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Episode 17 - Hades 2, Ghost of Yotei, Xbox and pokemon leaks, ps6 and AI?
21 Plays8 months ago
Episode 17 - Hades 2, Ghost of Yotei, Xbox and pokemon leaks, ps6 and AI?
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Kickoff
00:00:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
Hey everyone, it's the Detroit Gamesters and we're back for episode 17. I'm here with my co-host Shamir. What And we're here to talk about some more news. It's been a couple of days, maybe nine to ten days since our last time. think we're a little better on this one because i feel like we went like a month and then now it was kind of back to back.
Gaming Highlights and Future Plans
00:00:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
um But yeah, I guess I've been a little more plugged into gaming recently so i was like, hey, i maybe we should do one sooner rather than later. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, I've made a little progress in Doom, the Dark Ages.
00:00:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, I mean, the feel I still say that, like, the complaints I had before are still staying true now. Nothing has really changed. It's still fun overall. but And I like that it's easy to get in, quick in and out. But I'm looking forward to finishing this. I'm on Chapter 13, I want to say. So i know there's 22. I'm getting there slowly but surely. But I think I'm going to start Pokemon Legends Zah this Friday and play both of those in parallel. Oh, is this seriously coming out, like, this week?
00:00:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Dang, man. So I knew like I was going to go hard on the games like this month. But man, like when it hit, like so many know it's just taken over. And I guess I didn't even put two and two together. Maybe I'm just an idiot, you know, probably.
Deep Dive into Hades 2 Experience
00:01:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I just thought Hades 2 this whole time was coming out on Switch in December. And I just realized that it got released on the Switch, like digital release, last month actually. And the physical release is coming out all the way in December.
00:01:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
so And it's a $20 price difference. So it's $30 digital, $50 for the disc with the cartridge. So then well when that occurred to me, I was like, okay, why am I waiting? I might as well just start playing Hades now. So yeah, I downloaded it. And man, I have not been this addicted to a game in so long.
00:01:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
I played so much. I gave myself a migraine. Like, I think I'm seriously getting my wife worried. I'll tell myself, like, five minutes. Yes, join the dark side. This has not happened to me in so long. i literally will tell myself five minutes. And next thing I know, it's been two, three hours. Like, I have not gained this intensely in so long.
00:02:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
Hades 2 is just way too damn addicting. Anakin joined the X-Men. Oh, I'm totally there. You know, I had this problem with Hades 1 as well, but man, I don't know. Hades 2, I've just been going ham on it. You've taken it a whole new level. So what's different that you enjoy more between the two?
00:02:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
So actually actually, I would say overall Hades 1 is more... I enjoyed Hades 1 more. You know, I think Hades 2 might be more addicting because...
00:02:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
they refine the gameplay loop? So the thing is, when you die in Hades 2, you get a lot of resources, and I just feel like your upgrade paths feel more material in Hades 2. So even when you fail, you still feel like you're right there, right? Because you're like, okay, I know going to do this run, but I'm going to suck, but I'm going to farm this material so I can upgrade my person.
00:02:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I found myself doing a lot of runs in Hades 2 solely just to farm. And I don't feel like I did that as much in Hades one. And I guess that kind of goes to my critique of Hades one versus Hades two. I don't think you've, you've played either of them.
00:03:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
Um, but, um, in, so the way it would, do you kind of understand how the game works in Hades? and It's a roguelike, right? so It's a roguelike, yeah. But it's based off of Greek mythology. So you're the children of Hades and, um,
00:03:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
ah So basically with each round, you get a random boon, like a gift from a god. Not every round, but most of the rounds. And it'll be any of the random gods. And so they all have very different fighting styles because like obviously Zeus is thunder and, you know, Poseidon is the sea. So it's going to be a very different style.
00:03:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
um And you have like three different attacks and then a couple of different moves. So you basically have like skill trees just like an RPG, but it's random which god is going to be assigned to which skill tree. And then you just upgrade from there.
00:03:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I was just trying to explain the background because I think one of the big things I've noticed between Hades one and Hades two in Hades one, if you got certain combinations of certain gods together, you could unlock like these special, like duo boons.
00:04:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
And they were so powerful. Like you went from like, level like, you know, power level like 900 to like power level like 9 million. Like it was just like such a drastic jump that like that was like so addicting to me because like, oh man, if I just get the right God combo, like I'm good.
Hades 2: Addictive Gameplay or RPG Potential?
00:04:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I felt like in the first Hades, I just basically had to keep experimenting around until I found like two gods that just meshed together really well. I got all their boons. Then I was super strong. I just like decimated Hades. And it was like such an amazing run. Right.
00:04:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in Hades too, and it's really different because even when you get like different God combinations and those duos, like it doesn't actually leap your power that much.
00:04:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
So because of that, you really have to grind and get all these different um material and like slowly build up your arsenal and like it actually feels more like an RPG in that scenario because you're like the, you're like a witch, right? So you're like through these incantations and all those things that'll slowly increase, like stack things in your favor.
00:05:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
and at your base level, even without any of the God powers, like you have a lot of flexibility in your attack patterns. So like, if that makes sense, like the ceiling feels lower, but you already start off higher.
00:05:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And so, um, And for whatever reason, that ended up being more addictive to me in Hades 2, but less rewarding overall. Yeah, that makes sense. Like, think about it. Like, you're starting the game off somewhat powerful. You could probably progress probably fairly far. And then once you realize you can't overcome a challenge, that's when the grinding Yeah, yeah.
00:05:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so so, yeah, I mean, there's two different pathways, to the upper and the lower level. And I think a lot of reviewers gave it a 10 because they're like, oh, yeah, you can jump up between the upper and lower level and Again, maybe i'm just an idiot, but I didn't realize you have to brew this specific potion to do it, and I didn't know how to brew the potion. So I basically just stuck to the lower level, and I beat the final boss.
00:06:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Spoilers, but it really shouldn't be that much of a spoiler. It's Kronos, right? And the story premise is really cool. Kronos comes back, and he's basically, like, raging war. So it's like the Titans versus the gods, and then you were trying to, you know, beat the Titans using magic.
00:06:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
um But yeah, Kronos is super hard, man. Oh my god that god, that boss battle was insanely i remember seeing you do that last boss fight. I remember at your house. Yeah, with with Hades, right? So he was way harder than Hades, in my opinion, because of all the time like warping and stuff.
00:06:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
and Man, I tried all these different strategies, and I think this could kind of speak to the difference in Hades 1 and Hades 2. Hades 1, I really had to get like some crazy combo of gods, boons, and then I whooped his ass.
00:06:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know I'd be Hades 2? I was like, you know what? I'm trying to get the perfect God combo of boons. It's not working. Let me just throw everything I have to like insane vitality. So I gave myself like 500 health instead of like trying to maximize my build.
00:06:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I worked in. Because I was like, you know, I feel like I'm already pretty powerful at the base level. Like I know the attack patterns. I know my weapon really well. I just need more health. And that's all I needed. I just needed like twice as much health as usual. Because normally I would run in there with like 150 health, 200. I gave myself like 500. And I was good. That's it.
00:07:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
and then i was good So I don't know if you would like this game. Like I was telling you about it. It's probably, it might be close to my game of the year. I don't know. It it was really an enjoyable game. Yeah. I mean, just for me right now and where I'm at, like I don't want a game that's too grindy and difficult.
00:07:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's so, like and it takes over your life. Yeah. Like, okay. Give me one aspect. A difficult game, but not grind worthy. So like a first person shooter, like, that's just difficult that like when i look at resistance there's you played hard but like it wasn't grindy or grindy but i can enjoy the story and i know i'll keep making progress but if you come on both of them dude like it's game over i feel like like roguelites like i really don't like road like genres but i really like um hades and i think it's because the storytelling the way they mix it in and i love like like greek myths and god of war is no longer in the greek era so there's nothing filling that niche for me so i think it hits on that realm but
00:08:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
I do wonder, like, would I just enjoy Hades 2 more if it was just a traditional RPG, you know? And I could choose whatever god I wanted to follow. I can even like switch between one guy and another. Just like, you know, you build a skill tree, you pull off the skill tree, you build it up like, you know, Diablo.
00:08:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, I almost feel like I would like that more because so much of the time I spent on Hades 2 was because I kept getting the Kronos. I didn't know his attack patterns. So I would die. And basically I just needed to fight him like five times to learn his attack pattern. And then I would whoop him.
00:08:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in order to do that, I had to go through the whole game. Yeah, I know. And each time it takes like an hour a half to two hours. And that's if like you have a decent build, right? And if you just so happens you have just this complete crap build, which sometimes happens, not often, but sometimes doesn't. It's kind of waste of time, that's And so you like what I like about this game is it still feels like everything is counting towards something because you're getting a lot of resources in your farming.
00:09:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
But yeah, it does get annoying that you have to keep like grinding all that out just to get the Kronos. And you're like, if I just knew Kronos' attack patterns, which you're going to learn, right, then I'd whoop his butt.
00:09:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. I almost agree with that. like Maybe yeah if it was more of the style of just a Diablo, like action RPG-ish, and you just progressed there, there was a good story of a 30-hour campaign or something, and then you could play as multiple characters if you wanted to switch builds.
00:09:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
I wonder if like they would ever consider taking that. like I get this game is super popular, but yeah. The thing is, like I feel like this is just the best example of the roguelike, and they do it really well. and you know It might not translate the same, because like ah part of the story is that you die and each time you die, characters wanna talk to you and they tell you different things. so um but I like how God of War did it. Like, I like how you have this epic story, right? This Norse story. And then you have a DLC that's a roguelike. And then you get the best of both worlds.
00:10:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
I almost wonder if like, you know, now that 2 is also probably doing well, and if it sells well, why not have like spinoff like titles that are, you use the IP and the story and say, we want to experiment. Maybe if it becomes even more popular, i don't know.
00:10:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they branch off and then they do something different. yeah I don't know what they're going to do I mean, I'm just really happy to see something in that space and just, It's so nice to see how different like the goddess pathways are and what that would mean for the gameplay and I don't haven't really seen that anywhere else yeah it's you but but I also yeah I don't I don't think they're gonna move away from roguelite I just feel like they're the father of roguelites they do it so well you know yeah and on top of it like the way they I think released this game was interesting because they did have it beta for a while and yeah they got a ton of feedback like was it a year prior up to a year prior I don't know they they released this in a way where like they were iterating on the game and they made sure they heard their fans and then found the right time to to release it when they're 1.0
00:10:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
and on top of that, I just can't get over their art. It's amazing. Oh, Like, their trailers, their gameplay, like, it's aesthetically. Like, it's also popping, and I think that adds a little bit to the flair of the game. It's not just the fact that the gameplay is good. it's like the art just speaks. Oh, yeah. So that got me so interested. i almost bought the game just because of the art style. was like, I think I should. But then when you told Explain More, was like, okay, I can't.
00:11:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. I think if you could invest a lot of time, it'd be worth it because... If you're not used to Hades, it's you're going to find it really challenging and punishing.
00:11:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And in order for you to get good at it, you're going to have to put so many hours that you're going to be like, you know, I don't have this too much time. I'd rather play other games. Yeah, rather play Mario Galaxy. Right. So, I know you love your Mario. But, and you know, this is the first game I've really played a lot on my Switch. And I know everyone loved Donkey Kong, but I really didn't like Donkey Kong that much. It's divisive. Like, Donkey Kong, like, there's people out there saying, I don't see what the...
00:11:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
pull i don't get the hype like it's it's fun to go around and break stuff like i agree um but maybe it wears off quickly but yeah you know um after a while i just i don't really feel the hook or the need and i get what people say where they just feel like it's kind of too easy of a game like i think if i was no offense to donkey kong fans like i really don't want to come off as offensive but like if I was a younger gamer and I didn't just play a bunch of like Elden Ring and like super hard games, right? Like it'd be different. But like now that I'm so used to those, these games, like where my attention is so glued in every moment, it's hard for me to play a game like Donkey Kong.
00:12:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, Yeah, it's not like I don't like chill games. Like Astro Bot is kind of chill. But like there was a level of variety and newness to Astro Bot that like kept my like my brain fixed and I was still getting my dopamine hit. But like with Donkey Kong, I just find myself disengaging because I'm like, OK, it's not like everything is so vastly different. So I'm getting a dopamine hit there. It's not like the gameplay is so demanding. I'm getting a dopamine hit there. So I'm playing, I'm like, what's keeping me hooked?
00:12:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
And if it was a year when it wasn't so busy, I'd be like, ah, you know, it's nice. I had a long day of work. I'll chill. but if I have like five, six amazing games I've been waiting for for a while, like it's going to go to the back of my list. Yeah. And I think that's kind of where we differ is like, I didn't get hooked to Elder Ring or the Sakeros or the other Bloodborne-esque or Dark Souls-esque games. And so for me, it's like, it's always like a quick and easy. Can I pick up a game, make some progress, make like, i or make it feel as if I'm,
00:13:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
working towards something and not starting over and over again. That's why silk song doesn't speak to me either. yeah You know? So I think that's where we would be. Yeah. I mean, I think you might like silk song better. i can actually see you playing silk song because it starts off like pretty approachable and later it gets like, and it does get hard.
00:13:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm at the part where it starts getting hard, but the move set is pretty straightforward, you know? And a lot of times where it's difficult, you can just kind of slowly you work your way through stuff. But like, you know, even though everyone loves hollow night I feel like a this might be divisive, but like,
00:13:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
After Hades, too, like i don't really have a desire to go back to Hollow Knight. I got decently far in it. I've seen videos of later levels, and they do look really good to me,
00:14:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
but I personally think like Hades and even, and we'll get to this, like Ghost of Yotai and some of these other games or even Ninja Gaiden 4, all these games on the horizon. They just feel like they're they're a step above. And I like Hollow Knight. I like that team. I like that it's 20 bucks. but you know and So there's all those things going and in its favor, but it doesn't reach that same level for me.
00:14:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
Okay, that's interesting.
Ghost of Yotai vs. Assassin's Creed Shadow
00:14:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
So we'll see. Maybe I'll pick it up when it's a slower you know slower time period or or slower year. But I think right now I'm just all in on Hades, too. And I beat the lower levels, so now I'm just playing the upper levels. And that's pretty epic, too, because you get to go to Olympus.
00:14:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so so that's kind of like a nice change of pace. Yeah, I think if I had to review the game right now, I'd give it a solid 9. I wouldn't give 10, because I think it's hard for me to consider a roguelite like a 10.
00:14:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I do think that as nice as it is for you to have to, like, figure things out on your own, i think there's some key things in the game that you have to figure out on your own, but they're, like, really central things. Like, hey, how do I get to the upper levels? Like, you know, okay, there's, like, 10 things to brew, but, like, this one thing is really important for me, right?
00:15:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
You don't really get that from the game, right? And I think because of that, it kind of makes the experience, like, a little bit harder than it needs to be, right? So I think it's close to a 10, but yeah, I'd give it a nine. But overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
00:15:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I guess, yeah, really, this is the most I've gamed in a while because I also got into Ghost of Yotai.
00:15:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
I remember you saying over the summer how you were like it was like a huge lull and you're like I got nothing left and I know it was crazy i was like oh I got so much other stuff I've like gone into football and getting back into writing that's a man right you know all this other stuff that's a man you know gotta rep the lions but then all of a sudden end of September came beginning of October I'm like oh Jesus Christ when it rains I'm about to be hooked it's crazy how much is going out coming out between September and October like this is the most stacked um it's been in a while but yeah Ghost of Yotai I guess the simple thing I can say for this game I was underwhelmed like overall I was like oh it's it's a pretty good game right but like it wasn't really like like blowing my mind and then this is such a small thing but I got to the part where you know
00:16:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
Kind of spoilers, but not really. There's different, work like, zones you have to explore. Spoilers. And they're all very... It's not really spoilers. There's different zones you have to explore, and they're all, like, fairly different, right? And so, like, one is snowy. One is, like, this, like, red area that kind of feels like fall.
00:16:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so that makes sense with, like, the, you know, where it is in Japan. um But anyways, I got to this one part, and all this and I basically am riding my horse next to another character. I won't spoil who it is. And they're riding their horse. And all of a sudden, like...
00:17:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
I feel like there's like this like Japanese song that some girl is singing. She has this beautiful voice singing in Japanese. The Marine, the lyrics are like super epic. And it just felt like the perfect ode to samurais in Japan.
00:17:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I was like, oh man, like I felt like the first game, it was just a bunch of people like from the West America who were just like massive fanboys of Japan. And I was like, okay, like,
00:17:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
Maybe I'd rather have Japanese people from Sony actually make this game. But when I saw this and I was like, oh man, like this is just like a love letter to everything that we love about Japan. And it was just so well executed. The way you're moving through the environment, like you feel like a samurai, you're on these horses, the lyrics are,
00:17:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
The song and lyrics are totally something you would see in a samurai movie. And then after that, I get off and I'm like exploring. I'm listening to like the Samurai Champloo, like low high vibe. Yeah, I'm listening to that. I'm like, oh, it's so cool. Can you switch that on and off pretty easily or no?
00:18:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh yeah, you just go into settings and then you can like, you know, choose between a couple of modes. And then I pick the Samurai Champloo. Like, you know, that music isn't all the time, you know, but it is there like when you're exploring the world.
00:18:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And man, artistically, this game just, Blows you away. I don't think from a graphics perspective, it's really like jaw dropping, like blowing me away. Like when I played Horizon Forbidden West and I played that game, it was like open world and I saw those monsters and everything. I was like, oh man, this is insane. Like this is next gen.
00:18:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm playing this game and I haven't had that like next gen feel. And it might be because, you know, like Death Stranding came out, all these games came out. So from like raw graphics, like Ghost of Yotai is not...
00:18:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
on that upper echelon, but it's close. Right. But from like the art style, oh man, it's so epic. Like just the scale and you're like seeing the mountains in the background and the way they've actually created these maps gives you such an amazing sense of scale.
00:19:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
You're like going through these fields and like the white flower patches will give you a speed boost and you're blasting through and then your screen becomes widescreen. It just feels epic. It really does. um So that's all really good.
00:19:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
So you would say like it hasn't really innovated from the first game. No, it has not innovated. I just feel like what the first game did well, this does better. right um But I would say that some of the flaws from the first game are still there. I like the gameplay more, right but at least where I'm at, and maybe it'll change as I get further,
00:19:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
They really try and stress, okay, use the katana for this person, use the double blades for this person. But like, honestly, I'm not even switching. Like, I'm just destroying people. Oh, you can still, okay. Yeah, because you're still damaging people. Like, okay, yeah, you're not going to be able to build your block meter as much, but, you know. So, wait minute. Is there difficulties in this game?
00:19:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think so. I'm playing the standard difficulty. So... Okay, so if I played the hard mode, maybe it would be different, and I'd have to. But but the difference between this and the first game is the first game stances, right? So that's gone.
00:20:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think this is better. Definitely switching between weapons is better. um But I don't know. Again, this this might be a contentious opinion, but at least my early impressions of Assassin's Creed Shadow versus gu ofotti Ghost of Yotai. Ghost of Yotai is the better game.
00:20:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think Assassin's Creed Shadow's gameplay is better. Like, I actually look more forward to, like, the fights when I was like, you know, the girl and I was fighting a samurai, like the samurais actually felt powerful. Like their blows felt powerful.
00:20:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, this kind of feels like more like a, like a stylized Hollywood film. Like when you're fighting. So does this feel spongy attacking the characters or is it No, like, yeah I mean, it's really bloody. Like it feels like that, but in the end of the day, I'm doing like the same thing, right? It's like super obvious.
00:20:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like these enemies will come towards you and you dodge everything and you can block everything just by holding the block button. So that doesn't really make anything difficult. And then you if it's blue, you dodge or you parry.
00:21:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
If it's red, you only dodge that's it. And then you just spam the attack button. So like, it's really simplistic. The only difficult part comes when you're overwhelmed by enemies and the camera sucks.
00:21:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
You can change the camera. So auto lock on, but, The game doesn't want you to do that because it wants you to feel more like a samurai. So that's where the the difficulty k comes but from. The actual one-on-one battles, like they're not that bad.
00:21:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
like The boss battles are hard. I had like this one boss battle the guy was pretty intense. So I enjoyed that. But I was also really underleveled and I was still able to beat the boss. Because I didn't really like try and grind anything.
00:21:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
so So overall, I'd say the game like the game is really good. um It's absolutely worth playing. But still, like, don't know. The gameplay is great, but it's not, like, amazing, you know? wouldn't even say it's good. I would say the gameplay is great, just not amazing. And when you have, like, other games, like Sekiro and other games that have just mastered their gameplay systems, you know, yeah, let's say the gameplay system is, like, an 8.5 and a 9. I'm very happy with that.
00:22:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
But my problem with Ghost has always been people talk about it like a ten it's a 10 out of 10 game. And for me, it's, like, 8.5, 9 game. which I'm really happy with, you know, and i'm I'm really looking forward to playing it, but it's not. I think i think you'll finish the game based on what you're saying.
00:22:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's one of those things where, again, they also attempted to focus on a story, and that's the difference. That's what stands out between this and A Seeker. But the problem is the story is so, it's been rehashed.
00:22:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh, really? I think that's a revenge turn. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. and That's done in Hollywood often. That's done in so many games. So I just looked it up. This has an 87 on OpenCritic. I think that's pretty accurate. Maybe my opinion will change later.
00:22:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
I would say it's 85. Right? So this is good, you know? I'm happy with the game. I'll be curious to know how this compares to when Ani Musha, Way of the Sword, comes out. So looks like very unique.
00:23:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
that looks like very unique so that's what i mean like at least when you're looking at that gameplay you're like man this feels like a gameplay system that's mastered i haven't played it right but just the nuance how different it is versus everything you know i don't feel like that's a game where you can just you know yeah you're slash everything and like even ninja gaiden like yeah it's a hack and slash but not really like if you just try hack and slash your way through ninja gaiden like you're gonna get owned yeah right and but i feel like I feel like in Ghost, my problem is there's a proper way to play. And if I play that way, then I do really good.
00:23:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
But if I just like play mindless and I just hack and slash, I can still do pretty good. But it ruins the experience a little bit. As opposed to other games. like If I try and do that in Indigate, no. The game will punish That's good point.
00:23:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so that's like that's like the difference for me. And like maybe if I play hard mode it'll be different and then it'll be a different conversation. i don't even know though. But again like that's to me like what separates like the the highest echelon of least like samurai action adventure games between like which are like 10 compared to like 8.5 and 9. Yeah I just feel like I don't know if that would be the case if you played hard. Like I feel like Sony particularly tells their studios to do this intentionally and I'm not saying like oh my god like you have to make those.
00:24:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's more like They also know they have a ton of lay or average consumers playing the game. And people who just finally want the story. Yeah. And if they can't really progress with the way they've directed the gameplay, they go, all right, if you just brute force this, of course, we want you to still progress. Like, I feel like that's intentional design, you know, in my opinion.
00:24:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I guess the last thing i I'd have to say about that is like the whole controversy around the fact that she, you know, the main character is a woman. Right. Yeah. And, You know, I kind of have mixed feelings about it.
00:24:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
um Like the way the story presents itself, like the fact that the main character is a woman doesn't really seem that odd or out of place, you know? And they actually actually acknowledge the fact that she's a woman and she's a samurai and people underestimate her and then she drops them off, right?
00:25:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I remember when I was talking Assassin's Creed Shadow, I was like, okay, like maybe she should have been a ninja, like in Assassin's Creed Shadow, because the samurai is so massive and the woman is so small, right?
00:25:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in this game, like, I think they they didn't try and make her like, you know, the stellar blade type of woman. They tried to make her look the type of woman you'll see at like our gym, you know, like a girl who, you know, like a club studio. like he's trying to No, i don't I don't mean it like that. I mean, like someone who works out, but they're not like a bodybuilder necessarily. right my shape they're Someone who's strong. And like I've seen like when I'm walking by, like some of these girls are like, they're benching like quite a bit of weight. So they're like pretty strong.
00:25:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
All right, Archer, don't make it weird. Don't make it weird. I'm married. like But my point is like, you know, like you don't necessarily need to have like this like drop dead gorgeous girl or like this drop dead gorgeous girl who's also a bodybuilder. Like she looks like your typical girl who just works really hard and has is in good shape, which and now is very skilled with the katana, which to me is kind of more believable for the time because it's like it's not like you have.
00:26:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
the whole like gym industry we have nowadays that can make people totally warped. Right. yeah um Well, that and like in this game, doesn't it happen where her family's spoilers, her family is slaughtered as a young kid. So she has her whole life to train.
00:26:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then what she, what she basically explains. Yeah. Like there was these crazy wars, you know, in like mainland Japan, right. Which happened. Right. And I was a Ronin for 16 years.
00:26:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I got very good with the sword and I came back. And then you're like, yeah, this totally makes on that makes sense. And so like, to me, it was believable. It was, but and and I got it. I liked the way the the game started too, right? And you instantly fighting people. And then after that, you like revisit the town where you, well, not really town though.
00:27:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
the house where you were born. The flashbacks. And the flashbacks, i don't know if you you saw them. I've seen them. But that was such a good storytelling device. and And really, that was like exceptional. like That was 10 out of 10.
00:27:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
such a good way of giving exposition, making us understand the character, relate with her loss. That was just, they sucker punch knocked that out of the park. Yeah. That's a a little SSD magic right there. I like how they yeah quickly changed from adult to child. and That was, that was so phenomenal. And I was like, yeah, they, they nailed this.
00:27:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
So based off of that, like I'm excited for where the story goes. Again, I don't want to spoil too much, but you know, I'm, I'm a hunting down one of the other like six, right.
00:27:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And yeah, some of the things are like cliches, like where I'm at. Like there's definitely cliches. But overall, the setting is great. And I would say this game is a about where I expected or better.
00:28:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
Also, I didn't expect a lot, but... You know, somebody was long an eight and a half game is is really good to me and I'm happy with it. I mean, that's another win for Sony. Absolutely. I think this game will sell well. Like there wasn't a whole lot of buzz leading up to the release, but I actually think this game will sell like five. So I guess like now that I'm getting more into football, right? You know, like there's the example where like the lions completely blow someone out of the water.
00:28:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then there's an example of like the lions and they just do what they need to do. Like they did their business. You can't like hate them because it's like they didn't do a terrible job. They didn't do like a mind-blowing job. You can't believe it. like They showed up, got to work, got it done. yeah right and That's how I feel about this game.
00:28:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's interesting too. because so There was like a quote recently. maybe it It came from an interview. but The creative director of Sucker Punch basically said, look, we're one-team studio and Right now, our pipeline, the way it exists is we create one game at
Sucker Punch's Future and Project Focus
00:28:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
a time. We don't have multiple parallel teams. We don't create multiple games. And they're like, yeah it's akin to like being in college and switching careers or like, um,
00:29:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
How do they say it? Yeah, like switching careers or finishing like our degree. It's like we only do one at a time. That happens every five years. So like when someone had asked them, like would you be willing to... Or are you working on something else? Or would you be willing to go something else? They're like, we'll see if we do another sequel. If we go back to Sly Cooper or something else.
00:29:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
But not to say I'm disappointed. It's like, okay, we got two movies out of this. ah Sorry, two games out of this. A movie's coming for this. I do hope like after the DLC, they just pivot to something new Yeah, i wonder they're going to do after this because I feel like... Yeah, I feel like they've done...
00:29:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
a lot of justice to this and I'm satisfied after Ghost of Yotai. My whole feeling about the studio has won up. I feel much better about Sucker Punch than I used to. It's not like Ghost of Shishima was a bad game but I personally like Infamous better but I like Ghost of Yotai. I like what they delivered. My stock is up and if they wanted to do something else I would be totally happy about it yeah i i would be too and i hope again i think there it's time for them to continue to move forward like don't revisit old life piece because a lot of people ask for remasters of infamous and all stuff it's time to drop yeah i think if you're going to do that you have to break apart like you can't have your main team doing like another infamous or sly for like five years you know like if you want to break apart and do something like that that makes sense right um if they made another ghost game and they made it a trilogy i would be fine with that um
00:30:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't know. I haven't made up my mind yet on what I would want more. If they did something like that, I would want them to get like all the way into the 1800s, 1900s, kind of straddling that timeline.
00:30:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
That could be cool. i mean I feel like they're since they're so good in this genre and they have this pedigree, I would love to see them make a Marvel game. you know Yeah, but i mean what Marvel character? There's so many. Is there any Marvel characters in Swords?
00:30:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
Deadpool. Deadpool. Like, yeah, there's ah there's like so many. I wonder if they could do Deadpool, honestly. There's that was the Silver Samurai or something. The one that like fights Wolverine. but forgot the... Yeah. i think There's so many things they could do. and If this is their pedigree and this is the way... Like, this is a way to keep them afloat and sell a ton of copies of games and keep them in the industry. That's wondering because this game probably cost them a lot to make, right? Because the production quality of Ghost of Yotai exceptional, right?
00:31:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
So... I would feel like they need to sell as many copies as like, maybe not Insomniac, but they have to sell at least like five, eight million copies. Five to eight million, yeah. And I think I was reading somewhere they've sold two million so far. Oh, wow, that's question. So that's good.
00:31:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think they'll hit those milestones. But this game could not have been cheap to make, man. Like this game must have cost a lot. It's just sad because we're getting close to the end of this generation. They've only put out one game for the generation. just what we're getting, man. It's it's each of these studios, you know PlayStation Studios, releasing one game.
00:31:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's crazy. We went from three a generation to one. I mean, that's the cost of development. But hey, as long as they're delivering, right? Like if we got Ghost of Yotainu as a six, oh God, that would be that that'd be terrible. Then you have to wait another five years, right? It's the whole rock study debacle. Oh, we waited eight years and we got Suicide Squad.
00:32:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. Yeah. Everyone was. playing And I think, you know, I think we talked about Ghost of Ghost Eye a lot. So there's other things to talk about, but I don't want to sound like I'm like overly down on the game. It's just as a Sony fanboy, like there's been a lot of pent up desire for me for like a 10 out of 10 game.
00:32:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, I think the last time I played ah Sony game that just really blew me away was honestly God of War Ragnarok. Like I like Spider-Man 2. I liked Final Fantasy, both of them, but there wasn't,
00:32:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
a game that hit that niche for me, like that level since God of War, right? And like, Tears of the Kingdom, like, I haven't had a game that hard hitting. And I was just spoiled with PS3 and even like PS4. I was getting those all the time, you know?
00:33:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's like, these games almost scratch the itch, but they don't get all the way there, if that makes sense, right? So... okay so that kind of catches us up with what we've been playing i guess uh we can talk a little bit about what we've been watching yeah i haven't really watched a lot so this might be more like things you've been watching yeah for sure i mean the one thing that i have been watching and i finished is peacemaker season two um again for those that haven't seen it i'm like i'm I don't have a
Peacemaker Season 2 Critique: Overrated?
00:33:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
high opinion of this show. like You can spoil it for me. Okay, because, yeah, it's not super crazy anyways. But this is a continuation or starts and picks up a couple months after the new Superman movie.
00:33:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
There's so obviously a tie-in. James Gunn has directed and wrote this this show and in particular. and And Peacemaker is, like, really close to him in the way he's grown it written it. He's said that in interviews as much, like,
00:33:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
hey, I love John Cena. I love this character. It's a bridge between like our movies now and going forward, Peacemaker will be someone pivotal, even though if they don't do a season three, it's like, okay. Well, what I'm struggling with is if you look at Rotten Tomatoes,
00:34:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
Superman, ah Commandos, Peacemaker season one and two all have really high ratings. And I'm actually kind of confused as to how. Like this show, the season particular, has like between 85% and 90%, something like that.
00:34:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
I just like don't see it. Like it's a fun watch. It's like stupid fun. There's some really dumb things that happen that i just like at laugh out loud moments. But the substance really isn't there. And like you use a whole season, eight episodes to just basically...
00:34:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
show some sympathy for a character and say like, oh he's a lovable goof. But how does he play a bigger picture into your overall arching like universe? And like, you also already made Superman a completely different, have a completely different personality and form and like tone than the previous Superman, which was more gritty and dark to some extent.
00:34:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's like, I guess I see where the tones cross Like Peacemaker and Superman seem very similar, but there's nothing that has me excited right now about the new DCU.
00:35:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I just want to say like, it was an interesting concept the way they started this season, which was about, again, they picked up from Superman. You now have rifts in the universe and the space.
00:35:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
John Cena has access to go to other dimensions with his helmet. And we've seen some of that in season one and they they kind of explore that theme a little further. But other than that, like not much else happens. And by the end of this season, Argus and Rick Flagg Sr. end up finding another suitable dimension to potentially host all metahumans.
00:35:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now his goal is to work with Lex Luthor to put all the metahumans there. yeah but That does not excite me interest me. Yeah, I mean, I was just curious and I was trying to look it up on, I feel like Rotten Tomatoes is not always the best measure of things because 100% is just saying you have all 100% fresh. Yeah. But I think that was a problem we were running in with Halo, the TV series, yeah right? If we get like 90, everyone's like, oh my god, it's an amazing show. But like, actually, everyone's giving them sevens. Yeah.
00:36:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
But that counts. So, like, all sevens across the board is, like, 100% on Mountainado, right? And so so that just throws people off. But even on INDB, it's getting good scores. think it's, like, eight.
00:36:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
That I'm shy. So I'm really surprised. Honestly, I'm, like, not really liking where DCU is going. no. I like James Gunn, don't love him, but I don't really like the direction. i don't know why DC is always scrapping stuff and moving and pivoting whenever they're having success.
00:36:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
I like Man of Steel better than Superman as well. So I'm just not... interested or curious and like peacemaker like from what you're telling me doesn't seem like and i need to really watch it not at all and it feels like what we're getting away from is epicness yeah like when we think of like the dark knight trilogy it just felt like larger than life epic right and because like the stories the characters it felt like like the since we're talking about the greek gods like the greek gods of or like those level of epic stories but in the modern day and the modern day and that's why people love this stuff because it's like you know you know people have moved away from a lot of that type of thinking right like greek gods and all those type of things um but like you still get to like think of these larger than life characters doing larger than life things right and there's like
00:37:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
real consequences real loss it's like humanity to like the the highest level yeah but like now we're just getting to the stage where it's like entertainment and like the spectacle is like the visual spectacle or like the jokes or like it's more of a fun time and it doesn't really feel like an epic story that's gonna
Epic Storytelling Decline in Superhero Films?
00:37:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
stand the the test of time you know like yeah when you when you watch one of these like dc like new extended you know stuff Are you going to remember what happened five or 10 years from now?
00:38:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
No. But like, even though I don't like remember all the plot points of the dark night trilogy, like I will never forget the Joker. yeah I will never forget like the feeling of loss that Batman had when the Joker switched the options and he's like, no. Or like when Harvey dead, you know, becomes two phase. Like those are just like such iconic, you know, satisfying epic things that happen. Right.
00:38:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
Or like when Batman's back got broken. yeah know And it's like, that's what you got to borrow from the comics and like throw into real life. right And like even Man of Steel, like as much as we talk crap about it, but when like Superman had to use his lasers, right?
00:38:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like things that stick with you. like Yeah, he's using his lasers. No, sorry. Superman has to make a decision. Kill Zod, which what goes against his principles. Or let the humans die. Right?
00:38:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so, like, this is real tension, real stakes, real consequences. That's how you relate with your characters. That's how they matter and they meet you and remember them. But, like, what was what was the problem with the new one? Like, what was the tension Superman had?
00:39:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh, he got beat up in the beginning, but they actually didn't kill him even though he was, like, close to dying. Yeah. Like, there's no tension there. And I feel like, okay, I want to backtrack a second cause it's, like, I feel like we are shooting a bit on James Gunn. Like, don't get me wrong, the writing in this, it wasn't phenomenal. It's better, yeah yeah. Yeah, like, in a vacuum, if I just watched the show and it was not connected to the DCU at all, I'd like, well, this is, like, an interesting thing. They found a lovable guy.
00:39:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
Writing is actually on point. And, like, the way some of the characters interacted actually hit some really deep themes about, like, grief and, like, yeah being able to access your emotions and this and that and love and this. And it's like, they actually did a good job. But in the grand scheme of things, that's not why I'm watching the DCU. Yeah, I feel like these movies are good, but they're not exceptional.
00:39:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And it's like, what, what's happened in this genre. And I guess in a lot of places we're really here is like certain movies have just raised the bar so high. Yeah. Right. Like, man, we were getting Batman and the penguin.
00:40:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. Like and then you get that pedigree, right. You get that level. Like, And now you're saying me, oh, we're going in a different direction and this is what we have. You know? Yeah.
00:40:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
Which is why you can tell they're like, oh, but we're not scrapping, like, the Batman and the Penguin stuff. And it's like, yeah, you know that because would be too big risk. good, yeah it was so good. like They're like, oh, we can't just reboot this. But, like, like.
00:40:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
If you're going to go all in, go all in. like Take the resources that you're using for that those films and those people. Tell them to move over. right don't know. I just feel like they're all over the place. We'll see if that works out. Who knows what Marvel's doing? you know so i just feel like superhero movies are in a weird place, man.
00:40:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
New York Comic Con was just ah the other day. and so They released some new trailers. so like Daredevil Season 2 Born Again. Okay, looks interesting. Still doesn't live up to the hype of the original Netflix series.
00:41:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Then they showed off the new season for X-Men 97 season two. And basically one of the directors confirmed they're already looking at a season three, four, and five, which that hype got me hyped because they did a phenomenal job of season one.
00:41:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they announced one other thing called Wonder Man, which looks really dumb. It's like their version ah of, ah what's that ah show on HBO with Seth Rogen? um The studio?
00:41:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
Why do they need to do this? It kind of reminds of that. I was like, what is this? Why do they need to do this? It looks so dumb. Oh, man, gotta look at this trailer. What is Marvel doing? I don't know. was like, why?
00:41:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
And this is what you show at one of your biggest comic cons? That shit? I'm like, okay. So... Yeah. I don't know. i Really, the only thing I feel like I'm looking forward to now is Doomsday. Oh.
00:41:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, same. And just to see, because they're doubling and tripling down on it so much, i'm like, okay, let's see if you got something, right? Because you seem confident. They seem confident, we'll see. But that again, too, a story and within maybe three hours at most, like, how much can you really tell? And then we got like, wait for another part. Like, I don't know. um My hopes are, I'm excited, but my hopes are, like, actually kind of low. Like, my bar is low for me at this point, because I don't think they can do a whole lot, you know? I see.
00:42:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
You salvage it. Yeah. And then I guess the the last thing that I've seen, I saw ah One Battle After Another, the new Leo movie. um That was, man, I just feel like it's going to be a lot of good, not greats, you know? But ah I'd give that movie an 8, you know? Man, like that movie had such good ratings. It got like 10s across the board.
00:42:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think the actual premise of the story is just absolutely ridiculous. It's just such a ridiculous story idea, and it gets... It feels really long and drawn out. this directed by Martin Sorcy? I have no idea. It feels like it is, but it's so long.
00:42:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
But man, what carries the movie is the acting. Like not just Leo's acting, but every single actor from top to bottom is so phenomenal that even when it's just this ridiculous scene and it feels like comical and fake, the actors sell it.
00:43:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
So some of the best acting I've seen in the movie in a long time I mean, the writing is good. The acting is good. this The movie keeps you hooked. It's just such a ridiculous story idea that I'm just like, okay.
00:43:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's about a resistance group, defensive 75, and, you know, governments after them. it kind of supposed... It seems like they were trying to have some parallels with Antifa and stuff like that. So it's kind of like, you know, politically charged.
00:43:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
kind of um But man, Leo is just... leo's just too good man he's so funny like this is the most i think i've laughed from a leo movie since like wolf on wall street i was not expecting this movie to be this funny but i was cracking up most of the time and thought it was going to be a violent movie it's not it's not that crazy violent um but yeah it was good i mean i honestly again till this day the trailers they've released i have no idea what the hell this movie is about like when i watch the trailer i'm like what is this i don't understand it So we'll see. Now that you said that, I'll give this a chance. I might not watch it in theaters, but comes this I think you'll enjoy the movie. It's a good movie, right?
00:44:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think as soon as I see IGN posing 10 out of 10, I'm getting overhyped. And like I like the movie. I recommend people watch it. I think it's one of the best movies we've had this year, but also we haven't had a lot.
00:44:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I think if you s switched out those actors, like the movie would not have done well. But it's because the actors were just so freaking good. Did you watch it with your wife or just watch it by yourself?
00:44:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
No, I just went with, you know, a couple of cousins. So it was fun. I think it was a pretty mixed audience, honestly. You know, it wasn't like... Like when you were there. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't just like all dudes, you know.
00:44:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
um They had some like... ah they also kind of made some like racial jokes not racial jokes but like race was a like a the component sometimes here and there um i won't ruin it but like the writing was so clever for the humor so um yeah so so i enjoyed that but yeah not a 10 out of 10 for me yeah it doesn't look good when i saw it for my job was So so that's I
Breaking News in Gaming World
00:45:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
think that's it for that. Maybe we can now talk about some of the breaking news yeah topics. So I guess this time, really, we are only talking about Sony, Nintendo, and and Microsoft, which I feel like we do a lot. But yeah, who do you want to start talking about out of the big food?
00:45:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, that's a good question. Maybe we'll start with Pokemon and get that out of the way. ah You love your Pokemon. So I guess we'll talk about the Pokemon leaks. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, ah twofold. One is like, yeah know there was a big Terra leak last year and a lot of things were revealed, but I think the people that leaked it held onto some information and waited until Pokemon ZA came out to leak more information. Basically, they held onto it.
00:45:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then two, Pokemon Legends ZA leaked about a week before release. So as of right now, it still isn't released yet. It comes out this Friday, but the full ROM is now already released out in the wild and people have been playing.
00:45:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah Dude, I would not risk that. You know Nintendo is going to be pissed. Well, what's worse is that the people leaking all the stuff for the game put a bunch of racial racial slurs all over the images because there's a specific Twitter account that always likes to steal a bunch of information and tout it as their own. It's like, hey, here's a leak.
00:46:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
The Twitter account is called Centro Leaks, if any of you guys are curious. So someone kept posting a bunch of leaks and saying... again a bunch of slurs with their name posted on it so that way they wouldn't use it and steal that information but it was kind of messed anyways man people are just so ballsy they just do not care because you know nintendo's gonna go after you like anyone else you're like yeah maybe i'm not as big yeah it doesn't matter if you're the smallest fish in the pond it's a principal those lawyers are coming for you it's nintendo ninjas right um So yeah, I found interesting. First, I'll talk about Pokemon Legends the
00:46:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
I've already seen a lot of the new Mega Evolutions. It kind of got me hyped again. I was like, going into this game and this release, I'm like, you know what? I don't want to keep falling into this trap. Like, I will get the game. I will play it. Mega Evolutions to me speaks a lot because there was only two generations of games that had Mega Evolutions, and that was Gen 5 and 6, no, 6 and 7-ish.
00:47:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
X and Y, and then Auras, the remakes. Oh. So they both had Mega Evolutions, and then we never saw them come back again for like four generations or three generations. Do you feel like it was a good gameplay loop, like having the Megas? Yeah, I really do. it definitely at the time broke the meta.
00:47:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was definitely broken. But this game seems to be reintroducing it just to bank off the hype now, the popularity, because it's at an all-time high. I think this game has a limited Pokedex. I think there's maybe only 250, which is a little bit of a shame because... We're okay with that, you know? Yeah, yeah.
00:47:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, I guess if you're going to catch them all, you know, it's one thing, but yeah yeah there is a lot of Pokemon now. Yeah, there's a lot. And I think, like, Scarlet and Violet maybe had 400 Pokemon plus in the DLC.
00:47:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, like, I think it's okay that they've shortened down that list because it allows you to catch a lot of them now and actually play through it. This also has a lot of online multiplayer. The one thing that I think people are complaining about right now, and it seems like this, is autosave now is an option by default, and you can't turn it off. So...
00:48:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
when like pokemon legends arceus and a bunch of older games you could turn off auto save and if you can't catch a pokemon whether it's shiny it's an alpha whatever you just soft reset and you try it again well you can't do that on this one yeah and i think they specifically do this because now that there's online ranked multiplayer they don't want everyone to have ah all the strongest pokemon shiny pokemon and be like oh look i'm i can just defeat everyone online it's so disappointing because I like to play these games on my own single player at my own leisure and try to catch what appeals to me.
00:48:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
So very disappointing that you really can't do that. I think in general, it looks like this game, the reviews are up today, have the same ratings on OpenCritic and Metacritic as Digimon Time Strangers.
00:48:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I found that actually hilarious that Digimon has seemingly released just as good of a game as Pokemon. Now, will it sell as much? No, obviously not. Probably a sell a fraction of it.
00:49:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
But we talked about this last time, and I'm so glad now that like people are recognizing Digimon. So it's like... Pokemon, I was right on it. About 80% or so on open meta. Digimon's roughly around the same.
00:49:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's awesome. That's really good for them. Yeah, there's some competition now. But overall, great. And I think the new Mega, some of the new Megas really stand out. Like, again, I'm not going to leak them. Well... Yeah, I don't want to spoil it. You don't want the ninjas after you, bro. You don't want the ninjas after that the so But for those people that are interested, play it or just check out gameplay before you decide to buy it.
00:49:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
like One thing I will say, again, a big complaint is people were basically right. This is just luminous city, flat textures. There's really not more outside of the city aspect. And even though there's a decent story with characters returning from older generations, I don't think that can really make up for the fact that this is a limited scope sandbox and it could have been so much better.
00:49:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah I mean, I have to imagine like transitioning to a gameplay mechanic that's so different probably ate up so much of the time because you can't reuse assets. You can't reuse animations, right? So I feel like a lot of that, you know, especially if you're not using AI, like that takes a lot of work, right? Because really now you're switching to like move like actual 3D. So, so yeah, I mean, I'm okay with 250 as long as it's like quality, you know, over quantity, but yeah,
00:50:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah 82 i'm actually pretty surprised i mean especially with how scarlet and violet was like you never know would not have been surprised if this scored 71 so 82 is actually better than i expected i remember when scarlet and violet came out for the first month or so i was in the 60s and like metacritic yeah it was it was bad so i mean i think this is probably a w for them yeah i mean in the grand scheme of their history of their company okay maybe not a w but like you know compared to what we got at the tail end of the switch yeah it's kind of a w you know yeah so i i'll give them some credit for that and i just know people are gonna buy it one or another like people it's gonna sound like crazy um and then i guess one other thing to this is
00:51:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
there's bigger
Pokemon Franchise: Leaks and Future Speculations
00:51:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
leaks. So for, from the terror leaks, more information has been released about Pokemon games coming out in the future. And people, I guess someone leaked the tentative plans for the next five years.
00:51:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
Do you think it's legit? I think it was legit probably three to four years ago. Because I have changed. And I bet you things have changed. Games canceled or pivoted. Um, it became something else. So, Gen 10 is coming out next year, most likely. That's what it looks like.
00:51:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
project ah Pokemon Winds and Waves. And maybe that name subject to change, but it seemed interesting. Yeah, that seemed pretty fleshed out. Like, mean, maybe someone made that all up, but it actually sounded legit. Yeah, it sounded legit. I mean, it looks like they're going to go with the same formula of release the game and then DLC later in the year or just slightly after the New Year's.
00:51:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
And i guess it's based on Southeast Asia or something like that. want to say... Yeah, it's ah it's a chain of... No, no, actually, i think it's a Greek archipelago. That's what I was reading. Yeah, some people said it was Greek archipelago, and then some people said it was not. Maybe it's like Indonesia something. I mean, a bunch of islands, right?
00:52:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
So there was that. They leaked that, I guess, a Legends 3, or another Legends game is in the works, and maybe it's based on the Galarian region or Galarian Pokemon. There was a leak about a new MMORPG game that connected four regions, the Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto regions. That's the one I felt like it was unlikely. Yeah, I feel like that's going to be unlikely. I mean, if they're already, like,
00:52:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
messing with the formula for the pokemon legends enough like i don't know if they would do something that experiment yeah i really don't feel like i think legends is the most they would do and then they experiment then tweak it there that formula and then the fourth thing that was leaked was gen 11 which seemingly is planned for 2030 so now we are seemingly going to get a game every four years or the three for new generations which i think is good because they yeah there's just so many pokemon you like and they're going to make Pokemon forever.
00:53:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah So like, like a shit it's never gonna end. I mean, how many Pokemon are we going to end up with? Yeah. 5,000? Probably. I feel like at a certain point, like, they're going to stop making as many generations. They're going space them out more and then just have like intergenerations, you know, like interstitials. 1 and 5, 2 and 9, you know, something like that because just So much, so many Pokemon. That's what we're seeing now, right? Like, and in those plans, none none of it talks about remakes.
00:53:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
No, I was was actually expecting that so so that. And then there was a lot of ah interesting tidbits that kind of were released from the leaks, too. Like, there was definitely rumors 10 years ago about how Junichita Masuda, I forgot his name, who was arguably the biggest director and creative director of a lot of the Pokemon series up until Gen 5, was basically...
00:53:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
Demoted and it seems like a lot of leaks have kind of confirmed that because they got pretty toxic and he held and centralized a lot of the power within the company for a long time. And um at a certain point because of favorites and politics, et cetera, I guess they had to like get them out of those positions and not let them lead games anymore. But I think that was a detriment because You add that plus the fact that Pokemon transitioned from standard definition to HD plus on top of that COVID, I think all that hit them so hard and Scarlet and Violet and Sword and Shield were just a bit of a disappointment overall.
00:54:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. So yeah, it was just interesting. And there's more leaks that keep coming out to this day, but uh till this since this today yeah that's fascinating and you know i guess in a in a weird way like this seems more believable to me because i feel like if i was just going to make up stuff like i would have definitely said something about remakes right because like i felt like that would be something trustworthy right like you're likely to get it right so the fact that those leaks said nothing about remakes right makes me think it's like it kind of makes them sound like they're more comfortable yeah yeah exactly so okay um
00:54:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I don't know if I really have anything to add to that. I feel like that covered everything. I don't know if I really need the next gen next year. like i would have honestly be fine waiting until 2027. I'm actually okay with Pokemon games being two years apart as opposed to like every year. But mean I guess if you're making money, why not? But yeah two years feels like a good amount of time, right? And then it's like, okay, then you get the new gen.
00:55:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
DLC, then the next year you're actually getting like not new Pokemon, but kind of something fast fun and fascinating. And then now you have four year development cycles. So you don't have to like kill yourself and you can actually still have a quality product.
00:55:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
I just feel like that's what I would have liked. but Same. I would have too. And it's like, if, if it's true that these budgets are really small for these games, they should take an extra year or so. So maybe five years and then beef up the budget what are you doing with all the money you're making? they're They're probably pocketing it. And that's the that's the sad part. It's like,
00:55:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's so clear within the last decade, if they had just put more money and said, we're going to take a little longer than expected to ideate and iterate and be more creative about this, we probably could have gotten something more special. Yeah.
00:56:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, Pokemon is just so crazy popular. Like really, where does that money go? It's so much money. To put this into perspective again, the leaks, we don't know how accurate it is, but the budget for ZA was 13 million and that supposedly the budget for ah Gen 10 is $20 million. USD.
00:56:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
usd Think about it. They make that back in like one hour. Yes, and think about it. AAA games right now, budgets are 100 to 200 million dollars. Wait, so you telling me Pokemon is an indie developer?
00:56:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yes. And they play like indie games. So they should get, they should honestly get the indie game of the year. Yeah, right. And when saw that, and I'm just like, this can't be feasible because these games sell 15 to 20 million units. And I'm like, this doesn't make sense. And they never on sale. And they never go on sale.
00:56:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now the games cost more. They're $70 on 6-2. That is hilarious. So that's probably what's going to piss them off the most about the leak. They're like, oh no, they've discovered our truth. mean I don't know. I find 13 million hard to believe. I feel like maybe that was fun. Yeah, maybe it's maybe it's wrong. 13 million is crazy. It's like, I can't even comprehend this because it's like, no wonder. like Is there like four people the office actually?
00:57:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
They have a huge building. You go up to the floor. There's four people drawing Pokemon. And one of the four is just to see. was like, yeah, just give me that money. And the other three are working like dogs. thoses Dude, 13 million. That's crazy.
00:57:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I don't know, man. I was just, when I saw him, like, this can't be. I'm like, I'm so pissed. I'm like, wow. yes Again, you let's say the scope of the game increase is fine. That's one thing. But pay for more developers. Sometimes you just need a brute force it and you just need more developers. Agreed. Yeah.
00:57:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
i mean That's the thing, right? Like, as these worlds are getting bigger, like, you need better QA. And if you're not having that, like, people are going to find these bugs and post them online. And then everyone is going to repeat them. Yeah. And you know how ridiculed Scarlet Violet was when it first out? They were just sinking through the floors.
00:57:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
Your characters like, all just stretched out. Let's see. The original Pokemon games were not buggy. Like, I don't really... I mean, like the first gen had those like iconic bugs. Yeah, of course. But other than that, I don't really remember a lot of bugs. Yeah.
00:58:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
And again, like, you know that the complexity of your games are constantly growing because ah you you want keep an open world game. Well, hire more appropriate people to test it now. Like you can't have the small scope team, small team saying, oh, yeah, we're going to find everything. Do we know how many people work?
00:58:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
in we don't know how many people work i think there's a rough estimate of maybe like only two to three hundred and it's pretty well known that they're very slow to hire more people like they're always hesitant to staff up and it's like what yeah especially if you're making multiple projects yeah that's another thing Okay.
Project Amethyst and Console Technology Innovations
00:58:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
I guess um maybe we can talk about Project Amethyst because feel like the the main thing I wanted to talk about was Xbox. yeah But ah you probably know more about Project Amethyst than I do. I mean, I just saw the video a little bit and then I was like, okay, I'm not actually finding out when PSX is coming out, so i lost interest.
00:58:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. So like, just for people I don't know, this is a collaboration between Sony and a AMD that was announced, ah partnership was announced a year, ah year and a half ago. And it's like, Sony and AMD are now working together more collaboratively because they've started to realize like as the console generations move forward, again, the complexity or the way our CPUs and GPUs scale are not good enough now to give us high fidelity games with good performance.
00:59:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so they now need to find unique solutions to make... these games more efficient. um So they came out with a second video with AMD, and they announced three new things, which were radiance cores, neural arrays, and universal compression.
00:59:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so this seems to me like the equivalent of technology NVIDIA has already had for like probably the last five to seven years. The radiance cores seem like the tensor cores, or no, like the ray tracing cores.
00:59:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
ah The you neural arrays are basically similar to the tensor cores in NVIDIA chipsets. And then the universal compression just seems to be a more unique way of compressing all sorts of data.
01:00:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
and making things efficient and lessening the burden on the CPU. Because right now the bottleneck is always the CPU. So what happened, they started using, all all these companies started using machine learning and using the leftover compute on the GPU to come up with, again, frame generation, a bunch of like path tracing, ray tracing, like features and PSSR, FSR, et cetera, all that ML machine learning capabilities upscaling.
01:00:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
So it was nice to kind of see that they announced this stuff because at the end of this video, Mark's learning basically said like, and I'm excited to bring these technologies to a future console in the next several, several years and the next couple of years. And I'm like, wait a minute, next couple of years, like,
01:00:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
supposedly your new console comes out a year and a half, maybe two years at most. Like, i don't know if this means that PS6 comes out in 2028, 2029. Like I was like, oh, yeah, it was really unclear to me. don't know why this video exists though. Like why are they, yeah I was just wondering like, is Sony, they just trying to jump on the AI bandwagon? for Because everyone is like talking about AI. Cause it's like, it's, we all know the consoles, they're all going to use AI. Like,
01:01:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm not surprised by that, but i guess like, it's nice to know how, and that they're really like focusing and they have partnerships. That's great. it It kind of, to me felt like a me too. Cause like Microsoft has been releasing AI stuff, but like, at least with Microsoft, like I actually got a better sense. Like they were like, Oh yeah. It's like, you know, AI game generation and like, Oh, i put it some stuff and here's what you get. And I was like, okay, this feels more tangible. Like,
01:01:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
and Maybe it's just because I'm not an engineer, so it's like going over my head. But I was just like, oh, cool. You're like doing all the stuff that everyone else is doing. And PlayStation always does great. So I guess I'll see you in three years or two years, and then I'll be hyped. Yeah, so like a lot of people that probably aren't really well-versed in this just are thinking like, okay, this was expected, but this is very low level stuff.
01:01:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
So like the things you're seeing Microsoft innovate on, which is the generative gameplay co-pilot while playing your games to help you like get past a level that might seem more eye popping because it's a consumer feature that like says tangibly, this is how I know how AI is being used.
01:02:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
But this is low level stuff, which again, it goes back to this whole point of console generations are no longer like previous ones where I just brute force by adding more compute and there's a generational leap.
01:02:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's no longer the case. And so what they realize is if they don't focus heavily on ML solutions for their next generation, it's not going to be generational leap. And then people probably won't want to buy their consoles anymore.
01:02:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, i mean, in a way, this is kind of signaling like AI is going to take over and there's no other way for us to advance things, right? Like because we're going to have frame gen and all that stuff. You need it. stuff You need it because people a are going to expect, I don't want 60 FPS anymore. want 120 or I want at 4k or at 14 per TV because if they don't go this route, basically consoles become so expensive.
01:02:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
It'd make more sense to buy a mid spec or a high end PC, which will be roughly the same price and will perform better. yeah at that point so they have to find a way to keep costs but then they're probably going be ai heavy too yeah yeah but this is the way their way of keeping costs down so do you feel like the internet is taking this news good or bad or like not really like neutral i think because i i would think that like so everyone gets so upset at nvidia with the 5000 series and maybe yeah nvidia had the worst marketing ever i'll give you that but like
01:03:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, they're all going in the same direction. yeah Andy and Sony are basically doing what NVIDIA is doing and NVIDIA was like crucified. Yeah, they were crucified. And it's like, yeah, so I so i would say neutral only in the sense that there's a um like minority or maybe, maybe even a majority, but minority of people online that are upset that this generation is almost over and there hasn't been any generation defining video games.
01:03:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. Essentially. i get it, but the tail end... from now until 2027, it's going to be bangers. Yeah. People will be satisfied. It's like, GTA 6 comes out, everyone's going to shut their mouth. And Wolverine. Yeah.
01:04:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
GTA 6, Wolverine, they come out, everyone's going to shut up, everyone's going to be so happy. And that will define this generation. by So I think that's one. People are upset about that. i think people are are a little bit excited now to know that, like, we're finally...
01:04:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
pushing consoles again more towards a pc focus like architecture wise they've always been aligned since the last 10 years but we're finally catching up fidelity wise to know more yeah and especially like with frame gen and ai like it just makes the divide so much you know like stranger, you know, it's like harder to quantify because it's like, okay, I can get like real, you know, frames, right. And run at this level, but all right, fine. I'm getting fake frames, but honestly it's still running fine. Right. And the performance is much smaller.
01:04:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And it's like, Yeah, i mean, are people going to care if you're running like a 240p game at 720p, you know, and then upscaling four times the frames, right?
01:05:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
Versus running it daily at 1440. Yeah, there's going to be like like ah group a group of people online who are going be very vocal about that. But a lot of the gamers I talk to are not going to care. They're just going to care about what is the price I pay? Yeah, what is the price paying?
01:05:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like if this is going charge me more than 600 bucks, we have a problem, right? Yeah. um And again, i feel like the only concern I have about, again, the way they're telegraphing this, cool, you want to be a little more upfront with your consumers, great.
01:05:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
They
Console Development Timeline and Next-Gen Rumors
01:05:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
also said in this video that they're only in the simulation phase, like Mark Cerny said that. So this also has me concerned because you have to go from simulation phase to getting prototypes to developers to then beef up their engines and say, this is how we have to really now innovate to utilize your technology better.
01:05:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you have- they seem kind far off. That's what I think. So I think this console generation will be longer than we expected because it started in 2020, right? Right. So if they follow their normal trajectory, that's, it was eight years?
01:06:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
Seven years from 2013 to 2020. Okay, so so then we would expect something 2027, 2028. So I would i would guess it's probably going to be 2028. That's what I thought. I think 2028, because they're in such a tight deadline. But then there's rumors right now from Kepler, who's a very famous leaker. He's like PS5 Pro stuff and...
01:06:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
and something else i think xbox's next gen stuff basically said that they've already taped out most of their soc and that they're planning for 2027 release he's like he's like he's like i literally have paperwork that's telling me right here that 2027 are they doing the thing where they're jumping on the ai bandwagon but it will not be there finalized at launch which would disappointing oh they oh no oh i can see it that is what big tech does That would be very disappointing it's like, don't give me this stuff with it. Sony is normally pretty good at delivering, so I will trust them. But man, that's tight timeline. It's tight timeline. I mean, I don't have the expertise in engineering, but if you're saying that, like, yeah, man.
01:06:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
But like you have to have but at least, let's say the software isn't ready, but the hardware is. Like you're telling me, okay, which I could see this. Hey, going to sell you this console. It's $900. And a year later, you'll be able to use all the features. like I mean, Apple got away with it, right? That is very disappointing.
01:07:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
Apple got away with it. A lot of people are getting away with it. So I can see that happen too. um Man, that's crazy. Yeah. that' the world
Xbox's Luxury Market Strategy and Hybrid Model Speculation
01:07:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
we live in, though. this I guess ah maybe we can swivel from that to the new Xbox leaks for next gen and then probably talk about Game Pass price going up.
01:07:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
um So I feel like maybe this is backward order. But when I saw the what is it, Magnus leaks, I think that's what they called it, the next gen Xbox.
01:07:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
um I honestly was not that surprised. Like I felt like me and you were just having that conversation about How we feel like Microsoft is going for the luxury, like look, right? And then I heard about Xbox Magnus and it's going to be like $800 to $1,000. And I was like, okay, that I can see that. i can I'm not surprised, right? Because I feel like, you know, PlayStation is going for that, you know, we're going to be a luxury product, but we're going to be within arm's reach of everybody.
01:08:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And because we sell so well and we have such brand recognition, like we can eat up the costs. Right. And so that's what works for them. And I feel like Microsoft is just like, nah, screw it.
01:08:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm done. You know, Series X is way more expensive than PlayStation 5. Whatever. I don't care. Yeah. I'm done. I feel like they do not care how expensive their products are.
01:08:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, yeah. And I feel like the natural progression of that is let's go for the luxury gamer because those are the whales. I feel like that's what Microsoft is going for. like Look at the ROG LAX, $1,000.
01:08:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
thousand dollars People are buying it like crazy, right? and including Including my buddy, RJ. And so like those are the whales. Those are the people who spend a lot. Those are the people who play a lot, right?
01:08:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
And look at Xbox's user base. like What is it like? A third of... PlayStation, and yet Helldivers 2 sold so well, right? like Like, the people who really play, ah like, a lot of the people who have Xbox, they really pay. They, you know, play, they spend a lot of money, right? And Microsoft's like, all right, let's juice them, you know?
01:09:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
And honestly, like, if Xbox Magnus is, like, $800 to $1,000, more expensive than PlayStation 6, everyone's going freak out about how expensive it is.
01:09:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
But if it comes out and it's like, not like 1.2 times more powerful, but it's like one and a half, 1.8 times more powerful. I kind of feel like that's a convincing argument, you know? Yeah, maybe.
01:09:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, like, I feel like at this point, Microsoft has been converging their PC and console solutions. And I think it's going to be a PC console hybrid. I do feel like by the time it releases, they'll have streamlined their OS. So that way it's...
01:09:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
ford compatible so it will run xbox games but then pc games will now run on a new version of windows that allows them to be played on xbox systems as well is the xbox ally x not just the test like basically use that same software and instead of a handheld format you know make it a thousand dollars and make a console and people be like whoa okay so for a thousand dollars i'm able to buy xbox games that i know will run mel and i can still get my steam games i can still get my everything game, I don't have to force myself to buy Xbox games, yeah right?
01:10:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, yeah okay, $1,000, but do you see how expensive GPUs are getting? yeah' How expensive is the 5090 now? yeah And I feel like you know This kind of ties into like some of the other things that have been going. on So for this last two weeks, crazy uproar because, again, a really well-known leaker came out and said, hey, there was concrete plans of releasing a next-gen Xbox in 2026.
01:10:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now, all of a sudden, that's up in the air. And Microsoft is going to go through more layoffs in Q1 of 2026. And basically everyone took that as, wait a minute, they're canceling their next-gen Xbox? And they really never said that. They just said it's not concrete as it was prior.
01:11:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, but i mean, that was a stupid plan to begin with. Like, why would you release the ROG Xbox X, hype it up 2025, and then release the next-gen 2026? You're going piss off everybody who just spent $1,000. And those are your most loyal fan base. That's true.
01:11:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
Who thought this would be a good idea to begin with? I think they weren't thinking about the Xbox LX because that came together really quickly when they dropped their handheld stuff. And I also think that they thought back to the old Xbox days when they were like, we released the 360 one year before PS3. And they gave us a head start.
01:11:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
But now I don't think at this point they care. I won't be surprised. Even if they release a year early, I don't know if people buy the new Xbox. They probably won't. In my opinion, the reason why they won't is because Xbox needs a firm and strong rebranding. Like they no longer have a firm vision of what they should be anymore.
01:12:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And everyone's so confused about their strategy that I feel like they're lying because, okay, in the last week, those leaks came out about potentially canceling next-gen, right? And then Microsoft came out, actually responded literally a couple days ago, like, no, we look at our announcement we we made with AMD, we're still making dedicated silicon for next dedicated hardware, next generation.
01:12:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's like, we know they're prone to lying now because when the whole debacle about going multi-platform came out, it was leaked months in advance. And they said there was like no red tape, all off limits, like all games could go multi-platform eventually. And then Microsoft was like, no, no, no, no. They came out with a video with Sarah Bond and Phil Smith. So it was just four games.
01:12:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then what happened months later? Fuck it. But the thing is, I, you know, Technically, they're not lying. They're telling half-truths. That's the lie. Because they are... If you pull up the post, they technically didn't tell you anything that was true or false, but they said it in such a way that it left them enough room for the future. This is why they spell it. Well, that is some next-level corporate lawyer talk. Yes, that definitely is. They're masters of it.
01:13:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're so good at it, and it's like... Are you saying what I think you're saying? don't know. It's like, it sounds like you're giving what I want, but there's a but at the end. Yeah, it's a but or and asterisk.
01:13:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And in my opinion, they do need to rebrand because it's like, again, you don't understand your vision anymore. And if you're going to change the way you do things, rip the bandit off. Now, like as a consumer, if you are going to cancel plans or you're going to change the way you release your hardware, like let's say it's all in the cloud. But the thing is, this is actually Microsoft's fault because these are leaks, right? Like, yeah.
01:13:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, think about it, like in the company you work, if every single thing got leaked that you were doing, and would totally tarnish your public image. that's true And so like, you know, I think every company in America, like we don't really realize how much chaos there is inside.
01:13:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And if we actually looked behind the scenes and saw how much chaos there is, oh it's always you were like, oh my God, are you guys like sitting in a room and just burning all the money we're giving you? Like what is wrong with you guys, right? thats Maybe Microsoft is like next level of it. But like, I do think there are certain leaks that Microsoft wants and other leaks Microsoft does not want. And then it's some of these leaks we're seeing and we're just like,
01:14:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
oh God, what is happening over at Microsoft? well that's And then they just, they're constantly trying to cover their butt and then they're just like stuck. They're stuck because they themselves don't know what's going right sometimes. And it's like one of those things where i hope that some executive didn't come and just said, we're canceling now a bunch of budgets.
01:14:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
We don't want next generation hardware to come out in next year. We don't want blah and blah and blah. It's like, okay, maybe we shouldn't know be knowing about all this, but then don't come out and make an announcement about your AMD partnership.
01:14:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. And then release the Xbox Ally X and then be like, oh, yeah, we told you last year we're gonna talk about next generation plans this year. So I'm sorry, that's not happening anymore. So I guess like maybe my opinion is a little different than yours.
01:14:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think it comes down to like, what do you see Xbox right now? Right. And I think. If you have always seen Xbox a certain way for a long time, right, you're going to burned because you're still thinking about old Xbox, right?
01:15:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
For me, I just accepted the fact, and I think I, I don't know where I expected, accepted it, but like, I feel like my heart was broken a few times. And then I just realized if you are signing up on the Xbox bandwagon,
01:15:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
you're joining an experimental program, right? Like it basically feels like you just opted into a Windows Insider program, right? That's what you're getting, right? Like you should not expect stability. You should not, you know, expect that like these people are going to have and everything figured out because Microsoft is trying to be a disruptor right now, right? And so it's like, you know, I think I kind of have a counter opinion. Like I hear all the news that's swirling around the Xbox, right? With Game Pass, with this and that.
01:15:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I actually get kind of excited because I'm like, oh, like you're trying. You're disrupting. You're trying to change the status quo. And like I've expected
Game Pass Price Increase: Value Debate
01:15:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
the fact that like what I'm going to get from Xbox is disruption and not knowing what's coming next because they're trying to figure something out on the road to greatness.
01:16:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
I feel like I've been rocking so much football. like What I'm expecting is the Lions just got the new GM, Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes. And they're drafting, right? And they're not going to always draft, right? Some of those people are going to be complete messes, but you got to just trust the vision.
01:16:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the problem is but and ah with this analogy, no one is trusting the vision because Microsoft has failed them too many times. as Right? And so I get it. But like, that's why for me, I'm like, I'm okay. I'm like, okay, Microsoft's going to screw up 2025. Microsoft's going to screw up 2026.
01:16:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
When they screw up, I'm not disappointed because I expect them to screw up because they're in an experimental phase. If you accepted that, this is what they are. So like some people have not let go, like you said, the old image. Yeah, they still want the 360 days, right? Yeah, they still want the 360 days. And for me, I'm also open now to disruption. I don't want two OEMs out there to will clearly be traditional because I'm always now going to be biased towards one of the consoles because they clearly won out.
01:17:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
So if Microsoft can carve out its own niche now and do something different, I guess what? I'm still going to buy both consoles. So I'm okay with that, which goes now to the whole Xbox Game Pass and raising costs.
01:17:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
To me, I'm still okay with this a little bit because They are experimenting. yeah They're experimenting the way they distribute games, the way they can play games. um And again, the potential of their hardware. This is all tied in because I think personally, again, if they say the next generation or so, all of it's going to be in the cloud, like in our servers, their next generation silicon.
01:17:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
Fine. Well, maybe I just need to access a subscription just to play games on the cloud. yeah i mean the thing is like Microsoft, as soon as they bought Activision Blizzard, they were like, guys, we are not trying to compete, right? Like we, in the way we used to,
01:17:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
we are going for the moon right like that that is what we're trying to do it's like tesla building their rocket ships and it blows up like 10 times not tesla spacex right um so i guess like with me when it comes to the game pass price and i'm going to sound really naive but when i saw the price increase i was not expecting the massive um amount of backlash that i was seeing right and I get it. Like everything is getting more expensive. So like when video games get more expensive, it really sucks. And I empathize with that.
01:18:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
But at the same time, it's like, guys, like, have we all been living in the same world? Like, what did you think was going to happen? Yeah. Right. like I totally expected this, right? And it's it's ironic to me that like everyone is crapping on Microsoft because they're saying Game Pass is diluting the value of your games.
01:18:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
So then they increase the price of things, which inherently actually increases the value of the products that they have in Game Pass. And now everyone's upset that it's too expensive. So it's like either way, whatever you do, people are going to be upset.
01:18:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so like to me, I actually thought this was... the right move to make. I don't know if it was the right time to make it, but it felt like the right move because it it felt like the inevitable end product, you know? yeah And this it felt like this was always what Game Pass was building towards. yeah I'm just very shocked that they felt confident enough to do this in 2025. I would have thought they would have done it in 2026 or 2027, right? Where they would have like had this separation of tiers to kind of increase their
01:19:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
audience pool and separate them into different, like really different types of gamers and different pools. I didn't think they would be confident ballsy enough to it this year. So that's a good point. Like I'm not, like again, I'm not shocked that they did the price increase. I'm shocked that they did it this early. And like, you only do it once you have confidence.
01:19:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like Sarah Bond said earlier this year, like, Oh, Xbox game passes made us 5 billion in revenue. So was your confidence that high with that amount of money being generated? Yeah. I don't know, because, and okay, we talked about this offline, right? And I said this, and the examples I gave were like Netflix and Uber.
01:19:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
Both of those started off relatively cheap. And when it became adopted by the mass, that's when they took advantage and they gave us a lesser experience at the lower tiers. And they took the things you loved and said, you relied on this so much, we're going to force you to pay more. And you know, you are going pay more. I mean, when when the product feels like you cannot separate it from your life,
01:20:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah And then they drop the price increase. Then you're upset about it. But what are you going to do? you know like ah i remember how much everyone freaked out about the Netflix price increases. There was so much rage on like, I'm quitting. Screw and Netflix. Oh, no password sharing.
01:20:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
Look at Netflix stock. Look at their revenue. Look at their user base. and their Every single thing they went up. They took the hit, the initial hit, the first quarter, and then it just... The blasted because yeah Netflix is such good material. like They know you're going to stay and they know you're you're going to take it. And and on top of it, the barrier entry, again, psychologically now, you go, wait a minute.
01:20:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
you have a ah lower tier. i just have to deal with ads and it's $7.99. But the thing is they don't announce them at the same time. They always hit you with the higher tier first and then they piss you off. Everyone cancels and then they're like, come back. messed up.
01:21:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
Here's the the ads. And that's what Game Pass now is. Because now everyone's going to have fun. So maybe it was actually a genius marketing idea because it's like, everyone's left and now they're going to see all this game pass stuff Halo, King, Forza, Call of Duty, Fable, you know, all this new stuff and they're like,
01:21:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
well So here's what I found funny. So you get the if you if you get the Game Pass, the first tier, the lowest tier, you have access now to xCloud, or what's it called?
01:21:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I think it's xCloud. For a limited amount of hours. And then I started laughing because someone posted this on. They're like, wait a minute. So basically, you can play games for one hour, okay? And then they're like, isn't that a demo? Yes, we rebranded it!
01:21:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
like ah
01:21:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
I started laughing so I'm like wait a minute that's so genius because they're gonna make you think you need game pass and then you'll just upgrade the tier because it's not enough time you're gonna like the game you're like about to kill a boss oh he's dead your time is run out it's like the arcade games insert credit card $20 keep playing and I laughed because I'm like this is literally glorified demo oh my god that's so funny was laughing so hard when someone wrote that was like okay they got it that is so funny No, you know, and I thought about it and like, look, like this actually solves a lot of problems for Microsoft, right? Because I think both things are true that people have been reporting that Game Pass is very profitable and very helpful for some developers and Game Pass totally destroys sales for other developers.
01:22:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think it depends on the scale of the project, right? And really the scale of the audience, right? um And I think this helps Microsoft with that because you know, you're subdividing, you know, really your target population, right? And so um day one, like games on Game Pass is now like the ultra premium thing that you're going to get, right? And so because of that, now the product feels more ultra premium, you're paying $30 a month, Game Pass Ultimate actually feels like Game Pass Ultimate, because you're getting something no one else is getting. yeah And it's,
01:23:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, a lot of day one games and, you know, we'll see. I guess I was a little excited about it because i was like, oh, I have Game Pass Ultimate. I stacked for years, so I have nothing to worry about. And I've never paid monthly. I have no idea why people are paying monthly. You can just get, you know, CD keys and stuff online. I don't know why people haven't done that.
01:23:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I don't know why people don't stack on Black Friday, but yeah you know, that's how you really pay nothing. yeah um But I find it funny because this is, again, it's another psychological thing. I, this is me personally. It's not even cynicism. It's, I actually think Microsoft wants people to downgrade to the middle tier.
01:23:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
They want the middle tier because they go, wait a minute. If we're promising first-party games one year after they release, it's like a timed exclusive thing. yeah Okay, so if you really want to play this game, you'll get the submit material and you'll still buy our game.
01:23:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then we'll we'll hold it from PlayStation platforms for six months to a year. So then you'll double dip. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So like Microsoft actually wants you not to subscribe anymore Game Pass Ultimate because like...
01:24:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
they a they're going to make more money on the people who are staying with game pass off you don't subscribe but guess what microsoft knows you're going play their games yeah their games are too valuable they're too good you can boycott them but for how long yeah how long activision blazer but bethesda all of xbox game studios plus third party ah you publishers like ninja theory it's too much right and so yeah like that 50 tier is now the tier for everybody right and so it's like You're basically giving people less, right? And you're charging them a similar amount of dollars, but the deal is still good. You're paying $15 a month. You're getting all of those games within a year. That's amazing. And like, if you think about it, there are certain gamers that will buy every game when they first come out.
01:24:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're gamers who spend a lot, right? Guess what? They have the money to spend $30 a month, right? And think about it. Now, you know what Microsoft already does, right? So they go, hey, if you buy the premium version of our first party game, extra 30 bucks, you'll get all these things with it, right? DLC, et cetera.
01:25:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
Well, guess what? If you do that, $30 for ultimate, $30 for the upgraded premium, you're basically paid for the full cost of the game. That's how they're going to make their money because they're going up to the wheel, yeah but they're going after them in a different way, you know?
01:25:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I guess I have just gotten so used to how accessible game passes. I'm hooked. I mean, I'll pay, I thought about it and i asked myself, what is the maximum amount I'm willing to pay for game pass?
01:25:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, Before this year, $30, there's no way I would have paid. But this year have been so satisfied with Game Pass that when it went to $30, I was like, yeah, that's worth it. but you know I played Avow, Ninja Gaiden. I played Elder Scroll. I played Claire Obscura. played Doom.
01:25:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
That alone is freaking insane. yeah And how many more games do I have to look forward to for the rest of the year? And I looked at that and I'm like, and this is not even their best year. Next year is going to be even better. $30 a month still feels like a steal. And then, yeah, everyone's going to say, oh yeah, well, you know, you can't really own your games. Right. But I'm like, at least for me, games don't age the same way as movies.
01:26:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And games get remade quite often. Movies don't. Right. And so because of that, I don't really have as much desire to play a game from 10 years ago because the gameplay is going to be so different.
01:26:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. but a movie from 10 years ago actually can still hold up. yeah i don't think retro games hold up as much for me personally, you know, maybe some will disagree and yeah, it's nice having a physical copy of everything.
01:26:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
I agree with you, but it also takes quite a lot of effort to like get your games, get them on sale, look for where you should resend them, wait for a discount, go over there, sell it in person.
01:26:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, That takes a lot of energy as well. It does. And then how much are you recouping? Like, okay, if you're spending $80 on the game and I keep the physical copy, play it, sell it.
01:27:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
Okay. So then maybe I sell it back for $30. Feel great. Well, again, it's the same. Like you said, it's the same with movies. I most of the times watch my movies at a movie theater. I'm not keeping the movie. Yeah. I'm watching it for the experience. And the thing is like, how much did I, I got the physical copy.
01:27:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
Great. Right. But if I'm going to resell it eventually, right. I'm still going to spend like $40, $50 on the experience. But now the downside is like right now I have Assassin's Creed shadow sitting on my fricking table.
01:27:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
I feel guilty about the fact that I spent $50 on it. I don't want to play it and beat it, but I'm going to play it and beat it because I feel guilty about it. And I don't have to deal with that when I have game pass because I just have a great catalog. It's like Netflix.
01:27:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
I dip in, I play. Sometimes it's not a good experience. I move on. Right. But I'm, My time is valued and I'm actually making the most of my time this way instead of forcing myself to play games that I don't love you because I don't want to feel like wasting my life.
01:28:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I agree. Look, I think the way we look at ownership of media now for games in particular is changing. And Sony still has their strategy, but they've adopted both. They have their PS Plus and their cloud gaming and their infrastructure and all this.
01:28:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think, like you said, I think the best example was the movie thing. I pay a subsidized price to watch a movie that I'm never going to own. And if I want to watch it in the future, i have to get a subscription service or this or that. Or I do have to buy it, but then I'm paying an extraor an exorbitant amount of money.
01:28:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so I think it's the same thing. I'm paying a subsidized price for Game Pass that gives me access to a collection of games. And ah whether I like it or not, there's always going other things in the catalog that will make up for it eventually. yeah So I actually think from a proposition standpoint and like the way we're headed towards the future, a lot of people aren't seeing it because they're so vehement from changing from the way we owned games in the past. Ownership, like that in and of itself is so...
01:28:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
broad, right? So I think it's more important for for people to own something. But like, for me, it's like experience in time. Yeah, it's experience in time. i actually agree with this. And I think the way Microsoft is headed, that's why think I think the strategy works for them. And don't get me wrong, don't get me twisted.
01:29:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
Game Pass is the only reason why they're still in the gaming business. They legitimately admit it. Like, literally admit it. They're only here Pass. They're only here Game Pass. They said they were about to exit the the business without acquiring Activision.
01:29:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
And this is now, they're going all in. And this is their way. So they're shooting for the guess, like, I'm giving the opinion of someone who is, like, just hooked on the drug that is Game Pass Ultimate. Because, like, as an adult now who's busy and has a lot of responsibilities...
01:29:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
the flexibility it
Game Pass Strategy and Consumer Tips
01:29:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
gives me, like the ability for me to play on the console, play on my phone, play on my thats so nice ally ally. Right. And if everything is play anywhere, it makes it even better. Right. It's convenient. That ecosystem works really well. Like between generations, I don't have to worry about it, you know, and it's just a great catalog month after month that only is getting better. And honestly, if all I played was game pass games for the whole year,
01:30:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I would miss out on some good experiences on the Switch and the Nintendo, but I would actually be pretty satisfied. I still be satisfied. I'm getting good first-party exclusives, and I'm getting great third-party games. Like, I'm getting freaking Hogwarts. Yeah, that's insane. That's only two years old.
01:30:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, it's nice. It's great game. Most of the really big games that came out, 2022, 2023, they all have ended up on Game Pass at a certain point. And so that's insane as well to think about, right? Well, don't and don't get it wrong. So when you get a complimentary console like the Xbox LAX, even if you don't have Game Pass, guess what?
01:30:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
Two years later with Steam sales, I can still play that game. Anything that you're missing, yeah. So I think, like, if I didn't have a Nintendo console, that'd still be fine because I have access to two of the three biggest platforms, you know? That's a good point, right? And that's the future of what the Xbox is. Like, that's really nice. And I think for the for people who,
01:30:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like money is not as big of a concern. Like obviously money is a concern, but where like time has become very valuable for them. Like, you know, the Xbox ecosystem makes a lot of sense, right? Because you're just getting so much flexibility and variety.
01:31:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I thought about the price proposition. I think last year, the most I would pay was $20 month, right? right I'm not even paying that, but $20 a month. And I think this year, the most I would pay is $30, maybe $35 at the most because next year sounds really good.
01:31:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
um But beyond that, I think that's ridiculous of an ask beyond that. $30, $35 is the upper ceiling what I think Game Pass is worth. So they're right there. yeah um i think Microsoft, it's funny too now that I think about this, I do actually think they're not just competing against Sony. I think they're competing against all the streaming services. Oh yeah. Because if I had to choose, like, look, I'm already paying for Hulu.
01:31:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
Let's say as ah as a hypothetical, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Netflix. Those three combined are probably like 30 to 35 bucks. Well, I can either do that and watch some shows I don't care about get a huge catalog to games for $30. And if I had to pick, I might just pick Microsoft GameCast now over these three.
01:31:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, that's actually a good point. not even think about it. But that's that's your competition. And they say it all the time. Like, it's viewer attention, right? It's like, who is actually playing? Yeah. So I guess like for me, like that's, you know, that's how I felt about the whole $30 thing. And like, everyone's going crazy about it. So I'm really curious how this is going to work out, but they doubled down, yeah you know, they, they really did.
01:32:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I do think the $15 tier is the one that's best for most people. Right. Like, I really feel like that's the one that makes the most sense. You're getting a lot of value, getting all those games within six months to a year, if not right. Maybe even three months.
01:32:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
And Microsoft is double dipping everywhere. They're double dipping on the game pass ultimate. Now people are probably going to buy more actual copies of Call of Duty. So they'll get some money there. they They're still making their 15 off the middle tier.
01:32:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they're still going to make their their money off the Sony tier. So I feel like that's probably what's going to happen. And then the when Ultimate is going to be like the Die Hard, you're going to get Ultimate, you're going to get Day 1, or you just buy it on Xbox. Yeah.
01:33:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Or you wait six months to a year and then you buy it on Sony or get it on Game Pass standard. Yeah, exactly. And look, guys, if you don't want to pay $360, buy, stack up some Xbox or Gold. don't understand why people are not doing this. Yeah.
01:33:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, honestly, it might not be as good of a deal now because it's the three to two conversion ratio. So maybe... How much have we been paying a month? $11? $12? We got lucky. We got lucky. But I think this will be the last of that. But like, let's say you pay $250 to $300 still.
01:33:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's still not a bad deal. So right now everyone's – this is what I was telling some of the people who cancel. I'm like, dude, why are you, like, canceling such a good deal? Like, you're just canceling because you're upset and everything is getting more expensive so you're trying to, like, boycott.
01:33:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
But actually it's going to hurt you in the long run yeah because you like all these games. You're going to pay them. yeah You're going to buy them, right? And let's say you're like, no, no, no, I'm so upset. I'm never going to buy another Microsoft game. How long?
01:33:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, how long? How long is that going to for you? Two years. and a years. You're going to come back. You're going to tell you're never going to buy another Call Duty in your life. And all those third-party games, what, are you going to buy them separately now? Yeah, that's what I mean. So I'm like, now the price is low. The sentiment is against Xbox.
01:34:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
Go stack your codes. yeah Like GameStop is selling them for $20, right? Go stack your codes. yeah And people are doing this. CD Keys is sold out. That's great. And I was like, man, I've never seen CD Keys sold out like this.
01:34:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
I should have did that. I couldn't live it because mine ends in June of next year. I was getting a little worried about it, but then I was like, listen, Black Friday is going to come. yeah There's going to be huge discounts. I'll just stack that. yeah And that's that's what why I try and do. Like it here and there, I find something and it's like all three months away.
01:34:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
here is cheap six months this year is cheap right pick them up they don't expire yeah right so just sit on them until you want to use them instead of like waiting to pay monthly on the month where you want to use it just get a cheap code for like a month or three you know three months and then just sit on it until you want to use it i don' that's just my opinion like i think especially if you're upset about the price increases like i would have you consider doing that and yeah you're like oh it seems like a lot of work but Isn't it also a lot of work to wait for these new games go on sale? Yeah. absolutely why would you Either way, you're going to be working. yeah Why are you going to hold yourself back from playing it? You can wait two years to get a game that does on sale.
01:35:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
Then got wait two years. It's your time. thats Yeah, but but if you're going to wait a long time to buy a game on sale, then why don't you get the premium version? Yeah. right because So that's just my opinion. But I mean, I get the backlash. I think Microsoft screwed up on their...
01:35:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
Their date, honestly, I think it is too early. i think i think you wait another year because 2026 is such a stacked year. If you're telling me all four of your biggest franchises come out and then you're going into November with Call Duty. like yeah you know But I think maybe Call Duty didn't sell as well as they expected last year. maybe Tariffs are hurting them.
01:35:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
right Development costs are high. They had to recoup losses with the Dead Studios. so i think So I think they forced the timeline earlier on themselves than they won. but
Anticipation for Upcoming Gaming Announcements
01:35:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
they'll be fine they're four trillion dollar company yeah exactly that's all i have for that so so yeah and i guess this is going to be an exciting month because not just with games but uh you know i'm a big halo fan boy and going to have the halo announcement i think it's at the end of the month i say the 26th so probably it's going to be around the time of our next podcast so
01:36:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
Let's see what they announce. I know there's a lot of people talking about how like the art director of like 17 years left or something like that. So feel a lot more to talk about yeah so let's see let's see what they're cooking. And then let them cook right and then ah yeah probably we'll be talking about Pokemon and some ghosts.
01:36:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I don't know. I hope I don't just go back into Hades and play it the whole time. Because, man, I am i amm addicted to that game. And it's probably going to prevent me from playing everything else. Tell tell your wife to join the dark side. Oh, that game.
01:36:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
i have not been addicted like this for a long time. It, like, feels weird to me to say it's my game of the year. But, man, nothing has hooked me that way. I think I really enjoyed Avald the most this year so far.
01:36:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, man, Hades 2 has me addicted. Speaking of before we end this podcast. Oh yeah. Yeah. I saw that leak. It seems credible, but yeah, they're going to have the, the sprint probably in Halo, one remake, but I mean, it's kind of what I expected. I think they're going to do the same thing as oblivion remastered and people will freak out because they love freaking out about a halo.
01:37:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, uh, I don't know. i mean This is a full remake similar to the Resident Evil remake. that Oh, wait, really? I thought what I had seen is it's more like Oblivion Remastered. but Yeah, so I heard of that first, but now this source is... So again, grain of salt.
01:37:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
We'll see. I thought it was going more like Oblivion Remastered and they'll have sprinting. And it's like everyone says, oh yeah, we don't want sprint. But it's like, man, we played that. Halo 3 mode that was in Halo Infinite. Yeah, it was fun, but man. It's archaic. Yeah, it feels weird, like, not being able to sprint, and then you don't have the movement speed of doom. yeah It feels slow. It's odd.
01:37:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
so All right. Catch y'all later. See you guys later. Peace.