Podcasts about above snakes

In Xbox Kompakt werfen wir jeden Samstag einen Blick zurück auf die vergangene Woche und fassen für euch die News-Highlights rund um unsere Lieblingskonsole zusammen - eigentlich bei YouTube, doch jetzt bekommt ihr alle Infos auch hier auf die Ohren!Inhalte dieser Folge im Detail:00:00 Hey Leute00:23 Gears of War - https://t.co/SBtANl8m1Y02:43 Gaming Frühstück - https://t.co/OAah3panF503:25 FTC vs. Microsoft - https://t.co/XndtmIv7uU04:57 EA und Spielepreise - https://t.co/f6WqYrQmQ206:12 Out of Sight - https://t.co/lpb7hX8loL06:57 Xbox Game Pass - https://t.co/rUi4TESbSV07:49 Free Play Days - https://t.co/Vhx77KjRSe08:07 Shantae Advance - https://t.co/EeYv9rU1lx08:42 Above Snakes - https://t.co/BPTwcg397x08:57 Ecco the Dolphin - https://t.co/ECzQpxOCOB09:52 Zoochosis - https://t.co/6X61Fm5YSI10:24 Section 13 - https://t.co/mYb3MGoSip10:41 Killing Floor 3 - https://t.co/SowS9gtlw311:01 Mafia - https://t.co/7eQluiRuj312:05 Metal Eden - https://t.co/MdXF7n29h812:35 Tomb Raider - https://t.co/kXPXhmhoB613:16 Assassin's Creed - https://t.co/ihmuuCPnpg13:38 Starship Troopers - https://t.co/B8rbBDjfnS14:01 Destiny 2 - https://t.co/fezrociG0m14:30 Xbox-Highlights - https://t.co/zpGMtZYbwe14:41 Savage Planet - https://t.co/0Jm6f7nNeJ16:21 Vorschau16:48 Ciao ciao!

How often does a character get upstaged and surpassed by a side character in their own book? Darrin dives into the history of Tech Jacket this month, while Chad reviews a Batman-related book for kids, and the gang also checks in with Justin right before a review of Above Snakes! Sponsored by Gamefly. New customers can get a 30-day free trial by clicking on the GameFly link at the top of GeekCavePodcast.com. Like the show? Please leave a rating wherever you found us! Download and listen today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, Stitcher, Goodpods, and more of your favorite podcast services! 

It's time for the Comic Talk Headlines with Generally Nerdy!Mushroomhead LAWSUITHi-Fi Rush LIVESWe now know EXACTLY who Giancarlo Esposito is playing in the MCU!And so much more...Plus, don't forget to subscribe for more fresh content. MusicFollow-ups/CorrectionsMushroomhead - Jeffrey Hatrix is at it again. This time he is suing former bandmate, Steve “Skinny” Felton over unpaid royalties. It seems that Skinny has been pulling royalties shenanigans for sometime, adding himself multiple times on the copyright registrations to get higher and higher royalties percentages, and now the lawsuit is inferring that he is the ONLY one receiving Mechanical Royalties at all, for at least a large chunk of the MRH catalog. Nothing was paid a $1200 stipend per week while performing, and little else, the suit goes on to claim, and now he is seeking his fair cut.https://blabbermouth.net/news/founding-mushroomhead-singer-jeffrey-hatrix-sues-steve-skinny-felton-over-unpaid-royalties New Music/VideoDead Icarus - Unconquerable https://youtu.be/LYJcdZaYWsM DAMN!! THIS is what I want. Yes please. Vocal mix is less than desirable though. Still no release details for the record.Blackbraid - Warriors (Abbath cover0 https://youtu.be/iBUinuMfU88 some great bass work for black metal.Kanonenfieber - Der Maulwurf https://youtu.be/7f8N0UQAZF0 the mole. A new face for Black Metal… not doing great things for the nazi association, but really REALLY dynamic. All about wwI German troupes… I dig how the video never properly shows the vocalist's face.High Parasite - Wasn't Human https://youtu.be/d_2gFuY_R-k Erin Stanthorpe of My Dying Bride new project. New record Forever We Burn out Sept 27. Good and gothy!Tours/FestivalsDead Icarus - Enterprise Earth and Nekrogoblikon. Sept 11 in Midvale UT, through Oct 2 in Nashville. https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15525729-dead-icarus Pop Evil and Bad Wolves - The Animal Instinct Tour with Sierra Pilot and Oni. Nov 6 in Cincinnati, through Nov 30 in Lexington KY. Tickets on sale Aug 23. https://www.bandsintown.com/a/16090-pop-evil Coal Chamber - Dez Fafara hurt himself, now the tour that the band was gearing up for has been pushed back to March. If you already have a ticket, they will be honored at the new dates. Dates now run Mar 5 in Denver, through Apr 18 in Maplewood MN.Drowning Pool - Support from A KILLER'S CONFESSION, ABOVE SNAKES and THE FAILSAFE. Sept 27 in Shreveport LA through Oct 19 in Hochatown OK. https://drowningpool.live/tour/ Reg ‘ol NewsJack Russell - passed at 63. The cause was Lewy Body Dementia, the same affliction that Robin Williams had.Mastodon - Crack the Skye is now 15 years old, and as of Oct 4 the band is reissuing it with remastered audio, as well as instrumental versions of each song, along with 3 videos going through the material in different ways.https://blabbermouth.net/news/mastodon-announces-15th-anniversary-expanded-reissue-of-crack-the-skye Dimmu Borgir - Guitarist Galder has left the band. The guitarist is now reviving his other, long inactive, band Old Man's Child. https://blabbermouth.net/news/longtime-dimmu-borgir-guitarist-galder-announces-his-departure-from-the-band Marilyn Manson - Reba Meyers is playing guitar with him live?!!?https://loudwire.com/code-orange-reba-meyers-first-statement-playing-marilyn-manson/ The Sex Pistols - Reunion show Aug 13th without Johnnie Rotten. Instead they had former Gallows vocalist Frank Carter on the mic.https://youtu.be/vxHHGlPlMTo SuggestsPrimus - Holy Diver featuring Puddles Pity Party… WOW!!!Rob Scallon - Psychosis Feat Alex Rudinger https://youtu.be/sE5QldFkRhE one of the OG music YTers.Gaming/TechFollow-ups/CorrectionsHi-Fi Rush - The franchise is NOT dead! Krafton has acquired Tango Gameworks after Microsoft shut it down months ago. Krafton publishes PUBG and Callisto Protocol.https://boundingintocomics.com/2024/08/13/krafton-revives-and-acquires-tango-gameworks-plans-future-projects-for-hi-fi-rush/ TrailersAssassin's Creed Shadows - https://youtu.be/sLOfTQzwezg playstyles.Funko Fusion - https://youtu.be/siURR3s9OdQ Mega man reveal. Demo available now on Steam. Funko Fusion releases September 13 on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Wishlist us and preorder today!PS4 and Switch versions coming November 15.Final Fantasy 16 - https://youtu.be/PC3oQe1EtYY PC announcement.Silent Hill 2 - https://youtu.be/CMvrMTmuJuA Story trailer. Release october 8thDying Light: the Beast - https://youtu.be/c50gFkG91jc Kyle Crane RETURNS.Dune Awakening - https://youtu.be/Ud3EW5aAUZ8  Gamescom gives us a taste of the alternate universe video game version of this franchise. PC early 2025, no PS5 or Xbox date yet.Street Fighter 6 - Terry https://youtu.be/M4bcHV04Css Reg ‘ol NewsGamescom - Starts Tuesday the 20th.SuggestsXdefiant - I played it. Not what I was hoping for, but still fun!Comic Books/BooksFollow-ups/CorrectionsHellverine - The character that was created for the Ghost Rider crossover book, Weapons of Vengeance, is now getting his own on-going book.  https://comicbook.com/comics/news/marvel-hellverine-wolverine-daken-son-ongoing-series-announcement/ Reg ‘ol NewsBlack Lightning - DC announced new series for Jefferson Pierce. Number 1 will hit shelves nov 13th. writer Brandon Thomas and artist Fico Ossio. https://comicbook.com/comics/news/new-black-lightning-series-announced-dc/ Batgirl - Cassandra Cain Batgirl is getting a new ongoing series. written by Tate Brombal (Green Lantern Dark, House of Slaughter) with art by Takeshi Miyazawa (Ms. Marvel, Mech Cadet Yu). First in 12 years. On shelves Nov 6th.https://comicbook.com/comics/news/batgirl-dc-new-cassandra-cain-solo-series/ Batman - Santa Clause: Silent Knight Returns - Sequel to last year's book of a similar name. written by Jeff Parker, with art by Lukas Ketner. On shelves weekly starting Nov 27 through December 25.Just Beyond the Light - Randy Blythe is putting out his second book on Feb 18 of 25.  https://blabbermouth.net/news/lamb-of-gods-randy-blythe-on-his-upcoming-just-beyond-the-light-book-theres-a-whole-chapter-about-my-grandmother SuggestsSteel Beach - a sharp and satirical science fiction novel set in a futuristic lunar society where humanity, having been driven off Earth, now lives under the care of a benevolent AI that meets all their needs. The story follows Hildy Johnson, a disillusioned journalist grappling with an existential crisis in a world that has seemingly solved all of humanity's problems but left its people struggling to find meaning. The novel explores themes of identity, freedom, and the human condition, questioning whether a utopia governed by technology can truly satisfy the complexities of human desires. With its vivid world-building and dark humor, Steel Beach is a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human in a post-scarcity society.TV ShowsFollow-ups/CorrectionsFrom - the suggestion from 2 weeks ago said there are 3 seasons… there are only 2. Season three comes out soon.What If - Season 3 will be the end. https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/d23-what-if-to-end-with-season-3/ One Piece - Season 2 production has begun. New cast is, Ilia Isorelys Paulino's Alvida, Michael Dorman as Gold Roger, and Jeff Ward as Buggy https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/one-piece-season-2-starts-production-as-cast-grows/ The Acolyte - Not returning for a second season.The Last of Us - Season 2 completes principal photography. https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-last-of-us-season-2-hbo-filming-wraps/ TrailersFrom - Season 3 https://youtu.be/5fjdCu25Ac0 Sept 22Secret Level - New anthology series on Prime https://youtu.be/gLihxsmI_OU gaming inspired with a list of direct inspo games. Though NOT actually from those games. Dec 10th. From some of the minds behind Love Death and Robots, but not David Fincher.Reg ‘ol NewsParamount - TV studios shutting down. Paramount's move to merge with Skydance, seems to also be slimming down production output apparently.https://bleedingfool.com/news/paramount-tv-shutting-down-and-laying-off-thousands/#google_vignette The Madison - New sequel to Yellowstone, just cast Patrick J Adams (suits) along side Michelle Pfiffer. The series will tell the story of a New York family that gets relocated to Montana. Taylor Sheridan has teased that there will be some familiar faces here as well, presumably from the OG series.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/patrick-j-adams-michelle-pfeiffer-the-madison-yellowstone-cast-1235979080/ Pacific Rim - a prequel series that will explain where the Kaiju come from and how the conflict began.https://cosmicbook.news/pacific-rim-origin-series-legendary SuggestsChannel Zero: Candle Cove - a deeply unsettling horror series that follows a child psychologist as he returns to his hometown to unravel the mystery of his twin brother's disappearance, which may be linked to a disturbing children's TV show from the 1980s. The show blends surreal visuals with psychological horror, creating a haunting atmosphere where the line between reality and nightmare blurs. It explores themes of childhood trauma, memory, and the sinister ways that innocence can be corrupted. Perfect for fans of slow-burn horror, Candle Cove offers a chilling experience that lingers long after the credits roll.STREAMING ON: SHUDDERMoviesFollow-ups/CorrectionsAlien: Romulus - 108M opening weekend worldwide. Not the biggest opening ever, but enough to show promise on an 80M budget.Deadpool Wolverine - Now passed Joker. Now the 9th highest grossing MCU film.Masters of the Universe - Camila Mendes, Riverdale's Veronica, has been cast as Teela for the new live-action movie. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/masters-of-the-universe-camila-mendes-1235974699/ TrailersScared Shitless - https://youtu.be/qhAZ7I_36p8 Looks like PURE Joe Bob fodder… also NSFWY2k - https://youtu.be/P4f9gCTLhYs?si=SlFxyz0DHRDhL6F9 Fred Durst cameo??? Written by Kyle Mooney, produced by A24.Frankie Freako - https://youtu.be/DWIyVleAQL0 from the studio that brought us Psycho Goreman… need I say more?Reg ‘ol NewsGarth Ennis - Crossed is the next live-action adaptation of a Garth Ennis property. At least it has been optioned by Six Studios.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/crossed-movie-in-the-works-garth-ennis-1235976318/ Madden - John Madden is getting a biopic movie. AND NICOLAS CAGE WAS JUST CAST. Not a regular biopic either, more of a history of the Madden NFL games than the man himself.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/nicolas-cage-to-play-john-madden-1235976155/ Brian Cox - The original William StrykerJr in X2, and the original HAnnibal Lecter (Succesion), made some comments last week about the demise of cinema because Marvel and DC are “party time.” if you read the full quote he talks about how he “created” Wolverine, and that a part of him is in “all those movie” but they don't pay him for it… OK bud…https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/brian-cox-cinema-deadpool-wolverine-succession-eiff-marvel-1235977671/ SuggestsSession 9 - a chilling psychological horror film that follows an asbestos abatement crew working in an abandoned mental asylum, where the eerie setting and unsettling discoveries begin to unravel their sanity. Set in the real-life Danvers State Hospital, the film creates a claustrophobic atmosphere filled with dread, as the characters confront both the dark history of the asylum and their own inner demons. With themes of guilt, mental illness, and repressed trauma, Session 9 is a slow-burn descent into madness that lingers long after the final scene, perfect for fans of atmospheric, psychological horror.STREAMING ON: PRIME for about $4 to rent.Rumor MillConfirmations/RefutationsREFUTATION: Giancarlo Esposito - Playing Sidewinder, Seth Voelker, The King of the Serpent Society. NOT Bushman, as previously rumored.New SourcesTaron Egerton - Not looking to play Cyclops, now they say he will be wolverine.New RumorsFantastic Four - Now RDJ is from the “same” universe as the F4… but what does that mean? Their adoptive universe? Or their “home” universe? Or is this totally ignoring the other rumor from the same source?Spider-Man 4 - Sydney Sweeney rumored for Black Cat? With her in Madam Web… is this even possible?Deadpool 4 - Ryan Reynolds not coming back for a 4th round? Rumor is that Reynolds is so tired of the work it takes to make a Full Blown Deadpool movie, that he is fine, for now, to just do cameos and smaller parts.Bully - Rockstar is set to re-release the fan favorite game. No indication if it will be a simple port or a proper remaster.Pantera - On Aug 15 Phil and the boys played a club show in Minneapolis. Word is that this was for the purposes of recording a live record. Mostly because the opening act, comedian Craig Gass, explicitly said as much.You can support this show by visiting our merch store, or by leaving us an Apple Podcasts review.

It's time for the Comic Talk Headlines with Generally Nerdy!Mushroomhead LAWSUITHi-Fi Rush LIVESWe now know EXACTLY who Giancarlo Esposito is playing in the MCU!And so much more...Plus, don't forget to subscribe for more fresh content. MusicFollow-ups/CorrectionsMushroomhead - Jeffrey Hatrix is at it again. This time he is suing former bandmate, Steve “Skinny” Felton over unpaid royalties. It seems that Skinny has been pulling royalties shenanigans for sometime, adding himself multiple times on the copyright registrations to get higher and higher royalties percentages, and now the lawsuit is inferring that he is the ONLY one receiving Mechanical Royalties at all, for at least a large chunk of the MRH catalog. Nothing was paid a $1200 stipend per week while performing, and little else, the suit goes on to claim, and now he is seeking his fair cut.https://blabbermouth.net/news/founding-mushroomhead-singer-jeffrey-hatrix-sues-steve-skinny-felton-over-unpaid-royalties New Music/VideoDead Icarus - Unconquerable https://youtu.be/LYJcdZaYWsM DAMN!! THIS is what I want. Yes please. Vocal mix is less than desirable though. Still no release details for the record.Blackbraid - Warriors (Abbath cover0 https://youtu.be/iBUinuMfU88 some great bass work for black metal.Kanonenfieber - Der Maulwurf https://youtu.be/7f8N0UQAZF0 the mole. A new face for Black Metal… not doing great things for the nazi association, but really REALLY dynamic. All about wwI German troupes… I dig how the video never properly shows the vocalist's face.High Parasite - Wasn't Human https://youtu.be/d_2gFuY_R-k Erin Stanthorpe of My Dying Bride new project. New record Forever We Burn out Sept 27. Good and gothy!Tours/FestivalsDead Icarus - Enterprise Earth and Nekrogoblikon. Sept 11 in Midvale UT, through Oct 2 in Nashville. https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15525729-dead-icarus Pop Evil and Bad Wolves - The Animal Instinct Tour with Sierra Pilot and Oni. Nov 6 in Cincinnati, through Nov 30 in Lexington KY. Tickets on sale Aug 23. https://www.bandsintown.com/a/16090-pop-evil Coal Chamber - Dez Fafara hurt himself, now the tour that the band was gearing up for has been pushed back to March. If you already have a ticket, they will be honored at the new dates. Dates now run Mar 5 in Denver, through Apr 18 in Maplewood MN.Drowning Pool - Support from A KILLER'S CONFESSION, ABOVE SNAKES and THE FAILSAFE. Sept 27 in Shreveport LA through Oct 19 in Hochatown OK. https://drowningpool.live/tour/ Reg ‘ol NewsJack Russell - passed at 63. The cause was Lewy Body Dementia, the same affliction that Robin Williams had.Mastodon - Crack the Skye is now 15 years old, and as of Oct 4 the band is reissuing it with remastered audio, as well as instrumental versions of each song, along with 3 videos going through the material in different ways.https://blabbermouth.net/news/mastodon-announces-15th-anniversary-expanded-reissue-of-crack-the-skye Dimmu Borgir - Guitarist Galder has left the band. The guitarist is now reviving his other, long inactive, band Old Man's Child. https://blabbermouth.net/news/longtime-dimmu-borgir-guitarist-galder-announces-his-departure-from-the-band Marilyn Manson - Reba Meyers is playing guitar with him live?!!?https://loudwire.com/code-orange-reba-meyers-first-statement-playing-marilyn-manson/ The Sex Pistols - Reunion show Aug 13th without Johnnie Rotten. Instead they had former Gallows vocalist Frank Carter on the mic.https://youtu.be/vxHHGlPlMTo SuggestsPrimus - Holy Diver featuring Puddles Pity Party… WOW!!!Rob Scallon - Psychosis Feat Alex Rudinger https://youtu.be/sE5QldFkRhE one of the OG music YTers.Gaming/TechFollow-ups/CorrectionsHi-Fi Rush - The franchise is NOT dead! Krafton has acquired Tango Gameworks after Microsoft shut it down months ago. Krafton publishes PUBG and Callisto Protocol.https://boundingintocomics.com/2024/08/13/krafton-revives-and-acquires-tango-gameworks-plans-future-projects-for-hi-fi-rush/ TrailersAssassin's Creed Shadows - https://youtu.be/sLOfTQzwezg playstyles.Funko Fusion - https://youtu.be/siURR3s9OdQ Mega man reveal. Demo available now on Steam. Funko Fusion releases September 13 on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Wishlist us and preorder today!PS4 and Switch versions coming November 15.Final Fantasy 16 - https://youtu.be/PC3oQe1EtYY PC announcement.Silent Hill 2 - https://youtu.be/CMvrMTmuJuA Story trailer. Release october 8thDying Light: the Beast - https://youtu.be/c50gFkG91jc Kyle Crane RETURNS.Dune Awakening - https://youtu.be/Ud3EW5aAUZ8  Gamescom gives us a taste of the alternate universe video game version of this franchise. PC early 2025, no PS5 or Xbox date yet.Street Fighter 6 - Terry https://youtu.be/M4bcHV04Css Reg ‘ol NewsGamescom - Starts Tuesday the 20th.SuggestsXdefiant - I played it. Not what I was hoping for, but still fun!Comic Books/BooksFollow-ups/CorrectionsHellverine - The character that was created for the Ghost Rider crossover book, Weapons of Vengeance, is now getting his own on-going book.  https://comicbook.com/comics/news/marvel-hellverine-wolverine-daken-son-ongoing-series-announcement/ Reg ‘ol NewsBlack Lightning - DC announced new series for Jefferson Pierce. Number 1 will hit shelves nov 13th. writer Brandon Thomas and artist Fico Ossio. https://comicbook.com/comics/news/new-black-lightning-series-announced-dc/ Batgirl - Cassandra Cain Batgirl is getting a new ongoing series. written by Tate Brombal (Green Lantern Dark, House of Slaughter) with art by Takeshi Miyazawa (Ms. Marvel, Mech Cadet Yu). First in 12 years. On shelves Nov 6th.https://comicbook.com/comics/news/batgirl-dc-new-cassandra-cain-solo-series/ Batman - Santa Clause: Silent Knight Returns - Sequel to last year's book of a similar name. written by Jeff Parker, with art by Lukas Ketner. On shelves weekly starting Nov 27 through December 25.Just Beyond the Light - Randy Blythe is putting out his second book on Feb 18 of 25.  https://blabbermouth.net/news/lamb-of-gods-randy-blythe-on-his-upcoming-just-beyond-the-light-book-theres-a-whole-chapter-about-my-grandmother SuggestsSteel Beach - a sharp and satirical science fiction novel set in a futuristic lunar society where humanity, having been driven off Earth, now lives under the care of a benevolent AI that meets all their needs. The story follows Hildy Johnson, a disillusioned journalist grappling with an existential crisis in a world that has seemingly solved all of humanity's problems but left its people struggling to find meaning. The novel explores themes of identity, freedom, and the human condition, questioning whether a utopia governed by technology can truly satisfy the complexities of human desires. With its vivid world-building and dark humor, Steel Beach is a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human in a post-scarcity society.TV ShowsFollow-ups/CorrectionsFrom - the suggestion from 2 weeks ago said there are 3 seasons… there are only 2. Season three comes out soon.What If - Season 3 will be the end. https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/d23-what-if-to-end-with-season-3/ One Piece - Season 2 production has begun. New cast is, Ilia Isorelys Paulino's Alvida, Michael Dorman as Gold Roger, and Jeff Ward as Buggy https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/one-piece-season-2-starts-production-as-cast-grows/ The Acolyte - Not returning for a second season.The Last of Us - Season 2 completes principal photography. https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-last-of-us-season-2-hbo-filming-wraps/ TrailersFrom - Season 3 https://youtu.be/5fjdCu25Ac0 Sept 22Secret Level - New anthology series on Prime https://youtu.be/gLihxsmI_OU gaming inspired with a list of direct inspo games. Though NOT actually from those games. Dec 10th. From some of the minds behind Love Death and Robots, but not David Fincher.Reg ‘ol NewsParamount - TV studios shutting down. Paramount's move to merge with Skydance, seems to also be slimming down production output apparently.https://bleedingfool.com/news/paramount-tv-shutting-down-and-laying-off-thousands/#google_vignette The Madison - New sequel to Yellowstone, just cast Patrick J Adams (suits) along side Michelle Pfiffer. The series will tell the story of a New York family that gets relocated to Montana. Taylor Sheridan has teased that there will be some familiar faces here as well, presumably from the OG series.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/patrick-j-adams-michelle-pfeiffer-the-madison-yellowstone-cast-1235979080/ Pacific Rim - a prequel series that will explain where the Kaiju come from and how the conflict began.https://cosmicbook.news/pacific-rim-origin-series-legendary SuggestsChannel Zero: Candle Cove - a deeply unsettling horror series that follows a child psychologist as he returns to his hometown to unravel the mystery of his twin brother's disappearance, which may be linked to a disturbing children's TV show from the 1980s. The show blends surreal visuals with psychological horror, creating a haunting atmosphere where the line between reality and nightmare blurs. It explores themes of childhood trauma, memory, and the sinister ways that innocence can be corrupted. Perfect for fans of slow-burn horror, Candle Cove offers a chilling experience that lingers long after the credits roll.STREAMING ON: SHUDDERMoviesFollow-ups/CorrectionsAlien: Romulus - 108M opening weekend worldwide. Not the biggest opening ever, but enough to show promise on an 80M budget.Deadpool Wolverine - Now passed Joker. Now the 9th highest grossing MCU film.Masters of the Universe - Camila Mendes, Riverdale's Veronica, has been cast as Teela for the new live-action movie. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/masters-of-the-universe-camila-mendes-1235974699/ TrailersScared Shitless - https://youtu.be/qhAZ7I_36p8 Looks like PURE Joe Bob fodder… also NSFWY2k - https://youtu.be/P4f9gCTLhYs?si=SlFxyz0DHRDhL6F9 Fred Durst cameo??? Written by Kyle Mooney, produced by A24.Frankie Freako - https://youtu.be/DWIyVleAQL0 from the studio that brought us Psycho Goreman… need I say more?Reg ‘ol NewsGarth Ennis - Crossed is the next live-action adaptation of a Garth Ennis property. At least it has been optioned by Six Studios.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/crossed-movie-in-the-works-garth-ennis-1235976318/ Madden - John Madden is getting a biopic movie. AND NICOLAS CAGE WAS JUST CAST. Not a regular biopic either, more of a history of the Madden NFL games than the man himself.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/nicolas-cage-to-play-john-madden-1235976155/ Brian Cox - The original William StrykerJr in X2, and the original HAnnibal Lecter (Succesion), made some comments last week about the demise of cinema because Marvel and DC are “party time.” if you read the full quote he talks about how he “created” Wolverine, and that a part of him is in “all those movie” but they don't pay him for it… OK bud…https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/brian-cox-cinema-deadpool-wolverine-succession-eiff-marvel-1235977671/ SuggestsSession 9 - a chilling psychological horror film that follows an asbestos abatement crew working in an abandoned mental asylum, where the eerie setting and unsettling discoveries begin to unravel their sanity. Set in the real-life Danvers State Hospital, the film creates a claustrophobic atmosphere filled with dread, as the characters confront both the dark history of the asylum and their own inner demons. With themes of guilt, mental illness, and repressed trauma, Session 9 is a slow-burn descent into madness that lingers long after the final scene, perfect for fans of atmospheric, psychological horror.STREAMING ON: PRIME for about $4 to rent.Rumor MillConfirmations/RefutationsREFUTATION: Giancarlo Esposito - Playing Sidewinder, Seth Voelker, The King of the Serpent Society. NOT Bushman, as previously rumored.New SourcesTaron Egerton - Not looking to play Cyclops, now they say he will be wolverine.New RumorsFantastic Four - Now RDJ is from the “same” universe as the F4… but what does that mean? Their adoptive universe? Or their “home” universe? Or is this totally ignoring the other rumor from the same source?Spider-Man 4 - Sydney Sweeney rumored for Black Cat? With her in Madam Web… is this even possible?Deadpool 4 - Ryan Reynolds not coming back for a 4th round? Rumor is that Reynolds is so tired of the work it takes to make a Full Blown Deadpool movie, that he is fine, for now, to just do cameos and smaller parts.Bully - Rockstar is set to re-release the fan favorite game. No indication if it will be a simple port or a proper remaster.Pantera - On Aug 15 Phil and the boys played a club show in Minneapolis. Word is that this was for the purposes of recording a live record. Mostly because the opening act, comedian Craig Gass, explicitly said as much.You can support this show by visiting our merch store, or by leaving us an Apple Podcasts review.

Al and Jonnie go through all the news while Al was on holiday. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:10: What Have We Been Up To 00:16:13: Game Releases 00:34:54: Game Updates 01:09:23: Other News 01:15:30: New Games 01:26:09: Outro Links Critter Crops Gourdlets Song of the Prairie Garden Witch Life Reel Fishing: Days of Summer Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid Usagi Shima Echoes of the Plum Grove Outbound Coral Island “1.1” Update Coral Island Humble Games Issue Roots of Pacha “1.2” Update Sun Haven “Teleportation” Update Moonstone Island “Cooking” Update Disney Dreamlight Valley Roadmap Cult of the Lamb “Unholy Alliance” Update Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Roadmap Fields of Mistra Roadmap Ova Magica Roadmap Horticular Roadmap Concerned Ape Promises not to charge for DLC Overthrown Steam Page Hearty Hank Plush Sakuna Anime Marvelous Restructuring Pathless Woods Everbloom Hamster Garden Ritual of Raven Cat Cafe Manager 2: Big City Bliss Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:31) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. My name is Al, (0:00:36) Jonnie: And my name is Johnny. (0:00:38) Al: and we’re here today to talk about Cottagecore games. (0:00:40) Jonnie: Woo! (0:00:44) Al: What happened to diving, you might say. We’re not… not farmers, we’re divers. No, not this week, (0:00:50) Al: you’re not, because… complicated reasons, but we’re not doing the last episode of the day of the (0:00:56) Al: the day of the month today. We’re doing that probably in two weeks time. But who knows? (0:01:01) Al: You’ll find out why. I’ll explain it in the next episode why this is all changed. But (0:01:06) Al: yeah, I had all this organized and then something happened and now we’re changing things up. (0:01:13) Al: So that will come. Don’t worry, your final episode. Maybe a break might be good. I don’t (0:01:24) Al: know. I’ve still not heard from anyone whether they think it’s too much day of the diver (0:01:27) Al: or not. But don’t worry, we’re not going to go back to that. (0:01:31) Al: For most games, it was just a funny one-off thing. We’ll see what people think of it. (0:01:38) Al: Yes, stuff to come. Watch this space. This episode, I’m back from my month away, so we (0:01:45) Al: are going to talk about news. That’s it. There’s so much news. I didn’t count it the last moment, (0:01:50) Jonnie: There’s so much news. (0:01:52) Al: but there’s like over 20 pieces of news to talk about. It’s quite wild. (0:01:54) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:01:55) Jonnie: There’s a lot of news. (0:01:58) Jonnie: This is what happens when you go away for a month, Al. (0:02:01) Al: Oh, I know. But, you know, it’s fine. It’s good. What’s the worst that can happen? This (0:02:09) Al: is what the worst that can happen. Before that, Johnny, what have you been up to? (0:02:14) Jonnie: What have I been up to? I tried a cute little game called creatures of ever (0:02:21) Jonnie: Which is available (0:02:23) Jonnie: via game parts (0:02:24) Al: I feel like I’ve heard of this. (0:02:27) Jonnie: It’s uh, I I guess it’s kind of like a open world (0:02:34) Jonnie: Creature tamer with a giant asterisk next to it (0:02:41) Jonnie: a sort of an adventure-y style game. (0:02:43) Jonnie: Um… (0:02:44) Jonnie: And it’s kind of set out, it’s a game that’s set out into zones and I was playing through the first zone and I was having a really good time with it and I was like “this game’s like really cool” (0:02:55) Jonnie: So the core concept is… (0:02:57) Jonnie: I mean, there’s a problem that I have with the game and it’s part of the story that they’re telling. (0:03:02) Jonnie: I guess Mars blows for the story, but the concept of the game is that you are there to save the planet that is dying by capturing all of their animals. (0:03:14) Jonnie: And convincing the inhabitants of the planet to leave, which comes with a lot of… (0:03:19) Al: Is that saving a planet or is that saving what’s on a planet? (0:03:23) Jonnie: Well, it’s very much saving what’s on the planet. (0:03:26) Jonnie: And it comes with very strong, I guess, colonial style overtones of “look at me, the outworlder that’s here to tell you the locals what is best” (0:03:37) Jonnie: Which, you know, is… like, they are telling an appropriate story with it, but it doesn’t necessarily make it fun. (0:03:44) Jonnie: To be playing the character with the colonial vibes for a bit. (0:03:48) Jonnie: Anyway, that’s about the… they actually epic handle it in a way that’s likely fine. (0:03:53) Jonnie: The taming mechanic is music, so you have a flute and different creatures will respond to different songs and you form a bond with them (0:04:02) Jonnie: And you take them to the bot that zaps them up so you don’t permanently get any of them (0:04:09) Jonnie: But when you’ve changed something, you can pair with it and use it to explore the world. (0:04:14) Jonnie: And each of the creatures has different abilities, which I thought was a really cool concept. (0:04:19) Jonnie: You tame something and then it can help you access a new area. (0:04:24) Jonnie: And then I got to the second area, and all of the creatures looked slightly different, but they all had the same abilities. (0:04:31) Jonnie: And the game started to feel very copy and paste at that point, kind of like they had… (0:04:38) Jonnie: And there was only five different creatures in the first area, so it wasn’t like there was a massive… (0:04:42) Jonnie: Yeah, it was like I’d explored 20 (0:04:44) Jonnie: different creatures and then they’d run out of ideas and I explored five and (0:04:45) Al: Yeah, so I guess don’t go into it expecting lots of like, you know, if you go into it (0:04:47) Jonnie: then it felt like they ran out of ideas which was a bit of a (0:04:54) Al: because it’s a creature collector, you’re probably going to be disappointed, but… (0:04:58) Jonnie: Yeah, a hundred percent (0:05:00) Al: How’s the exploration and the movement and stuff like that? (0:05:03) Jonnie: It’s fine, it’s neither good nor bad it kind of feels like going back to (0:05:11) Jonnie: the sort of ps2 era of games like where (0:05:15) Jonnie: Exploration was largely just walking around the world and you had a jump and you would do certain things that would break down a wall (0:05:22) Jonnie: But until then that wall was kind of largely just there it fit the feels very (0:05:28) Jonnie: reminiscent of that (0:05:30) Jonnie: Which is yeah, it’s neither good or bad. It’s it’s good in the sense that it feels like intentional, but it’s bad in the sense that (0:05:38) Jonnie: Exploration games have moved well past that (0:05:42) Al: Yeah, you’re you’re not really exploring so much as following up maze. (0:05:48) Jonnie: Correct (0:05:49) Al: OK, it’s interesting. (0:05:51) Al: It looks quite nice. (0:05:52) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah, it does look nice (0:05:55) Jonnie: Also weird thing so I got to the end of the second area and when you finish the story there (0:06:00) Jonnie: The game basically tells you like (0:06:03) Jonnie: Once you leave you can’t come back to this area (0:06:06) Jonnie: So be sure you’ve done everything and I’m like but I’m not sure that I’ve done everything because there’s no (0:06:11) Jonnie: Tracking of whether or not I’ve done all of the things so that was unfortunate and at that point (0:06:12) Al: yeah. And you really can’t go back to the area. (0:06:18) Jonnie: I don’t know because at that point I was kind of like I think I’m I’m (0:06:23) Jonnie: Okay with the time but I had with (0:06:26) Al: Oh, OK, fair enough. That seems weird to have distinct areas, but then say you can never (0:06:34) Jonnie: Yeah, and I think I get why they did it in like I think it’s mild story spoilers (0:06:43) Jonnie: Is there justification for doing it, but I don’t think that’s a good reason for doing it (0:06:46) Al: Oh, are the areas destroyed? (0:06:50) Al: Oh. (0:06:50) Jonnie: No, no, I think it’s more to do with like characters leaving the area and needing to be in another area and (0:06:59) Jonnie: Then kind of just be like well the story doesn’t bring you back to this area. So let’s (0:07:04) Jonnie: not let you go back. (0:07:05) Jonnie: So. (0:07:06) Al: Okay. I mean, I guess maybe that’s why they don’t have a like completion (0:07:11) Al: percentage for that area, right? Because that would be frustrating. (0:07:14) Jonnie: Yeah, but there’s like things in the world that you can come across to find and interact. (0:07:21) Jonnie: They’re not collectibles as such, but they’re collectibles, right? (0:07:26) Jonnie: So that part really broke my brain and was slightly frustrating. (0:07:32) Jonnie: But I will say, I think the idea of playing music to tame animals was like a very cool (0:07:38) Jonnie: idea and I think that was well implemented where like the song. (0:07:44) Jonnie: The songs and the way you did that with the creatures of the world felt really good and (0:07:47) Jonnie: really clever and I kind of just wish that there was, yeah, you know what this game feels (0:07:51) Jonnie: like to me? (0:07:52) Jonnie: It feels like they had a really good idea. (0:07:55) Jonnie: They wanted to make a game much bigger than their budget allowed and so they had to copy (0:08:00) Jonnie: and paste a few things where I’m sure they had more different ideas, but making games (0:08:05) Jonnie: is really expensive. (0:08:07) Jonnie: That’s what this game feels like to me and I wish they had more money to make the game (0:08:07) Al: Yes, yep, yep. Fair enough. (0:08:10) Jonnie: they probably had in their heads. (0:08:12) Jonnie: But that’s what I’ve been up to. (0:08:14) Jonnie: How? What have you been? (0:08:17) Al: Well, so while I’m away for my month in the summer, I don’t have a huge amount of time (0:08:22) Al: for games, but what I did manage to play was Chicken Journey. I don’t know if you remember (0:08:28) Jonnie: Chicken, I’m tired (0:08:28) Al: this game, Johnny. I mean, it’s not Cottagecore. We talked about it on the podcast once because (0:08:36) Al: chicken. (0:08:38) Al: But basically it’s a side scrolling RPG where you play as a chicken with some mild platforming (0:08:48) Al: to it. It’s not particularly challenging, right? Like don’t go into it expecting platforming (0:08:55) Al: challenges. That’s not what there is. It’s more kind of puzzle-y in that you kind of have to (0:09:01) Al: figure out how to get through an area which involves some platforming and involves, you know, (0:09:07) Al: switches and stuff like that and making sure you do things in the right order and finding (0:09:12) Al: your way out of very simple mazes. It’s fun, I think. It’s not a hugely long game, so I (0:09:20) Al: finished it in, I think, 10 hours, which, I mean, for me is a good length of a game (0:09:26) Al: just now. But yeah, it’s not particularly long. And I basically have 100% of it. There’s (0:09:31) Al: one Steve achievement I don’t have and that’s just because… (0:09:37) Al: I need to go to like two different areas and go in the, what they call it, like the temples (0:09:44) Al: that I went into and get to the highest level again because I missed one thing in each of them. (0:09:50) Al: And I’m like, oh, can I really be bothered with that? It’s not like I’m doing something (0:09:54) Al: challenging that I’ve not done before. It’s just doing the same thing again and not missing one (0:09:59) Al: thing. So yeah, we’ll see, but… (0:10:03) Jonnie: then you will do it. It’s not a we’ll see, we know you will do it. Everyone’s been listening to this show. (0:10:07) Al: I don’t know, maybe I’ll forget about it and it won’t niggle at my brain the entire time (0:10:12) Al: I’m playing a different game. I don’t know. (0:10:14) Jonnie: really niggling at your brain now we all know how to sense we could pretend we (0:10:18) Jonnie: don’t if you want to do that like that’s that’s fine (0:10:21) Al: Yeah, so I think the problem is, right? Like, I very rarely 100% games. (0:10:29) Al: I’m trying to remember if there was a game I 100%ed before or not, but I 100%ed the newest (0:10:34) Al: Kirby game in the 3D one. That was the first game of (0:10:37) Al: the game. I’m like, I’m not doing that again two more times or a time and a half more. Like, (0:10:59) Al: that’s not fun, right? And oh, please. (0:11:02) Jonnie: Yeah. Have you ever 106%ed a game? (0:11:07) Al: Please don’t start this conversation with me. I will. If you’re going to disagree with (0:11:12) Jonnie: I just say these things to needle you out. That’s it. That’s it. (0:11:22) Al: me, whether you agree with me or not, Johnny, I know this because you will either disagree (0:11:25) Al: with me or you’ll agree with me, but you’ll find it more fun to disagree with me. But (0:11:29) Al: if you add stuff to your game that takes the completion to more than a hundred percent and (0:11:37) Al: add a second percentage, do not just add on to that. Because the whole point of a hundred (0:11:43) Al: percent is to say you’ve done everything, right? And if I’ve done everything and like say you (0:11:49) Al: play like, let’s take Hollow Knight, right? That’s a good example. I think that’s like (0:11:52) Al: 117% or something now. I can’t remember exactly, but there’s some annoying percent and it’s (0:11:57) Al: just, it might even be a decimal. I honestly think it might be a decimal, but I can’t remember. (0:12:04) Al: do you know when you’re done, right? This is the problem. (0:12:07) Al: Is that the whole point of having a percentage counter is when you get to 100%, you’ve done (0:12:12) Al: everything. Now, if you add more things and you either decrease the percentage for everybody, (0:12:19) Al: so you say, “Oh, you were on 100%?” No, you’re not on 100%, right? That’s one option. Or you (0:12:24) Al: add a second one and say, “This is for the new content that’s been added.” The idea that you (0:12:28) Al: would come in, and because it’s all very well and good if you played it at the beginning, (0:12:32) Al: and then you played the second update, and you played the third update. But me coming to it, (0:12:38) Al: and I hadn’t played it before any of the updates, literally, I have to google what (0:12:42) Al: the correct percentage number is to know when I’ve done everything. That’s weird, and confusing, (0:12:49) Al: and not fun! (0:12:50) Jonnie: Yeah, but like Hollow Knight’s a bad game, so it’s natural that they would have bad design. (0:12:59) Al: Oh, fun. Well, I mean, I don’t really care about that one. (0:13:00) Jonnie: I’m just trying to get you some hate mail here, Al. (0:13:06) Jonnie: But going back to Chicken Journey, whatever it is, I feel like you’re so close, right? (0:13:07) Al: Enjoyed Hollow Knight. (0:13:10) Al: Yes. (0:13:15) Jonnie: Because I’m kind of with you that I don’t really care about 100%ing games, (0:13:21) Jonnie: and then it’s kind of like, well, I might as well. (0:13:23) Al: Yes, you’re correct. That’s the real thing. That’s it. There’s no other reason why I would do it, (0:13:29) Al: is because there’s one achievement left, and I’ve got… I actually think I have two of the three (0:13:34) Al: things, I’m just not sure which of the two I haven’t done. I know which one I’ve definitely done, (0:13:42) Al: and I know there are two others, one of which I’ve done, one of which I’ve not. So it’s possible I (0:13:47) Al: go find the one that I’ve not found, and I find it, and I don’t have to do the second one, and (0:13:51) Al: and that’s me done, so it might only be one thing I’ve got left to do. (0:13:53) Jonnie: Yeah, you’re definitely gonna do this. (0:13:53) Al: Of course I’m going to do it, but not just now, because I’ve picked up another game, (0:13:55) Jonnie: It just makes sense. (0:13:59) Al: a game that Johnny is jealous I have access to now, and that is Mika and the Witches Mountain. (0:14:05) Al: I mean, you could have kick-started it. I kick-started it. Kickstarters got the code a week (0:14:12) Al: before release, so I have been playing that. I’m not going to give away too much just now, (0:14:18) Al: but I will say that I am having fun. That is what I’m going to say just now. (0:14:22) Jonnie: It’s a very ominous way of saying you’re having fun. (0:14:26) Al: Ah, it’s… (0:14:27) Al: OK, let me… I’ll say one other thing. The controls were not what I expected with flying, (0:14:33) Al: but I understood… In a initially bad way, but then I understood why they are doing what they’re (0:14:33) Jonnie: In a good way or a bad way? (0:14:35) Jonnie: Oh. (0:14:40) Al: doing, and it leads to more things to progress in the game. (0:14:47) Jonnie: I feel like my interpretation of what you just said is that flying has a limited (0:14:54) Jonnie: Time and you can add to that capacity over time, which would make sense (0:14:56) Al: Yeah, pretty much. Not quite, but kind of, yeah. It’s one of these things where I was (0:15:04) Al: expecting, and I don’t know why I was expecting this, but I was expecting that the flying (0:15:08) Al: is just like, you get on your broom and you can fly wherever, you can go up and down, (0:15:13) Al: but it’s not that. And so, because my brain was in that mode, I was expecting the controls (0:15:19) Al: to be specific things, but it’s not that, and therefore my brain had to get used to (0:15:23) Al: the fact that the controls are different. (0:15:25) Jonnie: Ah, interesting. I don’t think I had that expectation going in from a lot of the videos. (0:15:26) Al: And that’s fair. Yeah, no, that’s, and that’s fair. That’s probably just a me thing. But (0:15:33) Al: anyway, well, I’ll talk more about it in a future episode, maybe. We’ll see. (0:15:36) Jonnie: And by the time this episode’s out, I believe the game is out. (0:15:42) Al: Yes. Yeah, it comes out on Wednesday, the 24th. So Johnny will be playing it while this (0:15:46) Jonnie: So I hope your friend is enjoying playing Mika. (0:15:50) Al: episode’s out. I mean, I think you’ll enjoy it, Johnny. I really hope you enjoy it. I (0:15:58) Al: don’t think it’s not a bad game. It’s a good game. It just took my brain a bit to get used (0:16:04) Al: to it, but I think now I’m used to it, I’m very much enjoying it. And I will say more (0:16:09) Al: in the future! (0:16:12) Al: That’s what we’ve been up to. (0:16:14) Al: OK, so as I have done in some previous episodes, where we have just an insane amount of news, (0:16:21) Al: I have chunked it into different sections. (0:16:24) Al: So this is going to be the game releases section. (0:16:26) Al: So that’s games that either have released just about to release, or haven’t released (0:16:32) Al: yet, but is news about their release. (0:16:34) Al: It’ll make sense when we get to the next section. (0:16:36) Al: So first of all, we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 games. (0:16:42) Al: They’re out now, or given us the release– no, five? (0:16:46) Al: Right, three games. (0:16:47) Al: Why am I doing this? (0:16:48) Al: Right, let’s just go these one by one. (0:16:50) Al: I was trying to make it go quicker. (0:16:52) Al: It’s going to be confusing. (0:16:53) Jonnie: I really like the, like, there’s something about Krita Crops that when I first like watch a video or see something of it, I’m like, does this look good? (0:16:53) Al: Critter crops, right now. (0:16:55) Al: Anything to say on that. (0:17:07) Jonnie: And then the more I watch it, the more I’m like, I actually think I am very into this art style, it just takes a bit to get into and I don’t know, I like the idea of growing critters, what can I say? (0:17:17) Jonnie: This game looks kind of cute and silly and I… (0:17:18) Al: You are a sucker for creature collectors, let’s be honest. (0:17:24) Jonnie: Yeah, I am. 100%. Um, and the only other thing to say is that it’s 10% off. Oh no, that was till the end of July. Don’t worry, I can’t read. Why is it still on your Steam page? (0:17:33) Jonnie: Uh, we’re in August. Oh my god, I was… Okay, anyway. Uh, Krita Crops is out, it looks great. (0:17:33) Al: This is how long it’s been, Johnny! (0:17:40) Al: This game came out, I think, like two days after our last episode or something. (0:17:42) Jonnie: Uh… (0:17:44) Jonnie: Um… (0:17:45) Al: 22nd of July. (0:17:46) Al: Yeah, nearly a month ago this came out. (0:17:48) Jonnie: Yeah, that looks cute, very excited. (0:17:49) Al: Oh, it’s even better. (0:17:53) Al: I think it came out one day after the last episode was recorded. (0:17:57) Jonnie: » [LAUGH] (0:17:57) Al: Not released. (0:17:58) Al: Amazing. (0:17:59) Al: Fine. (0:18:00) Al: Whatever. (0:18:01) Al: Yeah, I agree with the art style. (0:18:03) Al: If you ever see it, you’re like “ugh” and then you go “no, no, this is a very deliberate (0:18:07) Al: and interesting art style” like because initially you just think “oh, it doesn’t look very (0:18:11) Al: good” but then you realize it’s different and I like it. (0:18:14) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s I think that’s exactly it, right? It’s not, um, I think you would like an initial glance, you could look at it and think, yeah, like you said, it’s not a good art style. I actually think it is an intentional art style and they’re just trying something that a lot of games are afraid to try. (0:18:30) Al: I agree. And it’s not pixel art, so. Not that I’m saying the pixel art’s bad, but I like (0:18:35) Al: when not everything is the same. Speaking of pixel art, Gurdlitz announced a release (0:18:42) Al: date and it’s now in the past. So Gurdlitz is now out. “You wrote IDO mode!” exclamation (0:18:50) Al: mark, exclamation mark, exclamation mark. (0:18:54) Jonnie: Yeah, gauntlets has idle mode (0:18:57) Jonnie: So like rusty’s retirement (0:18:58) Jonnie: You can have your gauntlets little island be just like a little banner on the bottom of your screen while you’re doing other stuff (0:19:04) Jonnie: Which is amazing (0:19:08) Jonnie: Gauntlets for those who don’t remember is like the (0:19:11) Jonnie: Chill city builder where you’re building a city for (0:19:15) Jonnie: vegetables (0:19:17) Jonnie: to come and live and (0:19:19) Jonnie: It looks super cute. There’s no real goals (0:19:24) Jonnie: but (0:19:26) Jonnie: What they do say in their release trailer is that (0:19:30) Jonnie: When gauntlets come to your island, they kind of come with a leaf and by interacting in the world (0:19:37) Jonnie: That kind of makes them happy and the more gauntlets you make happy unlocks more stuff for you to build (0:19:43) Jonnie: So there is a there is a little bit of a gameplay loop that they have built into it, which seems amazing (0:19:49) Jonnie: The idea of it having the little idle mode option is (0:19:54) Jonnie: kind of cool. I’m very excited to try this out as a little idle game. (0:19:59) Al: And it is five dollars. (0:20:01) Al: Go buy it like I’m not like with this. (0:20:05) Al: I’m not even I mean, it is on sale just (0:20:07) Al: now for is it minus 20 percent off, which is just wild. (0:20:11) Al: But yeah, I’m not waiting for like, oh, I’m going to wait until it’s 90 percent. (0:20:14) Al: No, go buy it now. (0:20:16) Al: Right. Unless you have real financial issues. (0:20:19) Al: It’s a fiver. Go buy it. (0:20:21) Al: There we go. (0:20:21) Jonnie: Pretty much, that’s what I’ll be doing. (0:20:25) Al: I’m doing it right now. (0:20:28) Al: Right. What is next? (0:20:29) Al: I have Song of the Prairie. (0:20:31) Al: There are one point all (0:20:34) Al: will be out by the time this episode comes out. (0:20:36) Al: But I think it’s oh, no, it’s out now. (0:20:38) Al: It is out now. (0:20:39) Al: This was August 1st. (0:20:41) Al: It’s out now. (0:20:42) Al: Woo! (0:20:44) Jonnie: I don’t know much to say about Song of the Prairie other than it looks like someone thought (0:20:49) Jonnie: what if Harvest Moon was kind of good and then they made the skin. (0:20:53) Al: I think many people have tried, have thought, had that thought process. (0:20:57) Jonnie: Yeah this looks very like Harvest Moony though. (0:21:01) Jonnie: I don’t know why there was something more about this one that kind of linked me to a (0:21:06) Jonnie: Harvest Moon than other games. (0:21:10) Al: Fair. Yeah, I like the look of this game, there’s nothing about it that makes me go (0:21:14) Al: a must play this though I think is the thing. Like if this came out maybe four years ago, (0:21:19) Al: I would probably be right on it, but I’m like okay, that’s fine. (0:21:24) Jonnie: I agree, it seems like it’s reviewing pretty well on Steam though, so that’s that’s good (0:21:30) Al: Oh yeah, that’s good. All reviews is very positive, nearly 80% SteamDB rating. (0:21:38) Al: Garden which life have announced that they? (0:21:40) Al: They’re releasing on the 12th of September, and I think that I believe that’s not early access. That’s just straight into. (0:21:48) Jonnie: Yeah, this, this is like the word salad game of like we, we took the words gardening and (0:21:55) Jonnie: witch and we put them together. (0:21:57) Jonnie: And I’ve said many times on the show that we don’t need any more witchy gardening games. (0:22:04) Jonnie: And unfortunately, that is how I feel about this game. (0:22:07) Jonnie: There is just nothing about this one stands out to me. (0:22:11) Al: Yeah, I hate the name. It’s a terrible name. Get a better name. I think I’m probably similar. (0:22:17) Al: I like the look of it. I feel like a broken record right now, but I like the look of it. (0:22:24) Al: But yeah, nothing is telling me I must have it right now. (0:22:29) Al: Real fishing days of summer have announced that their release date is the 28th of October, (0:22:35) Al: and that will be on Switch and PS5. I mean, I’m not going to buy a real fishing game now. (0:22:38) Jonnie: yep (0:22:41) Al: I’m sorry. (0:22:42) Jonnie: me either bluetooth fishing (0:22:45) Al: I’m not against fishing in general. I mean, we have this conversation time and time again. (0:22:50) Al: We’ve got another game to talk about later that’s adding fishing when it really doesn’t (0:22:53) Al: feel like it needs to. But what I definitely don’t want is realistic fishing. That just (0:23:01) Al: feels like the worst. So yeah, no, please, no. Thank you. Please, I’m thinking. (0:23:01) Jonnie: me either. Yeah. (0:23:08) Al: Harvest Moon, Home Sweet Home, speaking of Natsume. (0:23:11) Al: And no please no. Announced that their game is coming out on Friday, two days after this (0:23:18) Al: episode comes out, the 23rd of August, the day before my birthday. They say that they’ve released (0:23:26) Al: a gameplay trailer, but it’s kind of hard to see what the gameplay is because all they do in this (0:23:32) Al: is have people talking to people and running around. Like they’re not really showing a huge (0:23:37) Al: amount of things. There’s some cut scenes and stuff like that. (0:23:41) Al: I feel like we have different definitions of gameplay trailer but it looks pretty standard (0:23:47) Al: Harvest Moon game and I don’t really want that on a mobile device. We’ll see what happens. (0:23:55) Jonnie: Yep, I found it exactly the same way. I watched the trailer and I thought that sure looks like (0:24:00) Jonnie: some Harvest Moon gameplay but it did not tell me what the gameplay loop of this was at all. (0:24:06) Jonnie: So it feels like they’re basically saying if you like the idea of Harvest Moon and you want that (0:24:12) Jonnie: on your phone then this is the game for you and if you don’t know what any of those words mean then (0:24:17) Jonnie: you can probably give this one a miss. (0:24:20) Al: Yeah, probably. I don’t like to promise things very often, but we’re going to cover this (0:24:25) Al: game because I think this is the sort of game that it’s possible this could be good. I don’t (0:24:32) Al: think it’s going to be good, but it’s possible it could be good. But don’t buy this game (0:24:37) Al: yet. Wait. We’ll play it. We’ll tell you what it’s like. (0:24:39) Jonnie: Well, and it makes sense. It makes sense for us to cover because the Cottagecore game on (0:24:46) Jonnie: mobile, I think we would all love a really good version of that, and I don’t know that (0:24:53) Jonnie: there’s been one yet. So the hunt continues for something that sort of fills that niche in a way (0:24:59) Jonnie: that is very satisfying. (0:25:01) Al: Yeah, the problem is that what most of them are is just the same game but on mobile and (0:25:07) Al: that doesn’t… I mean, Stardew did it fine, but the problem is it’s still the same game, (0:25:14) Al: just different controls for it, and yeah, exactly. And so the problem is you need to (0:25:16) Jonnie: and generally worse controls, right? (0:25:21) Al: rethink what a game should be for mobile, and Stardew wasn’t trying to do that. Stardew (0:25:25) Al: was just “Oh, people want my game on mobile, that’s fine, let’s do that and see how people (0:25:29) Al: we’d interact with it and that’s that’s fine. (0:25:31) Al: That’s, you know, he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel for that, but if someone wants to make a good game, a good farming game for mobile, they need to think about the entire thing from scratch and this just looks like it is Harvestment in the Winds of Anthos with a different story and on a smaller screen. (0:25:50) Jonnie: I agree, yeah. We’ve talked a lot more about this game than I thought we would. (0:25:56) Al: Yeah, we’ll see what happens. Natsumon 20th Century Summer Kid, which, fun fact, they (0:26:04) Al: changed the name on the Steam page. So they’ve added the English translation to this game (0:26:09) Al: on Steam and on Switch, so that’s the news. But the funny thing I found is I’m pretty (0:26:14) Al: sure on Steam it used to be called Natsumon 20th Century Summer Vacation, because that’s (0:26:19) Al: the literal translation from Japanese. But then apparently when they’ve localized it, (0:26:24) Al: changed the name. Which is fine. (0:26:27) Al: It’s just weird that they added the name initially as a different translated version, (0:26:32) Al: and then decided that that wasn’t what they were going with for the name. (0:26:35) Jonnie: I mean the name still makes sense I guess so that’s (0:26:38) Al: Yeah, no, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s just, (0:26:42) Al: it’s weird that they had a name in English and changed what that was. (0:26:49) Jonnie: Yeah, I don’t know. I can’t get over the fact that this game is like a million dollars. (0:26:53) Jonnie: It’s so expensive. (0:26:56) Al: Um, yeah, it’s not cheap. (0:26:59) Jonnie: And it looks so bad for like… (0:27:02) Jonnie: And I get that that’s kind of like the style, but like… (0:27:06) Jonnie: Paying what? This game must be like 50 American dollars or something like that and it’s just like… (0:27:14) Jonnie: You could buy pretty much every other game that we’ve talked about (0:27:17) Jonnie: and still not have paid as much (0:27:19) Jonnie: as you could pay for this game (0:27:21) Jonnie: I just don’t (0:27:23) Jonnie: Who’s buying this? (0:27:23) Al: Me, apparently. (0:27:27) Al: Well, yes, we know that. (0:27:28) Jonnie: Well, Al, you have a problem (0:27:33) Al: We know that. (0:27:34) Al: Thankfully, my money is finite, so I can’t buy literally everything. (0:27:39) Al: Speaking of buying literally everything, Usagi Shima is coming to steam. (0:27:45) Al: Now, interestingly, so this was free on mobile, and I had ads and you could pay to get rid (0:27:53) Al: of the ads, but it was like five quid or something, so of course I did that. (0:27:56) Al: Oh, no, did it have ads? (0:27:58) Al: I don’t think it did have ads. (0:27:59) Al: It was just like an in-game purchase to get a bunch of… (0:28:01) Jonnie: think you could just pay to buy the like it was yeah it was just a hey do you (0:28:06) Jonnie: want to support me then you can do this (0:28:08) Al: Yeah, which was a no-brainer for this game. So it’ll be interesting to see whether that (0:28:11) Jonnie: yes (0:28:13) Al: will be the same for Steam or not. I don’t see any information about how much it will (0:28:16) Al: be yet, but the Steam page is up. It looks like it’s going to be on Windows and Mac. (0:28:23) Al: So yeah, it’s a fun game. I mean, if you’ve listened to us talk about Asagashima before, (0:28:29) Al: it’s exactly what you’re expecting, and it’s the exact same game. It’s just got (0:28:34) Jonnie: which is awesome I think that makes total sense and like I would say if it’s ten dollars or less (0:28:41) Jonnie: it’s kind of just an instant buy um if it if it does have a purchase price which I think would (0:28:46) Al: Yep. (0:28:47) Al: It’s different, right? Steam is different from mobile, and I think you can get away (0:28:47) Jonnie: not be a bad thing right to just say like hey give us five bucks for this game (0:28:57) Al: with charging money on Steam where you wouldn’t be able to on mobile, because I think the (0:29:01) Al: thing is that if you go free on mobile with an option to give money, you’re much more (0:29:05) Al: likely to get more people doing it, and therefore, people will go, “Oh, I like this game. Fine, (0:29:10) Al: I’ll put the money in.” Whereas if you don’t try it first, you might not be willing to (0:29:16) Al: pay for it upfront. Whereas on Steam, especially with the game now being popular, and people (0:29:21) Al: know it, and people like it, they’ll be like, “Oh, finally, it’s coming to Steam. I’m excited (0:29:25) Al: about that. Yes, I will buy that.” The smallest piece of news is the Echoes of the Plum Grove (0:29:26) Jonnie: Absolutely (0:29:30) Al: is now on Mac. Done. I still haven’t played this game. I really need to play this game (0:29:32) Jonnie: Cody you go play it (0:29:38) Al: because I love everything that it’s doing in terms of death. (0:29:44) Jonnie: Yeah. I can’t remember. Someone in the Slack, it might have been Cat, was playing it, and (0:29:54) Jonnie: they were saying they were having a really fun time with it, and this game weds me out (0:29:58) Jonnie: every time I kind of remember that it exists, because everything they’re doing around death (0:30:02) Jonnie: seems super cool and super interesting, and not what you expect when you first see the (0:30:06) Jonnie: now available on Mac. Picture is very cute, and you can imagine someone being like, “Ooh, (0:30:10) Jonnie: what’s this?” and looking into it and being like, “Oh my god!” (0:30:10) Al: Yeah, that’s the thing that’s most fun about it, is the art style is so cutesy, but you (0:30:17) Al: die in this game, and it’s hard not to die. It’s proper survival. You die and then you (0:30:24) Al: play as someone else, you know? Yeah, I guess the question is, I don’t know what happens (0:30:26) Jonnie: As your children, I’m pretty sure it’s like a generation. (0:30:33) Al: if you don’t have kids. Is that game over, or do you play as someone else in the village? (0:30:35) Jonnie: Game over. (0:30:36) Jonnie: I don’t actually know. (0:30:37) Al: don’t know. Anyway, yeah. (0:30:41) Al: That was meant to be the shortest piece of news. (0:30:45) Al: Outbound, cozy camper van exploration crafting game. (0:30:50) Al: That’s apparently what they’re listed as on Kickstarter. (0:30:53) Al: Don’t know why. (0:30:54) Al: They’re Kickstarters live now and they have well and truly hit (0:30:59) Jonnie: ah look this is a yeah I know you said I could have backed the me be here in the (0:31:05) Jonnie: witches mountain kickstarter but like how long ago did you have to back this that one because (0:31:09) Jonnie: like their their date for you know beta access is end of 2025 which makes total (0:31:14) Jonnie: sense like i’m not saying like that’s too long or anything like that making games takes a long time (0:31:19) Jonnie: but like and they’ve met the they’ve met the the kickstarter thing like don’t bother just wait for (0:31:26) Al: So I’ll tell you why. I’ll tell you why I kickstart games. I kickstart games because (0:31:34) Al: it’s like a little present to future me. I buy a game and then two, three years later (0:31:42) Al: I get a free game. It’s great. But it is, it is free. I haven’t paid for it at that (0:31:44) Jonnie: One, it’s not free, Al, and I know that you know this, and now you’re just saying… (0:31:52) Al: point in time. (0:31:54) Jonnie: You have paid for it, though, that is in fact how that has worked, (0:31:58) Jonnie: and you might not even get the game. (0:32:01) Jonnie: I would be pretty confident that this one is in fact going to come out, (0:32:05) Jonnie: because everything that I’ve shown looks very good. (0:32:09) Jonnie: Which, you know, there’s some tricky vertical slice stuff that people can do in trailers and stuff, (0:32:15) Jonnie: I would be shocked if this is a game that doesn’t see the light of day, (0:32:21) Jonnie: because it looks pretty good. (0:32:23) Al: Well, and it’s, it’s also, it’s the same developer that did Above Snakes. So they’ve proven that (0:32:28) Al: they can do a Kickstarter for a game and then release a game. Yeah, very different vibe, (0:32:30) Jonnie: Interesting, I don’t think I knew that it was the same developer, but uh, so yeah 100% (0:32:37) Al: which is always good when you’ve got like, get your developer who can do both, right? (0:32:42) Al: Very, very different. And I like that, but this is what I really love about indie game (0:32:48) Al: development, right? Is when they go, I’ve got a weird idea that I want to do for a game (0:32:53) Al: to do it. And then they’re like, and I’ve got this completely different idea for a completely (0:32:57) Al: different style of game. And then they do it. And if you’re successful, the first one, (0:33:02) Al: you will probably be successful at the second one because people like your first game, like (0:33:06) Al: this game funded in two hours. (0:33:08) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean that’s not a surprise like I think everything this game is doing is just really tapping into (0:33:14) Jonnie: Something that people are feeling (0:33:17) Jonnie: right now (0:33:18) Al: Yes this is the game that is for some reason adding fishing I don’t know why (0:33:22) Jonnie: Boo (0:33:23) Al: they’re adding it as a stretch goal away with your fishing don’t make me fish of (0:33:25) Jonnie: Boo (0:33:27) Jonnie: That’s a good reason to not back the Kickstarter (0:33:28) Al: course I’m gonna fish yeah yeah I’m like please stop we’ve no well the problem is (0:33:34) Al: right they’ve got fishing as the next one and then beekeeping after that and (0:33:39) Al: I’m like can we do the beekeeping and without the fishing but (0:33:42) Jonnie: 100%. Yeah. I think what I’m most curious with this game is like, what is the actual game? (0:33:50) Al: I deriving around and building your insane house on top (0:33:57) Jonnie: Right but like I said so in a lot of you know the games that we cover the gameplay loop is (0:34:02) Jonnie: very driven around you’ve got your plot of land and you are using that to produce (0:34:07) Jonnie: money or resources or other stuff that then enables all of those upgrades. (0:34:12) Al: Yeah, I see where you’re pointing. I think the point is exploration, and so you are going (0:34:17) Al: from point A to point B, via a million other points, and everything you do is with the (0:34:23) Al: goal of getting there, I think. It’s not particularly clear, which is fine because maybe they’re (0:34:30) Al: not 100% sure how it’s going to pan out, and they’ve very much been working on the core (0:34:37) Al: concept of the game. We’ll see. I’ve backed it, of course. (0:34:42) Jonnie: Yeah, look, I thought about it, and then I saw, I’m like, if I’m backing it, it would be to play the alpha. (0:34:47) Jonnie: And then I’m like, I don’t, why would I want to play an alpha? I’ll just wait for it to come out. (0:34:51) Al: Fair enough. (0:34:52) Al: Look, we know I have a problem with Kickstarters. (0:34:55) Al: Speaking of having a problem with Kickstarters, we’re now going on to the Game Updates section, (0:35:00) Al: which is about updates to games that are already out. (0:35:05) Al: The first one is Coral Island, the 1.1 is out now. (0:35:09) Al: I think this came out like just after the last episode came out, yet the 23rd of July. (0:35:16) Al: I think that is the day before the last episode where we had news. (0:35:21) Al: But we’d recorded like two days before that or something. (0:35:22) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:35:25) Al: So thanks, Coral Island. (0:35:27) Jonnie: And for those who don’t remember, this is 1.1 in brackets. Actually, it’s 1.0, and we’re now actually finished. (0:35:27) Al: Well, yeah, yes, they’re literally calling it Finale Land and Sea Update. (0:35:40) Al: They’re literally calling it the Finale, right? (0:35:45) Al: This is what the game was meant to be. (0:35:47) Al: They’re adding in stuff that didn’t exist in the first game that should have, like your (0:35:50) Al: town rank system. (0:35:51) Al: Finally added the top rank of it. (0:35:54) Al: They’ve added people in the sea that you can actually talk to. (0:35:58) Jonnie: When one of the headings in the 1.1 update (0:36:00) Jonnie: is storyline completion, we released a game (0:36:04) Jonnie: and the storyline was incomplete. (0:36:06) Al: Uhhh… (0:36:08) Al: Yes. (0:36:09) Al: Well, I- I- (0:36:10) Jonnie: But look, we’ll stop poking fun, (0:36:12) Jonnie: ‘cause I feel like this game has had some challenges (0:36:15) Jonnie: in the background, but there is a lot, I think, (0:36:17) Jonnie: to be excited about for 1.1 update. (0:36:24) Jonnie: Yes, it is finishing the game, (0:36:26) Jonnie: that there is, you know, like, I feel like they’ve– (0:36:28) Jonnie: I’ve also listened to a lot of feedback. (0:36:30) Jonnie: I’m just scrolling through all of the patch notes (0:36:32) Jonnie: because one of my favorite sort of spouse interactions. (0:36:36) Jonnie: For those that don’t recall, I think (0:36:38) Jonnie: when you get married in Coral Island, (0:36:40) Jonnie: your partner becomes a soulless husk (0:36:43) Jonnie: that stands in the house and does nothing. (0:36:46) Jonnie: And they have a bullet point that says you can now (0:36:48) Jonnie: hug and kiss your spouse once daily (0:36:50) Jonnie: to get some point in the relationship with it. (0:36:50) Al: Once, once daily. (laughs) (0:36:58) Jonnie: Uh, and I think it’s meant to reach, to get some points in the relationship, so you can, like, I think the implication is meant to be to feel like that you can continue to build the relationship, but to get some point in the relationship makes it feel like, “So the marriage is not entirely pointless, so…” (0:37:09) Al: Yeah, this is definitely a translation issue because they’re, I think they’re from the (0:37:17) Al: Philippines, the developers. So yeah, let’s not be too harsh on the English, but yes, (0:37:18) Jonnie: Uh, I believe that’s correct. (0:37:25) Al: it does feel a little bit perfect, accidental. (0:37:29) Jonnie: that one was just it was yeah that one was accidentally perfect um and when I was ready (0:37:33) Jonnie: through because it was about halfway through all of all of the updates it would give me a good (0:37:38) Al: like having some point in a relationship. But now we get to talk about the problems and that is that (0:37:46) Al: Coral Island was being published by Humble Games. And if you’ve not heard this already, Humble Games (0:37:52) Al: no longer humbles or games. It basically no longer exists as a thing. Humble Bundle still exists (0:38:02) Al: because Humble Games was separate. It’s like there’s the Humble company and then there’s (0:38:07) Al: this humble bundle and how– (0:38:08) Al: which is a problem for some things, including the fact that humble games were– the other (0:38:35) Al: thing they do as well as publishing is they did porting, so they were (0:38:39) Al: they were working on the switch port for coral island, no more. (0:38:47) Al: Shall I just use their own words? (0:38:51) Al: First of all, oh my word. (0:38:55) Al: I need to say that they were, they didn’t, the first apparently they found out about this was (0:39:00) Al: the same way everybody else found out about it. Nobody contacted them to say that this was happening. (0:39:06) Al: We’d like to say something to you today. (0:39:08) Al: We’ve been given that Humble Games’ recent “restructuring” - the most amazing word you can use for firing everybody - leaves consoles in a place of uncertainty. (0:39:16) Al: However, we see this as an opportunity to share what we can. (0:39:20) Al: To start, we share in your frustrations regarding the lack of an Incentive Switch port of Coral Island. (0:39:24) Al: Over the years, there’s a lot we’ve wanted to say in the spirit of transparency about many different things, but continue to be unable to do so because of the publishing agreement and NDA we have in place. (0:39:34) Al: The impact of Humble Games’ restructuring on Coral Island remains uncertain for all (0:39:38) Al: things related to consoles, whether porting or pushing hotfixes. I believe that they (0:39:44) Al: already have a port on Xbox and PlayStation, it was just Switch that was missing. So that’s (0:39:49) Al: why they’re talking about updates. (0:39:51) Al: As they are responsible for these platforms, we’ve been in communication with our lawyer (0:39:54) Al: since we found out about the restructuring on social media to figure out how to navigate (0:39:59) Al: this new situation. For example, we have an upcoming hotfix for the 1.1 update nearing (0:40:04) Al: release for Steam. We have no idea how to get this update out to other platform players (0:40:08) Al: and have a backend permission on console platforms to push updates out. We only have (0:40:13) Al: access to the Steam backend. Because of this, the only thing we can do for Switch Makers (0:40:18) Al: effective immediately is offer a key exchange to the Steam platform. We will offer key changes (0:40:23) Al: for as long as we are able to. Please email for a key change. Blah. Oh, and then they (0:40:28) Al: go, we will, I missed this last paragraph. We’ll keep you posted on developments once (0:40:33) Al: we have more information. We know it effing sucks, but we hope you understand. And they (0:40:39) Al: say effing, but this is still a family friendly podcast. There’s a lot of subtext and a lot (0:40:47) Al: of text in that update. (0:40:50) Jonnie: There certainly is. It’s just a tough situation for them to be in, right, like it seems like there is very little they can actually do about it. (0:41:06) Al: Yeah, it also sounds like they’re struggling to keep up with the the key exchanges (0:41:11) Al: There’s lots of people complaining in the comments that they haven’t had their key exchange. I (0:41:17) Al: Am very glad that I exchanged my key (0:41:22) Al: Two years ago when I when I got my steam deck and I was like I’m just gonna get this on Steam if I can (0:41:27) Al: And they let me do it. So I’m glad I did all the way back then (0:41:30) Al: I find it very interesting that they are very clearly saying that they (0:41:37) Al: I have not been allowed to say stuff because of NDAs (0:41:39) Al: But they’re saying they’re not allowed to say stuff because of NDAs possibly because they’re like well who’s gonna soon as nobody exists in the company (0:41:47) Jonnie: I feel like the NDA’s thing is normal, and it feels like we’re just seeing a frustration (0:41:54) Jonnie: over the last few years, sort of leaking out a little bit in this statement, which seems (0:41:59) Jonnie: totally understandable, because publishing games is hard, and publishing to multiple (0:42:04) Jonnie: platforms is hard, and sometimes you get in situations where the developers are not the (0:42:10) Jonnie: ones with the power in these relationships, and I think this is unfortunately what has (0:42:16) Al: Yep, and this is the thing you need to remember about Kickstarters. You are paying money (0:42:24) Al: for a promise of something that is not a legally binding contract. You are funding this and (0:42:30) Al: there is a chance that you get nothing out of it. So bear that in mind. Don’t be like (0:42:35) Al: me. Don’t Kickstart everything. I think I’ve only had two things that I just haven’t got (0:42:43) Al: from kickstarters. But it’s not fun when (0:42:46) Al: it happens. And there are a lot of disappointed people in the comments, (0:42:50) Al: because it’s all very well saying we’ll give you a key exchange. (0:42:52) Al: But if the switch is your only. (0:42:56) Jonnie: Anyway, it’s even harder, I don’t know, they said they’ve got a hotfix coming for 1.1 for Steam, obviously. (0:43:04) Jonnie: But if you’re a PlayStation or Xbox player, what does this hotfix fix? (0:43:10) Jonnie: You know, and the fact that there are potentially some significant bugs or glitches in those consolvations (0:43:20) Jonnie: that there’s no real idea of when or if they will even get this hotfix. (0:43:26) Al: Well, yeah, I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. (0:43:31) Al: Next we have the 1.2 update for Roots of Patria is out now. (0:43:36) Al: This is the one, I think we talked about this a few months ago. (0:43:40) Al: This is the one that adds child labour, I mean, isn’t that why we have children? (0:43:42) Jonnie: Hell yeah. (0:43:46) Jonnie: Finally, children will be useful for something. (0:43:51) Al: Not for child labour, but for adult labour in 18 years time, right? (0:43:55) Jonnie: Mmm, I don’t know. I feel like I feel like that’s inefficient get them started young (0:43:57) Al: We also have the sunnable, I mean, you played Roots of Patria? I can’t remember. (0:44:07) Jonnie: I I have played a little bit of roots of patcher. I (0:44:12) Jonnie: liked what it was trying to do but equally I was playing roots of patcher at the same time I was getting into coral island and (0:44:18) Jonnie: Coral island one out in that battle (

Al and Codey talk about Office cat Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:40: What Have We Been Up To 00:10:32: Game News 00:22:53: New Games 00:32:54: Office Cat 00:48:56: Outro Links Critter Crops Release Date Natsu-Mon 20th Century Summer Vacation Spirittea Physical Release Go-Go Town Roadmap Len’s Island “Game Modes” Update Outbound Kickstarter Trailer Trade Tales Office Cat Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al, (0:00:36) Codey: My name is Cody. (0:00:37) Al: and we are here today to talk about title score games. (0:00:41) Codey: Woo! (0:00:43) Al: As usual, transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website. (0:00:47) Al: I feel like I should just stop saying that because people know, right? Like they’re there. (0:00:50) Codey: but then the next episode is going to be the one where they’re like, (0:00:54) Codey: it would be really cool if you guys had transcripts. (0:00:56) Al: Yeah, yeah, I just like it’s there. It’s right there. You can see. (0:01:00) Codey: Maybe, maybe you could say it at the end. (0:01:00) Al: It’s right here. Anyway, I’m kind of pointless then, right? (0:01:03) Codey: I don’t know. Listeners, tell us, listeners, tell us what you want. (0:01:07) Codey: Do you want us to say it? (0:01:08) Codey: Do you want us to not say it? Do you want? (0:01:10) Al: Listeners who are already listening. Not really, not really useful then. (0:01:15) Al: Hi Cody, we’re going to talk about Office Cat, which is some mobile game that Cody found and said, (0:01:20) Al: let’s do this one. And I went, yeah, sure, fine. I like cats and they’re in suits. So let’s do that. (0:01:24) Codey: Yep, yeah, they’re in little suits. Yeah, I love how you’re blaming me for this. (0:01:28) Al: So we’re going to – (0:01:30) Al: I’m absolutely blaming you for this. (0:01:35) Al: So yeah, we’re going to talk about that. Before that, we have some news, (0:01:39) Al: a good selection of fun news. But first of all, Cody, what have you been up to? (0:01:44) Codey: I am still PHD-ing, as always, but this last week- was it last- yeah, last week- time is an illusion. (0:01:52) Al: - Well, well, when this comes out, it will be more, we can have it. (0:01:54) Codey: Last weekend- two weekends ago, I was Pokemon Go Fest in New York City, so I got to go hang out with some lovely humans from the It’s Super Effective crew and the GoCast crew as well. (0:02:11) Codey: Um, and just got to just tromble. (0:02:14) Codey: All over New York city, play some Pookie mains, tromped, we tromped. (0:02:16) Al: Trump. That’s an interesting word. Trump. Trump-a-Trump-a-Trump. (0:02:21) Codey: Um, and in classic Cody fashion, I left the tote bag I was going to bring with my portable (0:02:29) Codey: charger and right next to my hiking boots. (0:02:32) Codey: So I wore Converse the whole weekend, which was not great for my feet. (0:02:36) Codey: Uh, and then we also had to go buy a new portable shirt. (0:02:41) Codey: Uh, but we… [laughs] (0:02:41) Al: Woo! (laughs) (0:02:45) Codey: I was like, “Oh, yeah, right.” (0:02:47) Codey: Um, and on Saturday, I forgot to take my meds. (0:02:49) Codey: So it was a great time. (0:02:50) Al: Woo! (laughs) (0:02:51) Codey: Uh, whew! (0:02:52) Codey: Done at its end. (0:02:53) Codey: It was super worth it, but it was a time. (0:02:56) Codey: Um, listeners, if you play that game, (0:02:59) Codey: you probably have heard that it was warm. (0:03:04) Codey: Uh, but other than that, (0:03:06) Codey: I’ve been playing, of course, Office Cat. (0:03:08) Codey: Um, I’m back into Disney Dreamlight Valley. (0:03:11) Codey: They’ve… they got me again. (0:03:11) Al: Ah, they got you. (0:03:13) Codey: Well, because they added. (0:03:13) Al: Mulan captured you. (0:03:14) Codey: Mulan, yep. And all of the Mo so the Mulan star path, I think (0:03:17) Codey: it’s called like majesty and Mongolia, not Mongolia as wow, (0:03:23) Codey: magnolias. I’m close, but no. It’s all got really that star (0:03:31) Codey: path has really good rewards. And since I’ve been playing my (0:03:34) Codey: game since the beginning, I still have a heck ton of the (0:03:37) Codey: moonstone from like that you just get for free from playing, (0:03:41) Codey: but they would also just be like, oh, no, that event. (0:03:44) Codey: It was a little buggy. (0:03:45) Codey: Here’s a thousand moonstone for no reason. (0:03:48) Codey: So paying $2,500 or 2,500 moonstone for access to all of the rewards from that was worth it. (0:03:57) Codey: So I’ve just been going through and trying to get all of that and trying to get (0:04:00) Codey: Mulan and Mushu up to max. (0:04:03) Codey: Also, Remy has started doing like daily cooking quests, which is great. (0:04:11) Codey: I’m really trying 100% this game. (0:04:14) Codey: Get the harvest 999 coconuts and harvest all of this. (0:04:19) Codey: And I’m trying to get all of those achievements. (0:04:21) Codey: I don’t know why they just tickle my brain. (0:04:25) Codey: I also, because I finished that one other game, Powerwash Simulator, but didn’t, well, (0:04:31) Codey: I haven’t 100%ed that. (0:04:32) Codey: That’s also on my to-do list. (0:04:34) Codey: But one of my friends was like, heavy-tried SnowRunner. (0:04:37) Codey: So I’m playing SnowRunner now, which is where you are basically an ice road trucker in Alaska. (0:04:44) Codey: And someone is like, oh, no, I’m stuck in the snow. (0:04:48) Codey: And so you bring like a semi up to them and pull them out. (0:04:53) Codey: Learning how to drive semi, it’s not going to do it in real life, though. (0:04:59) Codey: Yeah, that’s that. (0:05:00) Codey: What have you been up to, Al? (0:05:01) Al: I, obviously, have been playing Office Cat as well. I have been playing Dave the Diver. (0:05:08) Al: I feel like I’ve mentioned that many, many times in a row, but there we go. I played (0:05:11) Al: Dave the Diver. I actually finished it. I finished the game yesterday as we’re recording, which (0:05:17) Al: listeners will, if they listen carefully in future episodes, will be able to figure out (0:05:23) Al: when this was recorded related to another episode. (0:05:26) Codey: Okay, so how many, how many bottles of beer on the wall are you? (0:05:26) Al: - Good. (0:05:27) Al: » Okay. (0:05:32) Al: I have obviously been continuing with farm RPG. (0:05:40) Al: I’m at 98 now, so I’m one away, one away. It might take me a little bit while because I’ve (0:05:40) Codey: - Thank you. (0:05:41) Codey: Ooh! (0:05:49) Al: still got, what is it, so let me, right, I think last time we talked I was still quite a long way (0:05:55) Al: away from being anywhere near this point, but yeah, and like I wasn’t even at like a quarter (0:05:57) Codey: Think you’re at like 85 (0:06:02) Al: of what you need to get to 99, like XP wise. Now the reason why I have expanded so much (0:06:04) Codey: Okay. (0:06:10) Al: is when you, I bought the next layer of farming farms, and when you buy farm plots, it gives you (0:06:15) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:06:20) Al: the same amount of XP as you spent in money, and that one cost a billion. So with one button click, (0:06:24) Codey: - Oh, that one costs a lot, yep, yep. (0:06:29) Al: I got a billion XP added on to my 700,000, 700 million. So I went from 700 million to 1 billion, (0:06:38) Al: 700 million and (0:06:40) Al: to get to level 99 is 2 billion. So I’m now getting pretty close. (0:06:48) Codey: Hmm, how’s the rest of the game? (0:06:48) Al: Getting pretty close. Oh no, I’m actually, I’ve increased quite a lot actually since then. I’m (0:06:53) Al: at 1,900,000,000 now. So I just need. Yeah, so we’re getting there. My fishing’s at level 99, (0:06:58) Codey: You only need 100 million. (0:07:04) Al: my crafting’s at level 99, my exploring is at level 84, and I have finally unlocked cooking. (0:07:11) Al: Which I’m not really doing much with because it’s kind of boring. (0:07:15) Al: I’m not really enjoying the cooking. (0:07:16) Codey: So what the real game starts when everything’s at 99 though, right? (0:07:21) Al: Yep, that’s how it goes. Yep, yep, yep, yep. (0:07:28) Al: Yeah, no, the one thing I’m quite enjoying is that now I’m at the point where my (0:07:35) Al: Quests are not constantly expanding, so like, if I finish a quest… (0:07:40) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:07:40) Al: it either just gives me another quest, or it finishes that line. (0:07:44) Al: So I’m actually down to the point where I only have 11 quest lines active, (0:07:44) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:07:49) Al: which at one point I had 40 active or something. (0:07:49) Codey: Wow yep (0:07:51) Al: And my requests completed in total is 500 now. (0:07:57) Al: So yeah, I feel like I’m getting close to being able to go, “I can leave this now.” (0:08:07) Al: But yeah. Exploring’s (0:08:08) Codey: dot com syndrome. Just got to click a button. (0:08:10) Al: going to take quite a while to get there, because yeah, but I’m not even at half a (0:08:17) Al: million XP and there’s nothing, sorry, not half a million, sorry. I’m not even at half (0:08:22) Al: a billion and you need 2 billion to get to level 99. So yeah, I don’t know. That’s quite (0:08:28) Al: a long way away. You can’t know. There’s no equivalent for exploring. I looked for that. (0:08:29) Codey: Can you spend a billion money to unlock? (0:08:36) Al: So that’s just going to take a long, long time. (0:08:40) Al: How long have I been playing this game for now? (0:08:42) Al: Far too long. (0:08:42) Codey: It’s been like two months, maybe? (0:08:44) Al: When did we do farm RPG? (0:08:46) Al: End of May. (0:08:49) Al: So not even two months, but yeah, like if I’m only a quarter of the way to level 99, (0:08:58) Al: like it’s going to be another six months before I get there. (0:09:01) Al: I don’t know if I can keep playing this game for six more months. (0:09:05) Codey: - Not with that attitude, it’s on cost values. (0:09:05) Al: We’ll see. (0:09:09) Al: We shall see. (0:09:10) Al: So yeah, I will try my hardest to get to level 99 in farming for you, just so I can get that questline done. (0:09:18) Codey: Mm hmm. Thank you. I just want that guy to die of alcohol poisoning. (0:09:21) Al: Yeah, I’m intrigued to see what happens. I can’t believe I’m one away. (0:09:29) Al: Yeah, I don’t think they will. I don’t think they will. (0:09:30) Codey: If they come out with 99 bottles, 100, I’m going to scream. (0:09:40) Al: The other thing I’ve just started playing today is Chicken Journey. (0:09:46) Al: It is a chicken-based side-scrolling RPG. You’re a chicken on a journey. (0:09:52) Codey: What is it on? (0:09:56) Al: I’ve got it on my Steam Deck, but it’s also on Switch. (0:09:58) Codey: Okay, interesting. (0:10:00) Al: But yeah, I mentioned it at one point, but it’s not really Cottagecore because it’s an RPG. (0:10:02) Codey: Have we ever talked about that on the pod? (0:10:04) Codey: Okay. (0:10:10) Codey: But it’s a chicken. (0:10:10) Al: Yeah, I know. That’s why I mentioned it once. But I mentioned it when it came out, and then not again. (0:10:18) Codey: Yeah, very cute though. (0:10:21) Al: But yeah, I’ve literally spent like 10 minutes on it so far, so maybe I’ll have more to say about it in the next episode. (0:10:27) Al: Yes, I think that is what we’ve been up to. So next we have some news, game news. (0:10:35) Al: The first thing is the critter crops have announced their new release date so for (0:10:40) Al: they had announced a release date, and then like two weeks later, they changed their mind (0:10:44) Al: on it. Now they have a new release date, which is the 22nd of July. It is very close. It’s (0:10:50) Codey: Whoo. (0:10:50) Codey: Very close. (0:10:52) Al: just over a week away. So, yeah. Natsuman, 20th century summer vacation. We talked about (0:10:57) Codey: Yep. (0:10:57) Codey: That’s, that’s coming out. (0:11:06) Al: in the last episode that it looked like English was coming to the game. (0:11:10) Al: We now have confirmation that English is coming, (0:11:13) Al: and it’s coming to both Steam and Switch on the sixth of August. (0:11:14) Codey: Okay. Okay, this is the, you said this was related to Shinshan. Yes. (0:11:25) Al: No, Shin-chan was the one that was touted as like a spiritual successor to Natsu-mon, (0:11:30) Al: and then they came out with a new one. So it’s not technically related, I think, but… (0:11:30) Codey: Oh, got it, got it, got it, got it. OK. OK. (0:11:38) Codey: Cool, that it’s getting English. (0:11:40) Al: Yes. Finally, we can play it and talk to Micah, because he likes the games. (0:11:46) Codey: Also, a shout out to my neighbor, Micah, not a, well, I guess he is a pixel artist, actually. (0:11:56) Codey: Yeah. (0:11:57) Codey: Yeah. (0:11:58) Codey: I’m pretty sure, I’m pretty sure uh, but yeah, no, he came up the other day and he was like, (0:12:00) Al: I’m sorry, your neighbour is called Micah and is a pixel artist. (0:12:06) Al: Are you sure it’s not just Micah? (0:12:16) Codey: you guys keep mentioning someone named Micah, who’s a pixel artist. (0:12:19) Al: He did the logo for the podcast, not the other Micah, not your neighbor. (0:12:20) Codey: I was like, yeah, he is, yep, you did, yeah, not you, not you, the other one, you didn’t (0:12:34) Codey: do it in a fugue state. (0:12:36) Codey: Who knows? (0:12:37) Al: Maybe who knows? (0:12:38) Codey: Yeah. (0:12:39) Codey: So then we can, doing Natsuman, then we can have the brave Micah, though my, my, my neighbor (0:12:46) Codey: Micah is not, not, not brave, no, no, uh, Micah the brave is his name, we’re gonna have (0:12:48) Al: Wow, wow, Cody harsh. (0:12:57) Codey: that Micah on. (0:12:58) Codey: I’m gonna find something to bring neighbor Micah onto and then we can have a dueling (0:13:02) Codey: of the Micah’s. (0:13:03) Codey: No, I don’t have to do that anyway. (0:13:04) Al: Spirity. Spirity. Still never forgot how I wanted to say the name. They’ve announced (0:13:11) Al: that they’ve got a physical release coming for Switch. So you can pre-order now but there’s (0:13:14) Codey: Whoo. (0:13:17) Codey: Uh-huh. (0:13:18) Al: no information on when it’s coming out as far as I can see. (0:13:21) Codey: Correct. (0:13:23) Al: Woo! (0:13:24) Codey: Whoo. (0:13:25) Codey: I’m trying to think, like, would they wait? (0:13:27) Codey: I don’t think they’d wait until, like, holidays. (0:13:29) Codey: It’s, like, too early. (0:13:30) Al: Yeah, I don’t know. (0:13:32) Codey: They would probably just be like, “Aaaand drop.” (0:13:36) Al: It’s interesting, because if you look on the page, they have shipping times for a lot of games that you can pre-order. (0:13:45) Al: Including Fableton and Sunnyside and Pixelshire, but not for this. (0:13:56) Codey: We’ll find out eventually, woo! (0:13:58) Al: Google Town have announced more info on their roadmap so they have a another minor update (0:14:09) Al: coming out now with some minor stuff and then they’ve got their first major update the player (0:14:12) Codey: Yeah, it’s out now. It was out on July 8th. (0:14:19) Al: suggestion path. (0:14:26) Al: It includes expanded player and town cosmetics, a new area of the map, a new tourist teleporter (0:14:36) Al: that ensures tourists can reach your new building area, presumably that’s because they take (0:14:41) Al: a while to get places. (0:14:45) Codey: I mean, you gotta, I don’t know anything (0:14:47) Codey: about walking a lot in a new city (0:14:50) Codey: and how long it takes to get across cities, (0:14:51) Al: I want them to do a metro system. That would be fun. A subway system. They’ve extended (0:14:52) Codey: but I would assume a teleporter would be pretty nice. (0:15:01) Codey: It’s like heck, I don’t know if I can curse, I don’t know. (0:15:07) Al: zones as well, and they might include zone customization. I don’t know what that means. (0:15:16) Codey: like maybe that I mean I would think that it would mean that you could like either you could choose where the different zones are so instead of. (0:15:17) Al: changing which zone? No, that wouldn’t make any sense. (0:15:28) Al: See, the problem is that it’s very tied to the map, like the mining area has like actual (0:15:35) Al: caves that you go into that are very, like you wouldn’t just be able to move them on the map. (0:15:41) Codey: Well, why can’t you just do that? (0:15:46) Codey: No, I’m thinking like, what if they’re just little (0:15:49) Codey: square shapes and then you could just be like, (0:15:51) Codey: I want my mining area over here actually. (0:15:54) Al: So, I guess the thing is it would work fine for, for example, the farming and the forestry areas, those could easily just be like splopped up and plopped down right because one is just an area for farming and one is just an area with trees. (0:15:54) Codey: I mean, sure that doesn’t like make sense (0:15:56) Codey: but neither does a teleporter. (0:16:12) Al: But the fishing and the mining bits, it’s not just like the cave just exists within the zone itself, like it is attached to other areas of the map. And so it would just be like a (0:16:24) Al: entirely different map if you were to do that. And that’s not what they’re saying, they’re not saying different maps, right, or maps with different layouts, they’re saying you can choose what you want to do with that. (0:16:34) Al: And I don’t, I think that it would be technically very complex to be able to do that because of the way that it’s set up. (0:16:44) Codey: Could it be that like, oh, your trees are not pine trees anymore. (0:16:47) Codey: They’re maple trees or something like that. (0:16:50) Al: I guess. (0:16:51) Codey: Like that’s like a aesthetic customization. (0:16:54) Al: I guess, but I mean, is that exciting? I don’t know. (0:16:59) Al: Like, I’m just, I just, like, it doesn’t say what it means, and I want to know what it means. (0:17:00) Codey: So I guess this is player suggestion, so what about the zones do you think people wanted (0:17:09) Codey: to customize? (0:17:12) Codey: ‘Cause my first thought was, place. (0:17:16) Al: I look I’m not I’m not saying that that isn’t something that people want I’m saying I don’t (0:17:20) Al: think they’ll do that like I think that is way more complicated than it sounds it’s in no (0:17:21) Codey: Yeah. You just pick up, put down. I’m going to stop being a butt. It’s true. (0:17:27) Al: it’s not how it works and you know that (0:17:32) Codey: I’m just being a butt. Yeah, I don’t know. (0:17:35) Al: anyway and some fixes to their their worker ais and stuff like that so (0:17:41) Codey: And they did say that next week, they will have another update. There might be an update by the (0:17:47) Codey: the time this episode comes out that you can look at that will have more. (0:17:51) Codey: Information about, uh, what the major updates going to look like, as well as (0:17:56) Codey: the preview, um, server, which is like an opt-in server where they’ll put like new (0:18:06) Codey: fancy stuff that they really need checked out before it even goes on to the early (0:18:11) Codey: access server, and they’re going to have more information about that as well. (0:18:16) Codey: So I like how communicate communicative they are good. (0:18:21) Codey: Communication. I’m trying to think of what the other word I was trying to use is, but yeah, nope, it’s good. (0:18:26) Al: I agree lens island have announced that their new update game modes is coming on the 18th of July. (0:18:37) Al: So this is a very big update, which not only allows you to have (0:18:43) Al: hardcore permadeath mode, but also allow you to customize the difficulty to quite (0:18:50) Al: an interesting degree, like I’m looking at their their set. (0:18:52) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:18:56) Al: If you want a really hard experience you can do that and if you just want a chill experience (0:19:23) Al: in that world, you can you can also do that, which is cool. (0:19:26) Codey: Well, and it adds more customizability versus just having a, here’s an easy mode and here’s (0:19:32) Codey: a hard mode. (0:19:33) Al: Yeah, you get to choose which parts you want to do easy. For example, (0:19:34) Codey: It like literally puts it, yeah. (0:19:38) Al: maybe you want to do a harder mode, but you don’t want permadeath. So there’s options. (0:19:44) Codey: Yeah, I want hard mode in the farming, but not in the dungeon. (0:19:51) Al: What was hard? Oh, no. (0:19:52) Codey: I want to have to watch my plants. (0:19:56) Codey: I want to have to watch them grow or else it’s like avocados. (0:20:00) Codey: Once you take your eye off the avocado, it’s like bad. (0:20:03) Codey: I want that. (0:20:05) Codey: No, I don’t. (0:20:07) Codey: Yeah, that was all really cool. (0:20:08) Codey: They also have this game modes also has night raid defense. (0:20:12) Codey: Looks like– (0:20:14) Codey: You use Tesla coils to keep your base safe at night, (0:20:21) Codey: just wild. (0:20:24) Codey: And then new cave biomes, which looks awesome too. (0:20:27) Codey: That was one thing that I really liked when I first (0:20:30) Codey: played this game, was there’s– in the cave system (0:20:32) Codey: that you go through, there was an area in the cave (0:20:36) Codey: that just clearly was open to the sky. (0:20:40) Codey: And there were, um, well, it was like a little forest. (0:20:44) Codey: And I thought that was really cool. (0:20:45) Codey: And this, uh, picture looks like it has more of that kind of thing. (0:20:51) Codey: Um, but yeah, it’s mushroom forests, underground strongholds, some really good (0:20:56) Codey: loot, um, this lens Island every week, just trying to make me break my, I’m (0:21:02) Al: It’s not far away, or is it next quarter I think it’s meant to be. (0:21:03) Codey: going to wait for 1.0 promise. (0:21:07) Codey: I know, I don’t know. (0:21:10) Codey: I’m not, I have Costa Rica coming up. (0:21:12) Codey: but that’s where my brain is. (0:21:14) Codey: Like, yeah, so. (0:21:20) Al: And the last main piece of news we have is the Outbound. (0:21:25) Al: This is the caravan exploration game by the Above Snakes developers. (0:21:30) Al: They’ve announced that their Kickstarter is launching on the 13th of August. (0:21:36) Codey: Whoo! (0:21:38) Codey: Yeah. (0:21:40) Codey: Looks interesting. (0:21:44) Codey: I’m always curious how you’re going to be so off-grid when you have a vehicle. (0:21:50) Codey: Or is it solar powered? I don’t know. (0:21:50) Al: Yeah, it’s solar powered, I think, because they definitely show solar panels in the trailer. (0:22:02) Al: Sorry, I just opened up the tab for the next game and just got completely (0:22:06) Al: distracted by the insane graphics on this. Yes, yeah, we’ll talk more about Outbound once (0:22:07) Codey: - Yeah. (0:22:15) Al: the Kickstarter’s out. It’s good timing because the third (0:22:21) Al: is just a few days before the first episode after (0:22:30) Al: the month where I’ll be on holiday, so we’ll actually be doing that news to you on time. (0:22:36) Al: So. (0:22:36) Codey: That’s the day. I’m coming back from Costa Rica sounds I think it’s you’re going to be on your vacation when I’m kind of on mine half of mine. I’m in Costa Rica for two weeks, so. (0:22:45) Al: Yeah. Well, I’m away for a month, so I think I overlap all that. (0:22:50) Codey: Yeah. (0:22:53) Codey: Well, let’s talk about what distracted you. (0:22:56) Codey: Uh… (0:22:57) Al: Yeah, so we’ve got another new game. It’s got a Kickstarter. It’s called Trade Tales, (0:23:03) Al: and their description is a cosy modern life farming game fused with entrepreneurial (0:23:11) Al: adventures - manage a factory, open your own shop, live your (0:23:15) Al: dream life. And the graphics are weird. So you write that cat is looking so realistic (0:23:30) Al: compared to the rest of the game and you’re right, it looks so distracting. It’s just like this. (0:23:31) Codey: Yeah. (0:23:34) Codey: There’s so much detail in this cat, (0:23:38) Codey: but not in anything else. (0:23:40) Al: It looks like clipart that they’ve just stuck on the front of the game. (0:23:44) Al: like what is. (0:23:45) Al: Is this cat and why and it looks like it wants to die? (0:23:50) Codey: It says hello. I need your help. You need to kill me. (0:23:55) Al: The other interesting thing is the image itself for the game looks bad, but when you (0:24:01) Al: play the trailer the graphics look so much better. (0:24:03) Al: Why is the image so bad and the actual trailer looks much better than the image? (0:24:11) Codey: I also love you look at the image for you can’t get over that cat. (0:24:16) Codey: You look at the I’m going to cover the cat with my hand. (0:24:19) Codey: You look at the image and then the first like minute (0:24:22) Codey: and a half of the trailer, you would think you’re playing (0:24:24) Codey: a completely different game because it’s all like you’re in the city (0:24:28) Codey: because it’s the whole, you know, man, opening a shop, managing a factory, blah, blah, blah. (0:24:32) Codey: But then you’re harvesting stuff. (0:24:39) Codey: Also, this woman’s shirt looks thank you. (0:24:41) Codey: I think it’s supposed to be white in the picture, but just it’s like nude colored and it’s. (0:24:43) Al: Oh, no, I just noticed they have very interesting boobiejeko physics. (0:24:51) Al: Oh, that’s so weird. (0:24:51) Codey: Yeah. Oh my gosh. So that was my other comment was that. (0:24:56) Codey: That was my other comment. I said, what is with the stiff torso and wild hips swaying (0:25:03) Codey: in the female character models? Like there’s other than the breasts, the torso just doesn’t move. (0:25:11) Codey: But the hips are like swaying back and forth like they’re doing the Spongebob dance. (0:25:16) Al: She is on a mission (0:25:19) Codey: She is on a hot girl walk. She is. She’s definitely CEO material, but gosh darn. I was like that is (0:25:30) Codey: this is. Uh. (0:25:32) Al: I feel like there’s something here in this game and I’m intrigued by it so I’m gonna keep an eye on it. (0:25:39) Codey: I was going to say, it’s the last 20 days left and it’s already hit its goal. (0:25:39) Al: It is pierce to have a lot of backers already. It’s got 400 backers for some reason. (0:25:49) Codey: Uh, I guess the news of this game is that it’s a new game on Kickstarter. (0:25:52) Codey: So we’ll have the link for it. (0:25:54) Al: Yeah. Wild. (0:25:54) Codey: Um, but yeah, there’s a lot to this game that it just looks like a lot. (0:26:02) Codey: Cause like, do you, do you go from being like farming to then go in the city and (0:26:08) Al: Well that’s yeah the factory definitely seems to be in the city right because they show her (0:26:15) Al: looking at this vacant lot and then the implication is that that’s what oh I like the mining did you (0:26:23) Al: see the mining the mining it’s so long it’s gonna be longer than this whole section we’re talking (0:26:24) Codey: I did not make it that far, I’m not going to lie to you. (0:26:27) Codey: The trailer on the Kickstarter is six minutes long, which is awesome, but. (0:26:33) Al: about and no so you it’s a really detailed mine and you like have to mine the (0:26:38) Al: wall to get through to other parts of the mine no no no no no no not like it looks in character (0:26:41) Codey: Okay, so you said detailed, do you mean like detailed cat, like cat level detail? (0:26:50) Al: for the rest of the stuff uh unlike all of the animals which look like they look a little bit (0:26:51) Codey: Okay. (0:26:56) Al: this is okay they look like they’ve taken the nintendogs models and just slapped them in the game (0:27:03) Codey: Yeah. I also love that the cat like you like you’re right. It (0:27:04) Al: that’s what they look like to me (0:27:09) Codey: just is like, please kill me because it doesn’t. It just (0:27:12) Codey: walks behind you. It just stands it stands behind you. Let’s be (0:27:17) Codey: real. It doesn’t even move. Like your hips are doing all the (0:27:19) Al: I don’t think I want to play this game because it’s very much focused on the shop and I (0:27:20) Codey: work. Oh, found. No, I didn’t see the mining. I saw that you (0:27:27) Al: have you seen the mining? (0:27:30) Codey: You can wear cat ears, I’m back in. (0:27:33) Al: I have still never had a game with a shop that has actually been fun. Oh, they are walking right (0:27:40) Al: up to the line of copyright infringement there. They’ve got a Starworks coffee. (0:27:48) Al: See? (0:27:49) Al: And they have… what else did they have? They had an Evelyn, which is the same logo (0:28:01) Al: as 7/11. And they have… oh, it’s 7 Evelyn. That’s what they called it. Sorry, 7 Evelyn. (0:28:07) Codey: oh my gosh (0:28:09) Al: They’ve got… oh, Star Banks Coffee. Sorry, Star Banks Coffee. And they have a Wick Donalds, (0:28:16) Codey: Okay. I saw the mining. It is nice. (0:28:17) Al: The logo is just the upside down golden arrow. (0:28:20) Al: And they’ve they’ve got Mallmart like they I just I feel like they’re just asking to be sued. (0:28:27) Al: They’re like, I dare you try. (0:28:30) Al: It’s weird. (0:28:31) Al: Oh, they have oh, they have automation. (0:28:34) Al: I’m back in, I’m back in. (0:28:36) Codey: I was going to say, have you got to the to the automation? (0:28:37) Al: They’ve got oh, no, they’ve got Ritos. (0:28:41) Al: They’re making Ritos and Fanta. (0:28:44) Codey: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. (0:28:46) Codey: I. I need to look at those bed and jerry’s. (0:28:47) Al: Oh my word, they’re- they’re- they’re- (0:28:49) Al: So much of this is- this is wild. (0:28:52) Codey: Did you see the bed and jerry’s? (0:28:52) Al: Yeah, I did, I saw the Ben and Jerry’s. (0:28:54) Codey: OK, we’ve got Ray’s classic 100 percent. (0:28:56) Al: They’ve got Kraft’s mac and cheese. (0:28:58) Al: This is, oh, for goodness sake, day 400. (0:29:00) Codey: Instead of Doritos, it’s just a posture free ritos. (0:29:02) Al: This is so stupid. (0:29:06) Codey: » Oh my God. (0:29:07) Codey: Yeah, no, this the craft, the automation part of it looks very factorial to me. (0:29:12) Al: Oh, that’s an interesting outfit for the date. (0:29:13) Codey: Instead of Fanta, it’s just Fanna, Herb. (0:29:18) Al: Oh, my. (0:29:19) Codey: I’m trying to find the Ben and Jerry’s because that was blatant. (0:29:23) Codey: Bob and Jimmy’s. (0:29:25) Al: You need to skip forward to the date that they do. (0:29:29) Codey: Okay, I’m gonna let it play. (0:29:31) Codey: Oh, she’s like K-pop dancing in the in the fact (0:29:36) Al: Oh yeah. I know, I just… Who’s making this game and what are they on? (0:29:36) Codey: Day 420, blaze it day 420, do you stalk every single shelf? (0:29:46) Codey: Finding love? No, we really do. I, we are just, yeah, I don’t know. (0:29:48) Al: Yeah, just you wait. What’s she wearing? (0:29:53) Codey: She was like, yep, go, going on a trip. (0:29:54) Al: And then we go to the beach after this, which is also an interesting one. (0:30:00) Al: They put the jiggle physics to work here. (0:30:02) Codey: Oh, those are bikinis, y’all. (0:30:02) Al: here. (0:30:06) Al: Oh no, it was so shallow that she just smacked into the ground as well, that would be really painful. (0:30:06) Codey: What is this game? (0:30:10) Codey: Oh, they dropped her in the water. (0:30:17) Codey: Oh, my gosh, the jiggle physics, they’re dancing. (0:30:22) Codey: Oh, now they’re in an arcade. (0:30:23) Codey: This this really is just watching this whole trailer. (0:30:26) Al: That walk animation is wild, that camera level with that skirt was not great. (0:30:34) Al: Um. (0:30:34) Codey: build brand awareness, raise. (0:30:37) Codey: Oh my gosh, they’re going to get hit by so. (0:30:41) Codey: Much copyright or alternatively, did Lay’s pay them to have raise in the game. (0:30:43) Al: I need to play this game, don’t I? (0:30:50) Al: think you know the answer to that. I need to play this game don’t I? Oh my word that walking (0:30:56) Al: animation every time it’s so weird! (0:31:00) Codey: What are we doing? (0:31:00) Codey: Okay. (0:31:02) Codey: What do we got? (0:31:02) Codey: Stretch goals. (0:31:04) Codey: Oh, we hit the museum. (0:31:04) Codey: You got, oh wait. (0:31:06) Codey: Did we hit the museum? (0:31:06) Codey: We have not hit the museum. (0:31:08) Codey: Advanced character creation. (0:31:08) Codey: More vehicles, more part-time jobs, museum. (0:31:10) Codey: creation, more vehicles, more part-time jobs, museum, constantly. (0:31:16) Al: This game isn’t coming out until 2026 and there I’ve got a Switch logo there. I feel like maybe (0:31:23) Al: don’t plan to release a game on Switch in 2026. Just a thought. This is quite the game. I don’t (0:31:40) Codey: But, uh, yep, nope, this that was y’all. (0:31:42) Codey: You need to watch this trailer. (0:31:43) Codey: This is probably. (0:31:44) Al: Yeah, our explanation does not do it justice. You need to go to the link in the show notes (0:31:49) Al: to the Kickstarter and watch this video and then come talk about it in the Slack. I just don’t know (0:31:55) Al: what to do. Weird cat models though. I would rather one of Coral Island’s animals than an (0:31:58) Codey: You can adopt up to 10 pets to live in your home. (0:32:02) Codey: I’m in. (0:32:03) Codey: They heard us complain about Coral Island. (0:32:07) Codey: There were dogs, too. (0:32:08) Codey: There were weird dogs. (0:32:09) Codey: No. (0:32:09) Codey: No, no, I won’t. (0:32:12) Al: infinite number of these animals. (0:32:19) Al: So that’s Trade Tales, the Kickstarter’s out now. (0:32:22) Al: So you’ve only got 20 days, well, less than that when you. (0:32:27) Al: What, you’ve probably got about a week and a half by the time or two weeks (0:32:31) Al: by the time this comes out, two weeks to decide whether you’re back in this project. (0:32:37) Codey: I’m going to play it, but I’m not going to back it personally. (0:32:39) Al: Yeah, my worry about backing it is do I (0:32:43) Al: actually believe that they won’t be sued in the next two years before they release? (0:32:47) Al: I can’t be confident of- (0:32:49) Al: That’s the news. We’re going to talk about office cat. This is a mobile game where you (0:32:54) Codey: Whoo! (0:33:04) Al: are a real estate owner for offices full of cats. That’s it. Well, yes, obviously. Come on. A human (0:33:14) Codey: And you are a cat yourself. (0:33:17) Al: isn’t going to rent offices. (0:33:19) Al: to cats, are they? (0:33:20) Codey: I would. (0:33:23) Al: So, my first thoughts on this game, Cody, are that after you told me to play it, or (0:33:25) Codey: And I would put them in little suits. (0:33:28) Codey: Isn’t that really so cute? (0:33:37) Al: we agreed to play it, I guess, because I did say, “OK, fine, let’s do that one.” (0:33:40) Codey: I also, okay, I am being severely misrepresented here. (0:33:45) Codey: I threw like 10 game names at Al. (0:33:48) Al: Yeah, and half and half of them we’ve already covered on the podcast Cody (0:33:52) Codey: Correct. (0:33:54) Codey: I was like, I don’t remember, I don’t remember. (0:33:55) Codey: I was getting ready for Go Fest. (0:33:57) Codey: I didn’t know. (0:33:58) Codey: So I just sent him a bunch of names. (0:34:00) Codey: And then he was like, yeah, sure, let’s do Office Cat. (0:34:02) Codey: So this was just one of, it’s not like I was like, (0:34:04) Al: It looked cute! (0:34:05) Codey: oh my gosh, this game, I wanna play this game specifically. (0:34:10) Codey: I didn’t play Office Cat, I didn’t say that. (0:34:12) Codey: It was just in the list. (0:34:14) Codey: Anyway, and then we decided. (0:34:15) Al: So I booted it up and I spent like 10 minutes playing it, and then the next day I spent (0:34:19) Al: another 10 minutes playing it, and then I completely forgot it existed. (0:34:25) Al: But I mean, so it’s interesting in so much as like, this is possibly the most mobile (0:34:32) Al: game. (0:34:33) Codey: Give it the crown! (0:34:34) Al: any mobile game has ever mobile gamed, right? (0:34:38) Al: There is just like every thing that mobile games do, every single thing that they do, (0:34:44) Al: this game does, right? (0:34:46) Al: You know, from your like timers that you know, your real life timers, I mean, this, this (0:34:51) Al: won’t be built until 15 minutes time, okay, fine, whatever, sure, to the weirdest thing (0:34:58) Al: I found. (0:34:59) Al: So you, you, you build your offices, well, you’ve got the building, you don’t build the (0:35:04) Al: offices, realistic to real life, you’re an estate owner, you’re not doing any building, (0:35:08) Al: you’re not actually creating anything, you’re just owning, you buy, you buy furniture, right? (0:35:14) Al: You buy furniture and you put it in building, in rooms, and then you say, Oh, this, I’ll (0:35:17) Al: get this business to hire it, okay, sure, fine. (0:35:21) Al: And it’s like fixed term contracts. (0:35:23) Al: And at the end of the contract, you can either go find another company to rent it or pay (0:35:30) Al: Pay the company money to have them rent you to continue rent. (0:35:34) Codey: Yeah. (0:35:34) Al: What sort of business is this, that I’m paying them to continue their contract? (0:35:40) Al: That’s bizarre. (0:35:42) Codey: You don’t have to pay them. You could watch an ad. (0:35:45) Al: Oh, the ads are everywhere. (0:35:48) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I liked that they’re, I’m trying to think of some positives about this game. (0:35:59) Codey: I liked the cat themed naming systems. So things like Twitter became chatter (0:36:04) Codey: or Shaw in French is cats. Walmart became Pawmart. They did have, uh, the Tesla one was funny. I got up. (0:36:14) Codey: Oh, I already have the game open. I was like, I got a little of the game back up. Um, I didn’t, uh, (0:36:21) Codey: Tesla’s me lawn mask. (0:36:34) Codey: A million gates. (0:36:36) Al: This game? Yeah, it’s not for me. (0:36:41) Codey: Posh, instead of porch capital. Anyway. (0:36:44) Al: You know, the thing that annoyed me the most about the ads is every ad was the exact same (0:36:48) Al: one ad. It was for this one game and I just constantly… White out survival. (0:36:49) Codey: Oh, I got like four different ones. Which game was yours? (0:36:55) Codey: Oh, see, I didn’t get that. I mean, I got that one sometimes, but I also got solitaire clash, (0:37:00) Codey: which you can make real money by playing solitaire. (0:37:00) Al: No, no, Cody, not another scam game, don’t do it. (0:37:04) Codey: » I’m not playing it. (0:37:08) Codey: I did look at the reviews, I was like, is this legit? (0:37:11) Codey: And everyone was like, don’t do it, it’s a scam. (0:37:16) Codey: And I got a couple other like gambling ones, but I don’t know, I’m not into that. (0:37:24) Codey: I also, another positive, trying to have positives. (0:37:29) Codey: Also, I think that it’s cute that when the businesses come to rent your (0:37:32) Codey: the space, um, so. (0:37:34) Codey: I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know if you guys are familiar with that. (0:37:36) Codey: I don’t know if you guys are familiar with that, but I think that’s a good one. (0:37:39) Codey: I would say you have like eight desks or whatever. (0:37:42) Codey: So eight employees come to work and each of them have their own name and their own little (0:37:48) Al: art style is very cute. I will definitely give you that. I mean, that’s what Trax does to this game, (0:37:52) Al: right? Like you suggested it presumably because it looked really cute and it was cats and I… (0:37:56) Codey: And it was like a management same house like I haven’t done this kind of thing before. (0:38:01) Al: Yeah and I thought it was cute because it looked cute and the graphics were nice so it definitely (0:38:06) Al: is good looking. That is the thing that is correct. So I mean, I think it mostly comes down to the fact (0:38:06) Codey: No. (0:38:08) Codey: No. (0:38:10) Codey: End of positivity. (0:38:12) Codey: Let’s rip into this game. (0:38:17) Al: that this is designed to. (0:38:19) Al: And it’s like, I get that you want to make money, but it’s just doing every bad thing that every game that is bad does and there’s no real there’s no justification to that right like you can do half of the stuff without being as bad as it is like ads aren’t a bad thing but the way that it does it literally every option and it’s just doing every bad thing that every every game that is bad does and there’s no real there’s no justification to that right like you can do half of the stuff. (0:38:42) Al: Without being as bad as it is like ads aren’t a bad thing but the way that it does it literally every option and (0:38:48) Al: it’s like for example right you earn money without playing the game right like as you’re away you get rent and then there’s a maximum amount you can get which is like two hours worth of rent okay great. (0:39:00) Codey: - Mm, it depends on the company. (0:39:02) Al: It starts out it starts out as two hours and you can expand that I think but anyway that’s not important specifics don’t matter. (0:39:10) Al: When you come back you can either get that or you can get eight times the value by watching an ad the ad is like a minute long. (0:39:16) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. (0:39:19) Al: It’s not like a it’s a one off thing it’s not like a you do this and you get twice the amount of money for a while it’s no no this is for this one thing and so it’s just like constantly throwing ads in your face and you know you pointed out in the notes about like the constant list of oh here’s a deal where you can get these gems and you can do this and so it’s like yeah you can pay to get rid of ads or you can pay to get gems to do other things in the game faster and it just. (0:39:49) Al: becomes a slog of and that and that example I was saying of like you pay the company to continue do it like that doesn’t make any sense logically but is presumably only there just to get more money out of you and it’s just like I don’t it removes any sort of joy that I would have ever had from this game by just going this is just a money machine for us. (0:40:10) Codey: Yeah. (0:40:12) Codey: Yeah. (0:40:14) Codey: And if you’re not interested in putting money in, uh, then it’s not worth it. (0:40:18) Codey: Um, (0:40:20) Codey: Uh, as I. (0:40:20) Al: And the thing is that I would probably have paid a small amount of like maybe like 10, 15 quid, (0:40:26) Al: I would have paid that to get rid of the ads and you know get some currency and stop (0:40:31) Al: shoving all these things in my face. I would do that, absolutely. If I could pay that amount of (0:40:35) Al: money and all of my like, oh you can skip this with an ad and you can double this with an ad (0:40:41) Al: and if I got all those with that, I would absolutely do it. But it doesn’t, it’s so, (0:40:46) Al: everything is expensive, so expensive. (0:40:48) Codey: Yeah. Well, and so my no ads right now you get, uh, you skip the ads, uh, you get experience (0:40:56) Codey: for free. Yeah. Everything becomes free, but it’s usually $38 and it’s currently $19, but (0:41:02) Al: which is so much money. (0:41:06) Codey: that’s still so much money. And I bet I really feel as though they would be like, Oh, you (0:41:13) Codey: have it for a month, none in a month pay more. (0:41:16) Al: Yeah I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, yeah, yeah I don’t trust it to give you this like, (0:41:18) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I have that. And then the gem booster thing, you have to pay like (0:41:21) Al: oh, ads are gone forever. I do not trust that at all based on everything I want. (0:41:31) Codey: $10. And then you get more, like any time you were in three gems, you were in 10 instead, (0:41:36) Codey: but it’s just like, there was just so many, like, give us money, give us money. Hey, you (0:41:41) Codey: could make your situation more efficient if you gave us money. (0:41:48) Codey: They have like the roulette games where you spin a wheel and you get resources, but you (0:41:53) Codey: have to watch after the first time you have to watch an ad and the ad only happens. Like (0:41:58) Codey: you can only do it like once every six hours. So you have to wait six hours to watch another (0:42:02) Codey: ad, which, you know, that’s also giving them money. Like you watch the ads. There was a (0:42:10) Codey: kitty bank thing, which I saw that you have to pay it and you earn like resources for (0:42:15) Codey: kitty bank and then it’ll be like hey your kitty bank’s full but i (0:42:18) Codey: have to pay three dollars to even use it so no point um I was kind of into the clock out (0:42:25) Codey: challenge thing which they give you like points towards resources and it was a cute little gimmick (0:42:34) Codey: but after like four times of earning resources it’s like oh you can earn these other resources (0:42:40) Codey: but you have to accept all of your rewards in consequential order and or in the like order (0:42:46) Codey: consecutive order and the one. (0:42:48) Codey: It’s just like, I’m not spending any money on this game. (0:42:50) Codey: You guys, so I wish just that wasn’t, none of that was fun, but. (0:42:54) Codey: Well, I wish just that wasn’t none of that was fun, but. (0:42:58) Al: Yeah, and it’s frustrating because it ruins what could be a fun game. I think it’s a (0:43:09) Al: little bit ironic, right? Because it’s clearly meant to be mocking capitalism, right? Because (0:43:18) Al: there’s so many things in it that it’s like, “Oh, you talk to your mum about your business (0:43:24) Al: and like she talks about, you know, are you working hard or whatever and it’s clear like. (0:43:28) Al: Like the people who made the game don’t think that, you know, landlords are, you know, (0:43:33) Al: working hard because you’re not you’re not doing anything you just click a button and (0:43:36) Al: you buy that like that’s that that’s the whole point. It’s a mocking of capitalism, except (0:43:41) Al: it then does the exact same things that it’s complaining about. (0:43:42) Codey: Yeah, well, and as so did you ever move on the map further? (0:43:50) Codey: Because I guess you only played like 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. (0:43:51) Al: I didn’t know I did. No, I take the 10 minutes was a bit of an exaggeration I did I got to us, and I got a second building up here. (0:43:58) Codey: OK, so yeah, because when you get that building and you move on to the second (0:44:01) Codey: space, suddenly it’s like, oh, buy a house, get a car and like do these things. (0:44:07) Codey: And I’m like, wow, capitalism, like buy these material things (0:44:12) Codey: and it’s like all really high. (0:44:14) Codey: So it won’t like cost. (0:44:16) Codey: So the game you’re basically the game is like, hey, like make make more money, (0:44:21) Codey: make more money, and then all these like things in the game are like, oh, you (0:44:24) Codey: want more stuff, just watch an ad, just watch an ad. (0:44:26) Codey: And my experience was I played for maybe like 20, 30 minutes. (0:44:30) Codey: And then the next day I played for like 20 minutes. (0:44:32) Codey: And then I kept trying to go back to the game and I’d only be on the game (0:44:35) Codey: for like five minutes before I’m like, I’m not doing like, no, I’m not wasting (0:44:40) Codey: my time on this game that’s asking me. (0:44:42) Codey: So I would just like check it and be like, oh, wow, I didn’t make that much money while I was gone because I hit that, you know, I’m only making rent for four hours thing or whatever. (0:44:54) Codey: So it has potential. (0:44:56) Codey: Thank you so much. (0:44:56) Codey: Thank you. (0:44:58) Codey: Thank you. (0:44:58) Al: think I would say it had potential. I don’t think like they’re probably making a decent amount of (0:44:58) Codey: Thank you. (0:45:03) Al: money and therefore they’re never going to go back on that right like. Yeah it’s really hard to say (0:45:12) Al: anything else about this game right because it’s like so dominating. They are like this is the only (0:45:18) Al: thing I can really think about like yeah sure it’s cute, cute graphics, funny names, a scathing (0:45:24) Al: critique on capitalism that it falls into itself. (0:45:28) Codey: Uh-huh, yeah, yeah. (0:45:28) Al: Cool. Gameplay’s fine, right? Like it’s an idle game, you know what you’re getting with an idle (0:45:33) Al: game, but it’s just like it’s idle in so much as you spend more time looking at ads than anything (0:45:39) Codey: Yep and you got your basics. There’s a free currency. There’s a like gem currency (0:45:45) Codey: That’s a more difficult currency to get but you could pay if you want to get more of it like kind of thing (0:45:49) Codey: You basically just manage the building (0:45:53) Codey: So you have offices (0:45:56) Codey: And you can like you’ve mentioned you can purchase furniture to go in the offices (0:46:00) Codey: You can then upgrade that furniture and that was always funny if you get a higher tier company (0:46:05) Codey: And you put it in the office that you had like a lower tier company in they’re like (0:46:10) Codey: white desk (0:46:10) Al: - Yeah, yeah. (laughs) (0:46:13) Codey: What is this and then at one point they were like I can’t believe this office doesn’t have this (0:46:19) Codey: picture frame of a cat that costs 50 gems (0:46:20) Al: Yeah, it’s very specific. Yeah. And you have some, you have like some that will not go (0:46:27) Al: to the toilet in like cheap toilets, they just refuse to do it. (0:46:30) Codey: Yeah, but and then they’re like efficiency is lowered and you (0:46:33) Codey: make less money because they’re mad about the, the quote unquote quality (0:46:39) Codey: of the, yeah, and no, and the upper tier ones cost more money too. (0:46:44) Codey: So you’re constantly trying to like spend money, any kind of money to (0:46:50) Codey: get the in-game currency so you can upgrade your stuff so that you can (0:46:54) Codey: get the better companies so that you can have more money, but then you (0:46:57) Codey: need to get it’s just like as a loop. (0:47:00) Codey: And there was nothing redeeming. (0:47:00) Al: Yeah, yeah (0:47:03) Codey: Um, yes, you have, you have your offices, your bathrooms, your meeting room, a (0:47:08) Codey: break room, a superintendent that is basically just tech support for the whole (0:47:12) Codey: building, uh, and then an electric room because electricity is another currency. (0:47:18) Codey: Like you, after a while, you can’t upgrade anything anymore because you’re (0:47:21) Codey: drawing too much electricity. (0:47:22) Al: Yeah, and for some reason there is no grid. You have generators and batteries. (0:47:22) Codey: So you have to go like, yeah, it’s just a generator room. (0:47:26) Al: Why? Why is there no grid in this universe? Why? Why? We all individually generate. Like, (0:47:33) Al: can you imagine that? All these generators in that room, that’s a death trap. (0:47:38) Codey: That’s a hot room and they, and they put, you put the superintendents right next to (0:47:42) Codey: it, they’re, they’re, they’ve got to be, they got to be so hot over there and (0:47:43) Al: I remember an oxide. Come on! It’s also not breathing. (0:47:48) Codey: they’re in their little, their little overalls and, and little hats. (0:47:52) Al: Yeah, I think the humor is good in this game, and I think there was potential in how the (0:47:54) Codey: Just, it’s just not good working. (0:48:01) Al: game works. It’s just a chock full of in-app purchases and subscriptions and ads and everything. (0:48:12) Codey: Uh-huh, I really think that that’s all we have to say. (0:48:16) Al: All right, well, it’s a good thing. I feel like we maybe talked about (0:48:21) Al: trade details for long (0:48:22) Al: than we did about OfficeCat. Alright, well, yeah, I wouldn’t suggest playing OfficeCat to people. That’s it. Yeah, yeah. Or like literally any other mobile game, right? Like, (0:48:26) Codey: Yeah. (0:48:32) Codey: If you are really looking for somewhere to just throw money, (0:48:37) Codey: maybe a charity is b

Welcome back to another Super Cool Radio interview! We have two great guests joining us for this episode. Isaac and Clay from Thrower stopped by to chat with Matthew. Thrower recently wrapped up a tour with Saliva, Drowning Pool, and Above Snakes. In this interview, hear Isaac and Clay discuss the recent tour, writing and recording their debut album Blink, working with producer Bobby Amaru from Saliva on the album, covering Don't Fear The Reaper, and much more! Please check out and support Thrower. SCR and Matthew Thomas would like to thank Isaac and Clay for the great interview. Thank you to Barbara Papageorge for making this interview possible. Links to check out: Website: Thrower | The New Alternative | Upcoming Rock Band (throwerofficial.com) YouTube channel: Thrower - YouTube Facebook: Facebook Instagram: Thrower (@throwerofficial) • Instagram photos and videos Merch: Merchandise | Thrower (throwerofficial.com) All links for Thrower: throwerband | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree Promo pictures courtesy of Barbara Papageorge Intro and outro music composed by Jonny Neville If you like this video, please consider heading over to our merch store and supporting us. Your support means so much! Link: Super Cool Radio's Artist Shop | Featuring custom t-shirts, prints, and more (threadless.com) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/supercoolradio/support

Welcome back to another Super Cool Radio interview! We have an incredible guest for this episode. In May, Matthew was press for a killer show at The Vogue in Indianapolis. Saliva, Drowning Pool, Above Snakes, and Thrower delivered an incredible show. The Vogue staff and security were amazing and extremely accommodating throughout the entire day. Matthew had the opportunity to interview C.J. Pierce, the guitarist for Drowning Pool, after their set in Indianapolis. In this interview, hear C.J. discuss part two of the tour with Saliva, Ryan McCombs rejoining Drowning Pool, creating necklaces, new music from Drowning Pool, and much more! SCR and Matthew Thomas would like to thank C.J. Pierce for the great interview. Thank you to Shauna O'Donnell for making this interview possible. Links to check out: Website: DROWNING POOL OFFICIAL SITE AND STORE Promo pictures courtesy of Shauna O'Donnell Intro and outro music composed by Jonny Neville Video footage filmed by Matthew Thomas at The Vogue in Indianapolis on May 15th, 2024. If you like this video, please consider heading over to our merch store and supporting us. Your support means so much! Link: Super Cool Radio's Artist Shop | Featuring custom t-shirts, prints, and more (threadless.com) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/supercoolradio/support

In this episode of "Concerts That Made Us," Brian sits down with Isaac Thrower from the loud and energetic band Thrower, an exciting band with a gritty sound who recently completed a high-energy tour with rock heavyweights Saliva, Drowning Pool, and the up-and-coming band Above Snakes. The conversation kicks off with an in-depth discussion about Thrower's debut album "Blink," delving into the intricate details of the songwriting process, from initial inspiration to final production. Isaac opens up about the emotional and thematic layers of his songs, revealing how personal experiences and stories shape his music.The interview takes a nostalgic turn as Isaac recounts some of his most memorable concert experiences. He vividly describes a standout show in Great Falls, where the energy of the crowd was electric, creating an unforgettable atmosphere that left a lasting impression on him. Conversely, he shares the challenges faced during a gig in Deadwood, where technical difficulties and unforeseen obstacles tested his resilience and adaptability as a performer.Isaac emphasizes the importance of engaging with his audience, explaining how he strives to create a connection with fans through his performances. He shares his aspirations for future music videos, expressing a desire to push creative boundaries and visually represent the stories told in his songs. The influence of his hometown on his sound is another focal point, as Isaac reflects on how the local music scene and cultural backdrop have shaped his artistic identity.Beyond music, Isaac opens up about his personal interests, giving listeners a glimpse into his life offstage. He discusses his future plans and shares some of his favorite albums that have inspired him throughout his career. This comprehensive interview provides a deep dive into Isaac Thrower's musical journey, offering fans and listeners an intimate look at the artist behind the music and his aspirations for the future.Find Thrower here:https://www.throwerofficial.com/Find CTMU hereLinktreeNewsletter: https://concertsthatmadeus.aweb.page/p/f065707b-2e34-4268-8e73-94f12bd2e938Save 10% on Band Builder Academy membership by following this link https://bandbuilderacademy.com/Brian_Concerts/join and using promo code "concerts" at signup Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/concerts-that-made-us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Al and Codey talk about all the news from Summer Game Fest and the Wholesome Direct Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:39: What Have We Been Up To 00:07:41: Game Release Info 00:23:01: Game Updates 00:33:48: New Games 00:57:06: Outro Links Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home The Garden Path Kamaeru Sunnyside Moonstone Island The Palace on the Hill Ova Magica Above Snakes Turnip Boy “Pride” Update Terra Nil “Vita Nova” Update Fae Farm “Skies of Azoria” Update Usagi Shima “Bunny Paradise” Update Travelers Rest “Story and City” Update Go Go Town Gameplay Video Letter Bunny Humblets Harvest Hills Wanderstop Lou’s Lagoon Discounty Space Sprouts Dragon Shelter Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Codey: Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:33) Codey: My name is Cody. (0:00:34) Al: What’s happening? My name’s Al. (0:00:38) Codey: And we’re here today to talk about Cottagecore games. (0:00:42) Al: No, I don’t like this. (0:00:45) Codey: OK, you can do it. (0:00:46) Al: That was very uncomfortable. (0:00:50) Al: We’re going to talk about lots of stuff, lots of news. (0:00:51) Codey: Why? (0:00:54) Al: That’s the main topic. The main topic is news. (0:00:56) Al: There’s news. We are recording this a few hours after the Wholesome Games… (0:01:02) Al: Wholesome Direct, not the Wholesome Games Direct. (0:01:04) Al: The Wholesome Direct, Smack Bang in the middle of Summer Game Fest. (0:01:11) Al: So the main summer game fest, whatever they call it, show was yesterday. (0:01:17) Al: Wholesome Direct was today. (0:01:19) Al: It was, I’m sure there’ll be stuff announced tomorrow. (0:01:22) Al: We’ve got the Xbox showcase tomorrow. (0:01:25) Al: Devolver is sometime, there’s a bunch of stuff. (0:01:28) Al: So we’ll probably be out of date by the time this episode comes out. (0:01:31) Al: But I don’t think I want any more news in (0:01:34) Al: it is Smack Bang Full of News. (0:01:38) Al: So we’re going to go through that in sections. (0:01:40) Al: But first of all, Cody, what have you been up to? (0:01:42) Codey: I have three jobs, bow, bow, bow, bow, and a fate, a fake job. (0:01:46) Al: And a fake job. (0:01:50) Al: Yeah, the game that’s on your list there. (0:01:52) Codey: Oh yeah. (0:01:52) Codey: Power watch emulator. (0:01:54) Codey: That’s what gets me going. (0:01:55) Codey: That’s what gets me through the world. (0:01:57) Codey: Um, is being able to just come home and just listen to an audio book. (0:02:03) Codey: I’m currently listening to the eye of the world by Robert Jordan. (0:02:06) Codey: Um, hate the writing, uh, asked me about that in the (0:02:12) Codey: Slack, uh, but yeah. (0:02:15) Codey: So when I’m, I’m doing that and playing power wash simulator, absolutely (0:02:19) Codey: love power wash simulator. (0:02:20) Codey: I think it’d be super fun to do, um, a greenhouse about that. (0:02:25) Codey: So listeners, if you are interested, head on over to the (0:02:27) Codey: patreon, um, ths pod, uh, patreon and talk, do the monies and then talk (0:02:34) Codey: to me on Slack and tell me about how cool power wash emulators and how (0:02:37) Codey: you’d like to listen to an episode about it. (0:02:40) Codey: Yeah, other than that, I’ve been slilling in coffee (0:02:42) Codey: and dogs while doing a PhD. (0:02:44) Codey: Super fun. (0:02:47) Codey: Uh, going a million miles an hour. (0:02:49) Codey: After this, I’m taking a bath and probably going to sleep. (0:02:52) Codey: Yes, it’s five o’clock. (0:02:53) Codey: Uh, I am tired. (0:02:55) Codey: How are you? (0:02:57) Al: Mm. I’m also tired, but it is like five hours later for me. (0:03:03) Al: So, you know, different, different reason for being tired. (0:03:06) Al: Well, no, I mean. (0:03:08) Codey: You also slinging coffee, watching dogs, and doing a PhD? (0:03:11) Al: No, none of those things. (0:03:16) Al: Yeah, weirdly, today is like the only actual day off I’ve had. (0:03:23) Codey: period, ever. (0:03:25) Al: Yeah, because I wasn’t working and I wasn’t really doing. (0:03:28) Al: And I didn’t have my kids, but still I am shattered. (0:03:32) Codey: Sometimes those days, like sometimes the day where you don’t have anything and you can genuinely like unmask and just relax are the most hiring days, but we need those to rest and relax. (0:03:44) Codey: It doesn’t feel restful, it doesn’t feel relaxing, but we need it. (0:03:48) Al: Yeah. Well, I have been playing Starstruck’s Vagabond. I’ve been continuing that. We’ll (0:03:57) Al: see where that goes. And I have also been continuing to play farm RPG even after the (0:04:03) Al: episode. So there we are. Let’s see. I think I’ve just done 65. (0:04:05) Codey: How many bottles are you on? (0:04:12) Codey: Okay. This is, uh, for people who have not listened to that episode, (0:04:15) Codey: there’s a quest line called 99 bottles. Uh, and it’s 99 bottles, one, (0:04:20) Codey: 99 bottles too. And it’s basically doing the old nursery rhyme. (0:04:24) Codey: I don’t know what that’s called song thingy. Um, (0:04:28) Al: 99 bottles. It’s not nursery rhyme because it’s 99 bottles of beer on the wall and I don’t think a (0:04:30) Codey: what? (0:04:33) Al: nursery rhyme has beer in it. Yeah but that’s not what it is. (0:04:35) Codey: You can do juice 99 bottles of juice on the wall. (0:04:39) Al: Like okay, I will accept that that is a version you could do, right? But what I would say is that (0:04:46) Al: that I don’t think was the original. I’m pretty sure the original was beer, therefore not a nursery. (0:04:52) Codey: Bear, I think I made it to like 15 before I uninstalled the game. (0:04:55) Codey: Again, not because farm RPG is a bad game, but because I am incapable of losing that (0:05:01) Codey: much of my life to a video game right now. (0:05:03) Codey: Uh, and yeah, you’re at 65. (0:05:06) Codey: I’m really excited to see what happens after 99. (0:05:08) Codey: I want them to have that like joke 100, but if it goes past that, it’s just ridiculous. (0:05:10) Al: Well, so the way that it’s working is that you only get each level after your farming (0:05:20) Al: and crafting levels hit that, right? So I’m at crafting level 69, but only farming level (0:05:25) Al: 65, so I can only have 99 bottles 65 because that’s the lower of the two. And I think it (0:05:25) Codey: Nice. (0:05:26) Codey: Yeah. (0:05:33) Al: maxes out at 99, there’s no level 100. So once you get to 99, you’ll get 99. (0:05:37) Codey: But it also makes you use what like 65 hops and 65 bottles (0:05:42) Codey: I just like what you get to 99. I want it to be 100 and 100 because it can do that (0:05:43) Al: But then it would miss and then it would skip a number. (0:05:52) Al: Yeah, I guess. (0:05:55) Codey: We’ll see. Keep us posted. I’m very, very curious about that. (0:05:57) Al: Yes, I just spent 100 million on getting an upgrade to mean that every day I get another (0:06:07) Al: two. (0:06:08) Al: So I’m up to 10 inventory space added every day. (0:06:11) Al: So I’m on and I did. (0:06:13) Al: it today because today was the point where I go back to a thing me of what’s it called (0:06:20) Al: a thing me of 10. Yeah, that’s not the word I mean, there’s a mathematical word. (0:06:26) Codey: if this is gonna bother me, I’ll figure it out. (0:06:30) Codey: I think he’s googling it y’all he’s doing factor I was that was my next guess I was so (0:06:32) Al: Factor. Factor of 10. (0:06:38) Al: So I couldn’t upgrade it to 10 when I wasn’t on a factor of 10, (0:06:41) Al: because then I would never get back to being a factor of 10. (0:06:44) Al: So that’s where we are now. (0:06:48) Al: So I’m making maybe like 15 million a day, something like that now. (0:06:52) Codey: Ridiculous. (0:06:53) Codey: Awesome though. (0:06:54) Al: Yeah, so. (0:06:56) Codey: That game just expanded. (0:06:58) Al: Yeah, I feel like I’ve plateaued. (0:07:01) Al: I don’t know how I’m… (0:07:02) Al: meant to make more and more and more money but we’ll see we’ll see or I’ll (0:07:07) Al: get bored who knows what we’ll find out only time and ADHD will tell so we (0:07:14) Al: we’re gonna get into some game news I will add the wholesome direct and the (0:07:20) Al: summer game fest main shows the links to them in the show notes in case you (0:07:26) Al: want to go watch them all but I suspect if you’ve not already watched them you (0:07:30) Al: You probably don’t want to watch them all and you want us to tell you what (0:07:32) Al: you should care about. Well, we’re going to spend the same amount of time going through… (0:07:34) Codey: Mm-hmm going through a smaller amount of content (0:07:42) Al: Okay, first of all, we’re going to go into information about games that are coming out. (0:07:47) Al: So just a small thing on… So have you listened to this week’s episode, Cody? (0:07:53) Al: We talked about this game a little bit. This is the Harvest Moon Home Sweet Home, which is the new (0:07:57) Al: Harvest Moon mobile game that we know almost nothing about, other than it comes out in (0:08:02) Al: August. But Cher from Fogoo, which is a big story of seasons and Harvest Moon website, (0:08:15) Al: she says, recognising that some fans may be wary of a game published on Android or iOS (0:08:21) Al: because of potential monetisation. Now, Sumi confirmed with me that the game does not contain (0:08:26) Al: microtransactions. Harvest Moon Home Sweet Home will be a one-time purchase without added (0:08:32) Al: or downloaded content. So, that is good. (0:08:34) Codey: All I can, all I can contribute to that is Harvest Moon Home Sweet Home’s, uh, acronym is, hmm, hush, and I love that. (0:08:42) Al: It’s certainly something, and as to me I’ve also put a second tweet about the game that (0:08:43) Codey: And I think that’s, and I think that’s, yeah, after saucepoot, I think that’s beautiful. (0:08:54) Al: give us no real information, but I’m going to read it to you anyway! (0:08:57) Al: We’re excited to bring a fresh New Harvest Moon experience back to mobile gamers with (0:09:02) Al: Harvest Moon Home Sweet Home, featuring the traditional Harvest Moon style that fans know (0:09:05) Al: and love. (0:09:06) Al: I don’t know what they mean by that. (0:09:08) Al: Along with some familiar faces, we hope this will be a cosy farming adventure for you. (0:09:12) Al: We look forward to welcoming you home this summer. (0:09:18) Codey: Okay, I await further information. (0:09:22) Al: Yes. Okay, next we have the Garden Path. I’ve announced they’re releasing on the 30th of July. (0:09:32) Al: Um. (0:09:34) Codey: Cute, cute little game, very interesting art style, very interesting graphics that I had (0:09:41) Codey: not ever really noticed before. (0:09:43) Codey: I don’t think I’ve seen this before, or if I have, my brain was bleached. (0:09:48) Codey: It also runs in parallel with the real world. (0:09:50) Codey: You can leave it alone and your garden will grow at the same time. (0:09:53) Codey: Yeah, I look forward to, it’ll be on Linux, PC and Nintendo switch. (0:10:02) Codey: Um, Mack, I’m crying. (0:10:04) Codey: Yeah, I’m crying and Mack right now. (0:10:06) Codey: Um, and yeah. (0:10:06) Al: It does say Mac on their Steam page though, I don’t know why they didn’t list it in the (0:10:08) Codey: Yeah, so thank you. (0:10:10) Codey: Um, I don’t blame it. (0:10:12) Codey: Oh, it does say Mack. (0:10:14) Al: post. (0:10:14) Codey: Oh my gosh, they said PC, but they meant both of the things. (0:10:19) Codey: So yeah, we’ll see, um, what I end up doing. (0:10:24) Codey: Um, I also see that they are, we’ll see what, how I end up feeling about this or if I’m going to be getting it. (0:10:31) Codey: I love that they have merchants that range from a grumpy toad. (0:10:34) Codey: To Baal. To Larto, a seasoned musk ox fisherman with a love for songfish. (0:10:40) Codey: I don’t know what song fish is, but he loves them. (0:10:42) Al: I think they’re exactly what they sound like, fish that song. (0:10:45) Codey: Fish. (0:10:46) Codey: Fish that song. (0:10:49) Codey: Yeah. (0:10:50) Codey: So excited to look at that more and determine if I have the fun/desire to play it. (0:10:58) Codey: Really interesting art style. (0:11:00) Codey: It’s on my list. (0:11:01) Codey: It’s on- it’s- it’s- I’m watching it. (0:11:05) Codey: Also watching Kama Eru. (0:11:05) Al: Camaro, Camaro, Camaro, is that what it is, have announced that they are out now. (0:11:14) Codey: On Switch, Steam, and Xbox. (0:11:16) Al: Yes, when I initially wrote this in the thing, (0:11:19) Al: I was like, oh, it’s coming out in the 8th of June. (0:11:20) Al: And then I realized today that today is the 8th of June. (0:11:23) Al: And then during the Wholesome Direct, they were like, oh, it’s out now. (0:11:26) Al: OK, cool. Just done. Go get your frogs. (0:11:28) Codey: surprise. Yup. Go get your frogs. It’s very, uh, Usag. It’s giving Usag. Usag. Oh my gosh. (0:11:36) Codey: Usagishima. Um, so you restore the wetlands and you collect frogs, you breed them together, (0:11:41) Codey: which is not Usagishima, but that’s cool. Uh, decorate. There’s mini games and crafting. (0:11:45) Codey: Um, I think it’s really cute. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yeah. I’m going to see if this is (0:11:46) Al: Yeah I think it’s a bit more than Asagashima because you can also like crossbreed your frogs I think. (0:11:52) Al: Um so yeah. (0:11:55) Codey: on Xbox Game Pass. (0:11:58) Codey: It is a PowerMosh simulator might have. (0:12:02) Al: I saw that Aislinn was streaming a bit of Camaeru today. (0:12:08) Codey: I don’t know, it seems up her alley for sure. (0:12:11) Codey: There’s other games that look up her alley as well. (0:12:14) Codey: Check out the greenhouse episode for that, next. (0:12:20) Al: Sunnyside have announced that their console release has been delayed until the 16th of (0:12:26) Al: August. Their Steam release is still releasing on the 14th of June, two days after this episode (0:12:27) Codey: Take your time. (0:12:31) Codey: Cool, that’s sweet. (0:12:35) Codey: And then the console is PlayStation 5 and Xbox (0:12:39) Codey: X/S, I believe? Yep. (0:12:43) Codey: So yeah, take your time. Figure it out. It takes longer. Microsoft (0:12:48) Al: Delays are funny. I don’t think we’re talking about Little Lands later on because they didn’t (0:12:55) Al: actually announce anything new other than that they’ve got a demo coming out. But literally (0:13:00) Al: as soon as they announced that they had the demo coming out, they tweeted saying actually (0:13:05) Al: it’s not coming out. We had to delay the demo. But by the time they decided to delay it, (0:13:06) Codey: laughs Oh noooooo. (0:13:10) Al: it was obviously too late to change the video. Very unfortunate. (0:13:13) Codey: Ugh. Well, they got people’s attention, so… (0:13:18) Al: Speaking of timing, Moonstone Island, surprise, surprise, is coming to Switch. I wasn’t expecting (0:13:28) Al: this. I was actually expecting a shadow drop today just because the way they were announcing (0:13:31) Al: it, they were being so obvious that some news was coming with the Wholesome Direct and I (0:13:36) Al: thought it was going to be a shadow drop. But no, they’ve decided that they’re releasing (0:13:39) Al: it on the 19th of June on Switch, which is the last day that they could still technically (0:13:45) Al: say that they’re releasing in spring based on their definition of spring. (0:13:48) Al: 19th of June is not spring and I don’t care what anybody says, it is not spring. (0:13:51) Codey: Getting you on technicalities, Al. (0:13:55) Codey: It’s not. (0:13:58) Codey: It’s not. (0:13:58) Al: Your definition of spring is stupid if it includes the 19th of June. (0:14:03) Codey: I was working the farmer’s market today, (0:14:06) Codey: and there was a big breeze coming through. (0:14:07) Codey: And someone was like, oh, I love that fall breeze. (0:14:09) Al: I find people with the weather is very funny, right? Because it’s like, we do this thing (0:14:09) Codey: And I was like, my guy, you skipped the whole season. (0:14:14) Codey: It did feel like a fall breeze, though. (0:14:17) Codey: Climate change is crazy. (0:14:22) Codey: Uh-huh. (0:14:26) Al: every year when it’s like we get spring and then it gets cold again and people go, oh, (0:14:30) Al: so much for spring. And you’re like, no, no, that’s called spring. Spring is kind of like (0:14:34) Al: a mix of summer and winter weather. That’s just what spring is. You can go (0:14:39) Al: Oh, it was warm. No, it’s not. I guess it’s not spring now. No, no, that is spring. You know what (0:14:45) Al: spring is, you do it every single year, you shouldn’t now be surprised by it. And then we (0:14:50) Al: get to summer, and you have lovely hot days. And then you have rainy days. And people go, Oh, (0:14:56) Al: so much for summer. And you’re like, it still rains in summer. We don’t live in the in one (0:15:02) Al: of these places that has dry and wet seasons. What summer is called summer, it’s not called (0:15:09) Al: season. Like you don’t live in the desert. You live in Scotland. (0:15:14) Codey: Yeah, here if we get, so in Pennsylvania, if we get rain during the summer, when it (0:15:21) Codey: is considered summer, there’s like a 95% chance that that rain will be accompanied by a thunderstorm. (0:15:29) Codey: And that’s when I do the differentiation. (0:15:29) Al: Uh-huh (0:15:31) Codey: Like if it just rains and it’s just rain, it’s spring or fall. (0:15:35) Codey: But if it rains and there’s like a thunderstorm associated with it, we’re in summer, y’all. (0:15:41) Codey: We’ve been in it for a few weeks. (0:15:44) Codey: I, in my opinion, I almost said IMO, but people might not know what that is in my opinion. (0:15:49) Al: Yeah, we don’t really get Thunderstorms. (0:15:50) Codey: So that is very sad. (0:15:53) Codey: I love thunderstorms. (0:15:55) Al: Yeah, we might get one a year ago. (0:15:58) Codey: You know what else I love? (0:16:00) Codey: Chai. (0:16:01) Codey: And you can help run a local chai shop in the pallets on the hill, which is out now. (0:16:07) Codey: Um, this is a rural India slice of life game. (0:16:10) Codey: um you’re a teenage kid and it’s the first day of (0:16:14) Codey: summer holidays and you help out on the farm you take off (0:16:16) Codey: some summer jobs you clean you cook um in the local chai shop (0:16:20) Codey: you can explore old ruins and make paintings look really cool (0:16:23) Codey: um i’m interested it’s definitely on steam I don’t know if it’s on anything (0:16:28) Al: I don’t think it is. I think it’s just team. The funny thing about this one was they, I (0:16:33) Al: think they were meant to come out in like 2022, the end of 2022, and they announced (0:16:39) Al: that they were coming out. And then like a week before they were meant to be coming out, (0:16:43) Al: they’re like, “Oh, no, we’re not coming out.” And it’s like, “Okay, that’s fine.” And (0:16:47) Al: now it’s like a year and a half later. (0:16:49) Codey: I do remember seeing this before, and this is one that’s on Mac. (0:16:52) Codey: So what’s your price? (0:16:54) Codey: What’s your price 20 bucks? (0:16:56) Codey: Maybe I’ll think about it. (0:16:56) Al: It’s a solid maybe. (0:17:01) Codey: Your girl has credit card debt. (0:17:04) Codey: Um, yeah, so we’ll figure that out. (0:17:06) Codey: Uh, I’ll see if I’m interested. (0:17:07) Codey: If we’re going to play that, if I will play that, um, no, I’ve, I (0:17:10) Al: What’s a little bit more credit card debt, you know, like, uh, fair enough. (0:17:13) Codey: have literally cut that card. (0:17:15) Codey: So, and. (0:17:20) Codey: And no more money is going on to it. (0:17:21) Al: Obviously on, on the, on the harvest season podcast, we do not condone getting yourself (0:17:28) Codey: Correct. Also, even if your grad school is going to give you pay for you and pay your tuition and everything, you might still get set. (0:17:40) Codey: Don’t have knee surgeries, don’t have cars break down, don’t have dogs have to go to the hospital, woo! (0:17:48) Codey: Don’t eat food. Don’t use electricity. Don’t you do it. (0:17:52) Codey: I do have food stamps, so that’s pretty cool. OVA MAGICA! (0:17:55) Al: I put- Early Access is coming from the 23rd of July, so many times. (0:17:58) Codey: We’ve talked about this game. We’ve talked about this game a lot. Little circle, spherical egg dudes. I know there’s a really cute bee one. (0:18:10) Al: Blobs, blobs. (0:18:12) Codey: Blobs. Blobs. What I wrote. (0:18:15) Al: It’s a farming creature collector with blobs that you can cross-bead and yeah, it’s cute. (0:18:18) Codey: Woo! (0:18:20) Codey: Make crazy things. (0:18:21) Al: I’m going to play this game at some point, probably not in Early Access. (0:18:22) Codey: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. (0:18:26) Al: Yeah, I mean, it’s one of these things where this game has been in development so long, (0:18:31) Al: which is not a problem, but it does mean that a lot of the ideas that it (0:18:36) Al: came up with, or maybe not was the original original, but certainly was not, (0:18:40) Al: it wasn’t everywhere. A lot of them are now just standard things in a lot of farming games, (0:18:45) Al: which is a bit sad. You can use your blobs to help farm and stuff like that. There are (0:18:50) Al: lots of games that do that now. That’s, I guess, the problem with law. (0:18:55) Al: game development times, which when you’ve got one person working on a complicated game (0:18:59) Al: like that, it can take a while. But yeah, yeah, I guess it’s more like I really hope (0:19:02) Codey: Yeah, we understand. (0:19:08) Al: that people still play the game. You know, and I feel like, was this one a Kickstarter? (0:19:11) Codey: Yeah. (0:19:15) Al: Sure, did I kickstart this one? Have I already bought it? Check. (0:19:16) Codey: It’s a great question. (0:19:20) Codey: It wasn’t my job to watch your… (0:19:25) Al: Yes, I have kickstarted this already. Quite a while ago. Yeah, so I won’t be buying it (0:19:35) Al: because I’ve already bought it. Yay. I’m guessing. So the other thing about this is, (0:19:38) Codey: - Yay. (0:19:44) Al: originally, it wasn’t going to be coming to Early Access. It was just going to go, yeah, (0:19:50) Codey: You’re just going to go straight to 1.0? (0:19:51) Al: But that I mean, that’s that’s fine. That is what it is. (0:19:54) Codey: Yep, yep. (0:19:55) Al: I think it probably I suspect that anybody who kick started to get the early access because there (0:20:00) Al: wasn’t an early access tier. But obviously, don’t take my word for that. We’ll see what happens I (0:20:07) Al: guess. Yeah, well, it’s not unusual for people to go like, oh, pay this to get the 1.0 and pay this (0:20:08) Codey: Would be weird to make you pay for it. (0:20:16) Al: to get early access. But it’s less common. But it is a thing that some people do. (0:20:17) Codey: Oh, interesting, okay. (0:20:23) Al: Thank you. (0:20:24) Al: Thank you very much. (0:20:24) Codey: know what else people do nowadays, VR. (0:20:25) Al: Oh yes, okay, Garden of the Sea. Garden of the Sea. (0:20:31) Al: So this is a VR farming game, which is already out on Quest and presumably something else. (0:20:40) Al: I don’t really care about other ones. I only care about the one I have. (0:20:46) Codey: Which one do you have? (0:20:46) Al: The Quest 3. So it’s now coming to Steam and Switch, which is interesting. (0:20:48) Codey: Oh, OK. (0:20:55) Al: I wonder how it’s going to work, because it’s very much based around, (0:21:00) Al: you use your hands in the game to do things. And if you watch the trailer in the Wholesome Direct, (0:21:09) Al: you definitely saw the hands that you normally see when you’re playing the game. It has these (0:21:14) Al: kind of fake hands when it finds your hands. And so my question is, how’s that going to work? (0:21:21) Al: Because what’s the interaction there if you’re not doing it in VR? (0:21:24) Codey: That’s a great question. (0:21:26) Codey: I have no idea. (0:21:27) Codey: All I could think of with like the switch is maybe physical movements, but like holding (0:21:33) Codey: your switch up or whatever, or like your joy con, having your joy cons just like separated, (0:21:40) Codey: but that is not crazy accessible. (0:21:43) Codey: So I’m not sure about that. (0:21:44) Al: Yeah. Yeah. So if you want to play this game not in VR, that will be possible soon. (0:21:55) Codey: in a way that we don’t know. (0:21:58) Codey: Yeah. (0:21:58) Al: We’ll see. I mean, I mean, Elaine have announced that they’re coming to Switch this year. (0:22:04) Al: So if you wanted to play that game, but you wanted it on Switch soon. (0:22:08) Codey: I like how many cats they threw into that trailer. (0:22:11) Codey: It was really cute. (0:22:12) Codey: There were many cats. (0:22:13) Codey: And then they were like, you can have cats. (0:22:14) Codey: And I was like, I had no idea. (0:22:16) Al: Cats! (0:22:18) Codey: This was a mystery to me. (0:22:22) Codey: It was a very cute trailer though. (0:22:23) Al: Speaking of games that are coming to consoles, above snakes have announced they are coming to Switch, Xbox and PlayStation. (0:22:34) Al: Obviously it was that good. I don’t think so. (0:22:34) Codey: I mean, we’ve definitely like, we’ve, okay. (0:22:39) Al: I think I have it sitting on the planning board with some people’s names on it, but it hasn’t happened yet. (0:22:46) Codey: Okay, that was mostly that I was I know the game, but I just didn’t know if we had covered it yet (0:22:46) Al: No, we haven’t covered it properly. (0:22:48) Al: No, we haven’t, we haven’t covered it properly. (0:22:53) Codey: Very excited for when that happens and now there’s (0:23:00) Al: Yeah. (0:23:00) Al: OK, so that’s all the news about release games, releases for games, game releases. (0:23:08) Codey: I feel like all of our episodes just dissolve into madness, but I also think that people (0:23:10) Al: What is this, I deserve? (0:23:11) Al: I’m so tired. (0:23:14) Al: Because you decided to go and get a job, so now we have to do them later in the day. (0:23:16) Codey: are here for it, so. (0:23:19) Codey: Surprise, I’ve had multiple jobs this whole time. (0:23:23) Al: Come on. (0:23:25) Al: OK, get a job that has specific hours. (0:23:27) Codey: Just Saturdays, man. (0:23:30) Al: On a Saturday, when we used to record. (0:23:31) Codey: Next time we, next time we could do Sundays, but I don’t know if you like Sundays. (0:23:37) Al: Well, I couldn’t do Sunday this week, but that’s not the point, right? (0:23:39) Al: Don’t try and, like, let me just be annoyed. (0:23:39) Codey: » Don’t put this on me. (0:23:47) Codey: Yep, I mean, if you wanna pay me, let’s see, 12, okay. (0:23:47) Al: I’m not actually annoyed, listeners. (0:23:50) Al: Nope. (0:23:52) Codey: [LAUGH] Game updates though. (0:23:56) Al: The podcast barely pays for itself. (0:23:56) Codey: Speaking of pay, speaking of paying and needing money. (0:24:03) Codey: Have you ever thought about robbing a bank like Turna Boy did, but (0:24:06) Codey: you wanna do it with pride? (0:24:08) Codey: Bank with pride, and by pride I mean, [LAUGH] (0:24:10) Al: I rolled my eyes when I saw this comment. (0:24:15) Codey: Turna Boy has a new update to celebrate Pride Month, (0:24:19) Codey: where there are new flower crowns and pride flag hats, and it’s awesome. (0:24:26) Codey: Yep, love it, happy pride, woo. (0:24:28) Al: Woo. Speaking of updates, Terranil have announced that they’ve got a new update coming out, (0:24:34) Al: Vita Nova. It’s coming on the 24th of June. (0:24:38) Codey: It’s a free update major free update. Uh… (0:24:40) Al: Oh yes, free update. Yes, not DLC. Free update. (0:24:44) Al: Woo! (0:24:45) Codey: Correct. I also want to click on this because I want to see… Oh, it’s currently on sale (0:24:50) Codey: for $25. This is a game I want. Is it available? Oh, it’s Matt. What? Okay. (0:24:54) Al: Stop. Don’t. I. Don’t. No money. (0:25:00) Codey: Uh, but yeah, maybe one day when this comes out, uh, maybe I’ll have enough money and I can do a (0:25:09) Al: So they’ve said that they’re bringing a new world map. (0:25:13) Al: Is that a new world or a new map on the world? (0:25:17) Al: Like, are we going to a different planet? (0:25:19) Codey: I don’t think that the way that I read it is that there’s like you’re on the same world, but you’re in a different area (0:25:25) Codey: Like maybe like it because it says new biomes (0:25:28) Al: Yes, and both of those things, though. (0:25:30) Codey: But I guess yeah, I guess perhappeth (0:25:35) Al: Who knows? (0:25:37) Al: Who knows? (0:25:40) Codey: it looks like if you look at the map in the this thing that this is a blog post yeah the post on (0:25:49) Al: post. Yes, but yeah, but like, that shows that it already has (0:25:51) Codey: steam um it looks like there’s different continents um so maybe you’re going to like a new continent (0:26:00) Al: those and like, there’s, like, there’s probably no point in us (0:26:03) Al: trying to figure this out. We’ll find out soon. (0:26:06) Codey: It does say we’ll release more details about these new features over the next few weeks so (0:26:09) Codey: listeners listen to the episodes and we will tell you later our confusion and your confusion will (0:26:14) Al: Hope you’re listening (0:26:17) Codey: be cleared up in the next few weeks. We have a new world map, new levels, an animal system overhaul, (0:26:22) Codey: very interesting, new biomes, new buildings, new climate conditions, and a new animal species. (0:26:27) Codey: What could it be? I think it’s gonna be a beaver. I also don’t know what the (0:26:36) Al: a beaver. (0:26:37) Codey: A beaver. (0:26:41) Codey: Fun fact, the reason I chose beaver (0:26:43) Codey: is because you said antelope. (0:26:44) Codey: And the family that the pronghorn antelope (0:26:47) Codey: is in, untillocaprity. (0:26:49) Codey: And the family that the– (0:26:53) Codey: gosh, what kind of beaver? (0:26:53) Codey: It’s like a specific beaver. (0:26:56) Codey: And the two families that are endemic to North America– (0:26:59) Codey: the only two families that are only in North America. (0:27:02) Al: Oh, he’s a honey badger. (0:27:02) Codey: Yep, I can’t– (0:27:04) Al: Daddy. (0:27:04) Codey: No, it’s a beaver. (0:27:07) Codey: Beaver Family Endemic to North America. (0:27:10) Codey: Uh, Cas- oh, it’s just the Castor- Casoridae? (0:27:16) Al: Skies of Azoria. This is Fae Farm’s next DLC coming on the 20th of June. (0:27:23) Al: Did you know that High in the Clouds over Azoria was a land that you can visit? (0:27:29) Al: Wait, was a land that you can visit? Grammar is a bit complicated there. (0:27:34) Al: An amazing place with new paths to explore, full of adorable characters in need of your help. (0:27:39) Al: Yes, because that’s what Fae Farm needs, more one-dimensional characters. (0:27:44) Codey: I was going to say, no news on if– (0:27:47) Codey: we do not know if this new content update contains (0:27:51) Codey: new story or better characters that are not (0:27:54) Al: or any story, any characters, with actual… (0:27:55) Codey: one dimensional or any story. (0:27:57) Codey: You can just fly and explore new areas above Azoria. (0:28:01) Al: There seem to be portals. (0:28:04) Codey: Yeah. (0:28:05) Al: I don’t know if you go into this guy to get to the portals, or if the portals are taking you to this guy. (0:28:05) Codey: We’ll have our– no idea. (0:28:10) Codey: We’ll have our Fae Farm correspondence return to us (0:28:14) Codey: in these details about if the story exists. (0:28:16) Al: Or maybe they won’t. (0:28:18) Al: That’s coming out the 20th of June. (0:28:22) Al: It’s included with the deluxe version on PC and with the standard version on Switch. (0:28:27) Al: So just like the last one. (0:28:31) Al: Speaking of updates, it’s Sagishima. (0:28:34) Codey: - Yay. (0:28:36) Al: This is the Bunny Paradise update is out now, I didn’t write down, is it out now? (0:28:42) Codey: uh I assume it is because I just opened the game because I was like oh no did I uninstall this game (0:28:51) Codey: and I had but luckily um yeah I just and so I just opened it and I now have three new bunnies on (0:28:52) Al: Yes, it is up. It is out. (0:28:58) Codey: like literally just opened the game and there’s three new bunnies in my island three out of the (0:29:00) Al: Three out of the five. (0:29:02) Codey: five I believe so let me check my bunny book button book yep three out of five I only have two left (0:29:03) Al: Because you had everything before this update, didn’t you? (0:29:11) Al: Bun book. (0:29:11) Codey: Um… bye. (0:29:12) Codey: Oh, yeah. (0:29:14) Al: So five new bunnies, new buildings, hats and toys and an endless bunny runner (0:29:19) Al: mini game. Also, Usagi Shima have launched merch. (0:29:22) Al: So if you need to spend some money, (0:29:27) Al: that’s how you can do it. (0:29:28) Codey: you know me now I always need to spend money I can’t even say it without crying on the inside (0:29:30) Al: You know, it’s like, did you ever, it’s like when you have a large meal, right? And (0:29:40) Al: then you’re stuffed, you’re full, you can’t eat anything else. And then someone brings (0:29:45) Al: out dessert and you’re like, “Oh, okay, I can eat a little bit more.” And it’s like, (0:29:48) Codey: You got the– yeah, the dessert stomach. (0:29:48) Al: we always joked about having a second stomach just for pudding, right? It’s like that, right? (0:29:54) Al: Like you have the special fake money just for games, right? (0:29:59) Codey: I mean, I do– (0:30:00) Codey: I am using some of my tips that I get for cash as like– (0:30:04) Codey: because it doesn’t exist, right? (0:30:05) Codey: It’s cash. (0:30:08) Codey: But yeah, that doesn’t somehow magically go into my steam (0:30:12) Codey: or anything. (0:30:12) Codey: I’m trying to get one of these little buddies (0:30:14) Codey: to want to do the running game thing. (0:30:16) Codey: Uhhh… (0:30:18) Al: Speaking of. (0:30:18) Codey: Yep, so I did uninstall it, but if you connected your like iPhone name thing to it, (0:30:26) Codey: um, then it will… (0:30:29) Codey: Oh, it’s called Bun Run. Oh my gosh. (0:30:32) Codey: Um, if you’ve connected your like Apple game store, (0:30:38) Codey: yeah, then even if you uninstall it, all of your stuff is still saved. (0:30:42) Codey: So 10/10 recommend that. (0:30:43) Codey: Oh, Bun Run! It begins. (0:30:45) Codey: Help your bunny jump over obstacles tapping where to jump. (0:30:48) Codey: The longer you hold your tap, the higher the jump. (0:30:50) Al: I’ll put it down just now, because you don’t care about Traveler’s Rest. (0:30:51) Codey: Okay, cool. (0:30:52) Codey: Let’s talk about the next one. (0:30:53) Codey: Nope, you can talk about this next one. (0:30:54) Codey: I don’t really care. (0:30:55) Codey: Nope, I’m going to play bone run. (0:30:57) Al: Traveler’s Rest, I’ve announced that they’re a new update, the Story and City update, (0:31:00) Al: which by the way, is just very funny saying like, “Hey, we’ve added story.” (0:31:08) Codey: That is a thing that happened. (0:31:10) Al: I’m constantly fascinated by this game, and I really want to go back to the first version (0:31:14) Al: they brought out and see what existed in the game. It’s coming July, that’s all. (0:31:20) Codey: Yep, an update, I hit the first obstacle and button run, so that’s gone. (0:31:20) Al: That’s the story, because I didn’t have the story. (0:31:27) Al: That’s sad. Maybe you should talk about Go Go Town instead. (0:31:31) Codey: There’s a new gameplay video. I did not watch all of it. It was nine minutes long. (0:31:35) Al: It was 9 minutes long, I was very long. Thankfully, it came out yesterday, (0:31:38) Al: so I could watch it yesterday. Everything, every time I see something about this game, (0:31:41) Codey: But I did tap through it and yep, still interested. It doesn’t… (0:31:50) Codey: And it’ll be fun to play together. Maybe will we be able to play this? (0:31:53) Codey: This will be our first game that we’ll be able to play together. (0:31:56) Al: That’s a good question, because I think it does have multiplayer, (0:32:00) Al: but I don’t know whether it has online multiplayer or not. (0:32:04) Al: Well, yeah. (0:32:05) Al: Because that’s much more complicated than local multiplayer. (0:32:08) Codey: It basically looks like kind of like Fortnite. (0:32:09) Al: What? (0:32:11) Codey: It’s got like the vibe steam cloud remote play together. (0:32:16) Al: Look, we don’t even know when this game is coming out yet, right? Let’s talk about playing (0:32:18) Codey: It gives. (0:32:21) Al: it together when it’s actually out. One thing that I don’t think we knew before this was (0:32:22) Codey: Hey, Hey, 2024 2024 is London. (0:32:30) Al: that you can use your villagers and you can like tell them to do things. So like there’s (0:32:37) Al: stations for different things like for farming and for wood gathering and mining and stuff (0:32:42) Al: like that. And you can do something and then you can go, hey, tell this villager to do (0:32:46) Al: this thing. And then they’ll just go and do that thing. So I really like that idea (0:32:51) Al: of automation, which is, hey, villager, do this thing that I just did. Yeah, that’s pretty (0:32:58) Codey: broadcasting right now and it looks like (0:33:03) Al: Um, the one thing that I’m not sure how I feel about the game is the inventory (0:33:09) Al: seems pretty limited. (0:33:11) Al: I think that’s a design decision and I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about it, (0:33:14) Al: but we will see. (0:33:16) Al: I’m willing to be open-minded about it, but yeah, also like you water the crops (0:33:22) Al: with a little literal water hose, like a fireman’s hose. (0:33:26) Codey: Yeah, yeah, they have (0:33:29) Al: Yeah, I know they have multiplayer. (0:33:31) Al: The question is whether or not it worked online or not. (0:33:34) Al: Look, it’s fine. (0:33:36) Codey: They’ve been broadcasting this for 42 hours. (0:33:39) Codey: That’s a choice. (0:33:39) Al: I suspect they have not actually been doing that. (0:33:44) Codey: It says 42 hours, 22 minutes, (0:33:46) Codey: and it was adding up the seconds. (0:33:47) Codey: It was wild. (0:33:50) Codey: Yeah, but we also have some brand new games (0:33:53) Codey: that we’ve never talked about before coming up here (0:33:55) Codey: that we can talk about. (0:33:56) Al: And this is only this isn’t everything. This is just this is just what I decided was close enough, because all my word Cody, I think there are too many games now. (0:33:58) Codey: No, no, it is not. (0:34:08) Codey: My, I just had a list of a word document (0:34:12) Codey: as I was watching the Wholesome Direct up (0:34:14) Codey: and I was like typing stuff in (0:34:15) Codey: and then starting a new line (0:34:16) Codey: every time there was a new game. (0:34:18) Codey: She was four pages long. (0:34:20) Al: There was a bit with 10 minutes to go where they were like, oh, we’re nearly finished. (0:34:25) Al: But now we’re going to show you even more, oh my word, and it was literally nine minutes (0:34:26) Codey: And it was rapid fire. (0:34:32) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:33) Al: of like 10 seconds of each game. (0:34:34) Codey: Yep. (0:34:34) Codey: Yep. (0:34:35) Al: There were so many games. (0:34:36) Codey: Some of them look really cool though, so it’s on my list whether we talk about it here or (0:34:37) Al: I lost. (0:34:38) Al: I missed so many in my first watch through. (0:34:48) Codey: whether surprise, surprise we talk about it in a greenhouse episode that will be coming (0:34:53) Codey: out soon. (0:34:56) Al: Yeah, right, let’s go through these. We’ve got Letter Bunny. (0:35:03) Al: Take on a cosy adventure as Anne, a small and determined bunny with a heart of gold. (0:35:08) Al: Explore the peaceful island, deliver many, many packages, and discover that behind every letter is a unique story. (0:35:14) Al: Make new friends, help people out, and most importantly, have fun. Those are some long years, Cody. (0:35:22) Codey: they are very long that is quite the bunny um also if the ears are that long it’s not a bunny (0:35:29) Codey: anymore it’s a hair um mammal facts up in this yeah uh they are very lorg um so if it’s a bunny (0:35:30) Al: Whoa here here here are very (0:35:38) Codey: it should be a lot they should be like more than half as short um also I just want like i’m just (0:35:46) Codey: as you read this I was like what if inverse so what if like take on a chaotic adventure (0:35:52) Codey: and a large and lazy bunny with a heart of evil explore the uh violent island like (0:36:02) Al: Now, I love the idea of like, it’s a delivery game, but you’re trying to like open up packages (0:36:10) Codey: but you’re violet (0:36:11) Al: and steal things without getting caught, or you’re trying to like… (0:36:14) Codey: untitled goose game but you’re a delivery bunny pretty much also I loved the (0:36:18) Al: That’s a whole different vibe. (0:36:20) Codey: discover that behind every letter (0:36:22) Codey: is a unique story? Correct. Yes. (0:36:25) Al: I don’t know. I do get multiple of the same letter from companies sometimes. (0:36:32) Codey: But I do I do that too. But like if it’s from a human I, I (0:36:37) Al: Do people still send letters? (0:36:37) Codey: doubt though this would yes, I doubt that it is that like (0:36:38) Al: Oh. (0:36:44) Codey: you’re sending you’re like talking to corporate bunco and (0:36:49) Codey: and Bunko is like, send these. (0:36:49) Al: you’re just delivering bills (0:36:52) Codey: generated letters to all of these things like it’s probably gonna be (0:36:58) Codey: I’m just a person and if they can’t pay then you gotta peacefully beat them up (0:37:03) Al: no you’re you’re the postal officer you’re not a bailiff (0:37:09) Codey: postal officer and judge and executioner (0:37:15) Codey: letter bunny no this is very cute (0:37:17) Al: You’re trying so hard to make this. (0:37:19) Al: It’s something it’s not. (0:37:20) Codey: I want- (0:37:21) Al: There are plenty of games that we’re going to talk about (0:37:22) Codey: I crave violence. (0:37:23) Al: that have a creepy side to it. (0:37:24) Codey: I- (0:37:24) Al: You don’t have to add it in to other games. (0:37:26) Codey: I cra- (0:37:28) Codey: I crave violence. (0:37:30) Codey: Um… (0:37:30) Al: Speaking of violence, we’ve got Humblitz. (0:37:32) Codey: Really? (0:37:34) Codey: Does this one feel violent? (0:37:35) Al: Well, this one says (0:37:37) Al: “A cozy survival game (0:37:39) Al: set in a fantasy world (0:37:41) Al: filled with cute pet companions (0:37:43) Al: and adventures across many biomes.” (0:37:46) Al: Now, my problem with this (0:37:49) Al: is that I don’t think (0:37:51) Al: cozy and survival (0:37:53) Al: fit together, right? (0:37:55) Al: Like, if I’m cozy, (0:37:57) Al: I’m not fighting for survival. (0:37:59) Al: Those two things are opposite. (0:38:02) Codey: So people just farm if they’re, as a pastime, as like a side gig. (0:38:08) Al: Are you trying to say that farming games are survival games? (0:38:12) Codey: I mean, you’re farming. (0:38:14) Al: Yeah, OK, and in Stardew, if you don’t eat, what happens? (0:38:19) Al: You go to sleep and you wake up fine in the morning. (0:38:23) Al: That’s not a survival game. (0:38:25) Codey: Not realistic. I try and do that. And then I wake up. I wake up with a headache. It’s not fun. (0:38:27) Al: Yeah, of course, it’s not realistic. (0:38:32) Al: Of course, it’s not realistic. (0:38:35) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. (0:38:36) Al: This is I just I don’t I don’t understand how you can have a (0:38:39) Al: that is about fighting for survival and call it cosy. (0:38:42) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I’m not sure. Um, we know almost nothing about this except for that one line. (0:38:49) Codey: That’s it. It’s a new Kickstarter. Currently 671 followers. Kickstarter’s not even live. (0:38:56) Codey: Um, the picture’s really cute though. It looks like a little teacup house. That’s it. (0:39:00) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the image is definitely giving cozy rather than giving survival. (0:39:06) Al: We will. We will see. Could be. (0:39:07) Codey: Could be violence could be violence cozy violence (0:39:12) Al: Harvest Hills. Harvest Hills is a charming and relaxing farm simulator that allows you to run your own rancho, (0:39:22) Al: cultivate various crops, take care of animals and produce homemade products, (0:39:26) Al: Sell the goods to the local market to earn money. (0:39:30) Al: And use it to upgrade or automate the farm. (0:39:32) Al: Rancho, really? (0:39:32) Codey: I think well isn’t that is that not what it’s called in the South America (0:39:34) Al: Is that? (0:39:40) Al: Oh, is it? (0:39:41) Al: Oh, is that? (0:39:42) Al: is just a… Oh. (0:39:44) Codey: yeah Rancho is just a ranch plural is ranchos a hut or a collection of hut for (0:39:50) Codey: herders laborers or travelers because yeah the I think developers but well the (0:39:52) Al: - Well, there you go, my bad. (0:39:59) Codey: developers called red beans and I guess I can’t see more than that. (0:40:02) Codey: There’s a demo out now I do too oh my gosh one of my friends made a dessert (0:40:09) Codey: bean pie the other day don’t recommend this looks really cute though I like the (0:40:15) Codey: idea of that so like as you’re doing things in the game you put down flags (0:40:21) Codey: kind of like think of like when you play Sims and you tell your person like do (0:40:26) Codey: this and then do this and then do this and then you have like a task list (0:40:29) Codey: basically, it looks like you do that for your character in this game. (0:40:32) Codey: to which I like, I like to, like, look at it be like, Okay, cool, do all of these things. And then I can do something else with my brain, because I don’t like paying attention. You like, delegate, yeah, you like delegate a bunch of tasks. Yeah, looks, looks cool. I will be watching (0:40:41) Al: Ah yeah, yeah I hadn’t noticed that I’m watching the video that’s a good point it does seem to be (0:40:46) Al: like yeah do you tap on things. I quite yeah okay okay I’m I’m feeling it I’m feeling it. (0:40:57) Al: I like the build mode as well I do like a good build mode in one of these games because I find (0:41:02) Al: them much easier. (0:41:06) Codey: Windows only, wah, wah, uh, cool. (0:41:10) Al: Wow, wow. It’s on Kickstarter. It has a very modest goal and hasn’t hit it yet. (0:41:18) Al: Yeah, yeah. I mean, most Kickstarters get nothing in the in the middle 27 days. (0:41:25) Al: It’s like the first day and the last day. (0:41:28) Codey: The game is controller friendly, won’t be on Steam Deck, Steam for Windows. (0:41:32) Codey: Uh, they’re hoping for Q4 2024. (0:41:36) Codey: Um, even if it does get released, it’ll be no later than May 2025. (0:41:42) Codey: Um, will Steam Deck, Steam Deck be supported? (0:41:42) Al: What do you mean “won’t” to be on the Steam Deck? (0:41:47) Codey: No. (0:41:47) Al: Where does it sit at? (0:41:51) Al: And also, what does that mean? (0:41:53) Al: Because you can play almost any game on the Steam Deck, (0:41:56) Al: and if it has controller support, it will work on the Steam Deck. (0:42:01) Al: Is that in the FAQ? (0:42:03) Al: Yeah, I don’t know what that’s meant to mean. (0:42:06) Al: I suspect– I mean, if what they mean is, (0:42:08) Al: we’re not going to put in the effort to make sure (0:42:10) Al: that it works perfectly on Steam Deck, (0:42:13) Al: and then fine, but, like, you… (0:42:15) Codey: It won’t be developed for the Steam Deck is how I read that. (0:42:17) Al: Yeah, but… (0:42:20) Al: Yeah, no, that’s not how I read it at all. (0:42:22) Al: What I read is, like, we’re not going to bother (0:42:25) Al: putting any effort into it, which is fine. (0:42:27) Al: But also, like, if you’ve got the controller support, (0:42:30) Al: you’re 90% there anyway. (0:42:33) Al: Like, I would just put in the tiny– anyway, it doesn’t matter. (0:42:37) Al: Wonder Stop. Wonder Stop. Wonder Stop. (0:42:40) Codey: Wander, stop, wander, stop, wander. (0:42:42) Al: Wonder. (0:42:44) Al: Wonder. (0:42:46) Al: Yeah, I guess I would say Wonder. (0:42:50) Al: Wonder. (0:42:50) Codey: The way that you’re saying it sounds like wonder, (0:42:52) Al: I know. I know. I say those… (0:42:52) Codey: like, oh, the wonderful world. (0:42:55) Al: I say those words the same way. (0:42:57) Codey: Oh, that’s so weird. (0:42:58) Codey: You did it. (0:42:59) Codey: You had another one that you said the same way (0:43:00) Codey: that I don’t remember what it was. (0:43:01) Codey: This is like wander as if like wandering, (0:43:04) Codey: like you are wandering through the world. (0:43:06) Codey: And this game is from the creator of the Stanley Parable (0:43:09) Codey: the beginner’s guide. (0:43:10) Codey: It is a narrative-centric cozy game about change and tea. (0:43:15) Codey: Okay. (0:43:15) Al: Yeah, I don’t know what to think about this game. I was not massively impressed by what (0:43:22) Al: I saw in the Wholesome Direct. And then I saw Stanley Parable and went, Hmm, okay. Because (0:43:30) Al: I very much like the Stanley Parable. I think it is one of the best games full stop. So (0:43:38) Al: like, yeah, I don’t know. But this is not giving me anything. (0:43:41) Codey: ever played that. (0:43:43) Codey: Yeah, I don’t know. (0:43:45) Al: The Musics by C148, 418, sorry, which is the guy who did the Minecraft. (0:43:53) Codey: Well, that’s intriguing. I don’t usually listen to music but when I do it’s usually Minecraft (0:44:00) Codey: So like most games I turn that off because ADHD (0:44:05) Codey: Yeah, I don’t know. It has very witchy vibes like it had like a almost like a potion looking creation (0:44:12) Codey: screen (0:44:14) Codey: And I don’t know why I’m just a big old hipster when it comes to witchy things. I don’t know (0:44:18) Codey: I just see witchy things and I’m like, but I mean the art looks really nice (0:44:23) Co

Welcome back to another Super Cool Radio interview! We have an incredible guest for this episode. In May, Matthew was press for a killer show at The Vogue in Indianapolis. Saliva, Drowning Pool, Above Snakes, and Thrower delivered an incredible show. The Vogue staff and security were amazing and extremely accommodating throughout the entire day. After the show, Matthew had the opportunity to chat with the frontman of Saliva, Bobby Amaru. In this interview, hear Bobby discuss touring with Drowning Pool, some of his favorite Wayne Swinney moments, deciding to become sober, the plans for Saliva for the rest of 2024, and much more! SCR and Matthew Thomas would like to thank Bobby for the great interview. Thank you to Shauna O'Donnell for making this interview possible. Links to check out: Website: SALIVA - Official Band Website | Home (salivaofficial.com) Listen to Revelation: Revelation (orcd.co) Promo pictures courtesy of Shauna O'Donnell Intro and outro music composed by Jonny Neville If you like this video, please consider heading over to our merch store and supporting us. Your support means so much! Link: Super Cool Radio's Artist Shop | Featuring custom t-shirts, prints, and more (threadless.com) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/supercoolradio/support

Al, Kevin, and Micah go through the games of the year and crown their winner for 2023. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:42: What Have We Been Up To 00:27:56: 2023 Releases 00:34:54: Previous Winners 00:36:30: Our Nominations 01:53:00: GOTY Debate 02:08:06: Decision 02:15:50: Outro Games Mentioned Games released this year Above Snakes Before the green moon Everdream valley Fae Farm Farming Simulator 23 Flutter Away Garden Buddies Garden In Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos Hello Kitty: Island Adventure Homestead Arcana Innchanted Lego Fortnite Loddlenaut Mineko's Night Market Moonstone Island My Time at SAndrock Paleo Pines Roots of Pacha Rune Factory 3 Special Season: A Letter to the Future Silent Hope Smushi Come Home Spells and Secrets Spirittea Sprout Valley Steamworld Build Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life Sun Down Tchia Terra Nil Wildmender EA released in a previous year, 1.0 this year Ikonei Island Moondrop Sun Haven Coral island DDV EA released this year Cornucopia Fabledom Moonlight in Garland One Lonely Outpost Research Factory Song of the Prairie Snacko Previous Winners 2019: Doraemon SoS 2020: Summer in Mara 2021: Spiritfarer 2022: Ooblets Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. My name is Al. (0:00:39) Micah: I’m waiting, I’m waiting for you. (0:00:41) Kevin: Oh, I was waiting for you, too. I’m Micah. (0:00:44) Al: And we are here today to confuse you a lot. (0:00:46) Micah: And I’m Kev. (0:00:48) Kevin: There we go. (0:00:52) Al: It says, “We’re to talk about cottage core games.” (0:00:52) Kevin: Well, I mean, that goes without saying. (0:00:56) Al: Whoo! (0:00:57) Kevin: Whoo-hoo! (0:00:57) Al: Just, just in case people don’t know who they are, the names were the wrong way around there. (0:01:03) Al: So you know, they’re good luck. (0:01:06) Al: This is the fun episode of the year where I get two people on and we argue about which (0:01:14) Al: is the best game. (0:01:16) Al: And most of the time we come to a conclusion where we’re all accepting that that is our combined game of the year. (0:01:22) Kevin: Not this year. I refuse already. (0:01:26) Al: We will see where this year goes. (0:01:29) Al: But oh boy, oh boy, do I have some opinions. (0:01:34) Al: We’ll get to that when we get to that. (0:01:37) Al: Obviously transcripts are available for the episode and the show in general in the show notes and on the website. (0:01:44) Al: The game of the year stuff, Micah, what have you been up to? (0:01:46) Micah: I have been playing Dragon Quest Monsters 3 and I have also been playing Starfield quite a bit. (0:01:48) Al: Shock, shock harder. (0:01:52) Kevin: Good stuff. How many slimes are on your teeth? (0:01:59) Al: Interesting. What do you think? (0:02:01) Micah: I… (0:02:03) Micah: Okay. (0:02:04) Kevin: This, this is the response I hear every time I ask about it. (0:02:08) Micah: I very much understand two things. (0:02:14) Micah: I am a fan. (0:02:17) Micah: I am a fan of Bethesda game design and have been for many years. (0:02:22) Micah: So there is a level of comfort that comes with it. (0:02:27) Micah: I also understand that it is kind of dated game design. (0:02:33) Micah: And it all sort of feels the same as far as Bethesda goes. (0:02:40) Micah: But because I like that, I appreciate it. (0:02:44) Kevin: Yeah, no, that makes sense. I’m a Tetris fan, and Tetris hasn’t changed once in the 40 years it’s been out. (0:02:52) Al: That’s not true! That’s not true, Kevin. (0:02:54) Kevin: Yeah, I know that’s not true. (0:02:56) Al: We know, you know, you know that Tetris has changed. (0:02:58) Al: It has improved. It has moved with the times. (0:02:59) Kevin: Yeah, it is. (0:03:01) Micah: Tetris Effect is one of the greatest Tetris games of all time. Tetris 99. I would say, (0:03:04) Al: Exactly. Exactly. (0:03:06) Micah: I would actually argue that Tetris has done more changing than most franchises do. It’s kind of impressive. I don’t know, it’s kids. It can be cozy, right? Tetris can be a cozy (0:03:14) Kevin: You’re right, especially one we’re a fan of in particular. (0:03:19) Al: You don’t come, we don’t come for Tetris here, Kevin. (0:03:22) Kevin: I mean, we could. (0:03:28) Kevin: We could argue which one’s the best shaped piece. (0:03:31) Al: They also have their scam game that Cody’s playing. (0:03:31) Micah: Their scam game? No. (0:03:34) Kevin: Ah, well. (0:03:35) Al: Oh, have you not heard this, Micah? She’s playing a game that, like, you get points and then apparently once you hit a million or two million points you can win a free cruise, (0:03:45) Al: and I’m convinced it’s a scam. I’m waiting for the day that she gets to the right number of points and then, like, we never hear from her again because she’s, like, shipped off to have our organs harvested or something. (0:03:45) Micah: What? That does sound kinda scary. (0:03:49) Kevin: It does. (0:03:57) Micah: Dear God, all because of Tetris. (0:04:03) Kevin: Well, at least she had fun getting there. (0:04:05) Al: Anyway, so Starfield. (0:04:06) Kevin: That sounds like the game of the year to me. (0:04:10) Al: So what you’re saying is, if you like Starfield, you’ll like Starfield. (0:04:13) Al: That’s what you’re saying. (0:04:14) Micah: Yeah, if you like Bethesda games, Bethesda RPGs, (0:04:20) Micah: then you’ll probably like Starfield. (0:04:22) Micah: I think that there’s a lot of really neat things that they do with the. (0:04:27) Micah: Like space travel portions of it, there’s there’s a lot of really cool the like ship combat, space combat and stuff like that is very, very interesting. (0:04:37) Micah: It’s fun and the more that you kind of get comfortable with the how things function in the world, the you know, the more comfy of a game it is to. (0:04:49) Kevin: Okay, serious question. Have you played No Man’s Sky? (0:04:52) Micah: I have. (0:04:53) Kevin: to that (0:04:55) Micah: It is like if no man’s sky. (0:04:57) Micah: I had way more polished and was much more fleshed out and had much more like story elements to it. (0:05:09) Micah: I think that like primarily my enjoyment of Bethesda games comes from their writing. (0:05:17) Micah: And because there are just as an example, there’s a quest that I stumbled on by… (0:05:27) Micah: killing a space pirate and when I looked in his inventory there was a note and when I read the note that it unlocked this huge side quest that was like hours long. (0:05:40) Micah: Which is like I could have very easily missed that. (0:05:44) Micah: And I love that there’s such depth to like how stories play, like side stories even play out in Bethesda games like that. (0:05:57) Micah: So many times in Elder Scrolls games and things, you know, I’ll just stumble onto a cave and there’s a really deep story that’s written into this group that moved into this cave or whatever and it’s something that you could very easily miss. (0:06:16) Micah: It really makes me appreciate how much effort they put into writing things that people could never play in their, you know… (0:06:27) Micah: They’ll play through the game but there’s plenty of that in Starfield. (0:06:36) Al: Yeah, I think that’s fair. I’ve have enjoyed seeing a lot of the stuff online about all the kind of like side stuff, which has been for me, probably more fun than actually playing the game would be. So like, I totally get if you enjoy the game, then it makes it so much more fun, right? Because you’re finding all these things and just kind of stumble across this. But yeah, for me, it’s like, yeah, I enjoy watching someone post about it online or post a video or something like that. I think I know the side story you’re talking about, because that’s that’s the one that most people tend to go to. (0:06:42) Micah: Mm hmm. Yeah. (0:06:48) Kevin: Yeah. (0:07:12) Micah: Yeah, it’s a pretty important one because it, especially early on it, it gives you access to things that you would not have otherwise, that are pretty important. (0:07:22) Al: Yeah, you just confirmed it’s the one I’m thinking of. (0:07:28) Al: OK, well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it. That’s the important thing. That’s what we play games for. (0:07:30) Kevin: Yeah, well, we, we actually could do greenhouse. (0:07:32) Micah: And you know, I could talk about Dragon Quest monsters endlessly, but I’ll save everybody’s. (0:07:37) Micah: I’ll save everyone’s ears for… (0:07:40) Kevin: I didn’t all gladly listen to Dragon Quest talk for. (0:07:42) Al: Let’s discuss that later. (0:07:44) Micah: Yeah, I think that’s probably what I’m gonna be hanging on to that for is the the later (0:07:52) Al: Awesome. Kevin, what have you been up to? (0:07:55) Kevin: So it’s been a hot mince I’ve been on I think and the biggest life update for people who haven’t heard I have kittens now (0:08:05) Micah: kittens? No. When you okay, when you say kittens, obviously plural, how many are we talking here? (0:08:06) Kevin: Have I not showing you the mic oh I will text you a picture right now (0:08:11) Kevin: Yes (0:08:15) Kevin: We’re talking too so We started off with one (0:08:20) Kevin: So we’re looking for a new place to move into and at one of the places we’ve kittens they were giving (0:08:25) Kevin: away and so we took one home and then after some discussions we said you know what I bet this kitten could use a companion so we went back and got one got one of her brothers and so we now went from no kittens to two kittens pretty much out of the blue their names are teddy and daisy (0:08:52) Kevin: They are about seven, eight weeks. (0:08:55) Kevin: They are about eight weeks old. (0:08:57) Kevin: This is my first time owning cats. I’ve had a dog before, but never cats. (0:09:02) Kevin: It’s been enjoyable there. (0:09:04) Kevin: Fun, energetic, Daisy in particular is a little gremlin who loves to run around. (0:09:08) Kevin: Teddy, the brother, he’s a lot more chill. (0:09:11) Kevin: He is, yeah, I’m loving them so far. I love animals, right? (0:09:15) Kevin: And they were so little when we got them. (0:09:17) Kevin: They were only like four weeks old when we got them. (0:09:20) Kevin: So they were really little. They were like tripled in size. (0:09:23) Kevin: I took them to the vet for the first time. (0:09:25) Kevin: Yesterday, and aren’t they precious I I will have to find of us an alpix so he can post it with the show (0:09:26) Micah: Oh my god. (0:09:33) Micah: Who who’s the which one is the white and gray one? (0:09:37) Kevin: That’s Daisy (0:09:38) Micah: That’s Daisy. (0:09:39) Kevin: Mm-hmm and then (0:09:40) Micah: Daisy looks very much like my brother’s cat, zero, who is 18 years old. (0:09:43) Kevin: Oh really, huh Wow Wow, that’s strong (0:09:48) Micah: But the like identical like pattern and facial structure and. (0:09:51) Kevin: Yeah, yeah, Teddy’s really cute. He’s got a tuxedo (0:09:55) Kevin: pattern. He’s got gray fur, but like little white paws and, um, and Daisy’s black or black gray spots. Yeah, they’re adorable. Um, so yeah, they can be a handful at times as I’m sure cat owners know they can get all over the place. (0:10:10) Kevin: But, um, but I’ve been enjoying. Um, so, uh, yeah, that’s the big thing really. But, uh, (0:10:16) Kevin: other than that, probably the biggest things I’ve been playing lately. Um, I’ve really been getting through Tears of the Kingdom finally. I’ve pretty much (0:10:25) Kevin: at the finish line I’ve done all the big quests I’m just kind of going around hitting up all the shrines and filling out the map and so on and so forth but I could go take on Ganon anytime. That game is phenomenal it’s great I mean I don’t have to go in-depth about it I’m sure everyone knows how good it is right right but yeah very good game I yeah not much I probably could add and then the The other one is a… (0:10:42) Al: Speaking of games that have secrets. (0:10:55) Kevin: Street Fighter 6 (0:10:58) Kevin: So I am a fighting game fan. I am bad at them, but I love them (0:11:03) Micah: Hey, me too. (0:11:04) Kevin: I picked it up. Yeah, yeah, you got right. I’ve only played two weeks (0:11:07) Micah: On both fronts. (0:11:10) Kevin: Have you picked up Street Fighter 6? (0:11:11) Micah: I have not. (0:11:12) Kevin: Micah, okay (0:11:12) Micah: I have some friends that I have watched play. (0:11:14) Kevin: Okay (0:11:18) Micah: And I have some friends that are extremely good at Street Fighter. (0:11:23) Kevin: Yeah, yeah good. Oh man, hats off to them. (0:11:24) Micah: So I’ve seen some, you know, stuff that I’ve seen gameplay that I don’t fully understand because it’s too… (0:11:33) Micah: high level for my small brain to comprehend, but… (0:11:40) Kevin: That’s fine, I’m playing it and it happens to me. (0:11:45) Kevin: So yeah, the two big things, I mean Street Fighter, right? (0:11:47) Kevin: It’s the iconic series, (0:11:48) Kevin: so I’m sure people know what it’s all about, it’s fighting. (0:11:51) Kevin: But the two big things that it brings, (0:11:54) Kevin: the first is called modern controls. (0:11:57) Kevin: They have a new control scheme (0:12:02) Kevin: that simplifies basically playing the game. (0:12:05) Kevin: So traditionally you’d have to do a motion on your control stick and a button and all sorts of crazy combinations to get moves out. (0:12:15) Kevin: But they simplified it, (0:12:16) Kevin: where you can get moves out with just the press of a button. (0:12:20) Kevin: It’s very beginner friendly. (0:12:23) Kevin: Because of the convenience of that, (0:12:25) Kevin: they balanced it by reducing the strength of the moves and things like that. (0:12:32) Kevin: I think it’s great. (0:12:33) Kevin: I don’t play it much myself, I like the classic stuff, (0:12:36) Kevin: but it’s fun to see people use it and be able to play, (0:12:41) Kevin: get in without having to worry about not being able to do the moves. (0:12:44) Kevin: I say that as someone who is not always able to do the moves. (0:12:50) Kevin: And the second big thing that they have is called world tour mode. (0:12:53) Kevin: Have you guys heard of this at all? (0:12:56) Kevin: Yeah, oh man. (0:12:58) Kevin: So World Tour Mode is their single player campaign. (0:13:02) Kevin: The real kicker is that it’s a create a character mode. (0:13:08) Kevin: So you create your own fighter, but they’re sliders to your physical attributes. (0:13:16) Kevin: So you can be as tall, skinny, short, whatever you want. (0:13:19) Kevin: You can make monstrosity looking characters and it will affect your gameplay. (0:13:24) Kevin: If you have long arms, you will be able to punch farther or whatever. (0:13:29) Kevin: It’s pretty fun making your own character. (0:13:32) Kevin: I love it. You can hang out with the cast, which are filled with fun dumb moments. (0:13:46) Kevin: You can text all the street fighters. It’s really funny. (0:13:48) Micah: I am a big fan of a really ridiculous character. (0:13:48) Kevin: It’s so good. It’s probably the most ridiculous one. Just today I saw somebody look like a spaghetti with arms. (0:14:02) Kevin: It’s so good. There’s an online mode where you can bring your creative characters. You can have your freak matches. It’s great. (0:14:10) Kevin: Everything about that game is fantastic. The presentation, the music, the online play works great. I rarely have any bad connections for matches. (0:14:22) Kevin: I’m the character I picked up. Her name is Manon. She is a French supermodel. (0:14:32) Kevin: She is also a judo wrestler. She throws all of that in her move. She does struts, she does pirouettes, and she’ll grow you around. (0:14:40) Kevin: She’s very fun to play. That’s what I’ve been up to. (0:14:44) Kevin: Alright, Senor Al, what about you? (0:14:48) Al: Not a huge amount. It’s been a weird week, but I’ve been playing a bit of a Highland song. So for Micah, probably, who isn’t aware, it’s a platforming game based in the Scottish Highlands, and part of it is rhythm based. And it’s absolutely gorgeous. It has great music. The story is really good, and I don’t play games with the sound on, but I… (0:15:18) Al: can’t play this game with the sound off. Like, it’s just even outside of the rhythm, but it’s just so good. Yeah. Like, a Highland song. And it’s fantastic. So, okay, yeah, (0:15:30) Kevin: Okay, what are the rhythm portions like, because I know it was the Scottish game, but I don’t know what it’s like. (0:15:36) Al: okay. That’s a fair question. That’s a fair question. So, to preamble to that, the idea is that you’ve got all these mountains, and you’re climbing over them, and you’re trying (0:15:48) Al: to get to specific points. And there are places in the game where, as you are walking, (0:15:54) Al: it will tell you to press B to run. And then as you’re running across a terrain, there are things in the way, and the rhythm bit is you have to press it in time to the music to keep going and jump over the rhythm. (0:16:08) Kevin: Okay, that’s fascinating. Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rhythm platformer in the (0:16:19) Micah: This is beautiful. (0:16:20) Al: Right. Right. And the best thing is, so when you’re standing on, when you’re standing on a hill in the game and you can see all of the hills around you, all of those hills are hills you can go to in the game. (0:16:32) Kevin: Oh wow, that’s nice. (0:16:34) Micah: Wow. Yeah, this is a really pretty game. I’ve never heard of this. (0:16:38) Al: Yeah, it’s really I’m loving it. It’s great. Yeah, yeah, I came out a couple weeks ago. (0:16:39) Micah: Is it new? (0:16:44) Al: But it’s fantastic. And all the Scottish accents are legitimate. So no terrible Shrek voices. (0:16:50) Kevin: But, I mean, come on, don’t you want at least one Shrek in there? (0:16:52) Al: No, no, no. Definitely not. Never, never, never. Shrek is fine in Shrek. Not outside. (0:16:56) Micah: No, that was a very immediate no. (0:17:00) Micah: No, no, no, no, no, no. (0:17:00) Kevin: Ah, fair enough. (0:17:06) Al: We have enough fake Scottish. (0:17:08) Al: Voices in the world, there are very few things where we actually get proper Scottish voices. (0:17:13) Al: So it’s nice to actually hear some. (0:17:14) Kevin: Fair enough. (0:17:15) Kevin: Is David Tennant in it? (0:17:17) Al: I don’t think so, no. (0:17:18) Kevin: the- I’m sorry. That’s a missed (0:17:21) Al: His voice, there was something, I can’t remember what it was I was watching the other day and I was like, “Oh, that’s David Tennant.” Like I always, anytime I hear him doing his normal voice, (0:17:29) Al: it’s like such a distinctive voice for me that I’m like, “Oh.” It’s like, (0:17:33) Al: Every so often, somebody learns that David Tennant is Scrooge McDuck. (0:17:38) Al: And they’re like, “What? How’s David Tennant?” I’m like, “How could you not tell? His voice is just so distinctly his voice.” (0:17:39) Kevin: Yeah, yeah. (0:17:40) Kevin: - That’s… (0:17:47) Kevin: I, I didn’t know, I mean, I, I watched, I’m a big fan of the reboot of DuckTales, but I didn’t know it was David Tennant till a little bit in. (0:17:48) Al: Maybe that’s a Scottish thing, I don’t know. (0:17:57) Kevin: Um, and I didn’t realize he was Scottish. (0:17:59) Kevin: That’s, it’s really funny. (0:18:00) Al: Yeah, he’s not putting on a voice. He’s slightly emphasizing it, but that’s basically just his voice. (0:18:04) Kevin: Yeah, sure. (0:18:06) Al: Yeah, don’t do that again, Kevin. (0:18:06) Kevin: I like how he says “Gad-age” in the first episode. (0:18:09) Kevin: I always remember that one. (0:18:13) Kevin: That’s how he says it. (0:18:17) Al: So yeah, I’ve mostly been playing that and also been playing Pokemon because of the Flubbebe outbreaks, as I said, in the show notes. (0:18:27) Micah: Oh, that’s right (0:18:30) Al: baby baby. (0:18:31) Micah: Forgot that was going on. I forget it’s uh, well baby now and then (0:18:39) Kevin: Milsory in the (0:18:42) Al: So it’s current Flababy in Poldea. It is… no, it is not. It is Litwick in Kitakami. (0:18:48) Kevin: 3 in Kitikami. (0:18:52) Micah: Mmm. Yeah, because milsry is not in the game. (0:18:53) Al: Milcery isn’t in the game yet. Milcery will be in the Blueberry Academy when it comes out. So that’s why it’s not Milcery yet. It’s because it’s in the new region in the DLC. I think it’s just called the Blueberry Academy. Yeah. (0:19:01) Kevin: I haven’t gotten the DLC yet. (0:19:05) Micah: So just the new region, do we know what the new region is called? (0:19:07) Micah: Other than just, it’s the Blueberry Academy, is it just Blueberry Academy? (0:19:10) Kevin: That’s it. (0:19:11) Kevin: Yeah, it’s like an- it’s a- yeah, it’s part of- it’s Unovan territory, I guess, I know, (0:19:16) Kevin: but it’s like an artificial island sort of thing. (0:19:20) Al: Yeah, they call it like the. (0:19:21) Kevin: Terrarium. (0:19:24) Kevin: Yeah. (0:19:26) Micah: means I almost fear honest I mean it’s the like vibe that I got from it when I yeah we’ll see it’s always we’ll see (0:19:26) Kevin: Yeah. (0:19:28) Al: Yeah, it is pretty much, hopefully less evil, but we’ll see. (0:19:29) Kevin: now. (0:19:31) Kevin: Yeah, [LAUGH] I might get the DLC finally, the trit look. (0:19:40) Al: Oh, they are calling it the ceranium. (0:19:42) Al: They are calling it. (0:19:44) Micah: I was just recently finishing up my Pokedex, my like living decks in Violet in preparation for the DLC, but (0:19:57) Micah: there’s a lot of just figuring out how to who I knew who had the other Sinnoh starters, because you only get the like one egg. (0:20:11) Micah: And it’s dependent on, I guess, dependent on what starter you picked for. (0:20:15) Micah: For scarlet or violet. (0:20:16) Al: I think it was, or maybe it was random, I can’t- (0:20:20) Micah: I feel like it was, yeah, it seemed like from trying to track down where I would find a Piplup, it was, it was through like deduction power, the power of deduction (0:20:34) Micah: through who had what starter from the, from Paldea. (0:20:38) Micah: So I don’t know if that’s actually the case or not, but that’s, that’s how I managed to figure out who had. (0:20:44) Al: Yeah, I could probably find out if I cared enough. (0:20:52) Al: I mean, I still like, I don’t, I’m still enjoying it and I’m really looking forward to the new DLC, but Kevin, you don’t need to play it. (0:21:00) Al: You can just not. (0:21:02) Micah: It’s true. It’s true. I will say that I felt. (0:21:02) Kevin: Look, I’m– (0:21:09) Micah: I think we talked about this the last time I was on, actually. (0:21:10) Al: We did. (0:21:12) Al: We had a whole greenhouse episode about it. (0:21:14) Micah: I finally finished the DLC, the first DLC, because that was the right. (0:21:18) Al: Oh, yes. (0:21:19) Al: Yes. (0:21:19) Al: Cause you hadn’t finished it when we did the greenhouse. (0:21:21) Micah: And that is like rare for me, because I I go (0:21:25) Micah: pretty hard into Pokemon stuff when it launches for the first time. (0:21:28) Micah: So to not do that is kind of a new. (0:21:32) Micah: New and weird thing for me, but I finally finished it and I did enjoy it, but I did feel that it was a very, I don’t know, I just, I’ve, I’m still feeling like I’ve kind of become disillusioned with modern Pokemon to some degree, but. (0:21:49) Kevin: I mean and okay like to not I’m you know, I (0:21:54) Kevin: Notoriously nag on the game, but to pull the veil down a little to be you the more genuine here. I (0:22:00) Kevin: Do think the trailer for the upcoming one part looks good. I’m a bit excited for what I see (0:22:07) Kevin: the only part that (0:22:08) Al: Careful. (0:22:10) Kevin: Yeah, I know the only part that really irritates me is the flying thing how it’s locked behind the DLC because (0:22:18) Al: Yeah, I agree (0:22:19) Kevin: It’s just with knowing how the development cycle works and the timing of everything. It feels very intentional. They put bad flying (0:22:28) Al: Well, here’s the thing, I don’t care if it’s like, “Oh, we couldn’t get it done in time for release,” right? (0:22:34) Al: You still don’t have to lock it behind the DLC. (0:22:34) Kevin: Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Okay. But. (0:22:36) Al: They have updates. (0:22:37) Al: Every game has updates when there’s DLCs. (0:22:40) Al: So you absolutely don’t need to. (0:22:41) Al: It’s absolutely a very specific choice to lock that quality of life feature behind a purchase and that is bad and we should absolutely call that out. (0:22:49) Al: It’s not going to stop me buying the game though. (0:22:52) Micah: Yeah, I’m kind of in the same position. (0:22:56) Micah: I think there’s a lot of stuff that could just generally as far as the development cycle goes could have been changed for the better. (0:23:10) Micah: I had mentioned a little bit the like one time I’ve been on Twitter in the last like month after they talked about the they released. (0:23:22) Micah: It’s the new trailer this last week, I think. (0:23:24) Al: Yeah. (0:23:25) Micah: And they showed off the the like Pokemon control mode. (0:23:30) Micah: I forgot what they call it, but you can control the sync mode where you can control the Pokemon and run around as the Pokemon. (0:23:32) Al: Oh, yes, yeah, synchronize. Yeah. (0:23:32) Kevin: The sync mode thing. (0:23:40) Micah: And it seemingly has not much of a like use case other than you can battle Pokemon, but you just run around as a Pokemon. (0:23:50) Micah: And that to me, it. (0:23:52) Micah: Immediately, like I’d think back to when the games first came out and how much like disgruntledness there was with certain elements of the design that the games design, like how you couldn’t go into any of the houses. (0:24:09) Micah: But then they, you know, when they clipped out of bounds, then they found that there were like half designed internal locations like you could have gone into. (0:24:20) Micah: but it was very clear that they ran. (0:24:22) Micah: Out of time in the development cycle, just couldn’t, uh, so there are things like that where like I, it makes me feel like sync mode. (0:24:29) Micah: It was something that they just ran out of time on. (0:24:32) Al: So that’s possible, but I also think it could be along the lines of, like, let’s go Pikachu and Eevee to Legends, where we saw a clear direction they were moving. (0:24:43) Al: And it’s not necessarily, like, I don’t think anyone would say that the catching in Let’s Go was the way it was because they didn’t have enough time to do what they ended up doing in Legends, but it was more like a kind of moving in that kind of direction. (0:24:57) Al: And we see this with a lot of things in Pokémon where they do that, where it’s like, it’s It’s just a, it’s a. (0:25:02) Al: You’re prerequisite and the kind of like the game, it’s not like here’s a game, let’s build a game. Here’s another game. Let’s build another game, right? Like they’re constantly doing all these different things in these different games and having these different ideas. And that’s true. (0:25:04) Kevin: Yeah, baby steps. (0:25:16) Kevin: These I don’t think these are mutually exclusive either like (0:25:16) Micah: I think that I think that that I agree with that that makes sense. (0:25:22) Micah: But I do feel like there is a level of like (0:25:26) Micah: half baked development process for some of these things. (0:25:30) Micah: And I I am willing to, you know, give (0:25:30) Kevin: Oh, oh, they’re deaf at least. (0:25:34) Micah: well, for like like you said, for let’s go. (0:25:37) Micah: I think the the catch feature for let’s go was meant to more mimic Pokemon. (0:25:41) Micah: Go like it was very clearly there, like (0:25:46) Micah: the motion point between the main games and Pokemon go so that. (0:25:51) Micah: You know, catching style was intended to feel like I mean, it does feel like especially the motion control portion feels like Pokemon go. (0:25:52) Al: I mean, kind of, kind of, but I also like, with then we got only a few years later, legends, (0:26:05) Al: like it feels like it was what they kind of wanted to move towards and they were trying different things and this is what they ended up with. I don’t think it was just like, oh, (0:26:15) Al: let’s just make Pokemon go in a main series game. Like, I think it was, you know, they (0:26:22) Al: had a game which was legends where you were actually running around and literally just throwing Pokeballs at Pokemon, right? But, look, it’s not, yeah, I mean, it does show a flaw in how they developed their games and that these were almost certainly developed in parallel and therefore you can’t know what’s going to be popular and what’s going to end up working really well before you do it the next one. Yeah, I don’t disagree with you. (0:26:30) Kevin: And then they said, “Let’s go backwards at the next game.” (0:26:52) Al: I want that again. But anyway, we don’t need to keep talking about Pokemon. Let’s move on, shall we? This happens every couple of months we end up on another Scarlet and Violet delve. It did, it did. It did, but, you know, I need to save some of my Pokemon talk for a different podcast. Anyway, it’s, wow. Wow. (0:27:03) Kevin: But the trailer just came out. It was… it was gonna- (0:27:16) Kevin: We’re doing a worst games of the year pocket. (0:27:22) Al: Anyway, that’s what we’ve been up to. And I’m glad that we got a good half an hour out of that because there is no news because this is recorded out of time. Because I don’t know about you guys, but I did not want to record this on, you know, Hogman A. So we’re recording it a few weeks early. (0:27:46) Kevin: Where’s your dedication out? (0:27:49) Micah: What do you have things to do geez [laughs] (0:27:52) Al: So yes, yes, I do. So we are here to discuss our favourite games of the year and hopefully come to a conclusion on what the podcast’s game of the year is. So begins the part of the podcast where I read a bunch of words. So I am going to go down all of the games that were released this year. And at what point does this become ridiculous? I don’t know is this the most (0:28:22) Al: games we’ve had released in a year since we started the podcast? (0:28:24) Al: Yes, it absolutely is. (0:28:24) Kevin: Probably. (0:28:26) Al: Absolutely insane. (0:28:27) Al: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, nine. (0:28:29) Kevin: More than three, I’ll tell you that. (0:28:31) Kevin: I didn’t know Homestead Arcana- (0:28:32) Al: So 30, 30, 30 games, (0:28:36) Al: 31, 30, 35 games, and then one, two, three, four, five, six, seven released (0:28:42) Al: into Early Access. So was that 42, 42 games in this list? (0:28:47) Al: So this is the first list is the list of (0:28:50) Al: that were released. (0:28:52) Al: Not into early access and they previously weren’t in early access. (0:28:56) Al: This is brand new games this year. (0:28:58) Al: Brand new games not early access. (0:29:00) Al: I don’t know why I overcomplicated this, but here this is what we’re doing. (0:29:04) Al: So this is Above Snakes, Before the Green Moon, Everdream Valley, Fae Farm, Farming Simulator 23, Flutter Away, Garden Buddies, Garden Inn, Harvest Moon, The Winds of Anthos, Homestead Arcana, Enchanted, Loddle Knot, (0:29:20) Al: Maneko’s Night Market. (0:29:22) Al: And this is me just double-taking. (0:29:48) Micah: Now if you thought that was it. (0:29:52) Kevin: I’m gonna feel bad when one of the real games of the year is in here and the ones that I didn’t play. (0:29:52) Al: Well, this is part of the problem. (0:30:00) Al: So next we have five games that were released in 1.0 this year and early access a previous year. (0:30:07) Al: OK, so they were already out, but they came to their 1.0. (0:30:11) Al: They left early access this year. (0:30:13) Al: That’s a better way of describing it. (0:30:14) Al: These games left early access this year. (0:30:16) Al: And we have Icone Island, Mindrop, Sunhaven, Coral– (0:30:22) Al: Island, and Disney Dreamlight Valley. (0:30:24) Al: And then we have the list of seven games that came into early access this year. (0:30:28) Al: And that is Cornucopia, Fabledom, Moonlight in Garland, One Lonely Outpost, (0:30:35) Al: Research Story, Song of the Prairie, and Snacko. (0:30:39) Al: Hey, Micah, is this the first time you’re learning that Snacko’s in early access? (0:30:42) Al: Or did you know that already? (0:30:43) Micah: Uh, no, yesterday when I opened Notion was the first time I learned this neck wasn’t really (0:30:50) Al: Well, surprise! (0:30:52) Al: in early access now. (0:30:55) Micah: I have I’ve played the betas or the alphas, sorry. (0:31:01) Micah: And I have decided that I don’t want to do much more with the game until it (0:31:10) Micah: they get a full release because I love it. (0:31:13) Micah: love it so far and I don’t want to overdo it. (0:31:16) Kevin: Yep, don’t burn yourself out on it. I know somebody who was a big fan of Hades, but they only played in the Early Access and they burned themselves out. (0:31:23) Micah: I don’t think I could burn myself out on it really as much as it’s just that like, I don’t want to miss out like because I backed it. And I want to, I don’t know, experience the full experience I’ve experienced so much of it at this point. (0:31:38) Al: I think that’s fair. I got to the same point with Coral Island last year where I was like, (0:31:43) Al: “And now I’m going to put it down into 1.0.” But I mean, that was like 40 hours or 50 hours or something like that. It was more than I play a lot of games, you know? And I didn’t feel like playing that much ruined the experience for me when I came to the final version, because I’ve put in more than… I’m up to 100 hours now in that game. So I think it depends on the game. (0:31:55) Micah: Mm-hmm. (0:32:07) Al: Uhh. (0:32:07) Al: Ah. (0:32:08) Al: But that is a fair point. (0:32:11) Al: I have not decided what I’m going to do with Snacko. (0:32:14) Al: I’ve not decided yet. (0:32:16) Kevin: Why did nobody tell me homestead arcana came out? I would have played it, I missed that. (0:32:21) Al: Kevin! (0:32:23) Kevin: I’ve been here. (0:32:24) Micah: Have I got news for you. (0:32:29) Al: Kevin, you literally, we literally have a shared list of all of these games and when they coming out, you can look at it all the time and I’m constantly updating it just to let you know that is a thing. (0:32:31) Kevin: Well, hey. (0:32:42) Kevin: You assume I read these even when we’re recording. (0:32:43) Al: Nope, I don’t assume that at all, but I will complain about it. (0:32:49) Al: So any thoughts before we get into listing our favorite games, any thoughts on the list as a whole? (0:32:56) Al: Here we go. (0:32:56) Kevin: Umm… (0:32:57) Kevin: Ugh… (0:32:58) Micah: It’s a good list (0:32:59) Kevin: It’s a very good list. It’s too good. (0:33:01) Micah: It’s a strong list that I (0:33:06) Micah: when I opened this this document and looked at it I was a (0:33:11) Micah: Surprised that so many games had come out this year and be a little bit (0:33:17) Micah: Concerned about how few of these games I actually played (0:33:20) Kevin: Exactly! (0:33:22) Kevin: Alright, time to strike out all the ones none of us have played. (0:33:26) Al: Yeah, no, that’s fair. And I think it is interesting, right? Because like, I’ve now been tracking these games. I think I have all of the farming games that have released ever now in my list. (0:33:36) Al: And so that’s 47 this year. Last year, there were 24. In 2021, there were 15. In 2020, (0:33:46) Al: there were nine. In 2019, there were 13. And then we’ve got like, between 2016 and 2018, (0:33:54) Al: were 16. (0:33:56) Al: So that’s like a three-year span, and they were the same number as they were in 2021. (0:34:03) Al: And then 2010 to 2015, there were 12 of them, half of which were just farming simulator, (0:34:10) Kevin: Yeah. (0:34:10) Al: and the other half were just harvest moon. (0:34:13) Al: That’s not true. (0:34:16) Al: There were three harvest moons, two rune factories in one story of seasons, and an animal crossing. (0:34:21) Al: So the rest were farming simulator. (0:34:23) Al: And then the five years before that, there were 17. (0:34:26) Al: It is wild that Stardew Valley is eight years old in February, just saying. (0:34:36) Kevin: Yup, thanks Stardew Valley. (0:34:43) Kevin: You changed the whole landscape of the genre of gaming, thanks. (0:34:50) Kevin: I thought it was older, to be honest. (0:34:53) Al: No, 2016. (0:34:56) Al: Right. (0:34:56) Al: Well, I mean, shall we get right into it then? (0:34:59) Al: Let’s go for one each around, what should we do around the table? (0:35:04) Al: One each. (0:35:04) Kevin: All right. (0:35:05) Al: And we can tell, say what the game is and tell me why you’ve got it in the list. (0:35:12) Al: And we’re not doing, no, it’s a terrible game. (0:35:15) Al: So Micah, would you like to go with your first one? (0:35:18) Micah: Uhhh… Can I go with my wildcard first? (0:35:20) Al: You can, you can go in whatever order you want. (0:35:22) Al: If you want to leave your strongest for last, go for it. (0:35:25) Al: if you want to start with your strong. (0:35:26) Al: Go for it if you want to do your crazy one first, do what you want. (0:35:29) Micah: I’m going to get my wild card out of the way because I know that it’s not going to go very far so. (0:35:31) Al: Let’s go for it. (0:35:34) Al: Never assume these things, you have no idea what’s going to happen. (0:35:37) Micah: OK, that’s true. You’re right. My my. (0:35:37) Kevin: I, I, yep, I. (0:35:39) Al: Oh wait, before we get into that, let me just quickly. (0:35:45) Al: I want to go through what we have had as our games of the year in the past. (0:35:51) Al: Last year, Ooblets won. (0:35:54) Al: 2022, Ooblets won. (0:35:57) Al: But it did. (0:35:58) Al: 2021 was Spiritfarer. (0:36:01) Al: 2020 was Summer in Mara. (0:36:04) Al: And 2019 was the Raymon Story of Seasons. (0:36:07) Kevin: Wildflower was robbed. (0:36:09) Micah: What year was Wildflowers? (0:36:11) Kevin: I don’t I (0:36:11) Micah: Oh. I mean. (0:36:11) Al: Yeah, Wildflowers last year. (0:36:13) Micah: Ooblitz though. (0:36:16) Al: None of the three of us had played it. (0:36:18) Al: And Kevin, you hadn’t played it by that point either. (0:36:20) Al: So… (0:36:21) Micah: Also- Also Ooblitz is- (0:36:21) Kevin: That is correct. (0:36:26) Al: Ooblets was the only… (0:36:27) Al: Well, you hadn’t played Ooblets, but me and Bev had. (0:36:30) Micah: Yes. (0:36:31) Al: And you had a wild card last year as well. (0:36:33) Al: So what’s your wild card this year? (0:36:35) Micah: What was my wildcard last year? (0:36:37) Al: Shinshan Summer Vacation. (0:36:38) Micah: Oh, I mean, that is actually I still stand by that. (0:36:44) Al: Look, I’m not saying it’s a bat, I’m just saying. (0:36:46) Al: Like it was a little bit out of life field, (0:36:47) Al: neither of us had heard of that game before you brought it up. (0:36:50) Micah: Well, let me tell you about my wildcard for this year, which I guarantee you have heard of. (0:36:55) Micah: There is absolutely no scenario where you have not heard of this game. (0:37:00) Micah: Are you ready? (0:37:02) Kevin: Is it the princess game? (0:37:03) Micah: It is Fortnite. (0:37:07) Al: OK, why? (0:37:08) Al: OK, so you– wait, no, no, right. (0:37:10) Al: OK, so, Micah, you’re telling me that over the past three days, (0:37:12) Micah: Uh-huh. Yeah. (0:37:16) Micah: Yes. (0:37:17) Al: you have played this game enough to consider it one of your favourite games of the year? (0:37:20) Micah: I would say that there’s a reason that it’s a wild card. (0:37:27) Micah: And I would say that it is probably the reason that it’s in my list is not because I would (0:37:33) Micah: personally consider it one of my favorite games of the year. (0:37:36) Micah: But I think that it is a very important bridge (0:37:42) Micah: for the wider Fortnite audience, which is massive, into the world of farming sims. (0:37:50) Al: Well, we will have talked about it in a previous episode, so. (0:37:50) Kevin: And hey, if we let them win… (0:37:52) Micah: For anybody that is confused by this and doesn’t understand why Fortnite is part of this conversation, (0:37:59) Micah: they just released… (0:38:02) Micah: Yes, the Fortnite, the LEGO Fortnite mode has been released as of three days ago. So… (0:38:10) Al: And for some reason, it’s basically Minecraft, but with more farming. It’s wild! (0:38:10) Kevin: Minecraft for tonight. (0:38:12) Micah: Yes, and also as Legos, and it’s in Fortnite. (0:38:15) Kevin: Yeah. (0:38:18) Micah: I don’t really know if there’s aside from skins and characters, there’s not. (0:38:21) Kevin: Wait, is it actually Lego brand? Lego? What? Holy moly. (0:38:24) Al: It is, it is. (0:38:25) Micah: Yes, it’s actually Lego brand. (0:38:28) Micah: And it’s you are just building Lego, (0:38:30) Micah: like a Lego like homestead basically of a village in the wild. (0:38:36) Kevin: That’s… (0:38:37) Micah: It’s essentially a survival, it’s more of a survival game than it is like (0:38:42) Kevin: Mm-hmm. (0:38:42) Micah: a farming sim. (0:38:43) Micah: So it’s more like you gotta eat and you gotta, there is, (0:38:44) Kevin: It’s all Minecraft. (0:38:44) Al: Yeah, but there does seem to be a decent amount of farming in it. (0:38:49) Micah: there is a decent amount of farming in it. (0:38:51) Micah: And I’ll say that I have played quite a bit of it because the team that I work with has been very into it. (0:38:59) Micah: So, and prior to that coming out, we had all been playing Ark, (0:39:06) Al: » Okay. Yeah. (0:39:06) Micah: the dinosaur survival game. (0:39:09) Micah: So we had a server that we were playing that on. (0:39:11) Micah: So when a new survive. (0:39:12) Micah: Survival type game released and it’s Fortnite and it’s free and it’s Lego then we were like, okay, well, let’s play this instead so we have been playing quite a bit of it and it’s I was a little bit shocked at how good of an experience it is because it’s it it’s just odd because it’s got other than the skins and the characters there’s and I guess the the game that it that you access it from there’s nothing related to Fortnite really it’s super obvious. (0:39:19) Al: suck (0:39:44) Al: No. Well, I think your character is in the beginning based on the main, the base Fortnite playable character, right? Yeah. It’s not Fortnite. It’s not Fortnite at all. So a couple of things I found interesting about this. So first of all, it made me realize that Fortnite is not just Fortnite anymore, right? Like Fortnite was just a battle royale, but that is just one of eight different game modes, right? Absolutely wild to me. (0:39:52) Micah: Yes. Yeah. So aside from the characters, I mean, it’s it’s really there’s not a lot of no, it’s not a (0:40:06) Kevin: Oh, it hasn’t been for a while. (0:40:08) Micah: Yeah. Right. (0:40:14) Al: That’s the point now. And second of all, not only is this, it’s like, it’s not just Fortnite, but Lego. It’s Fortnite, but Lego, if they made it Minecraft, but with more farming. (0:40:30) Al: And I am just, it’s just so fascinating. So I haven’t played a huge amount of it. I’ve downloaded it and I’ve started playing it and I’ve kind of done the first couple of things. And it’s not really grabbing me. I don’t think I’m going to spend a huge amount of time on it, but I think (0:40:44) Al: so. Minecraft, when we covered Minecraft on the podcast, it was, it was a bit of a stretch, (0:40:48) Al: right? There is farming, but it’s very limited. It’s like, it was four crops or something. There might be more now. Minecraft has done a lot since then, but it felt like a bit of a stretch. (0:40:58) Micah: Yeah, there is a significant differences between, you know, yeah, there’s quite a bit to do in Fortnite now, or in Minecraft, I mean. (0:41:05) Al: Yeah, but this feels like a legit farming game, but it’s not cottagecore. It’s survival farming game. (0:41:06) Kevin: Minecraft has not stopped growing, they do annual updates. (0:41:16) Micah: Mm hmm. (0:41:19) Micah: Yeah, so I guess it kind of it also is a little bit of like how you play it. (0:41:24) Micah: So like, granted, there is a survival aspect that needs to be taken care of. (0:41:29) Micah: But depending on who you’re playing with or the the you know, (0:41:32) Micah: there is a like peaceful mode that you can do similar to what Minecraft had, (0:41:36) Al: That’s a good point. (0:41:36) Micah: where it’s not really you don’t have to play the survival mode. (0:41:40) Micah: You can play it just for the sake of like, you know, (0:41:43) Micah: the kind of like sandbox aspect of it. (0:41:46) Micah: Where you’re building stuff and doing whatever you want. (0:41:46) Kevin: farming and whatnot. (0:41:48) Micah: Yeah. (0:41:49) Micah: But, you know, like with my group, I’m not as big into the survival aspects of it. (0:41:54) Micah: Like I don’t particularly care about, you know, min maxing food and water and so on and so forth. (0:42:01) Micah: I’m more into the like building and designing and, you know, farming and that stuff. (0:42:07) Micah: So I kind of take on that role while everybody else takes on the survival portion of it. (0:42:14) Micah: So there are different ways. (0:42:16) Micah: Is to be able to play it that make it a little bit more of like a comfortable experience. (0:42:22) Micah: I mean, I literally built a cottage, so I don’t know, you know. (0:42:25) Al: Yeah, that’s, I think that’s totally fair. I guess my point of what I was saying was, (0:42:26) Kevin: Nice. Well, there you go. (0:42:31) Al: was like, I think this is much more legitimate as a farming game than Minecraft was when, (0:42:38) Al: when we covered it. So I think it’s, it’s totally fair to count this as a farming game. (0:42:39) Micah: Right. (0:42:40) Kevin: Yeah. (0:42:42) Al: So maybe I should add it into the list as Lego Fortnite. Um, but here’s a question for you. Does this make Fortnite the most downloaded farming game ever? (0:42:44) Kevin: Oh, there you go. (0:42:54) Micah: That’s why I I’ve included it because I think it is important touchstone in the history of farming games where it (0:42:54) Kevin: Absolutely. (0:43:05) Micah: There’s a possibility I can see a world in which people who play this (0:43:10) Micah: Enjoy it enjoy the like farming aspects of it want more of that and branch out into other farming type games (0:43:17) Micah: because there is such a broad audience for fortnight that (0:43:21) Micah: You know and it’s there’s such a broad (0:43:24) Micah: Audience for Lego - that there is a good (0:43:30) Micah: Possibility that it creates more farming game fans, which I’m all for (0:43:35) Al: I’ve added it into the list and also I need to add one more that I forgot, which was Hello Kitty Island Adventure. (0:43:42) Kevin: Oh, yeah, well (0:43:42) Micah: I did see that that was missing from the list and I didn’t know if that was intentional or not so it just… (0:43:46) Al: Oh, you should have brought it up. Come on. (0:43:46) Kevin: Glaring a bit omission this entire show is a sham (0:43:51) Al: Look, look, we’re now up to 49 games, right? I’m sorry, I can’t keep track of the ball. (0:43:56) Kevin: It’s quick Somebody find one more quick Um one well, you know though what we have to do is we have to let fortnite win (0:44:03) Kevin: So we can get that sponsorship money. Welcome to the harvest season of fortnite podcast (0:44:06) Micah: - It’s true. (0:44:09) Micah: Of Fortnite, but I never, I just did not ever foresee (0:44:15) Micah: there being a scenario where in the farming game of the year discussion or just in general on a harvest season episode that I would be bringing up Fortnite in a like semi-serious way. (0:44:26) Kevin: Yeah, one thing I will I haven’t played Fortnite ever, but from what I understand, every time they bring in these new distinct modes or gameplay elements, it’s always very polished and good quality. (0:44:44) Kevin: Like they brought in Spider-Man swinging and Attack on Titan, so I’m not surprised that this is high quality and that’s a lot of money being thrown at this Lego money, Fortnite money. (0:44:57) Al: Alright, well, you’re probably right, it’s probably not going to win, but it’s there, (0:45:02) Al: it’s in the list, not many games get into the list. So, there we go. No, into the list of the two, there’s only nine. It’s only nine. Alright, Kevin, what’s your first? (0:45:06) Kevin: Nope just 48 others. Oh (0:45:10) Kevin: Our list, okay (0:45:15) Kevin: My first one I’m going to go with (0:45:19) Kevin: Manekos night market a shocker to everyone the game I’ve been pining for for how many years now. Oh (0:45:27) Kevin: gosh (0:45:28) Al: Like five, like maybe six. (0:45:31) Kevin: Yeah, I don’t know something like (0:45:32) Al: I think it was six years ago it was first. (0:45:33) Kevin: well (0:45:36) Kevin: Yeah, I think it’s I’ve the fact that I waited that long and still was happy with what came out I think is a testament to how good the game is (0:45:48) Kevin: Obviously, I haven’t played all these other games and it probably not even the ones on your guys list but I (0:45:54) Kevin: Out of the ones I see here. I probably I would argue it has the most personality and charm (0:46:02) Kevin: the art, the sort of craft book art. (0:46:06) Kevin: It has gone very, very enjoyable. (0:46:10) Kevin: I haven’t beaten it myself, right? (0:46:12) Kevin: It loses some points because it came out with a handful of bugs and rough edges. (0:46:18) Kevin: But it’s still a game that makes me smile every time. (0:46:24) Kevin: So yeah, I gotta give a shout out to Maneko because I think it actually did deliver. (0:46:30) Kevin: Um, obviously, you know, it’s not the scale of tears that– (0:46:36) Kevin: Kingdom waiting six years for that or whatever, but for the get what it set out to be from all the trailers and whatnot, I think it delivered. It’s very cute, which I appreciate now. I have cats myself. Yeah. (0:46:48) Al: Yeah, totally fair, and it is still the wallpaper on my phone and has been for like seven months, (0:46:57) Kevin: Yeah, there you go. Also actually one thing I (0:47:01) Kevin: Yeah, that’s the good stuff (0:47:04) Kevin: one thing I do want to add (0:47:06) Kevin: Go on as we talked about in the episode. We talked about it. Um, the (0:47:11) Kevin: titular night market part of it is very fun (0:47:15) Kevin: Auctioning going into little bid war with customers to sell who and make profits and whatnot (0:47:20) Kevin: I don’t think a lot of these other games are focused on that like making money (0:47:26) Kevin: So that was (0:47:27) Kevin: a refreshing angle approaching the whole cottagecore thing. (0:47:32) Kevin: And again, just very fun points for that. (0:47:36) Al: Awesome. (0:47:36) Micah: Uh, I, are, are we just for the sake of the structure? (0:47:43) Micah: Are we just going through our picks and then discussing them or are we? (0:47:48) Al: If you have more to talk about that game just now, then feel free. (0:47:53) Al: We don’t need to discuss whether it’s the winner yet or not. (0:47:55) Micah: Sure, uh, oh (0:47:55) Al: And don’t say whether it’s on your list yet or not. (0:47:56) Kevin: Yeah. (0:47:58) Al: We’ll get to that. (0:47:59) Micah: Okay, I (0:48:00) Kevin: Alright. (0:48:03) Kevin: Michael, what’s next on your list? (0:48:03) Al: Right, we don’t want to look, Micah, we have a collapsed list for the suspense. (0:48:05) Micah: Didn’t didn’t say one way or another (0:48:05) Kevin: I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Ow, ow. (0:48:11) Al: We’re keeping the suspense, even if it might really be obvious now. (0:48:12) Micah: Okay, you’re right you’re right you’re right (0:48:14) Kevin: Alright. (0:48:16) Micah: It’s not though cuz I’m changing it at the moment I’m typing no, I’m just kidding [laughing] (0:48:18) Al: All right. I’ll go with my wild card. No, no, come on. I’m going with my wild card, (0:48:24) Kevin: Alright, ow. (0:48:26) Kevin

Al and Jonnie talk about Lego Fortnite Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:59: What Have We Been Up To 00:15:39: News 00:37:27: Lego Fortnite 00:59:17: Outro Links Above Snakes “Most Wanted” Update Steamworld Build “Jingle Bolts” Update Fae Farm “2.0.0” Update Fae Farm “Coasts of Croakia” DLC" Garden Galaxy Update Travellers Rest “Recipes and Farming” Update A Last Song new trailer Everafter Falls new trailer Tiny Garden Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Lovely. Perfect. Here we go. (0:00:33) Al: Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:37) Al: My name is Al, and we’re here today to see how unhinged this podcast can be. (0:00:38) Jonnie: And my name is Johnny. (0:00:44) Al: It’s either going to be unhinged or it’s going to be really low energy after five minutes. (0:00:47) Al: I’m not sure which, because it’s incredibly late for me, and for some reason I’m still doing this. (0:00:51) Al: Here we go. (0:00:53) Jonnie: Here we go, I’m putting down money on both. (0:00:56) Jonnie: It’s gonna be both, it’s gonna be both. (0:00:57) Jonnie: We’re gonna be unhinged and low energy. (0:00:59) Al: Amazing. Perfect. (0:01:00) Al: That’s what we need. So, for some reason, we’re going to talk about Lego Fortnite, (0:01:06) Al: because I’m still confused by it. I’ve played a little bit of it. Johnny has played slightly more of it, and we’re going to talk a bit about that. We’ve got a bunch of news that we’re going to go through. This is your last news of the year, because the next episode has been already recorded already. And, yeah, so, if it’s not mentioned in this episode, it won’t be mentioned (0:01:31) Al: until the second episode of next year, because the first episode of next year is being recorded this week as well. Although, I guess if something comes up between now and then, there isn’t an episode before then that we’ll be recording after then. So, therefore, if we have some news, (0:01:42) Al: we can include it in that, but it would need to happen in the next four days. (0:01:46) Al: And realistically, this is probably going to be a quiet week. (0:01:50) Jonnie: Come on Al, why did you say that? We all know now there’s going to be so much news between now and Friday. (0:01:54) Al: Anyway, so we’re going to talk about the news, but first of all, Chani, what have you been up to other than traveling? (0:02:02) Jonnie: What have you been up to, Al? (0:02:04) Jonnie: Yes, I’ve been traveling, but there’s this really great game that I’ve started playing. It’s called Coral Island. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. (0:02:12) Jonnie: And it’s really good. I think last time I was on the episode, I mentioned that there was a slight bug with the the museum and I was like I’m gonna put it down until that’s fixed and then talking about it on that episode made me think a lot about Coral Island and I went immediately straight back to play more Coral Island. The bug has apparently now been fixed since I’ve been away so I’m excited to go in and donate a whole bunch of stuff to to the museum but that game is so good it’s so so good. (0:02:20) Al: The museum, yep. (0:02:36) Al: Nice. (0:02:39) Al: You’re just driving up with a dump truck and just emptying it in. (0:02:44) Jonnie: Yeah pretty much pretty much I have so much stuff to donate I’m gonna be getting so many rewards. (0:02:50) Jonnie: Um, I’m only at the end of spring, I think, um, but just like the diving is a cool addition. (0:02:57) Jonnie: I like the way they do the mines. All of the characters are like super hot and also super diverse, which is like, I find it interesting that I’ve like managed to just tick so many boxes. (0:03:09) Jonnie: And look, when you were starting to say that this is the new stardew valley, I was like, (0:03:13) Jonnie: come on now, it won’t really be the new stardew valley. This is the new stardew valley. It’s so, (0:03:18) Al: Right? (0:03:20) Al: Hmm. (0:03:21) Al: I do think that I will continue to keep going back to Stardji Valley when he adds updates. (0:03:25) Al: But I feel like this is my new comfort game rather than Stardji. (0:03:29) Jonnie: Yeah, I guess I guess for me, the part that I and this is only because I’m new into it is like, (0:03:35) Jonnie: how possible is it to do different sorts of farms? You know, I still think back to the early days of this show, when you guys did the, was it the animal only? farming, farming episode? (0:03:50) Al: I don’t have to alone. (0:03:50) Jonnie: In Stardew, you like in Stardew, you can do lots of different challenges, right? And they are all feasible. Oh, that’s how you did the mining one. Yeah. (0:03:52) Al: Ahh. (0:03:55) Al: We did a- we did a mining one. (0:04:00) Jonnie: So I’m kind of curious to see how, how easy it will be to push the challenges because the way the game is structured, it feels like you do have to do everything. (0:04:09) Al: So, I don’t think, I think that’s the best way to play this game, but I don’t think anything requires you to do any of them. So, I think, so for example, like you might be thinking about say, the sprinklers, you need to go diving to make sprinklers. But you don’t need sprinklers, you don’t need to make sprinklers, you can still farm without sprinklers. (0:04:32) Jonnie: I definitely need sprinklers. I don’t know. I don’t nobody got time. I (0:04:32) Al: No, but my point is just like, I think if you want to just go and mine. (0:04:39) Al: I think you can probably just go and mine. If you want to just go and dive, I think you can probably just go and dive. I think it would still work. It’s not necessarily the best way to play this game, but I think it is definitely possible to focus on one thing (0:04:52) Jonnie: Yeah, I guess maybe what I’m curious about is the, and I’m not that deep into it, is their version of the community centre, (0:04:58) Jonnie: although there’s kind of like two versions of that, that seem to require at least progressing through the mines and progressing through diving. (0:05:08) Al: That’s true. There is no capitalism equivalent. You can’t just pay your way through the community. (0:05:16) Jonnie: So, yeah, I just think there’s there’s so much going on in the game. (0:05:20) Jonnie: My only real criticism so far is that the start is almost like a one for one match of Stardew Valley. (0:05:26) Jonnie: That if I think if I hadn’t heard from you that this game is like really good, (0:05:31) Jonnie: I may have just bounced off because it felt a little too Stardew Cloney (0:05:37) Jonnie: because introduced like diving in those things a little bit later. (0:05:40) Jonnie: You know, it’s like day eight, right? (0:05:41) Jonnie: Not not that much later, but that’s still on a day-to-day perspective. (0:05:46) Jonnie: About an hour and a half in, so I just wish there was something that happened a little bit earlier to be like no We’re not just our dude. There is more going on here (0:05:54) Al: Yeah, I think that’s totally fair. I don’t think I would ever say this game is perfect, (0:06:00) Al: I think this game could still be improved more. And I hope they’re going to continue to do that, (0:06:05) Al: they do have plans to continue to do that. And I do have some other thoughts about this game that I will bring up in a future episode, so I don’t want to talk about it all just now. But (0:06:14) Al: yeah, I think the point of a replacement for Stardew, if you will, which by that I just mean (0:06:22) Al: what is considered the… (0:06:24) Al: …facto of “this is what a farming game should be” or “this has pushed things forward and not taken any steps back” (0:06:32) Al: which I do think both Stardew and this game did. (0:06:34) Al: Um, I didn’t have an end to that sentence. (0:06:36) Jonnie: Well, I think the key for me is that this is feeling like a game that if people are interested in the genre will replace me (0:06:45) Jonnie: recommending statue just and I think that the visual style of that is a huge reason because I you know A lot of us like the the pixel art style, but I think this works a lot better for more modern (0:07:00) Jonnie: It would just maybe resonate with a wider group of people (0:07:02) Al: Yeah, I hope so. I really hope that this game does really well, because I think there’s so much more potential and, yeah, let’s not continue to talk about that too much. Great. (0:07:12) Al: Fantastic. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I’m glad that you were convinced by what I said and did not disagree with me on it. And maybe some other people on future podcasts that may have already been listened could listen to this and see that I’m not alone. It’s not just me that talking about it. Thank you very much. (0:07:12) Jonnie: Great. I love yeah (0:07:30) Jonnie: - Absolutely, but that’s all I’ve really had time for. (0:07:32) Jonnie: So, Al, what have you been playing? (0:07:33) Al: » Mm, good question. (0:07:36) Al: What have I been playing? (0:07:37) Al: Pokemon, I think. (0:07:39) Al: It’s probably about it. (0:07:40) Jonnie: Is the new DLC out? (0:07:40) Al: Pokemon came out, yeah, it came out on Wednesday, I think. (0:07:44) Al: Well, Wednesday or Thursday, depending on your time zone. (0:07:47) Al: It’s technically Thursday here. (0:07:49) Al: So that’s basically been my Thursday and Friday and Saturday and now Sunday. (0:07:52) Al: That’s been basically all I’ve been playing. (0:07:55) Al: And before that, I was just playing Pokemon because I was trying to do the Flubaby outbreaks. (0:07:58) Al: So a lot of Pokemon. (0:08:01) Al: I don’t really think I played any. (0:08:02) Al: I still love this game. I think the DLC is great. (0:08:04) Jonnie: I would recommend going to a doctor for your fluvate outbreaks. (0:08:15) Al: And if you want more thoughts about my opinions on the DLC, then tune into It’s Super Effective two days ago when this comes out. (0:08:24) Jonnie: I am looking forward to hearing how people feel about the DLC because I feel like after the first DLC came out everyone who was into it was kind of like well it’s more of the game and it’s not done so now that I guess it’s done I’m curious to hear what people have to say. (0:08:34) Al: Yeah, well this this week’s episode doesn’t have the story in it. We’re just talking about the new mechanic stuff. But next week we’re going to talk about the story stuff. But yeah, (0:08:49) Al: I mean, I really like it. It’s like, there are still fundamental issues with this game. (0:08:54) Al: It doesn’t fix the fundamental issues with this game. But I cannot say that I haven’t had a lot of fun with this generation, even with all those. (0:09:04) Jonnie: Yeah, I think it’s interesting because I feel like this kind of splits the wrong word. (0:09:07) Jonnie: I feel like in the last years, I’ve leaned more into and I don’t know the right word. (0:09:11) Jonnie: So I’m just going to say non-main series game, but like, let’s go and, uh, Legion. (0:09:16) Jonnie: Legends Arceus. (0:09:16) Al: the additional generation no main series games. That’s how I would describe them. I would actually, I think I would agree with you on that. Like I actually, like as much as I’ve enjoyed Scarlet and Violet, I think I did enjoy Legends more and Let’s Go. I also really enjoyed like, I mean, I mean, let’s be honest, I like all of the games they make because Because funnily enough I keep playing these games because I like these games. (0:09:20) Jonnie: Great. (0:09:20) Jonnie: Whatever. (0:09:21) Jonnie: Yeah, those great. (0:09:23) Jonnie: But I really like those games, right? (0:09:24) Jonnie: I just want the more experimental version of Pokemon at this point. (0:09:27) Jonnie: So, um, it’s good that everyone can get different versions, right? (0:09:46) Al: I have always liked these games, and I suspect I always will like these games, you know? (0:09:51) Jonnie: And do you play these games in a way where you try really hard to make it as miserable as possible to experience the game? (0:09:51) Al: Not always, not always. I’ve only done one Professor Oak challenge this year. (0:10:03) Al: Yeah, look, we all enjoy different things, and I enjoy some kinds of challenges like that. (0:10:03) Jonnie: That’s still like one too many. (0:10:14) Al: I do not enjoy the challenges that involve battling. (0:10:16) Al: And I never will, but I do enjoy collection-based challenges. (0:10:21) Al: And I think that Professor Oak challenges give an interesting, (0:10:24) Al: different way of looking at it. (0:10:26) Al: That it just, you think about the game differently, you know? (0:10:30) Jonnie: I think Professor… (0:10:31) Jonnie: Yeah, I think they made sense up until, you know, Scarlet or Violet, where… (0:10:40) Jonnie: How many do you have to get before you can even challenge the first gym? (0:10:43) Al: It was like 600 or something. (0:10:47) Jonnie: See? (0:10:48) Jonnie: It’s just an unreasonable number. (0:10:50) Al: Like it was basically all of them, right? (0:10:52) Al: I think there were maybe 20 Pokémon that you couldn’t get before the first gym, and most of them were post-game. (0:10:58) Al: So it’s like you catch almost all of the Pokémon, and then you do all of the gyms basically. (0:11:05) Al: And then I think there’s maybe, so there’s a couple of them that you have to unlock, (0:11:10) Al: the different traversal options like there’s some that only spawn on a (0:11:13) Al: specific island, but it’s like two. So you’re like, okay, I can catch 600 Pokemon. And then I’ll do three of the, three of the traversal based things. And then I can catch two more Pokemon. And then I do all of the gyms. It was fun. I really liked it. It was obviously very different to other ones. So just because you like, uh, a Professor Oak challenge in one of the more traditional Pokemon games, right, where you’re (0:11:43) Al: like, here’s an area, defeat the gym leader, here’s an area, defeat the gym leader, more linear games. I love how we call that traditional. It’s like the first games weren’t like that. (0:11:54) Al: Even if you just because you like that doesn’t mean you’ll like it this way. But I do think that the kind of person who likes one is going to like the other as well. Right. Like actually, (0:12:04) Al: what I really liked about that was you can, if you get bored training up a Pokemon, you can go catch another one, like go to the other other end of the map and go catch some different (0:12:13) Al: Pokemon. Like you’re not the problem with like traditional Professor Oak challenges. (0:12:18) Al: Like if I did a brilliant diamond one when they came out and oh my word was that horrific to start with because you have to evolve your starter to like you get have to get them to level 36 and you have to get another Pokemon to like level 42 all before the first gym. (0:12:36) Al: That’s dreadful. Right. Whereas at least in this game, you can like go all over the map and try lots of different things. (0:12:43) Al: Most of the time, you’re catching Pokémon. (0:12:46) Al: You don’t have to evolve many Pokémon, because most Pokémon spawn in the wild. (0:12:50) Jonnie: So I don’t want to enable this anymore, but I’m going to. (0:12:56) Jonnie: I feel like this sort of concept, but if it was like a fourth path, so obviously in Skyline Violet you had the three different paths that were tied to the three characters. (0:13:03) Al: Mmm, yes. (0:13:05) Jonnie: I feel like if there was a fourth path that was tied to the number of Pokémon that you have collected and there was some form of progression locked behind it, (0:13:15) Jonnie: that could actually be quite compelling because the thing that you know kind of makes it disjointed for me is (0:13:20) Jonnie: you go around and you’re basically you know the greatest trainer that’s ever lived before you’ve challenged a gym and then you show up to the gym and they’re like “oh hi you’re probably terrible” and you know you steamroll them so I would really like it if that was like a fourth path and doesn’t need to be at the same level but some form of progression locked behind it might be quite cool (0:13:29) Al: Yeah, yeah. (0:13:40) Al: interesting idea because like very rarely in Pokemon games is anything of note locked behind Pokemon collection, which seems a bit odd right? Like in the first games, is there anything that’s locked behind Pokemon progression, like collecting Pokemon? Oh that’s true, that’s true. Yeah, you get like the item finder and the… what’s the other one? (0:13:56) Jonnie: Yes. There’s the research assistants that show up and if you’ve got a certain number they give you… (0:14:10) Jonnie: and a few other things that we will remember as soon as we log off to school. (0:14:11) Al: Yeah, I can’t remember. Anyway, yes, no, you’re right. Absolutely. The XP share was one of them. (0:14:18) Al: Yeah, no, you’re right, you’re right. But I think that’s very little, right? And you don’t need those things. The only one I think you need is you do get flash as one of them. So actually, (0:14:30) Jonnie: Yes, that’s the first one I think, right? (0:14:32) Al: now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s the first one. I think one of the other ones is not important. It doesn’t matter. Let’s not get sidetracked. (0:14:40) Al: It’s late. And there’s probably listeners going, “Please, please do get sidetracked.” (0:14:48) Al: That, I feel like, has really been repeated. Like, it is weird how the first games had that, (0:14:55) Al: right? They had this idea of there are some things locked back, but most of the time it’s like, “Oh, (0:14:59) Al: in Scarlet and Violet, it’s like, oh, you’ve got some rewards, but it’s like, here’s some candy, (0:15:07) Al: And here’s some balls. And, you know, it’s not. (0:15:10) Al: Nothing locked behind it. It’s all just kind of like additional items. (0:15:14) Al: Yeah, anyway, it’s an interesting point for such a collection focused game. (0:15:19) Al: They don’t lock anything really behind the collection of those creatures. (0:15:26) Al: Very interesting. Anyway, we’re not here to talk about Pokemon. (0:15:29) Al: That’s the other podcast I’m on this week. (0:15:33) Al: We’re here to talk about farming games and cottage. (0:15:37) Al: We’re here to talk about other games. (0:15:39) Al: So we’re going to talk about some new. (0:15:40) Al: News. (0:15:44) Al: Above Snakes has a new update coming out. (0:15:47) Al: It’s called the Most Wanted Update and it’s got some new biomes. (0:15:53) Al: It’s got some new missions feature. (0:15:56) Al: It’s got some new items and more. (0:16:00) Al: And that is out now. (0:16:02) Al: I was going to say, if you’re listening to this after it comes out. (0:16:06) Al: But of course you are. (0:16:07) Al: Of course you’re listening to this after it comes out. (0:16:09) Al: Johnny, it’s not out for you yet. (0:16:10) Al: Everybody else is out for you. (0:16:14) Jonnie: Congratulations, everyone else. (0:16:17) Al: Congratulations, people from the future. (0:16:21) Jonnie: Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like Above Snakes kind of came out, and I haven’t really heard much about it. (0:16:26) Jonnie: Like, I’m still interested in playing it, but in the same way I feel like I’m interested in playing a lot of games I never actually get to, so… (0:16:34) Al: It’s certainly not pumping its way up the list. (0:16:39) Jonnie: No, and yeah. And this content patch doesn’t really (0:16:39) Al: This is the problem, right? (0:16:45) Jonnie: seem to add anything that’s like, “Oh, okay, this looks like it’s getting really, really good,” and makes me sort of excited to jump in. (0:16:50) Jonnie: But good to see that they’re still supporting me. (0:16:53) Al: Speaking of games with updates that I haven’t played yet and they haven’t really encouraged me to play it, SteamWorld Build have a new update called the Jingle Bolts update which by the way, great name, love it, perfect. No notes. (0:17:06) Jonnie: I have one note. But it’s mostly that. Look, I’m kind of just over Christmas-like seasonal updates in games. I get why they do them, but haven’t we done them all (0:17:16) Al: Well, this is a winter update. (0:17:20) Al: “The update transforms your mining town from a western wilderness to a snowy winter wonderland with all the festive spirit.” (0:17:28) Al: Intrate. So yeah, I wonder if this is… (0:17:32) Al: So we have two kinds of games with seasons. (0:17:34) Al: We have the games with seasons where they are based on how long you’ve played in the game. (0:17:38) Al: And there are the ones which are based on real life. (0:17:42) Al: and I cannot tell on this what this is like (0:17:46) Al: is it just all the games for this next month are all winter? (0:17:49) Jonnie: I cannot tell either. (0:17:51) Jonnie: I also don’t really know, like, I don’t quite get what Steam mode build is, if I’m being entirely honest. (0:17:56) Al: it’s a city builder that I mean that’s that’s all it that’s I mean that that’s all it is you know you it might be a good one i’m not sure i’ve not played it I don’t really like city builders anymore i’ve come to accept that um they they don’t have any dates on this as to when like not like ublets had a winter event and they’re like oh it’s live between these dates (0:17:57) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:17:58) Jonnie: Great. (0:18:16) Al: I can’t see anything about this being live between particular dates so i’m not sure what the deal is with that or is this like a mode that you turn on I can’t tell they don’t seem to say (0:18:26) Jonnie: Communication seems not, but they are saying, however this one works, they are planning more seasonal updates in 2024. Speaking of more, uh, so 2.0 is out. Al, how does this rate in your, um, (0:18:28) Al: yeah I don’t know (0:18:33) Al: yep so if you like this look forward to more (0:18:38) Al: fae farm (0:18:44) Jonnie: uh, desire for patch number updates to follow some sort of patch? (0:18:50) Al: I think they could drop the third number from it, like I don’t know why it needs to be 2.0.0 because I think they’re proving to this that when they add more content to the game, they’re increasing the main number and therefore they could just have “This is version 2” and then the update that gives bug fixes is 2.1. (0:19:09) Al: I don’t think they need the third number, but they’re doing a lot better than a lot of other developers are. (0:19:15) Al: This is pretty close, thank you for actually increasing the first number because nobody ever seems to do that in- (0:19:20) Al: games. They have it zero for early access, they hit 1.0, and then it’s always one point something forever, and it drives me insane. (0:19:30) Jonnie: And it feels like there’s actually a sizable update here to go with it. So coasts of croquia (0:19:34) Al: Come on, we’re not here to actually talk about the content, we’re here to talk about version numbers! (0:19:41) Jonnie: We don’t want to spend an hour talking about it because I know we could (0:19:47) Jonnie: So yeah coast coasts of croquia I (0:19:52) Jonnie: Don’t really (0:19:54) Jonnie: Know what this means in terms of what has been added. I assume it’s a new (0:20:00) Jonnie: a new location (0:20:02) Al: that it is. It’s a new location that you access by going through a portal inside the mouth of a giant frog. (0:20:09) Jonnie: Great, I mean that that makes as much sense as anything else in TAFE. (0:20:15) Al: It does, it’s perfect. I love it. So yeah, the new area is called Croquier and there’s a bunch of stuff in there. I haven’t looked about features and stuff like that. I suspect it’s mostly focused on story. (0:20:28) Jonnie: Yeah, and a lot of the like, I assume there’s quite a bit of story attached to it and it looks like there’s a lot of sort of quality of life updates that they’re making alongside this, this update. (0:20:40) Jonnie: Unfortunately, the one thing that I don’t really see in this list is much around improving the characters, like there is a section called world as welding characters. (0:20:52) Jonnie: It’s, you know, there is there is one line that all vendors and NPCs now have new and unique dialogue rather than using the same. (0:20:58) Jonnie: And it’s a shared pool of lines. The problem with those original lines is they were so bad that it’s like, well, I’m not I’m not sure that the writing just has felt missing in this game for a long time so I’m not sure it’s enough to kind of lure me there. (0:21:02) Al: Yeah, there’s now you’re going to see more of the same repeated lines that you don’t care about. (0:21:19) Al: Yeah, it doesn’t really feel like the most amazing update that we would be wanting for (0:21:25) Jonnie: Yeah, I think I think given how like because I’ve heard that feedback in a number of places, you know, Cody and I talked about it (0:21:32) Jonnie: from a news article last week And so I feel like given how big of a criticism it has been when it’s actually fixed It’s something that they will put front and center (0:21:42) Al: Yeah, or they might just not. So like part of my thing is, I don’t want to talk about this too much just now because I do talk about it in next week’s episode, but I think they never really wanted to do relationships in this game and they didn’t really care about like the NPCs in the village, but they felt like they needed to add that sort of feature in and therefore that’s what we got. And they like the other aspects of the game and the the other aspects of the game are good. (0:22:12) Al: And they’re just going to continue with that and ignore the one that they never wanted to do in the first place. (0:22:17) Jonnie: That makes quite a bit of sense. (0:22:21) Jonnie: Anything else in the patch notes that stand out to you that sound interesting? (0:22:25) Al: Not particularly. I agree with you about the quality of life improvements sound good. (0:22:30) Al: I haven’t had enough time in the game to be like, “Oh yes, that one in particular is really going to make my gameplay more enjoyable because I’m spending too much time in Carl Island realistically.” (0:22:45) Al: Looks good. Keep at it. Keep more updates. And there are two more currently planned, (0:22:50) Al: two more DLCs that I know of. I wonder whether they’ll add more in the future (0:22:56) Al: but just a reminder, if you have this on Switch, you will have the DLC added on automatically. (0:23:01) Al: If you bought the deluxe version on Steam, you will have this automatically. If you bought the base one on Steam, you’ll have to buy the DLC separate. Garden Galaxy, a new update. (0:23:12) Al: I mean, it just feels like it’s yet another Garden Galaxy update. If the other Garden Galaxy updates haven’t enticed you to play the game, this one’s not going to do either but there’s More items. There you go. (0:23:22) Jonnie: yep and I feel like every time I look at god and galaxy i’m like that’s right I really need to play this game and then I forget about it until next time i’m on the show and they have another update and the cycle resets itself yep I agree (0:23:28) Al: The new items look cool, that’s all. It’s out now, again, comes out today, the day the episode comes out. (0:23:43) Al: So if you like Garden Galaxy, go get that update, go get your more items. (0:23:48) Al: Travellers Rest also have a new update. Everybody’s releasing updates in December. What is this nonsense? (0:23:54) Al: It is out now and it contains a new crop system. (0:23:58) Al: The new crops have specific seasons in which they can be planted. (0:24:03) Al: In addition, they need to be watered every three days for them to grow. (0:24:06) Al: The amount of time each crop takes to grow varies. (0:24:09) Al: Fruit trees no longer need to be planted in tilled soil. (0:24:11) Al: Don’t require watering and they never die, although the only bare fruits. (0:24:15) Al: I mean, none of this seems like fundamentally different from other farming games, (0:24:19) Al: except for you don’t have to water them every day, which is interesting. (0:24:24) Jonnie: I think that’s quite cool, like that’s a mechanic that makes a lot of sense, right? Not every plant needs to be watered the same amount, so that’s a cool little addition, but in general I still feel about Traveller’s Rest that it’s a little bit too much, just like everything else. (0:24:38) Jonnie: And I wish it was worth it. (0:24:38) Al: Yes, and I’m constantly fascinated as to what this game had when it came into early access, (0:24:43) Al: because every time there’s an update I’m like “oh so we didn’t have that either?” (0:24:48) Al: What did this game have when his first version came out? The first version came out three years ago. (0:24:54) Jonnie: Oh my god. (0:24:56) Al: July 2020 apparently. (0:24:59) Jonnie: Well in three more years when 1.0 comes out we probably won’t have time to (0:25:04) Al: Well definitely not, because this was the one that like a few months ago they came out with the (0:25:09) Al: tavern. Like they actually then drinks and staff, that’s what it was, in September they came out with drinks and I’m like “this is a game about a tavern and you didn’t have drinks? What did you have?” (0:25:22) Al: I’m so confused. (0:25:27) Al: So yeah there’s new crops, new weather phenomena, chances of rain, thunderstorms, snow and wind, (0:25:35) Al: which will affect animals and crops. Okay, and new crops and… (0:25:38) Jonnie: Yep, sounds like a content update for the game. (0:25:38) Al: recipes. Yep. Yes, it’s starting to sound like it might have some of the features of starchy phyline. (0:25:48) Jonnie: And if you’ve been playing Traveler’s Rest in Early Access, and you have some thoughts on it, (0:25:52) Jonnie: send them to us, we would love to know a little bit about it, (0:25:54) Jonnie: because as you can tell, we are utterly fascinated every time this game has an update. (0:25:58) Al: What did you do in this game? I wanted to know what people have been doing in this game. (0:26:04) Al: A last song. Is this the underwater one where you’re like trying to make get rid of (0:26:13) Jonnie: corruptiony stuff. You don’t really know what it is. Pollution. (0:26:13) Al: bad stuff? What’s the word I’m looking for? Pollution. Pollution. (0:26:20) Al: I think we’ve talked about this one before. Anyway, they have a new trailer. (0:26:24) Jonnie: It looks cute and I assume there’s going from the looks of the trailer There’s some sort of rhythm element so that immediately eliminates me from being able to play this (0:26:35) Al: Yeah, it’s still coming out next year. Ever After Falls also have a new trailer. Apparently this is a backers only update, apologies. So they have a new trailer and they’ve released a beta, which some Kickstarter backers can get. (0:26:54) Jonnie: Great. So I much prefer beta than early access, right? Like it’s the, you know, much clearer that you’re paying for something or you’re getting access to something that is not finished, so. (0:26:55) Al: Yeah. (0:26:58) Al: Thank you. (0:27:06) Al: I don’t think we need to get into that debate again today. (0:27:09) Jonnie: We do not, but I just like, I feel like I haven’t seen a beta announcement in a long time, so I’m (0:27:15) Al: Yeah, Snacko did that. (0:27:17) Al: They had an alpha and a beta and now they’re in early access. (0:27:21) Jonnie: Okay, I don’t like that. (0:27:25) Al: Yeah, I mean, I also think it’s a pretty polished game as of now. (0:27:30) Al: Anyway, yeah, let’s not get into that. (0:27:32) Al: We’ve got two new games to talk about, and I don’t know whether… (0:27:36) Al: If you’ve got a list of LEGO Fortnite, Hello Kitty Adventure, (0:27:42) Al: Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and these two games that we’re going to talk about on a list, (0:27:49) Al: I don’t know which I would say was the most likely one I would expect, (0:27:53) Al: and which is the least likely one I would expect, and I’m very fascinated as to all of these. (0:27:58) Al: The first one is called Tiny Garden, and the way I’ve described this is, (0:28:01) Al: it’s basically Polly Pocket farming. Did you ever have Polly Pockets when you were younger, Johnny? (0:28:06) Jonnie: So I have a niece who’s five, and she has Polly Pockets right now. (0:28:11) Jonnie: And I have played a lot of Polly Pocket in the last month. (0:28:13) Al: Are these still a thing? I’m so happy they’re still a thing. That’s fantastic. (0:28:15) Jonnie: They are still a thing. (0:28:16) Jonnie: Yep. (0:28:17) Jonnie: They are very much still a thing, and this gives big Polly Pocket vibes. (0:28:21) Al: It’s exactly what it is. You’ve got this little thing that you open up, (0:28:26) Al: and it’s a little world inside this little presumably handheld thing, and it looks really interesting. (0:28:34) Jonnie: I like the idea, so there’s a little crank on the side, and the crank is moving time. (0:28:39) Al: Is that moving time? (0:28:42) Jonnie: Yeah, so that being like the idea that you’ve got a limited space, you plan stuff out, you turn the crank, and stuff happens over time is… (0:28:52) Jonnie: That seems like quite a cool little mechanic, like this just has a really great little look for a kind of idyllish, cozy game. (0:29:02) Al: I need this on the Playdate. (0:29:06) Jonnie: I was thinking that this would be a great Playdate thing, (0:29:08) Jonnie: because the crank seems like a key feature, and… (0:29:12) Al: It would need a fundamental rethink about the graphics, because the graphics are way too complicated for the Playdate. But this could be great on the Playdate. Because they’ve already got the crank, right? Because the problem with the Playdate is figuring out what your mechanic with the crank going to be. And they have an interesting, unique feature, which so many games are just like, “Oh, let me just do this one. Like, let me think up the feature for the crank later, (0:29:38) Al: rather than let me have our- Oh, I like this. (0:29:42) Jonnie: Yeah, and yeah, sorry just to fill in the blanks, so the gameplay looks like on the base of the Polly Pocket is where you’re doing all of your farming and you’re growing vegetables, which in the tweet they say you sell to then add furniture to what would be the upper level, I guess, or the bit that sort of sits vertically, which I think is just a great concept, but this is in prototype, so I didn’t see anything like any, even like a tentative release date. (0:30:11) Al: Yeah, no, there’s absolutely nothing about that or any ideas, it’s just this is a “here’s a first thought” and like “come follow us and we’ll tell you more about it later” sort of thing. (0:30:22) Al: I’m just tweeting at them to tell them to put it on Playdate. (0:30:26) Al: So next we have Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. (0:30:31) Jonnie: Woo! I’m very excited about this one, Al. (0:30:33) Al: And so, well, so tell me why you’re excited about this one and why it’s different from (0:30:41) Al: Lookitty, other than just “it’s Tamagotchi”, which doesn’t really have characters, I might add. (0:30:47) Jonnie: Yeah, look, I don’t really want like, so brains are stupid, right? (0:30:54) Jonnie: And you’re right, Tamagotchi had zero characters. But you know what Tamagotchi had? (0:30:59) Jonnie: An important place in my life and everyone just referred to Tamagotchi. So when I see Tamagotchi and it’s a farming game, I’m like, yeah, I’m on board. I want all of this, even though there is no connection to anything else that’s happening in the game, other than the word Tamagotchi. (0:31:15) Jonnie: and it looks great. (0:31:17) Jonnie: So I just didn’t grow up with Hello Kitty, so that one I’m just like, “Meh, I don’t really have any connection to this.” (0:31:23) Jonnie: Tamagotchi though, that word triggers a thing in my brain apparently. (0:31:26) Al: So the important question is, are you subscribing to Apple Arcade for this? (0:31:31) Jonnie: Uh, I mean… (0:31:32) Al: You can drive a car! (0:31:33) Jonnie: The- [laughs] (0:31:34) Al: Ah! (0:31:36) Al: Oh, no. (0:31:38) Jonnie: The long answer I want to say is no, but the short answer is yes, I will probably sign up to Apple Arcade to play Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. (0:31:44) Al: You can, you can drive a car. (0:31:48) Al: What was that? (0:31:49) Al: There’s a little random… (0:31:51) Al: Oh, there’s a squirrel. (0:31:51) Al: It’s a squirrel. (0:31:53) Al: There’s like a what looks like a kind of weird. (0:31:56) Al: Version of the, you know, the, you know, the carriage in what’s the fate of the Disney story with the, the glass slipper, what’s that one? Cinderella. You know, they’re like pumpkin carriage in that. It’s like a pink version of that near the end next to what looks like a big castle. You see that? (0:32:06) Jonnie: Cinderella? (0:32:08) Jonnie: Mm-hmm. (0:32:18) Jonnie: Ah, yeah, so I missed that the first time I watched through but yeah, you’re right. That is very (0:32:24) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s it. That’s a castle. That’s definitely a carriage (0:32:30) Jonnie: So minor thing I love that the (0:32:33) Jonnie: Dates that you’ve got written down here is coming Jan 4th in the trailer. They say (0:32:38) Jonnie: Expected January 4th, which if that doesn’t mean it’s not coming on January 4th. I don’t know what (0:32:40) Al: Yeah, I will say though, the description on YouTube does say “coming” rather than “expected”. (0:32:52) Al: I wonder if it’s meant to be a pun. (0:32:54) Al: I don’t know. (0:32:55) Al: Like, is this a Tamagotchi thing? (0:32:57) Al: When it’s… (0:32:58) Al: Because your Tamagotchi comes in as an egg first, right? (0:33:02) Al: And so when you have like a child, or you’re pregnant, you say you’re expecting. (0:33:08) Al: And so if you have an egg that’s going to hurt. (0:33:10) Al: Which would you say you’re expecting as well? (0:33:11) Al: Is that what they’re doing here? (0:33:12) Jonnie: I don’t know. We’ll need to bring in someone that’s laid an egg and ask them what they… (0:33:18) Al: I’m just saying, like, I think I think it’s a pun rather than a, hey, (0:33:22) Al: we might not release on this date. (0:33:22) Jonnie: Right, well if it is a pun, it’s not a very good one. But everything else in this game looks pretty good. (0:33:27) Al: Because they, well, I agree, I agree. (0:33:29) Al: It’s not a good pun, but my point is this released on the 12th of December, right? (0:33:33) Al: If they don’t know it’s coming out on the 4th of January, it’s not coming out on (0:33:36) Al: of January, because that is like three. (0:33:40) Al: work days before the 4th of January, basically. (0:33:44) Jonnie: Not in America. (0:33:44) Al: Like that is basically no time. (0:33:47) Jonnie: In America, it’s like 100 work days between the two. (0:33:52) Al: You’re assuming that this is worked on by Americans? (0:33:55) Jonnie: Yes. (0:33:55) Al: It was Bandai Namco, they’re a Japanese developer. (0:33:58) Jonnie: Whatever, they’re all the same. (0:34:01) Al: Japan, America, who can tell the difference? (0:34:06) Jonnie: I mean, ultimately this just looks like a game where cute animals run around a thing. (0:34:10) Jonnie: like it to me it sounds or seems. (0:34:12) Jonnie: I watch like the Hello Kitty Island adventure so I don’t actually have high expectations for the game itself but you know Tamagotchi. (0:34:20) Al: I’m going to end up comparing this to Hello Kitty Island Adventure, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m sorry, it’s just going to have to happen. Because it looks like a very similar game, it looks like there’s exploration, the kind of the world looks kind of very, they evoke the same imagery. Why does that pool have a face on it? Go to eight seconds in when he’s like chopping up the wood. You can see why does that have a face on it? Is that (0:34:26) Jonnie: I think you should yeah yeah. (0:34:41) Jonnie: Why would it not have a face on it? (0:34:46) Jonnie: Oh, yeah, it does have a face. (0:34:49) Jonnie: Why would it not have a face? (0:34:51) Jonnie: Yeah, and I think even like in the first two seconds, there’s another pool and maybe it’s the same one that you can also see the face on it. (0:34:57) Jonnie: Maybe all of the pools are alive. (0:34:58) Al: No, that’s a different one. (0:35:00) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah. (0:35:02) Jonnie: So look, the pools are alive. (0:35:03) Jonnie: I have the one in the house also has a face. (0:35:05) Jonnie: All of the pools in this game are alive. (0:35:07) Jonnie: And that makes me even more excited. (0:35:09) Jonnie: I feel like sometime in 2024, we’re gonna– (0:35:11) Jonnie: I need to do the Hello Killy Island adventure versus Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom Ultimate Showdown Smackdown. (0:35:17) Jonnie: You know, many can be on, I can be on, and we can just argue for hours over which of these cute little games is– (0:35:23) Al: Yeah, I just, I guess my worry about this is that it might feel a bit hollow because the characters won’t really exist. Like, unless they do something really well and they go “we’re going to create all these characters out of thin air and you’re going to care about them now” feels unlikely. (0:35:39) Al: Like that’s really hard to do. (0:35:39) Jonnie: See these characters? These characters are super cute though, so it could happen. (0:35:43) Al: Sure. But then it’s just the same thing, it’s just they’re all cute, which doesn’t really work. (0:35:50) Jonnie: I’m going to point you to like every Ooblets episode because that’s all those those little doofuses have going on and you guys Love that stupid game (0:35:56) Al: Well, sure. (0:35:58) Jonnie: Also at one point one of these characters smashes a rock by just bashing his head into it if that’s not amazing (0:36:05) Al: I will say that the Ooblets are not the thing you play Ooblets for. (0:36:08) Al: There’s a lava lamp as well. (0:36:09) Al: Toadstool table. (0:36:12) Jonnie: Honestly, this trailer’s ridiculous. It’s, what, 30 seconds? I’ve probably watched it 20 times now, (0:36:16) Jonnie: and every time I feel like I see something new that makes me more excited to play this game. (0:36:20) Al: going to make me play this game aren’t you? Oh he does just smash his head into it, that’s adorable. (0:36:22) Jonnie: I don’t have to make you at this point. It’s just gonna happen. (0:36:32) Al: Now the question is do I do I sign up to Apple Arcade just now and play the Sonic game until then? Or do I wait and just play this? Tamagotchi Island Adventure, sorry, Adventure Kingdom. (0:36:40) Jonnie: Don’t play the Sonic game, Al. Don’t do that to yourself. (0:36:43) Jonnie: Why do Sonic fans insist on hurting themselves? (0:36:51) Al: I don’t get better names. (0:36:54) Jonnie: No, it’s all just word salad, don’t they just like, I think they do it Madlib style. (0:36:57) Al: I mean it really does feel like you’ve got adventure in there and you’ve got the name of your (0:37:03) Al: franchise and then another random one. Why am I surprised there was a castle? It’s called Adventure Kingdom. It’s like being surprised that Hello Kitty Island Adventure has the sea. (0:37:13) Jonnie: I think because we’re so used to just glossing over the terrible names that we have to deal with in Cottagecore games that it’s just, we don’t assume that they’re not, they don’t need to. (0:37:22) Al: It’s just words. I think this is the first time I’ve parsed the words and what they actually mean. (0:37:28) Al: All right, we’re going to talk about Lego Fortnite. The good thing about doing this episode is it means that I don’t have to think about it again after today. (0:37:35) Jonnie: You and me both. (0:37:36) Al: OK, so Lego Fortnite. We talked about this a little bit in last week’s episode and next week’s episode. Just to confuse you. Spoilers. (0:37:49) Al: But for some reason, LEGO added in a- (0:37:52) Al: No, Fortnite added in a LEGO version of their game into their game, except that it’s not a version of the game. (0:38:00) Al: It’s LEGO Minecraft. It’s Minecraft if LEGO did it. And for some reason, inside Fortnite. (0:38:04) Jonnie: In Fortnite. (0:38:06) Jonnie: Well, I mean, to hit on some reason for just a little bit. (0:38:10) Jonnie: This is about Fortnite becoming a platform and not just a game anymore, right? (0:38:10) Al: Oh, there you go then. (0:38:15) Jonnie: Because they released LEGO Fortnite, some racing game and some rhythm game all at the same time. (0:38:21) Jonnie: That are all in Fortnite, but they’re not Fortnite, so. (0:38:24) Al: Yeah, but why? Why are they not separate games? (0:38:28) Jonnie: Because Fortnite, my assumption is that Fortnite has become such a compelling brand that. (0:38:34) Jonnie: They believe that they can, people will play it if it’s in, or more likely to play it if it is in Fortnite. (0:38:41) Jonnie: So this is kind of proving that you could sell other games in Fortnite. (0:38:46) Jonnie: So you might have, can you imagine? You have like, what’s the original thing that Fortnite was? (0:38:50) Jonnie: Like Fortnite saved the world or whatever? (0:38:52) Jonnie: Imagine if that comes back as a new game in Fortnite that people pay money for. (0:38:57) Jonnie: That’s the future we could see. (0:38:57) Al: But you’re not paying for them either, it’s free. (0:39:02) Jonnie: Well, these are free right but this is this is proving like this proves out the case of whether you want people to buy stuff or it just provides more versions of cosmetics for people to buy in Fortnite. Like it just expands the the number of hours that people would play in a Fortnite owned thing. (0:39:19) Al: But I- (0:39:25) Al: So, okay, sure, but they didn’t need to be the same game to do that. This is what I’m confused- (0:39:30) Jonnie: To me, I think it’s the difference between like, you don’t have to go and actively download a different thing, like, you’re thinking about this, like an adult that’s grew up, grown up on Steam, and, you know, you know, storefronts and used to going and buying games everywhere else, if all you’ve done is play a lot of Fortnite, and then in your Fortnite client, they say, download this new game, LEGO Fortnite, that’s the, that’s the thing, like, that’s your storefront is Fortnite. (0:39:58) Al: This is because of Roblox, isn’t it? Because Roblox is exactly this. It is not necessarily, (0:40:04) Al: well, it’s not exactly this, it’s different because you can add user-generated games to it. (0:40:10) Al: But I feel like this is in response to Roblox because Fortnite was a game, Roblox was a platform, (0:40:17) Al: and now Fortnite is also a platform. Just because it’s not user-generated stuff doesn’t mean it’s not the same thing. (0:40:24) Jonnie: - Yeah, I agree. (0:40:25) Jonnie: And I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to hit down the path of getting user generated stuff in there as well. (0:40:33) Al: Oh, Jai’s. All right, cool. So we’ve gone over the for some reason. Do you want to start? (0:40:41) Al: You’ve been playing it? (0:40:42) Jonnie: Yeah, like I guess I’ll start with I’m not a big survival game person in general, so (0:40:50) Jonnie: Like I wasn’t expecting for me to love it and I found the survival aspects quite difficult I died quite a bit more than I have in like Minecraft or (0:41:02) Jonnie: Or other games like I guess I was expecting this one to be a little bit easier And there’s lots of there’s lots of options right so you could turn stuff off and I think I end up turning off like needing to… (0:41:12) Jonnie: needing to eat food but turning off like the monsters kind of felt like a step too far but I kind of wish I had done that [laughs] (0:41:22) Jonnie: and it is just one of these sort of survival crafting games at its core there’s not too much that it’s doing that’s different I guess other than the building and I think the building is quite good because it uses the… (0:41:42) Jonnie: …they go block mechanic and you can… (0:41:44) Jonnie: …but it starts you off not with having to build everything brick by brick. (0:41:48) Jonnie: You start with some templates. (0:41:50) Jonnie: And so you can build like an actual shed a lot easier than just… (0:41:54) Jonnie: …having to collect the bricks and building your first house in Minecraft. (0:41:58) Jonnie: Which typically takes… (0:42:00) Jonnie: …not that it’s hard to do, but it takes a little bit longer maybe to work out and put everything. (0:42:04) Al: Yeah, I think so. A LEGO Minecraft clone, if you will, makes perfect sense, right? (0:42:12) Al: I think we can probably agree on that. (0:42:15) Al: I used I played Minecraft so much when I was younger. (0:42:21) Al: Like during my like, it’s I mean, it’s wild how how long Minecraft’s been going (0:42:26) Al: for and the fact that it’s still going, I I remember picking it up when I was in (0:42:31) Al: And I would literally play like. (0:42:34) Al: Like through the night, every night, sitting up, playing this stupid game that I loved so much. (0:42:42) Al: I don’t play anymore because obviously I, you know, I’m an adult. (0:42:45) Al: I have a life now. (0:42:47) Al: I can’t just spend all night doing it, but I, I get why they’re doing that. (0:42:55) Al: I get why Lego are doing this. (0:42:58) Al: We can ignore the Fortnite aspect of it because they certainly ignored the Fortnite aspect of it. (0:43:05) Al: I didn’t have a huge amount of fun playing this game. (0:43:07) Al: And I think I don’t know whether that’s because the, the game doesn’t jive with me in some way that Minecraft did or whether, and this is the problem with this kind of game, whether I just don’t have the time and the life for it anymore. (0:43:21) Al: Would I have enjoyed this game more if it had come out when I was a new name rather (0:43:26) Jonnie: I’m going to take a guess and say, I don’t think so. (0:43:30) Jonnie: For me, equally, I was never a big Minecraft person. (0:43:34) Jonnie: But when I have tried Minecraft in the past, I get it. (0:43:39) Jonnie: I see the magic that is in Minecraft. (0:43:43) Jonnie: The first time, you punch a bit of the ground, (0:43:45) Jonnie: and it appears in your inventory. (0:43:47) Jonnie: And then you’re like, what? (0:43:48) Jonnie: And you can kind of just put it down anywhere. (0:43:51) Jonnie: There’s some magic in that. (0:43:53) Jonnie: And that’s what this game misses. (0:43:56) Jonnie: From what I’ve seen, you can build some really impressive stuff, but in the time that I spent with the game, that felt so unachievable and so far away. (0:44:08) Jonnie: Whereas in Minecraft, it’s just you get started, right? And that’s what’s missing. (0:44:08) Al: Yeah. That’s a good point, because the world in Minecraft is made of the things that you build with, whereas this is the world isn’t all, it’s not the same thing, right? Like if you actually had, if it was like Lego, where everything was like visibly made of Lego, (0:44:30) Al: because obviously it is made of Lego, right? But it’s not visibly made of Lego, if that makes sense right like you can’t go or there’s that block like you look at (0:44:38) Al: in Minecraft you go oh I can see that’s a wood block that’s a wood block that’s a wood block that’s a leaves block that’s a leaves block that’s leaves block and then you can look at everything else everything else in the game other than like animals which you can’t make anyway because that wouldn’t make any sense everything else is visibly made of blocks and so you can visibly see what it is and recreate it or build your own things and it’s that visual aspect of things I think that that it’s missing, right? Like you can build things, but it turns into. (0:45:08) Al: It’s not the exact same as if you were literally making this in real life, right? (0:45:14) Jonnie: I think that is exactly it, right? You are going and you are collecting wood or chopping trees and then you’re using the wood to make Lego blocks, to make wooden Lego blocks. (0:45:14) Al: You could make Minecraft blocks in real life and you could build them exactly like you do in the game. (0:45:32) Jonnie: You’re not chopping down, you know, you’re not taking the wooden block that is used to make the Lego tree and repurposing it. (0:45:42) Jonnie: And I think that’s the. (0:45:44) Jonnie: Disconnect that that stops me from from this game being what I think I wanted it to be based on (0:45:50) Jonnie: My initial perception and I get why they’ve done what they’ve done, right? (0:45:53) Jonnie: It’s I think I think the game that we’re talking about is substantially more difficult to make (0:45:59) Al: Yes. (0:46:00) Jonnie: But it is also undeniably way more Lego (0:46:03) Al: Yeah, I guess that’s like it’s interesting that we’re still at the point where Minecraft has made a better LEGO game than LEGO has. (0:46:12) Jonnie: Yep. (0:46:13) Al: You know, some random guy in Sweden made a better LEGO game than the corporation that owns LEGO. (0:46:19) Al: OK, so aesthetics wise, although like that fundamental point aside, it s

Al and Maddy talk about Hello Kitty Island Adventure Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:03:18: What Have We Been Up To 00:11:07: News 00:27:12: Hello Kitty Island Adventure 01:12:11: Outro Links Wholesome Snack Len’s Island Harvest Moon Update Len’s Island Roadmap My Time at Sandrock Roadmap My Time at Sandrock Trailer Circle of Kerzoven Name Change Fae Farm Hint Bear and Breakfast Delay Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Trailer Starstruck Vagabond Trailer Stardew Valley Junimo Plushes Above Snakes Developer new Game Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:34) Al: My name is Al and we are here today to talk about cottagecore games. (0:00:36) Maddy: And my name is Maddie. (0:00:41) Maddy: Yeah. (0:00:44) Al: Welcome back, Maddie. (0:00:45) Al: It’s been a while. (0:00:46) Al: It’s always good to have you on the podcast though. (0:00:48) Maddy: Yes, it’s my second time, but my first with you, Al. (0:00:50) Al: Is it? (0:00:53) Maddy: Yes, the last time I was just on with, uh, Bev and Kelly talking about potion permit, and you got to pop in and make little comments about our silliness, (0:01:04) Maddy: but I’ve never been on one just– (0:01:06) Maddy: you and I before. (0:01:07) Al: Nooo. (0:01:10) Al: Here I am searching through all the show notes. There’s no way that you’ve not been on with me. (0:01:10) Maddy: The time has come. (0:01:14) Maddy: No, that’s it. (0:01:14) Al: You’ve only been on one episode! (0:01:16) Maddy: Yeah, just one. (0:01:18) Maddy: Can you believe it? Obviously not, because you’re checking the notes. (0:01:22) Al: That’s wild, wow, OK, yeah, no. (0:01:24) Maddy: It just took a Hello Kitty game to get me all to yourself, Elle. (0:01:28) Maddy: Here I am. (0:01:30) Al: Wild. (0:01:32) Al: All right, well, welcome. (0:01:34) Maddy: Yes, so excited. (0:01:34) Al: I was sure I was sure we had done one together, but no, it isn’t there on the list, so. (0:01:36) Maddy: No? (0:01:42) Al: All right, well, as always, listeners, transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website. (0:01:50) Al: This episode, I’ve got my… (0:01:52) Al: on as she just hinted at to talk about Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Who knew that we would be covering a Hello Kitty game in 2023? Well, exactly. Who knew we were going to talk about it? And not only that, but it wasn’t just going to be some random shovelware, like it was going to be an actually good game. (0:02:02) Maddy: It’s the best I just I’m so excited for the next hour plus of us talking about this Al (0:02:10) Maddy: Who knew but I’m not gonna argue it (0:02:21) Maddy: I know. You know, Al, I want to preface this. I am Hello Kitty obsessed. My first tattoo was a giant Hello Kitty on my shoulder. I have her all over my house. (0:02:22) Al: Who would have expected that? (0:02:34) Maddy: I expected this game to be garbage. As someone that loves Hello Kitty, I was not expecting anything good, but spoiler like you hinted at, it’s actually a really good game. (0:02:45) Maddy: So, who knew? Who knew even the biggest Hello Kitty fan was not expecting that? (0:02:46) Al: Yeah. Yeah. It’s not, it’s not just a good game. It’s up for a game award. Did you see that Maddie? You voted for it, did you? Yes. So we’ll see what comes of that. Because that’s a, is it next week? Yes, it’s next week. I decided for some reason that we were going to record an episode on, uh, no, I’ll get to that. Cause we’re just about to talk about that. Let’s get to that. I’ll ignore that. So we’re going to talk about that. We’re going We’re gonna talk about Hello Kitty. (0:02:51) Maddy: I voted for it. (0:03:10) Maddy: Yes, don’t go too far. (0:03:16) Al: And before that, we’re gonna talk about some news, but first of all, Maddy, what have you been up to? (0:03:21) Maddy: All right, so just full disclosure, we were supposed to record this a couple weeks ago and the games that I had in there were a little old. (0:03:30) Maddy: Since the time we decided to talk about this, my husband set up my Mr. for me and for people who are unaware, Mr. is a hardware emulation machine where you can get actual hardware accurate console games like old retro games or arcade games too. (0:03:49) Maddy: So I have been playing the– (0:03:51) Maddy: the heck out of my mister, I beat Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, if you ever want anyone to talk about that with you, Al. (0:03:58) Maddy: Famicom game from years and years ago, and I just started, uh, Popola Croys last night, which is, uh, RPG on the PlayStation. (0:04:07) Maddy: Which, I think, might have some Cottagecore farming games, I think, Story of Seasons as Popola Croys related. (0:04:14) Maddy: Don’t quote me, I’m playing the RPG, but maybe we can get into that later. (0:04:19) Maddy: So I’ve been Retro Game Car– (0:04:19) Al: Oh my word. (0:04:21) Maddy: Crazy. (0:04:30) Maddy: Yeah, there’s some newer ones. I think that one came out here, but yeah, the one I’m playing is (0:04:37) Maddy: mono-guitary, I think it’s called. (0:04:42) Al: Very interesting. Yeah, so it’s the same people that make, well, what was Harvest Moon and is now Story of Seasons. (0:04:49) Maddy: It’s got that cute vibe to it where it’s definitely, you know, a real RPG where it’s pretty tough. (0:04:55) Maddy: I got wiped out already, which is fun for old RPGs, but it’s silly. (0:05:00) Maddy: You can talk to the animals, the cows till you moo, you can get electrocuted and see your little skull. (0:05:08) Al: Interesting. I am going to end up… I should park this because I’m going to end up on a Wikipedia rabbit hole. (0:05:14) Maddy: Oh yeah, put a pin in that pepola croisses. (0:05:16) Al: I’ll put that tab to the side. I’ll look at that later. Princess Tomato looks quite interesting. (0:05:22) Al: It’s got some very interesting art around it, shall we say. (0:05:26) Maddy: Yes, it’s very archaic. It definitely is very, very old school. I did have a walkthrough guide up and usually I don’t do that, but these games are basically go into this room, talk to the person, (0:05:38) Al: Hmm. (0:05:41) Maddy: leave, do it again, leave, do it again, and then they’ll tell you ahead. (0:05:44) Maddy: Like, stuff that you would never be able to figure out, but it was another, it was a silly one. I beat that thing. (0:05:49) Al: Yeah. (0:05:52) Al: Fair enough. (0:05:53) Al: My general rule with walkthroughs is if I’m not having fun without it, then I’m going to use it. (0:06:00) Maddy: Yep, love that. (0:06:00) Al: Right. (0:06:00) Al: Cause it’s like the whole point of games is to be fun. (0:06:02) Maddy: Yep. (0:06:02) Al: So I’m not going to put myself through torture just to play a game. (0:06:05) Maddy: Why would you? (0:06:06) Al: Exactly. (0:06:08) Maddy: How about you? (0:06:08) Maddy: What have you been playing now? (0:06:08) Al: Well, I’ve mostly been playing Coral Island because it came out of Early Access last week, was it? (0:06:20) Al: Two weeks ago. (0:06:20) Al: Two weeks ago. (0:06:22) Al: So I played it in Early Access for a bit and then they wiped the saves when 1.0 came out. (0:06:27) Al: So I was like, oh, fine, I’ll start again. (0:06:28) Al: But yeah, I mean, I don’t want to. (0:06:33) Al: So we’re probably going to do another episode on this now that it’s in 1.0. (0:06:38) Al: And I don’t want to completely ruin that episode, but I think this might be my favorite farming game now. (0:06:44) Maddy: Ever? (0:06:46) Al: Yes. (0:06:48) Maddy: Okay, is it on switch or what are you playing it on? (0:06:52) Al: So I am playing it on the Steam Deck. (0:06:55) Al: It is coming to Switch, but I think the Switch isn’t out yet and it’s coming next week. (0:07:01) Maddy: Okay. I will put a pin in that one. Oh yeah, spoiler alert, my husband did buy the OLED Steam Deck that just came last week, so we’ve got lots of new video game toys in the house. (0:07:10) Al: Excellent. Yeah, it looks like they’re, yeah, so they’re, they’re coming to switch planning for Switch next year, but it’s, it’s on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation as of now. (0:07:26) Maddy: All right, I’ll set a reminder to have you remind. (0:07:32) Al: I’m very much enjoying it. It is, it’s very good. It does everything that I liked about starred you it does but it does more than that as well it’s not just doing a stardew right like it’s not just oh let’s be stardew but but with a different skin right it’s on an island and it has like a bunch of extra different kind of features that are like you can go diving in the sea and part of the story is to clean up the coral around the island coral island and there’s a whole kind of like a merfolk kingdom down there so like there’s a whole lot of stuff (0:07:45) Maddy: Yeah, but on an island. (0:08:10) Al: happening under the water and there’s like a whole big story around the mines and stuff like that so it’s not just doing stardew but with a different skin it is doing more things and everything I think that it does it does pretty well like there’s I obviously have some issues and some things that I would like to improve but I don’t feel like it’s going it’s not just like a cheap knockoff of stardew or anything like that that a lot of farming games kind of feel like they’re just trying to emulate it but they don’t really get what (0:08:36) Maddy: right no this looks cute I famously would love to be into stardew but i’m maybe not the biggest fan of the art style sorry but this one looks very like disney like as far as like the character designs is that true (0:08:46) Al: Yeah, it definitely, if you’re not, if you’re not into the pixel art, then this is definitely a better one for that because it’s very much more cartoony and obviously much more fidelity and all the artwork and stuff like that. So I’ve very much enjoyed it. So I’m, I’m literally like two days away from from marrying in that. (0:09:16) Al: And I’m I’ve got to a point where I have automated a lot of my farm. (0:09:20) Al: So I’m at a pretty good place there. (0:09:22) Al: I’m really happy with with how I’m doing. (0:09:26) Maddy: And I know that you have your planning calendar for games. What’s next on your docket? (0:09:32) Al: Oh goodness, that is a good question. (0:09:37) Maddy: Or sorry to put you on the spot if you don’t have your your gantt chart of your games. (0:09:42) Al: I just need to click here, click on it. (0:09:45) Al: I don’t know whether people believe you or not. (0:09:47) Al: There is literally a Gantt chart. (0:09:48) Maddy: You know, I feel like I feel like if they listen to the harvest season and they know you as a host, (0:09:53) Maddy: They’ve got to believe me that you have a Gantt chart. (0:09:57) Al: Well, yeah, fair enough. (0:09:59) Al: So there’s a game that came out not too long ago called Coa and the Five Pirates, which is our– (0:10:05) Al: so it’s the makers of that made Summer in Mara, which is another farming game which I really liked. (0:10:12) Al: This one is a 3D platformer, though. (0:10:14) Al: So I really want to play that. (0:10:15) Al: And I think this is probably the time to do that, (0:10:16) Al: because there’s not a huge amount out just now. (0:10:18) Maddy: Oh, yeah. (0:10:18) Al: And then a Highland song comes out in next week. (0:10:23) Al: Have you heard of this? (0:10:23) Maddy: No, I haven’t. (0:10:25) Al: So a Highland song is a 2D platforming game set in the Scottish Highlands. (0:10:30) Maddy: Oh, perfect. (0:10:31) Al: And what I find really interesting about it is that every mountain that you can see in the background is a mountain you can go to at some point in the game. (0:10:40) Maddy: new blog idea, Al. If the game blows up to be huge, you should visit every spot that’s in the game. (0:10:49) Al: And there’s like, I’m looking forward to seeing what the story is like and because they’re kind of hyping that up. (0:10:56) Al: So that’s on my list and obviously the second Pokémon DLC. (0:11:00) Al: Those are the three things I currently have scheduled for this year. (0:11:03) Maddy: Perfect. Good luck to you. (0:11:07) Al: Cool. Should we talk about some news? (0:11:10) Maddy: Yeah, let’s do it. You got quite a bit to talk about. (0:11:13) Al: We do, we do. So the first thing is they’ve announced a new wholesome snack. (0:11:18) Al: So this is the wholesome games people. They do our direct kind of in June around kind of, (0:11:26) Al: I was going to say around E3 time, but RIP E3. Well, maybe not rest in peace. We’re glad you’re gone. (0:11:28) Maddy: Oh, yeah, ugh. (0:11:33) Maddy: Yeah, just rest, generally rest. (0:11:36) Al: You’re gone. Huzzah. But they’re doing, I think they did this last year. (0:11:37) Maddy: Goodbye. (0:11:42) Al: Well, it’s like a smaller version for the game awards. So they’re going to go, (0:11:48) Al: they’ve got some world premiers, some demos and exclusives and new game announcements coming (0:11:56) Al: full of wholesome games. And you know, there are going to be some farming games in there. (0:12:02) Al: So that is on the 6th of December. That is the day the game awards happens, (0:12:08) Al: but it’s before the Game Awards, thankfully, because that’s… (0:12:12) Al: That is a Wednesday, and of course, we release on Wednesdays, and I have decided that we’re going to cover it on the day that we’re covering it. So, I will be watching the Game Awards, (0:12:22) Maddy: Oh my gosh, and if anyone can, it’s you, Elle. (0:12:23) Al: recording a podcast, editing the podcast, and releasing it before I go to bed. So… (0:12:31) Al: Well, we’ll see! So, listeners, if the episode doesn’t come out on Wednesday, you know I have died. (0:12:38) Maddy: Promises, promises. (0:12:42) Al: I haven’t failed to release one when I’ve wanted to release one yet, so we’ll see. (0:12:47) Maddy: This one will be fun. (0:12:48) Maddy: You’ll have plenty of stuff to talk about with both of those awards, (0:12:52) Maddy: I’m not too worried about ya. (0:12:54) Al: Yes, and I’m sure there’ll be some new stuff as well. We’ll see what happens. (0:13:01) Al: Lens Island have released their Harvest Moon update. The full details of that are out now, (0:13:09) Al: so there’s a list on their Steam page and on their website, which obviously we’ll link in the show notes. The interesting thing is, one thing we did have in this update that we didn’t know before the update came out, (0:13:23) Al: or we didn’t know before. (0:13:24) Al: Recorded the last podcast. (0:13:26) Al: I think they did announce it after that. (0:13:28) Al: So the Harvest Moon event that they’ve got in the game, (0:13:30) Al: it increases all of your crops and your machinery and how efficient they are, but also increases the frequency and danger of the mobs that are around, (0:13:43) Al: and they can come and obviously destroy the stuff that you have. (0:13:46) Al: So it’s one of these, like, do I want to risk the increase in productivity to get– well, (0:13:53) Al: risk the risk. (0:13:54) Al: Destroying all of my equipment for the increase in productivity that you get. (0:13:59) Al: So they’ve said you can skip the events if you want to, which is good because I certainly wouldn’t be wanting to do that. (0:14:02) Maddy: Oh, interesting. (0:14:04) Maddy: No, that’s quite a gamble, (0:14:04) Al: But yeah. (0:14:06) Maddy: but that’s cool that they give you the choice to opt out. (0:14:09) Al: Yeah. (0:14:11) Al: So that’s the main thing. (0:14:12) Al: There’s a bunch of other things as well, which I’m not going to go through. (0:14:15) Al: But if you want to see it, it’s in the show notes. (0:14:18) Al: Next, we have my time at Sandro. (0:14:19) Al: Oh, no, I forgot to mention, of course. (0:14:21) Al: Lens Island also have an updated roadmap as well. (0:14:24) Al: Um, so they’ve given details for the next updates that are coming. (0:14:28) Al: There’s one in December, which is the localization languages updates. (0:14:31) Al: It’s adding more, more languages. (0:14:34) Al: And then in March, they’re titling the frozen lands update, which includes a new art Arctic world. (0:14:41) Al: And then in July is their plan for their full release, which includes multiplayer. (0:14:47) Al: And I’m sure I’ll play that game at some point. (0:14:50) Maddy: You know, I’ve been looking for a reason to get back into Harvest Moon, I haven’t played since the DS game came out, and it felt at that time it was too much of a job for someone that had a job, but maybe, maybe my sensibilities have changed since then, and especially if there’s quality of life improvements in the series. (0:15:09) Maddy: I might have to try. (0:15:10) Al: Yeah. Well, we’ve got lots, lots of possible options for you. (0:15:14) Maddy: Who else should I talk to about that, Al? You? Who else do I know? (0:15:17) Al: I don’t know. I might know someone. I might know someone that (0:15:20) Maddy: Perfect. Come up with a short list for me and I’ll start doing some outreach. (0:15:26) Al: will do, will do. So we’ve got my time at Sandrock next. (0:15:29) Al: They have a new roadmap. Um, they are coming out with a bug fix, (0:15:34) Al: bug fix patch by the end of November, which is now, (0:15:40) Al: um, they are apparently releasing another update this year. (0:15:44) Al: I feel like these people are way too optimistic for December, (0:15:48) Al: but what do I know? Um, by Christmas, (0:15:52) Al: they’re going to release a free content update. I know. Right. (0:15:54) Maddy: Huh, wow. (0:15:57) Al: And then Q1 next year, (0:16:00) Al: they’re going to add in DLC support with multiplayer. (0:16:03) Al: I don’t really know what they mean. Like, obviously, (0:16:05) Al: I know what they mean by multiplayer, but I don’t like the say integrating DLC (0:16:10) Al: into the multiplayer mode. Now I haven’t played my time at Sandrock. (0:16:12) Al: Cause I really hated the first game they did. Um, (0:16:14) Maddy: No, I don’t know anything about this. (0:16:15) Al: but I don’t know whether that’s saying, I don’t know whether that’s saying, (0:16:19) Al: they’re adding the DLCs at that point, or they’re adding multiplayer mode, (0:16:23) Al: or both already exist in the game, but you can’t have the DLCs in multiplayer. (0:16:27) Al: It’s one of those three. (0:16:28) Maddy: I feel like if it says integrating DLC support into multiplayer, it’s probably there, but just not functional for multiplayer, don’t you think? (0:16:39) Al: I just I feel I just feel like why would they release DLCs that wouldn’t work half the time (0:16:39) Maddy: That keyword “integrating” I can’t make that answer for you, Al. (0:16:48) Maddy: These developers do what they need to do. (0:16:52) Al: And they’re also releasing the DLCs that you previously only got with the Deluxe version. (0:16:58) Al: They are releasing them separately as well, so you can purchase them outside of that. (0:17:05) Al: Next we have Circle of Kirzovan, which they have a very exciting update. (0:17:11) Al: They are changing their name so that we can actually pronounce it. (0:17:14) Maddy: Wow, that’s smart. That’s very smart of them (0:17:18) Al: So their game is now going to be called “Of Life and Land”. (0:17:22) Al: Which is fine, I guess. It’s not a particularly exciting name. (0:17:27) Al: I do feel like the good thing about “Circle of Khuzovin” is you’re not going to confuse it with anything else, right? (0:17:33) Al: You’re going to know exactly what they’re talking about. (0:17:35) Al: Whereas “Of Life and Land” is kind of vague. (0:17:39) Maddy: Yeah, that one’s not as memorable, but there’s that fine line of having a name that’s unique, (0:17:45) Maddy: but also, imagine if a little kid tried to Google that or put it on their Christmas list. (0:17:50) Maddy: They wouldn’t be able to spell it. (0:17:52) Maddy: I wouldn’t be able to spell it, and I’m a grown-up kid. (0:17:56) Al: They have said however that the land in the game will still be called Kirzovan, so the name’s not going away completely, it’s just not the name of the game anymore. (0:18:09) Al: Very small thing from Fay Farm, they have released a video on Twitter which is hinting at some an upcoming update and we know nothing about it and I have no idea what this is meant to be. (0:18:20) Al: Like maybe a shell with like a ribbon around it or something? (0:18:24) Maddy: Have you played this game? (0:18:26) Al: I have, not as much as I want to. (0:18:30) Al: My main thing about this game is the movement in this game is fantastic, but everything else but it doesn’t grab me massively. (0:18:42) Maddy: Ah, okay. (0:18:42) Maddy: Interesting. (0:18:43) Al: So yeah. (0:18:44) Maddy: No, I’ve never tried it, but it looks cute, but yeah, I can see it just being cute for a little bit. (0:18:51) Maddy: Well, keep an eye on that shell with a ribbon on it, Al. (0:18:54) Al: Yeah, I literally have no idea what this is meant to mean, and it looks like in the comments on Twitter no one else does either. (0:19:02) Al: So that’s fine, because it’s like with Disney Dreamlight Valley, every time I see something I’m like, “I don’t know what this means. (0:19:09) Al: This feels like a really nice thing.” (0:19:11) Al: And then you look in Twitter and it’s like, “Oh, it’s this person.” (0:19:13) Al: I’m like, “Okay, how did you figure that out?” (0:19:15) Maddy: But in this case, no one else. (0:19:18) Al: Nobody seems to know. (0:19:21) Al: A slightly sad update with Bear. (0:19:24) Al: And breakfast, they have having to delay their upcoming update because their art (0:19:30) Al: director has been diagnosed with cancer, so not great. (0:19:32) Maddy: Oh, that’s too bad. (0:19:36) Al: Thankfully, the comments are all very positive and people aren’t, you know, (0:19:42) Al: being idiots about it, so that is good. (0:19:45) Al: But, yeah, hopefully, (0:19:47) Al: I mean, you never know what these things, but hopefully things go well and they can (0:19:51) Al: and people will wait for… (0:19:54) Al: …for updates. (0:19:56) Maddy: Yeah, best wishes, that’s really sad. (0:19:59) Al: Mika and the Witch’s Mountain have released a new trailer. (0:20:02) Al: Uhm, this, Maddie, I feel like this game might be down your street. (0:20:06) Maddy: You know, not yet, but anything with the word “witch” in it, you know that I’m a sucker for. (0:20:12) Maddy: Oh, and just popping it up. (0:20:12) Al: Mm-hmm, yep, yep. So you’re a little witch who is running a delivery business, a package delivery business. Sure, possibly. So that’s a new trailer, nothing else on that one. If you want to see the trailer, links in the show notes. I’m still very excited about this I have been since the NIH, I think. (0:20:14) Maddy: It looks very Miyazaki-style. (0:20:17) Maddy: Is it like Kiki? (0:20:18) Maddy: She’s… (0:20:19) Maddy: Oh, so it is Kiki’s delivery service. (0:20:27) Maddy: Cute. (0:20:28) Maddy: No, I will definitely do that. (0:20:43) Al: This is also by the same people who made the game that I mentioned that is up, that I want to play, that is already Koa and the Five Pirates, and they made Summer and Mara. (0:20:52) Al: So I think I’ve enjoyed every single game they’ve made. They’re very… They’re the sort of company now where if they announce a game, I write it on my list to purchase. (0:21:02) Maddy: Oh nice. (0:21:02) Al: Like, this is a game I am definitely going to play. And even if it’s something that I don’t end up actively enjoying, that’s because it’s not my kind of game, not because it’s not good. (0:21:05) Maddy: Yeah, this looks up. (0:21:12) Maddy: That’s that’s good to know. Yeah, this looks really cute pencil me in for the harvest season episode when this is out on switch (0:21:20) Al: Yeah, will do, will do. I’ll hold you to that. (0:21:26) Al: Next we have Starstruck Vagabond. (0:21:28) Al: So I’m not going to go too deep into this, (0:21:32) Al: but this is a game by Yatsy Croshaw, who does, (0:21:36) Al: or did Zero Punctuation, (0:21:40) Al: which was a video review series (0:21:45) Al: that was on The Escapist, (0:21:48) Al: which has like imploded. (0:21:50) Al: So, it’s all very, the whole, if you don’t know about the escapist drama, we don’t need to go over it now. You can go and look at it online, but basically they fired their editor and the entire video team quit and went with him to start a new company. So that’s, (0:21:50) Maddy: Oh yeah. (0:22:06) Maddy: Good. (0:22:08) Al: so now they are also publishing the game that Yahtzee has been building for a few years now, (0:22:14) Al: this one Starstruck Vagabond, which apparently the escapist wouldn’t let them talk about it (0:22:20) Al: anymore. So now that they’re independent, they are talking about it again and they have released a new trailer. I know it’s the drama is quite, maybe we need to do a whole other (0:22:24) Maddy: Wow. Drama. (0:22:32) Al: episode just talking about that is quite, quite the drama. But the other key information is that they’ve said that it’s releasing in spring 2024. So if those, if anyone isn’t aware, this is a game where you are on a spaceship. (0:22:50) Al: And you are, oh, funnily enough, package delivery. (0:22:56) Al: That was entirely coincidental that we talk about those two right next to each other. (0:23:00) Al: Yeah, so you’re running a spaceship delivering packages, essentially. (0:23:06) Maddy: Wow, I’ll have to look into that drama that seems like a fun little rabbit hole (0:23:12) Maddy: when you’re bored at work in the afternoon. (0:23:13) Al: Oh man, how did you miss it? I was covering it. I was talking about it in the Slack. (0:23:18) Al: How did you miss that? (0:23:19) Maddy: You know, you cover a lot of things on the slack. I can’t keep track of everything. (0:23:20) Al: I would, it was particularly fun to watch live because we saw that he’d been fired and then we saw that everyone else was quitting one by one, which was fantastic to watch. And then like, (0:23:36) Al: less than two days later, they already had their new channel up with the artwork and the name. (0:23:40) Al: And they were, they like absolutely like within, within two weeks they had their first videos out. (0:23:40) Maddy: Oh wow. (0:23:46) Maddy: Oh, funny. (0:23:47) Al: And it was insane how quickly they went up. (0:23:50) Al: I’m not quite sure what to say about it. (0:23:50) Maddy: I’ll have to scroll back and to relive the drama. (0:23:56) Al: Definitely. (0:23:56) Al: And Stardew Valley, they are releasing Junimo Plushes. (0:24:02) Al: So if you wanted a Junimo plush, they didn’t exist till now. (0:24:08) Al: They are up for pre-order now. (0:24:10) Al: There’s probably not much more to say. (0:24:13) Al: I mean, you’ve not played Stardew, so you wouldn’t appreciate it as much, but I’m sure you can look at them and they are pretty cute. (0:24:17) Maddy: Oh, they’re pretty cute. They’re cute. Yeah, I don’t mind those (0:24:20) Al: They are launching in spring 2024, you can pre-order now. (0:24:26) Al: So, you know, go and pre-order now. (0:24:28) Maddy: Wow, that’s quite a lead time for a plush pre-order announcement. (0:24:34) Al: Yeah, well, I mean, spring can mean a lot of things, right? (0:24:39) Al: And the final piece of news is that the makers of Above Snakes have announced (0:24:45) Al: that they are going to kick start a new game called… (0:24:49) Al: Well, no, not called. It doesn’t have a name. (0:24:51) Al: They are kick starting a new game, which is a cosy campervan survival game. (0:24:58) Al: And we have one piece of art on the kick (0:24:59) Al: page so far which looks nice. (0:25:02) Maddy: Oh yeah, that does look really cute. (0:25:04) Maddy: Interesting. (0:25:06) Maddy: Oh, I do like… (0:25:07) Maddy: Yeah. (0:25:08) Maddy: There’s little solar panels on the van. (0:25:11) Maddy: Funny. (0:25:11) Al: Yeah. So my big thing is I’m intrigued by the two words, cozy and survival. (0:25:16) Maddy: Yeah. (0:25:16) Al: Um, and how those are going to work together now, because survival can mean a couple of different things. (0:25:18) Maddy: Yeah. (0:25:22) Al: It can either mean, and hopefully this is what they mean. (0:25:25) Al: Cause this can definitely be cozy is just, you have to do everything you need to survive, like you have to gather all your things and make everything that you need, blah, blah, blah, blah, but survival. (0:25:31) Maddy: Yeah. (0:25:32) Maddy: I kinda like resource management. (0:25:35) Al: Exactly. (0:25:36) Al: But survival can also mean there are monsters and that’s not cozy. (0:25:37) Maddy: Yeah? (0:25:39) Maddy: No, probably not. (0:25:41) Al: cozy at all. (0:25:45) Maddy: As much as that sounds appealing to me in my video game preferences, I wouldn’t say cozy if a little zombie raccoon was coming at ya. (0:25:51) Al: I’m not saying I wouldn’t play a game like that, I played Minecraft for years, and that’s basically what that is, it’s a survival game, but I don’t think you can use the word “cosey” (0:25:57) Maddy: Right. (0:26:06) Maddy: Cozy (0:26:09) Maddy: No (0:26:09) Al: in relation to that. (0:26:11) Al: But a lot of game developers do overuse these words and certainly use them in the wrong context sometimes. (0:26:19) Al: It’s like when people post videos and they’re like. (0:26:21) Al: Hashtag satisfying. (0:26:22) Al: And I’m like, you don’t get to decide that. (0:26:22) Maddy: Yeah, that’s not up for them to decide. (0:26:24) Al: You don’t get to decide if it’s satisfying. (0:26:26) Al: You made it. (0:26:30) Maddy: No, yeah, this is a lot of adjectives for this game, but I do like the art. (0:26:36) Al: I also find it funny that they called it unannounced Cozy Campers of Ann’s survival game. (0:26:40) Maddy: Yeah, in the announcement, yeah, unless you are an unannounced cozy camper van where you just show up at people’s houses unannounced, you just have to say, “Hey, I’m in a park here.” (0:26:41) Al: I feel like they’ve announced it. (0:26:42) Al: I think what they mean is unnamed. (0:26:54) Maddy: So, Al, you don’t know. (0:26:58) Al: It’s like Untitled Goose Game all over again. (0:26:58) Maddy: Right. (0:27:00) Maddy: No, no, I think they might be onto something with this one. (0:27:00) Al: It’s like we were just waiting for them to give us the full name and they never did. (0:27:08) Al: » We will keep an eye on it. (0:27:11) Maddy: Perfect. (0:27:13) Maddy: Can we talk about Hello Kitty? (0:27:14) Al: I think that’s all the news. (0:27:16) Al: Yes, let us do that. (0:27:18) Al: That’s what you’re here for. (0:27:20) Maddy: Yes. (0:27:20) Al: You managed to make it through all the news. (0:27:22) Maddy: No, and it’s just, it’s tough because I love these games, but I purposely kind of avoid all the news because I know that I want to try everything. (0:27:31) Maddy: And so when I, you know, listen to Harvest Season and I hear about all these games, there’s not enough time to play everything you want to play. (0:27:38) Al: That’s very true. (0:27:40) Al: That’s very true. (0:27:40) Al: So you end up just playing none of them instead. (0:27:42) Maddy: Yeah, I just end up beating Super Mario RPG remake in a week instead. (0:27:47) Al: I haven’t played that yet. (0:27:50) Maddy: Have you played, you didn’t play it the original when you were little? (0:27:52) Al: I did not. (0:27:53) Al: No, I did not. (0:27:54) Al: So I think it’s like I’m probably, I will play the game at some point, but I’m not prioritizing it. (0:28:00) Maddy: It’s not going anywhere. (0:28:01) Al: I was, I’m not. (0:28:02) Al: Well, exactly. (0:28:03) Al: And it’s not like it’s about to get cheap or anything like that. (0:28:04) Maddy: No, no, that’s very true. (0:28:09) Al: My thing is, I’m not sure if I’m going to like it or not because I haven’t liked other Mario RPGs they’ve done. (0:28:15) Al: So I don’t like Paper Mario, for example. (0:28:18) Maddy: I’m not the best one to kind of give an opinion because this was my very first favorite video game of my entire life. (0:28:25) Maddy: I was obsessed with this when I was little. (0:28:28) Maddy: I had the guidebook, I would play it non-stop, you know, back in the days when you just had like two video games, so you had to make the most of what you had. (0:28:35) Al: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. Yep. (0:28:37) Maddy: And so there’s definitely flaws. (0:28:40) Maddy: It’s very, you know, baby’s first RPG. (0:28:43) Maddy: It’s not - excuse me - yeah, it’s not very tough. (0:28:45) Al: Well, that might be good for me. (0:28:48) Maddy: But it’s just so cute, it’s so funny. (0:28:52) Al: I think I’ve just never really got into RPGs at all. (0:28:56) Al: So like my like the closest thing that I play to RPGs is Pokemon. (0:29:00) Maddy: Right, I was gonna say, if you like Pokemon, this is a lot more simplified than Pokemon ever is. (0:29:06) Maddy: You just… (0:29:06) Al: Yeah, I’m also not sure if I like Pokemon for being an RPG like I collect things and that’s why I like about Pokemon (0:29:12) Maddy: Oh, yeah, that’s not Mario RPG. But you do get to play as Bowser, and one of Bowser’s weapons is just picking Mario up and whipping him at enemies, which is very funny. (0:29:15) Al: Yeah (0:29:23) Al: That does sound funny well, you know what game you can collect lots of things in (0:29:28) Maddy: Oh my gosh, it’s Hello Kitty Island Adventure! It is collector’s paradise or collector’s hell, can I say hell? (0:29:32) Al: Absolutely (0:29:37) Al: » [LAUGH] Yeah, that’s fine. (0:29:37) Maddy: Depending on what you feel like because there is a lot, a lot to collect. (0:29:43) Al: Yeah, okay, so let’s start off by giving introduction to this game just for anyone who isn’t aware. (0:29:50) Al: So this is Hello Kitty Island Adventure. (0:29:52) Al: It is currently only on Apple Arcade. (0:29:55) Al: So if you’re already like that’s turned me off, then just listen. (0:29:58) Al: I bet it’s gonna come to Switch next year, but that’s just my theory. (0:30:04) Al: the (0:30:06) Al: it is a it’s very much a cottagecore game very much not a farming game you are a character who in well you you make your own custom character for the Holokitty universe and (0:30:21) Al: the start is wild I was not expecting this so you you jump on a plane and then the plane (0:30:27) Al: I think is having issues and then you have to jump off the plane with a balloon (0:30:31) Maddy: Yeah, it’s pretty intense at the beginning. (0:30:33) Maddy: All of a sudden it’s like lost or something. (0:30:35) Al: Flame crashes. (0:30:35) Maddy: It’s very survival cottagecore in that moment, (0:30:39) Maddy: because yeah, the plane just kind of starts on fire and you gotta go. (0:30:43) Al: What I’m not certain about, and maybe this is because I haven’t done enough of the story, (0:30:47) Al: but I’m not certain whether this island was where we were meant to be going or not. (0:30:51) Maddy: You know, I don’t know how much I have just to preface. I have beaten the main game I believe but there have been quite a few updates and changes in the past like month or so that I have not gotten through (0:31:03) Maddy: But in the main game you you do get an answer to that (0:31:07) Al: OK, right, that’s fine. (0:31:09) Al: I haven’t. Yeah, I haven’t got through that, that sort of thing, because (0:31:13) Al: personally, I’m not a huge fan of playing this on on a device with a touch screen. (0:31:19) Al: It’s not really working hugely for me, which I think is part of the reason. (0:31:21) Maddy: Well, then you have to get your 8-bit doe wireless controller and pair it to your iPad like I’ve been doing (0:31:29) Al: I’m not I’m not doing that. (0:31:31) Al: I’m just going to wait until it comes on to switch your steam and play it on my (0:31:35) Al: picture of my Steam Deck. (0:31:35) Maddy: That’s very fair (0:31:37) Al: So yeah, sorry, I distracted myself. So you jump out of the plane, you land on this island and then the idea is you are living on this island. There’s a lot of exploration, right? Like the world is reasonably large and you have to go and explore and find other characters. They don’t all just land where they’re meant to be. So they’re all over the place and it’s a lot of fetch questing and a lot of relationship building with the characters and lots of other things that we’ll talk about. (0:32:07) Al: about. Is that fair kind of description of the game? (0:32:10) Maddy: Yeah, I think that’s perfect. Yeah, you crash land on this island and you kind of have to rebuild it. (0:32:15) Maddy: And like you said, find your other friends because some of them are on top of mountains or underneath water. And then there’s a secondary storyline of trying to solve the mystery of the island that you landed on as well. I know there’s a theme park that you’re trying to figure out what’s going on. (0:32:32) Maddy: There’s some little other Hello Kitty friends that show up that you’re not quite sure what they’re up to but… (0:32:40) Maddy: It’s mostly just rebuilding your life on this island and having your adventure. (0:32:45) Maddy: And it’s cute. (0:32:46) Maddy: And I’m gonna say that a million times in this podcast, (0:32:48) Al: It is so (0:32:50) Maddy: it’s just so darn cute. (0:32:52) Maddy: Sanrio fans, rejoice because it has all of, it has, excuse me. (0:32:57) Maddy: It has not just Hello Kitty, my melody, but it has some of the weirdo ones that you don’t see as often. (0:33:03) Maddy: Like Hang Yodon, who is my favorite, I love that little weirdo. (0:33:08) Maddy: So let’s– (0:33:10) Maddy: to see as far as the Sanrio universe. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, and Hello Kitty’s boyfriend shows up, uh, dear Daniel, so you get to see the full lore of the Sanrio universe. (0:33:14) Al: There really are so many characters as well. (0:33:16) Al: I didn’t realize there were this many. (0:33:17) Al: I mean, it was only a few years ago that I realized that Gudetama was a Hello Kitty character, right? (0:33:31) Al: So, let’s talk about that first, because I feel like that’s kind of the biggest mechanic of the game is the friendship, right? (0:33:39) Al: You are building up your relationships with these characters, and in doing so, that’s how you get access to everything else in the game. (0:33:47) Al: It’s how you get more items, it’s how you get recipes, it’s how you expand out into the world to find other people, and of course you are expanding out into the world to find other people, and that’s more relationship building stuff. (0:34:00) Maddy: Yeah, it’s definitely, it has that game cycle that really just works for me. (0:34:09) Maddy: A lot of times these fetch quests, you’re just like, okay, point A to point B, back to point A. But this has enough of a gameplay loop where it keeps interesting. (0:34:17) Maddy: Because like you said, the more you build these friendships, the more you have to do. (0:34:21) Maddy: Like, it opens up different quest lines once you get your friendship levels to different, (0:34:26) Maddy: you know, higher enough levels. (0:34:30) Maddy: Within that, to grow your friendship levels, you have to give them a gift and to give them the right gift with enough heart levels to grow it as fast, you have to make things. (0:34:40) Maddy: And to make things, you need to gather the ingredients to make those things. (0:34:43) Maddy: So it kind of is like a full circle where you’re just constantly like, I’m very Al in this game where I did have a checklist, I had a little sheet up that I needed to be like, okay, to make a three heart gift for my melody, I need to make this delicious looking cake and to make (0:35:00) Maddy: it for me to get this and there’s a lot. (0:35:01) Al: I think it’s it’s it’s good because it’s it’s simple enough that I think anybody can play it like you could have a young kid play this and have a lot of fun especially if they like the characters but as you say there’s enough depth to it in that loop where it’s you can you can expand a lot and there’s a lot to do it’s not like you’re just going as you say just oh grab a thing throw it to someone right and that is that is the the main the The primary loop is just– (0:35:03) Maddy: Yeah, it’s a big gameplay loop. (0:35:27) Maddy: Right. (0:35:31) Al: Fetch quests, but because they add on that secondary and tertiary loop, that adds much more to it, so you don’t feel like, “Oh, I can’t believe I have to do another fetch quest.” (0:35:40) Al: No, you’re doing it because you want to explore the other aspects of the game. (0:35:44) Maddy: And what I do like about how there are so many options of these different fetch quests for each different character is that you really do get to control how much time you spend in the game. (0:35:54) Maddy: I know especially with stuff like Animal Crossing when you’re first starting out you run out of stuff to do really quick. (0:35:58) Maddy: Obviously that’s not the case as you get further on, but in this, you know, it does limit how many gifts you can give people a day. (0:36:06) Maddy: It does limit, you know, how many items are around the island to pick up, you know, during the day cycle, but there’s enough to do where you can– (0:36:14) Maddy: You can kind of focus on, okay, now I’m just going to get Choco Cat stuff or I’m going to go see what Karomi’s up to. (0:36:20) Maddy: But it’s not like, how do I say it? There’s so many games like this where I feel like I can get everything there is to be done and then just in board. (0:36:28) Maddy: There’s plenty to do in this. (0:36:28) Al: Yeah, I never, I never hit that point. And I hit that point with Animal Crossing very early on where the first day you’re like, well, there’s not really much I can do now. (0:36:36) Al: But I didn’t hit because like, that’s how I play games is I play them. I play them, (0:36:42) Al: right? And that is the game that I am playing for that time. And I will play that for like four to five hours a day, every single day, like all of my free time that I’m not doing something else, I’m playing the game. And that was where Animal Crossing really fell down for me (0:36:42) Maddy: Right. (0:36:58) Al: it doesn’t work that way. And this, even though, as you say, there are some restrictions on things, (0:37:03) Al: I didn’t hit a point where I was like, Oh, there’s nothing I can do. Because you can actually, (0:37:07) Al: you can explore really, really early on if you, you know, and the thing is that yet there’s a limit to how much you can do for one character in a day. But very quickly, once you’ve done three or four things, you’ve unlocked another person. And then that’s another person to do things. (0:37:20) Maddy: Right, exactly. (0:37:23) Al: And by the time you’ve unlocked everybody, there’s so many people that you’re not going to be able (0:37:28) Al: everything they need every single day. (0:37:30) Maddy: No, but what I do like about it though is so much of this isn’t really time-sensitive as far as you know (0:37:35) Maddy: Not to keep comparing to Animal Crossing, but every day for that There’s like okay there this person’s come with a shop or the clothing stores clothes Whatever you have to like do it time limit with this It’s very just based on how you want to do it, you know (0:37:48) Maddy: The characters are always going to be there waiting for their next gift But you’re not gonna miss anything if you choose to focus on something else for that day And that’s what really makes this kind of a stress. (0:38:00) Maddy: I like catching fish while you’re swimming. Have you gotten that far yet? Where you can catch them in the magic bubbles? (0:38:18) Al: I love how you mentioned fishing, like you knew what the fishing was like. (0:38:27) Al: I haven’t done that, no, no, no. I did not realise you could do that. That sounds much better. (0:38:30) Maddy: Yes, that’s the other thing. Was it Batsmaru? He’s like, “You can make the log of fish.” I’m like, “No, you can probably just do that Bats.” (0:38:32) Al: I tried the fishing a couple of times and went, “No, I’m not doing fishing, not in another game.” (0:38:44) Maddy: That’s not for me to figure out. There’s other stuff to do and I don’t feel like I’m missing something by not focusing on that as much. (0:38:54) Maddy: It’s that exploration and it’s the way that they’ve metered out the up- (0:39:00) Maddy: grades, I think is really interesting too, as far as collecting items to grow your stamina. You need different stamina to go underwater or climb mountains and then you get items to increase that level. (0:39:12) Maddy: It limits how much you can explore and then doles it out little by little once you upgrade. That’s through quests, that’s through giving gifts, that’s through exploring. (0:39:22) Al: I do want to get - so you’ve touched on the traversal aspect. I want to get into that, (0:39:25) Al: but just quickly before you do, I think I want to very quickly touch on the fact that you’re talking about how there’s so many different things to do, you don’t feel you have to do anything. (0:39:34) Al: And that - I keep coming back to that in these episodes about games is I think you have to do one of two ways with these games. You either have to be hyper-focused or you have to let us choose exactly what we want to do. And the games that force you to do every mechanic when they have (0:39:52) Al: mechanics. And you can’t advance one without advancing the other, really frustrates me. And so that I agree is one of the really good things about this game is - and it’s what I really loved about Stardew is that you can just go on, I’m just going to focus on this one thing. Like, I’m just going to focus on exploration, or I’m just going to focus on making the few people that I know as friendly as possible, or I’m just going to focus on this or that. There’s so many different things that you can do and I really like that. (0:40:15) Maddy: Yeah (0:40:21) Maddy: And I I do think that’s a great reason why I totally agree with you that you know different age levels or different You know game levels will enjoy this game because if you’re just a little kid playing on your iPad and you want to go take pictures of Gudetama hanging around the world you can do that, you know, you can just run around and get your camera out but if you do kind of want to Min max it as like I have and figured out the top (0:40:45) Maddy: Performing gifts to give every specific person, you know, you can figure that out too. So I agree I like the games. I really just have it completely open for you with what you can do make it how you want it And that’s why it was so surprising how we kind of said at the beginning like this game is really good And it is so surprising. It’s it’s really fun. Like what the first day that I started it I was shocked with how fun it was because I kind of explained it to my husband it’s like Animal Crossing, but you get to explore. (0:41:02) Al: It is, it’s really good. (0:41:15) Maddy: You get to climb a mountain, you get to, you know, go talk to people and collect a little coconuts and pineapples. (0:41:22) Maddy: Like, it’s just, there’s so much to it where I was very, very impressed. (0:41:27) Maddy: And I thought it was definitely well worth the Apple Arcade subscription, but I, I will be very happy if and when it comes to Switch to play it on that instead of my iPad. (0:41:38) Al: So, let’s talk about the traversal, because that’s obviously, I think, a massive part of the game as well, because no matter what you choose to do, you have to move around in the game. And I think this is a pretty good traversal system. So, it’s funny. I was not expecting that there would be, like, climbing stamina in this game. This game just… Like, (0:41:58) Maddy: Oh yeah, it’s very, yeah, Breath of the Wild. (0:42:02) Al: it’s… I hate when games… They’re exploration games, but they don’t let you… (0:42:08) Al: Traverse how you want to. And this game is, like, if you want to get to this place by jumping over the house, you can do that. And I’m like, “Well, obviously I’m going to do that now, then.” Right? (0:42:09) Maddy: Mm-hmm yep (0:42:18) Maddy: Yeah, if you want to find the highest point in town and then fly off with your little balloons carrying you and float down to The next person’s area you can (0:42:26) Al: It’s wild, and it’s like you can just, it’s so… (0:42:31) Al: I’ve got a lot of thoughts about this, I’m not sure how to form them perfectly. (0:42:35) Al: The, I think what I really like about it is how much they just… (0:42:41) Al: I think they built the mechanics to let you just move how you want. (0:42:45) Al: And so the… (0:42:49) Al: Everything is at a height where you can jump off something to get to it, right? (0:42:55) Al: so you can get onto the houses, you can get. (0:42:56) Al: Onto the, the umbrellas on the beach. (0:43:00) Al: You can get onto these things and, and that just feels so silly and fun. (0:43:04) Maddy: No, definitely I had a ton of fun climbing around the hothead mountain, I think it was called, where I think I got to a point where I don’t think I was supposed to get there with the stamina that I had, but I found just enough like ledges that I could rest on and jump over to other little rocks that, and maybe obviously I could, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get up there if it was impossible, but like that’s fun. (0:43:06) Al: And it’s like, they didn’t need to do that, but they did. (0:43:33) Maddy: feels like exploring. (0:43:34) Maddy: that I got to it was kind of a puzzle of like, okay, keep jumping, jumping, jumping until my little kitty girl runs out of energy and then just find my tiny little cubby to rest in. So yeah, you can just do it how you want to do it. There’s no set way. (0:43:46) Al: Yeah. Yeah. It’s absolutely designed like that. Like I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s, you got somewhere, somewhere you weren’t supposed to. I think it’s you got somewhere that they would love that people would find a way to get to that sort of, it’s like, I feel it’s like when people talk about like the, you know, Zelda games and they’re like, (0:44:09) Al: Oh, look at this thing that they never expected you to do. And I’m like, they built an exploration Right, this is a game where they are asking (0:44:13) Maddy: Yeah. Right. (0:44:16) Al: you to break the rules. They are asking you to figure out these ways to do it. (0:44:20) Al: Did they know that you would do this exact specific thing? No. But they are probably very happy that you did. And it feels exactly the same with this. Like the climbing is literally just the same as in so many other, in so many open world games. It’s literally you have a stamina bar, (0:44:26) Maddy: Right. (0:44:36) Al: wheel, and when it runs out, you can’t climb anymore. And yeah, as you say, you can find little ledges and little places to rest and build up that stamina again and (0:44:46) Al: it made the exploration part of it something I actively wanted to do rather than just something that existed and therefore I had to do to get other parts of the story. (0:44:52) Maddy: Yeah (0:44:57) Maddy: Because at the end of it too, and this is what I really liked and this is you know (0:45:02) Maddy: Maybe a bigger conversation for Zelda which we’re not having here But at the end of exploring there was something for you you had a reward you had a prize There was something new to explore or there was a new character There’s stuff and I the problem I had with you know These big open-world Zelda games is sometimes there wasn’t anything at the end of you’re exploring (0:45:06) Al: There’s stuff everywhere. (0:45:22) Maddy: Oh, okay. I just climbed that giant mountain to see (0:45:22) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are chests, if nothing else, there are chests everywhere. So if you you can go explore, you suddenly get loads of items. (0:45:25) Maddy: another about it, but in this one it always felt like you were rewarded with exploring and (0:45:32) Maddy: Oh Yeah Yes (0:45:38) Maddy: Yeah, you have different recipes to create new things or you know, sometimes you’ll get another slight Is it a stamina Apple that you can get to increase your stamina bar? (0:45:48) Maddy: And so there’s always something at the end of. (0:45:52) Maddy: Sweet. I got up there. Or even a gudetama that you can take a picture of. (0:45:56) Maddy: So. Yeah. I think the exploration was really well done here because it was… (0:46:01) Maddy: There was exploration with a point at the end of it and it was fun and challenging. (0:46:06) Maddy: And it just… It made you want to do it versus like, “Okay, now I have to figure out how to swim through here to find the ne

Al and Jonnie talk about Spirittea Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:00: What Have We Been Up To 00:12:14: News 00:36:07: Spirittea 01:09:46: Outro Links Littlelands Publisher Lily Leapers Speedrun Slime Rancher 2 Update One Lonely Outpost Update Moonstone Island Update Spirittea Future Updates Coral Island PS5 Keys Delay Loddlenaut Charity Donations Above Snakes on GoG Little Known Galaxy Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al And we are here today to talk about cottagecore games Welcome Johnny, how you doing? (0:00:44) Jonnie: Whoo! (0:00:46) Jonnie: I am tired. I have been moving countries, and it’s a lot. I would not recommend doing it that frequently. (0:00:57) Jonnie: I mean, depends which country you’re currently in. (0:00:58) Al: or ever really. That’s true, that’s very true. (0:01:10) Al: Cool. We, so I get the transcripts are available in the show notes on the website as usual. (0:01:18) Al: We in this episode, we’re going to talk about Spirit Tea, a new game that has just come out spirit tea spirit tea who knows (0:01:28) Al: we may we may yet find out we have concluded that we’re probably going to call it spirit tea even though both of us in our heads have called it spirit tea (0:01:40) Jonnie: I mean, Spirit Tea just rolls off the tongue better, but Spirit Tea is, I guess, what the game is? (0:01:46) Al: Yeah. (0:01:46) Al: Well, yeah, yeah, we’ll get to that. (0:01:53) Al: We’ll get to that. (0:01:54) Al: So we’re going to talk about spiritity. (0:01:56) Al: Obviously, we’ve got some news. (0:01:58) Al: We’ve got lots of exciting news. (0:02:00) Al: But first of all, Johnny, what have you been up to? (0:02:04) Jonnie: What have I been up to? Well, I haven’t had a ton of time to game because moving countries takes a lot of time and gaming is a thing that’s very easy to to give up when you’ve got priorities like finding a home. But there was the Nindies showcase last week and there was a few games that kind of came out off the back of that. There’s been some really good indie games that have been released recently and so I’ve kind of been trying a few. I tried Backpack Hero. (0:02:10) Al: Shocking. (0:02:11) Al: Hmm. (0:02:34) Jonnie: Which is okay. Don’t love it yet. I feel like the onboarding experience has not been great. And so I bounced off that quickly because I just don’t have brain space to kind of figure stuff out that’s not obvious. It could be really good. I like the system. The system feels very similar to Slay the Spire. (0:03:01) Jonnie: But instead of a deck of cards… (0:03:04) Jonnie: …to a building a backpack of stuff and the location of stuff in the backpack matters. (0:03:08) Jonnie: Which is cool. (0:03:10) Al: yeah to me it just looked like an organizational game and I wasn’t I wasn’t really like oh yeah this this really grabs me but I can you know I guess each to their own (0:03:10) Jonnie: Umm… (0:03:20) Jonnie: Yeah, I would say if anyone out there enjoyed Slay the Spire, then I think this is worth looking at, because the combat is very… (0:03:28) Jonnie: I mean, they basically just copy and pasted Slay the Spire combat, so… (0:03:32) Jonnie: Yeah, people who know that will be into it, but the thing that I have been playing that has grabbed me is Cacun. (0:03:42) Jonnie: So Cacun is like an indie puzzle game, I guess I would describe it as. (0:03:51) Jonnie: For me, the most amazing thing about this game is you just start playing, there is no, like, (0:03:57) Jonnie: thing that appears on the screen that says “Press this button to do this thing”, so there’s no tutorial, (0:04:03) Jonnie: there’s no onboarding experience. The onboarding is that the game is really, really, really well designed, (0:04:08) Jonnie: and it’s just super intuitive what to do at any point in time, even though some of the stuff that you do is pretty brain-breaking. It’s amazing. It’s like, the first… (0:04:21) Jonnie: you know, like, maybe half an hour of it, and it has been an incredible half hour of gameplay. (0:04:27) Al: interesting I haven’t haven’t played I haven’t really seen any footage of it either but I did see that it’s up for a game award um so I guess it can’t be can’t be too bad (0:04:37) Jonnie: It is not too bad. In fact, I would hesitate to say it is very very good. (0:04:41) Jonnie: And I think even if it’s not the sort of thing that you know you’re super interested in, (0:04:49) Jonnie: I think there’s something in the way this game starts and onboards you that more games, (0:04:57) Jonnie: maybe even one that we’re going to talk about later today, really need to take a lesson from. (0:05:04) Al: That’s the thing we keep harping on on this podcast is you’re onboarding, your tutorial really matters and you can do good ones, you can do bad ones. I think it’s very hard to do a really well-designed game so you don’t have to explain anything to people, but I do think that sometimes people over it. (0:05:20) Jonnie: I totally agree, right? Because to me, this is a relatively simple game in terms of how you play it. (0:05:27) Jonnie: You know, in terms of the buttons you need to press on those sorts of things. (0:05:30) Jonnie: So they could get very clean with their onboarding experience. (0:05:36) Jonnie: But this is the sort of thing that should be held out there. (0:05:38) Jonnie: It’s like every game is aspiring to onboard its players in a way that’s as seamless as Cocoon. (0:05:44) Jonnie: And it’s kind of one of those ambitions that most games won’t be able to achieve, (0:05:49) Jonnie: but should still be holding out there of the sun. (0:05:50) Jonnie: This is what best looks like. (0:05:54) Al: I can’t tell you how many games I’ve fallen off of within the first half an hour, because it’s just so hard to get into games sometimes, and you just end up going like, “I just can’t be bothered learning something new. Let me go play Stardew again.” (0:06:08) Jonnie: Yep. I bet that’s the thing, right? That first half hour of your game is the most important. (0:06:13) Jonnie: Because that’s when people decide if they want to keep playing it or not. (0:06:16) Jonnie: And it’s it’s weird. Like you’ve got to make sure it’s the most fun. (0:06:19) Jonnie: And it’s it’s the biggest downfall when you play a game and you’re like, (0:06:21) Jonnie: “I’m sure there’s something fun here, but I just can’t be bothered finding it.” (0:06:25) Al: Yeah, and I guess the thing about not to go down too much a deep rabbit hole, but thinking back to Stardew. Stardew didn’t go like, “Oh, grab this tool and hit this button.” No, it says, (0:06:39) Al: “Grow some turnips,” and you have to figure out what that means. It says, “Meet some villagers,” (0:06:43) Al: and you have to figure out what that means. There’s little bits and pieces, but there’s not that kind of, “Oh, as you say, this button does that, this button does that,” right? You just (0:06:53) Jonnie: You figure it out, yeah. (0:06:55) Jonnie: So other than that, I’ve still been snapping up a storm. (0:06:58) Jonnie: Continuing to hit Infinite every season. (0:07:01) Jonnie: Did another Infinite Conquest, so I now have the Rock Avatar with the Cool Border. (0:07:08) Jonnie: And I still really, really like that game. It’s really good. (0:07:11) Jonnie: Have you been snapping at all, Al? (0:07:13) Al: I picked the game back up again yesterday, after probably like a month and a half. I’m really bad at like, you know, I struggle to kind of just go through periods of time to actually do it every day. Because I guess the thing about Snap is that it’s hard to do just like, “Oh, I’ll just play for half an hour here and then do it again in two weeks,” (0:07:34) Al: right? Because you’ve got to keep up. You don’t, like, it’s not like it’s not fun, but if you want to actually do stuff, you’ve got to keep up to date with things. (0:07:43) Al: Especially if you want to do any of the season passes, right? You’ve got to say, “Right, (0:07:46) Al: I’m going to play this month.” You know, not necessarily every day, not necessarily all the time, but I’m going to be playing at least every couple of days for this month (0:07:56) Jonnie: yeah absolutely that’s what I’ve been up to what have you been up to (0:08:01) Al: So I go back into Fall Guys again. I was always enjoying that game, especially because Craig likes to watch me play it, so that’s good fun. I go back into Coral Island just as Spirit Tea was coming out, Coral Island decided to release their 1.0 and what can I say, I really like Coral Island. I feel like Coral Island has hit that point where, for me, it’s just (0:08:31) Al: me. It is at least as good as Stardew Valley, if not better. Obviously, it’s trying to be that. It’s trying to do all of the things in the same way that Stardew was trying to be Harvest Moon, but it’s trying to do it in different ways as well. I think it’s got to the point where it’s doing enough different things that you feel like you’re not just playing just Stardew with a different skin. It also just happens to look really nice as well. (0:08:58) Jonnie: That sounds kind of amazing. I feel like Coral Island is creeping further and further up my list of games I need to try. (0:09:05) Al: Yeah, definitely. I think if people like farming sims and you want to try - if you like Stardew Valley but you’re like “maybe let’s try something different” it is a really good one to try. (0:09:20) Al: It does things really well. Everything is nice. The characters - it’s the first one a long time that I felt like I actually care about some of the characters and I’m trying to figure out which one I want to romance because there’s so many good ones and that sort of stuff and like there’s a mystery in the game that (0:09:35) Al: actually feels like it makes sense and you want to learn more about it rather than just like, “Oh, there’s a dark secret.” No, that’s, you know, it’s trying to be interesting and it’s succeeding and there’s extra bits and pieces as well on top of your standard farming sim, right? So it’s not just Stardew Valley with a different skin. I’m really enjoying it. And I started playing Sonic Frontiers and I’m probably going to stop playing for of Sonic Frontiers. (0:10:02) Al: I’d like okay (0:10:05) Al: I know you don’t like Sonic games, that’s fine, no one’s gonna try and make you, but my prob- (0:10:06) Jonnie: What? That’s never an opinion I’ve expressed. (0:10:11) Al: Not at all, never, definitely not. The problem is, right, I really, really like 2D Sonic games, (0:10:24) Al: right? I really enjoy them, but I’ve never enjoyed a 3D Sonic game. Well, I guess at an exception of generations which married. (0:10:35) Al: So I just really, I just really struggle with every single one. So it’s like, I mean, there are some things that it does really well. (0:11:05) Al: I like how it looks and I like a lot of the ideas that they’ve done. (0:11:09) Al: But my word, just the momentum is terrible and the controls are not great, just it’s not I’m not enjoying. (0:11:16) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s a shame when games have like sort of that thing that they do really well and then they keep trying to make You know, it’s kind of like they keep trying to make a fetch happen, right? (0:11:27) Jonnie: And it’s just like maybe Sonic’s are just stick to what it knows which is apparently 2d side-scrolling games like those are the ones that people seem to generally like a lot more And I don’t know why they keep trying to make three games happen (0:11:40) Al: Yeah, yeah, it’s a difficult one. I mean I guess some people must like (0:11:48) Jonnie: Uh, no, Sonic fans are just like beaten down and they keep buying it in the hopes that it will be good. (0:11:53) Al: Yeah, yeah. You’re getting at me here. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know, man. Should we go get some news? Little Lands finally has a publisher and is apparently coming (0:11:56) Jonnie: And it never is, but equally they never learn the lesson. (0:12:23) Al: mid 2024. I guess you would describe this as like a farming sim with the aesthetics of Zelda, what’s it called? Sleepy game, game where he’s asleep. Zelda, the dream of a fish. (0:12:32) Jonnie: I’ve been trying to think of the name for like the last… yeah um… Link’s Awakening, there we go. (0:12:38) Jonnie: Spoilers for a 30-year-old game. (0:12:39) Al: Link’s Awakening, that’s it. Zelda’s in the dreams of the fish. It’s funny. Look, I’m sorry. If you’ve not played that game, it’s not that big a spoiler. (0:12:54) Jonnie: I mean, the title almost gives away that ending. (0:12:58) Al: Yeah. So that’s how I would describe this game. Is that fair? Cool. (0:13:04) Jonnie: Yep. I mean, it has that aesthetic, like it looks like a fun world to run around and explore, (0:13:13) Jonnie: but I don’t get a strong sense of like, does this game actually look fun to play or not? (0:13:20) Jonnie: I don’t know, I just don’t know that I have seen enough of the gameplay to really get a strong sense of is there anything beyond just looking like Link’s Awakening? (0:13:27) Al: Yeah, that’s fair. Yeah, that’s fair. It does look a lot more kind of explorationy than I had initially thought when they, you know, because I’ve been following this since they first posted screenshots. And back then it was very much like, “Oh, this is like a life sim.” And now it’s very much like, explore a world brimming with secrets. Like it’s more than a life sim. (0:13:54) Jonnie: Yeah, from this trailer that they’ve put out, like 90% of it seems to be focused on exploration, rather than life sim. (0:14:07) Jonnie: I do not get strong life sim vibes from what they’re currently showing. (0:14:10) Al: No. It’ll be interesting to see what it actually ends up like, but I guess games can change quite a bit as you go through them, so we’ll keep an eye on it. (0:14:22) Jonnie: Yeah, I love the aesthetic. I was a big fan of how Link’s Awakening looked and had a really good time playing that, so it’s at least interesting to me. (0:14:32) Al: Yeah, I really, just as a side note, I really like what they did with the remake of Link’s Awakening. I think it was such a good balance of being the same but also being different that a lot of remakes miss, I thought. (0:14:46) Jonnie: Yeah, me too. I think anytime when you see a remake and they put the faithful remake label around it, you’re just like, “I don’t know that that’s going to be good.” (0:14:56) Jonnie: I want to see a remake that takes some lessons from how game development has matured, and I feel like Link’s Awakening is a perfect example of doing exactly that. (0:15:09) Jonnie: Also, if you want to see some wild stuff, watch Link’s Awakening speedruns. (0:15:16) Jonnie: do some crazy things in that game. (0:15:16) Al: Oh no. Speedruns just in general just stress me out with the crazy things that people do. (0:15:23) Al: Like have you seen Fall Guy speedruns? (0:15:27) Al: Oh my words. Oh my word. You need to go and Google the Lily Leapers speedrun. I’ll think a link in the show notes but there’s a Lily Leapers speedrun is absolutely insane. (0:15:28) Jonnie: No, but now I really want to do that, because I bet those are amazing. I think… yeah, the- (0:15:45) Al: like I don’t know how. (0:15:46) Al: They manage to do what they do. (0:15:49) Al: It’s just wild like this thing that normally takes like a minute and a half to do. (0:15:54) Al: They did in like 18 seconds. (0:15:56) Jonnie: incredible. is there a speedrun of the what’s the level that I hated or when it first when the game first came out there’s like that mountain that you’re running up and there’s the the goo that’s rising with you fall mountain yeah oh yeah slime climb slime climb that song yeah I want to see someone do that in a way that’s super broken so bet they can just like bounce off all the obstacles (0:16:06) Al: Oh yeah, Fall Mountain. (0:16:08) Al: Oh, Slame Claim is the one where the goo comes out. (0:16:20) Al: 26 seconds. They’re like, you know, jumping on. I do, there’s a few things. Oh, they’ve got, (0:16:28) Al: it’s a specific slime climb with like, specific obstacles that allow you to like, jump on things. (0:16:36) Al: Oh, that’s wild. And then they hit themselves over with the big yetis. Oh, that’s crazy. (0:16:41) Jonnie: I love the big eaters. (0:16:41) Al: Everything has to go, I know, everything has to go right for this exact speed run. (0:16:43) Jonnie: Those are the best speedruns where there’s that little bit of like, you know, there’s the skill and there’s that little bit of RNG and built into it as well. (0:16:56) Al: I got I’ve got to the point now where I can do slime climb every time. I never die on it now, (0:17:01) Al: but I’m not like, you know, 26 seconds fast. (0:17:05) Al: Speaking of slime, slime rancher 2, the rain or slime update 0.3 is out now. Can I just, I just, (0:17:17) Al: this I know I harp on about version numbers, right? But it’s slime rancher 2 version 0.3. (0:17:24) Al: Why are we doing this? (0:17:26) Al: Why, why, why? Just why, why? (0:17:30) Jonnie: No, I’m with you, like, it’s silly. (0:17:34) Jonnie: We need some standardisation. (0:17:37) Jonnie: One, one, I think this is why this looks right, where it’s like, (0:17:41) Jonnie: just make things clearer, right? If all games did things the same way, (0:17:45) Jonnie: what they’re trying to communicate would actually be clear. (0:17:48) Jonnie: But because everyone’s just made up random numbers, it’s not clear what this means. (0:17:53) Jonnie: So don’t even put the numbers with it, just say we are still in beta and we don’t have like interior patch notes. (0:18:00) Al: Well, this is a thing because everybody seems to name their updates as well. (0:18:03) Al: This is the “Come Rain or Slime” update. (0:18:05) Al: You don’t need to give it a number as well. (0:18:07) Jonnie: Yes, exactly, exactly. (0:18:08) Al: Like, obviously, behind the scenes, (0:18:10) Jonnie: I’m with you on this one now. (0:18:11) Al: it needs to have a number because of all the updates, blah, blah, blah, blah. (0:18:14) Al: I don’t care. That’s fine. (0:18:15) Al: Put it in, but you don’t have to call it that, right? (0:18:18) Al: Like, it literally at the top says “Come Rain or Slime, patch 0.3.0 notes.” (0:18:24) Al: You don’t need to do that. (0:18:25) Al: Just go with it. (0:18:28) Al: Also, right, minor. (0:18:30) Al: Minor major gripe, so they call this a major update, right? (0:18:35) Al: In my world, a three digit version number, a major update is the first version. (0:18:41) Al: The first number, not the second of the second number is minor. (0:18:43) Al: And the third number is patch, right? (0:18:45) Al: Get with it. We have a standard for this already. (0:18:48) Al: Semantic versioning. (0:18:49) Al: Game designers need to get back on semantic versioning. (0:18:51) Al: It is good. It works. Go with it. (0:18:54) Jonnie: I co-slime this rant. (0:18:56) Jonnie: What is the “Come Rain” or slime update actually about? (0:19:00) Jonnie: I feel like Slime Rancher is one of those things that I am. (0:19:02) Al: Oh, I don’t know. There’s weather. There’s weather in it. (0:19:06) Al: I just… (0:19:08) Jonnie: So I’m gathering that neither of us are at least Slime Rancher people, and there’s an update, and there’s stuff in it, and maybe if you like Slime Rancher you probably know, and if you don’t, it’s still not 1.0, so maybe just chill. (0:19:09) Al: So there’s new slimes and there’s a new weather system, (0:19:22) Al: and that’s about it. But also when I say new slimes, what I mean is new slimes that were in in the first game. (0:19:30) Jonnie: Oh great, so we’re back to- okay. I feel like the more I hear the less I’m interested in Slime Ranch and I was already not in a great place to be interested in Slime Ranch. (0:19:34) Al: I just… (0:19:38) Al: I have the first version of Slime Rancher on my Switch, but I haven’t played it yet. (0:19:44) Al: I like the look of the game. It looks nice, and I love all the slimes with their derpy faces on them. (0:19:52) Al: But it’s a lot to make. (0:19:57) Jonnie: Yep, yep, there’s just a lot of good that’s out there, right, and this is this is just one that for whatever reason for us is clearly not hitting. (0:20:06) Al: we go next? One lonely outpost. They have a new update. It’s not a massive update, so I don’t normally talk about small updates like this, but they have included one feature that every game needs to have. You need to have this. They have toggled running, so you don’t have to hold down the run button. You press the run button and now you’re running, and then you press it to stop running. Every game needs to have this. Please and thank you. (0:20:28) Jonnie: I thought you were talking about the fact that Roast Carrot no longer has a special effect. (0:20:32) Jonnie: But no, you’re right. The… (0:20:36) Al: What does that mean? (0:20:38) Jonnie: You just got like… (0:20:38) Al: What is the special effect that it no longer has? (0:20:42) Al: Ugh. (0:20:44) Jonnie: You’re totally right. The run being an option, or like a toggleable thing… toggleable? (0:20:54) Jonnie: Rather than holding down a button is nice. (0:20:56) Al: a toggle because I mean we’ll get on to we’ll get on to yeah the the the art style does seem still really weird compared to the initial ones they did but anyway that’s beside the point I was especially we’ll get back we’ll get on to spirit tea later but I was especially annoyed and having to hold down one button and spirit tea because it’s like such a slow movement anyway and it’s I’m so fed up. (0:21:00) Jonnie: But this game still weirds me out. I don’t know. (0:21:26) Al: Why do we have running and walking? Just give me the fastest speed that you’re willing to give me, just give me that. I don’t need anything else. I don’t need to go slow. Nobody cares. Make me go fast. (0:21:36) Jonnie: I totally agree. It feels like one of those things that’s built-in as an option, but the option doesn’t mean anything because, like, is there a benefit to walking? (0:21:46) Jonnie: No. Okay, so I will just run all of the time, which means I just have to hold down this button all of the time, which is stupid. (0:21:51) Jonnie: So like, the one thing one lonely-out-personnel needs to do is remove walking. Because why would you walk? (0:21:56) Al: Yeah, yeah. There’s a lot of other updates in this as well. We’re not going to go through them. We’ll have the link in the show notes if you want to see all those updates. Moonstone Island is coming to Switch in Spring 2024. This was one of the things that was announced in the Nindies update. (0:22:18) Jonnie: Yeah, cool. (0:22:20) Jonnie: I feel like I’ve forgotten which one Moonstone Island is in this slew of absurd games that are coming out. (0:22:27) Al: Yeah, so this one is the Creature Collection one on our series of floating sky islands. (0:22:36) Jonnie: that’s right and this is the one where that has like quite strong RPG elements from the looks of it and it just feels like every time I see this one they’ve got another thing that’s kind of like in at the moment because it’s got the card based combat now and it kind of feels like word salad of like all of the pop (0:22:52) Al: It’s like they got a tom bowler full of different things that you can describe your game as and they pulled out 10 of them. (0:23:04) Jonnie: yep yep I mean cool that it’s coming to switch I don’t know this one’s particularly high on my you know anticipation bliss (0:23:13) Al: I really like the look of it, and I think I do want to play it at some point, but yeah, (0:23:17) Al: I don’t know when. Because the problem is, right, with every game you’ve got to play, (0:23:21) Al: you’ve got to demote a different game. Like, you can’t play every game. So, it’s like, (0:23:26) Al: which game is this going to take the place of? I don’t know. Just now, I’m just going to play (0:23:32) Jonnie: That sounds amazing. I’m not mad about that. (0:23:36) Jonnie: They also have a patch for Moonstar Island. (0:23:40) Jonnie: I don’t know if there’s anything exciting in the patch notes, but they have… (0:23:42) Al: Oh yeah. There’s one thing exciting, and that’s… no. No, that wasn’t what I was going to say. (0:23:47) Jonnie: Is that they have difficulty for fishing? (0:23:51) Jonnie: I just like the idea that fishing is often… (0:23:59) Jonnie: you know, as fishing month that we did sort of show. (0:24:02) Jonnie: It’s quite divisive in terms of what people like or don’t like, or you know, the stardew valley fishing, right? (0:24:07) Jonnie: Some people really like the challenge, some people really hate it. (0:24:10) Jonnie: And so I think having the ability to scale your difficulty for that one in particular because it’s often one of the few more dexterity or skill-based things in cottagecore games I think is a really good accessibility. (0:24:24) Al: Yeah, yeah, I don’t I don’t disagree. (0:24:26) Al: That’s a good a good point. (0:24:28) Al: Now, the thing that I was really excited about is they’ve added a new gardening tool, the Boomerang. (0:24:35) Al: Who expected the Boomerang to be a gardening tool? (0:24:37) Jonnie: So wait, how do you farm using a boomerang, Al? (0:24:41) Jonnie: I really want to hate that, but I actually think that’s kind of amazing. (0:24:42) Al: So it’s for it’s for cutting down crops. (0:24:49) Jonnie: As a way of doing the, you know, “Hey, your scythe or whatever can extend in a distance.” (0:24:55) Jonnie: Actually just throw a boomerang and it will just cut them all down. (0:24:59) Jonnie: That’s a cool idea. (0:24:59) Al: Yeah. It’s great, isn’t it? I feel like maybe I feel like I need to make a joke about you being in Australia now and now liking a boomerang thing. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten with that. (0:25:09) Jonnie: Yes, I feel like you do. Go. (0:25:12) Jonnie: Listeners, make up your own joke and then present our set-up. (0:25:20) Al: My problem is that I quite often have like good ideas for jokes, but I’ve never good on the execution of them, so I just like bring up the idea I have, and then sometimes people chuckle at it and I go “Comedy!” (0:25:36) Jonnie: I mean, look, if you get a laugh, right, that’s all you need. (0:25:43) Al: It’s deconstruction of jokes, right? (0:25:45) Al: That’s what it is. (0:25:46) Jonnie: Yep, I’m just serving you the idea of a joke, not the actual joke itself. (0:25:53) Al: Still better than a lot of comedians. (0:25:57) Jonnie: I’m now just imagining a comedy club where it’s just people talking about their ideas for jokes, and like, no actual jokes. (0:26:02) Al: It’s like a, well, I’m thinking of more like an AA meeting for people who like just can’t stop thinking about ideas for jokes, but they can’t actually make them into jokes. (0:26:03) Jonnie: Like, I feel like it’s maybe just an improv workshop. (0:26:23) Al: This morning I had three ideas for jokes, but I couldn’t fully farm them. (0:26:24) Jonnie: Who’s yours? (0:26:32) Al: Oh, I mean, isn’t that basically just sketch shows, right? (0:26:34) Jonnie: No, I think sketch shows are ideas for jokes that are then badly executed. (0:26:35) Al: Sketch shows are just ideas for jokes. (0:26:44) Al: This is a boomerang. So, Spirit Tea have detailed their upcoming stuff. It’s not really a roadmap. (0:26:50) Jonnie: Alright-ish. (0:27:03) Al: It’s not as fully functioning and concrete as that, but there’s a list of things that want to change, including some bugs and stuff. (0:27:14) Al: So I’ve got a list of that in the show notes. (0:27:17) Al: There’s nothing particularly I think we need to bring up, (0:27:22) Jonnie: No, it’s all relatively… It’s very bug focused, I would say. (0:27:22) Al: but good that they’re looking into it. (0:27:25) Al: Yes, yeah, yeah. (0:27:30) Al: What’s next? Sorry, half asleep. (0:27:32) Jonnie: What or not? (0:27:32) Al: Coral Island. (0:27:34) Jonnie: What? (0:27:34) Al: No, Coral Island. (0:27:36) Jonnie: Oh yeah, we have a Carlisle other one. Sorry, I skipped that. I skipped that. (0:27:38) Al: I missed one. Come on. (0:27:41) Al: Carl Island. There are PS5 keys. (0:27:44) Al: Apparently, there was an issue getting the PS5 keys for backers on Kickstarter, so too bad. I guess you’ll get it, son. I guess we’re in the quick fire around here, so we’ve got Laudenot as well. They’ve said they’re going to donate to charity for each sale. So that’s good. Yes. And above (0:28:04) Jonnie: That’s great, and I love saying “lot or not”. “Lot or not”. It’s a very fun mouthfeel. (0:28:14) Al: snakes are now available on GOG. So if you wanted that. Now you might say, “Oh, just another sale.” Well, the good thing about GOG compared to other games shops is that they are DRM free. So you can now get the game without (0:28:35) Jonnie: And it’s always weird to see a Steam store page about advertising that you’re available for sale on another platform. (0:28:40) Al: That’s a good point, I hadn’t even noticed that. (0:28:47) Al: And finally there’s a new game that’s been announced called Little Known Galaxy. I’ll just read out the little blurb for this one. Join Space Alliance as a new captain in training and work with your crew to solve the mysteries of an ancient relic found on the grey planet. (0:29:05) Al: Little Known Galaxy is a cosy single player RPG space adventure full of friendly characters exploration, crafting, and farming. (0:29:14) Jonnie: So, this one confused me because it had similar vibes to another game that we’ve talked about on the show that I can’t remember the name of, where I think you’re like a delivery person in space. (0:29:26) Al: Oh yes, Starstruck Vagabond. (0:29:26) Jonnie: That’s the one. Yes, I couldn’t think of the name of it. (0:29:34) Jonnie: So it just feels like space is now the new thing for Cozy Games. (0:29:40) Jonnie: also it is the final frontier (0:29:40) Al: is the final frontier. There’s some stuff that takes away the fumes and deals with it. (0:29:44) Jonnie: also this person is building a fireplace in their spaceship and I don’t know how I feel about that (0:29:55) Al: Magic. Wow. Science. I think the thing about space games is that I suspect they’re really hard to do well, but there’s also a lot of potential in them if you… (0:29:56) Jonnie: okay uh… I mean it looks cool (0:30:11) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean like one of the things I am liking from what I’m seeing in the trailer for Little Known Galaxy is like rather than having seasons you just have different planets is the impression that the game is giving off, right? (0:30:25) Jonnie: Because presumably you won’t have seasons on your spaceship because you can entirely regulate the temperature and everything in there but then if you go to, you know, an ice planet or whatever you could get more varied sort of places. (0:30:41) Jonnie: where you’re doing stuff which seems kind of… (0:30:44) Al: Yeah. I feel like I suspect… I wonder whether… I mean, I’m just watching this trailer for the first time, but I wonder whether you make your ship bigger or whether it’s always the same size and you just kind of get new things to fill it with. Because there are different bits that look smaller and bigger, but maybe they’re just different parts. (0:31:06) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s kind of hard to tell. It seemed like there was sort of one main zone that they showed in the trailer where all of your automation and buildings and stuff are going, so I could see that being a space that you expand over time. (0:31:21) Jonnie: You know, it’s one of the cool things about spaceships is you can presumably just add more to it, add more space, so… (0:31:30) Al: I like the look of this. I think I like the art. (0:31:32) Jonnie: I also really like to look at this. (0:31:36) Jonnie: When I saw that it was a new game, I was a little bit like, “Really? Do we need another thing that’s doing this thing?” (0:31:43) Jonnie: And then watching the trailer, I was like, “Actually, I think I’m kind of into this. The art style’s really… it’s good without being too much the same as a Stardew Valley. (0:31:54) Jonnie: It’s definitely inspired by, but it does have its own distinct visual style. (0:31:59) Jonnie: And I think the trailer does a really good job of showing off the sorts of different places that you’ll be going in the course of this game. (0:32:06) Jonnie: And it’s very vibrant, right? It looks quite good. (0:32:10) Jonnie: And the shot that they show of the main zone looks kind of like a lot of automation-y sort of stuff, which is appealing. (0:32:18) Al: think what I really like about the art style is it feels like it’s in this sort of same style as Asnes or a Game Boy or Game Boy Advance game and that sort of thing but it doesn’t feel dated like it feels like the graphics are like if we were doing that now right like they feel a lot you know they’re higher fidelity sprites and stuff like that so it feels like I mean I still like Stardew and I I still like what it does, but… (0:32:48) Al: The sprites sometimes feel a little bit dated in them, which I know is kind of the point, (0:32:55) Al: but I like how this is doing the same feeling of that, but with modern sprites, if that makes sense. (0:33:02) Jonnie: It totally does. I think that’s a really good description of what it is. It feels like, you know, this is inspired by that statue art style, but it’s kept up with modern times where Star Trek is a little bit more of a callback to the past and it’s been replicated so many times now, it like feels tired, right? (0:33:20) Jonnie: If you see that exact style replicated in another game, you kind of just, ugh, like, it’s fine, but it’s not like a great art style that absolutely needs to be copied 100%. (0:33:31) Jonnie: like this feels like it’s (0:33:32) Jonnie: doing a modern take on that which you know also makes sense because it’s a space game so you know a more up-to-date art style definitely makes sense. (0:33:46) Al: I think it’s going to be interesting to see what they do because I suspect travel will take time and that’s why there’s lots of things to do on the ship and that’s where, you know, (0:33:55) Al: between travelling, between planets to do your RPG part of it is where you do your farming and your crafting and kind of keeping up with things and that gives you stuff to do while still having that sort of vaguely realistic travel aspect of things. (0:34:12) Jonnie: Yeah, I suspect you’re right and one of the things that I’ve seen in the in a trailer that kind of is appealing is In the center of what looks like some of the crops is a fan rather than a sprinkler and The reason that makes me excited is they just haven’t said like okay So just grow crops on your ship and it’s just traditional farming mechanics in space like no idea what the fan is doing or what purpose it serves but it just at least to me is saying hey we are we have (0:34:42) Jonnie: about what it is that we are doing in our own location and it’s not just a direct copy and paste of the mechanics you’ve seen in every other game but space I have no idea but that’s just yeah (0:34:52) Al: What are those doing? That’s interesting. Yeah, there’s lots of other bits and pieces like there’s clearly a bit that is where you’re generating water. There’s some different looking trees. You’ve got a little robot that’s been going around. There’s some interesting looking chests. There’s greenhouses within this area as well, which presumably means that you can set greenhouses to like specific temperates stuff like that (0:35:22) Jonnie: Yeah, the whole thing just looks really well thought out, so I’m excited to learn more about this. (0:35:28) Al: Yeah, yeah, it definitely doesn’t feel like farming is kind of bolted on. It feels like they’ve thought a lot about that, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that goes. (0:35:35) Al: All right. (0:35:35) Jonnie: And they don’t have anything in terms of release date do they? Sorry, just… (0:35:37) Al: Uh, that’s a good question. They’ve said coming soon. (0:35:39) Jonnie: I haven’t s- (0:35:44) Jonnie: So, coming soon, so stay tuned to future episodes for more updates, ‘cause I will have them when they come. (0:35:52) Al: Yep. And they’ve said they’re coming on Windows and Mac. So Cody will be happy. Just check their website to see if there’s anything. They don’t have a website. Right. Moving on then. That’s the news. (0:36:04) Jonnie: Woo-hoo! (0:36:05) Al: So we’re going to talk about Spirit Tea. So I guess quick intro. So this is a game. (0:36:17) Al: They describe it as stardew crossed with spirited away. And. (0:36:22) Al: The the overall idea is you are you’ve moved into a town as you do. You’re always moving somewhere and you have you drink some special tea called the spirit tea. And this allows you to see spirits that are caught in your world and the spirits basically tell you that you have to run the bathhouse, the old bathhouse, which is a spirit bathhouse, which for some reason you can see the the spirits in the bathhouse but we’ll get to that. (0:36:52) Al: So that’s the game, you’re running this bathhouse, the spirits come in and you make sure that they’re happy in the bathhouse. (0:37:00) Al: And that’s how you make the money. (0:37:02) Al: And there’s lots of other things around expanding things and blah blah blah blah blah. (0:37:07) Al: But that’s kind of like the main, it’s not farming game, it is our bathhouse running. (0:37:15) Jonnie: I was wondering, because this was announced a long time ago I feel, right? (0:37:20) Jonnie: Was this one of the first games that was sort of like talked about from a news perspective on the harvest season? Because it’s one of the first ones I sort of was- when I went to play it I was like “Man, I remember this being announced years ago!” So I was just curious if this was- if you remember if this was one of the first games that was sort of talked about from a news perspective. (0:37:42) Al: I do not remember, but I am currently searching because I have everything so I can search. (0:37:48) Al: The first time we talked about it was in June 2022. (0:37:54) Jonnie: What? My timeline is totally messed up, then. (0:37:56) Al: Covid broke us all. (0:37:58) Jonnie: Right. (0:38:00) Al: Sorry. (0:38:02) Al: Sorry. (0:38:02) Jonnie: Anyway, now that I’ve taken this totally off track… (0:38:06) Jonnie: Before we talk too much about the detail of the game, where are you at? (0:38:14) Jonnie: Are you thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, thumbs to be determined? (0:38:19) Al: So, I think this is a really - so there are some issues with this game, obviously, every game has some bugs and some issues, blah, blah, blah - but I think overall, I think this is a really nice game if it catches you. (0:38:35) Al: Now, I don’t think it’s the sort of thing that’s going to grab me, like Stardew Valley did, like Coral Island did, like Summer in Mara did, like some other games have. (0:38:49) Al: But I don’t think that’s a - I mean, ignoring, like we’ll talk about the onboarding because obviously we have some stuff to talk about that. (0:38:58) Al: But I think other than that, I don’t think there’s like a fundamental “this is why I’m not jiving with this game as much as I normally would.” (0:39:07) Al: I don’t know whether it’s, you know, maybe I’m being unfair to it because I’m playing Coral Island just now as well and that’s kind of where I’m, you know, my brain is wanting me to go so maybe that’s part of it. (0:39:19) Al: And I’m just going, “Oh, I just want to be playing ‘Coddle Island’ just now.” (0:39:21) Al: But, yeah, there’s something about the gameplay loop of the bathhouse that I’m not finding hugely satisfying. (0:39:30) Al: But I wouldn’t be surprised if that was our personal preference thing rather than a game design issue. (0:39:38) Jonnie: Yeah it does because I think I feel fairly similarly to you, but not in a- sometimes you play a game and you’re really just ready to go like thumbs down. I don’t think there’s much, (0:39:49) Jonnie: you know, good about this game and I wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s not where I’m at with Spirity. I just don’t feel like it’s a game for me, but I can totally see there being people that are like “no this is absolutely the game for me” and I really enjoy it, so I think I’m right there (0:40:06) Al: Yeah, I think because it has that repetitive nature, which is enjoyable for these games, (0:40:16) Al: but it also has it where you’ve got your upgrades for your bathhouse, so you’re slowly expanding things, so it still manages to have that lit that a lot of farming games have that’s quite satisfying. (0:40:27) Al: It also has a slight exploration thing in that you are constantly having to find new spirits, (0:40:34) Al: and there’s it’s (0:40:36) Al: kind of puzzle-y but not really difficult puzzles right but you get like a little bit like oh here’s a thing here’s a hint towards how you do and then you go to a place that the hint tells you to basically and then you find a spirit and and that that kind of is another different aspect to it that I think could lead to slightly longer term i’m enjoying this because i’m you know slowly building up the list of spirits that i’ve found that also then adds more complexity to the bath path hosted in and of itself. (0:41:05) Jonnie: Yeah, and one of the things I wonder is the nature of the game and being, you know, running a bathhouse and running the bathhouse requires effort and consistent effort, I guess at least in the early game. (0:41:21) Jonnie: I wonder if part of the reason it’s not grabbing me is because it didn’t feel like there’s a lot of choice, you know. (0:41:28) Jonnie: Where you talked about Stardew fairly earlier, where they, you know, you don’t have to do anything but ostensibly you’re picked up the game. (0:41:35) Jonnie: Because you want to run a farm. And the thing is to grow some parsnips, right? And that doesn’t take your full day to do, you just plant them and water them and then you can work out what else you want to do with the day. (0:41:49) Jonnie: But it felt like I was very locked into, right, spend my full day at the bathhouse, running the bathhouse. (0:41:56) Al: Yeah, that’s that’s very fair. Yeah, because that’s that’s one of the things that as you say, certainly many of us on this podcast have really loved about games like Stardew. And I think Coral Island is the same where there’s so much variation in different things you can do. And there’s very little you need to do. And I really like that. But yeah, what is this is like, you have to run the bathrooms, like that’s the game. It’s a it’s a one. It’s a one, you know, I wrote down on the I always on the show notes, I always write down the list of mechanics that we’re going to talk about. And there’s there’s three things there. One of which is the bathhouse. One of which is spirit view, which we’ll talk about later, because that’s that’s that’s where you’re finding the other spirits, right? So it’s like a different thing to the bathhouse. And then I put lol fishing, because for some reason, this game has fishing and I’ve not even tried it because I’m not I’m not doing that. I don’t I don’t want to play fishing, please. And thank you. And I think that’s basically it, right? (0:42:56) Al: - There isn’t another mechanic. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, like simple games can work really well. And I know a lot of people’s problems with Stardew Valley is I don’t know what to do this too much. And this doesn’t have that issue. It is here is the thing, go and do this thing. But certainly that’s we are not those people, we love Stardew and other games like it because of the choice (0:43:22) Jonnie: Yeah, because I think my sort of takeaway with the bathhouse is like, “Oh, this is cool,” and maybe we should talk a little more in detail about sort of what the bathhouse is, but my feeling was probably more that, like, in a game with more optionality, I would have gone away and found some other way to make money so I could skip through a few of the things that I didn’t love about how I thought the bathhouse was set up, right? So I could buy some of those early upgrades through another means, but that doesn’t really (0:43:50) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that’s totally fair. (0:43:54) Al: Yeah, let’s talk about the bathhouse mechanics then. (0:43:56) Al: So the idea is you have these spirits, (0:44:01) Al: and they come in various different forms, (0:44:05) Al: and you start off with two of them, (0:44:07) Al: and then you add them on, and blah, blah, blah. (0:44:09) Al: The idea is you have, (0:44:11) Al: so there’s a few different things you need to do in the bathhouse. (0:44:13) Al: First of all is you need to have towels. (0:44:15) Al: So you need to get clean towels, clean and dry towels, (0:44:18) Al: and then you put them at the front. (0:44:20) Al: The spirit will then grab a towel, (0:44:21) Al: and you can then take that spirit to a place in the bathhouse. (0:44:25) Al: And you have, you start out with one bath, (0:44:27) Al: and you can slowly add more baths. (0:44:29) Al: And your job is to decide on places for the spirits to go where they have preferences on who they’re sitting next to, (0:44:39) Al: and you have to make sure that you can lay it out in an efficient way to have the most number of spirits in there as possible, therefore making the most money. (0:44:50) Al: On top of that, you have to then obviously keep washing and drying the towels, (0:44:54) Al: and you have to keep the fire in the basement lit for both heating the water and drying the towels. (0:45:02) Al: Is that a fair description of the mechanics of this? (0:45:04) Jonnie: Yeah, I think so. There’s not too much to be like, so when you’re chopping the log to fuel the fire or washing the towels, it’s usually just like a, you know, hold A to complete the activity sort of minigames, there’s nothing particularly, you know, there’s no additional aspect to those, you’re kind of just completing the task. (0:45:29) Al: Yes, the challenge in the Bathhouse is not any of the minigames it’s in. It’s an organisational game. (0:45:38) Al: You have to figure out the way to be most efficient to make the most money and to not make your spirits upset. (0:45:46) Jonnie: Yes, and one of the things they do tell you very early on is that it will require trial and error to work out what your spirits do and don’t like, and they kind of guide you that the two spirits you start with don’t like to sit next to each other, which I think is kind of handy because you kind of know to start separating them. (0:46:08) Jonnie: And then one of the things I think I found is that, because I was just lining up, you red spirits on the left and blue spirits on the right, or… I think they’re red. (0:46:16) Jonnie: red and blue. And then I think I got too many red spirits all in a line and the ones in the middle started to get less happy. (0:46:23) Jonnie: So there was clearly some like, you know, it’s not just who do you like sitting next to games, but there’s some bigger context clues going on. (0:46:30) Jonnie: Bye. (0:46:32) Al: Yeah. Yeah. So I think that’s probably the main thrust of why I’m not a huge fan is like in my repetitive mechanical nature of a cottagecore game, I’m personally not looking for puzzles. (0:46:59) Al: Right? (0:47:00) Al: Like, I don’t… (0:47:02) Al: This is why I like farming so much. It’s like, this is what you do and if you do the same thing every time it will work the same way and you don’t have to like, you know, (0:47:11) Al: your seed tells you when it likes to be and you know that it needs water. Right? These things are very clear. I like to know how this works. I like to have the clear rules and I’m not a huge fan of kind of trying to figure these things out. That’s definitely a me thing. I can imagine, like, lots of people love puzzle games so I suspect if you love (0:47:32) Al: puzzle games and you love puzzle games, that might be where this game is leading to. That might be the kind of person that’s looking to this game. (0:47:40) Jonnie: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and I think I’m probably more similar to you, because one of the things I was kind of looking for was like which of these spirits should I prioritize, right? (0:47:52) Jonnie: Like red spirits may be easier to keep happy but provide this money and blue spirits are, you know, more valuable but maybe they’re harder to keep happy or, you know, what’s the balance so I can make a choice, right? (0:48:06) Jonnie: I want the puzzle when I play a life-some game. I want the puzzle to be in (0:48:10) Jonnie: making the choice. Do I want to buy the crop that grows in four days and is less profitable, (0:48:15) Jonnie: or do I want the one that grows in 20 days but has a much wider profit margin, (0:48:20) Jonnie: or do I want the thing that recurs over the course of the month? Those sorts of decisions are easier because the outcome is deterministic and the pace that these games move at, (0:48:31) Jonnie: you kind of need that, right? Because if you got to the end of summer and you found that you’ve made all of the wrong choices based on what you want to do and now you have to wait, you know, (0:48:40) Jonnie: time before you get back to summer to be able to do those things again, that would be very frustrating. And that’s where I think some of my lack of enjoyment came from when I was playing, (0:48:50) Jonnie: is just the outcomes of what I was doing wasn’t particular. (0:48:56) Al: Um, Johnny, are you racially profiling the spirits? (0:49:00) Al: I mean, it is an interesting thing, right? Because one of the things that they tell you, (0:49:00) Jonnie: Ah, yes. (0:49:06) Jonnie: And this will be my last episode on THS. (0:49:08) Jonnie: I look forward to being cancelled. (0:49:15) Al: your lovely floating cat on a donut, I think, whatever, one of the things he tells you is that (0:49:25) Al: You don’t have to ex– (0:49:26) Al: Except any of the spirits, right? If a spirit comes in and grabs a towel, you can take the towel and put it back at the door and the spirit will go away. Which, I mean, is obviously an important part of the puzzle aspect of things, otherwise you’re like, you could get in a situation where you can’t solve anything, and sometimes the solution is telling this one to go away. (0:49:46) Al: But just when you make them, like, essentially dead people, it becomes a little bit awkward in terms of like, I’m just gonna tell you to- (0:49:56) Al: go away now please, don’t come. I don’t want you. Because it’s like, especially one of the things that he says about turning them away is like, he says something along the lines of, if you think they’ll like, you know, cause problems or there’s some- like, I can’t remember the exact word, but like basically have a negative effect on your bath house. (0:50:14) Al: So it’s like you’re being a bouncer in the bath house, right? Which just seems a little bit- I don’t know. (0:50:21) Jonnie: Yeah, it feels very uncomfortable, and this one seems like, “I would never want to do that.” (0:50:27) Jonnie: The whole point of the game of running a bathhouse is meant to be like, (0:50:30) Jonnie: “I want the spirits to come and use my bathhouse,” and I get the puzzle aspect of being like, (0:50:35) Jonnie: “Oh, you might want to turn this one away, because you’ve got nowhere for them to go,” (0:50:38) Jonnie: but that’s just not a feel-good moment, right? (0:50:41) Jonnie: It’s… (0:50:42) Al: social anxiety the game but I mean this is the thing we just we keep that all the points that we’re bringing up are very much like yeah this is not for me but I can absolutely see why people would like that right like what makes any particular aspect of life more or less real you know something that is legitimate for a game and just you know just because we are not a huge fan of that doesn’t mean that someone else will- (0:50:43) Jonnie: Right? (0:51:12) Jonnie: Yeah, and just on the bathhouse and sort of I think what I Wasn’t grabbed by immediately is the was when you take over the bathhouse It’s obviously very run down you’ve only got one pool as I’ll mentioned and it’s kind of dirty or Sort of cluttered everywhere and it’s yeah seems clearly designed to that’s what you’re supposed to level up and make the bathhouse look nice and there was something that sort of was (0:51:42) Jonnie: Kind of like of my brain that was kind of like but this is where I want to just kind of come in Having earned a bit of money doing something else and just get a few upgrades. So at least it looks Visually appealing because the starting bathhouse does not grab me Which I had a real problem with (0:51:54) Al: Yeah. (0:51:56) Al: There’s like tree roots everywhere. (0:52:00) Al: There’s dirt and dust and I just want to clean it up. (0:52:04) Al: Let me do that. Yeah. (0:52:06) Jonnie: Yeah, even if it was like, you know, it started a little bit worse than what they presented and one of the things you do at the start is just like, tidy it a little bit. (0:52:14) Jonnie: I think that would have helped me cross a hurdle, but it just looked so messy and I was like, no no, my character would just tidy this place up for like, a week before we even let anybody out. (0:52:23) Al: Yeah, because you don’t - this is the th

Al talks about Sprout Valley Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:48: What Have We Been Up To 00:21:54: News 00:44:42: Sprout Valley 01:09:13: Outro Links Disney Dreamlight Valley Enchanted Adventure Update Above Snakes 1.3.0 Update APICO 3.0 Update Everdream Valley Roadmap Coral Island Charity DLC 2 Moonstone Island Collectors Edition Spirittea Dev Update Ooblets Plushes Eastward Octopia Japanese Rural Life Simulator Sprout Valley on Steam Sprout Valley on Switch Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.000 –> 00:26.700] This video is made using the [00:30.400 –> 00:37.840] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al. I’m Kevin [00:37.840 –> 00:45.280] and we are here today to talk about cottagecore games. Before we get into it, [00:45.280 –> 00:50.280] transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website. Get them if you want them. [00:50.280 –> 00:59.400] Kevin, how you doing? Yeah, I’m doing okay. Well, I mean, this is probably where, [00:59.400 –> 01:05.140] where we mentioned that we had just recorded a greenhouse episode before this. So if this is [01:05.140 –> 01:10.000] low energy, that was much longer than we were. I was like, this is going to be like a 20 minute [01:10.000 –> 01:14.960] episode. And then 20 minutes, 20 minutes in, we were just stopping talking about Spiderman. [01:14.960 –> 01:23.040] Yeah, there’s some real dumb stuff in that greenhouse. But that’s okay, I’m hyping myself, [01:23.040 –> 01:27.680] I’m bringing plenty of dumb stuff to this podcast episode recording too. [01:27.680 –> 01:32.720] All right, so in this episode, I am going to talk about Sprout Valley because I have [01:32.720 –> 01:36.440] been playing that and presumably Kevin will have some dumb questions for me. [01:36.440 –> 01:37.760] Yeah, I will. [01:37.760 –> 01:43.520] Yeah, so we’re gonna talk about that and there’s a whole bunch of news. Most of [01:43.560 –> 01:47.640] reasonably small pieces of news, but there’s some chunky stuff as well. We’ll get into that. [01:47.640 –> 01:50.760] But first of all, Kevin, what have you been up to? [01:50.760 –> 01:58.520] Oh, okay. Actually, nothing too interesting this week. The usual. Snap is good. Tears [01:58.520 –> 02:05.200] of the Kingdom is good. Oh, I beat the end of the Koga arc. I love Koga. He’s probably [02:05.200 –> 02:06.320] my favorite character in that game. [02:06.320 –> 02:10.880] That is a really good arc in Tears of the Kingdom. I did that before I did like any [02:10.960 –> 02:15.400] of the other big story things because it was, I was fun just to like follow him around there. [02:15.400 –> 02:20.680] Yes, it was. I happened to run into him before I even got a horse. [02:20.680 –> 02:24.880] Who needs a horse in this game? Come on. [02:24.880 –> 02:31.520] Yeah, you’re right. The one thing that I do love about the whole Koga thing, [02:31.520 –> 02:37.360] I think an absolute stroke of genius. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, [02:37.480 –> 02:42.360] they’d already been thinking about Tears of the Kingdom back then, but the fact that they [02:42.360 –> 02:47.400] turned the ending of Koga where he falls into the hole and just tie it into his new story. [02:47.400 –> 02:55.680] Oh, that was genius. Oh, it was beautiful. But yeah, Eagle Clan, it’s really fun. I love it. [02:55.680 –> 03:04.280] Master Koga is great. Aside from that, the only thing of some note is I’ve hit year five in [03:05.280 –> 03:14.280] Story of Seasons A Wonderful Life. You only have six years before you hit credits. [03:14.280 –> 03:20.960] Yes. Well, the main credits. There are other credits. Don’t forget about the other credits. [03:20.960 –> 03:25.840] Yeah. I mean, I already hit credits because you just say not the beginning. [03:25.840 –> 03:31.000] That’s the first credits. You’ve got to do that before you do anything else if you’re [03:31.000 –> 03:36.240] going to hit everything. Yeah, I already did that. So I’m going to hit the credits again. [03:36.240 –> 03:40.640] I love that they kept that in the game, by the way. They could have easily removed that. [03:40.640 –> 03:48.160] But no, they kept it in. It’s good fun. Yeah, it’s great. So the only, I mean, [03:48.160 –> 03:53.920] my kid’s now like an adult roughly the age you were when the game started, which is interesting [03:53.920 –> 04:00.000] to see. I’m going through faux parenthood here and it’s weird. I mean, parenthood is weird. [04:01.000 –> 04:05.880] Well, yes, but I’m genuinely worrying if my kid’s going to want to inherit my farm or not. [04:08.280 –> 04:20.520] Anyways, the one super notable thing that they do something just brutal to you. So I can’t [04:20.520 –> 04:25.960] remember if it’s year four or year four. No, in year four, all the character’s hair starts to [04:26.080 –> 04:31.480] gray. Like you start seeing everyone starts getting the salt and pepper gray hairs in there. [04:31.480 –> 04:39.760] Year five, you’re getting older, so they take away permanently an amount of your stamina. Your [04:39.760 –> 04:47.360] stamina bar goes down like a good chunk, too, because you are getting up in your years. You [04:47.360 –> 04:54.160] can’t take it anymore. Oh, that’s it’s getting too real. But yeah, so hopefully soon I’ll actually [04:54.200 –> 04:59.400] be able to hit credits of this game for once and I can report back on it. Although I don’t think [04:59.400 –> 05:05.360] anything will ever top what I did for that episode. But that’s that’s all I’ve been up to. Oh, what [05:05.360 –> 05:10.040] about you? What’s going on? I obviously have been playing Spirit Valley the last wee while. [05:10.040 –> 05:24.080] And I’ve also been playing Hades. That’s a good game. Kind of. Yeah, it is. Look, I mean, [05:24.080 –> 05:30.960] I’m going to do a proper discussion with this later. Probably for a greenhouse episode with [05:30.960 –> 05:38.280] someone else. But like, I mean, my overall thoughts are probably going to be the same as [05:38.320 –> 05:44.960] most roguelites, which is I like the combat. I like the primary loop. And I hate everything [05:44.960 –> 05:51.960] else about the game. Well, hold on. What do you mean everything else? Because like, characters [05:51.960 –> 05:56.800] are really good. Okay, the character stuff is fine, right? Like, but it’s not. I mean, [05:56.800 –> 06:08.440] it’s weird in like, the story. It’s not a story. It’s more just like snippets from to [06:08.440 –> 06:16.480] this world building, right? Like there isn’t a story as such, as there is snippets of characters [06:16.480 –> 06:24.600] and kind of giving you some backstory and stuff like that. But there’s no like the story is you [06:24.600 –> 06:30.400] escaping. Right? Like, that’s the story. And there’s nothing really to tell about that. So [06:30.400 –> 06:36.320] they spend the rest of the time giving you these little, little bits and pieces as you go from [06:36.320 –> 06:44.680] different people. Okay, fine. I don’t dislike that. But how do you think you’re going to stick [06:44.680 –> 06:48.680] with it? Because I can comment on something here. But if you’re going to stick with it, [06:48.680 –> 06:54.680] I won’t comment on probably going to stick with it. Okay. All right, then. Well, well, [06:54.680 –> 07:01.280] I got so close to beating the first boss the other day, so close, frustratingly close. And [07:01.280 –> 07:07.800] the thing that I really dislike about it is like, all of the things that I did, essentially [07:07.800 –> 07:13.040] disappear, right? Sure. Fine. There’s stuff you get that can build up other things later on, [07:13.040 –> 07:16.920] right? Fine. But the problem is, if you don’t get a huge amount of that each run, [07:16.920 –> 07:22.440] it just feels like so demoralizing to go like, I was so close, because of these specific power [07:22.440 –> 07:27.360] ups I got on this specific run. And the chances of me getting all those power ups again, very, [07:27.360 –> 07:34.040] very slim. It’s just that I just don’t find that fun. Okay. I mean, all right. Yeah, no, I mean, [07:34.040 –> 07:39.760] that’s, that’s your prerogative. You know, that’s subjective. That’s can’t argue. Absolutely. It’s [07:39.760 –> 07:45.800] definitely subjective. And like, I, you know, I know that I know the reason why people like [07:45.800 –> 07:48.880] these games. And I know the reason that this game is why it is, but that doesn’t mean that [07:48.880 –> 07:57.280] I have to enjoy that. You know, I think that still, we’ve still, despite the number of rogue [07:57.280 –> 08:02.120] lights that I’ve played, still the only one that I actively enjoyed playing was Cult of the Lamb. [08:02.120 –> 08:13.480] Okay, it’s, see, that’s interesting, because Cult of the Lamb, very, well, at least gameplay combat [08:13.480 –> 08:18.360] wise, that the stuff we’re talking about where the stuff doesn’t matter when you die, that feels [08:18.360 –> 08:28.000] very, Cult of the Lamb feels very Hades-lite in that sense. But the kicker is, Cult of the Lamb [08:28.000 –> 08:33.880] runs take what, five minutes? A Hades run can last you a half hour. Exactly. So this is the thing, [08:33.880 –> 08:40.080] this is the difference for me, right? So Hades, yeah, sure, you have some kind of small base [08:40.080 –> 08:44.600] building, right, in your home, right? But it’s not really, right? It’s basically the place that [08:44.600 –> 08:50.520] you go to after you fail, to get ready to go and fail again, right? Whereas the point in Cult of, [08:50.520 –> 08:54.920] because the point of Hades is get to the end of the course, right? The point- Have you unlocked [08:54.920 –> 08:58.680] the mirror? Let me ask you that. Yes, I have unlocked the mirror. Okay, I’m just making sure. [08:58.680 –> 09:02.360] You get that really early. I don’t remember, so that’s a mess. I think you get, I think it tells [09:02.360 –> 09:06.560] you to use it, like, immediately after your first death. Okay, because that mirror makes a [09:06.560 –> 09:09.440] difference. It does, you know, it absolutely does. And I’m not saying that it doesn’t build [09:09.440 –> 09:13.680] anything up. There is obviously that building up of the stuff that you do, but I feel like [09:13.680 –> 09:19.440] this power-ups you get when you’re out on the run are just so much more powerful than any of the [09:19.440 –> 09:24.980] stuff that you’re building up in the base. But anyway, the reason why I think the Cult of the [09:24.980 –> 09:30.440] Lamb is different and why I enjoy it is the point of Cult of the Lamb is your base. That’s the point, [09:30.440 –> 09:36.240] right? And you go out on runs to gather resources, and if you fail on gathering resources, you just [09:36.240 –> 09:42.400] don’t get more resources. Yeah. And you can just try again. Okay. Whereas the point of Hades is [09:42.400 –> 09:46.400] getting to the end of the course, and if you don’t get to the end of the course, you’ve failed. Yeah, [09:46.400 –> 09:51.800] all right, that’s fair. That’s the difference, I find. Okay, yeah, that’s a very good point, [09:51.800 –> 09:59.640] and you’re right, because, yeah, the Cult of the Lamb, the base is half the game, absolutely. I’d [09:59.640 –> 10:07.000] say it’s more than half the game. Well, maybe. I guess it depends how you define half the game, [10:07.000 –> 10:10.600] right? Because different people will play different ways. So if you’re thinking in terms [10:10.600 –> 10:17.200] of like amount of time played, then it depends on how you play. I went out on runs when I needed to [10:17.200 –> 10:23.080] to get stuff, right? But I much more enjoyed being on the base. Anyway, so that’s my Hades. I’ll talk [10:23.080 –> 10:28.520] more about it in the future. I’m not going to immediately stop playing it, but I’m not playing [10:28.520 –> 10:35.000] it right now, because all my game time is currently taken up by the Scarlet and Violet [10:35.000 –> 10:44.360] Pokemon DLC. So I, okay, I have not played it. I have seen things about it, like I’ve seen the [10:44.360 –> 10:51.000] things I care about, and I’ll probably get it at some point, but the consensus I’m hearing is that [10:51.000 –> 10:56.480] it is more Scarlet and Violet. So I think it depends on what you think about that. So like, [10:57.440 –> 11:00.800] this is the thing is like, people are like, is it better? And it’s like, it depends what you mean [11:00.800 –> 11:04.640] by that. If you mean, have they fixed the performance issues? No, of course they’ve not. [11:04.640 –> 11:09.800] They were never going to do that. I said that 10 months ago, they were never going to fix these [11:09.800 –> 11:15.000] performance issues, right? They made things better over time. It is definitely a better game now than [11:15.000 –> 11:20.320] it was at release. A hundred percent, there are improvements in the performance, but to say that [11:20.320 –> 11:25.080] they would be gone, they’ve definitely still improved, right? They’re not perfect, but they’re [11:25.080 –> 11:30.840] definitely better than they were. I used to get stuck in the menus every single raid. That never [11:30.840 –> 11:37.040] happens for me now. Now I’m not saying they’re perfect, but it has definitely improved. I’m not [11:37.040 –> 11:41.880] saying it doesn’t happen at all. What I’m saying is it has improved. It is definitely better than [11:41.880 –> 11:47.320] it was. So this is the thing is like, I need to know what people are expecting out of the question [11:47.320 –> 11:53.520] to give them an answer. So if your question is, have they made the game perfect? Then obviously [11:53.520 –> 11:57.080] the answer is no. If the question is, have they made the performance better? The answer is not [11:57.080 –> 12:04.600] really no. Not since the last update. And that’s such a loaded question, right? And you say that [12:04.600 –> 12:09.360] knowing it’s a loaded question, right? Because I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had in this game [12:09.360 –> 12:13.040] because it’s a lot, right? Like I wouldn’t put the amount of time into this game if I wasn’t actually [12:13.040 –> 12:18.800] enjoying myself. Are you sure? Absolutely. And I’m not trying to tell anybody that they should be [12:18.800 –> 12:27.720] enjoying this game, but fun means different things for different people. I’ve put a lot of game time into that new Animal Crossing. What I would say is there are, I don’t think there are [12:27.720 –> 12:31.880] more trainers in this area than there were in the last one, which I know is one of your kind of like, [12:31.880 –> 12:36.240] there aren’t more people in the, in the area than there were in the last one, which I know is one [12:36.240 –> 12:40.400] of your issues. It’s not the only issue I know, but that is certainly one issue that I don’t think [12:40.400 –> 12:47.640] has been addressed. There is, it still feels empty of people. What I will say is that I think, and [12:47.680 –> 12:55.320] this is my personal opinion, I think this area compared to Paldea, I think Kitakami is a better [12:55.320 –> 13:03.920] designed area and it feels as a whole more filled out. I feel like there are, there are very, [13:03.920 –> 13:10.040] there’s not really any areas where you look and you go, there’s nothing here at all. Okay. There [13:10.040 –> 13:16.760] are more landmarks per square mile, I think. Okay. I think that’s already an improvement. Yeah. The [13:16.760 –> 13:22.720] storyline is, I think, so probably on par with the storylines in the, in the main one. I mean, [13:22.720 –> 13:28.520] I mean, that’s just Pokemon. This is the thing, right? I think, I think that we generally agreed [13:28.520 –> 13:32.840] that the stories were better than previous games, right? Cause it’s not just like, Oh, [13:32.840 –> 13:39.080] the end of the world and Oh no, we’ve saved the world. I don’t, I mean, that’s not my opinion. [13:39.080 –> 13:46.520] Okay. Lots of people have, prefer the stories in Scarlet and Violet to some previous stories [13:46.520 –> 13:52.880] because they’re more personal. And I think that has continued. So yes. So in terms of like story, [13:52.880 –> 13:58.480] I think it continues to be more Scarlet and Violet in terms of lack of people, it continues to be [13:58.480 –> 14:06.080] a story in Scarlet and Violet in terms of how the world feels personally, I feel like it has improved [14:06.080 –> 14:11.780] in terms of how the game plays. It is the same because it’s still the same game. Obviously they [14:11.780 –> 14:16.500] have not massively improved performance. The boxes are a bit better, but they’re still not [14:16.500 –> 14:22.940] amazing. Um, and obviously they have not changed how the movement across the world works, which is [14:22.940 –> 14:30.820] obviously in my opinion, it’s biggest problem. One of them. Yes, absolutely. Okay. Here’s a [14:30.820 –> 14:38.380] question that I think can be somewhat objectively measured. Are there things to do? And it sounds, [14:38.540 –> 14:43.780] it’s a very broad, dumb way of saying, but like in Scarlet and Violet, once you’ve caught all the [14:43.780 –> 14:49.900] Pokemon, you, there isn’t that much left to, you know, clear the stories, caught all, filled your [14:49.900 –> 14:56.020] decks. There’s not much left to do. It’s raids, right? That’s what they want you to do is raids. [14:56.020 –> 15:01.500] Yes. Um, I don’t know, cause I’ve not got that far and I’ve not really been Googling for things. [15:01.500 –> 15:10.820] So I’m, I’m in the midst of the story. All right. Well, that’s fine. Um, okay. I’ll update you on [15:10.820 –> 15:16.980] that when I get further. Um, but yeah, I mean, I really, I, and I like some of the new areas in, [15:16.980 –> 15:25.220] in this are really nicely designed areas I feel, um, uh, which is, is fun. Um, but yeah, I mean, [15:25.220 –> 15:30.860] you know, if you absolutely hated Scarlet and Violet, obviously don’t buy this, right? Like [15:30.900 –> 15:36.580] it just depends on what aspects you didn’t like and which aspects you do. And for me, I just, [15:36.580 –> 15:42.500] I like playing the game. I like catching the Pokemon, you know, obviously cause that’s like, [15:42.500 –> 15:48.460] you have to like catching the Pokemon to, you know, play a professional challenge. Um, I like, [15:48.460 –> 15:54.180] yeah, I like lots of aspects of this game. I definitely want it to be better, but yes, [15:54.180 –> 15:59.580] it is more of that, but I liked that in the first place. Okay. [15:59.580 –> 16:12.260] All right. I, I, yeah. Okay. I get the gist of it. Um, it kills me. It absolutely kills me that [16:12.260 –> 16:21.380] I will probably get this largely because of one new thing that I, I mean, I won’t know, [16:21.380 –> 16:26.060] don’t know what you know, or I usually leaks guys. You probably know, but the listeners don’t know. [16:26.060 –> 16:31.820] As I said with the original, the base Scarlet Violet, Pokemon is good at Pokemon. That whole [16:31.820 –> 16:37.260] Dex, I like those Pokemon. I like seeing them. And all of the new Pokemon I like as well. Yeah, [16:37.260 –> 16:42.440] I do too. I don’t think all of them are some of the best, but I think some of them are some of [16:42.440 –> 16:48.060] the best they’ve done. Sure. They’re enjoyable. And it kills me. It kills me that I want, [16:48.060 –> 16:54.860] the only reason I want the DLC is to see those new Pokemon. Yeah. You can always try trading [16:54.860 –> 17:00.500] because you can get them in the base. I like, I know I can’t, but just, and that’s, and this is [17:00.500 –> 17:05.420] the thing, this is what I actually like how they’ve done DLC, both with sword and shield and [17:05.420 –> 17:09.420] Scarlet and violet. They don’t make you buy it to get the new Pokemon. Yeah. It’s not right. You [17:09.420 –> 17:13.180] have to, you have to buy it if you want to get them yourself, but you can always trade for them. [17:13.180 –> 17:20.180] And, you know, in my experience, you put up any shiny Pokemon on the GTS asking for any legendary [17:20.260 –> 17:25.700] and you will get that legendary, right? You can get any Pokemon if you have a good selection of [17:25.700 –> 17:32.380] spare shinies. Right. It’s, it’s so easy, um, to do like, like even, uh, Oh, what’s it called? [17:32.380 –> 17:39.540] What’s the one from legends? Uh, the, the genie, the, the, the, Oh, an amorous or whatever. Yeah. [17:39.540 –> 17:43.820] And amorous, even an amorous, I’ve had multiple and amorous just from random shiny. That’s nuts. [17:43.820 –> 17:49.340] You know, like people will trade anything for shiny Pokemon. Dang. I mean, legends is a great [17:49.340 –> 17:55.220] game and all, but that’s, that’s a track to getting an amorous. Um, Oh, wow. I will give [17:55.220 –> 18:02.140] props to the DLC for, Oh, okay. Here’s a big question. And so one of the biggest selling [18:02.140 –> 18:09.500] points for me as a Scarlet player, especially I can get out of those hideous orange shorts. Um, [18:09.500 –> 18:17.460] can I bring my you cuts or whatever to the pal day? Uh, the main area. That is a good question. [18:17.460 –> 18:22.020] Oh no, you don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. Cause like I’ve just been spending all [18:22.020 –> 18:27.380] my time in the new area. Let me tell you, let me, let me, let me, let me live. Tell you, [18:27.380 –> 18:31.100] it’s going to happen. Here we go. Cause I was playing some Mario Kart with Craig earlier. [18:31.100 –> 18:39.740] So let me just beat the game. Oh, so how big is the, the, the map? Good question. It’s hard to [18:39.740 –> 18:44.860] know because on in the game, when you like switch between the maps, it shows them different scales, [18:44.900 –> 18:53.980] right? So it looks like they’re the same size, but they’re not. It feels maybe like crown [18:53.980 –> 18:59.860] tundra sized. Okay. That’s decent. Yeah. So like I think bigger than Isle of armor, [18:59.860 –> 19:10.580] but not, but not as big as the, obviously mean, right. Let me check. Right. Game is booted up. [19:11.420 –> 19:19.580] Let me travel over to Paldera. Let’s just go to Mazagoza because that’s my only travel point [19:19.580 –> 19:25.460] because I’ve not got far in this version. Oh, I’m on a plane apparently because a little, [19:25.460 –> 19:30.740] oh, that’s fun. Little animation of a plane and a Dragonite flying next to it. Oh, that’s cool. [19:30.740 –> 19:35.620] Dragonite flies off. And here we go. We’ve touched down and I am still in my clothes from [19:35.620 –> 19:44.380] Kitagami. There we go. All right. Day’s saved. Okay. DLC is worth it for that alone. It really [19:44.380 –> 19:50.380] is much better to not be in school uniform. It’s still white wild to me that they did that. Right. [19:50.380 –> 19:54.580] Like I get why they wanted to do it, but like just force you back into those clothes for like [19:54.580 –> 20:02.900] the specific cut scenes. If you really want that. Yes. Like, yes, it’s, you can also like the extra [20:02.900 –> 20:08.380] things that you can buy, you can just buy in Paldera as well. Um, the, cause they give you [20:08.380 –> 20:14.100] a style card, right? And that gives you the ability to buy them in. Oh, that’s cool. That’s [20:14.100 –> 20:19.540] nice. You don’t have to go to the new area to buy the stuff. That’s, that’s nice. This place [20:19.540 –> 20:24.660] is only selling glasses, hats and gloves. So I need to find a place that’s selling more than [20:24.660 –> 20:28.540] that. No, I didn’t mean to walk back in. This is the thing that really annoys me about these games. [20:28.540 –> 20:35.580] When you walk out of a shop, it has you facing the shop. Oh yeah. So it has you facing away from [20:35.580 –> 20:40.020] the shop, right? You came up to it facing the shop. So I automatically think, Oh, I need to [20:40.020 –> 20:45.220] go backwards because I was facing forwards and I don’t want to go forwards cause that’s me facing [20:45.220 –> 20:50.220] towards the shop. But then you go backwards, you go straight back into the shop. Oh, it’s bags. [20:50.220 –> 20:55.860] This one is. Ooh. Right. Let’s see what these bags. It’s definitely a different style of bag. [20:55.860 –> 21:03.020] It’s one, one different style of bag. Anyway. Uh, yeah. So you can definitely leave without, [21:03.020 –> 21:07.100] you can definitely go to Pildea without the school uniform. So. All right. That’s good. [21:07.100 –> 21:13.900] That’s a big plus. But yeah, I am enjoying it. And, um, as we mentioned in the greenhouse episode [21:13.900 –> 21:18.180] that hopefully has already come out, but I don’t know when I’m going to edit it. So it might not [21:18.180 –> 21:23.340] be out yet. It might come out on Saturday. Um, I am considering doing another Professor Oak [21:23.340 –> 21:33.060] challenge because why not? Well, I can answer why not, but let’s not get into that. I think [21:33.060 –> 21:41.900] that’s everything that we’ve been up to. That’s cool. Look, I’m just, it’s fine that I’m in, [21:41.900 –> 21:49.380] I’m, I’m winding down because 10 days of this recording, you know, what’s coming begins the, [21:49.500 –> 21:55.900] the Maneco Geddon begins. Goodbye the world. Oh yeah. All right. What, [21:55.900 –> 22:02.140] what non Maneco things are supposedly coming out? Let’s talk about some news. So we have Disney [22:02.140 –> 22:08.980] Dreamlight Valley. The enchanted adventure update is out now. This is the update with Belle. Um, so [22:08.980 –> 22:18.460] the Beauty and the Beast realm and the storyline there. Um, and a lot of other things like there’s [22:18.460 –> 22:23.020] a big long list. If you play this game, you probably have already looked at the list to see [22:23.020 –> 22:28.260] if what you care about. So I’m not going to go over all that just now, but it is out now. Um, [22:28.260 –> 22:34.660] and I am still convinced that the next update will be the either final early access update [22:34.660 –> 22:40.340] or the one final update. That is what I’m convinced of. Oh snap. There’s Jack Skellington [22:40.340 –> 22:45.420] outfits in this. Look, there’s everything. There’s everything in this game. This is like, [22:45.660 –> 22:51.020] this is the everything game. Well, I mean, I don’t cause you know, [22:51.020 –> 23:00.140] nightmare before Christmas is a little, you know, not, I mean it is Disney, but like they don’t [23:00.140 –> 23:05.780] usually lump it in with the princesses and the Mickey’s and whatever. Right. Usually all kind [23:05.780 –> 23:10.140] of its own corner. Some surprise it made it in. Yeah. I look, I look forward to when they start [23:10.140 –> 23:17.380] bringing the Marvel and the star Wars and oh goodness. No, no. Whatever. Bell’s cool. She’s [23:17.380 –> 23:21.260] my second favorite princess. Um, well, you’re going to have to see who your first is then. [23:21.260 –> 23:32.660] It’s Rapunzel because she’s incredible. She’s the best. Not Moana. I like Moana. You don’t [23:32.660 –> 23:38.980] Moana. No, there’s nothing wrong with Moana. Moana is great. Just Rapunzel set the bar real [23:38.980 –> 23:44.460] high and I don’t know. I’m just, Bell’s just pure nostalgia, like beauty and the beast. That’s a [23:44.460 –> 23:49.980] good one. Fair enough. I just have real problems with that storyline. So I struggle to connect. [23:49.980 –> 23:58.860] There are, there are a lot of problems with that storyline. Gaston might be the hero if you think [23:58.860 –> 24:07.060] about it. You look at it from his point of view. No, except the, the thing he did with his dad, [24:07.060 –> 24:12.540] but other than that. Yeah, well sure. He’s not a good guy. Right. Let’s not pretend he’s a good [24:12.540 –> 24:16.580] guy. Yeah. He’s not a good guy. That’s not what we’re trying to say here. Not a good guy. But he [24:16.580 –> 24:27.460] wasn’t irrational. Yeah. Uh, okay. Anyway, above snakes, they has a 1.3 update is out now as well. [24:27.860 –> 24:34.780] This includes a photo mode plus a bunch of other content, some furniture and the piano. I don’t [24:34.780 –> 24:40.180] know why they specifically mentioned the piano. I don’t know. Piano. If you want a piano, there’s [24:40.180 –> 24:47.180] always playable. Oh goodness. Right. Okay. I missed that. If you want a playable piano in [24:47.180 –> 24:53.900] this game, there you go. And it’s on discount right now for, I don’t know how, 20% off. There [24:53.900 –> 25:01.580] you go. All right. Um, then we have Apico has its 3.0 update, which is coming out on the 26th of [25:01.580 –> 25:18.660] September. Oh, special silly September day. Oh, Apico. Um, it’s Maneco day. It is. So we’re back [25:18.660 –> 25:24.340] up. We’re back up to fish. We’re back up. Yes. Yeah. It says underwater bees right there. You [25:24.340 –> 25:29.300] get fish. I think we talked about this a little bit, right? Yeah. So you can fish in the game. [25:29.300 –> 25:38.060] Yeah. But also there’s underwater bees. Yeah. For some reason. Fish. Um, one thing I want to [25:38.060 –> 25:44.700] note that I didn’t catch before Cody, her, they, it’s Cody, Matt. I don’t know if it’s Matt, [25:44.940 –> 25:51.940] Mathive or Mathive, but they changed her name from, from her last name to put hive in it. I [25:51.940 –> 25:59.460] love that. I missed that. Yeah. All right. Go anyways. Yeah. So a bunch of water stuff in, [25:59.460 –> 26:06.460] in Apico. Go, go restore coral reefs. They’re called the highs of the, the sea for a reason. [26:06.460 –> 26:17.380] Um, ever dream Valley have released a roadmap. So they have a big update coming in October, [26:17.380 –> 26:24.180] a Halloween event coming in October as well as every game has to have, obviously. And, uh, their [26:24.180 –> 26:32.020] multiplayer beta is coming out in December. Cool. I’m going to get annoyed. Ah, there’s this thing [26:32.020 –> 26:35.780] that some games do, right? Where they go, Oh, this is the beta of multiplayer, but it’s like [26:35.820 –> 26:42.140] baked into a release of the game, right? It’s not, it’s not like a thing that you can’t like, [26:42.140 –> 26:46.780] you choose to update to because you’re on the beta branch, right? Don’t call something beta. [26:46.780 –> 26:53.420] If the game is not a beta, right? Like you can’t add a feature into your game and call it beta. [26:53.420 –> 26:59.900] Like it means anything. Your game is released. Act like your game is released. What are you doing? [27:00.740 –> 27:08.900] Nothing matters in game dev talk. Nothing matters. It’s just the first version of multiplayer. Just [27:08.900 –> 27:14.020] call it that. I forgot how this game looked. It was looking at that’s cute game. Yeah, [27:14.020 –> 27:22.260] there’s a pig. Oh yeah. I’ve never really looked too much into this game. I haven’t either because [27:22.260 –> 27:28.580] there’s nothing really kind of like stuck out to me, but yeah, it just keeps rolling. It’s in [27:28.620 –> 27:35.900] that filing cabinet Al has of we need an episode game when we need an episode and we have a week [27:35.900 –> 27:41.420] where we can actually play a game because that’s the other key point, right? Like it’s great when [27:41.420 –> 27:45.580] we have time to do it, but when we say we’ve got an episode next week, we don’t have a topic for [27:45.580 –> 27:54.300] and everybody’s busy playing something. All right. Time to have random topics. Mica and the [27:54.300 –> 28:02.060] witch’s mountain will all be playing that and not ever dream when it comes out. Sadly, [28:02.700 –> 28:11.980] it’s been delayed to early 2024. That’s fine. That’s fine. You take your time. Mika. I have [28:11.980 –> 28:19.660] Maneko on my plate that I need to get through. Yeah. They’d never given an exact date, but I [28:19.660 –> 28:26.380] think the kickstarter had said October 2023. I think they’ve been pretty good at releasing [28:26.380 –> 28:32.220] things roughly on schedule. So I think their last game was like two months late or something like [28:32.220 –> 28:40.540] that, which for a kickstarter game is basically on time, you know? Yeah, it really is. Yeah. So [28:40.540 –> 28:47.660] Mika said October 2023. That’s what it said. And, uh, oh, in fact, Koa and the five pirates [28:47.660 –> 28:53.020] said September 2023 and I think actually came out in August. So I actually did come out. Oh, [28:53.020 –> 29:01.180] dang. So that’s something. And Summer and Mara said, oh, so that said September 2019 [29:01.180 –> 29:06.940] and I think came out March 2020. So it was a few months late, that one. Um, but, um, it’s pretty [29:06.940 –> 29:13.580] good. It’s pretty good. Considering, considering I have, considering I have multiple kickstarters [29:13.580 –> 29:21.340] that are currently two years late. Um, I mean, and that’s not to mention the bidet that I, [29:21.340 –> 29:28.380] that I’m, that I kickstarted that was meant to come out in December 2020 still hasn’t come out. [29:29.820 –> 29:36.940] Okay. What was special about it? Why was it a kickstarter? It’s a portable bidet. Okay. [29:36.940 –> 29:42.460] So you take it with you. Like it’s handheld thing. Okay. Like it’s like a little, [29:43.100 –> 29:47.820] it looks kind of like a big, a big torch, big flash. What, what? [29:49.500 –> 29:53.100] With a little spray nozzle on the side. Okay. So it’s, [29:54.940 –> 30:00.540] what are you connecting to? Or just has it. So you pour the water into it from attack. Okay. [30:01.260 –> 30:10.780] Okay. Okay. And, and it just, all right, ready to go. Yep. I mean, okay. Like I’m, I’m, [30:10.780 –> 30:17.900] I’m just trying to imagine designing this thing, like to achieve that functionality. [30:17.900 –> 30:23.740] Yeah. I’m still not sure. I’m still not sure. It’s not a scam. Right. [30:25.100 –> 30:30.140] Well, look, you can say that about a lot of kickstarters. Three years late. Three years [30:30.140 –> 30:35.340] late. Three legends came out and I’m still wondering. So the last update we got on this [30:35.340 –> 30:42.940] was in March and they said, we’re ready to, ready to, to deliver. And eventually we still haven’t. [30:42.940 –> 30:51.900] That was March. So look, I’m just, I’ve, I’m there. Okay. I’ve never used a bidet personally. [30:51.900 –> 30:57.740] Okay. Like they’re not common in the area of states where I live or whatever. I’ve never [30:57.740 –> 31:05.180] seen one in person. So I’m just like, if you care that much about having a bidet, [31:06.060 –> 31:10.860] like, is it, is not a spray bottle good enough? [31:14.700 –> 31:20.060] We don’t need to get into this, right? 2020 was a weird time, Kevin. Let’s not, we don’t judge, [31:20.060 –> 31:26.220] we don’t judge what anybody did in 2020. Assuming you obviously didn’t like actually harm people, [31:26.220 –> 31:29.100] right? We don’t judge the weird decisions we made in 2020. [31:29.900 –> 31:39.340] No, I’m, I’m, I’m just, I’m just wondering like how many back this fascinates me. Like [31:39.980 –> 31:46.060] Coral Island, their new charity DLC is now out. So we’ll link to that in the show notes. [31:47.020 –> 31:52.460] I have already bought it. We’ll do it. We’ll do a greenhouse episode on it. [31:53.020 –> 31:56.060] Yeah. If you really want to talk more about my portable bidet. [32:00.700 –> 32:03.420] Oh no, we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re obviously going to do another episode of [32:03.420 –> 32:07.100] Coral Island when it’s one year old. Yeah. Yeah. Charity. Okay. For real, [32:07.100 –> 32:10.780] go save the real coral race with that. It’s cool. [32:10.780 –> 32:15.340] It’s a cool DLC. I got the last one as well. They’re both cool. Get, [32:15.340 –> 32:17.420] you can’t get the first one, but you can get the second one. [32:17.420 –> 32:23.580] I, I haven’t played Coral Island yet, but boy, do I like the ocean, [32:23.580 –> 32:27.820] the real one and the real coral reef. So yay for helping. [32:30.060 –> 32:36.380] Moonstone Island have announced a collector’s edition, which is like two quid more than the [32:36.380 –> 32:44.380] main one and gets you not a lot. It is not a lot because what it gets you is a full color art book. [32:45.340 –> 32:50.460] The download of the original soundtrack and some exclusive decor in game. [32:52.220 –> 32:56.940] So that feels like a no brainer to me. Yeah. If you like Moonstone Island, [32:56.940 –> 33:02.780] that’s the no brainer boy. The, the lo-fi girl is just super popular [33:03.900 –> 33:08.620] because that’s what they have here. Yeah. Okay. All right. [33:09.260 –> 33:18.460] Uh, what else? So this is an interesting one. So this is an interesting one, right? Okay. So I, [33:18.460 –> 33:24.300] I want to preface this with, I don’t normally cover like random little features that are on [33:24.300 –> 33:28.700] games before they release. Right. Cause we’d be here all day if we were covering stuff like that. [33:30.060 –> 33:35.660] But I think this one is interesting enough that it feels like I want to talk about it. Okay. [33:36.220 –> 33:41.260] And that is Spirit Tea doesn’t force you to sleep at specific times of the day. [33:41.900 –> 33:47.260] You can choose when you’re sleeping. They just require you to get a certain amount of sleep [33:47.260 –> 33:51.980] and you can choose when that is. So if you want to be like out all night and sleep during the day, [33:51.980 –> 33:56.620] you can do that in this game. That is very interesting. [33:56.620 –> 34:03.980] I know. Right. That’s a cool idea. Um, yeah, yeah, no, good on that. Like obviously, [34:04.540 –> 34:07.900] presumably the nighttime will be worth staying up for. [34:08.460 –> 34:14.380] Yeah. So it says that some characters are, are, are like, it doesn’t say nocturnal. It says night [34:14.380 –> 34:20.220] hours, but yeah, like there’ll be people that will be out either only at night or mostly at night, [34:20.220 –> 34:25.900] um, and stuff like that. So, uh, yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. [34:26.540 –> 34:31.420] Yeah. That’s, that’s an interesting way to go about it. Um, [34:31.420 –> 34:35.660] yes, I think at this point we’re at the it’s interesting stage and we’ll see whether it’s [34:35.660 –> 34:42.140] good or not later. Um, once we’ve actually got to play this game. Other games probably could [34:42.140 –> 34:46.300] benefit from that for sure, but okay. Yeah, cool. Yeah. I feel like it’s the sort of thing that [34:46.300 –> 34:51.660] couldn’t be actively bad. Um, it might be something that we don’t use very much, but like giving you [34:52.300 –> 34:57.980] the option feels like a good thing in and of itself. It is. Sure. Yeah. But anyway, [34:57.980 –> 35:02.060] it’s not a huge thing. I just felt like it would be interesting to at least mention that. [35:02.940 –> 35:10.380] Ooblets plushies. I played smooshy come home. There aren’t a lot of names in smooshy [35:10.380 –> 35:14.460] granted, but you know, one’s called smooshy. There’s another guy called chunky [35:15.260 –> 35:21.100] and I still think the name Shrumbo is dumb. Clumper and Glanter. [35:21.100 –> 35:28.380] These are, look at those faces though. Let me, let me look at the face. I’m just looking at [35:28.380 –> 35:35.500] the names. What’s a Shrumbo that feels like a fake Mon that they put on the Simpsons on the TV. [35:37.500 –> 35:43.820] Good old, uh, little Shrumbo. Oh, Shrumbo is pretty cute though. Actually Shrumbo would fit [35:43.820 –> 35:49.420] right in smooshy world. So I’m not going to complain. So Shrumbo plushie is available now [35:49.420 –> 35:55.980] in the US and it’s coming soon in the EU. I’m sorry in Europe. I don’t know why I wrote EU. [35:56.540 –> 36:02.780] Coming soon in Europe. I have requested to get a notification when we can buy it here. [36:03.980 –> 36:09.020] And clumper and Glanter are coming soon. They’re not on the Europe site. Interestingly. I don’t [36:09.020 –> 36:13.740] know whether they’re not coming or whether they’re just not up on the site yet, but Shrumbo is up on [36:14.300 –> 36:20.940] the Europe site. So he’s a big, big squishy boy. All of them. I don’t know what you’re talking [36:20.940 –> 36:26.460] about, but they all Shrumbo specifically. Yeah, he is. He really looks like he’d fit in smooshy [36:26.460 –> 36:35.100] with the name and all. All right. Let’s talk about Eastward Octopia. It was in the Nintendo Direct, [36:36.220 –> 36:41.660] which I thought, I thought I’d managed to get out of this direct. Um, uh, talking about it on [36:41.660 –> 36:45.420] this podcast. Um, I’m just talking about in the greenhouse cause I was like, there are no farming [36:45.420 –> 36:51.820] games. And then I looked closer at this game and realize this is a farming game. Very, very clearly. [36:51.820 –> 36:55.500] Yeah. Like I don’t know how I missed it when we were watching. I just went Eastward. Oh, [36:55.500 –> 36:58.780] that’s a game I don’t really care about. Let’s ignore what’s happening here. [36:58.780 –> 37:06.060] I didn’t realize this is a DLC to Eastward, right? Which is coming soon. No release date yet. A DLC [37:06.060 –> 37:14.540] to Eastward that you don’t need to play Eastward to play. Yup. Right. It’s like a whole separate [37:14.540 –> 37:20.300] game. Yeah. And it’s a whole completely different game. The graphics are the same. Presumably the [37:20.300 –> 37:26.860] controls are very similar, but it is a farming game and Eastward is an adventure game. These [37:26.860 –> 37:38.380] are not the same thing. I mean, not an adventure. No, this is a weird thing to happen. Like what, [37:38.380 –> 37:45.500] why is this a DLC and not another game? First of all, weird. Well, that’s that. Now that is [37:45.500 –> 37:52.380] a good question. Um, so what, here’s an interesting point. I just, I was watching the, the, the farming [37:52.380 –> 37:57.740] animation and um, when they’re watering, they’re just like walking along the line of crops, [37:57.740 –> 38:03.340] pouring water. They’re not like, take a walk, water, take a walk, water. They’re just walking [38:03.340 –> 38:08.860] along and they’re, the animation for watering is continuous. That’s so nice. Isn’t it? [38:10.460 –> 38:16.220] Why is this not a thing in other games? I hate, I hate slash love when a game does this and they’re [38:16.220 –> 38:21.980] like, here’s a thing that you never would have thought of, but now that it exists, every other [38:21.980 –> 38:28.220] game that doesn’t do this is going to annoy you. It’s all ruined now. Like I never want to see a [38:28.220 –> 38:37.820] farming square again. Just make it all continue. Oh man. Oh, so this is interesting. I don’t know [38:37.820 –> 38:44.860] what I’m going to do with this because I had no interest to play Eastward ever. Right. I still, [38:44.860 –> 38:50.540] and you still don’t have to buy it though, but I have to buy the game, [38:51.340 –> 38:54.300] but it doesn’t seem too expensive. So that is good. Um, [38:56.540 –> 39:00.620] but yeah, it’s like welcome to the charming world of Eastward population declining journey [39:00.620 –> 39:05.420] through a society on the brink of collapse. Discover delightful towns, strain creatures [39:05.420 –> 39:11.980] and even stranger people. We are a trusty frying pan and mystic powers on an adventure into an [39:11.980 –> 39:20.140] unknown. And then this is Sam and John return in an all new adventure. Remember this, remember this [39:20.140 –> 39:26.940] is a DLC in this heartwarming story driven farming sim players can grow crops, tend livestock [39:26.940 –> 39:31.100] and turn an abandoned fairground into a thriving village with the help of the weird and wonderful [39:31.100 –> 39:38.220] cast of beloved Eastward characters in a parallel universe where time and space have collided. [39:38.220 –> 39:43.420] Sam and John moved to a peaceful corner of the globe. I’m sorry, a parallel universe. [39:44.140 –> 39:51.500] Well, there you go. That solves all the problem. What? What? We’re doing multi travel in Eastward [39:51.500 –> 39:58.460] now. This is a large DLC for Eastward with a brand new story in an all new farming game mode. [39:58.460 –> 40:06.300] Eastward is required to play the Eastward Octopia DLC. Eastward and the multiverse of cottagecore. [40:06.940 –> 40:15.260] This is weird. It’s weird, but they got us. It might be good weird. I’m not 100% sure. [40:16.860 –> 40:23.820] I don’t know. Their update on it is announcing Octopia a new farming DLC coming Eastward. [40:23.820 –> 40:28.140] I bet you didn’t see that coming. They start off. You’re right about that. [40:29.580 –> 40:35.820] So the Eastward Octopia DLC will be accessible straight from Eastward start menu and suitable [40:35.900 –> 40:38.940] for brand new players and Eastward completionists alike. [40:40.700 –> 40:46.860] Why is this a DLC? The more I think about it, the more the more I’m on board with this [40:47.500 –> 40:57.580] general idea of of totally separate different DLC. This is weird. Like, oh man, [40:58.460 –> 41:02.620] I’m trying to think of a good example of a wild one. Well, I was going to make a joke [41:02.620 –> 41:08.220] about Final Fantasy or something, right? Having like a random addition that adds farming. [41:08.220 –> 41:09.900] Those are already in Final Fantasy. [41:09.900 –> 41:15.740] I realized they did that. They did that in Final Fantasy 14. Not only that, it’s on the moon. [41:16.780 –> 41:21.660] Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, Final Fantasy has those baked in. [41:21.660 –> 41:27.340] There’s no joke you can make about Final Fantasy, but it’s something they’ve probably already done. [41:27.340 –> 41:36.380] No, I mean, it’s like Mario Wonder gets a DLC that’s, I don’t know. [41:38.060 –> 41:44.300] Oh, it’s like, you know, it’s like they did Mario 3D World and they just added on a whole [41:44.940 –> 41:48.140] new game onto it. There was an open world 3D platformer. [41:48.700 –> 41:51.020] Yeah. Oh, wait, they did. [41:53.020 –> 41:54.060] Yeah, they did. [41:57.340 –> 42:01.580] I still need to play that one. All right. Interesting looking. [42:01.580 –> 42:07.660] Did you look at the fishing minigame? Oh, I remember looking at it. I remember, [42:07.660 –> 42:11.340] I don’t remember what it is right now, but I remember noting it in my brain. [42:11.340 –> 42:16.380] Weird. Also, is that flying flying cows and pigs? Why are they flying? [42:17.020 –> 42:22.620] I don’t know. Yeah. Okay. That looks a little like, what’s it called? [42:24.060 –> 42:28.700] Well, I mean, the circle roots of Pacha. But yeah, that fishing actually looks interesting. [42:29.740 –> 42:36.700] It looks dynamic. I appreciate a dynamic minigame. All right. Whatever. I mean, [42:37.980 –> 42:41.260] it’s crazy, right? Because if this were a standalone game, this would be like, [42:41.260 –> 42:44.940] for sure. Just like, yeah, I’m down for that. But the fact that it’s DLC. [42:45.740 –> 42:50.540] Octopia is a weird name. I haven’t played Eastward, so probably maybe it means something. [42:50.540 –> 42:56.700] I don’t know. Wait, can we get a DLC where the universe is collide? [43:00.460 –> 43:04.460] Japanese rural life simulator talking of weird things. [43:05.180 –> 43:12.940] Yeah, this. Okay, so this is an Apple arcade game. I’m going to guess that at some point [43:12.940 –> 43:18.860] it’ll come to Android because their previous games are on Android. This is a Japanese developer [43:19.740 –> 43:28.060] that has released this game. And it’s about living in rural Japan. View the cherry blossoms in the [43:28.060 –> 43:33.340] spring, attend the festival in the summer, eat roasted sweet potatoes in the fall, hear the [43:33.340 –> 43:37.820] temple bell ring in winter, and then it’s time for the first shrine

Al and Codey round up all the news, big and small, from the summer. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:04:42: What Have We Been Up To 00:13:34: Releases 00:26:33: Updates/DLC 00:41:22: Other News 00:53:56: New Games 01:05:13: Outro Links Moondrop 1.0 Out Now Flutter Away Out Now Palia Coming to Switch Sprout Valley Release Window Palace on the Hill Delayed Ova Magica Delayed Wildmender Release Date Len’s Island Cursed Underworld Update Above Snakes 1.2 Update Sun Down Survivors 1.3 Update Traveller’s Rest Farm Animals Update Let’s Build a Zoo Aquarium Odyssey DLC New Harvest Moon Trailer Moonstone Island Ooblets Collaboration Mossfield Origins Self Publishing Roots of Pacha Soundtrack Research Story Soundtrack Stardew Valley Cookbook Chill Town Moonlight Peaks Loftia Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.000 –> 00:02.000] Do [00:19.360 –> 00:21.360] Do [00:30.080 –> 00:33.680] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season [00:34.360 –> 00:39.480] My name is Al and my name is Cody and we are here to talk about [00:40.000 –> 00:43.120] Cottagecore games all the cottagecore games [00:43.640 –> 00:50.600] So much a million of them so much news and we are also here to remember how to podcast [00:54.080 –> 00:57.560] Was the last episode you did with me the last one I did with you oh no [01:00.000 –> 01:02.000] The [01:02.560 –> 01:04.880] Last episode I did [01:05.800 –> 01:10.180] Think was no, I I don’t even know I don’t even know [01:11.160 –> 01:14.260] But the last episode is funny because people will be hearing [01:14.960 –> 01:17.900] The last yeah that we did and then they’re gonna hear this [01:17.900 –> 01:22.000] I was what so that’s what I was trying to ask was that last episode that you did [01:22.200 –> 01:27.440] The last episode that I did with you can record farming simulator with Johnny after in between. Oh, really? [01:27.440 –> 01:30.680] I honestly can’t remember though. How early did we record the last episode? [01:30.680 –> 01:36.360] I don’t know my word. I was just listening to it the other day because it’s so fun when for the listeners [01:36.360 –> 01:41.360] I usually don’t listen to podcasts. I’m on but if they were recorded months before [01:42.880 –> 01:44.280] Months [01:44.280 –> 01:48.320] Absolutely months. It’s like it’s it’s like a whole new conversation [01:48.920 –> 01:54.640] Cuz my brain has forgotten it and it was also really funny to hear like what have you been playing? [01:55.080 –> 01:57.240] Kind of things and I’m like, oh wow [01:57.520 –> 02:04.800] Like the last episode I was talking about the game pass and how excited I was and I’m like I have not done anything [02:07.840 –> 02:13.180] It was it was two months ago, it was the the 16th of June we recorded that episode [02:13.840 –> 02:14.960] which [02:14.960 –> 02:20.720] Which was what to be two episodes before the farming thing. I’ve done a couple since then as well [02:20.720 –> 02:28.160] But anyway, that’s my point is it’s been what about six weeks at least been a minute since either of us are podcasted [02:28.160 –> 02:30.160] So this is a hot mess [02:30.740 –> 02:32.740] Buckle in you’re here for the ride [02:33.680 –> 02:37.220] There’s transcripts on the show notes and on the website [02:37.840 –> 02:42.060] If you’re listening on YouTube, there should be there should be auto-generated transcript there as well [02:43.400 –> 02:45.400] Who knows how well it does with my voice? [02:47.000 –> 02:49.000] Does things do things not [02:50.760 –> 02:56.000] Things have gone a lot better in the last few years, but yeah, there was a point where like most of the like [02:56.600 –> 03:00.640] Voice related stuff just did not work at all for Scottish accents [03:02.120 –> 03:07.740] Like you would say something and it would think you said something completely different. Have you ever tried speaking properly? [03:12.920 –> 03:14.920] So, what are we talking about today? [03:16.680 –> 03:18.840] An American told me to speak properly [03:21.440 –> 03:25.100] You know right after I said that I was like is that the right way to phrase that word [03:26.960 –> 03:28.960] It’s a good thing you didn’t say proper [03:30.000 –> 03:36.340] I like to speak proper. You gotta talk right proper there. I don’t know why you went, Texas [03:39.000 –> 03:41.360] Listeners didn’t hear our conversation before this Cody [03:42.700 –> 03:46.320] Anyone not from Texas has a lot of disdain for Texas [03:47.140 –> 03:49.780] We love our Texan listeners. Mm-hmm [03:50.180 –> 03:52.920] Because we know that there are the good ones because I guess [03:53.740 –> 03:57.340] The amount of stuff we’ve said in this podcast the non good ones are not listening anymore [04:01.460 –> 04:07.500] Listeners who are listening to this will probably agree that Texas even the ones that live in Texas [04:08.980 –> 04:14.660] Correct, I’m just here because my family’s here and I love them and maybe we can make Texas better [04:14.660 –> 04:21.660] We’re gonna talk about news because it has been [04:22.260 –> 04:28.040] At least a month since any news and it’s been about six weeks since any instance a decent amount of news [04:28.300 –> 04:31.260] Because I completely forgot to go through the news for the episode that was four weeks ago [04:31.580 –> 04:35.540] So they just got three pieces of news that we could remember off the top of our heads [04:37.620 –> 04:39.620] So now we’ve got the rest of the news [04:39.820 –> 04:42.260] So Buckland’s gonna be great. But first of all [04:42.780 –> 04:44.780] Cody what have you been up to I [04:45.360 –> 04:47.620] have passed my comps and [04:48.600 –> 04:51.380] So now it’s all like getting work done [04:51.500 –> 04:57.600] So I’ve there are a couple of projects that I’ve had that I’ve like been on the back burner and I just I made [04:57.900 –> 05:03.700] Meetings for them and I was like, hey, I haven’t been able to do this because I was doing my comps, but now I’m done [05:03.700 –> 05:05.980] Let’s get this stuff done. Like let’s go [05:07.020 –> 05:10.280] And trying to get those off my plate. That’s really cool [05:11.000 –> 05:15.000] I haven’t really been playing anything that many game Pokemon go [05:15.560 –> 05:19.320] I’m actually going to go fast in New York City. So whoo [05:19.960 –> 05:26.760] You’re going fast go go to the fast Pokemon go to New York City [05:27.880 –> 05:32.860] yeah, so that’ll be I I’m gonna say it’ll be fun even if the game itself is [05:33.760 –> 05:38.920] Buggy or if there are issues or whatever, it’s still gonna be fun because there’s you know members from our [05:40.400 –> 05:44.320] It’s super effective community or going and we’re all gonna meet up and hang out and it’s gonna be great [05:45.400 –> 05:51.920] I’m super sad that I couldn’t justify the cost. Yes. It was like 700 quid to fly there. Yeah [05:52.720 –> 05:56.680] it’s easy for me because my partner lives there and [05:57.120 –> 06:01.720] So I literally just have to get a bus there and then I don’t have to worry about anything else [06:02.320 –> 06:04.640] because like I already kind of know how to do and I [06:05.360 –> 06:07.360] know how to get around I [06:07.900 –> 06:11.040] Can just stay with him because places there are super expensive [06:12.040 –> 06:16.800] And the buses yeah that I’ve also played this game Tetris [06:16.800 –> 06:21.880] This is the one that either might just be official Tetris or might be a scam and we’re not sure [06:22.400 –> 06:24.400] I’d still think it’s a scam [06:24.600 –> 06:30.840] Like anything that promises you a cruise for playing a game a certain amount feels like a scam [06:30.960 –> 06:34.720] Well, so I was talking to someone about it about how like basically how they do that is [06:35.200 –> 06:42.720] How you is you’re playing and as you’re playing you’re watching ads so they’re earning ad revenue sure sure sure [06:42.720 –> 06:44.400] But it’s a cruise [06:44.400 –> 06:47.080] right well, and I looked at the the [06:48.320 –> 06:50.920] fine print and basically pays for an [06:51.560 –> 06:53.560] inner cabin [06:53.560 –> 06:55.680] room so like you don’t have a window and [06:56.400 –> 07:03.260] It’s one of those rooms for you and one other person, but you still have to pay like all of these scam which [07:04.220 –> 07:08.740] The room itself I went the room itself is like $1,000 per person. Oh [07:09.780 –> 07:11.100] so [07:11.100 –> 07:17.900] I’m fine with saving two grand because the rest of the fees are like $20 a day for this dude [07:17.900 –> 07:20.340] did you do for this like things like that and [07:20.900 –> 07:25.640] basically if I can if I not if when I [07:27.020 –> 07:29.020] So optimist [07:30.020 –> 07:32.020] Or in this cruise and buy it [07:32.940 –> 07:38.960] Jeff is yeah, I’m it, but when I last played I was at like 30,000 points, and I’m now at almost [07:39.680 –> 07:41.360] 250,000 points so [07:41.360 –> 07:48.140] Cruises in sight y’all I’m a quarter of the way to one of the cheaper ones, but and what’s the deadline for it? [07:48.140 –> 07:52.780] Oh, I mean they have like rolling deadlines, so if you want to go, so what’s the deadline for the cruise? [07:53.060 –> 07:58.660] Yeah, there will be another one after after this step another cruise or another thing to replace the crew [07:58.700 –> 08:01.180] Another crew to your point. I feel like your points will release [08:01.180 –> 08:06.140] I don’t think the points if I wake up one day and these points are gone. I’m just honest [08:06.140 –> 08:11.840] I don’t I’m just I’m just so convinced that there’s gonna be a catch somewhere and it’s like [08:13.340 –> 08:20.020] Otherwise everything reset no I super agree so this one there is one here the cruise must be booked by [08:20.900 –> 08:27.780] September 25th, I believe the last time we talked about this the cruise had to be booked by August so they just have [08:28.920 –> 08:34.860] Current like rolling ones or whatever, but you go through all these different places in Alaska, which is cool [08:37.260 –> 08:41.360] But yeah, I’m also waiting for the catch all right well [08:41.360 –> 08:46.260] I look forward to hearing that you finally get on the cruise, and then you have to pay a thousand pounds to get off the [08:46.260 –> 08:48.100] cruise [08:48.100 –> 08:50.100] We didn’t say you could leave [08:52.740 –> 08:55.260] Pay for your freedom, so what have you been up to? [08:56.260 –> 09:02.420] I’ve been playing on my switch you and on holiday. I did go on holiday. I didn’t really play anything while on holiday. I’m so bad [09:04.420 –> 09:08.740] Doing anything while on holiday, but this is the first recording since you got your switch back [09:08.740 –> 09:14.020] So I think it is switch so so I got my switch back, but it wasn’t my switch [09:14.020 –> 09:14.880] It was another switch [09:14.880 –> 09:22.260] They just replaced the switch, but did you get like so I remember that you had a limited edition one did you yeah? [09:22.260 –> 09:26.980] Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, yeah, they gave me a like for like but okay. I mean I wasn’t worried about that because [09:27.740 –> 09:32.060] like it was new enough that I would just like I would go back to the the [09:33.140 –> 09:37.540] Retailer that I bought it from like it’s been less than a year. I’m not I wasn’t worried about that okay [09:38.500 –> 09:44.300] What I’m sad about is that I had obviously no saves left on it because there were is a new switch [09:45.540 –> 09:49.620] So I had lost all of my Pokemon saves except [09:50.300 –> 09:54.980] My Pokemon sword because that is on another switch for shiny hunting and [09:55.780 –> 09:59.360] My Pokemon brilliant diamond. Yeah ones that I’ve just like [10:00.060 –> 10:05.700] That don’t really do anything with anymore, so I lost my scarlet which had a hundred fifty hours [10:05.700 –> 10:08.540] and I lost my violet and I lost my [10:10.500 –> 10:12.500] Pikachu, let’s go Pikachu [10:12.900 –> 10:17.620] Which I had like 300 hours on and my let’s go Eevee [10:17.620 –> 10:21.460] Which didn’t have a lot on it, but it was like halfway through a Professor Oak challenge on that one [10:21.460 –> 10:26.260] And it had two shiny Pokemon that hadn’t transferred off and I lost my legends Arceus [10:27.660 –> 10:32.540] What is the lesson to be learned there is no lesson to be learned here? There’s nothing you can do to fix this [10:32.540 –> 10:37.440] There’s no option because they don’t let you move the saves off right? That’s the thing [10:37.440 –> 10:42.460] That’s what so you can you can transfer Pokemon saves between switches, but you have to do that [10:42.980 –> 10:44.980] At the time your switch is working [10:45.660 –> 10:49.100] Right you cannot back them up there is no way to back up Pokemon save [10:49.100 –> 10:51.960] They just don’t let you do it and then when you go and send in your switch [10:51.960 –> 10:53.860] You’re like oh we might wipe your switch [10:53.860 –> 10:57.120] You might not be able to keep everything make sure you back up, and I’m like how? [10:57.860 –> 11:02.380] How am I meant to do that and then you send it in and they don’t they don’t back it up? [11:02.380 –> 11:07.800] And then they just give you a new switch because it’s like oh, we don’t actually care about this, so it’s just oh [11:08.180 –> 11:09.180] No, there’s no way [11:09.180 –> 11:11.700] This is the thing there’s no lesson to be learned the lesson to be learned is [11:12.140 –> 11:16.340] Nintendo and Pokemon both suck, and I hate them both. I’m very annoyed [11:17.020 –> 11:19.980] But so I played through Pokemon scarlet. I just kind of like [11:20.420 –> 11:27.340] Sped run it I got someone to pump some vitamins into my no vitamins some XP candy into my my Pokemon [11:28.780 –> 11:30.780] to speed run it and [11:31.900 –> 11:36.020] Just yeah, I did it so I’ve now got to the point where I can actually do all of the raids [11:37.020 –> 11:39.020] I [11:39.140 –> 11:45.340] I’ve not done Scott. No I was violated not scarlet was violated like that. I might do scarlet at some point [11:45.340 –> 11:49.860] I’ve done scarlet as far as I can like redeem online stuff, so I got the second [11:50.460 –> 11:58.360] But I don’t have energy for any I I haven’t even I’m still I still haven’t finished area zero [11:58.360 –> 12:00.740] I don’t even think I’ve gotten to areas [12:00.740 –> 12:01.900] Oh [12:01.900 –> 12:03.900] Cody [12:03.900 –> 12:05.300] I need to finish [12:05.300 –> 12:08.320] I know I’ve heard but yeah, so I played these games three times now [12:08.320 –> 12:11.860] And I’m going to end up doing a fourth at some point, but who knows when I have them [12:12.700 –> 12:20.020] So and today I started playing Pikmin 4 whoo which is interesting because I was talking about this in the slacks [12:20.020 –> 12:23.460] And I was like I don’t understand why this game has multiple tutorials [12:23.460 –> 12:28.260] So you start the game up, and it’s like a tutorial with a little bit backstory as to how you get to this game [12:28.260 –> 12:32.620] And you’re like okay cool. This is nice. This is a good tutorial because it’s like oh you got this little area [12:32.620 –> 12:34.580] You can run around and then it teaches stuff as you go [12:34.580 –> 12:39.500] It doesn’t ever stops you doing something it just kind of shows things on the screen and then eventually once you’ve done everything [12:39.820 –> 12:43.740] you then get through and you go through the next bit story, and then it takes you to the [12:44.260 –> 12:49.140] First level and the first level is a tutorial and you’re like I don’t understand. Why is this a tutorial and this is a [12:50.180 –> 12:54.260] Infinitely worst tutorial because you basically you walk ten steps [12:54.260 –> 12:57.340] And then it pauses shows a cutscene tells you how to do something [12:57.340 –> 13:02.780] They already taught you how to do and then you walk another ten steps it pauses have the cutscene [13:03.260 –> 13:07.120] Bunch of nonsense and then tells you how to do a thing that you already know how to do [13:07.120 –> 13:10.580] And I’m just like I don’t understand. It’s not even like other games have better [13:11.260 –> 13:18.260] Tutorials this game has a better tutorial than it does like I don’t know how do you make both of those tutorials one? [13:18.260 –> 13:23.220] Which is terrible one which is great, and then just keep them both. I don’t understand [13:23.860 –> 13:30.540] Bizarre so I was enjoying it now. I’m not enjoying it. Hopefully I can get through the tutorial and start enjoying it again [13:34.260 –> 13:37.700] Should we talk about some news yeah, we got a lot of news oh [13:38.600 –> 13:40.600] Right moon drop [13:41.060 –> 13:43.060] 1.0 is it [13:43.100 –> 13:48.180] Except it’s still in early access. Maybe no it looks like they’ve clicked the button [13:48.180 –> 13:49.820] It does look like it’s yeah [13:49.820 –> 13:54.780] So they had said at the end if you still see the game labeled as early to access on steam there was a slight hiccup [13:54.780 –> 13:57.980] With the price increase valve needs to approve the increase which I expect to happen later today [13:57.980 –> 14:01.700] So like that should be fixed now, so it should just be version 1.0 [14:01.700 –> 14:06.740] Yeah, and I don’t understand like at the top of their thing. It’s version 1.0 because I commit crimes [14:06.740 –> 14:13.980] I think I suspect this is our or it’s not the first version right because 1.0 is like the first version [14:14.180 –> 14:20.180] Okay, I think it’s pretty common to be like this is the point where we will hit like the first full version and [14:20.660 –> 14:25.440] Even though there might be news to like it’s yeah, I mean I can argue for hours about version numbers [14:25.440 –> 14:30.420] I don’t care like if you’re if you’re if your first version outside of early access is 1.0. That’s fine. I’m fine [14:30.420 –> 14:31.260] I don’t care about that [14:31.260 –> 14:36.400] There are so many more things to be annoyed about which I will definitely be annoyed about at some point. Yeah for sure [14:37.280 –> 14:44.960] The mutating mountain farm yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the look of this game like just the graphics [14:45.960 –> 14:51.480] It’s not and this is not to be mean, but it’s not like the cute 8-bit graphics [14:51.480 –> 14:57.000] It’s like yeah, the shifting mountain sounds interesting. Yeah, but there needs to be more [14:57.000 –> 15:02.360] I think I’m don’t think I’m gonna to me. It sounds chaos like which is going to appeal to some people [15:02.480 –> 15:04.920] Yeah, it’s a challenge, but for me. I’m like [15:05.400 –> 15:10.920] I would rather play a cozy catch butterflies and look at butterflies king [15:10.960 –> 15:13.280] What a coincidence do I have the game for you? [15:15.080 –> 15:17.080] Flutter away [15:17.120 –> 15:23.560] This game is also right now. I think this game came out like two days after the last episode where we had any news and [15:24.520 –> 15:31.300] Yeah, well no this isn’t released August 3rd, so yeah, yeah, it’s I mean it’s currently August 17th [15:35.160 –> 15:41.160] Anyway, yeah, this is the cute little there’s a capybara friend and you’re trying to find butterflies [15:41.280 –> 15:45.380] You’re filling a deck. Yeah, like kind of a decks like one of the [15:46.760 –> 15:49.640] pages of your journal that you saw I kind of like paused the [15:50.000 –> 15:53.160] trailer and I read a little bit and it was really cool because it was telling you like [15:54.160 –> 15:59.320] Information about the rainforest and about what the rainforest peoples calls these better call these butterflies. Yeah [16:00.200 –> 16:02.240] So yeah, it is now available on [16:03.160 –> 16:05.160] Switch for $12.99 [16:06.120 –> 16:08.200] and steam for $12.99 and [16:08.640 –> 16:15.560] I will say on steam will on Mac and PC which is always good to know for those of us that have max as their prime [16:15.880 –> 16:19.480] And you can pet the capybara. So if you’re a big fan of the Twitter [16:20.280 –> 16:22.420] Slash-x slash whatever we want to call it page [16:23.080 –> 16:25.080] Can you pet the dog? [16:25.320 –> 16:27.320] Happy bar it yeah [16:27.960 –> 16:29.960] This reminds me a lot of [16:29.980 –> 16:33.500] Yes, it does in a good way big thing. It’s on my maybe list [16:34.080 –> 16:40.100] Palio have announced that they’re coming to switch and I think this is the first time where they’ve said a release [16:40.960 –> 16:44.360] Timeline they’ve said that it’s releasing holiday season [16:45.120 –> 16:46.840] 2023 [16:46.840 –> 16:50.520] Which presumably it like this is just about switch, right? [16:50.520 –> 16:56.760] It says Palio will be available on Nintendo switch this holiday season to presumably that also means that the steam version will be released [16:56.920 –> 16:58.920] Some people are already playing it [16:59.120 –> 17:00.520] Yeah, it’s in early access [17:00.520 –> 17:05.320] But yeah, they do it like it would be weird if they released on switch because you’re not allowed [17:05.840 –> 17:09.800] Ignoring the fact that there’s new dreamlike Valley is in this weird situation [17:09.960 –> 17:15.200] And I don’t know why like I suspect the only reason that it’s allowed to do it is because it’s Disney [17:16.400 –> 17:21.240] It would be then you’re not technically allowed to have early access games on switch [17:21.320 –> 17:23.320] So they would have to say it’s finished [17:23.560 –> 17:28.440] Right and it would be weird for the steam version to still be an early access when I mean they do that though [17:28.440 –> 17:33.300] Like they have games come out and they’re available and then they have plans to port it elsewhere [17:33.440 –> 17:37.600] Yeah, but it’s not but that’s not that’s the wrong way. Like it’s already a wrong way [17:38.460 –> 17:40.460] Like isn’t it? [17:41.640 –> 17:43.760] It’s just their website you just do [17:44.880 –> 17:50.280] Interest. Okay, so it’s gonna be an exclusive to switch. I believe so, but it’s an open beta now [17:50.600 –> 17:55.040] But it’s only on the website. So yeah, I haven’t played it [17:55.600 –> 17:59.700] But I have a friend that has a reference code and she’s like gonna give it to me when [18:00.640 –> 18:05.720] Because I said I wanted to wait for it to be on steam or sorry switch. I want switch [18:06.400 –> 18:12.760] So once it’s on switch, I’ll I’ll jump into this game 100% so yeah, it’s gonna scratch that [18:14.000 –> 18:17.720] World of Warcraft itch. Yeah, cuz it’s Philly. Mm all isn’t [18:18.600 –> 18:20.600] Mm-hmm, which means that I probably [18:21.320 –> 18:24.640] But well, it’ll be all me and it’ll be cross play. So it’ll be great [18:24.640 –> 18:29.600] I look forward to hearing about it when you play it next. We have sprite Valley, which fun fact [18:29.600 –> 18:34.860] I don’t know how if I’ve ever said this in the podcast before I may have may have not stardew valley’s original name was [18:34.860 –> 18:37.460] Sprout Valley. This is not that this is a separate game [18:38.200 –> 18:39.840] Sprout Valley [18:39.840 –> 18:45.100] Is a pixel art one a pixel art farming game. Stop me if you’ve heard that before [18:45.100 –> 18:57.260] As an off-handed comment in our kickstarter update we are planning to release this fall [18:57.940 –> 19:01.660] Like it doesn’t it doesn’t say it’s not like it’s titled August update [19:01.660 –> 19:05.660] What are we working on and then they talk about a bunch of stuff and they’re like we’re planning to release this fall [19:05.660 –> 19:12.020] And then there’s just more words after that and I’m like, oh, okay. This is why I read all the words in these updates [19:12.860 –> 19:19.100] Specifically it’s specifically said this month is not much going on in terms of updates. We’re planning to release [19:20.500 –> 19:22.500] What are you doing then? [19:22.860 –> 19:26.380] Bizarre, so yeah, apparently that’s a thing that’s happening [19:28.260 –> 19:32.020] Cool nothing else to say about that one just now the palace on the hill [19:33.300 –> 19:37.740] We got the first information about release date and then that is delayed. So [19:38.660 –> 19:42.020] Well, they specifically said that so they have a prologue [19:42.020 –> 19:46.660] Yeah, you can play on Steam and they got a lot of really good feedback from the prologue [19:46.660 –> 19:51.900] and so now that since they’re trying to incorporate the feedback that they got from the prologue, they’re going to [19:53.420 –> 19:55.320] Extend the date [19:55.320 –> 20:01.340] Yeah, I’m not I’m not complaining about that. It’s funny how they had never publicly said that they were planning to release in August [20:01.900 –> 20:07.440] It’s just this tweet is the first time they’d said that and in the city in the next sentence and for same sentence [20:08.500 –> 20:12.860] They’re delaying. So it was just funny how you’re like, oh, they’re planning to release in August. Oh, no, they’re not anymore [20:13.660 –> 20:15.660] Like it’s just a little bit of whiplash there [20:16.740 –> 20:20.980] So yeah, there’s there’s there’s no date just now, but that’s fine [20:22.780 –> 20:29.140] That’s good that they’re taking the feedback from the prologue it still looks really cute is that Xbox news new yeah, okay [20:29.140 –> 20:34.580] So it’s coming to Xbox. We didn’t know that before I lose track. There’s too many games to keep track of 91 [20:34.580 –> 20:36.140] I know have in my list [20:36.140 –> 20:38.140] We can add to it [20:38.780 –> 20:40.780] Ova Magica [20:40.820 –> 20:43.940] Has been delayed so 2024. I’m not surprised [20:43.940 –> 20:47.060] I think we’re gonna get a lot of this over the next couple of months because we still have [20:47.860 –> 20:49.860] 22 that have just said [20:49.980 –> 20:51.020] 2023 [20:51.020 –> 20:56.180] And nothing else and then we have like another 15 that are meant to be coming out this year [20:56.740 –> 20:59.880] So I suspect at least 20 of them will be delayed [21:00.580 –> 21:03.640] Because we’re we’re in August now. Yeah [21:03.960 –> 21:10.920] And I just I commented that the for Ova Magica on the delay the update mention about this [21:12.360 –> 21:18.220] The response from all the factors backers was largely positive and I just wanted to shout out over magic here because that they are [21:18.560 –> 21:25.920] Doing really well about being having open open and honest communication about where the game is and what what exactly they’ve been working on [21:26.000 –> 21:30.920] Yeah, and it’s all stuff that people have been asking about. It’s not out of the blue [21:30.920 –> 21:37.160] It’s and everyone’s just like yeah. Yeah, take your time. Like we’re just really excited for this game. So yeah be [21:38.480 –> 21:40.480] Honest as we’ve discussed before [21:41.320 –> 21:44.000] Communication can do a massive thing, you know [21:44.000 –> 21:48.680] You don’t have to end up in the situation that some game developers do when they don’t say anything people get annoyed [21:48.680 –> 21:50.220] Well, and it’s not just game developers [21:50.220 –> 21:56.680] I was just having this conversation the other day with someone about authors because I read books and it’s often [21:56.920 –> 22:02.240] Multiple book series and then you have an author that just goes AWOL for a decade [22:02.760 –> 22:09.080] Where they’re like, oh I’m working on it and I’m like, okay in the time that you have been quote-unquote working on this one book [22:09.080 –> 22:14.720] This other dude has put out 20 books. So like what and it’s not even it’s not even nice [22:14.720 –> 22:17.380] also when they then go and do like other things like, you know, [22:17.380 –> 22:24.820] They make a TV series based on their book and then they write other books. And then there’s another TV series about their other book [22:25.340 –> 22:28.780] Not I was actually not talking about Martin [22:28.780 –> 22:33.100] I know but I know it but he is another great example of that of like, okay [22:33.100 –> 22:35.100] But like we are still waiting [22:36.580 –> 22:39.240] Like even just saying hey [22:40.220 –> 22:41.660] the [22:41.660 –> 22:47.620] Stories gotten away from me or hey, this is taking a little bit longer or something like that like yeah [22:47.620 –> 22:49.840] We know that these things happen writers block happens [22:50.480 –> 22:55.280] Literally our phrase that’s coined that’s used in other places because of that, right? [22:55.280 –> 23:01.880] You just need to say it like I’m stuck and I thought that doing a second project would be great like cool or hey [23:01.880 –> 23:03.880] I’m making lots of money on this other one [23:08.120 –> 23:12.880] Great annoy people but it’s less annoying than just saying nothing. Yeah [23:13.600 –> 23:16.220] But yeah, so over magica thumbs up [23:17.080 –> 23:19.080] for talking about agreed [23:19.280 –> 23:25.880] Thumbs down for having games that release on the 28th of September this week. Oh my word Cody, right? [23:25.880 –> 23:31.920] So wild vendor have announced that their game is releasing on the 28th of September 28th of September that might sound similar [23:31.920 –> 23:35.460] You say well, it’s not it’s not the day that [23:36.100 –> 23:41.220] Mannequins night market harvest me in the winds of anthos paleo pines and my time a sand rock is releasing. It’s not that day [23:41.220 –> 23:43.220] It’s not the same. It’s two days after that [23:43.220 –> 23:45.220] Oh [23:47.300 –> 23:49.700] My word that week is I just [23:50.340 –> 23:54.340] Heard we’ve got the Tuesday got four games coming out the Thursday. We’ve got another game coming out [23:56.060 –> 24:01.740] Look I’m sorry, but Mannequins night market still Trump’s ever. Yeah, not about Wild Mender [24:01.740 –> 24:06.240] Let me let me clarify the thumbs down is not for Wild Mender. It’s just for the date [24:06.300 –> 24:10.260] Yeah, and I hadn’t heard about Wild Mender. So I’m just gonna blurb it real quick [24:10.780 –> 24:14.680] Do you want me to no no, no, so I was just I was still just exact [24:15.380 –> 24:19.960] Exasperated by that week. I just like just before just just hate game developers [24:20.100 –> 24:25.100] See if you’re like, oh, I don’t know when other games are releasing right and I don’t want to overload things [24:25.100 –> 24:29.200] I have a list come and talk to me. I have a list of [24:30.220 –> 24:32.220] 91 games [24:32.420 –> 24:38.500] 91 and you know what actually if you pay to pay on my patreon you can get the list and see it I have [24:38.780 –> 24:41.740] 91 games if you’re a game developer come and talk to me [24:41.740 –> 24:46.980] I’ll tell you when there are games because there are a lot of games coming out and we don’t want you [24:47.500 –> 24:49.500] Releasing at the same time, please [24:49.500 –> 24:55.120] Yeah, well and not only because we are overloaded as players but like that’s not gonna be good for you [24:55.120 –> 24:59.140] I mean if you’re not at this point Mannequins night market then [24:59.900 –> 25:04.860] You’re gonna be like man release was really thin and be like, hmm [25:04.860 –> 25:09.660] There’s a reason for that and it starts with M and ends with an echoes night market [25:12.420 –> 25:19.220] Why wild vendor quote is a desert gardening survival game where you’ll get to start from a small spring in a [25:19.260 –> 25:21.820] barren desert and grow it into a blossoming oasis [25:21.820 –> 25:27.340] Search the desert around you for valuable seeds to grow a new place to craft a range of useful items as you explore the desert [25:27.340 –> 25:34.140] You’ll find adorable wildlife to befriend secrets to uncover an ancient deities to ally with just remember to take a full water bottle and fluent [25:34.420 –> 25:35.460] food [25:35.460 –> 25:41.660] Yeah, it’s basically an open-world game where you’re turning a desert into not a desert. Yeah, and there I mean first of all [25:42.300 –> 25:46.780] Mmm, sometimes deserts need to be deserts. They’re also an ecosystem, but second of all [25:48.660 –> 25:51.980] It looked really cool like there was like a magic system or something to it [25:51.980 –> 25:55.220] Like some of the creatures are like magical like little wispy things flying around [25:55.700 –> 26:00.620] You were flying around at one point and I don’t know if that’s with tech or if it’s just that you’re able to fly [26:01.420 –> 26:03.580] But it just yeah, so I’m guessing [26:04.500 –> 26:06.500] related to the whole like [26:06.500 –> 26:07.940] Don’t get rid of all the deserts [26:07.940 –> 26:13.660] I’m guessing that this is like a or this is not how the world used to be and we’re now kind of like [26:13.740 –> 26:18.280] Returning it to what it was which obviously still has its issues humans messing around with things [26:19.340 –> 26:23.820] Generally causes issues, even if you think you’re like fixing the problems that you caused in the first place [26:25.180 –> 26:28.480] But yeah, I don’t think it’s just like oh, here’s a desert. Let’s get rid of a desert [26:28.480 –> 26:30.480] Deserts are stupid, no they’re not [26:32.440 –> 26:33.700] Stupid deserts [26:33.700 –> 26:35.280] Awesome [26:35.280 –> 26:39.400] Okay, so that’s all of the release news for like games [26:39.840 –> 26:45.800] We then have a bunch of information about some updates slash DLC. So we have another lens island update [26:45.800 –> 26:53.400] This one is called the cursed underworld update and it’s releasing on the 10th of September and Cody you’ve you you’ve played this game [26:54.240 –> 26:56.960] It create includes a new mode [26:57.560 –> 26:58.800] And [26:58.800 –> 27:03.840] Instead of the underground cave network being static, which is what it was when I played it [27:03.840 –> 27:09.900] It is now gonna be procedural but you can also if you don’t want things to attack you you can have a peaceful game mode [27:10.360 –> 27:12.360] you can enchant weapons and [27:13.160 –> 27:16.520] There’s I don’t know what improved survival mechanics is, but I’m here for it [27:18.240 –> 27:24.040] It sounds good, I like to survive in a survivor game I like to survive and if it’s improved that’s cool [27:24.040 –> 27:26.160] No, um, I don’t know [27:26.160 –> 27:32.320] I just I haven’t taken the time to play this in a while as they creep towards a 1.0 question mark, right? [27:32.320 –> 27:37.560] They’re not ready. They’re not in 1.0 yet. They’re not. Oh, yeah. No, this is uh, this is a early access update [27:37.740 –> 27:42.520] every time I see new things, I’m just so jazzed and [27:43.340 –> 27:45.280] to see things [27:45.280 –> 27:47.280] Develop from where they started [27:47.680 –> 27:51.360] And know that even when it started it was a pretty fun game [27:51.360 –> 27:53.640] Like it was just that there were a couple things that [27:54.440 –> 27:59.760] That were closed off. But other than that, like yeah, I saw where to go. I saw what to do. So [28:00.320 –> 28:04.220] And I was enjoying doing it. So yeah super excited [28:05.280 –> 28:10.080] To play this and the trailer looks really cool. So I need to jump back in. Yeah [28:11.000 –> 28:15.800] Yeah, they’ve generally I think it’s been generally been a good a good early access [28:15.800 –> 28:20.000] My one complaint is they launched without controller support when I first played it [28:20.000 –> 28:23.920] I was like, this is horrific to try and play on my Steam Deck. Like this is just [28:24.680 –> 28:27.840] Horrible, they now have controller support. I’ve just not gone back yet [28:28.800 –> 28:30.620] above snakes [28:30.620 –> 28:32.620] Also has an update [28:32.960 –> 28:34.720] 1.2 update [28:34.720 –> 28:38.440] Which it doesn’t have a name, but does have some stuff [28:38.600 –> 28:42.360] So as usual they’re adding more pieces to add to your world [28:42.680 –> 28:46.220] because if you don’t remember above snakes is the game that it’s like a [28:46.220 –> 28:50.580] Cell based how would you piece like puzzle? [28:50.580 –> 28:54.820] It’s like it’s like a game board and you’re like adding squares to your board [28:55.300 –> 28:59.980] And there’s like a limited number of different things you can do. So they’ve added a bunch more and [29:01.540 –> 29:08.860] Japanese localizations, so if you only speak Japanese, which you probably don’t because you’re listening to this podcast you can now play the game [29:09.540 –> 29:15.460] Or if you are learning Japanese and you want to do that because I know some people like to do that [29:15.460 –> 29:19.140] That’s also a way to do that. Yeah, I guess like the one question that I have from [29:19.780 –> 29:25.260] This is oh, so there are two new desert world pieces specifically desert. I guess that was [29:25.900 –> 29:29.940] That answers my question. I was like, what what world pieces are there? [29:29.940 –> 29:31.740] Because if you just go based on this picture [29:31.740 –> 29:36.140] it would be like some type of foresty one and then some type of fossil e-desert e1 but [29:36.780 –> 29:44.380] It says added two new desert world pieces that unlocked after placing the first different kinds of desert because desert is important ecosystem [29:44.380 –> 29:50.460] I feel a theme sundown survivor. Sorry. Yeah, just sorry just the above snakes updates out now sundown [29:55.580 –> 29:57.140] Probably not [29:57.140 –> 30:04.780] 1.3 zone a I still don’t really know about this game. It’s a very stressful game. Yeah, it looks like it’s an intense [30:05.540 –> 30:10.660] I don’t know. I guess I haven’t looked at it more closely. I’m just reading the balance changes [30:10.660 –> 30:14.140] They did a lot of like some things got nerfed some things got that got boosted [30:14.140 –> 30:16.380] But then I saw this word mammoth [30:18.020 –> 30:20.480] Mammoth my moose. What is mammoth? [30:21.260 –> 30:27.980] Muth’s HP. Is it a mammoth and a cow? I you have my attention. I don’t want to play this game [30:28.980 –> 30:30.980] Listeners if you have played sundown [30:31.580 –> 30:36.140] Survivors, is it sundown or sundown survivors? It was called sundown [30:36.140 –> 30:42.060] It’s now called sundown survivors, but they don’t see have changed the name. It’s a roguelike. I don’t want to play it [30:42.100 –> 30:44.100] Okay, if you have played sundown [30:44.580 –> 30:49.860] Tell us tell us what mammoth is because I have a curiosity. I [30:51.220 –> 30:53.800] But limited time they did this annoying thing [30:54.360 –> 30:57.280] Where they changed the name and they never actually said they were changing it [30:57.280 –> 31:01.920] So they just like started referring to it as the new name and like at least do it consistently [31:01.920 –> 31:06.900] Your logo doesn’t even have the word survivors. I know that’s why I was confused. It’s also not in their blurb on Steam [31:06.900 –> 31:11.540] It’s just yeah, if you’re gonna rename it do it properly. Come on control F [31:12.540 –> 31:16.180] sundown survivors has a 1.3 update which is out now and it has [31:16.660 –> 31:21.880] Bug fixes and patches and that they nerf a lot of things down at the bottom. Yep [31:22.580 –> 31:28.300] That’s thing. Tell us what mammoth is. Yeah, we want to know what it’s a mammoth of some kind at me [31:28.300 –> 31:32.420] Well, I wonder if it’s just yeah, is it just a cow a weird name for a mammoth? [31:32.420 –> 31:35.860] Who knows travelers rest have a new update. It’s a farm animal [31:36.540 –> 31:38.540] added you farm so [31:38.780 –> 31:45.220] It’s hard to know when you’ve not actually played these games so if you watch the trailer she is hitting cows [31:45.620 –> 31:51.520] It 50 seconds into the trailer. She is hitting cows with a broom and the cows die [31:51.520 –> 31:54.740] Oh, don’t do that and her too [31:55.300 –> 32:00.940] She like kills the two cows and then gets the material from that but like is that no [32:02.140 –> 32:04.900] No, you see it. Oh, no [32:05.420 –> 32:10.980] With the pig one of the items looks like guts it does one of the eight for the pig [32:11.500 –> 32:18.180] Right when she kills the pace one of them looks like a ball of intense intestines pork and beef. Oh, no [32:19.180 –> 32:25.760] Nope, there was something else. Yeah, it did say something gonna have to pause it was up for like one frame into it’s called intestine [32:26.600 –> 32:28.600] Oh my gosh, I’m done [32:33.640 –> 32:36.300] You pick up pig intestines have you [32:36.960 –> 32:41.320] Listeners, have you ever wanted to use pig intestines in a game? [32:42.160 –> 32:48.920] Travelers rest is gotcha back. Oh, I wonder if you use it to like make sausage, right? Cuz it’s now [32:50.000 –> 32:51.320] Okay [32:51.320 –> 32:53.320] No [32:54.160 –> 33:00.300] Wine you do you are you a vegan don’t play this game definitely don’t oh my word. That’s [33:02.360 –> 33:04.360] The animal you put [33:04.780 –> 33:06.780] Look, I know I know [33:07.640 –> 33:11.400] Right. I don’t want pig intestines in my game [33:11.980 –> 33:14.240] Right, like this is the whole realism [33:14.760 –> 33:20.720] Versus like actually yeah, and it’s like it feels a little bit weird killing your fan at farm animals [33:20.720 –> 33:22.720] I know that that’s the thing that happens [33:23.600 –> 33:28.280] Yeah, why are you killing them with a broom? That is just the pain in their faces. Yes [33:28.720 –> 33:36.960] They look act like they’ve built sprites that are like pain face like flinching. This is horrible flinching. Oh my word [33:38.360 –> 33:42.580] Yeah, there’s so much detail here and then it pig intestines pop out [33:42.880 –> 33:48.100] This is someone who’s developed the game so much and they’re like, you know rabbit hole. No, I’m kidding [33:48.360 –> 33:53.940] Someone probably wants this someone’s interested in it. But with a broom, I don’t want travelers rest [33:55.340 –> 34:02.880] As as as you’re seeing this clip of this person hitting and killing these cows and pigs with a broom the narrator says [34:03.300 –> 34:06.840] Do it and your animals will be easier to take care of [34:08.620 –> 34:10.620] Take care of [34:11.620 –> 34:14.300] Can you go take care of the cow, please [34:15.020 –> 34:17.020] We need food for the dinner [34:17.660 –> 34:19.660] Take care of it [34:19.940 –> 34:21.660] Okay [34:21.660 –> 34:22.780] Wow [34:22.780 –> 34:25.020] Farm animal updates out now. Oh [34:26.380 –> 34:28.380] So, okay, right [34:29.640 –> 34:31.640] I’ve just seen a tweet from them [34:32.180 –> 34:33.340] saying [34:33.340 –> 34:39.740] That they are thinking about an animal cruelty free slash vegan method. They are working on it [34:40.460 –> 34:45.420] It is on there, oh, yeah, here we go. Someone says hitting the animals with the room really turned me off [34:45.420 –> 34:48.140] I’m buying the game. I’m looking forward to a more humane update [34:48.740 –> 34:50.740] Working on it. Oh [34:51.040 –> 34:52.900] my gosh, I [34:52.900 –> 34:59.260] Still bought the game because it looked amazing. I can’t put the controller down and then they say mission accomplished [35:02.480 –> 35:09.060] They’re like we’re working on it the prisons like I bought it anyway, and they’re like cool don’t have to do anything [35:09.060 –> 35:14.000] No, I’m kidding. They’re still working on it. They have a road map. Yeah, I can’t see on the road map though [35:16.300 –> 35:20.220] Insect collection all very long-term. Yeah, I can’t see [35:24.740 –> 35:27.380] Yeah, I can’t see you on there on their list so [35:28.300 –> 35:30.060] Let’s move on shall we will come back [35:30.060 –> 35:34.460] well, we’ll keep you up to date on when there’s a vegan option for travelers rest or even just a [35:35.380 –> 35:40.660] More humane way of killing your animals, maybe it’s new new farming mechanics [35:42.180 –> 35:45.660] Let’s build a zoo. Yep speaking of cruelty to animals [35:47.420 –> 35:53.260] Well, let’s build a zoo is the one that lets you like crossbreed into like horrific creatures, oh, yeah love this [35:53.260 –> 35:57.220] I just I love this game so much [35:57.220 –> 36:00.940] I wish I enjoyed playing management games and I would play this much more [36:00.940 –> 36:04.740] Anyway, the aquarium Odyssey DLC which adds a [36:05.900 –> 36:12.260] Aquarium is I know so you can go get it now. Oh, it’s apparently in my library. Did I already buy it? [36:12.660 –> 36:18.780] When did I buy this DLC? Is it free? Oh, no, I didn’t buy it’s all good. No. No, I did. No [36:19.140 –> 36:23.600] It’s part of dinosaur island the no it no. No, none of that. None of that [36:24.660 –> 36:29.720] It is that the news update was on the game itself. Not the DLC [36:29.960 –> 36:35.520] So when I said in library, man, we’re all good. I’m no longer confused 50 plus new animals [36:37.120 –> 36:43.520] Over 50 new fish and mammal species are ready for you to adopt and showcase to your visitors from dolphins to manta rays whales and [36:43.520 –> 36:45.880] starfish to lobsters a

It's the band Above Snakes from Boston (I did that in my head like the Sam Adams commercials.) Johnny Skulls on vocals and Dax Dabs on guitar join us this week to tell us the origin story of this nu-metal style band Above Snakes. Their latest single "Crash N' Burn" is available now and definitely turning some heads.

It's a good old-fashioned demo round-up! Yeehaw! On this Psitanium Mine, we hit the streets as a cat in Little Kitty, Big City. Then we build the untamed wilderness one tile at a time in Above Snakes. We find out what would happen if Vampire Survivors and Hades in Death Must Die! Finally, we get to live the dream of befriending dinosaurs in the cozy game Paleo Pines.

Graham and Steve catch up to respectfully converse about the last 4 or 5 weeks worth of games played, before looking ahead to the video game releases of July! Show Segments: 00:00 - Intro 04:00 - Graham's Games 24:35 - Steve's Games 53:18 - Beginning of the End Games Mentioned: Diablo IV New Cycle Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew Gord Above Snakes Pile Up! Roots of Pacha Ixion Protodroid DeLTA Desta: The Memories Between Street Fighter 6 20 Minutes Till Dawn Project Lazarus Brotato Strayed Lights Afterimage Doomblade Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Music by Kevin MacLeod: https://incompetech.com/music

Al and Kev summarise the year so far Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:07: What Have We Been Up To 00:02:08: Marvel Chat 00:08:58: Feedback 00:11:40: Upcoming Releases 00:15:35: News 00:29:51: Mid Year Checkin 00:55:35: Outro Links Palia Switch Release Date: https://twitter.com/playPalia/status/1671529751419256834 Sun Haven Romance and Barns Update: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1432860/view/3646274937573768716 Silent Hope: https://twitter.com/RuneFactory/status/1671661784225259521 Wildmender: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599330/Wildmender/ Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.740 –> 00:06.120] Of course Mr. [00:06.120 –> 00:23.140] C [00:23.140 –> 00:35.260] Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. [00:35.260 –> 00:42.060] My name is Al, I’m Kevin, and we’re here today to talk about farming games, all the farming [00:42.060 –> 00:43.060] games. [00:43.060 –> 00:44.060] Yeah! [00:44.060 –> 00:50.660] Before we get into it, your regular reminder that transcripts are available in the show [00:50.660 –> 00:53.540] notes and on the website for the podcast, so go get them if you need them. [00:53.540 –> 00:56.820] Kevin, how are you doing? [00:56.820 –> 01:01.420] I’m tired. [01:01.420 –> 01:11.260] It’s been a busy, busy month for me for a number of many things, but outside of that [01:11.260 –> 01:20.380] and the brief snippets of gaming, I got, let’s see, I’ve been playing a lot of Marvel Snap, [01:20.420 –> 01:24.660] it’s good, I’ve been playing Octopath Traveler, it’s good. [01:24.660 –> 01:26.460] There was a Minecraft update recently. [01:26.460 –> 01:27.460] Oh, another? [01:27.460 –> 01:30.020] They just keep going, they never stop with that game. [01:30.020 –> 01:34.100] Yeah, they really don’t, and I’m talking about like, you know, not Patch Note, like, not [01:34.100 –> 01:38.920] Bug Fix or whatever, I’m talking about like a big content update. [01:38.920 –> 01:43.620] They introduced like, archaeology, quote unquote, into Minecraft, where you can dig into little [01:43.620 –> 01:48.620] ruins and discover little trinkets and shards and things like that and make pottery. [01:49.260 –> 01:55.140] They added sakura, like cherry blossoms, cherry blossom forests, and they added camels, that’s [01:55.140 –> 01:57.500] the real highlight of this update. [01:57.500 –> 01:58.820] They’re cute. [01:58.820 –> 02:00.500] I like camels. [02:00.500 –> 02:05.140] Yeah, so for people who enjoy Minecraft, go check it out. [02:05.140 –> 02:09.620] Always fun to fire it up again when a new thing is out. [02:09.620 –> 02:16.100] Other than that, I watched the first episode, yeah, there’s only one so far, at least at [02:16.100 –> 02:17.860] the time of this recording. [02:17.860 –> 02:26.140] Sword Invasion, the latest MCU series to hit Disney Plus, I know MCU turns people off [02:26.140 –> 02:31.660] right away, but this is a good one, it was a banger of an opening. [02:31.660 –> 02:38.700] That show hit the ground running, wasted no time, I won’t get too much into detail, but [02:38.700 –> 02:44.700] I enjoyed the ending, I enjoyed the action, I enjoyed the setup, everything was good, [02:44.700 –> 02:46.140] no complaints. [02:46.180 –> 02:48.900] I have one complaint, but it’s a spoilery complaint, so I’m not going to- [02:48.900 –> 02:54.700] Oh, well okay, yes, I can complain about that too, but I wasn’t bringing it up. [02:54.700 –> 02:58.700] We’re not going to bring it up, we’re not going to bring it up, we’re annoyed, annoyed, [02:58.700 –> 03:01.020] how dare you do that. [03:01.020 –> 03:05.100] I find it funny because like you say, this series is a good one, right, we’ve only got [03:05.100 –> 03:11.180] one episode, but assuming it continues in this way, I feel like the series have generally [03:11.180 –> 03:13.340] been good. [03:13.340 –> 03:15.500] What was the last bad series? [03:15.500 –> 03:19.380] Some people didn’t like Ms. Marvel because it’s just not their kind of thing, fair enough, [03:19.380 –> 03:23.420] some people wished that She-Hulk maybe had some more lawyer stuff, some people were very [03:23.420 –> 03:28.220] sexist about She-Hulk, but other than that, I think most of it has been like, if you didn’t [03:28.220 –> 03:32.940] like it, it’s just not your style of thing, I feel like the shows have been really good. [03:32.940 –> 03:40.780] I agree with that, I can’t think of anything super offensive, I mean there’s like- [03:40.780 –> 03:47.100] There’s individual issues that people had with like specific things that happen or like [03:47.100 –> 03:53.100] some episodes and stuff like that, but like I don’t, outside of like, oh I wish that She-Hulk [03:53.100 –> 04:00.740] had more lawyer stuff and I didn’t really like how kiddy Ms. Marvel was and some sexist [04:00.740 –> 04:04.300] stuff, outside of those three things, I’ve not really heard anyone go, I just did not [04:04.300 –> 04:09.260] like this series or this series is bad. [04:09.260 –> 04:16.540] I’m looking at a list here, my least favorite was probably Falcon and the Winter Soldier, [04:16.540 –> 04:24.220] I don’t think it’s bad per se, just I enjoyed the other ones, maybe Ms. Marvel, but anyways, [04:24.220 –> 04:29.100] I mean yeah, looking at it, I’ve enjoyed them all, there’s definitely been weaker series [04:29.100 –> 04:35.180] or weak points of the series, WandaVision, that ending, oof. [04:35.180 –> 04:44.220] No you’re right, it’s clear they’ve put the money in, I didn’t know what to expect [04:44.220 –> 04:51.420] from these series, like I didn’t know if- right, Marvel slash MCU has tried TV stuff [04:51.420 –> 04:57.220] before and it’s all been, you know, kind of erased, or they’re trying to erase it [04:57.220 –> 04:58.220] from history. [04:58.220 –> 05:03.340] Oh I mean some of it has been great, I can understand why some of it’s not amazing right, [05:03.340 –> 05:08.420] and obviously there were many parts of Agents of the Field that maybe they could have just [05:08.420 –> 05:12.940] missed some episodes and it still would have been good, but the Netflix series were almost [05:12.940 –> 05:22.700] all great, let’s ignore Luke Cage, not Luke Cage, sorry, let’s ignore Iron Fist, I know [05:22.700 –> 05:28.180] some people didn’t really like The Defenders, but other than that, I generally really liked- [05:28.180 –> 05:30.980] I mean I could be wrong, I don’t know how to watch them myself, I’m only speaking [05:30.980 –> 05:31.980] about what I’ve heard. [05:31.980 –> 05:40.760] But to your point, looking at the Disney Plus series, it’s been- they don’t feel [05:40.760 –> 05:50.680] like side projects per se, right, whereas quality, whatever it may have been, the other [05:50.680 –> 05:56.180] series definitely felt like side projects, whether it was Agents of Shields or the Netflix [05:56.180 –> 06:02.540] stuff, but here, no, it’s clear, they’re basically broken up movies, that’s what [06:02.540 –> 06:08.180] these series are, and so yeah, if you know how you feel about the MCU, that’s probably [06:08.180 –> 06:09.820] how you’ll feel about these series. [06:09.820 –> 06:16.580] Yeah, that’s fair, I feel like the overall quality has been better, and yeah, they could [06:16.580 –> 06:22.060] probably have trimmed a few of them down and stuff like that, but I certainly have enjoyed [06:22.060 –> 06:23.060] every single one of them. [06:23.060 –> 06:24.300] I obviously have my favorites. [06:24.300 –> 06:25.300] Of course. [06:25.420 –> 06:32.980] By default, you have to have your least favorites, aw, Midnight was good, but I actually find [06:32.980 –> 06:38.380] it really hard to decide what my favorite would be, like, I loved WandaVision, I would [06:38.380 –> 06:41.780] probably say Falcon and the Winter Soldier isn’t my favorite, but I still really like [06:41.780 –> 06:42.780] it. [06:42.780 –> 06:47.660] Loved Loki, loved What If, loved Hawkeye, loved Midnight, loved Ms. Marvel, loved She-Hulk, [06:47.660 –> 06:52.100] and I’ve been very much enjoying Secret Invasion so far, like, I have enjoyed every single [06:52.100 –> 06:53.100] one of them. [06:53.100 –> 07:04.300] Yeah, I agree with that, it’ll be interesting to see how Secret Invasion holds up, like, [07:04.300 –> 07:11.500] the one big advantage this series has is Samuel L. Jackson, right? [07:11.500 –> 07:16.660] That man can act, I don’t know if you knew that, but he’s an actor. [07:16.660 –> 07:20.860] Yeah, I feel like he’s thrown himself into this one as well, it’s not just a paycheck [07:20.860 –> 07:26.300] for him, he’s actually, he’s doing it, he’s acting it. [07:26.300 –> 07:34.820] Yeah, and it’s a fun premise for people who don’t know, Secret Invasion is, I know, in [07:34.820 –> 07:40.500] the comics, storyline, where there are alien shapeshifters invading Earth, posing as people, [07:40.500 –> 07:43.900] and they’re basically running with that same basic premise. [07:43.900 –> 07:50.800] So now it’s an interesting question of who do you trust, who’s an alien, yada yada yada. [07:50.840 –> 07:54.480] So yeah, I’m looking forward to the next episode, which airs tomorrow, no, not tomorrow, I’m [07:54.480 –> 08:00.400] losing track of the days, next Thursday, they release on Thursdays, Wednesdays, oh my gosh, [08:00.400 –> 08:06.600] time has no meaning for me anymore, what have you been up to? [08:06.600 –> 08:12.520] So I too have been watching Secret Invasion, I have not really been playing any games other [08:12.520 –> 08:20.560] than a couple of games for the podcast that listeners will hear in about a month and a [08:20.560 –> 08:27.960] half, yeah, because my Switch is still getting fixed, so. [08:27.960 –> 08:33.640] Better, hopefully it’ll come in soon, because boy, there’s some good things coming to the [08:33.640 –> 08:34.640] Switch. [08:34.640 –> 08:35.640] Yeah, I know. [08:35.640 –> 08:40.360] I just, I want it to come back, I just, as long as it gets to me, by just before I go [08:40.360 –> 08:42.840] on holiday, then I’m happy, right? [08:42.840 –> 08:45.720] There’s nothing in the next couple of weeks that I’m like, oh, I must play this. [08:45.720 –> 08:50.520] I’m obviously missing it, there are some things I’d like to be playing just now, but yeah, [08:50.520 –> 08:55.600] as long as it gets to me before I go on holiday, and as long as it has my Pokemon saves, that’s [08:55.600 –> 08:57.480] all I care about. [08:57.480 –> 08:59.480] Sounds good to me. [08:59.480 –> 09:03.480] So before we get into the news, we have some feedback. [09:03.480 –> 09:07.880] Okay, is this the first time this has happened? [09:07.880 –> 09:11.640] I think it’s the first time it’s happened so much as I felt the need to cover it on [09:11.640 –> 09:12.640] the podcast. [09:12.640 –> 09:19.440] We’ve had a few game devs reply and kind of, not clarify things, but just thank us and [09:20.360 –> 09:21.360] Well, sure, sure, sure. [09:21.360 –> 09:22.360] There’s like, yeah. [09:22.360 –> 09:26.480] I think this is the first time we’ve had like a clarification to something said on the podcast. [09:26.480 –> 09:30.920] From the developers or team, whoever, the official people. [09:30.920 –> 09:36.840] So last episode, Bev and Cody were talking about Mossfield Origins. [09:36.840 –> 09:39.040] And I think there were a couple of things mentioned. [09:39.040 –> 09:43.760] First of all, it was mentioned that it looks a bit like, like it has, it doesn’t really [09:43.760 –> 09:48.440] have goals and stuff like that. [09:48.480 –> 09:54.560] And the developer has replied to us and said that it in fact does have goals that are research [09:54.560 –> 09:59.360] levels and each research level has stuff to progress and various things change over time. [09:59.360 –> 10:02.560] And it doesn’t matter if you take a while to do these goals, it’s less sandbox and more [10:02.560 –> 10:03.640] narrative driven. [10:03.640 –> 10:06.480] So that’s good to know. [10:06.480 –> 10:12.520] And also a follow up for that was there was mentioned that it was very sepia and I can’t [10:12.520 –> 10:13.520] remember who it was. [10:13.520 –> 10:16.800] One of the two said they weren’t a huge fan of the sepia tones. [10:16.800 –> 10:21.960] And the developer said it’s less sepia and more vibrant now than it used to be. [10:21.960 –> 10:23.920] There was a steam post about that. [10:23.920 –> 10:27.960] So if you’re interested in looking up that there, you can look on the steam page and [10:27.960 –> 10:29.800] see the post for that. [10:29.800 –> 10:30.800] Yeah. [10:30.800 –> 10:32.800] Thank you for the clarification. [10:32.800 –> 10:33.800] Yeah. [10:33.800 –> 10:37.160] So, and this means they’re listening. [10:37.160 –> 10:38.160] Yeah. [10:38.160 –> 10:39.160] They’re listening. [10:39.160 –> 10:44.540] Well, let me tell you, let me tell you, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the only [10:44.540 –> 10:50.100] developer actually listening when they respond to my tweets because so many times like I’ll [10:50.100 –> 10:54.420] say something negative or something and they just like, like it and retweet it and that’s [10:54.420 –> 10:55.420] it. [10:55.420 –> 10:56.420] And it’s, they’ve clearly not listened to it. [10:56.420 –> 11:00.700] Whereas this developer is very definitely listening because you wouldn’t know that without [11:00.700 –> 11:01.700] having listened to the podcast. [11:01.700 –> 11:02.700] So that’s cool. [11:02.700 –> 11:03.700] Thank you very much. [11:03.700 –> 11:04.700] If you’re listening this time. [11:04.700 –> 11:10.700] See, now the play, the play is the title of this episode, something cryptic in regards [11:10.700 –> 11:12.120] to Mossfield. [11:12.120 –> 11:18.480] And then they’re going to be sweating as they listen for this very moment in the podcast. [11:18.480 –> 11:24.840] Something uh, something clickbaity like, uh, developer slams podcast hosts. [11:24.840 –> 11:27.080] You wouldn’t believe what this developer said. [11:27.080 –> 11:29.440] Our response to Mossfield ends. [11:29.440 –> 11:34.280] Ah, we wouldn’t do that. [11:34.280 –> 11:35.520] That’s that’s, that’s mean. [11:35.520 –> 11:40.600] We wouldn’t do that, we wouldn’t do that. [11:40.600 –> 11:41.600] All right, cool. [11:42.080 –> 11:43.800] So let’s talk about some news. [11:43.800 –> 11:47.000] So I thought there’s quite a few releases, um, just now. [11:47.000 –> 11:50.800] So I thought I would just do a quick rundown of what’s happened. [11:50.800 –> 11:56.120] So we’ve just had ever dream valley release on switch. [11:56.120 –> 12:03.080] And then Kevin is crying because we also then have, uh, two releases that will be out by [12:03.080 –> 12:05.200] the time this episode comes out. [12:05.200 –> 12:08.400] One lonely outpost and story of seasons, a wonderful life. [12:08.400 –> 12:10.320] Wait, lonely outpost? [12:10.320 –> 12:11.320] It’s coming out. [12:12.040 –> 12:13.040] It’s early access. [12:13.040 –> 12:14.040] Oh, early. [12:14.040 –> 12:15.040] Okay. [12:15.040 –> 12:16.040] So not coming. [12:16.040 –> 12:17.040] Okay. [12:17.040 –> 12:18.040] Okay. [12:18.040 –> 12:19.040] Well, people will be able to play it and buy it. [12:19.040 –> 12:20.040] Right. [12:20.040 –> 12:25.600] It’s just, uh, we don’t, we don’t, yeah, we don’t need to go into that debate again. [12:25.600 –> 12:33.680] I’m I’m just, uh, I’m just saying that, uh, I’m just going to say that I feel like there’s [12:33.680 –> 12:40.960] a game that’s filled that, that niche that a real legend had. [12:40.960 –> 12:43.800] But anyways, uh, what I am crying over is story of seasons. [12:43.800 –> 12:44.800] Oh no. [12:44.800 –> 12:45.800] Oh no. [12:45.800 –> 12:47.960] That’s, that’s three days from the day of this recording. [12:47.960 –> 12:48.960] I don’t like it. [12:48.960 –> 12:51.960] No, no, I don’t need it now. [12:51.960 –> 12:55.400] I want a wonderful life. [12:55.400 –> 12:56.800] You’re excited about this Kevin. [12:56.800 –> 12:57.800] I am. [12:57.800 –> 12:59.200] I am so excited. [12:59.200 –> 13:01.760] Maybe the game I’m well, that’s not true. [13:01.760 –> 13:05.280] There’s a lot of good games coming out now, but at least in terms of the cottage core [13:05.280 –> 13:10.400] sphere on this podcasting field, it’s probably the game I’m most excited for. [13:10.400 –> 13:11.400] No, that’s not true. [13:11.400 –> 13:15.280] Minneko comes out this year. [13:15.280 –> 13:20.840] I don’t know how I’m going to, I’m not ready for this game, but I need it a wonderful life. [13:20.840 –> 13:22.200] It’s it’s a good game. [13:22.200 –> 13:24.920] Um, I’m wondering, I’m doing okay there, Kevin. [13:24.920 –> 13:30.200] No, no, I’m falling apart before the podcast and just falling apart more. [13:30.200 –> 13:31.200] I’m kidding. [13:31.200 –> 13:39.880] I wonder this feels like probably one of the biggest quote unquote releases in the cottage [13:39.880 –> 13:41.480] core field in a while. [13:41.480 –> 13:49.460] I’m curious to see how much traction or tension it gets because, uh, yes, you know, this, [13:49.460 –> 13:51.520] this is the nostalgia, right? [13:51.520 –> 13:53.400] Like that’s, that’s always a big one. [13:53.400 –> 13:58.880] Um, it’s not just nostalgia, but it’s specific nostalgia for this one because like this one, [13:58.880 –> 14:03.120] as I’ve mentioned this a couple of times, but this seems to be like most people who [14:03.120 –> 14:07.800] are kind of like our sort of age, this was their first farming game. [14:07.800 –> 14:08.800] Absolutely. [14:08.800 –> 14:14.520] Um, the time planets just kind of aligned at the timeline there. [14:14.520 –> 14:16.400] There wasn’t a lot of competition back then. [14:16.400 –> 14:17.400] Right. [14:17.400 –> 14:18.400] Like, yeah. [14:18.400 –> 14:22.440] Um, so sure, but it’s not, it’s not, it wasn’t one of the earlier harvest means it was this [14:22.440 –> 14:23.440] one specifically. [14:23.440 –> 14:25.480] Yeah, no, you’re right. [14:25.480 –> 14:31.000] I think it, I think it might just be like the age we were when it came out, we could, [14:31.000 –> 14:35.280] we’re old enough to appreciate it versus, you know, little kids probably don’t fully [14:35.280 –> 14:39.040] get the intricacies of farming game or whatever. [14:39.040 –> 14:43.040] Anyways, point is, there’s probably, there’s a lot more people who care about this than [14:43.040 –> 14:50.320] say, Everdream Valley, no offense to Everdream Valley or any of the other games, just the [14:50.320 –> 14:54.000] name I saw, it’s just, this is a big one. [14:54.000 –> 14:59.680] So I’m really curious to see if this gets some traction and, and, and if it does, we [14:59.680 –> 15:07.360] will absolutely abuse the SEO and hashtag AWL or whatever we need to do to get people [15:07.360 –> 15:08.360] listening to this show. [15:08.360 –> 15:15.240] And it will be interesting to see how it, how it, how it works out compared to the original [15:15.240 –> 15:17.560] and your nostalgia and stuff like that. [15:17.560 –> 15:18.560] Oh gosh, oh gosh. [15:18.560 –> 15:24.520] I’m, I’m, I’m trying not to think about that because I’m not a big fan of some of the changes [15:24.520 –> 15:31.160] they’ve done, but we’ll see, hopefully, I mean Story of Seasons will probably be good, [15:31.160 –> 15:32.160] at least mechanically. [15:32.160 –> 15:33.160] Yeah, yeah. [15:33.160 –> 15:40.160] All right, well, let’s get into the, the actual new news. [15:40.160 –> 15:43.160] So first of all, Palia. [15:43.160 –> 15:50.880] So this was on the Nintendo Direct, that Palia is coming to Switch by the end of the year! [15:50.880 –> 15:51.880] Wow. [15:52.240 –> 15:57.040] So, I mean, if you, I guess, if you’ve not paid attention to what Palia is, we’ve talked [15:57.040 –> 16:07.040] about it a couple of times, but it’s a free-to-play, cottagecore MMO set in the, in a high fantasy [16:07.040 –> 16:08.040] world. [16:08.040 –> 16:16.880] Yeah, I, I’ve been, I’ve missed, oh, I haven’t been paying too close attention to Palia until [16:16.880 –> 16:21.720] the Direct one is forced in my face, basically, yeah. [16:21.720 –> 16:28.200] I don’t know what to think, I mean, have people been enjoying this already? [16:28.200 –> 16:36.200] I don’t know, it’s, it’s a tough spot to be in, MMO and cottagecore, like, it’s, those [16:36.200 –> 16:43.520] are both big, big playing fields with big, big players, so it takes a lot to stand out. [16:43.520 –> 16:45.840] It’s an interesting combination of things. [16:45.840 –> 16:46.840] It is. [16:47.800 –> 16:59.960] I mean, I think, on paper, those, those two Venn diagram circles overlap a lot, because [16:59.960 –> 17:05.560] a lot of cottagecore slash farming is, like, task-based, right? [17:05.560 –> 17:09.080] You gotta do your farming tasks, your fishing, yada yada. [17:09.080 –> 17:14.400] And a lot of MMO stuff is like that, too, so it probably lines up well. [17:15.280 –> 17:19.600] Yeah, yeah, I guess it’ll be interesting, because, like, there are some things that [17:19.600 –> 17:25.640] can be in MMOs that are very definitely not calming, you know, and very much stressful, [17:25.640 –> 17:27.840] so it’ll be interesting to see how it works with those sorts of things. [17:27.840 –> 17:34.040] I will admit, I haven’t really looked into the game, but yeah, that’s, it’ll be interesting [17:34.040 –> 17:35.040] to see how that goes. [17:35.040 –> 17:40.600] Are you saying you don’t want 10-person farming raids, whatever that would look like? [17:40.600 –> 17:44.240] I didn’t, I didn’t say that, no. [17:44.240 –> 17:50.680] My, okay, okay, so, all that, like, the general stuff aside, more specifically, I’m curious, [17:50.680 –> 17:52.800] is this gonna be cross-play? [17:52.800 –> 17:55.080] You would hope so, right? [17:55.080 –> 17:56.860] I think so, yeah. [17:56.860 –> 18:00.400] The interesting thing is, when they posted about this, they still haven’t technically [18:00.400 –> 18:06.840] said, they still hadn’t technically said that the PC version would be fully released by [18:06.840 –> 18:10.720] this year, and so they had some people complaining about that, so they were like, oh no, it will [18:10.720 –> 18:15.000] be fully releasing on PC before Switch, don’t worry. [18:15.000 –> 18:20.160] The fully released version, exclusive to Switch. [18:20.160 –> 18:24.720] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [18:24.720 –> 18:29.080] I’m not seeing anything about cross-play, but I’m not seeing anything about not cross-play, [18:29.080 –> 18:31.920] like, surely it would be, right? [18:31.920 –> 18:40.200] Yeah, I, it, it would be bananas if it didn’t, cause they, um, yeah, I, I can’t. [18:40.200 –> 18:46.360] Yeah, it was like the bread and butter for this sort of genre, to have everyone connect [18:46.360 –> 18:47.360] online, right? [18:47.360 –> 18:49.480] So, it’d be weird to split up your audience like that. [18:49.480 –> 18:55.680] Oh yes, here we are, I checked on our blog, um, we intend to support cross, cross-progression [18:55.680 –> 19:00.160] and cross-play, so you can bring your Palio character from PC to Nintendo Switch or vice [19:00.160 –> 19:01.160] versa. [19:01.160 –> 19:05.360] We’re still working out the final details, so be sure to stay tuned to our Discord, Twitter, [19:05.360 –> 19:08.000] Instagram and Facebook for all the latest updates. [19:08.000 –> 19:09.000] Okay, yeah. [19:09.040 –> 19:11.800] Yeah, alright, well, good for them. [19:11.800 –> 19:14.440] Um, what else we got going on? [19:14.440 –> 19:22.320] Uh, yes, so, Sunhaven, a new update for Sunhaven, 1.2, uh, cool, get me on Switch, please, hurry [19:22.320 –> 19:23.320] up. [19:23.320 –> 19:27.360] Um, so this is the Romance and Barns update. [19:27.360 –> 19:29.080] You can romance barns? [19:29.080 –> 19:32.080] Uh, yeah, everybody loves to romance barns. [19:32.080 –> 19:38.480] Um, so it’s got new, romanceable characters, three of them, I believe, some new and upgradeable [19:39.480 –> 19:47.400] farm building with customization, some new player house customizability, there’s quite [19:47.400 –> 19:54.440] a lot of customizability here, lots of colors, lots of things. [19:54.440 –> 20:01.040] You can customize your farm building to look like a tub of noodles. [20:01.040 –> 20:04.440] That’s not bad, you’ve caught my attention. [20:04.440 –> 20:10.080] I thought I would, I thought I would, I know you, Kevin, I knew you. [20:10.080 –> 20:14.760] Now, I was about to say this game looks busy, just looking down the pictures and adding [20:14.760 –> 20:15.840] more to that is chaotic. [20:15.840 –> 20:21.800] But when you told me and I see it now, like the Oh, yeah, the Chinese takeout ramen box, [20:21.800 –> 20:25.320] like, okay, okay, no, they’re, they’re onto something. [20:25.320 –> 20:29.760] Now, now they have my attention, as soon as they hit the switch, you can make the player [20:29.760 –> 20:36.360] house look like a gingerbread house, a cup of coffee, you can have cat ears, I love the [20:36.360 –> 20:37.360] cat ears. [20:37.360 –> 20:38.360] Yeah. [20:38.360 –> 20:47.760] And for new DLC packs, so the their DLC packs are all like additional cosplayer cosmetics. [20:47.760 –> 20:52.040] There’s a snacks snackoon costume. [20:52.040 –> 20:54.640] So this this snackoon one is free as well. [20:54.640 –> 20:58.160] So you can go get the snackoon outfit and I suspect they’ve done this to just get you [20:58.160 –> 21:02.480] used to the idea of getting a DLC. [21:02.480 –> 21:07.080] There’s the set sale DLC, which contains over 40 items. [21:07.080 –> 21:13.960] The pirate themed pack, next you have the mush mushy DLC, which is a mushroom themed [21:13.960 –> 21:15.880] pack with over 40 items as well. [21:15.880 –> 21:21.240] I don’t like mushrooms and eating at least well, no, but I mean, you like things are [21:21.240 –> 21:22.240] themed like mushrooms. [21:22.240 –> 21:25.480] I do love the mushroom themed things though. [21:25.480 –> 21:29.820] And the ocean shores DLC, which contains over 30 items. [21:29.820 –> 21:32.080] And it’s a beach themed pack. [21:32.080 –> 21:33.560] This is pretty cool. [21:33.560 –> 21:38.840] Um, like, now, like just thinking about this, I’m a paid or I mean, I have paid attention [21:38.840 –> 21:44.040] to Sunhaven, but it’s falling out of my brain, and so I’m repaying attention right now. [21:44.040 –> 21:49.360] I going all out and turning your farm into nonsense. [21:49.360 –> 21:51.340] That’s not something you see that frequently. [21:51.340 –> 21:52.840] So I appreciate that. [21:52.840 –> 21:53.840] Yeah. [21:53.840 –> 21:56.200] I’m looking forward to playing this game. [21:56.200 –> 21:57.860] I just want it on the switch. [21:57.860 –> 22:00.960] Can we get on the switch, please? [22:00.960 –> 22:01.960] Coming soon. [22:01.960 –> 22:04.720] Bunch of stuff. [22:04.720 –> 22:06.920] Give me on switch. [22:06.920 –> 22:10.280] That’s I mean, that’s a common sentiment for most things in my life. [22:10.280 –> 22:13.040] I’m not even seeing any mention of the switch anymore. [22:13.040 –> 22:17.400] They’re they’re listening to this right now, just like the mosque people. [22:17.400 –> 22:19.440] They’re they’re avoiding it intentionally. [22:19.440 –> 22:20.440] Yeah. [22:20.440 –> 22:21.440] Anyway. [22:21.440 –> 22:22.440] Cool. [22:22.440 –> 22:23.440] What’s next? [22:24.040 –> 22:25.840] So we’ve got silent hope. [22:25.840 –> 22:30.460] So this is a new game announced by the ring factory team because they hadn’t announced [22:30.460 –> 22:33.760] enough games recently. [22:33.760 –> 22:36.360] This is a battle and farming RPG. [22:36.360 –> 22:42.560] So I mean, can the same concept as ring factory, but a different way of thinking about it. [22:42.560 –> 22:47.340] They’ve said it is in the same world as ring factory. [22:47.340 –> 22:51.280] It also, you know, contains the chicken and cow. [22:51.280 –> 22:52.280] Yeah. [22:53.120 –> 22:54.720] I didn’t pay attention. [22:54.720 –> 22:55.720] It’s the cow. [22:55.720 –> 22:56.720] I didn’t. [22:56.720 –> 23:00.000] Oh, I love that cow. [23:00.000 –> 23:06.320] It’s coming out on the third of October on steam and switch. [23:06.320 –> 23:07.920] I’m intrigued by this. [23:07.920 –> 23:10.960] It looks a lot more like something I would enjoy. [23:10.960 –> 23:17.280] It looks like if I if, if somebody had designed room factory for me to like, sure. [23:17.280 –> 23:20.380] Like it just looks a lot more fun. [23:20.380 –> 23:25.140] And they’re going, they’re keeping on the kind of like 2.5 D style. [23:25.140 –> 23:29.960] Like you’re kind of like, it’s, you’re moving around in three dimensions, but you’re not [23:29.960 –> 23:36.340] like your camera isn’t like down low and you’re, I just don’t, I’m not a huge fan of how ring [23:36.340 –> 23:37.340] factory has gone. [23:37.340 –> 23:38.900] I’m not saying they shouldn’t do that. [23:38.900 –> 23:40.060] I know a lot of people would enjoy. [23:40.060 –> 23:43.500] I’m just personally not a huge fan of that. [23:43.500 –> 23:49.540] But I much prefer the graphics to this and the combat looks more fun to me. [23:49.540 –> 23:52.860] So I will almost certainly be picking this up. [23:52.860 –> 23:56.320] I on it was on the direct. [23:56.320 –> 23:59.500] I watched it wasn’t paying too much attention, probably because I was still reeling from [23:59.500 –> 24:02.100] other news. [24:02.100 –> 24:06.980] But now, like, I totally missed that it was in the room factory world. [24:06.980 –> 24:07.980] That’s cool. [24:07.980 –> 24:10.980] I say is someone who’s never factory game. [24:10.980 –> 24:12.460] Yeah, but it’s still it’s still cool. [24:12.460 –> 24:16.620] You can it’s cool in concept, even if they’ve never actually been part of that. [24:16.620 –> 24:17.620] Yeah. [24:17.620 –> 24:18.620] I’m looking at it. [24:18.700 –> 24:19.700] With your points. [24:19.700 –> 24:20.700] It looks dynamic. [24:20.700 –> 24:23.800] It looks the visuals are nice enough. [24:23.800 –> 24:25.300] And it has the cow. [24:25.300 –> 24:26.300] That’s all that. [24:26.300 –> 24:27.300] That’s the selling point. [24:27.300 –> 24:32.000] It is one of the best designed cows in in the genre. [24:32.000 –> 24:33.260] You know, it really is. [24:33.260 –> 24:35.940] You’d be hard pressed to find a better cow. [24:35.940 –> 24:36.940] Yeah. [24:36.940 –> 24:37.940] Oh, so yeah. [24:37.940 –> 24:38.940] Do we have it? [24:38.940 –> 24:39.940] I forget. [24:39.940 –> 24:40.940] Did you say date? [24:40.940 –> 24:41.940] Do we have a date? [24:41.940 –> 24:42.940] Yeah. [24:42.940 –> 24:43.940] Third of October. [24:43.940 –> 24:45.780] So although I say I will be buying this, let’s be honest, I’m not going to buy on and play [24:45.780 –> 24:49.780] on release day because that’s only a week after Maneko’s Night Market, Harvest Moon, [24:49.780 –> 24:54.980] The Winds of Anthos, Paleo Pines and My Time at Sandrock all release. [24:54.980 –> 24:56.780] How are you going to survive that week? [24:56.780 –> 24:57.780] Good heavens. [24:57.780 –> 25:00.820] I’m going to survive it by not playing My Time at Sandrock. [25:00.820 –> 25:04.140] Yeah, I don’t. [25:04.140 –> 25:07.700] We’ve got I’m trying to figure out the right order to do these things. [25:07.700 –> 25:09.960] And that’s only the cottagecore obligations. [25:09.960 –> 25:12.100] There’s some other good junk coming. [25:12.100 –> 25:16.740] Well, yeah, there’s a few weeks at least before other things come out. [25:16.740 –> 25:17.740] Mm hmm. [25:17.740 –> 25:22.860] Oh, man, yeah, it’s definitely gonna be a busy autumn. [25:22.860 –> 25:23.860] Surprise! [25:23.860 –> 25:27.220] Pokemon DLC launches that week. [25:27.220 –> 25:28.940] I don’t think it would come out in October. [25:28.940 –> 25:30.580] No, I don’t think so either. [25:30.580 –> 25:32.460] And I think it will come out in November. [25:32.460 –> 25:33.460] Probably. [25:33.460 –> 25:34.460] I think it will be in November and February. [25:34.460 –> 25:37.180] I think it will be what it is, but we’ll see. [25:37.180 –> 25:39.420] We’ll talk about that on a different thing. [25:39.420 –> 25:47.220] And the final news entry is another new game, Wild Mender. [25:47.220 –> 25:49.620] So I think this one was mentioned on the… [25:49.620 –> 25:50.820] Was this one mentioned on the… [25:50.820 –> 25:53.220] No, it wasn’t mentioned on the direct. [25:53.220 –> 25:57.180] This was just another random thing. [25:57.180 –> 25:58.180] What was this? [25:58.180 –> 26:02.980] So this is a desert gardening survival game. [26:02.980 –> 26:07.020] Start from a tiny spring and cultivate a blooming garden. [26:07.020 –> 26:11.900] Explore a vast world amid the sands and uncover its mysteries. [26:11.900 –> 26:17.540] Can you defend against the relentless forces of nature and mysterious wraith corruption [26:17.540 –> 26:19.900] to bring life to a dying world? [26:19.900 –> 26:20.900] That’s… [26:20.900 –> 26:21.900] That was a lot of words. [26:21.900 –> 26:22.900] It was. [26:22.900 –> 26:26.380] I’m not really sure how to get all in. [26:26.380 –> 26:27.380] I like the graphics. [26:27.380 –> 26:29.520] Yeah, no, I’m looking at the trailer. [26:29.520 –> 26:32.180] This has very pleasing visuals. [26:32.180 –> 26:33.820] It’s a really nice kind of combination. [26:33.820 –> 26:36.700] It’s kind of like a nice balance between… [26:36.700 –> 26:41.380] It’s not ridiculously cartoony, but it’s also not trying to be realistic. [26:41.380 –> 26:46.420] It’s more on the kind of like, I guess, kind of like, you know, Breath of the Wild kind [26:46.420 –> 26:47.420] of idea. [26:47.420 –> 26:48.420] Yeah, in that general direction. [26:48.420 –> 26:51.100] Realistic cartoony, if that makes sense. [26:51.100 –> 26:55.740] Like it’s not trying to look wind waker-y, like really ridiculously cartoony, but it’s [26:55.740 –> 26:57.380] not trying to be realistic. [26:57.380 –> 27:00.900] Yeah, no, I totally see what you mean. [27:00.900 –> 27:04.120] And something it does very well is lighting. [27:04.120 –> 27:10.960] Like there’s some sunset scenes and you have like a little cape that’s glowing and oh, [27:10.960 –> 27:11.960] that’s really pretty. [27:11.960 –> 27:12.960] Yeah. [27:12.960 –> 27:14.540] There’s glowing plants and things. [27:14.540 –> 27:16.780] Northern Lights, or I guess it’s just the Aurora. [27:16.780 –> 27:17.780] I don’t know where this is. [27:17.780 –> 27:19.780] This is some Aurora. [27:19.780 –> 27:20.780] Yeah. [27:20.780 –> 27:26.500] So I don’t know, there’s a lot going on. [27:26.500 –> 27:30.060] I’ll be keeping an eye on this because it does look very pretty. [27:30.060 –> 27:35.420] If nothing else, like these visuals are worth checking out. [27:35.420 –> 27:39.260] It looks like it might, I’ve not seen a mention of it, but it looks like it might be open [27:39.260 –> 27:40.260] world. [27:40.260 –> 27:46.700] It’s definitely kind of like the way that you’re traveling is very much like kind of [27:46.700 –> 27:51.100] Breath of the Wild type thing where you’re running around and climbing, you can, it looks [27:51.100 –> 27:56.900] like you can climb anything and kind of go anywhere sort of thing. [27:56.900 –> 28:01.900] So a minor complaint, and this is probably just a personal thing. [28:01.900 –> 28:05.020] For a, they’re selling themselves as a desert game. [28:05.020 –> 28:07.180] There’s a lot of not desert in this game. [28:07.180 –> 28:08.860] There’s a lot of lush forests and- [28:08.860 –> 28:11.980] Yeah, well, I think the point is you’re turning the desert into a forest. [28:11.980 –> 28:17.940] I think that’s the point because it says, turn the desert green with the tools you crafted [28:17.940 –> 28:23.620] set out to grow the little oasis in the middle of a vast desert into your own thriving garden. [28:23.620 –> 28:29.340] Dig canals, nurture your plants, craft useful and beautiful structures, harness magical [28:29.340 –> 28:32.740] essence, protect against the forces of nature and more. [28:32.740 –> 28:36.220] You’ll have plenty of space and choices to create the garden of your imagination. [28:36.220 –> 28:41.180] Acre by acre, you will reclaim the desert and reforest the world. [28:41.180 –> 28:46.700] I get that, but I also would like to see a game that’s just purely desert farming. [28:46.700 –> 28:49.340] I want to see what that would look like. [28:49.340 –> 28:57.980] But yeah, so I’m guessing your loop here is you go out into the desert to explore and [28:57.980 –> 28:58.980] find things. [28:58.980 –> 29:03.300] You come back to your oasis and you nurture it and grow things and that slowly expands [29:03.300 –> 29:08.100] and then as that expands, you’re then able to explore further out. [29:08.100 –> 29:11.180] Yeah, yeah. [29:11.180 –> 29:12.180] It’s a good looking game. [29:12.180 –> 29:15.900] I will keep my eye on this, what is it? [29:15.900 –> 29:16.900] Wild Mender. [29:16.900 –> 29:17.900] Yeah. [29:17.900 –> 29:18.900] Wild Mender. [29:19.460 –> 29:25.260] I’ve not seen anything about Switch, it looks like it’s just Windows on Steam as far as [29:25.260 –> 29:26.260] I can see. [29:26.260 –> 29:30.980] Well, hopefully it does well enough that they feel a Switch port would be justified. [29:30.980 –> 29:35.020] Yes, and presumably it’ll work on the Steam Deck. [29:35.020 –> 29:40.100] The good thing, as I’ve mentioned before, about Steam Deck is that it gets people thinking [29:40.100 –> 29:46.980] of controllers from the start so that then porting to Switch can be a little bit easier [29:46.980 –> 29:48.540] in that aspect of things. [29:48.580 –> 29:51.100] Yeah, yeah, that’s very true. [29:51.100 –> 29:52.340] Alright, cool. [29:52.340 –> 29:54.780] That’s all the news. [29:54.780 –> 29:56.780] So I realized I didn’t mention at the top what we’re doing. [29:56.780 –> 30:01.940] Well, you said we’re going to talk about farming games and we’re going to talk about farming [30:01.940 –> 30:02.940] games. [30:02.940 –> 30:05.100] So we’re going to do a mid-year catch up. [30:05.100 –> 30:12.860] So this is the middle of the year, this is the 26th episode of the year, my word, that’s [30:12.860 –> 30:13.860] ridiculous. [30:13.860 –> 30:14.860] I don’t like that. [30:14.860 –> 30:17.180] I don’t like that at all. [30:17.180 –> 30:22.020] We have now done more episodes this year, or as many episodes this year as we did last [30:22.020 –> 30:23.020] year. [30:23.020 –> 30:27.620] Oh, that’s cool, but I don’t like the halfway point thing. [30:27.620 –> 30:30.500] Oh, oh no. [30:30.500 –> 30:33.060] So we’re going to talk about what’s happened so far. [30:33.060 –> 30:36.020] Out of what’s happened so far, what’s our favorite? [30:36.020 –> 30:39.180] Is anything in contention for Game of the Year so far? [30:39.180 –> 30:45.300] And we’ll maybe go over what’s still to come out, which I’m just going to reorganize things, [30:45.300 –> 30:46.740] so I’ll pull that down. [30:46.740 –> 30:50.900] So I guess I’ll just go through this list of things that have released so far, because [30:50.900 –> 30:54.840] I’ve got much better on keeping track of what games are coming out. [30:54.840 –> 30:57.680] And so hopefully this will be much easier at the end of the year as well. [30:57.680 –> 30:59.340] So here’s my long list. [30:59.340 –> 31:00.740] We love lists. [31:00.740 –> 31:02.100] Games released so far this year. [31:02.100 –> 31:08.420] Above Snakes, Before the Green Moon, Everdream Valley, Fableton, Early Access, Farming Simulator [31:08.420 –> 31:16.980] 23, Garden Inn, Homestead Arcana, Enchanted, Research Story Early Access, Roots of Pacha, [31:16.980 –> 31:24.100] Season A Letter to the Future, Smooshy Come Home, Song of the Prairie, Sundown, Sunhaven [31:24.100 –> 31:30.740] 1.0, T’Chia, Terra Nil, and of course not technically out yet, but by the time this [31:30.740 –> 31:36.520] podcast comes out are One Lonely Outpost Early Access, no I’m going to redo that one, One [31:36.520 –> 31:43.520] Lonely Outpost Early Access, and Story of Seasons, A Wonderful Life. [31:43.520 –> 31:47.000] I think that’s more games than came out in 2021. [31:47.000 –> 31:48.000] It feels like it. [31:48.000 –> 31:52.280] Yep, looking at the list, so one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, yeah there’s like [31:52.280 –> 31:56.880] 12 games that came out in 2021, and that is more than 12 games. [31:56.880 –> 32:05.800] I mean, well okay, I probably, not just Cottagecore, it feels like gaming in general a lot is coming [32:05.800 –> 32:08.480] out this year. [32:08.480 –> 32:17.720] I think that might be thanks to getting over the COVID pandemic stuff, or a lot of that. [32:17.720 –> 32:25.440] By this point people have adjusted or whatever, that’s just a thought maybe, I have no actual [32:25.440 –> 32:27.520] evidence of that. [32:27.520 –> 32:32.680] But that is a lot of games though, I’m on the show every now and then, I don’t know [32:32.680 –> 32:33.720] some of these games. [32:33.720 –> 32:36.960] What is Smooshy? [32:36.960 –> 32:37.960] What is Smooshy? [32:37.960 –> 32:39.720] What is before the green moon? [32:39.720 –> 32:40.720] What are these? [32:40.720 –> 32:45.480] Smooshy Come Home is the one where you’re a wee toadstool or mushroom type thing, and [32:45.480 –> 32:50.080] you’re running around delivering mail and doing tasks and stuff like that. [32:50.080 –> 32:51.080] What? [32:51.080 –> 32:53.560] I don’t remember this, this is an adorable mushroom guy! [32:53.560 –> 32:55.600] Yeah, it came out like two weeks ago. [32:55.600 –> 32:57.200] It’s on Switch, what? [32:57.200 –> 33:00.640] It was a shadow drop for the Wholesome Direct. [33:00.640 –> 33:01.640] What? [33:01.640 –> 33:07.280] I’m going to look at this, that’s an adorable mushroom man guy thing. [33:07.280 –> 33:13.600] Okay, that’s new, oh wow, that’s new to me. [33:13.600 –> 33:18.280] So there are, so I just counted, so in 2019 there were 14 games that I’ve tracked that [33:18.280 –> 33:19.280] came out. [33:19.280 –> 33:23.000] In 2020 there were 10 games that came out, makes sense, in 2020. [33:23.000 –> 33:26.560] In 2021 there were 16 games that came out. [33:26.560 –> 33:31.400] So far this year, that was 19 games. [33:31.400 –> 33:38.240] Wow, that’s a lot. [33:38.240 –> 33:49.080] So Kevin, maybe I should go first, so I don’t think I’ve played any of these games at all. [33:49.080 –> 33:54.760] I legitimately don’t think I’ve played any of these games, which is really kind of a [33:54.760 –> 34:00.040] little bit embarrassing to say, and also quite a little bit shocking that I’ve not played [34:00.040 –> 34:02.520] a single game that’s come out this year so far. [34:02.520 –> 34:06.720] We’re halfway through the year and I’ve not played a single 2023 game! [34:06.720 –> 34:12.720] Well I think it’s two things, one, well a few things, one, there’s a lot of games in [34:12.720 –> 34:21.040] general, slash life in general, you can’t blame anyone for that, but two, it’s not like [34:21.040 –> 34:24.680] this show’s not covering anything, we’re still trying to catch up from older stuff [34:24.680 –> 34:25.680] right? [34:25.680 –> 34:27.080] There’s a lot! [34:27.080 –> 34:31.640] I was looking through the list of episodes that I’ve been on, and the game ones are all [34:31.640 –> 34:36.320] games that came out at the end of last year basically. [34:36.320 –> 34:45.340] And three, I don’t know the statistics, but we’ve got a lot of people on the team now [34:45.340 –> 34:49.240] for this show, so it’s been splitting up more. [34:49.240 –> 34:52.920] Some of the games that have been played that come out this year were played by other people [34:52.920 –> 34:53.920] that weren’t you. [34:53.960 –> 34:56.280] Yes that is true, the podcast has covered them. [34:56.280 –> 35:01.360] But also, also, all of the games I was most looking forward to aren’t out yet, right? [35:01.360 –> 35:06.600] So we’ve got Vanecco’s Night Market, which isn’t out yet, we’ve got Snacko, which isn’t [35:06.600 –> 35:10.120] out yet, we’ve got, what else was there? [35:10.120 –> 35:12.120] Winds of Anthos, Palaeopines. [35:12.120 –> 35:16.560] I wouldn’t say the Winds of Anthos is what I’m most excited about, but yeah, of course [35:16.560 –> 35:20.280] A Wonderful Life was the third one that I put in that episode of the ones I’m most [35:20.280 –> 35:21.280] excit

Drei neue Games aus dem Mai 2023 werden vorgestellt, Mountaincore und Above Snakes sind Indie Games mit Survival, bauen, craften und etwas Strategie und Miasma Chronicles ist ein Sci-Fi Endzeit Rollenspiel mit rundenbasiertem Kampf und schicker Grafik. Alle Spiele kurz vorgestellt in einer Art Mini Review mit Gameplay auf Deutsch / German. Sie erschienen mit Release Date Mai 23 auf PC, und Miasma Chronicles auch für Playstation PS5 und Xbox Series X Neue Spiele im Mai 2023 als Blogpost lesen: https://zapzockt.de/de/neue-games-mai-2023-mountaincore-above-snakes-miasma-chronicles-Early-Access-mini-review-test/ Mehr Gaming News, Games Reviews, Trailer und Spiele Guides findest Du auf der Website ZapZockt.de - Egal ob PC Sims, RPGs oder Strategie Games, alles angezockt von Zap Zockt. #IndieGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #MountainCore #AboveSnakes #MiasmaChronicles Dieses neue Gaming News Format möchte ich jetzt gern öfter bringen. Links zu den Spielen findest Du in der Videobeschreibung. Ich hoffe, es hat Dir gefallen, schreib mir aber gern Deine Meinung oder Verbesserungsvorschläge dazu. Und auch, falls Dich eins der Spiele so sehr interessiert, dass Du ein komplettes Review dazu sehen möchtest. Und falls Du selbst ein Indie Game Dev sein solltest, und Dein Spiel hier sehen möchtest, schreib mir gern. Weitere Videos von mir zu Indie Games findest Du hier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqiDphr3mxY&list=PLd3Fdrw1rpm0zEcZweDpTLTpR-7o1n68I ⚠️⚠️ Disclaimer: This material is not official and is not endorsed by Rocket Jump Technologies, Square Glade Games, The Bearded Ladies and 505 Games. #Keyprovided by Keymailer/Press Engine/Devs Du kannst mich auch bei allerlei Social- und anderen Seiten finden:

Al and Jonnie go through all the news and newly announced games Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:07: What Have We Been Up To 00:20:06: News 01:16:56: Outro Links Roots of Pacha Back on Steam Wholesome Direct Date Above Snakes Steamdeck Coral Island Summer Update Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos Plushie Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos New Screenshot Everdream Valley Release Marvelous Showcase Starstruck Vagabond Just Life Natsu-Mon 20th Century Summer Vacation Grandma Green Grimoire Groves Revenant Hill Circle of Kerzoven Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.000 –> 00:30.000] . [00:30.000 –> 00:35.000] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. [00:35.000 –> 00:44.000] My name is Al and I’m Johnny and we are here today to talk about farming games. [00:44.000 –> 00:51.000] Important note at the top as always transcripts are available for this episode in the show notes and on the Web site. [00:51.000 –> 00:55.000] So if you need that go and get that. How you doing Johnny? [00:55.000 –> 01:01.000] I’m good, I’m good. It’s early morning on a Sunday so we’ll see how coherent I am by the end of the episode. [01:01.000 –> 01:06.000] But other than that I’m excited to talk farming games like legitimately. [01:06.000 –> 01:10.000] That’s what we’re talking about today right? It’s just infinite farming games. [01:10.000 –> 01:18.000] So many games. So I have found like as always there’s always games that appear and I’m like oh that’s a game I didn’t know about it add it to the list. [01:18.000 –> 01:25.000] And I don’t always talk about those new games as I come across them because like sometimes you can get a bit overwhelmed. [01:25.000 –> 01:33.000] And we’ve gotten to the point where I had like a couple of games and I was like maybe it’s time to go through these games let’s do an episode on it. [01:33.000 –> 01:42.000] And then boom a bunch came out this week. A bunch were announced this week so it was the perfect week to do it apparently. [01:43.000 –> 01:44.000] I just didn’t know it. [01:44.000 –> 01:48.000] It was well planned because usually these things happen like immediately after you record the episode. [01:48.000 –> 01:53.000] So you’ve clearly nailed the timing after four years of doing the show. [01:53.000 –> 01:57.000] We’ll see. Let’s see what happens after this recording. [01:59.000 –> 02:02.000] Alright cool so we’re going to talk all about those new games. [02:02.000 –> 02:07.000] We’ve got some other news that isn’t new game related which we’ll go over. [02:07.000 –> 02:09.000] But first of all Johnny what have you been up to? [02:09.000 –> 02:12.000] Well Al there’s this new game I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. [02:12.000 –> 02:17.000] It’s called The Legend of Zelda and it’s very good. [02:17.000 –> 02:20.000] I know you’ve been playing it a whole ton. [02:20.000 –> 02:30.000] I’m pretty sure you’re well ahead of where I am but kind of anytime I have time I am playing the new Zelda and I love it. [02:30.000 –> 02:35.000] It’s like I know people are going crazy and saying it’s maybe the best game ever made. [02:35.000 –> 02:38.000] Those people are probably accurate it’s probably the best game ever made. [02:38.000 –> 02:45.000] I always like I’m not saying it’s not the best game ever made right because I’m saying I’m not willing to say that. [02:45.000 –> 02:51.000] I’m not I’m not willing to say it is the best game purely because like I don’t even know what that means. [02:51.000 –> 02:54.000] Right like how do you define the best game? [02:54.000 –> 02:56.000] So I can I can answer this question. [02:56.000 –> 03:02.000] So you think of a game and that game is better than all of the other games. [03:02.000 –> 03:04.000] That game is the best game. [03:04.000 –> 03:11.000] What does it mean to be better like this is it is very subjective right like I think there are plenty of people. [03:11.000 –> 03:16.000] None of them are apparently on my friends list because almost everyone on my friends list on the switch is playing it. [03:16.000 –> 03:24.000] But there are people who don’t like this type of game right and so that that would be a subjective thing to them. [03:24.000 –> 03:26.000] They would not enjoy that kind of game. [03:26.000 –> 03:32.000] Yeah I think what I personally really like about Zelda is just how open it is right. [03:32.000 –> 03:40.000] It took the concept from Breath of the Wild of kind of go anywhere and do anything into actually do anything. [03:40.000 –> 03:53.000] The ultra hand mechanic that’s kind of the huge innovation that makes this game not just Breath of the Wild 1.5. [03:53.000 –> 03:55.000] Yeah I would agree. [03:55.000 –> 04:00.000] I think it’s funny there’s two things I find really funny about people playing this game. [04:00.000 –> 04:04.000] And they do something crazy and they’re like oh they’d never know we do this. [04:04.000 –> 04:10.000] And I’m like no maybe not specifically that but like do you think they didn’t have this sort of thing in mind when they designed this feature. [04:10.000 –> 04:16.000] Do you really think that they were designing this feature for you to make a boat to go across a river. [04:16.000 –> 04:17.000] Of course they not. [04:17.000 –> 04:20.000] They knew that this would be incredible on social media. [04:20.000 –> 04:24.000] People would make these insane things and it would get them so much positive. [04:24.000 –> 04:28.000] They knew that come on like we know that these people know how to make games right. [04:28.000 –> 04:33.000] They’ve made two games in a row that people are saying are the best game ever made. [04:33.000 –> 04:39.000] Right like they know what they’re doing they absolutely knew what people would do with this. [04:39.000 –> 04:45.000] And the other thing is when people do like a shrine and they’re like oh this is not the proper way to do this shrine. [04:45.000 –> 04:48.000] And I’m like there is no proper way that’s the point. [04:48.000 –> 04:52.000] Right like there is an intended solution to make sure you can get through the shrine. [04:53.000 –> 04:58.000] But they’re totally open to you cheesing the hell out of the shrine if that is the way that you get through it. [04:58.000 –> 05:06.000] Like I’m at the point where I’ve got over a hundred shrines now and anytime I go into a shrine that has one of those like pressure sensitive things that you’re meant to do something with a ball. [05:06.000 –> 05:08.000] I’m like no no and I just shoot it with a bomb arrow. [05:08.000 –> 05:15.000] I’m done with those I’m fine with just just getting through like absolutely like that there’s no specific way to do these things. [05:15.000 –> 05:20.000] And it’s like even with some shrines there isn’t actually like a clear intended thing. [05:20.000 –> 05:22.000] Like there’s multiple different ways to do it. [05:22.000 –> 05:29.000] I think with a lot of them there is like here’s the way that this is like the as you say suggested way to do it. [05:29.000 –> 05:32.000] But I think there are even shrines that that’s not the case. [05:32.000 –> 05:37.000] Yeah that wouldn’t surprise me I’ve only done about 30 so um yeah you know. [05:37.000 –> 05:43.000] Relatively speaking I’m not that far in and it would not surprise me if there’s there’s shrines like that. [05:43.000 –> 05:48.000] And you know I was talking to some friends about Zelda last night and they haven’t played it yet. [05:48.000 –> 05:52.000] And they were asking you know because I’m off doing all of the side stuff and haven’t done any of the main story. [05:52.000 –> 05:54.000] They’re like but won’t you be overpowered when you come back to the story? [05:54.000 –> 06:01.000] It’s like no that’s not really a thing like yes you know I might have some powerful weapons by the time I come back. [06:01.000 –> 06:06.000] But it’s not like the combat is the gating in this game really I don’t find. [06:06.000 –> 06:12.000] No if you’ve played Breath of the Wild and you got good at the combat in Breath of the Wild you’re already overpowered for this game. [06:13.000 –> 06:27.000] Right like and sure you can get new weapon and stuff but you can get like the best weapon and the best bow and the best shield almost immediately in the game if you cared about it. [06:27.000 –> 06:30.000] Right they’re like they’re right there you can go and get them. [06:30.000 –> 06:31.000] Yep. [06:31.000 –> 06:40.000] Like nothing’s stopping you and so much if you are good at dodge this is the thing about Breath of the Wild this is actually why I love the combat in these games. [06:40.000 –> 06:46.000] Is if you are good at dodging you can beat any enemy with almost any weapon. [06:46.000 –> 06:50.000] It’ll take longer if you have lower powered weapons obviously you might get a bit bored. [06:50.000 –> 06:54.000] But you can if you’re good at it you can do anything with any of these enemies. [06:54.000 –> 07:00.000] Yeah and the thing I like right because I am not particularly good at the dodging mechanics I don’t have great timing. [07:00.000 –> 07:12.000] But even I can like there’s ways to cheese around the combat right and so I can go like I’ve gone and taken on some stuff that’s you know technically a lot more difficult than the quality of the weapons should let me beat. [07:12.000 –> 07:23.000] But with all of the ability to build stuff and bomb arrows and like all of the weapon fusing stuff you can get through some pretty difficult battles you know pretty easily if you want. [07:23.000 –> 07:37.000] Yeah just bomb everything and especially if you if you get to the point where you’ve got you know a significant number of batteries for the Zonai stuff you can make some pretty dangerous weapons with the with like the charge beams and stuff like that. [07:37.000 –> 07:49.000] Like you can I saw someone and someone defeated one of the glioks with literally 30 seconds with with a Zonai weapon. [07:49.000 –> 07:53.000] Like they’re just some of them you can make insanely overpowered things. [07:53.000 –> 08:07.000] Yeah and for me this is the most ridiculous thing about this game is so last night I finally kind of went into the underground so you know explored and done a lot of the towers and done some of the sky islands. [08:07.000 –> 08:14.000] And I’d done like just that very intro quest where you get the camera in the underground and that was all I had done. [08:15.000 –> 08:25.000] And I was like oh maybe I should go into the underground and do like the the second quest that’s that’s down there or the second quest that you get given to go down there and spend the entire night down there. [08:25.000 –> 08:38.000] And why is the underground so fun and like because to me it’s this thing that didn’t even need to be in the game right if they were just like here’s Breath of the Wild plus Sky Islands everyone would have been like great this game is amazing. [08:38.000 –> 08:54.000] Yeah and then they put this entire third map into the game and it wasn’t even the big promotion part and it’s so good it has no right to be that much fun to explore and just I don’t know it’s it’s amazing. [08:55.000 –> 09:03.000] And there’s also there’s there’s there’s are obviously like there’s loads of enemies down there that are just like the normal version but with gloom on them which is fine. [09:03.000 –> 09:12.000] Like people get annoyed about these I don’t think that’s a problem like I actually quite like that because it’s like it’s playing around with the usual enemies and making you have to think about them differently. [09:12.000 –> 09:20.000] But there are also completely exclusive enemies down there as well that you only get in the depths that you wouldn’t find anywhere else, which is fun as well. [09:20.000 –> 09:31.000] Yeah and I’m not really impacted by the like I’m like gloom enemies I’m running minimum hearts so they’re not that different to the regular enemies from my perspective. [09:32.000 –> 09:35.000] Run away. Run away and bomb them. [09:37.000 –> 09:41.000] Yeah yeah definitely avoid the the gloom Lionel. [09:41.000 –> 09:54.000] Yeah this is not a podcast about Zelda so we’re going to stop talking about this just now and we will be doing I guarantee you we will be doing a greenhouse episode about Zelda because I think we have a lot more to talk about it. [09:54.000 –> 10:02.000] So look out for that probably a couple of weeks but it will come out but yeah okay cool anything else other than Zelda? [10:03.000 –> 10:20.000] As usual just being you know Marvel snapping up a storm it’s still a really good game I have no idea what they’re trying to do in order to monetize this game because other than season passes like I just look at the bundles that they release and I just am so fascinated by who would be picking up these things. [10:20.000 –> 10:40.000] I think it’s I think it’s I think the season pass is for most people who will if you’re going to put any money and you’re going to do the season pass right like that is that is the thing to do I think the bundles are for for the whales right the whales will spend a ridiculous amount of money and they’ll do whatever it’s like oh yeah I’ll drop 50 quid for that of course like some people. [10:40.000 –> 10:44.000] I would say in most games I am a whale and it’s too much for me. [10:45.000 –> 11:04.000] I feel like probably we just don’t fully understand what whales are like whales are not like oh yeah I’ve put in 200 quid this year right like that’s not a whale that’s that’s a decent chunk of money but it’s not a whale a whale is like yeah all my free money is going in this you know. [11:04.000 –> 11:33.000] I guess by that definition I’m definitely not but I mean I yeah it’s their pricing is insane but High Evolutionary just came out which is a very fun card has you know really taken over the meta game for the last few days and I may have been a horrible person and gone back to playing Galactus just really effectively dunks on all of these High Evolutionary decks but High Evolutionary is a really fun card and like just the design that I’ve been doing with Marvel Snap has been really really good. [11:33.000 –> 11:46.000] They’ve been making a bunch of sort of small tweaks on a weekly basis which has been awesome for the meta game and yeah I just I really like it as a little fun game that kind of just keeps ticking over. [11:46.000 –> 11:53.000] I thought I would have bounced off by now but I’m really still feeling it so I love Snap. Are you still snapping Al? [11:54.000 –> 12:14.000] Not regularly. I pop in every so often and do stuff but I’ve not really done for the last couple of weeks. I still it’s I think I mentioned this last time we were we were chatting about it is like I try so hard to be the type of person that will just play a game for 10 minutes a day but it just is not me and I have never managed to do that. [12:14.000 –> 12:30.000] So like I’m either playing a game or I’m not playing a game so no like well this is the thing like even with Zelda right like I can do something in 10 minutes so why wouldn’t I do something in 10 minutes like it’s not like a game where once you start you’re in it for an hour. [12:30.000 –> 12:41.000] No it absolutely is because it’s the sort of game where you start with a thing in mind and then doing the thing that you had in mind takes so long because you get distracted doing a million other things. [12:41.000 –> 12:53.000] Yeah, so anytime I’m so I think my point is like anytime I would possibly pay Snap I’m just playing Zelda instead right and if I was playing Snap I’d be like why am I not playing Zelda because I’m enjoying that game. [12:53.000 –> 13:08.000] So I’ve been playing a lot of Zelda I was just double checking my switch says I’ve been played for over 70 hours on Zelda now, which is kind of stupid considering it’s been two weeks and that’s nearly a full time job. [13:09.000 –> 13:12.000] Over two weeks. [13:12.000 –> 13:23.000] So, yeah, I suspect I’m probably pretty close to the ADHD burnout part of the first play of Tears of the Kingdom. [13:23.000 –> 13:28.000] So I suspect at some point in the next week I will end up putting it down for a few months. [13:28.000 –> 13:37.000] But we’ll see. That is how I play my games. I have to do it as much as possible because I know the end is coming where my brain tells me I’m done for now. [13:37.000 –> 13:51.000] Yeah, see I think I’ll be playing this game for like the rest of the year and it’s a shame because I’m looking at other games that are coming up and coming out and I’m just like, I don’t know how I’m going to find time for these games around Zelda because that’s just me for the rest of the year I think. [13:51.000 –> 13:58.000] I’ll keep coming back to it but I don’t think I’ll be playing as much as I have done just now over the next month. [13:58.000 –> 14:03.000] I would hope not. That feels like an unsustainable pace for the rest of the year. [14:03.000 –> 14:06.000] 35 hours a week for every week. [14:06.000 –> 14:10.000] And we need new episodes of this show to come out. [14:11.000 –> 14:22.000] I’ve got a game I need to play this week for next week’s episode so I definitely won’t be playing 35 hours this week because that is literally all, you know, any second of free time I have that 35 hours. [14:22.000 –> 14:25.000] Oh man, that’s a lot of time. [14:25.000 –> 14:34.000] Or the other thing is obviously I’ve not been playing it but I watched the PlayStation Showcase on Wednesday and I’m very excited for Spider-Man coming out. [14:34.000 –> 14:36.000] I believe you mean Spider-Man 2. [14:36.000 –> 14:38.000] Do we need to get into this? [14:38.000 –> 14:43.000] We don’t need to. I just, you know, I know how much you love that name so I just wanted to make sure we were… [14:43.000 –> 14:52.000] So what I said to you before the Showcase, Johnny, was if they announce a release date and they haven’t given us a new name I’m accepting that that’s the name. [14:52.000 –> 14:56.000] They haven’t given us a release date. They didn’t give us a release date on Wednesday. [14:56.000 –> 14:58.000] I don’t know why they’ve not given us a release date, right? [14:58.000 –> 15:03.000] Like, this game is probably like four months away and they’ve not given us a release date. [15:04.000 –> 15:06.000] So I’m still not accepting it, right? [15:06.000 –> 15:09.000] It’s the third game. Well, what sixth game actually? [15:09.000 –> 15:11.000] Do you live in denial? [15:11.000 –> 15:13.000] I do. I do live in denial. [15:13.000 –> 15:21.000] But it looks like a good game. I’m excited. It looks like there’s a bigger area. It looks like there’s a ridiculous number of enemies as usual. [15:21.000 –> 15:23.000] I don’t know how they managed to stick so many enemies in. [15:23.000 –> 15:30.000] I’m really interested to see whether the Green Goblin is actually in it because they teased that in a previous game but they didn’t show anything about that. [15:30.000 –> 15:34.000] So maybe he’ll be like a surprise endgame boss or something like that. [15:34.000 –> 15:41.000] But then if he is in it, you’ve got Lizard, you’ve got Kraven, you’ve got Green Goblin. [15:41.000 –> 15:45.000] Like, that’s quite a lot of enemies to start with and there’s no way it will just be the three of them, right? [15:45.000 –> 15:48.000] Because of Venom, of course, as well. What’s going to happen with the Venom stuff? [15:48.000 –> 15:58.000] I’m really interested in that because at the beginning of the trailer it looks like Peter is just kind of like, you know, bonded with Venom and just quite happy and just going on with his life. [15:58.000 –> 16:03.000] But then there’s a weird bit at the end where you’re like, oh yeah, things are clearly not okay there. [16:03.000 –> 16:08.000] And so how are things going with that? I thought it was weird halfway through. I was like, why is Peter so okay with this? [16:08.000 –> 16:15.000] Like, he’s not acting weird. He’s just kind of doing things but he’s got new abilities. [16:15.000 –> 16:21.000] And I’m intrigued to see how that happens because they cannot do the thing where he overcomes Venom and gets rid of Venom. [16:21.000 –> 16:26.000] Because then Peter becomes less useful a Spider-Man than Miles, right? [16:26.000 –> 16:37.000] They can’t do that. They have to have a point where you can be playing both of them and they both have different abilities but both on top of what the base Spider-Man abilities were in the first game. [16:37.000 –> 16:48.000] And so what are they going to do with that story? Are they just going to get to the point where he’s just okay with Venom and Venom’s not causing Peter any issues? I don’t know. I’m intrigued to see. [16:48.000 –> 16:58.000] And it’s going to be interesting to see, right? Because in theory having the two Spider-Men to play as means that they could go in a direction where it’s like… [16:58.000 –> 17:11.000] I don’t want to say less fun but maybe have a little bit more of a loss of control feeling with the Venom thing which is okay because you can always go back to Miles if you want the more classic Spider-Man experience, I guess. [17:11.000 –> 17:13.000] So it’ll be interesting to see how they do that. [17:13.000 –> 17:24.000] Yeah, I mean Miles has different abilities. This is where I get really annoyed. The abilities they gave Miles in the second game was called Venom ability. [17:24.000 –> 17:33.000] So you’ve got Miles who has Venom and Peter who has Venom but they’re different Venoms. I don’t know why they’re different. [17:33.000 –> 17:41.000] Just don’t think about it too hard. Maybe that’s why this is Spider-Man 2. It’s technically a sequel but don’t think too hard about the first one. [17:41.000 –> 17:47.000] So the other thing I’m intrigued about is how they’re going to do that you can play as either Spider-Man. [17:47.000 –> 17:55.000] Is it going to be you can choose whichever one you want for a specific situation or is it going to be you switch between them as your story goes but they decide when you switch? [17:55.000 –> 18:03.000] It’s not quite clear from the thing that we had. There was a point where they switched and it kind of showed it kind of like it could be. [18:03.000 –> 18:13.000] Oh this is now the time that we switch or it could be like oh it was just kind of hinting that you could switch now by the way if you wanted but they could actually do it at any point. [18:13.000 –> 18:32.000] I’m intrigued with that. I’m kind of like and this goes back to the Zelda conversation right like I’m not a huge fan of puzzle games in general or puzzles in games because I quite often feel like they are expecting me to have a very specific thing to do and I don’t find that fun like oh I need to figure out what they want me to do. [18:33.000 –> 18:51.000] That’s not fun puzzle to me and I suspect we might end up in a situation where you’re like oh you can only do this with Peter or you can only do this with Miles and you have to figure out which one they want you to do because only Venom’s ability can do this bit or only the Venom ability can do this bit. [18:51.000 –> 19:10.000] Right like it doesn’t I don’t find that sort of fun and that’s why I love Zelda so much is because like it doesn’t matter what they wanted you to do you can do whatever that’s fun puzzle to me it’s like figure out a way to solve this not figure out our jigsaw right like it’s not a one size fits all thing. [19:10.000 –> 19:20.000] Yeah my assumption was going to be that you could kind of free switch if you were just doing the open world stuff but there might be certain missions that are Miles or Peter. [19:21.000 –> 19:38.000] That would be likely I think yeah but that still leads me towards the assumption that there’s going to be puzzles that only work with one or the other and that stuff just annoys me that’s not a puzzle right that’s just like oh you just need to remember to switch like that’s not fun. [19:38.000 –> 19:39.000] But no anyway. [19:39.000 –> 20:03.000] No like I’m with you on puzzles right like and it’s one of the hard things about puzzles and games is when they have specific solutions and then you look it up and so many times it’s like you get stuck on something and it’s often because you’ve worked out how to solve the puzzle but you didn’t do step 2a that you have to do to technically get all of the right pieces in place and it’s just like just recognize that I understand how to solve the puzzle and let me move on. [20:03.000 –> 20:11.000] Yeah yeah anyway I think that might be our longest what have you been up to section so should we get on to some news? [20:11.000 –> 20:12.000] Let’s do it. [20:12.000 –> 20:28.000] So first of all we have an update on the route to patch situation in that the game is back on steam now and the the two companies the dev team so did them then and the publishers is it critical critical? [20:28.000 –> 20:29.000] Cretivo? [20:30.000 –> 20:33.000] Thank you for suggesting a third pronunciation. [20:33.000 –> 20:47.000] Well anyway doesn’t doesn’t matter the two of them have amicably parted ways under terms that are mutually beneficial and I hope you heard the air quotes in that. [20:48.000 –> 21:03.000] I mean the statement that they put out on twitter is very clearly a statement that was written by lawyers and I don’t think we’ll hear anything more about went on behind the scenes and to be honest we don’t need to hear more. [21:03.000 –> 21:09.000] It’s good that it’s available back on steam and it sounds like there’s a way forward which is awesome. [21:09.000 –> 21:23.000] Probably for me the other piece of news that was interesting coming out of this just in some of the twitter replies from the routes of parcher twitter is that the team’s actively working on a roadmap that they’re hoping to put out next week. [21:23.000 –> 21:31.000] So that should cover things like when routes of parcher is likely to come to consoles as well as new content. [21:31.000 –> 21:33.000] Yeah yeah I agree fun. [21:33.000 –> 21:36.000] But if you want to know more about routes of parcher listen to last week’s episode. [21:36.000 –> 21:46.000] Yes yeah great episode by Cody and Kev on the game and I said before that I was going to listen to it to decide whether I wanted to buy the game. [21:46.000 –> 21:54.000] The answer is yes but probably not yet purely because I have so much going on in terms of games. [21:54.000 –> 21:57.000] As the rest of the news section will show. [21:57.000 –> 21:59.000] That is exactly where I landed. [21:59.000 –> 22:05.000] I was like I’m excited for this to come out on consoles in like three months when hopefully I have some time to play it. [22:05.000 –> 22:13.000] Yeah yeah yeah maybe this could become my like summer game where I play it when I’m on holiday and I don’t really have any other things. [22:13.000 –> 22:19.000] Because like for those who haven’t listened to the podcast before there’s like a month in the summer where I’m away. [22:19.000 –> 22:28.000] I’m not on holiday I’m doing some things for some of the weeks and I’m working for the other weeks but I’m not at home and I don’t want to have to deal with the podcast so we pre-record a bunch of episodes. [22:28.000 –> 22:38.000] I’ll have like a month and a little bit of just like not needing to think about other games for the podcast so it might be nice to do that then but we’ll see. [22:38.000 –> 22:42.000] Next we have the date for the Wholesome Direct. [22:42.000 –> 22:52.000] So we knew this was coming but we we now have the date it is going to be on Saturday the 10th of June or Sunday for some people. [22:53.000 –> 23:02.000] Saturday the 10th of June in America and Europe and Sunday in well probably I don’t know where the line will be based on the time. [23:02.000 –> 23:04.000] It will definitely be Sunday in New Zealand. [23:04.000 –> 23:12.000] It’s the great thing about living here is anytime you see a date announced for something you can say okay I’ll just make that one day later on the calendar because that’s when it actually will be happening for us. [23:12.000 –> 23:16.000] Yeah I hadn’t actually noticed the time before 9 a.m. Pacific. [23:16.000 –> 23:22.000] That is 5 p.m. for me. Ah the worst time. The worst time. [23:22.000 –> 23:28.000] Literally that is the worst time for me because if it’s earlier than that I can do it while I’m working. [23:28.000 –> 23:37.000] If it’s in that two hour period between five and seven that is the period that I’m dealing with my kids. [23:37.000 –> 23:46.000] I’m getting them tea I’m getting them ready for bed I’m getting them into bed 7 p.m. and later that’s that works before 5 p.m. that works five and seven that doesn’t really annoying. [23:46.000 –> 23:47.000] Whatever. [23:47.000 –> 23:55.000] I think what’s most concerning about this Wholesome Games thing is that they’re going to have footage from over 70 games. [23:55.000 –> 23:57.000] Yeah I mean most of those you won’t care about. [23:57.000 –> 23:59.000] Too many games. [23:59.000 –> 24:05.000] Most of those you will not care about because I guarantee you because I think that’s roughly the same number they had last year. [24:05.000 –> 24:12.000] And I think we ended up having like six to talk about on the podcast and out of those you’d probably not care about three of them so. [24:12.000 –> 24:17.000] 70 games that’s just too many games coming out we need we need less games. [24:17.000 –> 24:24.000] This isn’t even all the games right this is just they would they will have turned down about half of them again. [24:24.000 –> 24:30.000] Well hopefully there’s something for everybody in the Wholesome. [24:31.000 –> 24:36.000] Yes and we will do an episode talking about everything that was in it. [24:36.000 –> 24:38.000] Hopefully. [24:38.000 –> 24:40.000] That is a busy day for me. [24:40.000 –> 24:43.000] Oh wait it’s a Saturday it doesn’t matter about when work is. [24:43.000 –> 24:45.000] I’m an idiot. [24:45.000 –> 24:49.000] Well now that we’ve come full circle on that one. [24:49.000 –> 24:51.000] Shall we talk about Snakes? [24:51.000 –> 24:53.000] Yeah why not. [24:53.000 –> 24:55.000] Which is now verified for the Steam Deck. [24:55.000 –> 24:57.000] Which is awesome. [24:57.000 –> 24:59.000] And it’s out now right? [24:59.000 –> 25:01.000] It is. It is. [25:01.000 –> 25:03.000] As you’re listening to this it came out a week ago. [25:03.000 –> 25:05.000] It came out on Wednesday. [25:05.000 –> 25:08.000] And it looks great on the screenshot that they’ve got. [25:08.000 –> 25:12.000] Oh it’s not a screenshot it’s a photo of a Bob Snakes running on the Steam Deck. [25:12.000 –> 25:14.000] Same thing right? [25:14.000 –> 25:17.000] Just a poor man’s screenshot. [25:19.000 –> 25:21.000] Yeah that’s exciting. [25:21.000 –> 25:33.000] Yes I will play this at some point but I can’t play it just now because I kickstarted for the Switch version which isn’t out yet and they have not replied to me about switching my key to Steam. [25:33.000 –> 25:40.000] So if anyone from Above Snakes is listening and I’ve sent you a message please give me a Steam key. [25:40.000 –> 25:43.000] Also please give us a release date for the Switch. [25:43.000 –> 25:47.000] Even if it’s like ages I would just like some detail on when. [25:47.000 –> 25:52.000] Because I really want to play Above Snakes and there has not been any detail on when it’s actually going to come out on the Switch. [25:52.000 –> 25:54.000] 100% it won’t be this year. [25:56.000 –> 25:59.000] But it was on my 2023 like most anticipated list Al. [25:59.000 –> 26:04.000] Yeah. Don’t blame me. I am not a developer. [26:04.000 –> 26:07.000] You are the closest thing I know to the developer though so. [26:07.000 –> 26:13.000] That is a very very low bar. [26:15.000 –> 26:17.000] I have talked about it. [26:17.000 –> 26:19.000] Exactly. Exactly. [26:19.000 –> 26:24.000] Next we have Coral Island. The Summer update is out now. [26:24.000 –> 26:28.000] And I am not going to play it yet. I’ve got too many things to do. [26:29.000 –> 26:35.000] But I am very excited for this because it unlocks the final bit of the mines. [26:35.000 –> 26:41.000] I was waiting for it to update because I need to get into that fire gate and get that last giant out of there. [26:41.000 –> 26:44.000] Get some Osmium ore. [26:44.000 –> 26:49.000] You’ve got to be most excited for the chicken steer off in the cow racing right? [26:49.000 –> 26:53.000] Yes. So it adds three animal festivals. [26:54.000 –> 26:57.000] Rodeo challenge. Test your skills on a mechanical bull. [26:57.000 –> 27:01.000] Chicken steer off. See who’s chicken has the strongest steer. [27:01.000 –> 27:05.000] Okay. And cow race. Find out which cow is the fastest in town. [27:05.000 –> 27:08.000] Because of course as we all know the best animal to race is cows. [27:08.000 –> 27:12.000] Yeah. Absolutely. I love the idea of a chicken steer off. [27:12.000 –> 27:14.000] Because I don’t know if you are aware of this. [27:14.000 –> 27:17.000] It’s kind of like an old wives tale but I’ve seen it happen a few times. [27:17.000 –> 27:19.000] But you can actually hypnotize chickens. [27:19.000 –> 27:21.000] Yes. You can. [27:21.000 –> 27:26.000] Oh okay. Amazing. Because usually when I say this to people they look at me like I’m just growing an extra head. [27:26.000 –> 27:29.000] No it’s 100% real. It’s 100% real. [27:29.000 –> 27:32.000] I have not done it because it’s very mean. [27:32.000 –> 27:36.000] But I did used to have some chickens that I took care of. [27:36.000 –> 27:40.000] And I am aware that the hypnotizing is real. [27:40.000 –> 27:43.000] It’s weird and mean but real. [27:43.000 –> 27:48.000] But if you want your chicken to win the chicken steer off I would suggest hypnotizing it. [27:48.000 –> 27:50.000] That might be a good place to start. [27:50.000 –> 27:53.000] They also chickens have very stable heads. [27:53.000 –> 27:55.000] They work very much like a gimbal. [27:55.000 –> 27:58.000] So you can strap a camera to a chickens head and it’s going to be a very stable video. [27:58.000 –> 27:59.000] Interesting. [27:59.000 –> 28:01.000] Obviously it has to be quite a small camera. [28:01.000 –> 28:04.000] You’re not sticking a red camera on it. [28:04.000 –> 28:07.000] Like one of the GoPro Minis would probably work. [28:07.000 –> 28:13.000] Yeah. Wow. Who was expecting actual animal facts on this here? [28:13.000 –> 28:16.000] It makes me sound like I was an actual farmer. No. [28:16.000 –> 28:19.000] I just had 12 chickens. That’s not unusual is it? [28:19.000 –> 28:22.000] Well look I’m from New Zealand so no that’s not unusual. [28:22.000 –> 28:26.000] But I’m not sure how much that translates to the rest of Ella’s in the bays. [28:26.000 –> 28:28.000] Chickens are such fun. [28:28.000 –> 28:35.000] You know what I find most funny is people get really confused en masse when you talk about the fact that chickens can fly. [28:35.000 –> 28:38.000] What do you mean chickens can fly? Chickens can fly. [28:38.000 –> 28:43.000] The reason you don’t see them flying in farms is because they clip their wings. [28:43.000 –> 28:47.000] They’re birds. They’re not ostriches. They can fly. [28:47.000 –> 28:49.000] Maybe not the most efficient flies. [28:49.000 –> 28:53.000] No they are not. They look a lot like pigeons when they fly. [28:53.000 –> 28:56.000] And you’re like how on earth are you staying in the air? [28:56.000 –> 29:05.000] Although it’s really funny even when you clip their wings they can still use the wings to jump like six or seven feet high. [29:05.000 –> 29:10.000] So still can escape most things without a roof. [29:10.000 –> 29:16.000] Or you can occasionally see when they get onto the roof of their chicken poop which is really fun to confuse townies. [29:16.000 –> 29:20.000] Ah fun times. Moving on from the chicken conversation. [29:20.000 –> 29:26.000] Yeah there’s lots of stuff. One thing that I am very interested in that I wasn’t aware that was coming was sprinkler attachments. [29:26.000 –> 29:31.000] So you can upgrade your sprinklers to have auto seed and auto fertilize on them as well. [29:31.000 –> 29:33.000] And yes yes yes yes. [29:33.000 –> 29:37.000] And that’s something I’m surprised we haven’t seen in more farming games. [29:37.000 –> 29:43.000] Because it feels like one of those automation things that should be in a number of games. [29:43.000 –> 29:48.000] I know it was in Ooblets with the Oobcoops. Still the best feature of that game. [29:48.000 –> 29:53.000] And so it’s good to see it here because it’s just one of those things that I’m surprised doesn’t make its way into more games. [29:53.000 –> 29:57.000] Yeah I think Ooblets had the most. So they had you can basically do everything. [29:57.000 –> 30:03.000] As long as you put seeds in the Oobcoop, the little storage, they will do everything you need. [30:03.000 –> 30:09.000] And Stardew had you could get the the juvenile hut and they would go and harvest. [30:09.000 –> 30:12.000] But I don’t think they would ever plant or fertilize. [30:12.000 –> 30:14.000] No they would not. [30:14.000 –> 30:19.000] So I don’t know of any other game where you can plant automatically and there’s possibly a fertilizing one. [30:19.000 –> 30:24.000] But I can’t think that I’ve just got in the niggling in the back of my brain that says there’s one that has an automatic fertilizing. [30:24.000 –> 30:26.000] But I can’t think of what it is. [30:26.000 –> 30:29.000] No neither. But exciting that this is coming to Coral Island. [30:29.000 –> 30:36.000] Yes yes go go play the summer update Bev. Bev it’s time go play go play more Coral Island. [30:36.000 –> 30:39.000] Next we have Harvest Moon the Winds of Anthos. [30:39.000 –> 30:44.000] We are this game I’m I still I don’t know what to think of this game. [30:44.000 –> 30:46.000] Let’s let’s go through. [30:46.000 –> 30:50.000] We have to accept we’re excited for this game that is that is where we are at now Al. [30:50.000 –> 30:52.000] Some level of excitement certainly. [30:52.000 –> 30:55.000] Look let’s go through the easy the easy and clearly exciting stuff. [30:55.000 –> 30:57.000] The plush is out. They’ve decided what the plush is for this game. [30:57.000 –> 31:00.000] It is a sleeping cow. It’s amazing. [31:00.000 –> 31:02.000] It’s the best. [31:02.000 –> 31:04.000] It’s good. It’s good. [31:04.000 –> 31:08.000] Their cows are still not as good as the story of Seasons cows but it’s still a very good cow. [31:08.000 –> 31:12.000] You can pre-order the game now and get that plush. [31:12.000 –> 31:20.000] I believe if you pre-order on the Natsume website there’s a second pre-order bonus that they haven’t announced yet. [31:20.000 –> 31:23.000] Can’t pre-order outside the US as far as I can see. [31:23.000 –> 31:27.000] Certainly can’t here and almost certainly you won’t be able to Johnny. [31:27.000 –> 31:29.000] No I definitely cannot. [31:29.000 –> 31:33.000] Not that you’re going to because you are strongly against pre-ordering games. [31:33.000 –> 31:38.000] Well when there’s a pre-order bonus it can become flexible for that cow plush. [31:38.000 –> 31:41.000] To be honest if I could I probably would. [31:41.000 –> 31:43.000] That is a good cow plush. [31:43.000 –> 31:45.000] What else have we got this long list. [31:45.000 –> 31:49.000] So we’ve got the consoles now because I think previously it just said PC and console. [31:49.000 –> 32:00.000] So now it’s officially coming to Switch, PS5, PS4 and the Xbox series and of course on Steam. [32:00.000 –> 32:09.000] We’ve got a new screenshot of the player character meeting a tiny harvest goddess. [32:09.000 –> 32:17.000] Yeah this looks like a screenshot from a Harvest Moon game. That’s what I have to say about that. [32:17.000 –> 32:22.000] I will say it’s continuing to look in my opinion as good as the previous screenshots. [32:22.000 –> 32:25.000] I really like this art style. I think it’s done really well. [32:25.000 –> 32:31.000] We’re gonna not know until we actually see some footage and then get our hands on the game. [32:31.000 –> 32:37.000] Whether it actually is like that or whether they’ve just really given us very specific screenshots. [32:37.000 –> 32:40.000] And we got release date 26th of September. [32:40.000 –> 32:44.000] So really stretching the definition of summer there. [32:44.000 –> 32:47.000] Yeah I mean they’re pushing it right till the end right? [32:47.000 –> 32:51.000] It depends how you like I will die on this hill. [32:51.000 –> 32:56.000] People talk about summer and spring like they are clearly defined seasons. [32:56.000 –> 33:01.000] There are at least four definitions of the seasons if you ignore the southern hemisphere. [33:01.000 –> 33:04.000] These things are really not clear. [33:04.000 –> 33:13.000] In fact I just double checked this doesn’t even fit in the summer definition that people have. [33:13.000 –> 33:20.000] The summer definition that is most commonly used actually finishes summer at the 23rd of September. [33:20.000 –> 33:23.000] No one actually thinks that way Al. [33:23.000 –> 33:26.000] But people just go by months. It’s easier to go by months. [33:26.000 –> 33:29.000] But this is the thing. Oh my word. [33:29.000 –> 33:35.000] No definition includes the 26th of September in summer right? [33:35.000 –> 33:37.000] Which one? [33:37.000 –> 33:40.000] The definition of summer is July, August, September. [33:40.000 –> 33:42.000] What definition is that? [33:42.000 –> 33:44.000] It’s not a definition of summer. [33:44.000 –> 33:46.000] Literally just made up to prove my point. [33:46.000 –> 33:50.000] So the astronomical season which to me is just wild. [33:50.000 –> 33:58.000] Which goes from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox is wild to me. [33:58.000 –> 34:04.000] Because the idea that like the longest day of the year is the start of summer is bizarre. [34:04.000 –> 34:07.000] To me that’s the middle of summer not the start of it right? [34:07.000 –> 34:09.000] And I don’t understand why you would ever use that. [34:09.000 –> 34:14.000] But if we leave that one aside there’s the meteorological season which is also commonly used. [34:14.000 –> 34:19.000] Goes from the 1st of June to the 31st of August. Doesn’t include the 26th of September. [34:19.000 –> 34:21.000] And then there’s the one that I prefer. [34:21.000 –> 34:24.000] Well of the generally used ones this is the one I prefer. [34:24.000 –> 34:28.000] I actually have a much more radical definition of the seasons. [34:28.000 –> 34:30.000] But this one is May, June, July. [34:30.000 –> 34:33.000] I think that makes much more sense to me as a summer. [34:33.000 –> 34:36.000] That’s the Celtic seasons. [34:36.000 –> 34:40.000] But none of these definitions include the 26th of September. [34:40.000 –> 34:41.000] It’s not summer. [34:41.000 –> 34:43.000] I agree it’s not summer. [34:44.000 –> 34:45.000] It’s the… [34:48.000 –> 34:49.000] Anyway. [34:50.000 –> 34:51.000] My word. Sorry. [34:51.000 –> 34:53.000] Did not mean to get into a rant about seasons. [34:53.000 –> 34:54.000] These things just happen. [34:54.000 –> 34:57.000] Seasons are stupid. Stop pretending like they’re clearly defined. [34:57.000 –> 35:01.000] Anyway, Harvest Moon, Winds of Anthos, release date 26th of September. [35:01.000 –> 35:02.000] Not summer. [35:02.000 –> 35:03.000] Yes, not summer. [35:03.000 –> 35:04.000] Stop saying it’s summer. [35:06.000 –> 35:07.000] Cool. [35:07.000 –> 35:09.000] Let’s see what comes out of that game. [35:10.000 –> 35:16.000] The last non-new game news is Everdream Valley is releasing on the 30th of September. [35:16.000 –> 35:20.000] This is where everyone goes, oh, I forgot about that game. [35:20.000 –> 35:21.000] So there you go. [35:21.000 –> 35:23.000] That was literally my responses. [35:23.000 –> 35:25.000] Oh, I forgot about this game. [35:25.000 –> 35:26.000] Fun fact, right? [35:26.000 –> 35:29.000] You can buy this game just now. [35:29.000 –> 35:30.000] They’re calling it pre-purchase. [35:30.000 –> 35:34.000] But if you buy the game now, you get access to it now before the release date. [35:36.000 –> 35:37.000] Okay. [35:37.000 –> 35:39.000] We’ve officially gone too far. [35:41.000 –> 35:42.000] Just buy the game. [35:42.000 –> 35:43.000] Isn’t that just… [35:43.000 –> 35:45.000] Yeah, that’s just buying the game and playing it. [35:45.000 –> 35:47.000] Because this is the thing, right? [35:47.000 –> 35:50.000] Who can access the game without buying it? [35:50.000 –> 35:53.000] So if you buy the game before the release date, you get access to the game. [35:53.000 –> 35:56.000] Surely that’s just the release date. [35:57.000 –> 36:00.000] This is some silly 1.0 argument, right? [36:00.000 –> 36:02.000] That’s what this is? [36:02.000 –> 36:04.000] They’re like, oh, but we’re on version 9.8. [36:04.000 –> 36:06.000] No, they’re not in early access. [36:06.000 –> 36:08.000] They’ve not done an early access. [36:08.000 –> 36:09.000] What? [36:09.000 –> 36:11.000] This is not early access. [36:11.000 –> 36:13.000] The game is not officially released. [36:13.000 –> 36:16.000] If you go onto Steam, it says coming the 30th of May. [36:16.000 –> 36:20.000] But they said on their most recent, or one of the… [36:20.000 –> 36:25.000] Yeah, so their second most recent news event is [36:25.000 –> 36:28.000] prior access starts today. [36:28.000 –> 36:30.000] You can start playing today. [36:32.000 –> 36:34.000] If you don’t want to count the last days to the full launch, [36:34.000 –> 36:35.000] don’t worry, we got you covered. [36:35.000 –> 36:38.000] You can pre-order Everdream Valley any time [36:38.000 –> 36:42.000] and unlock access to the game before the official release on the 30th of May. [36:42.000 –> 36:44.000] The game is released! [36:44.000 –> 36:46.000] Yes, it is! [36:46.000 –> 36:49.000] If you’re not buying the game, you’re not getting the game. [36:51.000 –> 36:53.000] That’s just releasing the game. [36:54.000 –> 36:57.000] I don’t understand how this isn’t just released. [36:57.000 –> 36:59.000] How is this game not out? [36:59.000 –> 37:01.000] It’s out! You can buy it and play it. [37:02.000 –> 37:04.000] So, the news. Everdream Valley is out. [37:04.000 –> 37:06.000] You can buy it and go and play it. [37:06.000 –> 37:09.000] Well, of course, the funny thing is the 30th of May [37:09.000 –> 37:12.000] is the day before this podcast episode comes out anyway. [37:12.000 –> 37:14.000] So, yes, the game is out. [37:20.000 –> 37:21.000] Oh, my word. [37:21.000 –> 37:23.000] That is some silly news. [37:23.000 –> 37:25.000] Shall we talk about some new games? [37:26.000 –> 37:28.000] Yes, let’s do that. [37:31.000 –> 37:33.000] Marvelous did a… [37:33.000 –> 37:35.000] I don’t know what it was. [37:35.000 –> 37:38.000] Like a Nintendo Direct, basically. [37:38.000 –> 37:41

¿Ey, me echaron de menos?Aquí estamos con la mandanga, no me enrollo que hace mucho calor y quiero tumbarme debajo del ventilador a ver vídeos de Chuso.Esta semana se vienen dos juegos muy diferentes. Por una parte, Above Snakes, un jueguito de supervivencia indie bastante cuco, y por el otro, lo de matar bichos en nombre del emperador con una armadura que pesa kilotones.Ah, y también hablamos del Showcase.Disfruten y buen provecho.

Arch, Blind and FG sit down to talk about guerilla gardening, games that just scream Blind, and Arch's yearning for the minesGames:Astra Protocol 2:https://store.steampowered.com/app/2026750/Astra_Protocol_2/Path of Achra:https://store.steampowered.com/app/2128270/Path_of_Achra/Star Trek: Resurgence:https://www.startrek-resurgence.com/Above Snakes:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1589120/Above_Snakes/Castle of Alchemists:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724770/Castle_Of_Alchemists/Albion Online:https://store.steampowered.com/app/761890/Albion_Online/Warlander:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1675900/Warlander/Len's Island: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1335830/Lens_Island/NewsSony announces their Handheld Qhttps://www.theverge.com/2023/5/24/23736595/sony-project-q-playstation-handheld-official-showcase

Nic’s back and he’s been playing the remake of Resident Evil 4 after his move to Texas. Emilio gets back into Dying Light 2 while Bobby checks out Tainted Grail and Amanda gets ready for the Elder Scrolls Online expansion.TOPICSChat GTP in mods, Above Snakes, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor, ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON, Not For Broadcast, Redfall, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, Open Brush, Destiny 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Street Fighter 6, Tainted Grail: Conquest, The Elder Scrolls Online, Dying Light 2  For more, check out dlgaming.net!

Al and Kev talk about Wylde Flowers Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:30: What Have We Been Up To 00:07:51: News 00:21:18: Wylde Flowers 01:15:00: Outro Links Tchia Above Snakes Release Date Terra Nil Mac/Linux Delay Innchanted Ankora: Lost Days PS/XB Release Len’s Island Controllers and Currents Update Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.000 –> 00:05.000] music [00:05.000 –> 00:10.000] music [00:10.000 –> 00:15.000] music [00:15.000 –> 00:20.020] music [00:20.020 –> 00:25.040] music [00:25.040 –> 00:30.040] music [00:30.040 –> 00:35.040] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. [00:35.040 –> 00:41.040] My name is Al and I’m Kevin and we are here today to talk about cottagecore games. [00:41.040 –> 00:47.040] Which I will say I think so we’re going to talk about wildflowers this episode. [00:47.040 –> 00:52.040] I think this might be the most cottagecore game in a while. [00:52.040 –> 01:02.040] Yeah so we’ll talk about that. I guess before everything else just to mention transcripts for the podcast are available in the show notes and on the website. [01:02.040 –> 01:09.040] Just scroll down you’ll see them there. Yeah so we’re going to talk about wildflowers. [01:09.040 –> 01:16.040] It has been out for quite a few months and I think it came out the end of last year or maybe it was like the middle of last year or something like that. [01:16.040 –> 01:21.040] Probably should have checked that. Wildflowers came out in September. [01:21.040 –> 01:30.040] So we’re going to talk about that and before that we’ve got a bunch of news. [01:30.040 –> 01:33.040] But first of all Kevin what have you been up to? [01:33.040 –> 01:40.040] Busy things. Work things. Furniture things. I’m restoring a table. [01:40.040 –> 01:45.040] My mom restored a table. Repainted. That’s something. Interesting. What kind of table? [01:45.040 –> 01:50.040] It’s just like a dining room table that she found at the place. It’s a nice table she just wants a different color. [01:50.040 –> 01:56.040] But yeah so that’s going on. That’s fun getting all manual physical for once in my life. [01:56.040 –> 02:04.040] Aside from that and those moments down in Breathe I have been playing Wildflowers and Wildflowers. [02:05.040 –> 02:14.040] We planned this episode. I brought it up a while ago and then our schedule kind of shifted and it kind of jumped up. [02:14.040 –> 02:22.040] And so I said wow I really need to play some more Wildflowers. So I shotgunned a lot of Wildflowers this week. [02:23.040 –> 02:28.040] But spoilers I enjoyed it. Talk about that later. [02:28.040 –> 02:38.040] But yeah aside from that I can’t think of anything meaningful. Ball guys and Pokemon masters. It’s great. [02:38.040 –> 02:44.040] Oh yeah I think we mentioned that in the last episode but we were speculating about what his Pokemon would be. [02:44.040 –> 02:50.040] And of course it’s a Moonguss. It is a Moonguss. I mean makes sense but neither of us suggested it. [02:50.040 –> 02:53.040] Nope. We were all focused on Voltarb. [02:53.040 –> 03:00.040] Yep. And he sounds great. He sounds like the goofy guy you imagine he would. [03:00.040 –> 03:05.040] Oh is he out now? Oh yeah he’s out. It came out the day after we recorded it. [03:05.040 –> 03:10.040] What accent does he have? It’s not British because a lot of the Galarian. [03:10.040 –> 03:12.040] Yeah well that’s why I was asking. [03:13.040 –> 03:18.040] No it’s just like goofy cartoony voice. Like here catch this. Something like that. [03:21.040 –> 03:26.040] It fits his character. It’s a ball guy. I haven’t pulled him yet. Hoping. [03:26.040 –> 03:29.040] But I will let everyone know. [03:29.040 –> 03:38.040] But yeah so let’s see. Wildflowers, ball guy. I really can’t think of anything in particular. Nope. Nothing comes to mind. [03:38.040 –> 03:40.040] What about you? What have you been up to? [03:40.040 –> 03:45.040] Well obviously I’ve been playing some Wildflowers this week. I haven’t played as much as you. [03:45.040 –> 03:52.040] Because I was, as Kevin mentioned, Kevin was like we should do an episode on Wildflowers. [03:52.040 –> 03:56.040] And I was like ok yeah fine. I guess I will join you in that. [03:56.040 –> 03:59.040] And then we agreed last week that we were going to do it this week. [03:59.040 –> 04:01.040] And so I was like well I guess I need to play something. [04:01.040 –> 04:04.040] So I haven’t played a few Moonguss ones. [04:04.040 –> 04:08.040] You have to. But I’ve got enough to get a feel of the game. [04:09.040 –> 04:13.040] I finished off Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe. [04:13.040 –> 04:18.040] Well when I say finished. So I finished off the main story. [04:18.040 –> 04:23.040] And then I think last week I had done that and I was just like I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do after that. [04:23.040 –> 04:25.040] And the answer is nothing. [04:25.040 –> 04:31.040] So I started playing the epilogue which is where you’re playing as, oh what’s his name? [04:31.040 –> 04:37.040] Magolor? I’m not a fan of the epilogue. [04:37.040 –> 04:40.040] And the reason I’m not a fan is because I don’t like the controls. [04:40.040 –> 04:45.040] So it’s not that it’s not Kirby. Because obviously I like lots of different platformers. [04:45.040 –> 04:49.040] I enjoy platformers. It’s one of the things I really like to play. [04:49.040 –> 04:54.040] But the way that Magolor plays just feels really frustrating. [04:54.040 –> 05:01.040] So anytime you do an attack in the air you start falling down and then you cannot do anything else until you hit the ground. [05:01.040 –> 05:03.040] And it just feels really frustrating. [05:03.040 –> 05:10.040] I feel like that’s going to unlock later on because the way that they’re doing the epilogue is that you add more powers as you go on. [05:10.040 –> 05:14.040] But it just made some of the levels in the middle just really frustrating. [05:14.040 –> 05:16.040] Because it’s like I don’t have all my powers. [05:16.040 –> 05:21.040] And I’ve got some really hard challenges which would be fun if I could do things. [05:21.040 –> 05:28.040] There’s a point where you have to jump over, drop a bomb down and then somehow make it back onto the thing really quickly. [05:28.040 –> 05:35.040] And I just cannot figure out how to do it. There’s just no, in my mind I just can’t feel any way to control that. It’s really frustrating. [05:35.040 –> 05:39.040] That’s interesting because you know it’s a Kirby game. [05:39.040 –> 05:44.040] Controls usually aren’t an issue. They’re usually pretty simple and enjoyable. [05:44.040 –> 05:50.040] That is really interesting. I am curious. I’d hope to get that at some point and see for myself. [05:50.040 –> 05:55.040] It’s a really nice game. I’ve not played obviously the original so I don’t know how well it is in terms of a remake. [05:55.040 –> 05:59.040] But the game itself plays really well. I really enjoyed it. [05:59.040 –> 06:05.040] I played for a brief amount. It was enjoyable. I imagine there weren’t that many significant changes. [06:05.040 –> 06:11.040] It was already a pretty modern Kirby game so I’m sure it’s fairly close to the original in terms of its controls. [06:11.040 –> 06:13.040] But yeah, okay. [06:13.040 –> 06:15.040] So yeah, I’m done with that. [06:15.040 –> 06:24.040] And I have started Coral Island. So I think in the last episode I had mentioned that my key was for Switch and of course Switch isn’t out yet. [06:24.040 –> 06:29.040] Well I managed to contact them and they switched it to a Steam key so I’m now playing it on my Steam Deck. [06:29.040 –> 06:35.040] So that will be fun. It may well be covered in an episode in the future. [06:35.040 –> 06:41.040] And I’ve been obviously kind of going through the Bloom update still which is fun. [06:41.040 –> 06:52.040] They finally, I think I said this on our original podcast episode about Bloom, but we finally found a game that I can just play for five minutes and then put down every day. [06:52.040 –> 06:56.040] Because that’s how Animal Crossing is meant to be played and I couldn’t play it that way. [06:56.040 –> 07:00.040] Just something in my mind just stopped me doing that. But I’m managing it for Bloom, which is interesting. [07:00.040 –> 07:05.040] Oh my gosh, Animal Crossing never felt that way to me. [07:05.040 –> 07:09.040] No, but it definitely feels like they want you to play it that way. [07:09.040 –> 07:11.040] But I just never could. [07:11.040 –> 07:22.040] Yeah, no, I think most people couldn’t. But cool, I’m glad that you found a game that you can play a little bit as a little de-stresser, whatever you want to call it, a little breather. [07:22.040 –> 07:25.040] Without getting too in-depth, that sounds pretty nice. [07:25.040 –> 07:32.040] I don’t know, see I play Unite like daily, but that’s for like half an hour. [07:32.040 –> 07:34.040] The five minute thing is the kicker. [07:35.040 –> 07:42.040] Yeah, no, I literally, I pick it up, I go and check my flowers. If there’s something to harvest, I harvest and then replant. [07:42.040 –> 07:48.040] And then I get checked through any new messages, see what the new story is, and then I put it down and pick it up the next day. [07:48.040 –> 07:49.040] That sounds pretty nice. [07:49.040 –> 07:53.040] It is. It’s good fun. Cool, should we talk about some news? [07:53.040 –> 07:54.040] I guess so. [07:54.040 –> 08:00.040] So, first of all we have Chia. I think that’s how it’s meant to be said. Chia. [08:00.040 –> 08:01.040] Chia. [08:01.040 –> 08:10.040] This is the game based in New Caledonia, which Kevin now does believe is a real place, is that correct? [08:10.040 –> 08:14.040] I do believe. I believe in New Caledonia. [08:14.040 –> 08:17.040] You believe in it, you can do it in New Caledonia. [08:17.040 –> 08:19.040] I’m no longer of the conspiracy crowd. [08:20.040 –> 08:27.040] So it’s now out on PS4 and PS5 and on Epic Game Store. [08:27.040 –> 08:34.040] So it’s interesting, this one seems to have really caught the wider games crowd as well. [08:34.040 –> 08:38.040] Like occasionally you get a game that we cover that’s like, oh this is like a game. [08:38.040 –> 08:45.040] But like I’ve seen all the kind of big game journalism places that I follow, like they’ve all been talking about this game, which is interesting. [08:45.040 –> 08:53.040] That is interesting. I will say though, they dropped a radical trailer for it, so it makes sense, it would catch people’s attention. [08:53.040 –> 08:58.040] Yeah, yeah, definitely. But it looks interesting. [08:58.040 –> 09:06.040] I mean people are basically comparing it to Breath of the Wild, but more calm and obviously based on New Caledonia. [09:06.040 –> 09:11.040] I didn’t expect that comparison, but okay sure that makes sense. [09:11.040 –> 09:15.040] Yeah, well I’ve not played it, so I can’t confirm whether I would agree with that or not. [09:15.040 –> 09:20.040] I will give especially one props though, near the end of the trailer. [09:20.040 –> 09:30.040] They mention how it was inspired by the homeland of the founders of the development company, I don’t know how you pronounce it. [09:30.040 –> 09:39.040] And they have like voice acting and musics from the local languages from New Caledonian talents, which is very cool. [09:40.040 –> 09:47.040] And you can see that in the trailer, they clearly did the justice, so very cool to see that. [09:47.040 –> 09:54.040] I always like seeing smaller cultures who haven’t gotten a lot of attention get a goal somewhere, so very good for them. [09:54.040 –> 10:00.040] Yeah, definitely. Next we have our release date for Above Snakes. [10:00.040 –> 10:07.040] So this is the one that we were talking about a few weeks ago, we were talking about it with Nami. [10:08.040 –> 10:16.040] So that is coming out on the 25th of May, that’s obviously only the Steam version. [10:16.040 –> 10:22.040] But the console, I think it’s just Switch is coming later, they’ve not started working on that yet. [10:22.040 –> 10:25.040] They’ll be working on that after release. [10:25.040 –> 10:31.040] So yeah, there’s also a prologue, I mean it’s basically just a demo right? [10:32.040 –> 10:40.040] You can download that on Steam just now and play that if you would like, I’ll put that in the show notes. [10:40.040 –> 10:47.040] If you want to try it out and see how the gameplay, it says there’s about 2-3 hours worth of gameplay in the demo. [10:48.040 –> 10:55.040] I’m looking at the trailer because I didn’t even remember what the gameplay looked like since our focus is on the culture stuff. [10:56.040 –> 11:02.040] First of all, the game visually looks very nice, I’m giving props for that. [11:02.040 –> 11:10.040] Secondly, so it’s an isometric game where you build and craft and so on and so forth. [11:10.040 –> 11:19.040] But the crazy part is you zoom out on the global map or whatever and you can just drop chunks of land into an isometric grid. [11:19.040 –> 11:24.040] And you just see the land is boom, land and ed. [11:24.040 –> 11:28.040] It’s a very satisfying thwomp isn’t it? [11:28.040 –> 11:37.040] Yeah it is. So yeah it looks good, aside from putting all the culture stuff, the game age. [11:37.040 –> 11:45.040] So cool, good for them. May 25th, that’s going to be here sooner than I want it to be. Time’s going too fast. [11:45.040 –> 11:52.040] Yeah I don’t know how quickly I’ll get to this game because of course we know what May is. May is Zelda month. [11:52.040 –> 12:02.040] Oh is it? I didn’t remember. Oh no. I’m not ready. I have an extra month now. March 2. [12:02.040 –> 12:10.040] Well if we were running on the international calendar system, that has 13 months. [12:11.040 –> 12:19.040] I mean it doesn’t actually give you any more time. Still, not the point. [12:19.040 –> 12:26.040] The best calendar system is actually from Wildflowers. I’ll discuss it when we get there. [12:26.040 –> 12:31.040] Just keep this in mind folks, Wildflowers. [12:31.040 –> 12:34.040] You know what else does it best? [12:34.040 –> 12:39.040] Oh that’s a big assumption. We’ve not played it yet. [12:39.040 –> 12:42.040] It needs to be good. [12:42.040 –> 12:51.040] Well yeah, Taranel. It will be out on Windows by the time this podcast comes out. [12:51.040 –> 13:00.040] I want to say that I was going through the show notes and I saw that and I was like it’s out now and then I read the parenthesis by the time the episode comes out. [13:00.040 –> 13:05.040] I’m like no, it’s not now. [13:06.040 –> 13:10.040] But the sad news is the Mac and Linux versions have been delayed. [13:10.040 –> 13:14.040] Is it that sad? Ok Mac people, sure, but Linux! [13:14.040 –> 13:18.040] Hey! Come on! Why are we being harsh on Linux here? [13:18.040 –> 13:22.040] Linux is your Steam Deck. Your Steam Deck runs on Linux. Not your Steam Deck, you don’t have a Steam Deck. [13:22.040 –> 13:25.040] This Steam Deck runs on Linux. [13:27.040 –> 13:34.040] Although presumably the Steam Deck will just download the Windows version because it can play Windows games as well. [13:35.040 –> 13:40.040] And the soundtrack is also out now, so if you want to go. [13:40.040 –> 13:45.040] And that’s on, it’s just like a big YouTube, an hour and a half, an hour long YouTube video. [13:45.040 –> 13:49.040] Wow, let me try saying that again. It’s an hour long YouTube video. [13:49.040 –> 13:52.040] You said it right already, you just repeated it. [13:52.040 –> 13:54.040] Very calm, relaxing music. [13:54.040 –> 13:58.040] I haven’t listened to it, I kind of wanted to but eh, I’ll just wait. [13:58.040 –> 14:02.040] You know what’s not calm and relaxing? [14:02.040 –> 14:06.040] Enchanted definitely doesn’t look calm and relaxing. [14:06.040 –> 14:09.040] Was this the game that we only had a name last week? [14:09.040 –> 14:14.040] I think we talked about it last week, but we didn’t really look into it too much. [14:14.040 –> 14:19.040] I don’t think I truly understood what this game was. [14:19.040 –> 14:22.040] I definitely didn’t. [14:22.040 –> 14:25.040] It basically looks like, what’s the game I’m thinking of? [14:25.040 –> 14:27.040] Overcooked. [14:28.040 –> 14:32.040] You’re running a magical hotel, Overcooked style. [14:32.040 –> 14:37.040] And it looks as chaotic and frantic as Overcooked. [14:37.040 –> 14:38.040] It does. [14:38.040 –> 14:41.040] You can play with up to four people. [14:41.040 –> 14:46.040] There’s upgrades and progress, so I don’t think it’s like Overcooked with just little levels. [14:46.040 –> 14:50.040] But at the same time you’re cooking and doing objectives, so I don’t know. [14:50.040 –> 14:57.040] I’m having trouble understanding how this game works just other than it’s Overcooked but hotel. [14:57.040 –> 15:02.040] Yeah, it looks like they have different kind of levels. [15:02.040 –> 15:10.040] So one of them is in, you’re just cooking one of them, there’s a river and you have to go and get the fish from it and then go cook them. [15:10.040 –> 15:14.040] Stuff like that. I presume there’s a farming one, bits as well. [15:14.040 –> 15:18.040] You can turn your body into a cake for some reason. [15:18.040 –> 15:21.040] I mean it looks gorgeous. [15:21.040 –> 15:26.040] I’m a little eh on the design, the style they went with. [15:26.040 –> 15:28.040] I love it. [15:28.040 –> 15:31.040] But for what it is going for it looks great. [15:31.040 –> 15:35.040] Yeah, it’s definitely one of those, you can’t say it looks bad, you can say you don’t like it. [15:35.040 –> 15:37.040] Yeah, I know for sure. [15:37.040 –> 15:40.040] It’s not an actively bad looking game. [15:41.040 –> 15:47.040] There’s a lot going on in that game because it’s got a lot of the cottage core things. [15:47.040 –> 15:55.040] The cooking just looks straight up like Overcooked but they have crafting and feeding cows and furnitures and I don’t know. [15:55.040 –> 15:57.040] There’s a lot going on there. [15:57.040 –> 16:06.040] I’m really curious because I see single player, it looks like it could be better for single player than Overcooked so that would be interesting to see. [16:07.040 –> 16:10.040] And you can have an echidna follow you around. [16:10.040 –> 16:12.040] An echidna? [16:12.040 –> 16:14.040] Yeah, it’s in the trailer. [16:14.040 –> 16:16.040] I don’t know what to say. [16:16.040 –> 16:19.040] And there’s also little onion guys they have to get rid of. [16:19.040 –> 16:22.040] There’s a lot going on, people just watch this trailer. [16:22.040 –> 16:28.040] Anyway, the point of this was that it’s coming out on Tuesday, the same day as Taranel. [16:28.040 –> 16:32.040] So it will be out by the time this episode comes out on Steam. [16:32.040 –> 16:35.040] The Switch version is coming soon, not out yet. [16:36.040 –> 16:42.040] I’m interested in giving this game a shot, especially because I have people I can play locally with. [16:42.040 –> 16:49.040] But I don’t know when I’ll be playing with it because Taranel drops the same day and I’ll be… [16:49.040 –> 16:55.040] And Kora Lost Days feels like a while since we talked about this and you might be like, oh but it’s already out. [16:55.040 –> 16:58.040] It’s not out yet on the PS4 and Xbox. [16:58.040 –> 17:04.040] So they’re coming on the 30th of March, which I think is the day after this podcast comes out. [17:05.040 –> 17:08.040] So if you’ve been waiting for those versions, there you go. [17:08.040 –> 17:12.040] And hopefully it works a little better with some of those rough edges polished up a little bit. [17:12.040 –> 17:15.040] Something tells me no, but who knows. [17:15.040 –> 17:16.040] Try it. [17:16.040 –> 17:17.040] Yeah, yeah. [17:17.040 –> 17:19.040] It’s a fine game. [17:19.040 –> 17:22.040] The physical editions still aren’t out yet, but they’re coming. [17:22.040 –> 17:26.040] Oh yeah, I looked at the… there’s all sorts of physical stuff. [17:26.040 –> 17:28.040] Look, I am over on Kora Lost Days. [17:28.040 –> 17:33.040] I am all in on, what’s it called, the next one. [17:33.040 –> 17:37.040] Mika and the Lost… no, Mika and the Witches… oh, there’s two. [17:37.040 –> 17:42.040] There’s Mika and the Witches Mountain and there’s another one that’s like a platformer. [17:42.040 –> 17:47.040] Wait, is Mika in the Ankora universe? [17:47.040 –> 17:48.040] Yeah, yeah. [17:48.040 –> 17:49.040] Wait, it is? [17:49.040 –> 17:50.040] Yeah. [17:50.040 –> 17:51.040] Oh, what? [17:51.040 –> 17:53.040] I didn’t know this! [17:53.040 –> 17:57.040] All of the Chibi games are in the same universe. [17:57.040 –> 18:01.040] I don’t remember this, but Mika looks incredible! [18:01.040 –> 18:05.040] Who cares about Ankora? [18:05.040 –> 18:06.040] Oh no. [18:06.040 –> 18:09.040] Kora and the Five Pirates of Mara, that’s the other one. [18:09.040 –> 18:12.040] That’s the platformer at some point this year apparently. [18:12.040 –> 18:13.040] I’m looking forward to that. [18:13.040 –> 18:17.040] And yeah, Mika is obviously definitely a podcast game. [18:17.040 –> 18:21.040] Mika’s just going to dominate it and be the best. [18:21.040 –> 18:25.040] Ah, but the question is will I prefer it to Summer and Mara or not? [18:25.040 –> 18:26.040] That’s the big… [18:26.040 –> 18:27.040] Yes. [18:27.040 –> 18:28.040] Yes. [18:28.040 –> 18:29.040] I’m answering yes. [18:29.040 –> 18:30.040] Well, we’ll see. [18:30.040 –> 18:31.040] We’ll see. [18:31.040 –> 18:34.040] It’s just objectively better, you can see. [18:34.040 –> 18:38.040] I don’t think there’s anything objective about it. [18:38.040 –> 18:40.040] We are the authority. [18:40.040 –> 18:44.040] We are the influencers here. [18:44.040 –> 18:45.040] Oh dear. [18:45.040 –> 18:50.040] Lens Island have an update out. [18:50.040 –> 18:54.040] The currents and controllers update, very catchy. [18:54.040 –> 18:57.040] Can you guess what this has in the update? [18:57.040 –> 19:00.040] It has controller support and currents. [19:00.040 –> 19:05.040] Now the currents actually might throw you for a loop because I didn’t. [19:05.040 –> 19:07.040] Is this what people want? [19:07.040 –> 19:09.040] Procedurally generated ocean currents? [19:09.040 –> 19:13.040] Well, I mean, the whole point is this is an exploration game, right? [19:13.040 –> 19:18.040] So, you know, currents are accurate to real life. [19:18.040 –> 19:19.040] I don’t know. [19:19.040 –> 19:23.040] I mean, realistically, the reason I’m talking about this is the controller support, right? [19:23.040 –> 19:27.040] It’s got basic controller support now, but there’s more coming later. [19:27.040 –> 19:30.040] And also procedurally generated ocean currents. [19:30.040 –> 19:32.040] So if that’s really what you were like, [19:32.040 –> 19:37.040] Oh, I’ve been waiting for this game, but now I get the procedurally generated ocean currents. [19:37.040 –> 19:39.040] Now’s the time to play. [19:39.040 –> 19:42.040] Obviously. [19:42.040 –> 19:45.040] I don’t know what to say. [19:45.040 –> 19:46.040] Oh yeah. [19:46.040 –> 19:52.040] You can also build on tiny little islands as well now, which is more exciting. [19:52.040 –> 19:53.040] I actually really like that. [19:53.040 –> 19:59.040] There’s a dozen, over a dozen new sandbanks, coral reefs, and unique rock formations that can be found at sea. [19:59.040 –> 20:01.040] Although don’t build on a coral reef. [20:01.040 –> 20:03.040] Oh no, don’t do that. [20:03.040 –> 20:08.040] Ocean houses can also be useful when building them next to ocean currents for easy traversal around the map. [20:08.040 –> 20:11.040] So yeah, I think your boats move faster on the currents. [20:11.040 –> 20:12.040] Okay. [20:12.040 –> 20:16.040] See, that seems fun making a network of ocean homes with boats. [20:16.040 –> 20:17.040] Yeah, that sounds cool. [20:17.040 –> 20:24.040] Just, just don’t like go on one and then find yourself halfway across the world and you’re lost now. [20:24.040 –> 20:25.040] So be careful. [20:25.040 –> 20:28.040] What was that? The Australian… [20:28.040 –> 20:31.040] From Finding Nemo, what was that? [20:31.040 –> 20:34.040] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. [20:34.040 –> 20:35.040] I can’t remember. [20:35.040 –> 20:37.040] EAC, I don’t remember. [20:37.040 –> 20:42.040] EAC, the East Australian Current, yeah. [20:42.040 –> 20:43.040] Classic. [20:43.040 –> 20:46.040] Go get to meet Crush. Choo choo kachoo. [20:46.040 –> 20:49.040] Wild flowers. Shall we talk about that again? [20:49.040 –> 20:51.040] Fine, fine. [20:51.040 –> 20:53.040] We’re not a Finding Nemo podcast. [20:53.040 –> 20:55.040] Not yet. [20:55.040 –> 20:58.040] Look, we’re getting there. We’re close. [20:58.040 –> 21:01.040] Lens Island and Coral Island, we’re on our way. [21:01.040 –> 21:04.040] We even have someone from New Zealand who’s occasionally on the podcast. [21:04.040 –> 21:06.040] It’s not Australia, but it’s close. [21:06.040 –> 21:08.040] We do. [21:08.040 –> 21:11.040] We have an Australian fan, a friend on here. [21:11.040 –> 21:19.040] Oh, no, Mark, if you ever listen to this, please join us and do Crush impression. [21:19.040 –> 21:23.040] So we’re going to talk about wild flowers. [21:23.040 –> 21:25.040] There are no Australians in that game. [21:25.040 –> 21:29.040] A quick bit of background to this game. [21:29.040 –> 21:35.040] So it’s on Switch and on Apple Arcade. [21:35.040 –> 21:38.040] I believe it is at some point coming to PC. [21:38.040 –> 21:40.040] I don’t know if that’s out yet, though. [21:40.040 –> 21:43.040] I just assume everything on Earth comes out on PC first. [21:43.040 –> 21:46.040] It is out on PC now. No, it didn’t come out first. [21:46.040 –> 21:48.040] I think they got the… [21:48.040 –> 21:52.040] Oh, it looks like the… So we said at the beginning it came out in September. [21:52.040 –> 21:54.040] That was the PC version. [21:54.040 –> 21:58.040] So I think the Switch and Apple Arcade one came earlier. [21:58.040 –> 22:00.040] Huh. OK. [22:00.040 –> 22:02.040] So that… [22:02.040 –> 22:05.040] I think they must have got a deal from Apple to get it on Apple Arcade first. [22:05.040 –> 22:09.040] And it came out on Switch at the same time, and then it came out on Steam. [22:09.040 –> 22:12.040] So, yeah, I mean, I guess… [22:12.040 –> 22:15.040] How would you describe this game, Kevin? [22:15.040 –> 22:18.040] Other than what I said at the beginning, which was the ultimate cottagecore game. [22:18.040 –> 22:24.040] I would describe this as the best Stardew clone. [22:24.040 –> 22:27.040] I’m using that. I’m using… Yeah. [22:27.040 –> 22:32.040] So, OK, I do need to give that a little more nuance because it’s a very clickbaity thought. [22:32.040 –> 22:34.040] No, we don’t want nuance. [22:35.040 –> 22:40.040] So I call it a Stardew clone, but it doesn’t feel like a clone. [22:40.040 –> 22:44.040] I mean, it feels like there’s the same DNA because it’s a farming game. [22:44.040 –> 22:48.040] People probably have played Stardew and learned lessons from that. [22:48.040 –> 22:53.040] But everything is polished and innovated in a meaningful way, right? [22:53.040 –> 22:59.040] Like, there’s some games you look at like, yeah, that’s that’s just Stardew plus X or whatever, right? [22:59.040 –> 23:00.040] Yeah. [23:00.040 –> 23:03.040] This game takes it up a notch on, like, every level. [23:03.040 –> 23:10.040] Like, every mechanic feels like they tweaked or changed meaningfully the whole presentation. [23:10.040 –> 23:15.040] This is a full 3D game with full voice acting. That’s nuts. [23:15.040 –> 23:17.040] I didn’t expect full voice acting. [23:17.040 –> 23:27.040] But, yeah, but it has a lot of, again, a lot of the same basic DNA of not having enough hours in the day to do the 20 million tasks you want to do. [23:27.040 –> 23:31.040] And an energy system and farming and all that good stuff. [23:31.040 –> 23:39.040] For the full disclosure, I am not done with summer in my first year yet. [23:39.040 –> 23:43.040] Which, that said, that’s a significant amount of time, though. [23:43.040 –> 23:46.040] I will explain a little how that works. [23:46.040 –> 23:49.040] What about you, Al? What are your thoughts thus far? [23:49.040 –> 23:53.040] Yeah, so I’m further behind than you because, as I mentioned, I only started. [23:53.040 –> 23:57.040] But I think you don’t have to play a lot of this game to know how well it plays. [23:57.040 –> 24:02.040] I mean, let’s put it this way, I don’t think I’m going to stop playing this game immediately. [24:02.040 –> 24:03.040] Yeah. [24:03.040 –> 24:11.040] The, yeah, it definitely, I think I agree and it feels inspired, it definitely feels inspired by Stardew. [24:11.040 –> 24:16.040] But it definitely, it doesn’t seem to be doing things because Stardew does them. [24:16.040 –> 24:18.040] Like, it does a lot of things differently. [24:18.040 –> 24:19.040] Yes. [24:19.040 –> 24:21.040] I think it’s doing what Stardew did. [24:21.040 –> 24:25.040] It’s taking something and going, how would I like this to work instead? [24:25.040 –> 24:27.040] Yes, exactly. [24:27.040 –> 24:30.040] And that is good. That’s how we wanted it to happen. [24:30.040 –> 24:35.040] Yeah, absolutely. I kind of wanted to make that point in my head earlier. [24:35.040 –> 24:39.040] So, like, Stardew was like a jump from Harvest Moon, right? [24:39.040 –> 24:42.040] Wildflowers feels like a jump from Stardew. [24:42.040 –> 24:46.040] I think I would say, so I think that Stardew generally did everything better. [24:46.040 –> 24:54.040] I will say that I think Wildflowers does everything different, but I think a lot of it could be up to how you like how it plays, right? [24:54.040 –> 24:57.040] Like, I can absolutely see how someone would not like this game. [24:57.040 –> 24:59.040] Yeah, no, I agree. I was about to say that, right? [24:59.040 –> 25:05.040] Like, I don’t think it’s, because Stardew defined a genre, basically, like it was a game changer, right? [25:05.040 –> 25:11.040] I don’t think Wildflowers is a game changer, but it’s a very solid game, a great game. [25:12.040 –> 25:14.040] So, yeah, no, I agree with you there. [25:14.040 –> 25:22.040] That’s why I was a little hesitant saying that, because it’s not the next Stardew, but it is, it’s a great game. [25:22.040 –> 25:29.040] I will, oh, one thing I should add, so I didn’t expect to play Wildflowers. [25:29.040 –> 25:37.040] I picked it up for reasons that, a few reasons that I will have to discuss at another time with you, Al. [25:37.040 –> 25:40.040] That’s some behind the scenes stuff. [25:40.040 –> 25:41.040] Intriguing. [25:41.040 –> 25:49.040] But, what’s interesting is, at first I wasn’t that interested, because one of my big criticisms is the art style. [25:49.040 –> 25:53.040] Like, I don’t like how the people, the design looks, I don’t know, just kind of on it. [25:53.040 –> 25:58.040] I agree. The people’s design is, there’s something about it that creeps me out. [25:58.040 –> 26:05.040] It’s the Bratz doll look kind of thing, something about their heads and their hands. [26:05.040 –> 26:08.040] I don’t know, just, it’s eh. [26:08.040 –> 26:13.040] I got used to it overplaying so much, but I’m still not a fan of it. [26:13.040 –> 26:20.040] So at first I wasn’t that interested, and on paper it sounded like just another farming game. [26:20.040 –> 26:27.040] But, once I looked at the reviews, they were all really good, and then I played it and I was like, oh, I’m not just playing this anymore for the podcast. [26:27.040 –> 26:30.040] I’m really enjoying this now. [26:30.040 –> 26:33.040] It consumed my week because I was enjoying it. [26:34.040 –> 26:37.040] So yeah, it’s unexpectedly for me. [26:37.040 –> 26:38.040] Yeah. [26:38.040 –> 26:41.040] Okay, so let’s get into it. [26:41.040 –> 26:45.040] Yeah, let’s talk about, so I think I’ve got a list of mechanics I want to talk about. [26:45.040 –> 26:50.040] The first one is, for me, the first thing that kind of struck me was the movement. [26:50.040 –> 26:56.040] So, I think, apart from the fact that you can just jump over fences, which, have you noticed that yet? [26:56.040 –> 26:57.040] You can just jump over fences? [26:57.040 –> 27:01.040] It blew my mind. It blew my mind. You can just run up to it and jump over it. [27:01.040 –> 27:06.040] What is this? It’s bizarre. I was not expecting that to happen. [27:06.040 –> 27:11.040] Terra is the character’s name, by the way. It’s not Stardew, your own farmer. You’re playing a character named Terra. [27:11.040 –> 27:18.040] Yeah, oh, that’s a good point, actually. Maybe let’s talk about that, because there is basically no character customization because of that. [27:18.040 –> 27:24.040] I added the boutique. It’s an update. I started that quest, but that was close. [27:24.040 –> 27:30.040] This is not empty character self-insert. You are playing Terra Wild. [27:30.040 –> 27:34.040] And I always feel a bit kind of like, I don’t think every game has to have character customization. [27:34.040 –> 27:39.040] No. No, they do not. And this is a great example of why not. [27:39.040 –> 27:46.040] Yeah. I think I would have no issues with that if there wasn’t romance in the game. [27:46.040 –> 27:47.040] Ah? [27:47.040 –> 27:53.040] But it feels weird to have romance in a game when I’m not playing as a character I’ve created. [27:53.040 –> 28:00.040] Because then I’m like, well, what do I do here? Am I choosing for this character or am I choosing for me? [28:00.040 –> 28:04.040] Who am I choosing for here? And I don’t know what to do in that situation. [28:04.040 –> 28:13.040] Look, I play Fire Emblem. I matchmate. I know this. It’s not that odd to me, I guess. [28:13.040 –> 28:22.040] But I see what you mean, right? It is weird that Terra is a fully defined character, except in romance you can kind of navigate that however you want. [28:22.040 –> 28:28.040] So that’s interesting. I don’t know. I feel like there’s a deep thought here, but I can’t think of it right now. [28:28.040 –> 28:34.040] But, you know, I see what you mean. You would think as a full character she’d have her own preference. [28:34.040 –> 28:41.040] Yeah. It’s just a small thing. And I suspect the way I’m going to deal with it is by just not doing the romance. [28:41.040 –> 28:46.040] Because, as we’ve discussed, we don’t think every game needs to have romance. [28:47.040 –> 28:52.040] I think if you’re not feeling it, don’t do it. That’s the beauty of these games, right? [28:52.040 –> 29:03.040] Yup, yup. So in this one, despite people talking about it, because there’s several single people, and it’s a thing, the dialogue is well written and that’s brought up. [29:03.040 –> 29:08.040] There still doesn’t feel like a lot of pressure that you have to get hitched or anything like that. [29:08.040 –> 29:20.040] Even if your grandmother tells you to get hitched or whatever. It’s very nice that it’s pretty light, while still being a strong component. It’s a very nice balance. [29:20.040 –> 29:24.040] And you say that, Al, but you haven’t met Wesley yet. [29:24.040 –> 29:28.040] Fair enough. [29:28.040 –> 29:35.040] But yeah, no. I’m probably going with Wesley, but I’ll talk about that later. [29:35.040 –> 29:46.040] Okay, going back to what we opened with the movement. Yes, Tara just wore a dress and jumped over fences and it’s nuts. It blew my mind you can do that. You don’t have to walk to the doors. It’s great! [29:46.040 –> 29:55.040] Yeah, so it’ll be interesting to see how you react to what I’m about to say, but I’m not a fan of the movement in the game in general. [29:56.040 –> 30:05.040] And it might be, now you’ve kind of ruined my might be there, but I’m going to say what I was going to say anyway. It might be because I’m playing on the iPad. I’m not sure. [30:05.040 –> 30:18.040] So the way that movement works on the iPad, there’s actually two different ways of doing it, but they start out by you basically dragging around on the screen vaguely where you want them to go. [30:18.040 –> 30:30.040] So if they’re in the middle of the screen and you want them to go up, you have to press the screen above the character and they will go in that direction. [30:30.040 –> 30:44.040] Which probably works fine on a phone, and I’m not even playing on a big iPad. I’m playing on the iPad mini. It’s basically just like a big phone, but it might be better on a phone if you can reach the whole screen. [30:45.040 –> 30:56.040] But it’s really awkward. It’s really awkward because you’re like, I want to go across to this plant and you have to basically press in that general direction to get it. [30:56.040 –> 31:05.040] It was really weird and awkward. There is a setting where you can change it to have a virtual joystick, which is what I did because I was going literally insane. [31:05.040 –> 31:08.040] And that’s better. [31:08.040 –> 31:12.040] Yeah, I don’t know why it’s the default. I really don’t know why it’s the default. [31:12.040 –> 31:14.040] I don’t know. That’s odd. [31:14.040 –> 31:18.040] Or why they don’t give you the option when you’re starting up. Which movement style would you like? That would be fine. [31:18.040 –> 31:25.040] Because I get why some people might want that, especially if they’re playing on a phone, but that is an insane default and not even to tell you there’s another option. [31:25.040 –> 31:32.040] I was already complaining about this and I was like, well, let me just check the settings. Oh yes, there is a setting to have a virtual joystick, so I have done that. [31:32.040 –> 31:40.040] But other than that, the movement is fine, but there’s something about it that I’m not a huge fan of and I’m not sure what it is. What are your thoughts on that? [31:40.040 –> 31:47.040] Well, I’m playing on Switch, so I’m using a non-virtual joystick. I’m playing on a controller. [31:47.040 –> 31:49.040] A joystick you might call it. [31:49.040 –> 31:56.040] Yes, a physical joystick. So I don’t have that whole issue, which just sounds nightmarish. [31:56.040 –> 32:03.040] But the movement, I think it’s just too slow. I think that’s the biggest thing. Her walking is kind of slow. [32:03.040 –> 32:13.040] But I think it’s intentional. It’s like Stardew. I think, if I recall correctly, don’t you speed up in Stardew? You get faster. I could be wrong. [32:13.040 –> 32:16.040] I don’t think so. You can get the horse. [32:16.040 –> 32:22.040] Yeah. Well, at the very least it does that. I think it’s intentional because you can get speedups later in the game. [32:23.040 –> 32:32.040] So I think they slowed it down so you feel very incentivized to speed up. Which, as of right now, I’ve seen there is a spell you can cast on yourself. [32:35.040 –> 32:41.040] Did we describe the hook of this game? I don’t think we did, did we? That you’re falling by day, witch by night? [32:41.040 –> 32:43.040] Yeah, I guess we could talk about that. [32:43.040 –> 32:48.040] I should just point out that’s a selling point, right? In Stardew, you’re also a witch by night. [32:48.040 –> 32:58.040] So magic is a thing in this game. And one of the spells you can cast on yourself is a speedup spell. I’ve not used it yet, but that’s the biggest thing for me, I think. [32:58.040 –> 33:09.040] It’s just the movement’s a little on the slow side, especially with all the things you want to do. The map isn’t as big as Stardew’s, I don’t think, to compensate for that. [33:10.040 –> 33:21.040] Yeah, so that is one thing I wanted to talk about. It’s not a huge map, and I actually quite like that. So I mentioned I’ve been playing Coral Island, and that is a huge map. [33:21.040 –> 33:32.040] And there can be advantages and disadvantages to it, but I actually quite like playing a game that has quite a small area, because I am not playing an exploration game. [33:33.040 –> 33:45.040] I am not playing this game to explore. I am playing this game to farm, and to get married, or to mine, or do some boring, repetitive stuff. [33:45.040 –> 33:57.040] And apparently in this case, magic. But I’m not looking for an exploration game. There are other games I might play to do that. [33:57.040 –> 34:01.040] And so I quite like the fact that it’s quite a small map. [34:01.040 –> 34:10.040] It’s very deliberate, right? Everything, how it’s placed. And because it’s small, there’s a lot to see and do on the island. [34:10.040 –> 34:14.040] But you learn it quickly, and you know how to get to it. [34:14.040 –> 34:22.040] You do learn it reasonably quickly. However, I will say, I am not a fan of the map they have in-game, because it tells you nothing. [34:22.040 –> 34:24.040] Yeah, it’s not great. It does not. [34:25.040 –> 34:26.040] It does not. [34:26.040 –> 34:33.040] There’s like a quest very early on where you have to meet everyone in the village, and I’m like, okay, where are they? [34:33.040 –> 34:40.040] There’s one person that I haven’t found. I don’t know who this person is. I don’t know where they are. Turns out they live like a hermit in the forest. [34:40.040 –> 34:41.040] Yeah. [34:41.040 –> 34:48.040] But I found them. But it’s just like, I don’t understand how they’re like, oh, go to this shop. How do I get to that shop? [34:48.040 –> 34:55.040] I don’t know. Like, sure, it’s in the main town, but like, there are about 10 shops in the main town. Am I expected to go into each? [34:55.040 –> 35:05.040] The map gives you no indication as to what is where at all, other than like, this is the town, this is the forest, this is the beach, that’s it. [35:05.040 –> 35:08.040] There’s no other indication as to where anything is. [35:08.040 –> 35:14.040] Yeah, no, I fully agree with that. The map’s garbage, not where they’ve been looking at. [35:15.040 –> 35:22.040] But you do learn it pretty quickly because it is quite a spot, so that’s only a very early, like, I learned that really quickly on. [35:22.040 –> 35:27.040] Like, I haven’t played the game a huge amount at all, and I know pretty much the whole map now. [35:27.040 –> 35:38.040] Yeah, but no, that sort of thing, I don’t know why, really irks me in games in general. Like, that’s bad game design, right? [35:38.040 –> 35:43.040] Game design, you want your things to be functional and useful, right? So yeah, that’s something that always bugged me. [35:43.040 –> 35:55.040] I will say though, in terms of the actual map, like the island, there are two big area, I say big, quote unquote, there are two areas to expand. [35:55.040 –> 36:04.040] One is the mountain area, you have to access by building a bridge, and the other one is, okay, I’m going to, well there’s another area in game. [36:04.040 –> 36:13.040] You can see, I don’t want to say, it’s later in the game, it’s on, like, the website, so it’s not really spoilers, but I won’t mention it here. [36:13.040 –> 36:21.040] But anyways, it expands, is the point I’m trying to say. And more characters move in, so there are more buildings and things to see later. [36:21.040 –> 36:29.040] But in general though, the map is good, and I haven’t gotten a broom yet, but I hope once I get a broom, the movement feels great. [36:30.040 –> 36:38.040] Yeah, yeah, I obviously don’t have the broom either, but I like the look of it. [36:38.040 –> 36:49.040] It’s not like it’s horrific movement, it’s just a bit meh, and I literally do not understand why they made the decision on the default control scheme for the map. [36:49.040 –> 36:51.040] Oh, that would ruin it for sure. [36:51.040 –> 36:53.040] Insane for me. [36:53.040 –> 36:54.040] Insane. [36:54.040 –> 36:58.040] Alright, cool. Let’s talk about farming, an important topic for us to discuss. [36:58.040 –> 37:00.040] We talk about that here? [37:00.040 –> 37:05.040] We talk about farming. Still, even though we’re not a farming game podcast, we still talk about farming games. [37:05.040 –> 37:11.040] We still talk about farming. Oh my word. Words. What are words? [37:12.040 –> 37:23.040] So, I guess, it’s quite a simple farming. You have these beds that you use, so you don’t have a plot of land that you hold. [37:23.040 –> 37:27.040] You just have these beds that you then plant a seed in. [37:27.040 –> 37:31.040] It’s kind of like when, I’m trying to think, what was the, was it Doraemon Story of Seasons? [37:31.040 –> 37:37.040] Where you plant one seed, or you buy a seed and you plant it and it’s like multiple seeds. [37:37.040 –> 37:39.040] Maybe, I don’t remember. [37:39.040 –> 37:46.040] You pay for potato seed and you get four potatoes out of it, right? So, that’s how it works. [37:46.040 –> 37:48.040] And then you water that and stuff. [37:48.040 –> 37:59.040] So, you can get a reasonable space of land. I think it starts out quite small, but you can expand across to the other bits of land. [37:59.040 –> 38:06.040] So, I think it’s a pretty decent amount, but if you want to keep things really low-key, you still can. [38:06.040 –> 38:11.040] I quite like the farming. It’s kind of simple, but I think it works quite well. [38:11.040 –> 38:13.040] Yeah. [38:13.040 –> 38:18.040] That reminds me, I do have a question for you. See when you’re going to water, how does it work on the Switch? [38:18.040 –> 38:28.040] Because how it works on the iPad is you go to it and then a little icon appears above the bed where you plant the seeds. [38:28.040 –> 38:35.040] And you have to press on the button to then select what you want to plant, and then you have to select the icon to then water. [38:35.040 –> 38:42.040] Does it work kind of like that, or is it more like a traditional farming game where you just press a button? [38:42.040 –> 38:47.040] Actually, let’s go back to the movement slash controls talk, because it’s just traditional. [38:47.040 –> 38:53.040] You go up to it and push A to say select the pot and then you… [38:53.040 –> 39:01.040] The icons are still there. I know the ones that are like little speech bubbles and you go between them using the joystick. [39:01.040 –> 39:04.040] Okay, I’m going to water, I’m going to plant, whatever, right? [39:04.040 –> 39:07.040] So the touch screen doesn’t work for pressing? [39:07.040 –> 39:11.040] Oh, I’ve been playing primarily on the dock, to be honest. I don’t know, I haven’t checked on the touch screen. [39:11.040 –> 39:17.040] I think I did use it briefly and I used it if the touch screen worked for something. [39:17.040 –> 39:22.040] Oh, in fact, there’s at lea

We're here and we're talking about games! Games like Lies of P, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Above Snakes, Boneraiser Minions, and a lot more! This week's music:  Linkin Park - Fighting Myself

Bev and Codey talk about how to use research and science in games accurately Timings 00:00:00: Apology 00:00:53: Theme Tune 00:01:23: Intro 00:04:08: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:11: News 00:29:04: How To Gamify Science And Research Accurately 01:12:37: Outro Links Lonesome Village Mobile Len’s Island Controller Support Coral Island Dev Update Ages of Cataria Delaye Above Snakes Dev Update Innchanted Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:00.000 –> 00:03.920] Hello, farmers! This is Cody. Just a quick update about this episode. [00:03.920 –> 00:07.280] Your girl hecked up and messed up the Zoom recording. [00:07.280 –> 00:11.520] Uh, so we usually, a little bit of background, we usually do local recording [00:11.520 –> 00:15.280] and Zoom recording as a backup. My local recording failed so we had to [00:15.280 –> 00:19.040] use the Zoom recording and I messed up some of the settings so [00:19.040 –> 00:21.840] we actually only have one Zoom recording instead of like one for me and one for [00:21.840 –> 00:25.600] Bev, which means that we have to use that one. [00:25.600 –> 00:28.480] Uh, and which is sad because Bev’s recording, [00:28.480 –> 00:32.800] local recording, was perfect and beautiful but we can’t use it anymore [00:32.800 –> 00:35.920] and it is not their fault. It is my fault. [00:35.920 –> 00:39.600] So, uh, if you notice that the audio quality is not as good [00:39.600 –> 00:45.680] in this episode, um, my bad. I learned my lesson and I won it again. [00:45.680 –> 00:49.840] Um, but this does not take away from the fact that Bev and I had [00:49.840 –> 01:05.760] a super fun time talking about today’s episode and I hope you enjoy it. [01:19.840 –> 01:27.280] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of [01:27.280 –> 01:32.800] the harvest season. My name is Cody and my name is Bev and we’re here today [01:32.800 –> 01:37.760] to talk about cottagecore games. [01:37.760 –> 01:49.680] Hello. How are you? I am just tired of my life with these games. [01:49.680 –> 01:52.880] I want the cottagecore life to just be my life, [01:52.880 –> 02:00.240] but yeah. Why did February just like fly by though? I don’t understand at all. [02:00.240 –> 02:06.560] Like, how’s it March? I don’t, I don’t, I don’t know. Yeah, I feel attacked. [02:06.560 –> 02:15.760] Um, so today our episode is, um, not what Al told us to do. [02:17.200 –> 02:21.280] Uh, it’s actually not what we originally were going to do. So [02:21.280 –> 02:25.520] basically, um, there’s a new game coming out that we’ve talked about on the pod [02:25.520 –> 02:29.520] before called research story and Bev and I have done research before [02:29.520 –> 02:32.720] and so we were like, we would like to be on that podcast please. [02:32.720 –> 02:39.520] Um, and so we both got the game and, uh, like a week ago and we just [02:39.520 –> 02:42.560] haven’t really had, I personally haven’t really had time to [02:42.560 –> 02:47.120] play with it, uh, as much as I would have liked to, um, on the pod. [02:47.120 –> 02:50.880] So I was just like, like, I don’t feel like I would do it justice if we tried to [02:50.880 –> 02:55.680] cover it today. So, uh, we came up with some last minute [02:55.680 –> 03:05.280] ideas, uh, and we are going with our idea. Not Al’s, not Al’s idea. [03:05.280 –> 03:11.760] Um, so our idea was to talk, uh, since we are talking about research story, [03:11.760 –> 03:15.280] which is a game where you research, where you do research, we were thinking [03:15.280 –> 03:18.000] about talking about our research that we’ve done in our [03:18.000 –> 03:23.440] lives before and how we could gamify it to be [03:23.440 –> 03:27.360] a, like, cottage core game. Um, because I think [03:27.360 –> 03:32.640] it’s a big struggle of mine that anytime I see a game that has, like, research or [03:32.640 –> 03:36.160] science or whatever, I get grumpy because I’m like, they’re not doing it [03:36.160 –> 03:39.440] the right way. They’re gonna do it so wrong. [03:39.440 –> 03:46.400] Yeah, and so, um, so yeah, I wanted to [03:46.400 –> 03:49.680] do it, tell people how to do it. I don’t know, [03:49.680 –> 03:55.440] just, like, dream up my, my, my research game. Um, and I think, Bev, you actually [03:55.440 –> 03:58.720] had mentioned this idea and then I immediately was like, we’re doing it, [03:58.720 –> 04:03.440] we’re doing it. So, yeah, we’ll talk about that. [04:03.440 –> 04:06.960] Um, and then we’ll also talk about some news, [04:06.960 –> 04:10.560] but before that, uh, Bev, what are you up to? [04:10.560 –> 04:14.320] I have been playing a lot of Stardew lately, [04:14.320 –> 04:18.800] uh, ever since I saw, like, Concerned Ape’s tweet about it being, I think, the [04:18.800 –> 04:22.320] seventh, like, year anniversary. I’m like, I [04:22.320 –> 04:25.600] should get back into it and then I’ve been completely sucked in for the past [04:25.600 –> 04:28.560] week. Like, all of my free time has just been [04:28.560 –> 04:32.800] devoted to Stardew, but it’s not good. I don’t care. [04:32.800 –> 04:37.680] What are you, like, are you prioritizing a certain thing this time around or [04:37.680 –> 04:42.320] doing anything? I would like to finish it. Okay, have you not ever done that? [04:42.320 –> 04:45.760] No, I’ve always been, like, so, like, like, [04:45.760 –> 04:49.680] so prescriptive and wanting to get everything done in the first two years [04:49.680 –> 04:54.560] and I think I burned myself out and I haven’t quite, like, gotten to the [04:54.560 –> 04:59.120] point where I need to ask for Grandpa’s affection yet [04:59.120 –> 05:04.000] or whatever. Um, and I haven’t actually gotten to, like, the 1.5 stuff, [05:04.000 –> 05:10.560] um, that came out, so I, I want to, one, finish, I said, I guess, [05:10.560 –> 05:15.360] essentially the game, get to part, uh, you know, year two, end of year two, [05:15.360 –> 05:22.240] and also, uh, try all the 1.5 stuff. Yeah. Uh, do you ever get credits? Like, [05:22.240 –> 05:26.240] is there a way to get credits? What do you mean by credits? Like, so, [05:26.240 –> 05:28.560] like, when you play, like, a Pokemon game or something, [05:28.560 –> 05:31.120] like, eventually at some point you hit credits. [05:31.120 –> 05:36.000] Oh, in Stardew. Um, yeah, I feel like I would imagine it would be [05:36.000 –> 05:40.160] after, after year two. Okay, like, you, like, after your [05:40.160 –> 05:45.520] grandfather gives you love and affection or something. For getting [05:45.520 –> 05:50.800] always tried too, yeah, apparently. Yeah, okay, just never, I’ve never [05:50.800 –> 05:55.840] gotten it that, that far. Um, I always am perpetually getting [05:55.840 –> 05:59.360] distracted, so. Uh-huh, exactly, and starting new farms is, like, [05:59.360 –> 06:03.760] also my issue. Like, I think I have over, like, probably 400 hours in [06:03.760 –> 06:08.160] this thing, but I don’t have to be in the game, so here we are. [06:08.160 –> 06:11.200] I do that with Skyrim all the time, like, I’ll start it, and then I’ll [06:11.200 –> 06:13.840] get really into it for, like, two weeks straight, and I’ll get really [06:13.840 –> 06:18.560] far, and then I won’t play it for months, and then when I get, when I [06:18.560 –> 06:21.040] try to play it again, I’m like, I don’t remember what I was doing, so [06:21.040 –> 06:25.600] I’m just gonna start over, and I have over a thousand hours. [06:28.240 –> 06:33.680] Yeah, love that dirty, though, because it’s essentially my journey. [06:33.680 –> 06:43.840] Yeah, um, I have been reading a lot, um, so, oh, I like to read [06:43.840 –> 06:48.480] fantasy books, so I read, I’m reading books by Robin Hobb, which is, [06:48.480 –> 06:53.840] she’s my favorite author, um, I’m reading books by, uh, N.K. [06:53.840 –> 07:00.000] Jemisin, I read, uh, our mutual friend, Brittany Morris, um, I read [07:00.000 –> 07:04.080] one of, uh, her books, called The Cost of Knowing, I tried to read, um, [07:04.080 –> 07:06.400] books by Black authors during Black History Month, so. [07:07.520 –> 07:10.320] I didn’t realize she had come out with another book already. [07:10.320 –> 07:15.440] Yeah, so, instead of, so, her first book was Slay, um, so good, yeah, [07:16.240 –> 07:19.520] um, and then the second one was, is called The Cost of Knowing, so [07:19.520 –> 07:22.800] that Slay was kind of about, like, a coming-of-age story of a, of a [07:22.800 –> 07:28.800] Black girl who designs kind of a Ready Player One style video game, [07:28.800 –> 07:35.120] um, super fun, super awesome, and then The Cost of Knowing is about [07:35.120 –> 07:40.560] a coming-of-age story about, um, a Black teenager, uh, uh, boy at this [07:40.560 –> 07:45.280] time, and it’s about, like, he has this ability to see the future, and [07:45.280 –> 07:49.520] then he sees the death of someone that’s very close to him, so, um, [07:49.520 –> 07:53.840] and it’s about, like, him trying to kind of come to terms with it, [07:53.840 –> 07:58.080] but also kind of prevent it, but also it’s like, you can’t prevent it, [07:58.080 –> 08:04.720] like, you can’t prevent it, um, yeah, for games, like, I’ve been [08:04.720 –> 08:09.040] playing Pokemon Go, um, and I picked up Arceus again, and I tried [08:09.040 –> 08:14.160] to get credits, I finally beat, uh, a difficult part at the end of the [08:14.160 –> 08:16.640] game, where if you’ve played Arceus, you know what I’m talking about, [08:17.200 –> 08:22.240] and, and then there’s another thing you have to do after that, and I [08:22.240 –> 08:25.840] didn’t know that, like, I literally thought that this thing was, like, [08:25.840 –> 08:28.400] the thing that was stopping me from beating the game, and then there [08:28.400 –> 08:29.920] was a different, there’s a different thing you have to do. [08:29.920 –> 08:32.720] I don’t know if I have beat in the game, and I don’t know what you’re [08:32.720 –> 08:33.440] doing. [08:33.440 –> 08:34.400] Oh, yeah, yeah. [08:35.040 –> 08:35.920] Maybe I have. [08:36.640 –> 08:39.120] No, actually, I don’t think so, because I’m thinking, I’m thinking [08:39.120 –> 08:41.360] of Brilliant Diamond Pearl, like, I… [08:41.360 –> 08:43.360] Oh, yeah, no, Arceus. [08:43.360 –> 08:46.720] Okay, then maybe I can have a beat in it, what am I doing? [08:46.720 –> 08:48.720] I need to go back to it at some point. [08:48.720 –> 08:54.560] It’s so good, it just, like, scratches the itch of collecting, and, [08:54.560 –> 08:57.040] I don’t know, my favorite part of Pokemon is catching, and trying [08:57.040 –> 08:59.760] to catch them all, and trying to catch different types, and, [09:01.040 –> 09:04.080] excuse me, see the, see the Pokemon do different things, and that, [09:04.080 –> 09:05.360] it really does it, so. [09:05.360 –> 09:07.360] And that’s what we’ve been playing and reading. [09:08.240 –> 09:08.560] Hey. [09:11.360 –> 09:14.560] Okay, so next up, we have some news. [09:16.160 –> 09:19.040] First piece of news is about Lonesome Village. [09:19.040 –> 09:29.440] This is the Mexican, not director, Mexican developer that, you’re, [09:29.440 –> 09:31.360] like, a little coyote? [09:31.360 –> 09:31.920] Little fox? [09:33.440 –> 09:34.400] I think it’s coyote. [09:34.400 –> 09:34.900] Okay. [09:35.760 –> 09:37.040] If I recall correctly. [09:37.040 –> 09:42.640] Yeah, and they are porting the game to iPhone and iPad. [09:42.640 –> 09:50.400] Which is, I guess, exciting if you want it on your phone and iPad. [09:53.520 –> 09:55.520] I think you can get it on Steam now. [09:56.160 –> 09:56.480] Yeah. [09:56.480 –> 09:57.360] Like, it’s out. [09:58.880 –> 10:03.200] But if you want it on your iPhone or your iPad, she do be coming. [10:04.960 –> 10:06.640] I don’t think they said when. [10:06.640 –> 10:08.400] I think they just were like, she happening. [10:09.680 –> 10:11.440] Nope, release date yet to be announced. [10:11.440 –> 10:15.680] Okay, I feel like I personally don’t enjoy playing games on iPhone or iPad, [10:15.680 –> 10:20.000] but I know some folks only have access to a phone to play stuff on. [10:20.000 –> 10:23.600] So I am excited for them. [10:23.600 –> 10:28.160] And actually, I might actually tell this person that I’m thinking of about this game, [10:28.160 –> 10:32.960] because they’re also, I think, Hispanic origin, so they might actually enjoy it. [10:32.960 –> 10:33.520] There you go. [10:34.080 –> 10:37.360] Visiting this world in Lonesome Village. [10:37.360 –> 10:41.120] Mm hmm. Yeah, I like playing. [10:41.120 –> 10:45.200] I like mobile games, but specifically the ones that are meant to be mobile games, [10:45.200 –> 10:47.120] like things like RPGs. [10:47.120 –> 10:52.240] Like, I just don’t anything that requires me to use a phone like a controller. [10:52.240 –> 10:54.160] I’m like, no, no, I’m out. [10:56.240 –> 10:58.160] So I have to move anywhere. [10:58.160 –> 10:58.720] No, thank you. [11:00.720 –> 11:04.960] Yeah, but it’s there for someone. [11:04.960 –> 11:08.000] So Lonesome Village, keep your eyes posted. [11:10.160 –> 11:12.800] Lens Island, which is a game that you and I’ve covered, [11:14.400 –> 11:16.400] has controller support coming, finally. [11:18.400 –> 11:25.760] And I saw the tweet and I retweeted or tagged Al and Kevin in it, [11:25.760 –> 11:27.280] because I thought they’d be excited. [11:27.280 –> 11:31.360] And Al was just like, guess who doesn’t read the show notes before? [11:32.000 –> 11:33.680] And I was like, this is like four days ago. [11:33.680 –> 11:37.600] And I’m like, I was excited to tell you this. [11:37.600 –> 11:40.240] And then you just like clap back at me. [11:42.640 –> 11:46.880] I thought we uploaded the news, like in the show notes, like last night. [11:46.880 –> 11:49.360] I’m pretty sure he messaged me asking. [11:49.360 –> 11:50.880] Oh, my gosh. [11:50.880 –> 11:52.640] I don’t even know what he’s talking about. [11:52.640 –> 11:55.120] Al, Al, Al, Al. [11:55.120 –> 11:56.800] Yeah, no. [11:56.800 –> 12:01.120] So this is something that I know Kevin had said that he was waiting for. [12:01.120 –> 12:05.280] And we like controller support here. [12:05.280 –> 12:06.080] We do. [12:06.080 –> 12:07.920] It helps for accessibility. [12:07.920 –> 12:11.360] I’m excited to get back into this with controller support. [12:12.880 –> 12:15.920] I have not played it, I think, since we last covered it. [12:15.920 –> 12:18.240] And I know there’s been a whole bunch of changes. [12:18.240 –> 12:23.920] And I think having the controller support might be what brings me back in at this point. [12:25.280 –> 12:28.320] And someone had said, someone on the Twitter, [12:28.320 –> 12:32.240] on the Twitter, on the tweet said, [12:33.440 –> 12:36.080] so would that mean Steam Deck compatibility? [12:36.080 –> 12:41.200] And the developer said that after the controller support update playing on Steam Deck, [12:41.200 –> 12:43.120] we’ll have improved functionality. [12:44.240 –> 12:47.120] So it still won’t technically be supported for the Steam Deck, [12:47.120 –> 12:51.200] but it will have better functionality on the Steam Deck. [12:51.920 –> 12:55.600] And they’re hoping to have full compatibility in the future. [12:55.600 –> 12:56.960] So yeah. [12:56.960 –> 12:59.600] So I’m assuming it essentially works fine. [12:59.600 –> 13:02.400] It was just like whatever Steam requirements are for [13:03.280 –> 13:06.160] Steam Deck optimization or whatever it needs. [13:06.160 –> 13:09.040] They just added a few more things that I probably don’t care about. [13:10.800 –> 13:14.160] Yeah, it just looks so good. [13:14.160 –> 13:15.360] I need to jump back into it. [13:15.360 –> 13:16.080] I know. [13:16.080 –> 13:16.880] It’s so good. [13:19.360 –> 13:23.680] Speaking of games that you and I like and fight over sometimes, [13:23.680 –> 13:31.200] uh, Coral Island, when Al was like, [13:31.200 –> 13:32.720] who wants to be in the Coral Island episode? [13:32.720 –> 13:33.360] We were both like, [13:36.080 –> 13:38.640] like the beginning of when Al was like, you guys do it? [13:38.640 –> 13:39.680] Like, I’m stepping back. [13:42.160 –> 13:44.800] I think we’re also like that with Lens Island too. [13:44.800 –> 13:45.300] Yeah. [13:45.760 –> 13:48.880] And then Kevin and I were like that with Bear and Breakfast. [13:50.080 –> 13:51.920] Just like, we want to do it. [13:51.920 –> 13:54.640] And so, and also research story now. [13:54.640 –> 13:57.040] So there’s a theme here. [13:57.040 –> 13:57.760] Coral Island. [13:59.840 –> 14:04.000] The Coral Island Spring update is coming in March. [14:05.360 –> 14:07.520] There will be a bunch of new content. [14:09.840 –> 14:11.360] You can, it adds a solar panel. [14:11.920 –> 14:12.480] Just go on. [14:13.680 –> 14:17.120] New outdoor decor, new indoor decor, [14:17.120 –> 14:19.600] a new tree planting festival, [14:19.600 –> 14:26.240] um, which is awesome that, uh, you go to an area that was devastated by logging and you replant. [14:27.200 –> 14:29.120] It’s very on brand for Coral Island. [14:30.640 –> 14:32.640] Um, yeah, it just looks really cute. [14:32.960 –> 14:38.800] Um, on top of that, there is a bunch of accessibility improvements, which I love. [14:41.360 –> 14:46.960] Um, so they said that there’s support for dyslexic font for Latin characters. [14:46.960 –> 14:51.760] Um, there is, you can increase or decrease the font sizes depending on your need. [14:51.760 –> 14:55.440] And there are three different, uh, colorblindness filters. [14:55.440 –> 15:01.840] Now, um, I’m going to ruin these deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia. [15:02.720 –> 15:06.880] Um, so I think that’s depending on what your colorblindness is. [15:06.880 –> 15:13.040] Um, those are the three modes that’s supposed to like help enhance the game or make the game. [15:13.040 –> 15:20.720] Um, I depending on what kind of colorblindness you have, um, like it’s these three different modes. [15:20.720 –> 15:27.120] Um, and then they also said custom key bindings, which is awesome. [15:27.120 –> 15:31.440] Like I’ve never, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game do dyslexic font. [15:31.440 –> 15:35.440] In fact, I didn’t know that was the thing until I read it. [15:35.440 –> 15:39.760] Um, and I am just love, love, love. [15:39.760 –> 15:45.360] Uh, I think I’ve seen maybe one or two other games that have colorblind modes, but it’s just, [15:45.360 –> 15:50.000] I feel like that needs to be more mainstreamed at this point. [15:50.000 –> 15:56.240] Um, with all the new, like new games coming out, like just having that actual level of accessibility. [15:56.800 –> 15:59.040] I bring in a lot of people. [15:59.040 –> 16:01.280] Um, so I’m, I’m really excited. [16:01.280 –> 16:02.960] Like rural Islander was doing this. [16:02.960 –> 16:03.440] Hey, good. [16:03.440 –> 16:04.880] I was like, we haven’t covered this yet. [16:04.880 –> 16:05.360] Right. [16:05.360 –> 16:06.000] Cause like, [16:06.000 –> 16:11.200] Uh, right now it has you and Al’s name on it. [16:11.200 –> 16:12.080] So I’m gonna wait. [16:12.080 –> 16:13.920] Which one has a core Island? [16:13.920 –> 16:14.560] Yeah, this game. [16:15.440 –> 16:15.940] Okay. [16:17.120 –> 16:19.280] I was like, I was wondering, have you covered it? [16:19.280 –> 16:20.560] No, I was sitting here. [16:20.560 –> 16:22.080] I was like, wait, this is out already. [16:22.080 –> 16:28.560] Why like, we know why haven’t we, what am I doing sitting on this game? [16:31.760 –> 16:33.360] Wait, what are we supposed to be doing? [16:33.360 –> 16:37.920] Oh, wait, it doesn’t have a date yet. [16:38.480 –> 16:38.980] Okay. [16:39.760 –> 16:40.800] And Alice name on it. [16:40.800 –> 16:42.720] We’re going to have to kick out on earth. [16:42.720 –> 16:43.920] Get you a problem. [16:43.920 –> 16:46.080] The problem is that it’s just windows. [16:46.080 –> 16:47.440] So this is the problem. [16:47.440 –> 16:52.400] Y’all I only have my PC is my desktop and it’s in a room. [16:52.400 –> 16:54.400] I never go in anyway. [16:55.600 –> 16:57.760] Um, I mean, I’m going to be playing research story on it. [16:57.760 –> 17:07.440] So next piece of news, uh, ages of Kataria, um, is delayed [17:07.440 –> 17:11.440] until 2024, specifically Q1 2024. [17:12.240 –> 17:19.440] Um, I am not sure if this game has been talking about, um, I don’t [17:19.440 –> 17:23.200] also, but I will say that I’ve personally not looked into it [17:23.200 –> 17:25.120] yet until just now. [17:25.120 –> 17:28.160] And I love the look of it. [17:28.160 –> 17:28.660] Yeah. [17:29.040 –> 17:29.540] Same. [17:29.540 –> 17:30.720] It’s very cute. [17:31.440 –> 17:31.940] Yeah. [17:32.240 –> 17:36.000] Um, the whole vibe aesthetic looks really cute. [17:36.000 –> 17:37.600] Of the animals are really cute. [17:37.600 –> 17:39.600] Um, I like the concept. [17:39.600 –> 17:43.440] Like it’s like an age of empires game, but you actually care more [17:43.440 –> 17:44.960] about what your people are doing. [17:46.960 –> 17:50.800] Like your, your characters like age over time and you get to see [17:50.800 –> 17:53.520] them and you collect your little souls in a tree, apparently. [17:53.520 –> 17:57.840] Um, I’m feeling like I actually might’ve already talked about this [17:57.840 –> 18:01.280] in a previous episode and I already covered it. [18:01.280 –> 18:01.760] I forgot. [18:01.760 –> 18:02.960] My memory is terrible. [18:02.960 –> 18:04.800] I’ll confirm this. [18:06.800 –> 18:10.240] Um, yeah, no, I, it looks really cute. [18:10.240 –> 18:13.200] You manage your villagers, uh, there’s a spirit tree. [18:13.200 –> 18:16.240] There are elves and the elves are like plant people. [18:16.240 –> 18:21.520] Um, so you can choose whether your village is humans or elves. [18:21.520 –> 18:23.920] Um, and the elves also are like different colors. [18:23.920 –> 18:28.080] Uh, I’m a little confused by that. [18:28.080 –> 18:30.160] Like, why, why do you have to choose? [18:30.160 –> 18:31.440] Why can’t you just have both? [18:31.440 –> 18:36.560] And I’ve seen that it’s like based off of real world, like time. [18:37.440 –> 18:40.240] And that’s why I think maybe I’ve talked about this already. [18:40.240 –> 18:44.000] Cause I feel like I’m not excited by it being real world world. [18:44.000 –> 18:44.500] Yeah. [18:44.500 –> 18:47.200] Um, but whatever, it’s very cute. [18:47.200 –> 18:49.760] Uh, I love the gist of it for the most part. [18:49.760 –> 18:53.280] So I will, I don’t, I don’t have money right now to bag it, [18:53.280 –> 18:55.280] but I will probably get it at some point. [18:56.160 –> 19:00.560] So, I mean, I think that the reason you choose between either humans or [19:00.560 –> 19:03.360] elves is because you’re supposed, you’re wanting your village to grow. [19:03.360 –> 19:09.920] And I think since the elves are made of plants, I have the feeling that [19:09.920 –> 19:14.080] if you had both and then they all pair off that eventually you’re not [19:14.080 –> 19:15.600] going to have a village anymore. [19:15.600 –> 19:18.640] Um, but that would be a super cute idea. [19:18.640 –> 19:22.560] If like you could make like a second village or something, and then [19:22.560 –> 19:25.840] maybe like an elf comes over and like falls in love with a human and [19:25.840 –> 19:30.560] then like, and they can totally like live it, but babies are, are a [19:30.560 –> 19:35.360] thing that need to happen and if they’re plant, but I guess it’s also a game. [19:36.240 –> 19:38.000] Well, they could make it happen. [19:38.000 –> 19:40.560] They have to reproduce somehow. [19:40.560 –> 19:42.880] Otherwise, how, how do they exist? [19:42.880 –> 19:47.520] Um, we have questions. [19:47.520 –> 19:49.120] We have a lot of questions. [19:51.760 –> 19:52.960] Oh my goodness. [19:53.840 –> 19:57.680] Also, if that’s also like the question of, are they the same species? [19:57.680 –> 20:01.200] Cause can they actually humans and elves, can they procreate? [20:01.200 –> 20:02.400] I don’t think they can. [20:02.400 –> 20:05.520] But is there any concern with having them both in a one village? [20:07.680 –> 20:12.560] I mean, so they, I don’t think that they can procreate, [20:12.560 –> 20:15.040] but I think that they would probably still have the capability [20:15.040 –> 20:16.720] to fall in love and choose each other. [20:16.720 –> 20:16.960] Right. [20:18.320 –> 20:18.640] Yeah. [20:19.200 –> 20:21.520] Cause like, is it going to be drama about that? [20:21.520 –> 20:23.520] That’s what I want. [20:23.520 –> 20:24.560] This is what I want now. [20:26.080 –> 20:27.120] Cause that’s what I’m saying. [20:27.120 –> 20:31.520] It’s like, what if they all like, all the humans are like, screw humans. [20:31.520 –> 20:34.240] Like I’m going to date an elf and the elves do the same thing. [20:34.240 –> 20:35.360] And then your villages. [20:35.360 –> 20:35.680] Okay. [20:35.680 –> 20:36.640] I understand that. [20:36.640 –> 20:37.280] I understand. [20:37.280 –> 20:39.920] Your village just is gone. [20:39.920 –> 20:40.960] How they procreate. [20:40.960 –> 20:46.240] Like if they’re, if they’re plants, they could theoretically holiday themselves. [20:46.240 –> 20:50.640] What if the elves last like so much longer than the humans. [20:51.680 –> 20:55.040] And so then the human passes, but the elves. [20:55.040 –> 20:56.640] Oh my God. [20:56.640 –> 20:57.600] I want this. [20:57.600 –> 20:59.360] This is the story. [20:59.360 –> 21:01.360] This is not what this game is going to be about. [21:01.360 –> 21:05.520] But okay. [21:05.520 –> 21:07.120] This is what I want now. [21:08.240 –> 21:09.600] Above snakes. [21:09.600 –> 21:18.400] According to their latest update, it’s finished quote unquote whatever that means. [21:18.400 –> 21:20.000] They’re just focusing on bug fixes. [21:20.800 –> 21:26.000] Looks like they’re still I don’t know if it’s, I think they were still on, on, on track for [21:26.000 –> 21:28.000] their release in early 2023. [21:28.000 –> 21:34.000] Also, whatever that means, because early 2023 is fast ending. [21:34.000 –> 21:39.760] Yeah, as we, as we mentioned, retired in February, where did it go? [21:41.760 –> 21:45.440] I feel like March is like the end of like early 2023. [21:45.440 –> 21:50.320] Like that’s officially been a quarter, a whole quarter of a year done. [21:50.320 –> 21:56.240] So if it’s not coming out in the next month and this month, I don’t believe in early 2023. [21:56.240 –> 21:57.920] Then but we’ll see. [21:57.920 –> 21:58.720] We’ll see. [21:58.720 –> 22:05.280] There’s apparently a prologue coming soon, which we can download for free, I guess. [22:05.280 –> 22:08.800] I guess it’s going to be kind of like a demo, I’m assuming. [22:08.800 –> 22:12.800] Yeah, it looks like it covers about the first hour of gameplay. [22:12.800 –> 22:14.720] So why don’t we just call it a demo? [22:15.360 –> 22:16.400] But it’s a demo. [22:17.120 –> 22:17.600] I wonder. [22:17.600 –> 22:24.160] So I wonder if, so I know that like if you have a demo of a game, so like Apico, for [22:24.160 –> 22:29.920] example, if you downloaded the demo and then played the game, you could not continue your [22:29.920 –> 22:30.720] demo game. [22:31.760 –> 22:33.840] You had to start a new game. [22:33.840 –> 22:35.840] And a lot of people, which just makes sense. [22:35.840 –> 22:36.960] It was a demo version. [22:36.960 –> 22:39.040] It was like a completely different version of the game. [22:39.040 –> 22:42.800] They don’t like, it didn’t have everything. [22:42.800 –> 22:46.640] But I wonder if because they’re calling this prologue, like you, yeah. [22:46.640 –> 22:47.520] Oh, it says that. [22:48.480 –> 22:50.560] Oh, see if I will carry over to the full game. [22:50.560 –> 22:51.440] So yeah, that’s. [22:51.440 –> 22:58.800] Yeah, so instead of you having to like start over, you can play this first bit, be introduced [22:58.800 –> 23:03.600] to the game for free, and then your save file will carry over. [23:03.600 –> 23:04.160] Yep. [23:04.160 –> 23:08.160] But it sounds like a DLC or like a whole different thing. [23:08.160 –> 23:09.840] It’s a pre-LC. [23:10.400 –> 23:11.440] It’s, oh my goodness. [23:13.120 –> 23:17.600] Is this early release, like early access, just a different way to call it that? [23:17.600 –> 23:20.240] Because they did have early access in their Kickstarter. [23:20.240 –> 23:24.160] So I’m confused. [23:24.160 –> 23:25.680] Yeah, I’ll define this. [23:27.040 –> 23:28.480] What does prologue mean? [23:29.360 –> 23:32.000] I mean, that’s what I think it means is that, yeah. [23:34.160 –> 23:38.560] They’re going to PAX East, which is super interesting. [23:38.560 –> 23:41.840] Actually, no, no, I am not going, no. [23:43.120 –> 23:46.080] I saw it and I was like, oh, I could go to PAX East. [23:46.080 –> 23:50.400] Because that’s the first time that we met, I think. [23:50.400 –> 23:51.040] Was it PAX East? [23:51.040 –> 23:54.880] No, because I got sick and I couldn’t make it out. [23:54.880 –> 23:55.200] Right. [23:55.200 –> 23:57.200] It was Kelly that I roomed with. [23:57.200 –> 23:59.200] Kelly and I think Mia and Nick. [23:59.200 –> 23:59.600] Yeah. [23:59.600 –> 24:01.040] All the other slackers. [24:01.040 –> 24:02.000] Yeah, you weren’t there. [24:02.000 –> 24:03.840] Oh, and then we went camping afterwards. [24:03.840 –> 24:04.400] Okay. [24:04.400 –> 24:04.720] Yes. [24:04.720 –> 24:05.760] So that made up for it. [24:06.800 –> 24:09.360] I think it’s still going back to Above Snakes. [24:09.360 –> 24:14.000] I think it’s still on track because they had, they were Kickstarter. [24:14.000 –> 24:17.920] They had a pre-alpha and alpha beta, and they still say early 2023. [24:17.920 –> 24:18.420] Okay. [24:19.600 –> 24:22.800] And it says we have internally decided on a release date. [24:24.080 –> 24:28.160] Then they’re going to say what it is the next update. [24:28.720 –> 24:29.040] Okay. [24:29.040 –> 24:30.640] So there’s going to be announcement. [24:30.640 –> 24:32.800] This is the announcement about the announcement. [24:32.800 –> 24:33.840] This is the announcement. [24:33.840 –> 24:34.340] Correct. [24:35.200 –> 24:35.700] Okay. [24:36.320 –> 24:41.200] I mean, we know we love that in at harvest season. [24:42.560 –> 24:42.960] Yeah. [24:42.960 –> 24:44.320] Should you almost say Harvest Moon? [24:44.880 –> 24:46.400] No, no. [24:46.400 –> 24:47.760] I almost heard Harvest Moon. [24:48.560 –> 24:51.120] I mean, also, I don’t know what I was going to say. [24:53.280 –> 24:53.780] Okay. [24:54.480 –> 24:55.360] Last piece of news. [24:55.360 –> 24:55.920] We’ve got this. [24:55.920 –> 24:56.800] We can do this. [24:56.800 –> 24:57.440] We do this. [24:58.960 –> 25:00.560] So this, I think, is a new game. [25:01.120 –> 25:03.280] It’s called Enchanted. [25:03.280 –> 25:09.520] So it’s like Enchanted, but it’s an inn, like a cozy inn that you go and stop and stay at. [25:10.160 –> 25:10.800] Enchanted. [25:10.800 –> 25:15.920] And the steam thing says, quote, run a magical inn with friends. [25:15.920 –> 25:17.280] I’m going to butcher this name. [25:18.240 –> 25:23.920] Ja rules family in question mark has been stolen by an evil wizard landlord. [25:23.920 –> 25:26.400] Team up with friends to reclaim your family’s legacy. [25:26.400 –> 25:32.800] Manage your in brew potions, fish cook and fight in this hectic and heartfelt magical [25:32.800 –> 25:41.200] adventure and play solo or play solo or co-op for one to four players. [25:41.200 –> 25:46.080] I feel like they should say play solo or co-op for two to four other players. [25:46.640 –> 25:50.160] Like, I don’t know, but you can’t co-op by. [25:50.160 –> 25:53.280] I mean, no, no, you can’t co-op by yourself. [25:55.440 –> 25:55.940] So, yeah. [25:55.940 –> 26:02.180] So at first it looks like another, like, witch game. [26:03.060 –> 26:04.900] There’s like a little cauldron and stuff. [26:06.500 –> 26:10.020] But then it very quickly became chaos. [26:10.020 –> 26:12.020] Yeah, there’s a lot. [26:12.580 –> 26:16.420] Like, we were talking about this before we started recording, and it’s like our ADHD [26:16.420 –> 26:19.060] brains can’t understand what’s going on. [26:19.060 –> 26:21.940] It’s just there’s too many colors, too many things. [26:21.940 –> 26:24.180] A lot of colors in this. [26:24.180 –> 26:30.900] So you said you were into it because it’s an Australian goodness. [26:30.900 –> 26:31.540] What was it? [26:32.420 –> 26:39.940] It’s a fantasy universe inspired by indigest, indigen, indigen, indigen, indigenous. [26:39.940 –> 26:41.300] Yes, thank you. [26:41.300 –> 26:42.100] Australian tails. [26:44.100 –> 26:46.580] I’m a struggle boss today. [26:46.580 –> 26:47.220] It’s all good. [26:48.980 –> 26:49.460] Yeah. [26:49.460 –> 26:58.100] So I mean, it looks like you cook things and you update your in, you run it, and you decorate [26:58.100 –> 26:58.260] it. [26:58.260 –> 27:05.300] You’re trying to satisfy, quote, the infamous food critic with capitals. [27:06.180 –> 27:07.380] No, I don’t like that. [27:07.380 –> 27:09.220] Surprised it doesn’t have a trademark after it. [27:09.860 –> 27:10.500] Oh, my gosh. [27:10.500 –> 27:13.540] Purchase upgrades from your local were’s wolf. [27:13.540 –> 27:19.620] Oh, a wolf that you get were’s from. [27:19.620 –> 27:24.020] See, I think I just needed to take the trailer was a lot all at once. [27:24.820 –> 27:31.460] These little golden gems did not like the famous food critic, but where’s wolf? [27:31.460 –> 27:32.420] I am here for. [27:32.420 –> 27:34.820] You got to overcome any of the wizard burglars. [27:34.820 –> 27:36.820] There’s a cat bird. [27:36.820 –> 27:37.700] That’s one word. [27:37.700 –> 27:43.300] And I don’t know what that means, but it looks like it’s a species of cat burglar. [27:43.300 –> 27:44.900] Oh, my gosh. [27:46.020 –> 27:46.420] Yeah. [27:46.420 –> 27:49.700] So Al had said that this was out now. [27:50.580 –> 27:51.700] And it’s not. [27:51.700 –> 27:52.420] It’s not, Al. [27:57.700 –> 28:01.540] You can purchase it, pre-purchase it, pre-order it. [28:02.420 –> 28:06.980] Well, how, you know, however you want to call it, you can buy it now, which is 50% off. [28:06.980 –> 28:07.940] So go for it. [28:07.940 –> 28:10.660] If you’re going to get it, I will say it is. [28:10.660 –> 28:12.660] It sounded like you said 50% off. [28:12.660 –> 28:15.620] So I’m going to 50 15 15. [28:16.420 –> 28:16.980] Thank you. [28:16.980 –> 28:21.700] One five established words are not my strong suit and I’m recording a podcast. [28:21.700 –> 28:30.180] So so yeah, if you buy it before before the release date, which is March 28th, you can [28:30.180 –> 28:32.180] get that 15% off. [28:32.180 –> 28:35.780] My brain’s trying to do math right now. [28:37.780 –> 28:38.900] You save three dollars. [28:40.900 –> 28:42.340] You save three dollars. [28:42.340 –> 28:43.620] Three American dollars. [28:43.620 –> 28:47.380] I was just like, is this is that it is it is. [28:49.220 –> 28:51.540] So that is enchanted. [28:52.980 –> 28:53.780] It’s a clever name. [28:53.780 –> 28:54.980] I’ll give it that. [28:54.980 –> 28:55.300] Yeah. [28:55.300 –> 29:02.740] Okay. [29:02.740 –> 29:03.540] Oh, my brain. [29:05.380 –> 29:12.260] So let’s go to our main topic, which is I wrote how to gamify science and research accurately. [29:13.620 –> 29:14.340] The important bit. [29:14.340 –> 29:15.220] Act it is. [29:15.220 –> 29:22.900] Yeah, because so this kind of like I said, Bev, they brought up the game, the idea first [29:22.900 –> 29:26.340] of talking about, like, research that we’ve done before and then how we can gamify it. [29:26.340 –> 29:37.620] But this also ties into this gripe that I have about bees, bees, specifically bees and [29:37.620 –> 29:41.300] bees and games, because there was a game that came out recently or not came out, but like [29:41.300 –> 29:43.380] it was talked about on the podcast recently. [29:43.380 –> 29:45.540] Gosh, I can’t remember what Honeyman sir, I think. [29:46.740 –> 29:49.700] And someone was like, Oh, Cody’s going to love it because it’s a big game. [29:49.700 –> 29:52.100] And I’m like over here, like, see things. [29:52.100 –> 29:57.300] Just like screaming in the background. [29:57.300 –> 29:59.460] Yeah, because it completely depends. [29:59.460 –> 30:06.900] Like, so for one, I think that there’s a lot of there’s a lot of honeybee stuff in the [30:06.900 –> 30:08.260] media nowadays. [30:09.620 –> 30:11.620] And I don’t really study honeybees. [30:11.620 –> 30:14.260] I study specifically anything else. [30:14.260 –> 30:24.500] And so there’s like this built up ire over years of me telling people that I study bees [30:24.500 –> 30:27.140] and then them asking me, Oh, do you have a hive? [30:27.140 –> 30:31.460] Oh, how can I have a hive? [30:31.460 –> 30:33.460] And me being like, I don’t do that. [30:34.340 –> 30:36.580] Go watch a YouTube video on how to do it. [30:36.580 –> 30:38.420] Yeah, I don’t do that. [30:38.420 –> 30:39.380] I can’t tell you. [30:39.380 –> 30:44.420] I can’t tell you anything about that. [30:44.420 –> 30:56.020] And so it’s this like, if the game either only has honeybees in it, or if all it has [30:56.020 –> 31:01.460] is a big round thing, and it spits out honey. [31:03.140 –> 31:05.700] I’m not gonna be one over. [31:06.500 –> 31:07.940] There has to be more. [31:07.940 –> 31:17.060] But if it’s like a game where you can have, you plant flowers and you plant bees and butterflies [31:17.060 –> 31:20.900] and stuff, and then there’s a benefit to that, I’m all for that. [31:22.260 –> 31:23.060] It’s just different. [31:23.060 –> 31:27.140] Or like Apico, they have the solitary bees update. [31:27.140 –> 31:32.100] So that talked all about solitary bees and butterflies, which is amazing completely. [31:32.100 –> 31:39.700] Like, even though it’s a game that started out only about beekeeping, it’s not just that. [31:39.700 –> 31:40.500] So that’s amazing. [31:41.220 –> 31:42.020] It is. [31:42.020 –> 31:42.900] They did it right. [31:42.900 –> 31:44.260] Apico is amazing. [31:44.260 –> 31:44.820] Yeah. [31:44.820 –> 31:46.660] And so whatever. [31:46.660 –> 31:47.060] I’m sorry. [31:48.420 –> 31:49.380] It’s all good. [31:49.380 –> 31:54.020] And so part of me is sitting here like, okay, what do I want from people? [31:54.020 –> 32:00.580] Because right now all I’m doing is getting mad and saying you’re not doing it correctly. [32:00.580 –> 32:02.500] But then I don’t like in my brain. [32:03.940 –> 32:12.020] And then I don’t say how it should be done, which is kind of also the like, how do you [32:12.020 –> 32:13.540] gamify science and research? [32:13.540 –> 32:15.060] Like, how do you do this? [32:16.420 –> 32:21.540] And sometimes I feel like people don’t, you know, of course, Elle from the developer of [32:21.540 –> 32:27.780] Apico is the exception to this, but most people don’t do their research. [32:27.780 –> 32:31.620] And so that’s all they do is just make like a thing that spits out honey. [32:33.620 –> 32:38.100] I mean, if you do your research, like if you were looking like how to conserve wild native [32:38.100 –> 32:43.460] bees, you would learn about the diversity of bees and you would learn about how they [32:43.460 –> 32:45.380] need more than just like most. [32:45.380 –> 32:47.060] Most of them don’t use hives. [32:47.060 –> 32:48.340] Most of them aren’t social. [32:49.700 –> 32:54.260] There are only so in North America, for example, there’s 4000 species of native bees. [32:55.300 –> 32:56.340] None of those are the honeybee. [32:56.340 –> 32:58.580] Honeybee is not native to North America. [32:58.580 –> 33:00.900] And only what is it? [33:00.900 –> 33:06.500] Like 9% of bees are social and live in like a colony or a hive environment. [33:08.740 –> 33:11.380] The other 91% are solitary. [33:12.180 –> 33:13.220] And nobody understands. [33:14.100 –> 33:14.660] Yeah. [33:14.660 –> 33:20.580] So nobody understands like their life history, what they do, how they do it. [33:20.580 –> 33:28.740] And I feel like a game would be an amazing avenue to teach people how to do it or to [33:28.740 –> 33:32.420] teach people about plant pollinator networks or whatever. [33:34.420 –> 33:40.580] So I guess that’s gonna be part of part of why we’re talking about what we’re talking [33:40.580 –> 33:49.060] about today is like trying to just like advance the or advocate for the use of doing your [33:49.060 –> 33:55.780] research about plants that you might be using or insects or wildlife that you might be using. [33:55.780 –> 34:04.100] Like, if you have someplace, if you have a game that is set in the forest, try and figure [34:04.100 –> 34:08.980] out what forest insects actually are or what forest birds there actually would be. [34:11.540 –> 34:12.980] I feel like movies don’t do this either. [34:12.980 –> 34:16.500] Movies don’t do a really bad version of this, too, because there’s been a lot of movies. [34:16.500 –> 34:24.180] I also listen to, like, I also go birding and know a decent amount of bird songs, and [34:24.180 –> 34:29.620] I’ll be watching a movie and it’ll be in, like, a desert and there’s a beautiful sand [34:29.620 –> 34:33.460] dune in front of you and the sun is hitting it just right. [34:33.460 –> 34:35.620] And it’s just really like, you can feel the heat. [34:35.620 –> 34:42.260] And then I hear a red-tailed hawk and I’m like, I am taken out. [34:42.260 –> 34:42.740] No. [34:42.740 –> 34:43.300] Yep. [34:43.300 –> 34:48.180] Yeah, I’ve had that moment before with, like, tropical birds calls. [34:48.180 –> 34:49.860] Like, I only know about bird calls. [34:50.740 –> 34:56.740] And I’ve heard like a Montezuma like goodness, I’m forgetting the name or pendant. [34:56.740 –> 34:57.060] I can’t. [34:57.060 –> 34:59.140] There was also another name I couldn’t pronounce. [34:59.140 –> 34:59.460] No. [34:59.460 –> 35:03.940] And I was like, that is not where this bird is found. [35:04.660 –> 35:07.780] I completely like thrown off and distracted by that. [35:07.780 –> 35:09.620] So, yeah, I agreed. [35:09.620 –> 35:14.420] Or, like, watching a movie that’s set in California and I hear a cardinal. [35:15.060 –> 35:19.060] And now that I’ve lived in the Northeast and I know what a cardinal sounds like, I’m like, [35:19.060 –> 35:21.220] nope, that’s not out there. [35:21.220 –> 35:22.420] So I don’t know. [35:22.420 –> 35:30.500] Just advocating for even if your game is not about science or insects or anything like [35:30.500 –> 35:34.500] that, or about research, like, even if the game isn’t about conducting research, do your [35:34.500 –> 35:34.980] homework. [35:34.980 –> 35:42.100] Either contact someone, like, honestly, like, Elle, when Elle reached out to me and was [35:42.100 –> 35:45.940] like, Hey, would you be willing to consult on the solitary bees update? [35:45.940 –> 35:49.700] I was like, Yeah, I don’t even don’t even need money. [35:49.700 –> 35:51.780] Like, don’t need money. [35:51.780 –> 35:52.980] We’ll still pay for the game. [35:53.540 –> 35:56.020] Like, I would love to play this game. [35:57.700 –> 36:04.340] And I feel like a lot of other like if you’re making a game about birding or bird watching [36:04.340 –> 36:10.260] or something like that, like bird watchers or ornithologists would be all about it. [36:10.260 –> 36:13.140] Yeah, it would be so excited to see like wingspan. [36:13.140 –> 36:19.620] Like, I am in love with this board game because they actually took the time to like, you know, [36:19.620 –> 36:23.380] do the homework and make it realistic and about birds. [36:24.500 –> 36:31.060] And it’s just like any opportunity that is like an educational like there’s so many opportunities [36:31.060 –> 36:39.460] just to educate people without even trying to, you know, like having a like neat like [36:39.460 –> 36:46.420] I don’t I can’t work with words today of having having a like locality that has like actual [36:46.420 –> 36:50.980] local plants and actual local flora and

Above Snakes returns to the podcast for the second time where you will discover: The importance of building the best team around your band for success and avoiding scams. Why building positive relationships with other artists causes touring success with examples of From Ashes to New and Fire From the Gods. How Above Snakes is looking to grow and succeed in 2023 with new music and more touring.   Find Above Snakes Online: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abovesnakesmusic Above Snakes Syndicate Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/abovesnakessyndicate Twitter: https://twitter.com/Abovesnakesband Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abovesnakesmusic/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@abovesnakesmusic YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abovesnakesmusic Website: https://www.abovesnakesmusic.com Merch: https://www.abovesnakesmusic.com/shop Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/65ypgVh5p50BgrYjQylzBv?si=1eCMbQ0hR9e-VmrhChPYkg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/above-snakes/1513676177   Thank you to our Sponsor FNX Fitness: Get 20% Off Using Promo Code: CPP20 https://fnx.grsm.io/cpp   Follow us on social media!   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chordprogressionpodcast   Twitter: https://twitter.com/cppodofficial   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chordprogressionpodcast/   Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chordprogressionpodcast   YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCqRKZCDMcFHIYbJaLQMfDbQ   Chord Progression Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/53XWPGrIUvgavKF5Fm6SLk   Chord Progression Podcast (Apple Podcast): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chord-progression/id1454876657   Chord Progression Podcast (Amazon): https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b8dad803-444c-4a73-8aa5-67b4fc43f4ba   Chord Progression Podcast (iHeart Radio): https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-chord-progression-70632531/   Podcast Webpage:

Al, Codey, and Jonnie talk about the games coming in 2023 Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:04:39: What Have We Been Playing 00:14:31: News 00:20:18: 2023 Games 00:21:29: List Of Games 00:30:14: What We Are Excited About 00:56:28: Outro Links Bear and Breakfast Update Turnip Boy on PS Research Story EA Date Aka Update 2023 Games List: One Lonely Outpost Roots of Pacha SoS: A Wonderful Life HM: The Winds of Anthos Rune Factory 3 Special Mineko’s Night Market Snacko Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Terra Nil Above Snakes Cornucopia Lightyear Frontier Fae Farm Cloudscape Sprout Valley Dragon Acres Kloa: Child of the Forest Petadachi Wanderlost Everafter Falls Sun Haven Arclands Critter Crops Little Witch in the Woods Ova Magica Elusive People Moonhaven Wholesome - Out and About Super Zoo Story Pixelshire Moonstone Island A Last Song Distant Bloom Spirittea Loddlenaut Codey on Twitter Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/

Welcome to the Talking Comics Awards! Oh, wait. We're not doing that anymore. Welcome to our End-Of-Year Celebration! The entire TC podcasting crew assembles under one roof in this episode to discuss their favorite comic books, films, music, and video games of 2022! This episode features Joey and Steve's favorite comics, with other members of the cast presenting in the next two episodes. Welcome to our Hellfire Gala of Awesomeness!Joey's Books and Topics: Immortal X-Men, New Mutants, Marauders, Amazing Fantasy #1000, Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Justice League vs. Legion of Superheroes, Batman/Catwoman, Batgirls, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Superman: Son of Kal-El, Step By Bloody Step, Minor Threats, Crossover, I Hate This Place, Above Snakes, Flavor Girls, The Good Asian, Rockstar & Softboy, Displacement, Everyday Hero Machine Boy, Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuanese American, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth, Supper Club, Squire, Where Black Stars Rise, Public Domain, The Closet, Department of Truth, Fantastic Four, Secret Invasion, Nubia, Static, The Night Eaters: Book #1: She Eats the Night, Reckless, and more!Steve's Books and Topics: The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, DC League of Super-Pets, Wednesday, She-Hulk, The Sandman, Ms. Marvel, Peacemaker, Werewolf By Night, Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Marvel Snap, Resident Evil Village: Shadow of Rose, Horizon: Forbidden West, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Everything is Fine, Heartstopper, Let's Play, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Lore Olympus, Ghost, Holy Fawn, Korn, Puscifer, Wet Leg, Life on Venus, Brutus, Bjork, Rosie Valland, Trauma Ray, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Warpaint, CrossesThe Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (www.talkingcomicbooks.com) The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, John Burkle, and Chris Ceary, who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Twitter handle is @TalkingComics, and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.

Tony Fleecs returns to the fold to join in on Kim Jung Gi, Image-O-Rama: Kane Volume 3: Histories by Paul Grist, Deadly Class, It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood, Old Dog by Declan Shalvey and Clayton Cowles, Above Snakes, plus Love & Rockets, New Mutants #31, Prophet, Terry Kavanagh, WildC.A.T.S, Comics Revue #437/438 and The Phantom by Lee Faulk and Sy Barry, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, plus a whole mess more!

In this episode we look at https://www.instocktrades.com/products/mar150524/wytches-tp-vol-01-(mr) (Wytches) by https://www.instagram.com/ssnyder1835/ (Scott Snyder), https://www.instagram.com/jock.co.uk/ (Jock), https://www.instagram.com/matthollingsworthcolor/ (Matt Hollingsworth), and https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/people/420/clem-robins (Clem Robins). Published by https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/ (Image Comics). We also discuss our favorite reads from the week and what we are looking forward to for next week. Please remember to leave us a https://www.thecomicbooklair.com/rate/ (review), and https://www.thecomicbooklair.com/follow/ (subscribe) to our show! If you enjoyed what you heard, we'd be eternally grateful if you shared it with a friend.  Next week we will be Hangin' In The Lair and catching up on all that we have been reading and watching! So jump into our Discord and join the conversation. Show Information: https://www.instagram.com/the_comic_book_lair/ (Instagram) https://www.thecomicbooklair.com (Website) https://discord.gg/QMfhYRwErc (Discord) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/comicbooklair (Support The Comic Book Lair) Keep Reading Comics! Cowabunga Nerds! Books Mentioned in this Episode: https://www.instocktrades.com/products/may130220/batman-court-of-owls-book-mask-set-(n52) (Batman) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/elles-3-cvr-a-stokart?rq=elle (Ellle(s)) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/above-snakes-4-of-5-mr?rq=above%20snakes (Above Snakes) https://www.amazon.com/Census-Comixology-Originals-Marc-Bernardin-ebook/dp/B0B91WFNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y2S3QM9C0TFV&keywords=census+comic&qid=1667090212&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=census+comic%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-1 (Census) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/riddler-year-one-1-of-6-cvr-a-bill-sienkiewicz-mr (Riddler: Year One) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/do-a-powerbomb-5-of-7-cvr-a-johnson-spicer?rq=powerbomb (Do A Powerbomb) *The Comic Book Lair crew can get 15% off their order at https://www.coffeeandacomic.com (Coffee and a Comic) if you enter code "COMICBOOKLAIR" at checkout. We are really stoked to be able to bring this to our listeners! Frank is awesome and is doing really cool things for us Comic Book fans! Make sure to check out https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_a_comic/ (@coffee_and_a_comic) on Instagram as well!* **Like the sound of the Comic Book Lair Podcast? Our audio production is provided by RoseKat Audio. Check out RoseKat Audio at https://www.rosekataudio.com/ (rosekataudio.com)**

Une fois de plus, la fine équipe de votre podcast comics préféré reprend ses micros pour vous faire un petit tour d'horizon de lectures récentes, mais cette fois-ci de comics VO ! Avec en outre une exclusivité de comics indé', pas de super-héros pour cette fois ! Alors, elle est pas belle la vie ?   Des comics VO indé à n'en plus finir  La production comics VO indé' est en effet toujours aussi vivace et il était grand temps pour nous de vous reparler de ce qui sort, afin de pouvoir vous aiguiller sur quelques pistes de lecture, ou simplement retenir des noms de titres pour que, s'ils arrivent en VF, vous soyez déjà au courant de leur qualité. Ici, on aura droit à de la fantasy post-apo, à du western, à du thriller horrifique, à de l'actionner bourrin ou encore du pastiche des années '90 : ce qui permet une nouvelle fois de montrer la grande diversité de titres que l'on peut retrouver dans la bande dessinée américaine ! Si vous appréciez notre travail, alors on vous encourage à tout simplement partager notre podcast, à nous dire en commentaires vos propres lectures, et à nous soutenir sur Tipeee si vous le pouvez ! Bonne écoute et à bientôt au prochain podcast !   Le Programme  Les liens vous renvoient chez notre partenaire Comics Zone. Une commande chez eux marquera votre soutien à un libraire indépendant, et nous filera aussi un petit coup de pouce !  Vanish #1 - 02:10 Old Dog #1 - 10:00 Briar #1 - 14:24 Bloodshot Unleashed #1 - 21:00 Shirtless Bear Fighter 2 #1-2 - 27:40 Dark Spaces : Wildfire #1-3 - 32:17 Above Snakes #1-3 - 42:30    Soutenez First Print - Podcast Comics de Référence sur Tipeee

In this episode of The Comic Book Lair Podcast, we are Hangin' in the Lair, chatting about what we got into this week! We also look at what we are looking forward to next week!  Please remember to leave us a https://www.thecomicbooklair.com/rate/ (review), and https://www.thecomicbooklair.com/follow/ (subscribe) to our show! If you enjoyed what you heard, we'd be eternally grateful if you shared it with a friend.  Come back next week as https://www.instagram.com/that_comicbook_dad/ (@that_comicbook_dad) and I dive into https://www.amazon.com/Better-Place-Duane-Murray/dp/1603094954/ref=sr_1_3?crid=R9Y420KHQ5HT&keywords=better+place&qid=1664160451&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjk1IiwicXNhIjoiMS4wMiIsInFzcCI6IjEuNDkifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=better+plac%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-3 (Better Place) by https://www.instagram.com/duanemurrayguy/ (Duane Murray) and https://www.instagram.com/shawn_daley/ (Shawn Daley), published by https://www.topshelfcomix.com (Top Shelf).  Show Information: https://www.instagram.com/the_comic_book_lair/ (Instagram) https://www.thecomicbooklair.com (Website) https://thecomicbooklair.ck.page/newsletter (Newsletter) https://discord.gg/QMfhYRwErc (Discord) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/comicbooklair (Support The Comic Book Lair) Keep Reading Comics! Cowabunga Nerds! Books Mentioned in this Episode: https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/public-domain-4-mr?rq=domain (Public Domain) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/dark-spaces-wildfire-3-cvr-a-sherman-mr?rq=wildfire (Dark Spaces: Wildfire) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/do-a-powerbomb-4-of-7-cvr-a-johnson-spicer?rq=powerbomb (Do A Powerbomb) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/graphic-novels/p/batman-white-knight-trade-paper-back-dc-comics-2018 (Batman: White Knight) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/06-protocol-1-cvr-a-clarke-w-villarrubia?rq=protocol (The 06 Protocol ) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/righteous-thirst-for-vengeance-11-mr?rq=thirst (A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/above-snakes-3-of-5-cvr-a-sherman-mr (Above Snakes) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/trve-kvlt-2-cvr-a-liana-kangas-mr?rq=kvlt (Trve Kvlt) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/theres-something-wrong-with-patrick-todd-3?rq=Todd (There Is Something Wrong With Patrick Todd) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/bone-orchard-black-feathers-1-cvr-c-simmonds-mr?rq=Mythos (Ten Thousand Black Feathers) *The Comic Book Lair crew can get 15% off their order at https://geni.us/i8A0mI (Coffee and a Comic) if you enter code "COMICBOOKLAIR" at checkout.* **Like the sound of the Comic Book Lair Podcast? Our audio production is provided by RoseKat Audio check them out at rosekataudio.com**

Gta 6 leaks (3:43) Nintendo Direct (11:35) State of Play (21:41) Tokyo Game show (30:03) Black Mermaids (42:33) D23 (45:40) Wendell and wild (01:22:13) Glass onion: a knives out story (01:24:55) Lil Nas x is president of League of legends (01:28:49) Dc Stan Lee homage (01:33:54) Batman spawn cross-over (01:36:51) Comic Book Reviews (01:40:03) Above Snakes #3 (01:40:40) Judgement day #4 (01:44:52) Do a powerbomb #4 (01:55:05) Ending (02:00:08)

Serena Williams's last game (5:40) Pat's day battle rapper passing (10:01) Celebrities Wildin on Social media (11:09) The Fall Of Warner Bros/Dc comics (16:25) Winnie the pooh trailer/Weird al trailer (30:06) Fantastic 4 gets a new director (35:40) She hulk booty bouncing breaking the net (40:15) Apparently, Namor isn't buff enough (50:27) Jeff Bezos's son tells him what?? (53:16) Gamescom (55:44) Comic Book Reviews (01:10:39) Thunderbolts #1 (01:10:49) Blink #1-2 (01:16:48) Above Snakes #1-2 (01:21:03) Ending (01:27:18)

In this episode of The Comic Book Lair, we are Hangin' in the Lair, chatting about what we got into this week! We also look at what we are looking forward to next week!  Please remember to leave us a review, and subscribe to our show! If you enjoyed what you heard, we'd be eternally grateful if you shared it with a friend.  Come back next week as https://www.instagram.com/that_comicbook_dad/ (@that_comicbook_dad) and I dive into https://tkopresents.com/sara (Sara) by https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/people/375/garth-ennis (Garth Ennis), https://www.instagram.com/steveepting/ (Steve Epting), and https://www.instagram.com/lizbreitweiser/ (Elizabeth Breitweiser), published by https://www.instagram.com/tkopresents/ (TKO Studios).  Show Information: https://www.instagram.com/the_comic_book_lair/ (Instagram) https://chipper-inventor-3843.ck.page/2d9f2e0f56 (Newsletter) https://www.thecomicbooklair.com (Website) https://discord.gg/QMfhYRwErc (Discord) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/comicbooklair (Support The Comic Book Lair) Keep Reading Comics! Cowabunga Nerds! Books Mentioned in this Episode: https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/batman-one-bad-day-the-riddler-1-one-shot-cvr-a-mitch-gerads?rq=riddler (Batman: One Bad Day The Riddler) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/jun222020-end-after-end-1-cvr-a-sunando-res (End After End) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/jun220249-blood-stained-teeth-5-cvr-a-ward-mr?rq=teeth (Blood Stained Teeth) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/jun220525-lonesome-hunters-3-of-4?rq=lonesome (The Lonesome Hunters) https://www.instocktrades.com/products/aug120491/saga-tp-vol-01 (Saga) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/jun221637-dark-spaces-wildfire-2-cvr-a-sherman?rq=wildfire (Dark Spaces: Wildfire) https://www.coffeeandacomic.com/newcomicbookreleases/p/jun220247-above-snakes-2-of-5-cvr-a-sherman-mr?rq=above%20snakes (Above Snakes) https://jasonaaron.substack.com/p/once-upon-a-time-at-the-end-of-the-f57 (Once Upon A Time At The End Of The World) https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matt-kindt-launching-spy-superb-dark-horse-1235200164/ (Spy Superb) *The Comic Book Lair crew can get 15% off their order at https://geni.us/i8A0mI (Coffee and a Comic) if you enter code "COMICBOOKLAIR" at checkout. *We are really stoked to be able to bring this to our listeners! Frank is awesome and is doing really cool things for us Comic Book fans! Make sure to check out https://geni.us/PNvJgCL (@coffee_and_a_comic) on Instagram as well! 

We chat with the guys from Above Snakes about 2022 and what is up next after their single Living The Nightmare.  Download The Sound 228 Radio app --> Apple or Android Join our text community by texting "The Sound" to (228) 641- 1648 Get your merch Here! Social Links Here. We Are New Rock!!!

Intro- 00:00 New Comics- 09:05 Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler #1 Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1 The Last Shadowhawk #1 AXE: Death to the Mutants #1 Kingdom Come: Deliverance #1 Ms Marvel & Moon Knight #1 Batman/Superman: World's Finest #6 Hulk #8 Newthink #3 Batman: The Knight #8 Daredevil #2 Above Snakes #2 Black Adam #3 Strange #5 Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2 Savage Avengers #4 The Brother of all Men #2 X-Men ‘92: House of XCII #4 Seven Sons #3 Do a Powerbomb #3 Crossover: 3D Special #1 Fantastic Four new creative team- 01:06:19 She Hulk episode 1- 01:11:05 Film Flashback: The Adventures of Pluto Nash- 01:22:37

This week we're rounding up four titles from July 2022! We're discussing Book Of Shadows #1 from Valiant, Blink #1 from Oni Press, Above Snakes #1 and Rogue's Gallery #1 from Image! We've also got a little bit of comic news for you and some weird tangents! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, the TC Crew anticipate the arrival of San Diego Comic-Con, head to the Old West, break the space-time continuum, and go to bat for Netflix's Resident Evil series.Books: Captain Carter #4, Captain Marvel #39, Batgirls #8, Fantastic Four #45, Above Snakes #1, Ordinary Gods #7, X-Men #12, Immortal X-Men #4, Daredevil #1, AXE: Eve of Judgment #1, Prodigy Vol. 1, Prodigy: The Icarus Society #1, Flavor Girls #1Other Stuff: Resident Evil (Netflix series)The Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (www.talkingcomicbooks.com) The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, and John Burkle who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Twitter handle is @TalkingComics and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.