Transcript
Speaker: Before you listen to this podcast, you're going to have to answer all of our incredible quiz questions to make sure that it is ah but that you're of the suitable age. So first, wherever you are when listening to this podcast, please state your age out loud.
Speaker: but We will listen. Yeah. Okay. Take your time. Yep.
Speaker: Please say your age. Yeah. don't No, don't say your age. Tell us your age. yeah Don't be a smartass. As my dad once said to me, no one likes a smartass.
Speaker: Say your age.
Speaker: A wise guy, eh? Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Okay. Finally, now that you said your age, let me ask you 69. Nice. Let me ask you the one quiz question, which is taxes should be a lower. You know me, I'm a tax and spend Democrat. The only thing I like more than spending is taxing.
Speaker: That's why it's first. I got to say when I when I was ah playing the game last night and there that was one of the questions was it's like taxes should be it's just like there the L Lowe's politics slowly like sneaking in in in Reagan's America that's the only correct answer uh Anyway, this is Quest Quest, the adventure game podcast. yes I don't know why i've I totally I that was that's on me, obviously, because I I don't know why I stepped on your line.
Speaker: I think you're worried if you give me too much space that I'll bring back the Jareth impression. Now, I did that once. I may never do it again. Oh. but i think you I think you're afraid to give me too long of a leash. Well, you know, i'd been i've I've received emails from David Bowie's estate requesting that you stop the Jareth. Request questing? that Stop?
Speaker: They were request questing that you you stop. Were they afraid that there could it could create market confusion? It was... it was it was ah just like desecrating his grave almost closer to that. No, wasn't that either.
Speaker: they they, they sent that just because, uh, you know, they, they, they not even a market confusion. They're just like, it's too good. And it's, it's, it's making, uh, all of us, you know, just miss him all the more. Yeah. I mean, if there's ever a remake of labyrinth, I mean, I would throw my hat in the ring.
Speaker: I would throw my spiky blonde wig in the wing ring. You know, you know what would, what would be great is if there was a, we make of labyrinth, how would you release it? Waggle controls.
Speaker: Would you put it out on the, we wear, we wear, we wear, hey Paul, you hear but youre about this We wear Paul. they it's It's a new game. That's coming out on. We wear. Yeah. Yeah. We wear. Yeah.
Speaker: how you doing jess ben i'm fantastic how are you podcast yes jess the event jess colon request jess quest The Adventure Game Podcast. I'm great. You know, I've been having a, it's been a lovely autumn day here.
Speaker: As we record, we're headed into the spookiest time of year, Thanksgiving season. Yeah, I was going to say, Jess, like, we may be recording this in the the embers of October, but by the time this...
Speaker: that this comes out. It will be November. Ben, I'm a professional. ah Did you really think that I was going to drop the ball on that? I've already started listening to Christmas music.
Speaker: I have. I have, and it feels so good. It takes all my troubles away. Yes. i'm I'm even a guy that's like, you know, like, I don't, I don't, I am, I'm very strongly at Christmas after Thanksgiving only person.
Speaker: But I mean, i can, I can conceive Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but I can't conceive it.
Speaker: Before Halloween. I inch it back a little bit each year. And, you know, no regrets. Nobody loves Christmas more than me. And if they think they do, I'll fight them.
Speaker: And they're going to lose because I really love Christmas. How how Christmassy do you get your house? Not particularly. ah Like, I mean, what is the I love the spirit of Christmas. OK.
Speaker: And I love celebrating Christ's birth. Like for me, a lot of it is about putting yeah the Christ back into Christmas. Back into Christmas. But i like, okay, so you don't, you're not all like Christmas lights at the house. Like you might have ah like something around the door.
Speaker: we have a wreath. Usually we do like one of those things that like projects, like snowflakes under our house that like swirl around. i don't care for those. I don't particularly either.
Speaker: You're not going to do it. You're not going to do the work. Yeah. I'm not going to get up there. I mean, have you ever seen Christmas vacation? No, I, I don't, I don't care for, uh, for that gentleman.
Speaker: Yeah. Uh, Randy Quaid. Yeah. Randy Quaid. Yeah. ah The worst. I mean, I agree with his politics, but everything else about him. Yeah. Well, I mean, you've been worried about the star killers for a while.
Speaker: i don't I don't know what that what that is, but yes, I have done. There you always yes and. this but That's what it's all about. I hope that wasn't a problematic thing you just yes-handed because i just this episode of all episodes, we want to avoid problematic content. Great. i
Speaker: So it's the spirit, and the spirit is like music. Is there like what other what other beyond Christmas music what is the christmas spirit for you then cheerfulness like a lot of jolliness i would say like i'm walking at the pep in my step i like to uh try to be a little bit more generous uh you know i like to i walk around whistling christmas you see this is a real problem like I whistle everywhere I go. Like I'm such a cheerful guy. Like I'm just walking down the street or walking around campus or anything else. I'm just a whistling, whistling constantly.
Speaker: ah I'm like steamboat Willie like that. um but's yourre You're very steamboat Willie coded. Yeah, absolutely. People say that all the time. yeah So I just switch in Christmas tunes. ah You know, it's like, you know, maybe a little bit of ah your silver bells or something like that.
Speaker: so So it's really just the vibe and mostly it's the music. Yeah, for me, the music is a big part of it. what what ah What Christmas albums are in heavy rotation?
Speaker: I go with like the classic crooner Christmas for the most part. So I'm like, yeah well well, like Seth MacFarlane. Yes. It's all Seth MacFarlane hits. Now I can't stand that guy. oh special anyway anyway especially when he sings. Classic, classic crooners. Yeah, your Bing Crosby's, your ah your Dean Martin's, your Frank Sinatra's of the world.
Speaker: And that makes sense. Some contemporary stuff like Sufjan Stevens has some really good. I do. like I like his his Christmas album. That is. Yeah, no, that is. Yeah, no, there's there's good stuff. I mean, I say contemporary like 10 years ago or whatever, but that's newer than like Dean Martin.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, I heard drank Yeah.
Speaker: mean me he's constantly saying that he's doing those proof of life videos this is constantly holding up a newspaper yeah it's weird you know i don't know i don't and i'm like when you gonna make the next state album i we have all that to come i hold on i'm i'm i'm throwing down ah ah a penalty card here gotta come up everyone's gotta come up with a different sufian stevens joke Well, that was the joke in this case, that that's the only joke. But, I mean, listen.
Speaker: So what? He does what? Michigan and Illinois? Yeah. Those the only two states you got to care about. That's a good point. Like, Illinois is great. I live here. And Michigan is a great place to visit to buy cheaper weed.
Speaker: Yeah. so What if he you go did an album of Beach Boy covers and released it under the name Surfer Jam Stevens?
Speaker: mean, I would love to hear his willowy, sonorous voice ah try to do kind of like ah like a beach. yeah i mean Imagine him doing fun, fun, fun.
Speaker: I hear it. I hear it It's beautiful. it's It's beautiful. It's hauntingly beautiful. Yeah. It's very haunting and very beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful. That's how would describe it. You know what else is haunting Thanksgiving season, which is upon us. Yeah. yep Yep. I think we got all of our Thanksgiving talk in last year, but let's have some more.
Speaker: ah Thanksgiving is my holiday. I fucking love Thanksgiving. I'm a big time. We're very thankful. God. I am. I am a thankful guy. i also love like just the and this is probably what I said last year when we talked about Thanksgiving or two years ago ah is that I ah I mean, I just love the idea of a holiday that is centered around a meal. That is yeah awesome.
Speaker: There's something to be said for that. Ben, can I tell you an amazing Thanksgiving activity that my daughter is playing for this year? We're getting together with like the whole family. They're going to be like 18 of us in one place.
Speaker: And there are a bunch of younger kids. They're like five kids under the age 10. And we were trying to go with like, where are some activities we can do while we're all trapped in a house in Indiana for a few days.
Speaker: And what my daughter came up with was like, we should bring some art canvases and paint. let all the kids paint a painting on the canvas.
Speaker: And then we hold an art auction with the adults who pay for the art and candy by putting bids onto these pieces of art. And instead of like little auction paddles, the paddles look like turkeys.
Speaker: That's a really lovely idea. very proud of that. but's ah i'd be there I'd be a very proud parent. Yeah. i was like that is a clever if If my young teenager came up with that.
Speaker: It's going to be amazing when I take credit for it. Like people are just gonna make chess. I want a whimsical childlike expression of your innocence. And be like, yeah, absolutely. yeah I came up with that all on my own. That's that is you owe me for your kids canvas. That is an awesome. So how many kids are going to be there? Uh, I mean, if you get up to like, I think there's gonna be five, six, seven or eight, seven or eight ish. Uh, is now is she,
Speaker: I think she would participate. She's participating. Okay. I'm not going to bid on her side. i don't give her a preferential bidding. You know, if she's not got the best piece of art, I'm not laying down candy for it.
Speaker: This is an option. What type of candy are we talking here? That's a great question. ah I mean, i don't want to like, i mean, you got do it. You can't be like Tootsie Rolls or something terrible.
Speaker: the You know what, though? The fruit Tootsie Rolls are wonderful. yeah I also know exactly what I'm going to do because this is how I function. Give it all to your daughter. hes you' in your presence As soon as this is underway, I'm going pick the ugliest piece and I'm going to begin to wager real money on it. I'm going to start bidding. I'm going to pull out a $20 bill and put on the table and then put every other parent in the position where if that kid walks away at $20, everybody has to.
Speaker: That's how i'm going to ruin the innocence of this game is by introducing capitalism.
Speaker: I'm going to play spoiler. I'm gonna play spoiler in this. throw my weight behind worst artist in the family. Before you ruin it, it's really a lovely idea. It is. I thought the turkey paddles were really but the turkey paddle is is is a is a good idea. I yeah, no, I really like everything.
Speaker: Everything about that idea. um It'll be great. And it will as is somebody that lives in Illinois, it will I could say, you know, it will will fend off the misery of being in Indiana, a state that we all make fun of.
Speaker: Yeah, if you don't have any plans for Thanksgiving, you should come down to my wife's family's house. Well, I am going to be seeing my family. well i mean, but you've never even you've seen them a million times.
Speaker: That's true. i have not met your wife's family. I don't even I haven't even met your wife. No, that's right. That's yeah, exactly right. People listening are like Ben hasn't met his wife.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right. She doesn't even know about Ben.
Speaker: She just thinks that I just, tell like, she's just thinking I talk to myself every every Thursday night. Mm-hmm. That's exactly right. And Thanksgiving will be no different. The best Thursday night of the year.
Speaker: um Anyway, speaking of Thanksgiving meals, Jess, what have you been playing? Well, I've made a real meal out of Hellraiser Revival.
Speaker: Which doesn't seem like the kind of game. it doesn't. you're you're You're playing all sorts. of you're You're trying to challenge the idea of a game that Jess would play.
Speaker: That's right. I'm trying to get myself outside of my narrow worldview. This is a recently released adaptation of Clive Barker's Hellraiser, a property I knew absolutely nothing about before I began playing it. And let me tell you, Ben, it's upsetting.
Speaker: It's disturbing. it had i don't, I mean, I look at Pinhead, And now in hindsight, like I think to myself, yeah, there are definitely some bondage elements to his presentation.
Speaker: I did not realize what an integral part of this Hellraiser universe that BDSM was, but it certainly is. and this is incredibly creepy, upsetting game with a lot of scary moments.
Speaker: I'm looking at it on Wikipedia. And the first line of under plot is Aiden and his girlfriend, Sunny, have sadomasochistic sex involving the Genesis configuration.
Speaker: A puzzle box given to Sunny. Man, there's nothing, you know. I think you like this game, Ben.
Speaker: What based off of that line? Yeah, no, I mean, just like, well, you like Genesis. daas i Well, we called it the Mega Drive where I grew up. In New England.
Speaker: Mm. Home of the Patriots. Paul Revere, Sam Adams. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, you know, I was, I just, I, Reading plot descriptions to video games on Wikipedia is really like, if you enjoy English language and the construction of sandwiches, of sentences, if you enjoy the construction of sandwiches, go to Jersey Mike's. But if you enjoy the construction of sentences and...
Speaker: That's amazing. I mean, just read it back now. Aiden and his girlfriend, Sunny, have sadomasochistic sex involving the Genesis configuration. I don't even know what that position is.
Speaker: Puzzle box given to Sunny. You know, Cardi McCarthy could never write anything this good. No. The road hit the road. That's what I say to that.
Speaker: Take that.
Speaker: take that no but it's not my kind of game it's not for me it's too intense it's too scary i don't like being chased by things uh i am i'm truly shocked that no that you got this game it is cool that's elvia thought was buying phantasmagoria too uh nelson uh voices the main character that's cool i like him Who was it?
Speaker: Uh, uh, uh, ah zevi ah neson jr i had no idea that the the well-known game designer and is is ah the the main voice hector wow voice act the i didn't have a care clue i guess he just had a lot of free to on his hands jumppped in to do that Yeah, between like the 10 games that he was like somehow involved in like this year, it was also it's like, yeah, ah do you have time to to record this? And it's just like, yeah, I guess.
Speaker: ah But what have you been playing, Ben? So I've been revisiting. I talked to, I don't think this one has been in here before. I think one of its sequel, it's a sequel to it.
Speaker: was I've been revisiting ah the game Cook Serve Delicious 3. Have you ever played Cook Serve Delicious or any of those?
Speaker: You know I've played one of the big cooking sims that got hot around that time. There was Cook Serve Delicious. What were some of the other ones? don't remember which one I actually played. Overcooked. Yeah. Overcooked is great. I think that would be a fun stream.
Speaker: Yeah. You and I. and I think I briefly did play the original cook, serve, delicious, but not much. a Uh, how much? Not too much.
Speaker: But, um, uh, the cook, serve, delicious. If you are unfamiliar uh, ah I mean, you know, youve you probably figured it out from me saying it, but it's it's a game where are working. Where Aiden and Sunny have sadomasochistic sex. Yeah, it begins. You're having sadomasochistic sex with your theest girlfriend, Sunny, involving the Genesis configuration.
Speaker: ah That old trope. um But ah anyway, ah it is like the the gameplay of it is that you' you're working in a restaurant or in the third game you're working in a food truck.
Speaker: People queue up. And you have you have to make orders as they they come in. and there's a variety of food that you have on the menu. And each of them you have to prepare in different ways. On a clock, there's all sorts of different button in inputs. And it becomes like kind of like a memorization game. It's like, okay, well, all right. So this person wants ah chicken breast. And then it's also it's like each...
Speaker: Menu item could also have variations. So it's like, oh, is this a breaded a chicken breast or a seasoned chicken breast? Is this like, what type of gazpacho are they ordering?
Speaker: What type of this? What type of that? like And so not only do you have to learn like the basics of that food, but then also all of the the variations. And it gives you instructions. It's just that people are queuing up very quickly. So you have to be like...
Speaker: The more you play, the more you learn, like all of the various, it's just like, okay, all right, if I'm going to make a beef Wellington, have to do this. It's a lot of fun. um And i remembered ah this past weekend or so that it has a ah co-op mode. And so I've been playing that with my boyfriend and we've been having a lovely time. um And it also has the option because...
Speaker: Like it has ah Cook Serve Delicious 3 has an option of you can put it in chill mode, which it's still like throws a whole bunch of orders at you, but it disables...
Speaker: ah people's like getting frustrated and leaving timer. It does not disable the timer of if you overcook something. So it still has like some time pressure and it's still fairly difficult it's just a little less difficult now in the co-op mode are you both working on preparing the same dish together nope or you're you're just like it just kind of uh gives one one player like one like the top chunk of the screen the other player the bottom chunk and you're just working through the same queue they should give each of you one hand to control
Speaker: but This is okay. So unrelated to Cooks, Serve Delicious. So ah we are currently in ah ah in... Here in Chicago, i founded a pinball league ah many 12, 13 years ago.
Speaker: Still going on. Speaking of pinhead. Yeah, speaking of pinhead. um It's called Pinball Chicago. You can look it up at pinballchicago.org. Um... um I no longer run it because I didn't want to do all that work.
Speaker: ah So I handed it off to someone who would do all that. ah But I'm still involved. I still play in it. And I ah never hesitate to let anyone know that I founded it, though, because i I want all the glory and none of the work. There you go. That's what it's all that's what being a founder is all about. Yeah, it's true. and but anyway...
Speaker: it's it's it's It's teams. um like So you're you're on a team and like ah you're you're challenging another team ah and it's like bar versus bar so you have a home bar and then like you go to like away bars. It's a lot of fun. but ah So like you'll you'll play somebody else and whoever gets a higher score gets a point ah for the whole team. And then think...
Speaker: i think you're You're like, ah I think it's for 16 points. So, you know, it's like that. Anyway, ah if there's a tie, there are two possible tiebreakers that the home team gets to select.
Speaker: One tiebreaker is, and this is what 90% of the time people pick. Which is that ah it comes down to one game and the person who plays each ball ah has to be different.
Speaker: Like, so it's like three people on your team play. So it's like one person plays ball one, another person plays ball two, another person plays ball three, right? Mm-hmm. Pretty seems like a perfectly normal way to do a tiebreaker. There's another way, which I call the cool way. And no one ever selects it except for my team when it's ah when we're at home and we barely ever get the ah opportunity to do it ah because ties are rare.
Speaker: ah And that is you could also do a split flipper, which is to say one person operates the left and the other person operates the right. he and and you play a full game against the competitors who also have to do a split flipper.
Speaker: And i love that. And my team like are just always just going like, you know, praying we get a tiebreaker so we could do the split flipper because no one ever picks split flipper. How you choose a winner in a split flipper?
Speaker: It's still whoever gets the the higher score. Oh, wait, split flipper with your own team. I thought. Yeah. yeah So it's it's like, so you have a player one in a player to play one is two people in player two is two people.
Speaker: Yeah. I was trying to figure out like if like it the ball went down on their side, if they lost, but now it makes more sense. Now it all makes more sense. Cause I was just going to say, as soon as it started, i just punched my opponent and yeah i know that round would not make any sense. There would be no way to do that.
Speaker: Well, you know, i mean, you have to have a judge who decided who played better. Yeah. But anyway, Cookserve Delicious 3, very good. And they're doing a remake of the first one, which I'm really looking forward to.
Speaker: Ben, which is the better flipper? Honestly, it really depends on what game. There are some games that are like truly designed to heavily favor one flip like one flipper over the other. If you're playing Black Knight 2000, you're pretty much that's a right flipper game. If the ball's on the left flipper, you need to...
Speaker: like post transfer it over onto the the right flipper, because if it's on the left flipper, that's, that's no good. There's nothing you can get out of that. um I think at a fundamental level, though, I prefer the left flipper, just like an aggregate. I feel like the right side of the table is where the ball launch lives.
Speaker: So that flipper is like sharing attention with the ball launch, the plunger and all that sort of stuff. So left flippers, it's own it's its own world is like the main agent of the left side of the the table. So I respect the left flipper a little more.
Speaker: Yeah, I got you. Also, my favorite move in a pinball table is when you're able to like launch off of like not the tip of the left, the left flipper, but like near the back of it. If there's like a neat little ramp, you can hit on the left side. Like any game that has that sort set up. That's my favorite move.
Speaker: Sorry, what? Imagine a pinball table. Okay, doing it. I'm rotating in my mind. Like the ball is not at the end of the left flipper. It's near the back of it. Near the back. Okay. So it's ah it's it's up towards like kind of the... the the Yeah. Like where it it pivots from. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: And like when you can do one of those shots that hits a target somewhere on the left side of the field. Yeah. By like hitting off the left. Oh, okay. Yeah. Like we fired almost backwards rather than forwards. Yeah. can't remember what the...
Speaker: I'm having a brain freeze, but ah it's it's backhanding. Yeah. It's backhanding. love that. yeah That's my favorite thing in pinball. And that's that's that's actually a pretty... The thing is, is if you backhand a shot um or like a ramp,
Speaker: in a pinball game, that's generally safer if you can do that because if the ball, like if if you're using the left flipper to hit something on the right, there is more potential for the ball to hit something that will like cause it to bounce and potentially go down the center.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe you are back, you know, if if if if if it's going backward, like, you know, then um like then that's more safe because you're just keeping it on the same side. Yeah.
Speaker: That's what I was like. I found that to be a pleasing pinball experience. Uh, yeah. A backhand, uh, pinball shot. It's great. It's a lot of fun. That is, that's, that's a good skill to have.
Speaker: Yeah. I'd say it's my best skill like across the board, not just pinball. So today we're going to talk about leisure Suit Larry one colon. In the land of the lounge, the land of the lounge lizards.
Speaker: First, let's let's let's preface this. You and I were talking about this a little bit. Obviously this is a, a, a game that is I don't even know if I'd call it a product of its time.
Speaker: because I, I think that's, uh, uh, uh, give making excuses for it, but it is a game that has like, uh, humor that, uh, neither of us, particularly like, uh, that, uh, like stuff about race, stuff about gender.
Speaker: So like, I mean, in the whole series. And I say that having only played this for the first time ah last night. Yes. know this is true of the rest of of the series. There there is plenty of objectionable content in Leisure Suit Larry 1 and the series itself. i And obviously, this, us discussing it and and probably talking about like the the game's merits of which it has, um like is not an endorsement of any of any of that ah at all.
Speaker: So, ah you know, we just wanted to like, don't know, Jess help me here. Yeah, before the stream, Ben was saying that he does endorse a lot of this, but he said we can't talk about that on the podcast.
Speaker: He's giving me the biggest eye roll. No, I mean, this, ah you know, Ben mentioned, you thinking of Leisure Suit Larry as a product of its time is both accurate, but also isn't meant to suggest that stuff that happened at that time was particularly cool then, nor is it necessarily cool now. mean, at some level with the Leisure Suit Larry series, at a minimum, they are games that literally objectify women as sort of the core game mechanic at some level. And we know that we set out with yeah these games with that that knowledge in our head aware of it and aware of the, you know, the challenges that come with that.
Speaker: And as Ben said, you know, around gender around sexuality around race, which is something it really sticks out to me in this first one, oddly enough, almost more than some of the the problematic, you know, sexism that might be there.
Speaker: um Yeah, we're not trying to forgive that or ignore it, but I do think there's an interesting adventure game at the heart of Leisure Suit Larry 1-2 that in some ways I think is is pretty successful, in other ways really falls short, and I think that's more where we'll focus our discussion. But that's not to say that we're pretending like that other stuff doesn't exist and that you know we're not giving it a pass. Is that fair to say? Yeah, no, it's that's fair to say. i would...
Speaker: like So last night, as I said, I played this game for the very first time through. i've I've noodled around in a little bit in the past, but Larry won or any of the Larry games never really got into them. Like, i I did not play the Larry games, never been one of my series, never went back to it. And then like growing up, I was just kind of like, it doesn't seem like it's for me.
Speaker: um But Last night when I played it, it was not me playing it alone. ah Like ah my, like ah my boyfriend came over and he was just like, yeah, I'll, I'll watch. And I was like, yeah, well, but I have to play this. I have to play this game for my podcast.
Speaker: um And he's like, that's fine. I'll hang out. Like I'll, I'll watch the game. Where are you playing? I'm like, I'm playing we lead. Lead your suit. Larry one. He's just like, he doesn't, He doesn't know the game. he doesn't know anything about it. But he he just knows... like because this is...
Speaker: perhaps unsurprisingly the series with the longest legs, even though like the latest two Larry games have just apparently been delisted or are being delisted. i don't like, I hope this isn't news to you. If you're listening, they were, they were, or are on sale on steam for like two bucks each. I picked them up. I have not played them yet. I, they were So whatever.
Speaker: um But like he, a guy with absolutely no like knowledge or interest in the history of adventure games other than what he's, you know, of course, you know, he watched me play Return of the Phantom and he loved that. Well, yeah, but that not everything can measure up to that. Yeah, I mean, that's a hot bar for your first adventure game. But like even not knowing anything about like any of these games or anything, he just like, Leisure Suit Larry, like isn't that supposed to be like kind of creepy?
Speaker: Is that amazing? I mean, is it probably, at least for, like, Western games, the most famous dirty game?
Speaker: Is Lose Suit Larry series your most famous dirty game? I'm trying to think of, like, what else is up there. Like, what?
Speaker: I mean, I guess things, like, Plumbers Don't Wear Ties has achieved some level of like mean status, I suppose. Right. But Larry has a much longer history and I think higher profile. Yeah.
Speaker: No, I don't. I'm trying. I'm racking my mind here.
Speaker: Like leather god leather goddesses. so but Yeah. But the the thing is like, number one, Larry has like enormous reach. Hey, like leisure suit, Larry,
Speaker: Like, even those weird, like, Xbox or Xbox 360 games with, like, his nephew or whatever. Yeah, Larry Lovage, Box Office Bust, and Magna Cum Laude. Like, has just had a long... Like, has has cast a much longer shadow than any of them. And I wonder... He's been rebooted, like, three times. Yeah. yeah My... I...
Speaker: was Was it as a series number two behind King's Quest, Sierra? my understanding is they they sold really well. They sold really well. My understanding is that like at the top of the heap for Sierra, especially during those early years, King's Quest obviously was their number one seller.
Speaker: i think Police Quest and Leisure Suit Larry tended to hover over up there around that tippy top with space quest quest for glory some series like that maybe you know pulling up behind them but larry was a big seller i mean famously sierra likes to claim that they sold more copies of the leisure suit larry one hemp book than they did copies of the game to suggest that this is also a heavily pirated game not a particularly difficult game i would say No, I think this is one that, I mean, as a kid, I i played this younger than I should have. I've probably told the story on the podcast before, but quite yeah, but go ahead. Yeah. My mom gave me a copy of this for my 12th birthday, which crazy to me.
Speaker: And I mean, 12-year-old Jess was a pretty innocent kid. 12-year-old Jess, at that point, had barely learned how to pleasure a fallopian tube, much less or what sex was all about. um You know, it was... ah Yeah, i I was too young, really, to to get what was going on.
Speaker: But I managed to finish this one pretty quickly without ah without a hint, but... and Speaking of finishing quickly, how about Larry? Did you...
Speaker: Like you were able to figure out the what a condom was without context?
Speaker: I think. And like what its usage is? Fifth grade. Let's see. I would have been 12. So I would, yeah. Fifth grade, I had sex ed. It was optional at my school. You had to like sign all kinds of forms.
Speaker: And for a few weeks out of the school year, you would stay in during PE. I was going to say, was the coach? No. No, we actually had like a health educator who came in, believe it or not. Yeah, this wasn't the classic coach situation. So I had that level of knowledge that included some ah some like background on safe sex. so I didn't know what prophylactic was, which was you know the term that's thrown around a little bit in the game. but once it finally clicked to me that we were talking about condoms, then I was all on board.
Speaker: the you know, the awkwardness of buying a condom. Because I mean, you know, it's a like, I've certainly been there. um That's right.
Speaker: Wait, you you? That's right. ah been the awkward like you know that's ah you know that's been in all sorts of stuff memorably in American graffiti and and and stuff like that the the what makes that joke so good you know the the non You know, the the good part of it is is that it's this long list of like, increasingly bizarre questions. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. um Which is interesting because it's also paired with right outside of the convenience store is where you have the Mad Libs.
Speaker: Yeah. When you call it, it's a very similar go construction, but they both like, and so it's the sex survey, right? that's so its like So there's a, you find this phone number, you call, ah you speak to ah a woman on the the phone.
Speaker: was like, what is it that you are like, know, what are, what's your sexual interest? Like, you know, what's your favorite, what is it like favorite position? What's the sexiest part of a woman? What's the blah, blah, blah. And like, you could type it up. And of course, and like, you know, the game expects you to do this is you say like, you know, just like stupid shit.
Speaker: Right. Right. That's what, you know, and this was the gag that worked. the the best on my boyfriend and I, because it's just like, Oh, what should I, and you type in even in the, the, the remake, like in, in the, the, the point in click, like you type something in.
Speaker: um and, um, like, And then you go into the convenience store then you exit, you get a phone call and you get it. It's a sexy lady. And she tells you all the things that she wants to do to you using your mad lid. Like it's essentially just mad libs. That's all it is It's a pretty good guy. It's getting mad libs.
Speaker: But you hate when people mad lib you. Oh my God. i the other day i was on a train and this guy just starts asking me, are you bad? i are you bad it was elevated in fact really um yeah yeah we it's flying above the buildings far in the sky um but anyway this guy he you know he just comes up to me he's just like hey give me an adjective and i'm like uh like you know uh green i guess and uh and then he's just like uh give me a proper noun i'm like i don't know the the taj mahal and like we you know and this went on and he he just kept asking me all these questions and i was just like and this happens to me all the time and yeah and mean that's public transit for you and and when i stepped off the train when somebody else walked up started to read to me mad libs with all the stuff i was just like i got mad libs again was he like wearing a wire
Speaker: You know, we had that person even know your answer was Bluetooth. Oh, I bet it was Bluetooth. all the incredible technology of today. Who knows how he did it? I bet it was Bluetooth.
Speaker: But yeah, you know, that's one of the hazards of living in, you know, a bustling metropolis is that you're constantly being mad, mad libs. Uh, I will vote for the first, like, you know, every, like, you know, we're, we're about to go into, uh, like, you know, mayor election season here in Chicago.
Speaker: ah and, like when will your bribes begin arriving uh and so like you know we always hear this big song and dance i was just like oh yeah and about the mad libs getting mad mad libs out who's mad about it is you yeah i'm mad i'm a mad lib That's right.
Speaker: Who's willing to vote for a Republican who will put an end to this. That's right. If that's why it takes the year the Mad Libs and it keeps socialists out of office, you'll do it.
Speaker: Anyway, what's the plot of ah Larry 1? Larry or in the land of the... Is it Larry in the land of the lounge lizards or in the land of the lounge? I think it's in the lounge the land of the lounge It's the land the land lizards? Lounge want to be a lady lounge lizards.
Speaker: So it is Leisure Suit Larry in the land of lounge lizards. but He's in it. He's all up in Leisure Suit on the VGA ah remake, which I played last night, because, you know, I played it the ideal way because I wanted to, we could,
Speaker: We could talk about this. ah You're about to explain the plot, but I do have to to say i was going to play the AGI original, especially because I feel like I'm always playing the VGA remakes, whichever. everybodys You're up pointing and click. You probably thought they were going to be claymation guys in this. I was waiting for the claymation guys to show up. And um i But I swapped to the the point and click version when it became that my boyfriend was coming over and and wanted to hang out while I played, like wanted to watch the game.
Speaker: And, and so I, played, ah the, the game and the, the manner it was obviously intended and designed to be, which was on my large television screen using a steam controller, uh, like, uh, to, to play it. And you want to know what?
Speaker: Not a bad way to play it. Well, there you go. Yeah, I mean, the proof's in the pudding. I recommend if if if you're curious, if you have like a Steam controller, something with like a trackpad,
Speaker: um ah playing playing it on the the TV was fun. It probably would not be good for games with anything like especially timed.
Speaker: Yes. Which there really isn't much of in this game that I can think of. now No, there isn't anything. But... but Like, so it's like, you know, like um ah you know, when I get around to it, but I've heard some things like Space Quest 4, I think would be out based off of my understanding what I've heard, you know, the rumors I've heard.
Speaker: ah I'll play it soon for next week, of course. Yeah. And yeah, tell me how, st if if it's gone Steam Controller, tell it's gone Steam Deck. Yeah. Is deck friendly?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll see if it it gets the green check. but ah But yeah, so I played it. And you want to know what? It's a very pleasurable experience, except for the parts where I had to like stand up and walk over to my laptop, hooked up to the television and type in the Mad Libs.
Speaker: I didn't remember that that part was in the VGA. And I guess it would have, mean, it kills it if it becomes a multiple choice. So of course it becomes, it has to be Yeah. So anyway, just what is the plot?
Speaker: The plot is you are Larry Laffer, a software salesman, ah aged 40 years old, ah who is Ben, get this, a virgin. 40 year old virgin? Yeah. Imagine.
Speaker: Imagine.
Speaker: even I haven't rewatched that since I saw it in theaters. Is that good? Yeah, I don't think I've seen it since it was like out either. i mean, there's got to be some horrible things. I had a great time in the the movie theater. I could tell you that. But like, yeah, I have not seen it since it came out. i think like 20 years ago.
Speaker: That can't be right. um If let's hold on, hold on. 40 I mean well Paul Rudd has been Ant-Man a bunch of times since then so so uh uh Jess 40 year old virgin can drink let me guess let me i wait wait wait wait wait wait well I just gave it oh did you I'm sorry did you hear what I said no all right great how old 2003 2005 it can drink okay
Speaker: That's unbelievable. Well, yeah so I haven't seen it in 21 years. Yeah. look it's Wow. So anyway, so he's a 40 year old virgin who is determined to lose his virginity. So he sets off to the city of lost wages to to to find true love and failing that at least get laid.
Speaker: And that's pretty much your plot. This is based on, of course, an earlier text adventure, a soft porn adventure, which Sierra also distributed. Funny title.
Speaker: Well, it's, it's software pornography is what that short for been soft porn, pornography, soft pornography adventure where pornography. Yeah.
Speaker: Soft porn adventure. Yeah. Software adventure designed by Chuck Benton, a text adventure that Sierra had had published earlier on. um The core of his design serves as the basis for leisure suit Larry. A lot of the puzzles remain intact.
Speaker: Allolo rewraps it around this sort of, swinging out of touch leisure suit layering disco loving Larry Laffer character certainly adds additional humor to the original game but the the basic puzzle structure is is nearly identical because ah the the the original leisure suit Larry that comes out in 87 yeah and so the idea like you know the the the gag of it becomes you know which is a lot stronger in 1987 uh is is it's like yeah so he's 40 years old and he's dressing like it's the 70s still that's right the original game was released in 1981 um and according to uh legend court adventure that is sophomore adventure at 1981 according to legend when al low played it
Speaker: uh he famously said this game is so out of date it should be wearing a leisure suit and supposedly that became the inspiration for a leisure suit larry uh i like the idea of a leisure suit like yeah you know like just the the concept yeah no i do too like it's like oh i i have uh an outfit that i wear for leisure Yeah, like I feel like if you have your business suit, your leisure suit, and a track suit, you're essentially prepared for almost anything.
Speaker: A space suit, I suppose.
Speaker: You know, um and ah and i'm I'm looking up leisure suits now. Yeah, you know what? I'm going to bring them back. going to start wearing leisure suits. You could pull it off.
Speaker: I feel like if I wear a leisure suit, I look like someone that you don't want to be around at a party. I think you could pull off a leisure suit. I just love the, again, just love the whole concept.
Speaker: The flared collar is what I love on a good leisure suit. Oh, well, the the flared, I mean, you know, the fucking seventy s You know, I watch a lot of...
Speaker: The match game is some wonderful saint has uploaded like every, yeah I watch a lot of the gong show. This is my touchstone for the same time period. So I'm right there with you. And it's so wonderful to watch like the match game because it's like every, every,
Speaker: every episode everyone's wearing just the most ridiculous outfits. And, you know, I just kind of walk out of every like episode of the magic game, like, you know, but like just thinking like, man, like there's no decade that quite announces itself in fashion, like the seventies.
Speaker: And it's, it's funny because it's also, it's like, it's not only that,
Speaker: ah Like, it's not only that all of the, ah you know, the the celebrity panel and the host are in, um like, big 70s attire.
Speaker: but you Like, of course. Like, you know, they're yeah're they're they're their' stars. They're stylish men of the They're dressing up. But then, like, you'll have, like, you know, like a 65-year-old man show up, and he's got, like, enormous sideburns.
Speaker: Like, it's just like, even the old out of touch people are dressing be like it's the seventies. Like the, all of the, like all of the contestants are also like, and, and to be clear, they're not dressing as snazzy as like the, uh, the, the panel generally anyway. Right.
Speaker: But like, Regular people are wearing this shit. Like, yeah, like it's seeped into yeah and it's it's not even just that they're wearing like the bright colors and like the the big collars. It's that like the men have massive sideburns. Like it's just like everyone's just fucking like everyone was just like Jimmy Carter is the president and this is what we're doing.
Speaker: You know where I love to see this expressed? Like one a show from this era that always fascinates me is old episodes of Hee Haw. the Oh my God, Jess. I i that put one on because...
Speaker: mini pearl is on a couple episodes of match game oh yeah and my my boyfriend's like who's she like what's he ha and i'm like you know what's with that hat why is she taking the price tag off of it yet um and he's like what's he ha and i'm like it's a famously dog shit show do you want to see it But it's funny there because now you have like the, you know, it's like the cornerstone of this rural programming yeah from the era that's, ah you know, beverly hill with country music and, you know, with picking and grinning and stuff like that. But even those guys are rocking like the seventy s side. Yes, they are.
Speaker: Yeah, i mean, it's pretty amazing. It's just like you and you you expect city slickers to be in their polyester. But but those guys with a banjo? Man, I love the 70s callers.
Speaker: I love the bright colors. I love the flared. ah I love the shoes. I love the shoes are very good. Like the platform Hills on men kind of thing going on. Oh yeah. Just super, just a wonderful,
Speaker: and i don't, I don't like polyester. I think that's about, i think that's where I depart here. Like, I just don't, you know, I just don't like that.
Speaker: but Like, you know, everything about it, I don't care for, yeah, uh the rest of it like just like kind of the the the looks like you know you could have a big collar and it not be polyester there's ways we have such better synthetic materials today we've got science now AI could figure it out oh yeah get an a ah suit just gotta to get an AI on it or SI sorry oh so yeah and uh Like, you know, we just got to do it.
Speaker: You know, we got to bring back all these incredible 70s looks. Someone fire up Microsoft Copilot and start asking it to 3D print us some leisure suits.
Speaker: But anyway, what I'm saying is that Larry is a fashion icon. Yes. And that forgives a lot of his sense.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: You know, the the game gets away, because I was thinking about this when I was playing it last night, was that
Speaker: the game gets away with, like, the game knows, obviously, that it's being... like edgy and might even go over. Like it's aware that like it's thinking like, Oh, I might be going over the line a little bit time to time.
Speaker: Um, I think that it's built in excuse for that.
Speaker: Uh, like at least as far as like in how it depicts, uh, women in the game. Mm-hmm. is the the game's excuse and ah ah is, well, this guy, like, is a total loser.
Speaker: And so he sucks. And so, like, of course, we're not endorsing, like, Larry's behavior, because, like, look at him. Look at him, you know? Like, and I think that... Especially by the time, like, the VGA remake, now that he's, like, a freak little guy.
Speaker: Little freaky guy. Yeah, he's a a tiny little guy. He has fun little animations. I do... I mean, there are some little, there is one gag that I really enjoyed, which is when he wanders into the alley and I was just like, ah oh like a guy beats him up. And I'm just like, okay, like just get me to the death screen.
Speaker: Like when's it going to get to the death screen? And then like he becomes like he's run into a blender and then molded into a new Larry and then it's sent back up to Lefty's bar. And it says, this is what happens every time you hit restart.
Speaker: That's a good guy. That's a really good. It's really good in the EGA version too, where you like see the, you see the Sierra technicians like working on the dragon from King's quest one, like repairing it. And, uh, like a bunch of Graham heads, I think are on a conveyor belt in the background. It's, uh,
Speaker: It's a good bit in both versions of of the game. But yeah, Leisure Suit Larry, you know, did you know, Ben, i don't know, this may be trivia that you're already well aware of, but I'll share it with the listeners as well.
Speaker: Did you know that Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is not the first time that Soft Porn Adventure was remade? I did know that because it was remade into a game in Japan. Is that correct? It was a game called, uh, Las Vegas, which is the first attempt to turn sophomore adventure into uh, into a graphic adventure. And sort of fascinating. Uh,
Speaker: in that you can see certainly scenes that are very recognizable from the Leisure Suit Larry ah ah version of this, ah and then some that diverge quite a bit.
Speaker: ah I just sent you a link to this in chat. ah For instance, like there are strange changes like the guy who runs the convenience store now looks like Colonel Sanders for some inexplicable reason. Now see, that would been great.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. But no, it's it's a curious idea. mean, this game, sophomore adventure was remade as Las Vegas, was remade as Leisure Suit Larry 1, was remade as Leisure Suit Larry 1 BGA, and then eventually remade again as Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded.
Speaker: There are a lot of remakes of this Ding Dang game. So wait, but wait, wait. Though, I'm looking... Oh, somebody typed... Okay. No, that's a a typed in prompt. All right. Yeah, like somebody wrote like...
Speaker: um like Larry Laffer in one of these screenshots and I was like well wait is he Larry Laffer in this and then I was like oh wait no that's whoever took this screenshot and I would love to know if Sierra was aware of this version
Speaker: its so pretty Some of this art is pretty good. Yeah, please look up Las Vegas for the PC88. Yeah. yeah ah Some of this is, um yeah, no, this is this is amusing. Some of this art is pretty good.
Speaker: Ben, let me ask you a question. Yeah, what's up?
Speaker: Is, at any point, does Leisure Suit Larry 1 become sexy? It becomes sexual. Is there anything sexy about this dirty game?
Speaker: You know, I think what the, the, the, the game.
Speaker: Like for me now, but like,
Speaker: you know, I like the, the, the game. clearly is trying to give you a little something with the with the the beautiful close-ups yeah yeah i think that's where it's going for yeah i mean if you get you whether 16 color 256 you know these these close-up shots that you know we would also see used in police quest one uh you know helen hot's And the Iceman.
Speaker: Oh, and Codename Iceman. Sexy close-ups in the first, like, chunk of the game. really good point. quick It quits. There's not time for sex once the future of international security is on the line. That's true. um That's true. Yeah.
Speaker: No, I would agree. i mean, the close-ups and... in the EGA version, this is some lovely art, you know, uh, Mark Crowe, I believe was the, uh, the artist on the EGA version. And, uh, those closeups look quite nice. Um, you think that that there, well, again, the notion of blowing the game down to just the idea of, can you score with a woman, uh, you know, has its problematic elements, but I think,
Speaker: the playfulness around sex is a, is a fun part of this game when it's not sort of veering into, ah so some less great directions. I think that was, I don't know either. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that like,
Speaker: This game doesn't function very well as pornography, I would say. no' look that way Yeah, it's not intended to be. This is this is an a relatively innocent version of a sex game when it comes to, like, its understanding of sex. this is This isn't even a Porky's style level of lewdness in that regard for the most part. No, it's it's it it's a game...
Speaker: That is more interested in making you laugh. Yeah, definitely. And it is like very like it is.
Speaker: and and the the the way by which it's trying to get you to laugh is by like a barrage of like. you know, crude and offensive jokes.
Speaker: yeah Like it's, it's, it really it's really bad jokes here and there too. Like, yeah, just, it's trying to bombard you with bad taste. Um, yeah. And you know, in some cases it's, I would say quite successful at it. And in, in some like other ones is we've already quite discussed, not yeah successful at all.
Speaker: Um, But like, I mean, you know, I think that like the, the sexy closeups is are their attempt to kind of like be like, well, and you know, we'll, we'll, we'll give you little something.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I thought anyway. No, I mean, I think what is interesting to me about the the first Larry game especially is I feel like as an adventure game, it has pretty good bones.
Speaker: I feel like soft porn adventure, you know, was ah by the numbers style text adventure. But ultimately, you know as we said before, this isn't a particularly difficult game.
Speaker: The puzzles flow kind of logically. Generally speaking, you have a good sense of what Larry needs to be doing. There pacing issues in that you know much like Space Quest 1,
Speaker: gambling to replenish your money supply to proceed can be a little bit of a time sink that is not always fun. I will say playing blackjack is a whole lot more fun than playing a slot machine. vaporize yeah and Blackjack is as an option is so much better than the slot machine. The slot machine is so irritating.
Speaker: Blackjack like is it's also that the dealer is pretty bad at blackjack yeah they aren't great yeah that's right i mean like you can have bad luck and the game doesn't penalize you for same saves coming thankfully um jim wiles would put stop to that yeah down the road uh like the the game like it the The dealer in the blackjack game is is pretty bad at it, and also you can make...
Speaker: like you can up the the bet ante is pretty high yeah that's right it was safe scumming you can quickly speed through this right through like i was really expecting because i knew that there was like a gambling mini game in the game and and i remember thinking like oh this is so annoying and then uh like I was like oh this is of all of these like in these games this is like the least offensive to me yeah no it and it fits in the sense that Larry is in Las Vegas he's going to a casino he's in lost wages I'm sorry uh he's going to a casino all of that
Speaker: at least supports narratively the idea that there would be gambling in the first place. Yeah, I think that the gambling, again, Blackjack is actually slightly fine. actually, as a kid, used to load this up occasionally just to play Blackjack in it because, know, it's a competent enough and easy to beat Blackjack simulator. That that was all I needed out of that as a kid.
Speaker: um But yeah, I think that ultimately this is a game that is designed pretty well. um I'm not sure if there are any...
Speaker: big soft locks i mean they're things like i hit one i hit one last night oh what'd you get you get what'd get what'd you get i hit a soft lock last night which was uh when you can uh you get tied up your your your brand new wife mm-hmm Uh, and once you finished your sadomasochistic sex involving the Genesis configuration. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, once you complete that, like, and so she leaves, you're tied up on the bed and then, um,
Speaker: uh if i mean i assume you can softlock also by getting to this point and not having the knife yeah you could yeah yeah which is which is a funny which is a funny thing like i had the knife at that point my boyfriend goes what if he didn't get the knife what would happen i'd be like you you you die the game's over and he goes so you can't get the like you but how would you know to get the knife And I was like, that's brilliant. I mean, it is funny to like see somebody learn about soft blocks real time. These games are bullshit. What can I tell you? Yeah. And I mean, I guess there are little things like there's the the very short walking, you know, dead man walking situation where if Larry, ah you know, has sex with the sex worker without using ah the condom, you know, there's a a brief dead man walking scene. It doesn't last long. It's not one of those. i have to go back. Explodes, right?
Speaker: just just like yeah yeah exactly the um safe sex kids the uh the the the soft lock i hit though was uh so i did have the knife and i cut myself out and i left the room and then i was like oh i you're supposed to pick up the ribbon yes oh you can't get back in can't get back in Oh, yeah. So, yeah, there are some. so Because she lets you she lets you in.
Speaker: That's right. So there are some soft blocks. Yeah, I hadn't thought about. i guess it's ah it's the problem of revisiting a game like this that you kind of know all the solutions to that makes you assume. It's like there are no soft blocks because I didn't hit any of them. the The game is fortunately, like, it's not very long.
Speaker: no And I was saving constantly anyway. So it was like, it was annoying, but it wasn't. Yeah. Like it was, what was more annoying about it was that.
Speaker: So when you, uh, when, when she ties you to the bed and leaves, she takes all your money and then you have to go back down to the casino and then gamble your way back up.
Speaker: That bums me out every time I replay. Again, it's not the worst casino. And again, you can save scum your way through it. But it's like. You've already had to do this. You've already done this once. Doing it a second time isn't more fun. Yeah.
Speaker: and And also, it's like you have less money, so you can't even bet high. um ah i So I had already done all the bet. Like, I had already gotten my money back.
Speaker: and then ah And then realized I needed the ribbon and I hadn't saved. and like And so I was like, I'm to do this. And then I have to do the whole fucking gambling thing again. And that was that was annoying.
Speaker: But it wasn't like it wasn't the end of the world. like I finished this game pretty quickly last night, even with like a soft lock. Yeah. No, it's it's a short game. It's a breezy game for the most part. and Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, by the standard of Sierra's early games, I think it's one of your better AGI adventures in terms of just the the adventure game design. It's less bullshitty than a lot of the other ah AGI games that that this era produces. It was probably a benefit to Al Lowe when he was designing this.
Speaker: that he didn't have to worry about the design of it. Like the, the, the like adventure design of it. That's right. I think actually maybe it's been a minute since I've read it, but I think this might even be on what's on like the digital antiquary. Like it's like, he writes, it's like, he just focused on the writing. I think that's what he said. But like, I was thinking that too.
Speaker: It's like there to bring it back to pinball. Um, there's a, there's a game called that was released in the early 90s called Jackbot.
Speaker: Like Jackpot, but Jackbot. And it is the same pinball table design as this earlier in like 85.
Speaker: game made in like eighty five yeah made like less than 10 years earlier, um, called pin bot.
Speaker: And, like the, the, in the intervening years, now you have like the dot matrix screen as opposed to like, you know, just a score readout, like, you know, things have have changed and advanced.
Speaker: And so Jack bot, is the same design, like the all the the shots generally are the same. um And so the people that worked on it just made a completely new and more like with a lot more depth and interesting software like rules package for it that's all like gambling themed.
Speaker: And it's actually a kick-ass game. Is there much of that sort of reskinning that happens in the world of pinball? Like, it feels like it would be a real cost saver. So, you know, that happens way less than you'd think. One of the reasons why reskinning a pinball machine doesn't happen as often as you'd probably think is that Jackpot was a flop.
Speaker: Oh, interesting. Because people looked at it were like, I played that game already. It's like, no, it has like brand new rules and stuff like that. And it's like, yeah, but. you know, i don't pay attention to that. So, um, I've ramped that ramp before. Yeah. I've ramped that ramp. Um, the, they're like generally, so
Speaker: it Like ah with some designers will like often reach into the same kind of bag of tricks for their designs. And so you can just say like, Oh, like, uh, you know, like this game is very similar to this other game he made five years ago. It's just flipped.
Speaker: Yeah. Like it's just flipped backwards or like, Oh, and this ramps a little bit this way. Like that happens sometimes. Um, you can, and, and some designers are a little more guilty of that than others, I'd say.
Speaker: Um, and also it's like, there was, um, every now and again, Stern pinball, like the, they'll have like,
Speaker: a basic design which they'll use to license out for either like home editions or if they're doing like a limited home edition run. So it's like, there's a game that is Supreme branded, like, you know, the hype beast, yes like Supreme, that is just like a reskin of like their general game that they have. recently Yeah.
Speaker: Makes sense. Makes sense. Well, speaking of reskins, you know, this is a great, this is a great, yeah. Yeah. You played the VGA remake. Ben, ah what do you think about the VGA version? ah Well, you know, we bring 256 colors. We bring point click interface.
Speaker: Well, you know. It's and like. i um I don't.
Speaker: Think. Like, you know, the other than, you know, pretty clearly on the record about this, but it's like, other than the quest for glory one, one like, you know, the, the VGA remakes, eh,
Speaker: Like, i' I like them okay, but they're they're fine. um the The thing is, is that when you play them, those games fuel up like feel kind of insubstantial because you're playing a point-and-click game with that interface. You expect it to have more meat and for the characters to have more character stuff, which AGI games generally don't have.
Speaker: um So that feels weird, right? like it It always does, yeah. It feels like you're dressing... like be it It feels like a lot of substance is missing, whereas if you play it in the original way that it was designed, um or in the original AGI version anyway,
Speaker: um it it that feels... more like kind of like a you know yeah it's a simple game the simple graphics and sound sort of suit the scale of it all yeah and so you know it it has this new art style, which is kind of of a piece of like, ah you know, like very triangle.
Speaker: Yes. It's very geometric in general. Yeah. It's, it's funky triangles. I think is one of the key aesthetics that you're talking about here I believe it's, is it Bill Skirvan? I think who is the, the guy who creates this new look for Larry and Larry five. And we see it carry over.
Speaker: To varying degrees, I think. you You see other kind of Sierra projects kind of noodle around with this aesthetic. It feels very early 90s. It does. Like kind of a like indie cartoonist vibe. Pomo style.
Speaker: Yeah. 90s look. Like one of the the Christmas cards, like the 1992 Christmas card has us this look. Yeah. Yeah, Jones in the Fast Lane has some this Oh, Jones the Fast Lane, yeah.
Speaker: You know, it I like, you know, I think this is for me, this redesign of Larry is a lot more fun. I don't want a particularly realistic looking you leisure suit Larry. I think that leisure suit Larry becomes less offensive the more that you turn him into a cartoon. You know, i think that helps dull the edges a little bit.
Speaker: the So yeah, the the look I think is generally good. There's a couple places where it falls down. We were talking about this yeah before we started to record.
Speaker: Yeah, I personally think, and and I've said this for quite a while, I think the disco scene in Leisure Suit Larry 1 VGA is one of the ugliest background screens in all of Sierra history. they The look of the disco no longer looks much like a disco. Like, now it's an aquarium, right? Is that like what's like an aquarium disco? Yeah, it's an aquarium. And it's everything is in this weird shade of like...
Speaker: it I don't know, like a greenish teal with orange highlights. It doesn't read as a disco. it certainly doesn't read as a seventies disco.
Speaker: it it, it loses. and maybe already at this point, they were kind of like thinking, like, Like, oh, that the 70s reference of this might be already kind of losing its way, you know?
Speaker: um is yeah it loses the Saturday Night Fever vibe that the first game, the original each or EGA version was really going for, right? This is supposed to feel like that scene.
Speaker: It feels like it's embarrassed to be a disco. Mm-hmm. um And you really lose, like in the original, you see all the other guys who look just like Larry standing around. Yeah. Who are also like, you know, looking for the girl of their dreams. And there are elements, I think, of that even in the VGA version. You see some guys that...
Speaker: seem to also be wearing white leisure suits but the framing of the scene they're all like partially obscured you can't the joke doesn't play anymore you can't if you didn't know that was the original intent i don't know i didn't pick up on it in the vga version and that's a good gag like Going into a disco to see, you know, a dozen other Larry's all standing around um is is a good gag that I think gets lost here. Yeah. so Something about the color scheme of this and just, you know, it doesn't play like that light up disco floor. I feel like it's such a signifier of,
Speaker: you know, a lounge lizard den, you know, a disco from this era. The floor lights up in the VGA one and you get like this VGA, but it it it just isn't quite, and it doesn't make sense.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's, but i mean, for the most part, I think it looks quite good. I think that this funky, you know, cartoonish version of Larry with then somewhat more realistic, you know, closeups of the women still incorporated.
Speaker: You know, I think there's a reason why the series would stick with this moving forward. I think that that's good. Yeah, we really see this at its funkiest and most geometric here in In Leisure Suit Larry 5. They tone it down a bit for six, ah seven, you know, tones down a lot of that funky geometry, But yeah, that's something I've always liked about these two. I think it's a big swing i'm Larry one VGA and Larry five and mostly pays off. It makes it a game that doesn't look like any other game on the market, which I think there's something to be said for that.
Speaker: Did they, and then you've also played reloaded. Yeah. I've watched you play it a little like i you've streamed it, but haven't really, I don't know too.
Speaker: Is the, do they do anything with the game other than get it voiced and kind of look, you know, give it that kind of hand drawn. Yeah. of of so Yeah. This was a circa what 2012 Kickstarter for leisure suit Larry reloaded.
Speaker: ah What they do, the big change is they add an additional woman. She is a whale trainer ah who works at the, I think at the casino as well as like part of an aquatic show there.
Speaker: And it adds a new quest line that allows Larry to to have a aquatic encounter with her. um And to score some ambergris to make some perfume, I think is ultimately the goal.
Speaker: Um, and it's a pretty good gag, you know? I mean, it, like, it feels like it could have been the original game. It's a P of a piece that, that it fits in.
Speaker: Um, they brought in Josh Mandel to do the design and writing on that section. He also did a lot of additional writing throughout the game. So now you have ah Josh Mandel pass on Al Lowe's pass on,
Speaker: you know Chuck Benton's original, uh, original game. And I will say you will know the, the bits that Josh has written. There new things like there's a, a scene of a closeup of a buffet at the, uh, at the casino at one point that has descriptions, so many hotspots that,
Speaker: that that Josh just, ah you know no pun intended, makes a meal of. um If you're like us and you're a fan of Josh Mandel's writing, there's actually some really good stuff and in Reloaded in that sense. um I could take or leave the new puzzle element. It's fine. It doesn't add much. it doesn't it But it also doesn't take away. ah But, yeah, the additional writing is pretty good. I mean, and Josh having worked with Al before,
Speaker: gets the tone of Leisure Suit Larry. It doesn't feel out of place. It's fine. I mean, ah default to the EGA version because it's the first one I played.
Speaker: ah And probably the VGA is the one I have the least experience with. I think I've played Reloaded a little bit more than the VGA version. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know,
Speaker: like ah playing the the remake, the v the VGA 1991 version. i was just like, yeah, this is fine.
Speaker: It's fine. I mean, now, like, what would it take to get you to play Larry 2 after having now finally played Larry 1?
Speaker: I mean, honestly, it will probably just be you and i discussing like which one, ah what's what's another thing to talk on the podcast? i'll Just be like, I guess we'll do Blarry too.
Speaker: you know what we should do another episode of? We should just do another missed episode. No, I mean, listen, obviously they all want us to play fucking Riven. You know, and that makes me not want to play it.
Speaker: i It makes me want to play it It's just that ah it is like when I've been like played a little bit of of the Riven remake. You're talking about the sequel to Myst, right? Yeah, I am talking about the sequel to Myst. The prequel to Exile.
Speaker: Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. ah When i did play it, I was like, oh, this is tougher. Yeah. tougher um I felt so smart after I finished Myst. I know, I know. I've never felt so smart in my life. I have a PhD, and earning that didn't make me feel as smart as finishing Myst.
Speaker: You didn't feel smart after you got a PhD? I felt tired. ah
Speaker: No. um The, yeah. I'm afraid, like, what stopped me from playing Riven? This is a true confession. I'm afraid I'll get sucked too deep into Riven.
Speaker: I'm afraid that, and it won't go as breezily for me as Myst because it is famously harder than Myst. I'm afraid I will get into it, get stuck, and be trapped, the figuratively trapped in Riven, but also possibly literally trapped in a book.
Speaker: yeah i'm just trying to get in there i we are going to do a riven episode uh uh and the sequel to our missed episode yeah and and you know and perhaps we'll invite our uh our friend harrison back for that here's the thing though every single person we talk to is like oh yeah i'm a big mist head too like i'm i'm a missed convert seems like We, I mean, i knew we were saying every single person we talked to, but only one person has said that to us.
Speaker: Really? Only one person has said that. No, up to this point, I guess just one, but I have a feeling, you know, I have a feeling this is going to be a running theme in future episodes. you have a feeling that that someone might tell us in a future episode that?
Speaker: You know, I have a slew of predictions of what I might expect in a future episode, but I'll keep it to myself. Wow. I think Jareth might even come back.
Speaker: and Maybe. Who knows? Anything's possible. You know, Ben, anything's possible.
Speaker: about How about anything's pasta bowl? Is that better joke or worse? Too far. It may not read as possible at that point. Well, you're you're talking about something that came up during my stream and not this podcast. I know, but i'm just that's a funny phrase anyway.
Speaker: The Anything's Possible was a ah it was a advertisement ah for the, what was it called, Jess? ah It turns out they called it the Super Bar. I think before that, maybe the salad bar was the Freshtastics food bar or something like that. But it was the Wendy's Super Bar at American fast food chain Wendy's, home of the Square Burger.
Speaker: Sir, this is an adventure game podcast. pretty good that's pretty good ben that's pretty good ben if someone wanted to reach out to us and say guys this is a great episode i really thought you really knocked this one out of the park where could they email us quest quest podcast at gmail.com excellent um if they wanted to give us public facing feedback in a way that might increase engagement with the content we're generating how could they do that uh you know rate and review and that actually helps people find the podcast it helps people find the podcast wow and i guess my final question for you is what's our topic for next week well you know ah i guess we'll just keep talking about uh sierra classics how about we uh space quest 4 huh
Speaker: Okay. So Jess, in Space Quest 4. Yeah. Why does Sludge... Roger, welcome to Time Wrappers. Yeah. Why does Sludge Vohal want to take over Roger Jr.'s body at all?
Speaker: Is it just to defeat Roger with his own hands? Like, is Vohal an idiot?
Speaker: Why does he want, like what what' what's the What's the plan here? You know, i think he's probably just working through a very complex, edible complex.
Speaker: An edible complex? Yeah, you can just munch down on that shit.
