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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe · The Long and Short of It

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We hope you enjoy the show. Hello, welcome to the long and
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short of it. The podcast where we discuss
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each of the games on the Metacritic top 100 list.
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My name is Dan and I'm joined by.
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I'm Lawrence. Welcome to the podcast.
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How are you? I'm well, I caught you off
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guard. They didn't like, just as you're
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about to start recording. I said something and you weren't
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didn't expect it. I thought I thought, I thought
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I'd just start and even if the intro was ruined.
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I mean, it's not right, but we've really yeah.
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Yeah. Usually isn't it?
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Let's be honest. Yeah we're pretty standard isn't
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it? Yeah, we were just discussing
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myself pouring a pint of Guinness which I'm currently
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just finishing off now just pouring the last little bits in
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so it can settle nicely. We like to see it.
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Going through a Guinness phase at the moment I can safely say
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I've never had a kid his face. Well that's because you're a
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child. I all I drink is real real side
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and now all you drink his tea. And T, and I've got a cup of tea
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with a, with a hint of Honey, right now I respect that that's
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bloody. Lovely, that is.
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But yes, I'm quite well now. It's like poured.
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My beverage you? Well, I'm okay.
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Yeah, I start slightly earlier, and finish slightly earlier on a
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Monday. So yes, I'm good.
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And my body was called to beat off guard, by by the clocks
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changing. Yes.
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Indeed, this morning. I was quite tired, but I'm okay
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now. Now, I'm glad that you made a
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full recovery. Yeah you say that a partial
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recovery and in the brain well that hasn't changed in three
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years. So you know let's let's continue
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that lot longer longer white. Okay so I a classic classic
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introduction from us our classical.
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So today, we're here to discuss the Stanley.
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Parable jumping straight in there.
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Catching you off guard and the Only Parable Ultra Deluxe is
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number 90. No, it's not, that's not true is
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near the end of the list but we don't have a number for it
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because know this is our first game that was not officially
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part of the lineup that we originally had planned.
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Yes. First of a few actually this
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game has a 93 Metascore and it does come in at the very tail
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end of the list. The version that is on the take
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list is Xbox series X released in 2022, the ultra deluxe
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version. It is.
2:55
Yes, Ultra deluxe version. Okay, do you have any history
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with the Stanley Parable or the ultra deluxe edition?
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Not play not playing them? No.
3:08
Because the original stuff from what I understand, the original
3:11
Stanley. Parable was like an add-on, it
3:13
was like a Garry's Mod thing back in the early naughty And it
3:19
was quite successful. And then I remember, I think it
3:22
was, I don't think, I think it was Half Life 2.
3:25
So might have been late naughties.
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Yes. So it was basically, it was like
3:32
a fan made game and then in 2013 they released an actual game
3:38
called the Stanley Parable, which you could buy.
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And I remember watching Nerd Cubed on YouTube play, the demo,
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which is a bit different from the the final game this There's
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no kind of content in there. I don't think from memory that
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mimics the, the release, but it was one of those games I watched
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and I like the look of just because it's very quirky but I'd
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never played it. And then obviously picking it up
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for the podcast. Now in 2022, the ultra Deluxe,
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which is the 2013 version, but with some extra stuff it was the
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first time I played it. I was aware of quite a lot of
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the endings that came with it and a few other jokes because I
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watched a few playthroughs. I remember When we're at, you
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know, I think when I was with you, we watch DSP Play Through
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The Stanley. Parable.
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I know we watched someone playing.
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I didn't know it was our yeah and DSP.
4:26
Yeah, I think it was DSP. So yeah, I've never played it
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before. This is my first time playing
4:30
it, but I know quite a lot about this game and I've watched quite
4:33
a few playthroughs of it. What about you?
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Yeah, so my first exposure to this game was at University.
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Watching someone maybe DSP play through it.
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And I do remember that quite Clearly.
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And a lot of the endings were still surprisingly fresh in my
4:53
mind from that maybe we watched a few videos on it.
4:56
Because yeah, although I had never played this before was
5:02
acutely aware of what happens in the original game and I suppose
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in a way some of the surprise of that and knowing what it is was
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taken from me because of that. But nevertheless, we played it
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for the podcast. What version did you play?
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I played it on the PS5. I know that there were quite a
5:23
few versions that came out, like you said, there's the Xbox
5:26
version and the switch version. I think it might even be on
5:29
phones as well, as well as being on Steam, but I decided to get
5:32
on Playstation, mostly because it was the cheapest version.
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I think I picked it up for about eighteen quid, whereas on on the
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Nintendo eShop, it was about 26, 27. 90's 2000 case only only a
5:46
few pounds more. But yeah.
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I've been trying to save the pennies lately, so yes, but I'm
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glad that I played on the PlayStation is it's one of those
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games. It's quite fun to Trophy hunt
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for. I've only got one trophy left
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before I before I Platinum it. So.
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Yes, where did you play it? I played it on the switch.
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Hence, we name the price. Yeah, so I think this is a good
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game that for handheld. Yeah, it's very much, the switch
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game, isn't it? Yeah, played Portal 2 on the
6:18
switch as well and that that went very nicely on the switch.
6:22
It always feels like a bit of a novelty having these Source
6:26
engine or original Source engine games.
6:28
I think it's now in unity playing on the switch,
6:32
especially the portal portal collection, that felt like a
6:35
real novelty playing that because it hadn't been released
6:38
elsewhere in a long time. And I don't think it's still
6:41
being released in other places, but yeah.
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Played on the switch. That's a good version.
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This is a, I'd say that the ultra deluxe edition is a more
6:55
polished version of the original version.
6:57
So you got you got some better textures and stuff like that but
7:02
it's still not an amazing-looking game.
7:04
It's still very much I don't know how to describe it.
7:11
Is it still looks like a Half-Life 2 mod in a way but
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like a nicer version, It's, it looks a lot like portal, but
7:18
maybe not without the art style flourishes.
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I'd say that. That game has.
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I've jumped straight into the visuals already.
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I I've just completely on the ball today and you are.
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So do you want to talk about the plot of this game?
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Yes. Well this, yes, this is a story
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of a man named Stanley. Stanley and occasionally the
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story of a woman called Mary L, but it is it's a bit of a Choose
7:46
Your Own Adventure game. So the the plot of The Stanley
7:49
Parable is that you play as a man named Stanley who works in
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an office building and his job all day.
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Every day is to just press buttons that come up on his
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computer as and when they show up.
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And that's all is that, that's what he's happy with, he's never
8:04
questioned it. And then one day the The button
8:07
prompts on his computer, stop coming.
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So he sits down and waits for a while until he decides to step
8:14
out of his office and go to the meeting room to try and find out
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what's going on to find that. There's absolutely nobody in his
8:21
office building and the game is prompted by the narrator and the
8:26
narrator will give you a route to go down.
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So you know, as you're playing through, he will go as Stanley
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walked into this room, he went through the door on his left and
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there are two open. Doors and you can choose to go
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through the door on his left on his, right?
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So you can be at odds with the narrator in this game and kind
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of choose your own ending of which there are, I believe in
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the ultra Deluxe 42. So, there are 42, different
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endings, one of, which includes the the cannon, you know, ending
8:52
as if you follow the narrator. But there are so many different
8:54
ways that you can play through this game and spoilers for I
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suppose. If you follow the narrator
9:01
through you find out that the building that he works and has a
9:04
massive mind control facility underneath, which you turn.
9:07
But then, there are so many different ways.
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It can go down, you can, you know, decide that you have free
9:13
will and jump off the side of a heightened section.
9:17
In a warehouse, you can walk into a room where telephones
9:20
ringing and you talk to your wife who doesn't really exist.
9:24
That there's it's a very bizarre game but yeah, that the plot of
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the game is effectively you work in an office building.
9:31
You followed narrators instructions if you want to and
9:34
Chaos ensues in terms of the The outcomes in the ending, so you
9:38
can get, I suppose. Yeah, I think that is a, yeah,
9:41
good description of. What isn't an easy plot to
9:45
describe? It's more of a setup than up.
9:47
Yes, isn't it? Yeah.
9:48
Got the, the different ways that it can unfold.
9:53
Okay. So, you've given us a bit about
9:55
the set up of the game. What do you actually do in this
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game? The moment-to-moment gameplay.
10:00
It's, um, it's a walking simulator.
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Really? It's a first person walking
10:04
simulator where You make choices.
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It's a decision based game the end of the day I suppose.
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So there's there's not really any platforming.
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There is a very small section where you can jump, it gives you
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the option to jump and they bring the jump button back from
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the original Stanley Parable. So they got rid of it, but other
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than that, it is very much, an exploration.
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Walking simulator would be the, the moment-to-moment gameplay I
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suppose. I don't know if you'd add
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anything to that, not really There isn't much you can do
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apart from walk and interacts, which really are the only tools
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that you have at your disposal in a typical walking simulator.
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Sometimes they may give you Fast move or sometimes you won't even
10:55
have an interactive button and you trigger things by walking
10:58
into them. But yeah, this was a genre that
11:01
kind of I'm sure you can make the argument as you could with
11:05
anything that there were walking simulators before the word was
11:10
for the phrase was coined. Yeah.
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And you had that Spurt of walking simulators kind of had
11:17
dear St, had everybody's gone to the Rapture, you had gone home.
11:22
All those sort of popular walking simulators that you got,
11:29
what remains of Edith Finch. And everybody's gone to the
11:33
radish and of Ethan Carter. Yeah.
11:36
So yeah, that one as well. So and you do still get walking
11:40
simulators and I quite like them.
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I think they're quite relaxing and there's something nice about
11:46
just switching off completely and watching things unfold
11:50
before your eyes in. In kind of a way that is unique
11:56
to walking simulators. Okay, so onto our ever-present
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feature gameplay is King. This is going to be an
12:03
interesting conversation, given, we just talked about the extent
12:07
of the gameplay, is the Stanley Parable fun to play?
12:12
Yeah, I think so. It's that there isn't really
12:16
anything to the gameplay, like we say, it is a walking
12:19
simulator. But if you're someone that, you
12:21
know, No wants to just have like kind of zone out and have a bit
12:25
of fun with a game like this. It's one of those things that
12:29
you can just dip in and out of and really you'll get in, you'll
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get out of it as much as you want to put in.
12:37
There's a load of random stuff in there but it's easy to have a
12:41
fun time with this game. It's a good.
12:43
It's a good laugh. So yes I would say the game is
12:46
fun. What do you think?
12:48
I think it all hinges on how aware you are of what's going
12:58
on. Yeah, I think if you're going,
13:00
hold, I think you'll enjoy this game more.
13:03
I enjoyed the new content a lot more than the stuff that I was
13:06
previously exposed to. And similarly, I think, if you
13:11
take a break from this game and you come back after a while,
13:15
you'll enjoy it more. This is not the kind of game
13:17
where once You've seen the endings, you'll want to replay
13:22
straight away to get the endings, if you know what I
13:25
mean. And I think at times when you're
13:31
replaying paths to unlock branches, that may be a bit
13:35
further along the path. It can get a bit dull.
13:39
I said that's you, I think, yeah.
13:43
When you When you start running the same path over and over
13:47
again and but you're changing the endings.
13:50
Once you've run through the dialogue, a few times, sometimes
13:52
it does change, but sometimes it doesn't.
13:55
Yeah, it can get a bit dull at times and sometimes I was very
13:59
aware that I was a bit bored and I was playing it.
14:01
But then other times I was thinking, this is good.
14:04
I like the point this is making it's a very hard game to
14:09
describe in gameplay terms because that's not what the game
14:13
is. That's not what the game is
14:14
trying. To do so, you can be fun.
14:20
But it can also not be fun. Yeah, I know.
14:22
You mean it can get it can get tedious.
14:25
The yeah, the game's jokey theme can get a bit tiring after
14:29
you've been playing it for a while.
14:30
I know where you're coming from with that, but I also think that
14:33
the creators of this game are fully aware that, that is the
14:37
case and that is by Design because there are some things
14:44
which I'm sure we'll get to where the creators of this game
14:49
are very Be aware of some criticism that was leveled
14:52
towards it as well as the positive stuff that it received.
14:55
It's a very it's a very self-aware game.
14:58
Yes. Like mass mass.
15:00
Oh, so Rather than talking about your favorite move because that
15:04
would be pretty redundant. Yes.
15:07
Yeah, I thought it would be more interesting to talk about your
15:10
favorite ending for this game. I've got, I've probably got
15:14
about three three favorite endings, the first one is one of
15:18
the very basic ones. So if you decide to follow the
15:21
narrator's, instructions up to the point where you go up to the
15:24
boss's office but you instead go downstairs, you go through like
15:29
a repeating. Ready way.
15:32
You're walking through a garage and then through a few office
15:35
spaces and all of these endings are made by the fact that the
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narration in this case, in this game is so good.
15:43
Yes, Andre Stephen Fry? Yes.
15:46
Oh massively. So it's very British humor.
15:50
You know, there's one section where you can lock yourself in a
15:52
broom broom closet and the narrator gets increasingly
15:56
frustrated by the fact that you don't leave the broom closet to
15:59
the point where he's just like, oh, you don't follow
16:00
instructions door, do you? Well, I'm not.
16:02
Getting annoyed about it. And then a few seconds later,
16:04
he's like Stanley was fat and ugly and had no friends and
16:06
wasn't very good at taking instruction is stuff like that,
16:10
but one of my favorites was where you go downstairs.
16:14
You go through a repeating Loop to the point where Stanley goes
16:19
to sleep because he thinks it's all in his head, he wakes up.
16:22
And then the narrator is like Stanley started screaming and
16:26
all of a sudden, you come to the end of it.
16:28
He blacks out and it goes into the story of a lady, my name.
16:31
Mariela who Was on her way to work and find Stanley's dead
16:34
body in the middle of the streaks in just been running
16:36
around screaming because it's all in his head.
16:39
That's that's a highlight for me.
16:42
I also like the ending where you get taken into the games.
16:48
I don't know if you came across, I want you, you going to, I
16:50
didn't, but I know of it because I watch some videos yesterday.
16:54
I know you're going to Minecraft, you're going to fire.
16:57
Watch you go into The cough will get Rocket League.
17:03
Yes. Yes.
17:04
I don't know if the Minecraft one is still in the ultra
17:07
Deluxe. I don't know if they replaced
17:08
that with with rocket League, maybe I'm unsure.
17:12
But yeah, you go down one ending, where you play a game
17:15
that the narrator's made for you, where you have to stop a
17:18
baby going into the fire, and then you can rate it like poor
17:22
and about, right? Okay, then let's go and play a
17:23
different game. So it takes you into the world
17:25
of firewatch, at which point the narrator immediately freaks out
17:29
because it's an open world. Game and he does something like
17:32
that. So he then puts you into rocket
17:34
League where you can score some goals and then you have to jump
17:36
down into the goal yourself. So that was up there and then
17:39
the final one I'll mention is if you disobey the narrator, go
17:44
into the warehouse over this Gap and into a room with a phone.
17:50
And if you pick up the phone, it's h12 a weird little story
17:55
about Stanley's wife, I think from memory, but if you unplug
17:57
the phone and it effectively breaks the entire game, and
18:00
Thing gets corrupted that's up there and as well as that, if
18:04
you go down a different branch through the, the ultra deluxe
18:08
version, you can get a bucket and you can take the bucket with
18:13
you, and I'll give you the same ending as but slightly
18:15
different, and if you go down that one with an answer, the
18:18
phone with the bucket, it takes you into a like a, an alternate
18:22
life timeline where Stanley in the bucket or in a relationship
18:27
and he goes to work goes, home and load the end of it.
18:30
That There's candles all in the bedroom of the buckets on the
18:32
bed. It's honestly bizarre but those
18:36
are the ones that stand out to me.
18:37
I'd say what about you. I think of the original endings.
18:41
I like the confusion ending the most, I think that the one way
18:45
you end up in the boardroom and as all the endings on the
18:47
screen. Yeah.
18:49
And it's the one where it's quite a long one and you'll
18:52
follow. Yeah.
18:52
Adventure line for? Yes I am and you've got the
18:55
adventure music. Yeah I think that's quite
18:58
amusing I think that's Quite pointed at many games.
19:03
So, the adventure line is Akin. So we talked about this in The
19:05
Witcher, finally, a nonlinear or so, yeah, the sat-nav that the
19:11
games, yes. Now, adopt and yeah, the
19:15
eventual line is a bit representative of that.
19:17
So I like that ending. I think that's called and I was
19:19
quite sharp. The game is at its best when
19:21
it's sharp and it's kind of commenting on other games.
19:26
I think my favorite Ending overall that I played was one of
19:32
the new endings which was where the narrator gets nostalgic and
19:38
he wants to go back in time to relive the glory of the Stanley.
19:41
Parable, when it first came out and do you get to see reviews?
19:46
Yes, yeah. Jim's Stephanie Sterling.
19:49
Yes, the Gamespot review and and then you see the negative
19:54
reviews that people were level towards it.
19:56
And one of the call All bits that you get is a skip function
20:02
but the skip function, yes, work.
20:03
The way that you'd expect it to work and every time you skip
20:07
some dialogue from the rambling, narrator time, passes more and
20:13
more to the point where eventually there's nothing left,
20:15
but the room that you're in based civilizations.
20:19
Collapse doesn't? Yeah.
20:21
Crumbles around you and you head out into a desert and I know
20:25
that one of the other endings, you go back into the desert as
20:28
well. Well yes, that's the the
20:29
epilogue. Yes.
20:32
So I think that was my favorite and it was nice, because it took
20:36
you out of that office structure.
20:37
Whereas, I feel like the, a lot of the original endings are
20:39
confined to that office structure.
20:41
Yeah. Whereas the newest stuff takes
20:45
you out of that a bit. Did you, did you get the
20:47
elevator ending? What's the elevator ending?
20:52
So, you know, I mean, it's too late.
20:55
Now, we said spoilers already but you know, spoilers for all
20:57
of the endings in the game. You know, as you go through the
21:01
boss's office and down into the elevator.
21:03
So basically, if you go down the elevator, and then go back up
21:06
and then go down again and then back up.
21:09
And then down again in the back up you get an ending where
21:11
effectively the narrator sets a press conference up for Stanley
21:16
to talk about. I can't even remember what it's
21:20
called. About the about that.
21:21
And if you do it on your own, then you're going to do this
21:24
press conference and like there are thousands of people there,
21:27
cheering your name and clapping you and stuff and you go through
21:29
the stage door. But if you do with the bucket,
21:32
nobody turns up to see you and Stanley gets depressed.
21:35
It's just so Random. Yeah, there's also there's also
21:40
an ending where you go behind the scenes and it shows you some
21:44
of the making of the Stanley. Parable.
21:46
Yes, you're in sort of a museum and you can also go there with a
21:49
bucket as well. And yeah, I was about a bucket
21:51
Museum. Yeah.
21:53
Yeah. So it's amusing.
21:56
As I say, I think some of the endings are better than others.
21:58
I think the game is at its best. When it's sharp irreverence?
22:03
Yes, I do think it takes some swings and misses Some of its
22:08
endings, but when you've got that many endings, not all of
22:11
them are going to be made equal. No, So let's talk about, I know,
22:17
we touched on the presentation and the audio bit.
22:20
So let's talk about the presentation and the audio.
22:22
So what do you think of it? I that the presentation is very
22:26
much akin to like a probably like a PS3 our game like late
22:30
late stage PS3 level game. I think it looks fine for what
22:35
it is but the the aesthetic isn't really what they're
22:37
looking at their that they're making an office setting with a
22:40
few different things here and there.
22:43
But then you know some elements of the game they make really
22:46
Cool. Little areas that you wouldn't
22:48
find unless you kind of really look for them, like the in the
22:53
new content, you know, going into a massive X Expo.
22:57
Yes, place to see all of the stuff that the rates are set up
23:00
for the Stanley Parable to. So, I think the look in the
23:05
design of it's fine, and there isn't really much music in this
23:08
game to talk about, there are a few sections here.
23:10
There were Musical, come on, which is, which is quite cool.
23:13
And there's a couple of original songs written in there.
23:16
Um, like if you get a glitch ending where you jump down to
23:19
the bottom of the mind control facility, they play you a little
23:22
song that was written about finding the bottom of the hole
23:27
or something like that. But the, the standout thing in
23:30
this game is the narrator and the voice acting of the actor,
23:34
the voice acting of the outside, the voice acting of the narrator
23:38
because that is really what makes this game.
23:41
What it is. I think if they've got the
23:44
narration on this game wrong, it would have.
23:47
I don't think it would have worked.
23:49
I think it works so well because it's a, it's very British humor
23:55
and that the voice actor that did the writer was a chap called
23:58
Kevan brighting Kevin bright. Yeah, that's a and yeah, I think
24:04
he's the stand out in this game. He's the only voice you'll hear
24:07
other than, like a woman narrator in the museum.
24:10
And I think, Think that's about it.
24:14
The wife on the phone. Oh yeah.
24:16
The wife on the phone as well obviously.
24:19
But yeah, it's the, the narrator in this game of the voice acting
24:21
steals the show. Really?
24:22
I don't think this game would be a successful successful.
24:25
If it didn't have this guy, doing the voice acting, you
24:27
know? Yeah, I think that's those games
24:31
that spawned from Half-Life 2. I think they all you can look at
24:38
a screen shot and you can tell that these games spawned from
24:41
Half-Life 2. They'll have this look of
24:45
Half-Life 2 about them and I think this very much does as
24:47
well. Yeah, I think some of the games
24:50
that use the source engine moved away from that B.
24:53
I know. So, I don't know.
24:56
So Dear Esther. So they I know that they
25:00
remarked at that and that started to look quite different
25:03
and quite nice with its Hebrides is outer Hebrides.
25:07
I think it's out of Hebrides setting.
25:08
Yeah. So and the other one, I'm going
25:16
to tell you a little story. Now, we're like a little story.
25:21
So Half-Life 2 came out, I was using the source engine.
25:24
They were two games at the time that used the source engine
25:30
originally and they were both in development.
25:32
At the same time, one got hell of a lot of funding one, got
25:37
less funding and kind of came out under a bit of.
25:44
It just came out very quietly so the first game obviously is
25:48
Half-Life 2, everyone knows that.
25:50
Yeah, And the second game is a game that will 100% be on my 15
25:57
games. It's a game called vampire, the
25:59
Masquerade Reckoning. Ah no sorry no vampire the
26:03
Masquerade. Bloodlines is another game
26:05
called vampire the Masquerade Reckoning, the vampire, the
26:08
Masquerade bloodlines and that used the source engine and looks
26:14
very nice. But also looks quite visually
26:15
distinctive from Half-Life, right?
26:19
Because I think it was being developed on that engine at the
26:22
same time. They kind of took it in a wildly
26:25
different direction and the art style is completely different
26:28
and it's a it's a fantastic game I think and will be playing that
26:34
at some point. So look forward to that.
26:37
The other thing I wanted to mention about the audio is
26:42
Another game that we played on this list.
26:45
Little Big Planet with its Stephen Fry narration read.
26:49
I forgot this even Christ. Even find a rated that game.
26:52
It's been so long since we played that for the podcast.
26:54
Yeah, pretty about three years now.
26:57
Yeah, that was quite an early one.
27:00
So I read something. This isn't my thought.
27:02
This is a borrowed or stolen thoughts, which is what we do
27:06
things. Um, yes, precisely.
27:10
So that game LittleBigPlanet with Stephen Fry, doing the
27:15
voice work, it kind of Harold did a bit of a Resurgence of
27:20
these British Old older gentleman there a yes of a
27:26
certain class with a certain type of dry humor doing doing
27:34
narration in these games and this game their 40's
27:38
LittleBigPlanet and Stephen Fry, a debts in the I think that I'm
27:45
almost certain that their game influenced this game in terms of
27:49
the narration. So so yeah, that was just a bit
27:53
of a tidbit to throw in there. I agree with you.
27:56
I think the Stephen Fry stuff. Definitely acts as a jumping off
28:00
point. yeah, and I also think with this game particularly The
28:06
guy that they got sounds a lot like Stephen.
28:09
He does. Yeah.
28:10
It's I wouldn't say it's uncanny but it's definitely noticeable.
28:15
Yeah. It's not it's not necessarily
28:18
the intonation or even the accent.
28:20
It's, it's the delivery. Yes.
28:24
All about the the yeah. So, yeah, it's a very similar
28:28
delivery and yeah, okay, so on to our question of the week,
28:34
This game has this game makes commentary about a lot of
28:39
topics. One of the foremost things that
28:42
this game makes commentary on is choice and decision making in
28:46
games. So I think this game does a nice
28:51
job of condensing, that conversation about choice in
28:55
games and how there are two doors.
28:58
And if you take one door, basically if you mapped out that
29:03
the decision making in this game, it would be quite
29:06
condensed compared to some other choice based game.
29:09
But I think it is very effective in.
29:13
Really giving the average player, a picture of how choices
29:19
are handled in games. So my question of the week is,
29:23
which game do you think hand was Choice the best?
29:31
Can you answer first? If you have an answer?
29:34
Yeah, so I think I'm a few ideas.
29:38
So first of all, I want to talk about again that I don't think
29:42
handles choice that well, that initially seems like it does
29:45
handle Choice very well. That's a Telltale series of
29:51
games where your first Telltale Game, which I remember very
29:55
fondly, which was The Walking Dead for me that played that
29:59
University. And I thought this is this is
30:03
really quite A special and what the decisions.
30:06
I'm making a having an impact on the story.
30:08
And there's that famous thing of blah, blah blah, will remember
30:11
that. Yeah, and then, the more
30:16
Telltale Games you play, the more you kind of realize that
30:21
your decisions are not really impacting the story.
30:24
I think the game that really struck me with that was Game of
30:28
Thrones, The Telltale Game, where whatever I did.
30:34
Did. The game was going to enter
30:37
certain way because it fed into the TV narrative and there was
30:41
nothing that I could do to stop that from happening.
30:44
So basically, it rendered all my decision making up to that point
30:47
pointless and that kind of exposed the total series.
30:53
For me, that's not to say that they're not still enjoyable
30:56
because they can be but I think that's a flawed Choice making
31:03
game. Now again, that I think does it
31:06
quite well? That had a massive budget is.
31:09
I don't know if you played this on the PS4.
31:12
Detroit become human. Yes, So that game had a big
31:17
budget obviously a lot of time spent on these different
31:22
Pathways and one of the things that the game shows you is the
31:25
different Pathways. You can take and there are a
31:28
huge number of them. Yeah.
31:30
And It just goes to show. The reason why a lot of games
31:36
don't have fully fleshed-out choices, is because People have
31:41
to create those, how to create those environments?
31:44
Those characters that go along with that and it's a big risk,
31:49
creating a part of a game that may be the vast majority of your
31:52
players aren't going to see. So again like a Detroit, it was
31:57
the center of that game and I think they handled it really
32:01
well. I don't think it's the best game
32:02
in the world, but that was one thing that I, that really struck
32:05
me about it was the way that they handled at the Choice
32:07
making and how different it could be depending on the
32:10
choices. You made another game that I've
32:14
already referenced that. I think handles Choice making
32:17
very well is vampire the Masquerade.
32:20
Bloodlines. So at the beginning of that
32:23
game, you choose your character type and based on the character
32:27
type you pick, you can have a completely different experience
32:31
so you can pick sort of a standard vampire.
32:35
And you can you can walk around at night time and people weren't
32:40
really bat an eyelid to you but the extreme is you can also pick
32:44
two players not for R2 and if you picked players Nosferatu you
32:49
have to travel around via the sewers and you can't go out
32:54
because everyone's scared of you because you look so vampire s.
32:57
Yes. And all of the characters are
33:00
not equally given that much weight but the fact that you can
33:03
play this game in Two wildly different ways depending on the
33:07
character that you pick. I think it deserves a bit of a
33:11
tip of the hat, and that's my conclusion.
33:14
Yeah, I've I've not heard of, I've not, I've not even heard of
33:18
that game. That you mentioned the vampire
33:20
one. So that would be, that would be
33:22
interesting when we come to it. Whilst you were doing a little
33:27
bit of talking. Now has a little bit of thinking
33:28
while so doing a little bit of listening because I'm good at
33:31
multitasking and I'll give you a I agree with you and Detroit
33:35
becoming human. That was a Detroit become human.
33:38
That was one of the ones that I thought of, but it's one that
33:41
you're not going to be able to comment on yet, but the first
33:45
one that came to mind, in terms of goods are going to say, what
33:48
I'm going to say, you're going to say the game that we're
33:50
playing next in the podcast, I'm correct disco Elysium.
33:55
The decisions that you make in that game.
33:57
Don't tend to Too Much change, the ending of how it goes.
34:05
But the choices that you make will affect how you get there,
34:09
what's happens at the end of the game.
34:13
And some of the relationships that you have because the way
34:18
that you get your, your protagonist to talk to people
34:22
and act around people and know do certain things or not do
34:26
certain things has a direct effect to your environment
34:29
around you, which I think works really well and it's one of the
34:34
reasons it's such a good Jane. So I would say, disco Elysium is
34:38
definitely up there for me in terms of, you know, choices made
34:42
and and all that kind of stuff. But you'll see what I mean.
34:45
When we play X, that's the game that we're doing next on the
34:48
podcast spoilers. Yes, spoilers.
34:52
But yes I would say disco Elysium will be up there.
34:55
But yeah, 100% Detroit become human and you could probably say
34:58
even though it was done in a very clunky ham-fisted way,
35:01
Heavy Rain to some extent. Yeah, it Was it was sort of the
35:06
blueprint. For yes, we become human and you
35:08
could kill various characters at certain points in the game, and
35:12
they disappear from the game, as well as, as well as the the
35:15
other game. That, that company did the one
35:16
with whatnot. Now, Elliot page, I can't
35:19
remember the name of the game though.
35:21
You mean, Yes, that one. Oh yeah.
35:27
Oh yeah. But you've also got as well.
35:30
Yeah, Beyond something like that.
35:32
Yeah, but thinking of it you've also got until dawn that I could
35:38
probably. Yeah, it's nice again.
35:41
Another game where you can kick off the characters.
35:43
And yeah, I really like, I like that.
35:47
I've not played The Secret Of God area was also, The Quarry
35:51
was almost a bit of a spiritual sequel to until dawn, and that
35:55
was also very good for that. Well, some of their other games
35:58
that aren't pictured pictures, ones, varying quality, but they
36:02
don't seem to have the budget that those other two have all
36:04
that there was a follow-up to until dawn, which I don't think
36:08
is a direct sequel, but it's by pretty sure it's by the same
36:11
developers and it's kind of in the same L because until dawn,
36:14
I've got it because it was a PS Plus game.
36:16
Not played it. Yeah.
36:17
Which was about the The circus one.
36:21
That's I don't have two circles one other, the psvr one.
36:27
Yeah, no, no. That's that's that.
36:29
That's an on-rails shooter kind of game.
36:32
I'm talking about, what are you talking about?
36:34
Because I don't know what game are you talking about the Quarry
36:38
now? Talk about mine of maidan.
36:41
Oh, so that's that picture. That's what I just mentioned.
36:45
There, there are other line of games, the dark pitch by C,
36:48
which includes man of maidan and three other games.
36:53
Now, some other things about to do season 2.
36:55
So yeah. So there they they're good.
36:58
They're not quite as good as until dawn because they seem to
37:03
have a smaller budget but yeah, they are good and they're quite
37:05
entertaining. Yeah, person So, yeah, that's
37:10
that's a good one as well. For that I was watching it a
37:13
game developers, conference topic about choice in video
37:18
games and basically, saying that choice is an illusion in video
37:23
games, because the fact is the developers are fully in control
37:27
of what you do and what you see and how you see it.
37:31
So it's all about smoking mirrors are making, you feel
37:35
like you've got that choice and I think some games mask that At
37:39
better than others. But then I do think there are
37:41
things that break that rule which is the things like Detroit
37:44
become human, where you do have these fully form Pathways and on
37:49
your first playthrough you're only going to see parts of that
37:52
game. Yeah.
37:53
So two areas that you may not see in other playthroughs.
37:57
So it's an interesting topic and I find choice in video games and
38:03
interesting one, okay? So onto our wrap-up does The
38:09
Stanley, Parable Ultra deluxe edition deserve to be on the
38:12
list? No, I, I really, really like
38:17
this game. This is probably the most fun
38:20
that I've had with the game on the podcast for a while.
38:22
And like I said, I knew a bit about this game before and I'd
38:24
watch them play throughs. I'd seen some endings, but the
38:27
kind of humor in this game is right up my street.
38:31
It's reminds me very much. It's like a very gimmicky comedy
38:34
game. It reminds me very much of a
38:36
game called Jazzpunk that I think came out in 2013. 13 as
38:39
well. Which if you've not heard of,
38:42
you should have a look because it's a good laugh.
38:45
But I think it is only a steam game unless it came on switch.
38:47
But I'm not sure but now I don't think this deserves to be in the
38:52
top 100 video games of all time. You know, when you compare it to
38:55
some of the other games are on the list.
38:57
And obviously this is this is a relative relative newcomer to
39:01
the to the list. We don't have a placement for
39:03
this in terms of the top 100 because the only two, Coming up
39:08
that we will have a place for in the top 100.
39:10
In terms of number placement is going to be breath of the wild
39:13
and Half-Life Alex. But no, I wouldn't say this is
39:18
in the top 100 games of all time, but it is a game that I
39:21
would I would encourage people to play because it is a good
39:26
laugh. It is a good time and it is a
39:28
very good game, it's just not you know, top 100 material.
39:32
I don't think but it is a lot of fun.
39:35
I'd say, what do you think? I think he's a really hard game
39:40
to discuss and I think we may have we may have touched on that
39:45
in the episode. Hopefully we touched on that is
39:47
a really hard game to discuss because I think when it came out
39:51
it really did have a lot to say. I think the new content has
39:57
quite a bit to say about sequels and about about the Glory Days
40:02
when a game comes out and the reviews being positive and how
40:06
over time maybe Maybe it's looked at less positively and
40:10
you get detractors and yeah, it's I think it's got some
40:15
points. I feel like its teeth aren't as
40:17
sharp as they once were. I think it's dulled a bit since
40:21
it came out and I wonder and this is a genuine wonderment.
40:30
I wonder if it will still be It's journalists.
40:37
Yeah, well, if it will still maintain that edge, that it does
40:41
still have just about. I know, I think, obviously based
40:47
on the way I just phrased it in 10 years time, I feel like it
40:54
still has something to say, but I think some of the stuff that
41:00
it was trying to say some games have started to address those
41:04
issues. So maybe they're not as bigger,
41:06
maybe the commentary isn't as quite as self-aware as it once
41:10
was and It's still entertaining. And if you're going into this
41:16
game, cold, which are, probably not, because we've spoiled the
41:19
vast majority for you, then you'll probably get a lot out of
41:23
it. But if you do know the story,
41:26
it's still probably worth experiencing.
41:28
I agree with you, but you take all that stuff away.
41:31
You take away the narrator, you take away the commentary about
41:35
other games. There's just not much to it. and
41:41
I do think there's a big difference between something
41:43
like this and Dear Esther, which is sort of pushing for games as
41:50
are a bit self-indulgent, but still quite enjoyable.
41:53
Telling a nice story for me. Anyway, and then something like
41:58
this, which is very self aware of what it's doing and almost
42:05
along for the ride with the player.
42:08
That being said, yeah, I don't think it deserves to be on the
42:11
list. That this there's so much stuff
42:17
in this game that I think you can miss.
42:19
And like I've just Googled it just now because it was one of
42:23
those things I couldn't remember what the exact thing was.
42:25
But I remember it being funny in the demo so it isn't even in the
42:27
final game. So a lot of people won't even
42:29
have experienced its content but in the in the in the demo it's
42:33
like I say it's a completely different experience the actual
42:35
game but you can go into this room.
42:37
It's like and here is a room where you can press a lot of
42:39
different buttons now would you like to press a random button
42:42
and see what it says about you? And you press a button and then
42:45
write or say, did you know that 94% of all people, who select
42:48
that particular button, a sexual predators and that it's just
42:53
humor like that. That isn't even in the full game
42:56
that really tickles me. And I think really sets this
42:58
game aside, but I think we agree with each other.
43:02
Here it doesn't deserve to be in the list, but it's worth.
43:05
It's worth a look, you know. Yeah, you get that.
43:10
You get the old games at that. I just hard to discuss and this
43:13
is one of them. But for good reason.
43:17
Yeah, notnot for bad reasons. Yeah.
43:19
And yeah, certainly not for bad reasons, I think.
43:22
Yeah. I don't know.
43:24
Yeah that's that's that's my wrap up but they really have
43:26
much more to say about it. That's, that's the wrap up.
43:30
Well, yes, quite so you've already touched on.
43:34
What's coming up? What's coming up is Disco
43:36
Elysium? Yes, it's coming in a couple of
43:38
weeks because we've got a bit of a spotty April because we're
43:42
both away at various points. It's, yes, I'm so, yeah, I'm
43:47
going away on the day, this episode drops, and then I'll be
43:49
back on the weekend and then you're going away.
43:52
And then I think, two weeks after that, I'm going away to
43:56
Korea and which is for a very busy, aren't we?
44:00
Yes, so the next episode will drop on your head 13th.
44:06
I think think it's the 13. Yeah.
44:08
April sounds about right? Yes.
44:12
So look forward to that. It's a game that you have
44:15
enjoyed a couple of times before and again I've never played I
44:18
have I done I've heard good things about it so yeah
44:23
cautiously optimistic about that one also while I think about it,
44:27
did you get the Blobby ending? I always forgot about the the
44:31
old puppy referee. Yeah, only just came to could
44:34
just run the ball. Thank you so much.
44:35
Heather, the Blobby ending was one of my personal favorites
44:38
and, you know, as a British institution, so the narrator
44:40
made sure that it was included quite yeah.
44:46
But yeah, as always, you get a Blobby referencing a bit sharper
44:49
next time, maybe perhaps you can make a reference to Blobby when
44:53
we reference coup know who you'll come to love, but yes, as
44:58
always, you can reach us. On email, the long short
45:01
podcast, a hotmail.com. We're on social media, on short
45:03
podcast. If you like the episode, you can
45:06
share it. You can like it, rate it, on
45:08
whatever platform. You listen to podcasts, on be
45:11
very much appreciated. But yes, we'll see you in two
45:16
weeks time for disco Elysium and yes, we hope you enjoyed our
45:20
episode on the Stanley. Parable Ultra deluxe edition,
45:23
but anything else from you? No, that's it for me.
45:27
Lovely. We'll see you next time for
45:29
discover Elysium. In the meantime take care and
45:31
Cheerio. See you on the next one.
45:25
No, that's it for me. Lovely.
45:27
We'll see you next time for discover Elysium.
45:30
In the meantime take care and Cheerio.
45:32
See you on the next one.