learn that that that's what they're doing with these vaults. So I wouldn't want to be in one of the vaults where they're doing horrible things to humans to study how they respond. But there I do think there are vaults that are okay. I think they're I look, I mean the the disadvantages are minor. Yeah, but I do think I don't know the lore as well as some people. I'm not a lore guy. Like I hear I love the lore, but it goes in one ear out the other.
SPEAKER_01I'm trying to think off the top of the head. Um, but I I I think the vault that the main protagonist in Fallout 4 there wasn't anything really bad going on there, right? I don't think so. It got bad because people broke in. Yeah. Right? Or well, they took his kid. They took his kid. And then I forget why they took his kid. But was that part of the vault experiment or was that something else?
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_01Ugh, never mind, folks. Never mind.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We almost we almost no. No. But yeah, you're right. Some of them are some of them are more benign than others.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And I think like the way I dub it up in my mind is there's gotta be controls. You gotta have people who just live in a vault.
SPEAKER_01Versus people who are or if you're the warden, the one in charge. Right. Well, I could be the warden. Yeah, you could.
SPEAKER_03So I I just don't know. Those vaults are cool, and then you get that blue suit, and I love the blue one. Yellow suit. You'd look good in a blue jumpsuit. Yeah, I just think it'd be fun. For for a year. I wouldn't want to be there, obviously. Right, yeah. Get the fuck out. And also claustrophobia.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've never seen the sun for a year. Well, I'll be down.
SPEAKER_03I know my wife would freak out because she's kind of claustrophobic. Not like intense, but she doesn't like tight spaces and you're underground. Probably quite a bit. So yeah, that's the point. That's the whole point, right? So but I think I, you know, there's ups and downs. That's why I put it on my like sort of list. Okay. It's not like, you know, slammed down. Yeah, down there on your in your but I wouldn't mind because they're neat. And then also that vault door is kind of cool. You gotta like the vault door.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Yeah, that whole coal front door.
SPEAKER_03Have you played all the Fallout's man?
SPEAKER_01I never played the two. Yeah, one and two. Yeah, the the first one. You played three and two. I played three and four. In Vegas, New Vegas.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you played New Vegas.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01So that's it. That's my list. Done. I um okay. So I am surprised we're talking about medieval fantasy. You did not pick uh Dragon's Crown Pro. The B T. Yeah, the BT game. Um that's not going. That's that's all that needs to be said. That game was actually kind of fun. It was a fantastic lead. But there's other reasons we would visit. So there it is. There it is. That is um my couple of different places I'd like to visit, and Andy's seven different versions of medieval settings you would like to see. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_03I wanted well, I did think of Mushroom Kingdom.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, I yeah, it is a little that's I was adjacent with Dr. Mario. It washroom kingdom is professional, um, but Mushroom Kingdom, but I I just don't have Mushroom Kingdom.
SPEAKER_04Well, say I would live there for a year. Well, see, that's why you gotta go.
SPEAKER_01I gotta do something new, get outside your comfort zone.
SPEAKER_03Well, here's the thing like with Mushroom Kingdom, there's uh did you play Mario One at all? The original Mario, I should say. Mario Brothers.
SPEAKER_01Like the the the the Nest the Nest version, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Do you remember the warps? Yeah. Okay. Did you do the last warp? I don't know. Well, there's a warp. I forget what stage it is, but you go up a vine and it leads you to stage eight.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03And there's this cool, like when you go up the vine, there's this cool mushroom area.
SPEAKER_01That sounds a little familiar.
SPEAKER_03They're like this flat mushroom area.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I just thought that was so cool as a kid. I'd live there.
SPEAKER_01What were you going with this? So you'd want to stand on the mushrooms in the sky. Dude, that's acid. That's that's what L S D L S D is, man.
SPEAKER_03That's well, I I don't know. That place caught my imagination. Yeah. I if that's a like a part of the mushroom kingdom, that's the part I want to live in.
SPEAKER_01All right. Not necessarily the whole I will uh I mean Talk to Mario. I am a doctor. Talk to Dr. Mario. So um, I think we can arrange a penthouse for you up there. Okay. Thank you. All right, and that is the end of that boss battle.
SPEAKER_00Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to this episode. Coming soon to a podcast near you.