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Transcript

Season Two Wrap-Up & Awards · Replay Reviews

0:00
Thank you for coming back from our replay reviews.
0:04
My name is Leah.
0:05
And my name is Cathy.
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We are two friends who are here to replay, review, and analyze your favorite video games.
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And since Cathy has never seen the games before, it helps me view them through her fresh eyes,
0:15
almost like I'm discovering them again for the first time.
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We hope it will be a similar experience for you.
0:27
This is our final episode.
0:30
Welcome to the season two wrap up.
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How have we completed two seasons already?
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I don't know.
0:38
It got crazy towards the end of the year.
0:40
Hopefully quality didn't slip too much.
0:43
But we did it.
0:44
We're here.
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We have another morning episode.
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So if my voice cracks, I woke up an hour ago.
0:52
Should we launch into our first topic?
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Favorite moment in each game?
0:57
Heavy Rain is up first.
1:00
That feels like ages ago.
1:02
I know, right?
1:03
I had to go through the gameplay again.
1:05
I just chose my top favorite.
1:07
So I guess maybe do you want to go first or should I go first?
1:10
I'll go first.
1:11
There's a couple like one is more in the game and then the other ones are more us and our
1:19
reactions to things.
1:20
So in the game one, I just I love the coffee toss when the coffee gets thrown at Blake's
1:26
face.
1:27
Amazing.
1:28
I love that detail.
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I also loved when we realized that Merlin is blue.
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Oh my gosh.
1:34
Yes.
1:35
Absolutely not a canary.
1:36
Yes.
1:37
Yes.
1:38
That part.
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That's one of my favorite parts.
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And then my maybe maybe the ultimate favorite moment is when you chose Gordie Kramer.
1:47
Oh no.
1:48
Tucky Scorch.
1:50
You thought I was going to let you forget?
1:53
No, I was watching the gameplay and also the episode and I'm still feeling pretty terrible
1:59
about that.
2:00
Don't tease me for it.
2:03
Well, well, my favorite, I just chose more related to the storyline.
2:09
It has to be when they're throwing punches at the therapist or Blake is throwing punches
2:14
at the therapist and then he just pretty much gets aggressive and Jayden pretty much shoves
2:20
him back and he's like kind of like pulling him off.
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That's probably my favorite part because that's really when we see Jayden having a backbone.
2:27
Yeah, it's the turning point of that character, I think.
2:32
Yes.
2:33
Yakuza Kiwami.
2:34
Should you go first this time?
2:37
Okay, I feel like do you know what I'm going to say?
2:40
I feel like you know.
2:42
No.
2:43
I don't know what yours is, but mine is Nishiki in the end, even though it breaks my heart,
2:53
and it just hurts.
2:55
I think him deciding to just take everything on and those responsibilities, he did it and
3:01
he ended it and it's the completion of his redemption arc and it's just so well put
3:06
together that we've seen going from two games from he's my fear and then I was like, oh
3:12
no, he slapped a woman too.
3:14
Oh no, oh no, and still holding out hope for him only for in the end he takes that on and
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that's my fear.
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Even though it makes me want to cry.
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Right, but that's how you know it's good.
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Okay, you have to try to guess mine then if you think you know.
3:30
It has to be the blood slicking back, the full transformation.
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You know, I didn't write that down, but that is pretty sick.
3:38
That is pretty sick.
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It's definitely up there, but I feel like that ties in because I also wrote Nishiki's
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Redemptive Death as I choose to view it.
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Maybe it's just his character arc, his whole transformation and the full circle like you
3:51
were saying.
3:52
I think that's the best part of the game for sure.
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And then I threw in a little side note and also Cosmos death because I can't stand his
3:59
character.
4:00
Oh yes, that.
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But the blood is a pretty good one.
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I'm surprised that I didn't think of that.
4:07
Moving on to Outlast 2.
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Outlast 2.
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This is harder for me.
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I'll let you go first.
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Mine's not really cheating, but I said that I like all of the school portions of the game
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and all the depth that adds to, I call it the village storyline.
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We never really found a good way to describe that part of the story, but so based off of
4:32
that, I think I have to say that my favorite moment would be when we meet Father L and
4:35
get that whole backstory and that's all completed because I think that really just ties everything
4:41
together.
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If you've been reading the notes paying attention to the story, I think that that's the missing
4:45
link for everything that's going on.
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For me, that was my favorite moment.
4:50
Mine's a lot more shallow than yours.
4:53
It's okay, my heavy rain one was really shallow.
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And don't call me bloodthirsty, but my favorite part was probably when the cross fell onto
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Marta, because it was like instant karma and it's pretty ironic that that's what kills
5:07
her.
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Poetic justice at its finest.
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I have a feeling we might have the same one for Mafia.
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What'd you put?
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I said it's probably the ending from the moment where Tommy's let out of jail and you see
5:21
him give his speech at his daughter's wedding till the ending.
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And normally I'm not one for those kind of conclusions where someone dies, but I just
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thought everything was so nicely tied together and it's so poetic.
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You hear his narration from the speech and it's just so well done.
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It is.
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I put the same thing focused more on the family is forever ending.
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And I said this might be one of the most perfect endings I've ever seen in a game.
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And I think it deserves to be talked about more than it does.
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I think it's perfect.
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The ending for this game is just perfect.
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So I'm glad that you liked that ending.
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And we finally have an ending that we agree on.
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It feels great.
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That is also the second layer that adds on to why I felt so good about this being my
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favorite scene in the game.
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The overall game too felt really good too.
6:20
I really like the overall game.
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And then last but not least, layers of fear.
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Very fresh.
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Very fresh in our brains.
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For me, I decided my favorite moment is probably noticing last second, the portrait above the
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wife's vanity, because that realization really just tied the whole game together.
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Sort of like with Atlas 2 and we got all the backstory with Father L. It's just the missing
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piece that really solidifies what exactly is going on here.
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It is good.
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And especially when I was going through the gameplay again, having the knowledge of she's
6:56
probably talking to herself, that portrait just made everything much more clear and understandable
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why things happened the way it did.
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So I like that.
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But for me, it's the little rat that guides us and pauses to wait for us.
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And it's just so cute.
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I love that little rat.
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I didn't put him in the gameplay because I was in a time crunch, but I will put him in
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this episode.
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Yes, please do.
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You will see the little rat.
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What should we name him?
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Stuart?
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Like Stuart Little?
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Well, Stu?
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His hood name.
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Stu?
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Little Stu-y.
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Okay.
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What about moving on to topic number two, favorite game of the season?
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So for this one, we're going to do what we did last season.
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I think we're going to say what our favorites are, and then I'm going to guess what the
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IMDB scores are and you're going to tell me what they actually are.
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Do you want to go into what your favorite games are or should I do that first?
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Or just the ultimate game?
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Yeah.
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I'm not having your excitement.
8:01
Mafia.
8:02
Mafia?
8:03
Yeah.
8:04
Okay.
8:05
So here's mine's a little longer because like I said in the last season wrap up, I spend
8:13
a lot more time with these games and I have to edit them and I also play them, which you
8:19
don't do.
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So I have things that irk me about all the games because of editing and then things that
8:24
bring me more enjoyment in the actual gameplay.
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So I think that the best game technically speaking is Mafia without a doubt.
8:34
I think it's cohesive, it's coherent, it's fun to play.
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The story opens and closes without leaving anything to be desired.
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So I think technically Mafia is definitely the best game that we did.
8:46
My personal favorite, I think I have to say Heavy Rain.
8:50
Oh.
8:51
It just, it has an odd charm to it.
8:54
It's I think in large part to Norman Jaden.
8:56
That character is just top tier, but it has a nice mystery, which you know I love a mystery.
9:01
And then the rainy atmosphere, it just makes me feel nostalgic.
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We live in a rainy part of the country.
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I just like that feeling and it puts me in the perfect mood for playing games.
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So even though it has tons of issues, I really enjoy playing it and I think that the time
9:17
constraint and the decision making is unique.
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It's not something we see in games as often, but even with all its problems, it becomes
9:26
pretty immersive and enjoyable.
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So I think for those reasons, it was my favorite, but I don't think it's technically the best
9:33
at all.
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And it doesn't help that they did so much cutting in the end, which left a lot of plot
9:43
holes, but I can see it being your favorite.
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It's not even plot holes that they left behind, it's whole roads.
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Do you want to compare them to IMDb?
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I do.
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Heavy Rain, I know that there are people who enjoy it as I do, but I think we all see the
10:00
issues with it.
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So I'm going to rate it at a 6.7.
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Let me share my screen so you can see it.
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Oh, 8.8.
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Oh, I don't believe it.
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Yeah.
10:15
Kiwami.
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Kiwami.
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Now I'm feeling very unconfident in all my guesses.
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Kiwami I put at 7.5.
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8.1!
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That was much closer that time.
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Outlast 2.
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I have a lot of issues with this game.
10:34
I don't think it's nearly as good as the first game.
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Even after they toned down some of the chase scenes, that made it extremely excruciating
10:43
to play.
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I think it's going to be rated a lot higher than I would rate it.
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And I think it's going to land at around an 8.3.
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Oh, 7.5.
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It's even lower than what we thought.
10:55
Okay.
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That might be what I would have actually personally rated it at though.
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Alright, Mafia.
11:00
I think Mafia is going to blow out of the water.
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I'm going to be shocked if it is lower than the Heavy Rain score of 8.8, but I guessed
11:09
8.7.
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8.3?
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8.3.
11:12
How?
11:13
Okay, I'm sorry.
11:15
There's no way in hell or heaven or earth that Mafia should be lower than Heavy Rain.
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What's wrong with people?
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I'm so mad.
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It deserves like a 9.
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Speaking of nines, that's what I gave Layers of Fear.
11:33
I think that's another cult classic.
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I think it's a cult classic and people love that game.
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Watch me get humbled right here.
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7.2!
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Oh my god.
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That's the lowest rated game?
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Yeah.
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Well, there's only 982 reviews.
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Why is it so low?
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That's too low.
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It's a short game, but it's supposed to be a short game.
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The atmosphere is great.
11:58
It has multiple avenues.
12:00
You can replay it and it'll be different.
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I think that's way too low.
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I don't know why people have such an issue with it.
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Anyway, we'll put that to bed.
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Sorry Layers of Fear.
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We deserved a little bit better than that.
12:13
Are you ready for a season ending the Ultimate KFC Awards?
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Yes, I am ready.
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So I listed the four out for the extra crispy KFC nominations.
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For Heavy Rain, we have Jaden.
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For Kiwami, we have Shinji.
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For Outlast, we have Ethan.
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And for Mafia, we have Sarah.
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So these are the four KFCs that I picked.
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So this is your overall favorite out of these four, right?
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Okay.
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See, this is tough because I feel like you like Sarah the most, but I don't know if she's
12:52
done enough to claim the crown.
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So I think it's going to be between Shinji and Jaden.
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And I think we got it.
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We got to pick Shinji.
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Is it Shinji?
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Yes.
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That's what I thought, except I didn't even consider Jaden.
13:09
It was Shinji or Sarah, but ultimately Shinji just, yeah.
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Loyal to the core.
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Taking bullets for people.
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He deserves an afterlife, like Yakuza afterlife, and it's just him as a ghost.
13:27
I'd watch that.
13:28
That's a great idea.
13:29
I would play that.
13:30
Yeah, exactly.
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We got some emails to send.
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Oh yeah.
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So StalelessBiscuit, we have for Heavy Rain Madison, for Kiwami Kazama, for Atlas, Father
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L, and for Mafia Salvatore.
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I started laughing because I can see your list.
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I don't know who you picked, but I can see the list.
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And I was like, who's Salvatore?
13:55
I forgot about him again.
13:57
Again?
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We didn't even do the summary not too long ago.
14:00
Like this month is when we did the summary and you already forgot.
14:05
But does that make him stale or does that just make him forgettable?
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Because there are far worse people on this list.
14:12
And I know for me it would be Kazama.
14:15
I know Madison sucks and she did a lot bad.
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And Father L obviously did a lot of horrible things as well.
14:22
So I feel like between those three, it's a pretty tight race.
14:25
I want to say Madison, but I think you're going to pull the rug out from under me on
14:28
that one.
14:29
I'm going to say Father L is my final answer.
14:32
I debated, but I think in definition of just being a stale biscuit, it's Madison.
14:39
For being like a villain though, it has to be Father L. So it's slightly, and it's not
14:44
fair for me to now define it for you.
14:47
Oh no, it's fine.
14:48
But you would have gotten it.
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But you're close.
14:50
I'd give you half credit on that because she is a stale character, but she's not a villain.
14:55
Fair assessment.
14:57
Next category?
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Yes.
14:59
Ultimate Mother and Mother Respector.
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This is probably by far one of my favorite categories.
15:05
I agree.
15:06
I did Mother first.
15:08
Do you want to do yours or should I go?
15:11
I feel like we would have the same.
15:14
Maybe ish.
15:15
I have top one and two though.
15:17
It's they're tied.
15:19
So should we do our second?
15:21
Our runner up Mother?
15:22
Okay.
15:23
A close second, I said, would probably be Scott Shelby.
15:27
Because of what he put Lauren through and every other parent, but especially Lauren stringing
15:32
her along like that.
15:33
So that was my runner up.
15:35
And he kissed her too, knowing that he was a father murder.
15:39
That's gross.
15:41
Mine is actually, cause I'm a, cause so much manipulation.
15:47
I can't get over how unfair he treated Giryu and Nishiki throughout their entire childhood
15:55
to adult.
15:56
So many deaths and things could be prevented had he been honest.
16:01
And Tachibana, I just unforgivable right there.
16:06
Tachibana.
16:08
Another great reason to have the Yakuza afterlife game.
16:11
Yes.
16:12
All right.
16:13
So I think we need a petition.
16:14
We need a petition.
16:15
Yes.
16:16
We need this game.
16:17
My ultimate mother.
16:19
It has to be Kazuma.
16:21
Like you said, I mean, he's, he's destroyed lives.
16:24
He's used and manipulated Kiryu Nishiki and I'm sure others.
16:29
And we'll continue to learn a little bit more about him as the series progresses.
16:35
None of it's good.
16:36
I'll just tell you this man sucks.
16:39
I don't like him.
16:40
He is the ultimate mother.
16:42
There is no redemption for this man.
16:45
But then I added honestly, Yumi is kind of up there too for what she put Haruka through.
16:49
Oh my God.
16:50
I don't want to forget that.
16:51
I don't want to forget that.
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And she's such a hypocrite the way she punished babies, Kiryu and then yells at Nishiki for
16:58
and then like lady, if you point one finger at him, you got three pointing right back
17:02
at you.
17:04
And she chooses to like run to Kiryu first before her own child.
17:08
And like that's, that's, that's a no.
17:10
What kind of mom are you?
17:12
But she also dishing child too.
17:13
So another one I had is father L because he was pretty much a predator.
17:20
He's a manipulator and he's allegedly a child rapist.
17:23
So I mean, that seals the deal as the ultimate mother for me.
17:28
Yeah, that's fair.
17:30
I'm pretty sure we have the same mother respecter.
17:33
Here's what I wrote.
17:35
I said, I don't think there were really any heart wrenching deaths this season.
17:42
And I might take it back, but let me continue.
17:45
And then I said, Ethan from outlast to not heavy rain is up there, but it has to be Raina.
17:52
Right.
17:53
Oh, I forgot about Raina when I was doing this because for me, and I'm just going to
17:58
add this is Shinji like hands down, but the two of them so close together in terms of
18:05
where they stand in the rankings, plus the emotions because they died not too long apart
18:11
from each other.
18:12
Time of death is almost identical.
18:13
Right.
18:14
I'm screaming at the game because yeah, Nishiki dying.
18:19
I get that.
18:21
But Shinji died.
18:22
Like there was no need to kill him because he could just like fake his death and then
18:26
move on.
18:27
Like you didn't have to do this to us.
18:30
If I had been seeing this game for the first time, I would probably take back though.
18:33
There weren't any heart wrenching deaths this season in comment, knowing what's going to
18:37
happen.
18:38
It didn't hit the same for me, but I will say the first time I played Kiwami, I mean,
18:43
my heart was broken the whole game for Nishiki.
18:46
And then Raina, we got in Y zero as well, which is why I would rate her above Shinji
18:53
and because we didn't get enough Shinji in this game.
18:56
And I think if we had gotten more Shinji, he would be the ultimate mother respecter.
19:01
Funny how all the mother respecters are from Yakuza though, huh?
19:04
Well, I think it just goes to show the storyline that the care they take with the characters
19:11
and it's not as shallow, not saying that the others are shallow because mafia isn't, but
19:17
they give more emotion.
19:19
And I do have to credit the voice actors for all the characters for giving such a stellar
19:23
performance of making us feel things.
19:27
Play the game with Japanese audio.
19:29
Don't do English dub.
19:31
No offense because I haven't listened to it.
19:33
I'm sure the voice actors are great, but if you want to sneak preview, do Y zero chapter
19:40
six.
19:41
Oh gosh.
19:44
Dude killed it.
19:45
Okay.
19:46
Anything else you want to say or should we move on to closing this episode out?
19:51
I think let's move on.
19:54
All right.
19:55
So what to expect for next season.
19:56
We will be back.
19:57
Same format.
19:58
We're still having fun, so we're not going to quit.
20:01
But again, hopefully not as rushed towards the end.
20:04
Hopefully we won't be going to Japan for two weeks.
20:07
Well, you know what I mean.
20:08
Hopefully that won't be a time constraint.
20:10
Hopefully we won't be moving or having family members having kids, children all at the same
20:15
time, which is what happened this year.
20:18
Those are all wonderful things, but when they happen at the same time and you're trying
20:21
to put out episodes, it gets a little stressful.
20:23
So hopefully towards the end of the season, it won't be as rushed as it was.
20:27
After next season, we will also be taking a break from the Yakuza series.
20:31
We're going to finish out the the Kiwami remakes and leave it at that for a while.
20:35
I think we're getting a little over Yakuza.
20:37
I'm sure the audience is getting a little over Yakuza because of how much we talk about
20:40
it.
20:41
So we're just going to wait until we're ready for the next dose.
20:44
And as usual, we're going to aim to start the season in June, but it also depends on
20:49
a certain game's yet to be announced release date.
20:52
We're going to be doing something a little new with our format for one of these games.
20:56
Keep your ears peeled.
20:57
Check our Instagram.
20:58
I'm sure we'll put out an upcoming season announcement when we know more like we did
21:02
last season, but I think that's it.
21:06
Well, again, thank you to everyone who participates.
21:10
I know we sometimes don't get a lot of feedback, but we see you and especially some of our
21:16
OG viewers from season one.
21:18
We appreciate it.
21:20
This really, again, is something that we like to do on our own time on top of everything
21:25
else going on in our lives.
21:27
And this is really fun for us.
21:28
This means a lot.
21:29
So you're seeing a sneak preview of what goes on when Lee and I just hang out and we appreciate
21:37
everyone.
21:38
Thank you.
21:39
Thank you to Leah for doing all the gameplay, the edits.
21:41
It's a lot of work.
21:42
You're doing like 80%.
21:43
You're carrying this podcast on your back.
21:46
And meanwhile, I'm just coming in here watching the games pretty naive.
21:49
So I appreciate that.
21:50
So credits to Leah for doing all that.
21:53
We made it two seasons, hoping to bring many more.
21:57
So happy holidays.
22:00
Kathy always does the from the heart stuff and I just I do the business.
22:06
So this is why we need each other.
22:09
But like she said, thank you.
22:12
And just to add a little more housekeeping, don't forget, we do have video episodes now
22:16
on YouTube that are that are much better than season one.
22:19
It's not just an image, a static image.
22:21
It is gameplay.
22:22
So if you would rather have that format, don't forget that that's there.
22:26
And if you want to subscribe, we've made some progress.
22:29
There's still not very many, but we just want 100.
22:32
We just want a custom URL.
22:34
And I think that's really the only other thing that we can beg our listeners for.
22:40
And other than that, going back to thanking you for listening.
22:46
Thank you.
22:47
Thank you.
22:48
Take care.
22:49
And we're going to call it on one on audacity.
22:52
Final one during the year.
22:54
Three, two, one.
22:55
Thank you for listening.
22:56
And don't forget to send in any questions, comments, or game suggestions.
23:00
You can find all our contact info on our website, replayreviewspod.com, or contact us directly
23:05
through our site.
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Do we completely miss something?
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Are we way off the mark?
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Or do you just want us to take a deeper look at anything from the game?
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We'll tackle any topics you all want to hear in our season wrap up episode.
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We also have a Reddit where we discuss anything we're curious about.
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Go take a look and let us know what you're thinking.
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Our theme music is Condemned by Eggy Toast.
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They'll play you out and we'll be back next week.
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Bye.
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you