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Dragon's Dogma 2 isn't for everyone - Add To Party 03.28.24
29 Plays8 months ago
This week we go over the reviews of Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, Princess Peach Showtime, and South Park: Snow Dar
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Transcript
Podcasting Journey and Episode Number Confusion
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome to Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I'm your host, James Hartwell, and I'm joined by Andy K. And I'm joined by Derek Gostiha.
00:00:28
Speaker
Good evening, gentlemen. Good evening. I just learned this is episode 259. Not episode 259. It's like episode 108 or something like that. Yeah, for some reason our, I don't know, the podcast manager says it's 250 something. So, guys, we've got to spend a lot of time together. This is really special. How many weeks is 259?
00:00:58
Speaker
Well, we've been doing the podcast for two plus years. So Andy, to answer your question, 259 weeks is 259 weeks. How dare you? Listen, sometimes I don't think through my whole sentences. That's five years. That's right. We've been doing the... That's right. Because by that logic, we were doing the podcast longer than COVID. That's true. That's true.
00:01:27
Speaker
Oh, and that's really special. Something I'm thankful for.
Tamagotchi Nostalgia and Overpriced Collectibles
00:01:32
Speaker
Are you thankful for your Tamagotchi? Yeah, James discovered I had a Tamagotchi here. OK, 90s kids, listen to this.
00:01:44
Speaker
I don't know if you remember that, but that's the very annoying sound to do literally anything on a Gen 1 handheld Tamagotchi. I have been inspired, reflective, and throwing myself into nostalgia buying a Tamagotchi. They reissued it. I didn't like, I'm not that- I was gonna ask, I was like, did you just find your old one or something like that? No, no, no, no.
00:02:11
Speaker
No, I did find my old pocket Pikachu, but that thing sucks because it depends on the pedometer and the pedometer is trash. So I can't use my pocket Pikachu, but I bought a Tamagotchi. They're like 20 bucks and there's like a billion different variety. That feels like too much money for Tamagotchi. But oh my God, what happened? The pocket Pikachu, Tamagotchi and the Digimon Digivice all came back in the same year.
00:02:40
Speaker
Oh, sorry, the pocket Pikachu I found. That one I got when I was in grade school, and I found it when I was Marie Kondoing way back when. And I tried to resurrect it, I tried to use it, I made a commitment to my health and fitness, and the pedometer didn't work, so I stopped and gained weight. So it's Pikachu's fault that I gained weight. Explain what a Tamagotchi is for someone who's born after 1990.
00:03:07
Speaker
OK, well, you see you have this digital device. It has multiple digital timers where that one they run out. It is supposed to be a trigger for it to change behavior. Like if it hasn't been fed in a while, it'll act hungry. If you don't walk it, you know, you're standing still for too long. It'll get angry. It's really stupid when you describe it, but it was a cultural revolution.
00:03:36
Speaker
It was and mine's not even smart enough to have a pedometer in it. Um, or at least any type of thing. Yeah. To realize that I'm standing still. But when I had it, when it first came out, I was like fourth grade, everyone had it. Um, they were impossible to find and they banned it at my school because again, it sounds like this over and over. Imagine a whole classroom of children just
00:04:02
Speaker
trying to clean the poop, feed it and play with it. It was a nice got triggered. Somebody just got triggered. Yes, he just got triggered. Well, when I first started. Oh, go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, I found out why the digivice came back. Why is that made by Tomagachi? Oh, the Digimon.
Digimon and Cultural Reflections on Tamagotchis
00:04:19
Speaker
Yeah. So the Digimon digivice was the Tomodachi, but you could fight your buddies Digimon and see who's the best Digimon trainer or whatever the hell the term is.
00:04:32
Speaker
Listen, much more interactive and useful than a Tamagotchi. This thing does barely anything. But it was a marvel for twenty twenty five years ago. I have the same 20 pixel LCD screen. Yep. Yep. That I have to like tilt to get like enough contrast to read it. It's it's nostalgic. It's annoying. But God bless its heart because it goes to bed around eight thirty.
00:05:02
Speaker
So he's going to be going to bed pretty soon. But I've been raising him. There's a mechanic of discipline in the instruction manual that under certain conditions, basically, if he's being a brat, you discipline him. If I don't discipline him, it says he'll grow up to be ugly. So, guys, there's your life lesson. If you don't obey, if you don't submit, you're going to be ugly.
00:05:33
Speaker
So I don't see a beta formist conformist Japan teaching the real lessons. Exactly, exactly. Also, the lore of a Tamagotchi is that they're aliens who have been in eggs for millions of years and then they woke up on Earth and then we take care of them. And if we do a bad job, they go back to their home. Let's be real. The lore is put out commercials before Christmas in case they're just begging their parents to buy them.
00:06:01
Speaker
I was going to say, isn't the lore of Scientology? Oh, it might be. Oh, my God. Yeah, they really got to young people then. And I think you're right. But that's actually why Atama gacha is egg shaped, because the alien has been in there for a million years and then you got to take care of them.
00:06:22
Speaker
By the way, Andy, I do remember my Tamagotchi memory now. Yeah. I had to unlock it. I was playing it at my great uncle's funeral. Oh, oh my God, that beeping at a funeral? I mean, it actually wasn't a funeral. It was the wake, but yeah. Sure.
00:06:40
Speaker
I mean, I was probably under 10, so. Yeah, they, yeah, probably, you know, and maybe by then everybody was so desensitized. I wonder if there was a satanic panic around Tamagotchis. No. They're aliens from a different world, millions of years, demons, demons they are.
00:07:03
Speaker
That's what I'm hearing. And I can tell you what, don't spend 20 bucks on it because all I can think about is I'm gonna be bored with it in a couple more days and then it's in a landfill. And I feel really bad for owning this. Ooh, speaking of landfills.
Mechanical Keyboards: A Newfound Interest
00:07:21
Speaker
Let me tell you about my newest deep dive. And I'm curious if you have been struck by this bug. So in my YouTube journey of trying to stop using it, but just complaining about it, I have fallen down another hole of keyboards, like computer keyboards. Did you know there's a whole hobby around keyboards? Yes.
00:07:51
Speaker
In fact, I've got my VTuber keycaps sitting above my head waiting to be used. Well, let's well, hold on. Let's in what way? Because we've talked about the mechanical keyboard religion times before. Is this is this a step further? So this isn't like they don't do it like they used to. 80s IBM keyboard try hards. This is.
00:08:18
Speaker
uh like buying oh my god there's so many parts to a keyboard you guys there's like a base and then there's uh the switches and then there's the keycaps and you're supposed to like lube your switches didn't know about that
00:08:35
Speaker
And then you're supposed, there's like, uh, there's like break hacking or was it force breaking your keyboard for like adding like insulation. Um, and then like back taping them. And then there's all different kinds. There's all different kinds of switching. Have you ever heard of the word thok? Yeah.
00:08:54
Speaker
Yes, but I can't remember what it means. So it's almost hard to describe, and I don't know if it's exclusive to the keyboard world, but essentially there's three types of switches, linear, tactile and something else. I forget what it is, but all of them make different kinds of noises, right? And talking is not like a like a sharp click or has resistive feedback, but instead it's like a
00:09:24
Speaker
It's almost like you're hitting the switch and it's hitting like a pillow or something, but there's like a, there's like a dead resonance to it. Uh, and I meet it like in a positive way. It's like a very satisfying, like low thump to each key. And I wonder if that's what thunk is thumping or something. I don't know, but I don't have a thucky keyboard. Yeah.
00:09:48
Speaker
But Andy, uh, the third one you're thinking of is clicky. Clicky. Okay. Which, which is my preference before though, Derek. So keyboard sound it's broken up into volume, pitch and depth. Ooh. Okay. So I think thok is supposed to be for like low depth sounds. Okay. Makes sense.
00:10:18
Speaker
I think I might be a thocker, but my keyboard, Derek, I think is like yours. It's a clicky. I just went to Best Buy and I bought, I was like, I just want a logic tech keyboard. And I thought I was getting a nice one. Turns out it's absolute trash compared to in the keyboard world, throw it away garbage. And I thought I had a really nice keyboard, but now as I'm typing on it, I'm just like, this isn't, what's that? What brand is it?
00:10:47
Speaker
It's just the Logitech Pro 10 keyless. Oh, I mean a Logitech. So yes, trash. No, I really like it. I thought I had a really nice keyboard. It was like 80 bucks. Logitech's a really good entry level. Yeah. Well, in the keyboard world, $80 is like, like dust in the wind. It's nothing. It's nothing. It is this huge, scary hobby. I think I spent.
00:11:13
Speaker
Like 130 on my keyboard. Okay. So that's still around. I mean, it's a lot of money, but that's like entry level.
00:11:21
Speaker
But again, your keyboard's trash. We're doing it wrong. No, I have a good keyboard. Although I had to, I have steel series. Um, but the, I remember when I got this keyboard, I actually, I got the, uh, I got the cherry red switches, Andy, which in your research, did you, did you learn about red switches?
00:11:44
Speaker
I've heard the name Cherry Red. I don't actually know what it means. So if you get a gaming laptop, it's almost 100% going to be Cherry Reds. Oh. I hate Cherry Red. So it has to do with the amount of distance that you have to press the key to register. OK. So basically, it takes so little energy.
00:12:06
Speaker
to like press the key so that it registers. So like when you're gaming, you're now losing those precious milliseconds from the time. But what I learned was that my when I leave my fingers on the keyboard, that even just that little bit of heft of my finger on on the key was enough to push down on it and trigger it when I didn't want to. Oh, really? Oh, like, you know, if you're holding Wasad, as it were,
00:12:35
Speaker
like my finger on A even though I wasn't pressing it, just the weight of my finger being there was enough to occasionally press that way and make me move or something like that. And you wouldn't know other than your character moving or the A being typed on something. Yeah. There's no click telling you that it registered.
00:12:54
Speaker
Yep, I did. I went down to Browns, I think, but I found to be what I liked. So if you like Browns a lot, look into a Topra. I'm mispronouncing it easily. Topra switches. They're Browns, but very thocky. Oh, but I don't I don't need the fockiness, though. Yes, I know. I enjoy people don't necessarily have to hear me typing.
00:13:23
Speaker
Oh, everybody hears me type. It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. Although then they think I'm taking notes. So I mean, it's probably not that bad. Like, I don't think we've ever complained about you typing during this. If I type without me to myself, it's y'all hear it. I'm not usually typing during this, but here, here, one second. This is all here. We hear it.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah, we hear. Yeah, isn't that terrible? No. Aren't you embarrassed for me? Imagine if it was a thok. I don't think maybe Andy didn't hear that because he was talking. Oh, I hear that. Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it? No, it's not. All right, let's see. Can you hear mine? No, nope. That might just be because the noise gate on my mic is correctly set up. Oh, are you saying mine isn't?
00:14:18
Speaker
I've got a little screen on it. I have a little screen on mine, too. I am the same screen that's probably on your Tamagotchi. Oh, gee, probably all that poor guy. So, hey, Derek, you're deep in this hobby, then. No. Yeah. No, I never owned more than two keyboards. I so. And that's what you mean. I never like at the same time. Yeah. Why do you have two keyboards at the same time?
00:14:48
Speaker
if I want to have a better experience for something. Wait, why do you sacrifice your experience? Why don't you have one keyboard? Because if I'm actually typing and not gaming, I'd want an ergonomic keyboard. Oh, do you have the one that's like split down the middle? No. But yeah, cheap, cheapo Logitech right now that
00:15:13
Speaker
I'm wishing to die because I got my vtuber keycaps and it would look disgusting on this keyboard. What vtuber, Derek? Various. Are they the kind of keycaps that don't even have the fucking letters on them so you don't know what you're typing? I'll send a picture right now.
00:15:36
Speaker
You can also just answer my question. No. Because no one on the podcast is going to see the picture. We're going to describe it to them. It's a combination.
00:15:48
Speaker
Uh, that's, that's my favorite. People get key. They get new keyboards and they get key caps that don't have the letters and numbers on them. And then they realize they don't know their keyboard well enough to type. So it has all the numbers, all the letters. It has symbols for each of the VTubers for control windows slash command, uh, all shift caps lock tab, uh,
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah. And then otherwise, oh, and escape. Everything else is perfectly laid out like a normal keyboard and reasonable, useful and functional. Well, I need new keycaps to them. Oh, this looks nice. Listeners at home. Oh, it's not even like waifu pictures on here. No, no, it's just like.
00:16:42
Speaker
The VTubers tend to have some kayfabe, which is like some made up bullshit lore. And they drop it after the first month. But it's nice to have something to just you can have a symbol that represents them and slap that on a keyboard. Yeah, Derek, is that kind of kind of what is that? That is, I think, kind of aside from the normal Roman. Yeah. Oh.
00:17:12
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah, it's a little blurry, but that's Katakana. Yeah, so listeners at home, it's a very pleasant layout. There's accented colors of a light blue and it looks like a light purple and then just symbols of the VTubers. I think this is beautiful, Derek. Do you know Katakana? I know some of it, like I.
00:17:38
Speaker
I'm very verbal. I tried one summer to learning it and I just didn't stick to it. God bless. God bless. Well, he's ahead of all of us in our customization game. I'm trash.
00:17:56
Speaker
And the whole reason I brought it up in terms of things landing up in a landfill, all I can see in the keyboard hobbyist community is you just get new stuff and throw away stuff.
The Allure of Keyboard Customization and Collection
00:18:05
Speaker
It just seems so... I mean, that's most consumer electronic copies. So I might have to disagree. There's a big push of people getting pegboards and other things and creating keyboard walls. And some people who have a different keyboard for the day of the week, they collect them.
00:18:24
Speaker
Oh, like you have too much money. Yes. Yeah. There's something called debt. OK. Oh, you don't have to tell me about that. Well, I don't want to collect keyboards. They don't bring me joy. But the fact that I can't get a thocky one and then I found out mine don't have replaceable switches. And now I'm just sitting here thinking I'm doing everything wrong and I need to get that thought out of my head.
00:18:52
Speaker
because I don't want to go down this rabbit hole. It is wasteful, it is expensive, it is stupid, but I want a thocky keyboard. And then what do you do with your old keyboard? Ugh.
00:19:04
Speaker
Throw it in the trash. No, I really don't want to put anything. It's breaking my heart that this Tamagotchi is going to end up in the trash. Break it with a hammer. That'll be satisfying. That might be. I just like I don't want to display it. I don't but I don't like I don't know. I don't know you guys. It's good. Do you want just you want to buy a keyboard because you want to feel like you have a premium product?
00:19:26
Speaker
You can still keep your current one as a backup for what if you spill a drink on it and then you would be completely out of a keyboard and tell someone to do one again. I've spilled so many drinks on this keyboard, it's trucking along. I've never spilled a drink on a keyboard. Well, that's OK. La di da, Mr. Better Than Me. I didn't mean it like that. Yeah, no, sure you didn't.
00:19:52
Speaker
But Andy, if you keep it down to two only, that's not wasteful. That's being like forward thinking. But then you got to store the other one somewhere. Where am I gonna put it? I guess I do actually have a, I do have another keyboard. I have a wireless keyboard somewhere in this house that I use for my NAS box, but that's, I don't consider that a second keyboard. But Andy, do you have a budget that you want, that you have for keyboard?
00:20:19
Speaker
I literally, I don't even know, I don't know how to approach it and I don't want to spend the money. I'm just scared. If you prevent yourself from buying 10 Tamagotchis, that's a high quality keyboard right there.
00:20:35
Speaker
I'm not buying more Tamagotchis. I promise you that. Well, that's exactly so because that way you can save that money for a keyboard. Oh, I just bought a new keyboard then because I didn't buy 10 more Tamagotchis. Exactly. James, you just solved this whole problem.
00:20:50
Speaker
Well, maybe I can update you guys on my keyboard journey or I just find a way to delete YouTube for my phone. Well, we'll figure that out. So, Andy, would you be open to a tenkey list? If so, I'll recommend you something after. Oh, really? I love I love I. All right. I was going to transition, but now I have to have a fight with you. I love the tenkey. The fuck is wrong with YouTube? What's wrong with you? What how much data entry are you doing?
00:21:20
Speaker
There was a time, um, pre like when browsers and shit would remember your, um, credit card number where I could pound out my credit card number on that 10 key. Nobody's business. Okay. So I have the full keyboard at work and to separate work from home as much as possible. 10 key list just makes sense. Sure.
00:21:49
Speaker
That's true. I agree like maybe for work. If I pay $130 for a keyboard, I better get every goddamn key that's coming my way. Takes up so much room and then like, because I move my keyboard around, right? Plus it's just a nice little macro area where that needed to be sometimes. Oh, I guess I'm not a hardcore gamer. So maybe that's why.
00:22:17
Speaker
I don't need macros, but I hear you, I understand, still don't want it. Too big, it's too big. I've never had anything but yours is too small. Once I moved to a 10 keyless, I was thrilled. You can move it, you can move it. It's a miracle. No, I just have a really big desk. That's fair, that's fair.
00:22:47
Speaker
I don't know, but once you go 10 keyless, you can't go giant piece of wood. That's bowing more and more, but it's all the, it's all the third leg in the middle. Cause I'm like, well, I shouldn't bend that much. It's just under the weight of your, uh, three monitors also probably doesn't help. You know what? That's not going to help at all. Yeah.
00:23:13
Speaker
We're just too good of gamers. Speaking of niche hobbies. Yeah, let's get into it.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Mechanics and Microtransactions
00:23:20
Speaker
Let's talk about Dragon's Dogma 2. Okay. Dragon's Dogma 2 came out last week.
00:23:30
Speaker
Interesting news, but we'll, we'll cover more of that as we go. But currently an open critic sitting in an 88 with 95% of critics recommending it until they re-review it. IGN's Jarrett Green given a 10 more of a redo than a sequel. Dragon's Dogma 2 is a strange, wonderful action RPG that bolsters the original strength without addressing any weaknesses.
00:23:55
Speaker
Lewis Parker at Eurogamer gave it a five out of five, a huge improvement of the original and a captivating journey from beginning to end. And, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh
00:24:22
Speaker
So here's a question. Did either of you play the original Dragon's Dog? Either the original or you did or did not. I did. You did. Okay. Did you play Dark Arisen or did you play the original original? The original. Okay. And this was a situation of I won't get into a friend's house and played it a few nights. Okay. And that was it. Yeah. Okay. So Dragon's Dog. It's, uh, published by Capcom. I don't know actually the studio's name that makes it.
00:24:51
Speaker
I think it's a Capcom game. I thought it was an internal. Yeah, it's an internal Capcom studio game director's name is I believe he's a devil may cry guy. I can't remember his name. But this is this is some hard ass fantasy RPG Skyrim ass bullshit they got going here. And, you know, it kind of captured everyone. The original one kind of captured parts. I would say the big mechanic that is in this game
00:25:17
Speaker
is the ability to climb on basically every monster. Like there's a lot of large monsters and you can just leap up and climb all over them. Kind of Shadow of the Colossus style, but on a smaller scale, right? Think of like an ogre that's maybe three times as big as you as opposed to like 50 times as big as you.
00:25:37
Speaker
So you can kind of just jump on and climb them and stab them in the legs and the eyes and all that bullshit. And it's, it's fun. Like that's a fun part of it. Um, but it's also just been, it's a very weird game in a, in that kind of always Japanese sense of the director has a lot of things about it where he's like, this is the game I want to make. And this is the way I want you to play. Um, and I think a lot of people.
00:26:01
Speaker
I'm
00:26:20
Speaker
It's weird because there's discussion of there's a lack of a fast travel system. There's not. There's two levels of fast travel in this game. One are these ox carts that will take you between semi major towns.
00:26:34
Speaker
It's not as clean as just being a one location where you can pick where you go. You have to go to the card on the right side of town. That'll take you to the location that you want to go. And if you're at like one location and it has one ox card to only take you to one other location. But hey, it's something. There's the ability to create these port crystals and use fairy stones, which are
00:27:00
Speaker
Suitable resources to just teleport straight there. So you have the ability to drop a port crystal anywhere. Some towns have them just installed. But you can just drop one anywhere and then create a fast travel point there. But those those are fairly rare in game. They are very rare. Yes, I think.
00:27:21
Speaker
I think you max out at five over the course of the story. I can't remember the exact number. I just got my first one in my play. I've, I've been playing the game. I want to say about 10 hours in. Um,
00:27:35
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, past that, it's it's, you know, a sword and board magic fantasy RPG. You're running around. You're doing fantasy RPG bullshit. There's an it's a fantasy RPG story where, you know, you are the chosen one. And there's a there's a great and there's a, you know, a conspiracy slash destiny that you have to fulfill.
00:27:59
Speaker
Just I don't know. It's such a weird game. I play it and I get frustrated with it. But then I always come back and be like, yeah, I want to play a little more. OK. All right. So it's it's it's like it's it's kind of like whiskey. You don't like drinking whiskey, but you enjoy it enough where you're like, but I could drink some more, you know. Yeah. And then it becomes an acquired taste. Exactly. So I don't know. I I've been having a good time with it.
00:28:30
Speaker
Um, I don't know if I'm going to finish it or not, interestingly, but we'll have to see. But so, you know, a lot of good reviews, a lot of good positivity. They released their character creator ahead of the release too. And that got a lot of good feedback too, because it's a fairly deep character creator. Like you can go pretty buck wild in there in terms of being able to like manipulate the character system and create like pretty like.
00:28:57
Speaker
Um, any actually, you might, I created Majima from, uh, uh, from Yakuza. Oh, cool. I follow the guide, but I did. I mean, it looks like him, like even to the point of having tattoos that look pretty close to like the tattoos he has. Oh, wow. Yeah. So.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, the character creator is pretty deep. But what happened was after release, and this has been on a trait Capcom has been doing lately, is they gave everybody the game for the review. They went through with the review, gave a great reviews. Then when they released the game, they show you the microtransactions.
00:29:41
Speaker
Yes, it's like now it's like, ah, stop doing that. So I'm mixed on this one because it is all stuff you can get in game. It is like what you brought up with the port crystals and you just got your first one. You can buy as many as you want for three dollars a pop. Oh, I have to double check that I thought you could buy one. Are you sure about that, Derek? So there's some where you can only buy like one, two or three.
00:30:11
Speaker
Uh, I'm on the steam page right now and it does not say it's limited. Okay. That is, that is sucky. I thought it was that you could just buy one, which doesn't make it better. Um, but yeah, so they released several microtransactions. Um.
00:30:33
Speaker
One of which is you can buy crystals to, you can buy these items that help you change your character's appearance for $2.99. You can buy that port crystal that we were just talking about for $2.99. Paying for fast travel and the director came out and be like, I don't believe in fast travel in my video games, which is, it's like, you know, don't say those kinds of things when you're going to charge people for fast travel. I've got the answer.
00:30:58
Speaker
You can buy unlimited orc location markers with port crystals. You can buy five wake stones. Wake stones are revival mechanics. So if you die or if you kill an NPC, you can use a wake stone to revive them. And then you can buy three 500 rift crystals three times, 1500 rift crystals four times and 2500 rift crystals once.
00:31:27
Speaker
Rift crystals are so there's a mechanic in the game called pawns So basically you have a sidekick who follows you around you have a main one that you create and then you can Hire two extra ones from basically the pool of everyone else playing the game so you can hire everyone's sidekick
00:31:46
Speaker
Is this everyone psychic exists in an online pool that you can hire. And if they are a higher level than you are, they cost riff crystals. So if I'm level 18 and on, I want to hire is level 19, it'll cost me 63 riff crystals, something like that. If they're like 10 levels higher, they might cost like a thousand riff crystals.
00:32:10
Speaker
And it's sort of like a gacha mechanic because they're going to have different inclinations, which is going to affect how useful they are for what you want. But again, if you got a bad inclination, two dollars a pop, as many times as you want, you can change them. Now, James, yes. How do you feel about these microtransactions? Because I thought you were in favor.
00:32:38
Speaker
of the microtransactions for the busy young professional. I don't love these. Um, I don't love them because I feel as though, and it's kind of when I say like, they talked a big game ahead of the game's release about like, we're, you're going to play the game. I want you to play it, you know, and then to come out and be like,
00:33:06
Speaker
Hey, but also if you give me money, you can play it the way you want to play it. I said I was mixed because there are some positives. I don't like how they have all this DLC for a $70 $80 game. No, $70, $70 game. Yeah. But.
00:33:25
Speaker
I like how it's only stuff in game that you can get in game. Yeah, there is nothing you can get via my co-transactions that you cannot normally acquire in game. Otherwise, although poor crystals, I think are limited in terms of the amount the game naturally gives you. Yes. But it's not like monster hunter where they got the flies drippiest drip that I've won. And then I'm, I have to buy it because I cannot make it in game. Like.
00:33:55
Speaker
I could not get the cat ears in game. I couldn't get the kimono in game. And then I had to spend money on those. Like, as long, like, this is fine. They can go to their investors or their board and say, we did everything in our power to maximize profits without compromising the integrity of the game. Like, yes, sir, you can pay to win. Fine. That's this honestly is the
00:34:20
Speaker
So there's three big controversies of Dragon's Agma from launch. And I think the DLC is the lowest weakest one. Oh, it's I think I think it's something that I would just this is a preference. And I think in games journalism and I don't think it's ever going to get resolved because games journalists don't have the pull for it. But yeah, we lost the micro transaction more long ago. Yeah. Well, it's just I feel like if you're going to give people review codes, you'll still be like, here's also our micro transaction strategy.
00:34:51
Speaker
No, like like that. It's it's disingenuous to a certain extent because you're not giving a full picture. Honestly, the even more scummy way to do it is release microtransactions a month after your game comes out. Sure. No way. Nothing. Nothing's going to happen. No one's going to be able to know. But I don't know. At that point, too, it's it's like, well, are those microtransactions that important than if you release them a month after? I don't know.
00:35:20
Speaker
I don't feel great about this one. Nothing in it strikes me as being egregious, but I just don't like how they necessarily went about it. The other thing, as Derek went on to, is, man, this game runs like dog shit. Oh, sure. This game is... Oh, boy, it's bad. Are we talking... Okay, so Andy... Is it a punk band? No, Andy, we're dealing with 40-90s having very poor performance.
00:35:44
Speaker
Is that the fancy new one? That's the newest new best of the best. And they have problems? Yes. And it's because this is a CPU limited game, which is the problem. So it's not supposed to be. Capcom four days ago came out and said that there's something wrong with how the CPU is being utilized. So.
00:36:10
Speaker
There's multiple guides online of saying how to get the best settings. Involves killing all your NPCs. I've talked about the settings. That's something else that apparently like keeps track of a bunch of NPCs at all times. And if you kill them, they no longer have to be tracked. So if you go for a genocide run, you're going to get the best performance.
00:36:34
Speaker
There's actually there's actually just another another way to really just make this game is another example of how this game is weird and does not play how or it plays how it wants to play. There is a plague mechanic in this game. And if you're not careful with it, it can rip roar through your cities and kill every NPC, including vendors and quest important NPCs. Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:37:04
Speaker
And the game's just like, we fucking told you. I'll fucking, what do you want me to do? We told you there's a plague and you didn't listen. Hold on. Let me tell you why that's really a bad thing. Instead of just a funny, a ha ha moment is that soft locks the game unless you like grind wake stones. Hard locks the game at launch. Oh, you can, you can get wake stones. No, but they fixed it, but you had to delete your,
00:37:33
Speaker
Save file before you can make an oh, yeah, that's the that's the other so in another weird-ass decision with this game and you know how like When you're playing a game and you're like, oh, you know what? I want to restart fresh or something like that Let me just go hit start new game and just start from the beginning. This game doesn't have Really once you start a game, that's it. Your only options on the main menu are load. I
00:38:02
Speaker
There's no there's no restart. You have to go, especially if you've got this on Steam, like on console, it's actually a little easier to get a new game running. But on Steam, you have to do this whole bullshit. You have to turn off. You have to go in offline mode, turn off cloud saves, go into like the local file system and delete some shit. It's it's so it's so stupid. What? They fixed it, Andy. This was not well, it may have been intentional, but I've heard they fixed it.
00:38:32
Speaker
I so I mean, if you if again, this is one of those played how we want you to play like this, like in his developer, I can entirely see the director being like, this prevents games coming, play the game and live with your consequences. Sure. This is very much sounding like a person's like, like you just described, like, this is my vision. You're going to listen to me. And you know what? When Kojima does it, it's brilliant. But when.
00:39:02
Speaker
here's the thing i wouldn't necessarily say this isn't brilliant in its own way like sure kajima games are for certain kinds of people dragon's dog mcgames are for certain types of people okay um i i'm not like as much as this game is weird and clunky in some places i still have fun with it and i'm gonna keep playing it but i don't know i don't know
00:39:28
Speaker
you know, where that journey is going to end with me. But I do feel like this is a game that is good, right? It's just not for everyone. And that's OK. Games don't have to be for everyone. There you go. Yeah, it just has to find its audience. But when you're a triple A studio, can you really make games like that?
00:39:48
Speaker
Oh, apparently, yes, yes, you can. I mean, it's getting reviewed well and Capcom usually knows like, again, it sounds like they haven't lost their good streak then, right? This is certainly the lowest. This is certainly the lowest drop. Like there's people who are like, this is a game in your container. I'm like, I don't know about that. I mean, at the moment, it's a top 10. OK.
00:40:18
Speaker
Still pretty good. Still pretty good. You know, if someone said me this is the 10th best game of the year, I'd believe them. I mean, but hey, a lot of games come out in a year. Yeah, honestly, like let's hope less this year, please. Last year was very difficult, just too many games. Oh, we're about to talk about three other games. I know. Derek, is there any other things about Dragon's Dogma you wanted to bring up? I have not played it, so I would only be
00:40:48
Speaker
Well, okay. Let me put out one of the gaming leaks that, uh, there's been a unconfirmed leak of the DLC. Oh, uh, potential title is dragon's dogma to the dragon princess. Oh, that's considerably bigger than dark risen. It's not going to affect the base. Dark, dark arisen was the kind of the game of the year update edition of the original dragon stock.
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah, the new areas are a swamp and tundra in a country called Galicia. Based on European northern countries, it's going to include a lot of new monsters and the story elements are only available once you beat the campaign. Hmm. But. Yeah, it's it's and it was apparently being developed side by side with the base game towards the end of production.
00:41:48
Speaker
Oh, interesting. I hadn't heard that. They got a lot of confidence. Well, let's talk about one divisive game and go to another one.
Rise of the Ronin: Open World and Graphics Analysis
00:42:01
Speaker
That's the PlayStation 5 exclusive Rise of the Ronin. I remember this one looking beautiful.
00:42:11
Speaker
Uh-oh, currently sitting at a 76 on open critic with only 63% of critics recommending it. Oh, what? What was I re- I thought this was sub- No, you're thinking about the right one. Yeah. Oh.
00:42:24
Speaker
Will Borger at IGN gave it a 7 out of 10, Rise of the Ronin marries a cool setting, Team Ninja's mastery of tough but fair combat, and smart RPG design even when the map clutter and junk loot gets in its way. GameSpot's Phil Hornshaw gave it a 7 out of 10, though it has a somewhat steep combat learning curve and some dated open world ideas, Rise of the Ronin does a great job rewarding your time and its world.
00:42:50
Speaker
And then David Rodriguez at hobby console us. I always like picking. This is, it was, this is a Spanish review. Yeah. Translated to English. If you're not careful with a sharp Katana, you risk cutting yourself. Luckily rise of the Ronin achieves itself with a sublime combat and a very attractive story for lovers of most of the most samurai in Japan. There's significant shortcomings. Team Ninja makes, makes a much more precise cut than imagine with this ambitious game.
00:43:21
Speaker
They ran with that metaphor. I know. But most of the criticism boils down to the open world being fairly devoid of love or points of interest. So you've got Team Ninja's amazing combat and like unique encounters, but then. It's just a dead world. Yeah.
00:43:50
Speaker
Open world to be open world because there are other ones if I'm like neo and stuff was not open world They were all mission-based um They're open levels. I think is maybe the way to think about it. So neo is closer to say a Demon souls if you want to think about it that way
00:44:14
Speaker
or Dark Souls. Wukong was more traditionally a Dark Souls game, which is also Team Ninja. Although I think actually be closer to Sekiro, I think Wukong is. And then you have Rise of the Ronin, which is actually somewhat if you took Neo and smashed it together with Assassin's Creed. Especially the more newer Assassin's Creed.
00:44:41
Speaker
Um, because like stealth combat is a thing in this game where, you know, if you want, you can really approach, like you can, I've heard people say like, you turn the difficulty down to like, you know, not even like, you know, the one below normal, like stealth becomes just a superpower in this game where you were just running around stabbing fools, like nothing brought up the difficulty though. I'm, I'm plagued with memory of me playing Ninja Gaiden one.
00:45:11
Speaker
as a child. I Derek, I broke it. I broke an Xbox dupe controller playing Ninja Gaiden. So I was playing on easy and I died so much. They're like, do you want to lower the difficulty to like dog? I can't remember that I was like ninja dog or something, but it was just like, yeah, we can make it a little bit easier for you. And then I was just like, I need to get good.
00:45:41
Speaker
And Team Ninja made Ninja Gaiden. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's kind of when that made Team Ninja, right? Well, they, they, uh, dead or alive is, is kind of put them on the map and then Ninja Gaiden. Yeah. And then Ninja Gaiden was like their step out of fighting games into action games. That game taught me that I hate boss rush.
00:46:05
Speaker
Like that is that is the worst thing. I remember at the very end of it, just fighting all the bosses on the road. And I was like, this is cheap. This is not fun. And this is lazy. And ever that like, oh, that triggers me. Oh, oh, I hate it. Oh, but anyways, that game. Yeah, all of us. Yeah, I feel like what a lot of the criticism I've heard about this game is just that, you know, the open world's kind of boring. Like it's you're not.
00:46:35
Speaker
I guess it's that idea of respecting your time. Dragon's Dogma both respects and doesn't give a shit about your time. It's like it creates a world where you are always doing what it wants you to do, whether or not you think that's worth your time is up to you. Rise of the Ronin has created a world where it's just like, I don't know, do whatever the fuck you want, man. I think people are not overly critical because
00:47:01
Speaker
The criticism is completely valid, but the world's doesn't look any worse than an Assassin's Creed release. Although I don't know. This isn't Team Ninja has always been, which is weird considering dead alive and Ninja Gaiden, but.
00:47:17
Speaker
lately between Neo and Wukong like their games haven't looked the best lately and Rise of the Ronin isn't necessarily any better on that like this has you know early ps4 gen graphics and you know there's a discussion to be have of like well you know every game doesn't have to be a graphical powerhouse but
00:47:38
Speaker
It's I don't know. It just feels weird. It feels weird for a game to have kind of dated graphics now. I mean, that might be something that we just have to reset our expectations for. Sure. As we move forward and trying to get like games budgets under control. Very good point. Yeah. But it's it's just, you know, for where we are right now. I mean, the closest analogues to this game, why we said Assassin's Creed, which, you know, say what you want about it. They're pretty games. Yeah.
00:48:08
Speaker
And Ghost of Tsushima, which is beautiful fucking. Yeah. And then, you know, Neo, right? But that's also a Team Ninja game. So I'm not upset with the graphics because I've heard not one complaint about performance of stuttering frame. That's true. That's true. Those would be rage inducing in this kind of game. Yeah. So Team Ninja, there's obviously people in the industry who are
00:48:38
Speaker
optimizing beautiful games to not having those issues. And they could do the same. But that would that would cost a lot of resources and development. And like the game plays fun enough on its own. I think if they just dropped the open world aspect, they probably could have optimized the performance and graphics instead of having a lot of fluff. Mm hmm. Yeah. I don't know. I think it. I just don't understand. I just.
00:49:08
Speaker
It's sad that it ended up just hurting this game. I've seen a lot of praise for the combat. I mean, Neo2 had a lot of praise. Wukong had a lot of praise for this combat. I've heard this carries over in Rise of the Ronin, where it's like, if you want to engage with the combat system, it is deep and it is challenging and it is fun, which makes me kind of want to play Rise of the Ronin, but I'm also like, I don't want to pay $70 for Rise of the Ronin.
00:49:35
Speaker
You know, it's like that game will probably go on sale in a couple months because you know, and then well, that's please five exclusive. So who knows but
00:49:46
Speaker
Yeah, I it's it's certainly in a game where it's like, hey, wait, wait a little while and maybe you'll get something about it. I mean, that's that's been me and all the neo games. I think I only played the first neo game on release. I played neo to much later. I still haven't played Wukong, which I should. It's on game past the best deal in gaming. Shut up. So I don't know. I it's one of those things where too many games and not necessarily if it's not
00:50:16
Speaker
the best experience. I'm not necessarily in a rush to play it. Yeah. Yeah. Too bad. Speaking of not the best games, and it's just, we're just getting lower as we go, unfortunately.
Princess Peach Showtime: A Game for Younger Gamers
00:50:32
Speaker
Also last week, we saw the release of Princess Peach Showtime. Yeah.
00:50:39
Speaker
made currently sitting at a 76 on open critic with only 59% of critics recommending it. Ashley Barden, the Eurogamer, gave it a four out of five. Nintendo's second ever Peach game finally realizes the characters destined for smart level design and center stage. Logan planted IGN, gave it a seven out of 10. Princess Preach Showtime is a simple cheery romp with a variety of meat styles and a fun feeder inspired setting.
00:51:08
Speaker
And then Steve Watts at GameSpot gave it a 7 out of 10. Princess Peach Showtime is a breezy exploration of genres aimed at novice gamers. So interesting. Let me just start off with the joke. Go for it. Nintendo's gone woke.
00:51:26
Speaker
No. Why? I haven't heard this. I haven't heard this joke. What you spowned. Well, no, every time Nintendo like the same kind of fake outrage or whatever came out with the movie was like, oh my God, it's gone woke. And it's just like, just shut up and sit down and don't use that word anymore. Yeah. Can we just stop using that word? So this game is in the movie.
00:51:54
Speaker
are highlighting Peach's ability to... Oh, because it's a female main character. Yeah, she's no longer damsel in distress 99% of the time. She's growing as a character. And that's a good thing. So I actually watched a 99.9% full playthrough of this game. It's only about 10 hours. Okay.
00:52:21
Speaker
So and that means basically he the let's player I watched or the streamer I watched got all the hidden items on every level. And, you know, completed the game after you complete the game, there's some extra bullshit where you can redo levels and more things. And, you know, he was like, all right, that's I don't need to do that to completion. But I saw him, you know, do everything for 10 hours. And, you know, here's here's what I'll say. One,
00:52:52
Speaker
Uh, poorly optimized to the point. Yeah. The loading screens have stutter, which is the stupidest thing in the world.
00:53:02
Speaker
Um, but yeah, this game runs a little, little sloppily, um, past that. I think we talked about this with Kirby's, uh, for forgotten lands, right? Where it's kind of like, this is another one of those Nintendo games where it's like, it is here to introduce kids to like 3d platforming and adventure games. Um, although Kirby had kind of a more adult, like hardcore gamer mode, this game lacks that.
00:53:32
Speaker
and strong themes of anti-capitalism. This game loves capitalism. No. But honestly, like, this is a good product from Nintendo. Is it a quote unquote good game, debatable? Is it a good strategy to have a game that's very playable by younger audience? Yeah, I think yes. Like, you can't just keep catering to the
00:54:01
Speaker
adults who played Nintendo as a kid. There's new kids. I think there's a middle ground like Kirby. There's a middle ground where you can make a game that's good for kids and adults. This game certainly leans more on the kid side than the adult side. Well, and I think.
00:54:19
Speaker
I mean, it's aimed at kids, but also it looks like a lot of work was put into making it like creative and fun, which is what interested me about the game is that it just looks really cool. It does. And I would say the individual levels have a lot of life and interest to them, although some are more boring than others, which is fair.
00:54:43
Speaker
You can't, you can't win them all. Like there, like there's one where Peach is a baker. Those are kind of slog and there's one where Peach is kind of like a Sherlock like detective. Those are a little boring. Um, but then there's also one where like she's a sword fighter and she's a figure skater. She's a kung fu master. And those are really fun, entertaining levels. Even just for me watching them, right? I was like, Oh, these seem fun.
00:55:07
Speaker
I think I think that's kind of what I was expecting. I have a friend going through it right now, too. And basically his well, his impression right now, it kind of lines up with yours, is that it's it's really cool looking, really creative, beautiful. And the game plays just OK. Yeah. Does that does just OK to us mean fun for a kid, right?
00:55:29
Speaker
Like, maybe that's just what it is. And so that reminded me of Kirby. And we all know I became obsessed with Forgotten Land, obsessed with that game. And it wasn't the most difficult, but it was just a joy to play. And I know it sounds like this one might not be a joy to play, but a joy to look at.
00:55:50
Speaker
So I'm debating. I don't know if I'll play it, but it certainly looks interesting. Do you think it's going to be playing it, James? Well, it's going to be sixty dollars for the rest of its life. So you decide to play it now or later, you're going to pay the same amount of money. That's that's true. You can always go to GameStop and get it for fifty five dollars. I could. Is that the used? Oh, I read about GameStop today. They're not doing well. Yeah, GameStop had some issues. Yeah. We don't have to go into it, but they had a they had a bad quarter.
00:56:18
Speaker
They have a bad border. But I was hoping this was going to gear more towards that it also appealed to adults more, but it doesn't have to, right? And I'm happy it exists. It looks super fun, creative, colorful, and good for it. But only 59% recommend. So it's trash. Well, that 59% is better than
00:56:44
Speaker
28% for South Park snow day new game from THU Nordic in question. Currently sitting at a 63 on open critic with only 28% of critics recommending it. A PC gamer gave it a rich Stanton at PC gamer, give it a 69. Nice, nice, nice, nice. Out of 100.
00:57:06
Speaker
A charming but slight a charming but slight co-op action game where a basic combat system is elevated by clever bonuses and abilities. And half the pleasure is the world's incidental details. IGN's tragic Travis Northup gave it a three out of 10. Aggravating hack and slash combat and surprisingly sparse jokes make South Park Snow Day dull, toothless and a big step in the wrong direction for South Park games. And
00:57:39
Speaker
Let's see, Steve Boxer Metro game central, give it a seven and a 10, a clever and well-structured interpretation of the classic TV series as co-op brawler. That'd be a fun desertion, a fun diversion, even without the license. So, uh, I actually watched someone play a lot of this game too. Uh, recently, this is how I absorb these games that I don't want to play. Um, so I think it, it's very much like.
00:58:11
Speaker
It is a co-op action roller. Games of that ilk are Myth Force, which you may or may not be familiar with. And I'm trying to think of another one. So I want to expand your description of it. It's also a roguelite, which most of you seem to have not gotten the understood that. Now, that doesn't mean this is a game suddenly worth recommending, but
00:58:39
Speaker
I think it has replayability. I think it was enjoyable to watch someone play. And I think the like the really poor reviews are just like this game did not deserve a three out of 10 whatsoever. Oh, and some reason went that low. Did it deserve a 69? I'd say 69 is ballpark.
00:59:07
Speaker
I am. Yeah, I think it doesn't have quite the narrative chops that the fractured butthole and the stick of truth. So good.
South Park Snow Day: A New Direction in Gameplay
00:59:18
Speaker
And the stick of truth to have. Like, I think the narrative focus isn't quite there. It drags you a little more towards the con. The the story is there to push the combat like it's if you know what I mean, where it's like
00:59:37
Speaker
It's it's set dressing the game. Whereas I think the other two games where it's like the combat was a greater part of the narrative, if that makes sense. This is more like the other way around where it's like, hey, you did this combat. Now we'll give you a little taste of the story. Sure. You're separate in that way. Right. So all three games are separate game types. Like that's true. So the rogue light model, I think.
01:00:07
Speaker
highlighting the gameplay is something that some people really enjoy. And if you're judging, this is how much aligns with previous games and you're expecting something like the previous games. Yeah, you're going to think it's bad, but on its own, I think it's OK. Not necessarily just like, oh, it's the game type is different, so it's bad. I think it's more of just how they use the.
01:00:32
Speaker
Like there's a way to have made this game where the narrative was more intertwined with the, the gameplay sections, I think is what I'm trying to get at. This feels more like the narrative and the combat are disparate. So they, you end up not being as interested in as one or the other. Like I think people play this game just to, they, they play, they get through the combat to get to the narrative.
01:00:57
Speaker
Know what I mean? Sure. Yeah. I mean, if it's going to be a South Park game, you're like the world and the characters in the story that that's a big part of it. Yeah. Otherwise, it would just be any other game. And plus, it doesn't help that the other two games were so strong. Yeah. To give those expectations. I was a little bit excited for this because I love the other ones and I love South Park. Plus, it's co-op. So you could play with your friends. But yeah, there is one last thing I'll say in its defense.
01:01:27
Speaker
It's a $30 game. Oh, really? Oh, that's true. It is a $30 game. So Dragon's Agma is $70, and this one's $30. And I think... Ronin was $70, Prince of Peach is $60. So I think price per point, I think Open Critic is artificially low. So I think $1 per fun at South Park is above the last two we've spoken on.
01:01:55
Speaker
Are you a South Park fan, Derek? I haven't watched in years. I love it. I was actually thinking. TikTok loves serving it to me lately. What's that? TikTok loves serving the episodes of South Park. South Park is incredible. And I was thinking about, is South Park better than The Simpsons? No, but that's okay. After a certain point, yes, but don't you dare compare the first 10 seasons to South Park.
01:02:24
Speaker
So I know where you live really good And it's still good At least I think it's very instance is better now actually the last couple seasons of Simpsons open it is Yeah, but they lost all my trust You can't just you can't just spend almost 20 years putting out of trash It's great. It's been a lot of track. Would you rather have more Simpsons or more South Park?
01:02:50
Speaker
I mean, aren't they still making South Park? They are. Yeah. I mean, we're getting both still. No, this is a hypothetical. I need you to choose. I want everybody to want more South Park. I love South Park. I never wanted to go away. Simpsons, I haven't watched in years. Who am I to judge? We'll make their choose on another episode of Add to Party. You better choose. Friendship Simulator masquerading is a new show. I've been your host, James.
01:03:20
Speaker
The trick and stogmas look good. Eh? Out of ten. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Aren't well. And I've been joined by... Andy... Well, I'm not an apologist. I was gonna say South Park apologist. South Park Stan. I'm a stan.
01:03:37
Speaker
Edgelord. What's that? Edgelord. Edgelord. I am not an edgelord. OK, maybe first three seasons I would have been was in South Park is thoughtful and topical. How dare you? And very centrist. And I'm not a centrist. I'm a leftist. That's it. Andy Leftist K. I've been joined by Derek.
01:04:07
Speaker
Derek, that's been one of my favorite ones in a while. I think you're absolutely right. Also say your last name. I did, Acostia. Oh, sorry. I was just laughing. Yeah, y'all were laughing over me. Have a good night. Have a good night. Later.