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Are We Wrong About Video Games? · Critical Error

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Critical Error podcast.
• 0:02
  Today we are talking about the state of
• 0:04
  play.
• 0:05
  >> Okay, cool. Great.
• 0:09
  >> Peter, you don't you don't sound
• 0:11
  excited.
• 0:11
  >> No, I'm just like racking my brain like
• 0:13
  am I insane? Didn't we already do this
• 0:16
  episode?
• 0:17
  >> A critical error is an error which the
• 0:19
  OS cannot reasonably ignore. Shake
• 0:22
  Steinberg is a streamer, writer, and
• 0:24
  certified yapper. complimentary Peter
• 0:27
  Hunt spit tech
• 0:29
  is a YouTuber, journalist, and certified
• 0:31
  yapper. Derogatory. These are the things
• 0:34
  they cannot reasonably ignore.
• 0:36
  >> Before the state of play yesterday, you,
• 0:38
  me, and our friend Christian Basillas in
• 0:40
  a group chat were texting each other
• 0:42
  about how excited and enthusiastic we
• 0:44
  were for the the the games that were
• 0:47
  going to be shown. And we all had this
• 0:49
  kind of embarrassing moment where we
• 0:51
  were all separately to each other going,
• 0:54
  "Guys, I know we like to complain about
• 0:55
  the PlayStation games, but I think that
• 0:57
  they can put together a pretty good
• 0:58
  showcase." And lo and behold, the
• 1:00
  showcase comes together at lands. And I
• 1:02
  think all three of us were pretty
• 1:04
  profoundly disappointed with um Sony's
• 1:06
  effort yesterday uh as of the time of
• 1:10
  recording. And I think we've kind of
• 1:11
  done these episodes of Critical Error in
• 1:13
  the past, as we alluded to in the
• 1:14
  opening of this episode, about kind of
• 1:16
  the the the syiness between these
• 1:18
  PlayStation games, the kind of sequel
• 1:19
  itis they find themselves uh deploying.
• 1:22
  And I think that now a little bit of a
• 1:24
  different question has has fallen in
• 1:26
  front of us. One that I think is worth
• 1:28
  examining today as we go through some of
• 1:30
  the State of Play announcements. And
• 1:32
  that question is, of course,
• 1:34
  >> is it us?
• 1:34
  >> Maybe it's us.
• 1:35
  >> ARE WE NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED? IT COULD
• 1:37
  BE ME.
• 1:38
  >> Maybe it's us. Maybe maybe we are the
• 1:40
  problem and um now we have to we have to
• 1:43
  face this and and we we're going to go
• 1:45
  on this little journey with our viewers
• 1:46
  with our listeners. I hope they'll let
• 1:47
  us know how they are feeling in the
• 1:49
  comments below because we simply need to
• 1:51
  take a close look at some of these games
• 1:52
  being shown. Maybe identify why we are
• 1:55
  lacking enthusiasm for them at this
• 1:56
  particular point of time and then return
• 1:58
  to this question again. Is it us? Is it
• 2:01
  us? Because maybe
• 2:02
  >> MAYBE IT'S US. IT'S POSSIBLE, RIGHT? I I
• 2:04
  think that
• 2:06
  what I want to get across and I think
• 2:08
  you alluded to this as well in your
• 2:10
  intro here is that I we come into these
• 2:14
  things with like open hearts and open
• 2:15
  minds. You know, I like I wanted to like
• 2:18
  this. I I I do like showcases. We've
• 2:20
  done episodes I believe in the past
• 2:21
  about how that these showcases do bring
• 2:24
  this sort of sense of excitement and
• 2:25
  sense of like community to gaming that
• 2:27
  that kind of doesn't happen at other
• 2:28
  intervals. And Oh yeah. So when there's
• 2:31
  like, you know, we are sitting on the
• 2:33
  the edge of all of this summer gamefest
• 2:36
  stuff coming,
• 2:37
  >> all these showcases, all of these
• 2:39
  announcements and whatever else. And the
• 2:41
  first one was the state of play. And
• 2:43
  it's exciting because it's, hey,
• 2:44
  PlayStation makes pretty good games, has
• 2:48
  made pretty good games. We've sort of
• 2:49
  become a little disillusioned to them in
• 2:51
  the recent years, but at the end of the
• 2:54
  day, it is exciting to know that, hey,
• 2:56
  there's going to be some announcements.
• 2:57
  And then you and Christian were watching
• 2:58
  it live. I was about an hour behind and
• 3:00
  I'm I'm sort of keeping up with the
• 3:02
  group chat as you guys are texting about
• 3:04
  it and I'm starting to get this sinking
• 3:07
  feeling because I know that your tastes
• 3:09
  align with mine for the most part. I
• 3:11
  know that Christian's tastes align with
• 3:13
  mine and
• 3:15
  after finishing the showcase I could
• 3:17
  have not had a more opposite reaction to
• 3:20
  what it seems like the reaction was
• 3:22
  online.
• 3:24
  I agree and I think that as I think a
• 3:27
  couple of things to keep in mind as as
• 3:29
  kind of people who are more trying to I
• 3:31
  think more situate ourselves as critics
• 3:34
  than we are enthusiasts and fans. I
• 3:36
  think that that is maybe a place where
• 3:38
  we can start identifying where that
• 3:40
  difference takes hold. But I but I also
• 3:43
  wonder if we are maybe not as out of
• 3:47
  touch with people
• 3:50
  as maybe we are saying.
• 3:52
  >> I think that people who watch this show
• 3:55
  that maybe disagree with us probably
• 3:57
  think that we are like totally not on
• 4:00
  the the pulse of like what's popular and
• 4:02
  whatever. But I do think that there is
• 4:04
  some evidence to support some of the
• 4:08
  questions that we might have, some of
• 4:10
  the concerns we might have with I think
• 4:12
  we're talking more most specifically
• 4:13
  about like PlayStation's
• 4:15
  uh
• 4:16
  suite of games that are coming out over
• 4:18
  the next year or so, which we saw at
• 4:20
  this state of play. But yeah, I think
• 4:21
  that there's data to back up the fact
• 4:23
  that us being maybe cautious about it
• 4:25
  and a little like uh maybe lukewarm on
• 4:28
  it is how other people are feeling as
• 4:31
  well. they might just not be saying it.
• 4:34
  >> I agree. And I think even looking at
• 4:35
  like forums and not just kind of our
• 4:38
  blue sky immediate circle of the games
• 4:40
  media people, I actually did see more
• 4:43
  negative sentiment than I did.
• 4:45
  >> Yes. And there was a little bit of a
• 4:47
  disconnect and I and I wonder kind of
• 4:48
  like where that is coming from and what
• 4:50
  the difference is between the people who
• 4:52
  are kind of at the forefront of these
• 4:54
  spaces, maybe the the taste makers and
• 4:57
  the audiences themselves. and and if we
• 4:59
  can begin to kind of grapple and
• 5:01
  understand that. So, um so without
• 5:03
  further ado, I I think that maybe we can
• 5:05
  reach our best forms of understanding
• 5:07
  just by kind of jumping into the state
• 5:09
  of play and what was presented.
• 5:10
  >> So, the uh first game to kick things
• 5:13
  off, it was a clean 10 minutes of
• 5:15
  Marvel's Wolverine.
• 5:17
  >> Um I am going to say that I'm excited
• 5:20
  for this game.
• 5:21
  >> Okay.
• 5:23
  >> Okay. And I think that like I don't know
• 5:26
  if Insomniac has really ever made a game
• 5:28
  that I didn't like.
• 5:30
  >> I think that's fair. I think that's
• 5:31
  fair. I think that's Yeah, I think
• 5:33
  that's that's a valuable thing to say.
• 5:35
  >> I think that uh I am interested in this
• 5:37
  game because of Insomniac. I am not
• 5:40
  interested in this game because of
• 5:41
  Wolverine and because of the trailers. I
• 5:43
  cuz I think that um of the games that
• 5:46
  maybe had a more lukewarm response that
• 5:49
  I saw in the general
• 5:51
  on the internet was this one where
• 5:53
  people were saying like ah I don't know
• 5:55
  about all this and and the real
• 5:57
  disconnect I have with people is with
• 5:59
  the God of War stuff but um I would
• 6:01
  agree cuz it's like I trust Insomniac to
• 6:03
  make a game that's good. these trailers
• 6:05
  are not
• 6:07
  telling me that it's going to be good,
• 6:09
  but it's a studio that I respect and and
• 6:11
  have had a lot of good good times with.
• 6:13
  So, I don't know.
• 6:15
  >> So, I think it's kind of worth in a in a
• 6:17
  close way kind of identifying what it is
• 6:19
  that we are maybe not aligning with. So,
• 6:22
  this um there's something funny in this
• 6:27
  Wolverine showcase where it starts with
• 6:30
  kind of this slow moment. Wolverine
• 6:33
  picks up like this this like little bit
• 6:35
  of fabric or whatever and then the game
• 6:38
  kind of reveals like okay here's the um
• 6:41
  here's like the direction we're moving
• 6:43
  in and here's the the arena of where the
• 6:45
  enemies are. So it's like an outpost and
• 6:47
  all of these people are walking around.
• 6:48
  You sneak up, you kill a couple of them
• 6:50
  and then it turns into just like this
• 6:52
  this fullon battle arena where you're
• 6:54
  very violently attacking everybody. I I
• 6:56
  I guess what what I am my my disconnect
• 7:00
  with this is that one I think it just
• 7:02
  kind of functionally is a bunch of games
• 7:05
  that I have played before
• 7:07
  >> and it is like not that dissimilar from
• 7:10
  a 007 from a Spider-Man from um even
• 7:14
  like a Batman game or whatever it is you
• 7:17
  want to talk about. And I think that the
• 7:18
  the differences, the things that are
• 7:20
  interesting about it almost don't
• 7:22
  present in a vacuum, but only present
• 7:24
  when you're comparing them to those
• 7:26
  other games. So when you talk about the
• 7:29
  >> overindulgence of the blood, that is
• 7:31
  something that like I don't know. Like
• 7:33
  of course it has that it's it's like
• 7:35
  Wolverine, whatever. You don't even
• 7:36
  really think about it, but in comparison
• 7:37
  to other games where we do this kind of
• 7:39
  thing, that's what makes it different.
• 7:41
  >> Um, so like I don't know. Well, I I
• 7:44
  guess I'm just like not that
• 7:44
  enthusiastic about like skullking up
• 7:47
  behind a guy, pressing the square
• 7:48
  button, instantly killing him, doing
• 7:50
  that a few times.
• 7:51
  >> Dude, my controller my controller is
• 7:54
  square button. Hates to see this [ __ ]
• 7:55
  game coming. I'm like watching as it's
• 7:57
  just like mash mash mash mash when they
• 7:59
  get into combat. And you know, the
• 8:02
  animations are flashy and cool, but at
• 8:05
  the end of the day, that is not what
• 8:06
  gets me to be interested in a game. Uh
• 8:10
  it's exactly what you're saying. We've
• 8:12
  done this before and it's also the most
• 8:14
  obvious way to do this game. I kind of
• 8:16
  feel like the most obvious thing is to
• 8:18
  have a little bit of stealth where you
• 8:20
  can stab a guy in the back and then it
• 8:22
  breaks into open combat and then you're
• 8:23
  just wailing on people with with your
• 8:25
  claws.
• 8:26
  >> I feel like we're play we're getting a
• 8:28
  Wolverine game because Wolverine is
• 8:30
  popular, not because they had a great
• 8:32
  idea for what you could do in a
• 8:33
  Wolverine. And I think the evidence of
• 8:36
  that is that, you know, you've got this,
• 8:38
  it's a seven and a half and a half
• 8:40
  minute trailer on the PlayStation
• 8:41
  YouTube channel, three minutes in, so
• 8:43
  about at the halfway point, um, kind of
• 8:45
  following conventional storytelling
• 8:47
  structure. There is a moment that kind
• 8:48
  of flips what you are seeing on its
• 8:51
  head. The kind of like, okay, this is
• 8:53
  the turn in the trailer. This is a pop.
• 8:54
  This is a reveal. Um, the reveal in that
• 8:57
  trailer is not Wolverine. It is Jean
• 9:01
  Gray is in this game as in as in NPC.
• 9:04
  and she will be helping you and fighting
• 9:07
  people off in the background while
• 9:08
  you're fighting.
• 9:09
  >> They give it like six full seconds of
• 9:10
  silence when she shows up so that people
• 9:13
  can like clip farm, I guess. I don't
• 9:14
  know. Did that happen? Were people like
• 9:16
  stoked about this?
• 9:18
  >> So, I think that yes, I think that they
• 9:20
  were, but I think that there is like a
• 9:22
  spiritual issue at play here because
• 9:24
  what I am seeing is again kind of in
• 9:27
  line with how they treat what is
• 9:29
  exciting about Wolverine. The thing
• 9:30
  that's exciting about Gan Gray is that
• 9:32
  she's here, right? It's almost this like
• 9:35
  meta enthusiasm that Insomniac was able
• 9:38
  to convince Marvel to include Gan Gray
• 9:41
  in the game.
• 9:41
  >> It is exciting simply because you know
• 9:43
  who Gan Gray is and not because this
• 9:45
  trailer makes it important. Not because
• 9:47
  it feels like we are going to be
• 9:49
  learning anything about this character
• 9:51
  in this moment. Whatever it is just,
• 9:53
  hey, here's a character that you, the
• 9:55
  audience, should recognize.
• 9:58
  There was a time when I think video
• 10:00
  games were more interested in
• 10:02
  introducing a character that you were
• 10:03
  unfamiliar with and being like, "Hey,
• 10:05
  here's like a cool weird take on we're
• 10:08
  going to we're going to kind of carve
• 10:09
  out our version of this character." Um,
• 10:13
  there's like
• 10:14
  >> one of the guys that's being saved in
• 10:16
  this little in this little this little
• 10:18
  trailer, the caravan thing is like
• 10:20
  Leech.
• 10:21
  >> And I like that Leech is in he's a
• 10:23
  little green.
• 10:23
  >> Is that the little guy who had like no
• 10:25
  nose kind of? Yeah.
• 10:26
  >> Yeah. I was watching this trailer and on
• 10:28
  on the discord the second he showed up I
• 10:29
  typed in all cap Lee. I was like wow
• 10:32
  Leech is in the game and I almost was
• 10:34
  like I think that there's like a better
• 10:36
  version of this trailer that instead of
• 10:38
  using Gan Gray it's like Leech has to
• 10:40
  help you in the battle. Like that to me
• 10:43
  invokes something more imaginative than
• 10:46
  like Gan Gray just kind of like filling
• 10:47
  the spot of you're playing an action
• 10:49
  game and somebody is also helping.
• 10:50
  Imagine a video game where two
• 10:52
  superheroes are fighting together. Like,
• 10:54
  all right. Well,
• 10:55
  >> and then this version of Gan Gray is
• 10:57
  just um controls Jesse Fad.
• 11:00
  >> Yeah. So, that was also kind of
• 11:01
  interesting because so I knew it was Gan
• 11:03
  Gray because of the like I just know
• 11:06
  that that's who that character is. But I
• 11:08
  was also like, am I wrong? Because I
• 11:10
  don't think that the trailer does a
• 11:12
  great job like introducing her, right?
• 11:13
  Do they say her name?
• 11:15
  >> Uh well, Wolverine goes, "Hey, Red." or
• 11:18
  something like that. And that's and and
• 11:20
  we kind of all understand what that is.
• 11:22
  So, um yeah, I don't know. It it's it's
• 11:25
  almost like this this version of I'm
• 11:27
  going to use the term fan service that I
• 11:29
  think is like completely uninterested in
• 11:34
  breeding a desire or a fulfillment of
• 11:38
  anything out of the game itself and is
• 11:41
  only instead like work like
• 11:43
  >> you know what it is.
• 11:44
  >> We're we're giving you what you want.
• 11:46
  So, I think that every I think that
• 11:48
  everyone is trying to recreate across
• 11:50
  all mediums is trying to recreate the
• 11:52
  moment that people had in movie theaters
• 11:55
  when uh Captain America picks up the
• 11:57
  hammer in Avengers Endgame where people
• 11:59
  were like on their feet like what? Oh my
• 12:01
  gosh. And the thing that I think people
• 12:03
  forget about that moment is that it was
• 12:05
  earned, right? He didn't just pick that
• 12:07
  up because he wanted to. Like that was
• 12:10
  that was a story beat that was sort of
• 12:11
  like earned, right? Okay.
• 12:13
  >> And so with this, it's kind of
• 12:15
  surprising that
• 12:18
  you are just supposed to be excited
• 12:20
  because they're telling you to be
• 12:21
  excited. It's not earned. It's not like
• 12:23
  you're not like getting anything for uh
• 12:26
  from like learning what is going on here
• 12:28
  and it being excited because a thing
• 12:30
  happened that was like paid off. It's
• 12:31
  just like here's this character and you
• 12:33
  should know this character. Yes.
• 12:36
  And then I think the stuff that doesn't
• 12:38
  call as much attention to it is like
• 12:40
  almost exceedingly generic and boring in
• 12:43
  a way that I don't like. It's like
• 12:44
  Wolverine is on the back of this car and
• 12:46
  he fights like this kind of generic big
• 12:48
  guy enemy and then he and then he beats
• 12:50
  him and then the interesting part of the
• 12:52
  game where he kind of uh cuts all these
• 12:55
  metal tubes and they all come flying
• 12:57
  out. Then he's under the car and he has
• 12:58
  the hook and he makes the car. That's
• 13:00
  all cut scene
• 13:02
  >> and I and I feel like we've um like
• 13:05
  given in to this version I cuz I I know
• 13:08
  that there's this person out there
• 13:09
  listening who is like I just but the
• 13:12
  flashy combat it's doing what it needs
• 13:14
  to do. And this is where I would say
• 13:17
  that maybe there's like a difference
• 13:18
  between like the fan and the critic
• 13:20
  because I just have to have a standard
• 13:21
  that's higher than that. I have to have
• 13:23
  a standard that is higher than me going,
• 13:25
  "Yeah, that's Wolverine." Because the
• 13:27
  only reaction I can imagine to this
• 13:29
  trailer is somebody going, "Whoa, that
• 13:31
  looked awesome." Like that's the only
• 13:33
  reaction. What are you supposed to grab
• 13:35
  on to there?
• 13:36
  >> What? What? Yeah. What are we to learn
• 13:37
  from this? Sorry. Go on.
• 13:39
  >> There there No, no, no, not at all.
• 13:40
  There is a There is an imperative in
• 13:42
  games to like there has to be something
• 13:46
  mechanically interesting at play here.
• 13:49
  There has to be something that makes me
• 13:51
  go, "Oh, when I play this, I'm gonna get
• 13:54
  something out of it that I'm not getting
• 13:56
  by watching it." And man, I just do not
• 13:59
  get that sense watching this. I feel
• 14:00
  like I'm getting everything by seeing it
• 14:02
  happen. It feels like it's a very narrow
• 14:04
  cone of vision about what is possible.
• 14:06
  And so much of it is just like,
• 14:10
  listen, you could have great games where
• 14:11
  you're just pressing square, but it's
• 14:13
  it's there's something unimaginative
• 14:15
  here. There's something where like I I
• 14:17
  almost feel like they could have in
• 14:20
  making a game that I think is concerned
• 14:23
  with its mass appeal that has stopped
• 14:25
  them from taking a big swing with like
• 14:28
  Wolverine's gameplay. I saw a suggestion
• 14:30
  somebody put online the other day that
• 14:31
  like they wished that this game was
• 14:33
  turnbased.
• 14:34
  >> Sure.
• 14:35
  >> And it just made it just made me like
• 14:38
  like you and I know why the game's not
• 14:40
  turn.
• 14:40
  >> So here's something. Okay, this is it's
• 14:42
  funny you bring this up. Uh, I was
• 14:43
  talking, this was, I don't know, a year
• 14:44
  ago, two years ago. I was talking with a
• 14:45
  friend of mine about how I think a John
• 14:49
  Wick game would be pretty cool,
• 14:51
  >> but I was like, but I don't think that
• 14:53
  what I want out of a John Wick game is
• 14:55
  what everyone else would want out of a
• 14:57
  John Wick game. Because I think when I
• 14:59
  say let's I would love a John Wick game,
• 15:01
  people are like, okay, cool. So, like a
• 15:03
  third person shooter and like
• 15:04
  hand-to-hand combat kind of thing. And
• 15:06
  I'm like, no. Cuz that's not what makes
• 15:07
  John Wick cool. John Wick is like
• 15:10
  uh highly skilled in a way that I am
• 15:12
  not. And so by he's like thinking all
• 15:15
  these steps ahead and so it would be
• 15:17
  cool to have like a tactics game that's
• 15:19
  John Wick. And then my friend was like,
• 15:21
  "Oh, John Wick Hex." And I was like, "Is
• 15:23
  that a game?" He's like, "Yes, they made
• 15:24
  that." And it's like this game that is
• 15:27
  not particularly popular that I think
• 15:30
  most people who want a John Wick game
• 15:32
  would not play because it is not doing
• 15:34
  the most obvious mass appeal thing for
• 15:37
  how you would think that you might
• 15:39
  engage with this character because he's
• 15:40
  a guy who shoots guns and punches
• 15:42
  people. That's what those movies are.
• 15:43
  But at the end of the day, that's not
• 15:45
  what makes him interesting is the fact
• 15:47
  is the simple fact that he shoots guns
• 15:48
  and punches people. And then now Savior
• 15:51
  Interactive, I believe, showed off at
• 15:53
  one of these showcases at some point
• 15:54
  over the last year that they are working
• 15:56
  on a John Wick game that if I had to
• 15:58
  guess is going to be an
• 15:59
  over-the-shoulder third person shoot
• 16:00
  them up, punch them up type game because
• 16:03
  that's the thing that is like what most
• 16:06
  people want out of this sort of thing,
• 16:07
  even though I think it kind of betrays
• 16:09
  what this actually is. Is that is that
• 16:11
  feels like it's in line with what you're
• 16:12
  talking about with this, right?
• 16:14
  >> Yeah, it is. But I but I almost think
• 16:16
  like it just there's this question of
• 16:18
  like
• 16:20
  take anything about Wolverine and just
• 16:22
  try your hardest to
• 16:27
  stretch the creative muscles a little
• 16:28
  bit because there's a there's a game
• 16:30
  being played here that you could like it
• 16:33
  would not take a lot of futsing for me
• 16:36
  to kind of like turn this Wolverine game
• 16:38
  into a God of War game or a Daredevil
• 16:41
  game or a other superhero game. Like it
• 16:43
  wouldn't take that much futsing. like
• 16:44
  like it's all there. So, I'm just like
• 16:46
  wondering, was there really no way that
• 16:48
  you could say like, "Okay, Wolverine has
• 16:51
  like senses." That's a big thing with
• 16:53
  Wolverine in the comics. He's always
• 16:55
  smelling stuff, getting a scent. Now, is
• 16:58
  there a version of getting a scent that
• 17:00
  goes beyond you press the detective
• 17:01
  vision, see the follow? Is there is
• 17:05
  there anything else we could do with
• 17:06
  that? Could could Wolverine maybe like
• 17:09
  tell which one of these guys standing
• 17:11
  guard is like getting nervous by their
• 17:13
  sweat and things like that and then
• 17:15
  maybe there's
• 17:16
  >> you know what I mean? There's a there's
• 17:17
  a deployment of that gameplay system
• 17:18
  there. Is there something? So, one of
• 17:20
  the things I liked in this trailer was
• 17:22
  that there's a part where he gets
• 17:23
  [ __ ] slammed by a shotgun and he has
• 17:25
  to like heal, but it looks like
• 17:28
  >> it's just there's like nothing like it's
• 17:30
  just a response. It's like a you got
• 17:32
  hurt so you have to heal. And I and I
• 17:34
  and I was thinking to myself, I was
• 17:35
  like, "Okay, so what is like a creative
• 17:37
  deployment of a regeneration as a
• 17:39
  concept?" And I almost feel like you
• 17:41
  could create a version of combat that is
• 17:44
  built around getting hurt. Yes.
• 17:47
  >> And the idea of you are intentionally
• 17:50
  sacrificing some of your own health or
• 17:54
  like body parts or whatever because
• 17:56
  that's what the situation requires. I
• 17:59
  think I remember uh remember at the
• 18:01
  beginning of Logan where he's fighting
• 18:03
  those guys and they're trying to rob him
• 18:06
  and they point their gun at his limo and
• 18:08
  he's like not the [ __ ] car and he
• 18:10
  like jumps in front of it and he takes
• 18:11
  the shot for the limo.
• 18:13
  >> Like that's kind of something, right?
• 18:14
  Like that's an interesting sort of
• 18:17
  dynamic there where what if you are
• 18:18
  using your health as a resource?
• 18:20
  >> Okay.
• 18:21
  >> Yeah. How many how many games do you
• 18:23
  find that there's like a Okay, there's a
• 18:26
  floor and it's all electric and you have
• 18:28
  to figure out how to get across it,
• 18:29
  right? And it's like, okay, some games
• 18:31
  in like a Batman game, maybe you have to
• 18:33
  sneak around and then you find the
• 18:34
  control panel and you turn it off. And
• 18:36
  then maybe in a Spider-Man game, you
• 18:38
  figure out, okay, I'm going to go
• 18:39
  through this. I'm going to put this web
• 18:40
  this way, whatever. Um, how funny would
• 18:42
  it be if if this gameplay demo it
• 18:45
  started up with like, hey, here's like a
• 18:48
  little puzzle and the answer was that
• 18:50
  you just needed to go through it and
• 18:52
  then and like sacrifice your health.
• 18:54
  >> It'd be great. It'd be interesting.
• 18:55
  >> How was the answer? Like there's all
• 18:57
  this stuff and none of it works. You go
• 18:59
  through everything and he goes, "Well,
• 19:00
  shit." And then he gets to the end and
• 19:02
  it's like, "Okay, I I had to let myself
• 19:04
  get shredded by that thing." And then
• 19:06
  maybe you get shredded by it and there's
• 19:07
  a bunch of enemies on the other side.
• 19:08
  So, it creates this tension where it's
• 19:10
  like, "Oh my god, now I have this
• 19:11
  challenge where I'm trying to heal, but
• 19:13
  these enemies are attacking me." And
• 19:14
  it's like, "Oh, okay. This is a
• 19:15
  Wolverine game now. This is a Wolverine
• 19:17
  game." And here's the thing. I just have
• 19:19
  not
• 19:19
  >> It's possible the game isn't out. It's
• 19:21
  possible they do that. However,
• 19:23
  >> right,
• 19:24
  >> don't you think we would have seen a
• 19:25
  shred of something like that by now
• 19:28
  based on how much of this game we've
• 19:29
  seen?
• 19:31
  I think you would. But
• 19:33
  >> yeah, I think so, too. I think this game
• 19:35
  has showed us what it's interested in
• 19:36
  and it's and it's the the kind of like I
• 19:39
  don't know it's just not that not that
• 19:40
  dissimilar from like an Uncharted game.
• 19:42
  Like you're just you're just doing that.
• 19:43
  >> Yeah.
• 19:44
  >> Yeah. So, okay. Um
• 19:48
  I don't know. I also thought that there
• 19:50
  was maybe a chance
• 19:55
  I I think something that maybe is
• 19:57
  undervalued especially now since we have
• 19:59
  Gan Gray here
• 20:00
  >> about Wolverine is that like
• 20:03
  >> I don't know I think Wolverine is
• 20:05
  actually like an uninteresting character
• 20:07
  mechanically like whenever there's um
• 20:09
  fighting games that feature Marvel
• 20:10
  characters I'm never really interested
• 20:11
  in playing Wolverine because I know what
• 20:13
  all those boots are and I'm just like
• 20:14
  I'm like yeah you're doing
• 20:15
  >> Yep. And then and then you're doing yes,
• 20:18
  you know what I mean? And it's like,
• 20:19
  yeah, I've seen these. I get it. That's
• 20:21
  not that's not really like my superhero
• 20:22
  fantasy. But um Wolverine's part of a
• 20:25
  team and they said in this game it's
• 20:27
  like, oh, other X-Men are going to help
• 20:29
  you or whatever. And I almost think that
• 20:31
  there there's a missed opportunity here
• 20:33
  for a kind of Did you play that
• 20:34
  Guardians of the Galaxy game?
• 20:36
  >> Okay. So, you play as Peter Quill in
• 20:37
  that, but because he's part of a team,
• 20:39
  like half of your powers are just
• 20:40
  telling the other team members what to
• 20:42
  do. Yeah. And it's like, man, that could
• 20:44
  have been something. That could have
• 20:45
  been something. Yeah. So,
• 20:46
  >> it just it feels so obvious is the
• 20:48
  problem. And and when like I look at
• 20:51
  this and I'm kind of unenthused, it's
• 20:52
  because it's just like when you say
• 20:54
  imagine a Wolverine game, I'm like,
• 20:56
  "Okay, I'm imagining what I think
• 20:59
  they're going to do with it." And
• 21:00
  they're like, "We made exactly that."
• 21:01
  And you're like, "Oh, you It's
• 21:04
  >> um I would have said my Wolfing game. I
• 21:07
  would have dropped uh Hades and I would
• 21:09
  have said there."
• 21:10
  >> What? Oh, sure. Yeah.
• 21:12
  >> He's a great character for Rogike,
• 21:14
  right? getting his memory reset all the
• 21:15
  way all the time like yeah can't die new
• 21:17
  moves power up get little you know
• 21:19
  whatever yeah I think that would have
• 21:20
  been
• 21:20
  >> I agree I agree so it's a bummer
• 21:22
  >> I also think that that that point of
• 21:23
  view for Wolverine actually there's
• 21:25
  something there too with the kind of the
• 21:27
  kind of jump in between you know yeah
• 21:29
  >> I also think that uh one of the selling
• 21:31
  points it feels like for this game is
• 21:33
  they're like I mean he said he's like
• 21:34
  it's the combat's visceral right and I
• 21:38
  think that
• 21:40
  after the first trailer we saw for this
• 21:42
  game I think that the shock of what the
• 21:45
  game like how visceral how graphic this
• 21:49
  combat is going to be is over. I think
• 21:50
  it's over.
• 21:51
  >> How'd that How'd that blood hit you?
• 21:52
  How'd that blood hit?
• 21:53
  >> No. It's It's irrelevant.
• 21:54
  >> Agreed. Agreed. Irrelevant. It's It's
• 21:56
  like It's like candy. It's like a Mortal
• 21:58
  Kombat game. It's almost
• 21:59
  >> No, that's the thing. And And the first
• 22:01
  trailer that we saw where he puts the
• 22:04
  the claws up through the guy's like
• 22:05
  under the chin and coming out his face.
• 22:08
  All right, that's it. We're not going to
• 22:10
  see anything more than that. And I'm
• 22:11
  sure we will, right? I'm sure they do
• 22:13
  other stuff with it, but after you see
• 22:15
  that, you're like, "Okay, cool. Got it.
• 22:17
  All of this is irrelevant now." It
• 22:19
  reminds me of I think I've told this
• 22:20
  story on the pod before. Uh I got to do
• 22:23
  a hands-off preview of Assassin's Creed
• 22:25
  Shadows and I'm in this room with like I
• 22:26
  don't know like 50 people or so and they
• 22:28
  do this big finisher with this that big
• 22:30
  like hammer weapon and everyone goes
• 22:32
  LIKE, "OH." The first time that uh
• 22:35
  Yasuke, I think his name was does it.
• 22:37
  And then he does it four more times in
• 22:39
  the combat encounter and it's dead
• 22:41
  silent
• 22:42
  >> in the room. And so like that's the same
• 22:43
  thing where it's just you'll see the
• 22:45
  first time you go like [ __ ] and then
• 22:46
  that's it.
• 22:48
  >> So here's my question.
• 22:50
  >> Is it us? Because where I think
• 22:52
  ultimately what this discussion
• 22:54
  illuminated for me is that Wolverine's
• 22:57
  um you know so many characters in action
• 23:00
  games can punch and slash and lunge and
• 23:03
  counterattack but like I think for me
• 23:05
  Wolverine's distinctive traits um
• 23:08
  immortality his his because he's so so
• 23:12
  old like the memory the healing the
• 23:14
  survival um not for me it's like those
• 23:18
  are the traits that I need to see hit on
• 23:20
  in this And I think that and I and I
• 23:22
  guess like when I'm asking this
• 23:23
  question, is it us? Is there something
• 23:26
  to the fact that like no, Jake, that
• 23:30
  Wolverine that you see in Marvel versus
• 23:31
  Capcom where he's doing this and like
• 23:35
  like lunging between the enemies and
• 23:36
  doing that is it is should I simply be
• 23:39
  satisfied that that Wolverine is being
• 23:41
  translated into the image of Marvel
• 23:44
  Spider-Man into all like is that like is
• 23:46
  is it me? Is is are my expectations? I
• 23:48
  think that's the thing is he's saying
• 23:49
  like to be simply satisfied and I don't
• 23:52
  think so. I don't think it is wrong to
• 23:55
  ask for a little bit more from art. I
• 23:58
  think I think watching as a company does
• 24:01
  the most expected easy thing to
• 24:04
  communicate these stories. I don't think
• 24:08
  it's wrong for us to ask for more
• 24:10
  because they've done that. We've seen
• 24:11
  this and it's not exciting. It's not
• 24:13
  new. It is the exact same thing.
• 24:17
  I'm beginning to think that maybe people
• 24:19
  in people who cover games and people who
• 24:22
  talk about games critically should think
• 24:24
  more of video game developers. I think
• 24:27
  that we are maybe too satisfied to see
• 24:30
  the thing that we imagine in our heads
• 24:32
  well rendered.
• 24:33
  >> Yeah.
• 24:34
  >> Cuz it's you know like like
• 24:36
  >> I think that there is probably some
• 24:39
  incredible talent working at these
• 24:41
  studios that have better ideas than
• 24:43
  this. And I know that for a fact. Um,
• 24:46
  Lucas Pope, developer of Papers Please,
• 24:49
  uh, Return of the Oberen, whatever that
• 24:51
  one thing he did on the Play Date was,
• 24:53
  uh, worked at Naughty Dog. He worked on
• 24:55
  Uncharted 1 and two, I think maybe also
• 24:56
  three.
• 24:57
  >> Whoa.
• 24:57
  >> And then he he quit and became a solo
• 24:59
  dev. And I'm not saying that those
• 25:01
  Uncharted games are are bad, but I am
• 25:03
  saying that he created something that I
• 25:04
  think is significantly more interesting
• 25:06
  in a game about bureaucratic like like
• 25:10
  paperwork. That's interesting. And that
• 25:12
  comes out of these studios. And I think
• 25:14
  that it is a shame that we expect all of
• 25:16
  these incredibly talented artists,
• 25:19
  designers, whatever you want to call
• 25:21
  them, developers,
• 25:24
  and all we expect from them is well,
• 25:26
  it's a third person action game where
• 25:27
  Wolverine lunges at people with his
• 25:29
  claws.
• 25:31
  Some of these games, too, I think had
• 25:34
  this at one point.
• 25:36
  the way that the way that Returnal
• 25:38
  reimagines the kind of bullet hell game,
• 25:42
  >> the way that I would say even God of War
• 25:44
  2018 and how that reimagined kind of the
• 25:47
  classic God of War combat. Um I think
• 25:49
  sometimes in in in remembering that
• 25:52
  game, we undervalue how sick that axe
• 25:56
  was.
• 25:57
  >> Oh god,
• 25:58
  >> we got so used to it. Yes. I remember
• 25:59
  when it came out that everyone was like,
• 26:02
  >> you can throw that and it is gone. And
• 26:05
  you can move and run forever and then
• 26:08
  when you call it back it will come to
• 26:09
  you.
• 26:10
  >> Yeah.
• 26:10
  >> And that animation where it does it
• 26:12
  towards the camera it's like it's like
• 26:14
  oh it's so nice. It's so nice.
• 26:16
  >> And there was a time that like we were
• 26:18
  doing this we were saying what does this
• 26:19
  allow us to do for the video game and
• 26:22
  it's and and we're just getting further
• 26:24
  and further away from it. So um can we
• 26:26
  can we talk about the next game?
• 26:27
  >> Yeah please. Are we doing the entire
• 26:28
  showcase or just the hits?
• 26:30
  >> We're gonna these will be quick. Um, so
• 26:32
  the next game was um was uh Marvel Toon
• 26:35
  Fighting Souls. Uh, does it hit you in
• 26:38
  any sort of way that we go from a Marvel
• 26:39
  game to a Marvel game? Is that
• 26:40
  irrelevant?
• 26:41
  >> I mean, of course it does in the sense
• 26:43
  that like uh video games, it used to be
• 26:46
  that like these sort of like licensed IP
• 26:49
  games used to not be very good or not
• 26:51
  all of them. Obviously like Marvel vs.
• 26:53
  Capcom has been like a is a storyried
• 26:55
  series and whatever, but like the fact
• 26:57
  that so much stuff is like third party
• 27:00
  IP, whatever. I don't know. I'm not a
• 27:03
  This is I'm not gonna play this game.
• 27:04
  I'm not a fighting guy, fighting game
• 27:06
  guy, so whatever. But yeah, there is
• 27:08
  something about Okay, cool. More Marvel
• 27:11
  stuff is here. And Insomniac, when
• 27:13
  they're done with Wolverine, they're
• 27:15
  working on X-Men. They're working on
• 27:16
  Marvel stuff forever. So, I guess this
• 27:18
  is just a main stay of these sorts of
• 27:19
  showcases at this point. But yeah.
• 27:22
  >> Yeah, I like this trailer. I'm excited
• 27:24
  for Marvel Toon. Um my favorite part is
• 27:26
  about halfway into the trailer. Um again
• 27:28
  that that midpoint uh they're showing
• 27:30
  the green goblin is in this game. Goblin
• 27:34
  deznuts as they say. And uh there's it's
• 27:38
  a blink and you miss it moment, but I
• 27:40
  like it quite a lot where the Green
• 27:42
  Goblin, he has this kind of like uh
• 27:44
  goofy fighting stance where he's really
• 27:46
  low to the ground. He like kind of like
• 27:47
  looks weird. He's like really hunched
• 27:48
  over and um Spider-Man does like his
• 27:52
  normal jab and it just doesn't hit the
• 27:54
  Green Goblin. I will say in this trailer
• 27:56
  I was like, "All right, we got to be
• 27:58
  easier on my boy Spider-Man." Every
• 27:59
  single every single villain was
• 28:01
  attacking him all.
• 28:02
  >> Whoa. No. Yeah, you go on.
• 28:04
  >> Um, yeah, there was some there was some
• 28:06
  like fighting game stuff in here that I
• 28:08
  that I thought was cool. I I wonder
• 28:10
  sometimes how this hits other people.
• 28:11
  That's kind of why I led with that
• 28:12
  question because it's like I I am going
• 28:14
  to love this game.
• 28:16
  >> Yeah. So, you know, I I for me what this
• 28:19
  what this game did was that it gave the
• 28:21
  showcase a little bit of a pop of color
• 28:23
  which I was desperate for.
• 28:24
  >> I agree. I completely agree.
• 28:25
  >> Yep. Um, Rayman Legends Retold was the
• 28:29
  next game. So, this was, I would say,
• 28:31
  maybe the only like light game of the
• 28:34
  showcase. It was something that was like
• 28:36
  fun and friendly and not so like
• 28:37
  >> not so heavy. Yeah.
• 28:39
  >> Not so heavy. Yeah. Um, I think this
• 28:41
  looks awesome. I I'm Yeah, I don't know.
• 28:44
  I've played these games before.
• 28:45
  >> It's a remake.
• 28:46
  >> It's a Yeah. So, it's a remake, which
• 28:48
  which I think hurts it. I thought there
• 28:49
  was some interesting uh reporting done
• 28:52
  by Gio Col Antonio at Polygon cuz he
• 28:54
  asked about hey like why do a remake and
• 28:57
  why not just make a new one of these
• 28:58
  games it's been so long that you might
• 29:00
  as well just do a new one right and the
• 29:02
  answer was we are training people to
• 29:03
  make new ones we're training new staff
• 29:06
  by using this as the template like all
• 29:07
  right sure which is the answer I feel
• 29:09
  like we've heard a lot about the
• 29:10
  question of like why remake but I think
• 29:12
  specifically here just made sense
• 29:15
  >> I saw I saw this game and its art style
• 29:17
  tell me if I'm crazy as a Rayman Legends
• 29:21
  game in the style of a Hazelike game
• 29:25
  like a like an It takes two almost.
• 29:27
  There are a lot of uh just kind of the
• 29:29
  graphics but also like the 3D sections
• 29:31
  where I was like with the multiplayer I
• 29:33
  was like oh I think that's where they're
• 29:34
  maybe pulling on it's like this
• 29:36
  >> realistic to a point but still kind of
• 29:40
  cartoony and yeah
• 29:41
  >> rounded. Yeah, I don't know.
• 29:43
  >> I like I like the Hazite style of of
• 29:45
  like animation, whatever. So yeah, I
• 29:47
  think that fits here as well.
• 29:48
  >> And for what it's worth, I I think that
• 29:50
  these games are like Alzheimer's. So I'm
• 29:51
  like happy that they're there. But but
• 29:53
  yeah, there is something about it being
• 29:55
  a remake that is
• 29:57
  >> Well, it hits on that thing that we're
• 29:58
  talking about with Wolverine, right?
• 30:00
  >> It doesn't push the It doesn't push the
• 30:02
  conversation forward, but it doesn't
• 30:03
  push it back,
• 30:03
  >> right? It's it's just it's more. All
• 30:05
  right, cool.
• 30:06
  >> It's more Yeah. Great. I'll be there. Um
• 30:08
  I'll be there on Switch T though.
• 30:10
  >> I know. I know you. six 60 frames per
• 30:12
  second 4K with um uh what's the thing
• 30:15
  that people like? Ray tracing on Switch
• 30:17
  2.
• 30:17
  >> There you go.
• 30:18
  >> I know. I saw saw that in an interview
• 30:19
  this morning. I was like that seems like
• 30:21
  something
• 30:21
  >> is ray tracing just where they draw
• 30:23
  Rayman a bunch of times.
• 30:25
  >> That's right. That's good. That's what
• 30:27
  he should say that they meant when it
• 30:29
  turns out. Uh
• 30:31
  >> the next game was Bancho the Chef, which
• 30:33
  is a Dave the Diver.
• 30:34
  >> I thought that's what it was like
• 30:35
  spin-off or prequel or whatever.
• 30:37
  >> Looks like a prequel. Yeah. Um, yeah.
• 30:40
  Again, kind of connected to this to this
• 30:41
  other thing. I I don't know. I I thought
• 30:43
  it looked okay.
• 30:44
  >> Sure. Didn't play that original one. I'm
• 30:47
  sure I would like it, but you know.
• 30:49
  >> Okay. Um, Kimorei, Hunt the Unseen.
• 30:52
  >> Now, here's game.
• 30:53
  >> This is the thing that everyone's going
• 30:54
  to be like, you guys say all these games
• 30:57
  are the damn same, and here's a fashion
• 31:01
  platformer open world multiplayer action
• 31:04
  game like f driven driven by fashion.
• 31:06
  Like, yeah, this is cool. And
• 31:08
  >> to me, this was uh this was like a
• 31:11
  Monster Hunter type game.
• 31:12
  >> Yeah, but it's fascinating because it's
• 31:13
  new. I don't know. There's like new
• 31:14
  ideas here.
• 31:16
  >> Oh, yeah, definitely. Because it's a
• 31:17
  it's a Monster Hunter game in the way of
• 31:19
  like a almost open world action game
• 31:22
  because it's it's got the urban
• 31:24
  environment, which is really fun, but
• 31:26
  also like really um meaningfully
• 31:28
  considering traversal and like different
• 31:32
  powers more than it is kind of that
• 31:33
  Monster Hunter very heavy almost
• 31:35
  soulslike commitment to the animations.
• 31:37
  It's like a more stylish action take on
• 31:40
  uh on a Monster Hunter game. And the
• 31:42
  Dude, I'm a little like I I think I'm
• 31:45
  I'm looking for somebody to take up the
• 31:48
  Monster Hunter mantle if I'm being
• 31:49
  honest.
• 31:50
  >> Is that so?
• 31:51
  >> Yeah. I'm I'm over it. They're they're
• 31:54
  the last one. They dropped the ball.
• 31:56
  Rare Capcom L. Rare Modern Capcom L. We
• 31:59
  love Glazing Capcom here, but Rare L was
• 32:02
  that was that Monster Hunter Wilds game.
• 32:04
  They were trying to do too much and none
• 32:05
  of it was that fun. And uh I think part
• 32:07
  of it for me is that I'm over these
• 32:09
  hyperrealistic dinosaurs and and
• 32:11
  creatures. I think they've lost me.
• 32:12
  >> Yeah.
• 32:13
  >> Change it up. Make something that is not
• 32:15
  that like and that's what I think this
• 32:16
  is because it's it's this kind of weird
• 32:19
  um what do they call him? Yo-kai. Was
• 32:21
  that the name of the spirits? Whatever.
• 32:24
  That's cool. It's a new take. I think
• 32:25
  that's fresh. It's cool.
• 32:27
  >> Yeah. I mean, listen, you've got people
• 32:28
  flying. You've got people running up
• 32:30
  buildings. You've got a guy who's like a
• 32:31
  frog and he's using his tongue to swing
• 32:33
  around.
• 32:33
  >> I knew you'd like that frog.
• 32:35
  You know, I'm gonna be that frog. Be
• 32:36
  >> that frog. I knew you'd like that frog.
• 32:37
  >> That frog guy. I got dibs on that frog.
• 32:39
  He literally texted us, you know,
• 32:40
  calling dibs on it.
• 32:41
  >> Dibs on the frog. Dibs the frog. Yeah.
• 32:43
  Yeah, I gotta be the frog. Um, but yeah.
• 32:45
  No, this was great. And I think that
• 32:47
  this was the um this was of course
• 32:49
  directed by the protege of
• 32:50
  >> Shin. I'm forgetting her name. Um, but
• 32:52
  she's the girl who goes spooky, right?
• 32:55
  That girl, lady woman.
• 32:56
  >> Yeah, that's right.
• 32:56
  >> Yeah. So, um, yeah, really excited for
• 32:59
  this one. I think it's going to be fun.
• 33:00
  I also like this new trend of the
• 33:01
  multiplayer games being three player
• 33:04
  games. Me, too. Because I think, you
• 33:05
  know what it is? I think
• 33:06
  >> that's the right
• 33:07
  >> I think that everyone's like, "All
• 33:08
  right, we got to give Peter, Jake, and
• 33:10
  Christian something to do." All right,
• 33:13
  they gave us Highguard and then it
• 33:15
  disappeared. So then it's like, "Well,
• 33:16
  what else can we give him?" How about
• 33:17
  this fashion game? Like, sure.
• 33:20
  >> Can I So, you keep saying the fashion
• 33:22
  game, and for people that might have
• 33:23
  missed, I read in the PR later that So,
• 33:25
  you know how in Monster Hunter you
• 33:27
  defeat an enemy and then you use their
• 33:29
  parts
• 33:30
  >> to build new stuff? Yeah.
• 33:32
  >> Yeah. And like when you use a when you
• 33:34
  get like a new sword or whatever, you
• 33:35
  still have the same move set. It's just
• 33:36
  kind of the attributes.
• 33:38
  >> So in this game, it's uh what they say
• 33:40
  is that you form contracts with the
• 33:44
  Yo-kai that you be that you defeat and
• 33:46
  then you wear their powers as possession
• 33:50
  apparel.
• 33:50
  >> It's so It's so cool.
• 33:51
  >> And it changes Yeah. So it changes your
• 33:53
  appearance, uh your movement, and your
• 33:56
  um combat abilities. And that is such
• 34:00
  great cuz you know I love when a game
• 34:02
  just says this is a great way to do
• 34:06
  future updates.
• 34:07
  >> Yeah.
• 34:08
  >> You know it's like Yeah. It's like oh
• 34:09
  not only do you get a new thing to
• 34:10
  fight, you get a new way to play. That's
• 34:12
  awesome.
• 34:12
  >> And it's it's like very easy to imagine
• 34:14
  what new content will be by just adding
• 34:16
  new layers to this.
• 34:18
  >> 2027
• 34:19
  >> 27 I'll be there.
• 34:21
  >> Okay, great. Um our next game was Tomb
• 34:24
  Raider Legacy of Atlantis.
• 34:27
  I mean, it's, you know, we're talking
• 34:28
  Uncharted. Obviously, Tomb Raider did
• 34:31
  Uncharted before Uncharted, but now I
• 34:33
  think what is interesting is those
• 34:36
  recent Tomb Raider games, the trilogy,
• 34:39
  felt like Tomb Raider through the lens
• 34:41
  of Uncharted, which is silly because
• 34:43
  Uncharted was already like like Indiana
• 34:45
  Jones through the lens of
• 34:47
  >> wait
• 34:48
  >> Tomb Raider.
• 34:49
  >> I'm sorry. Not to take away from Tomb
• 34:51
  Raider's part in this conversation, but
• 34:54
  briefly returning to our question of is
• 34:56
  it us?
• 34:57
  >> I didn't really see people popping for
• 34:59
  Kamuri.
• 35:00
  >> No one's popping for Kamuri.
• 35:02
  >> What's going on, Peter?
• 35:03
  >> Us is the problem.
• 35:04
  >> It's us.
• 35:07
  >> Do people not think that Kamura? Is it
• 35:08
  because it's like Is it because it's a
• 35:10
  multiplayer game and people want single
• 35:12
  player games?
• 35:13
  >> Yeah, because you're not shooting guns
• 35:14
  at stuff and because it's not
• 35:16
  >> No, that can't be multiplayer.
• 35:17
  >> It is. It is. Do you ever see that thing
• 35:18
  that's like um it's like people when the
• 35:21
  game when the game trailer doesn't have
• 35:22
  balls or guns in it it's like if it's
• 35:25
  not FIFA or Call of Duty and it's just
• 35:27
  like yes that's why Jake
• 35:31
  >> that's why because you can make the
• 35:33
  sickest game ever and people don't care
• 35:35
  unless it's something they know.
• 35:37
  >> All right. Thank you. Um chat comments
• 35:39
  of course let me know. Is it us? Uh
• 35:41
  okay. Back to the Tomb Raider game. I'm
• 35:42
  I'm going to I'm going to address the
• 35:43
  elephant in the room. I'm sorry I have
• 35:44
  to be the one to do this. I I was hoping
• 35:46
  it would be you. I see now that I must
• 35:48
  pick up this.
• 35:49
  >> Please pick it up.
• 35:53
  >> Is this Lara Croft design not a little
• 35:54
  regressive?
• 35:55
  >> Is it not regressive? Everyone,
• 35:57
  >> is it Can we be serious or can I Do you
• 36:00
  Do you Do you happen to have the trailer
• 36:02
  pulled up?
• 36:02
  >> I do not. I can though.
• 36:04
  >> Okay. I'm going to
• 36:07
  >> I would like you to go to 24 seconds
• 36:08
  into this Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis
• 36:10
  release day trailer. I will put I'm
• 36:12
  going to go through this podcast and
• 36:13
  this is going to be a rare critical
• 36:15
  error podcast that has significant video
• 36:18
  footage.
• 36:19
  >> Okay. So, what you said 24 seconds.
• 36:21
  >> 24 seconds and I'm going to show you all
• 36:23
  a shot of Laura sitting on like a couch
• 36:26
  leaning a certain way with her with her
• 36:28
  like elbow on the And there's just
• 36:30
  something going on here, man.
• 36:32
  >> Yeah.
• 36:33
  >> There's just
• 36:34
  >> Okay. Do you see what I'm saying?
• 36:35
  >> No, I think I don't think it's wrong to
• 36:37
  to say, "Hey, this is a little
• 36:38
  regressive." I mean, we talked about
• 36:39
  this in our bonus pod on
• 36:40
  patreon.com/critical error. Of course,
• 36:42
  if you're interested in hearing that,
• 36:43
  where we uh shouted at each other for
• 36:45
  about an hour, not an hour, but maybe 45
• 36:47
  minutes about James Bond uh what the
• 36:50
  [ __ ] is that game called? 007 First
• 36:51
  Light. Uh and one of the things that we
• 36:54
  we're talking about is like, hey,
• 36:55
  there's a character in this game,
• 36:58
  this woman exists exclusively to wear a
• 37:00
  bikini, have sex with James Bond, and
• 37:02
  then get captured and saved by James
• 37:03
  Bond, never to be seen or heard of,
• 37:06
  spoken about ever again. And she's in it
• 37:08
  for like maybe 6 minutes total and
• 37:09
  that's her entire role. And it's this
• 37:11
  thing where like how are we still doing
• 37:14
  this sort of thing? Is this is this not
• 37:16
  like so regressive and weird?
• 37:19
  >> There's just a tinge of like the
• 37:22
  yasified face.
• 37:23
  >> Oh yeah. Yes.
• 37:24
  >> There is just a tinge of that. I
• 37:26
  actually think that the rest of it is
• 37:28
  okay, but it's some of the
• 37:31
  heavy makeup lighting. I don't know. I
• 37:35
  don't know. There's something about this
• 37:36
  that feels odd to me.
• 37:38
  >> No, I 100% agree. I I think that there
• 37:40
  is something I have felt this way about
• 37:42
  these Tomb Raider trailers that there is
• 37:44
  something a little like regressive about
• 37:45
  them. And I mean I guess of course these
• 37:49
  are just trailers so we don't know what
• 37:51
  the full game is of course but like my
• 37:55
  immediate reaction to these is like
• 37:58
  because here's my here's my thing. Lara
• 38:00
  Croft. I think Laura Coft
• 38:04
  can be and maybe should be
• 38:08
  hot as hell.
• 38:09
  >> Sure.
• 38:10
  >> Hot.
• 38:11
  >> Sure.
• 38:12
  >> Okay. In the same way that like when I
• 38:13
  play a James Bond game, my expectation
• 38:16
  is is that people should be throwing the
• 38:19
  men, women, everyone should just be
• 38:20
  throwing themselves at James Bond.
• 38:23
  >> I think James Bond 007 First Light if I
• 38:26
  may could be maybe like a little hotter.
• 38:29
  Just like a little
• 38:30
  >> Okay. I I think he's a little too uh
• 38:32
  Pixar round soft, a little soft, a
• 38:34
  little sweet. I think I would have liked
• 38:36
  on the on the sliders 12% more Robert
• 38:39
  Patson.
• 38:40
  >> Oh, yes. Yes. No. 100%.
• 38:42
  >> That's it. That's okay. So, but but my
• 38:45
  thing here is that I feel like that Tomb
• 38:47
  Raider trilogy of games, that reboot
• 38:49
  from wherever, whatever.
• 38:51
  >> Um
• 38:52
  >> she was hot.
• 38:53
  >> Yeah,
• 38:54
  >> she was. But it but it wasn't but it but
• 38:57
  it was it was like there's a hot person
• 38:59
  here and then like when they're doing
• 39:01
  gross and grimy stuff they get a little
• 39:03
  gross and grimy. This to me looks like a
• 39:05
  Laura Croft action figure that is always
• 39:08
  clean and perfect and made up.
• 39:12
  >> Do you know I do I do know what you
• 39:14
  mean. There is there's a difference and
• 39:16
  again we haven't played the full game so
• 39:17
  we don't know but there is a different
• 39:19
  there's a way to portray that in a in a
• 39:21
  way that is uh
• 39:25
  there's a way to do it well and there's
• 39:26
  a way to do it maybe not as well and I
• 39:28
  feel like this is leaning into the way
• 39:30
  where it is just a little regressive and
• 39:31
  making my eyebrow raise a little bit
• 39:33
  where you're like uh is this
• 39:35
  >> I think if you write whenever you
• 39:37
  whenever you're I I got this great tip
• 39:39
  in grad school if you're ever writing
• 39:40
  about someone you also need to be
• 39:42
  writing for them so if I write a book
• 39:45
  about Norwegian fishermen, but I use a
• 39:48
  style of pros. Really? Whatever that the
• 39:51
  Norwegian fishermen are like, Jake, I
• 39:53
  don't know what the hell you're saying.
• 39:55
  >> Then now I'm maybe exploiting them for
• 39:58
  the sake of my
• 39:59
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 40:00
  >> So, if I'm going to write about this
• 40:02
  empowered female action hero, I kind of
• 40:05
  want to get
• 40:06
  >> You need to reach the women in the
• 40:07
  audience. Yes. 100%. 100% agree. Yes. I
• 40:10
  agree.
• 40:11
  >> That's it. That's it. I completely
• 40:12
  agree.
• 40:12
  >> All right. Um, next game on the list,
• 40:16
  >> the Lost Wild: True Fear is Primal. I
• 40:18
  don't remember this one.
• 40:19
  >> This was the dinosaur one. I like Here's
• 40:21
  the thing. I think we should have more
• 40:22
  dinosaur video games.
• 40:24
  >> Um, dinosaurs are in the Tomb Raider.
• 40:26
  >> That is That is very true. Yes. Um,
• 40:29
  >> there wasn't much to this. I have
• 40:30
  nothing to say about it.
• 40:32
  >> Yeah, me neither. Didn't really um
• 40:34
  >> maybe go
• 40:36
  could kind of be confused with two other
• 40:38
  games in my mind that all swell
• 40:39
  together. I'm going to say
• 40:41
  >> uh next was Phantom Blade Zero, which is
• 40:43
  save GTA. Probably going to be one of
• 40:44
  the biggest games of the year.
• 40:45
  >> I mean, it's funny because this is
• 40:47
  another like
• 40:51
  third person. I mean, it's it's the
• 40:52
  thing we've been sort of talking about.
• 40:53
  It's like a third person action game
• 40:55
  where you're hitting guys with swords.
• 40:56
  >> I mean, I don't get it, but yeah.
• 40:58
  >> Yeah. I mean, it's cool. I played I
• 40:59
  played the demo of it at SGF last year,
• 41:01
  I think. Um it's it's cool. It's fun,
• 41:04
  but at the end of the day, is this
• 41:06
  something that I think is like really
• 41:07
  like breaking new ground? The answer is
• 41:09
  no.
• 41:10
  >> Nah, but a little bit of an is it me
• 41:12
  situation. Okay, let me let me run
• 41:14
  through a few. I don't think we have
• 41:15
  much to say about these. Dune Awakening
• 41:17
  Dynasty Warriors 3 remastered.
• 41:20
  >> Um, no rest for the wicked head. Oh
• 41:22
  >> no, no.
• 41:24
  Thank you.
• 41:25
  >> Um, Oni Musha Way of the Sword. Uh,
• 41:27
  Critical Error bonus podcast
• 41:28
  patreon.com/critical error. I played
• 41:30
  that demo.
• 41:31
  >> Shocked me. Enjoyed it quite a lot. Had
• 41:33
  had did not care about this game. Went
• 41:35
  from going zero interest to maximum
• 41:37
  interest. Very uh yeah, really cool
• 41:39
  demo. Um Silent Hill Townfall. This
• 41:42
  isn't this this isn't my this is more
• 41:44
  you.
• 41:44
  >> I mean I mean like it it looks good. Uh
• 41:47
  I'm ready. Like sure looks it it didn't
• 41:50
  add anything. Didn't take anything away.
• 41:51
  Sure. Looks good. Looks like
• 41:52
  >> there was a shot in the trailer for this
• 41:54
  that I thought was going to reveal a
• 41:56
  Harvey Dent two face. It was the woman
• 41:57
  from the side and then it like very
• 42:01
  I don't know why I was convinced. I was
• 42:02
  convinced.
• 42:03
  >> It feels like it should. No. 100% agree.
• 42:04
  Yes.
• 42:06
  >> Uh Ace Combat 8. Do you have do you have
• 42:07
  feelings?
• 42:08
  >> Not an Ace Combat guy. Don't know.
• 42:10
  >> I liked the trailer doing Ace Combat by
• 42:14
  way of Cojima. I thought that was kind
• 42:16
  of interesting. That
• 42:18
  >> the the the way those characters were
• 42:19
  acting, the first person stuff. I I it
• 42:21
  was an interesting take for a trailer
• 42:22
  that made me notice that this was not
• 42:24
  just another one of these. So,
• 42:27
  >> um Stunt Man Hollywood, uh Fortnite for
• 42:29
  cars.
• 42:30
  >> Yeah, that's what that is. Yeah.
• 42:32
  >> Okay. Uh, I saw people maybe a little
• 42:34
  older than us being like, "Oh, Stunt Man
• 42:36
  is
• 42:37
  >> I never heard of this ever."
• 42:38
  >> Yeah. I mean, me neither. So,
• 42:40
  >> Fortnite for cars.
• 42:41
  >> I don't know. I was maybe actually
• 42:43
  disappointed when it was revealed to be
• 42:44
  a stunt man game and it wasn't something
• 42:46
  like real,
• 42:48
  >> but
• 42:48
  >> I don't know what kind of wash washed
• 42:51
  over me. Okay. So, maybe it's us. Uh,
• 42:53
  stuntman fans, let me know.
• 42:55
  >> Ill I thought this was a bad trailer. I
• 42:58
  thought that I think it's never a good
• 42:59
  idea to be like, "What if we just were
• 43:01
  as gross as we could possibly be?" And I
• 43:03
  like I like nasty stuff, you know? Like
• 43:05
  I like a
• 43:06
  >> a gory experience that feels bad to
• 43:10
  play, but sometimes I'm like I think
• 43:12
  there's a little there's there's a
• 43:13
  little too much here.
• 43:15
  >> Uh control resonant. That trailer do
• 43:17
  anything for you?
• 43:18
  >> I mean, I think it's the confirmation
• 43:20
  that Jesse Fayen's in it. Uh, but even
• 43:23
  then
• 43:25
  for me with these sorts of things, I'm
• 43:26
  just like, I just want to play the game
• 43:28
  and now
• 43:29
  >> because it was there wasn't much
• 43:30
  gameplay in this, which I guess is fine.
• 43:31
  It was a little bit more framing of like
• 43:33
  what the um story is going to be where
• 43:35
  it's like, hey, we need you to help the
• 43:38
  FBC and he's kind of like, help the
• 43:40
  [ __ ] FBC, the people who kept me
• 43:42
  prisoner for years and years. I think it
• 43:45
  could be cool.
• 43:47
  >> Skipping a bunch of stuff that I think
• 43:49
  is neither here nor there. kind of
• 43:50
  getting to our next big Sony thing.
• 43:52
  >> Um, Until Dawn, too.
• 43:53
  >> I mean, of course, like I I'm excited
• 43:54
  for that in that I really like Until
• 43:56
  Dawn. We've talked about it a lot on
• 43:58
  this podcast, actually. Um, but this is
• 44:01
  a new developer or it's a new studio
• 44:03
  working on this. It's not uh Super
• 44:05
  Massive, I think. Um,
• 44:08
  >> I think if you can get as far away from
• 44:10
  the dark pictures stink that Super
• 44:12
  Massive has been sort of riing up since
• 44:14
  I was in college, uh, then then I think
• 44:17
  that's a good thing. I it was exciting
• 44:19
  to know that they're working on another
• 44:21
  type of this game because I think that
• 44:22
  original one is quite good. If they can
• 44:23
  capture that, then I'm down. But I don't
• 44:26
  know. I just hope it isn't as
• 44:27
  disappointing as the rest of these
• 44:29
  things.
• 44:30
  >> I thought this trailer was great. Um
• 44:32
  yeah, I thought it was great. I thought
• 44:33
  the characters were immediately kind of
• 44:35
  interesting. I like the idea of these
• 44:36
  kind of uh overprivileged kids who fake
• 44:40
  their YouTube videos about stuff. I
• 44:42
  think that that's like a fun premise.
• 44:43
  And I think um best biggest swing of the
• 44:46
  trailer that I think it nails uh is
• 44:48
  showing you a character dying.
• 44:50
  >> Oh yeah.
• 44:50
  >> And making it really memorable.
• 44:52
  >> Yeah. It looks bad.
• 44:53
  >> And it and the fact that they didn't
• 44:54
  like cut away that they just said,
• 44:56
  "Nope, look, you died." And that is now
• 44:58
  going to be present in your
• 44:59
  >> Now I'm like, "Okay, well, I don't want
• 45:00
  that to happen." So yeah.
• 45:03
  >> Will it stop you from pushing him? Is
• 45:04
  the you know, um yeah, it's kind of a
• 45:07
  funny I don't know. I think that trailer
• 45:09
  actually achieved a lot. Um yeah, I'm
• 45:11
  excited for that. It's uh that's another
• 45:13
  2027. Um okay, then our last our last
• 45:16
  big
• 45:16
  >> the one that really had us asking is it
• 45:18
  us?
• 45:20
  >> Is this us? Go ahead.
• 45:22
  >> This is what it's all for.
• 45:23
  >> Um so our new God of War game focused of
• 45:26
  course on uh Fay
• 45:27
  >> the the wife as it were.
• 45:30
  >> Um and we see what appears to be I think
• 45:34
  this is a fair assessment the very
• 45:36
  beginning of the actual game. Like this
• 45:38
  is what you see when you turn this game
• 45:40
  on on your PlayStation. how it is
• 45:42
  presented. They present it like in the
• 45:44
  exact same way that uh God of War 2018
• 45:47
  starts with like the title screen where
• 45:50
  it's like press X to start or whatever
• 45:51
  and then it like there is no cut. It
• 45:53
  just starts. He's chopping wood. They do
• 45:55
  the exact same thing here with with this
• 45:57
  game where it's it's like press X to
• 45:58
  start.
• 45:59
  >> Yep.
• 46:00
  >> Uh 20 full minutes.
• 46:02
  >> Uh no cuts in the game from what I can
• 46:04
  tell. Just this is this is the first 20
• 46:06
  minutes of the game. So, by giving us
• 46:09
  this these first 20 minutes, they have
• 46:11
  assued releasing an actual trailer and
• 46:14
  said instead of kind of cutting
• 46:15
  something together and showing you the
• 46:16
  parts we want to highlight, we're just
• 46:18
  going to show you the game.
• 46:21
  >> Um, love God of War 2018. I will go to
• 46:25
  bat for that game every day of the week.
• 46:27
  I think God of War Ragnarok is quite
• 46:29
  bad. Uh,
• 46:32
  after so long, Sony Santa Monica cooking
• 46:36
  up in the background rumors of Cory
• 46:38
  Barlo's new IP. He I should say he's not
• 46:41
  directing this game, but uh, Sony Santa
• 46:44
  Monica finally they they reveal
• 46:45
  themselves to say here it is. Uh
• 46:50
  this is I I guess Peter
• 46:56
  I am disappointed by how similar this
• 46:58
  game is to other God of War. cannot
• 47:02
  possibly imagine
• 47:05
  >> thinking like, "Oh, we're going to make
• 47:06
  a we're actually going to make a game
• 47:08
  about Kratos's late wife and what and
• 47:11
  and I guess what happens to her after
• 47:14
  she dies because of course this is the
• 47:16
  world of mythology where death is not
• 47:17
  the end of your life." I cannot fathom
• 47:20
  the fact that the answer to the question
• 47:22
  of what happens to Fay.
• 47:25
  The answer is, well, she just goes on a
• 47:28
  God of War adventure where she's doing
• 47:30
  air combos to people and is in the same
• 47:33
  exact like situations that Kratos is in.
• 47:36
  Can't possibly imagine that.
• 47:38
  >> Let's talk bids for connection. So,
• 47:40
  something that I think is really
• 47:41
  interesting about this game is that
• 47:42
  again, we're not judging a trailer like
• 47:44
  we were with Wolverine. We are instead
• 47:45
  judging the beginning of the game, which
• 47:46
  means that I have some expectations
• 47:48
  about how a game should start and I can
• 47:50
  kind of directly interrogate those
• 47:52
  expectations because we have access to
• 47:54
  the beginning of the game.
• 47:55
  >> Do we think it's actually the beginning
• 47:56
  of the game? That's the way they present
• 47:57
  it. But I mean, yeah. Okay.
• 48:00
  >> I think we have to take them at their
• 48:01
  word. Um, and if that is the case, I
• 48:04
  found the beginning the first 20 minutes
• 48:05
  of this game to be both rushed and slow.
• 48:10
  >> Um, so what do I mean by that? Um,
• 48:13
  Fay wakes up and has this moment where
• 48:16
  she's like, "Kratos, Atraus, okay, I'm
• 48:19
  dead." Within 12 seconds, I didn't even
• 48:22
  get to say goodbye. So, a bit of a a bit
• 48:25
  of a theme stated moment, if you will. A
• 48:27
  kind of this this this opening image
• 48:30
  that is very much like, okay, that's
• 48:31
  what the game is concerned with. I get
• 48:32
  it. I've I've seen enough stories in my
• 48:34
  time that I can now see the arc of this
• 48:36
  game being I've got to communicate with.
• 48:39
  I've got to get back with. I've got to
• 48:41
  see my I've got to even if it's just to
• 48:43
  say goodbye and then accepting by the
• 48:45
  end of the game that sometimes you don't
• 48:47
  get to say goodbye and that they're
• 48:49
  going to they're going to be okay
• 48:50
  anyways. I get that arc.
• 48:56
  >> Is that it?
• 48:57
  >> It feels like it's that's it.
• 48:58
  >> I mean I'm sure like of course people
• 49:01
  are like no of course there's going to
• 49:02
  be other stuff. It's like right no
• 49:03
  obviously there's going to be other
• 49:04
  stuff but like
• 49:06
  >> we it feels like we've already arrived
• 49:08
  on what this game is about. And we can
• 49:10
  already imagine how it's going to go.
• 49:13
  >> So, when I said it's too rushed, when I
• 49:15
  said it's rushed and too slow, here's
• 49:17
  what I mean. We immediately get Fay kind
• 49:19
  of confronting what I think is her
• 49:21
  character's uh core wound. I I I didn't
• 49:24
  get to say goodbye.
• 49:25
  >> And that is kind of immediately put down
• 49:28
  for the sake of our immediate
• 49:30
  circumstances. New new characters, new
• 49:33
  conflicts. Do any of those conflicts at
• 49:35
  the beginning of the game, are they in
• 49:37
  conversation with Fay? phase core wound
• 49:40
  not being able to see.
• 49:40
  >> Are you probably not from what we saw?
• 49:42
  No, of course. Yeah.
• 49:43
  >> Yeah. So, I think to me what that
• 49:45
  signals is that this is a situation, not
• 49:47
  a story. And I think that when again
• 49:50
  returning to this idea of bids of
• 49:52
  connection, what is the thing that is
• 49:54
  really like is it a emotional bid for
• 49:57
  connection? Is it an intellectual one?
• 49:59
  Is it like uh kind of a mechanical one?
• 50:02
  Like, oh, this is a really fun thing to
• 50:03
  play. I think based on what I'm seeing
• 50:07
  it is
• 50:09
  look at this expansion of the God of War
• 50:11
  IP for connection of just you know this
• 50:14
  Kratos is in it and when he's in it for
• 50:16
  you know.5 seconds they do the
• 50:20
  for one second and then he's gone it's
• 50:23
  like yeah they play the song just in
• 50:24
  case you forgot that this is about
• 50:26
  Kratos and and his family
• 50:28
  >> when when when
• 50:31
  Fay is is jolted alive The first things
• 50:34
  she says are the name is isratos and
• 50:37
  atreaus. And I and I get it. You can
• 50:39
  justify why that would be the case for
• 50:41
  the character, but I do think that it it
• 50:43
  is this reminder that almost all of the
• 50:45
  power of this game is being imported and
• 50:48
  projected from your your experiences
• 50:49
  with the previous games
• 50:51
  >> and like what is actually being built up
• 50:53
  here that is compelling in its own
• 50:57
  right. And is it even compelling with
• 50:58
  that stuff being imported? I don't know.
• 51:00
  And this is a shame too because I have
• 51:02
  not played any of the previous God of
• 51:03
  War games other than the God of War 2018
• 51:06
  and Ragnarok.
• 51:08
  >> Really?
• 51:08
  >> Never.
• 51:09
  >> I didn't know that. Wow. It's
• 51:10
  >> so in playing 2018 that is a game that
• 51:16
  you do not is in conversation with the
• 51:18
  old games certainly. But
• 51:20
  >> is it
• 51:22
  >> central premise
• 51:24
  >> is it required reading? The answer is
• 51:26
  no.
• 51:27
  >> They've done this before. They figured
• 51:28
  out how to do this stuff. That is a game
• 51:30
  about about parenting. It is a game
• 51:31
  about o overcoming who you were to be
• 51:34
  who you can be. They've done it before.
• 51:37
  >> What a great point. That opening 20
• 51:39
  minutes of God of War 2018, I'm sure
• 51:41
  >> unrelated far more unrelated to
• 51:43
  >> him getting whatever. And here's the
• 51:45
  thing. What do people remember? Is is
• 51:46
  that the thing that people really
• 51:47
  remember about that game? No. They
• 51:49
  remember going and getting the Chaos
• 51:50
  Blades and and being like, I'm not your
• 51:51
  monster anymore. Whatever. Oh, wait.
• 51:53
  I've got a sound. Wait, hold on. I've
• 51:55
  got a I'm I never I never use this.
• 51:57
  Ready?
• 51:58
  >> Yep. boy.
• 51:59
  >> There you go.
• 52:00
  >> Good.
• 52:02
  >> But but kind of what I'm speaking to in
• 52:04
  terms of the situation and the story,
• 52:08
  right? This is a um Vivian Gornic
• 52:12
  classic writing thing. She has a famous
• 52:13
  book, the situation and the story. The
• 52:15
  situation is what happened. The story is
• 52:17
  what the writer understands about what
• 52:19
  happened. And so like she would say that
• 52:21
  the situation is the context and the
• 52:23
  circumstances while the story is the
• 52:24
  emotional um intellectual or moral
• 52:27
  movement that is created through the
• 52:29
  engagement with those circumstances. So
• 52:31
  a lot of people have a situation fewer
• 52:33
  people have a story. Um like if the
• 52:35
  situation is my my dad is dead the story
• 52:38
  is what I learned about myself through
• 52:40
  grief. Um if the situation is I'm moving
• 52:43
  across the country the story is um
• 52:46
  reinvention is impossible you know. Um,
• 52:49
  so I think like if you were to watch the
• 52:51
  first 20 minutes of God of War 2018, you
• 52:54
  would find that the story is like
• 52:58
  interlocked is like permeating through
• 53:01
  every minute of that opening 20 minutes
• 53:03
  because it it doesn't immediately launch
• 53:05
  into the Boulder stuff.
• 53:06
  >> No, no. It's it's like it's about the
• 53:08
  absence of this woman that he that was
• 53:12
  sort of like a dam between him and his
• 53:15
  son and then now that she's gone, it's
• 53:17
  like we're intermingled. like what do we
• 53:18
  do?
• 53:19
  >> And you see how that story is being like
• 53:23
  he's trying to fill that space like that
• 53:26
  is that is present in what you are doing
• 53:28
  in the game when they go hunting and
• 53:29
  they try to kill the deer the way like
• 53:31
  the reaching out the like like all that
• 53:33
  stuff is is is like in there. How is how
• 53:35
  is what Fay is going through being
• 53:37
  reflected through the actual like
• 53:39
  actions of what you are doing in the
• 53:41
  game? I don't think it really is.
• 53:42
  >> No, not at all. I I think it's just a
• 53:44
  video game
• 53:45
  >> and it's like it's like okay here's the
• 53:47
  character stuff
• 53:49
  >> video game and then there will be a cut
• 53:51
  scene later that brings the character
• 53:52
  stuff back in but the story is only
• 53:54
  going to emerge when the game rest
• 53:57
  control away from you and says okay now
• 53:58
  time to play the music and have a story
• 54:00
  >> and I think to this point as well a lot
• 54:02
  of people love that like one no cut
• 54:07
  camera decision from God of War 2018 I
• 54:11
  don't cuz it does cut everyone. We all
• 54:14
  know that it cuts, right? Like you are
• 54:16
  constantly in the menu trying to like
• 54:19
  slot out different gear and whatever.
• 54:21
  And when you do that, it cuts. Um, Dead
• 54:23
  Space 2 never cuts, by the way, or it
• 54:24
  cuts one time. Anyway, doesn't matter.
• 54:27
  What I'm saying is if that was a
• 54:30
  meaningful choice for that, are we to
• 54:32
  assume and understand that that is still
• 54:34
  a meaningful choice for this game or are
• 54:37
  we just doing it because it's like a
• 54:38
  continuity thing? And I think the answer
• 54:39
  is that second thing. Yeah, it's a
• 54:41
  sequel, so it's kind of inherited the
• 54:44
  qualities of what so it has to be doing
• 54:46
  that look like. Uh, yeah, almost like I
• 54:49
  think we I think like we've made similar
• 54:51
  points in the past in terms of Ghost of
• 54:53
  Yote and um Hades 2 kind of inheriting
• 54:56
  the formula of the original game, even
• 54:59
  if it doesn't speak to that character's
• 55:00
  kind of specific circumstances. And I
• 55:03
  think unfortunately and a lot of the
• 55:04
  again is it us the reactions to this is
• 55:07
  that I saw many people in games being
• 55:09
  like wow it is so impressive that Sony
• 55:12
  Santa Monica is committed to the one
• 55:14
  camera no cutting thing and I think like
• 55:19
  is it
• 55:20
  >> is it is it
• 55:21
  >> is it I don't no
• 55:26
  I mean it is it impressive that they
• 55:29
  stuck to the Spider-Man swinging stuff
• 55:32
  for Miles Morales. I mean, I think it's
• 55:33
  just a thing that you've done now. And
• 55:35
  I'm sure, you know, there's a bunch of
• 55:37
  like logistical problems you have to get
• 55:38
  around by doing that, but at the end of
• 55:39
  the day, is it? I don't really I don't
• 55:41
  really know.
• 55:42
  >> Um, are you familiar with the movie
• 55:44
  Birdman?
• 55:44
  >> Of course. It's one time. It's a winner.
• 55:46
  >> Okay. It's uh Dude, I love Dude,
• 55:48
  Birdman.
• 55:49
  >> I I knew you'd like that because that's
• 55:51
  Michael Keaton and like he's Batman, but
• 55:53
  not Batman. Birdman, right?
• 55:54
  >> Yeah, that was a that was a rare. Went
• 55:56
  to the theater, saw it, left, went right
• 55:58
  back in.
• 55:58
  >> Oh, wow. That's cool. I I was like I was
• 56:01
  like I gotta
• 56:02
  >> Yeah. No, I need I need to chew on that
• 56:04
  some more. Yes.
• 56:05
  >> Um so a I'm trying to think of other
• 56:07
  movies that have this, but none are
• 56:09
  coming.
• 56:09
  >> Dunkerk. Is the whole thing a wer or is
• 56:12
  it just that one sequence?
• 56:14
  >> There's no way. D are you thinking 19?
• 56:16
  >> I'm thinking 1917. Yes.
• 56:17
  >> 1917. Okay. Um, but I think that in
• 56:21
  something like Birdman, it's like the
• 56:22
  form is about the focus on that
• 56:25
  character's mental state and this this
• 56:27
  kind of inability to escape.
• 56:29
  >> And I think that like it is
• 56:35
  >> there's a proximity to the events in
• 56:38
  that God of War 2018 game. And I think
• 56:40
  like that construction
• 56:43
  speaks to,
• 56:46
  you know, so much of that game is
• 56:47
  focused on what Kratos cannot escape
• 56:49
  >> from his past. And I think that there's
• 56:52
  like
• 56:53
  >> there's a closeness that you you sort of
• 56:56
  >> the ability to linger linger
• 56:59
  >> and there's there's like meaning there.
• 57:01
  And I and I'm just like are we using
• 57:03
  this effectively or are we using this as
• 57:05
  like a a gimmick because it's cool? And
• 57:08
  I I feel like it's the latter.
• 57:10
  Obviously, we don't know, but um Okay,
• 57:13
  bids for connection. Another one, the
• 57:15
  gameplay. It's FA. She's more into
• 57:18
  magic, which sounds cool.
• 57:19
  >> Sure.
• 57:20
  >> Um and I think a big one that we saw a
• 57:23
  lot of people Is this Us? We saw a lot
• 57:25
  of people lash on to online.
• 57:27
  >> Air combos. Finally. It's so different.
• 57:30
  Now you're up there instead of being on
• 57:32
  the ground the whole time. And I would
• 57:34
  like to posit this. Kratos does do air
• 57:37
  combos. He just does them on the ground.
• 57:39
  Um there are moves you have that launch
• 57:41
  enemies into the air like a foot off the
• 57:44
  ground and you're just you're just not
• 57:45
  jumping up with them.
• 57:47
  >> Are we
• 57:47
  >> Is it us?
• 57:48
  >> Is everyone okay?
• 57:49
  >> Yeah. Is it Or is it us?
• 57:51
  >> Or is it us?
• 57:52
  >> Because I'm with you, Peter. I see an
• 57:54
  air combo and I go there's nothing
• 57:55
  particularly exciting about this. It's
• 57:57
  just you are stationary in the air
• 58:02
  pressing a button.
• 58:03
  >> Well, I mean they showed they show I
• 58:05
  mean this is like where it's at. They
• 58:06
  did show that Fay has a jump. Like you
• 58:09
  hit X to jump now. I guess
• 58:11
  >> I do like a jump
• 58:12
  >> and that's great. That's fine. But does
• 58:13
  is but like does that change things? Are
• 58:16
  we are we to have a new understanding
• 58:18
  about the characters the the world of
• 58:20
  this story because this character can
• 58:22
  jump something that Kratos could also do
• 58:25
  with contextual button prompts? I think
• 58:28
  the answer is no. And so it's I get
• 58:30
  frustrated seeing
• 58:31
  >> but what is what are you identifying
• 58:33
  there? And I think what I think what
• 58:34
  really quick I think what you're
• 58:34
  identifying is it's the same the game
• 58:37
  even if you add all of these things on
• 58:38
  top it has the same structure the same
• 58:40
  cinematic language probably the same um
• 58:42
  you know camera progression same
• 58:44
  storytelling style and framework
• 58:46
  changing the movement is not the same
• 58:47
  thing as changing
• 58:48
  >> correct and I think what we were talking
• 58:49
  about earlier with Wolverine and
• 58:50
  everything is that you can change the
• 58:53
  character in that game with another
• 58:55
  character and have it be the same that
• 58:57
  means it's not a great character focused
• 58:59
  video game
• 59:00
  >> they have from what we've seen of this
• 59:03
  trailer done the done that precisely in
• 59:06
  God of War by just swapping out cuz okay
• 59:09
  if we saw this and it was Kratos if we
• 59:11
  saw this and the framing was different
• 59:13
  and that it's not Fay dying but that
• 59:15
  they were like this is God of War II you
• 59:17
  know the new for the reboot whatever God
• 59:19
  of War II
• 59:22
  no it's the same no one would no one
• 59:23
  would be able to identify oh wait a
• 59:25
  second this doesn't feel like it's the
• 59:26
  same character right
• 59:29
  >> yeah I guess I guess you're right and I
• 59:31
  think like to give this game its flowers
• 59:34
  like visually it is it is like
• 59:38
  graphically extremely
• 59:40
  >> sure
• 59:41
  >> you know if if that's what we're going
• 59:42
  for and I think um and I think that like
• 59:46
  >> is it cool when she does the Doctor
• 59:48
  Strange thing?
• 59:49
  >> Yeah, of course. And she like knocks the
• 59:51
  guy out of his thing and then he
• 59:52
  explodes. Yeah.
• 59:53
  >> Yeah, that's cool.
• 59:54
  >> It's cool.
• 59:55
  >> Um but
• 59:58
  what is it that we're identifying here?
• 1:00:00
  Because it's not that we don't think
• 1:00:01
  these these things are cool. It's just I
• 1:00:03
  don't know if I really think that these
• 1:00:04
  things are like meaning.
• 1:00:05
  >> No, that's what it is. It's it's like,
• 1:00:07
  >> yeah, no, that's cool. That's great. But
• 1:00:08
  if you gave it to Kratos, the meaning is
• 1:00:10
  the same.
• 1:00:11
  >> And
• 1:00:11
  >> if you gave it to Kratos, the meaning is
• 1:00:13
  the same.
• 1:00:13
  >> And what I think the
• 1:00:17
  right like, okay, if the whole thing is
• 1:00:19
  this is actually F's story, then should
• 1:00:21
  Fay not be just Kratos a reskinned
• 1:00:23
  version of Kratos?
• 1:00:26
  And I think the answer is yes. They
• 1:00:28
  should change that. They should make her
• 1:00:30
  feel different and be meaningfully
• 1:00:31
  different.
• 1:00:33
  >> Okay, I I realize this is maybe
• 1:00:34
  lowhanging fruit for the critical error
• 1:00:36
  podcast, but should we talk about the
• 1:00:37
  cube?
• 1:00:39
  I don't want to take Jake. No, I don't
• 1:00:40
  want to [ __ ] talk about the cube.
• 1:00:43
  Okay, fine. What do you have to say
• 1:00:44
  about the cube?
• 1:00:48
  >> Christian
• 1:00:50
  texted us saying, uh, because what's the
• 1:00:52
  cube's name? Frank the cube. It's very
• 1:00:54
  funny. Frank the cube from Fortnite.
• 1:00:56
  Yeah, that's what it feels like, right?
• 1:00:59
  And like I like Jack Quade, right? Like
• 1:01:01
  whatever. It's just Yeah.
• 1:01:03
  >> Haven't we seen this enough? Haven't we
• 1:01:04
  seen this enough? The this kind of like
• 1:01:07
  Oh, lol. So random. This like little
• 1:01:09
  creature thing that's like also
• 1:01:14
  I texted you this last night.
• 1:01:16
  >> I saw that cube and immediately said to
• 1:01:17
  you that cube will betray us before the
• 1:01:20
  end of the game and it will be a bad
• 1:01:22
  he's going to the morph into the final
• 1:01:24
  boss with the sword or whatever. It's
• 1:01:26
  not the sword. It's the uh the ribbons
• 1:01:29
  on the sword.
• 1:01:29
  >> So, but but he'll be able to take You
• 1:01:31
  still have the ribbons, but the sword
• 1:01:33
  will be
• 1:01:34
  >> Yes, it's going to be the final boss.
• 1:01:36
  >> Yeah, I agree.
• 1:01:37
  >> Clip it right now. Clip it right now.
• 1:01:39
  >> Clip it right now. Yeah. So, um yeah. I
• 1:01:42
  don't know. I guess I just find this
• 1:01:43
  stuff to be like a little a little uh
• 1:01:45
  hacky, a little cheap. I think that
• 1:01:46
  there's something about the construction
• 1:01:48
  of this game that feels like far too
• 1:01:50
  familiar to modern pop culture. And when
• 1:01:53
  you're working within like the pantheon
• 1:01:55
  of myth and gods and doing all this
• 1:01:57
  stuff, like does it does it have to look
• 1:01:59
  like all of our other stuff? Like why
• 1:02:01
  does why does God of War what about God
• 1:02:03
  of War is begging for it to be depicted
• 1:02:06
  through the lens of a Marvel movie? Like
• 1:02:08
  it it doesn't h could it not carve out
• 1:02:10
  something more visually and um
• 1:02:11
  thematically distinct? I I I think it's
• 1:02:13
  just like a little um easy.
• 1:02:16
  >> I agree. And so like I want to like just
• 1:02:18
  come back to like is it us
• 1:02:20
  >> and the answer is yes
• 1:02:22
  >> because people are eating this up.
• 1:02:23
  People are really excited about this. At
• 1:02:24
  least that's how it seems online.
• 1:02:26
  >> Are people really eating it up or is
• 1:02:27
  like our bubble
• 1:02:28
  >> I mean I guess our bubble but how would
• 1:02:30
  I even know? It's I know it's hard to
• 1:02:32
  say. Um,
• 1:02:34
  but I think that there is data to prove
• 1:02:38
  and point to, hey, maybe
• 1:02:41
  >> this is not just us feeling this and
• 1:02:44
  maybe people's they might say that
• 1:02:46
  they're really stoked for these games,
• 1:02:48
  but at the end of the day, they might
• 1:02:49
  not actually be buying these. Stephen
• 1:02:50
  Tatillo from Gamefile um has a has a
• 1:02:53
  story and I'm just gonna read you this
• 1:02:54
  tweet here. Sony's been selling millions
• 1:02:57
  fewer first-party games developed and or
• 1:03:00
  published almost every year since 2020.
• 1:03:02
  On the eve of a new state of play, it's
• 1:03:04
  clear Sony could use more hit. Growth in
• 1:03:06
  thirdparty game sales does not appear to
• 1:03:07
  be uh to blame. That's interesting.
• 1:03:11
  These games are not selling as well as
• 1:03:13
  they used to. People are not as invested
• 1:03:15
  in these things as they used to be. And
• 1:03:17
  if I had to guess, part of that might be
• 1:03:20
  because these are not new. I mean, yes,
• 1:03:22
  they're new, quote unquote, right? But
• 1:03:24
  like when you drop something like, oh,
• 1:03:26
  it's it's another God of War game and
• 1:03:28
  what does it look like? Oh, like the
• 1:03:29
  same the same thing. Okay. I I just
• 1:03:33
  don't think that instills uh a crazy
• 1:03:36
  amount of excitement in people. I don't
• 1:03:38
  think that that that makes people say
• 1:03:39
  like, I got to play that, right? It's
• 1:03:42
  also funny too because I think if you
• 1:03:43
  are like, "Okay, we're going to start
• 1:03:45
  from the main big character that
• 1:03:47
  everybody likes and now we're going to
• 1:03:50
  make a game about this this like a a
• 1:03:53
  shoot off from them."
• 1:03:55
  >> I think I think to assume that you're
• 1:03:57
  going to garner as big of an audience or
• 1:03:59
  larger is kind of silly, right?
• 1:04:02
  >> Like
• 1:04:03
  >> Yeah. It's It's like what's going to
• 1:04:05
  sell better, the Sonic the Hedgehog game
• 1:04:06
  or the Tales game? Like the Sonic games?
• 1:04:09
  >> Yes. And I so there's there's something
• 1:04:11
  like a little odd happening here where I
• 1:04:15
  do think that I would have maybe
• 1:04:18
  appreciated if this exact same game God
• 1:04:22
  of War something was just completely
• 1:04:25
  unrelated to Kratos. Just Kratos was not
• 1:04:28
  even in the it's just a completely new
• 1:04:29
  we're inventing a character that we've
• 1:04:31
  never heard of. I think I maybe would
• 1:04:33
  have been a little bit more on board.
• 1:04:34
  >> Sure. Because I also think it's
• 1:04:36
  interesting in one of the like I think
• 1:04:37
  I'm maybe on this PlayStation blog post
• 1:04:38
  about it said like uh for new fans and
• 1:04:41
  old this is like basically trying to say
• 1:04:43
  like you could be never have not played
• 1:04:44
  a single God of War game and played
• 1:04:46
  this. And I'm like I do not know what
• 1:04:48
  that would be like. I truly like like no
• 1:04:51
  this is this is for the fans. You don't
• 1:04:53
  make a game about Kratos's wife and be
• 1:04:55
  like we're getting new people in here. I
• 1:04:57
  don't I don't think that's the case. And
• 1:04:59
  by the same token, if you if you're
• 1:05:01
  somebody who has already decided that
• 1:05:02
  you don't like these new God of War
• 1:05:04
  games, if you're somebody who is who is
• 1:05:06
  like, "Oh, okay. I'm kind of over that,"
• 1:05:08
  then this is not going to bring you
• 1:05:09
  back. I don't think so because there's
• 1:05:10
  there aren't enough bids for connection
• 1:05:12
  outside of an appreciation for those God
• 1:05:14
  of War games to establish anything new
• 1:05:16
  with you because it's not interested in
• 1:05:17
  establishing something new. So, it's
• 1:05:19
  like a very it's a very kind of like
• 1:05:22
  easy problem, I think, for me to see on
• 1:05:23
  the outside that comes from a place of
• 1:05:25
  trying to be as safe as possible. And I
• 1:05:29
  I something that I have been kind of
• 1:05:31
  exploring in my own uh video game
• 1:05:33
  citizenship as of late is that I've been
• 1:05:36
  kind of going back to older games. I've
• 1:05:38
  been playing on my AY and Thor. I got
• 1:05:40
  myself a a PS3 so that I could go back
• 1:05:42
  to some of these forgotten PlayStation
• 1:05:44
  games. Play a little Sly Cooper. Play a
• 1:05:46
  little infamous PlayStation Allstars
• 1:05:49
  Battle Royale. Favorite game of all
• 1:05:50
  time.
• 1:05:51
  >> My favorite game. And I've I've and I'm
• 1:05:54
  doing this because I'm I I think like
• 1:05:56
  the stuff that's coming out of
• 1:05:57
  PlayStation has like left me yearning
• 1:06:00
  for something that they used to do,
• 1:06:02
  >> you know? So, I have to go.
• 1:06:03
  >> Something we were talking about this
• 1:06:04
  week earlier earlier this week is like,
• 1:06:06
  okay, every studio that was like a
• 1:06:09
  PlayStation first party studio kind of
• 1:06:11
  reinvented what it was doing every
• 1:06:13
  console cycle. You know, Naughty Dog was
• 1:06:14
  doing Crash Bandicoot, then they were
• 1:06:16
  doing Jack and Daxter, then they were
• 1:06:17
  doing Uncharted. And then now we're sort
• 1:06:20
  of in this era, and all Sucker Punch did
• 1:06:22
  the same thing. Like all of these
• 1:06:23
  studios did this, and then now we're in
• 1:06:25
  this era where there is not a clean
• 1:06:28
  break for these studios, where they're
• 1:06:29
  not able to sort of throw their hands up
• 1:06:30
  and say, "We're doing something totally
• 1:06:32
  different." And I think part of that is
• 1:06:34
  because of development costs and time
• 1:06:37
  and what is expected from these studios
• 1:06:39
  that they need to fit together in this
• 1:06:40
  like sizzle reel PlayStation Studios
• 1:06:43
  logo that starts at whenever you load up
• 1:06:44
  one of these games. They all need to fit
• 1:06:46
  together so that they all appeal to the
• 1:06:48
  same type of gamer and that's not true
• 1:06:51
  across the board, right? Is the person
• 1:06:53
  >> but that's but that's because an
• 1:06:54
  important thing there is because they
• 1:06:56
  are all because of the kind of external
• 1:06:58
  pressures trying to appeal to the most
• 1:07:01
  common denominator.
• 1:07:03
  So, like, uh, I think Ratchet and Clank
• 1:07:06
  implicitly is a more
• 1:07:10
  it demands creativity in a way that
• 1:07:12
  maybe a Spider-Man game does not.
• 1:07:14
  >> There's something more video game
• 1:07:16
  focused in a Ratchet and Clank because
• 1:07:17
  you can't lean on the cinematic
• 1:07:19
  attributes of the Spider-Man IP. So,
• 1:07:22
  >> we don't we don't have a lang like a
• 1:07:24
  visual language for Ratchet and Clank
• 1:07:26
  outside of video games.
• 1:07:28
  >> So, you can kind of see how a lot of
• 1:07:29
  these PlayStation studios have I think
• 1:07:32
  uh been pushed into pursuing the most
• 1:07:35
  common denominator, which has made this
• 1:07:37
  game that I think while the most,
• 1:07:41
  you know, basic video game player, the
• 1:07:43
  person who buys one or two games a year
• 1:07:45
  might really enjoy, they might love that
• 1:07:47
  game, that's not necessarily us. That's
• 1:07:51
  not necessarily we're different than
• 1:07:53
  that person, right? We have different
• 1:07:54
  needs from that person. And it's like
• 1:07:57
  maybe if you're only playing one, if
• 1:07:59
  you're only picking up a 007,
• 1:08:01
  >> if you're only picking up a Ghost of
• 1:08:03
  Yaya Hor, if you're only picking up one
• 1:08:05
  of these, then maybe maybe it does feel
• 1:08:08
  like that's enough.
• 1:08:09
  >> Yeah, of course.
• 1:08:10
  >> But when we're But we're we're out here
• 1:08:11
  playing all these games
• 1:08:12
  >> cuz it's like it's it's driving me crazy
• 1:08:14
  driving me crazy that it feels like it
• 1:08:15
  we've just decided, oh, this is what
• 1:08:17
  video games are
• 1:08:18
  >> because without the ability to even
• 1:08:21
  distinguish whether or not they are
• 1:08:22
  good. Of course, everyone is allowed to
• 1:08:24
  have their own opinion on things, but we
• 1:08:25
  had, like I said, like a 45 minute
• 1:08:28
  shouting match where we were both
• 1:08:29
  agreeing with each other about 007 First
• 1:08:31
  Light in our bonus podcast. And I think
• 1:08:33
  it's the the frustrating thing about it
• 1:08:35
  is that we've all just decided that if
• 1:08:37
  it looks like this, then it is good. And
• 1:08:39
  and we cannot get past that. And it's so
• 1:08:41
  frustrating. It's so frustrating to know
• 1:08:44
  exactly how this game is going to score
• 1:08:46
  and exactly how reviews are going to
• 1:08:47
  sound about it.
• 1:08:50
  I'm sick of seeing games and knowing
• 1:08:51
  what all the buttons do.
• 1:08:53
  >> Yeah. Yes. And you know what's funny,
• 1:08:56
  too?
• 1:08:56
  >> Remember remember seeing I'm I'm sorry.
• 1:08:58
  Remember seeing Marvel Spider-Man for
• 1:09:00
  the first time?
• 1:09:00
  >> Yeah.
• 1:09:01
  >> Electric.
• 1:09:04
  >> And then now we just know.
• 1:09:05
  >> And and it's like
• 1:09:08
  like Insomniac died for these for these
• 1:09:11
  games. Like they're like it's like oh
• 1:09:13
  bro.
• 1:09:14
  >> It's funny too because like remember
• 1:09:16
  earlier this year what was that game?
• 1:09:17
  the suit of 51 game. I can see him so
• 1:09:20
  clearly. Romeo's a dead man.
• 1:09:22
  >> I can see him so clearly. Yep.
• 1:09:23
  >> Uh, a lot of people said like, "Oh, it's
• 1:09:24
  such a weird game. It's such an odd
• 1:09:26
  game. It's such a bizarre game." And
• 1:09:28
  it's like, "What?" All right, let's
• 1:09:29
  start here. What is the triangle button
• 1:09:31
  do? You know, like like is it is that
• 1:09:33
  heavy attack? Cuz if it's heavy attack,
• 1:09:35
  then we can maybe say that maybe it's
• 1:09:37
  not actually that bizarre and weird. You
• 1:09:39
  want to talk about something that is
• 1:09:40
  kind of strange. But when I say like
• 1:09:42
  strange, I'm just mean like not the
• 1:09:44
  ordinary. It's something like a kinugami
• 1:09:46
  path of a goddess. That is a game where
• 1:09:48
  if you if you showed me the controller
• 1:09:50
  and told me what the game was, I'd be
• 1:09:51
  like I don't know what all these buttons
• 1:09:53
  are going to be doing.
• 1:09:55
  >> Oh yeah. I'm like during the tutorials
• 1:09:56
  I'm paying attention instead of going
• 1:09:58
  like
• 1:09:58
  >> got it. Got it. Got it. Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:10:00
  Yeah. I got it. Yeah. Mhm.
• 1:10:01
  >> Right.
• 1:10:02
  >> Yeah. Maybe. I mean
• 1:10:04
  >> or is it us or maybe it's us?
• 1:10:08
  >> You know who it actually is? Yeah.
• 1:10:09
  What's that?
• 1:10:10
  >> I I would like you to tell me about
• 1:10:12
  them. I think it's actually the members
• 1:10:13
  of the critical error nation. Uh these
• 1:10:15
  are of course the people supporting us
• 1:10:17
  on patreon.com/critical
• 1:10:19
  error. The $5 and up members are getting
• 1:10:23
  our weekly bonus episodes. We've been
• 1:10:25
  doing them uh for almost a year now
• 1:10:27
  going to SGF. We're going to have some
• 1:10:28
  fun bonus content from there. Really
• 1:10:30
  excited. Also, it's because of the
• 1:10:32
  generosity of the critical error nation
• 1:10:34
  that we're able to go to Summer Gamefest
• 1:10:36
  and help pay people to help help us make
• 1:10:39
  the stuff that we're going to be making.
• 1:10:40
  And it's really nice. It's really cool.
• 1:10:42
  It's cool to imagine a world where
• 1:10:43
  people like the stuff that we're doing
• 1:10:44
  so much that they would open their
• 1:10:46
  hearts and their wallets to us. I want
• 1:10:48
  to give a special thank you to the
• 1:10:50
  members of the Jake and Peter tier of
• 1:10:51
  the critical error nation. These are the
• 1:10:52
  people uh supporting us at the $20
• 1:10:55
  level. That's Andrew Bular. That's Evan
• 1:10:58
  Snee. That's Mitch Dyer. And that's
• 1:10:59
  Robert Quesada. Thank you, Critical Erin
• 1:11:03
  Nation. Thank you, Jake and Peter Tier.
• 1:11:05
  Truly means so much.
• 1:11:08
  >> Godamn. Uh, but then of course at the
• 1:11:11
  critical error royalty level, every week
• 1:11:15
  we honor these these names with a with a
• 1:11:17
  sound and sometimes I put the names on
• 1:11:19
  the screen. I did that last week.
• 1:11:20
  >> You did?
• 1:11:21
  >> That was something.
• 1:11:22
  >> It was good.
• 1:11:22
  >> Uh, let's go ahead and play this week's
• 1:11:25
  sound. Oh my god. I was reviewing the
• 1:11:27
  stats and I cannot believe how much the
• 1:11:30
  Critical Error Nation has grown. It is
• 1:11:33
  so exciting to see and it is generating
• 1:11:35
  so much enthusiasm for me and Peter as
• 1:11:38
  we continue to grow the show. If you are
• 1:11:41
  somebody who is a weekly listener, I
• 1:11:43
  urge you, please go check it out.
• 1:11:45
  patreon.com/critical.
• 1:11:47
  $5 gets you in. You can check out all of
• 1:11:50
  our bonus podcasts. I really think you
• 1:11:52
  will find that there is value there and
• 1:11:54
  it is worth it. Our bonus podcasts are
• 1:11:57
  really great stuff. So, for everybody
• 1:11:59
  already supporting us, I'm talking about
• 1:12:01
  the members of Critical Error Royalty
• 1:12:03
  and above, oh my god, so many of you
• 1:12:07
  have been here for the longest time
• 1:12:09
  since the beginning. It is a pleasure to
• 1:12:11
  read your names every week. Thank you so
• 1:12:13
  much for your support. Andrew Bulkart,
• 1:12:15
  Anel, Trait, Evans, Snee, Mitch Dyer,
• 1:12:17
  Monero, Robert Quesada, Connor Trul
• 1:12:18
  Love, Danny Disaster, James Pierre Reed,
• 1:12:21
  Jacob Richter, Jared Kuseno, Cold Ramen,
• 1:12:23
  Greg, Cole, Kale, Chow, Shin, Pinky
• 1:12:25
  Oats, Thick Dick, Mystic, Alex Sims,
• 1:12:27
  Non-existent, Merly, Luis, Aquaca,
• 1:12:30
  Robotsi, Taylor Rio, and that's it,
• 1:12:32
  baby.
• 1:12:33
  >> Lovely. Jake, just lovely.
• 1:12:35
  Peter,
• 1:12:37
  >> with Summer Gamesfest on the horizon, I
• 1:12:41
  would like to present with you to you my
• 1:12:43
  Summer Games Fest wish list.
• 1:12:44
  >> Oh, is that what this is?
• 1:12:46
  >> That's
• 1:12:47
  >> okay.
• 1:12:49
  An interesting episode of this podcast.
• 1:12:50
  We very rarely read lists. It's very
• 1:12:53
  like where we just like go down the list
• 1:12:55
  of like here's the things that happen.
• 1:12:56
  All right. Yeah. Let's hear your
• 1:12:57
  predictions.
• 1:12:58
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
• 1:12:59
  >> Or your wish list. Excuse me.
• 1:13:01
  >> My wish list.
• 1:13:04
  I am filled with hope surrounding Summer
• 1:13:08
  GameFest.
• 1:13:10
  The first thing I would like,
• 1:13:13
  I would appreciate it if somebody were
• 1:13:15
  to announce a platform fighter.
• 1:13:19
  >> Mhm.
• 1:13:19
  >> The absence of Smash Brothers has made
• 1:13:21
  has left a power vacuum in the ecosystem
• 1:13:23
  desperate to be addressed. I would like
• 1:13:25
  to see a little guy launched across the
• 1:13:29
  screen because just not quite being able
• 1:13:32
  to make your way back to a platform is
• 1:13:35
  truly one of gaming's great shared
• 1:13:37
  pleasures.
• 1:13:39
  Now, I know as a fighting game fan that
• 1:13:41
  surely Marvel Tokon will be featured at
• 1:13:42
  SGF, and listen, it does look cool, but
• 1:13:45
  it also looks like the sort of game that
• 1:13:47
  requires a minor in Marvel Tokon.
• 1:13:50
  >> So, I hope a platform fighter reveals
• 1:13:52
  itself to me. a sweet treat.
• 1:13:56
  I would also like Batman to come back.
• 1:13:58
  This dance has gone on far too long.
• 1:14:01
  Batman is one of the most enduring
• 1:14:03
  fictional characters of all time, and
• 1:14:04
  back Batman games used to be a part of
• 1:14:06
  life. The last Arkham game suspiciously
• 1:14:08
  came out in 2015, making me believe that
• 1:14:11
  they were maybe one of the few things
• 1:14:13
  holding this goddamn country together.
• 1:14:17
  Now, now
• 1:14:19
  we didn't know. We didn't know that they
• 1:14:21
  were weightbearing. How could we have
• 1:14:23
  known?
• 1:14:25
  >> We were also focused on the Joker. Now
• 1:14:27
  years go by without a Batman game.
• 1:14:30
  Nobody seems alarmed. Nobody cares. All
• 1:14:33
  you people keep going to work. Children
• 1:14:35
  continue attending school. I find this
• 1:14:38
  troubling. I hope Batman reveals himself
• 1:14:41
  to me.
• 1:14:43
  I hope at Summer GameFest
• 1:14:45
  we have some good meals.
• 1:14:48
  Every year at events like this, someone
• 1:14:50
  will inevitably discover a place to eat
• 1:14:52
  and begin describing it with the fervor
• 1:14:54
  of a man who has received a vision. The
• 1:14:57
  recommendation will spread through group
• 1:14:59
  chats and hotel lobbies. 20 grown adults
• 1:15:01
  will suddenly find themselves marching
• 1:15:03
  three miles through Los Angeles because
• 1:15:05
  somebody said a taco changed their life.
• 1:15:07
  I need to remember not to believe these
• 1:15:10
  people. Still, a man can dream.
• 1:15:14
  I would like meals that leave me feeling
• 1:15:16
  good and energized. I would like to
• 1:15:18
  remain, as Peter says, laser tag ready.
• 1:15:24
  I hope a photograph of Chip reveals
• 1:15:27
  itself to me at Summer GameFest. At some
• 1:15:30
  point, my wife will text me a picture of
• 1:15:31
  my dog. This is among one of the most
• 1:15:34
  reliable forces in the universe. The
• 1:15:36
  photo could depict anything. Chip
• 1:15:38
  sleeping, Chip sitting, Chip staring at
• 1:15:41
  a shoe with deep suspicion.
• 1:15:44
  My friends will then gather around my
• 1:15:46
  phone to admire him, however briefly.
• 1:15:49
  Then the conversation will continue
• 1:15:50
  wherever it left off. It is a small
• 1:15:52
  ritual,
• 1:15:54
  but I hope to be reminded of how good my
• 1:15:56
  life is.
• 1:15:58
  I hope, of course, that we get a good
• 1:16:00
  night's sleep. This year, Peter,
• 1:16:02
  Christian, and I will be sharing a room,
• 1:16:04
  >> one bed.
• 1:16:05
  >> There's always uh
• 1:16:07
  >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
• 1:16:08
  >> No, no, this is good. There is always a
• 1:16:10
  brief period at the start of trips like
• 1:16:12
  this where we imagine ourselves as
• 1:16:13
  disciplined professionals. Men who turn
• 1:16:15
  the lights off at a respectable hour.
• 1:16:17
  Men who understand the demands of a long
• 1:16:19
  week. Men who respect the sacred
• 1:16:22
  relationship between rest and
• 1:16:24
  performance.
• 1:16:26
  More likely someone will mention a game
• 1:16:31
  or a book or a memory from 10 years ago.
• 1:16:34
  Someone will tell a story that requires
• 1:16:36
  another story to explain it. Midnight
• 1:16:39
  will become 1 in the morning. 1 in the
• 1:16:41
  morning will become something far less
• 1:16:43
  defensible.
• 1:16:45
  >> Maybe we just end up talking about our
• 1:16:47
  feelings.
• 1:16:48
  >> Maybe we tell the story about the time
• 1:16:50
  the muffin man betrayed me.
• 1:16:53
  >> I hope we have a nice night. I hope I
• 1:16:56
  reveal myself at Summer Gamefest.
• 1:16:59
  For a few days every year, a bunch of
• 1:17:02
  people whose lives are usually scattered
• 1:17:03
  across the country end up in the same
• 1:17:05
  place at the same time. We are going to
• 1:17:07
  tell stories. We're going to laugh.
• 1:17:09
  Maybe we'll stay up a little late. But
• 1:17:11
  then inevitably, we will disappear back
• 1:17:13
  into our regular lives and spend several
• 1:17:16
  months waiting for it to happen again.
• 1:17:19
  And that feels worth hoping for, too.
• 1:17:22
  But still,
• 1:17:24
  Batman and a platform fighter, please.
• 1:17:26
  Let's remain focused on the issues.
• 1:17:27
  Thank you.
• 1:17:28
  >> Ah, Jake, this is lovely.
• 1:17:30
  >> This is so good.
• 1:17:33
  >> Yeah, dude. I
• 1:17:35
  >> I think you really have just hit what
• 1:17:37
  makes this fun because of course of
• 1:17:39
  course it's fun like it's it's work so
• 1:17:41
  you know whatever but like I think um I
• 1:17:45
  think people forget that these are also
• 1:17:47
  fun to go to. I know like people love to
• 1:17:49
  uh like roll their eyes like I got to
• 1:17:51
  travel for work and whatever, but there
• 1:17:52
  is like so like yes, you're at work for
• 1:17:54
  sure for some of the day and you have to
• 1:17:56
  like figure out like what content you're
• 1:17:58
  working on or writing and whatever, but
• 1:17:59
  there is such a sense of like Yeah. But
• 1:18:01
  you get to see people and seeing people
• 1:18:03
  is so nice. It's so nice. And as all as
• 1:18:05
  like so much like [ __ ] like
• 1:18:07
  permeates like games media of of people
• 1:18:10
  sometimes get like like a little snippy
• 1:18:12
  with each other online, whatever. I
• 1:18:14
  think that like actually being in the
• 1:18:15
  same room with people is just like such
• 1:18:17
  a nice way to be like, "Oh, like you're
• 1:18:18
  like a reminder like you're a person and
• 1:18:20
  I'm a person." And so we can like find
• 1:18:21
  some sort of like
• 1:18:24
  maybe we'll maybe we'll stop at that
• 1:18:25
  Euro truck that that stops by uh the SGF
• 1:18:29
  food court lobby area. You know, I keep
• 1:18:33
  telling myself two things in the leadup
• 1:18:34
  to SGF because to be to be transparent,
• 1:18:37
  I've had some I've had some some
• 1:18:38
  anxiety.
• 1:18:39
  >> I've also had some anxiety. I've had
• 1:18:41
  some anxiety and I and mostly social
• 1:18:43
  anxiety I would say.
• 1:18:44
  >> That's where I'm at with it.
• 1:18:46
  >> Yeah. And I would say two things I'm
• 1:18:48
  keeping in mind. One, above all else, my
• 1:18:50
  prerogative above all else is to have a
• 1:18:53
  good time.
• 1:18:53
  >> Love that.
• 1:18:54
  >> That is what I'm Yeah, that is my
• 1:18:55
  prerogative. Um, number two, the last
• 1:18:59
  time I was at one of these game events,
• 1:19:00
  somebody who didn't know me very well
• 1:19:02
  um, made a comment to me that I'm going
• 1:19:04
  to keep in my mind for the next week,
• 1:19:07
  which is they said to me that I was
• 1:19:09
  somebody who was in a social setting at
• 1:19:11
  like a party or whatever. um they found
• 1:19:14
  to be like quite intimidating because it
• 1:19:18
  gave off the impression that I was maybe
• 1:19:19
  like socially talented in a way like
• 1:19:22
  like very like um so comfortable in a
• 1:19:26
  way that made them think about how
• 1:19:27
  uncomfortable they were.
• 1:19:29
  >> And that is not how I actually feel at
• 1:19:32
  any of these things. But
• 1:19:34
  >> I think what the reason why I'm keeping
• 1:19:36
  that in mind is that I think that that
• 1:19:37
  quality that I have is both a power and
• 1:19:40
  a responsibility.
• 1:19:42
  Because I think that one, it's a power,
• 1:19:44
  meaning I could kind of
• 1:19:47
  maybe use that in a way to to protect
• 1:19:50
  myself at the cost of my relationships
• 1:19:52
  with others,
• 1:19:53
  >> but it's also a responsibility and that
• 1:19:55
  I have to remember that that is how I
• 1:19:57
  come across and I need to, you know, use
• 1:19:59
  that wisely and and
• 1:20:01
  >> take care of others in addition to
• 1:20:03
  myself.
• 1:20:03
  >> I find um I'm uh uh I was very grateful
• 1:20:06
  at the first gaming event I ever went
• 1:20:08
  to. Um, Moises Tiveres, if he's
• 1:20:11
  watching, uh, I walked in to a party at
• 1:20:14
  the Giant Bomb offices. This is back
• 1:20:16
  when, or it was the Phantom Offices at
• 1:20:18
  that time. I walked in not really
• 1:20:20
  knowing what to expect and there
• 1:20:22
  standing there was like everyone that I
• 1:20:24
  admired in games media, right? All like
• 1:20:26
  hanging out and talking. And I am sure I
• 1:20:28
  looked like a deer in headlights because
• 1:20:29
  I just I'm I'm like I never met anyone
• 1:20:31
  before. This was like the first time I
• 1:20:32
  was meeting people from games. And I was
• 1:20:34
  like, "Oh, and it's all these people who
• 1:20:34
  I respect and admire." And Moyesus came
• 1:20:36
  up to me. He's a freelance writer. Um,
• 1:20:39
  and he came up to me and he said, uh,
• 1:20:41
  he's like, "You look like you need some
• 1:20:43
  help." And I was like, "I do." Yes. And
• 1:20:45
  he was such a nice, wonderful first
• 1:20:47
  person to talk to. And he was like,
• 1:20:49
  like, "Let's get you some, you know,
• 1:20:50
  like let's let's get you settled a
• 1:20:52
  little bit." It was great. And I
• 1:20:54
  remember how that felt. And sometimes I
• 1:20:56
  will be at these events and I will look
• 1:20:57
  over and see someone who's like feeling
• 1:20:59
  that way as well where it's just like
• 1:21:00
  they walk in and it's like, "Oh, fuck."
• 1:21:02
  Cuz I feel that way all the time. But
• 1:21:04
  it's like, "Listen,
• 1:21:05
  >> I don't know you, but I'm friendly. So
• 1:21:07
  come on over. let's talk and then we can
• 1:21:09
  get you where you want to go and talk to
• 1:21:10
  whoever you want to talk to. Um, so I
• 1:21:12
  love that. I love that. I think that's
• 1:21:13
  that's a wonderful goal to have and I
• 1:21:15
  think maybe I'll I'll try and do the
• 1:21:16
  same.
• 1:21:18
  >> Yeah. So, I hope we have a good time. I
• 1:21:20
  think I think something I think
• 1:21:21
  something I need to remind myself is
• 1:21:23
  that like the work part of it, to be
• 1:21:26
  completely honest,
• 1:21:27
  >> is not that serious.
• 1:21:28
  >> Not that serious.
• 1:21:30
  >> It's not that we're going to do it and
• 1:21:30
  it's going to be good.
• 1:21:32
  >> We're gonna we're going to do our best.
• 1:21:33
  We're going to put our best foot
• 1:21:34
  forward. If things go wrong, if there
• 1:21:36
  are surprises, just let it let it let it
• 1:21:39
  move through it.
• 1:21:40
  >> 100% 100% agree.
• 1:21:42
  >> So, have a good time. That's the
• 1:21:43
  prerogative. All right.
• 1:21:45
  >> A bit of a long one today.
• 1:21:46
  >> Went a little over, but
• 1:21:48
  >> hey, it's kind of like the end of
• 1:21:50
  school, right? Like, we're about to be
• 1:21:51
  on vacation.
• 1:21:52
  >> Is it embarrassing? Peter, let me ask
• 1:21:54
  you this.
• 1:21:56
  >> Is it embarrassing to talk this
• 1:21:58
  extensively about trailers and a video
• 1:22:01
  game showcase? is that we don't
• 1:22:02
  typically go there on the critical error
• 1:22:04
  podcast. We're we're typically, you
• 1:22:06
  know, having these more meta
• 1:22:07
  conversations and I and I think that
• 1:22:09
  like so now my question extends to is it
• 1:22:12
  us? Should I not feel embarrassed
• 1:22:14
  talking about this stuff?
• 1:22:16
  >> So I think the answer to your question
• 1:22:18
  lies a little bit in a problem that
• 1:22:20
  we've begun identifying about like kind
• 1:22:22
  of games media as a whole and it or not
• 1:22:25
  games media but like maybe just gaming
• 1:22:27
  culture in general and that so much
• 1:22:29
  stuff is so cyclical,
• 1:22:30
  >> right? how we are feeling about these
• 1:22:32
  trailers is exactly how we felt at the
• 1:22:35
  last state of play. And the conversation
• 1:22:37
  surrounding these trailers is the exact
• 1:22:40
  same thing. And so for us, like trying
• 1:22:42
  to figure out new ways to talk about
• 1:22:43
  this these sorts of things that is uh
• 1:22:46
  interesting and bringing something new
• 1:22:47
  to the table, I think is something that
• 1:22:50
  we are like like working through as
• 1:22:52
  we've been doing the show. So that we
• 1:22:54
  joked at the beginning like haven't we
• 1:22:55
  done this episode before? Kind of, but
• 1:22:58
  we need a new angle on it. And so like
• 1:23:00
  by I think by taking a look at it like
• 1:23:01
  this um is a new way for us to actually
• 1:23:04
  like sit down and talk about these sorts
• 1:23:05
  of things. So I don't think it's
• 1:23:06
  embarrassing at all. No, I think I think
• 1:23:08
  it is is reflective of the challenges of
• 1:23:10
  sort of um
• 1:23:13
  bringing something novel to a discourse
• 1:23:15
  cycle that is so often just repeating
• 1:23:17
  itself. And I and I guess I would like
• 1:23:20
  to advocate for ourselves and say that I
• 1:23:21
  do think that there is something to kind
• 1:23:23
  of like pressing in on these things more
• 1:23:26
  than you know everybody's streaming
• 1:23:27
  these things. Everybody's live reacting
• 1:23:29
  to him. We I think it was cool that
• 1:23:31
  >> Yeah. And then I think it's it's cool
• 1:23:33
  that we kind of like had a little night
• 1:23:35
  to sleep on it
• 1:23:36
  >> and then are really like concerned with
• 1:23:38
  what these trailers are doing. Whereas I
• 1:23:40
  kind of have this impression. Is it me?
• 1:23:42
  I don't know. I kind of have this
• 1:23:43
  impression of a lot of like
• 1:23:45
  >> showcase reviews that we are reviewing
• 1:23:50
  our perceived quality of the collection
• 1:23:52
  of games and not how they showed. We've
• 1:23:55
  talked about this before about like when
• 1:23:56
  people like sometimes you can have a
• 1:23:57
  good showcase with bad trailers and
• 1:23:59
  sometimes you can have a like good
• 1:24:00
  trailers and a bad showcase and
• 1:24:01
  whatever, but at the end of the day,
• 1:24:03
  >> you're not talking about the individual
• 1:24:05
  trailers. You're not talking about like
• 1:24:06
  well what are we learning from these?
• 1:24:08
  There's no there's no like real
• 1:24:09
  dissection and real understanding there,
• 1:24:12
  >> man. There really is nothing to talk
• 1:24:13
  about with these Wolverine and God of
• 1:24:15
  War trailers.
• 1:24:15
  >> I mean, that's why that's why everyone's
• 1:24:16
  just like, "Let's talk about the cube."
• 1:24:19
  >> It's like it's like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:24:20
  You really just got to like see it.
• 1:24:22
  >> You know what it is? The cube is novel.
• 1:24:24
  I it's novel in a way that I don't love
• 1:24:25
  because it's just like lol so random but
• 1:24:28
  like it is something that distinguishes
• 1:24:31
  this game from God of War 2018 and
• 1:24:33
  Ragnarok in a way in a way that
• 1:24:36
  >> Fay's character that from what we've
• 1:24:39
  seen in a way that Fay's like move sets
• 1:24:43
  have like don't distinguish themselves.
• 1:24:45
  >> Isn't the cube just the squirrel?
• 1:24:48
  >> What's the Oh yeah. Which is that in the
• 1:24:50
  second one or the first one?
• 1:24:52
  >> Yeah. Aren't we just doing like, you
• 1:24:54
  know, I like I don't
• 1:24:55
  >> because he was like a smartmouth kind of
• 1:24:57
  like hello sir kind of
• 1:24:59
  >> and and aren't we all a little bit like
• 1:25:03
  >> I feel like every game has a weird
• 1:25:04
  little guy.
• 1:25:05
  >> They have to.
• 1:25:07
  >> Yeah,
• 1:25:07
  >> they it's it's in the law.
• 1:25:10
  >> It's in the law. And and that that
• 1:25:12
  Guardians of the Galaxy, for what it's
• 1:25:13
  worth, also had a very similar
• 1:25:15
  gelatinous cube. It was just red.
• 1:25:17
  >> Oh, it was an enemy type, wasn't it?
• 1:25:19
  >> Yeah, it was. Yeah, there was a whole
• 1:25:20
  thing reacting to it. It was it did a
• 1:25:22
  very similar joke of like oh it's a cube
• 1:25:23
  and that's kind of funny and then what's
• 1:25:26
  funny is I think ultimately that cube
• 1:25:27
  will will do it you know it will be an
• 1:25:29
  enemy you know
• 1:25:30
  >> I for real think that 100% there is a
• 1:25:32
  third act heal turn where it's like you
• 1:25:35
  you know you foolish foolish whatever
• 1:25:37
  and it's like
• 1:25:39
  >> oh it turns out he's evil
• 1:25:41
  >> at the end of the day I do still have
• 1:25:43
  some confidence in that Wolverine story
• 1:25:45
  when it when it's actually out even if
• 1:25:47
  the game itself is is like
• 1:25:48
  >> yeah I think I think it's starting from
• 1:25:49
  a different place as not
• 1:25:51
  having to be like reacting to the cannon
• 1:25:53
  of whatever came before it because
• 1:25:55
  nothing came before it really.
• 1:25:57
  >> Is Spider-Man going to show up in it
• 1:25:58
  yet?
• 1:26:01
  >> No.
• 1:26:02
  >> Yeah, probably not. I think I think
• 1:26:04
  >> there's a little bit more restraint
• 1:26:06
  there.
• 1:26:07
  >> What's weird though is that there are
• 1:26:08
  going to be um Mary Jane gameplay
• 1:26:11
  sections because she's going to be
• 1:26:12
  covering what Wolverine is doing. Okay.
• 1:26:14
  Sure. Yeah. And they're gonna say, "We
• 1:26:15
  we heard you loud and clear." More of
• 1:26:17
  >> this. Do you think you switched to Jean
• 1:26:19
  Gray? Sure. Right. No, never.
• 1:26:21
  >> No. They specifically said in their
• 1:26:23
  language, this is a single player game
• 1:26:24
  where you only play as one player.
• 1:26:26
  >> Yeah, you're right. You're right. You're
• 1:26:26
  right.
• 1:26:27
  >> They said it. So,
• 1:26:28
  >> and they call her an NPC as well.
• 1:26:30
  >> I think
• 1:26:31
  >> maybe maybe maybe postlaunch stuff.
• 1:26:34
  Maybe.
• 1:26:34
  >> Yeah, potentially a little bit of DLC.
• 1:26:36
  >> I think so. I think that'd be cool. All
• 1:26:37
  right. Thanks for listening everybody.
• 1:26:39
  We'll see you at summer game.