Podcast appearances and mentions of terra nil

If you've played Rollercoaster Tycoon, Cities: Skylines, the Civilization series—even Animal Crossing—you're probably familiar with this gameplay pattern: extract some kind of resource from the land, industrialize it into a theme park or a city, and (step three) profit, ad infinitum. But Terra Nil, a new game from the studio Free Lives, fundamentally challenges this oft-used game loop. Instead of maximizing profit at the expense of the local ecosystem, the player's focus is to make a healthier, natural landscape instead. You start with a barren wasteland (one that you assume has been completely desolated by human activity, perhaps the aftermath from one of the previously mentioned games), and with the help of advanced eco-tech—like wind turbines, soil purifiers, irrigators, and more—restore it to a thriving, diverse ecosystem. The player's ultimate goal is to take all the tech they used to restore the land, recycle it into an airship, and fly away, leaving no human presence behind.SciFri producer Dee Peterschmidt speaks with Sam Alfred, the lead designer and programmer of Terra Nil, about how Free Lives designed this “reverse city-builder,” how the studio took inspiration from the flora of their local Cape Town, and how he hopes the game challenges players how they think about traditional gameplay systems and their effect on our world.Universe of Art is hosted and produced by Dee Peterschmidt, who also wrote the music. Our show art is illustrated by Abelle Hayford. And support for Science Friday's science and arts coverage comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.Do you have science-inspired art you'd like to share with us for a future episode? Send us an email or a voice memo to universe@sciencefriday.com.

Die GamerDaddies – der Podcast rund um das Thema Gaming auf Konsolen und dem PC. Was sie von den anderen Podcasts zum Thema Videospiele unterscheidet, ist, dass sie alles aus dem Blickwinkel von Vätern für Väter betrachten. Gerit und Buddha analysieren, ob Computerspiele familientauglich sind und sprechen darüber, wie man am besten Familie, Kinder, Gaming und andere Hobbies unter einen Hut bekommt. Diesmal geht es um das Thema: Wie gehe ich mit den Ängsten meiner Kinder um? Gezockt haben die beiden Daddies natürlich auch und zwar & Terra Nil auf dem PC. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32so0js Apple: https://apple.co/2NPCEvP www.gamerdaddies.de HOLY Energy: https://de.weareholy.com/discount/GEZOCKT?ref=geritzockt CODE: Gezockt (10 Prozent Rabatt) Partner: www.perfekt-zocken.de Twitch: www.twitch.tv/GeritZockt Discord: https://discord.gg/YaSrPYjbUg

Die GamerDaddies – der Podcast rund um das Thema Gaming auf Konsolen und dem PC. Was sie von den anderen Podcasts zum Thema Videospiele unterscheidet, ist, dass sie alles aus dem Blickwinkel von Vätern für Väter betrachten. Gerit und Buddha analysieren, ob Computerspiele familientauglich sind und sprechen darüber, wie man am besten Familie, Kinder, Gaming und andere Hobbies unter einen Hut bekommt. Diesmal geht es um das Thema: Wie gehe ich mit den Ängsten meiner Kinder um? Gezockt haben die beiden Daddies natürlich auch und zwar & Terra Nil auf dem PC. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32so0js Apple: https://apple.co/2NPCEvP www.gamerdaddies.de HOLY Energy: https://de.weareholy.com/discount/GEZOCKT?ref=geritzockt CODE: Gezockt (10 Prozent Rabatt) Partner: www.perfekt-zocken.de Twitch: www.twitch.tv/GeritZockt Discord: https://discord.gg/YaSrPYjbUg

Codey and Kev catch up on all the recent news Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:06: Feedback 00:08:21: What Have We Been Up To 00:43:30: Game Releases 00:57:44: Game Updates 01:06:41: New Games 01:28:43: Outro Links Harvest Hills Release Chill Town Development Update Dragon Shelter Trailer Steamworld Build Physical Release Echoes of the Plum Grove Digital Art Book Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home “Controller and Cloud Save” Update Research Story “Shimmering” Update Go-go Town Roadmap Terra Nil “Heatwave” Update Cattle Country Litchi Town Cinnabunny Contact 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. My name is Cody. (0:00:36) Kev: My name is Kevin, and we are back in the sad woodbeam. (0:00:40) Codey: Welcome to a new year. This is actually, this is actually being recorded in the new year. (0:00:41) Kev: Wow. (0:00:44) Kev: Oh yeah. (0:00:46) Kev: The first one. (0:00:49) Kev: Yeah. (0:00:50) Kev: Unlike the last one, which is recorded before a lot of the ones before that, which is wild. (0:00:55) Codey: Yeah, I just, I just finished. (0:00:57) Kev: Oh, wildflowers got a sequel, prequel, and I wouldn’t say it. (0:01:04) Codey: Yeah. So I guess so. Okay. So this episode is about a news catch up, (0:01:09) Codey: but we do want to hear Kev. (0:01:10) Kev: Yup. (0:01:14) Codey: I want to hear. So there’s a couple of things that we have to, (0:01:17) Codey: we have to talk about first, uh, all, but yeah, (0:01:19) Kev: I saw the note (0:01:22) Codey: I’ll put any feedback on game of the year. (0:01:24) Codey: So do you have any feedback on Rusty’s retirement winning game of the year? (0:01:28) Kev: Oh, so like, I’ll tell you what, my feedback is that this is just the, the, the (0:01:36) Kev: revenge of the, the coral island debacle of the previous year. (0:01:40) Kev: That’s what this is. (0:01:41) Codey: No, who would you have well you probably would have had wildflowers win, right? (0:01:41) Kev: Um, me, no, I mean, well, okay. (0:01:49) Kev: Some deep inside baseball, right? (0:01:51) Kev: Like this is, we’ve been talking a little bit on how to structure this (0:01:54) Kev: game the year, because it’s challenging, right? (0:01:57) Kev: with so many games that come out, right? (0:01:58) Kev: And we cover, you know, at most 52 games in a year, and obviously we’re not going to bring 52 games in a year. (0:02:06) Codey: Right (0:02:06) Kev: And furthermore, they’re probably not all going to be games that came out that year. (0:02:12) Kev: So that is a lot of games that we don’t play and consider and, you know, we might be missing things, right? (0:02:22) Kev: So like Wildflowers, we missed it the year it came out. (0:02:26) Kev: came out, so I didn’t put it in. (0:02:28) Kev: It wasn’t in the running for Game of the Year, so I think that we should maybe try (0:02:34) Kev: to aim for next year is like, we already started doing the categories or whatever kind of, (0:02:41) Kev: so I think there should be one for actually 2020, whatever, four, five, whatever, and then (0:02:47) Kev: one that we covered on the show that year, you know what I mean? (0:02:50) Kev: That’s probably how we should structure that, but either way, I mean, yeah, either way, (0:02:55) Kev: But a lot of thought was just not going to be my vote because we didn’t cover it last time. (0:02:58) Kev: I would have gone with Mika of course, but I get it. (0:03:00) Codey: Okay. (0:03:02) Codey: That was me, I was gonna say maybe Mika. (0:03:06) Kev: I will say I haven’t played Rusty’s retirement in myself. (0:03:10) Kev: Like I said, I don’t like the concept of something playing on your screen as you’re doing other stuff. (0:03:20) Kev: I’m the total opposite end of the spectrum from that. It doesn’t tell me at all. (0:03:26) Kev: Um, but I’m sure it’s fine. (0:03:27) Kev: Like what, what I, you know, (0:03:28) Kev: what I want to talk about, it’s great and, and what, right. (0:03:31) Kev: Um, and furthermore, like, uh, I think it was my, I don’t know, brought it up like (0:03:36) Kev: that, you know, it’s breaking more new ground than say Mika’s because Mika, you (0:03:42) Kev: know, there’s no doubt that Mika is definitely standing on the shoulders of (0:03:46) Kev: giants leaning on a Wind Waker aesthetic and the studio Ghibli and all that. (0:03:52) Kev: Um, so, you know, I can appreciate that. (0:03:54) Kev: Um, so, you know, Mika would have been my vote. (0:03:57) Kev: But I don’t know. (0:03:58) Kev: I’m fine with my sister’s time. I’m not complaining. I do like the rule but um but uh but yeah um yeah that’s that’s my only real thought um like yeah it’s fine not my vote but again for two-fold reasons and and I get why you guys picked it so I’m not complaining too much. (0:04:00) Codey: Mm hmm. Okay, yeah. (0:04:13) Codey: Hmm. Yeah, those of us with ADHD, it just tickles that itch for sure. (0:04:24) Codey: Okay, so the second question would be wild society. How are you? How do you? What are your thoughts? (0:04:30) Kev: So, obviously I’m hyped, right, because Studio Drydock has done fantastic work, kind of across the board, right, not just, except maybe the art style, which, you know, I’m not going to defend it per se, but the story they wrote, the mechanics, how they came about it, even their promotion, how they interact with the community. (0:05:00) Kev: Um, just call it stuff across the board, right? (0:05:04) Kev: Um, obviously I’m biased, you know, I’m going to go dove into wildflowers because of Ray and yada, yada, but, um, and bother is a lot of fun and whatnot, but, um, like the fact that we’re getting a sequel, one, that’s great, right, or people, I guess. (0:05:20) Kev: Um, and what’s exciting is that it’s not going to probably be a, you know, one-to-one sequel. We’re not on a farm now. We’re running a hotel bed and breakfast thing. (0:05:30) Kev: I don’t know if you remember, so, you know, I’m interested to see what we’re going to do. I’ll probably put, we had a lot of emphasis on the social interactions and whatnot, but, um, you know, that was, I think, one of the strong suits from wildflowers, like the community of that little island and people interacting and whatnot. (0:05:48) Kev: So, you know, focusing more on that, I think it’s going to be fun. (0:05:52) Kev: Um, I do wonder how the magic will fit into everything because, you know, you use the magic. (0:06:00) Kev: For farming, but here we’re just hosting key parties, question mark. So what are we, you know, what spiking drinks with potions was a feature in wildflowers. (0:06:08) Codey: - Yeah. (0:06:14) Kev: So, um, oh yeah, you’re right. There was like a seance thing. Yeah, right. There you go. That’ll be interesting. Um, but yeah, um, I mean, yeah, of course. (0:06:14) Codey: - Didn’t they have in wilds? (0:06:16) Codey: Didn’t you have a seance in the trailer for wild society? (0:06:28) Kev: Yeah, of course, I’m super excited for it. (0:06:32) Kev: I believe they already confirmed there will be returning characters, which is interesting because they think it’s going to be a fairly large time gap. (0:06:38) Kev: But there are characters who could show up. I can already name two or three of them. (0:06:44) Kev: So it’ll be fun to see them show up. (0:06:50) Kev: This is generally somewhat bad form, but I’m pretty sure the voice in the trailer was Valerie Rose Lohman. (0:06:56) Kev: So I’m sure she’s going to get a character in there. I feel like she has to, right? She has to. (0:06:59) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:07:02) Kev: So, you know, but we’ll see. I don’t know. (0:07:06) Kev: All in all, obviously, I’m very excited. It’s fun. (0:07:10) Kev: Yeah, well, John, my eyes are peeled and I’ll be day one buyer, of course. (0:07:14) Kev: I’m so open. (0:07:15) Codey: Well, and I will say that after everything that you’ve talked about the game and looking (0:07:22) Codey: at wild society, well, maybe we’ll be doing a second harvest of wildflowers this year (0:07:31) Codey: because I want to play it. (0:07:31) Kev: Oh, oh, oh, like, you know, obviously my hyperbolic cartoonish adoration of the game is great now, but like it is still a very solid game. (0:07:44) Kev: Like I cannot recommend enough. (0:07:45) Kev: Like it is up there with the, you know, the top Stardew clones or farming is whatever. (0:07:52) Kev: Um, it’s solid. (0:07:54) Codey: Yeah, yeah, no, it looks great. (0:07:54) Kev: Um, you know, cause you could just pass the, the style, I don’t play many once. (0:08:01) Kev: But hey, that’s good. That’s good. (0:08:02) Codey: So, okay, so, yeah, the, as I’ve already mentioned, today, the topic is news catch up, so we have (0:08:11) Codey: a lot of news to get through, but next section is the what have we been up to section. (0:08:19) Codey: And here’s the final question for Kev. (0:08:22) Codey: - Kev, you have to– (0:08:24) Codey: - I just remember you saying, “oh yeah, I got a puppy,” (0:08:26) Codey: and I’m like, “ah, I need details!” (0:08:28) Codey: And this is the first time we’ve been on a pod together, so… (0:08:30) Kev: Mm-hmm. Okay (0:08:30) Codey: I just remember you saying, “oh yeah, I got a puppy,” (0:08:32) Codey: and I’m like, “ah, I need details!” (0:08:36) Codey: And this is the first time we’ve been on a pod together, so… (0:08:38) Codey: together, so. (0:08:39) Kev: So yeah, um (0:08:42) Kev: Some recording I don’t I don’t remember where or what was the like where the harvest season (0:08:51) Kev: Time-wise where I was when I recorded near puppy (0:08:54) Kev: But okay, so I I feel like I did so, you know (0:09:00) Kev: Here’s show time if you go listen to if you listen to the the Rainbow Road radio the neutral show (0:09:02) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:06) Kev: I do with our friend now, it’s so are you things? (0:09:07) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:09) Kev: You you could he hear the puppy saga in real life in real time because I’ve given up updates (0:09:14) Kev: But anyways, so, okay, I’m gonna give context for people who might not know I imagine most folks might know (0:09:21) Kev: Things I brought it up here and there but okay. So first of all (0:09:26) Kev: two years ago (0:09:29) Kev: October (0:09:30) Kev: 29th, I know that I know the date it’s weird, but I I have a reference point but we lost our first dog passed away two (0:09:38) Kev: Years ago on October 29th heard (0:09:42) Kev: Whatever do you know it’s new year, whatever (0:09:45) Kev: His name was though though he we had him for 18 years same age as my brother (0:09:50) Kev: toy poodle (0:09:52) Kev: obviously left the big (0:09:54) Kev: hole in the family and all that (0:09:57) Kev: and so (0:09:58) Kev: Uh, but for the first while we were. (0:10:00) Kev: We’d been petless, right? (0:10:01) Kev: Um, uh, Kiyo about a year later, a little, it was actually around the (0:10:06) Kev: same time around November of 2023. (0:10:09) Kev: Well, we got two kitties, um, Daisy and Teddy, and they were very small kittens. (0:10:15) Kev: And they were just a couple, like three, maybe four weeks old when we got them. (0:10:19) Kev: Um, and so that was my first time having cats and, and, and they were fun and, and, (0:10:24) Kev: and all the weird and wonderful and really weird things that cats are. (0:10:30) Kev: But, um, you know, but they’re relatively chill compared to dogs, right? (0:10:33) Kev: They’re a little more low home maintenance. (0:10:36) Kev: Um, uh, anyway, so Q this past year on by like, did you no one realized? (0:10:43) Kev: Well, I was the first one to realize it on the same date, October 29th of 2024. (0:10:48) Kev: Two years to the day after though, though. (0:10:50) Kev: Um, I was given lucky as an early birthday gift. (0:10:54) Kev: Um, so he was a toy poodle, much like the, um, the other was a (0:10:59) Kev: blonde, light brown color. (0:11:01) Kev: is like red cinnamon type of fur color. (0:11:05) Kev: Um, he was two months old, I think when we got him, he was still a really little guy, all in all. (0:11:13) Kev: Um, so yeah, um, we got him, uh, took probably a week or two to pick the name and settled on Lucky. (0:11:20) Kev: That is his name. (0:11:21) Kev: Um, and he has been a handful, like, so Dodo was the chillest guy. (0:11:30) Kev: He was smart. (0:11:31) Kev: He was chill. (0:11:32) Kev: Like he, he, he putty trained himself. (0:11:35) Kev: It was wild. (0:11:37) Kev: Um, uh, and whatnot. (0:11:39) Kev: Um, and, and he was just chill. (0:11:41) Kev: He just loved hanging out in cuddling and whatever. (0:11:43) Kev: Lucky is your stereotypical, you know, or would you think of the dog like puppy storm? (0:11:50) Kev: Like he’s chewing everything, biting everything. (0:11:53) Kev: He’s running. (0:11:54) Kev: He’s very friendly. (0:11:55) Kev: He’s very social. (0:11:56) Kev: He loves meeting people. (0:11:57) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:11:57) Kev: Sometimes to Marsha Grin because if he ever gets up (0:12:00) Kev: the leash or will run up to other people and so you know but but yeah he (0:12:08) Kev: that he’s been here we set up the Christmas decorations he’s been chewing (0:12:12) Kev: on them so it’s been a handful I mean it’s obviously still very puppy and so (0:12:17) Kev: learning but he is a joy a bundle of joy he’s probably double means maybe even (0:12:24) Kev: triple not triple but at least double in size I’m sure since we got him but he is (0:12:30) Kev: a toy poodle so he’s still gonna be a little guy on all but but yeah he’s part (0:12:37) Kev: of the home now he’s obviously a lot of attention a lot of work now the cats are (0:12:43) Kev: interesting he gets along with one her name is David Daisy she’s pretty chill (0:12:48) Kev: with him usually but sometimes he’ll try to knit and you know nip play with her (0:12:53) Kev: like a dog would replay fighting or whatever and so she did she doesn’t like (0:12:56) Kev: that, obviously, because even though they’re a year old, they’re like, (0:13:00) Kev: he’s already bigger than both of them. (0:13:02) Kev: Um, and then Teddy, uh, I feel so bad cause poor Teddy, he is our sweetheart. (0:13:08) Kev: He is only, he lives up to his name of Teddy. (0:13:10) Kev: He’s a Teddy bear. (0:13:11) Kev: He’s, he’s, he’s sweet and calm and chill, but he’s so skittish and nervous. (0:13:18) Kev: Like he still freaks out over lucky. (0:13:21) Kev: He’s not used to him on like, not even like I’d say 50% like he’ll, he’ll hiss (0:13:28) Kev: and, you know, and do all this stuff. (0:13:30) Kev: keep his distance and obviously Lucky’s just a puppy he just wants to like run up and play (0:13:34) Kev: at him he’s not he’s never you know Lucky doesn’t have a mean boat in his body or anything um (0:13:41) Kev: but he’s just uh had he just not dealing well with the new so yeah um no that’s unfortunate (0:13:46) Codey: Yeah. I’m sure there’ll be best of friends because that’s how it always goes right like (0:13:52) Kev: yeah yeah yeah I imagine it certainly takes time right like obviously like I said never (0:13:57) Kev: had cats before, so I’ve always never had cats and dogs together before. (0:14:00) Kev: And obviously I did some research on that, and yeah, it looks like it can vary, like I said, (0:14:06) Kev: Daisy and Lucky can get along pretty well. But yeah, I’m sure Teddy will just kind of give it (0:14:13) Kev: time. He’s a very giddish sort of fella that’s the only thing about him. But yeah, that is Lucky. (0:14:23) Kev: Hold on. Let me send you a picture. I’m talking about it, but I didn’t even send you a picture. (0:14:26) Codey: I was going to say, please post one in the Slack, so that yeah, if y’all want to see (0:14:28) Kev: Sure, hold on, Lumi. (0:14:30) Kev: Okay, yeah, there you go, there’s your Patreon Slack exclusive. (0:14:36) Kev: Yeah, I’ll have to dig and find them. (0:14:38) Codey: baby toy poodle pics, and I am all for it. (0:14:46) Kev: I’ll try to find some earlier ones when he was real little cuz he was real like, (0:14:50) Kev: he could barely poke out of the grass standing a little. (0:14:54) Codey: Um… (0:14:54) Kev: But he’s a good bit bigger, but he still acts very much like a mate. (0:15:01) Codey: Yeah. That doesn’t go away for a while. Stella’s finally, can you stop? She’s also all up in my (0:15:03) Kev: Yeah. (0:15:08) Codey: business right now. Um, she, uh, only just started getting out of some of her puppyish like (0:15:09) Kev: Speaking of which, yeah. (0:15:18) Codey: behaviors, like, um, Aussies, both healers and shepherds will like bite at ankles, um, (0:15:27) Codey: to like try and herd you. She’s finally- (0:15:32) Codey: to me, she only ever did it to me, which is stupid. My partner would like be like, “get mommy, get mommy” and like she would come up and get my ankles and I would be like, “are you serious?” (0:15:36) Kev: Hmm (0:15:49) Kev: Yeah, oh my gosh, that’s the thing with (0:15:53) Codey: Look at the little lint. Oh, he’s- (0:15:56) Kev: Yeah, though the one on the left aside posted the picture on slack (0:15:59) Kev: He slackers can look at it now or you probably already have but um on the left side (0:16:04) Kev: Yeah, that’s close to when we got him. (0:16:06) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. (0:16:06) Kev: He’s tiny. You can see him next to the leaves like for comparison and then to the right. That’s a more recent picture (0:16:11) Kev: That’s him with Daisy. Um, like I said, he’s bigger now (0:16:15) Kev: but (0:16:16) Kev: But yeah, the biting the biting’s insane cuz honestly though they never did the biting (0:16:21) Kev: But we hear he’s just nipping at everything (0:16:25) Kev: I you know, I have some facial hair. So he it’s not heavy facial hair, but he likes to nibble on it (0:16:31) Codey: It doesn’t, yeah, yep. (0:16:34) Kev: I just, you know, just nip, nip, nip. (0:16:36) Kev: at it. Um, but that’s, yeah, that’s the lucky saga. Um, good, (0:16:41) Kev: you know, good, uh, obviously good times. A lot of work every (0:16:44) Kev: day. Everyone is yelling, because he’s running around (0:16:49) Kev: causing chaos, but we still love him. And, and he, he’s a pretty (0:16:53) Kev: good boy. Like I said, he’s not aggressive or anything like that. (0:16:57) Kev: You know, he’s, he likes to bite because he’s playful or whatever, (0:17:00) Kev: but, um, yeah, he’s a puppy. Yeah. Um, yeah. (0:17:00) Codey: he’s a puppy that’s just puppy behavior classic puppy behavior (0:17:06) Kev: So that is the lucky saga. Um, well, you know, I’ll do it, you (0:17:10) Kev: know, as I look forward to Mark Phillips or whatever, I’ll, I’ll (0:17:14) Kev: bring up news if things happen. Um, but, uh, but yeah. Um, so (0:17:21) Kev: there you go. There, there you go overseas and folks, there, (0:17:23) Kev: there’s your catch up. Um, okay. So aside from that more recent (0:17:24) Codey: What else have you been up to? (0:17:30) Kev: times, um, I talked about it like when we record cause they’d (0:17:36) Kev: just come out. Like I think when, uh, when Al, I think I did (0:17:40) Kev: the episode of Al Marvel Rivals has been on the big ones, the (0:17:42) Codey: Yeah (0:17:43) Kev: Overwatch clone with Marvel stuff. Um, like. Yeah. Yeah. (0:17:46) Codey: That was really fun to listen to because (0:17:50) Codey: You like basically mentioned it and I was like, oh thank goodness that I don’t like games like this (0:17:57) Codey: Because then I don’t have to play it and then you were like, oh no, no (0:17:57) Kev: Yeah. Yeah, the funny thing, the funny thing is we were just talking and just shooting (0:18:00) Codey: Like it’s not what you think he was like, oh no, no, I have to play it (0:18:10) Kev: the breeze before we started recording that episode and I was talking about rivals and (0:18:14) Kev: he mentioned because like the camera thing was like the big thing and he mentioned that (0:18:16) Codey: Yeah! (0:18:18) Kev: and that’s when I was like, I’m going to button this right now so I can save this for the (0:18:22) Kev: show to drop the reveal on. (0:18:25) Codey: Oh, that’s so funny. (0:18:27) Kev: Oh, yeah, I am as best as I can. So there is a weird thing about like being multi-platform (0:18:27) Codey: So yeah, you’re still enjoying it. (0:18:37) Kev: or whatever. So Calvin likes it too, right? So he plays on our PlayStation. I play on (0:18:38) Codey: - Mm-hmm, okay. (0:18:43) Kev: a laptop that I have just so we can both play it or whatever at the same time. And the kicker (0:18:52) Kev: on being PC is I’m not a PC gamer, generally speaking. I can’t do the– (0:18:57) Kev: a mouse and keyboard and all that stuff, right? So I hook up a controller and I play that (0:19:03) Kev: way but I get bodied because there are those insane mouse and keyboard super aiming people. (0:19:11) Kev: And it’s also like you can tell the population skews younger because of course it’s free to (0:19:18) Kev: play so all the teenagers and kids and it’s Marvel, right? They’re hopping on. So they (0:19:23) Kev: They get a lot more practice time than say I do. (0:19:27) Kev: I get bodied. I’m trying my best. I try to focus or whatever, but it can be rough. (0:19:34) Kev: It can be a bit bumpy at times. I won’t lie, but yeah, it’s good stuff. (0:19:40) Kev: And we actually on the end of the first, they call it season zero, whatever the first battle pass, yada, yada. (0:19:48) Kev: So then there’s new content probably in the next week or two coming out, including the Fantastic Four. (0:19:56) Kev: And so, yeah. (0:19:57) Kev: Good, more exciting stuff to look forward to. (0:20:01) Kev: I’m always down for that. (0:20:03) Kev: But yeah, Marvel Rival continues to be a joy in the curse at times. (0:20:07) Kev: But but that that is it is what it is. (0:20:12) Codey: - Are you still playing Spider-Man? (0:20:13) Kev: Let’s see. (0:20:14) Kev: Um, so I play not Spider-Man is hard. (0:20:18) Kev: I’m not going to lie. (0:20:19) Kev: Spider-Man is really hard to play (0:20:19) Codey: Okay. (0:20:21) Kev: because he plays just like the PlayStation Spider-Man games. (0:20:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:20:25) Kev: but in this context, it’s real. (0:20:28) Kev: I struggle with him, and in fact, when I see Spider-Man players, I’m scared, because I know I’m a good player. (0:20:35) Kev: But, let’s see, my go-tos, I think after all this time, like, did you watch Spider-Verse, the first one into the Spider-Verse? (0:20:45) Codey: - Yes. (0:20:46) Kev: Okay, so Penny Parker, the anime one with the robot, the anime Spider-Verse, she’s in this game. (0:20:50) Codey: - Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:20:52) Kev: Um, yeah, she’s a little older, she’s more like, I think college age, I think. (0:20:57) Kev: It’s just, but she still has a robot. (0:20:59) Kev: I play her, she’s fun. (0:21:01) Kev: Um, she’s, she sets up like a little tower that shoots out spider robots and (0:21:05) Kev: mines and stuff, and so you kind of, you’re, you kind of set up an area where (0:21:09) Kev: you defend, um, that’s what she’s good at. (0:21:11) Kev: Um, so she’s my go-to tank, um, for healer, Jeff the Landshark, I don’t know. (0:21:17) Kev: Have you ever seen Jeff Landshark? (0:21:18) Codey: No. (0:21:19) Kev: Um, he, he, oh my gosh. (0:21:22) Kev: Okay. (0:21:22) Kev: So just hold on, let me send you a picture. (0:21:22) Codey: Okay, you’re fine. You could just say like, I’m sure that everyone, every listener probably knows what you’re talking about. So. (0:21:27) Kev: No, you see, here’s the thing. (0:21:31) Kev: No, here’s the thing, Jeff the Landshark in one of the freaks, (0:21:35) Kev: the deep butt pics that no one on Earth knows. (0:21:36) Codey: Oh, okay. (0:21:38) Kev: [LAUGH] Yeah, but Jeff the Landshark, okay, he’s basically a puppy, (0:21:44) Kev: but he’s a shark with legs, he doesn’t talk or anything. (0:21:49) Kev: And he just swims around and or like he can do the shark thing with the fin sick and (0:21:55) Kev: with the fin sick and now I can move around he heals people (0:21:57) Kev: and he shoots ice balls and all sorts of stuff (0:22:00) Kev: he’s fairly straight forward but he’s pretty satisfying (0:22:04) Kev: so he’s my go to healer (0:22:06) Codey: a puppy. But he’s a shark. Okay. (0:22:07) Kev: he acts like a puppy he does all the (0:22:10) Kev: yes he’s a shark yeah (0:22:14) Kev: yeah so he’s my go to healer he’s (0:22:17) Kev: yeah and like I said one of the cool things about rival is they weren’t (0:22:21) Kev: afraid to get some really deep cuts weirdo pics (0:22:24) Kev: Um, like Jeff, uh, (0:22:28) Kev: what is this that I do? (0:22:29) Kev: Alright, there we go. (0:22:31) Kev: Okay. Uh, sorry. (0:22:32) Kev: Um, so that’s my go-to healer just because he is pretty easy to use and he’s adorable. (0:22:38) Codey: Okay, he definitely looks like a puppy. (0:22:39) Kev: Um, he is just a puppy, but he’s all shark with legs. (0:22:46) Kev: Um, like, it’s a weird description, but that is exactly what it is. (0:22:50) Kev: Um, and then for my damage person, I picked Squirrel Girl. (0:22:54) Kev: She has squirrels, she shoots acorns with a sl- (0:22:57) Kev: she’s oh you don’t know squirrel girl ah okay again okay no you know what no (0:22:58) Codey: Squirrel girl dude I don’t know much of Marvel I yeah okay (0:23:07) Kev: again squirrel girl is a pretty deep but so her pull power is she can communicate (0:23:13) Kev: with squirrels like she you know she’s athletic or whatever but her superpower (0:23:20) Kev: is she can communicate with squirrels and so she will you know send armies of (0:23:24) Kev: squirrels on people and so on and so forth. (0:23:27) Kev: Um, she is an incredible character, something of a joke character, but also (0:23:33) Kev: played for like straight, incredible, like, like in her first issue, she goes (0:23:39) Kev: up against Dr. (0:23:40) Kev: Doom and takes him down with an army of squirrels. (0:23:42) Kev: Um, and, and just, she’s the best, like funny character, um, and she (0:23:49) Kev: dresses up kind of like a squirrel. (0:23:50) Kev: Um, and she has one on her shoulder at all times. (0:23:54) Kev: Um, but yeah, she, her name, in fact. (0:23:54) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:23:57) Kev: The moniker she’s often used is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. (0:24:00) Kev: Again, just because she’s so, like, hyperbolic, um, goofy, um… (0:24:06) Codey: I mean, if a squirrel is trying to come at you, they’re going to get you from working (0:24:10) Codey: at the Wildlife Center, like I used to have this one squirrel that would sit on my shoulder. (0:24:11) Kev: Yeah? (0:24:11) Kev: Yeah. (0:24:16) Kev: Yeah. (0:24:17) Codey: But if he decided that he wanted to run all over and like suddenly be on my back and then (0:24:23) Codey: and suddenly be on my leg. (0:24:24) Codey: like he they they can do some crazy things oh you sent me a picture of her okay (0:24:28) Kev: Oh, yeah. (0:24:30) Kev: Yep. (0:24:32) Kev: Um, yeah, so she’s great. (0:24:34) Kev: People who know her love her. (0:24:35) Kev: She is, she is a, he is adored. (0:24:38) Kev: Like I said, she’s obviously low-tiered. (0:24:40) Kev: She doesn’t get pushed, like, some, but, um, but she, she’s great. (0:24:44) Kev: Um, so yeah, that’s, that’s Squirrel Girl. (0:24:46) Kev: That’s Marvel Rivals, and those are my three. (0:24:48) Kev: That’s my wacky crew. (0:24:49) Kev: Um, let’s see, aside from Rivals, uh, so I picked up a game, uh, just a couple days ago. (0:24:57) Kev: It’s called Armored Core. (0:24:58) Kev: Are you familiar with this? (0:25:00) Codey: No. (0:25:00) Kev: Okay. (0:25:00) Kev: Uh, are you familiar with, from software? (0:25:02) Codey: No. (0:25:03) Kev: Okay. (0:25:04) Kev: The Elden Ring, people. (0:25:06) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:25:06) Kev: Okay. (0:25:07) Kev: So. (0:25:08) Codey: So you don’t, you like pain. (0:25:10) Codey: You like… (0:25:11) Kev: Yes. (0:25:12) Kev: Yes, I do. (0:25:12) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:25:13) Kev: Okay. (0:25:14) Kev: So you’re familiar with Elden Ring? (0:25:15) Kev: Of course everyone is, right? (0:25:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:25:16) Kev: ‘Cause it’s the biggest game that year, whatever. (0:25:18) Kev: Okay, what if I told you the Elden Ring people said, “What if we, okay, now we wanna do a game, but it’s all robots and mecha?” (0:25:25) Kev: that in that case (0:25:27) Kev: gives you armored core (0:25:30) Kev: so it is a (0:25:32) Kev: it is the same level of polish (0:25:34) Kev: a very like grounded (0:25:36) Kev: you know realistic-ish visual style and whatnot (0:25:40) Kev: the challenge (0:25:42) Kev: I don’t think it’s as hard as Elden Ring (0:25:44) Kev: because Elden Ring is hard (0:25:46) Kev: it’s really hard (0:25:48) Kev: but armored core it’s a different flavor (0:25:50) Kev: because you (0:25:52) Kev: you know you’re controlling a robe alright (0:25:54) Kev: so you switch out parts you can (0:25:57) Kev: think you’re whatnot (0:25:59) Kev: and that’s a big part of the puzzle (0:26:01) Kev: like when you’re given (0:26:03) Kev: a new boss or whatever (0:26:05) Kev: they’ll heavily like hint hint (0:26:07) Kev: use this kind of robot (0:26:09) Kev: because if you’re not (0:26:11) Kev: you’re gonna be in trouble right like (0:26:13) Kev: Pokemon type advantages basically (0:26:15) Kev: so (0:26:17) Kev: there’s a lot of love and attention to detail (0:26:19) Kev: being a robot game you can (0:26:21) Kev: paint your robot however you want (0:26:23) Kev: and I’ll spend a lot of time doing that (0:26:25) Kev: Um, and, and, and. (0:26:28) Kev: It’s very fun. (0:26:29) Kev: Um, like I said, I don’t think anywhere near as hard as Elden Ring, but, uh, still satisfyingly challenging. (0:26:35) Kev: Um, it controls like how I’d want to, the robots will fly, they’ll dash, they’ll, you, you held two weapons. (0:26:41) Kev: You can have double guns or a melee weapon and a gun and missiles, all the, all the good stuff. (0:26:47) Kev: It is, it is very straightforward Mecha. (0:26:50) Kev: Um, so if you’re a fan of that, uh, you know, that’s definitely a thumbs up. (0:26:55) Kev: Okay. (0:26:56) Kev: Uh, that’s a lot from me. (0:26:57) Kev: But now, Cody, tell me, what have you been? (0:26:58) Codey: I have been, um, so I’ve still been playing like, uh, pocket and go, um, go, I am burned (0:27:14) Codey: by because, uh, the shiny work party hat weren’t bull was in, um, in the like new year’s challenge (0:27:26) Codey: or whatever. (0:27:28) Codey: And I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it. (0:27:36) Kev: Oh no. (0:27:40) Codey: And I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl. (0:27:54) Codey: I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl. (0:27:58) Codey: And last year I was so mad about it that I got it tattooed onto my body because I was (0:28:05) Codey: like, if I cannot have a shiny party hat worm bowl in the game, I’m going to have one (0:28:12) Codey: as a tattoo. (0:28:14) Codey: And I’ve had plenty of friends be like, oh, I have one. (0:28:17) Codey: I can trade it to you. (0:28:18) Codey: And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, I need I’m not going to have any traded until I’ve (0:28:22) Kev: do they not know the story of captain cody in the white wormhole (0:28:24) Codey: caught one on my own. (0:28:28) Codey: and the in the worm bowl. Yeah. Moby worm bowl basically. (0:28:32) Kev: actually I don’t think it’s white it’s like purple but anyways um (0:28:38) Codey: Um yeah, so yeah, it is my white whale. Um still didn’t get (0:28:43) Codey: it. I got to shiny Jigglypuff and I refused to click on the (0:28:47) Kev: Mmm! (0:28:49) Codey: hoot hoot. Um and yeah, but no worm bowl. So that game is now (0:28:56) Codey: dead to me until the next time. (0:28:58) Codey: that there is an event that I care about. (0:28:58) Kev: that’s cruel but no it’ll be back like oh that it so I’m not a fan of go it’s (0:29:04) Codey: I know (0:29:08) Kev: when it came out especially I was not an area that was conducive to it and so in (0:29:14) Kev: my whole lifestyle I’m still not the most conducive to it um excuse me um but (0:29:20) Kev: I do think that the party hats are probably like one of the best things to (0:29:24) Kev: come out of that game, especially if you put it on a ridiculous. (0:29:28) Kev: Those Pokemon like weren’t pull that that’s solid. (0:29:29) Codey: Yeah. (0:29:31) Kev: Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:29:31) Codey: Because the party hat’s almost too big for him. (0:29:35) Codey: It’s clearly about to fall off. (0:29:39) Codey: Yeah, so that has also started a thing. (0:29:42) Codey: I’m going to be meeting with my artist, again, probably (0:29:45) Codey: during spring break. (0:29:47) Codey: They’re going to be back in town. (0:29:48) Codey: And they’re going to add three more bug-type Pokemon (0:29:53) Codey: with party hats on. (0:29:54) Kev: I was about to say a warble tattoo every year until she catches it (0:29:55) Codey: No, no, we have, um, I think we have a Snome, um, with, with the, a party hat on each of (0:30:04) Kev: Oh, no, no, no, no, oh, that’s good. (0:30:07) Codey: its little bumpies, um, and then I want a Shedinja, but I want, um, it, it to be like (0:30:17) Codey: a ghost. (0:30:18) Codey: Um, no, so it’s a ghost, so it’s a ghost Pokemon, but like, I want it to be like ethereal, look (0:30:18) Kev: Okay, is it not already more ghosts than it? (0:30:25) Codey: game. (0:30:25) Kev: Materiel, alright. (0:30:26) Codey: Like I don’t just want it to look like it looks in the game. (0:30:28) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:30:30) Codey: And then I want the party hat to also be ethereal. (0:30:32) Codey: And then the last is, uh, not Sizzlepede, Sizzlepede, um, because it’s so grumpy and (0:30:42) Kev: mmm (0:30:42) Codey: I want it to have a black party hat. (0:30:46) Codey: I need my, my emo phase, yeah, my emo phase that was not a phase needs to be somewhere. (0:30:48) Kev: Oscar the grouch at the party. Oh, that’s that’s it (0:30:55) Codey: They’re presented. (0:30:57) Kev: So (0:30:58) Kev: Oh man, these man pokemon like so many solid bug pokemon. These are all solid picks of course. Um (0:31:05) Kev: she didn’t (0:31:06) Kev: it was like (0:31:08) Kev: And how many years been what 20 years since ruby and sapphire it’s still (0:31:12) Kev: my mind how they came up with that concept first you didn’t Joe and like (0:31:14) Codey: I just love it. As an entomologist, like every time I see a cicada shed, I’m just (0:31:16) Kev: you have to have the extra pokeball oh my it’s so good (0:31:26) Kev: yeah oh my gosh and it’s so good right like and (0:31:27) Codey: like, it’s its own thing. It’s a one hit point. Love it. (0:31:42) Kev: like you know obviously coming from Japan right like the whole cicada thing (0:31:46) Kev: schedules like that’s the bug collecting that’s a way bigger there um it’s genius (0:31:51) Kev: so good man bug Pokemon are so cool yeah I like hair across I like a lice upon (0:31:54) Codey: Correct. Send a scourge. (0:31:59) Kev: I like um like the other one and not that sizzle feed the other no no um not (0:32:13) Kev: no the big one Scolipede Scolipede that’s the one been five yeah that’s a good one (0:32:14) Codey: Oh. I think people know by now that I’m going to talk about bugs at some point in every (0:32:18) Kev: big old purple huge train bug oh I love it welcome to the bug appreciate Pokemon (0:32:24) Kev: appreciation podcast (0:32:31) Kev: that’s fine with that (0:32:34) Codey: pod. Yeah, so I’ve been playing that or I guess I’m not going to be playing that for (0:32:40) Codey: a while. Um, I’ve been playing Slay the Spire. So (0:32:44) Kev: Okay, have you- have you in fact slayed the spire? (0:32:45) Codey: Jeff, I have slayed the spire during the daily climbs. So have (0:32:53) Codey: you ever played this game? Okay. Yeah, so it’s like a card and (0:32:54) Kev: I have not but I am familiar with it’s the cards, right? (0:33:00) Codey: you’re going up a tower and slaying things. And there’s four (0:33:03) Codey: different types of characters that you can play, but one of (0:33:05) Codey: them is unlocked at first. But they have this thing called the (0:33:08) Codey: daily climb every day, which is like a random, like, version of (0:33:12) Codey: the game, but with modifiers. (0:33:14) Codey: So it’s like, Oh, you get this character, but every time you add a card to your deck, (0:33:20) Codey: it adds two more copies of that card and you can’t, you can no longer upgrade your cards (0:33:27) Codey: and you’re cursed, like, so it’s, they just like add all this stuff to it. (0:33:31) Codey: And so it’s kind of like a more difficult version and you have to change your gameplay. (0:33:36) Codey: So I have slayed the spire in the daily climbs, but that doesn’t count for achievements. (0:33:40) Kev: Yeah. (0:33:44) Codey: And I cannot for the life of me, beat this game without a daily climb. (0:33:52) Kev: mmm wow oh well hey I know that I know that feeling and then discuss it because ever present (0:33:54) Codey: So my partner has had to do it for me. (0:34:02) Kev: but i’m i’m still belatruing I actually just unlocked the final difficulty just yesterday (0:34:04) Codey: -Oh, yeah. (0:34:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:08) Kev: um so i’m i’m there but um I i get it i’m i’m trying to climb my own spire verbally (0:34:16) Codey: Yeah, I’ve, I’ve not quite gotten to Bellatro yet, but that’s because I’ve, I recognize (0:34:22) Codey: based on my love of Slay the Spire that Bellatro would take over my life. So. (0:34:25) Kev: That is correct that I look I look at sleigh as fire and I can see it’s it’s one-to-one (0:34:32) Codey: Yep. (0:34:32) Kev: It’s just a different flavor, but it’s the same concept your cards, and you’re you’re doing your runs with cards (0:34:36) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:40) Kev: Yeah (0:34:41) Kev: That’s good. Good stuff (0:34:44) Codey: - Yep. (0:34:46) Codey: And then I’m still playing Honeygrove, (0:34:48) Codey: still really liked that game. (0:34:51) Codey: Still play it every day, multiple times a day. (0:34:54) Codey: And also I have now begun the final year of my PhD. (0:35:01) Codey: I’m gonna be a bug doctor soon. (0:35:04) Kev: Oh, well, congrats. Okay, congrats. So, uh, not for a second, cause I thought you were talking about Honeygrove, but, um, but, um, uh, okay, so, so I have a friend who’s also been PhDing for a long time now, he’s had unfortunate professors and issues, so it’s dragged on for a long time. (0:35:14) Codey: Oh, yeah, sorry. Switch. (0:35:32) Kev: Um, now you say this. (0:35:34) Kev: Are you like, you know for a fact, that like, it is gonna be this year? (0:35:39) Codey: Okay, well, yeah, so basically, like, I, I set it at this year for this to be like the (0:35:40) Kev: I, I said, I don’t mean to sound threatening, but… (0:35:44) Kev: Uh, don’t re– (0:35:46) Kev: Look, oh– (0:35:53) Codey: last, like, possible time for my timeline. (0:35:59) Codey: Um, I mean, theoretically, like, stuff happens, but I do not have any more field work. (0:36:06) Codey: All I have to do is finish writing one of my chapters. (0:36:09) Codey: I’ve already published one of them in a journal and so that will just literally get like stapled into my dissertation as one of my chapters and I don’t have to look at that again. (0:36:19) Codey: This other chapter that I’m about to publish will be the same thing. So it’ll just be two chapters that my committee can’t say anything about because they’re already published. (0:36:26) Kev: Hmm, yeah, I look at that that’s the way to do it (0:36:29) Codey: So they’ll basically just be like, they’ll just be like, oh, yep, you did that. (0:36:35) Codey: like yep I did um so they’ll only have to (0:36:39) Codey: they can talk about um and it’s just can I get the stuff done in the time that I have and the (0:36:46) Codey: answer is yes um I will try and defend in the summer but um that’s I actually didn’t ever plan (0:36:55) Codey: to defend in the summer but I might be able to um but we’ll see I mean I don’t have to um I have (0:37:05) Codey: guaranteed funding for the rest of the year. (0:37:08) Kev: Oh, that’s great. (0:37:09) Kev: Well, oh, that that’s huge relief then. (0:37:09) Codey: Yeah, PhDs man, they’re great. Well, I guess PhDs in the life sciences, that’s the standard is that you get paid and you get tuition remissions so you don’t have to pay your tuition. (0:37:10) Kev: All right. (0:37:11) Kev: Well, Hey, congrats on that. (0:37:26) Kev: you know like yeah yeah for sure oh absolutely because I have a friend who I don’t think that (0:37:26) Codey: I have health insurance, like all of that stuff. So it’s not true everywhere. (0:37:36) Kev: is the case for him sadly um man like such nonsense like the way to get there the the road to it like (0:37:36) Codey: Yeah. (0:37:46) Kev: I you know I have my undergraduate degree right so like I it it boggles my mind because you know (0:37:54) Kev: up so pretty much up. (0:37:56) Kev: undergraduate it’s very clear like okay here your classes do them all satisfy (0:38:00) Kev: the requirements you get your thing right but once you go past especially the (0:38:06) Kev: PhD it’s it’s all just so nebulous question your checklist is question or (0:38:12) Kev: question your requirements are satisfied when the your professors say they are oh (0:38:20) Codey: Yeah. It’s basically like choose your own adventure. It’s like, undergrads degrees are (0:38:20) Kev: it’s why I don’t I don’t know how yeah man (0:38:26) Kev: I guess (0:38:31) Codey: basically like, okay, here is the proper formula, here you go, you need to have this done this done (0:38:38) Codey: this done, etc, etc. And then for a graduate degree, they’re basically like, here are some (0:38:44) Codey: courses that you need done, but you’ll get these done in the first two years of your degree. (0:38:50) Codey: It’s kind of a big old shrug. It depends on your funding. It depends on your advisors. It depends (0:38:55) Codey: on whatever. And if you have bad advisors, like you said your friend has had, they can keep you (0:39:00) Kev: Yeah. Oh. (0:39:03) Codey: forever. Like one of my friends, one of my friends, her advisor like would not let her defend even (0:39:11) Codey: though she was done, like she’s she was long done, because the advisor could just pay her (0:39:17) Codey: less money than having to like get a post. (0:39:20) Codey: I’m going to go to the postdoc. To do all that work. Yep. (0:39:21) Kev: right right like that’s one that’s one aspect that’s one aspect of it that just seems so grimy (0:39:28) Kev: like there’s clearly an element of very cheap labor for your advisory professors right like (0:39:37) Kev: I mean not yours specifically but like the the system is set up where that can be exploited (0:39:42) Kev: very easily and wow it’s oh academia oh oh (0:39:50) Codey: Yeah, I’m blessed in that, like with the advisors that I have, (0:39:51) Kev: uh-huh (0:39:54) Codey: the advisor that I have now, (0:39:56) Codey: like he doesn’t really do that kind of stuff, (0:39:58) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:39:58) Codey: but a lot of advisors do, they’ll just be like, (0:40:00) Codey: okay, well, I’m paying for your stuff. (0:40:02) Codey: And because of that, like you also have to help me (0:40:05) Codey: with these other projects. (0:40:06) Codey: So at this one point in the year, (0:40:09) Codey: so you have to drop everything (0:40:11) Codey: and like do this research with me, (0:40:12) Codey: even though it’s not gonna be in your dissertation. (0:40:16) Kev: It is to some degree a hostage situation, isn’t it? (0:40:17) Codey: like. (0:40:20) Codey: Kind of, yeah, and then it’s worse if you’re an international student because (0:40:22) Kev: Haha, that’s uh, huh. (0:40:26) Kev: Oh, oh that sounds terrifying, oh gosh. (0:40:26) Codey: then you have like less protections and yeah. Which is why some of us, some universities (0:40:34) Codey: have unionized and we at my university just recently submitted our letter to the Dean, (0:40:43) Codey: Dean, President, President of the university that we intend to unionize, so thank yous. (0:40:48) Kev: Hey, good for you. That’s great. (0:40:50) Codey: I think he’s crossed there because last time they did this, they threatened people. So (0:40:57) Kev: Oh, oh, fuck. (0:40:57) Codey: they can’t do that. They’re not, that’s illegal, but they did it last time and it didn’t, (0:41:02) Kev: Well, well, I don’t know if you know about strikes in the U.S. (0:41:03) Codey: but we’ll see. Yeah. Oh yeah, we’re gonna, we’re gonna have to do it possibly. (0:41:12) Codey: Hopefully they’ll, they’ll work in good faith and we won’t have to, but we’ll see. (0:41:16) Kev: Oh (0:41:18) Codey: So maybe, maybe. (0:41:20) Codey: Sometime in this year, uh, my, what have I been up to will be striking (0:41:25) Kev: Well, but you know (0:41:27) Codey: because yeah. (0:41:29) Kev: Over on Rainbow Road radio friend. I do a mutual friend Alex. He’s also striking last month. So (0:41:36) Codey: Oh my gosh, we’re just, we’re just rebels. (0:41:38) Kev: Hit him up for some for some tips (0:41:41) Kev: I guess (0:41:43) Kev: Oh (0:41:45) Kev: Oh. (0:41:46) Kev: Oh, labor, academia, good, good times. (0:41:52) Codey: 10 out of 10 would not (0:41:52) Kev: Welcome to the harvest season, where we talk about cozy games. (0:41:56) Kev: Ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss. (0:41:57) Codey: We talk about so I mean that’s the joke right is that we play these games where we can live in fantasy worlds where we (0:42:04) Codey: can have a house and (0:42:06) Codey: Afford a house and a and a like all this (0:42:12) Kev: Where’s the unionizing update to research story? (0:42:12) Codey: Because that’s uh, not not reality (0:42:19) Codey: Oh my gosh (0:42:22) Codey: I would love to have a union (0:42:25) Codey: Like storyline in any game like where you just strike that would be (0:42:32) Codey: Amazing. I don’t know how you would incorporate that (0:42:34) Kev: Oh, I mean, like, alright, I’ll give you the relatively low-hanging easy path, the Jojo (0:42:42) Codey: Yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah, I could see that. (0:42:43) Kev: route in Stardew, right, like, yeah, I mean, you got, there’s other people working for (0:42:51) Kev: Jojo already, so, you know, there’s, oh, oh no, I like this, this Spandfic I’m writing, (0:42:58) Kev: oh no, no. (0:42:58) Codey: oh no don’t don’t say this out loud he might listen and then haunted chocolatier will be even (0:43:04) Codey: more delayed because he’ll be like hey wait a minute that’s a great idea (0:43:10) Kev: Unless the ghosts in the Chocolatier, you mean, nice. (0:43:14) Codey: maybe he adds it into that game and stuff uh so yeah that is what we’ve been up to (0:43:18) Kev: Hmm. (0:43:21) Kev: Well, that’s a lot. Happy new- (0:43:23) Kev: Look guys, it’s a new year. There’s been a lot going on. (0:43:25) Codey: It is. It is. We’re. (0:43:28) Codey: We’re here for it. OK, so first we have some game releases. (0:43:34) Codey: So the first one in the list is Harvest Hills. (0:43:39) Codey: So this game released on the 15th of January and or will release. (0:43:46) Codey: Sorry, that’s the future. (0:43:50) Codey: Quote, thanks to the feedback from two major demo updates, (0:43:53) Codey: I’ve been able to fine tune game mechanics and make the experience even better. (0:43:57) Codey: The full game now features… (0:43:58) Codey: …an updated system for growing vegetables and fruits… (0:44:01) Codey: …an improved fertilizing system… (0:44:03) Codey: …a refined leveling system… (0:44:05) Codey: …a brand new product selling system… (0:44:07) Codey: …and more crops, vegetables… (0:44:09) Codey: …vegetables, fruit trees, livestock and homemade product machines. (0:44:15) Codey: My only comment about this is I looked at it and I need more information about those beehives. (0:44:23) Codey: They look… (0:44:23) Kev: - So. (0:44:24) Codey: They look legit. (0:44:26) Codey: Like those look like the standard Langstra Thives. (0:44:28) Codey: And we always paint them each frame or not each frame each body of the hive is always colored in really ridiculous colors and they did that. (0:44:40) Kev: Is that done intentionally or is that done just for giggles? (0:44:46) Codey: I don’t remember so I know that we paint them because you want there to you don’t want the heat like if it’s hot out you don’t want the heat of outside to like cook the hive. (0:44:59) Kev: Oh, oh. Yeah. Sure, sure. (0:44:59) Codey: So you always want it to be light colors but yeah on top of it being like colors I mean you can just have it be fun colors. (0:45:09) Codey: Sometimes you can like make it a color per hot like a certain color per hive or whatever but we always just painted them fun colors so I need. (0:45:18) Kev: Wow. So I’m, I’m looking at the trailer and stuff like my, okay. (0:45:24) Kev: It is more management style, like zoo tycoon, you know, (0:45:29) Kev: floating cam sort of thing, as opposed to starting where you can fill in the (0:45:32) Kev: character, but there’s a character who follows your like air where you click. (0:45:35) Kev: And he runs over there and then does the activity, which are kind of fun. (0:45:38) Kev: I think the coolest thing about here is the visual style. (0:45:41) Kev: Cause it’s almost like origami paper, like three heavy polygonal. (0:45:46) Kev: Um, so I’m like the cows almost look like (0:45:46) Codey: - Mm-hmm, yeah. (0:45:48) Kev: they’re made of origami or a box or something, um, which is charming. Um, so hey, but hey, good, (0:45:56) Kev: yeah, it looks decent enough. Um, I like those cows and you go pretty beehives. That is surprising. (0:46:02) Kev: We don’t have those before, but, um, there you go. January 15th, experience it yourself, (0:46:04) Codey: I like those cows. (0:46:06) Kev: the world of box shaped cows and fun colors. (0:46:13) Codey: So next on our list is Chill Town. (0:46:16) Codey: Um, they have a new announcement on Steam. (0:46:20) Codey: Um, and the gist of it is this just that the project slowed down because of money (0:46:25) Codey: issues, um, and they’re pretty transparent in there about what they are and where (0:46:30) Codey: the money is going and all of that, except for they can’t like mention (0:46:35) Codey: specifics because of confidentiality agreements, but, um, if you’re curious, (0:46:41) Codey: I recommend going and looking at that. (0:46:43) Codey: The biggest thing out of it, other than the fact that it was delayed, is, or is being slowed down, is that the 1.0, they expect it to come out this year, and that when the 1.0 comes out, it will have a museum system, it will have additional quest lines, different seasons and festivals, and clearly bug fixes and gameplay improvements from what is on the early access. (0:47:11) Kev: Uh, all right, so well, I mean, hey, first of all, props to like game development is so hard, right? (0:47:17) Kev: It’s such a brutal space to be quite frank. So yeah, condolences. But they they’re being, um, very, uh, (0:47:23) Kev: Up front and clear about it. Um, so, you know off to them and best of luck, like hopefully they are still on track, right? (0:47:31) Kev: this is one of the parts of early access as much as I uh, (0:47:36)

Kirklin and Dylan catch up on the games they've been playing, including Stellar Blade, Astro Bot, Hitman, Stalker 2 and Terra Nil.Quests0:00:00 intro0:03:30 Dylan bought a PS5/Astro Bot0:22:15 Terra Nil 0:27:25 Stellar Blade1:02:45 Hitman: World of Assassination1:24:55 Stalker 2: Heart of ChernobylLinksDylan on Twitter @DylanMussDylan on Backloggd backloggd.com/u/Rapatika/Taylor on Twitter @TaylorTheFieldKirklin on Twitter @kirklinpatzerTravis on Twitter @TravisBSnellhttps://www.patreon.com/GeekVersehttps://www.youtube.com/c/GeekVersePodcasthttps://discord.gg/mFSSAJJTBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/geekverse-podcast--4201268/support.

Kirklin and Dylan catch up on the games they've been playing, including Stellar Blade, Astro Bot, Hitman, Stalker 2 and Terra Nil.Quests0:00:00 intro0:03:30 Dylan bought a PS5/Astro Bot0:22:15 Terra Nil 0:27:25 Stellar Blade1:02:45 Hitman: World of Assassination1:24:55 Stalker 2: Heart of ChernobylLinksDylan on Twitter @DylanMussDylan on Backloggd backloggd.com/u/Rapatika/Taylor on Twitter @TaylorTheFieldKirklin on Twitter @kirklinpatzerTravis on Twitter @TravisBSnellhttps://www.patreon.com/GeekVersehttps://www.youtube.com/c/GeekVersePodcasthttps://discord.gg/mFSSAJJT

¡Ni el desdén absoluto por todo podra salvarlos!¡Porque es lunes y SpreadShotNews Podcast ya llegó! En este episodio: Maxi nos cuenta brevemente sobre Terra Nil y SimCity 3000 Ultimate, ademas de arrancar Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow y contarnos que esta pasando con Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Para el Rapid-Fire, tenemos noticias sobre quien es Emio, cuando vamos a saber de que se trata el proximo juego de RGG Studio, Xbox comienza a cumplir las promesas que hizo cuando compró ABK, tristemente los despidos de la semana esta vez de parte de NetherRealm, Nvidia y Linux se… amigan?, El FTC nos dice a todos “se los dije” mientras denuncia a Microsoft por los cambios en Game Pass, el segundo sindicato multidisciplinario de la industra en EEUU se forma en Bethesda y SNK anuncia un nuevo Art of Fighting y un RPG de Samurai Shodown en la EVO 2024. Para finalizar, en el Special Move, Maxi nos comparte la segunda parte de la entrevista/charla entre Ikumi Nakamura y Hideki Kamiya y una retrospectiva de SimCity 3000 (via Santiago Quiroga), y Nico nos recomienda el anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End . Por último, recuerden que ahora nos pueden escribir preguntas directamente a través de google forms en el siguiente link: spreadshotnews.com/preguntas

¡Ni los estratos de improvisacion jazeera podran detenernos!¡Porque es lunes y SpreadShotNews Podcast ya llegó! En este episodio: Nico nos cuenta como sigue su travesia por Elden Ring, mientras Maxi llega a la final de Shadow of the Erdtree, y ademas nos cuenta un poco mas sobre SimCity 3000 Ultimate y Terra Nil. Para el Rapid Fire, repasamos algunas de las noticias de la semana con un nuevo cierre de estudio por parte de Embracer Group, Palworld se quiere parecer un poquito mas todavia a Pokemon, Nintendo deja gente sorprendida y confundida con un teaser en Twitter, Sony expande la beta cerra da de concord (decidan ustedes por que razon), un nuevo publisher indie abre sus puertas y la falta de credito en multiples juegos sigue siendo un problema grave en la industria. En el Hot Coffee, repasamos los cambios que realizo Microsoft en Game Pass, hablamos sobre el potencial impacto que va a tener a futuro en el servicio y potencialmente lo que significa para Call of Duty (ahora y a futuro) y para el resto de los juegos. Para finalizar, en el Special Move, Nico nos recomienda el ultimo podcast de game mess decides donde hay mas charla sobre los cambios en Game Pass, y Maxi nos recomienda la parte 1 de la entrevista de Ikumi Nakamura a Hideki Kamiya . Por último, recuerden que ahora nos pueden escribir preguntas directamente a través de google forms en el siguiente link: spreadshotnews.com/preguntas

¡Ni las adquisiciones de breakdancers asiáticas podrá detenernos!¡Porque es Lunes y SpreadShotNews Podcast ya llegó! En este episodio: Nico nos cuenta sobre DEVIL BLADE REBOOT y ALLTYNEX Second, además de continuar con Elden Ring. Maxi continúa avanzando en Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree y ademas nos cuenta sobre Terra Nil y SimCity 3000 Unlimited. En el Rapid-Fire, repasamos algunas noticias de la semana como Nintendo explicando su estrategia anti-reventa de la nueva Switch, Capcom sale de compras, Tokyo Game Show confirma su lista de exhibidores, CCP Games anuncia planes para hacer sus herramientas open source, Gamescom LATAM vuelve en 2025, Kadokawa decide pagar parte del rescate de su ciberataque y un juego sale en Game Boy Advance 22 años despues. Para finalizar, en el Special Move, Nico nos recomienda el anime Dungeon Meshi. Maxi, por su parte, nos recomienda el ultimo GI.biz microcast del resumen de Gamescom LATAM y el mod Outrun2006Tweaks . Por último, recuerden que ahora nos pueden escribir preguntas directamente a través de google forms en el siguiente link: spreadshotnews.com/preguntas

Al and Jonnie talk about Starstruck Vagabond Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:07: What Have We Been Up To 00:08:49: Game News 00:29:54: Starstruck Vagabond 01:04:07: Outro Links Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Release Tiny Garden Kickstarter Terra Nil “Vita Nova” Update Disney Dreamlight Valley “The Lucky Dragon” Update Moonstone Island “Pool Party” DLC Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home Screenshots Bear and Breakfast Information Farming Simulator 25 Trailer 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. (0:00:36) Jonnie: And my name is Johnny. (0:00:38) Al: And we are here today to talk about Contachcore games. (0:00:41) Al: Whoo. (0:00:44) Al: As always, transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website. (0:00:48) Al: This episode, me and Johnny will be talking about Starstruck Thagabond, (0:00:52) Al: the new game by Yatsy Croshaw of zero punctuation fame. (0:00:57) Al: Although he doesn’t do zero punctuation anymore. (0:00:58) Jonnie: now fully Ramblimetic thing? (0:00:59) Al: That’s what it’s called. Yeah. (0:01:00) Al: No, it’s not fully ramb- is it not? He’s got two, because he’s got fully ramblimatic (0:01:06) Al: and a different one, which is… Oh, maybe fully- it’s fully ramblimatic than the standard (0:01:11) Al: one. Yes. Yeah, okay. Yes. Yeah, which is basically just all the video team from the escapist who (0:01:12) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s the new version under second wind, I think, is their new banner. (0:01:23) Al: got fired or quit. That worked out well for them. (0:01:28) Jonnie: But now you can support them much more directly, which is which is you know in some ways preferable (0:01:31) Al: Yeah. Yes, fewer management. I feel like they’ve been massively increasing the amount of content (0:01:39) Al: they’re doing. There’s so much stuff now, which, I mean, I don’t do it all because I don’t care (0:01:48) Al: about their TTRPG stuff, and I don’t care about their Let’s Play stuff, but I really enjoy most (0:01:55) Al: of their podcasts and a lot of the shorter videos they do. So, it’s good. (0:02:01) Al: Anyway, so yeah, we’ll be talking about Starstruck Vagabond. Before that, we obviously have some (0:02:05) Al: news, but first of all, Johnny, what have you been up to? (0:02:11) Jonnie: I have been up to a hidden game I came up with last year called Chance of Sinar, (0:02:17) Jonnie: and one of the things that I learned about this game is like, as a name written down, it looks (0:02:21) Jonnie: great. When you say it out loud, people have no idea what you’ve just said. It’s a confusing (0:02:27) Jonnie: jumble of terms, but it kind of works for the game because the game is all about translating (0:02:32) Jonnie: languages, and it’s a really fun game. I kind of completed it over the course of a weekend, (0:02:40) Jonnie: and I like it was one of those (0:02:41) Jonnie: games. I had a friend visiting me and just in our like downtime between doing stuff we would (0:02:45) Jonnie: just play a bit of it and it was a really fun game to play with someone else on the couch because (0:02:50) Jonnie: it’s a lot of working out stuff a lot of guesses about what you want what you think things mean (0:02:56) Jonnie: and having a second brain to like that that sees things differently I think was really valuable (0:03:02) Jonnie: for playing through the game but it was just a really fun experience great puzzles great story (0:03:09) Jonnie: Like really contained, you know, it was probably five or six (0:03:12) Jonnie: hours into it and it was just a really, really fun game. (0:03:15) Jonnie: I would highly, highly recommend Chances. (0:03:18) Al: Interesting. It has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, and it’s currently on sale. (0:03:24) Jonnie: and it’s currently on Game Pass, which is where I played it. (0:03:25) Al: Fair enough. I do not have Game Pass because I have too many games unplayed anyway. (0:03:34) Jonnie: Yeah, I feel like you getting game paths would just be like, uh, you know, you would just continually be adding things to a wishlist of or a backlog that you’re never actually going to get to and you would never actually play anything. (0:03:40) Al: You know the funny thing is like, I’ve literally got my Steam wishlist open just now, right? (0:03:49) Al: Because obviously everything is on sale just now and I’m like, what am I going to buy? (0:03:53) Al: The problem is like half of these games, I can’t remember, like death’s door. (0:04:00) Al: I don’t know what this game is, but apparently I added it to my wishlist and it’s currently (0:04:04) Al: 75% off. (0:04:06) Al: When did I add this to my wishlist? (0:04:07) Al: I have no idea. (0:04:08) Al: Oh wait, it does tell you, doesn’t it? (0:04:11) Al: In 2021. Okay. So a while ago, um, yeah, I do feel like it’s one of these things (0:04:14) Jonnie: Wow, yeah, I feel like it’s time to let that one go (0:04:20) Al: where some of them when, when they’re like up at like 80, 70% off, if I’m not going to (0:04:26) Al: buy it when it’s that much off, I’m removing it from my wish list. So, um, yeah, I’ve got (0:04:32) Al: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven currently on my list that are 70% off and above. (0:04:39) Jonnie: Well, that could have been a fun new game. Is it buy or remove? (0:04:40) Al: Oh my. (0:04:47) Jonnie: It’s good it’s not like we’re under a time crunch this morning. (0:04:50) Al: let me finish. I have 77 on my wish list on sale just now. That is too many. I have 160 (0:04:58) Jonnie: I don’t think I have 77 on my wish list. (0:05:02) Al: on my wish list. Part of the problem, right, part of the problem is that I add every single (0:05:09) Al: farming game that we talk about on the podcast to my wish list to keep track of it, right? (0:05:14) Jonnie: That makes sense. Yeah, that does make- (0:05:14) Al: That makes it okay, right? Maybe. (0:05:20) Al: Okay, cool, great. What have I been up to? I have been playing Go Go Town. More coming (0:05:29) Al: about that later. I don’t want to talk about that just now, but I’ve been playing it. I’ve (0:05:33) Al: also been playing Dave the Diver. Have you played Dave the Diver? You have played Dave (0:05:38) Al: the Diver. I don’t know if you’ve actually started it yet or not. You’ve done it. You (0:05:40) Jonnie: I have downloaded Dave the Diver and I have done the tutorial of Dave the Diver. (0:05:48) Al: might want to hurry up. (0:05:50) Al: You’ve got probably about 10 hours of gameplay (0:05:52) Al: before you can even play the bit that you need to talk about on the podcast. (0:05:56) Jonnie: Oh my god. (0:05:58) Al: Just be thankful you’re not on the Godzilla one. (0:06:00) Al: You have to finish five chapters, and I’m halfway through chapter two. (0:06:03) Al: And yeah, it’s taking a while. (0:06:08) Al: I don’t know why it’s so far through. (0:06:10) Al: Probably because Godzilla is probably quite hard to do. (0:06:12) Al: Anyway, blah, blah, blah. (0:06:14) Al: Dave the Diver. (0:06:16) Al: I’m enjoying it so far. (0:06:18) Al: I feel like it’s about to get- (0:06:20) Al: very grindy where I am, but it’s interesting. (0:06:24) Al: And yeah, we’ll talk more about that in the future maybe. (0:06:28) Jonnie: I know you don’t want to talk about go go town, but I also downloaded the (0:06:32) Jonnie: Early access for go go town and and had a quick play off it and I was very quick (0:06:36) Jonnie: I maybe played an hour of it (0:06:39) Jonnie: That game does feel very early access (0:06:42) Jonnie: and (0:06:43) Jonnie: I think I see this in the slack, but it’s way more (0:06:48) Jonnie: Seems like resource management town builder II than it does Animal Crossing II which I don’t know I super loved (0:06:58) Jonnie: Interested in how that game develops over early access, but my initial take was like oh (0:07:01) Jonnie: I don’t really want to play this now. I want to put this down and play it (0:07:05) Jonnie: Play it a bit later, so I’m looking forward to hearing (0:07:10) Al: Maybe. Yeah, I think the only thing I’ll say just now is that they have posted a big update on (0:07:19) Al: Steam talking about what they’re going to do and how they’ve changed what they’re going to do based (0:07:25) Al: on feedback. So might be worth having a look at that. But yeah, I will talk more about that maybe (0:07:32) Al: in the future. I don’t know. I don’t want to spoil anything. (0:07:36) Jonnie: I do. (0:07:38) Jonnie: I love spoiling things. (0:07:40) Al: And I’ve been continuing playing farm RPG. I don’t know if I’m enjoying it, but I’m playing it. (0:07:48) Al: I just keep going. I’m at crafting level 95 now. Farming level 82, fishing level 77 and exploring (0:07:48) Jonnie: of bringing an endorsement. (0:07:57) Al: level 76. It’s quite a grind at this point, but I keep going. I guess the thing is that I’m not (0:08:08) Al: I’m not actually spending a huge amount. (0:08:10) Al: of time each day on it, right? Like it’s maybe a total of 10 minutes in a day. (0:08:15) Al: So we’ll see if I’m still doing it in the next episode. (0:08:21) Al: The right is a new regular section of the podcast. Is Al still playing farm RPG? Yes. (0:08:26) Jonnie: Look I feel like this is like when Cody was playing her cult (0:08:32) Jonnie: What was a cult game that she was playing we’re Tetris that’s (0:08:33) Al: Tetris. (0:08:36) Al: yeah but i’m not trying to get out not i’m not trying to win a cruise with my (0:08:40) Al: time um let’s just not talk about how much money i’ve put into the game so we’re going (0:08:41) Jonnie: Not yet. Not yet. (0:08:50) Al: to talk about some game news so first up we have the exciting news uh that uh johnny’s (0:08:59) Al: leaning on the keyboard in the show notes um oh no I hope this podcast recording works (0:09:02) Jonnie: I’m not leaning on the keyboard. I’m trying to work out what the hell’s going on with my computer. (0:09:05) Jonnie: It’s right. (0:09:10) Al: um we have the exciting news that mica and the witch’s mountain is releasing on the 21st of august (0:09:16) Al: on steam and switch (0:09:18) Jonnie: Whoo! Only like a year after their initial release date that they were very confident about hitting. (0:09:26) Al: Yeah. I think so. Yeah. I’m very excited, not least because it’s happening after my (0:09:26) Jonnie: No, this is this is very exciting. (0:09:34) Al: month long not being at home and not having to deal with podcast. Yeah. So I’m very excited (0:09:39) Al: that it’s not releasing just now because I might have cried. (0:09:42) Jonnie: And the way they did the announcement because I I don’t know if you follow them on Instagram (0:09:46) Jonnie: But it was they they posted the day before saying like we’ll answer the most asked question (0:09:52) Jonnie: Like that we get today tomorrow and I was like (0:09:54) Jonnie: I really hope they are announcing the release date for me crew the which is now done because that is by far away gonna be (0:10:00) Jonnie: Their most asked question and and in fact they were so (0:10:03) Jonnie: No, very exciting news for that game. There was a new trailer that came along (0:10:08) Jonnie: with (0:10:10) Jonnie: With the announcement. I don’t know that I picked up anything (0:10:12) Jonnie: New other than yeah, this game looks like what they’ve promised it’s going to be and it looks pretty fun (0:10:19) Jonnie: Let’s see how it plays (0:10:21) Al: Yeah, I think this game very much will come down to how the controls feel. That’s it. (0:10:26) Al: Like if it feels good to fly, it’ll be a fun game no matter anything else. If it doesn’t (0:10:31) Al: feel fun to fly, nothing will save it. Even the froggy chair. (0:10:35) Jonnie: Uh, I could not agree more. (0:10:38) Al: Next we have Tiny Garden. This is the Polly Pocket farming game. They’ve announced that (0:10:45) Al: their Kickstarter will launch on the 2nd of July. So, there we go. Another Kickstarter. (0:10:50) Jonnie: I still think this game looks like this game looks cool right because I’m curious how it is gonna manifest into a game because the the polypockets size of stuff is so small but this one has me like super intrigued because it’s doing the cool nostalgia thing and in a way that I’m very interested how it manifests in gameplay. (0:11:12) Al: Yeah, I suspect it might feel quite kind of Tamagotchi-esque, right? (0:11:17) Al: Where the idea is not playing the game for lots of time. (0:11:23) Al: It’s like dipping it out and, you know, deal with your fart. (0:11:26) Al: Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was real time. (0:11:30) Al: But I guess we’ll see. (0:11:32) Al: I don’t know if I want it to be real time, but we’ll see. (0:11:35) Al: And, you know, the trailer shows lots of different designs. (0:11:39) Al: I suspect you’ll be able to. (0:11:42) Al: I wouldn’t be surprised if you could collect lots of them and like you open up your different ones to see what your gardens are currently doing inside there or something. (0:11:51) Al: Rather than just changing the design of your of your tiny garden, right? Like it feels like you’re collecting gardens, but we shall see. (0:12:01) Al: Next we have Terranil. Their new update Vitanova is out now and they’ve posted a bunch of information about it. Have you looked through this at all? (0:12:10) Jonnie: I have not looked at this one at all, but since we recorded the, like, what did I record that (0:12:17) Jonnie: episode with? It must have been with Kevin. When we recorded the episode on Terra Nil, (0:12:22) Jonnie: I hadn’t finished Terra Nil, and I keep intending to go back, and every time I see something about (0:12:28) Jonnie: Terra Nil, I’m interested in going back. But I think this might be the update that finally (0:12:34) Jonnie: sort of lures me back in, particularly with Terra Nil being available. I think it’s available (0:12:39) Jonnie: through Netflix. (0:12:40) Jonnie: I’ve got some new missions, which I assume means new maps, to play on. (0:12:42) Al: it is yes that’s a good point I should try it because I have Netflix just now (0:12:47) Al: I should try it on mobile see what it’s like (0:12:57) Jonnie: I think there’s about 11 in the initial game, and they’ve overhauled the animal functionality, (0:13:06) Jonnie: which is really interesting. (0:13:10) Jonnie: The way the animal system worked in the past is that it was kind of like the last thing (0:13:15) Jonnie: you would do, and it felt very clunky. (0:13:18) Jonnie: You would effectively build a special building, and then you would have to ping certain parts (0:13:24) Jonnie: on the map, and if it met enough of the requirements for a particular animal, that animal would (0:13:29) Jonnie: show up. (0:13:30) Jonnie: So it felt like this very clunky thing, where I remember on the first map getting frustrated (0:13:38) Jonnie: because one animal I couldn’t quite bring (0:13:40) Jonnie: back because I was like you know half a point off of needing you know a certain (0:13:46) Jonnie: area in a certain radius to bring back the final animal but equally I had no (0:13:52) Jonnie: resources at that point to re-terraform anything so I was kind of just like I (0:13:55) Jonnie: feel stuck in a way this that wasn’t particularly fun and this change (0:14:01) Al: So, so was it quite binary then where it was like you either have them or you don’t sort (0:14:07) Al: of thing, you’ve either done the checklist to get the animals back or you haven’t. Right, (0:14:10) Jonnie: Correct, yeah. (0:14:12) Al: whereas here it looks like it’s saying so it says the habitat may be sufficient for (0:14:16) Al: them to survive but not ideal for them to thrive so it’s like you can get them back (0:14:21) Al: with less work but then you have to work more to get like I guess them to reproduce or something (0:14:27) Jonnie: yeah so be curious how it works you know um like and it was it was a really there was good bones (0:14:32) Jonnie: in the system right so it’s like you know one of the requirements on the first map for wolves to (0:14:36) Jonnie: appear is they had to be deer already in a location nearby right because they need something to eat (0:14:41) Jonnie: uh which totally makes sense so um I feel like there was good bones so this is actually a really (0:14:47) Jonnie: exciting change to um uh what was uh it was probably slightly frustrating because it was at (0:14:52) Jonnie: the end where you were sort of relatively low on resources it was just your ability to sort (0:14:57) Jonnie: at that point when you didn’t really know what you needed to be building towards um was was a bit (0:15:03) Jonnie: frustrating so I like the idea of what this is doing uh I know there’s a bunch of other stuff (0:15:06) Al: Makes sense? Cool. Looks like they’ve added a new world map as well for viewing things. (0:15:11) Jonnie: yeah yeah I don’t know that that changes much other than I guess making the world feel more like a (0:15:19) Jonnie: a real world that you are restoring um which is which is kind of cool but um yeah it’s a it’s a (0:15:22) Al: Cool, and that’s live now, so I guess it’s time for you to play Terranil Journey, again. (0:15:37) Al: Speaking of updates that we’ve got more information for, for Disney Dreamlight Valley, the Lucky (0:15:42) Al: Dragon update is now out, and they’ve detailed everything in the update. (0:15:48) Al: Um, I don’t know, I don’t know if I want to. (0:15:52) Jonnie: It’s Milan. (0:15:52) Al: To go through all this stuff because a lot of stuff, well, yeah, it’s Mulan, but we (0:15:54) Jonnie: It’s Milan. (0:15:54) Al: already knew Mulan, right? (0:15:56) Al: But like they detailed a bunch of the stuff around Mulan and it looks like they’ve also (0:16:01) Al: got some more stuff around Stitch, Lilo and Stitch, um, and there’s a new event around (0:16:09) Al: Inside Out 2. (0:16:11) Al: That’s probably enough information, isn’t it? (0:16:13) Al: Don’t want to go too detailed if people are wanting to play it, but there you go. (0:16:16) Al: So if you want Mulan, go befriend Mulan now then. (0:16:22) Al: » Ireland have a new free DLC, which is the pool party DLC. (0:16:27) Al: That’s it. (0:16:27) Jonnie: The snorkel floatie looks really dumb and cute. (0:16:33) Jonnie: I love that he’s wearing a snorkel, I don’t know, there’s something about it that’s very (0:16:36) Al: Yes yeah that’s funny. Go get it if you’ve been playing the game. Okay Harvest Moon Home (0:16:47) Al: Sweet Home. Dear goodness I really don’t know what to do with this game. So they’ve posted (0:16:55) Al: a bunch of screenshots of this game which I will remind you is iOS and Android only. (0:17:02) Al: So first of all, it looks like it’s going to be a horizontal game. (0:17:06) Al: Um, because all the screenshots are like widescreen screenshots. (0:17:13) Al: Interestingly, it looks almost identical to Winds of Anthos, the newest game. (0:17:20) Al: Um, so I’m starting to worry that it might just be that, but mobile. (0:17:27) Al: Uh, and they presumably like scaled down in some cases because (0:17:31) Al: it’s probably too much for phones. (0:17:34) Al: uh… (0:17:36) Al: I mean, I like the look of Winzvantos, so I’m not against it looking similar, right? Like, my issue (0:17:42) Al: with that game was not how it looked. I thought the game looked really nice. I just didn’t enjoy (0:17:47) Al: playing it, so I’m not particularly enthused about playing this game. We have no idea about gameplay (0:17:54) Al: because it’s just some screenshots. They do show some fishing, and some animals, and a bunch of (0:18:01) Al: buildings and characters. I believe there’s one character who was in Harvest Moon One World, (0:18:07) Al: I’ll be honest, I don’t remember any characters in Harvest Moon One World because they were so (0:18:11) Al: forgettable. (0:18:14) Jonnie: I’m gonna be honest, this game looks so ugly I thought it was Pokemon for a second. (0:18:18) Al: Wow, you don’t like the look of it at all. (0:18:20) Jonnie: No, it’s terrible. And these screenshots don’t show nothing about the game, like… (0:18:22) Al: Interesting. Wow. (0:18:29) Jonnie: This is like when you’re posting screenshots, like, because you think people are excited about, (0:18:34) Al: yeah yeah it’s yeah it’s like when it’s like when Pokemon post like a new a new Pokemon (0:18:35) Jonnie: like, just literally anything that you do. And I do not think that is the case of this Harvest Moon (0:18:40) Jonnie: Home sweet home like yeah, like I say it is that we need to actually see (0:18:48) Al: and people like wow it’s a new Pokemon expecting that sort of reaction yeah I don’t because (0:18:52) Jonnie: Yeah, exactly, exactly. (0:18:57) Al: I was expecting because it’s a mobile game something mobile specific but it’s just without (0:19:03) Al: any actual idea of what the gameplay is. (0:19:04) Al: It looks like it might just be Harvest Moon, Winds of Anthos with a different story. That’s (0:19:10) Al: what it feels like it might be, and I’m really worried if that’s the case because that wasn’t (0:19:15) Al: fun to play with a controller, never mind with a touchscreen. (0:19:19) Al: But we’ll see. They have reconfirmed that there will be no in-app purchases, which is (0:19:24) Al: good, and they are not planning any DLC, which is something that is information, I guess. (0:19:33) Al: Yeah. (0:19:35) Al: But no idea about how it plays, what’s happening with this game, what it is, why it exists. (0:19:42) Al: You know, it is what it is. We’ll see. (0:19:46) Al: Very weird, I will say, why they announced this game like three weeks ago with no information (0:19:51) Al: and then three weeks later they post screenshots. Like, are they trying to build the hype up but they don’t know how? (0:19:58) Jonnie: That’s what it feels like. (0:20:00) Jonnie: It feels like somebody said, (0:20:01) Jonnie: hey, we need to start marketing this game (0:20:04) Jonnie: and then people that have no idea about marketing said, (0:20:07) Jonnie: okay, and this is what we get. (0:20:12) Al: Well, it’s going to be fun because I’m probably going to dump a whole bunch of information (0:20:19) Al: about it while I’m on holiday. So we’re going to be really delayed with that news. It’s (0:20:22) Jonnie: I mean, you can rest easy in knowing that it probably won’t be very good. (0:20:28) Al: not like I’m not going to play it though, right? Let’s not pretend. Fair, fair enough, (0:20:32) Jonnie: Oh, you’re definitely gonna play it, but you know, it’s not like the rest of us will (0:20:37) Jonnie: be missing out on anything because we’re not hearing the news. (0:20:41) Al: Fair enough. (0:20:42) Al: Any excuse for a Micah episode. (0:20:46) Al: Next, we have an update on Bear and Breakfast. (0:20:49) Al: So for those who don’t remember or weren’t listening to the episodes when we talked (0:20:54) Al: about it, there was an update about the health issues in the team. (0:20:59) Al: So one of the team members was diagnosed with cancer last year, was it? (0:21:05) Al: The end of last year, I think. (0:21:08) Al: And that was like just before their console release, I think. (0:21:13) Al: But they managed to get that out in time, but that has obviously delayed the updates (0:21:17) Al: that they were planning on bringing out, which obviously almost everybody in the (0:21:20) Al: replies are, “Get better. (0:21:22) Al: We hope the update can wait.” (0:21:26) Al: But they obviously felt like they needed to give some more information. (0:21:29) Al: So they’ve kind of given some more information about the update that they’re (0:21:32) Al: working on, but no like details on the update itself, just like they’re still (0:21:37) Al: going on and they’re hoping to get some other announcements not related. (0:21:42) Al: To the update coming in about a month, which I’m intrigued by. (0:21:48) Al: So there we go. (0:21:50) Al: Um, there’s a bit more information about the update and what’s coming. (0:21:55) Al: Oh, wait, no, I’ve scrolled down the page. (0:21:57) Al: It’s, it’s a plushie. (0:21:59) Al: There’s a plushie of the bear. (0:22:03) Jonnie: I feel like I’ve scrolled down the page and I miss this plushies of a bear right now (0:22:07) Jonnie: Cuz it doesn’t remember the beer and breakfast episodes. Hey, go back and listen to them. Oh my god (0:22:13) Jonnie: Yeah, okay. Oh, it’s a it’s a it’s a good that’s a good tease of a plushie (0:22:18) Al: Yeah. He’s got the hat and everything. Yeah, whereas I just scroll all the way down and (0:22:19) Jonnie: Ah (0:22:20) Jonnie: I think I got to like the end of the paragraph and I just did not scroll down to the image (0:22:29) Al: saw the image and went, “Oh, there we go.” So presumably it’ll be a makeshift and presumably (0:22:35) Al: it’ll come up and Johnny will cry over whether he wants to get on. The question is whether (0:22:40) Jonnie: I would definitely cry. (0:22:46) Al: whether your world will cry or not as well. (0:22:48) Al: Next, we have a new game announced. (0:22:53) Al: The game we’ve all been waiting for, Johnny. (0:22:55) Al: It’s Farming Simulator 25. (0:22:59) Jonnie: Is it a new game? Does this count? (0:23:03) Al: Well, it’s a it’s a game that’s being released that you have to buy separately (0:23:08) Al: if you didn’t have the previous if you had the previous one and you want to play it. (0:23:12) Jonnie: I like that answer better. (0:23:13) Al: So that I think would be the definition of a new game. (0:23:18) Al: It feels very philosophical, but I feel like it would be incorrect to say this is an update to (0:23:18) Jonnie: Mmm, I’m not sure. I’m still not convinced. (0:23:29) Al: a previous game, because that would imply that you would get it without purchasing. And I think (0:23:33) Al: it would be incorrect to say it’s a DLC, because you don’t have to have a previous game to buy (0:23:38) Al: this one. So I don’t know what else you would call this. (0:23:42) Jonnie: I would say they’re re-releasing farming simulator say 2018 with some minor tweaks. (0:23:49) Al: Look it’s the FIFA of farming games, right? Although we’re gonna have to change that (0:23:53) Jonnie: Yeah, and I would make that save argument. (0:23:59) Al: metaphor though because it’s not FIFA anymore. So basically, you don’t have to follow football (0:24:03) Jonnie: Is it not? I don’t- I don’t follow. (0:24:09) Al: or football games to have been aware of this, but basically FIFA asked EA for more money (0:24:16) Al: for the trademark for the games. (0:24:18) Al: So they wear. (0:24:20) Al: I think a billion dollars a year and they were asking for two billion a year. (0:24:26) Al: And so EA said, no, thank you. (0:24:29) Al: And so they lost the trademark because of that. (0:24:31) Al: And so now they call it EA Sports FC, as in football club. (0:24:37) Al: And at first thought I was like, Oh, this sounds interesting. (0:24:41) Al: That feels like a mistake on EA’s part because like FIFA brand is so big. (0:24:46) Al: But then I realised, no one else is making a game. (0:24:49) Al: I don’t think people playing the game care about the name. They go in and look for the new game. (0:24:54) Al: And therefore, I think FIFA just lost a billion dollars a year. (0:24:59) Jonnie: That sounds like FIFA being FIFA. (0:25:02) Al: So, yeah, EA Sports FC is the new name for the games that were previously called FIFA. (0:25:07) Al: But it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. It’s not a great name. (0:25:11) Al: But I don’t think people playing the game care about the name. (0:25:15) Al: care about the name, they go in and look for the new game. (0:25:19) Al: There is a football game that has a footballer on the front of it and says EA. If they go (0:25:26) Al: in and ask for FIFA, the people in the store are going to point to EAFC. They know what (0:25:33) Al: they’re talking about. It’s not just about being incompetent, it’s about being corrupt. (0:25:34) Jonnie: Yeah, I always feel like I should go and work for FIFA because it’s just like a place where you can be incompetent and get (0:25:40) Jonnie: Paid a lot of money and I feel like I would be really good at that (0:25:48) Jonnie: I mean, I’ll do whatever. (0:25:51) Jonnie: Cool. (0:25:52) Jonnie: I’m okay with that. (0:25:53) Jonnie: Just pay me. (0:25:56) Al: Anyway, Farming Simulator! (0:25:59) Al: So they’re releasing Farming Simulator 25, whatever you might call it. (0:26:04) Al: That’s a thing that exists. (0:26:07) Al: It’s coming out on the 12th of November on Steam, Mac and PC, and PlayStation and Xbox. (0:26:14) Al: And there’s rice. (0:26:16) Al: Right, let me read… (0:26:20) Al: We’ve got some information on Steam. (0:26:21) Al: I can probably read it all in about 30 seconds. (0:26:26) Al: Farming Simulator 25, new crops, animals, productions and more. (0:26:28) Al: 400+ machines included with enhanced graphics and physics. (0:26:32) Al: Farming Simulator 25 floods the fields with a host of new machines, gameplay features, (0:26:37) Al: visual upgrades and even fresh water to grow rice, adding even more agricultural depth (0:26:42) Al: and diversity to the family-friendly series. (0:26:45) Al: New crops, animals and other features. (0:26:48) Al: It says some more. (0:26:49) Al: I don’t think it gives any more information, but it has some more words. (0:26:56) Al: Spinach and other new crops. (0:26:58) Al: I love how they mention two crops, and then they say “and others”. (0:27:06) Al: And they’ve added mighty buffaloes and other animals. (0:27:10) Al: Again, that was a list of one. (0:27:13) Al: I’m not convinced that you have a long list when you say “buffaloes and others”. (0:27:20) Al: Like I’m not thinking that that’s a long list when you only chose one. (0:27:24) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m (0:27:26) Jonnie: It’s what I’m most fascinated by is like how big is the team that’s worth like (0:27:30) Jonnie: I don’t understand the economics of farming simulator at all because today’s (0:27:34) Jonnie: There’s just so much art that goes into these games is ridiculous. I don’t know how they do it all (0:27:42) Al: So yeah, so apparently the games have sold over 25 million copies combined. (0:27:47) Al: I don’t feel like a lot. (0:27:52) Al: Farming Simulator 22, which was their last big one, sold 6 million copies. (0:27:58) Jonnie: It’s not that many. (0:28:01) Jonnie: You know, like, Pokemon sells tens of millions of copies and they can’t even (0:28:06) Jonnie: draw good trees. (0:28:09) Al: the people in this trailer are very uncanny valley, I don’t know. (0:28:14) Jonnie: Oh, like, okay, and this is all, like, so Farting Simulator does these ridiculous cinematic trailers, (0:28:19) Jonnie: and it’s not just like they do these trailers, but, like, the game starts with, you know, (0:28:23) Jonnie: some ridiculous cinematics. They’re very uncanny valley. I’m just like, (0:28:27) Jonnie: how do they have the budget to make this? (0:28:30) Al: The buffalo looks great in the trailer. The people look creepy, but the buffalo looks (0:28:36) Al: great. It looks like his hairs are individually modelled. Why have they done this? This in (0:28:45) Al: itself probably wiped out their budget for the game, only selling six million copies. (0:28:51) Jonnie: Why have they done this is just a great, like, all-round question for farming similes. (0:28:56) Al: Like, it’s not even a very expensive game, right? Like, it’s like 30 or 40 quid, I think, (0:29:01) Al: brand new? Um, it doesn’t even, it’s not even like 60, 70. And so, like, 6 million. (0:29:10) Al: What? Are they making money? (0:29:14) Jonnie: We’ve got to be somewhere. Maybe it’s all the DLC that they do. (0:29:18) Jonnie: Maybe that’s the real business model. (0:29:20) Al: Of course. Of course, they have brands in the game. That’s exactly what it is. (0:29:26) Al: Because every DLC is like, “Oh, here’s a new brand of machine.” (0:29:30) Jonnie: Ahh, yes, and I did. (0:29:30) Al: A hundred and fifty brands. The brands are obviously paying to get in the game. (0:29:34) Al: That’s how they make the money. There we go. Done. (0:29:39) Al: Anyway, if you want a new farming simulator that has rice, there you go. (0:29:44) Al: But yes, this feels like a glorified DLC shoved into the game. (0:29:50) Al: I think that’s all the news. Interesting selection of news. (0:29:54) Al: Next, we’re going to talk about Starstruck Vagabond. (0:29:58) Al: OK, so where to start on this? So I guess first of all, just a quick reminder, (0:30:03) Al: this is the new game by Yatsy Croshaw. It is a delivery-based game, shall we say, (0:30:12) Al: where you have a ship or you get a ship and then you use that to make deliveries. (0:30:21) Al: And yeah, that’s it, right? (0:30:24) Jonnie: Yep, that’s… that’s the game. (0:30:29) Al: I feel like I’m going to struggle probably like you to explain my feelings about this game. (0:30:36) Al: I don’t think I dislike it. I think you have said you do dislike it. (0:30:43) Jonnie: I would like to say that I loathe this game (0:30:48) Al: Wow! That is quite a- (0:30:51) Al: Do we want to talk about the mechanics first, or do you want to talk about your feelings about it first? (0:30:56) Jonnie: Maybe I’ll talk about my feelings first and then we can use that as a segue into the mechanics and like (0:30:59) Al: Okay. Sure. (0:31:02) Jonnie: fundamentally (0:31:04) Jonnie: So I like the vibe of this game (0:31:06) Jonnie: I think the music in the game is incredible the art style is not for everyone (0:31:11) Jonnie: But it totally makes sense in terms of like both the scope of the development and and what the game is going for (0:31:17) Jonnie: This game is so unfun to play. I (0:31:21) Jonnie: Couldn’t like I have rage quit this game. I tried to play it like three or four times and every session after (0:31:27) Jonnie: 15 minutes ended up with me just like (0:31:29) Jonnie: Rage quitting the game and needing to play something else. I just never had fun (0:31:34) Jonnie: Trying to do anything in this game because mechanically it is so (0:31:42) Jonnie: clunky (0:31:43) Jonnie: There was just I couldn’t like it wasn’t like I you know, the first time I played it and I think I rage quit (0:31:48) Jonnie: I was like, maybe it’s just me right? Like you’ve got to give these things a chance (0:31:52) Jonnie: But the more I played the less I wanted to be playing this game (0:31:57) Jonnie: There was nothing enjoyable about it. And it’s it’s shocking to me that a game in this state (0:32:05) Jonnie: Made it to release. I just don’t see (0:32:08) Jonnie: Like I struggle to see where someone (0:32:12) Jonnie: Designing this game thought the fun lived because I cannot see it (0:32:16) Jonnie: You (0:32:16) Al: we’re definitely not getting a retweet from Yahtzee. he doesn’t strike me the (0:32:24) Al: sort of person that wouldn’t listen before he retweets something as some (0:32:28) Al: developers very clearly do when I post about talking about their game and they (0:32:33) Al: retweet and I’m like you didn’t listen to this because we just slag off your (0:32:36) Al: game okay I don’t feel the same as that it’s not that I love the game though (0:32:46) Al: goodness um I don’t know why I’m struggling so much to explain how I feel (0:32:52) Al: about this game let’s let’s go through the mechanics and maybe we can talk (0:32:56) Al: about individual things and maybe that will give me a better idea of how I feel (0:33:01) Al: about this game overall so the idea is you you have your ship and you go to a (0:33:08) Al: place and you pick up packages and you take that to another place and as you go (0:33:13) Al: you upgrade your ship and there’s (0:33:17) Al: story and things happen. But there are (0:33:20) Al: basically like four main mechanics and (0:33:25) Al: that is carrying things to your ship and (0:33:29) Al: away from your ship and then the three (0:33:31) Al: mechanics that are basically only ever (0:33:33) Al: on your ship and that is welding, (0:33:37) Al: cleaning and I’ve said wrenching because (0:33:39) Al: I’m not really sure how to describe it (0:33:42) Al: other than you’ve got a wrench and you (0:33:44) Al: twist things like things are (0:33:46) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s how I would describe it. (0:33:46) Al: out of alignment. And you have to make them in alignment. There’s never really any kind (0:33:52) Al: of like problem solving with this is very much like you can tell that the idea behind (0:33:59) Al: this was not to be a puzzler. Obviously it’s meant to be, you know, just doing things to (0:34:07) Al: upgrade things. Like it looks at Stardew and goes, how do I do that sort of thing, but (0:34:13) Al: not in farming, and… (0:34:16) Al: kind of replaces things like watering and mining and stuff with these things instead. (0:34:24) Al: And so like when you’re… when something happens and you need to use one of these mechanics it’s (0:34:28) Al: like very clear the icon shows you, right? Like you see a little welder or you see a little cleaner (0:34:35) Al: thing. I don’t even know what it is we’re using to clean. Is it like a high pressure? It’s not (0:34:39) Al: like a sponge or anything, it’s like some cleaning device. And there or it shows the wrench. (0:34:40) Jonnie: Yeah, I thought it was like some sort of like water gun. (0:34:47) Al: Um, these are always very reactive, I guess. So like if you’re traveling and you hit an asteroid (0:34:54) Al: your ship will stop and you have to go and fix everything. Or you’ll come across someone who’s (0:34:59) Al: sent out an SOS and you have to go about their ship and you have to help them. They’re not really (0:35:05) Al: used as… I guess maybe that’s kind of my issue with these parts is they’re… they’re about getting (0:35:12) Al: back to the state that you were in, rather than improving the state. (0:35:16) Al: Everything in a farming game is giving you something, either giving you crops or giving you a resource of some kind to build that up. (0:35:27) Al: Technically, the welding does give you resources when you go to planets. I forgot about that, but we’ll come back to that in a minute. (0:35:33) Al: But on your ship, there is no getting things. Your ship is just a way to get between places, and these mechanics are just about, (0:35:48) Jonnie: Yeah, and I think what you’ve hit on is probably my fundamental issue with the game is that (0:35:59) Jonnie: these mechanics entirely exist to stop you from moving in the game, and there’s nothing (0:36:05) Jonnie: particularly fun about them, and I think the insight that all it is is returning your ship (0:36:10) Jonnie: to a state where it can fly, rather than about making any improvement to it, is exactly right. (0:36:17) Jonnie: You know one of the times I write (0:36:18) Jonnie: about this game is my ship got (0:36:20) Jonnie: damaged flying from planet A to planet B (0:36:22) Jonnie: and I went to fix it (0:36:24) Jonnie: and I died while fixing it. (0:36:26) Jonnie: I have no idea why I was dying (0:36:26) Al: Oh, I know why you die. I know why you die because I had that issue as well. You were (0:36:28) Jonnie: I couldn’t work it out (0:36:33) Al: out of stamina. So, yeah, I think once you’ve done that and you realized it, it then becomes (0:36:34) Jonnie: Ah, that was super unclear to me. (0:36:43) Al: more clear. But yeah, I find it a bit confusing when that happens because you’re like, “Oh, (0:36:48) Al: I’m losing health.” And you’re like, “Oh, is this because I need to do things quicker?” (0:36:52) Al: like the, the life support system isn’t working. So I need to do it quicker. So you do. (0:36:56) Jonnie: That’s what I thought it was, yep. (0:36:57) Al: But that, but that makes you die quicker because it’s your stamina that’s the issue. (0:37:01) Jonnie: Uh, so like, that stuff, like, and that’s just like, I was already not playing the game, (0:37:08) Jonnie: and to then die and be told that you’re gonna be charged some amount of money, (0:37:11) Jonnie: I was just like, I’m straight up not having a good time with this. (0:37:13) Jonnie: I don’t, I was like, I didn’t want to work it out, I just wanted to not play. (0:37:16) Jonnie: That was, that was how that experience made me feel, (0:37:20) Jonnie: ‘cause it didn’t feel like a puzzle. (0:37:21) Jonnie: I’m already feel like I’m being punished for not being particularly good (0:37:26) Jonnie: at the kind of terrible piloting mechanics like just nothing nothing (0:37:31) Jonnie: mechanically about this game was like wow I feel like I’m you know having fun (0:37:37) Jonnie: being a space delivery man it all felt like I am I’m prevented from being a (0:37:45) Jonnie: space delivery man because I have to be a mechanic that keeps dying like yeah (0:37:49) Jonnie: and that was that was a huge point of frustration for me (0:37:52) Al: Mm hmm. I think it’s probably fairly accurate to how hard space travel is, right? Like just (0:38:03) Al: constantly things going wrong. Uh, because space travel is hard. That doesn’t necessarily (0:38:08) Al: mean that it’s fun. Yeah, I think I didn’t, it didn’t make me rage quit the game, but (0:38:13) Al: I certainly got frustrated when it was like, Oh, you’re going to another planet to do a (0:38:17) Al: thing and oh no, no, no, I have to spend five minutes. (0:38:22) Al: Going and clicking on 10 different things in my ship just to continue moving. And you (0:38:28) Al: get nothing from that. Yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t find that fun. Um, the welding, let’s talk (0:38:35) Al: about the, the welding on the planets. Did you get to a planet and resource grab, getting (0:38:40) Al: resources from that? I can’t remember how early that happens, but you do that in the (0:38:42) Jonnie: And not outside of the tutorial (0:38:44) Jonnie: There’s the there’s one in the very (0:38:46) Jonnie: Yeah, you get the what do they call it? That’s the the not worth anything in it’s not called that but it’s (0:38:52) Al: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that’s the best part of the game personally, because kind of. I dislike (0:38:53) Jonnie: It’s something like that (0:39:04) Al: it in some ways as well, but let’s come to that. I like that idea. That’s kind of the thing that (0:39:10) Al: most I enjoy is the idea of you going to these unexplored planets and getting stuff from them. (0:39:17) Al: And that was certainly when I was having the most fun. What I didn’t. (0:39:22) Al: Like about it was how you have no inventory, right? And all you, well, not for those things (0:39:32) Al: you get on. You technically do have an inventory. Do you? No, I don’t think you ever have like, (0:39:39) Al: you can’t put things in pockets. You can’t put them in a bag. All you can do is grab something (0:39:43) Al: and put it on your, your platform. And so that limits you to taking three things from a planet (0:39:50) Al: at once, which it reminds me of. (0:39:52) Jonnie: And can we talk about the three things thing? (0:39:55) Jonnie: ‘Cause my God, that drove me insane. (0:39:59) Jonnie: Like the movement in this game, (0:40:01) Jonnie: where I get that like the space on your ship (0:40:04) Jonnie: is kind of meant to be one of the limiting factors, (0:40:07) Jonnie: but it’s so restrictive at the start. (0:40:09) Jonnie: I spent maybe, this is another time I rage quit the game, (0:40:12) Jonnie: was because I couldn’t work out (0:40:14) Jonnie: that I had the specific square on the landing platform (0:40:17) Jonnie: that you need to lower the landing platform, (0:40:20) Jonnie: blocked off with one of the things (0:40:22) Jonnie: that I’m delivering. (0:40:23) Jonnie: And like, that’s not a fun game mechanic. (0:40:25) Jonnie: That’s just a frustrating user experience, right? (0:40:27) Jonnie: Like, just let me put four things on the landing platform (0:40:31) Jonnie: that has the loading platform, that has four spaces on it, (0:40:34) Jonnie: and let that go up and down. (0:40:36) Jonnie: Like, just not be able to move around the ship (0:40:39) Jonnie: like so early on, because I’ve got three or four boxes (0:40:42) Jonnie: in there. (0:40:43) Jonnie: Again, nothing fun about that. (0:40:44) Al: Yeah. Yeah, and you have no real storage space on your ship to start with. And even after you’ve (0:40:51) Al: upgraded it at least once, because I upgraded it at least once, you still don’t have any storage (0:40:57) Al: space. You’re like plonking it in random places, blocking you off from getting to places. (0:41:04) Al: Ehm. (0:41:05) Jonnie: Yeah and I don’t mind like a bit of a Tetris puzzle to go with storage but again it didn’t (0:41:12) Jonnie: really feel like a puzzle as much as just like hey the natural place where you want to put the (0:41:16) Jonnie: stuff is the wrong spot to put the stuff and it’s just going to prevent you from playing more of (0:41:20) Al: - Hmm. (0:41:21) Jonnie: the game which is that’s how I feel about most of the mechanics of this game most of the mechanics (0:41:24) Jonnie: feel like they exist just to make sure that the game actually has some length to it. (0:41:28) Al: Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I found it, it felt a little bit when I was on that planet and I (0:41:35) Al: was gathering things and I was like, Oh, the realisation that I can only take three things (0:41:39) Al: from this planet. It felt very much like the first time I played Animal Crossing New Leaf (0:41:46) Al: where you’re like gathering like apples and stuff and you can only stack up to nine in (0:41:52) Al: your inventory. And I’m like, why? Why is that so restrictive? (0:41:58) Al: And I don’t know, maybe there are people that find that sort of thing fun, right? Because (0:42:02) Al: there are games based around these sorts of things that like strand games where it’s (0:42:08) Al: like you have to have, you know, very limited space in your bag. So you have to only take (0:42:13) Al: certain stuff. I don’t find that fun. And having that in this game massively reduced (0:42:22) Al: my enjoyment of that. I think if that in particular, like if you had an inventory. (0:42:29) Al: For everything, I guess, other than packages, right? Like I understand why the packages (0:42:32) Al: would be like physical things, because that’s the whole point of the game is you’re delivering (0:42:35) Al: things, right? But things like your upgrade units and your rocks and stuff like that, (0:42:42) Al: they still have to take up the same amount of space as a massive package. Like that doesn’t (0:42:46) Al: feel right to me and it feels unfun. (0:42:50) Jonnie: Yeah, I agree. I think it’s a really good point that I think is being missed in a lot of cottagecore genres. (0:42:56) Jonnie: Like, actually, inventory management is not fun, and I feel like this is something that has persisted, you know, because it probably existed due to technical limitations of games in earlier times. (0:43:10) Jonnie: That doesn’t need to exist anymore, because the games that I most enjoy that have an inventory management aspect is because there is some associated with it. (0:43:20) Jonnie: We’re having a limited inventory, kind of, you know, impacts the difficulty of the game, right? There are some games where it’s like, “Well, yeah, if I could take infinite healing potions, of course I could kill the boss.” (0:43:32) Jonnie: Like, that’s… But, you know, if I can only take three with me, then that becomes much more of a challenge. (0:43:38) Jonnie: Cottagecore games don’t have any… Like, it’s not like the game gets harder or more difficult because you’ve got limited inventory. It just becomes more frustrating if you’ve got a limited inventory. (0:43:49) Al: Yeah, and I suspect that the whole point was to be like, yeah, you have a small ship and (0:43:50) Jonnie: Which is not the same thing. (0:43:58) Al: you have to deal with that. But yeah, the idea that a rock is going to take up as much (0:44:02) Al: space as it does in my ship doesn’t make any sense. You can get a lot of rocks in a box, (0:44:08) Al: you know, I can put rocks in my pocket, but I can only put three of them on my loading (0:44:12) Al: platform. Silly. Okay, so that I feel… (0:44:19) Al: moves into the deliveries, right? Because we’ve talked about getting stuff from planets (0:44:22) Al: and the deliveries. I think I wonder… So your point about not being able to put four (0:44:30) Al: on the platform that has four slots. Yeah, that’s, that’s very annoying. I get that. (0:44:36) Al: I completely agree with you on that. And I think that that would make a massive difference (0:44:39) Al: to the game. I totally understand why the boxes take up space on your ship. And I think (0:44:45) Al: I would be fine with that if it were for a few changes and one of the (0:44:49) Al: would be your starting ship actually having somewhere to store stuff that isn’t just the (0:44:53) Al: corridors, right? Like one small space, like make it four spaces to start with, right? And then if (0:45:01) Al: you take on a delivery that’s more than four, then you have to deal with that annoyance, right? (0:45:04) Al: I get that. That’s the kind of not risk, right? Because it’s not really a risk, it’s an annoyance, (0:45:10) Al: but you’re balancing the annoyance with getting more reward in a shorter period of time. And that, (0:45:16) Al: I think totally works. (0:45:18) Jonnie: 100% right because I think the Tetris puzzle aspect of it is kind of fun in the idea that it’s like (0:45:25) Jonnie: Oh, I now yeah, like you say, I want to carry more (0:45:28) Jonnie: So I’m gonna overflow from my storage space into my corridors and now I need to build paths and stuff (0:45:33) Jonnie: So I can make sure I can still get around to everything (0:45:36) Jonnie: That’s totally fine. Right because at that point it feels like a choice. It was just never a choice (0:45:40) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it doesn’t even need to necessarily have a new area on the ship. (0:45:45) Al: Just being able to walk around your storage area when it’s full. That would solve it. (0:45:50) Al: You’re not your storage area, you’re your loading platform, right? Because you have (0:45:53) Al: to walk through your loading platform to get to the back of the ship by default, right? (0:45:58) Al: So if you could just walk around it, that would solve the problem. And then you can (0:46:04) Al: upgrade your ship later on to have more storage space or whatever. (0:46:10) Al: I think that’s my only real annoyance about the deliveries part of it. Like, other than (0:46:15) Al: obviously I know you’re not a huge fan of the ship movement. I didn’t dislike that. (0:46:20) Al: I thought it was quite fun. I don’t know whether you realized this or not, but you didn’t have (0:46:24) Al: to do that minigame when you’re traveling. If you just exited out of it, your ship would (0:46:32) Al: fly itself. But you wouldn’t get any of the advantages of the minigame. (0:46:36) Jonnie: at their advantages to the minigame? (0:46:40) Al: You didn’t get to the warp core bit, did you? So basically, there are four things that happen (0:46:40) Jonnie: No. (0:46:51) Al: on that miniscreen. So one of them is the meteors that you have to avoid. Two is there’s (0:46:56) Al: clouds of dirt. And if you go through them, you have to clean your ship. Three is the (0:47:03) Al: S.O.S. so you can hear S.O.S. calls and go to them. That would be one of the advantages. (0:47:10) Al: You don’t get them if you don’t do the minigame. And going to the S.O.S. calls allow you to (0:47:16) Al: get more stuff. You can get money by fixing people’s ships and stuff like that. But the (0:47:21) Al: other one is the little orange clouds on the minigame screen. Those are actually things (0:47:28) Al: you can collect to get warp core fuel. So you can get free warp core fuel by flying through (0:47:38) Jonnie: Oh, I thought that they were… I think I was avoiding them because I assumed that they were bad things. (0:47:43) Al: It explains that once yeah, so it explains that once you get the warp core that you can fly through them and (0:47:50) Al: Replenish your warp core fuel. So because otherwise you have to buy warp core fuel, but that gives you that gives you more for free (0:47:54) Jonnie: Ah, right, so I never got the warp course. (0:47:58) Al: So like you you need the warp core to move between the planetary systems (0:48:03) Al: And you start off without warp core so you can only go between was it three planets in the first system? (0:48:08) Jonnie: Yeah, I think three. (0:48:09) Al: and then you need a certain amount of warp core fuel to get to (0:48:13) Al: one system away and a certain amount to get to two away blah blah blah blah (0:48:18) Al: So I actually quite like the way they do that (0:48:21) Al: Maybe they didn’t explain it well enough and that you can actually exit out of it and you you don’t I (0:48:28) Al: Think maybe it slowly builds up dirt that you have to clean off (0:48:31) A

Grab your vuvuzelas, as we're headed to South Africa to check out some VIDEOGAMES.There's deep dives into Terra Nil and Broforce that come courtesy of Cape Town natives Free Lives Games, but, as ever, so much more.Has Chris really become the only human on the planet who's managed to get Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut running on the Steam Deck?What's Jonathan's favourite shell in recent indie hit Another Crab's Treasure?Has Chris finally beaten all of the Outer Worlds DLC, a cool 2 years late?And what's Jonathan's mobile game du jour this month?-HUGE THANKS to our AMAZING Patreon Subscribers!!Join us all in the O3C Discord server here!Support us either via Patreon or with a one off donation here!Sign up to our newsletter here.Follow us on social media:O3C FacebookO3C Twitter / XO3C InstagramO3C YouTubeO3C TikTokReach out to us individually:Jonathan - Twitter / XChris - Bluesky

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

It's the ultimate video game power fantasy: the power to clean up after ourselves. Terra Nil is a unique “city builder” in the lineage of Sim City, but with tasks you with revitalizing a wilderness...

In this episode, Brian, Kris, and Lucas discuss a wide range of games, laugh at predictive text Harry Potter, and much more! Enjoy. TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS: Void Terrarium 2 - 2:00 | 20 Minutes Till Dawn - 5:00 | Reigns: Three Kingdoms - 6:40 | Wizardry: The Proving Grounds Of The Mad Overlord - 25:30 | Why Do We Shy From Certain Aesthetics? - 40:00 | Harry Potter & The Portrait Of What Looked Like A Large Pile Of Ash - 57:35 | Terra Nil - 1:03:40 | Itch.io - 1:13:37 | Granblue Fantasy Relink - 1:17:29 | Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes - 1:43:30 | Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth - 2:11:19 | POTENTIAL EPISODE TITLES (EACH "+" IS A HOST VOTE): Taiyo-ken & Kaio-ken | Giving You The Ole' Solar Flare | +++Level 1 Intellect Dumbass | What Do You Think Graph Paper Was Invented For | +We Went At It For A Long Time | And You Can Eat My Entire A$%#%@^ | You Got Tinder In My RTS! | ++This Whole Time, Brian Was The Real Dynasty Warrior | +++The Man Who Decided He Wouldn't Try To Go After Being The King That One Time | +Harry Potter & The Portrait Of What Looked Like A Large Pile Of Ash | ++Ron's Ron Shirt Was As Bad As Ron Himself | Multiplayer Writing | +Theater Kids Without A Stage | [The Platformers Video Game Podcast is created, hosted, edited, written, & streamed by Brian Barnett on Twitch.tv/Ribnax]

Al and Jonnie talk about the games they are most looking forward to in 2024 Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:07: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:54: News 00:20:55: 2024 Upcoming Games 00:51:04: Outro Links Terra Nil Travellers Rest Christmas Update Sprout Valley Winter Holidays Update Len’s Island Companions and Languages Update Tales of the Shire Snacko Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Rusty’s Retirement Go-Go Town Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom Horticular 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’re here today to talk about Cottagecore Games. (0:00:36) Jonnie: - And my name is Johnny. (0:00:41) Jonnie: - Whoo! (0:00:43) Al: Before we get into it, transcripts are available for the podcast and the show notes and the website. (0:00:49) Al: Hi, Johnny. (0:00:50) Al: How are you doing? (0:00:50) Jonnie: Good good. I’m feeling excited about today’s (0:00:53) Al: Hmm. (0:00:54) Al: Nice. (0:00:54) Al: Nice, nice, nice. (0:00:55) Al: Yes, today we’re going to chat about what games, well, what college school. (0:01:00) Al: We are looking forward to most this year and I guess we’ll try and keep the list too, not too long. (0:01:11) Al: Because, I mean, I wrote down three and then Johnny wrote down five and looking at Johnny’s five, of course, I noticed at least one that I forgot about, so. (0:01:20) Jonnie: Yeah, and that’s maybe part of the reason I put it on my list. (0:01:25) Al: Yeah, is it not in the list of release games or did I just not put a date on it? (0:01:28) Jonnie: It is not. I don’t think you’ve put it on. Maybe it’s there without a doubt. (0:01:32) Jonnie: Anyway, we’ll get to that. I also have some games that didn’t quite make my list. (0:01:36) Al: it is there. Yeah okay well let’s do some news first because we do have a few bits of news and just to point out we are recording this two weeks before release because I mean neither of us wanted to record on the last weekend of the year. So we are, this might be a little bit out of date and if we’ve missed anything then it’ll be in hopefully next week’s episode. So yeah. (0:01:37) Jonnie: So. (0:02:06) Al: Awesome. But before the news, Jonny what have you been up to? (0:02:10) Jonnie: What have I been up to? I’ve been up to Coral Island. It’s great, but doesn’t run great on the Xbox Series S and it crashes a lot and I kind of got a bit annoyed. (0:02:23) Jonnie: Just too many days where it crashes kind of at the end of the day and you lose the progress and it’s just very frustrating. So I have put it back down. (0:02:30) Al: Yeah, that’s disappointing. (0:02:32) Jonnie: But that game’s still really great. I think if you’re playing it on literally anything else, it runs fine. I think they’re just having problems with the Series S. (0:02:40) Jonnie: this. (0:02:41) Al: Yeah, they don’t seem to be the best at having optimised it yet, because like on the Steam Deck where I’ve been playing it, it runs really well, but it runs really hot and I get maybe like three hours of battery out of the Steam Deck, which is not a lot. So maybe not even that much, maybe it’s like two hours or something like that. It’s certainly not a huge amount of time. So I think it’s just really badly optimised just now and hopefully they can work at that and get it working better. (0:03:11) Al: Um, I, my, my hope is that as they get it working on the switch, which is what they’re currently working on, that they figure out better ways to optimize things. (0:03:21) Al: And once it’s actually working on the switch, they’ve passed those optimizations onto other things and it works better on, on the series S as well. (0:03:28) Jonnie: Yeah, I have to say given the current running I cannot imagine this game running at all on a switch in its current state (0:03:34) Al: No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, which is not great. (0:03:38) Al: So hopefully they fix that rather than just release a terrible port on Switch. (0:03:42) Al: I guess we’ll find out sometime this year. (0:03:44) Jonnie: Yeah, and so since I put that down, the game I decided to pick up is Palia, which came out on Switch (0:03:53) Jonnie: last week, I think. Last week as we’re recording this, middle of December, I guess, based off… (0:03:58) Al: 14th of December, yeah. (0:03:59) Jonnie: Yeah, and I’m having a really good time with it so far. It’s… (0:04:05) Al: Interesting. (0:04:05) Al: It’s an MMO, right? (0:04:07) Jonnie: Yeah, I don’t really understand what the MMO aspects of the game are yet. (0:04:12) Jonnie: Great. (0:04:14) Al: Okay. (0:04:14) Jonnie: But it feels very like… I don’t know if you ever played World of Warcraft back in the day. (0:04:21) Al: Like very, very small amount. (0:04:23) Jonnie: Well, so the starting in many ways to me feels fairly similar to starting World of Warcraft. (0:04:28) Jonnie: Like there’s definitely a visual similarity. (0:04:30) Jonnie: And it’s just one of those things where you see other players running around in the world probably doing the same things you’re doing. (0:04:36) Jonnie: But you don’t really have any reason to interact with them at this point. (0:04:42) Jonnie: So I’m curious to see. (0:04:44) Al: Interesting. (0:04:44) Jonnie: What that is, but. (0:04:44) Al: And is the gameplay loop like standard farming game or? (0:04:51) Jonnie: No, it seems I guess a little bit more adventure based, so the the days run, (0:04:58) Jonnie: I think every 12 hours equates to kind of like half hour of real time and they’re kind of constantly running and it seems more designed by you have your home, (0:05:10) Jonnie: which is an instance area, so that’s that’s unique to you. (0:05:14) Jonnie: You spend a bit of time there where you’ve got your farm, you build your house, (0:05:17) Jonnie: a whole bunch of stuff there, and then you go out into the world to do quests. (0:05:25) Jonnie: And in addition to your usual sort of farming game or cottagecore, (0:05:28) Jonnie: Bevy of Skills, they have hunting and I because I don’t think there’s combat (0:05:33) Jonnie: outside of hunting, so I feel like that’s maybe one of the things that you’re (0:05:37) Jonnie: maybe more likely to do with other players, maybe there’s bigger creatures (0:05:40) Jonnie: that you go and hunt or something like that. (0:05:42) Al: Okay, okay (0:05:43) Jonnie: - Yeah. (0:05:44) Jonnie: Yeah, the gameplay loop seems to be more designed around do some stuff at your house, go out, (0:05:49) Jonnie: explore the world for a bit, come back, (0:05:51) Jonnie: progress things at your house because plants growing is tied to real world time. (0:05:56) Al: Okay, interesting. (0:05:57) Al: So I like that when you said that your home area is unique to you, so nobody else can go there, which means that you don’t have to worry about people destroying things and stuff like that. (0:06:07) Al: Okay. (0:06:08) Al: That’s interesting. (0:06:10) Al: I’m unsure if I want to try it. (0:06:12) Al: Like just MMOs have never really appealed to me, but it’s an interesting idea. (0:06:18) Jonnie: Yeah, I think it will be interesting to see how that finds its way into the game, because at the moment it doesn’t feel particularly obvious. (0:06:28) Jonnie: Oh, the other really cool thing that I like so far about Palia is you have a lot of control over where you can put stuff. (0:06:36) Jonnie: So it is not gridlocked. I mean, technically there is a grid, but the squares are way smaller than the items, so it’s not like you’re putting a thing on a square. (0:06:45) Al: Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. (0:06:50) Al: I can see how that would appeal to you. However, for me, that just goes everything is going to look terrible, because I can’t line them up properly. (0:06:58) Jonnie: Oh, no, you can line it up. (0:06:59) Al: OK. All right. (0:07:00) Jonnie: They have really good tools to make sure you can line stuff up properly. (0:07:03) Jonnie: So they have they have thought through that. (0:07:05) Jonnie: So I think I think you’d be OK with it. (0:07:09) Jonnie: So anyway, yeah, probably like having a lot of fun. (0:07:12) Jonnie: I look forward to sort of sharing more thoughts as I get deeper into it. (0:07:17) Jonnie: But why have you been up to? (0:07:17) Al: we’ll sign you up for that episode then. I have basically just been playing Pokemon, (0:07:25) Al: so as is standard for me when I get into a game, I get into a game and yeah I’ve been finishing up all the DLC stuff for Pokemon. I have basically done everything on one of the games, so I just need to go and do it through in the other game and get the exclusives, and then I’ll have all that done and I’m just trying to not spend my entire time shiny hunting which is always a problem I have right like I could spend forever shiny hunting but I mean only for a limited amount of time because I’m now at what’s my number I’m now at almost I’m only a couple away from 900 unique Chinese so I’ve got 200 left to go hopefully when I get to that point I can then stop until the next game. (0:08:17) Al: I suppose I can’t be trusted. So yeah, I mean, I still really like these games. I mean, overall, it’s I think I’m more kind of disappointed in some of the performance aspects of things rather than that ruining for me. It’s just a bit annoying because I think like how good could these games be if they actually ran well? (0:08:20) Jonnie: I agree, we cannot trust you, so… (0:08:42) Jonnie: Answer, not theory. (0:08:47) Al: Anyway, I have been enjoying that. So that’s basically all I’ve been playing and considering they just announced the epilogue for January, I’m sure I’ll be playing it in January as well. Yep, so there’s an extra little epilogue that’s an extra story that they haven’t talked publicly about what the story is about, but there is actually story to it. And that’s tied to a new mythical Pokemon, which they’re releasing in January. (0:08:56) Jonnie: Oh, so there’s more to come. (0:09:17) Al: And you’ll get the epilogue and mythical Pokemon at the same time. So yeah, we’ll see how that goes. So that’s my deadline for finishing what I’m finishing. Although I’ll be finished, I think probably, probably today as we’re recording, I’ll probably be finished on one game. I need to go play the other game because there’s not a huge amount of exclusives in this DLC, which is nice. There’s like six in total, but two of them are at the after of the story. (0:09:47) Al: So I need to go to the after the story part first, before I can get those two. (0:09:52) Al: But it’s fine. It’s not very long and complicated. (0:09:55) Al: Anyway, should we talk about some news? (0:09:57) Jonnie: Okay, just this once. (0:10:00) Al: So one for you, Johnny. (0:10:01) Al: Terrenil is now out on switch. (0:10:03) Jonnie: Whoo! Yeah, I actually think, uh, so I think Kev and I did the episode for this one. (0:10:10) Jonnie: I think it’s which seems like a better platform for it. (0:10:15) Jonnie: Just, I don’t know, I didn’t love the controls on mobile. (0:10:19) Jonnie: I didn’t finish it, and this kind of makes me interested to jump back in, (0:10:24) Jonnie: back in, particularly because I’m going away to a place with (0:10:27) Jonnie: dodgy internet for a few days. So I feel like I might download Terran along the switch. It might be a good one to play over Christmas break with family and friends because it’s, you know, (0:10:36) Jonnie: turn based or like you’ve got time to think about what what actions you want to take, you know, you can just pause time and things like that. I feel like this might be a good game to pick up and well, by the time you’re listening to this, I guess the I guess the holidays are done. But that’s probably (0:10:52) Al: Cool. Yeah, I will probably play it at some point now, because it is on Steam, so I could have played it on the Steam Deck, but my assumption was it wasn’t going to work hugely well with controllers, which is probably a bit unfair, because it’s not a standard now for Steam games to work well with controllers. (0:11:10) Al: But now that it’s on Switch, it definitely will have to. (0:11:13) Al: So I will have a look into that at some point. (0:11:17) Al: Travelers Rest have a new Christmas event, which is out now. (0:11:22) Al: It’s mostly just festive-based stuff, (0:11:26) Al: and we know Johnny doesn’t like talking about festive-based events anymore, so. (0:11:31) Jonnie: Yep, partly I had one and I was just like, ugh, can we not? (0:11:35) Al: Sprout Valley also have a winter holidays update, (0:11:40) Al: which does have some festive-based stuff, (0:11:42) Al: but also brings in some really fundamental changes. (0:11:46) Al: I don’t know why they’ve called this the winter holidays update. (0:11:49) Al: This is like a 2.0 with some… (0:11:52) Al: Pretty fundamental changes and it also happens to include an event that makes it snowy on the ground, right? (0:11:58) Al: So first of all, like this is huge. You can now terraform. (0:12:02) Al: This was one of the things I really wanted in this game because I found it really frustrating how (0:12:08) Al: how little land you had and how it felt like you should be able to like expand onto other islands and stuff like that (0:12:14) Al: and now you can you can just craft land tiles and just put them on the ground and you can craft water tiles and you can (0:12:20) Al: bit them on the ground so you can you can. (0:12:22) Al: Terraform your island as you see fit, which is pretty, pretty huge. (0:12:26) Jonnie: Yeah, I feel like calling this update Winter Holidays when you’re including terraforming is… (0:12:31) Jonnie: It’s just bad marketing. (0:12:34) Al: Yeah. (0:12:34) Al: Yeah. (0:12:35) Al: I really is. (0:12:35) Jonnie: You know, this should have been called the terraforming update because that is huge for a game like this. (0:12:35) Al: It really is. (0:12:40) Al: Yeah. (0:12:40) Al: Yeah. (0:12:40) Al: Or call it the 2.0 or something like make it clear that this is quite a big update, um, because they also have, um, you can now grow your own trees and So previously if you like cut all them down (0:12:52) Al: you wouldn’t have any so now you can you can add more and um you’ve also double increased not in not doubled it’s more than doubled increased the inventory space to 16 and the chess space to 32. I still think it’s a little bit weird how restrictive it is but that is much less restrictive than it was. I think it was like six and ten or something like that so it’s quite a quite a big jump. Now there is a bot here in that it only works on new saves however (0:13:23) Al: as I mentioned in the episode where I talked about this the game is very clearly designed to be like play a save for a while and then build up a new save like it’s really very definitely designed to have like lots of saves that you’ve played for a little time it’s not like a play this game in this save for a hundred hours like Stardew or Coral Island (0:13:43) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s good to hear. (0:13:46) Jonnie: I just, for 2024, the one thing I want is can we just get rid of inventory space being a thing in these games? (0:13:52) Jonnie: Like it doesn’t add anything, you know, Fafarm wins the 2023 award for best inventory management because they have the one infinite size chest, which is great. (0:14:01) Jonnie: But I’m so sick of inventory management, can we not? (0:14:04) Al: Yeah, I think Coral Island has made some movement in a positive direction on that, where you can throw anything in any chest and then you can craft anything from anywhere using your chest. (0:14:17) Al: So that, much like Fae Farm is good, but they still have like a very limited, what you can carry around with you at one point. (0:14:27) Al: So it’s like, yeah, sure, you can craft anything you want, but if your inventory is full, tough, (0:14:34) Al: you need to go back and throw something, or you need to delete something, right? (0:14:38) Al: And that’s just really frustrating. (0:14:39) Al: And I feel like it only exists so that you can upgrade your bag, which is like, okay, (0:14:44) Al: sure. (0:14:45) Al: Fine. (0:14:46) Al: If you’re going to do that, make the final upgrade an infinite upgrade, right? (0:14:51) Al: Because it’s like, oh yeah, you can upgrade it, but then you can only upgrade it to four times its original size. (0:14:56) Jonnie: Well, even like, because even upgrading it doesn’t it doesn’t do anything like it’s not tied to anything else in the game, it feels like one of those, you know, things that is a legacy, probably like inventory space was probably originally added to these games because games couldn’t handle you having large inventories of stuff, right? (0:15:18) Jonnie: If you go back to like original harvest moon or, or whatever, like it was probably difficult. And now people think of it. (0:15:26) Jonnie: As this feature that a game has to have instead of an annoying frustrating mechanic that adds nothing. (0:15:33) Al: Yeah, yeah, that’s fair. Yeah. It definitely feels like something that came from games that had very limited like memory and storage space. And therefore we can only give you this much. Like if back to like the original Harvest Moon episode that we had where it’s like you literally have two spaces in your inventory and it’s for your, your tools and and everything else doesn’t exist in your inventory. (0:16:01) Al: Um, like that. (0:16:03) Al: Because everything else was basically just a counter of how much you have of each thing. (0:16:08) Al: Um, well, that doesn’t really exist anymore. And it feels like it’s like with games with lives, (0:16:14) Al: right? That’s a holdover as well. And so many of them like Sonic and Mario, um, have started kind of moving away from that. So Sonic, I don’t think has lives anymore in the newest game. And Mario doesn’t in some of its games and does in some of its games, which is just a bit of a weird kind of like it’s half moved away from it. (0:16:33) Al: I think the 3D ones don’t tend to have like, I don’t think Odyssey had lives, but Mario Wonder does have lives, but you can also get basically infinite number if you have, if you play the game as it is, right? (0:16:47) Al: Like it’s such a weird thing where like lives kind of exists in games still, but it’s like why does this still exist even though it was a clear holdover from arcade games and only existed to get you to pay more money. (0:17:04) Al: So yeah, I agree inventory space, make it infinite, we don’t care anymore there, especially with these games have so many different things you can upgrade, right? (0:17:12) Al: If you couldn’t upgrade your bag in Stardew or in Coral Island, no one would be like, (0:17:16) Al: “Oh, there’s nothing to upgrade.” (0:17:17) Al: Of course there is. (0:17:19) Jonnie: Right? There’s so much to do. (0:17:21) Al: And if you think you need more, you just have to think of one other thing to make it the same amount as it would have been, right? (0:17:28) Al: Like it’s just such a, whatever. (0:17:30) Al: Anyway, yes, great. Have I missed anything else on? (0:17:33) Al: This, uh, oh yeah, they’ve got more translations coming to Sprout Valley soon. (0:17:38) Al: So that’s good. (0:17:39) Al: What have we got? (0:17:39) Al: Polish, Portuguese, French, Spanish, German, Bulgarian, and Korean. (0:17:44) Al: That’s an interesting list. (0:17:45) Al: I wonder if that’s just people that they knew because like, it’s funny. (0:17:48) Jonnie: Sometimes, yeah, it can be hard to get access to people that can do a good job translating. (0:17:54) Jonnie: I think that is one of those things that is an underrated skill. (0:17:57) Jonnie: You know, it requires more than just knowing the language. It is a real skill. (0:18:02) Al: Yeah, because obviously Spanish and Portuguese and French make perfect sense. And then you got German and Polish, which are like, okay, fine. Kind of still quite fundamental European ones. (0:18:12) Al: And then you’ve got Korean. And that’s the only non-European one. Obviously, (0:18:19) Al: Spanish and Portuguese and French do cover larger areas than just in Europe because colonialism, (0:18:25) Al: but they’re still like based from Europe. It’s just really funny that the only kind of age and one they have is Korean, which I mean, I’m not saying, oh, they should definitely have more. (0:18:36) Al: I’m just saying it’s just a funny looking list. That’s exactly what I’m saying. How dare they? (0:18:36) Jonnie: No, you’re saying they shouldn’t have Korean right, Al. That’s what I… (0:18:41) Al: How dare they? No, it’s just funny list. Yes, Lenz Island. Yep, they’re companions and languages update, which I feel like we’re missing some information about this, but I couldn’t find (0:18:46) Jonnie: Uh, speaking of translations, Lenz Island. (0:19:02) Al: actually look directly on Steam. Let me check Steam, see if there’s anything. But nope, (0:19:08) Al: there’s nothing more about this. Literally all we have is a tweet, which says the companions and languages update launches this Friday, which is basically today as we’re recording. So soon. (0:19:19) Al: Actually, it should already be out based on what they said. They said two days ago, they said it’s coming out in 12 p.m. AEST tomorrow. So it should be out. Like that’s now. That was only a few hours ago. (0:19:32) Jonnie: Uh, yeah, that was many hours ago. (0:19:38) Al: they’ve not posted about it being a no they have not okay yeah all we know about is the they’re adding languages and presumably there’s gonna be something about your companions in the game but they haven’t said what so they’ve said they’re adding Spanish Thai German and Chinese simplified Chinese I always that is one of the languages I’d I never quite sure because like the language situation in China is very complicated because you’ve got… (0:19:40) Jonnie: Well, by the time this episode comes out, it will definitely be all resolved. (0:20:08) Al: Mandarin and Cantonese, and those are separate from simplified and traditional, which I believe both Mandarin and Cantonese can be either simplified or traditional. (0:20:19) Al: So when they say simplified Chinese, I don’t know what they’re talking about. (0:20:24) Jonnie: Me either if you know send us (0:20:26) Al: Because I believe that simplified and traditional is about the characters they use, but Cantonese and Mandarin are about how they use those characters. (0:20:38) Al: So that’s good. (0:20:38) Al: We like accessibility for people in games, and that includes being able to read in your own language. (0:20:44) Al: All right, that’s all the news. (0:20:46) Al: Not a huge amount, because as I said, we’re recording two weeks early. (0:20:50) Al: No, just a week early. (0:20:50) Al: We like accessibility for people in games, and that includes being able to read in your own language. (0:20:56) Al: All right, that’s all the news. (0:20:58) Al: Not a huge amount, because as I said, we’re recording two weeks early. (0:21:06) Jonnie: We recorded like three days ago and that’s why there’s not much use. (0:21:10) Jonnie: And also it’s it’s Christmas. I don’t know we recorded some number of days ago. (0:21:16) Jonnie: Four. Four days ago. Yeah time is weird right now when we’re recording because also that’s 2023 and this is coming out in 2024. No we recorded this Monday. Just gone. (0:21:16) Al: There’s still an episode to come out. (0:21:22) Al: Yeah, it’s a week and a half ago we recorded. (0:21:27) Al: Yep. (0:21:30) Al: No, we’re recording right now, Johnny! (0:21:33) Jonnie: Yeah, but the… (laughs) (0:21:33) Al: Oh, oh, I see what you mean. (0:21:38) Jonnie: I just… yeah. (0:21:38) Al: I know what you mean. (0:21:40) Al: Yeah, okay. (0:21:40) Al: I thought you were trying to do that thing where when this comes out, (0:21:44) Al: you’re saying we recorded four days ago. (0:21:44) Jonnie: Ah, no. (laughs) (0:21:46) Al: Right, no, what you’re saying is we actually recorded four days ago and that’s why there’s no news, because we get it all in the last episode. (0:21:52) Jonnie: Correct. Correct. (0:21:53) Al: I understand. (0:21:54) Al: I understand. (0:21:55) Al: We’re going to talk about what we’re excited about coming out this year. (0:21:58) Jonnie: Yeah, ‘cause 2023 was a dumpster fire, so we’re throwing it in the bin and we’re talking about what we’re excited for in 2020. (0:22:08) Al: Yeah, there’s a lot of games. (0:22:10) Al: I’m not going to do the thing that I did for the Game of the Year episode What I just list everything is on the list because that would. (0:22:16) Al: Be insane and there are. (0:22:17) Jonnie: Also, half of it might not come out, so… (0:22:20) Al: Half of it probably won’t come out. (0:22:22) Al: We currently still have 12 games that are currently still scheduled to release in 2023. (0:22:29) Al: And I don’t think they’re going to release in 2023, (0:22:31) Al: but they haven’t officially said they’re not going to. (0:22:35) Al: So at some point over the next week, I will just be changing all those to 2024 and assuming that they’re going to pretend that they’re going to release next year instead. (0:22:44) Jonnie: I think I need to go to TBA. (0:22:44) Al: So yeah. (0:22:46) Jonnie: Thanks. (0:22:46) Al: So, probably. We do have a lot of TBAs as well, and maybe some of them will release this year. Who knows? Oh, I forgot. We still have a new story of seasons. We have two new stories of seasons and two new run factories that have been announced. I wonder if any of them will announce next year. (0:23:04) Al: Let’s talk about what we actually know that they think… I say no that’s coming out next year. Actually, we don’t know this at all, because remember Snacko was the most… No, (0:23:14) Al: The neck hole was, and snackle, I think. (0:23:16) Al: have both been most anticipated multiple times, so who knows whether any of these will actually come out, but we’ll see. So there’s lots of exciting. So Johnny, do you want to give us one to start with? (0:23:30) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m going to start with my most exciting game for 2024, which is Tales of the Shire. (0:23:36) Al: Yeah. And I forgot about this game. Apparently I missed it in the list. It is in the list. (0:23:40) Al: I can see it in the list. It says 2024, but apparently I completely forgot it. How did I forget about this? I have no idea. Uh, we, we’re going to have to do this episode together. (0:23:48) Al: I think Johnny. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know other people will be excited about it, but sorry. I’m, I’m bagging it right now. It makes no sense. (0:23:48) Jonnie: I think so. Yeah, look, and if I’m not on it as a Kiwi, you know, like Lord of the Rings is basically our country, and I may know people that are working on this game and have not been able to talk about it for the last, you know, however many years they’ve been working on it. (0:24:12) Jonnie: But I am very excited to get my hands on Tales of the Shire. (0:24:20) Jonnie: So I’m going to start with the first one, which is a particular given how good Disney Dreamlight Valley was. (0:24:24) Al: Hmm (0:24:28) Jonnie: Not that I expected this to be similar, but it’s raised my bar for a cottagecore game based on a well-readed game. (0:24:32) Al: Yeah, I think, I hope it’s not like Dreamlight Valley, I hope it’s different. Because, I mean, (0:24:40) Al: as much as I like Dreamlight Valley, I don’t want that. But with Hobbits, right? I want it to be different. I think I agree with you. I think Disney have shown that you can do good tie-in games (0:24:55) Al: in cottagecore genre. Obviously, we’ve seen that with other games, right? Like the Spider-Man games are incredible. They’ve not just phoned it in with that. (0:25:02) Al: But a lot of tie-in games with existing IP are pretty dreadful and have been for decades. (0:25:11) Al: It was the standard thing that you make a film and then you make a terrible game about it. And people would buy that game because it tied into your game and so many of them are terrible. I played one of the more recent Transformers ones and it was dreadful still. (0:25:25) Al: They’re still making them, still making absolutely terrible ones. And then you have the really big ones that were also still terrible like the Avengers game. (0:25:32) Al: And stuff like that, apparently they’re still doing that. So I think Disney and I guess Sony (0:25:41) Al: with the Spider-Man games have proven that you can make really good tie-in games. (0:25:46) Al: And I hope this is also really good. And if it’s not, I’ll be right back. (0:25:52) Jonnie: Me too. I think that for me the biggest difference is that you know Disney has such a vast array of characters to pull from (0:25:59) Jonnie: And Lord of the Rings like the characters aren’t the appeal. It’s the setting so I think it’s gonna be really interesting (0:26:06) Jonnie: How I guess how much the world feels like you’re in in the Shire, right? (0:26:13) Jonnie: That’s that’s probably gonna be the thing for this game (0:26:14) Al: Yeah, absolutely, however, if Gandalf and Tom Bombadil don’t come visiting, I’ll be disappointed. (0:26:24) Jonnie: Oh, totally, right? You still want Gandalf, you want some of those big characters, (0:26:31) Jonnie: but it’s not. You don’t want to be interacting with them. You kind of want your own adventure (0:26:36) Jonnie: in that world where they are characters passing through. (0:26:38) Al: Yeah, you don’t want that to be everything, you want the cameos to be there, but you don’t want it to be everything in this. (0:26:44) Al: But we need the deep cuts as well. (0:26:46) Al: We need the tombombadils, we need the, I can’t think of any others off the top of my head, (0:26:50) Jonnie: Ah, like, we want, I want ints, right? We want ints. (0:26:50) Al: but we need the deep cuts. (0:26:52) Al: Yeah, yeah, definitely. (0:26:54) Al: In fact, I want to build a tree house on an end. (0:26:58) Jonnie: Yes. That’s… I’m right there with you. I think that would be great. (0:27:02) Jonnie: You know, like Radagast the Brown, you know, like all of those sorts of characters are the ones I want to see. (0:27:07) Jonnie: Like, I don’t really want to be talking to Aragorn in this game, I’ll be honest. That would be… (0:27:10) Al: Yeah, I want all the ones that I care about, and I also want ones that I have to Google that they’re so obscure. (0:27:18) Jonnie: Exactly. But we don’t know much else about– oh, sorry, you go. (0:27:22) Al: I was just gonna say, you don’t have the limited amount of time of a film, right? (0:27:27) Al: So you can add everything in, you don’t have to cut stuff, you don’t have to cut, you can add all the characters in. (0:27:33) Jonnie: Absolutely. And it doesn’t need to make sense, right? (0:27:33) Al: Do it. (0:27:35) Jonnie: Like, this is not the sort of game where you need to pick a time in the canon and have all of those characters show up and it be canonically. (0:27:41) Jonnie: Like, no one cares. No… well, a lot of people care. (0:27:42) Al: No, no. (0:27:46) Jonnie: And those people will be mad anyway, because nothing will be perfect, so… (0:27:48) Al: Yeah, but they’ll be mad, but they’ll also already buy the game, right? (0:27:52) Al: So, like, you’ve already got their money, they’re already gonna, you’ve already got their anger, (0:27:56) Al: so you may as well just continue to make them angry and just, just not, I agree. (0:28:00) Al: Don’t care about when it is, don’t care about where, like, bring back dead characters, right? (0:28:06) Al: We don’t care, right? Just set it in a nebulous time, everybody’s alive. What, what a surprise. (0:28:14) Al: Although, I do, I wonder whether, hmm, so here’s an interesting thing, I wonder if, (0:28:18) Al: if Bilbo is there, are you having to go to the, like, can you go visit the, I can’t remember what they call the, the, the, the, the afterlife world that they, they goes to. (0:28:32) Al: I can’t remember what that’s called. I’d love to be able to go visit that and then come back. (0:28:36) Al: I know it makes no sense whatsoever, right? Because the whole point is, it’s a one-way journey, right? (0:28:40) Al: but I still want to be able to go there and see. (0:28:42) Al: billable there. That would be fun. (0:28:44) Jonnie: I mean, I don’t know, because we’ve never really seen that in a… (0:28:49) Jonnie: I feel like that would be a great setting for a farming game. (0:28:52) Al: Yeah, yeah. (0:28:53) Jonnie: Now that I think about it. (0:28:55) Jonnie: But actually, if they do want to put it at a time frame, (0:28:56) Jonnie: I wonder if the time frame between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, (0:29:01) Jonnie: like the main series, would be a good time, (0:29:04) Jonnie: because you would have an overlap of a lot of the characters. (0:29:08) Jonnie: Like all of the big characters would be alive. (0:29:10) Jonnie: You would have good timing from a, you know… (0:29:14) Jonnie: Who’s there? And they would just be in their sort of like, (0:29:17) Jonnie: more beginner forms, right? Which would be fine. (0:29:20) Al: So I guess if you were going to do that, it would need to be reasonably early because you wouldn’t, because obviously that time period is known for starting to see evil come back into the world, and you don’t want that in a Cottagecore game, probably. (0:29:36) Jonnie: You could have elements of it though, like there could be that, you know, part of your motivation could be, you know, keeping the shire pure or a word that’s kind of less cringy. (0:29:36) Al: Like you don’t want… (0:29:46) Al: Maybe. I just feel like if you’re in that time period, you’ve got the kind of sword of Damocles holding over your head, like you know that an all-out war is coming and that doesn’t really set like a peaceful game. Like, “Oh, I know lots of people are about to die!” You know, it doesn’t really make you think about peacefulness. (0:30:10) Jonnie: I mean, I don’t know if you know, you know, Middle-earth lore that well, but there’s not a lot of times of great peacefulness. (0:30:16) Al: No, I know, but yeah. Anyway, that’s why I was agreeing with like, you just don’t set it in a time, just because then you don’t have to care about these things. You don’t have to care about the fact that there’s a war or there’s just been a war or whatever. (0:30:32) Al: Now, just put it at some non-descript time with everybody there and we’re all happy. (0:30:39) Al: But anyway, we’ll find out. I agree. I’m excited. Looking forward to this game. (0:30:39) Jonnie: Yeah (0:30:43) Jonnie: I love how for game that all we have is like a 30-second trailer that basically says it’s coming (0:30:49) Al: Yeah, yeah, there’s literally nothing about it. (0:30:58) Jonnie: All right, what’s your what’s your game now number one? (0:31:01) Al: So I have Snacko on my list again, and I know it’s in Early Access, but one, I haven’t played it since it’s come into Early Access because I’ve been too busy, so I’m looking forward to playing it, and two, obviously, I mean, well, the 1.0 version is meant to come out this year, so I’m I’m looking forward to that as well. So, um, it, it released. (0:31:19) Al: It’s so late this year that I was just like, just ignore it. It’s not a 2023 game. It’s a 2024 game, right? And its entire life cycle is going to be in 2024. That’s unless they obviously delay the 1.0 to 2025. Like I’m just going to consider it as a 2024 game. (0:31:35) Al: Like sure. Technically it’ll be like, Oh yeah, but the early access came out in 2023. Yeah, (0:31:39) Al: sure. If you say so, you know, it just, it will feel like a 2024 game to me, much like how Cordal Island released at the end of 2021. (0:31:49) Al: I think it’s going to be a 2022, but I played it a little bit then, but realistically, it was a 2022 game. (0:31:56) Al: No, 2023. (0:31:57) Al: Oh my word. (0:31:58) Al: Years. (0:31:59) Al: No, realistically, it was a 2023 game and that’s when it got the big press and that’s when I put more hours into it then than I did the previous time, blah, blah, blah. (0:32:10) Al: So Snacko is going to be a 2024 game and I’m looking forward to it and finally going to (0:32:18) Jonnie: I’m also looking forward to Snacko finally coming out into 1.0 so we can finally stop talking about it in these upcoming game of the year episodes. But honestly my confidence isn’t that high, (0:32:30) Jonnie: we might still be talking about this next year, so you know I’ll believe it when I see it. (0:32:32) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:32:36) Al: It was nearly four years ago that we interviewed the Snacko devs. (0:32:42) Al: So that’s the timeline. (0:32:46) Jonnie: Yep, like honestly, I think one of my concerns the wrong word, but I think one of the challenges is the development cycle for this game has been so long and it’s been publicly known for so long. (0:32:58) Jonnie: I just worry how much the world has changed since then and how well the game is going to, (0:33:06) Jonnie: you know, exist in 2024 gaming circles. (0:33:10) Jonnie: tools. (0:33:10) Al: I think that’s a fair concern, but I think that it’s not like Cottagecore has become less popular in that time, and I think exactly. (0:33:20) Jonnie: Now it’s become more popular, so there’s just more competition, right, and there’s more… (0:33:25) Al: There’s more competition, but I also think there’s more people willing to try different games, and I think good ones stand out. (0:33:33) Al: And I think that Snacko is different enough, that it won’t just be seen as, “Oh, it’s just…” (0:33:38) Al: Like, because I think Carl Island’s big issue is people look at it. (0:33:40) Al: And it’s like, that’s fair, but it’s also more than that. (0:33:47) Al: But because of first impressions, people aren’t really willing to give it that time. (0:33:52) Al: And you had the same feeling about it until you started playing it. (0:33:55) Al: And you’re like, “Oh, you know, this is really good.” (0:33:56) Jonnie: Yes, absolutely (0:33:57) Al: Um, and I suspect Snacko won’t have that issue because it looks very different (0:34:04) Al: and it’s marketing itself very different. (0:34:06) Al: And I think also people like playing as cats. (0:34:10) Jonnie: That is true. So it’ll probably be fine. I guess I just more hope that it’s actually a good game when it comes out and that (0:34:16) Jonnie: you know people don’t get interested and they play and (0:34:20) Al: That’s also true. But I have played the game like three, four years ago and I liked it back then. So I’m hoping it’s just that bit better. So anyway, Snacko, what’s your next one? (0:34:36) Jonnie: Next one I want to talk about is Rusty’s retirement. (0:34:40) Jonnie: So Cody and I talked about this one a few weeks ago. (0:34:43) Jonnie: It’s the idle farming game that just sits at the bottom of your screen and takes over your life. (0:34:48) Jonnie: Or that’s my assumption. (0:34:52) Jonnie: I don’t know that I have a huge amount more to say about this beyond what we said a few weeks ago. (0:34:56) Jonnie: It’s just that the idea of an idle farming, conical game seems really smart/evil. (0:35:04) Al: They go well together as an idea, and part of the problem with Ido games is that you have to keep going back to them and you keep forgetting about them. Well, certainly I do. (0:35:13) Al: Whereas obviously the clever thing about this is that you don’t forget about it because you don’t have to go into it because it’s just always there. (0:35:20) Jonnie: So I am excited/nervous for this one when it comes out, but I think it’s just a cool idea, (0:35:30) Jonnie: like the idea of a game that doesn’t take up the full screen and it’s kind of just sitting there, (0:35:34) Jonnie: and I hope it’s like an actual idle game. Some idle games tend a little bit too much into clickers that need to be interacted with a lot, and I’m hoping this tends more towards idle games. (0:35:42) Al: Yeah. Yes, I think it depends on how long it takes for crops to grow. Because if crops grow in five minutes, you’re going to get bored of doing stuff all the time. Whereas if they grow over the course of a day or something, probably, you’re going to be much more, I think, likely to go, “Yeah, yeah, (0:36:05) Al: I’ll play it for a little bit a day, and then maybe later in that day you’ll try and do something else as well, but you won’t feel like you have to do your stuff. (0:36:12) Al: Follow the team. (0:36:13) Jonnie: Yeah, and you just watch the crops grow over the course of the day I will say that they have announced that there is going to be a focus mode that slows down the pace that the crops grow (0:36:14) Al: » Exactly. (0:36:16) Al: Exactly. (0:36:23) Jonnie: So, you know, it’s at least something that they’re thinking (0:36:26) Al: Yeah, I just feel like with that, I don’t know what I I don’t know if I would want ever want to do that. Like it just, yeah, it just feels like, Oh yeah, I’m just going to deliberately slow down my gameplay. I don’t know. (0:36:34) Jonnie: focus. Oh yeah, our brains are not wired that way at all. But having the option is one of those things that makes us way more likely to, you know, give it a go, right? Because we know that we can, (0:36:51) Jonnie: even if we know that we never will. (0:36:53) Al: Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Anyway, I’m intrigued to see what it’s like, but I think I probably need to not install it. But we’ll see. I certainly, you know, I work on a client machine, so I certainly can’t install it on my work machine. No, I’m pretty sure they are. They definitely I know people who have installed things and they’ve got a message from IT saying (0:37:10) Jonnie: I think you mean you shouldn’t. I believe that you can. (0:37:23) Al: uninstall that, please. It has happened before. Anyway, so I think this is on your list as well, but Mika and the Witches Mountain I’m very excited for. I feel like this game has been coming out for quite a while. GB announced like a whole bunch of games all at the same time and one of them has come out. So I’m looking forward to this one. I think it looks fun. I like flying games. (0:37:29) Jonnie: Yes. Right, next game. (0:37:53) Al: When the controls are good, and I think that one of the things that Chibig do well is controls. (0:38:02) Al: Their 3D platformer that came out this year was particularly nice to control. So hopefully (0:38:09) Al: that continues with this game as well. And flying is fun, right? (0:38:14) Al: You know? (0:38:14) Jonnie: Flying is fun, and this game just looks really cute. (0:38:20) Jonnie: You know, like, this probably would have been number one for me in a year that, you know, (0:38:23) Jonnie: Lord of the Rings didn’t have a game coming out. (0:38:26) Jonnie: And even then I think it was still close. (0:38:28) Jonnie: I’m probably just a little bit hesitant because it was supposed to come out in September of 2023 and (0:38:34) Jonnie: I feel like it’s gone a little silent on when it’s meant to be coming out. (0:38:39) Jonnie: I don’t think we have a confirmed date for it yet just early in 2024. (0:38:44) Al: Yeah, I think… did they say first half I think? (0:38:44) Jonnie: Yeah, I can’t remember exactly what they said, but I want to be more excited about this. (0:38:53) Jonnie: I just feel like until we get that date, it’s the sort of, you know, delay that makes me nervous because it’s the what’s gone wrong to the level that they don’t know how to fix it, that they’re not willing to do it. (0:39:05) Al: I think it’s more just like they’re doing the sensible thing of not saying the new date even though they have one internally because then they don’t have like if they if they find a bug last minute they can delay it by another month and not get have that negative press like I think that’s the way that people should do things like sure say vaguely when you’re going to announce right don’t say we have literally no idea when this is coming out say we’ll hope to release in 2024 right fine great but don’t give us an exact date that’s stupid. (0:39:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I hope that’s what it is and I think I just need to channel a little bit of my inner Kiv here and like just, you know, make some, yeah, super excited like that’s, that’s, you know, like I just as soon as we started talking about it I think I heard Kiv just like scream in excitement. (0:39:45) Al: Well, and I think that they have proven they can get games out and they can do it well. (0:39:56) Al: And like Summer and Mara came out when it was meant to and it was a Kickstarter, right? (0:40:01) Al: So like that was never delayed, I don’t think at all. (0:40:05) Al: So I think they’ve proven they can deliver games, they can deliver games that are fun to play and they have done multiple of them, right? (0:40:12) Al: They’ve now done what, four games? (0:40:15) Al: I’m not worried about it. (0:40:16) Jonnie: Yeah, I think the other thing I’m excited about for Mika is I feel like it’s one of the games that’s really starting to push into not farming being the core of the game. (0:40:26) Jonnie: You know, this being about you’re a postal person that I think is also that’s one of the things that is most appealing about this game for me is just pushing into those other cozy spaces and not being all about the farming. (0:40:26) Al: Mm-hmm. Yeah » Thank you. (0:40:30) Al: » Yeah. (0:40:40) Al: Yeah, yeah, I agree. (0:40:41) Al: Um, we can do, we can do a cottage core without, without it just being farming, which is good. (0:40:47) Al: A, what’s your next one? (0:40:50) Jonnie: My next one is one we talked about a few days ago from our time, many weeks ago in Listenerland. (0:40:58) Jonnie: Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. That, you know, 30 second trailer that we’ve watched like 20 times. (0:41:05) Jonnie: I’m still really excited about it for all the reasons I was really excited about it last week. (0:41:09) Jonnie: It just looks dumb and stupid and fun and as much as I hate Apple Arcade, I don’t care. (0:41:15) Al: Yeah, I’m intrigued by this game, and I will probably play it, and I’ll probably get Apple Arcade again to get it. It’s next month, isn’t it? Oh, it’ll be out by the time this episode comes out, won’t it? It was like the 4th of January. (0:41:16) Jonnie: I’m gonna get Apple Arcade and I’m gonna play the hell out of some Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. (0:41:30) Jonnie: Oh my god, that’s… Yeah, go play Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. Do that. (0:41:33) Al: One, two, three… No, it’ll be coming out tomorrow when this episode comes out. It’ll be coming out tomorrow. Yeah, I will probably play it. (0:41:45) Al: I’m not as excited as you are. I’m intrigued to see what they’ve done with it, and see whether it’s just Hello Kitty Island Adventure with different characters. But I guess we’ll see. Yeah, I think that’s probably the thing that gives me most hope about it, is that makes it feel like it has character, and so hopefully that means there’s mo- but I just feel like the trailer other than- (0:41:57) Jonnie: We will see. I have watched the video of that stupid guy smashing his face into the rock like way more times than I care to admit. (0:42:15) Al: that point just feels incredibly generic. (0:42:18) Jonnie: Yeah, and it probably will be, and we will love it. (0:42:22) Al: Well, let’s see. Well, let’s see. I have no idea if this will be in anybody’s game of the year list next year or not, but I didn’t think Hello Kitty would be either. Okay, my last one is Go Go Town. (0:42:34) Al: I cannot- I’m just- I cannot explain how excited I am for this game. It’s just so ridiculous. I love how they are (0:42:45) Al: trying to do something just incredibly fun and stupid but also building in new ideas and mechanics for things like no game has a chainsaw yet right and this game has a chainsaw to cut down trees and I love that idea of not having to use an axe or I don’t know whether you upgrade from an axe to a chainsaw at some point that would make sense but like yeah I just I love that and the the movement looks so much fun you can you know there’s like a (0:43:15) Al: unicorn trike that you can go on that looks really fast and fun and everything about this game screams just do what you want and do it fast right and but not in a like stressful way in our this is just how you move kind of way which these games are always slower than I want them to be (0:43:34) Jonnie: This game looks awesome. This is the one that I forgot from my list, until I saw it on yours. (0:43:40) Al: Ah. (0:43:42) Jonnie: When I watched the trailer, I was like, “I forgot that this game existed, and I’m so excited to be reminded of it.” (0:43:48) Jonnie: To me, it kind of looks like someone looked at the terraforming aspect from Animal Crossing and just said, (0:43:56) Jonnie: “How do we make this absurd and insane amounts of fun and just make that the game?” (0:44:02) Jonnie: the game and it looks stupid stupid fun. (0:44:04) Jonnie: Distinct visual style as well, I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it’s very distinct from everything else that we have in the genre at the moment which I really like. (0:44:14) Al: Yeah, it’s quite cartoony. That’s the only word I have for it just now. (0:44:18) Jonnie: Yeah, I would say anime inspired, right? Or cartoon inspired. (0:44:21) Al: Hmm, yeah. Yeah, I’m super excited. I just love how they’re not just kind of doing the same thing. (0:44:28) Al: They’ve got loads of interesting ideas into it. And it’s not like a static town. (0:44:36) Al: It’s not like a static town, like so many of these games are. There are, as you say, (0:44:41) Al: this terraforming. But you can you just (0:44:44) Al: even just the idea of being able to expand your town is different than most Cottage Co. games. Right. Which is it’s fine because like a lot of a lot of times it’s like, oh, (0:44:54) Al: you’re moving to a village and you don’t want to cheat, you want to fit into the village. (0:44:58) Al: And like that makes sense. Right. But also sometimes you just want to you just want something to grow with you as well. Right. Like there’s a balance to be had there. (0:45:06) Jonnie: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it’s one of the, you know, to go back to Animal Crossing, it’s one of the fun things about that game, right? (0:45:12) Jonnie: Is as you progress through it, the town builds up kind of as much as you want it to, which is fun. (0:45:20) Jonnie: And I think this is going to push that to an even stronger level. (0:45:22) Jonnie: Do we have a release date for this? (0:45:26) Al: We do not. I am actually even just assuming that it’s coming out next year. They haven’t said it’s coming out next year. They just say to be announced. But based on how they’ve been doing their playtests and stuff like that, I just have a feeling. So we will see. (0:45:40) Jonnie: Ah, that’s why I missed it from the list. (0:45:43) Jonnie: Okay, great. (0:45:45) Jonnie: I thought I was losing my mind, but I am excited. (0:45:47) Al: Yeah, there’s lots of other, like I’m just looking at some of the stuff they said, like They’ve got a thing that allows you to just skip some of the day. (0:45:56) Al: I can’t be bothered waiting for things to happen. (0:45:59) Al: Let me just skip a few hours, which is pretty cool. (0:46:03) Al: Um, yeah, I’m excited. (0:46:05) Al: What’s your last one? (0:46:07) Jonnie: My last one is, oh, I don’t know how to say the good name of this game out loud with that, like it’s… (0:46:14) Al: Heart heart heart. It’s heart icular. I think (0:46:17) Jonnie: Yeah, that sounds so particular. It just sounds not well thought through. I’ll say that much. (0:46:24) Al: What a name being not ideal. That’s never happened before, Johnny. We’ve never complained about names before. (0:46:28) Jonnie: Right. (0:46:30) Jonnie: But I feel like… (0:46:32) Jonnie: I feel like this falls into a new category of games you should have said out loud once (0:46:37) Jonnie: Maybe not that one. Maybe let’s pick something different (0:46:41) Jonnie: anyway, horticular (0:46:43) Jonnie: this game intrigues me in that it’s described as a (0:46:47) Jonnie: farm base building game and (0:46:51) Jonnie: I don’t know that I (0:46:53) Jonnie: have fully grokked what it is that you’re trying to do other than build out like a cool-looking garden and grow stuff and I (0:47:02) Jonnie: Think that there’s something like I yeah a garden base builder is enough for (0:47:07) Jonnie: That interests me. I like the visual style of what’s happening here. I don’t really understand what all of that means together (0:47:14) Jonnie: But I feel like if it’s pushing into that sort of puzzle ish (0:47:20) Jonnie: Kind of RTS without really being RTS is is interesting to me (0:47:24) Al: Yeah, I don’t think I have a huge amount to say about this game. I’m not particularly excited about it. I guess I would say, yeah, sure, I understand the interest in it, like I’m interested in it. But there’s nothing that really grabs me as like, “Oh, I must play this.” I like the kind of the animal aspect of it, like it’s one of the more kind of environmentally conscious ones, which we always like. (0:47:54) Al: But yeah, there’s nothing that grabs me and makes me go, “I must play this game.” (0:48:00) Jonnie: Yeah, I think for me, this kind of feels like I feel like last year, you know, I had I talked about above snakes as, you know, something that looked like it was trying to do something interesting and ultimately, you know, I didn’t end up playing above snak

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

Mike is at the panto, oh no he's not, oh yes he is.....so it's Anton and Al with this week's latest!Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2023 ,Harvest Moon 64, 1080° Snowboarding, Jet Force Gemini ,E3 ,Sigil II, DOOM , DOOM II ,Quake ,QDOOM ,Grand Theft Auto VI , Game Awards 2024, World of Goo 2 , Tales of Kenzera: ZAU ,Visions of Mana ,Monster Hunter Wilds ,Sega ,POWER SURGE , Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi , DAVE THE DIVER , DREDGE DLC, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown ,Pikmin 4 , Super Mario Bros. Wonder , The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ,Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition ,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Pass ,Warframe, Apex Legends X Final Fantasy VII Rebirth ,Super Mario Bros. Movie ,Tin Hearts ,Freedom Planet 2 ,Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator, Terra Nil ,Trombone Champ , Sonic Superstars,PokéPark Kanto,Fragrant Story , Link's Awakening DX HD , Splatoon 3 Tournament Manager tool , Altered Beast, Eternal Champions, Jet Set Radio, Kid Chameleon, Alex Kidd, After Burner, Crazy Taxi, House of the Dead, Outrun, Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Super Monkey Ball , Skies of ArcadiaSupport the show

In the first of our four GOTY 2023 episodes, we're taking a list of 30+ of the year's best games, and fighting desperately to pare it down to a tidy... 11? iTunes Page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/noclip/id1385062988 RSS Feed: http://noclippodcast.libsyn.com/rss Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5XYk92ubrXpvPVk1lin4VB?si=JRAcPnlvQ0-YJWU9XiW9pg Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/noclippodcast Watch our docs: https://youtube.com/noclipvideo Podcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/noclippodcast Learn About Noclip: https://www.noclip.video Become a Patron and get early access to new episodes: https://www.patreon.com/noclip Follow @noclipvideo on Twitter Chapters: 0:00:00 - Welcome to 2023 GOTY Part 1! 0:05:09 - Our Top Picks 0:17:56 - Where are Starfield and Tears of the Kingdom?! 0:27:23 - Honorable Mentions 0:45:10 - Baldur's Gate 3 0:47:04 - Alan Wake 2 0:48:00 - Dave the Diver 0:50:05 - Homebody 0:51:50 - Jusant 0:55:58 - Bomb Rush Cyberfunk 0:58:35 - Slayers X Terminal Aftermath Vengance of the Slayer 1:03:33 - (Intermission) 1:07:11 - Blasphemous 2 1:20:34 - Terra Nil 1:23:20 - Chants of Sennaar 1:26:40 - Final Fantasy XVI 1:35:12 - Jusant Pt. 2   1:37:10 - Alan Wake 2 Pt. 2 1:45:27 - Dave the Diver Pt. 2 1:49:40 - Dredge 1:55:54 - Resident Evil 4 Remake 1:58:30 - Cocoon 2:02:40 - Marvel's Midnight Suns 2:05:50 - Street Fighter 6 2:09:10 - TYPECAST 2:11:44 - Mosa Lina 2:14:15 - Lies of P 2:17:00 - Hi-Fi Rush 2:22:34 - List Review 2:39:30 - GOTY Episode Order 

The 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, begins this week. As global leaders convene to address the urgent challenges of our planet's changing climate, two creative minds join Audie to explore how we process the climate crisis. She explores how these creators infuse hope into their narratives, envisioning a world where art and storytelling inspire action and solutions.  For all of CNN's COP28 coverage, go to cnn.com/RoadToCop  GUESTS  Sam Alfred is a video game designer from Cape Town, South Africa, who created Terra Nil, a mobile strategy game that challenges players to transform desolate landscapes into flourishing ecosystems.   Sequoia Nagamatsu is an author and professor. His book "How High We Go in the Dark," explores a future shaped by environmental crisis and generational resilience.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, begins this week. As global leaders convene to address the urgent challenges of our planet's changing climate, two creative minds join Audie to explore how we process the climate crisis. She explores how these creators infuse hope into their narratives, envisioning a world where art and storytelling inspire action and solutions.  For all of CNN's COP28 coverage, go to cnn.com/RoadToCop  GUESTS  Sam Alfred is a video game designer from Cape Town, South Africa, who created Terra Nil, a mobile strategy game that challenges players to transform desolate landscapes into flourishing ecosystems.   Sequoia Nagamatsu is an author and professor. His book "How High We Go in the Dark," explores a future shaped by environmental crisis and generational resilience.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Al talks about the farming game news for the week, and goes over the nominations for The Game Awards Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:03: What Have I Been Up To 00:07:53: News 00:15:17: The Game Awards 00:31:30: Outro Links Research Story 0.6 Update Len’s Island Harvest Moon Update Potion Permit Mobile Release Distant Bloom Release Window Nintendo Indie Showcase Farming Simulator Kids The Game Awards Nominees 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. (0:00:35) Al: My name is Al and my name is Al and I’m here today to talk to you about Cottagecore Games. (0:00:42) Al: Woo. (0:00:45) Al: So, yeah, it’s just me this week because the planned episode had to be rescheduled just because of some issues in conflicts and stuff like that. (0:00:55) Al: So these things happen. (0:00:57) Al: Obviously, you don’t know what you’re missing, (0:00:59) Al: but we will do that. (0:01:00) Al: In the meantime, I’m going to do this solo episode on, I’m literally recording this like two hours after the game award nominations came out and there’s some interesting stuff in there. There are obviously a few cottagecore and farming games, well farming. There’s a (0:01:30) Al: lot of games in the list which we’re going to chat about and I also think it’s interesting. (0:01:37) Al: Some of the categories, I’m not sure which of these categories happened and which ones have not happened in previous years, but I just have some thoughts on them. So I think I’ll go over that. Obviously before that we have a bunch of news. Transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website if you need them, whether they’re there, whether you need them or not, but you can go there for them. We’re going to talk about (0:02:00) Al: some news. But before that, Al, what have you been up to? Well thank you Al for asking. (0:02:11) Al: I have finished up Spider-Man 2. I have 100%ed that game and got the Platinum trophy. I don’t often pay attention to trophies because obviously they don’t have them on Switch. (0:02:30) Al: I don’t tend to pay attention to them on Steam very often. I think part of the problem is a lot of the trophies for games is like a lot of them would just be like “do this, (0:02:44) Al: do this, do this” whatever. Once you’ve completed the game you’ve got a few things to do. In Spider-Man 2 there was like “get all the suits and do all the upgrades” blah blah blah and obviously all the story stuff. But then there just ended up being random ones. One of the ones in Spider-Man 2 was… M. (0:03:00) Al: I can’t remember what they’re called, but when you do the sneak on someone, when you’re in sneaky mode, stealth mode, you do a stealth move and it ties them up without alerting other people. And it’s like, do that 25 times from a web, because you can do a web line in Spider-Man 2 and you do it between two buildings. And it’s like, do 25 of them from a web line and you’re like okay I just these (0:03:30) Al: things just end up being a bit weird like why it just feels like sometimes the trophies those kinds of trophies just exist just to how just to increase the number of trophies it’s like what’s the point in having these random trophies it’s like in fall guys it’s like jump 10,000 times why why why you know I don’t so it’s like if trophies were just like once you’d 100% of the game you had all the trophies I would I would do it more often I think (0:04:00) Al: like I’ve just 100%ed Mario Wonder and obviously if they had trophies in Switch I would probably have all the trophies it just seems like such a weird idea it’s like you can 100% the game but you don’t have all the trophies because these these weird random conditions that you have to have to get to get all the trophies but anyway that’s beside the point so it was my first platinum trophy that’s what they call it when you get all of the trophies you get then a platinum trophy It’s very funny. I find it very funny because you look in the list of truth. (0:04:30) Al: And it’s like the top one is the platinum one, obviously, which is the one you get when you get all the trophies. And it says get all the trophies. (0:04:36) Al: But it’s like you can’t get all the trophies without getting the last trophy, right? (0:04:40) Al: It should say get all other trophies, but it doesn’t say that. (0:04:43) Al: It says, in fact, I’ll read the exact words to you to prove my point. (0:04:47) Al: It says, and I quote, collect all trophies, right? (0:04:51) Al: Not collect all other trophies, collect all trophies. (0:04:56) Al: And I find that funny because it’s like you can’t get all. (0:05:00) Al: It doesn’t really matter. (0:05:04) Al: Apparently nearly 20% of all Spider-Man 2 players have gotten all the trophies, so it feels less special when it’s 20%, so it feels like a lot of people. (0:05:13) Al: Anyway, that just seems like a high number of people. (0:05:16) Al: I’m surprised that so many people have got all those trophies. (0:05:20) Al: Whereas Sonic Frontiers, which I’m just about to start playing, only 5% of players have got all the trophies. (0:05:27) Al: Anyway, trophies are a weird thing, and I… (0:05:30) Al: them on switch but I actually don’t know if I want them on switch because do I want to have to feel the need to do them? I think I’m getting off topic. Trophies. Weird. I completed Spider-Man 2. That was fun. I enjoyed that game. It’s a very good game. Coincidentally, (0:05:48) Al: or not coincidentally, it got one of the nominations for Game of the Year for the game awards. (0:05:55) Al: So it’s obviously a good game. I liked it. I thought it was really good. I think they did a really good marriage. (0:06:00) Al: I’ve been playing that. I have started playing the new round of Mario Kart levels. (0:06:30) Al: I haven’t done much of that, but I do want to get them done because they’re fun. (0:06:34) Al: Apparently, I hadn’t finished doing the previous ones, so I need to finish them up as well, (0:06:38) Al: but I’m nearly there. I’ve done all by the last two, this one and the previous one, so I need to get them done. What else have I done? I’ve started playing Spirit Tea, which I believe will be out by the time this episode comes out, but I have started playing that. I played a number of different things. Yeah. (0:07:00) Al: I don’t think there was anything big other than that. I have been playing one game, (0:07:06) Al: but I don’t want to spoil that because that was meant to be this week’s episode. So I’ll keep that one as a secret until we get around to that. In addition to games, I’ve also been watching some things. So obviously low-key season two finished this week. So I very much enjoyed that finale. I went to see the Marvels on Friday as well, and I very much enjoyed that. (0:07:24) Al: I thought it was a very good film. Obviously it has some flaws. Most films do, but I thought (0:07:30) Al: overall it was a very enjoyable film. I have also been watching the X-Men 92, continuing my watch of that. And I think halfway through season three, there’s five seasons of that. (0:07:46) Al: Yeah, I think that’s about everything I’ve been up to. Well, other than, you know, just life things. (0:07:53) Al: So I’m going to go talk through some news. So first off, we have research story version 0.6. (0:08:01) Al: That is out now. So if you have been playing that game and you want to go see some more content, (0:08:05) Al: that’s there. They have added four new romanceables. So they’re now up to 10 romanceables in the game. (0:08:12) Al: They say they’ve added 800 plus dialogue lines. I do find it funny when they say plus, right? (0:08:19) Al: Especially in something like this, because it’s like you have the number that you’ve added. You can see the number because you’ve coded them. So you could just put the actual number in, (0:08:28) Al: but people like to round these things but then they’re like… (0:08:30) Al: but we want to make sure that people know it’s more than that. So we put the plus on at the end. (0:08:35) Al: So the four they’ve added are Ira, Luke, Ming and Yan Yan. (0:08:39) Al: And I think the character art in this game looks quite good. (0:08:45) Al: Presumably these are the same… the link that I’m looking at is in the show notes. (0:08:51) Al: This is their Steam update. The images that we see at the top, I presume are their portraits when you’re talking to them because I don’t actually see anything else. And I’ve still not played this this game because there’s too many. (0:09:00) Al: games. They’ve also added the ability to track your relationship progress in the friendship tab. (0:09:07) Al: You can sell your items at the general store. Presumably they just had like a shipping box on the farm like most farming games. They have improved the map. They’ve added table decor. (0:09:20) Al: They’ve added a bunch of new items and obviously a bunch of fixes and smaller changes. They’re They’re also planning one more update for this year. (0:09:30) Al: Zero point seven, which presumably will come out in December in that case. (0:09:36) Al: I think it’s impressive if they managed to get that out in the last month and a half of the year, which will include a winter festival, (0:09:43) Al: creature variants, more creatures, crops and fish, more content for the mines and hopefully steam achievements. (0:09:50) Al: That’s what they say. (0:09:51) Al: Next, we have the Lens Island Harvest Moon update. (0:09:55) Al: This is coming out on the 22nd of November. (0:10:00) Al: This will include defensive towers, which is quite interesting, (0:10:08) Al: presumably that’s to stop mobs attacking you when you’re not paying attention to them. Town advancement. Harvest moons, as described by the name, (0:10:20) Al: it says “Brave the Harvest Moon to reap the rewards of high yielding crops.” (0:10:24) Al: So that sounds like something where when the Harvest Moon is out, if you do something because they’re showing a little picture. (0:10:32) Al: outside in the moonlight watering their plants so if you go and water them while the harvest moon is out you get better crops so what it sounds like and portals a new way of fast travel to every town so that sounds like a good interesting update I still need to play that game as well potion pyramid have announced that they’re releasing on Android and iOS that is coming (0:11:02) Al: next year on the 6th of February so if you really want to play this game but you’re like I’m not playing this until it’s on my phone there you go you you’ll be able to do it in February probably not much more to say about that next we have distant bloom they have a new release window so it was meant to come out this year but they they’ve had some issues they say due to unforeseen circumstances we had to temporarily halt progress on the project. (0:11:32) Al: However, we’re delighted to share that we’ve overcome all challenges and are now in the final stretch dedicated to delivering the best possible game. (0:11:39) Al: So that’s good. That’s coming out next year. Quarter one of next year. So probably March. (0:11:46) Al: I could have been mean there and said probably April, but next we have tomorrow as I’m recording. (0:11:53) Al: So on the 14th of November, which will be yesterday when you’re hearing this. Don’t I don’t know why I gave you so many different ways of describing that. (0:12:00) Al: is the newest. (0:12:02) Al: And the final piece of news outside of the Game Awards stuff is that Farming Simulator Kids is a new game coming to f- (0:12:32) Al: phones and switch next year. (0:12:35) Al: The Farming Simulator- I’m just going to read out some of their copy from this. (0:12:42) Al: The Farming Simulator family of games is growing. Let us introduce the freshest and soon to be born member Farming Simulator Kids. Coming soon to Nintendo Switch and mobile devices in spring 2024. Pre-orders will be available in the near future. Stay tuned. (0:12:58) Al: Farming Simulator Kids is an easy-to-play game suited for all (0:13:02) Al: ages and introduces the growing generation to the colourful and fun world of farming and blooming nature. It educates and entertains them in a child-friendly and sheltered environment. (0:13:15) Al: Take a look at the highlights below. There’s a video as well, a trailer, which I’m not sure how much of this is actual gameplay. Obviously it’s showing a lot of the artwork. (0:13:29) Al: It’s a very colorful. (0:13:32) Al: It definitely looks much more like a kid’s game, and I’m going to presume that the gameplay is much simpler and more like a normal farming simulator than farming simulator. (0:13:46) Al: I find this interesting because part of what farming simulator is, is a realistic farming sim. (0:13:54) Al: They’re not trying to be like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, they’re trying to be the the most realistic you can get. (0:14:02) Al: With farming simulators. (0:14:04) Al: But then if you’re trying to make it more accessible for children, it’s obviously going to be less realistic. (0:14:11) Al: So I find this interesting. Is this just an educational tool to educate kids about animals? (0:14:19) Al: Is it just a game? Is it a John Deere marketing exercise? (0:14:26) Al: Because they do say they have vehicles and tools by John Deere. (0:14:29) Al: What’s… (0:14:32) Al: The purpose of this. (0:14:34) Al: That’s my question. (0:14:36) Al: Is it going to be more realistic than most farming games? (0:14:40) Al: But obviously it can’t be anywhere near as realistic as Farming Simulator normally is. (0:14:44) Al: But that’s their whole thing. (0:14:46) Al: So I’m very intrigued to see how this goes. (0:14:50) Al: I wonder if my kid would be interested in playing this or not. (0:14:56) Al: We’ll have to see. It comes out next year. (0:14:58) Al: I mean, I like the graphics, I like the look of it. (0:15:02) Al: I’m just very intrigued as to why it’s farming simulator that’s making this. (0:15:05) Al: Yeah, quite an interesting balance, the realistic farming simulator and a kids game. (0:15:12) Al: I guess we’ll see what they do. (0:15:14) Al: OK, that’s all the news. (0:15:16) Al: Next, I want to talk about the game awards. (0:15:19) Al: So first of all, we have four awards that have cottagecore games or games that we’ve talked about. (0:15:29) Al: Right, I don’t want to argue about. (0:15:32) Al: I know I’m the only person on this podcast, but I’m sure I could still argue about genres with myself. And I’m sure some of you would want to listen to that, but I’m not going to do that. (0:15:40) Al: We’re just going to say these are games that we have talked about on the podcast. So there are four awards that have those games in them. So the first one is Games for Impact, which is about games that are trying to do something positive in the world. So there are two games in this, (0:16:01) Al: in nominated for this award. (0:16:02) Al: We’ve talked about and they are Chia, which is the game based on New Caledonia and Terra Nil, which is the reverse city builder, I guess you would call it. (0:16:16) Al: There are four other games in this. (0:16:19) Al: Venba, I think that was a cooking game, I think. (0:16:25) Al: I think I remember seeing that. (0:16:27) Al: I think it was a cooking game about a specific culture. (0:16:32) Al: There’s also Goodbye Volcano High, Chance of Cenar, and A Space for the Unbound. (0:16:44) Al: None of those three I’ve heard of at all. (0:16:46) Al: So I don’t know what they’re like. (0:16:49) Al: Very interesting. (0:16:50) Al: I think Games for Impact is an interesting one because obviously there’s a debate to be had as to how much impact you can have when making a game, but I think it’s always good to try these things. (0:17:01) Al: I certainly think that– (0:17:02) Al: Terranil have done some good. (0:17:06) Al: Not least because they have definitely donated money to things from some of their profits. (0:17:11) Al: And I think you’ve heard me, and you’ve definitely heard Johnny. (0:17:16) Al: And I think Cody as well talk about how we like when games try and do something other than just your standard capitalist farming game, (0:17:24) Al: because we don’t want to get stuck in a specific idea of what society is and should be. (0:17:32) Al: So this is fun that it’s doing something different and obviously Chia is showing another different way to kind of live with society, to live with nature and about a whole different culture that most people in the world won’t be aware of obviously. (0:17:50) Al: Many will because it’s very, in some ways, in some ways it’s similar to other cultures as well in terms of how they treat nature and how they interact with the world. (0:18:02) Al: But obviously those cultures are way outnumbered by the kind of European colonialist world that has been created and ended up with, you know, just a huge amount of capitalism just trying to take as much as possible from the world to make money for the sake of it. (0:18:30) Al: and it’s nice to see some games. (0:18:32) Al: Doing different things so that’s games for impact. (0:18:36) Al: The next one is mobile games. (0:18:38) Al: There are two games in mobile games that we have covered or have talked about. (0:18:45) Al: And they are Terra No, again, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure. (0:18:51) Al: I think if you had told me (0:18:56) Al: that in 2023, one of the game awards would have a Hello Kitty game in it. (0:19:02) Al: I would be very surprised by that because it’s quite wild the idea that Hello Kitty game can be good enough to actually get nominated for a game award. (0:19:16) Al: It’s best mobile game. (0:19:18) Al: It’s not like it’s game of the year, but still like the five games are Terra No, Hello Kitty Island Adventure, Honkai Star Rail, Monster Hunter Now (0:19:29) Al: and Final Fantasy 567 ever. (0:19:32) Al: I haven’t played Monster Hunter now, I don’t know how good it actually is. (0:19:37) Al: I know that Terronella is good, I have heard a lot of stuff about people liking Honkai Star Rail. (0:19:43) Al: Final Fantasy confuses me. This is Final Fantasy 7. (0:19:49) Al: Are we not on like 16 now? Fair confusing, I don’t know, but people like Final Fantasies, right? (0:19:55) Al: So it’s wild that Hello Kitty Island Adventure is up there now. A Hello Kitty game nominated for (0:20:03) Al: Crazy. We also have Best Indie Game, or Best Independent Game is the official title, (0:20:10) Al: and the two games that we’ve covered or talked about, I keep saying covered, but we haven’t covered them in so much. We’ve covered one in detail and one not in and we’ve talked about one, (0:20:21) Al: and that’s Dredge which we’ve covered and Dave the Diver. What a year for C-based games, (0:20:29) Al: apparently. The other ones are… (0:20:32) Al: See of Stars and Cocoon. And I have heard very good things about Cocoon and See of Stars. (0:20:39) Al: I have not heard of Viewfinder. But yeah, so that’s a good company for those two to be in. And the final one that has a game that we have covered that is Best, Best Debut indie game. This one is specifically called indie, not independent. And Reg is in that one. Interestingly, (0:21:00) Al: Cocoon and Viewfinder who run the best. (0:21:02) Al: I find it interesting that a best debut indie, because presumably most of the time the idea of that is the best debut indie is not going to be as good as the best indie, the best first games from indie. (0:21:32) Al: The best indie studios are not going to be as good as the actual best indie games of the year, but in this case they’ve got three in both categories. (0:21:40) Al: So it’s going to be interesting to see presumably the same game shouldn’t win both, but like if you’re saying that say, let’s say Cocoon wins best indie game, then surely it’s also the best debut indie game. (0:21:54) Al: And that feels weird to me, but be that as it may. (0:21:58) Al: me. So those are the four awards that have nominations. (0:22:02) Al: There’s a couple of other things I wanted to talk about. So first of all, they have our best VR/AR game section now, which interesting that we’ve got to that point now. I haven’t played any of those games because the only VR game I continue to play is Beat Saber and I will continue to play that until they stop making new ones for it. And even then I’ll I’ll probably continue. (0:22:32) Al: I think it’s interesting we got to the point where they have that award now. (0:22:36) Al: They also have an Innovation in Accessibility award, which I think is a really good thing to do. (0:22:44) Al: I haven’t had the time, because I needed to record this episode tonight, (0:22:48) Al: I haven’t had the time to look at why each of these games have been nominated for this section. (0:22:52) Al: But I think it is interesting that we have a decent number of games doing new and exciting things for accessibility. (0:23:02) Al: Four is our motorsport. (0:23:04) Al: Does that new game not have a number? That’s really annoying. (0:23:08) Al: High Five Rush, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Mortal Kombat 1 and Street Fighter 6. (0:23:14) Al: So, interesting that there’s five of them are AAA games and one of them is an indie game. (0:23:22) Al: It’s good that big games are doing new things for accessibility, (0:23:26) Al: but I really want them to detail what the games have done with accessibility. (0:23:32) Al: That means that they should be in that category. (0:23:36) Al: And when they decide the winner, I want them to really justify that. (0:23:38) Al: I don’t want them to be giving an award there just for the sake of doing it. (0:23:42) Al: And you’re like, “Well, nobody’s done anything really great, but you’ve done the best, but it’s just not amazing.” (0:23:48) Al: I don’t want that. I want you to properly justify why you are giving this award to this game. (0:23:54) Al: And properly justify why any of these games are in this. (0:23:56) Al: I watched the video and I don’t notice them saying anything about it other than just listing them. (0:24:02) Al: Which they did for each category, obviously. They didn’t go into lots of detail. (0:24:06) Al: But when the actual game awards happens, I really hope that they justify it and they don’t just kind of brush over it. (0:24:14) Al: I think it’s really good that they’re bringing this award here because it is making people more aware of these things. (0:24:18) Al: I had no idea that these games had done something new in accessibility. (0:24:22) Al: And so it’s good that they’re bringing that to our attention. (0:24:26) Al: But I hope they make it more. I hope they give it more information to us and not just be like, (0:24:30) Al: just be like, “Oh yeah, this is the best in accessibility.” (0:24:32) Al: Right? No, tell us why. Tell us why. Give us a good reason for it. (0:24:37) Al: I also find it funny. I looked at the list of most anticipated game and not particularly anticipating any of these games, which is funny. We’ve got Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is the second part of the remake of Final Fantasy VII. (0:24:56) Al: We’ve got Like a Dragon Internet Wealth, which is the next Like a Dragon game. (0:25:01) Al: There’s Star Wars. (0:25:02) Al: There’s Outlaws. (0:25:04) Al: I had not even heard of that. (0:25:07) Al: I’m not sure what type of game this is. (0:25:11) Al: I suspect I probably did see this trailer when it came out and then forgot all about it. (0:25:15) Al: It’s an open world game. (0:25:17) Al: Not really seeing any gameplay, it’s all just cutscenes. (0:25:19) Al: So I can see, I guess, why people are excited about that, I don’t know whether I would be or not. (0:25:25) Al: Or they did release some gameplay after the trailer came out. (0:25:29) Al: like you could driving on hoverbikes. (0:25:33) Al: You’ve got some shooting, some running. (0:25:38) Al: I suspect I would like this more than the Jedi Fallen Order games, because the reason I didn’t like those games is they felt very formulaic and linear, and I didn’t really feel like anything mattered in those games. (0:25:55) Al: The combat wasn’t great, which I suspect it’s hard to do good combat with a lightsaber in general. (0:26:03) Al: But it could be really good. Making it an open world game and making the combat. Shooting probably removes both of those issues. But I don’t know, I’ve never been a huge fan of shooters. I wonder if there’s more combat than just shooting. The traversal looks fine. (0:26:24) Al: It does look like there’s different types of guns and stuff like that. So it’ll be interesting to see. I certainly am not like, “Oh yes, this is my most anticipated game.” My point is that on the… (0:26:33) Al: The final one is Tekken 8. I look at this list of games. I know that a lot of people are excited about Hades 2. Sure, fine. The rest of it I’m like, I just… I’m certainly not anticipating any of these games. So it’s just funny that we’ve got a list of five of the most anticipated game and none of them are ones that I’m excited about. I mean, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I suspect I’m in the minority in a lot of things in terms of what I like in games. And so that’s fine. I just find it funny that they’ve got five games, (0:27:02) Al: of which I’m particularly interested in. (0:27:03) Al: I’m really excited about it. And the game of the year non-aminations are interesting to me. There’s some obvious ones that I was pretty sure would be there. So we’ve got Spider-Man 2, we’ve got Tears of the Kingdom. I definitely expected both of those to be in. I had a pretty good feeling that Baldur’s Gate 3 would be in it, even though I’ve not played it myself. (0:27:25) Al: I have thought that maybe Super Mario Bros. Wonder would be in it. So those four, I was, (0:27:31) Al: I was reasonably confident about those four. (0:27:33) Al: I did not expect Resident Evil 4 and Alan Wake 2 to be there, but they are there as well. (0:27:40) Al: I feel like all of a sudden I started hearing about Alan Wake 2 over the last couple of weeks. (0:27:45) Al: Not sure why. (0:27:48) Al: Did it just come out? (0:27:50) Al: I’ve just seen a lot of references to it. (0:27:53) Al: It came out on the 27th of October, so that’s probably why. (0:27:56) Al: I missed - I didn’t see anything about it before its release, and then I just saw a lot of that afterwards. (0:28:01) Al: So I think it’s just interesting like normally. (0:28:03) Al: There’s a big game coming out. I see a lot of information about it just before the game comes out and then for the next couple of weeks after the game comes out as well. (0:28:11) Al: But this one I feel like it just suddenly happened. Also the same with Baldur’s Gate 3. (0:28:15) Al: I didn’t hear much about it until like a couple of days before releasing and suddenly it was everywhere. Resident Evil 4 I think is also a remake, which is interesting. I wonder how often we’ve had remakes in the Game of the Year nominations. There we go. (0:28:34) Al: Also funny how many categories are like just almost a subset of the Game of the Year. (0:28:40) Al: So the best game direction is Spider-Man 2, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Wonder, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2. So it’s basically just the Game of the Year nominations but not Resident Evil 4. (0:28:54) Al: Which is funny because it’s like yeah I guess it makes sense that like I suspect Resident Evil 4 not going to win game of the year. (0:29:03) Al: I just find that interesting. It’s like basically the same award now, and the best action adventure game. (0:29:33) Al: I don’t know. I may well be thinking about this differently to them, like maybe when they say best action adventure game, they say this is the best action adventure part of it, whereas the game of the year is the best overall game. But I feel like if you’re (0:30:03) Al: the best game, if you’re the game of the year, then you’re also the best action adventure game, (0:30:08) Al: if you’re an action adventure game. It just doesn’t make any sense to me that those two things wouldn’t end up being the same thing. I also need to look into what action adventure means and what action means because they have two separate sections, best action adventure game and best action game. Best adaptation also amused me because it’s like The Last of Us, (0:30:30) Al: which was a fantastic TV series, Super Mario Bros. (0:30:34) Al: very good film. And then Gran Turismo, which was an OK film, Twisted Metal, which I’ve not heard anything since it came out, right? People seem to be excited about it in theory, (0:30:47) Al: but then nobody seems to have talked about it afterwards. And Castlevania Nocturne, which I had literally never heard of before this. Yeah, I feel like The Last of Us should win Mario might win it but maybe (0:31:04) Al: one of the other three is certainly Gran Turismo shouldn’t win it. Maybe one of the two that I’ve not seen is actually better. Who knows? Yeah, so that is the Game Award nominations. (0:31:16) Al: Well, the ones that I care about. There’s obviously more in the list. I will obviously have a link to that in the show notes if you want to go look at them. Or you can just go Google the Game Awards and look through everything. Yeah, so thank you for listening. Thank you for (0:31:34) Al: coming along to this solo podcast of mine. If you want to follow me, you can find me on mastodon.scot and on Twitter as thescotbot. I’m probably posting more on Mastodon than I am on Twitter. I still technically exist on Twitter but more because there’s a few people that still haven’t moved off Twitter and I want to follow their stuff. That’s basically it. I use it it basically just for farming game stuff now. (0:32:04) Al: You can follow the podcast on Tumblr and also on Twitter @THSPOD. You can find links to everything related to the podcast and also a feedback form at harvestseason.club. So if you want to let us know anything, you can do it there. In those links, there’s also a link to our Patreon, patreon.com/THSPOD where you can support me and the podcast and You can also get access to our Slack. (0:32:34) Al: Which has a bunch of interesting conversation and some fun people and also bonus episodes of the podcast. (0:32:41) Al: We have just released an episode about the Pokemon DLC, the first DLC. (0:32:49) Al: I did that with Micah. We released that last week. (0:32:52) Al: And there’ll be more coming up soon. (0:32:54) Al: We still have three episodes to come out this year. (0:32:58) Al: If you sign up to the Patreon, you can get all the back catalogue as well. (0:33:01) Al: which is roughly 2 episodes. (0:33:04) Al: So, you get all that. (0:33:14) Al: Thank you all for listening, thank you me for joining me, and until next time, farmers, (0:33:22) Al: have a good harvest. (0:33:24) Theme Tune: The harvest season is created by Al McKinlay, with support from our patrons, including our pro farmers, Kevin, Stuart and Alisa. (0:33:38) Theme Tune: Our art is done by Micah the Brave, and our music is done by Nick Burgess. (0:33:43) Theme Tune: Feel free to visit our website, harvestsseason.club, for show notes and links to things we discussed in this episode.

A smattering of minisodes. We cover: Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Cult of the Lamb, Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, and also, more quickly: Dear Esther, Resident Evil Village (demo), Venba, Madison Karrh's "Birth", The Master's Pupil, Terra Nil, Suzerain, Roadwarden, Dave the Diver (speculative), Inscryption, Haven, Deathloop, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Viewfinder, Forza Horizon 5 & Rally Mexico/Hot Wheels DLCs, and Ace Attorney Chronicles. (Whew!

Welcome to Season 4! After a brief banishment to the Lands of the Old Faith, we're returning with mouths to feed, poop to scoop, and Bishops to curse. The faith in our brevity is low, but our devotion to podcasting is unwavering. This is Underplayed, where Bo_Po and DiscoCola review indie games of all kinds! Timestamps00:00 - Start16:00 - DiscoCola's Secret Game33:24 - Bo_Po's Secret Game56:39 - Featured Game: Cult of the Lamb

In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, hosts Alex Van Aken and Marcus Stewart determine the best games of 2023 (their favorites, actually, but "best games" is better SEO) by looking back through Game Informer's 2023 video game release schedule. Obvious picks are The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Resident Evil 4 (Remake), however we also highlight lesser-known standouts like Friends Vs Friends, A Space for the Unbound, and Terra Nil. Follow us on social media: Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7) The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join host Alex Van Aken every Thursday to chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Matt Storm, the freelance audio editor for The Game Informer Show, edited this episode. Matt is an experienced podcast host and producer who's been speaking into a microphone for over a decade. You should listen to Matt's shows like the "Fun" And Games Podcast and Reignite, a BioWare-focused podcast. Jump to the timestamps to get to a particular point of discussion: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:42 - Discussion Introduction: 2023 Six Months in Review 00:05:17 - 2023 So Far: Games We Have and Haven't Played 01:43:22 - Housekeeping

Amanda, Andrew, and Aaron discuss their views on the character creation process. Games: Dave the Diver, Final Fantasy XVI, Terra Nil, and Let's Build a Zoo. To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind. Links and Show Notes

Dylan and Kirklin talk about the games they've been playing including Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pikmin and Terra Nil. Afterwards they talk about the LOTR Gollum news and the announcement of Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth Links Dylan on Twitter @DylanMuss Dylan on Backloggd backloggd.com/u/Rapatika/Kirklin on Twitter @kirklinpatzerAmanda Cawley (Composer) on Instagram www.instagram.com/amandacawleymusic https://www.patreon.com/GeekVerse https://www.youtube.com/c/GeekVersePodcast https://discord.gg/2DMzHRn9 https://geekverse.ca/geek-ultimate-alliance/ Twitter @GeekVerseCast Taylor on Twitter @TaylorTheFieldTravis on Twitter @TravisBSnellDante on Twitter @denacolyteThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4201268/advertisement

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

Turn the concept of a city builder on its head and revitalize regions stripped of their natural ecosystems... Terra Nil is an environmental strategy game that puts you in charge of an expedition to transform barren, desolate lands and bring them back to life. The game takes the classic UI and gameplay of a city builder and applies them to a natural landscape in desperate need of a little TLC. Terra Nil flips the concept of "progress" on its head. Instead of winning through the process on industrialization and natural resource consumption, you win by enriching and purifying soil and water, improving climatological conditions, and returning native species to their habitats. In the fifth episode of No Small Games, Kate and Emily review their experiences playing Terra Nil, developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital. Kate describes the deep emotions that get conjured up for her at the site of wind turbines. Emily shares which endgame spoiler she just couldn't wrap her head around. Find out which aspects of the game were most challenging for the hosts, and which were most fun, in this indie game review of Terra Nil. Episode Timecodes Weekly Boss Battles ✦ 00:04:08 Terra Nil Game Review ✦ 00:09:03 Next Episode's Game Announcement ✦ 00:48:47 Keep in touch with us on social media: Kate's Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/katerblossom Emily's Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/aSpecificEgg No Small Games Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/NoSmallGames  No Small Games Instagram ✦ https://www.instagram.com/nosmallgames  Want to learn more and weigh in on what games we should play in future episodes? Check us out and leave a game suggestion at nosmallgames.com

This week on Indiescovery it's a game review bonanza! Rachel has been playing Storyteller, and despite feeling like she already experienced everything its inventive puzzle mechanics had to offer during its Steam Next Fest demo last year, she still had a great time seeing it through. Liam had similarly thoughts about Terra Nil, feeling that its early Itch incarnation provided a slightly rougher experience that hammered home its themes surrounding environmentalism and saving the planet from the effects of climate change. You can watch the video he made during the 2020 lockdown about the game that he mentioned during the episode here. In a coincidence that proves we all have the same brain, Rebecca felt like the demo for monster kissing metroidvania Romancelvania altered her thoughts about the final version of the game, but has still been enjoying her time deciding which fictional creature is the hottest of them all. The gang have also been playing Dredge, which they discuss at length in section two. The trio agree that this eldritch fishing adventure by Black Salt Games is one of the best things they've played all year (so far, anyway). For our hyperfixations this week, Rebecca has finished high-school murder mystery Danganronpa 2 and has been completing a cross stitch from Etsy seller GriffinwingWorkshop to celebrate. Liam has just finished You Exist Too Much, a novel by Zaina Arafat about a young woman's struggle with love addiction. Meanwhile, Rachel has been invested in the recent disappearance of the Lofi Girl, and the subsequent appearance of the Synthwave Boy. Indiescovery is a podcast by Rock Paper Shotgun. Our theme music is by Dylan Sitts, specifically the songs Tahoe Trip, Pool Sticker, and Express Check-in. You can contact the podcast by chucking an email to podcast@rockpapershotgun.com, or by chatting to like-minded individuals about PC gaming over in our Discord. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick returns from vacation with a tale of two vacations, one that went very badly and one that was great. The guys sample some new rum and talk about their experiences or lack of experience with high end rum. We talk about Resident Evil 4 and offer some criticisms on some of the missed oportunities in the remake. Nick bounced pretty hard off of the terraforming world simulator Terra Nil and he got tricked into playing Bloons TD 6 by the Discord. Discord: https://discord.gg/VRKasRV

The crew talks about Tchia, Terra Nil, Mizzurna Falls, Genshin Impact, Fallout 4 and those dang video tapes. iTunes Page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/noclip/id1385062988 RSS Feed: http://noclippodcast.libsyn.com/rssSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5XYk92ubrXpvPVk1lin4VB?si=JRAcPnlvQ0-YJWU9XiW9pg Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/noclippodcast Watch our docs: https://youtube.com/noclippodcastPodcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/noclippodcast Learn About Noclip: https://www.noclip.videoBecome a Patron and get early access to new episodes: https://www.patreon.com/noclip Follow @noclipvideo on Twitter  

Teixeira e Jeje estão ambos jogando coisas ainda sob embargo o que fez com que os videogames em si fossem um assunto mais leve nesta edição. Falamos do mais recente Bayoneta, o Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, que narra os eventos de quando a bruxa ainda era uma criança, e Terra Nil, um jogo de gerenciamento com quebra-cabeça em que o objetivo é restaurar a flora e fauna de um planeta morto.Participantes:Jeje PinheiroCaio TeixeiraHeitor De PaolaAssuntos abordados:00:00 - Páscoa e feriado10:00 - Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon32:00 - Café39:00 - Limonada, cachorro-quente e bolo de cenoura47:00 - Resident Evil 4 Remake1:16:00 - Terra NilVai fazer compras na Amazon? Use nosso link de afiliado e ajude o OverloadrVenha fazer parte do Discord do Overloadr! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kev and Jonnie talk about Terra Nil Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:09: What Have We Been Up To 00:33:17: Terra Nil 01:11:52: Outro 01:12:36: Feedback 01:21:33: Actual Outro Links Roots of Pacha Roadmap Wylde Flowers Fabulous Farming Update Disney Dreamlight Valley Pride of the Valley Update Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos Screenshots Spirit of the Island Roadmap Factory Town Idle Communite 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 –> 00:28.020] Behind the Scenes [00:30.000 –> 00:34.080] How do we start this hello farmers, I think that’s what [00:35.640 –> 00:39.800] Welcome to the harvest season a very special episode where [00:41.320 –> 00:45.440] Johnny and I here aren’t in the most ideal state, but we’re going for it [00:46.840 –> 00:48.840] We are going for it [00:49.740 –> 00:53.820] We talked about cottagecore games allegedly here [00:55.640 –> 00:58.720] Al’s not here, so it’s gonna be a wild ride today [01:00.480 –> 01:05.020] That’s that’s not a pun off the wildflowers that that was the last episode [01:05.760 –> 01:10.400] Um hi Johnny. Yeah, I introduced you. This is Johnny you all know Johnny yay [01:11.640 –> 01:16.000] He’s here. I’m back, and I’m surprised that I keep getting invited back [01:16.000 –> 01:18.960] But we’ll do my best to not get invited back after this one [01:19.560 –> 01:26.460] I’m surprised. I’m still here for so many episodes. I think it’s just what is it beggars can’t be choosers [01:31.000 –> 01:32.160] But [01:32.160 –> 01:35.200] Yes, we are here, and we’re here to talk about terranil today [01:35.840 –> 01:38.200] and important to note up front that [01:39.040 –> 01:43.080] Transcriptions are available in the show notes and on the website [01:44.760 –> 01:48.960] But it would help if I actually knew the website off the top of my head harvestseason.club [01:50.800 –> 01:53.840] So if you’re after transcripts, there’s awesome little [01:54.720 –> 01:57.560] accessibility piece that Al’s added to the show so [01:58.360 –> 02:06.140] Great go and check those out the question is will they’ll be able to transcribe this nonsense that remains to be seen [02:08.760 –> 02:13.240] All right all right Johnny what it what have you been up to what have I been up to well like [02:13.400 –> 02:15.800] Kevin it’s you and I we’ve got to talk a little Marvel snap [02:17.320 –> 02:19.320] We’ve been on so many episodes [02:19.880 –> 02:26.760] We always talk about Marvel snap, but last season. I hit infinite. I am I am a problem. I love Shuri [02:27.600 –> 02:34.440] Infinite with Shuri. I’m gonna play her until she’s if they put in a small nerf yesterday. Let me tell you that’s not enough [02:34.440 –> 02:38.180] I’m playing Shuri. She’s she’s so good. She’s so good [02:38.960 –> 02:41.120] But I love Marvel snap at the moment [02:41.240 –> 02:46.280] And I think honestly if you Marvel snap is a game that you’re kind of on the fence about you’ve played some games before [02:46.680 –> 02:49.080] now it’s the time to get in like I feel like the [02:50.000 –> 02:56.900] monetization aside right monetization in these games is always terrible just put that out of your mind, but the the latest [02:57.600 –> 03:03.720] Developer update it was really clear communication about what they’re looking to do with the meta game for Marvel snap [03:03.840 –> 03:11.120] And we’re talking about making small changes week on week like which is what I’m excited about because I like to win when I play [03:11.120 –> 03:17.320] This game, so I’ll play the best deck and if the best deck is current is constantly changing then that’s kind of exciting for me [03:17.320 –> 03:20.040] So I’ve been snapping up a storm [03:20.600 –> 03:26.720] Can you be playing any any models now? Oh gosh. Yes the boy. This is number one. This is the real podcast here [03:28.080 –> 03:34.600] Okay, so let me let me slow down for one second first off for people unfamiliar for infinite. That’s like the top rank [03:35.680 –> 03:39.020] Johnny is now legend among our little snap friends [03:39.880 –> 03:42.180] Incredible absolutely incredible hats off to you good, sir [03:43.780 –> 03:51.180] Second of all the meta game the balance has really been in flux the last couple weeks. It feels like [03:52.320 –> 03:55.880] With a lot of the top decks being dethroned except Shuri Johnny’s deck [03:56.800 –> 04:00.800] And yeah the update they well to your point [04:00.800 –> 04:06.480] I think in general they’ve the dev team is really good at communicating in Marvel snap their little blog updates [04:06.480 –> 04:08.480] I was very clear and to the point [04:08.720 –> 04:10.000] and [04:10.000 –> 04:15.820] They address fan stuff or stuff that the community is talking about frequently, so that’s good [04:17.560 –> 04:24.360] So I am I have been playing Thanos after finally saving enough the little tokens for him [04:25.360 –> 04:28.520] I’m having a lot of fun. Thanos deck is [04:29.760 –> 04:31.760] really flexible and interesting [04:33.000 –> 04:39.380] Yeah, it’s not the beast it was before the nerf, but it’s still fun to play I [04:40.400 –> 04:44.800] Pretty good, and it’s it’s interesting now with some hitch monkey in the field as well [04:44.800 –> 04:49.240] Yeah, and how much that sort of disrupted things which I don’t think I predicted [04:49.800 –> 04:55.800] Most things I didn’t understand the interaction that I had with Mysterio which makes it pretty dang awesome [04:55.800 –> 05:00.120] Yeah, like this you know if Shuri just gets that knock down a little bit [05:00.120 –> 05:04.520] I feel like we’re in for a really fun time in Marvel snap. Yeah, I totally agree and [05:05.560 –> 05:11.240] I think there will probably some fun cards being added. I can’t wait for Kitty to come back [05:12.640 –> 05:16.360] Because I think she has a lot of interesting options including with hip monkey [05:17.360 –> 05:21.320] But yeah Marvel snap good times, I’m nowhere near as high as in [05:22.480 –> 05:23.800] but [05:23.800 –> 05:27.000] I am enjoying the game a lot nonetheless [05:28.200 –> 05:29.840] did [05:29.840 –> 05:33.640] Did you see the the variants in the shop today? They’re really good [05:37.560 –> 05:42.760] So they released three variants in this month is all sort of animal themed and so they’re all good puns [05:43.000 –> 05:47.980] And and I think the one that takes the cake is ant ant instead of ant man [05:49.560 –> 05:52.760] variant of ant man, that’s just an ant which was just [05:54.880 –> 06:01.560] It’s so dumb that it’s genius and it’s almost got me enough to buy it cuz like that [06:01.560 –> 06:07.060] They’re all cool variants. It’s only five bucks. That’s like the cheapest thing they’ve ever had in the game [06:08.280 –> 06:11.000] But I don’t play any of these cards enough to actually [06:13.040 –> 06:17.120] Actually justify buying variants for it. Yeah, I’m getting it for sure [06:17.120 –> 06:22.080] Um, yeah ant ant is great the strength and ant with the strength and the size of an ant [06:25.080 –> 06:29.520] Mooster fantastic is probably the best. Mr. Fantastic ever will be [06:30.240 –> 06:37.440] And it was a third all like cat cat. I don’t even captain me our they did it kept they did captain America [06:37.440 –> 06:41.160] Which I was like, I feel like of all of the ways to do that pun [06:42.160 –> 06:47.920] Captain America, I feel like cat tan America was the way to go [06:47.920 –> 06:52.100] But I like captain. I’m yeah worker. But yeah, no, yeah like [06:52.620 –> 06:56.560] Agree, that’s that’s good. They kind of picked the worst of all the available. Yeah [06:57.400 –> 06:59.920] That’s probably that’s probably enough of our [07:00.440 –> 07:06.920] Bible snapcast join us again in a few weeks when Kevin I find some other game that you know can be an inroad for us [07:06.920 –> 07:12.680] To secretly talk about Marvel’s net of the game that I’ve been playing which I don’t really want to admit to but I have been [07:12.680 –> 07:16.200] Playing it. I started playing runescape again and like [07:21.800 –> 07:29.320] It’s so bad it’s been my like so I played old-school runescape before it was called old-school runescape when it was called runescape. Um, I [07:30.680 –> 07:36.620] I you know eventually lost that account when they took the transition to old-school runescape at some point [07:36.620 –> 07:41.780] I started again and every few years I check in again and I make some more progress. I’m like [07:42.980 –> 07:44.980] I’m in the hole. Yeah [07:45.260 –> 07:47.260] That’s a farming game [07:48.420 –> 07:50.420] It is a farming game [07:50.600 –> 07:54.060] It’s not a good farming game. It’s not even a good game. Oh [07:55.380 –> 08:02.660] Oh man, that’s what I’m playing it. That’s classic the baby’s first MMO like the world’s first [08:04.540 –> 08:06.540] Your internet whatever [08:06.620 –> 08:10.300] Man, that’s a blast from the past. That’s all man. Good stuff [08:10.940 –> 08:12.060] It is [08:12.060 –> 08:14.620] the best thing about that game is the writing is like [08:15.560 –> 08:18.220] surprisingly good, um, mostly because it’s all like [08:19.160 –> 08:21.580] Basically just people trying to meme the whole time [08:23.340 –> 08:29.180] And and for people that aren’t up to date on on old-school runescape, they’re currently like pitching doing a new skill [08:29.260 –> 08:33.340] so like the game still gets tons of updates, which is just wild to me that in like [08:34.220 –> 08:41.500] 2023 runescape is still getting like content updates. I didn’t know that. Oh, man. Oh, I’m gonna have to check it out [08:41.780 –> 08:49.380] Please check it out. Let’s we’ll become runescape friends and wallow in the misery that is like doing anything in runescape [08:50.980 –> 08:54.660] Anyway, I don’t want to let’s not link on that any longer. What have you been playing? [08:55.180 –> 08:58.600] Turn in next week for the new runescape runescape cast [08:59.620 –> 09:01.140] I [09:01.180 –> 09:06.820] Have okay marvel snaps the big one. Um, I played this game they called terranil [09:08.820 –> 09:10.820] This sunk some time into that and [09:13.060 –> 09:18.700] Aside from that my whole world has been consumed until about two days ago [09:19.940 –> 09:21.100] wildflowers [09:21.100 –> 09:24.020] That game is good. Holy moly [09:24.860 –> 09:31.460] Um, so last week’s episode was about wildflowers, I haven’t seen anything yet [09:32.100 –> 09:37.380] Nothing. Oh, man. We are a full disclosure. We’re already planning a follow-up episode because [09:38.020 –> 09:43.620] Holy moly, that game is incredible and has all sorts of stuff till the very end [09:44.920 –> 09:47.580] mechanics wise it uh, it’s [09:48.300 –> 09:52.480] Wow might be one of the best in this genre in my opinion [09:53.480 –> 09:57.360] Okay, I’m going to talk about one mechanic here it’s not a spoiler but [09:57.960 –> 10:04.240] We didn’t address it in the first episode because neither of us reached it yet. But so there’s these machines called whirligigs [10:04.240 –> 10:11.320] They’re like little flying robot drones, but with like faces the little happy face robots. And what they do is they’ll do they [10:12.120 –> 10:17.120] Automate your farming tasks and I mean like everything there’s a one for fishing mining [10:17.720 –> 10:19.440] farming [10:19.440 –> 10:21.440] livestock chopping wood [10:22.160 –> 10:28.640] So you give it some resources and it’ll go and do that stuff for X amount of days and just give you a whole bunch [10:28.640 –> 10:30.640] Of stuff it’s an incredible [10:30.960 –> 10:32.760] incredible mechanic [10:32.760 –> 10:35.280] That really let you automate whatever you want to do [10:37.760 –> 10:44.000] And aside from that like we mentioned last week this game actually has story and [10:45.360 –> 10:51.040] It’s not like Pulitzer Prize winning story, but it’s really engaging [10:51.560 –> 10:55.960] And holy mackerel like that the story went places. I didn’t imagine [10:57.040 –> 11:01.200] It’s and it’s just such a good game. I can’t recommend it enough [11:02.360 –> 11:08.780] And yeah, like I said, we’ll actually be doing another episode. So I will save more thoughts for them. But wildflowers is just really a plus [11:10.360 –> 11:14.040] I listened to that episode this week and I’m really like [11:14.800 –> 11:19.340] I’ve been on a little bit of statue kick the last few months like sort of off and on [11:20.340 –> 11:21.740] And [11:21.740 –> 11:24.780] I have to say like wildflowers was kind of one of those games [11:24.780 –> 11:29.080] I put into the start to valley clone esque style camp and I was like, yeah [11:29.080 –> 11:33.340] I probably won’t check it out and after listening to the the episode from from two weeks ago [11:33.340 –> 11:37.980] It’s definitely like hmm. I really want to check this out now. You should like I [11:39.140 –> 11:46.860] also put it in stardew clone and yeah, I mean it’s hard to say that because it’s like in the farming genre so like clearly [11:46.980 –> 11:48.380] You know with [11:48.380 –> 11:50.740] Stardew is always gonna be in the room and people are gonna look at it [11:50.740 –> 11:54.220] But it’s I think it stands enough to be its own thing [11:54.740 –> 12:02.120] So I like hardly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed stardew. Oh, yeah good stuff. Um, but aside from that [12:03.180 –> 12:06.460] But well, actually no, that’s that’s kind of it Marvel snap. Um [12:07.580 –> 12:11.940] Wildflowers Terran L. That’s that’s pretty much would have been up to it’s been very busy week for me [12:11.940 –> 12:13.940] otherwise I say as I [12:14.180 –> 12:16.180] Didn’t see like a hundred hours [12:17.220 –> 12:21.040] Wildflower, I just want to like do like a mini chicken on you know [12:21.040 –> 12:23.800] sort of games of the year because I know [12:24.260 –> 12:27.340] At the start of the year when I was on the episode about games for 2023 [12:27.340 –> 12:32.380] I was a little bit down on games for this year and I feel like the last few weeks, you know with the the wild flies [12:33.020 –> 12:35.020] wildflowers coverage and the [12:36.220 –> 12:38.060] research story coverage from last week [12:38.060 –> 12:38.700] like [12:38.700 –> 12:45.140] Those are two games that I am really excited to get into and to play like I wonder if this is actually the year [12:45.140 –> 12:52.020] We’ve got a bunch of games that look like stardew valley clones and then you start really getting into them and you’re like hmm [12:52.300 –> 12:54.420] Turns out there’s something more going on here [12:54.420 –> 12:59.380] It turns out that there’s some really good games that are coming out to see it like 2023 might be the year of the sleeper [12:59.380 –> 13:05.140] Hits like oh, I mean, yeah granted wallflowers last year, but I get your point. Um, and [13:05.780 –> 13:07.780] Yeah, I don’t know. There’s still [13:07.980 –> 13:09.980] Menechos night market and [13:10.500 –> 13:12.500] Mika [13:12.540 –> 13:15.140] Whatever delivery search what if I get what’s called [13:16.140 –> 13:20.700] No, this is a very strong year for our little corner of the internet. I fully agree and [13:21.660 –> 13:26.740] To totally ruin the segue that I had set up but like to kind of go with it [13:26.740 –> 13:33.260] There’s another game that’s coming out very soon that could potentially be a sleeper hit of the year with some roots of patcher [13:35.700 –> 13:40.820] Use the 1.0 release coming out on the 25th of [13:43.100 –> 13:50.100] April which is really exciting. So for those who don’t remember roots of patcher is stardew valley, but prehistoric [13:51.500 –> 13:57.580] So they’ve got the 1.0 coming out. It’s coming out on Steam for Windows and Mac, which is actually [13:59.300 –> 14:01.300] Exciting for me because the [14:01.940 –> 14:06.100] Computer that I have the most easy access to is is a Mac [14:06.820 –> 14:10.900] They sort of have indicated that it’s a 40 plus hour game [14:11.580 –> 14:17.620] Which when I sort of interpret that it kind of means it’s a finished game in the farming genre in the stardew esque [14:17.700 –> 14:21.340] Genre because you know once you’re in sort of 40 plus hour territory [14:22.220 –> 14:24.220] It could mean just about anything [14:25.340 –> 14:27.340] They’ve added more [14:27.560 –> 14:33.580] Character customization options which you know is is always good to see I’m not familiar with the current character [14:33.860 –> 14:35.860] customization options that they’ve had so far [14:36.620 –> 14:38.980] but probably the most important thing is [14:39.620 –> 14:41.340] 15 skin tones available [14:41.340 –> 14:46.860] So, you know like as a big fan of inclusion in video games and people be able to represent themselves [14:47.740 –> 14:49.300] accurately [14:49.300 –> 14:51.840] Seems like they’ve put in the work there, which is really [14:52.980 –> 14:55.940] Exciting. There’s there’s a bunch of other updates of things that I’ve included [14:55.940 –> 15:00.780] I’m assuming that if you’re you know paying attention to roots of patcher and you’ve been involved in some of their [15:02.660 –> 15:07.580] Pre 1.0 content and you’ll be all across this. Otherwise, I’m sure you’ll be excited to [15:08.300 –> 15:09.860] sort of [15:09.860 –> 15:11.620] Duck in and get into this [15:11.620 –> 15:17.740] I’m not gonna talk through everything that they’ve got coming up because there’s a ton of stuff but I have to say I [15:18.100 –> 15:22.820] Remember in the you know sort of episode for the year when we talked about roots of pasture [15:22.820 –> 15:26.940] I was I probably wasn’t that excited about it because it did look like [15:27.740 –> 15:32.140] Stardew but prehistoric but looking through some of the stuff that they’ve got for [15:32.860 –> 15:34.380] 1.0. Um [15:34.380 –> 15:37.380] I’m feeling the bug like I’m feeling the baby [15:37.380 –> 15:42.420] This is a game that I’m gonna gonna be buying come April 25th and get into like it’s just [15:42.940 –> 15:49.660] It’s taking a lot of my boxes. Like it looks really really good. I’m excited for this one. Oh, man, like I I [15:50.620 –> 15:56.860] I’ve been so excited. I also talked about it on like up games of the year, but like [15:57.820 –> 16:02.420] 2021 episode or whatever a year will you year before your episode? [16:04.260 –> 16:10.860] I’m very excited. I mean it still looks like a Stardew clone, but it has mammoth [16:10.860 –> 16:15.600] So that’s like already enough for me. Um, I haven’t paid attention really to [16:16.380 –> 16:21.540] What’s been going on? Cuz uh, I’m as I’m in fist infamously known. I’m not very [16:22.140 –> 16:27.920] Keen on betas and early access and all that. So but who cares it’s coming out in a few weeks [16:28.620 –> 16:34.900] And I’m very excited to play it and maybe talk about it somewhere someplace. Who knows? [16:36.380 –> 16:38.380] Roots of Pacha good stuff [16:40.340 –> 16:42.340] One day [16:43.620 –> 16:44.940] That oh [16:44.940 –> 16:50.820] Man, that’s yeah, that’s very excited. I’m and I took a tiny peek through some of this stuff [16:50.820 –> 16:52.820] It looks like it’s really coming to its own [16:53.180 –> 16:56.820] 40 hours is really good. That’s that’s pretty significant [16:56.820 –> 17:01.820] I think for this corner of the internet or at least the indie stuff [17:03.180 –> 17:04.660] So good on that [17:04.660 –> 17:06.180] particularly to be like [17:06.180 –> 17:10.040] advertising 40 plus hours, right because I think it’s one of those things with you know, like [17:10.260 –> 17:14.260] Mm-hmm farming games where they run through the seasons. They naturally take a lot of time [17:14.260 –> 17:20.020] Yeah, but it’s very easy to bounce off these games before you even hit the end of you know spring [17:20.020 –> 17:25.220] And I don’t I don’t know if it’s a touch as his seasons like other games [17:25.220 –> 17:27.980] But it’s very easy to bounce off these games early [17:27.980 –> 17:32.660] so I feel like it’s kind of a bold move to put out you’ve got 40 plus hours of with the content because I like [17:33.180 –> 17:38.660] Your experience with what flowers is it implies is actually a story or something that you want to pull it through [17:38.660 –> 17:45.220] I’ve never seen start your valley be like we’ve got X many hours with content because and there’s not really a story to [17:45.740 –> 17:49.820] Start your belly. Yeah, you know, it’s kind of just play until you’re bored and then yeah [17:50.820 –> 17:52.820] Yeah, that is an interesting thing [17:53.100 –> 17:59.900] because yeah, I agree like 40 plus hours denotes some sort of end goal and and [18:00.740 –> 18:07.660] You know, like I said, maybe story or linear track some sort of objectives to hit that 40 plus hour mark, right? [18:08.100 –> 18:12.060] So it’ll be very interesting to see especially in this setting that could mean [18:12.640 –> 18:15.940] Something very different from what we’re used to so I’m very excited [18:16.940 –> 18:23.180] You know, what else is a 40-plus hour game and that’s without the billions of side quests [18:24.820 –> 18:28.820] Like this game it’s getting an update so I can like it more [18:31.300 –> 18:33.300] So, yeah wildflowers has been [18:34.020 –> 18:35.660] working on [18:35.660 –> 18:37.660] updates consistently and [18:37.940 –> 18:43.940] They’re just now releasing or announced the fabulous farming update [18:43.940 –> 18:49.760] Um, we can get oh my gosh, so they’re adding a whole bunch of farming upgrades [18:50.380 –> 18:52.700] You can get pigs you can get [18:53.340 –> 18:56.660] based off the little Twitter pic looks like ducks [18:57.880 –> 18:59.880] llamas and a [19:00.020 –> 19:02.700] magical flying pig with fairy wings somehow [19:04.660 –> 19:06.660] I’m excited for that [19:07.020 –> 19:09.020] And we’re also getting other [19:09.320 –> 19:10.560] updated farm buildings [19:10.560 –> 19:15.320] I don’t know what that means. But uh, I went through the patch history of [19:16.120 –> 19:23.000] Wild wildflowers when I started playing and the updates are pretty significant usually so I’m very very excited to [19:23.480 –> 19:29.880] See what this is and most importantly I think this will be the first time I’ll be farming pigs that actually fly [19:30.440 –> 19:32.440] So, you know, they can’t wait for that [19:33.680 –> 19:38.520] It looks pretty cool on the llama. It could also be an alpaca. Oh, yeah [19:39.420 –> 19:44.640] Alpaca farming is a real thing. Yeah, I may know someone that owns an alpaca farm [19:44.640 –> 19:47.920] that’s my weird bit of trivia to add to the wildflowers update, but [19:48.920 –> 19:52.280] Other than I like the name fabulous farming updates like yeah [19:53.760 –> 19:57.800] Okay, that’s yeah, this is really exciting because the farming [19:59.200 –> 20:05.300] Not that it’s lacking but there’s definitely room to grow in wildflowers and well here we are. There’s the room to grow [20:06.260 –> 20:11.860] That’s yeah, so look forward to the wildflowers update coming wait, do we have a day? [20:11.860 –> 20:17.420] I don’t think we have a date. No, just oh wait. No, I feel 26. I lied 28th. I can’t see. Okay [20:18.260 –> 20:23.660] Yeah, April 28th. That’s that’s oh no. Oh, no, I’m gonna be torn between roots of patch [20:26.700 –> 20:30.020] I have two hands. I can do two controller [20:32.460 –> 20:34.460] Good luck with good luck with that [20:35.020 –> 20:40.020] And kind of while we’re talking about games that you know certain people on the show might be well known for [20:40.160 –> 20:43.500] Disney dreamlike Valley is also getting an update [20:44.420 –> 20:51.280] And this is I guess is sort of you know, they’ve been pretty consistent at putting out updates. This is the biggest one [20:52.420 –> 20:59.200] To date it’s the pride of the valley update adds a Lion King realm where you can get Simba or Noah [21:00.340 –> 21:03.940] Which is pretty much exciting for anybody with a pulse [21:05.380 –> 21:09.240] Add some some some twitch integration, which is really exciting to see [21:09.740 –> 21:17.140] As yeah, I don’t I don’t really understand it says twitch drops and like I’m not really a twitch person. So [21:17.900 –> 21:25.180] I don’t really understand what well, I mean, it’s the sort of game where drops will make sense, right? [21:25.180 –> 21:31.540] There’s there’s costumes for your character skins for your house. Yes, they call them skins. It’s really weird, you know [21:31.900 –> 21:35.800] There are alternate styles for the the villagers [21:35.800 –> 21:39.900] So there’s tons of things that I’m sure will be contained within the the twitch stuff [21:41.180 –> 21:47.260] If you are the highlights because it’s it’s so much they couldn’t contain it all and in one tweet, there’ll be some new quests [21:47.860 –> 21:51.060] Apparently you can hover around the valley. That sounds kind of cool [21:52.660 –> 21:54.120] Kind of just a ton of updates [21:54.120 –> 21:56.740] So, you know if you’re looking for you know [21:56.740 –> 22:02.240] a push to get into Disney Dreamlight Valley and you go back and listen to the episode where Ellen I covered it because I [22:03.380 –> 22:05.380] the game has no [22:05.460 –> 22:11.920] Right to be as good as it is. It should just be a cash grab and it’s not it’s a really good game [22:11.920 –> 22:16.340] I will admit I haven’t stuck with it overly much after you know [22:17.100 –> 22:22.620] The episode that we did on Disney Dreamlight Valley. That’s not a criticism of the game [22:22.620 –> 22:26.440] It’s more just you know, these games that require you to check in daily [22:26.440 –> 22:29.300] I find it really hard for me to keep up with so [22:30.040 –> 22:32.400] It’s something I plan on going back to once [22:32.760 –> 22:39.920] It probably goes into 1.0 and is officially released and there’s just tons of tons of content out there for me to explore [22:41.000 –> 22:44.240] But Disney Dreamlight Valley is a good game [22:44.420 –> 22:51.040] You should probably play it if you like Disney or if you’re listening to this show because it means you like Cottagecore games because it [22:51.240 –> 22:53.240] You know all of those things [22:53.360 –> 23:00.080] This game rules and this update looks really exciting and maybe I will go back and play this the more I look at [23:00.080 –> 23:03.480] What’s what’s in because it’s a ton of there’s a ton of little things in here [23:03.480 –> 23:06.780] I’m not gonna read them through them all but yeah, it looks really exciting. Oh [23:07.580 –> 23:11.360] Yeah, I mean, I’m a fan of Disney. I’m on this show [23:11.360 –> 23:15.500] I should probably playing this um, and I probably will once 1.0 comes out [23:16.680 –> 23:19.920] nothing wrong with it right now from what it looks like, but just [23:20.680 –> 23:25.880] It’s more like everything else is crowding it out right now in my life. But um, I mean Lion King [23:25.880 –> 23:29.240] That’s that’s a big one for me. So good on them [23:30.120 –> 23:34.040] I can’t I’m very excited to see how this game will come out [23:35.000 –> 23:39.480] And when it goes from fruit rum paying money to free [23:39.840 –> 23:44.280] So you don’t end up like Micah paying for free. Oh [23:45.640 –> 23:48.000] Was one of the funniest bits of the year [23:48.840 –> 23:50.000] So [23:50.000 –> 23:53.880] Let’s see. What else is getting? Oh, oh, you know, what else is [23:54.960 –> 23:56.960] Making me excited question mark [23:57.560 –> 23:59.160] harvest moon [23:59.160 –> 24:02.440] Winds of anthos cuz that game looks good [24:03.160 –> 24:10.000] They dropped a few more screenshots. You can see some of the animals you can see the horse the cow [24:10.640 –> 24:11.640] etc [24:11.640 –> 24:13.280] um [24:13.280 –> 24:18.760] It’s not a lot to go off but man that I just visually that game looks very nice [24:19.720 –> 24:24.200] More effort than I would expect from them and pretty much anything in a harvest moon game [24:24.320 –> 24:29.040] So I I want to agree with you right because the first set of screenshots they released [24:29.040 –> 24:31.560] I was I was really excited about I thought they looked really good [24:31.560 –> 24:36.240] Like I’m a big fan of the chibi esque path style that they’re going for [24:36.680 –> 24:40.080] This this update kind of killed that a little bit [24:40.080 –> 24:45.200] They’ve gone they’ve gone too much down the Pokemon route where man that world looks empty [24:45.200 –> 24:49.120] They’ve got this this picture of a character holding a chicken [24:49.640 –> 24:55.200] standing in front of a horse and man this world looks empty and boring and kind of dull and [24:55.720 –> 24:57.960] I kind of looked at and I was like, hmm [24:58.400 –> 25:02.220] Yeah, this looks like some some harvest moon nonsense [25:02.240 –> 25:04.120] It’s just gonna be some harvest moon nonsense [25:04.120 –> 25:05.400] And I’m not sure that I’m into it [25:05.400 –> 25:12.360] like they should have stuck with the close-ups of all their chibi chibi nonsense because the chibi nonsense is great chibi nonsense, but [25:15.320 –> 25:20.920] I’m losing it. I’m losing just one screenshot that could actually just be one angle like I granted [25:20.920 –> 25:26.760] I don’t expect it to be a full lush world or whatever, but I’m I’ll still be cautiously [25:27.600 –> 25:35.120] Optimistic like they put the screenshot on the internet. They could have picked any other screenshot, but this is the one they chose [25:35.520 –> 25:39.600] Look not to me historically is not great and making decisions [25:43.080 –> 25:46.240] But we will see do you ever really say for that I don’t remember [25:46.760 –> 25:51.980] Keep I don’t think so. Well, just keep you know, keep listening to this show cuz we’ll [25:52.560 –> 25:58.980] Every update we’ll be talking about it and hemming and hauling and going back and forth as to where we like it exactly [25:59.980 –> 26:07.180] Next on the list for news spirit of the island and I have to admit I don’t remember spirit of the island at all [26:08.300 –> 26:11.220] But this is one point three point four [26:11.980 –> 26:16.580] and and probably the most important update that any game can [26:16.820 –> 26:20.660] Put into its patch notes is you can now pitch your pits [26:21.500 –> 26:26.780] so if you’re playing spirit of the island, this is probably a good reason to go in and [26:27.780 –> 26:33.400] To be honest, I like I don’t remember spirit of the island, but this has a really cute aesthetic going on [26:34.140 –> 26:42.520] They released a roadmap for q2 of 2023. So in April you’re about to change the starting island you can [26:44.400 –> 26:47.460] Have a bigger building area with some of the new islands [26:48.380 –> 26:53.840] For May they have something that’s just called the amusement park release, which it just sounds exciting [26:54.700 –> 26:56.100] and [26:56.100 –> 26:58.100] And then in June they’re gonna add some [26:58.660 –> 27:00.300] some new [27:00.300 –> 27:04.100] quests and so a cross-platform version release which [27:04.820 –> 27:10.020] For a game that I knew nothing about before I was looking into you know, what we’re covering this episode [27:10.340 –> 27:17.720] This is a game that I’m like really want to dig in and try because this kind of looks pretty awesome [27:18.060 –> 27:23.600] Those are some big updates. Um, once eight consoles, I’ll probably dive in myself because I agree hits [27:23.600 –> 27:28.240] I didn’t remember either but just looking at this. It looks this looks good. Um [27:29.080 –> 27:31.080] I’m I’m excited for this [27:31.920 –> 27:35.160] Boy, welcome to the episode of boy. We’re excited for things now [27:37.960 –> 27:42.480] I feel like this is very not on brand for us. I feel like we’re supposed to be more pessimistic. No [27:44.960 –> 27:49.440] Cody and Bev are gonna be like real annoyed with us because we’re stealing they’re gonna be excited [27:49.440 –> 27:51.440] And [27:52.680 –> 27:58.080] Shout out to can you pet the dog continuing to influence game dev across the internet? [28:00.760 –> 28:09.640] Good stuff, uh, let’s see here. What else next up another game? I don’t remember but looks kind of cute [28:11.480 –> 28:12.860] Factory town [28:12.860 –> 28:14.860] Idol. Oh [28:15.020 –> 28:19.460] Wait, do I not know cuz oh wait, yeah, I don’t know cuz it’s a new game. That’s why I don’t remember it [28:20.180 –> 28:25.980] From the makers of factory town. Oh, hey, look at that. It’s called factory town. Idol. I’ll be darned [28:26.940 –> 28:29.700] We have a new game that is coming [28:30.540 –> 28:35.460] Actually very soon April 20th. That’s right around the corner. It’s a [28:36.580 –> 28:38.940] Incremental style town builder. What does that mean? [28:39.420 –> 28:47.100] See here you build houses and buildings sign workers to craft stuff sell your goods and keep your townspeople happy [28:49.580 –> 28:55.100] Endless research and upgrades so it’s just like keep making your town bigger and so on and so forth [28:56.100 –> 29:00.060] But looking at the screenshots, it looks well, first of all, I see menus [29:00.060 –> 29:05.420] That’s like half the screenshots are menus boy. If you like menus, you’ll be happy with this game [29:05.420 –> 29:11.860] Um, well, this is a this is an idle game, right? So this is the like, you know [29:12.580 –> 29:19.000] Finally cottagecore has a game where you do nothing and somehow it takes over your life [29:19.460 –> 29:26.940] And I’m terrified because I can very easily be sucked into these sorts of games. I [29:28.500 –> 29:33.180] I am afraid if this is the last episode I appear on is because my life has been [29:33.900 –> 29:36.580] Taken over by a factory town idol. I [29:38.540 –> 29:45.140] I am terrified. I am legitimately terrified of this game. Like this is a you know, if you think of a [29:45.820 –> 29:52.460] The cottage core click at the clicker suck. Yeah, it’s it’s a cottage core clicker like it’s that’s that’s what it is [29:52.460 –> 29:58.820] You know paper. What was the paper clips one called? I don’t remember but but you know it [29:59.340 –> 30:01.420] Yeah, it’s it’s one of those [30:03.420 –> 30:07.700] I’m terrified for the future of my existence with a cottage core clicker coming [30:08.620 –> 30:13.700] Every news. I’m already playing runescape. I’m already playing a clicker at least that one of his graphics [30:15.820 –> 30:21.740] Every update is every news article just Johnny is just filling Johnny with more and more dread. Oh [30:23.660 –> 30:30.540] Gosh, um, let’s see here. Well, actually what is next? Tell me Johnny. What’s next? [30:31.340 –> 30:34.820] Last thing last thing on our news list is communite which [30:35.540 –> 30:40.820] You know, I had not heard a game another game. I had not heard about before. I [30:42.460 –> 30:45.660] Was looking through what we were talking about this episode [30:47.100 –> 30:54.460] Copy night in the year of 2023. We have pretty bad names for control games. This might be the worst [30:55.060 –> 30:57.260] It’s a terrible name for okay [30:58.180 –> 31:02.540] It raises all sorts of things that I do not want to be thinking about when I am playing a [31:04.820 –> 31:09.660] It for me it goes so bad I kind of like it oh [31:12.300 –> 31:17.060] What is communite let’s see it’s a it’s a multiplayer city builder [31:18.180 –> 31:22.840] Where you use your kindness to help others create your perfect world together [31:23.580 –> 31:25.580] Which sounds both? [31:26.580 –> 31:28.580] Amazing and terrifying [31:32.300 –> 31:38.640] Yeah, it looks very yeah, that looks very sort of like cute and wholesome, you know in a [31:39.420 –> 31:41.600] 2d mobile style way [31:45.900 –> 31:49.920] Apparently it’s coming for Windows iOS and Android which is good because you know [31:49.920 –> 31:53.700] My first instinct looking to this is it looks like a great fun game. Yep [31:54.700 –> 31:56.700] So so that sounds good [31:58.020 –> 32:03.260] I’m interested to see what they do from a multiplayer perspective, you know, like [32:04.060 –> 32:09.940] multiplayer and cottagecore is not something that you see that commonly and when you do see it it tends to feel [32:10.300 –> 32:12.300] Not great, you know [32:12.460 –> 32:17.980] I’m personally not a fan of the way stardew does multiplayer. Not that it’s bad [32:17.980 –> 32:20.300] I can’t think of a way that they could do it better [32:20.300 –> 32:25.900] But it just doesn’t it’s just not the vibe that that game is going for right, you know [32:25.900 –> 32:27.460] I’ve never really played a multiplayer game [32:27.460 –> 32:30.860] It’s got past like day ten because you start a game and then yeah [32:30.860 –> 32:33.800] You can never get that same group of people back to play it again, right? So yeah [32:34.380 –> 32:36.860] It’s a tough call. It’s a curious [32:38.100 –> 32:40.700] Yeah, of course don’t lend themselves to multiplayer [32:40.700 –> 32:46.860] so I I am also curious how they can do that and being a city builder like I [32:47.660 –> 32:52.760] Feel like there’s a little more wiggle room for multiplayer. I’m interested to see what they’ll do for sure [32:54.780 –> 33:00.680] One interesting note you can actually play the alpha if you look at the tweet in the show notes and scroll down like the [33:00.680 –> 33:03.100] Next comment is them posting a link to the alpha [33:03.840 –> 33:05.760] for PC and [33:05.760 –> 33:07.940] Android I don’t see an iOS one, but [33:09.460 –> 33:13.740] Check it out and I’ll definitely keep my eyes and just to see how it works [33:14.500 –> 33:21.180] Because it’s very interesting multiplayer city builder, you know what though right if you’re tired of building cities [33:21.220 –> 33:24.960] How about we just write that in Tara? No [33:25.980 –> 33:28.220] Okay, let’s let’s get into it Johnny [33:29.220 –> 33:31.940] Let’s start with the the first question. What? [33:32.660 –> 33:36.700] Do you like the game Tara nil? I like the game. I [33:37.820 –> 33:43.260] Had this game on my list for games that I was most anticipating for this year. I do not like it as [33:44.340 –> 33:49.340] Much as I hoped I would huh, but that’s not to say it’s bad. You know, it’s just [33:50.140 –> 33:56.220] It’s good, but it needs some work. That’s that’s kind of like, you know, my takeaway for this game is it’s good [33:56.220 –> 34:01.640] You should definitely play it but it needs some work. So like I’m still I’m like a tentative thumbs thumbs up [34:01.640 –> 34:07.580] Yeah, that’s that’s where I’m at. Yeah, I feel similar. Like you said it’s there’s nothing [34:08.100 –> 34:13.340] Bad about it per se for me. I think it’s I’ve been thinking a lot about it [34:13.860 –> 34:15.860] like why I’m [34:16.340 –> 34:21.260] What feels lacking and I think it might be a question of scale or content [34:21.900 –> 34:27.620] Which I hate to say that because not every game needs to be big or whatever but like full disclosure [34:27.620 –> 34:32.960] I’d a hundred percent of this game in like three days after it came out. Um, it’s only 15 bucks [34:32.960 –> 34:36.760] I don’t feel bad and I enjoyed what was there but yeah, I don’t know [34:36.760 –> 34:40.380] I feel like I was expecting to do a little more to [34:41.220 –> 34:43.420] Like break down the steps of the [34:43.940 –> 34:45.940] Wood terraforming and all that [34:46.980 –> 34:53.020] But I get let’s just get into the detail. Well, first of all, hold on I played on PC through steam [34:53.020 –> 34:57.260] That was my experience, but you played through Netflix. So let’s talk about that first because that’s [34:58.140 –> 35:02.380] Interesting and different for most games. Yeah, so this game is available through [35:03.020 –> 35:05.900] through PC on Steam and on [35:06.860 –> 35:08.860] Your mobile device through Netflix [35:09.180 –> 35:10.900] And [35:10.900 –> 35:12.900] the Netflix [35:13.260 –> 35:16.620] gaming thing has been a little controversial I would say because [35:16.980 –> 35:23.500] The first sort of big scale game they brought was into the breach if you haven’t played into the breach and you’re into [35:24.620 –> 35:30.600] Strategy style games into the breach is probably the greatest game that has come out in the last 10 years [35:31.940 –> 35:33.940] And I know it’s pretty dang good. It’s [35:34.820 –> 35:36.820] It’s so good [35:36.980 –> 35:42.240] And I know that annoyed a lot of people because you know required a subscription to Netflix [35:42.780 –> 35:49.580] to to do and and that happened before the you know, you have to log into a device in [35:50.120 –> 35:56.580] You know the physical location the buckle which for the purposes of this conversation we will put to the side [35:57.780 –> 36:02.540] but I think what’s interesting is the idea of these streaming platforms that produce TV, you know, or [36:03.300 –> 36:06.340] Movie content sort of getting into the idea of gaming [36:07.500 –> 36:12.880] And I have to say I’m I’m largely for it. Like I think you know the idea of [36:14.380 –> 36:15.820] Supporting [36:15.820 –> 36:20.740] Relatively indie developers, which I think the Netflix gaming thing has largely done right like Terra [36:20.740 –> 36:23.900] Nil is not made by a big studio. I believe they’re based out of [36:24.580 –> 36:28.180] South Africa into the breach. I don’t know who that’s made by [36:28.180 –> 36:35.260] Maybe it’s made by a big studio. Maybe it’s not but I actually think this is a good way for you know [36:35.260 –> 36:41.340] Companies like Netflix which are looking for ways to retain subscriber numbers, you know to retain their business model [36:42.220 –> 36:44.220] To do something good [36:44.500 –> 36:47.940] And to you know, make mobile gaming [36:48.820 –> 36:50.820] more of a thing [36:51.340 –> 36:55.940] So to bring awesome games to mobile platforms like I [36:56.340 –> 36:57.780] I [36:57.780 –> 37:03.260] Feel like this is a little bit of a win-win like I have a Netflix subscription [37:03.860 –> 37:07.780] if some of that money is going towards supporting the people that [37:08.140 –> 37:13.220] Do Terra Nil then I feel better today about that about my Netflix subscription [37:13.220 –> 37:17.900] Then I did two weeks ago before Terra Nil was a game that was available via their platform [37:19.020 –> 37:21.500] But I’m part of the ecosystem [37:21.500 –> 37:27.420] So I guess Kev I’m keen to see what your take on that is, you know when you played this game not through Netflix [37:29.340 –> 37:30.780] Okay [37:30.780 –> 37:35.140] Not playing it not through Netflix. Like it feels like it’s just a steam game [37:35.900 –> 37:41.700] And you know, that’s not good or bad. Just like I don’t just felt like a game on the whole streaming stuff [37:41.700 –> 37:46.460] I just want to comment like first of all, I am in the rare rare [37:47.100 –> 37:50.340] Subset of people that has never had a Netflix subscription [37:52.220 –> 37:57.780] But so I haven’t played any of their offerings but that said I agree with you [37:57.780 –> 38:03.620] I do think it’s a good cool idea for these big companies to fund [38:04.540 –> 38:06.600] Indie developers making these games [38:07.420 –> 38:14.860] Fun fact I wondered how dry dock studios who I’ve never heard of before and I don’t I didn’t look into if they made anything else [38:15.500 –> 38:19.720] Was able to make wildflowers turns out they were produced by Apple [38:19.720 –> 38:25.620] So they got that Apple money to make that beautiful game for their Apple arcade. And so yeah same idea [38:26.240 –> 38:28.560] So I do agree. That’s good [38:30.360 –> 38:32.760] Putting Terra Nil through Netflix just to [38:33.880 –> 38:36.600] Just so they can get funded and make these cool games. Um [38:37.720 –> 38:40.440] But let’s let’s talk about the game now. Um [38:41.760 –> 38:47.320] So for people who haven’t paid attention to our hype for the last X amount of episodes [38:48.240 –> 38:50.240] Terra Nil is a game where you are [38:51.560 –> 38:52.840] terraforming [38:52.840 –> 38:56.720] polluted world into a nice pretty lush [38:57.680 –> 38:59.680] biodiverse world [39:00.160 –> 39:02.160] and [39:02.960 –> 39:04.960] Okay here [39:05.260 –> 39:06.760] The [39:06.760 –> 39:09.560] The way you go about it is through [39:10.520 –> 39:16.140] Menus and clicking on tiles. How would you describe you’re probably but I don’t have the best word for this [39:17.320 –> 39:22.940] Yes, I would describe it as a city builder. So, you know if you put in your mind something like a [39:24.080 –> 39:26.080] Sim City or [39:27.520 –> 39:31.520] Civilization or a cities and skylines but take away the time element, right? [39:31.520 –> 39:36.080] So so this game doesn’t operate on time as a dimension. There’s a kind of core [39:37.280 –> 39:39.640] currency that controls it but ultimately you are [39:40.320 –> 39:45.780] Building buildings to help you build more buildings that influence the world around you [39:46.540 –> 39:48.140] And [39:48.140 –> 39:52.820] eventually sort of the the spoiler and the twist that they put on this is towards the end of your [39:53.820 –> 39:58.980] instruction to this landscape you tear down all of those buildings and buildings and recycle them all so the [39:59.820 –> 40:01.860] Environment that you created is sustainable [40:01.860 –> 40:07.780] so if you’re into the idea of something like a sub city, but you’re kind of put off by the [40:09.140 –> 40:13.460] You know the fact that the world keeps progressing and things keep turning over [40:13.460 –> 40:20.580] That’s not a concern in this game. So so the term I would use is this kind like an idol strategy game, right? [40:20.580 –> 40:26.340] You can think about your next move for as long as possible and the game won’t punish you for doing that [40:26.340 –> 40:33.460] You can even undo one move which is a very nice little feature, which I may have learned now before we started this show. Oh

This Mario movie is smashing all types of records while people seem decidedly mixed on it. Should I take my daughter to see it or would she have an absolute meltdown in a movie theater? We'll also discuss Terra Nil, Crime Boss: Rockay City, Crab Champions, Nintendo's new live show, the end of Dreams, and way more.

An Open Letter Asks AI Researchers To Reconsider Responsibilities In recent months, it's been hard to escape hearing about artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT, the AI-enabled version of Bing, and Google's Bard—large language models skilled at manipulating words and constructing text. The programs can conduct a believable conversation and answer questions fluently, but have a tenuous grasp on what's real, and what's not. Last week, the Future of Life Institute released an open letter that read “We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.” They asked researchers to jointly develop and implement a set of shared safety protocols governing the use of AI. That letter was signed by a collection of technologists and computer researchers, including big names like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Tesla's Elon Musk. However, some observers called the letter just another round of hype over the AI field. Dr. Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at Berkeley, director of the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public, and co-author of one of the leading AI textbooks was a signatory to that open letter calling for a pause in AI development. He joins Ira Flatow to explain his concerns about AI systems that are ‘black boxes'—difficult for humans to understand or control.   NASA Announces Artemis II Crew For Next Moon Mission This week, NASA announced the four person crew of the Artemis II mission to the moon: Commander Reid Weisman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The crew has three firsts for a moon mission, the first woman, first person of color and first Canadian. While these Artemis II astronauts will not actually step foot on the moon, it's an important milestone for NASA's first moon mission since Apollo. Ira talks with Swapna Krishna, host of the PBS digital series, Far Out about this week's announcement and the future of the Artemis mission.   Will Rising Temperatures Help Batters Swing for the Bleachers? As the planet warms, melting ice and shifting seasons aren't the only things changing—the traditions of baseball may be affected as well. A report published this week in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society finds that warmer air temperatures are connected to a slight increase in the number of home runs hit in major league baseball. The effect, the researchers say, is due to a decrease in air density at warmer temperatures, which allows a hit ball to fly slightly further than it would in cooler air. So far, the effect is small. After correcting for other factors, the researchers say they can attribute about 500 additional MLB home runs since 2010 to warmer temperatures. Most of the observed increase in home run hitting isn't attributable to the climate. However, they say, each additional one degree Celsius increase in temperature may lead to a two percent increase in home runs. And while ballparks with an insulating dome won't see big shifts from increased temperatures, open-air parks with a lot of daytime games, such as Wrigley Field, will see more significant effects. Christopher Callahan, a Ph.D. candidate in geography at Dartmouth and lead author of the report, joins Ira to talk baseball and climate.   This Video Game Prioritizes Restoring An Ecosystem Over Profits If you've played Rollercoaster Tycoon, Cities: Skylines, the Civilization series—even Animal Crossing—you're probably familiar with this gameplay pattern: extract some kind of resource from the land, industrialize it into a theme park or a city, and (step three) profit, ad infinitum. But Terra Nil, a new game from the studio Free Lives, fundamentally challenges this oft-used game loop. Instead of maximizing profit at the expense of the local ecosystem, the player's focus is to make a healthier, natural one instead. You start with a barren wasteland (one that you assume has been completely desolated by human activity, perhaps the aftermath from one of the previously mentioned games), and with the help of advanced eco-tech—like wind turbines, soil purifiers, irrigators, and more—restore it to a thriving, diverse ecosystem. The player's ultimate goal is to take all the tech they used to restore the land, recycle it into an airship, and fly away, leaving no human presence behind. SciFri producer D Peterschmidt speaks with Sam Alfred, the lead designer and programmer of Terra Nil, about how Free Lives designed this “reverse city-builder,” how the studio took inspiration from the flora of their local Cape Town, and how he hopes the game challenges players how they think about traditional gameplay systems and their effect on our world.     Workout Worms May Reveal New Parkinson's Treatments Scientists built an exercise pool for tiny worms. Why? A team of researchers at University of Colorado Boulder are looking into ways to help treat people with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. They're turning to tiny collaborators, C. elegans, worms which measure just one millimeter in length. These scientists wanted to see how exercise affects brain health by putting a bunch of these worms in an exercise class—in a tiny pool. Ira talks with the co-author of this fascinating new research, Dr. Joyita Bhadra, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder.   Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

Hello and welcome to this video game podcast, in which Brad is deeper into RE4, Vinny has finished his sinister fishing in Dredge, and Alex is reclaiming the land in Terra Nil. Also, Sony's rumored PS5 streaming handheld, Asus' Steam Deck competitor, a new Street Fighter movie, living with Mario and Sonic (and Bonk), and more. Advertise on The Nextlander Podcast at Gumball.fm, or support us on Patreon! CHAPTERS (00:00:00) NOTE: Some timecodes may be inaccurate for versions other than the ad-free Patreon version due to dynamic ad insertions. Please use caution if skipping around to avoid spoilers. Thanks for listening.(00:00:09) Intro(00:00:33) Ski Week?!(00:03:46) The weather is pleasant and misty(00:09:33) Let's all become politicians(00:12:53) Resident Evil 4 [PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4] on Mar 24, 2023(00:35:17) First Break(00:35:21) Dredge [Nintendo Switch, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S] on Mar 30, 2023(00:42:06) Terra Nil [PC (Microsoft Windows)] on Mar 28, 2023(00:49:01) Second Break(00:49:06) News(00:49:10) A new PlayStation handheld?(01:02:46) Asus has a Steam Deck-like?(01:10:32) Hopefully, more options for expanding Xbox storage(01:18:00) Phil Harrison has left Stadia(01:21:56) Will there be a new Street Fighter movie?(01:27:22) Vampire Survivors is getting more DLC(01:29:09) Emails(01:37:14) Wrapping up and thanks(01:40:15) Mysterious Benefactor Tier Shoutouts(01:41:51) Thanks everyone and we'll be back (live) after next week(01:43:15) See ya!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Essa semana André Campos, Eduardo Sushi, Rafael Quina e Fernando Mucioli discutem o gameplay do Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a nova morte da E3, os vencedores do BAFTA, e mais! Nos finalmentes demos nossas impressões iniciais acerca do Terra Nil e um pouco sobre The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 00:08:10: Gameplay de Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 00:43:29: BAFTA Video Games Awards 2023 00:51:25: Perguntas dos ouvintes 00:59:49: A morte da E3 01:14:06: PSVR2 vende menos que o esperado pela Sony 01:22:35: Port de The Last of Us Part 1 para PC 01:33:04: Pergunta do ouvinte 01:40:08: Finalmentes: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 01:48:03: Finalmentes: Terra Nil 01:55:47: Finalmentes: Resident Evil 4 Remake Contribua | Twitter | YouTube | Twitch | Contato

AKA The Assassination of Sonic the Hedgehog by the Coward ShrekDiscussed: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Terra Nil, Deus Ex, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 4 Remake---Find us everywhere: https://intothecast.onlineJoin the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intothecast---Follow on Mastodon: https://theaether.space/@intothecastFollow on Tumblr: https://intothecast.tumblr.com---Follow Stephen Hilger: https://stephenhilgerart.com/Follow Brendon Bigley: https://theaether.space/@bbProduced by AJ Fillari: https://theaether.space/@aj---Season 5 Cover Art by Scout Wilkinson: https://scoutwilkinson.myportfolio.com/---Timecodes: (00:00) - Intro (00:24) - Patreon updates BAYBEE (16:34) - BREAKING NEWS // The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (36:00) - Two really interesting indie games // Terra Nil (57:52) - Two really intersting indie games // NOT DREDGE (01:00:08) - Blindspots (01:01:13) - A quick aside (01:02:18) - Blindspots // Deus Ex (01:24:15) - The final Shrekification // Resident Evil 4 (02:05:10) - Wrapping up ---Thanks to all of our amazing patrons including our Eternal Gratitude members: | Zach D | Dominick N | Brett S | Evan B  | Robert L | min2 | Aaron G | Matthew S | Erik M | Brady H  | Joshua J | Tony L | Danny K | Shanna P | Seth MC | Adam B | Andy H | Demo | Maxwell L | Spiritofthunder | Jason W | Jason T | Corey T | Minnow Eats Whale | Caleb W | Jesse W | Mike T | Codes | Wesley | Erik B | Butterfly B | Gabe O | Lasse B | Jeff N | Sergio L | ninjadeathdog | Rory B | A42PoundMoose | Mr Andrew S | Peter | Stellar.Bees | Brendan K | Scott R | wreckx | Noah OR | Michael G | Arcturus  | Chris R | hepahe | Chase A | Anna | Nick Q | Chris M | RB | Karen H | Michaela W | Adam F | Scott H | Lauren H | Ben G | Therese K | jgprinters  | Matt H | Murray | Trevor B | David P | Jason K | Bede R | Kamrin H | Andrew D | Kyle S | Philip N ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Featuring: Michael "Boston" Hannon, Paul “Moonpir” Carver-Smith, and Alexander “TheNimp” Jolly Running Time: 1:40:19 Music by MusiM: Homepage | Bandcamp Livestream Archive: YouTube This week we chat about A Memoir Blue, Marvel Snap, Monster Hunter Rise, Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, Star Wars Battlefront 2, Battlefield 2042, Destiny 2, Stardw Valley, Terra Nil. E3 2023 is dead MultiVersus was apparently an open beta, is closing down Ark 2 is delayed, then things get real bad RUMOR: Apple to unveil their MR headset at WWDC this year Become a patron of TVGP for just a few dollars a month at E1M1's Patreon Page! Get two month early access to Critical Misses, uncensored outtakes, and much more for just $5/month!

¿Te gusta Reload? Apóyanos en Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/anaitreload) para acceder a contenidos exclusivos, recibir los episodios dos días antes y hacer posible que sigamos adelante

This week we start out digging all the way in to the probable death of E3 and the repercussions likely to make their way through the games industry, and then we talk about a lot of games, including Terra Nil, Dredge, Storyteller, Midnight Ghost Hunt, Remnant 2, and a lot more.  This week's music:  Transviolet - Run Towards the Monster

Wiem, że nikt nie czyta tych opisów, ale jest Prima Aprilis więc trzeba wymyślić jakiś żenujący żart. Uwaga. Dlaczego nie warto wchodzić do lasu w dzień prima aprilis? Bo drzewa mogą Cię zaskoczyć i zacząć żartować, a potem będziesz ich szukać cały dzień! Aha, w odcinku wspominałem o ankiecie i zapisach na playtesty Bearnarda, które odbęda się w kwietniu: https://forms.gle/RsfTv94uRSyh4Kok7 W co graliśmy Spec Ops: The Line Dredge Crime Boss: Rockay City Terra Nil Resident Evil 4 Forumogadka to podcast poświęcony szeroko pojętej elektronicznej rozrywce w ujęciu odrobinę mniej poważnym i zdecydowanie mniej profesjonalnym. Od graczy dla graczy. Regularnie, bo co dwa tygodnie, w każdą sobotę późnym popołudniem możesz posłuchać nowego odcinka poświęconego nowinkom branżowym, recenzjom gier i wszystkim innym tematom, o które potkniemy się w naszych rozmowach. Więcej Forumogadki na: Stronie WWW: http://forumogadka.pl iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/pl/podcast/forumogadka/id328575115?mt=2 YouTube: http://youtube.com/Forumogadka Facebooku: http://facebook.com/Forumogadka Twitterze: http://twitter.com/forumogadka Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0WJl8GgTBW4PxavSzykiOz?si=_s2hSy9vQ6W6lBhC8nsc8A Discord: https://discord.gg/tmxNSf8BYS RSS: http://forumogadka.pl/rss Pytania, uwagi i groźby należy kierować pod adres: kontakt@forumogadka.pl Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:19:49 GMT S

In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, the crew discusses our favorite games from PAX East 2023, relaxing reverse-city-builder Terra Nil, and why Crime Boss: Rockay City earned our lowest review score in years. It's a great episode featuring plenty of shenanigans and hijinks from Alex, Marcus, and Wesley. Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoy the episode! Follow us on social media: Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), Wesley LeBlanc (@LeBlancWes) The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join host Alex Van Aken every Thursday for a chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Matt Storm, the freelance audio editor for The Game Informer Show, edited this episode. Matt is an experienced podcast host and producer who's been speaking into a microphone for over a decade. You should listen to Matt's shows like the "Fun" And Games Podcast and Reignite, a BioWare podcast. Jump to the timestamps to get to a particular point of discussion: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:45 - PAX East 2023 00:21:45 - Crime Boss: Rockay City 00:41:54 - Terra Nil 00:56:16 - Dordogne 01:04:10 - Housekeeping

This week, Rowan teams up with Fanbyte's Mike Williams and Kotaku's Luke Plunkett to discuss Terra Nil, a "city builder in reverse" about restoring the natural ecosystem of a devastated planet. We break down what makes this concept so compelling, feelgood, and relaxing, as well as what it could have done differently to fill a more simulationist niche.

This week Eric ogles an alchemist, Matt revenges and reforests, and we discuss a plethora of news items - E3 2023, the Dolphin emulator coming to Steam, and the latest Witchfire and Tears of the Kingdom trailers! Releases: Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, Westerado: Double Barreled, & Terra Nil

Rob's back from his vacation, and he returns a changed man. He's taken advantage of his position as King of Executive Function to make some Extremely Key Hardware Upgrades while no one was around to judge him. Ren checked out the City Enviroment builder Terra Nil where you're tasked with reversing the effects of climate collapse. After the break, Patrick's checking in with T'chia, an indie Breath-of-the-Wild-like with a really interesting possession mechanic, and Rob's continued to be on his bullshit in The Great War: Western Front. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your weekly gaming news: plus, 1862: Railway Mania in the E.C; Stellaris Overlord; Terra Nil; Powerwasher DLC; Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty; & The FULL Story of Street Fighter by The Black Mastadonte. #GameBurst More info... Music includes Sensible Soccer theme The FULL Story of Street Fighter by The Black Mastadonte https://youtu.be/mWlEgz8oIcY 

Al, Kev, and Nama talk about using other cultures in video games Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:54: What Have We Been Up To 00:16:20: News 00:41:55: Cultures In Video Games 01:27:00: Outro Links Research Story Roadmap: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1629830/view/3656396815346372558 Sun Haven 1.0 Release Date: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1432860/view/3640634026218531323?l=english Terra Nil Release Date: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1593030/view/3637256326499263909 Tchia Release Date: https://twitter.com/awaceb/status/1628865612968501249 The Wandering Village 0.2.0: https://strayfawnstudio.com/community/index.php?/topic/14798-new-update-020/ Farming Simulator 23: https://www.farming-simulator.com/newsArticle.php?news_id=447 Dawngrove: https://store.steampowered.com/app/871410/Dawngrown/ Above Snakes Article: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1589120/view/3668778987544540058 Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript [00:30.000 –> 00:36.560] Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the Harvest Season. My name is Al. [00:36.560 –> 00:41.360] My name is Kevin. Hello, my name is Nama. And we are here today to talk about [00:41.360 –> 00:43.720] cottagecore games. [00:43.720 –> 00:45.720] Wooooooh. [00:45.720 –> 00:49.080] Don’s saying so excited Kevin. [00:49.080 –> 00:53.160] I didn’t I didn’t match it. I did not match it this time. [00:53.160 –> 00:57.000] Kevin, you can you can do whatever you want. You normally do. [00:57.000 –> 01:03.640] Well, you’re right. You’re right about that. So welcome to first time guest Nama. [01:03.640 –> 01:12.120] Hello. Yeah, it’s me. People probably know who I am, but if not, I’m a I’m I’m Nama the [01:12.120 –> 01:15.000] nerd from small-time bazurri. [01:15.000 –> 01:21.400] Yeah, cool. So we’re going to I didn’t really rehearse in my head what I was going to see here, [01:21.400 –> 01:26.200] but we’re basically we’re going to talk about in this episode we’re going to talk about [01:26.200 –> 01:33.720] the use of cultures, specifically different cultures from the one that you know developers are [01:33.720 –> 01:38.600] in their video games when it’s appropriate, etc, etc. There’s a lot to talk about there, [01:38.600 –> 01:43.240] but that’s what we’re going to talk about. And I thought that Nama would be a good [01:43.240 –> 01:49.640] person to get on to chat about this because Nama you are what is the correct terminology [01:49.640 –> 01:50.920] that you would use. [01:50.920 –> 01:57.320] Well, I think the term that people use on the internet right now is Native American. I’ve [01:57.320 –> 02:04.680] grown up in a family of Native Americans that call ourselves Indians, but I am a member of the [02:04.680 –> 02:07.480] Comanche tribe if you want to get in particular. [02:07.480 –> 02:11.080] Well, I didn’t know that. Okay. So that’s the tribe. Cool. I do know the Comanche. It’s the [02:11.080 –> 02:15.080] knowing that was your tribe. Very cool. Sure. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t say that was getting [02:15.080 –> 02:22.040] particular. I would say that would be like actually saying what you are, right? Like, I’ve [02:22.040 –> 02:27.240] got my ID card in my wallet. We have our own, you know, thing of a mob. So I’m sure we’ll get [02:27.240 –> 02:32.040] into this discussion. But like, yeah, because because quite often we can we can talk about [02:32.040 –> 02:38.600] Native American like it is one, you know, homogenous group. Yeah, one nebulous thing there, [02:38.600 –> 02:44.040] which it has never been. But anyway, I’m sure we’ll get into that discussion later on. [02:44.040 –> 02:48.680] Okay. Okay. Okay. We’ll save it for them. We’ve got plenty to talk about before then. [02:48.680 –> 02:53.960] Before that, we have a bunch of news. Apparently everybody was really was announcing release dates [02:53.960 –> 03:02.120] this week. But before that, now me, what have you been up to? Well, that is, you know, a big question. [03:02.680 –> 03:11.800] I have, I’m a kids librarian. And so I do all kinds of programs and stuff. I read to the [03:11.800 –> 03:17.400] little five year olds, but I also do video game programs with, do with key majors. So right now [03:17.400 –> 03:23.320] at work, all of, it’s all been about getting summer reading programs, ready to go. Some people are like, [03:23.320 –> 03:30.280] what summer? It’s February. But they, they are doing the middle of March. We got a book that [03:30.280 –> 03:35.800] performers. We got to decide what we’re doing. So that has been occupying a lot of my brain space. [03:35.800 –> 03:42.200] But in terms of like my gaming to do this every day around Pokemon day, which is very close at [03:42.200 –> 03:49.240] the time of recording, I, like, since the 25th anniversary, I’ve been going back to an old game [03:49.240 –> 03:55.960] and doing like kind of the post game content that I never was able to do. So for the 25th anniversary, [03:55.960 –> 04:03.480] I got to credits in stadium one. And then last year, I got to credits in stadium two. And so this [04:03.480 –> 04:10.360] year, I’m preparing to do the battle frontier in Emerald, which I’ve never done before. So that means [04:10.360 –> 04:16.440] like breeding a team and EV training and all in generation three of Pokemon. And it is, uh, [04:16.440 –> 04:23.160] I’m not looking forward to it necessarily. But I’m very excited to do it. But it’s like, [04:23.160 –> 04:27.960] it’s like bucket list for me. So I’m not going to judge you is all I’m going to say. [04:27.960 –> 04:35.640] I don’t know. I’m not judging you, but for that, that hurts just to hear good luck. [04:36.280 –> 04:38.200] We’ll see where I am six months for now. [04:38.920 –> 04:44.280] Yeah. Cool Kevin. What have you been up to? I have been up to all the same. My life is just [04:44.280 –> 04:54.840] dominated by battle passes and so on. I play unite. I play snap. I play snap, which has hurt me [04:54.840 –> 05:01.240] by the way, they’ve got a lot of good variants and dropped a little money. Um, I, uh, that said, [05:01.240 –> 05:07.080] though, this week, my brother Calvin introduced me to a new mobile game. I’ve become more and more [05:07.080 –> 05:14.520] of a mobile gamer to much to my own dismay. Um, it is called the battle cats. Um, have either of [05:14.520 –> 05:20.840] you heard of this. I have never never heard of this battle cats are the battle cats with an S [05:20.840 –> 05:28.280] plural. Oh, my word. This looks so cute. You’re looking enough. Right. Okay. So it is called, [05:28.280 –> 05:33.000] it is made by a company called Pono’s, which I’m not, I’ve not been familiar with, but apparently [05:33.000 –> 05:40.280] they have a wide assortment of titles using these cats. There’s like the burglar cats, I think, [05:40.280 –> 05:44.760] they even had one for the 3DS, like a match three puzzle game using these cats. They have a [05:44.760 –> 05:50.360] handful of games. So, um, they’re pretty prolific and harder than, but anyways, so the battle cats [05:50.360 –> 05:56.040] is a, essentially tower defense, but like you’re trying to take down their tower, they’re trying [05:56.040 –> 06:01.800] to take down yours. It’s just 2D left, right, whatever. Um, you’re just generating units. Um, [06:01.800 –> 06:07.160] I just don’t matter, right or whatever. Um, and I love tower defense games. So like natural [06:07.160 –> 06:15.240] as inclined, but the real seller is, as you said, Al, the art style, which is, uh, my card to, I don’t [06:15.240 –> 06:19.880] mean, if you guys have played under, or anyone’s familiar with Undertale, as a character called [06:19.880 –> 06:25.000] the annoying dog, and it looks a lot like that. Um, so it’s just like black and white cats, and [06:25.640 –> 06:34.200] the cats are very cartoony and goofy. You have UFO cats, dragon cats, gross cats, which has just like [06:34.200 –> 06:41.160] giant, enormously long legs. You have Thor cat. Um, and it’s a gotcha game. So you pull for cats, [06:41.160 –> 06:47.400] and then they become your units for your team and your little missions. It’s fun. It’s a [06:47.400 –> 06:53.560] detective. It has an energy system. So it actually manages to keep my addiction in check, but um, [06:54.280 –> 06:59.160] but yeah, it’s, it’s really fun. Um, and I, especially to notice because they had a cross [06:59.160 –> 07:06.600] over street fighter actually, um, what? Yeah, not only do they have cats model after some of the [07:06.600 –> 07:12.440] villains. Um, if people know what em bison looks like, he has like a cape and an evil dictator hat. [07:12.440 –> 07:18.920] So they gave, uh, a cat, an, an em bison outfit. Um, but you could also just get the characters [07:18.920 –> 07:24.760] themselves. My brother pulled like Ryu and em bison. So as these goofy cartoony cats, and then [07:24.760 –> 07:30.920] he’ll summon like Ryu was doing the dokens. Um, the game is chaotic and goofy and hilarious and [07:30.920 –> 07:36.120] a lot of fun. Um, so it is taken over my week largely. It’s actually cut into my snap time, [07:36.120 –> 07:43.560] which is crazy. Um, but yeah, aside from that, uh, just the usual, um, what about you out? What [07:43.560 –> 07:49.720] have you been up to? Well, I have finished my Pokemon Scarlet Professor Oak Challenge. [07:51.560 –> 08:00.360] I’m done for you. Um, congratulations. It was kind of ridiculous. So it took me, so my final, [08:00.360 –> 08:08.280] so I got 60 hours to get to the first gym. So I was catching 355, 1, 60 hours. And I think, [08:08.280 –> 08:12.760] let me just double check. I think it was like 72 or something to the rest for the rest of the game. [08:12.760 –> 08:19.240] So like another 12 hours. Um, that’s pretty good. Yeah. It’s quite insane. Realistically, [08:19.240 –> 08:22.840] the only thing that actually took me a time while the two things that took the, [08:22.840 –> 08:32.360] took most of that time up was, uh, the cutscenes. So so many cutscenes in the gyms, um, like that, [08:32.360 –> 08:38.120] just that took about half of the total time, I think life was just the, the talking, [08:38.120 –> 08:43.880] which I have, uh, what’s it called? Um, the split pad. So I just stuck on the turbo button for that, [08:43.880 –> 08:49.400] get through all that nonsense. Um, and the other thing that took a surprising amount of time was [08:49.400 –> 08:57.240] there, after you, after you finish, after you hit his credits, you can unlock the five star [08:57.240 –> 09:02.040] raids. And when you’ve got the five star raids on locks, there are three Pokemon that you can [09:02.040 –> 09:10.840] only get at that point. And that’s Caesar, Finneon, not a Finneon, uh, what’s it called? Finneon, [09:10.840 –> 09:16.840] Finnezin, no, the other one, Palafin. Yeah, Finnezin, you can get for Palafin. Um, and [09:16.840 –> 09:24.440] smoking. And that took me a surprising amount. I took me a bit three days to get those three [09:24.440 –> 09:29.320] Pokemon in raids, because obviously you’re having to go around all of your raids and check if they’re [09:29.320 –> 09:34.520] there, then you actually have to defeat the raid and blah blah blah. So like that took a lot of [09:34.520 –> 09:39.240] time, but I was like, I could just skip this bit, but then like, I’ve not actually fully completed [09:39.240 –> 09:45.640] it. So I may as well just like do this last bit. Oh, that was quite a lot of work. And then I went [09:45.640 –> 09:51.000] back to Violet and called the exclusives and sent them over and have their shiny charm. So I’m [09:51.000 –> 09:58.040] done with that. And wow. So I’m now going to put myself down to significant less significantly [09:58.040 –> 10:03.640] less. I’m in a time playing in that game. Maybe one day a week, get a shiny or, or, uh, um, [10:03.640 –> 10:09.080] a raid event, if there’s a raid event on that week. You say that, but Pokemon day is Monday [10:09.080 –> 10:15.160] and then you’ll be right back in. I mean, I thought I don’t think even the most optimistic [10:15.160 –> 10:21.080] person assumes that the DLC will be an announced and released on month. I mean, like that would be [10:21.080 –> 10:25.800] quite, it doesn’t have to be the DLC could be just something else small up that you know, [10:25.800 –> 10:29.080] it’s not going to, whatever it is, it’s not going to be more than a couple hours work, right? [10:31.480 –> 10:36.680] So there’s that. And then I picked up Mario Rabbid’s spark of hope. So that’s the second one. [10:37.240 –> 10:40.840] And I was like, let’s get this game done. Um, because I played a wee bit of a [10:40.840 –> 10:45.400] lot when it came out. And then I got distracted by a bunch of other things because I think it came [10:45.400 –> 10:52.440] out a few weeks before Pokemon did. And, um, this game really frustrates me because the battles [10:52.440 –> 10:56.040] are so much fun. And I think the battles in this game are better than the previous one. [10:56.600 –> 11:01.240] I wasn’t hugely excited about the lack of the grid system in this one, but I think it actually [11:01.240 –> 11:05.480] works really well. I think it’s a really fun. It gives you more different possibilities, [11:05.480 –> 11:13.800] more ways to do things, which is good fun. But then they padded out the game with all this ridiculous [11:13.800 –> 11:21.640] like exploration nonsense between the battles that just is not fun. There’s like random pointless [11:21.640 –> 11:26.840] puzzles that you have to like figure out where you’re going to get. It’s like the first game, [11:26.840 –> 11:32.760] I found that a bit annoying, but it was mostly just like one of these maps that like the 2D [11:32.760 –> 11:37.640] Mario games have, like world or whatever, where you would just like kind of walk along the map. [11:37.640 –> 11:41.160] And it was like, this is kind of pointless, but whatever. It’s nice and quick. You’re just basically [11:41.160 –> 11:45.240] walking through catching some coins and then going to the next battle. But this one, this [11:45.240 –> 11:50.200] full on like exploration things and you have to go through these caves and figure out how to get [11:50.200 –> 11:53.160] out of the cave and you have to figure out how to get to the top of a lighthouse and you have to, [11:53.160 –> 12:00.280] and it’s just that I do not care. I didn’t buy this game to be a platformer or an exploration. [12:00.280 –> 12:03.880] This is not what I’m looking for in this game and everything that does outside of the battles [12:03.880 –> 12:10.680] is not fun. It’s badly done and therefore I have stopped. I’m not finishing that game [12:10.680 –> 12:16.600] because I’m not enjoying myself outside of the battles. It’s so weird because the first game was so [12:16.600 –> 12:21.800] well done. Like, yeah. I’m surprised they bungled them up like that. I haven’t heard much or played [12:22.600 –> 12:27.400] that. I think it might depend on who you are and maybe some people enjoy that. I don’t know. [12:27.400 –> 12:31.560] There must be a reason that they’ve added so much more between the battles. But like, [12:31.560 –> 12:35.160] personally, I would, I would have preferred if they take in the first one, put on the battle [12:35.160 –> 12:39.240] system for the second one and then removed all those bit between the battles. It’s just give me a [12:39.240 –> 12:44.760] list. Just let me play the battles. I don’t, no, I’m not buying this game to explore. I’m playing it [12:44.760 –> 12:51.160] to play these battles. That is not just you. That is like the game. That’s what they’re selling you. [12:51.160 –> 12:56.120] And yeah, it’s weird that they fill it up with so much more. Absolutely bizarre. [12:56.120 –> 13:02.120] Yeah. So I played for another maybe like three hours or something. So I’ve put in almost 10 hours [13:02.120 –> 13:07.720] in that game. And I think that’s enough to say that I do not. The battles are good, but they’re not [13:07.720 –> 13:13.480] good enough to make me want to power through the absolute dreadfulness that is everything else. [13:14.440 –> 13:19.720] So I’ll put that back down again and I’m selling the game. The other thing, the other thing that [13:19.720 –> 13:24.360] I’ve been then picked up, I only picked that up today. So I’ve not done a huge amount of it. But [13:24.360 –> 13:29.480] I’m enjoying it so far is Hyrule Warriors or what’s this one called? The Calamity. [13:31.000 –> 13:37.400] Go back to the wild one. Oh, it’s an original one. No, no, no, no, no, no, I like to play the [13:37.400 –> 13:41.480] newest game of something. And then it means that I never enjoy playing the older ones because they’re [13:41.480 –> 13:48.840] not as good. Oh, that might not be the case here. We’ll see. We’ll see. I’m enjoying it. Obviously, [13:48.840 –> 13:56.840] the battle system is not the same as in Breath of the Wild. But it almost feels like they’re trying [13:56.840 –> 14:06.120] to make it very similar. So like you have all of the extra abilities, like your magnesiums and your [14:06.120 –> 14:11.160] ice thing or whatever they’re called, but they work differently. And obviously you’re doing it in [14:11.160 –> 14:18.280] like high-paced combat rather than using it to solve puzzles. And so it’s fun, but it’s also a little [14:18.280 –> 14:22.280] bit weird. And I think it might confuse me going into Tears of the Kingdom because it just, [14:22.680 –> 14:29.160] it’s, it’s that weird kind of combination of kind of similar, but also kind of different in that way. [14:29.160 –> 14:37.880] It looks, it looks so much like Breath of the Wilds down to the, down to the menu UI and the sound [14:37.880 –> 14:44.360] effects and the music. They did a great job making it seem like a seamless step into this game from [14:44.360 –> 14:49.480] Breath of the Wild. So yeah, I hope that you don’t go if you’re weird blash with Tears of the [14:49.480 –> 14:54.840] Kingdom because, yeah, I mean, perhaps to them for it. Yeah, I don’t think so. I think I’ll go into [14:54.840 –> 14:58.840] Tears of the Kingdom and be like, no, this is, this is the combat I prefer because I do, [14:59.560 –> 15:05.960] I’m not enjoying it as much as I enjoy Breath of the Wild. Partly because I think this game [15:07.000 –> 15:10.040] wants to just throw you into battles and it does that straight away. It’s like, hey, [15:10.040 –> 15:15.560] he has a battle goal and I like that, but then it also then puts in some of the exploration side [15:15.560 –> 15:20.760] of things that Breath of the Wild had, but not fully featured obviously. It’s like not an open world [15:20.760 –> 15:26.680] game like that. So it just kind of feels like those are kind of tacked on, but unlike Mario [15:26.680 –> 15:32.520] and Rabbid Spark of Hope, those are really short, right? So you’re like, oh, you need to get to this next [15:32.520 –> 15:38.600] bit. Okay, run to it. That’s fine. But as soon as you finished all of the battles within that chapter, [15:38.600 –> 15:42.360] you then back to a menu and you can select the next chapter and you’re immediately there. [15:43.720 –> 15:48.600] That’s the bit that Mario Rabbids didn’t do, which you should have done, minimize the [15:48.600 –> 15:55.160] extra bits between what we’re actually there for, right? So yeah, I’m enjoying that so far. [15:55.160 –> 15:59.640] Good. I like the person who is better. I’ve nearly finished the first chapter. It’s a real [15:59.640 –> 16:05.160] loop. So yeah, well, we’ll see. I mean, yeah, the age of climate is fine, but just the original [16:05.160 –> 16:10.600] high rewards. There’s a real love letter to the Zelda series, which is really fun. Interesting. [16:10.600 –> 16:15.880] But I’m glad you’re enjoying it. So yeah, I think that’s me. Not played any snap, played a little [16:15.880 –> 16:21.080] bit ago. That’s about it. That’s about it. I mentioned three big games there. Shall we talk about [16:21.080 –> 16:30.120] some news? Should we? Let’s do it. So research story is now out in early access. That’s not news. [16:30.120 –> 16:35.720] We already knew that was coming, but they have also released their early access roadmap. So they’ve [16:35.720 –> 16:42.840] listed one, two, three, four, five big updates coming over the time. It’s obviously a roadmap [16:43.800 –> 16:51.720] without any dates because of course that’s a sensible thing to do. Yeah. I like at least an estimate [16:51.720 –> 16:58.600] on my roadmap, personally. Like, I mean, I’m not like trying to hold them to anything or be [16:58.600 –> 17:04.040] disappointed. I’m saying this just in general, not specifically about this game, but yeah, I don’t know. [17:04.040 –> 17:09.080] I just like to have some ballpark of idea of what they estimate because just the list of things [17:09.080 –> 17:14.760] they want to do. Yeah, I don’t know. That could take a while. I mean, I will say that they have said [17:14.760 –> 17:21.880] that they expect their early access to take about six months to a year. So presumably at this point [17:21.880 –> 17:26.040] in time, they’re expecting all of those five updates to be finished within a year’s time. [17:26.040 –> 17:30.840] It’s not going to happen, but that’s what they’re expecting at this point. It feels like [17:31.640 –> 17:37.800] in our little corner of the video games world in the cottage court, it feels like this happens a lot. [17:38.520 –> 17:43.320] It does. And I think I think that everyone just tries to add too much into their games. [17:44.360 –> 17:49.880] Like, I mean, just looking at again, I haven’t touched research story or don’t have anything [17:49.880 –> 17:56.360] against them, but they have the romance stuff. Is that, oh, do we always need the romance? I don’t know. [17:56.360 –> 18:02.200] But anyway, so that’s that’s just me. Research story specifically as a game does feel like it [18:02.200 –> 18:06.760] doesn’t need romance, right? Like it’s a game where you’re the researcher and the focus is on [18:06.760 –> 18:10.920] the researching things. Not to say the researchers can’t have relationships. I’m not saying you [18:10.920 –> 18:18.120] can’t have a relationship, Cody. Like it does feel like the focus is on like when you’re doing [18:18.120 –> 18:22.920] something like Stardew or Harvest Moon or a story of seasons, like the focus is on this, [18:22.920 –> 18:27.240] you’re just, you’re just living a life, right? There’s no like specific thing. And then other [18:27.240 –> 18:31.880] ones are like, we’re focusing on like, if you imagine if like farming simulator that actually had [18:31.880 –> 18:36.680] romance in it, that would be weird because the focus was on running a big commercial farm. [18:36.680 –> 18:39.720] So yeah, I agree with you. This feels a bit weird to have that. [18:39.720 –> 18:46.440] Yeah. Um, but I mean, yeah, but I mean, good luck to research story regardless. [18:46.440 –> 18:51.800] Yeah, but discord can join it if you want to help with their growth and whatnot. It is nice [18:51.800 –> 18:56.680] to see them interacting with the community like that. Yeah, that’s nice. Yeah. Yeah. I will say [18:56.680 –> 19:00.520] just because we were talking about like dates and stuff like that, just to give you an idea, [19:00.520 –> 19:05.880] Sunhaven, which we were about to talk about, they came into early access in June 2021, [19:05.880 –> 19:12.360] and they said that their early access would be six months long. So, um, um, uh, [19:12.360 –> 19:18.600] look, six months, two years, close enough. We sometimes you just got to put asterisks over your [19:18.600 –> 19:23.160] dates. That’s where you don’t give a date. This is my opinion. Like, having one states, I say, [19:23.160 –> 19:29.400] don’t give a date. Just do what you do. Give a, give a date and hold your, not again, not a specific [19:29.400 –> 19:34.280] date, but like, if you realize it’s getting too big, then cut down. That’s, that’s my opinion. [19:34.280 –> 19:38.040] Look, we live. This is the genre with religion, didn’t it? Okay. Like, [19:38.040 –> 19:46.200] uh, I live released now, right? They’re no, they’re no, um, have you played it yourself? Is it true? [19:46.200 –> 19:52.200] Is it true? Is it true that it’s out? Yes. Is it not all just, it’s true that you can download [19:52.200 –> 19:59.160] to the game. I haven’t actually tried to play it for all. We know it’s no Moneko. Moneko has been longer. [19:59.160 –> 20:05.160] Has Moneko been longer? Oh, yeah. They were only two, they were only when we on the first episode, [20:05.160 –> 20:09.080] they were only two games that we announced that hadn’t been released last year. One of them [20:09.800 –> 20:13.560] was re-legined and one of them is Moneko. Moneko hasn’t come out yet. [20:13.560 –> 20:18.360] When was Moneko’s first announcement? 2018. Okay. Never mind taking hold of Moneko, [20:18.360 –> 20:22.600] but Moneko will be worth it though. Oh, sure. Oh, absolutely. Moneko’s going to be a [20:22.600 –> 20:27.640] graduate game in the re-legend. I don’t think anybody would be arguing about it. Yeah. Okay. [20:27.640 –> 20:32.840] Anyways, all right. Let’s talk about the other game with. Yeah. So some hate in questionable [20:32.840 –> 20:40.840] date. So they have announced their 1.0 release date. So there’s 0.8 update. I don’t know why [20:40.840 –> 20:48.520] they’re doing weather. Right. Their next free 1.0 release is out and that adds, oh, look, it adds [20:48.520 –> 20:59.400] romance. And the, so that’s out now. And the 1.0 release date is currently scheduled to release [20:59.400 –> 21:06.200] on the 10th of March, which is only like two weeks away. That’s that bet. No. I see this [21:06.200 –> 21:11.320] bad deal. Between the two really. Yeah. I will say, looking at this art style for this game, [21:11.320 –> 21:16.760] how could it not have a romance? Similarly. This seems like it’s designed for it. [21:16.760 –> 21:22.200] Yeah. I mean, it’s knocking off Stardew. Yeah. It’s, it’s Stardew, but with magic, right? That’s [21:22.200 –> 21:28.920] what it’s like. Yeah. It’s like a higher fantasy. Yeah. I would say, I think this has better [21:28.920 –> 21:36.040] pixel art quality than Stardew. It’s quite nice. But oh, for sure. So I would say, it depends [21:36.040 –> 21:42.760] what you mean. It has higher resolution on everything, right? Like it’s less pixel. I would say [21:42.760 –> 21:51.800] it’s more complex. Yeah. I mean, like, like I recognize like every day, every, I judge pixel art by [21:52.520 –> 21:57.800] what they do in their limitations, right? Because there’s like, you look back at older, [21:57.800 –> 22:01.800] NES games or whatever. They have fantastic pixel or like some of those final fantasy games or whatever. [22:01.800 –> 22:07.480] Anyways, I just look at like the octopus that you see on the same page. I have like this giant [22:07.480 –> 22:11.560] octopus or like stuff inside it. That is great design right there. I don’t think Stardew has [22:11.560 –> 22:16.680] anything as nicely designed as that. Interesting. But regardless, that is, that’s just a completely [22:16.680 –> 22:21.720] subjective opinion here. I certainly don’t. I certainly, I certainly look at this game and think [22:21.720 –> 22:26.680] it looks nice, right? It’s not like one of these art styles where you’re like, oh, they just, [22:26.680 –> 22:30.200] they just wanted, they wanted to make a game and they didn’t really know how to make it look good. [22:30.200 –> 22:38.280] Like it does look good. Absolutely. But I just, I think that I, it is obviously higher resolution [22:38.280 –> 22:42.280] and in some, you could definitely argue it looks better than Stardew. But I still think [22:42.280 –> 22:48.280] the Stardew looks really nice. It’s just, no, yeah, it’s, it’s not bad. I mean, clearly, yeah, [22:48.280 –> 22:54.840] okay. I mean, yeah, you can write a line in this one, right? Oh, well, there you go. [22:54.840 –> 22:59.480] There’s a crab house. The house with a big grab on it started doesn’t have one of those. [22:59.480 –> 23:05.640] That’s very true. But you can, you can, you turn your kids into delves in this game. [23:05.640 –> 23:15.640] Oh, ouch. Oh, see, you know what? I’d rather games copy that than the romance. [23:17.720 –> 23:21.960] But I guess you need the romance have kids first. Well, no, yeah, just do it to random [23:21.960 –> 23:28.280] people. I don’t like you in the game. I’m going to turn you into delves. The other thing is, [23:28.280 –> 23:34.360] obviously, they’ve still got their Nintendo Switch release to come. Um, that is coming soon. [23:34.360 –> 23:38.120] They haven’t really, it’s a bit cryptic what they’ve said. They’re, they’re like, [23:38.120 –> 23:42.120] we’re waiting on Nintendo. But my question with that is like, are you waiting on Nintendo [23:42.120 –> 23:47.480] because you’ve, you’re applied for it to go in? And therefore, it’s already, and you just [23:47.480 –> 23:52.600] need Nintendo to approve it, or are they waiting on something else from Nintendo? Like, they [23:52.600 –> 23:59.880] don’t actively say we have, we have put in approval for this to go in the store, right? So I’m [23:59.880 –> 24:06.920] a bit more exactly other saying here. I’m not sure. I mean, yeah, but again, another cornerstone [24:06.920 –> 24:14.280] of our genre, uh, the Switch tax always longer releases, the laid releases on that. Um, yeah. [24:14.280 –> 24:18.680] Well, at least now, I have a steam deck so I can stop waiting for the Switch release. [24:21.160 –> 24:26.840] You’re not wrong. Next, we have another release date, because as I said, this is the release [24:26.840 –> 24:32.760] date episode. The next one is we have a release date for Terra Nil. So this is the game where [24:32.760 –> 24:40.520] you’re turning wasteland into a luscious, uh, Greenland, and then leaving it untouched by humans. [24:40.520 –> 24:49.000] Um, this one is releasing on the 28th of March busy month. This game, I, you know, I believe it was [24:49.000 –> 24:54.360] Cody was on the first time. This was discussion. She’s so hyped about it. Um, I don’t know. Her excitement [24:54.360 –> 25:03.080] has made me more excited about this game. Um, it’s, I saw it. Terraforming is a cool concept. Um, [25:03.080 –> 25:10.040] um, and just looking at that turning, uh, empty plot of dirt into a vibrant forest or [25:10.920 –> 25:15.480] ocean river from whatever. That’s pretty cool. Um, I’ll be excited. I will probably give [25:15.480 –> 25:23.160] in this to world. I mean, to PC and Netflix. So there’s the interesting thing. I don’t think we had [25:23.160 –> 25:28.520] any idea that it was coming to presumably mobile devices. If they don’t actually give the details, [25:28.520 –> 25:32.600] but as far as I know Netflix are only doing games on mobile devices, I don’t think we had [25:32.600 –> 25:37.560] any indication that this was coming to mobile. And yeah, I suddenly like, oh, hey, we’re coming [25:37.560 –> 25:45.960] out on the 28th. Also on Netflix. I mean, like, oh, okay. Thank you for that. Right. Fine. I guess [25:45.960 –> 25:52.920] that’s a thing. Um, yeah. I mean, Netflix are doing well with choosing games for their service. I think [25:52.920 –> 25:57.480] I guess I don’t have Netflix at all. I don’t know. [25:57.480 –> 26:05.720] Oh, yeah. So I know that they, they have had, um, some good ones. Uh, they had, I believe, [26:05.720 –> 26:13.480] spirit fader. Um, all that is a good one. Good for them. So well, it was also fair in this. [26:13.480 –> 26:21.080] Yeah. Oh, they had, um, the Ninja Turtles game. Yep. That’s like, oh, wow. Okay. Now that somebody [26:21.080 –> 26:25.800] there knows what they’re doing. Um, they do. They really do. There was something else as well that [26:25.800 –> 26:32.120] was like, uh, like a traditional game that people really liked and I can’t remember what it was. [26:32.920 –> 26:37.080] Oh, wow. They have a lot of games. I’m just looking into the into the breach. That’s the [26:37.080 –> 26:43.080] other one. It’s like, yeah, into the breach. That was, that’s a dope game. Um, obviously they have [26:43.080 –> 26:48.600] some that are based on, um, stranger things, stranger things, which apparently the stranger [26:48.600 –> 26:53.160] things game is very good. Oh, um, they’ve got an exploding kit. They got exploding kittens on it. [26:53.160 –> 26:59.160] Oh, there you go. But I’m, I’m just, it’s quite a lot of games. Quite a lot of games. [26:59.160 –> 27:03.320] Some of them look like the fake mobile have games that you see. They do something in their [27:03.320 –> 27:07.880] religious games. Maybe it’s just something about the icon square. I think they launched it with [27:07.880 –> 27:12.760] all those games, all those really like, oh, we have like 20 games and you’re like, yeah, they’re [27:12.760 –> 27:19.160] all terrible. And then they finally got some money to actually buy some good games. [27:19.160 –> 27:26.040] Oh, a spearfarer that icon makes me so happy. Still just being happy. Now may have you played [27:26.040 –> 27:33.400] Spinnerfader yet. Um, I gotta be honest. No. Nope. Thank you for coming on the podcast. [27:33.400 –> 27:39.560] Yeah. See you around because the pleasure having you. So I am curious, like this, uh, [27:39.560 –> 27:45.160] the Netflix games are those like, do you download them? Yeah. So they are, they’re just, [27:45.160 –> 27:48.360] they’re just standard mobile games. But you have, when you download the game, you then have to [27:48.360 –> 27:54.120] log into Netflix to prove you have a subscription. Okay. But yeah, it just is like a standard game [27:54.120 –> 27:59.160] that you download is not cloud gaming or anything like that. That’s, that’s an, it’s a neat idea. [27:59.160 –> 28:05.000] Um, but anyways, uh, one, one thing I do want to say more about Tarnell, um, they’re donating [28:05.000 –> 28:10.520] a portion of their profits from steam, not, not for expanding to the endangered wildlife trust. [28:10.520 –> 28:14.440] So good for them putting their money where their mouth is very, very cool. Yeah. [28:14.440 –> 28:18.440] Neat. I suspect the Netflix money helped with that, right? Cause they need a problem with [28:18.440 –> 28:24.520] money. You can pay. Yeah. Yeah. I probably, so thank you Netflix, I guess. [28:25.880 –> 28:32.440] In a weird way. But yeah, so that’s good. And we got our Spinnerfader reference in for the slack. [28:32.440 –> 28:40.040] They love when there you go. Uh, next we have, I really hope I can remember how to say, I think [28:40.040 –> 28:45.240] it’s Chia. That’s what I’d assume. That’s what I would guess. Um, this is the game that’s based [28:45.240 –> 28:50.920] in New Caledonia. Uh, we have a release date for this game as well. This is coming out on the 21st [28:50.920 –> 28:57.720] of March. I should have done these in, in data audition nine. Oh, wow. Um, this is releasing on [28:57.720 –> 29:04.680] Epic games and on PlayStation, both PS4 and PS5 and it’s going to be included in the PlayStation [29:04.680 –> 29:08.760] Plus extra. So if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus extra, you get the game for free. [29:08.760 –> 29:16.520] So, um, first of all, for people who might not be aware of New Caledonia is a real place. Um, [29:16.520 –> 29:22.360] still don’t know that was a real place. Uh, just to be sure, I don’t know, like it’s at least [29:22.360 –> 29:26.520] you in the US, New Caledonia is in a place you here, come too often, come up too often. [29:26.520 –> 29:31.160] Um, well, sure. Sure. It’s not like something that comes up in everyday conversation. Yeah. [29:32.120 –> 29:35.960] But it’s like when I, when I, when I first saw this game and it’s always based on New Caledonia, [29:35.960 –> 29:41.720] oh, you look awesome. I had to look it out. I saw it and it said, that sounds like a country [29:41.720 –> 29:48.280] and they looked it up and it’s like, oh, yeah, that is a country. Um, I didn’t know. Okay. Um, so [29:49.320 –> 29:56.440] I’m looking at this trailer. I don’t know if any of this is gameplay. Um, so I don’t like that. [29:58.360 –> 30:04.760] Yes, but again, if it’s a, you know, pre rendered cutscene type footage, yeah, would look good. [30:04.760 –> 30:11.080] And so yeah, that’s, that’s why I’m bringing it out because that’s always a big, big asterisk for any [30:11.080 –> 30:16.440] trailer in my opinion. Listen, Bailey. Um, I like to see actual gameplay. I don’t know if we’re [30:16.440 –> 30:22.680] actually seeing any here. Um, but the concept is cool. They are really going for, you know, uh, [30:22.680 –> 30:28.200] well, hey, culture, right? Where it’s specific culture out there. Um, we’ve got non white folks [30:28.200 –> 30:33.080] as the lead and most of the Kevin, Kevin, yes, he Kevin, this is in my list. He’s in my list [30:33.080 –> 30:38.120] for discussion in the meantime. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You know what I’m just saying. Okay. Um, [30:38.840 –> 30:42.440] on. Okay. But anyways, I don’t even know what the game’s supposed to be playing like to be on. [30:42.440 –> 30:47.320] It is. Yeah. I think it’s an, it’s more of a kind of like exploration game, but you’re not. There’s [30:47.320 –> 30:53.480] no like combat or anything. You’re, um, I guess it kind of is more actually that did you ever play [30:54.200 –> 31:00.280] what’s it called? Oh, my word. Why am I so bad with names? Sometimes the Alba, Alba, I keep getting [31:00.280 –> 31:05.080] that one messed up because there’s a Scott’s word, which is spelled the same as the Spanish name, [31:05.080 –> 31:10.680] but it said differently, right? Alba, the wildlife. Oh, no, I didn’t. Yeah, that’s probably a good [31:10.680 –> 31:16.920] comparison. But without the, like, obviously you’re not taking pictures. You are instead going [31:16.920 –> 31:21.960] around. And I think the idea is that you’re meant to be hearing for animals. Uh, okay. There’s, [31:21.960 –> 31:26.760] so looking at the YouTube trailer, there’s a blurb here face off against your foes and opening [31:26.760 –> 31:32.360] counters where your creativity is the key of victory, transform into any of the over 30 animals or [31:32.360 –> 31:37.640] hundreds of objects at your disposal, uh, uncover your secrets and make new friends as your jam on [31:37.640 –> 31:43.960] your fully playable ukulele in this tropical adventure. That sounds cool. I don’t see that in this trailer [31:43.960 –> 31:50.200] area. At least in terms of the gameplay, like I see where they’re hinting at animals and transforming, [31:50.200 –> 31:55.240] but I don’t know how that’s utilizing the game, but uh, yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s meant to be [31:55.240 –> 32:00.200] like a puzzle thing. So you might need to, to use certain animals to get certain places and stuff like [32:00.200 –> 32:06.760] that. It says foes. It says foes. That’s, that’s, it does interesting. Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe [32:06.760 –> 32:12.840] there is combat then that I didn’t realize. March. I see the ukulele in the very last shot of this [32:12.840 –> 32:18.040] trailer. The ukulele is prom. Yeah. There is a rhythm game, I believe with that. I mean, [32:18.040 –> 32:26.680] regardless, we’re going to find out soon because, uh, that’s just a few. Yes. Man, March 21st, [32:26.680 –> 32:34.600] 2023. Very cool. Epic game store PS4 and PS5. Um, and yeah, this, this game will 100% come up [32:34.600 –> 32:41.960] in our main conversation about culture and video games. And it’s perfect timing. Yeah. Okay. [32:41.960 –> 32:48.360] But, uh, next we have, uh, technically a release date, but a release date for an update. [32:49.000 –> 32:55.400] That’s awesome. Uh, uh, the wondering village. This is where you’re, you have a farming, it’s [32:55.400 –> 33:01.160] basically a farming life sim, but you’re on the back of a big creature. So they have added, [33:01.160 –> 33:07.640] this update is adding gamepad support and therefore steam deck compatibility and a bunch of other [33:07.640 –> 33:11.160] stuff that I’m not really going to talk about because that’s all I really care about. Steam [33:11.160 –> 33:17.400] is going to be over here. Yeah, that’s the big one, right? Yeah. Yeah. This is my first time [33:17.400 –> 33:23.480] looking at the game and it looks very impressive. Like, I really like this shot of the, of the, [33:23.480 –> 33:29.080] the, the big creature walking through. And as I understand it, that’s not like to the typical game [33:29.080 –> 33:36.200] play, but I still like looking at it. Yeah, it’s a cool. I haven’t heard or played anything of this [33:36.200 –> 33:43.080] game. I’m just wondering like, does the creature inter like, does that affect your village? [33:43.080 –> 33:49.000] I believe it does affect things. Yeah. So I believe that your creature can get into battles [33:49.000 –> 33:53.640] with other creatures, for example. Oh, yes. Yes. Yeah. That does sound familiar. It’s a very [33:53.640 –> 34:01.160] cool concept. Um, it’s interesting because like the art of the world, like the bigger world where [34:01.160 –> 34:08.280] you see the creatures like detail, painted, lovely art style. And then when you zoom in on the [34:08.280 –> 34:13.160] village, you get like little cartoony people. Um, they’re cute. It’s a fun juxtaposition. I just [34:13.160 –> 34:18.840] think that’s a neat idea to do it. Um, yeah, no, it looks cool. Um, very, yeah, we get game pad. I [34:18.840 –> 34:23.160] feel like, I feel like I don’t play games unless they get, I’d say that I’ve done it before, [34:23.160 –> 34:26.360] but I really would like to play every game with a game pad and then like the keyboard. [34:26.360 –> 34:33.880] Uh, next we have brand new game announcement, farming simulator 23 is releasing this May. [34:34.520 –> 34:42.120] This was very funny to me. It is funny just in general, right? Like, I find it really funny [34:42.120 –> 34:48.680] that they’re still doing this to releases a farming simulator. So the one year they release the [34:48.680 –> 34:54.760] main game that comes out on PC and PlayStation and Xbox. And then the next year they’ll do one that [34:54.760 –> 34:58.600] comes out on mobile and switch. And it’s just really funny that they’re still doing that. [34:58.600 –> 35:02.920] I don’t know why that’s still funny to me, but it is still fun. It’s bizarre. It is bizarre, [35:02.920 –> 35:09.480] but I mean, hey, like, they have a community. I don’t want to, and listen to you. I mean, [35:09.480 –> 35:17.880] they keep keep this game going game. It looks like the best fun simulator game. Um, and we’ll say [35:17.880 –> 35:25.960] that of farming games. It is. Yeah. It really is. Um, so good good for those people. I read through [35:25.960 –> 35:32.680] those updates and additions and they mentioned crops. I don’t even know what is sorghum. That’s [35:32.680 –> 35:39.160] a new crop. Sorghum. Okay. I don’t know what that is. You can grow grapes and olives too. [35:40.120 –> 35:43.880] It’s funny that it is. If I find it funny, they didn’t have grapes up to this point. [35:43.880 –> 35:47.800] Olives sure. They’ve seen quite niche, but it’s funny that they didn’t have grapes. [35:48.680 –> 35:53.400] Yeah. Can I say that for the next game? You know, like the keep on your toes. Yeah. [35:54.440 –> 35:58.440] Yeah. Four is around the bend, but also I interestingly adding an AI helper. [35:59.000 –> 36:05.240] Oh, that’s wonderful. See, it’s an auto generate crops to see. I don’t know. They’ve not said [36:05.240 –> 36:11.640] anything about it. Just it’s a thing. I will say like for as much as almost the meme as it is in [36:11.640 –> 36:18.280] our corner here and on this podcast, like I think farming simulator does its job very well. [36:18.280 –> 36:22.200] I think some of these other gibs probably could take a few notes from them. [36:24.120 –> 36:31.000] Just again, like so many other things are very stardew derivative. It’d be nice to see a little [36:31.000 –> 36:40.520] more emphasis on the actual farming, but that just me. And apparently sorghum is grown as cereals [36:40.520 –> 36:46.920] for human consumption and in some in pastures for animals. Okay. There you go. So exciting. [36:48.440 –> 36:54.040] It’s a nice well-known grain in the world. Yeah. Well, I’m sure their community is hyped over it. [36:54.600 –> 37:00.120] It comes a distant fifth for most produced grades. I’m like fifth. Fifth seems quite high to me. [37:00.120 –> 37:07.880] My body rice wheat and corn. So it’s above oats. It’s more it’s it’s produced more than oats. [37:07.880 –> 37:14.600] What? That’s way. I didn’t know that oats wasn’t in that list. Was it farming simulator? [37:14.600 –> 37:17.960] Does it drop again? Here’s a live on the podcast, educating us. [37:19.160 –> 37:25.240] I need to find out the real estate. Most produced grains. You’ve got to think what’s that [37:25.240 –> 37:30.840] soy must be pretty high, right? I would think so. But yeah, did we say the date for that May [37:30.840 –> 37:37.800] 23? I get that. Corn is the top. Then wheat, then rice, then barley, then sorghum, then oats, [37:37.800 –> 37:43.320] then rye. Oh, I don’t I don’t see a soy not a grain. Is that what it is? It’s a pedantic thing. [37:43.880 –> 37:47.800] I think it is. What is soy? So it is not a grain. It is a bean. [37:47.800 –> 37:55.800] Pulse. Oh my. What? It’s a it’s a little just got fog. Okay. Lagoon. Okay. Yes. I know the [37:55.800 –> 38:05.800] Gooms. Yes. Like a peanut. Yeah. Another bean. Not a not. Right. Moving on from the very niche conversation. [38:06.520 –> 38:11.720] Wait. I think this is more why I think this is more on topic than anything else we could [38:11.720 –> 38:17.240] buzz a little bit. This is why we changed. This is why we changed the cottage core. [38:17.240 –> 38:25.960] No. Final piece of news is there’s a new game that’s just come out called Don groan. [38:27.080 –> 38:30.840] And this I’ll just read the blub for this one. A short adventure about healing people’s [38:30.840 –> 38:37.160] inner worlds from corruption and confront emotions in this refreshingly cute adventure about [38:37.160 –> 38:40.840] cleansing people’s inner worlds of doubt and pain. You are as you’re the frog. [38:40.840 –> 38:47.000] Journey from the foliage floating in the sky to the minds of the afflicted as you cleanse [38:47.000 –> 38:53.640] their rich inner worlds from the dark ooze that corrupts them. Okay. Um, the, um, sorry, [38:53.640 –> 38:58.680] good. No, go ahead. You can give your thoughts. Oh, well, I was just going to say like looking at [38:58.680 –> 39:06.520] all of these trailers from indie developers and I see their subscriber count at like 30, 47, 10. [39:06.520 –> 39:12.040] And I’m like, oh, look at these guys. They’re, they’re really, they’re really working. Yeah. Yeah. [39:12.040 –> 39:18.200] No. I mean, that, that’s pretty common in our neighborhoods too. Um, but I mean, hey, that’s, [39:18.200 –> 39:23.160] that’s part of this with this podcast is we’re right. Uh, okay. So I have three things to say about [39:23.160 –> 39:28.200] this game. One, uh, the pixel art very nice, very stylish. I like it. Mine to be a bull. There’s [39:28.200 –> 39:35.240] all the games. Um, two, that said, the game cannot be as posi. There’s no way could ever be as [39:35.240 –> 39:41.800] possibly cute as the, uh, the like actual, uh, art of the frog, like the little title art with [39:41.800 –> 39:47.240] him. That is it. Oh, yes. I thought the same thing. Like the, like the, the, the cover image. [39:47.240 –> 39:52.680] Yeah. It’s that frog is too cute and, and I feel bad for them that they could never replicate [39:52.680 –> 40:00.040] that with pixels and nothing against them. That’s just the Herculean task. Um, and three, it’s a [40:00.040 –> 40:08.440] novel, an interesting idea. Um, it’s basically power simulator, but like on a 2D plane, um, [40:08.440 –> 40:12.520] or power washing simulator, it gets to any minute. You guys know what I meant? Um, I did. [40:12.520 –> 40:16.360] Yeah. You’re just, right. Well, actually, assumed you had said to the whole sentence. [40:17.560 &nd

Kole, David, Dennis, and Jala talk about Fire Emblem: Engage, Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line, Chaos;Head NoAH, and much more! The Grind: Jala: Fire Emblem: Fates. Fire Emblem Engage. Kole: Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line. Frostpunk. Chaos;Head NoAH. Dennis: Returnal. Call of Duty: DMZ. David: Call of Duty: DMZ. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The Multiplayer: What's your favorite nonstandard build? The End Boss: Blumhouse will soon publish games. Terra Nil is releasing on March 28. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened remake gets delayed. Wilson makes a non-inflatable basketball.