Transcript
Speaker: Did you see the flying car? The flying car? Yeah. it's No? First of all Like the grease car? Like the car at the end of grease where they fly inexplicably into space? I think that had a big effect on little Elon Musk.
Speaker: Oh, boy. um No, it's... It's not a flying. Like, okay, sorry. yeah i don't want to I don't want to color your perceptions. you You got to look up the video. Just type in flying car. Just flying car? Yeah. It's not going to, like, redirect me to the Jetsons? You can do Tesla flying car if you want. flying here's the thing here's the thing listeners who aren't listening right now because this is before the show won't know that it's too early in the morning to be spooky it's not actually morning but i think you just woke up the sun is up yeah we normally record this way later than it is right now yeah so he's calling this a flying car oh go okay okay
Speaker: ok Sure. If your flying car has to speed around like a half circle and then it just falls a little slower than a regular car.
Speaker: that flying? You don't have a fucking flying car. Does he not know what flying is? Because what happens is this car. And so like yeah the only thing impressive about this car Is that it it goes fast enough to make itself go all the way upside down without falling.
Speaker: and then and then, and that's like a ramp. And then it spins around in the air and then a bunch of jets come out of its side to make it like, yeah to make it like fall slowly.
Speaker: Right. But he's making a gliding car. You could fly sliding. Not even that, because it doesn't go any further than like, like you could do that with anything.
Speaker: Just put a lot of thrusters, like air thrusters on anything and and and chuck it somewhere and turn them on. And you're like, ah, it's a flying house. so it's a flying my neighbor. Right? Like,
Speaker: its There's nothing impressive about what's happening here except for, God, this guy is too much fucking money. Right? Like, that's the only thing impressive. i think I think Elon Musk must have a lot of, like, Hot Wheels and spent a lot of time in, like, GTA or something. And he's like, you know how, like, in GTA you kind of lose track of the story and you're like, I wonder how much I can launch my car into the fucking ocean. That's what he's doing. He played GTA.
Speaker: He practiced with his Hot Wheels. And then he made this thing that you could launch. i Yes. i think that i think that like you I think that's exactly right. And I think that is the problem. like This is revealing the problem with all these like tech bros and AI bros who think like oh all like who believe that AI can do special things, which it really can't. It really cannot. Look, at listen. The most special thing ai has ever done is like...
Speaker: take my like special code ah numbers that they give you when you're trying to sign into something. and It's like, you want to copy and paste that? That's good ai That's a brilliant AI. This is why everything else is terrible. It can catalog.
Speaker: It can run simulations. Love cataloging. yeah well Yeah. It can help me with spell checking. Like these are things that AI can do really well. Can't fix your word document though. That looks like shit. And Yeah, it fucking, so anyway, so these guys, they just like, they see this flying car and instead of going, oh, that's really unimpressive, their imaginations start going wild, right? And they're like, okay, but what if this, okay, what if you started the car up on top of a mountain and your house was ah below, then you're kind of like flying home.
Speaker: Right? Like, like they just it's just this video game idea. I'm telling you, they all played GTA and they're like, how do we launch ourselves in the air? what's happening. It's the same with fucking ai right? They're like, they they think of it as this like video game world. And it's like, no, all it does is count words and then tell you like, oh, ah normally this word is this many words away from this word in a sentence. Yeah. And then it like spits back something that it thinks a person would. No, it doesn't even think. That's not true. It spits back a numerical representation of making yeah of numbers that it's counted.
Speaker: and then those match up with words. And then so and the people are like, oh, it thought and wrote a story. no it did It's thinking. Look how cute it is. It's thinking. This is just just like a calculator plus another step. Like, that's ah all it is. Anyway. Anyway, flying cars. Flying car. It doesn't fly. It's a car that shits a lot of steam out so that it doesn't crash when it falls off a cliff.
Speaker: spooky. Oh my gosh. hey everyone. Pushing Up Roses here. oh I'm doing my, I'm doing my intro. Oh, wow. Whoops. I totally forgot about you, man. so Listen, sometimes that happens because like i this setup is my recording setup and it and it and it reminds me of like recording a per video.
Speaker: ah So sometimes I'm like a video. Wow. Burn.
Speaker: everyone, ah welcome to Save Your Game, not that time on Murder, She Wrote. much Much to my dismay, there is not a new Murder, She Wrote, but there will be. What if there's a new Murder, She Wrote?
Speaker: Like new episodes? Yeah. That'd be sick and in a miracle because Angela Lansbury is in fact dead. She's like, I need to make one more.
Speaker: I wish. and that would be sick. It would be sick because she's probably rotted at least a little bit by now. Probably, yeah. So she's like so she's just like gooey and dripping. yeah She's like, oh, the murder. Like the cheek skin falls off. It's it's a monkey a monkey's paw situation. We've brought somebody back that that should not be.
Speaker: That's Elon Musk's next ah next endeavor. Oh, my God. Yeah, he just puts... What he does is he just puts like a ah ah a Disney animatronic, like walking... of The frame of an animatron a Disney animatronic. He puts it in a living... It's just scary. A real corpse...
Speaker: And he's like, look, I brought the dead back to life. I did it, guys. That's his corpse with like with like hydraulics in it. And the tech bros are like, he can bring people back from the dead.
Speaker: Listen, we got in all seriousness, that might be what happens. Yeah, that might be what happens. I don't trust that guy. know they would do that. The tech bros would be like oh yeah it would argue with you online that technically that person's back from the dead, no matter how much you're like, no, they're not. Did you see that um that raccoons are actually fascinated with the Cybertruck because it's so reflective?
Speaker: They like see themselves in it. So they're they're just going around scratching up Cybertruck. Yes. Good. Isn't that funny? we need We need more people destroying Cybertrucks or not people, I guess.
Speaker: Raccoons. Raccoons. Raccoons. They're little menaces. So I went to the Chicago car show ah last year, which is a big deal. It's it's it's a really big deal. It's every year at McCormick Place. I wanted to see like the new models, and I was thinking about getting a different car. i don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm always thinking about getting a different car because my car- didn't about you.
Speaker: It's fucking huge. And it's not a good city car. I love it to death and I still haven't traded it in. But I went to the Chicago Auto Show and there was a Cybertruck there.
Speaker: And it was like plastered with fingerprints because of how... it's made it looked so bad it was actually concerned i have ocd so like it's actually concerning for me to even look at it was like really disgusting looking like all these kids are going up to it and and because it's reflective right yeah so kids and raccoons want to be all up in that yeah yeah it's like the beam at chicago it's covered in in fingerprints do you ever think about how similar kids and raccoons are
Speaker: Very similar. very Toddlers, raccoons, they just want the same things. And that's reflective surfaces that they can scratch up. ah Anyway, also, this is my co-host, Matt Allcamp. Okay.
Speaker: Hi. Playdate with Matt. date with math Hey, everybody, welcome to Playdate with Matt. This is a show within Save Your Game that talks about the coolest adventure games, or just games, to hit the Playdate by Panic. It's a tiny little ah yellow... It's this tiny little yellow ah tablet thing box. Little doodad. It's a little box that has a crank on it, and it has, other than that, it's got, like, Game Boy controls. But it also has internet, and it also has ah ah a gyro...
Speaker: Gyroscope. Gyroscope. Yeah. um So, you you know, you can play games with use the tilt and and what for. But roses. Yes. Season three of Playdate is here.
Speaker: Oh, so I didn't know. Do you know we've talked about this before, but do you remember the season structure of the Playdate? I don't. OK, I don't know the structure. Yeah. So every so that when Playdate came out, there was a free package of like 20-something games that were free. and And still, if you buy the Playdate now, which is a little expensive, but if you buy it, you still get all these free games. And they're made by like real game designers. They're not like bullshit.
Speaker: Yeah. you know No, of course not. They're legit. Yeah. Yeah, and there's there's a lot of smart, smart games too. Like there's ah there's a game called Snake with a jump button.
Speaker: like Like there's some really like like, some really simple games with one, like a game with one simple idea that is actually brilliant, right? Or games that are entirely, you could only do them on a play date, right? um Games that um require,
Speaker: one of the One of the biggest ones from season one was a game called Root Bear, where you use the crank to try and fill up ah root beer at to the exact right height and serve it to customers. And if you get it wrong, there's a little bear who gets so upset. It's like OCD Tapper. Yeah.
Speaker: It's already really bad for my OCD, honestly. Then season two came out. It was another it had and and a bunch of games. We've talked about some of them. ah what What was the one that I really loved? It was called the Whiteout. That was like an adventure game about being in a post-apocalyptic snow-covered world. um Another one called Dig Dig Dino that I really, that I got so addicted to. that that you really dug. That I stayed up until like the middle of, like I stayed up so late to like 3 a.m. m playing. And then there was a Julia Minamata game called Chance is Lucky Escape. Okay.
Speaker: That's what I always think of. i always think of Julia's game. So season three just came out. And I should say, season two and season three, you do have to pay money for. It's like 40 bucks. But yeah um you get a ton of games. And they're released two games a week.
Speaker: So you get two games a week. And you don't know what's coming up next. So here's a couple that I played. Or that here's one that I played and one that I opened up and I didn't get too far in, but it looks really promising. The first one is called Gloomgate. It is a play date souls like.
Speaker: The way that it works is that you are. is that you are you know You're doing like a normal... You're traveling into a world of darkness or whatever and breaking a curse. But...
Speaker: you have So you have this like kind of unknowable character, and you're moving along a map that's like a game board, similar to inscription or something, except for you can you can go backwards. um So each each spot on the map is like a little circle, and it'll tell you, it'll show you ah that there's a... like a little graphic in a circle, in any circle you haven't been to yet. So it's actually, you know, even though the map gets pretty large and it can be a little hard to navigate, it's really easy to tell when you're on the right track, right? Yeah. and
Speaker: some of the spots you land on are monsters. And then you end up in this combat screen where... You can do a light attack.
Speaker: You can do a heavy attack. You could do a dodge roll. You can do a block and you can do a parry. And you just have to memorize these very difficult, difficult for me. Maybe a souls like person would be like, this is easy as shit. Sure. Yeah. But you have to memorize these ah ah boss attack patterns, these like ah monster attack patterns and parry them at exactly the right instant or dodge at the exact right instant. And you have to like manage a health bar and you can only heal in between combat.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. And if you die, you lose all the experience that you gained and you have to get back to that point to get your experience back. So just like a soul slug. And there's bonfires where you can level up. You collect shards and there's a there's a blacksmith that'll upgrade your shield or your sword or your armor. So it's just like really lo-fi. Yeah. I actually think it looks really cool. It looks so cool. Yeah. It's like, it's, ah yeah, it's,
Speaker: I'm really digging it. Like, I'm having a lot of fun with it. Good. Not much of a story, um but it's cool. The other game is called Home.
Speaker: H-O-U-M. Okay. And i haven't gotten far in it at all, right? All I know is that it opens up with you standing outside a mansion, and...
Speaker: You have all your point and click verbs on the right-hand side, and you can use one of the buttons to switch to your verbs, and then the up and down to select a verb, and that verb will stay selected. eleven And you control a cursor with your... ah with your face buttons right so if you want to examine everything in the room examine just stays selected and you can just move your cursor around and click on everything in the room if you want to use if there's a couple things you decide you want to use or a couple people you want to talk to you just leave that selected right um
Speaker: It's an interesting way to do it. It seems, i'm again, I'm not very far into it at all. The game, the ah puzzles seem a little escape roomy, maybe a little logic puzzle-y, but I don't know yet. I haven't gotten very far.
Speaker: It seems cool. It looks really cool. It's got like that Mac venture. Yeah, yeah. They're known for the games like Deja Vu and Shadowgate.
Speaker: it's got It's clearly inspired by that, and it's got that kind of look. So... i don't know I don't know anything else about it besides home looks cool. I just got it last night. like It just came.
Speaker: It just dropped on my play date last night. Nice. That sounds very like old school adventure game to me. It's like, you're at a mansion. You're at a mansion. oh You know nothing else. The door in front of you is locked. i feel Good luck. feel so many adventure games start exactly like that. like Here's a house. Figure it out.
Speaker: I played it for like four seconds, maybe a little longer, like maybe like a minute. And there's a bush outside. specific. There's a bush outside that is shaped like a key.
Speaker: Yeah. That's all I know so far. Okay. That's got to be the way to get the mansion. There be a key in there. I'm not sure. didn't do use and bush. That didn't work. I did do examine and bush. That didn't work. So i think maybe it's asking for something a little bit more complex. Yeah, yeah. um But I'll report back on how home is. There's another...
Speaker: There's a couple other um games in this season that are going to be of interest to us. There's a point and click, like a cartoony point and click game called Sound Mind by Chuck Jordan that I'm a little, not a little, i'm very curious to see what it is. And then there's Chance's Lucky Escape 2.
Speaker: Lovely. Julia. Yay. Sorry. Let me back up for a second. Do you know who Chuck Jordan is? No. Should I? You probably should, but I didn't recognize his name either at first. okay He is one of the programmers and the co-writer of Curse of Monkey Island.
Speaker: He was the script programmer on Grim Fandango. It looks like he left in the middle of the production. But then he did the um he was the lead writer on the Salmon Max, at least the the second two Salmon Max ah telltale games games oh cool a story consultant and writer on the walking dead so yeah so this guy's got fucking credentials yes yes and he did a you know a cartoony adventure game for play date so oh nice fun that's what i got
Speaker: playdate with Matt roses what if I had just like not refused like just refused to play that song what's up you were going to say something what have you been enjoying lately Okay, so yesterday i boot up Mystria again. oh my god!
Speaker: Every episode! I tried again! Listen, be you'll be pleased to know that this time I did play it. And this time I am...
Speaker: I am focused. I'm focused up on the, the minds. I love the minds. Like that's, I love doing it in Stardew. I love doing it here in Mysteria. um So I'm, I just got to open all of them up, man. i just need to open up this full mind thing. And I don't have that character yet.
Speaker: That's in the minds. Like I'm still working on that, on that storyline. But man, I booted up my game and my farm is bad. It's all fucked. So fucked. It's fucked. i don't even I don't even care. I let my animals out. They can do whatever the shit they want in this mess. I don't care. It's more humane at this point to just let them go. Just let them go.
Speaker: You guys figure it out. You figure out. I'm not to. It's a patch of grass. i don't know. It looks really terrible. But, like, I'm focused. I'm focused on the mind. So I am having i am having a bit of fun with it again. I did check. I am at eight hearts with March.
Speaker: Okay. and And like nobody – at like six hearts with everybody else. So I could do those. i would not get the Did you not get this the scene where you get to smooch him?
Speaker: I think I did, but that was like forever ago, dude. Yeah, but if you smooch him, then you should just be able to go up and press a button and smooch him again. Oh. Well, I'm focused. He can fucking wait. and I'm focused on these vines. That's healthy. It's healthy – it's healthy to – To not allow... No, to not allow your romantic partners to take you away from your interests.
Speaker: You are interested in the mines. Yeah, God forbid a girl have hobbies. Like, I just want to be in the mines.
Speaker: Yeah, no, no. If he has been... Roses, if he has been telling you you can't go to the mines because now you're in a relationship, you got to dump his ass. Oh, no. Matt's in BFF mode.
Speaker: He can stay with that not tell you that. That is not healthy. So much more. He does not deserve you. If he's telling you, he who who is he looking? Look. Oh, dear. He wanted you.
Speaker: He wanted you. And you are a person who goes to the mines. And if he doesn't want you to go to mines, then he doesn't want you. He's trying to change you. He wants a person that looks like you that he can make into his own fucking.
Speaker: I hate this guy. You're right. I should break up with him Break up with him. Data date ah Juniper instead. so Jesus! it's Quite the pivot.
Speaker: um But yeah, so I'm doing the mines and I did have a little bit of it had been a while since I booted up this game and I i managed to find like a bug that I didn't have in the ah in the museum. I'm like, okay, that's that's not that's nice. like It's nice to to find something new after all the things that I've i've been collecting. and i So yeah, my focus is beating the mines. I haven't beaten it yet because there was a If you remember, once you get back into the up or once you get back into the completed game, yeah there's like one more step to do with the mines. You have to get like these little void...
Speaker: Oh. Items to even to even go to the next. So I created a void roses and she was awesome. And I hope i hope we adopt her. Yeah, the void you is interesting. yeah The void you is. ah yeah yeah yeah I'm glad you are so you are starting to find some joy in it again because i know i know you really loved it when it came out.
Speaker: I did. i just i do struggle with games that come out in increments. I do struggle to pick it back up. But ah me too that's why I put it down for so long. That's why yeah I'm not touching. I think from like update two, I was like, I think you played until what update three.
Speaker: Yeah, I think so. But ah yeah, update two happened because I remember you playing longer than me. yeah Update two happened and I was like, I can't. I can't because I won't like it anymore. I'm going to stop liking it if I do it. Well, there was one but there was one point where I just restarted.
Speaker: I didn't even it like I had to restart the whole game. I did. they're yeah That's what I did this time. That's what I did when it when it came out. Yeah, I cannot do it this time. I'm like too, there's just too much stuff. There's too much. of So yeah, I've got focuses. I can do the mines. I can fix my farm. Yes. um My mail was overflowing. So I know I have quests. There's like seven quests in there. You mean March.
Speaker: Your mail? Your mail was overflowing. Oh my No, you're fired. get the Get this man new material. I gotta store up the good material for ah for Adventure X. kind of I gotta keep it. i got it So but all my jokes will be bad from now until November.
Speaker: You're just ah Shane Gillising it up. that jokes ah Oh my God. Hey, did I tell you about how ah women should dress for me from now on?
Speaker: Oh, you didn't. Oh, I'm the wrong woman to tell that to. Goodbye. yeah I was walking down the street and I was just thinking, all these women are dressed like, no, I'm not going to say word.
Speaker: That's rough one. That's a rough one. Because even even myself who like usurps words like slut, I don't mind usurping that word. Whore is a hard one because whore is a word that is kind of, it's about your personality, right? Like it's it's ah it's a straight up slight on your personality, yeah which is like, ah whereas like other things, like other outdated things like prostitute or or sex worker,
Speaker: sex worker is not outdated sorry um like hooker stuff like that those are more meant to be like a slight on the occupation but horror is like a slight on your character and who you are and yes i mean i don't think it i don't think it has to be but i think it is culturally right i think it is culturally and i think that's how he meant it too yeah right why would he say women are dressed like i go to the gym these days and all the women are dressed like horses and it's like It's like he is so used to these fucking Austin, ah austin Texas anti-woke crowds, right? He's so used to them that all he has to say in front of those people is, ah you know, like, well, women look like whores these days. My sisters are fat bitches, right? Like, that's all he has, which...
Speaker: Not enough people talk about how that was the end of his set, him telling everybody that his sisters were fat bitches. So, like... God. He... ah That's all he has to do. He doesn't have to write jokes for those people.
Speaker: Yeah. And so he's... It's not a joke. Yes. So he's gotten... One thing, he's gotten lazy. And the second thing, like, this guy... Oh, God, I could go off. The thing that I fucking hate about Shane Gillis, right, is that I remember him back in Philly. Like, I knew this guy. I knew this man. We weren't close. We weren't friends. ah I don't think we ever shared a bill. That might not be true.
Speaker: Mm hmm. So anyway, I know this guy has it in him to be funny. He's had been funny before. just outright refuses because his fucking bad attitude is getting in the way. And the other thing I know about him is that I think he probably is sexist. Like it probably is a bit of a misogynist, but he doesn't he doesn't believe in misogyny. He's just got it ingrained. Right. He's probably he doesn't believe in racism, but he is a bit of racist. He thinks it's funny to be racist. Yeah, or edgy at the very least. Yeah.
Speaker: That's even worse to me. Now you're not even genuine with who you are. You're just saying shit. I hate that. Same. He's not homophobic. He just says homophobic jokes. He's not. But and he was transphobic. But as Benny Feldman has pointed out in an interview with Mary Houlihan not that long ago. Sorry, I'm getting really deep in the weeds here. As Benny Feldman pointed out, he's He used to be transphobic and make transphobic jokes, but in very recent years, he started going coming out the other direction, right? And being and and making pro-trans statements or jokes. ah
Speaker: I think it's it's totally legit to hate him for being anti-trans because I think he was, and I think he did a lot of harm there. But overall, the other thing, he's not even fucking conservative.
Speaker: No, he's not. it's and it's and What's really interesting about this guy is that he, if there's anything at all, even to be remotely respected for, is that he doesn't seem to fight any of this. Have you noticed that? He doesn't fight back. He just kind of like rolls with what people are saying. I find that really interesting. Yeah.
Speaker: So where i'm where I'm trying to get to with Shane Gillis is like, I know, so I know he's not even a MAGA guy. And it's been, it was, I was finding it very funny. Like, okay, so first I was like, yeah, this guy sucks. He makes racist jokes. Fucking fire him from SNL, right? I was totally on board with that. And then when he was just getting canceled in general, I was like, well, you know, he he comes across as a MAGA chud, but he's he's more just ah a an apolitical chud. Yes, I think he's apolitical. And then, which which also sucks in its own way, but like, um you know, it's, he's I don't think this guy's voting for Trump. No, I don't think so. then So then i was really enjoying that he would be on conservative podcasts or conservative ah stand-up showcases, right?
Speaker: And then he'd start making fun of Trump and Trump policies. Sure, sure. And people were like, what the fuck? Or again, like Benny Feldman pointed out, making pro-trans jokes. And it's like, so he's like,
Speaker: it was There was something very fun about that. And then he fucking had to go on SNL yeah and just be an absolute scumbag. just Yeah. What's really upsetting to me is that um there was a ah there was a a sketch I saw with him in it that I actually thought was really funny. Now, granted, it wasn't racist or or sexist, ah but there was a a sketch with other people.
Speaker: um where he calls like hospice, hospice-al. And ah the female comedian is like, hospice is not short for hospice-al, like hospital. And I just, i read that really got me. I thought this whole sketch was was very funny. If you saw it, you saw it. And so it's very upsetting to me to see somebody with the potential to be funny and know what a joke is and land a joke and then just go on live TV and be like, so women at the gym, they dress like whores. Yeah.
Speaker: And like, and it's like, there could be something funny there. You could rewrite that into something funny. I am also baffled by some of the things that women wear at gyms because they look weird and uncomfortable.
Speaker: Like, i I don't think that's, I don't think that is a bad talking about the way that people wear. and I don't think this is necessarily just gendered. was going to say, it's not really gendered either. Like men wear weird stuff all the time.
Speaker: I think the way people wear shit to the gym to be hot for the TikTok videos rather than, and and it's like actively getting in the way of the way they exercise. I think that is, there's something funny, but that's not what he was saying. It could have been written like that. was saying, he was saying he feels uncomfortable because he gets horny when he looks at them. And it's like,
Speaker: I saw a response TikTok from a woman who is like, look, we all see people in the world and get horny. You just look, you get horny, and you keep going. It's fine. Lock it away in your brain. don't have to talk about it. You have to address them. you like you don't have to blame us for your horniness. Just get horny and move on. Why are people so uncomfortable about just being horny? i don't Just get horny and keep going. like the thing
Speaker: about that set that is the most offensive to me is how fucking cheesy it is to in the middle of your set be like, oh yeah, and I'm friends with Joe Rogan. What is that? What is happening? You can imagine sitting, well, if he wrote, I don't think he writes, but you can imagine him sitting at a typewriter and just like, nailing away on his keyboard, just going like, okay, maybe I can say, maybe I can do a joke like, oh, I'm friends with Joe Blogan. I mean, rogan no, that doesn't work. And crumpling it up and throwing it over his shoulder. being like like there's There's some...
Speaker: There's some version of that of fucking monologue, right? Where he was looking in a mirror and he was like, all right. ah So in conclusion, all women are whores. By the way, I'm friends with Joe Rogan. All right, we have a great show for you guys tonight. And he was like, no, that's not going to work. He was trying so hard to find a joke just so that he could tell the audience he's friends with Joe Rogan. And you know what he decided on? You know what he landed on? for a fucking Saturday Night Live audience was an impression of Theo Vaughn.
Speaker: As if this audience is going to be, as if anybody is going to be like, yes, I am so familiar with what Theo Vaughn sounds like, but this joke is going to land with me.
Speaker: And then when it wasn't working, he's like a fucking open miker, like a fucking 19 year old open miker. He goes, so I'm sorry. And my friend, my buddy's laughing in the background. Shut up. Whatever he's, whatever his friend's name is. Derby. Shut up, Blooby. Fucking.
Speaker: go You are on Saturday Night Live. Matt's about to have a heart attack. that So all that other stuff is, yes, offensive for society, right? Yeah.
Speaker: That is just offensive to taste and dignity. comedy. To dignity. Just like, how can how can, man, I don't want to live in a world who with somebody who says, who who says ah by the way, I'm friends with Joe Rogan in the middle of their Saturday night live. Yeah. You know what it is? This guy is just a dude. He's just some guy. He's not very funny. He doesn't have good ideas. He's just some guy.
Speaker: that him and his we yeah yeah him and all is his weird, like, all these Austin comedians, all these like conservative or apolitical but court conservative office ah ah audiences,
Speaker: Austin comedians are just fucking dork ass dorks. yeah Right. That's, that's the thing about them. They're just uncool dork ass dorks who like, there it's there's there's a patheticness about them. There is. Yeah. There is a patheticness.
Speaker: Okay. Anyway, I'm a slut and a whore. I don't know if you knew. Wait, you're a whore too. I am. I whores required payment. I do good payment.
Speaker: Oh, oh, oh. um I didn't know this about you. $2,000. $2,000. Everybody listening, $2,000 for a night with roses. Oh, no, no, no, no. no no no no oh not No, no, not a night. I might show my knees and I will play Mario Kart with you.
Speaker: Oh, okay. If that's worth it, you guys, $2,000. To play, to ah to honestly be like creamed by me. not Not in that way. Not in that way. To play Mario Kart while looking at pushing up Roses' knees, $2,000. $2,000.
Speaker: What I've been enjoying? Yeah. um i I didn't ask. I played a game. I i played a game called Dim Haven, the Lost Source. I didn't get to the end of it. It is like it is a mist like, but it's got a bit of a story to it. And it's got um voice acting.
Speaker: um And you're just it's very strange. You're kind of dropped onto this island where it seems your brother went to do research. Wait, hang on a second.
Speaker: Are you dropped in front of a house and you got to figure it out? Is that what you're telling me? No, you're dropped into like a tourist center that is closed and nobody's there. Okay. Well, And you you have to solve like in increasing puzzles. It gives you a warning at the beginning, right? Like,
Speaker: these puzzles are going to be very hard. Okay. Well, that's and not for me. For the first hour or two, i was like, maybe maybe even three.
Speaker: I was like, these puzzles aren't that hard. For the next two hours, i was like, oh, these puzzles are pretty hard. And then... It became like these puzzles are unbelievably hard. Oh, no. There was a puzzle that was so hard that I had to make an Excel spreadsheet and use formulas to solve it. That's crazy.
Speaker: Because it was like it was like a puzzle about binary. Okay. um and binary And like junctions. um and It's like literally a programming ah programming yeah puzzle. oh my And so cabinets were like, if you open if this cabinet is open, it's a zero. If it's closed, it's a one or whatever. Wow. It might be the reverse of that, right? And you have to have the right combination of open and closed cabinets to open a secret door. Yeah. And...
Speaker: So i I came up with, and it was like, and then you find a map later, and each junction point tells you, like, um if it goes through this junction, the one the one turns to a zero. If a one and a zero go into this this a junction with this label on it,
Speaker: it comes out of one. But if it goes into a junction with this label on it, comes out of zero. And it was this really complex map. So I rebuilt the map in Microsoft Excel and I programmed the rules in. And then I tried different ones and zeros combinations on each of the cabinets, which were cells until the final one, the final junction read one. And then I was like, I got it.
Speaker: and So in one sense, that is you could describe that as cheesing the puzzle. Sure. But in another sense, I built a whole fucking Excel spreadsheet. Weird. It's like you brute forced it, but not really. Yeah. yeah It's like I brute forced it by being even smarter.
Speaker: Yeah. ah It's wild wild. Wild. It's called Dimhaven, the Lost Source. it It's really... It's really interesting if you like difficult, missed-style puzzles, or i'm trying to say like if you liked a Call of the Sea or something, yeah um you might like Dimhaven, The Lost Source. i I think the the the only bad reviews it's really getting from people are the puzzles are too hard. Yeah, but even then, it seems to be that seems to be the...
Speaker: The point. The appeal. Yeah. It's like playing Myst, right? you're You're kind of like, am I smart enough to beat Myst? Right? It's like, that's what playing Myst is for now Yeah, yeah. it's not for the fucking story, I'll tell you that. It is not.
Speaker: It is not for that. i was I was looking at that interview. There's a there's an there's a now famous interview with ah Ben Affleck. where he's like, do you ever play that game Myst? That's so funny. And him and the interviewer, this Hollywood dudes are like, oh my god, that story was so good. It's like, you don't you don't remember the game Myst, guys.
Speaker: Right? like like maybe Maybe it's impressive to some dorks that you know the name of the game Myst, but if you've played Myst, you're not going to say that story is so good. What if though they've played so few games?
Speaker: That this is a story to me. Like this, you know? They're like, yeah, they've only played Grand Theft Auto and this. Yeah, they went from like launching cars, as you do, to like an actual sort of has a story.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay, Roses. Yes. we You know what's fun? All those games that I was saving up. Yeah. Remember I told you I was saving up all those games that I'd played? Yeah.
Speaker: We're at the end of them. So if I talk about a game from now forward, it's a game I just played. Wow. i'm not talking I'm not pretending I played a game just recently when it was a month and a half ago. You didn't have to admit that.
Speaker: We would have accepted it. Why do people tell me that all the time? Why is everyone always saying that to me? ah All right. um We're not here to talk about Shane Gillis. We're not, but we but here we are. We're not even here to talk about the play date.
Speaker: No. What are we here to talk about today? We're here to talk about the last two Midnight Scenes games, and these are my very favorites. um Oh, okay. These are my favorites, yeah. so the for Oh my God, why am I brain farting now on the show?
Speaker: Do you want me to say it? Oh my god, no. Give me a second. No, don't say anything. the name Don't say anything? The names of the game games are the the shadows that could hear... I forgot. The shadows that could hear. I guess that's a little scary.
Speaker: Why am I blinking? What if, whoa, what if, okay, a horror story where you notice that your shadow is reacting to things you're saying. That would that would rock. I would have a new friend. Oh, right.
Speaker: A safe place. A safe place is the first one. By John Krasinski.
Speaker: And then Among Graves. Actually, i you know what? I take something back. I did like Among Graves. It is not one of my favorites, but A Safe Place is my favorite of the whole anthology.
Speaker: It is a scary. it it is Scary in a different way. Right. and it's it But it's got. Okay, we'll talk about it We'll talk about it. We'll talk. We'll talk. Let's play a really, like, really old song. Like something so fucking old. Like me just playing with sand. Let's play a song of you playing with sand, but 120 years ago.............
Speaker: ah hundred and twenty years ago
Speaker: Hey
Speaker: yeah everyone, welcome back to Save Your Game. I am the ever spooky, ever frightening and horrific Pushing Up Roses. With me is Matt. Hi.
Speaker: I'm sweet boy. He's a sweet boy. Just a sweet boy. Let's talk about Midnight Scenes, A Safe Place. Again, which is my favorite in the series. ah Now that you've played them all, do you have a favorite in the series now that you're finally finished?
Speaker: Oh, boy. um
Speaker: Or one that just, you know, favorite is tough. That's a tough word. Or one that just struck you more. I think... The ending of a Safe Place was probably the best horror ending yeah out of any of the... It was probably the best horror twist in the entire series. Yeah. um yeah I think I enjoyed the experience and characters of Among Graves and Nanny.
Speaker: the nanny Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. As far as as far as experience of playing, I think those were my top two. Nice. um So overall,
Speaker: I don't know. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if I have a favorite and if i but and or what it would be. Yeah. So mine is A Safe Place, which is the next game we are going to talk about. And then we'll talk about a little bit Among Graves.
Speaker: I think A Safe Place is a bit of an outlier. yeah ah Yes. I think it feels different than the other Midnight Scenes games because I think even though... It absolutely does. Yeah. some of the Some of the horror in Midnight Scenes is very paranormal.
Speaker: um Like the the nanny had those kind of supernatural elements to them and that's kind of what made it scary, right? Same, but you know, from same the highway, we don't it's more nebulous. And then From the Woods also, again, had more.
Speaker: There was absolutely paranormal and supernatural stuff happening. Oh, but the highway is nebulous to you, but not to me because I played the remastered. Oh, that's a good call. Good call. But A Safe Place is probably the most, like, human horror Out of the out of the midnight scenes. It's still 100%. Yeah, it's still like it's got that supernatural edge to it. We are there's a lot of um what's the word just ah symbolism and kind of metaphorical things happening in a safe place. Yeah, there are therere the the the the main character is terrorized by monsters. it's just are the yeah It's just the question in the game is, are those monsters literal or not? Yeah, and it's probably of- And we have an answer by the end. we Yes, we'll have a tangible answer, but it's also one of the best kind of representations of what it's like to have depression and isolate yourself. And then the the circumstances-
Speaker: of doing that, right? Like it's very, odd this game is very honest. But it's also a very extreme version of that, right? Like I know plenty of people who have isolated themselves from depression. I do not know anybody who has locked themselves in their room for over 30 days ah shitting and pissing in buckets. Yeah, I would say, yes, I would say that I have done that in my home.
Speaker: Like I've, I've been locked yourself in your home for 30 days. Yeah, or more. Yeah, or more just out of depression. But yeah, of course I'm going to use the bathroom. maybe Maybe not. ah i Okay, maybe not literally. and Now that I'm thinking about it... um
Speaker: i think i have I think I have experiences that are – like I can understand the experience, but I don't know that I've ever locked myself in my house for 30 days or more. Yeah, I definitely have where it's just been into too much. And, you know these days, like, ah it's kind of easy to do. You can order whatever you want and – Yeah, you don't actually have to leave your house anymore, which is kind of sad. and But yeah, do you do you want to go ahead and explain the premise or do you want me to?
Speaker: You know, what you just said, you don't have to leave your house, I think is important. And I think it's important that um part of the premise here um is that this kid, the or I guess he's an adult. His name is... Philip.
Speaker: ah Oh, see sorry. Yeah, I was looking at the wrong notes. ah philipine larner larn laner Philip Larner. Larner. He's a rich kid. And I think that is important, and it's and it gives me... ah it it It's important to what you just said. Yeah. um That ah it is sad...
Speaker: that we can we do have the ability to lock ourselves inside for that long yeah um with modern technologies and conveniences and stuff because i think there is something to be said about there being a point in time where you had to right um get out of your house and do things. And we didn't like that. So we came up with conveniences to fight it. Right. Yeah. um
Speaker: And those conveniences ended up in a way that we didn't quite realize um making our lives worse. it is Honestly, I'm going to sound like old man yells a cloud right now, but I,
Speaker: miss having excuses to go out. And like, I really feel like some of these conveniences really, a they could be great for accessibility, but also like for your average depressive person like me, yeah it's pretty bad. Like i'm i'm I'm going to be like very honest and candid. It's been really bad. i can just stay in my house and I,
Speaker: How do I get better? and that lends itself to the game, too. How do you get better if you don't leave and confront what's what's hurting you what's troubling you? But, you know, even things like working on a farm or, like, whatever, you know, like having to grow your own food, it's like those weren't fun. Right.
Speaker: But one thing that they did do ah was make... you know, uh, give your, give, give you a daily purpose that really seemingly helped to stave off depression. Right. Um, at least the deeper sorts of depression. I think those people were probably also, um, experiencing things like sadness or, oh yeah, isolation or, ah you know, but anyway, all right. So premise um we've kind of already talked about but your guy named phil lerner who has been i think they said he was like 23 so young adult yeah and he has been trapped in inside or he is he is hold himself up inside his house for um i think it's been around 30 days um and
Speaker: It's because he he's afraid to leave it because he keeps having these really intense nightmares of these... They're these these's these almost like alien-looking creatures, these menacing alien-looking creatures with ah three... They look like three eyes, but three hollow eyes. Right. Yeah.
Speaker: And yeah, he has a friend. he has like one lifeline, a friend Oh, Noel. oh noel Yeah, he has a friend named Noel who's been helping him get food and who's been his with the one person who's been having, like, phone dates with him to watch movies and stuff. and ah But other than that, like, his parents are disappointed in him, obviously. and um his sister is starting to grow frustrated with him. They're trying to talk to him through the walls, but he won't respond. And he's been shitting in a bucket and then dropping it out his window into a garbage can. He's been pissing in bottles and then putting them in a bag and lowering them with fishing wire into a garbage can. Yeah. It's really dire.
Speaker: It's really extreme. Yeah, it's it's really extreme. And any time he even gets close to his bedroom door, he starts panic having a panic attack.
Speaker: <unk> Yeah, it's a really good example of a panic attack where it does pass. You watch it pass for him, but it it it he is experiencing the physical manifestation of anxiety. Yeah. um He is breathing heavily. He is, you know. Yeah.
Speaker: He's sweating and yeah and curled up in a ball. Yeah. And kind of much like ah you know how depression works, he is you know there comes a point where he is relying too much on Noelle, on one person, right? He doesn't have a therapist. He kind of jokes about you know his family being so fucked up that they don't they don't you they don't mess with therapy. And so he's kind of relying on one person, you know Noelle, who has her own life. And when yeah and when her life gets a little...
Speaker: ah turbulent he cannot be there for her and is in fact kind of acting like a dick And I think that's important to talk about when we talk about depression and and mental health. There are unsavory parts about depression in having depression. um And I think I think because.
Speaker: I think because we don't want to stigmatize you know mental illness, I think we've almost like overcompensated these days by saying like you know mentally it'll have almost no unsavory side effects. like a really This is an extreme example, right? But when we're talking about like psychopaths or or serial killers, I know people don't want to equate that to mental health because we're not all out there and killing people.
Speaker: what that is But is that person mentally unwell growing up? Should they have had some help? Yeah. The answer is still there. yeah So I think we've pivoted to where we don't want to talk about unsavory things in depression. And I am not about that.
Speaker: I think that this game gives a really good example of somebody being absolutely selfish in their own depression because they're a little out of control. Yeah. And just depending on their one friend or their their situation. and it gets sad, right? it gets really, really sad. And I have two points here. at One is that it doesn't seem like he is in any way trying to...
Speaker: fix himself. Right. He's like you said, he's, he's fully relying on Noel and he has stopped relying on himself at all. Yes. um Which is a problem. And a thing that happens with people with depression a lot. Right. Is like,
Speaker: No one can take your depression away. Yeah. People can people can help you, but you are 100% the only person who can actually do it. Yeah. and um and as you're talking about the unsavory parts, right, depression can manifest as selfishness and laziness and rudeness and anger, right? Depression isn't just being sad. Right. um And it's important to, at the same time, destigmatize in that we should be understanding of that. Right.
Speaker: But so I think it's important to leave social stigmas in place of like, but it's also not okay. Yeah. Right? Yeah, it's also of course. It's also not okay to be selfish and rude and put and ah push other people's boundaries, even if we know why it's happening. Of course. I think what's irritating me is the is the way that, again, we've kind of overcompensated because mental illness historically has been you know judged and frowned upon and and and misunderstood. um But yeah, I think we've overcompensated in a way that
Speaker: Like I can't even talk about like my toxic ah reactions when I have depression without somebody being like, well, I have depression and I don't do that. don't do that. But it manifests differently for people. I'm glad you don't do that. That's that's that's great. I'm glad.
Speaker: Or like um an even better one is kind of like the anti- eating disorder and feminism people who are like well I grew up with the same media and I didn't get an eating disorder like I wasn't affected by that even though we have you know evidence that that does affect people but yeah I like that this game is is unashamed to show those those sides of depression and anxiety
Speaker: Right. Yeah. um and And again, and it doesn't portray it it it it portrays it as a part of what he's going through. And especially by the end, it is sympathetic.
Speaker: But again, at the same time, like he the the game is is also very clear this isn't, he's not being a good dude right now. He's yeah he's being a selfish asshole to his friends. yes He's letting his depression um hurt people. Yeah. And that is one of the the sadder things about depression, addiction, things things in that realm. Yeah.
Speaker: Is that it? Yeah. And it's frustrating to play through too, but it's also very, I think, relatable. Right. So, wow how do we go any further actually yeah i don't know if i even want to because i liked this game so much and it has honestly i think the best story um the most harrowing story it's told very well i think there's some describe like discrepancies but whatever i'll suspend my disbelief for yeah for some things right
Speaker: Why don't we talk actually, i think that's a good, I think it's a good idea. Let's, let's talk about the flaws for a second. Maybe that's the place to go. um It does. So well let's talk about, or not just the flaws. Let's talk about how um there are, there's an evolution here, both positive and negative. um There's more of those. it First of all it's the art levels up. but Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: The art is just getting better. Octavia ah tabie Navarro, his art gets better and better with each entry into Midnight Scenes.
Speaker: um So I loved that. Yeah. This game is disgusting. I hated that. Yes, it it is. Yeah, that's true. There's some bodily things happen happening. Yeah. um ah There is, there's some interesting things.
Speaker: um There's a lot of repeated motifs in this game ah that are are interesting. For example,
Speaker: um it it it appears that in each game, we get a scene where there are a bunch of crows feeding on carry-on.
Speaker: um there What were some of the other ones? ah There's cats Midnight Scenes exists in the universe in every game. In this in this yeah game, he watches an episode of Midnight Scenes at some point. Yes, yes, that's true.
Speaker: With like a giant ant. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that is way more, i felt like that was way more, um what's the word? What's the me property? ah Twilight Zone. Oh, Twilight Zone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. then It was. any anything Than any of the other, the the giant ant is way more something that would have been an episode of the Twilight Zone than any of the Midnight Scenes games actually are. um But there's some other things, like they lean more on these weird voice
Speaker: soundbites and I'll say this they're still not good yeah but they weave them into the narrative this time Rather than have them just be like weird little jokes that happen when you click on certain things. That's true. I think some of the sound bites and like character reactions, I think they're better in this game. And I don't know if that's because just like setting wise, we're not going anywhere. So it's not like we're in, you're not even really interacting with stuff in this game. This game almost strategically
Speaker: ah is not allowing you to do certain things. Like, for example, when you start this game, you'll have a few options. Like you can go to the bathroom, you can call someone, um you can turn on your heater, but you cannot click around the room.
Speaker: ah You can't look at stuff, you know, there's there's like a little cat thing on the shelf. I wanted to look at it, but it won't, you know, the game won't let me. And I think maybe that was also like a so a strategic thing of like, well, you're depressed in this room. You're going to do only the things that you are routinely doing. Right. Yeah. You're locked into your routine. Yeah. this This game, I think more than the others, is more of like definitely interactive fiction or like veering into visual novel in the way that you're definitely not solving any any puzzles in this game.
Speaker: Yes, even more true in the next game, but we'll talk about that. It is extremely linear, yeah. There's one puzzle in this game, and it's how to lower your piss into a garbage can. That's true. There is there is one That is true. That is true. And interestingly, that goes wrong, and you never do another one. So I think that's a very interesting strategy. Like, the only thing he tries goes wrong, and that people further... yeah and that Or the only thing we get to try, rather. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: yeah And that that attempt also fails and kind of just bolsters his, you know, isolation and and depression. What's scary about this game, Matt? What makes this game a horror game besides the human horror of, you know, yeah isolation?
Speaker: all right. Should we get to the spoiler section? Yeah, let's do it. right, guys. um i don't I think we didn't last time, but we will try to put ah time stamps in the show notes this time yeah so you can skip. um So look at you look at your look at your show notes if you need to skip ahead. i think we've given you enough time talking to allow you that because I'm about to spoil it.
Speaker: Okay. So you get to the end of this game. So again, as I pointed out earlier, the little aliens or whatever that have been terrorizing you this whole time, um have three hollow, um it looks like two eyes. it looks like three eyes, three hollow eyes in their heads. And as it turns out, two of those are eyes. Yeah.
Speaker: And the third is a bullet hole. Right. Because way later in the game, um, at the end of the game, Noelle comes to visit you because she's she's got to go deal with her dad who's dying. um And you freak out selfishly because you can't survive without her. And you're like, don't go, don't go. I don't want you to go. yeah um and ah you, in your sort of rage, you slam your head into your own wall.
Speaker: um And she's like, I think he's hurt. I think something's wrong. We have to go to it to her mom. um I think we have to go check it out. Yeah. And at the same time, you are actually trying to get over... Well, so you're you're passed out on the ground. You're not passed out. You're...
Speaker: Yeah, you're in like a weird state where mind is... Yeah, you're not quite lucid. Yeah. No. And you're starting to remember why you locked yourself in the room in the first place. Yeah. and what you remember, just as she discovers it, is that your sister and your parents, who you've been interacting with this whole game, um they're not there anymore.
Speaker: And... They... Your sister killed both your parents and herself. Yes. 30 days ago. Yeah. Murder. and no wealth Homicide, suicide. Yeah.
Speaker: Noelle finds all of their bodies rotting in the dining room of your home. And... um Yeah, then certain things start to make sense. Like at some point your dad, quote, shuts off your credit card. And then you're like, oh, ah no, he didn't. yeah no he He stopped paying the credit card bill because he was fucking dead. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's really horrifying. It's really upsetting. It's a twist that I didn't see coming until about maybe 15 minutes before it happened. And this is an hour and a half game. So it's not nothing, but it's still, yeah ah you know, I was in the third act yeah before I saw this coming.
Speaker: Yeah, so like the shadows that you're seeing are literal shadows of your past, ah literal shadows of what happened ah to your sister and to your parents. And we should say throughout throughout this game,
Speaker: it does tell you a story of your parents. Your dad is abusive. Most of the abuse went to your younger sister, whose name is Piper. And so she's spiraling. She's a troubled soul. You know, she tries to run away, but it's always brought back to this house with her parents. Really great, like interpretation of the mom too, to where it's one of those things where, you the mom or the or the wife is also kind of in this kind of controlling relationship, but she's being kind of sad and pathetic. You know, would you it's it's one of those. It's like, why is the mom not protecting people or protecting her children against this abusive butthole? umm And so they're telling this story and then it turns out that that Piper, you know, the sister ended up just, yeah, having a breakdown and killing both of her parents and then herself.
Speaker: Yeah, it's all this, it's it's more of this sort of very understandable human tragedy and, um but sort of, and ah understandable tragedy, understandable mentalities, unknowable decision making, right? um Yeah, man, it is it is harrowing. um This whole game is harrowing because already there's a deep,
Speaker: um disturbing sadness yeah and like I said actually actively disgusting um scenario happening here yeah and um you know it goes from that to something legitimately humanly terrifying yeah um It's devastating.
Speaker: This ending blew me away. Yeah. ah So to speak. Oh, boy. Much taste was given the subject matter. Oh, my God. Oops. This mad new material. Not till November. um Yeah.
Speaker: What else do you have to say about this game before we move on to Among grabba think That's all I have to say. i Like I said, I am working on a bit of a video. I don't know when it's going to come out, but I felt so inspired by – After November. Probably after – yeah, maybe. um That's just the running joke. I don't know when it's actually coming out. Potentially. Yeah. This was my favorite entry and it the most, for me, the most effective, like human horror. a lot of Twilight Zone is human horror, just with with an edge, just using kind of a supernatural guise over human horror. And so I think that did that very well. And so because I put this game on such, I guess, like a high pedestal, i think I didn't like Among Graves as much.
Speaker: Okay. um Yeah, let's move on to Among Graves. i I did like Among Graves a lot. Do you want to tell them the premise? Yeah. So this is, honestly, this is a very interesting story. So you are a guy. um Wait, what was his name? his What was it? Matthew. Matthew. Okay. Matthew Turtle. Turtle. Yep. Matthew Turtle. You have come from a family um of descendants that can speak to the dead.
Speaker: ah And so you as Matthew Turtle, you're in this this community and kind of your role in the community is to communicate ah with people's dead loved ones and tell them how they're doing. And like you're kind of this medium between them and their ancestors. But unfortunately, ah you are losing that ability. You're losing the ability to connect with with the dead, and it seemingly correlates with you having lost your wife. ah You are also now a single dad. you are As you play this game, you actually have your baby, Emma, with you, the i think the majority of the time.
Speaker: Did you at any point in this game... have to pay close attention to be like wait the baby's not dead is is she he's not pushing around a dead baby and like it's his powers that's allowing her him to do that is no I didn't actually that did not that did not come to my mind that I thought that was going to be the twist and then I had to pay attention like no other people are talking about the baby referring to like holding the baby and there was there were people that were saying there were people that like there were some lines early on where people were like after you lost her yeah and then i was like well ah it's trying to be vague on purpose because they're talking about the baby No, they're definitely talking about the wife. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, it's it's just his his connection to the dead has just kind of, it's going away. And they think it's because of the trauma of losing his wife.
Speaker: um But unfortunately, this is such a wild story with like a lot of history in it. Mm-hmm. I don't remember who started it, but it kind of goes back in time to show you like the the turtle history and how they started.
Speaker: Great, great grandfather. Yeah. And I guess ah everybody in the turtle family has this connection to what's called the veil. Yeah. They're a little it's a little vague on what the veil is. i don't I don't know if it's like the afterlife or or something. It seems to be something a little different than the afterlife. Yeah. Connected to the afterlife. But yeah. So in a long, long, long time ago, his great ancestor made a deal with the veil because he this great ancestor had also lost his wife.
Speaker: and his child and so he's approached by these kind of messengers of the veil saying if you make a deal with us we will not only bring back or actually could he already i don't think they're bringing them back i think it's just you will be able to talk to them again no no the the descent the ancestor the the deal was that they would bring his wife and child back to life and they do Well, that's what he was saying. yeah This took me a second to figure out because that's what he was saying. He was like, I and i would do anything to bring them back. And I think what they were saying, um i think that that this is the sort of Faustian deal here. What they were saying is, yes, you will be able to talk to them again. Like, they don't use those words, but they they they say like, yes, don't you miss your wife and daughter? You can make this deal and I can, you know. Sure.
Speaker: ah they Yeah, because we don't we don't have any evidence in any way that they came back to life. I thought there was a scene, a flashback scene where he was talking to his like wife and kid, but that could have been a different turtle.
Speaker: There was, but they were ghosts. They were ghosts in that scene. OK, OK. um Yeah, she was yelling at him. OK, so yes. um okay so yes So that's the deal. So a long, long time ago, the Turtle family made a deal with the Vale, and now they can speak to the dead. They can speak to their spirits. and But now, again, Matthew lost his wife, and so he is losing that ability. And when you lose, part of the deal is when you lose that ability, unfortunately, you do have to be replaced. Somebody else has to carry on the deal that you made with the Vale. So in theory, you would then die,
Speaker: And your next of kin in the turtle family is going to carry on with this deal that they made. um And actually, it it it does cause him to lose his mind a little bit because he ah clear no one wants to die. Right. no one was's Especially early. But he's more concerned that he has this baby now um and he gets a little.
Speaker: I would say ah obsessive about things. um Some of this story is is about the... About kind of accepting fate and accepting the the consequences that you yourself has have made. And if you don't accept those things, like it's people can get hurt or yeah. And about accepting, accepting death too, right? Like you're a, you're a guy who your whole living is made around the concept of death. And now you, you're losing your ability. So you have to accept your death and you don't want to, yeah you're like refusing it. So,
Speaker: Yeah. This game, once again, the art, the art is about. It's comparable. On par with Among Graves. It's a little bit better. There's a couple of things in this game that there's a couple of things that change in this game. Number one, glowing hot spots. Yeah, true.
Speaker: I didn't like that. Okay. How did you feel? I was i was okay with it. um okay i I think we've played so many games with hotspots. I think it was different for this series, so that was a little like a little jarring.
Speaker: i didn't I didn't mind it too much. I think I was just happy to be able to look at stuff again because, again, in the last game, you're kind of locked into this mechanic. ah So I was happy to look at stuff. Yeah, yeah. um So glowing hotspots was one thing. Another thing about this is...
Speaker: There was another shift in how he was using these sound cues. Yeah. Which... It sounds like you really disliked. And I think the sound cues are still a kind of poor quality. I dislike them the most in this game.
Speaker: ah So that's interesting. yeah I thought this is where he actually found his footing on these sound cues. And the reason is um there's a sort of there's a thing that happens in a lot of ah visual novels.
Speaker: where the first so word or sound of a sentence will be voiced and then the rest of it will not. right So if if if I'm saying, or or or it'll be a noise that sort of suggests my my emotion, right? So if I'm saying,
Speaker: Ugh, roses, you're so... what's What's an insult that I could throw at you? Stupid. You're so stupid, right? Ugh, roses, you're so stupid, right? It would it would say, ugh, and then it would say... and then in text, it would be, ugh, roses, you're so stupid. right Or I might be like, um oh gosh, I'm hungry. And the noise my character would make would be,
Speaker: ah Yeah. But the text would say, gosh, I'm hungry. yeah That's kind of what this game did. just don't like the sounds themselves. I'm not against sound cues. I just think that like the, the aggravated sound clip was, it sounded more novelty and it wasn't matching the intensity of the of the character when he was saying, u you know, i think so. And I think sometimes when people were making sort of like a, um a social lubricating joke, yeah
Speaker: there would be a sound where they're going like... ah Right, right. When it's like, well, that's the sort of joke where you go... and You know what I mean? Yeah. like yeah like there Stuff like that, that it was it really broke the tone a lot. Yes, yes. But there was other points where I think it did, especially when people were in distress or...
Speaker: panicked or sad. Yeah. The sound cues did fit the tone. Yeah. A lot better. Yeah. Those are the biggest changes. Also, you know, there's still the same.
Speaker: There was a cat. There's a black cat. There was a worm crawling across a rock. That's another one. There was crows. There was crows eating carry-on in one scene. yeah and and I think that we kind of mentioned this in the last episode where I said we'd have probably more things to talk about overall. And that's what I'm talking about is that there there are recurring things, especially the presence of these crows, ah which I think...
Speaker: can represent like a lot of different things. I don't think they're just inherently evil. Do you? No, I think they do. I think most in most of the games they represent death. Yeah.
Speaker: But not always to an evil extent. I don't know. I think in, I'm trying to struggle though, like a time that crows appeared that were good. No, they mostly are They're not even like bad either. They're just a presence that is is annoying to, I think, a lot of characters. You'll see, you'll hear the characters in this universe being like, an out of here, crows, like leave me alone. Oh God. Speaking of which, in this game, Matthew Turtle started out as one of the most likable, sweet guys and everyone in town loved him, even if they were starting to get frustrated with his lack of abilities. Yeah.
Speaker: And throughout the game, he just became more and more grumpy. Unhinged, yeah. He started yelling at his baby. He started getting mad at everybody. he Yeah, he completely came unhinged. And it's another example of like the stress manifesting in a very unsavory way. Yeah.
Speaker: oh Also, everybody got in every game, there was a wicker doll. Oh, yeah. Yes, that is one of the ties. Yeah. And it usually appears to somebody just before things are about to get really bad.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. I like that. i like I like that it's an anthology that has something that weaves it a little bit. One of my favorite anthologies is The the Cat's Eye. It's Stephen King story slash it went into a movie.
Speaker: And there's always, again, there's like a cat that weaves. The stories aren't related, much like these. But there's something that weaves them together. And so I think it actually is really smart that...
Speaker: All the crows are in this universe. And then the Wicker doll that seems to get passed along. Interestingly, in one of those games, the Wicker doll was meant to be good luck. So I don't know...
Speaker: I don't know if it's one of those things where the characters don't know that this Wicker doll might be like slightly evil. I'm not really sure. yeah Yeah. I don't know if we were supposed to believe that the Wicker doll was cursed or if by the last game we were supposed to just be like... like I don't know if it's supposed to be a signal to us, the player, as to what's about to happen in the story or...
Speaker: If it was just an inside joke by then. Yeah. But if it was an inside joke, it still coincidentally appeared to Noel right before everything fell apart. Right. And i think I think another interpretation is, what if it is protecting you? that's in That was in the last game. Sorry. i I forget when it appeared in this game. Sorry. Go ahead. It was in like a mailbox, I want to say. That was in the last game. In this game. we're at the wicker i know it's there, though.
Speaker: Oh, oh, it wasn't a mailbox. Somebody, no, it was in a box. Somebody left it outside of Matthew's house. Oh, okay. So it was a, yeah, yeah, yeah it was a, um it was right before everything fell apart again. Yeah, and I'm wondering, though, like, what if it is actually,
Speaker: helping And there was like, ah you know, worse consequences. Yeah, exactly. Like in in a safe place, could he could Philip have died? Yes. Yeah. ah Could that it in in among graves, could the baby have died? Yeah. So maybe. they're Right.
Speaker: Yeah. They do threaten a lot of that kind of thing. yeah in in both games um to to to increase tension. Yeah, I don't think there's anything to spoil with Among Graves either. I think because Among Graves is one of those games about inevitability. Yes. One of those, or sorry, one of those horror stories about inevitability. And you kind of know the ending almost. Yeah. Like in in the first act, you know how it's going to end. And you ah the horror comes in just spiraling towards it. um
Speaker: And knowing that there's nothing that anybody can do to change it. Yeah, it's like yeah. you know, there's a lot of gothic horror that is like that, where there's no, there's not a twist. There's not a surprise. it's not a twist. It's more, again, like we were saying, it's more of like Twilight Zone either had like morals or they had twists. And I think this one is more airing, maybe not moral, but at least acceptance, acceptance of of death and dying. And yeah, it reminded me of like a mid period
Speaker: ah Lovecraft story. Mm Where, yeah, there's there's sometimes in in those stories, they even tell you what's going to happen. yeah but How the story ends. And you know it, and it's just the horror of of walking through it. Isn't that an interesting thing? Algernon Blackwood did that a lot, too. Yeah, did that a lot, too. Like I said, it's kind of a gothic horror yeah um thing. And folk horror does it a lot, too. I think that is such an interesting way to tell a story because...
Speaker: how do you How do you grab people when they already know what's going to happen and keep them invested? And if you can do that, that's good storytelling, right? like It's confidence in your own writing, yeah right? yeah It is saying, hey, I have a good story to tell. I don't need to rely on surprise or or you know I don't need to rely on tricks. Or maybe they're even thinking that – Because, you know, for me, throughout playing this game, I hoped that it would change. i know it's it's insisting it's not. Like, this is inevitable, the fate that that Matthew is going to to meet. But, like, I think viewers still hang on to that hope a little bit. Whether they know the ending or not, you kind of, like, you want to be hopeful for a better ending.
Speaker: And then seeing kind of the horror, and though it it ends in a sort of uplifting way. It does. Yeah, it does. But seeing the horror of what does happen to Matthew, at least at first, um is part of it too. right You know a horror is coming. you know you know But you don't know what it looks like. yeah And when you see what it looks like, it can be really easy to fumble that ball at that. at that I tried to so do a yard line metaphor. Yeah, you Yeah.
Speaker: in the last episode and I fucking failed also. Whatever the final yard line is. Somebody just tell me. Somebody just message me and tell me what the last yard line is and I'll try to memorize it. Matt does not know anything about sports apparently. mean Well, hey, you haven't you haven't given me the information. I'm a basketball girl. I'm not a football girl. so ah So, yeah, fumbling the ball at the end, right before you hit the end zone. Base planting right at the finish line.
Speaker: It's really easy to do that, but this game didn't, right? The fate that was waiting, Matthew, was interesting.
Speaker: Fascinating. Just fascinating to look at. Yeah, it is. And then horrifying to think about. Yeah. So, yeah. I don't know. Yeah, these games fucking rule, man. Yeah, they're so good. They're so good.
Speaker: and the the way that they have evolved from the highway up to Among Graves is so impressive. Yes, I agree.
Speaker: It is a person just consistently working on their craft and getting better and better. And man, I just love that. I think i I went on about that in last episode, but I love seeing progress. Whether it's like gaming, the art of making a game, or like sculpture, pottery, I love seeing people get better at something they've really put their heart into.
Speaker: If you had to suggest where, and this is not for us to suggest, we are... but would you were...
Speaker: I guess, yeah, as critics, it's worth thinking about. so So maybe I'm framing it wrong. This is not a suggestion to Octave Navarro so much as what, what what if if this is a ah series that wants to continue to improve, what would you hope to see improved in the next game if there is one?
Speaker: That's a really good question because it depends as a player, do I want them to stay in the hour and a half long kind of vignette type of thing? I'm not sure. Because the temptation would be to say, make a movie length, make and some hour vignette.
Speaker: some odd hour game that maybe takes a little longer depending on how you play it i suppose um i don't know it it would be difficult to just kind of improve the overallness of it yeah um i don't know i'm not sure i'll say this one is more a visual novel than any of the rest even worse so than a safe place you think You get to click on stuff, but there's no puzzles to solve. There's no there's you don't do anything in this game besides click. Yes. Around. Yeah. um
Speaker: and And watch him say things. Yeah. um I mean, I think the last game was more restrictive, at least we can say that. True. Yeah. this This one has more of a world. But you don't get to explore that world. You only get to be in the world in each scene as it comes up in a linear way. And you don't get to like, there's there's just like a whole town and there's parts of the town you never go back to. And I'm like, oh, God, I wish I could walk past that city hall again. Yeah. um
Speaker: So. What i I would like to see in the next Midnight Scenes is a marrying of gameplay and narrative, right? Because there are definitely many games at this point and end point and click games that have done this, right? where that it I mean, the Drifter is a great example where the puzzles and then the, um well, some parts of the Drifters are a great example.
Speaker: yeah you um Rosewater is a really great example. Yeah. Where the gameplay... Perfect Tides. Another great... Okay, I'll stop. Perfect Tides is a good one. Station to Station. Perfect Tides Station to Station, not the first one. yeah yeah The first one I love the story of, but the gameplay is... Because, okay, there's a lot of point-and-click games where and any games with puzzles in it where the gameplay is a... um is like taking a break from the story, right? You have to pause the story, then go solve some puzzles yeah if you want to get more story. And that can be fun for dorks like us who like that that sort of thing. That's some Gabriel Knight shit where I'm like, I'm busy right now, like gathering my my inventory object puzzles. But it's not great storytelling. And I can see why you would want to get away from it. But yeah these other games we're talking about have done a great a great job of marrying...
Speaker: the gameplay with the story where by engaging in the point and click storytelling or point and click gameplay you feel like you are interacting with the story advancing the story engaging with the story and i think I would like to see if there's another midnight scenes I would like to see them work I would like to see that I would like to see gameplay that uh Okay, hold on. Let me let me step back and and reframe this sentence. Go ahead. i
Speaker: I understand why they are getting away from that pause to solve a puzzle sort of gameplay. I want to see that continue, right? Like I want to see them continue to focus on this is a these are this is a series about telling stories, not about solving puzzles. But I would like to see...
Speaker: Gameplay become part of telling story that story. Yeah. i totally I totally get what you're saying. And I think our because our audience loves these kind of games. I think they they know. They get it. Yeah. yeah good Yeah. Because I'm not saying go back. I guess the easier way to say it is I'm not saying go backwards. yeah I'm saying move forwards but think about about gameplay while you Or while they do. The other thing I think both of us feel this way.
Speaker: It's just that sound design's got to get better. It's got to get better. It's got to get better. Yeah. That includes music, right? A lot of these games just have the same... Not a bad song, but like the same song just kind of playing on repeat or or no or no music. and it like So I think hire a sound designer and a music. Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know. No, I but that i agree with that. and Maybe that's not something they want. but Maybe, but I think like also, again, it's it's kind of like it goes back to that progress thing because they um the first couple games are so short that you can do that. You can get away with maybe one spooky song or no or no no music to be even spookier. I think silence is very spooky. Right.
Speaker: But yeah, if your games are getting longer, yeah, you can afford to maybe do few You start getting annoyed at hearing those same that same song over and over again, right? Yeah, and yeah yes yeah yeah that's that's exactly it um yeah. And And the sound design, maybe that's personal preference on me and your part, but fuck.
Speaker: That got all being said, though, these games are fantastic for just indie indian adventure with one or just maybe a couple people working on it. it's so I'm so jealous of people who can...
Speaker: have these stories and then translate them into yeah like a pixelated game. I so badly, so badly want to do that. But my my talents don't really lend itself to game design. can sculpt. I can make pots.
Speaker: I can draw abstract stuff. This doesn't this isn't help me. None of this helps me. Octave, please help me. So i think I will try and go back and play like the supper.
Speaker: Well, I've played the supper, but the supper, new blood, unwelcome, the library and all the other Octavia Navarro white blanket games yeah um that are not in this series. I think, I think oh I will want to play those for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: Because these people are so good. he He and his team are so good at making games. that Yeah. i Yeah. I think they've they've developed a new fan for life, I think. Yeah, same.
Speaker: Same, for sure. And yeah, these other games look so cool. The librarian looks so cool. Isn't the supper free? It is free. It's still free. Yeah. That's why I played it. That's that's why I played it a while back.
Speaker: And then... How is this free? It looks so good. Yeah. It's very short, but yeah. Okay. So, folks, we got one more week of spooky month. Oh, no.
Speaker: We got some games to talk about next week that are spooky and fun. um Fun. Quote, unquote. I know. I always say that, too. And i feel I always feel the need. And I think, honestly, I blame, like, 2014 gaming people. Remember that whole thing where, like, games are meant to be fun? I'm like, I don't know if I believe that. So now every time I say fun, I'm like, I don't. yeah It's not really. Yeah. I got in an argument on Reddit not that long ago with who said that ah who somebody was complaining about Wolverine and he was like, games are toys. People have to remember that. And i was like, but what are you fucking talking about? Games are toys. Are movies toys? Right. it would said like
Speaker: I get what he's saying. like There's something to play with and and and occupy you. and i was like And I was like, this is such a reductive way to think about games. They're like... think about them more like like ways like pieces of art ways to tell a story and then i think because it's reddit instead of admitting he was wrong he doubled down in a weird way where he was like uh well you're assuming when i say toys i mean that it's not uh Oh, he's reinventing his definition. Well, that always works. You're assuming that I'm saying toys aren't art, but actually, and it's like, okay, no, that's not, you wouldn't have said, hey, people have to remember these are just Yeah, you wouldn't have said that. If you meant, if you meant, That toys are also a form of but impressive art that should be, every piece of them should be considered when anyway, fucking. I mean, so some games are toys. He's not wrong. Like those frog, leap frog games are tactically toys, right? Those are games and they're toys. why isn't that I even get it when you're, if you're even talking about like Tetris or something. Yeah, sure. Yeah, that's a toy-like experience. A Game Boy is a toy, probably. ah But like, anyway.
Speaker: Point is, we are talking about ah ah probably a couple games next week that are going to be spooky and actually kind of intense. yeah um So buckle up, folks.
Speaker: um I don't know if we can get more intense than a safe place. That was pretty rough. Spooky month's not quite over. But after spooky month, as you as everybody knows, November 2026 is going to be a huge month in gaming. Uh-huh.
Speaker: ah Are we going to tell them our our our brilliant idea or are we going to keep that close? Okay, button it up. Nope. I'll say this. we have a we have We have a stance on it.
Speaker: We have a stance. A very correct stance. very correct stance. And you are all going to follow ah follow you're going to follow us on this one. We're all invited? Trust me.
Speaker: you Trust us. Trust us. You're going to love this. So ah we got to we got to you know we got a a bunch of cool stuff lined up for the end of the year, um including in November, we will be Adventure X. That's true.
Speaker: November 6th? 7th. mean, I'll be there. I will be there on the 6th because if I'm not, that's terrible. um But our panel is, in fact, on the seventh We're doing a live Save Your Game on november on Saturday, November 7th at 5.30 when big Ben reads be there.
Speaker: that's what we will be there Yeah. What else do you want to tell people? Tell people ah if you want to follow us or talk to us. We are on Instagram, Save Your Game Podcast. We are on Discord. Link will be in the show notes. Please come join us and talk to us. We've got a hop in Discord full of amazing people that love the same things you do and that we like.
Speaker: It can't get any better. Exactly. Or maybe a can. or I could if there was pizza, but that's not show. You can always email us at mattandroses at gmail.com. I thought you were going to say you can always he email us pizza. You can always email us a pizza if you want. You can try. that thing that thing where you put a pizza on us on a ah copier.
Speaker: Scan a pizza. who It's a waste of a pizza. And that leaves one last thing for us to say. Yes. I would just like to say to all of you, podcast is art.
Speaker: And art is suffer.
