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Elden Ring · The Long and Short of It

• 0:00
  Thanks for checking out the long and short of it podcast.
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  You can find us in all good podcast platforms.
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  Please consider following or subscribing.
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  We hope you enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to the Long
• 0:15
  and short of It, the podcast where we discuss each of the
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  games on the Metacritic Top 100 list.
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  My name is Lawrence and I'm joined by.
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  This is Dan. Welcome to the podcast.
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  Welcome back and welcome to some.
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  Might argue the final episode of the the format that we've had
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  for the last three years. Yeah, it's we, we we've
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  mentioned it a few times over the last few weeks that we're
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  we're coming to the end of the original Metacritic Top 100.
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  And it always been our intention after we'd finished the
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  Metacritic list that we would go on to do our own games, which
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  we've we've mentioned a few times previously over the last
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  month or so. And we'll we'll.
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  To kind of give you a little bit more information on that towards
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  the end of the episode, but this is, this episode marks somewhat
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  of the end of an era, I suppose, after three and almost 3 1/2
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  years of doing the Metacritic Top 100.
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  So yeah, it's a bit of a weird one today, but how are you?
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  Are you well? Yeah, I'm all right.
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  Yes. Very emotional, I imagine.
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  You know, the fact that we're coming to the end of an era.
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  I didn't even clock it. So yes, that that kind of speaks
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  volumes, how emotional I am feeling about this.
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  Because you've repressed it, and that's what that is.
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  Yes. That's the reasoning.
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  Bloody lovely. Well, we should crack on then
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  with quite a quite a big. Big Ish game, I'd say,
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  particularly a large game from the last couple of years, Well
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  last year. So today we are.
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  Going to be discussing Eldon Ring.
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  So unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably
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  heard of Eldon Ring. But Eldon Ring was released.
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  Eldon Ring Lord of the Rings Is it The One The One Ring.
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  But Eldon Ring was released in February 2022 and was developed
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  by From Software, rather famous developer for making devilishly
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  hard games. But it scored a meta score of 96
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  on both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, and it comes in with a
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  94 on PC. As with a few of the other
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  recent games that we've done on the the podcast, this doesn't
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  kind of link in with the the 100 list that we originally have
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  been working to over the past few years because this was a
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  recent addition. So a score of 96 is probably
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  kind of middle of the road ish, maybe around the 3040.
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  Mark on our list? Maybe, but.
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  Yeah, it's top half. Yeah.
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  So yeah, it's a bit of a massive game really, so we'll start off
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  as we usually do. What's your history with this
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  game and where did you play it? I bought this game nearly so
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  probably within the first week. I saw it was getting rave
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  reviews and I bought it and it's just sat there.
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  Kind of ever since. And that wasn't deliberate, but
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  if you've got a backlog, you know wading through that thing
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  can be painful. And that was the case with this
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  game. So yeah, no experience playing
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  this game. I knew what it was.
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  It was basically a From Software open world game and with the
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  leanings of. George RR Martin in there as
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  well. So yeah, that.
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  I've played other From Software games.
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  I've played Demon Souls when it came out.
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  I was one of the early adopters of Demon Souls and I made good
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  progress in that, but I never got to the end.
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  I played Dark Souls when that came out again, made very good
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  progress with that I reckon I got.
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  Between a halfway and 3/4 of the way through, but I seem to have
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  fallen off. Not for any particular reason,
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  but I guess stuff happened and I completed Bloodborne during
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  COVID actually, and the DLC as well.
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  I remember. I remember you playing through
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  that because you were talking to me at the same time, telling me
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  about it. Yeah, really quite.
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  I enjoyed that game and. From what I've described, the
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  only one that I made it to the end of.
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  So yeah, I played this on the Xbox Series X as that was the
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  console that I bought it on. What about you?
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  So I have got a bit of history. So anyone that was listening to
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  the podcast around Christmas 2022 might have heard me mention
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  that I was playing it back then. It was one of those games that I
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  just got on a whim. I fancied playing something new
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  and heard a load of people talking about how good it was I
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  played. I've not got any experience
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  really with From Software games. I played maybe about two or
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  three hours of maybe not even that much Bloodborne a few years
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  ago because it was on the PlayStation Plus hits, so I had
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  access to that for free, but I played through some of Eldon
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  Ring Christmas 2022 I got. Maybe.
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  I think I'll probably put about four, three or four hours into
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  it, maybe a little bit more, and managed to get past Margit the
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  fellowman who is kind of the first canonical boss, I suppose,
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  in the game before falling off. And I think we got busy with
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  longer games for the podcast, so I kind of put it down.
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  So going back to it this time I started again from scratch
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  because I couldn't really remember how to play the game
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  and. Anyone that knows From Software
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  games knows that your character build is pretty essential
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  depending on what kind of run you want with these games.
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  And because I didn't know anything about what I was doing
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  when I started it at Christmas, I think I chose the Samurai back
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  then and it maybe wasn't the best character to go with for
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  the way that I played these games.
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  So yeah, start from scratch, had about 3 hours experience before,
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  but yeah, we went from the beginning this time and I played
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  this on the PS5. So that's where I originally
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  bought it, so I just booted that back up.
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  So you mentioned earlier that this From Software games have
• 6:47
  got a bit of a theme running through them, and a lot of the
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  From Software stuff is based on gameplay and particularly
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  difficulty. But this game does have, I
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  think, a plot. It isn't always particularly
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  clear what that plot is. This is very much, you know.
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  No hand holding with this game in game play or story really.
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  It's there if you want to find it, but do you or can you
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  provide much of a background on the plot of this game tarnished?
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  Probably not. So you you very.
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  I mean, it's the same with all these games.
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  I'd say probably Bloodborne. Has the most plots of these
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  games, but even then it's it's there's a lot of back story in
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  these games, a lot of law, but not necessarily a lot that ties
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  in with the overarching plots. So you are tarnished, which is
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  something the word that gets thrown around a lot.
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  Basically, it means you don't have a maiden.
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  I believe is the case you're you're you're exiled from the
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  lands between, which is where the game takes place.
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  Yeah, it's what Tarnished is. Running around as a tarnished
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  without a maiden. You do get an honorary maiden in
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  Melania Trump. And yes, correct wife of Donald.
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  Quite. Oh, it's got off the rails
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  already. Brilliant.
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  And I don't even know. I can't remember if the game.
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  Sets you on a course to do anything in terms of at the
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  beginning, But my understanding of the plot is that you've got
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  to get to the city Landale, the Imperial city or something like
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  that. That's Olivia Imperial something
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  or some city of some description and yeah.
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  And you're doing something with the Elden ring, and it's the
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  Elden tree, and you beat some bosses along the way, and yeah.
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  Yeah, this game is a very. Description of a plot ever.
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  Yeah, it's not a very plot heavy game unless you really go
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  looking for it. It isn't very self-explanatory.
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  So the overarching plot of the game, like you've just mentioned
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  there you are tarnished which is someone.
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  Somewhat special. That's been exiled from the
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  lands between, which is where the game takes place.
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  It's an open world and it's got a lot of different areas to it.
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  The map on this game is huge and.
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  The overarching plot of this is that there are these demigods.
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  Who? Each have the Shard of a room
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  which when I think when put together makes up the Eldon
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  ring. So the the plot of the game is
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  that you have to take down each of these demigods, of which I
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  think there are eight I think. You don't have to take them all
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  out. You don't.
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  You don't have to take down all the bosses.
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  But I think that the main plot of the game is that you have to
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  take down if you want to complete it properly.
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  You have to take down eight of the demigods to get their Shard
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  to. Therefore, I believe you.
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  Even need to do that. I was watching a video about
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  this game and then. It says what's necessary to get
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  to the old and beast, which is the final boss.
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  And in terms of collecting the shards to get into the city you
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  only need to actually take down 2.
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  And that's what I did. I took down to to get into the
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  city and then from there you go spoilers into the sort of end
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  game which is the final couple of areas.
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  And then eventually you'll fight fight the olden beast.
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  But a lot of, I think by design, a lot of this game can be
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  skipped. So you can skip, for example,
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  market the fellowman, you can just you can just walk around
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  the castle that he's in and get to the next area, which is quite
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  funny, really. Same with the Academy.
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  You know, the 1st. Kind of area that you get get
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  get to when you you come out into the open world is your kind
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  of push towards a place called Stormvale Castle and like you
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  say there you can just kind of go around the side of it around
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  the mountain. So you avoid all of that in
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  there. And what I did, I really
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  struggle getting through Stormvale Castle, but I did
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  manage to defeat Margit, so I defeated the boss, tried to go
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  through the castle, it did my head in so I then went round.
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  But then you can do the same with the second main area of the
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  game which is the Academy. That you can go in there and do
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  what you're supposed to do and fight the bosses, or you can
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  just avoid it. So I don't think that a From
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  Software game is given those options before.
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  I think with From Games in the past it's been very much like,
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  right, this is the path. You have to go through it.
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  If you can't do it, you better. As the name.
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  Is get good? It's a funny, it's a funny game,
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  they're a funny lot of games and they've always had optional
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  bosses. And there have always been
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  optional areas that you don't have to go to you can completely
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  miss. While I wouldn't describe them
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  as open world there, there is an openness to them and there are
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  paths, pathways through them. There are certain bosses that
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  are mandatory, much like Eldon Ring.
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  It's it's like they've taken the structure of Dark Souls or
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  Bloodborne and they've expanded it massively.
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  So that it is now open world, but there still is not like an
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  open field game where you've got a large open field in areas
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  around the field that you can go to.
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  It's it's there are still areas that are blocked off to you and
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  you might see a point in the distance and you can go there,
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  but you have to take a very specific path to get there.
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  So yeah, it's a bit more curated and a bit more at times linear,
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  especially towards the end of the game.
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  Yeah, it's an interesting one in terms of design.
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  They see, I've I've always had quite a like an outsider's view
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  from software games, because these games aren't really for
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  me. Anyone that's listened to this
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  podcast over the last three years, even if you've not
• 13:26
  listened to every episode, you'll know that I struggle to
• 13:29
  keep on with games. Sometimes if I find it too hard
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  or too frustrating, I can get quite bored and I fall off.
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  And it's why I've never really. Tried with a From Software game
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  before because I'm the first one that will always admit I'm not
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  the great up on CAC really in terms of my skill with gaming.
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  It's why I don't play many online.
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  Games, you've got skill. It's that certain?
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  Game some things. Yeah, yeah, there are games that
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  I think you probably are very good at.
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  And then. But this is one of them.
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  Yeah, maybe this is just not the one for you.
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  No, and I think that's the the case for a lot of people, but it
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  is quite frustrating when. I think a lot of it comes down
• 14:09
  to persistence because. Describe so I I said about
• 14:15
  introducing a new question into the podcast and I think it fits
• 14:18
  well early. Describe your experience playing
• 14:21
  through this game kind of your mood as you were going through
• 14:24
  it and any difficulties that you had and.
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  Yeah, so. Where you where you ended up on
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  it. The the, the thing, The thing is
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  with this game is that when I. I was playing it when I was
• 14:36
  making progress. I really enjoyed it.
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  I think that the open world is amazing.
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  I think that visually it's one of the best looking games I've
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  probably played and although it feels sometimes like the combat
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  is unfair, I know that it is somewhat balanced and depending
• 14:53
  on how you play there are there are ways to get around different
• 14:57
  tasks, and I did. I didn't get as far as you in
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  this game as is usually the case.
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  Not through lack of effort, though, not through.
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  I ran out of time. I've been playing this game for
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  about a month but I'm just not good at it and I got as far as
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  the Academy. I think you started off quite
• 15:14
  keen on it. I think you were trying to rally
• 15:17
  me to get into it more to begin with, yeah?
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  Yeah, definitely. And then you get to a point and
• 15:26
  you kind of hit a brick wall. So when I got, so I stopped
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  playing the game at the Academy literally as as you're going
• 15:32
  into it and. I got to a point where you walk
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  up through the main steps, there are those two wizard men that
• 15:39
  look like they've got the Burger King King's head on their
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  shoulders. Really weird looking, killed.
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  Both of them went into the main room and then there was another
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  one of those guys and then these two melee enemies.
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  And my problem with this game is when you get swarmed, it's very
• 15:56
  hard to survive. So I lost there.
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  I was like pissed. Turned it off.
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  And about half an hour later I was like, oh, but I have got
• 16:03
  quite a few smithing stones. Maybe I'll go and upgrade my
• 16:07
  weapon because the the, the. Game is a lot like that, that
• 16:10
  you're always thinking in the background.
• 16:12
  What can I do? Yeah, a. 100% And to be fair, I
• 16:16
  could have just skipped the Academy altogether, but I didn't
• 16:18
  want to. I've seen the boss that's in the
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  the Academy, the the Witch, and I wanted to do it.
• 16:25
  But. I was not right.
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  Okay. So I'm going to leave, leave the
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  Academy. I'm going to go back and pick up
• 16:30
  my my souls, my runes, and then went to the, you know, the
• 16:36
  little sanctuary where tarnished people go.
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  I can't remember the name of it. The round table.
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  Yeah, the round table upgraded my weapon.
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  I was using a Mace because I was using the character builder, The
• 16:48
  Vagabond, which I think is the most balanced one if you're more
• 16:51
  combat focused because I couldn't work out how to use
• 16:54
  magic in this game. So I did that, and then there's
• 16:58
  a section in the round table where if you jump down to the
• 17:02
  main door, you can fight a spirit.
• 17:06
  I think it's called Mad Tongue, Albrecht or whatever, and I
• 17:10
  struggled to do it on my playthrough at Christmas.
• 17:14
  I couldn't beat him. So this time around I think it
• 17:17
  was like level 26 on that character, whereas this time
• 17:19
  around I was about level 4048 maybe.
• 17:22
  As I've got a good chance of doing them now and no matter how
• 17:24
  many times I tried, I just couldn't beat him.
• 17:27
  And I think the problem that I have with these games is that
• 17:31
  it's very hard to keep like to stay rallied with it once you
• 17:35
  get to a point where I can't get around this.
• 17:37
  And like I said, I could have completely skipped the Academy
• 17:40
  if I'd have gone back there and just carried on with the story.
• 17:43
  But for for me, I really enjoyed fighting Margaret that fell
• 17:47
  before Stormvale Castle. I thought that was cool and I
• 17:50
  wanted to get some more bosses. Just to work out how they
• 17:53
  worked. But because my skill level and
• 17:55
  and my patience levels with these games isn't it isn't
• 18:00
  particularly high. I've got quite a short temper
• 18:03
  when it comes to to playing games.
• 18:05
  Not quite as like I don't lose my temper, but I haven't got the
• 18:10
  patience for it and if I've tried it a couple of times I'm
• 18:12
  bollocks. I'm done.
• 18:14
  So I. When I was.
• 18:18
  Making progress with this game. I enjoyed it and that was my
• 18:20
  main experience with it. But there were times where it
• 18:23
  got to a point. I was like, right, I'm done,
• 18:25
  I'll turn it off, but then I'll go back and do something else.
• 18:27
  But I think I just came to one too many roadblocks.
• 18:30
  I was like, right, I'm I'm done now.
• 18:32
  This game's doing my head in a little bit, and it's very
• 18:34
  demoralizing seeing. People on you, like you and me
• 18:38
  have mentioned quite a few times someone that we used to watch a
• 18:40
  lot of like just ironically at uni was was Dark Side Phil on
• 18:44
  YouTube DSP, he's everyone's favorite YouTuber.
• 18:49
  But when you see people like DSP completing games like Dark
• 18:52
  Souls, like I look at myself and I'm just like really like am I
• 18:56
  that bad that I can't be a game that like one of the biggest
• 19:00
  scrubs of all time? Dark Side Phil can be like it's
• 19:03
  a bit depressing but. That doesn't take away from the
• 19:06
  fact that what I did play of Eldon Ring, even though I
• 19:09
  didn't, you know, see a majority of the game I played, you know,
• 19:13
  a fair bit on this kind. You paid enough to.
• 19:15
  To fall. Oh yeah. 100%, and I wish I
• 19:18
  could have seen more, but I just think that this game isn't for
• 19:21
  me, you know, No matter how how much effort or how much time I
• 19:26
  put into it, this is one of those games I'm always going to
• 19:28
  struggle to get into and find frustrating, not because of the.
• 19:33
  The world or the story, but just because of the difficulty spike.
• 19:36
  So that's my main experience. Take away from it, I suppose.
• 19:40
  What's yours? Because you've got a bit more
• 19:42
  experience with these games than I do.
• 19:45
  I knew what I was getting in for and I think because I knew what
• 19:48
  I was getting in for, I said to you very early on, I'm not
• 19:54
  really in the mood to play, Yeah, a front software game and.
• 20:00
  I pushed through. I really was.
• 20:02
  I'm well, if I'm in the right frame of mind then then I
• 20:07
  usually like to get ahead on the games for the list.
• 20:10
  But recently there's been a lot going on and I've kind of been
• 20:15
  playing them as we're doing them.
• 20:18
  And yeah, I really struggled to start this game and to get.
• 20:25
  Get the motivations, carry on. And at some point I did you
• 20:30
  start to you you you take down a boss I was leveling up and beat
• 20:35
  Margaret Fellowman and then things start to click and you
• 20:43
  think okay, this is This is why people play these games.
• 20:46
  Again I would admit that I'm not the the.
• 20:52
  The very biggest fan of these games.
• 20:53
  There are people that light these games up and that's not
• 20:56
  quite me. I have to really drive myself to
• 21:00
  play them and I can understand the appeal of them.
• 21:03
  But with these games, surprisingly I can get switched
• 21:09
  off quite easily and I think that's happened in the past with
• 21:11
  some of them, although I really think it fizzled out.
• 21:15
  With Dark Souls, I don't think. I don't think I reached a boss
• 21:18
  and stopped or anything like that, but.
• 21:22
  And it's and the same with Demon Souls, to be fair.
• 21:24
  But Bloodborne I saw all the way through and I think there's a
• 21:27
  reason for that. But with with this one, I
• 21:33
  started to get into a rhythm with it and I started to think
• 21:37
  about it and I used, I started to I was I was looking at things
• 21:40
  online for this game and tricks and tips and making progress.
• 21:46
  I actually did bypass the Academy and then went back to do
• 21:48
  it later on. And I did the lane, Dale, the
• 21:56
  whatever city, yeah. And I completed more, got the
• 22:03
  demon king, I think is something like that.
• 22:07
  So he's actually Margit the fellowman, but.
• 22:09
  He's You've fought twice, don't you?
• 22:11
  Yeah, a bit of a redone version of him.
• 22:14
  So I beat him. I got into the end game.
• 22:19
  I made it a chunk of the way through and I hit a boss that I
• 22:26
  believe is a bit notorious in this game called Fire Giant.
• 22:33
  And the Fire Giant is huge, massive, and.
• 22:38
  Got two phases as well. Two phases and most people will
• 22:44
  fight him on a horse because you're in a massive area and.
• 22:48
  He does a lot of damage, he has a lot of health and the camera
• 22:53
  for this fight is horrific, like you're constantly looking at his
• 22:58
  feet and you can't see his attacks coming in.
• 23:01
  It's really problematic and I've seen a lot of fans are From
• 23:04
  Software complaining about this boss saying that these large
• 23:09
  bosses don't work in this game and and I've seen other From
• 23:12
  Software fans saying that actually that the boss is in
• 23:16
  Eldon Ring. Or a step down from other From
• 23:19
  Software games. There's there's someone who did
• 23:22
  a very long video dedicates. It's just the bosses and and
• 23:26
  breaking down all of them and describing all of them all all
• 23:29
  of the key bosses and describing what worked and what didn't work
• 23:32
  with them. And with the fire Giant I I got
• 23:37
  him down to very little health a couple of times.
• 23:41
  But it wasn't consistent. I hadn't quite worked out the
• 23:43
  tactic to beat him and I could have done it.
• 23:49
  If I had the motivation to keep going, but this was Saturday, I
• 23:55
  still had the whole weekend if I wanted to, to keep playing that
• 23:57
  game to do my equipment up a bit.
• 24:02
  But I just completely ran out of steam and it wasn't even through
• 24:07
  trying him over and over again. I was going off and doing other
• 24:10
  bits as well. I just ran out of steam and I
• 24:12
  and I just. I've.
• 24:15
  Gotten to a point in my life with games where I used to be a
• 24:19
  bit OCD playing games and I had to do and see everything and do
• 24:24
  things a certain way. At some point it clicked that
• 24:29
  what if it's not fun? I'm not doing it.
• 24:32
  And I think with this game it wasn't that it wasn't fun, it
• 24:36
  was. I ran out of steam and I just
• 24:39
  thought, well, I've seen a lot of this game.
• 24:42
  Yes, I haven't seen the end game, but it's the.
• 24:44
  The the very end game. But this is the part of the game
• 24:47
  that people say is the weakest. And I just thought, what else is
• 24:54
  this game going to show me that I need to see?
• 24:56
  And I thought I can happily drop it there and and be happy to say
• 25:02
  that. I played Olden Ring, got to that
• 25:05
  point and I'd seen enough. So yeah, it was.
• 25:09
  It was a very strange one for me because.
• 25:13
  Usually you get, especially when you're hooked on a game, and I'd
• 25:16
  say I did get hooked at that point in this game, but I feel
• 25:20
  like the game sort of climaxes at the city and that more got
• 25:26
  but beyond there. It feels like the game should
• 25:30
  have ended there in a way, but it doesn't and I heard a few
• 25:35
  people say that. So yeah, it's it.
• 25:38
  I don't know that that was my experience and it kind of left
• 25:40
  me a bit about this game and I prefer other From Software games
• 25:45
  to be quite honest. Yeah, it's fair enough.
• 25:48
  So I mean that that takes us quite nice into game players
• 25:53
  King. So do you think this game is
• 25:54
  fun? Yeah, I do.
• 25:56
  I think it's got a good gameplay loop.
• 25:58
  I think there's some balancing issues and I think going open
• 26:01
  world has affected the way that you level, so you can either be.
• 26:07
  Very overleveled or very underleveled.
• 26:09
  Depending on how you're playing the game, you can run past lots
• 26:12
  of things and you could end up in an area with quite strong
• 26:16
  enemies and be underleveled. Or you can go and see and do
• 26:20
  everything, arrive at a boss and find that you're 20 levels over
• 26:24
  them. Or and there is a sort of
• 26:27
  suggested level for fighting these bosses and if you go in.
• 26:32
  Overpowered, you will wipe the floor with them.
• 26:34
  If you go in under power they will wipe the floor with you.
• 26:37
  So it's a balance that I don't think they quite worked out.
• 26:42
  And there are difficulty spikes in this game.
• 26:46
  So I was I was trucking along quite nicely all the way past
• 26:51
  the city and then I feel like the the difficulty level spikes
• 26:58
  and then the enemy seemed to be 10. 15 levels above where I was.
• 27:03
  So it is fun. There's a good game play loop,
• 27:08
  but there's some some balancing issues that I think do hinder
• 27:12
  the experience. And they could, and in my case
• 27:15
  did kind of turn me off the game.
• 27:18
  But the moment to moment, it's fun and you will, as I said, you
• 27:23
  will go away, you will think about ways to strategize and
• 27:27
  beat a boss, get to the next area.
• 27:30
  Get through Storm, Vale, Castle, whatever it is.
• 27:34
  But yeah, generally it's fun. I'm not going to say it's not.
• 27:38
  Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, it has its frustrations
• 27:44
  and you know, like I said earlier, that when I got to
• 27:48
  points where I was making progress, I was really enjoying
• 27:50
  it. But it's when you come to those
• 27:52
  Rd. stops and you're just like. And you are completely right
• 27:55
  that there can be times where you accidentally end up in a
• 27:57
  place where you're completely under levelled for where you
• 27:59
  need to be. And the prime example of that
• 28:02
  was in my first play through at Christmas where you start the
• 28:06
  game if you cuz the the the idea is you carry straight on up and
• 28:10
  head towards Storm Belcast where you can go anywhere.
• 28:13
  And I went like east, east, West kind of direction.
• 28:23
  You know, Southwest SE, Jesus Christ, it was like East West.
• 28:29
  What's that? No SE.
• 28:33
  And there's like these burnt out ruins quite close to where this
• 28:37
  big dragon is. And if you go down into the
• 28:40
  ruins, like there are a few dogs around and a couple of weird
• 28:43
  people, but you kill them and you go into this room and
• 28:45
  there's a chest in there and you open the chest and you expect to
• 28:48
  get a reward. But in fact it's is like a
• 28:53
  transport and it takes you to another part of the map.
• 28:56
  And I've been working quite hard for about an hour just taking
• 28:59
  down some of the little giants in the area to get maroon levels
• 29:01
  up. And I was like yeah, okay pick
• 29:02
  this up, got transport somewhere else and ended up in a mine.
• 29:06
  And like the maybe the north, I don't know northeast area of the
• 29:12
  map where you're going to a mine where these are like massively
• 29:17
  overpowered enemies for like your your starter.
• 29:19
  Character made it out of there and then just ended up in the
• 29:21
  swamp that was sort of scarlet rock.
• 29:23
  And I just got absolutely blown away.
• 29:26
  So those things can happen. Yeah, maybe.
• 29:30
  It looks very bleak and it's all very red and porous.
• 29:35
  Yeah, So this game is fun, but this game will absolutely smack
• 29:41
  you in the teeth when you're not expecting it and not even if you
• 29:44
  let it. It just will do that without you
• 29:46
  realizing that something's happening.
• 29:48
  So. Fun, but annoying.
• 29:52
  What is your favorite? Game is if you're some days
• 29:56
  you'll be switched on and you're playing and you'll just be
• 29:58
  flying through, and other days you'll just be not in the right
• 30:02
  mood to play it and you'll just keep getting decimated no matter
• 30:05
  what you do. And then the next day you pick
• 30:07
  it up and you'll be fine again flying through.
• 30:09
  And there's really no rhyme or reason to it.
• 30:12
  It really is dependent on how you're feeling that day favorite
• 30:16
  move would be. The counter attack I was.
• 30:20
  Literally going to say this is like the parry.
• 30:23
  Yeah, it's great. So I I used the Halberd
• 30:27
  throughout the game. And yeah, you block with your
• 30:31
  shield and then you can follow up if you time it right with a
• 30:36
  counter attack. That just feels very good to do.
• 30:39
  Can be devastating as well. Yeah, so I I like that, that
• 30:44
  sort of defensive play that things like Bloodborne don't
• 30:48
  have because. There's no there's like 1
• 30:51
  shielding Bloodborne and it's a very much aggression focused
• 30:56
  game where you have to attack all the time.
• 30:58
  It's very quick, much quicker than Eldon Ring.
• 31:01
  So yeah, I like that kind of play and enjoyed that move.
• 31:05
  How about you? Insane.
• 31:07
  The Pari, I'd say just to kind of mix it up.
• 31:11
  So I'm not saying the exact same thing as you, although that was
• 31:13
  my favorite. The other thing will probably be
• 31:14
  the overhead attack, so if you jump up.
• 31:17
  And do a strong attack and hit someone, you can land quite a
• 31:20
  bit of damage. So yeah.
• 31:22
  It's always been a powerful move in the from.
• 31:24
  Software games. So I'd probably say that.
• 31:26
  And I also really liked the the spirit ashes that you could
• 31:30
  summon like the dogs or the the jellyfish.
• 31:35
  That was a really helpful inclusion.
• 31:38
  And it was it was one that you missed, didn't you?
• 31:40
  Because you you weren't really aware of it.
• 31:41
  And so I told you about it. Did you ever go back and get it?
• 31:44
  Yeah, I did use it a couple of times, but by the time I started
• 31:47
  using it, the summons were so much weaker than the enemies I
• 31:53
  was facing that they just got wiped out immediately.
• 31:56
  I know you can level them up and a shout out to the horse as
• 32:01
  well. The horse is cool and that
• 32:02
  obviously sets Elder Ring apart from other From Software games.
• 32:07
  Like you say, you can level up the Spirit ashes and stuff in
• 32:10
  this game, which? I know I mention it all the
• 32:15
  time, but I always feel I come back to talking about Final
• 32:18
  Fantasy and when I think about playing, that's because it's all
• 32:23
  you talk. That is literally the only topic
• 32:25
  I've got. But when I think about how much
• 32:28
  I know about Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 8, and to some
• 32:31
  extent Final Fantasy 9 and maybe 10.
• 32:35
  Which is nothing. I don't know anything.
• 32:38
  I know nothing when I think about the.
• 32:42
  The leveling up systems in those games where you can level up
• 32:44
  your magic and your, you know, your your weapons and stuff.
• 32:47
  I know that stuff inside out. But when it came to like, I
• 32:50
  watched a lot of speed runs of this game which will come on
• 32:52
  into a bit, people doing stuff, crazy skill and challenges and
• 32:55
  like okay on this one. I'm going to go pick up this
• 32:57
  item and do this to therefore make my stop, boost this.
• 33:01
  And I'm like, it's like they're speaking Latin to me, absolutely
• 33:05
  clueless and I think it's myself.
• 33:08
  When I think back to those final fancy games, because they games
• 33:10
  I played when I was young when I put a load of time into and I
• 33:12
  was invested, I just think, is that what those games are for
• 33:17
  other people who don't know. Yeah.
• 33:19
  Because I think it is. Yeah.
• 33:21
  Because like watching some of these speed runs and people
• 33:24
  like, OK, I'm going to do a speed run, but I need to go and
• 33:25
  get this item to to do this XYZ and I'm just like where where do
• 33:30
  you get this information from? How do you know this?
• 33:33
  Like I got the, the portion of increased or something physic.
• 33:39
  Which increased like the strength boost.
• 33:41
  But I just happened upon any YouTube video that I found out I
• 33:44
  needed two ingredients and then I could make it one of the the
• 33:47
  safe spaces. But yeah, just the the depth of
• 33:53
  this game and the law and the the systems.
• 33:55
  It's like I feel like I need to be.
• 33:57
  Overwhelming. Yeah, it is massively
• 33:59
  overwhelming and it put me off trying to learn about it because
• 34:01
  there was so much of it. I think the price of entry with
• 34:04
  any RPG is to learn its systems, and I always get to the point
• 34:10
  with every single RPGI play and I and I think RPG is my favorite
• 34:14
  genre. I love a lot of RPG's, but you
• 34:18
  always get to a point where it's single swim, where you either
• 34:25
  make the effort to pick up the systems or you go home.
• 34:28
  And I I will admit that I didn't.
• 34:33
  Do that quite as much as I should have done with Elden
• 34:36
  Ring, but if it's an RPG that I'm serious about and I think I
• 34:41
  want to commit to this, then I will do that.
• 34:43
  But I always find crafting in in any RPG is is usually an area,
• 34:48
  or alchemy is usually an area where I just leave.
• 34:51
  And I just think I cannot be bothered to ever engage with
• 34:53
  those systems because I don't like the idea of it.
• 34:56
  But but then again, if if the game teaches it you well and in
• 35:00
  a simplistic manner. It's quite easy to pick them up.
• 35:02
  Like to me, Persona 5, the system's in that game and the
• 35:07
  different things with the personas and like mashing them
• 35:10
  up to create like stronger Personas.
• 35:13
  No problem. I struggled a little bit with it
• 35:15
  in Persona 4 and I didn't maybe learn everything I could have
• 35:19
  done in that game, but I just didn't find it as user or
• 35:22
  beginner friendly and. Cooking in Breath of the Wild
• 35:26
  comes to my mind. It's a system that I wouldn't
• 35:28
  really engage with in a game, but because they made it fun.
• 35:31
  Experimental and just a bit silly.
• 35:34
  I quite enjoyed it. Yeah.
• 35:36
  So let's talk, because I think a big part of this game, yeah,
• 35:40
  it's the gameplay. Yeah, it's the difficulty loop.
• 35:41
  Yeah, it's the bosses, 100%. But I think a big drawer of this
• 35:45
  game is the world and the environments that you're
• 35:50
  exploring. So you want to talk a little bit
• 35:52
  about some of the highlight areas for yourself that you
• 35:56
  found maybe. I like the city.
• 36:03
  That was cool. So the world design wise is
• 36:08
  you've got the open area. You've got, I'm not going to say
• 36:11
  traditional open world, because it's not quite a traditional
• 36:14
  open world, but you also have these things called legacy
• 36:17
  dungeons. They are the areas that are
• 36:20
  closer to a traditional from software game where progression
• 36:25
  is a bit more linear. You have to.
• 36:29
  Follow a path or or a few paths through an area, defeat lots of
• 36:32
  enemies and get to certain bosses and they're kind of
• 36:37
  separate from the open world in that way.
• 36:41
  So I like, I like the city that was a cool legacy dungeon.
• 36:46
  I quite like the first area. I think that that is a really
• 36:49
  strong first impression of the game and I might even say that
• 36:55
  it doesn't really get better than that for me.
• 36:58
  I don't know what you think. I for me, I think that the
• 37:05
  highlight is, I think the highlight of the game is the
• 37:09
  visuals and I didn't see as much of it as you did because lack of
• 37:14
  skill at this game. But I've watched footage of all
• 37:18
  of this game from numerous runners and.
• 37:23
  The look of it's incredible, like when you go down this lift
• 37:25
  into like this underworld area that's got its own sky.
• 37:31
  It just looks incredible. And you've got the Eldon tree
• 37:35
  which is always there in the. It's very vertical, this game.
• 37:40
  It's a lot more vertical than many other open worlds.
• 37:42
  Yeah, it's another one of those, like Red Dead Redemption 2,
• 37:47
  where it feels like you can see something in the.
• 37:49
  In the distance and it's like you can go there if you want.
• 37:52
  It might take you a long time to get there, but you can go there
• 37:54
  and you might not like what you find there because you might get
• 37:57
  absolutely battered. But I think that the visuals in
• 38:01
  this game, like I said at the start, are probably some of the
• 38:03
  best visuals I've seen in any game.
• 38:06
  And I think that's linked with the fact that it came out last
• 38:08
  year at this. You know, it's quite a modern
• 38:10
  new game, one of the newer ones on the on the list, if not maybe
• 38:14
  the newest, but I think. It was a big reason why I kept
• 38:21
  going back and playing this game, because I wanted to see
• 38:22
  more of it. Like the Academy looks
• 38:24
  incredible. I had a.
• 38:26
  I had a secret wish when this game was announced.
• 38:29
  So when it was announced it was George RR Martin and From
• 38:34
  Software creating a game. It was going to be Open World,
• 38:37
  you could ride a horse. My secret wish was to see how
• 38:43
  From Software created a town and had.
• 38:49
  A traditional quote UN quote friendly town environment and
• 38:54
  how that worked within the world.
• 38:56
  And I think you could still retain some of the atmosphere
• 39:00
  but have this, this, this town sort of area.
• 39:02
  I know you've got the round table and you've got some
• 39:04
  friendlies there, but yeah, I would have liked to see that and
• 39:09
  that didn't quite come, Well, it didn't come to fruition and I'm
• 39:13
  still intrigued by that idea to see if you could.
• 39:19
  Incorporate some of those more traditional elements of RPGs
• 39:23
  into this open world formula or this from software formula.
• 39:29
  Yeah, I'm not sure if they could, but that was my secret
• 39:31
  wish. I think I mean that that that
• 39:35
  kind of brings us on to the the question a week, I guess, you
• 39:41
  know, this is probably more a question for you than me because
• 39:44
  I'm not huge. From Software fan I've not
• 39:47
  played any of the other games really, although I know that
• 39:50
  we're going to have to when we get to the Open Critic list
• 39:52
  because they're pretty much all on there, which I'm dreading.
• 39:54
  But do you think that From Software should stick with this
• 39:58
  open world format and that you can skip areas and go back to
• 40:02
  them if you want to? Or do you think they should
• 40:04
  revert back to the more linear aspects of the Souls games where
• 40:10
  you know it's very much? You've got a few.
• 40:12
  Options here and there maybe, but.
• 40:15
  For the majority you need to stick on one path.
• 40:17
  Do you think it's better that way or do you like this new new
• 40:20
  concept? I think they're going to do
• 40:22
  both. They've they've kind of started
• 40:27
  quite a few franchises now you've got, I think Dark Souls
• 40:30
  is, I believe it's come to a close, You've got Bloodborne,
• 40:35
  you've got people begging for a Bloodborne sequel.
• 40:39
  You've got Securo, which is its own thing, which is some
• 40:43
  people's favorite from software. Apparently the hardest.
• 40:45
  Game. Yeah.
• 40:47
  And also known to be the hardest.
• 40:49
  And you've got Eldon Ring which is the open world.
• 40:53
  I'd be I'd be shocked if if we ever saw an Eldon Ring two and
• 40:57
  it wasn't open world at the same time.
• 41:02
  I think if we ever get a Bloodborne sequel it won't be
• 41:04
  open world. I like the open world.
• 41:10
  I liked some of the stuff that it brought with it.
• 41:14
  I also think there's just as much place for a more
• 41:17
  streamlined experience like Bloodborne because they're not
• 41:22
  completely linear or closed. There are, as I say, there are
• 41:25
  whole areas that you can completely bypass in Bloodborne,
• 41:30
  and there are a lot of routes you can take through the world.
• 41:33
  I'm intrigued to see what you think of the other games and see
• 41:36
  if you get on. With any of those a bit better
• 41:39
  than Elden Ring, you may not, but it would be interesting to
• 41:43
  see. So yeah, I think there's a place
• 41:49
  for both. The more interesting thing I
• 41:51
  think is with these RPGs that From Software makes, are we ever
• 41:59
  going to see them move away from the Souls system of you build
• 42:05
  up? Souls or or whatever the
• 42:09
  equivalent is from defeating enemies and you land a bonfire
• 42:14
  or a site of grace or whatever it is, and there you can cash in
• 42:19
  your souls or whatever it is your blood from Bloodborne, but
• 42:26
  if you die, you have one opportunity.
• 42:30
  Think about it that that is now. That's its own genre, isn't it?
• 42:34
  It's Souls like it is. And the first game that comes to
• 42:37
  my mind when we think about that is the newest Star Wars games.
• 42:42
  Jedi Fall in Order and Jedi Survivor.
• 42:44
  Those are Souls like games because it is very much.
• 42:47
  You gain your experience and you spend it at the.
• 42:49
  Meditation that gameplay loop. And it does work.
• 42:52
  And I don't deny that it works, But I would also be intrigued to
• 42:55
  see what an RPG made by From Software would look like.
• 43:02
  That didn't do that, and from what I know, actually I don't.
• 43:04
  I don't know if Secaro quite follows that formula.
• 43:07
  I don't really know much about. No, I don't know.
• 43:10
  I. Don't really know much, so it's
• 43:12
  really odd. Yeah.
• 43:17
  So I I haven't really properly answered that.
• 43:19
  I I think they've got strengths. Both formulas have got strengths
• 43:24
  and I don't know if I prefer one over the other.
• 43:27
  I think they both have a place. What do you think?
• 43:31
  Obviously it's hard for you to answer.
• 43:33
  Yeah, I don't really know. I think that.
• 43:39
  I mean, I played a bit of Bloodborne, and I know that
• 43:41
  Bloodborne is, for a lot of people, one of their favorite
• 43:44
  games ever. It did seem like a cool
• 43:46
  environment. And personally, I think that the
• 43:52
  design of Elder Ring is better than something linear because it
• 43:54
  makes it more accessible to players like me.
• 43:57
  Yeah, it does. I will say that.
• 44:01
  If if you if you are stuck in an area and and there are
• 44:04
  inevitably areas in things like Bloodborne where you may hit a
• 44:08
  brick wall, whereas in Elder ring you can go and do something
• 44:12
  else or you can bypass it entirely in many cases, and I
• 44:15
  like that, I think that's good. And you know, it's been well
• 44:20
  known for a number of years that there are some people within the
• 44:25
  the fun group of these games. They can be quite gatekeeping.
• 44:29
  And of course, it's very much like, well, if you can't get to
• 44:31
  that bit, then you're just not good enough and you need to
• 44:33
  improve. All you need to do is search any
• 44:36
  videos on any boss and you'll see someone.
• 44:38
  Oh, I did that one straight away.
• 44:40
  Well, funnily enough, that brings me to the last section
• 44:44
  that I want to talk about, which is skill and challenge.
• 44:47
  Now, like I mentioned earlier, there are people that know these
• 44:51
  games inside out and it blows my mind.
• 44:56
  Because I just can't imagine how someone can get that good at a
• 44:59
  game like this. And funnily enough, on Saturday
• 45:05
  I woke up, I watched a bit of YouTube in the morning, it was
• 45:07
  nerd cubed and he uploaded a video where he put a mod in
• 45:11
  Twelden ring where every single boss or every single MPC that
• 45:16
  was like a ghost or anything had turned into either a turtle.
• 45:20
  So quite easy. Or Melania of Nicola who is.
• 45:26
  Apparently the hardest boss in any From software game and it's
• 45:31
  basically like, well, you're going through the game and if
• 45:34
  you, you know, if you come across turtles, happy days.
• 45:37
  But it could also be millennia as well.
• 45:40
  And the the skill that trump, it's crazy.
• 45:45
  The skill that some people have these games is insane.
• 45:48
  And you know, I know that when the game first came out,
• 45:51
  millennia was. A huge point where people like
• 45:56
  this is the hardest from boss that there's ever been, and if
• 46:02
  you search on YouTube there's videos about.
• 46:05
  One particular Elder Ring player called Let me solo her.
• 46:09
  Yeah. Have you seen that?
• 46:11
  And it's just a guy I've. Seen about it?
• 46:12
  Yeah, the guy in the pants. Yeah, he's got, he comes in his
• 46:15
  pants, he's got a pot on his head and he's just got a club
• 46:19
  and he takes down millennia without taking a single hit and.
• 46:24
  Some of the skill that people. Have done, was it Mr. Blobby.
• 46:27
  It was Mr. Blobby and as well as that Noel Edmonds is actually a
• 46:33
  side boss that you can miss. Optional.
• 46:37
  It's just past the Academy I believe in the fun house
• 46:40
  dungeon. Yeah, the house party dungeon.
• 46:42
  Sorry. And and Mr. Blobby do does of
• 46:46
  course have two forms and it is possibly one of the hardest
• 46:51
  sections in the game I've heard. Me too.
• 46:55
  But I I wanted to touch on that the challenge and skill that
• 46:58
  people have at this game, because it is genuinely crazy
• 47:02
  and you know, you can watch any anyone do by speed runs of games
• 47:05
  and it will blow your mind a little bit.
• 47:06
  But games of this difficulty, it's it's very impressive, you
• 47:12
  know, you've got people that will just play through the game
• 47:14
  as a Wretch. Never updating their weapons or
• 47:17
  leveling up and they've still completed without taking a
• 47:19
  single hit. It's.
• 47:20
  I think it just takes time. Patience.
• 47:24
  Yeah, to to really get to know all the timings.
• 47:28
  I still find it. Just so I remember when we when
• 47:33
  we did Devil May Cry, I watched the Matthew Matosis video
• 47:36
  alongside it and him just smashing through that game.
• 47:41
  I think he did no damage the. I think it was the S rating and
• 47:48
  getting to putting the time in to get that good at a game.
• 47:53
  I just just find it daunting. I don't know about you.
• 47:57
  I I don't have the time is is is the is the, I don't have the
• 48:03
  time with the patients and maybe 10 years ago I would have done.
• 48:07
  I probably wouldn't have had the patience but I definitely would
• 48:10
  have had the time but. I can't talk to people like that
• 48:14
  because I can't, I can't fathom it.
• 48:18
  So Elden ring score of 96, it's, you know, it's a very popular
• 48:27
  game. Do you think it deserves its
• 48:28
  place in the top 100? I've already thought about this,
• 48:35
  and as we know on the Metacritic side of things, it's the only
• 48:40
  From software game. And completely disregarding the
• 48:44
  Open Critic list, which does have the rest of them on there
• 48:47
  and is its own thing. If there was only one From
• 48:51
  Software game on this list, I would prefer it to be
• 48:55
  Bloodborne. I really like Bloodborne's mood,
• 49:03
  atmosphere, the Gothic setting, that game, even when it was
• 49:08
  frustrating and it was at times frustrating.
• 49:12
  The boss that DSP got smashed on Ludwig was hard and there was
• 49:21
  something that kept me playing and carrying on and wanting to
• 49:25
  see what areas I would see next because there's quite a variety
• 49:29
  there and they're all draped in this gothic dressing and it's,
• 49:33
  yeah, it's good. That's my favorite From Software
• 49:37
  game that I've played so far and for me that would be the one.
• 49:42
  That sits on this list, so I would say I would prefer it to
• 49:46
  be replaced with Bloodborne. So no.
• 49:51
  How about you? No, I think, I think it does.
• 49:55
  I don't have the same history with you.
• 49:56
  I've not played. Those are the games.
• 49:57
  So I think that this is an incredibly good looking game.
• 50:00
  I think it's a well designed game.
• 50:02
  It's a frustrating game, but if you, as is evidenced by many
• 50:07
  people on YouTube, if you put the time in.
• 50:10
  And really focus on how you want to beat it and how you want to
• 50:13
  play it. You can get good at this game
• 50:14
  and you know, make it, make it your own.
• 50:18
  So I would say that it does deserve to be here.
• 50:21
  I think it was quite a cool game, Probably isn't one that
• 50:24
  I'm ever going to complete, but I enjoyed my time with it
• 50:28
  nonetheless. So yeah, that's wraps up Eldon
• 50:35
  Ring. So I've had a thought.
• 50:37
  Yeah. About the future.
• 50:40
  So as people know, we're going to be doing our 15 games each
• 50:46
  that we would recommend to be on this list.
• 50:49
  So that's the next chapter. The chapter after that is the
• 50:51
  open critic list. The games that did not appear on
• 50:55
  the Metacritic list that appeared on the open critic
• 50:57
  list, then we're going to be doing that.
• 51:00
  I suggest that after we have done the open critic list, we
• 51:06
  do. Another 15 games of our
• 51:08
  choosing. Maybe not the at list of games
• 51:11
  because this is that, but maybe a secondary list of 15 games
• 51:16
  that we think deserves to be there.
• 51:20
  I know we discussed doing a bit of an intro episode to the
• 51:23
  format Next chapter, yes, but. I now say that we removed that
• 51:31
  because some of our honorable mentions, I imagine, would make
• 51:34
  it onto a second list of 15 games.
• 51:39
  So let's scrap that episode and we'll come straight back with.
• 51:44
  That's fine. So yes, we will be coming back.
• 51:48
  We're taking taking three weeks off just because like we say, we
• 51:53
  want to kind of draw a line between what we've done so far
• 51:55
  and what's coming next. As well as having a bit of a
• 51:58
  break as well. Everything's taken it out of me.
• 52:01
  Yes, absolutely. So we will be coming back on the
• 52:06
  3rd of August, so three weeks from today, well tomorrow for
• 52:13
  us, but today if you're listening to it on day of
• 52:14
  release, but we'll be coming back on the 3rd of August 2023
• 52:18
  with the first of we're starting off with one of my games from my
• 52:22
  15, my personal 15 list. So we are coming back with Star
• 52:26
  Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy, which I think released in 2003
• 52:32
  and it's not a game you've played before, I don't think is
• 52:34
  it? No.
• 52:36
  And before we do it, what? Why did you pick this game?
• 52:40
  And I'll give you some what I mean by that.
• 52:45
  So was this is this a game that you genuinely feel deserves to
• 52:49
  be on the list? Is it a game that you just enjoy
• 52:51
  playing, or is it a game that you want me to experience?
• 52:54
  Or what's the reason for this game being here?
• 52:56
  I think your your your 15 games are probably games that you
• 53:00
  think should be in the top 100 maybe for for the most part
• 53:07
  whereas a lot of the games in my 15 we we've both seen each
• 53:10
  other's lists. A lot of the games in my 15
• 53:13
  aren't necessarily games. I think yeah that that the.
• 53:17
  The crown to the crown. They should be in the top 100
• 53:19
  games. Some of them I think should be,
• 53:21
  but a lot of them are games that have a bit of a special place
• 53:24
  for me and probably have been put on my list to some extent
• 53:29
  because of nostalgia. And Jedi Academy, in my opinion,
• 53:34
  is the best Star Wars game that there's been if you want to be a
• 53:37
  Jedi, which, you know, grown up. I always wanted to be a Jedi.
• 53:40
  I've got a got a lightsaber upstairs, you know?
• 53:43
  And. Part of it's nostalgia, part of
• 53:46
  it is the fact that I genuinely think that it is the best Star
• 53:49
  Wars, Star Wars game. And I think another part of it
• 53:53
  is just, I want you to experience a game that I put a
• 53:56
  lot of time into when I was younger, and I'll go into more
• 54:01
  detail about that when we actually get to the game in
• 54:05
  three weeks time. But yeah, it.
• 54:08
  Isn't necessarily a game I think should be with the other top 100
• 54:12
  games. I'd probably argue it doesn't
• 54:14
  have to be. No, no, it doesn't.
• 54:17
  Think every single one of my games has got a different reason
• 54:19
  for being there, and This is why I kind of think that's an
• 54:22
  interesting question to ask to preface the episodes with why
• 54:27
  have you picked it? And the other question I think
• 54:30
  is a good preface question is how am I feeling about playing
• 54:37
  Jedi Jedi Academy? How are you?
• 54:39
  Feeling about playing Jedi Jedi Academy.
• 54:42
  I don't. I know a bit about it.
• 54:45
  I think it they're they're the more action heavy Star Wars
• 54:48
  games, aren't they, These ones? So I know a bit about it.
• 54:51
  I know that they released on PS2 sort of time, didn't they?
• 54:55
  Yeah, it released on the original Xbox and on PC.
• 54:59
  It wasn't on PS2. I don't think it was on
• 55:01
  GameCube, and it's only in the last kind of five years or so
• 55:05
  that they've bought them to make them a bit more accessible with,
• 55:09
  you know, PS5. Yeah.
• 55:12
  As I said in the past, I'm a casual fan of Star Wars and so
• 55:19
  I'm this is not a game that I'm dreading or anything like that.
• 55:24
  I think it'll be quite fun to play, so that's about all the
• 55:26
  opinion I have, but. You can create a lightsaber, so
• 55:31
  choose your lightsaber color so you know that's that's that's
• 55:35
  it. I have.
• 55:36
  A rainbow lightsaber. No, I can't have that.
• 55:39
  It's not June anymore. Not Pride Monday.
• 55:40
  They won't let you have a they won't, they won't let you have a
• 55:42
  rainbow lightsaber, unfortunately, those swines at
• 55:45
  Lucas Arts. But yeah, it's.
• 55:50
  I'm looking forward to playing it again.
• 55:51
  So but yes, that will be in three weeks time, I suppose, I
• 55:57
  suppose to wrap up if you've been here since February.
• 56:01
  No March. No February.
• 56:03
  Yeah, February 2020. And you might not have listened
• 56:07
  to all the episodes, but you might have listened to a fair
• 56:09
  few, or you might be a new listener.
• 56:11
  But if you've joined us this far, then thank you for joining
• 56:14
  us on this rather mammoth journey that we've.
• 56:17
  Had the chapter one. Yeah, it's been a mammoth 3 1/2
• 56:21
  year journey for 100 games. I don't think either of us
• 56:23
  thought it would take us this long to get through.
• 56:26
  I think we probably thought it would take us maybe a year or
• 56:28
  two, but not certainly not 3 1/2 years.
• 56:32
  And you and me both have had very.
• 56:35
  Big things happen in our lives during us doing the last 100 and
• 56:40
  Something games. So yeah, as usual you can find
• 56:45
  us on social media. I have created us a profile on
• 56:49
  the new social media threads because it looks like Twitter is
• 56:53
  going down the tubes and people migrating over to threads.
• 56:58
  So we have now got a threads account as well.
• 56:59
  You can find us on there. Normal Twitter, Facebook, it's
• 57:04
  around long short podcast. You can e-mail us at the long
• 57:07
  and short of it podcast@hotmail.com and now more
• 57:10
  than ever. I would invite you that if you
• 57:12
  have enjoyed the first chapter I suppose of the podcast that you
• 57:18
  rate it on whatever platform you listen to us or share it or just
• 57:24
  something to help us get more ears in if you think more people
• 57:27
  would enjoy it, but yeah. It's I've very much enjoyed the
• 57:33
  last 3 1/2 years doing these 100 and something games and I'm
• 57:38
  looking forward to doing the next 30 of our choice, so that
• 57:43
  is all from me. Anything else that you want to
• 57:45
  add? Nope.
• 57:47
  See you on the next. One lovely.
• 57:48
  We'll see you in three weeks time.
• 57:50
  And in the meantime, take care. Cheerio.