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Revelations, Ressonance and Returns with CriticalUnc
24 Plays1 day ago
Tony is joined by an old friend with a new name in the Game Lounge. Formerly Known as RedPandaGamerRPG, he returns with his new rebrand after 2 years, CriticalUnc! The two talk all things Final Fantasy 7 Revalations from Story Theories, what will differ from the original, gameplay and more! They also cover the Xbox Layoffs, talk more on PlayStation killing physical media, and all the rest of the gaming headlines from the last 2 weeks and upcoming releases!
Follow Tony: https://www.twitch.tv/tonysgamelounge
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TonysGameLounge
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Follow CriticalUnc: https://www.twitch.tv/criticalunc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CriticalUnc
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This Weeks Episode was Edited by Mike: https://www.instagram.com/heyitsmikeye/
Join the Official Tony's Game Lounge Discord: https://discord.gg/xXyvjaCsXp
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Transcript
Introduction to Tony's Game Lounge
00:00:00
Speaker
Disclaimer, all views expressed on this podcast represent the host and his guest and not the companies or agencies they are associated with.
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to Tony's Game Lounge, a bi-weekly podcast that covers everything in the world of video games, TCG, tabletop and more. Here's your host, Tony 14. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another brand new episode of the Tony's Game Lodge podcast.
Welcome Back, Critical Unc
00:00:27
Speaker
I am your host, as always, Tony 14. And joining us this week, he is back from the dead.
00:00:33
Speaker
has been two years since we last heard him, and he's back with a new name. Don't dead name him. We are joined by the streamer formerly known as Red Panda Gamer RPG. We are joined by Critical Unc.
00:00:49
Speaker
Yep. Dude, welcome back. Thank you. I'm not kidding. I'm glad to be back and no joke. Like I said, the last two podcasts we did were Final Fantasy 7. And guess what? I know. it's it's It's like every time something with this modern trilogy happens, you're the guy that we to. I am here for it. Yep. He is here it. I'll give you all my knowledge because God, I can easily talk about this for days.
00:01:14
Speaker
But I'll do my best to do it in a very short amount of time. Excellent. Now, because now technically you're not brand new, but because you've got a new brand new username. Yes. So people can get to know you.
Favorite Game Characters Discussion
00:01:28
Speaker
We're going to do loading screen and hot takes.
00:01:31
Speaker
So yeah critical. What is your favorite game, favorite game character, favorite game soundtrack? Favorite game character? oh shoot. Here's the thing. I'm going to be completely honest. I have to go all the way back to Final Fantasy four. I think I said this last time.
00:01:46
Speaker
Kane and Cecil. Those two will always be my favorite characters of all time. And you know what? Now that I've finally played FF4, I can say that is a great take. That is a great choice. Just the journey those two take from going to be like, you know, mindless generals killing people to like, oh, no, we
Final Fantasy 4: The After Years
00:02:05
Speaker
need a...
00:02:06
Speaker
We almost need a full rebranding, which is basically what Cecil and Kane go through. okay now Okay. Have you played the after years? Not yet. It's weird. okay I've heard mixed things, so I'm afraid to even Here's what will say. man. It's rough. It is very rough. It's not great. But I will say...
00:02:28
Speaker
Kane Kane did all right in there like what they did with Kane I think is like maybe me one of the pros yeah of the game but like everything else is very ah see that's the thing I just heard that it's just kind of a slog it's um I gave up i gave like fuck like you get to the last dungeon you get you get to the very last dungeon and it feels like you're so under leveled with what they do and you basically have to fight through every boss from four And then more after that is just like, I
Nods to Past Final Fantasy Games
00:03:01
Speaker
really don't want to do that. Yeah. See, that's the thing. I heard it wraps up well, but it's like the actual journey itself is like almost not worth it. Like, like, honestly, you're better off just watching like ah you're better off watching a cutscene movie. yeah because i did that for the last dungeon is just like there's another like three whole hours of cut scenes that i would have had to go through that like uh because i'm playing through all of the final fantasy games uh for my final fantasy marathon so i played one through five okay and for the and for the after year so far i'm currently on six nice playing through six six is of course a masterpiece I still love six it's it's good so far I'm enjoying it currently I just got gal in my party oh yeah the little green headed yes I just got gal that is whereabouts i am okay um and you you know the funniest thing about this game and I told ah my boy actual trash because it's ah because like as you know I a huge player
00:04:02
Speaker
yeah oh yeah So like when I'm going back to play these older games, I'm like, that was a six reference.
MMO Gaming and Autism
00:04:09
Speaker
That was a four reference. That was a like certain references I knew, obviously, but like I had no fucking clue. Spoilers for Stormblood. That Doma was an FF six reference. Yep.
00:04:21
Speaker
I had no idea that was an FF6 reference. You have no idea because I know that we played 14 when I like got yeah into it. And um it's funny because it's like you and I are almost in the opposite boat where I played all of the games. And every time, you know, even the brooms and the witch, I forgot like what area location that is in Final Fantasy 14. Yeah, Matoya. Yeah. to FF1. And Matoya's barely even used to FF1. You just like yeah get like an item from her. does She has a bigger role to play in 14, but it's still is' just like, oh!
00:04:57
Speaker
You just kind of come across her in a cave and she kind of gives you the thing that you need to go on to the next area. Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's so funny because it's like, yeah, i was just shouting out references all over the place. And um God, it's just so fun. The entire 14 series is just the ultimate love letter to everything that came before and does something unique.
00:05:19
Speaker
14 is so good. yeah I just can't do MMOs anymore. Just too much. No, and that's fair. Not everyone can stick with the MMO grind. It's so it can be rough. It it can be rough.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah, I just I'm autistic and it's just it's it's perfect for you. but It just fuels me at this point. Yes. ah Back to the loading screen. ah Favorite game soundtrack.
00:05:43
Speaker
Favorite game soundtrack. This is going to blow a couple people's minds. I know that one of them, I'm going to give a couple. ah One of them is like a no shit Sherlock, which is Expedition 33. God damn.
00:05:55
Speaker
Played that last year. It's so good. It is just too good. Like it. That was the first thing that I noticed when I was playing the game. i was like, God, this soundtrack is going to go down in history as probably one of the best like ever.
00:06:09
Speaker
And yes, my second one, again, this is going to shock some people, but Elden Ring Night Rain. Those songs slap really fucking hard and I thoroughly enjoy them.
00:06:22
Speaker
I have a very hot um hot take about i do have a hot take about Night Rain. It's not the hot take I was telling you about before recording, but I do have... when hear night rain When Night Rain was announced, and I still kind of feel this way about it, I feel like it's the most cash-grabby game that FromSoft has made.
00:06:42
Speaker
You know what's wild? I would say yes, but... There are no in-game transactions. it's like i know like I know there's no transactions. it just like It felt like this game was a bit of a cash grab. like They made it because it's like, oh, it's Elden Ring, but multiplayer. You know, it's wild. i actually It's so funny because this is a topic that I didn't think that we were going to talk about. um I think, and I'm just you know shooting the shit right now, I actually think that FromSoft is building up towards an MMO like we were just kind of Really? I think so. Do you
Thoughts on Elden Ring Night Rain
00:07:16
Speaker
think that like that's what Duskbloods will end up being? Or do you think it's go be something else? No, Duskbloods is definitely a PvPVE, which is just like an extraction shooter, basically. Like, that's ultimately what that game is going to be.
00:07:28
Speaker
um But the reason why I say this is because Elden Ring itself already felt like an ah mmo um you know just with the sheer size and yeah size and also just like how bosses you know do their aoe's it's like okay dodge this area go over here and then attack you know it's kind of like it's just like instead of having markers on the ground there are no markers on the ground you just gotta know the range and everything you just have to pay attention and die multiple times in order to get it yes obviously obviously because it's a from soft game yeah
00:08:02
Speaker
But um I think they're building towards an MMO. And the reason why i say this because Elden Ring Night Reign is a multiplayer specific. It was not supposed to be meant for soloing.
00:08:13
Speaker
It was made for three people. And yes with the new game Duskbloods, it's very obvious it's a PvP VE. So they're just kind of really dipping their toes into that multi level platforming stuff.
00:08:28
Speaker
Because really, if you think about the next thing that happens after a very successful open world, and also they have 16 years under their belt now from SoftEase.
00:08:39
Speaker
And they have all of the assets that they can use to make anything they want to now. Why not make an MMO? Like it's literally their next step.
00:08:50
Speaker
I don't think that's what they're going to do. If they do, if they were to, which of like the the franchise worlds would you like to see, like Elden Ring or like Dark Souls or like one of the other ones? I i mean, here's the thing. It would be more Elden Ring than anything else. It probably would look like that. um But I mean, of course, they're just going to use everything that they can and build something like brand new and all that stuff. I just think it's the next step.
00:09:17
Speaker
You know, they have 16 years. Elden Ring already felt like a massive MMO itself. It's I think they're building towards it because all of the stuff that they're doing now is multiplayer specific.
00:09:29
Speaker
True. I mean, it's just a wait and see at this point. Yeah.
Top Game Picks
00:09:34
Speaker
It is just a way to see. Yeah. I mean, Elden Ring, is it a cash grab? Yes and no.
00:09:39
Speaker
It's a very Night Rain specifically. Night Rain specifically. Because like the first Elden Ring, like, look, it was just in their Souls game. Should they have charged as much for, I mean, to be fair, that DLC was massive, but like. It was huge.
00:09:52
Speaker
It was huge. <unk>t I don't think it should have been nominated for game of the year, the DLC. No, because it's a dc at the end of the day. Yes. I still hate that. I absolutely. Yeah, know I'm glad I am like spiteful glad that it didn't win any awards. No. Yeah. But like anyways, ah back to the screen. Favorite video game.
00:10:13
Speaker
Favorite video game. Dang. I know it's a loaded question. I don't even remember what you see. I could have done my due diligence and checked what you said last time, but I didn't. It will always be either Final Fantasy 4, 7 or Bloodborne.
00:10:33
Speaker
Those are those were always, you know, again, it almost depends on the year and what month and like what I'm about to say. It depends on the day, the hour, the second. Yeah. Like one second it says, but the second, the next one. Oh, wait, hold on.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yep. It's like, oh, you know, it could be Bloodborne. It could be Final Fantasy 7. It could be 4. Comes out of nowhere. So it's yeah I'm just going to say all three right now. Okay. oh yeah All right. All right. With that, hot takes.
00:10:58
Speaker
why is yourest ah What is your hottest video game take? Yes. And this is the, I'm going to say this because it's going to lead into exactly what we're going to start off with. So I am just going to straight up say the reason why the gaming industry is where it's at is because we as multiplayer people were the idiots that made it happen.
00:11:20
Speaker
You know what? That is kind of fair. I'm just going to say that. Yeah.
Critique of the Gaming Industry
00:11:25
Speaker
but Yeah, it's our fault as the consumer is why the gaming industry is where it is right now. that Mass consumerism. Yeah, accidentally. Yes. Yeah. No, I don't want to fully blame us because really the truth is the higher ups did a lot of stupid shit in trying to make nothing but multiplayer platform nonsense that has come out. So it's also their fault, but it is absolutely our fault and it's complete accident.
00:11:52
Speaker
Yes. Do you want hear what that hot take was? I was going to tell you. know. I'm so interested. life one is Half-Life 1 Half-Life 1. Oh, no I don't like Half-Life 1. I really don't.
00:12:05
Speaker
I really don't like the first Half-Life. That's funny. i don't think it's a good game. That's fine. I mean, again, i would say that it is definitely old and a little dated, but yes.
00:12:17
Speaker
Well, it's one of those games. Very much. Yeah. it's one of those games where like it was revolutionary the Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. i'm but I'm not dissing the fact that it was a revolutionary game for its time. It's just that I played it now and I just didn't like it. It's not a great mess. It is an older game. It's going to be clunky. I just don't like it. can't.
00:12:39
Speaker
I don't care for it. i will absolutely not hate you for saying that because it's true. that's not the headline of the week. We've got a lot
Xbox Layoffs and Restructuring
00:12:48
Speaker
to cover. We have a lot to cover. So let's get into this headline of the week. ah The big thing that happened in these past two weeks was the big Xbox layoff and restructure. So let's go through all the details. First, they weren't mass layoffs at Xbox on July 6th. Sixteen hundred staff were laid off. And over the next fiscal year, 1600 more are set to be cut.
00:13:13
Speaker
yeah Four studios are leaving Xbox, but they are not being shut down, which is actually a big pro that came out of this. Compulsion Games, who produced games like South of Midnight and Double Fine Productions, who gave us Psychonauts. Those are both independent studios once again.
00:13:32
Speaker
Ninja Theory, who are the developers behind the Senua games and Undead Labs, who are currently working on State of Decay 3, are being acquired by new owners. It will not be under Xbox anymore, you just under new owners. I don't know who the owners are, though. I don't know if it's been told who's been now owning them, but ah they're still here.
00:13:55
Speaker
And lastly, Arkane Studios is, quote, beginning required consultations with its work council to review potential strategic options, end quote.
00:14:07
Speaker
I don't know how far along that has gone yet. I believe there's ah also rumors that Arkane might just get rebought by Xbox. But, like, we don't know what the whole situation with Arkane is right now. They're the most, like...
00:14:18
Speaker
Who knows what's going to go happen to them? They might go independent. They might not. We don't know what's going to happen with Arkane entirely yet. Asha Sharma noted that there will also be changes at Activision, Bethesda, ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang and Xbox Game Studios that will vary in size. Bethesda and ZeniMax specifically had 440 cuts to their workforce. This, however, is leading to a strike as they're part of a union, and that has led to rallies already.
00:14:53
Speaker
id Software has had 136 employees cut. the However, the studio did say that they're doing, they're okay. The size of the studio is now back to about as many employees they had when they made the first Doom, Doom 2016.
00:15:10
Speaker
Mojang and King, and for those who don't know who King is, they're the people behind Candy Crush Saga, which I didn't even know Xbox owned, but they do. They now report directly to Asha, and they are ah obviously the largest platforms by monthly active players because...
00:15:28
Speaker
parents in that candy crush song got my god like they're on level a thousand by now like it's crazy see a lot of uh a lot of the roles that are being cut are management roles uh and it's also they're cutting down their chain of command as it turns out there were like times when there were like 14 people in like a chain of command ladder just to get things approved they are changing that to like if at most there will be three to five which is I actually didn't know that. That's great.
00:15:59
Speaker
Yes. And lastly, he ah Helen Chiang has been promoted to COO with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. So everybody could, everybody, like, essentially, this whole thing is so is to restructure Xbox because it turns out Phil Spencer, when he was at the top of this,
00:16:22
Speaker
Wasn't doing all that great of a job. It was just, oh, let's buy this. Let's buy this. yeah And there's money magically somewhere. Now, while this sucks for the people being laid off, because it is still going to suck. That is 3,200 people that will but be out of a job by the end of the year.
00:16:42
Speaker
That sucks. It's going to suck. It's not what we're not going to act like it doesn't suck. It does suck. But this could have been a lot worse.
00:16:53
Speaker
Yes. I'm so glad you said that, because honestly, the fact that she, Asha Sharma, by the way, I'm actually huge fan, um even though she's yeah This is just hard.
00:17:04
Speaker
This is just something that needs to happen. yeah And it's very unfortunate because Ashisharmer, I think she's doing a great job, especially the fact that she is kind of making like she's not shutting these studios down.
00:17:16
Speaker
They're still going independent, so they still have a chance to survive. So she's not like absolutely destroying and killing everything. Exactly. It's just, yeah, she just had, she just took on this role. What last year or something like that? Not even, I think it was like this year.
00:17:33
Speaker
Like it was like beginning of this year. You're right. It was like beginning of this year or like very late last year that she had got into that. She took over yeah as Xbox president. So it's like, I really feel just bad for her because I mean, again, she's she's doing exactly what she needs to because um like I said, this is just, it's kind of our fault because you do look at, again, Mojang and King, they're mobile games.
00:17:57
Speaker
I didn't realize that they were owned by- Mojang is just Minecraft. well yes all that money all that money comes from minecraft let's be real that is the most like the crazier thing is that they weren't doing anything with all of that profit from that yeah and like that it's like like they're changing all of this to make it so that way they can do the profit they can keep putting out quality they can make sure that ah everything works within the company without having to ideally do more of these mass layoffs or cancel games.
00:18:35
Speaker
And that's the other thing. No games were canceled with the announcement of this. Yes, exactly. So it's like, it's still like she is doing all these layoffs, unfortunately, but these studios are still alive and the games are still alive. So it's, yes, it's, it's, she's doing the best that she can with the shit that she was given to be completely honest. And um yes, well, this is what I'm saying is I do kind of like this is why I said it's our fault that these studios are where they are.
00:19:03
Speaker
And the reason is, I mean, out of touch CEOs, absolutely. They looked at all the information from basically COVID and Lydia was all like, oh, we need to attack these multiplayer games. We need to microtransaction the shit out these multiplayer games. We need to make games right now that basically function as phone games.
00:19:24
Speaker
As in, you could spend all you want in game and the game will just shut down and you don't own it anymore. You can never play it again. Yeah, it's absolutely our fault.
00:19:35
Speaker
So and they well, even at that during COVID, they overhired because the yeah the gaming industry was just so big. that Yeah, they they definitely did. It's like they overhired.
00:19:46
Speaker
They definitely over. It was. I don't know of over hiring, but it was, ah it was, it was during the COVID era. We did just see a lot of acquiring like the bigger studios just ah wanted to acquire everything because this, in and down to be fair, they were doing it to help save some studios. Like it wasn't out of just your greed. There was, yeah there was that part of like,
00:20:09
Speaker
look, these smaller studios are not going to survive off of COVID if they don't produce like banger of a game. Yep. And it was to help save some studios. And now whether some made it through that or not is hit or miss, because obviously there were some cities that were acquired, but then they were shut down.
00:20:27
Speaker
And it wasn't ah with the with a big
The Future of Physical Games
00:20:30
Speaker
example being... um Oh God, i can't remember the name, but the studio behind the evil within and hi-fi rush. Oh, yes. They were bought.
00:20:38
Speaker
They were shut down. And then it wasn't until another company came, bought them back and brought them back. Yep. That's. Yeah. Yeah. had that rush basically became a thing. So it was actually really good. But yeah. Oh, yeah. It's just really unfortunate. Fantastic. But yeah, it was unfortunate. Now, this is also on the heels of, of course, PlayStation's big announcement. Now, they didn't fire or cancel any games either. But their big announcement, boy, as we talked about a bit last week, but getting into more of it, they...
00:21:11
Speaker
You know, they may be announcing that come 2028, they will stop making physical games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Now, granted, here's what I will say about this. I think that the death of p s four games is going to come up a lot sooner because I think that production for PS4 games will just stop...
00:21:29
Speaker
I think sometime next year, realistically, because it's been so long that the PS4 has been around i and with how hardware and software with games currently. I do think the PS4 is seeing its way out the door. Same with the Xbox One. i do think that era of consoles, it's time to start focusing on just working on PS5 and Series X stuff and just focus on that.
00:21:52
Speaker
But regardless, No physical games. It's been receiving a lot of backlash. What are your thoughts on this? what You know, again, like I said, it's ah it's kind of the industry basically saying yeah we're moving into almost like like mobile games. We're going to make everything.
00:22:12
Speaker
Again, this word DRM is popping up all over the place. Digital rights media. Yes, which is basically you get to rent the game. You never get to own it.
00:22:23
Speaker
Yeah, you get the license for the game, but you don't properly own it. Now, there are. This is, of course, a big thing that's going on as the stop killing games incentive yeah is in both the trying to get a bill passed in both like the US s and the UK government. They've being shot down because of the corporate video, the bigger corporate video game ah studios not wanting this to pass because they don't want the consumer to have ownership they want those the licenses yeah uh now yubisont has already lost a lawsuit with this with the crew ah yes with that uh being shut down and all that huge thing that was so much fun it's going through a lot of that stuff it lost a lawsuit and it's i think going through like another one or two with those like it's yeah
00:23:10
Speaker
not great ah but it does also this also does open up the thing of like playstation if they do this control a monopoly specifically with their console if this and if they don't backpedal this because it means that they are the only place that you could buy a playstation 5 game after 2028 you can't you can't go to like a walmart if they're having a deal on a game where it's 20 cheaper and you have to wait for playstation to do it you can't just go there wait for it to go on sale for like dirt cheap because uh you know walmart can afford to do that with their with those games and whatnot
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it it really is just unfortunate because, again, it's like, um I mean, you do have to go back and think about like all of the mobile as well as like online multiplayer games that we do play and how many times we've paid for skins, how many times we pay for guns, how many times you pay for outfits and all that stuff. You need to understand people, people understand that those and that's where they get their money.
00:24:13
Speaker
You need to understand that the more that you pay thousands to tens of thousands of dollars a year on a game, a multiplayer game or a mobile game that they can just pull out and you have and you can't do anything about it.
00:24:30
Speaker
You just can't do anything about it. You just wasted thousands of hours, thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars on a game that you can never play again. You need to understand that it's your fault. If they remove the rights to the license and pull it from...
00:24:43
Speaker
They can pull it from but like it with this. If ah they wanted to just remove a game entirely from the platform, they could. You would have no chance to play it again, whether it's online or not. Yes. ah It would just be gone forever.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yep. I mean, a people yeah, they're basically doing the best that they can to make the gaming industry basically mobile games. I mean, even just basic games. It's like, you know, they're allowed to be up for like two, three years and then they just pull it.
00:25:10
Speaker
Yeah, they could. yeah they absolutely basically waste with With this being the only platform that would be allowed, they have full control of what stays on what leaves, yeah and everything in between.
00:25:26
Speaker
that it is kind of You know, it's not great. Now, obviously, it's like people have been saying, oh, well, what about, you know, PC is basically digital only. Yes. But however, Steam has actually, you know, made claims and they actually stick by them of like, look, you get the games. If a game gets delisted, you yeah, sure. You can't buy the game anymore. But if you bought it, it's still in your library. You can still download that game and play it whenever you want. Yep. And they have plans in place where if steam ever goes like foot up, of like 10 feet under fully dead, they will make it a way of, they are like, there is a way that they will do, will have to still play your games after it's like long gone, as they have said.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah. i was going to say, the online to PC gaming market, you don't have to just use steam. There are other places you can shop at. Yes. To like, it's not a monopoly. Hmm.
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah, Steam is literally just a place where you can just go get something if if it's even there. Yeah, exactly. Steam has like also like when you look at the, if you want to compare libraries, Steam also does just have everything. yeah The PS5, well, it does have everything.
00:26:40
Speaker
It has everything modern. there It doesn't like, look, look, here's the thing. Unless you're going to put every other game that's ever been released on PlayStation, when you go digitally on the PlayStation store, yes then fine. We're still not going to like it, but that's at least a better option. But let's be real. It's not that much better. no Now, what what will, will,
00:27:01
Speaker
the backlash make them back off only time will tell we have a year to keep we have like a year and a half to keep bitching about this so yeah we oh yeah about it yep we still have time and also like i said there's a lot of um signatures and all that stuff i think they got over 310 000
00:27:19
Speaker
I think they're like up that high. Like it's, it's getting pretty high and people just absolutely complaining about how stupid this is. and Oh yes, absolutely. And now you, oh, you also do have to remember that not everybody is critically online. Like a lot of us.
00:27:34
Speaker
ah And a lot of that includes a lot of people in the gaming sphere because you do have to real read like 310,000 is a big number. GTA five sold millions and millions of copies. Yes.
00:27:47
Speaker
that A lot of those people, that's like the only game they'll ever they ever will play. yeah They to care less about what is happening in the gaming industry. and Exactly. All the more reason why. When I started off with my hot take, I'm just like, guys, you need to understand that it's your fault for doing this. because it is you're not paying attention. And also, it's about being a bit more, be informative. Read. I know you're, you like games and reading is hard, but read, please. Know what's happening in the thing that you love the most. yep That's all we're asking. Because I think if you saw this too and saw like kind of how shitty that is, you'd support it too. It's just about being informed and not everybody is because they to either choose to be ignorant to it or they just ah genuinely don't actually know because they only do the one thing and they aren't online.
00:28:42
Speaker
And that's kind of what I wanted to bring up. It's just like you you guys do need to realize it's like um I'm just saying hypothetically arc raiders, hell divers or something like that. If the game stops doing well, they can just pull it.
00:28:54
Speaker
So everything, all the time that you spent on it literally disappears. You will never have that opportunity again. Like you guys need to pay attention to that. I'm just saying. yeah Anyways, sorry. All right. i know that's not a little gloom and doom, but I'm just like, Hey y'all. yeah I mean, look, and it is like, two to be fair, look, until we know, until like this gets reversed, it is kind of gloom and doom because it is the death of physical media. This is the fact. look like a lot of us said like digital purchases while are kind of similar like i am it like and like am i like hope helping it no because i buy like all my games digitally now oh yeah regardless of what what platform they're on i just tend to buy my games digitally yeah because it's just been easier for me to do that because of the accessibility uh that it does offer
00:29:42
Speaker
Well, again, it's not necessarily the the physical versus digital because they're both. It's more just we we as long as we have that option yeah is all we're asking. Yeah, just it's more so option alive for the people yeah that you that need it because there are people that can't do stuff digitally where it's just easier to buy the disc. It's like, oh, i yo, I can lend this to my friend because they can't afford the game.
00:30:04
Speaker
ah Like, that's why we like having it is nice. With that, it's now time to dive into everything else that has happened in the last two weeks. Let's dive into the week in review. Recapping the major stories of video games and the world of tabletop, looking over recent releases and reports from the Game Lounge crew, it's the week in review. It's starting to get off some of the major games that came out in the last two weeks. You had Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resync.
00:30:31
Speaker
Backyard Baseball, Granblue Fantasy Relink Endless Ragnarok, Dench Attack, The Incident at the Galley House, and Moss the Forgotten Relic. A lot of great games. I am getting Dench Attack soon, ah once I get the time to play it. And I actually just finished The Incident at the Galley House.
00:30:49
Speaker
Fantastic puzzle game. Fantastic puzzle game. If you've ever played the game, send help. it it's ah It's like a remake of that, but it like run like a full on like entirely remade. It's great. It's a really great game.
00:31:08
Speaker
ah Moving on to video game news, starting off, Subnautica 2's first major update has released. It's called Adaptive Measures. The update includes improvements to various features and a couple of new additions, like the ability to to sprint. Notably, it makes the Sonic Resonator tool function as a stun gun, so you can start blasting the fish if they get too close to you.
00:31:30
Speaker
Marvel announced on its official blog that there will be two major celebrations of Marvel Tokan fighting souls in comic form. ah The first is a tie in titled Marvel Tokan First Strike.
00:31:41
Speaker
A number of its current series are also receiving variant covers themed around the Marvel Tokan fighting souls starting in August. The Apex Legends and Cyberpunk events released, adding skins of David and Lucy. The Battle Royale games E-District map receives a massive Night City themed makeover and its fast paced wildcard mode has added two cyberpunk inspired powers.
00:32:06
Speaker
ah Lego revealed this next batch of Pokemon sets. Munchlax, Arcanine, and Rayquaza will release on August 1st. The iconic trainer moments Pokeball and giant red figure will be released on October first ah And in mobile game news, Mario Kart Tour, which is the mobile Mario Kart game, is shutting down on September 29th. It will be, i believe that the game is has already been pulled from stores. You can no longer download the game and then you can continue to play the game until September 29th. There are no plans for like an offline mode from what I understand.
00:32:48
Speaker
Which is dumb because I think if you have like a mobile game this big that has been going for years, you should have like an offline mode for it to just be played. But I digress. i got Pokemon Legends ZA's ranked battles for season 14 is being creative where only flying type Pokemon are allowed.
00:33:08
Speaker
So if you want to see ah birds fight other birds, that you you can You can do that now. i This is like, i definitely, ah they're being creative with what they're doing with Legend C.A.' 's ranked modes because Pokemon Champions is now where all the regular ranked modes are being held.
00:33:29
Speaker
ah Speaking of Pokemon, Pokemon Go took over New York City's Times Square for its 10th anniversary with Mewtwo appearing and Mega Evolving and players were prompted to fight it.
Pokemon Go Anniversary
00:33:39
Speaker
ah Participants were then able to capture a Hundo Mewtwo, which is a Pokemon with perfect stats. So a perfect stat Mewtwo was the big prize if you were a part of that very special raid.
00:33:51
Speaker
Mario Tennis Fever's 1.1.0 free update is out now, adding the Galaxy Court, Black Hole Racket, new color schemes for Luma, and Prankster Comet bonus mode into the game.
00:34:04
Speaker
And that is some nostalgia news. Black Ops 1 and 2 were released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and these are just straight-up ports. No remaster, no enhanced mode, nothing. Just the games.
00:34:19
Speaker
Just their online modes and yes, the video or some videos that people have made show that within the first couple seconds of joining an online lobby People are swearing feels like we haven't left. What was that like good old 2010? Yeah, old 2009. Yep back to old cotton lobbies. They're back
00:34:41
Speaker
go back to old co lobbies they're back that was That was my high school for sure. i' remember all of them. People were creative, but at the same time, you shouldn't be saying that shit. ah GTA 5 Online's new heist, the Court Center heist, is now out. It's basically a museum art heist.
00:35:05
Speaker
uh, from the details. Pal world, uh, has released a 1.0. Uh, they changed the look of a lot of the pals to make them look like less, uh, to make them look less like Pokemon, um, with a few of them, which is at least a nice effort. i still won't be playing the game just because I found the game boring when I played through it. I still, it's just like when i think about, Oh, maybe I should go back. was just like,
00:35:30
Speaker
Nah, it's just, I'm probably good. i'm just I just think of that time I was playing it. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm i'm good. I'm good. That's, yeah. Sorry, I've just heard that it's actually quite addictive after the one final release. I mean, like, look, hey, to some people, to some people it probably is. I'm just not one
Delays and Final Patches
00:35:48
Speaker
of those people. I can't, I just can't bring myself to play it again.
00:35:51
Speaker
This might be a hot take, too, but in all honesty, I've never really cared about Pokemon, so that's that world means nothing to me in general. That is fair. TennoCon happened. This is the big event that Warframe puts on, and they made a couple of announcements first with their game Soulframe, which is their fantasy action RPG. um They added a new boss fight to the prelude, which is their demo for the game. Ben Star and Jennifer English will be letting their voices in the game.
00:36:23
Speaker
Their next fable or like, I guess, story packs is could be called Warsongs and they're going to mounts and fishing into the game. ah As for Warframe, Tau expansion will be launching later in 2026. Matt Mercer will be joining the game, voicing character Briscoe. And Porto, a unique card game inspired by poker is going to be added into the game as well because every good MMO needs a card game apparently. Love it.
00:36:49
Speaker
love it Well, I was going say, oh my God, well especially with all the voice actors, those are three of my favorites right now too. God, Ben Starr, Jennifer English, Matt Mercer. Yeah, Warframe's getting a card game? Maybe...
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah, they're getting a card card game. So it's a poker. I don't know how exactly the card game plays, but ah it's like inspired by poker, but I don't know like how heavily inspired by poker it is. it's Definitely something to check out if you like if you like card games and you're thinking about starting a new MMO Warframe might be the one for you now.
00:37:20
Speaker
I'm actually thinking about it I'm not going to lie. Danganronpa 2x2 has been delayed to 2027. Destiny two's final patch was released.
00:37:33
Speaker
To memorialize the moment, Bungie has rolled out one last gift for players, a new emblem free for everyone called Gloria Bundus. Oh my goodness. Well, hey, that's another one where in all honesty, Sony kind of messed up owning Bungie.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yes, no and the game is still playable. You will still be able to play the game in all of its story expansions and whatnot. You just can't do. I don't know what it is that you can't do with the game, but it's just like there's like certain online components that won't be available. Yeah, I know specifically what I don't remember.
00:38:08
Speaker
Yeah, I don't remember either. You'll have to just Google what you can and can't do. But they're making it the same of like how they sunset the first destiny where you can still go back and play that game. You just can't do certain things.
00:38:18
Speaker
The same thing will be with destiny to two in theft news.
Pokemon Card Theft
00:38:22
Speaker
Two brothers have been caught trying to steal 62000 euros worth of Pokemon TCG by Cheshire police.
00:38:33
Speaker
Keith Johnson, who was 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary with intent to steal out of the hearing, which took place earlier this month and has since been sentenced to 29 months in prison, while his accomplice and brother Shane Johnson, 37, admitted to the same offenses and is said to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court ah at the end of the month.
00:38:56
Speaker
I'm not kidding. this july thirty first This is like the third or fourth story I've heard about like ah like Pokemon cards being stolen or like somebody got stabbed for a Pokemon card or something. Yeah, no, it's crazy. That is so like book i like I collect, I collect the Final Fantasy Magic the Gathering cards. Oh, those are awesome. That's it. yeah That's all I do. Like Pokemon. I feel like I like what I like. I sold all my Pokemon cards. So like the Pokemania with the Pokemon TCG, it's like I'm so over it.
00:39:28
Speaker
You know, like I was over it years ago and this shit is so wild now because it's like, oh, it's all worth money. what cardboard is worth money. want all the cardboard.
00:39:42
Speaker
Well, see, that's the thing. It's like I see 62,000 euros that is worth like what? Three or four years of your life. For is that what? Let me, let me, let me. yeah Cardboard with paintings on it.
00:39:56
Speaker
Like i just, you're crazy. Let's see. Collecting is fun. You're all right. So that equals for about all very close to 100,000 Canadian dollars.
00:40:11
Speaker
Wow. but And then if I was to look at, i just type USD. See, that's the thing. If you could get away with it, like, okay, sure. But United States dollar. So it's about, wait, what the fuck? Oh yeah. So it's about 70,000 USD. Yeah.
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah. That's insane. I mean, here's the thing. The fact that those cards are literally that expensive, that's ah that's impressive. And also, if you can get away with stealing it, okay, sure. But at the same time, like, wow.
00:40:40
Speaker
These are just, yeah, cards with paintings on them. Also, if you're a you live in the us you might as well go buy some fucking ah ah your cards in Europe because apparently the are because that that dollar is stronger than a year. because if Wait, wait, hold on. Yeah.
00:40:56
Speaker
if Wait, hold on. Is my math off on this? Wait, hold on. EU to USD. One euro is $1.14. Yeah, yeah, yes yes to get a dollar twenty you're drunkning yeah. Yeah, go buy your cards in Europe. you're The dollar's better. Yeah.
00:41:17
Speaker
I'm going to sell all my Pokemon cards. The Canadian dollar is much better than that. God damn. I know. That's like $100,000. Yeah, that's that's great. Holy shit. i could probably i That means I could go get all the fucking Powell GameCube games for ah less than I thought.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yep. Sell it on eBay ah to just... Over in New York. That's insane. That's ah in but one of the in How could this studio be in the news...
00:41:45
Speaker
Any more than they already have. Build a rocket boy. The developers behind Mind's Eye, one of the worst games ever created and made, is bringing an unknown number of community members for an on-site play test at a studio in Edinburgh.
00:41:59
Speaker
The studio is paying for their flights to Scotland, two nights accommodations and flights back home. However, this event doesn't sit right with some of the workers at the studio after repeated rounds of layoffs.
00:42:13
Speaker
So the employees are going to be so the employees protested the play test at Builder Rocket Boy headquarters on July 11th while the play test happened. That's just funny.
00:42:26
Speaker
I don't even know what to say about that one.
00:42:32
Speaker
You can't make this shit up with this studio. Like they said their game was going to be the GTA killer. And this has been nothing but a laughing stock with every time they're in the fucking headlines. Yeah, it's like that game was literally broken on launch. It was just miserable. Well, isn't it this one of the previous CEOs? It was like, look, we can forgive them.
00:42:52
Speaker
yeah Yeah, the CEO you was a former Rockstar employee. Yes. Yeah. it's just Yeah, former Rockstar employee. I can't remember like what his role was exactly. I think he was high up and then let go. Honestly, it's just like every time we see this, like look, like if your game was just like buggy and stuff, it would would have been an easy fix. But like it was the fact that the game wasn't even like good not to go along with it. it was absolutely broken. And also, it was just it was just a bad game. like Story level wise, the gameplay was very basic and
00:43:25
Speaker
is that yeah it says Everything about it was just trash. It was stupid. yeah The Duskblood's closed network tests have dates. So listen up. You can sign up for the closed network test from July 22nd to 28th. And the play test starts August 21st to 23rd.
00:43:43
Speaker
So keep keep those in your mind, folks. ah Because if you got to switch to... yes then that's all you can play it on so get that's all you can play it on it's a it's a switch to exclusive so probably one of the dumbest from soft things i think i've ever heard in a very long time i wouldn't say the dumbest i would say the weirdest weirdest because if you do want to think about exclusives i mean bloodborne isn't available on anything but ps4 i mean you can play on ps5 you can play it on ps5 but like it's not like optimized for ps5 Yeah, but that's the say it's like that's exactly the point, too. It's like you already did an exclusive and nobody can touch it.
00:44:21
Speaker
Dustbloods, if it's a Nintendo, especially Nintendo, I feel like Nintendo's worse than PlayStation when comes to their properties. Like Dustbloods? Depends on the property. That's true. That it ah it is true.
00:44:35
Speaker
Like Mario? Ugh. Zelda? Ugh. You will not be able to touch those on any other thing.
Switch 2 Exclusives
00:44:42
Speaker
Yep. I mean, Pikmin, Pikmin, I shouldn't trash Pikmin like that. F0? Where is the I'm just saying, just in general, if Duskbloods does do well on Nintendo Switch, nobody. It's definitely going to be a Switch seller if it does well. If this test play does well, Duskbloods will be a Switch 2 seller. Yep.
00:45:08
Speaker
Which really sucks because it's like I have never not been first day on a FromSoft game. This might be the one and only because i I don't care. I'm not going to buy a Switch 2 just for dustbloods. I can't do it. I have a question for you just to to further elaborate on that. Have there been like...
00:45:27
Speaker
enough like switch to exclusives or like any other switch to exclusive that have interested you enough to potentially get one i mean no i i couldn't say i mean of what uh zelda ocarina of time remake that looked interesting is that specifically yes that was going be specifically switched to yes dang like of course because it's zelda like you're not going to get that anywhere else um Dang.
Nintendo's Price Increase Announcement
00:45:55
Speaker
Okay, well, shoot. Maybe I might get a switch, too.
00:46:00
Speaker
Hey, just a reminder, because Nintendo, hey, with all the console price raises that have been happening, Nintendo, we're like, hey, guys, we're not going to be raising our console prices right away. But like before September, September is like when we're raising our console prices. So if you do want to get the switch to while it's still this price and not the new price, when we have when we're sadly being forced to raise prices because of everything else happening in the geopolitical climate world that we're in.
00:46:26
Speaker
ah you have till September before you raise the prices they were at least nice about that whereas all the other ones are like yeah we're just raising our prices yep well I mean that's the thing is like i I still find it way too pricey in general so that's fair i'm just thats sorry too I mean if you're lucky to find one second hand in good condition I mean to go for that honestly absolutely Craigslist or freaking Facebook market here we come exactly just yeah you yeah you you buy it off of craigslist and all of a sudden you're like why why why you buy all the head tie games guy the fuck you just get on it just like nope i don't want nothing i feel dirty holding this now what the fuck we gotta wipe everything you dick
00:47:11
Speaker
but Kingdom of Hearts is getting a very special deep dive at Disney's biennial fan event D23 on August 15th. According to the event's official description, D23 attendees will join. We'll be joining them for a journey through light and darkness as they commemorate 25 years of Kingdom Hearts. 25 years of that's great.
Celebrating Kingdom Hearts
00:47:31
Speaker
What?
00:47:32
Speaker
Wow, I really didn't read that article. ah What? I did just read this and i was just saying I can't believe that because Kingdom Hearts, they don't even have four mainline games and they've been out for 25 years. Like that's stupid.
00:47:44
Speaker
Discover how this saga you united Disney Pixar and Square Enix with insights from creative minds, character voices and more behind the magic. I mean, well, it's not for like mainline games. It is 11 games in the series. Well, 11 games in the series, but all of those were random spinoffs on handheld stuff. So you only have three. We say random spinoffs, but all of them are required. them are necessary. you are all of them are necessary to understand the story of Kingdom Hearts.
00:48:14
Speaker
It's dumb. It's bad. mean, sure, but at least they like, at least like everything is playable, like on like the platform of your choice, thanks to their collection bundles, especially with the new collection bundle that they released, which is ah the first 10 games. KH1 all the way to KH3 with everything in between is now ah going to be a bundle.
00:48:34
Speaker
yeah That you can get with the only thing you need to buy separately being Melody of Memory. Yep. I remember before 3 came out, I did get the 2.8 or whatever the hell that one was called. Oh, yeah. The 2.8 bundle.
00:48:45
Speaker
Yeah. Which, again, like it's it's nice that they did that, but that is just so unnecessary. I mean, to me it was it was how they ported the handheld games off of ah yeah their handheld and onto main consoles. Because if you really want to think about it, the original...
00:49:01
Speaker
a Chain of Memories was for Game Boy. Game Boy, yeah. Then made it that day turned it into Rechain Memories, which was basically so different from OG Chain of Memories. Yeah, that definitely was PS2 one, too, because I did play it on PS2. Birth by Sleep was originally on PlayStation Portable. Yes. Coded was originally on DS. 358 over two days was originally on DS. Yep.
00:49:24
Speaker
And Dream Drop Distance was originally on 3DS. Yep. 3DS. And then obviously the the mobile games. yeah My theory is I think that they might be working on a either another like movie compilation like they did with back cover and like the yeah the collection versions of Days and Coded. Exactly. I'm theorizing that they're working on something like that for like base game.
00:49:55
Speaker
Um. you can cross a dark road yes because those are important. Yeah, that's the thing. Or they're just making like a playable version of that that's going to take that story and they're going to make that. Like in my opinion, they have to because that's impossible. or for Yeah. But like, don't know. I'm hopeful for that because like,
00:50:18
Speaker
Otherwise, like you have to go watch YouTube video to find out everything that fucking happened in Union Cross. it There's a lot. That's exactly what I did. It's one of those um alldo spinoffs and whatnot, because, again, even Dream Drop Distance, I would never want to play that for fun because I just think it looks bad. Dream Drop Distance actually is kind of fun. Is it? i just think it looks terrible. Like, like the Dream Drop Distance is what introduced flow motion. Yeah. And like, you and you know, still use utilize the command deck, which a lot of people enjoy, which people enjoyed from Birth by Sleep and whatnot. Okay. ah
00:50:51
Speaker
man but i get It was like like each game has its ups and downs. yeah like As a guy who is a fan of Kingdom Hearts, i like the games. I like the story. I understand the story on most of our fucking fan base. Yes. well mean that's the they like I definitely learned it all, but at the same time, um you know i don I still don't think I've played like three, maybe four of the Nintendo games. The DS ones as well as the 3DS. I definitely did not play any of those.
00:51:19
Speaker
But yeah, is in my opinion, they just have to like they have to kind of remake these in order for it to be in a bundle because it's impossible to learn it any other way. So yeah, sorry, no League of Legends classic is coming out July 29th as part of patch 26.15 So if you want to know what League of Legends was like back 2014 or earlier You can play classic mode and apparently they're doing a thing where like you'll vote like it'll be doing like player votes on like what patch to a Classic will have access to so
00:51:56
Speaker
It is getting old there. and I'm like when I when I first saw this news, I'm like, how the fuck do you turn League of Legends into a classic mode? And um because like The game, the core gameplay hasn't changed, but it's all the other like character shit and all that that changes, which is like, OK, I guess.
00:52:14
Speaker
Sure. Well, I heard it's almost impossible to get into League of Legends now just because of like level caps and all that stuff or just the actual grind. I mean, it's more like so player skill.
00:52:25
Speaker
And like if you're if and also a skill issue, it's a skill. One is a skill issue to ah as a as an avid league hater. OK.
00:52:36
Speaker
I don't like League. I think it's like... what I don't really don't care. Like, look. Look. i Look, I understand it brings in millions of dollars to its esports league, which is crazy. That's still insane because... That shit is done. But like, holy fuck, I've never seen but a more toxic game ever made. Yeah.
00:52:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I just know everything about like... about what like not to get into it with it so i've just never even touched it yeah i've seen like maybe a couple of clips of somebody playing it but i've never ever even delved yeah no whatsoever into it yeah i just avoid i avoid it like the plague uh after an eight-year stretch as vice president and general manager of the epic game store steve allison has left epic games to take up the mantle of chief business officer at saber interactive the studio behind the serious sam games
00:53:29
Speaker
ah In TV news, Far Cry is getting a television series on FX and Steve Buscemi was cast in it.
Far Cry TV Adaptation
00:53:38
Speaker
That is actually exciting.
00:53:40
Speaker
I love that idea. How do you do, fellow kids? come to my island and I totally won't kill you all leaving one of you alive to go on a vengeful spree and burn my weed fields yeah because every Far Cry game has you burning weed fields that's great I mean again it's like I love Steve Buscemi and Far Cry is actually a pretty solid game series so I didn't know that that was happening at all yeah i neither did I it was just like I saw it on Twitter because Steve Buscemi was casted and I'm like huh
00:54:13
Speaker
ah Just with a backwards hat and a skateboard. yeah How do you do, fellow kids? Join my group, kids. What's up? what's What is up? I don't know what role Steve Buscemi is playing, whether he's a villain or ah an ally. I don't actually know. ah Lastly, Street Fighter is making fragrances based on three of their characters in the SF6 roster. Ingrid jury and Ed are getting their own fragrance. ah The brand that they're working with is a Japanese fragrance company code me. and that's me with three ease.
00:54:49
Speaker
Not to be confused. ah So now you can smell like your favorite fighters and believe it or not, they're not sweat smelled. Yeah. Okay. So unre unrealistic, unrealistic. Okay.
00:55:01
Speaker
Bottle my body over. Your ongoing game news. Berlin Fan Fest is coming up for FF14, taking place July 25th and 26th. The keynote happens on the 25th, 1 a.m. Pacific. So good morning to us when we get all the details about the new about Evercold during that.
00:55:24
Speaker
And in Fortnite news, Odysseus is coming to Fortnite in collaboration with Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. That just sounds goofy to me. You're just going to have a guy looking around like a Grecian warrior just running around.
00:55:36
Speaker
Yeah. I'm surprised. He's going to fight Spider-Man. Yeah. He's going to punching Superman in the face. Like, okay. Yeah, exactly. In TCG news, starting off with Pokemon, the 30th anniversary set releases September 16th and Mega Evolution Delta Reigns drops on November 8th.
00:55:55
Speaker
In Yu-Gi-Oh! The Legendary Arc 5 Dex Collector Sec drops August 7th. Limited Pack World Championship 2026 on August 8th and Magnificent Monsters on September 4th. In Magic the Gathering, the Hobbit set drops August 14th. Reality Fracture on October 2nd and Star Trek on November 20th.
00:56:15
Speaker
in Lorcanna attack of the vines releases July 24th with the cocoa set set sometime for quarter four. In tabletop news, a new D&D monster book was revealed. It will be releasing November 24th. It's called Dungeons and Dragons, Fiends and Foes.
00:56:31
Speaker
And that's everything in the week interview. Critical. Any other ah thoughts on any of the stories there? ah I mean, not really. Oh, I do have just like a weird little segment. um You know that bricks and minifigs, the Lego scenario? Oh, my God. Yeah, that's that's been... ah Going on for those who don't know the full story about that.
00:56:53
Speaker
a guy sold his entire Lego Star Wars collection, which was worth about what was it like? ah Dramatically placed at like 200,000. Yeah, that was the end.
00:57:05
Speaker
Like eyeball profit that it would have probably made. But again, he sold it to bricks and he sold it to bricks and many things or like, was it like it was like a deal in process? It was going to be that. Yes.
00:57:18
Speaker
But what ended up happening was the deal. Didn't entirely go through. So when he asked for the stuff back, it turned out that they had already sold parts of that collection. It's either sold or they're still missing in action. Either somebody sold them, so somebody sold them or they literally are hoarding it in hopes that this all blows over so they can just start selling it.
00:57:41
Speaker
So again, yeah there's a lot of like tin foil hat theories out there right now. And then just where they even are yeah and that led to a YouTuber called Reckless Bed doing a deep dive expose ze on bricks and many things, which led to Reckless Bed being served a cease and desist because all all of this happened in Utah, by the way. So, uh,
00:58:03
Speaker
Get this, the store itself. Sorry, this is why i brought this up. The store itself was actually Salem, Oregon, which is literally just a half hour away from where I live. Oh, shit. This actually has been kind of big Oregon news for the last couple months, especially when, well, funny enough, Moist Critical is like,
00:58:23
Speaker
You know, really beefing it up as well as reckless Ben and all that stuff. Yeah. So you have a bunch of YouTubers basically saying like um bricks and minifigs is absolutely like um corrupt, corrupt. And also the the police officers and their body cams, like the stuff that they're saying, they're making shit up in order to charge these people who have done nothing wrong.
00:58:45
Speaker
like it Like this entire scenario has been so massive on a corruption scale. Like it has nothing to do with the Legos at this point. it's like yeah like yeah This has nothing to do with like Lego officially. Bricks and Minifigs is like a... They're just terrible people. a franch It's a franchised store company yeah where there's basically like a secondhand Lego shop basically. Yes. Yeah. Basically like buy and sell. They also get like, obviously they do get like Lego and like official Lego sets, but they also like do buy and sell it secondhand as well. It's basically like the game stop for Legos. Yeah. Like layaway. Also, you can just like, you know, have in-store credit kind of all that stuff.
00:59:26
Speaker
And it's, yeah, it's just been fascinating because that happened here, like just a half hour away from where I live. Yeah, if you want the full details, there are other places that will do it much better justice than I ever could. Truth is, go to YouTube and just type in bricks and minifigs. Yeah, you'll find everything. You'll understand why I haven't really covered it, because I would not do it justice. Well, there's just too much. I think I covered, like, the initial thing that happened.
00:59:54
Speaker
And... Then I just let it be because it it fucking dove off the deep end of like, what the fuck? Yep. Yep. It's completely blown out of proportion. Bricks and minifigs are just like randomly suing people to shut them up.
01:00:08
Speaker
And the yeah the police corroboration with bricks and minifigs to basically make up lies yeah it's also like like the like the big head of bricks it looks like it also looks like the big head of bricks and many things has also like tried is also like like i i heard a story of like the the like the owner of that franchise got let go by the big ceos like you can't have like like there's a lot of shit to this like really read like there's a lot of yeah but i mean there's a lot Yeah, that store and where all of this started is literally just a half hour away from where I live. So yeah, this has been a huge deal. You just go there, just pull up a lawn chair and just eat some popcorn and see what happens day by day. I'm not kidding. I was going to go there live stream or something. Just be like, hey, what's happening? I feel like I would avoid any live stream because I feel like...
01:01:00
Speaker
I feel like you show them a camera that you'll get served. yeah I feel like you just show up in the lawn chair innocently with popcorn and just just watch everything unfold. I feel like that's the safe bet. And that's the funnier thing to do without getting in trouble with people that are obviously not that great. Yep. I'll get arrested for no reason. Yep. Exactly. With that, it's now time to look ahead to all the games coming out within the next two weeks. Here's what should be on your radar from July 20th to 31st. From AAA titles, indie hits, hidden gems, and hot pieces of garbage, here are the games coming out that should be on your radar. And kicking it off, ah no releases on the Monday, the 20th, but on the Tuesday, the 21st, Diver dies yeah yeah div or Die Children of Rain comes out for PC, as does Fading Echo and Scarlet Deer Inn. On the 22nd, Hand of Fate Horns comes to early access on PC, as does Tears of Metal going into early access on the PC as well.
01:01:59
Speaker
On the 23rd, Avatar Legends the Fighting Game comes out for all the core systems. Dino Blade comes to PC. Final Fantasy 10-10-2 HD Remaster gets its Switch 2 version. And Splatoon Raiders also comes out on the Switch 2.
01:02:14
Speaker
No releases on the 24th, but on the 27th, Forever Skies comes the Series X. On the 28th, EverQuest Legends comes to PC. Go North comes the Series X and PC.
01:02:26
Speaker
Gothic Classic comes to the PS5 Series X. Halo Campaign Evolved comes to the core platforms. On the 29th, Company of Heroes 3 Final Stand comes to PC. Mistfall Hunter comes to the core platforms. Truck Coon is Supporting Me from Another World comes to the Series X and PC.
01:02:45
Speaker
On the 30th, Kick comes to PC. Shard Squad comes out on everything. Turn of Mountain comes out on core cons call core systems and Switch. Void Train to the PS5. And Xenoblade Chronicles 2 gets it switched to port.
01:03:00
Speaker
And on Friday the 31st, the Relic First Guardian comes on the PS5 and PC. And those are all the games coming out. As for like your bigger releases, releases you should focus on. If you like fighting games, if you like Avatar, Avatar Legends a fighting game.
01:03:17
Speaker
ah Supposed to be pretty good from what I heard from people, their EVO reviews. Yes, um I'm actually a huge fan of Maximilian Dude, who's specifically a fighter game guy. Yes, am also a big fan of Max. He's so good. Sorry, he's like literally like my idol.
01:03:35
Speaker
like max million dude is like the streamer that i want to be when i grow up and want to be him when grow up which is like where where do you say that yeah max is old so it's like yeah i want to be like him know i want to have his hair too i want it was secret i'm already old enough too so i'm just like i really i've looked up to him for such a long time wow but um but um i'm not and it's funny because i'm not even a ah fighter person like i don't really care about any of those but his two favorite games are final fantasy 7 and bloodborne so yes and every time that happens i am so on board with everything he says but every time we hear max scream about tifa oh
01:04:16
Speaker
Yeah, especially the fact that Tifa is now a Street Fighter. Could it be in Street Fighter 6? Yes. Which was awesome. Tekken fans are in shambles. I know! It was supposed to be a Tekken thing. Like, Tekken fans in shambles because they didn't get her and they've been begging for her, but Street Fighter got her instead is still so funny to me. yep Well, I just want to Pinpoint because he just did a couple of videos on the Avatar fighting game and honestly looks great. It actually looks fantastic.
01:04:45
Speaker
Like if you are a big fighter fan, um this Avatar game does look amazing. If here's the thing, if the trophy list doesn't look too bad, because obviously I am still such a trophy hunter at heart. And i that's why I do a lot of things on PlayStation.
01:04:57
Speaker
ah If a trophy list doesn't look too bad, I might pick it up and play it. Yeah. Well, apparently, um what's her but the lightning lightning lady. azoooola Yeah. Azula. God, she kicks ass like she is so much fun to watch.
01:05:11
Speaker
ah ah if if you remember on is on Twitter a guy tweeting about ah Spinosaurus you wielding a sword and like made that animation well do i have great news for you because that's what Dinoblade is that is that animation in a video game it was a game inspired by that i don't know if it was the same guy who made it or if he was a part of it. But that is what Dino Blade is.
01:05:38
Speaker
Splatoon Raiders is your big Switch 2 game, ah basically single player, but there is multiplayer options for it. ah Basically, what if Splatoon was a looter shooter is essentially the the the vibe we get from this game.
01:05:51
Speaker
Oh. I mean, that could work. i It looks fine. Like it looks like it looks decent. and and I'm not a Splatoon guy. So like, but hard for me to like judge.
01:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, but so but Splatoon has like a Borderlands ish kind of game. I could actually completely see that. That sounds ah that sounds pretty. Halo. Halo campaign evolved. Yay.
01:06:14
Speaker
Oh, I'm so excited for that. I am generally like this looks yay. Like the redemption that Halo Studios kind of needs. Yeah. And the fact that they're actually making it like cross platform and all that stuff. Thank God. Yeah.
01:06:27
Speaker
Cross platform, new original missions. Yes. Do you know what? well the they They actually revealed the achievement list a while ago. Do you know what the hardest achievement to get in that game is? I mean, I remember back in the day doing like legendary with all skulls on or whatever. Perfect. Because you can do it again. That's an achievement. Legendary. All skulls on. Lasso, baby. It's back. That was it. Yeah. That is an achievement in the game.
01:06:55
Speaker
oh no That is an achievement. so and We're going to do it, Tony. ah God, I'm scared. Yeah, i'm not kidding. I never completed it. I i got it. It's so so rough. It's so rough. I remember getting past the first section. That was it. A game that I will ah talk about. Truck Coon is supporting me from another world. This is such an interesting game.
01:07:18
Speaker
ah Basically, the hero is like kind of divided into like two screens almost. But basically, the game plays where you are driving a truck And your hero, that who is isekai'd, is fighting enemies and might need help from the real world. So you and your truck run over people to isekai them to help the hero who's been isekai'd. is so crazy. I should actually wishlist this because this game actually does seem fucking nuts. There is a demo out for the game as well. way.
01:08:00
Speaker
I literally just looked it up. I am wishlisting this game right now because I should have wishlisted this long ago. i need to wishlist Truck Koon.
01:08:11
Speaker
I just looked it up. I've never heard. yeah and like on my phone, it's literally just like a girl and a ah Medieval outfit. Yeah. And then it's just like us, the average trucker. Yeah. Having to help. It's so ah fucking nuts. i Definitely would recommend checking out this Wild's Crazy game. Yeah, those are really all your all the big games coming out in the next two weeks. With that, time for the main focus, though. this is let's Let's dive in to our main focus. Here is what we are talking about this week.
01:08:46
Speaker
in the game lounge. Conversations of past and future games, the state of the gaming industry, how big decisions affect gamers and anything else that's important to us. Here's what's going down this week in the game lounge.
01:08:57
Speaker
And of course, whenever we have our boy on here, whenever we have Critical On, it just so happens je soa that the Final Fantasy Remake trilogy has news.
01:09:10
Speaker
And oh my god, it has news. Yep. We were guessing the last time we had you on, we were guessing what the third game was going to be. Yeah, we came up with a lot of stupid shit, but also like a couple of really good ones, too. We did. I don't know if we said i don't think we said Revelation, though.
01:09:26
Speaker
I don't think we said that. I remember saying Revelation almost seems a little too cliche. Like, I definitely remember that. Yeah, think we said it like it seems too cliche, but they did it anyway. Yeah. God damn it. It's really funny because the two that I was really rooting for were, I mean, I think a lot of people kind of had returns.
01:09:45
Speaker
I think a lot of people are on that. Yeah. I remember I kind of floated the idea of remembered because... Yeah, like Final Fantasy VII Remembrance or something along those lines. Yeah, it was something like that because I remember I got stuck on that one because I know that Nomura, especially when it comes to like Kingdom Hearts, he's on this whole like...
01:10:02
Speaker
memory kick and also that's kind of how final fantasy 7 and how the life stream even works is the whole like it's literally like your dying memories are just floating yeah in like a a cosmic dust kind of thing that's basically what the life stream is yes is that you're basically still alive your memories live within the planet so i was so stuck on remembrance i really wanted remembrance to be And also it was just kind of like, you know, this entire trilogy, like the the names kind of mean something.
01:10:35
Speaker
You have yeah remake, which is remaking the game, duh. But it's also remaking a new timeline. It's remaking Sifiroth because he's completely new. You are remaking...
01:10:47
Speaker
Final Fantasy 7 just yes in general and then you have Rebirth which is the rebirth of Sephiroth the rebirth of Zack because again Zack shows up out of freaking nowhere in that game yeah we can talk we can talk about the spoilers now which is so so nice I know gosh and we were Yeah, we were trying to keep it a little hush, but um I just like. We were, yeah. Yeah, because I mean, it was like fresh when that came. It was very fresh. It was like the game had just come out, I think, when we talked about it. And I don't think you finished it yet. No, I wasn't finished. I wasn't finished it yet when we talked about it. Now am. I was being as coy as possible, but yeah, now fuck it. You know, it's been a couple years. yeah yeah it's been a couple years we can spoil it now oh wow what a fucking ending that was what the fuck yeah but i absolutely loved it i love i had such a good time and again i ah i kind of want people and this remake trilogy to kind of get over the hate because i think it's great i really do
01:11:54
Speaker
I do think that like there are fair critics. I feel like I say this with every game. Every game deserves fair criticism. Yes. And I do have some and that I'd like to get into.
01:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, let's start with that. Let's let's start off with by talking about Rebirth. Yes. ah Before we get into all the other stuff. Okay. ah Rebirth, it was good. It was good. It made my top 10 of the year. Yeah. um It improved on a lot of things that Remake had started. Yes. It improved upon them.
01:12:24
Speaker
the The world was great. the The side games, some were good, some were... nid yeah the the minigames that's gonna be a everybody's gonna love her or hate it like it's um those are but overall overall it was a fun experience with a very i will say this with a very nomora ending Yes. Very, very. What the fuck? Demora ending. See, that's the thing. It's like, in all honesty, I know that people are going to get annoyed with me, but I am OK with it right now.
01:12:59
Speaker
And the only reason why I say that is because, I mean, to me, a lot of people who wanted like the one for one, just, you know, perfect remake, you know, like don't touch anything, don't touch the story or anything like that.
01:13:10
Speaker
I would wish that they kind of would just stop talking about it because obviously it's not the case. Yeah, this isn't this isn't a lot a one for a one. This is not a one for one. it was never going to be. I think that like.
01:13:23
Speaker
people were hoping it was like obviously with even like even remake wasn't a one for one because obviously the Midgar section of the OG seven for what I know is very short. yeah is It's 15% of the entire game so that they made it to a full fledged 50 hour game. full height Yeah, they did. And you know what, it should be fair. That's fine because it's we're more or less just expanding the stuff, which is fine.
01:13:47
Speaker
um with the only thing they really changed being like that fucking ending part like oh yes that's interesting but it's like it didn't stray too far no like changing anything i'm so happy you said that because that's exactly what i want to say um this entire series it's it is having your cake and eating it too it absolutely is because in a way they're doing a one for one but they're also doing like a one for one and a half Yes. and like is It's a one for one, but it's also a lot of extra stuff with a slightly different. Like, it's funny how remake the entire game is exactly the same, except for maybe 5% of it.
01:14:30
Speaker
As in like closer to the end and a little, little things and nods and twists here and there. Like, I believe like the few things like remake, the few things that like happen, like obviously anything with those fucking dust spirits never happened in OG seven. Yeah. The whispers. um know had to think about that. Yeah. the whisper i I'm like who i like, what are they called? The whispers. Here's the thing.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Ending
01:14:51
Speaker
job Obviously. yeah.
01:14:54
Speaker
Well, the ending itself, which having the ending itself. Yeah. Like fighting Sephiroth of air. That doesn't yeah happen. But the big tornado of whispers doesn't actually happen.
01:15:05
Speaker
um But again, to me, it like it makes sense because if you're making a trilogy and each game has to be completely independent of each other, but also progress the story, you need that big bad at the end of every game.
01:15:20
Speaker
And who else besides Sephiroth is going to show up every single time? I mean, yeah, it's like it's like the only option that there is. So it's like, yeah, it's like, you know, really, if we were actually to do a Midgar and at the end of the game, you're basically ah fighting a tank and its wheels. You're doing G-Bike and that's your finale.
01:15:38
Speaker
Like that sucks. like That's probably like if you think about it, that would have been the game. of remake is just doing G bike and just smacking a tank that blows fire on you and you're smacking his wheels.
01:15:50
Speaker
Like that's, that's how it would have ended. Like realistically, like they could have done like something grander. Like you could have faced off against like Rufus again, or like, like, it like, like a giant, like a giant mech suit or something, but you could have. Yes. I would say, yeah,
01:16:07
Speaker
As a new player, you would almost think that Rufus would be the big main bad guy, which again is just not the truth. Rufus is more like a secondary antagonist more than anything. Absolutely, yeah. He literally is just a side character that kind of just gets in your way more so than anything.
FFVII Rebirth: Story and Exploration
01:16:23
Speaker
um Yeah, but ultimately Sephiroth is the big bad. So it's like... and you't That's what I'm saying. It's like people kind of need to get over the fact that each of these games is going to be different. Yes, it's going to be. And it's going to give you exactly the same, but with a lot more.
01:16:39
Speaker
A lot more or a couple of things changed because Rebirth does cover now more of the world. Yes. Yeah. And they obviously, the part they expand on, they're able to expand each area a bit more instead of just going through them in the quick fashion, the original. Yeah. um They are able to go into more depth with that, the side characters, yada, yada. But obviously, ah the timeline of events changes slightly because yes I believe you had said that like we don't like with everything that we've done, we do in Rebirth, we do miss out on
01:17:18
Speaker
Rocket Town because that got moved. Yes, technically Rocket Town should be in Rebirth. It should be. But again, I'm OK with it because if you really think about it, like Sid would have had to have been a playable playable character at that point.
01:17:32
Speaker
And they are from what we know with Revelation, Rocket Town is going to be in that, and that is where we are handling that part of the story. So it's not like, so like, while it's a little different of like, we don't have Aerith with us like we did in the original, we are still covering that where I feel like Aerith wasn't, well, I mean, well,
01:17:50
Speaker
Aerith kind of was because Sid's the only person who knew Euphalma. Yes, exactly. And what's funny because we this is also kind of a new Sid, but not really. And this is another thing that um when it comes to revelation, a lot of people right now are saying like character assassination on c Sid.
01:18:09
Speaker
um I'm not there yet. He's not saying enough things. yeah I don't see no cigarette in his goddamn mouth. Yeah. That's what people are saying. It's modern day gaming. Chill the fuck out, guys. Well, yes, not only is it modern day gaming, but also I don't think a lot of people realize we meet Sid at his lowest point in the original Final Fantasy VII game.
01:18:34
Speaker
He is a huge asshole because we invade his space. Palmer shows up and says, we're canceling your dreams. We're canceling the entire rocket funding.
01:18:48
Speaker
Yeah, we're canceling everything about you and your life. So we basically meet Sid at his lowest point. So yes, he is a raging asshole when we meet him. But I feel like a lot of people, especially because it's text, you know, again, there were no...
01:19:02
Speaker
um ah voice characters obviously back in the day really it's it was up to interpretation more than actual yes it's like we can only like interpret it so far with it being voiced and what not we can get that better story now yeah see to me it's like even Sid just in the games he's just very matter of factly which is what I always read him as like he was never an asshole to me he was just like hey this is just what it is you know shut up and get over it that's not really being an asshole like being an asshole is like going out of your way
01:19:34
Speaker
to like, I'm going to call you a bitch right now. Like, you know, just don't do that. Yeah. Like there's a difference because we do meet Sid at his worst point. Or the more reason we just meet him as like this fucking dude running the fucking sir, ah up a plane service. Yeah. Like we're kind of meeting him in his most sweetest. So when we actually do get to Rocket Town, shit goes sideways.
01:20:01
Speaker
So we're not meeting him at his worst. kind of meeting him at his sweetest. So when Rocket Town happens. It should go sideways. Yeah. what we're saying. It's like, look, Rocket Town is where we'll get to know more of Sid. Yes. As long as they don't butcher it.
01:20:16
Speaker
Yes, I don't think they will like it'll be i'll be happy enough with it. Yeah, it's like if and when we get to Rocket Town, that's when we're going to see Sid be an asshole. Yes. Maybe ah take up smoking again. Like, who knows? Chain smoking. chains but yeah Yeah. But other than that, that was like the only you like story beat that was like skipped upon before getting to where we got to with where Rebirth ends. Yeah, and that's the thing.
Speculations on FFVII Rebirth Start
01:20:43
Speaker
It's like, um actually, there's a guy named Nico B. ah He's kind of a streamer. Nico Nico Bellic.
01:20:50
Speaker
ah Maybe. is that who it is? I don't know. I'm just like, that's the protagonist of GTA 4. Hey, Nico, let's go bowling. Oh, have to that's funny.
01:21:00
Speaker
But no, there's a ah content creator named Nico B, and he brought up the idea of basically the, we're going to start off in revelation crashed at the northern crater so basically the tutorial and the first chapter is actually getting to the northern crater in order for cloud in order for cloud to go crazy and that's also our tutorial area too you know what that would fuck that would actually make the most sense yes Because go for it. Because like, look, with where rebirth ends and cloud kind of being crazy already. Yes. They have the black materia. Yes. So the game being like, let's well, we know where Sephiroth is. Let's go to that northern continent.
01:21:52
Speaker
Yes. And then all those events happening like that and then leading to everything else. Yes. Because it makes the most sense. Because, again, it's just especially after you give. Either that or the game will start us in Rocket Town and Rocket Town is the tutorial area. You know, I actually I know this for a fact. Rocket Town is later in the game.
01:22:12
Speaker
Oh, so that's the only reason why I kind of discounted that, because I thought the exact same thing. Take the tiny Bronco to Rocket Town and that's where we start. Well, I mean, that that would make the more sense, more sense, though, wouldn't it? Like, I don't know. It's either going to be it's either going to be we go to the northern continent first or and then i Rocket Town Yes. What town is it that Cloud gets like hospitalized in? Is that Rocket Town or is that somewhere else? I think that's Medeal, if I remember correct. Right. Yes.
01:22:42
Speaker
So basically, um well, exactly, but think about this. and i I think that then, I feel like Rocket Town would be the right place to start because... The high wind ends up there or do we steal the high wind from Zunon? Yes. Okay, hear me out. So all the more reason why we start at the Northern Crater. So basically we get to the Northern Crater. We can start playing Sid and Vincent in their tutorial at the Northern Crater.
01:23:08
Speaker
And basically kind of get all that stuff. Cloud goes crazy and all that stuff. gives Sephiroth the black materia. This is like first three, four hours of the game, maybe five. Yeah. um Just kind of getting to the Northern crater because the game, the original Final Fantasy VII game, you give Sephiroth the black materia, the weapons come alive, and that's when you end up in Junon.
01:23:37
Speaker
So that's basically. Oh yeah, because then we get arrested. Yes, you get arrested at the northern crater. Then you go back to Junot. Yeah, so I feel, yeah no, because like we have, with how they revealed the high wind in the trailer for Revelations, it's like the high wind has like a big fucking...
The Highwind's Narrative Impact
01:23:59
Speaker
There's a big reason for this, like a big thing for this game because we get the whole map traversal. Yes, but to me, it would be very disappointing if you got it right off the bat.
01:24:10
Speaker
Like that doesn't make any sense. You know, if you think about it, you're going to get the airship a couple of chapters into the game. You're not going to just start off right away with that case, then why not start at Rocket Town then?
01:24:21
Speaker
Because it's like, as we said, like it's the one story beat that we didn't hit immediately in Rebirth. So why not start with Rocket Town, which then gives us a more proper introduction to Sid and also Vincent, because obviously this will be playable to they then work there with with with upon doing that, they then go to the Northern Crater.
01:24:41
Speaker
And then you're closer to like 10 to 15 hours in after all of that. Maybe you even hit up fucking Wu tie in between. And then. But again, this is. That happens. And then you get that. I believe that this, um you know, again, I completely agree. But ah I believe Hamaguchi himself in an interview said Rocket Town is at a later stage in the game. OK, so it's just one of those. Unfortunately, it's a fact.
01:25:06
Speaker
Okay. That rocket town is later. And unless he's pulling a fast one on us. Exactly. Yeah. Who knows? But um even this Nico B guy, um even if you go back and look at Revelation, like the, I think it was the gameplay trailer.
01:25:20
Speaker
Yeah. Like officially introduces himself at the Northern crater.
01:25:28
Speaker
it's one of those It's a weird little detail. He finally introduces himself at the Northern Crater, which means, oh, tutorial time. We're learning how to place it. Maybe. okay yeah but That's what I'm saying.
01:25:40
Speaker
yeah i was like In all honesty, I thought it was kind of smart that they would start at Rocket Town, but apparently... I mean, like, no, but it because it makes sense, though, because um at the end of the gameplay trailer, they show us the Sapphire weapon emerging from the water. Yes. Ready to take on the big Judon cannon now.
01:25:59
Speaker
And they do. and And this is where, again, I feel like the story points will pivot briefly, slightly, because the cannon fires yep in the original game. It hits Sapphire dead on. Sapphire weapon is destroyed.
01:26:12
Speaker
Yes. Sapphire weapon dodged. Yep. And so i'm now granted, I believe that's just because they they want to let us fight Sapphire Weapon and that'll turn into a boss fight at that moment. Yeah. Because it makes the most like it makes the most sense. I feel like what'll what it'll be is we fight Sapphire Weapon and then we escape on the high wind.
01:26:35
Speaker
Or we use the Highwind to fight Sapphire Weapon. Yeah. See, that's I completely agree because it's like that was one thing i was just like, oh, I don't remember that happening in the rear in the original because I remember the Junon cannon just yeah blows his face off.
Significant Boss Fights in Rebirth
01:26:49
Speaker
it just blows it up. He ay he dar you fucking dodges. See, yeah, that's the thing. He dodges Sapphire Weapon. Here's the other thing, though. We also see in the trailer that there's a normal weapon that we do fight in Medill.
01:27:02
Speaker
So does that that obviously means like with how early that is like we would obviously have to fight that before we fight Sapphire weapon because Sapphire weapon is much more dangerous weapon than that normal weapon is.
01:27:13
Speaker
So exactly. Again, events theory, maybe we started Medill.
01:27:22
Speaker
But who knows? Who knows? Here's the thing. i think we would have to see Cloud go crazy and then we have to recover him. Okay, you're right. So maybe ah maybe it go... well the But then the... je I don't even know. But again, there were a bunch of... There was a bunch of fucking... um Oh, the the bu bu up up but shinra people at the deal so maybe it's northern continent escape to a deal they deal with that weapon and none get a arrest i don't i don't know i don't know where it could go we'll have to wait obviously
01:27:53
Speaker
oh that's um true well yeah because well no that's the thing cloud is nowhere to be seen in junon because he fell into the life stream and then they randomly find him in midil oh Oh yeah. So yeah. So it could just be all that then. Okay. Yeah. So that could still work. Yeah.
01:28:12
Speaker
Because yeah, no, they randomly find them in a wheelchair in the deal. Yes. And see, that's where I'm just like, well, from the fucking people that really don't, who have only played the remakes and not the original. Yes.
01:28:26
Speaker
Well, see, that's the thing. All the more reason why we still need some time with cloud. Therefore we need to see him. in the tutorial section obviously going crazy and then then finally giving the black material separate off. Giving that and then it'll have, and then of course because the main character, it'll be like cut-ins where we're cloud in the livestream just losing his shit with all the cryptic shit happening within the livestream. Yes, as in we're not gonna be... and And that would obviously be the connection to Zack and Aerith too, that we see more how how we see them actually wait, hold on. They might be cooking shit.
01:28:58
Speaker
Yeah. And see well see, here's the thing. i I completely, I think that this is exactly how it's going to go because um i would have to say, yeah you know, with all that stuff, you know, kind of cloud floating in the live stream because Tifa kind of has that scenario too in rebirth. Yeah. But hers isn't as like, well, I mean, wild well, yeah, but hers was,
01:29:19
Speaker
clouds is definitely gonna be a lot different than that yes yeah yeah but um again both of those two still need to go through the live stream together in order to piece clouds mind back together and maybe that's also again you are correct where like maybe visions of zach and erith are also there to help him out because again that's how he pieces himself together is by understanding that he and then by the time we reach medil and find him Yeah. the time we find him again, it's like he's back to normal edgy boy cloud. Yes, because ultimately in the original Final Fantasy VII, Tifa and Cloud are not in your party for a while. Therefore, Sid is your um party leader for a while.
01:30:04
Speaker
Because he's the pilot of the ship. Yes. So who knows if we have like... He's the southern dragoon. Yee-haw. I didn't realize he was a dragoon. I didn't realize he was classified as a dragoon. Yes. Technically, anyone who's a lancer is considered a dragoon in the Final Fantasy series. Yeah. Yeah. I've always loved Sid.
01:30:22
Speaker
Actually, my main my main party back in the day was Sid, Red XIII, and Vincent. Those were my three. Nice. I absolutely loved him so much. Nice.
01:30:32
Speaker
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Gameplay Mechanics: Class Systems
01:30:39
Speaker
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01:30:45
Speaker
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01:31:05
Speaker
Act now and save your Discord server from meme disasters. The Meme Rehab Hotline is standing by, ready to rescue your friend's sense of humor. Remember, a meme saved is a last Now, another thing about the gameplay of the game, ah moving ah moving away from the story, because let's be real, that's where the rabbit holes all start and go. Again, i could talk about that for days. Exactly. We are getting the multi-class system, sort of like dress, kind of similar to dress spheres in the sense of like they'll look different.
01:31:38
Speaker
Yeah, but we get class like more class based stuff for the characters. Everybody gets for their base class and three others. Yes. um So like see if it can be a mage. What the others will be. I have no fucking clue. um But stuff like that, that looks it looks cool.
01:31:57
Speaker
I get I'll have to see it more in action before I really make the final judgment on that. Yes, I'm very skeptical because i Like, in my opinion, the your class system was always based on what material like loadout you had.
01:32:11
Speaker
Like, I just, I never really understood the fact that they're bringing classes and like job system into this. I have no clue what they're doing, but whatever. at the moment i have no opinion on it because i just don't know how it's gonna work yeah exactly exactly that is very fair it obviously ah side content will fill the game we will have access to the full map yes um obviously we i feel like we're gonna have super bosses i feel like we'll be fighting emerald staff emerald ruby diamond i well diamond was a story boss anyway yeah i think diamond or ultimate where the was the first what was the story boss and then the other three were your side i think it was diamond was a main boss and then ultimate emerald and well then so ruby were your secret bosses obviously i believe so it's one of the two it's between diamond and ultimate like what was story what was a story beat one was an optional beat Well, it's funny. to be Oh, no, that's right. Because there is one randomly just flying around. I think that's all. Yes. Yeah. OK, so diamond is the one that is coming after Midgar.
01:33:16
Speaker
Yes, that's the one. Because even that whole scenario with Midgar, i you know, of course it's not going to be the full-fledged Midgar that we got in remake. It's going to be very sectioned off. Yes, and we are going, yeah, we will have access to Midgar. I feel like we'll probably just have access to like maybe one or like two of the districts do the districts, basically. Like again, like when you enter it realistically, like obviously we're not going to be able to explore the entirety of Midgar unless they do that and they're like, actually, all of Midgar is here now. That would be insane. It's like, what the fuck there's a game inside a game what the fuck i mean, that would be super cool, but I know we can travel everywhere. We're able to travel to everywhere from Rebirth and and then with the addition of the Northern continent, which will only really be used for like final final stuff, unless there's like a small little area before like going deeper in.
01:34:10
Speaker
to the That's kind of why I want to bring up the Sapphire thing one more time, because Sapphire weapon, when he dodges the Junon cannon, he also attacks the cannon. Well, yeah, he blows a fucking shot into the cannon itself. Yeah, and completely like, um, annihilates it. Well, I think he might change the landscape of the grasslands behind it. I don't know. That might be another reason. Yeah, that's probably, that's a good thing to bring up
Deep Ground's Role in Rebirth
01:34:39
Speaker
because that probably will change the structure of Junot and the grasslands. Yeah, I didn't even think of that. I don't think that we're going to get like a again, like a one for one map remake of rebirth. We'll be able to go everywhere, but obviously things will be changed in certain areas. No, places are going to be different.
01:34:56
Speaker
Like they're going to like landscape. Everything needs to change a little bit. Yeah. With we obviously Medill will still look like Medill and Wu Tai will be Wu Tai because those are the new areas. So those aren't really getting touched. Wu Tai looks beautiful. It looks good.
01:35:11
Speaker
with the And then with the other places, it's just... ah gonna look roughly the same well if they if they if they aren't like touched like further in later in the story from like where you initially go they'll probably look most the same if not like slightly condensed realistically uh because like i feel like we won't have the same size of like cosmo canyon or yes uh nebel or see that's why i think when sapphire does blow up part of like the junon area and grasslands you are actually kind of sectioned off into a little yeah it would make more sense it would definitely make more sense Because even at that, going back to the Mithril Mines is pointless. So maybe Sapphire just blows up the mines.
01:35:51
Speaker
So, you yeah. Well, I mean, like, there's no point to go to the mines anyway, like, anymore. It's like, because you'll have a ship. Yeah. Oh, that's true. But I'm just saying, hypothetically, it would still be there. So why can't I go there?
01:36:03
Speaker
Unless Sapphire blows Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That, you know mean? Story-wise, like, I want to go to the Mithril Mines. You mean no fucking pointless? No. people People would. I'm just saying, you know. Yeah.
01:36:13
Speaker
People would bitch about that. What side content do you think we will see to fill this game? What hope? What side content would you like to see? Return from Rebirth, if any?
01:36:24
Speaker
Well, ah sorry, this is exactly why I brought up um Midgar, because again, deep ground. It's still a thing. They introduced it and integrate with Yuffie's DLC. And also now that we have Vincent, how much of Midgar do we get?
01:36:42
Speaker
So I'm not sure if we're going to be doing a lot of deep ground stuff. I have no clue. So I'm hoping that deep ground, when it comes to like Dirge Cerbera stuff, kind of makes an appearance. Oh, right. Yeah, Yeah.
01:36:58
Speaker
Because, of I mean, it's true. They're going to probably be there because, again, you have a Sonon, which was Yuffie's. like almost older brother character who just gets fucking wrecked by Nero.
01:37:14
Speaker
So it again, and Weiss does show up as a secret boss. Yeah. So, I mean, again, it's like if they don't have any deep ground stuff, i would be shocked.
01:37:26
Speaker
Like, you know, going back to Midgar and there's no... Like, Nero's nowhere to be found. I mean, again, Eufy would literally go back to Midgar and just have a complete emotional collapse. feel like Deep Ground might have a small role to play. Like, as like, either like a scenario thing or like a story beat for Eufy to deal with. deal with.
01:37:51
Speaker
But I also do feel like... Look, if we look at the FF7 games, there's one game missing that hasn't been remade because they did remaster.
Incorporating Spin-offs in Rebirth
01:38:02
Speaker
They did remaster Crisis Core. ye So why not give us Sturge of Cerberus revampire? Yes. i've Here's the thing. Straight up, I...
01:38:15
Speaker
The game is terrible, but... Hey, I'll be able to judge it soon because I'll be playing it in my marathon. No way. Oh, that's great. You're literally actually doing the spin-offs and stuff too.
01:38:26
Speaker
i am playing every goddamn Final Fantasy. Like when I tell you i am playing every Final Fantasy game, I am playing every Final Fantasy game. i will go over the list right now really quickly just so you can...
01:38:40
Speaker
bees You don't have to. There's so many. I am playing like 40 games. Yeah. yeahp Like it sucks because it also means that like when Resonance comes out later this year, I'm not playing that till like maybe a year or two from now.
01:38:53
Speaker
I mean, probably because I don't think you'll you'll get through it by the time even Revelation shows up because that's a lot of games and you're only through six. You're only up to six. on six. i'm on I played seven games. I'm on six. Yeah. Okay.
01:39:08
Speaker
That's amazing. So you'll actually, like, know what I'm talking about a majority of the time. ah Yeah. Well, soon. Once I get to seven, I'll actually finally understand all of this. Yeah. Well, okay. So, um well, that's the thing about Dirge of Cerberus. Dirge of Cerberus, the actual story is is really good. It is good.
01:39:26
Speaker
It's just, you know, it's ah it's a it's a fucking... rail shooter it is no it's a rail shooter it's just real bad it's not good I mean I'm excited I'm excited i ah I'm excited to play it well I mean that's the thing the dialogue is bad the characters names are stupid I mean literally so you know Weiss and Nero obviously but um literally the characters like the bad guy characters are freaking named blue blue red red like black black and white white so The fuck? Yes.
01:39:59
Speaker
So literally their character's name here. Gosh. Hold on. I'm Googling this because like, well, I want to take this at face value. ah Dirge of Cerberus. Is this actual? I'm not kidding. That's literally what their names are.
01:40:16
Speaker
Because I think... Okay, so they're... Ah, often joked about by fans as Blue the Blue. Yes, Azul the Cerulean. The Cerulean. That is just Blue the Blue. Blue the Blue. the fuck? And you have Rosso the Crimson. So Red the Red. the Red. Nero the Sable. I guess you could just go, you know...
01:40:37
Speaker
like black to black i guess because it's blank it's zero zero for the most part and weiss the immaculate so basically you know white the omnipotent almost so it's just like so do you think blue blue or red red will make a cameo in revelation that would be stupid if they do but See, all the more reason why Weiss and Nero the only two that they've introduced, and I hope that they just stick to those two. Yeah.
01:41:05
Speaker
Because if they bring up Red the Red and Blue the Blue, going to be so mad. Okay. Actual minigame-wise, though... um I don't know I don't know if they I don't know what might carry over. I don't know if the card game will come back at all. Oh, i fuck cause it has to.
01:41:21
Speaker
There's a story within. there' is a story. Well, there was a story with it it. felt like kind of concluded by the time we finished Unless there's more to it that they decide to add. Well, here's the thing, because it's like there is a story within the Queen's Blood game itself that really does.
01:41:37
Speaker
It looks like the ancients, like in my opinion, this is just how I kind of interpret it. It seems like the ancients a shackling Jenova at the Northern Crater.
01:41:48
Speaker
Like, that's what the entire story of Queen's Blood is And I found that very fascinating. So I'm just like, maybe they will expand on the Queen's Blood lore and story. I mean, they better bring Queen's Blood back. I just I love that game so much.
01:42:06
Speaker
I'll say i wouldn't mind Chocobo being games returning like the Chocobo racing or the Chocobo. Oh, yeah. I mean, everything gold
Gold Saucer and Mini-Games
01:42:14
Speaker
saucers coming. The gold saucer stuff. The gold saucer stuff is good.
01:42:17
Speaker
I'll take more of that, please. Thank you very much. Absolutely. want I'll take some expanded stuff on that. Thank you very much. I'm just saying bring back the basketball hoop game, but get rid of the fucking boxer game. I hate that game.
01:42:29
Speaker
but The freaking minigame boxing game is so bad. ah hate everything about that one. Other than that, though, gold saucer was fine. So bring that back. Obviously, we'll see some calcium bouts, obviously.
01:42:43
Speaker
ah Will Chadley be here? Will we have Chadley? This is going to be more Hamaguchi quotes that I'm about to say here pretty soon. um Chadley is coming back. The world is going to have more exploration and instead...
01:43:01
Speaker
um the mini games instead of them being mandatory because again rebirth it almost felt like they were mandatory it was like one was it was like one mandatory per region that was really what it felt like like one or two were mandatory per region but like i didn't really care because like obviously this is gonna be a long game anyway like you do we'll do whatever you need like it's like i was gonna play everything anyway well yeah exactly was like of course i'm gonna come i'm completionist so of course gonna do all of it but um yeah My issue with the mini games in Rebirth is that they did see mandatory because a lot of them had the folios in order to upgrade your weapons. A lot of them had materia.
01:43:39
Speaker
Like a lot of the mini games had materia attached to them. And a lot of the mini games did have weapons attached to them too. Yeah. So I always felt like Rebirth, they were mandatory as opposed to Revelation. Hamaguchi did say there's going to be a lot more exploration.
01:43:56
Speaker
Chadley isn't going to have as much. of a spoiler with his ah abilities, I guess, if that makes sense. Okay. yeah because again Honestly, here's what I think they should do with Chadley.
01:44:12
Speaker
Keep Chadley tied to the summons. I think that's fine. i Here's the thing. The one thing that I was disappointed about Rebirth is like I actually wanted to find Kujada chilling in the middle of a volcano or something.
01:44:28
Speaker
I did. um I think exploration in this one is going to be better because if Knights of the Round is under Chadley's command, i would actually kind of hate that because you do find them. Here's the thing. If it's if it's under his command, it's like a side quest stuff where it's like, hey, because you had to do specific things to get Knights of the Round anyway.
01:44:52
Speaker
Well, exactly. It's like, yeah, you have to get the gold Chocobo and then the gold Chocobo is the only one that can go to that crater. Yeah. In that weird area. If it's in this time where it's like, hey, guys, I've been studying, you know, with all the material studying, I've I've been like sensing like this rare materia. I can't pinpoint it.
01:45:12
Speaker
Like, yeah, here, there but it's like you you go on like a series of quests, like not just like goings like towers of shit, but like actual like quests where it's like, like, oh, yeah, I have no clue. It's like all the other summons where it's like, oh, it might be here. No, it's just fucking Bahamut. Yes. See, that's the thing. It's like Hamaguchi did say that ah because even rebirth, it's like you knew exactly what Charlie was going to give you when you completed the mission.
01:45:41
Speaker
So it was never really a secret. Like it was just a completionist checkbox list. And you knew exactly what were going to get. You knew which summit you were going
Chadley's Role and Story Integration
01:45:49
Speaker
for. Yeah. Where instead it should be like having it more open of like, oh, hey, if you continue on this area with these secrets, it's like maybe something will pop up.
01:45:59
Speaker
You know, oh who knows? OK, you know, that would that would be cool. That would be cool. See, OK. I'm sorry. Go for it. You do your thoughts first. I could just talk forever about these things. Here's the thing. I think Chadley would be more better utilized with deep ground stuff, especially because that's technically where Weiss shows up to begin with.
01:46:21
Speaker
Chadley had an interaction with Weiss. Yes. So it would make more sense. Yeah, Chadley needs to be connected to deep ground. Just get that stuff out of the way as a side quest mission. He's green green. don't know. Chadley the Verde.
01:46:36
Speaker
Chad the Verde. but if she The Chad. See, that's the thing. It's like, um well, he would because especially with his ties with Hojo, I'd rather have Chadley just be sectioned off with deep ground Hojo stuff. Like, yeah you know, kind of get him out of the picture when it comes to the exploration of the world.
01:46:57
Speaker
um But I also just want to throw out one more weapon that would be fun since we're talking about Dirge of Cerberus. It'll be great if Omega shows up. Yeah. Yeah.
01:47:10
Speaker
Love that. I would love that. I'm just saying that, but I don't know if it's going to work. Yeah, fair. Okay. I've got two questions left about specifically rebirth. Yes. We'll quickly talk residents.
01:47:21
Speaker
Yes. After that. First, will Gilgamesh return? um Yes. ah A full fledged story. I don't know. Will he return? Absolutely.
01:47:32
Speaker
hu Ever Crisis, Ever Crisis, the mobile game, FF7 mobile game that featured the first soldier storyline with Glenn Lodbrock and Sephiroth's origins shut down.
01:47:44
Speaker
Since Glenn Lodbrock's whole fucking lore kind of came from this game with this game shutting down, what does that leave Glenn with the rest of this remake trilogy? If I'm being completely honest, it's it's so funny because Ever Crisis was more of a ah story about Sephiroth than it was...
Glenn's Role Post-Ever Crisis
01:48:02
Speaker
Glenn. I still find Glenn to be useless and pointless. I don't understand. That that is fair. good I'm going to be completely honest. It's like Glenn's connection to Rufus and Sephiroth is it. That's it. Yeah. I mean, there's like Glenn himself is just, I mean, again, unless they do that whole like, you know, Glenn's cloud. it was It was never actually Glenn. It was actually just a whisper because it's fucking Sephiroth. Ah!
01:48:29
Speaker
See, that's the thing. It's like, yeah, that's basically like right now, that's what Glenn is being used for as just a ah ghost for Rufus, which I'm just like, that's kind of dumb. Just get him out of here.
01:48:40
Speaker
Like, there's no reason to have Glenn around. He doesn't do anything. And again, Ever Crisis was always about... um Sephiroth's motivations in general. Like it's about young Sephiroth and the choices that he had to make as a weapon for Shinra. Yeah. So actually Ever Crisis is a good game. It actually is.
01:48:59
Speaker
It's kind of sad that it's coming to a close. But Glenn is just... I still don't know why he's around. He's so pointless. And he was... He wasn't really used... It was like he we had like three fucking scenes in the whole game.
01:49:11
Speaker
Yeah. i That's what I'm saying. It's like Glenn was just like a quasi father-ish figure to Sephiroth. Yeah, it's it's very interesting. We'll i will have to just wait to see what they do with him for this new one now that the game that he was from is being shut down. Yeah. and and Even more confusing when he appears to able to go and like, who the fuck is that? Yeah, he appears as well, Sephiroth uses him as ghost form to like scare Rufus and that's it.
01:49:37
Speaker
So I'm just like, I don't know what they're doing with him and I don't really care if they bring him back. All right. Switching gears. Yeah. ah Yes. Final Fantasy Residence, the first HD 2D Final Fantasy officially got revealed as well.
Final Fantasy Resonance Announcement
01:49:52
Speaker
It's a remake of the former mobile game Brave Exvius. Yes. um What are your thoughts on this? Did you ever play Bravex Vs? What are your thoughts on? I best did play Bravex Vs. I actually liked it a lot. I'm not, you know, again, we were just talking about how like, you know, it's kind of our fault that mobile games are kind of like the new norm when it comes to digital rights media and all that stuff where they can just, because it's it's like they can just up and up and up and be canceled. And yeah, there's no way to play them ever again. Yeah. Yeah.
01:50:23
Speaker
But unfortunately, yes, unfortunately, this this is a this is a nice thing. This is a great way. This is a great way to experience the great ex brave exfius story, which again, apparently it is a completely original story. It really has nothing to do with brave exfius.
01:50:37
Speaker
It's like inspired. Like it's like it's it's taking like inspiration like there because like I believe it's like the world that it's it was set in is like yeah the world that we're world doing it in world and characters and maybe some of the specific boss fights or something like that. Yeah, but um I actually well, this is the reason why I kind of wanted these two to be the main conversations that I wanted to talk about, because the thing about the FF7 remake trilogy, I'm just saying if that's the future of the combat of Final Fantasy games, I am OK with that because you can still make games like Final Fantasy Resonance off to the side.
01:51:17
Speaker
Like to me, i don't think we could have the best of both worlds of the turn based combat and the action oriented combat. Yes. And resonance is a nice way to show us that Final Fantasy still cares about the turn based that Square Enix still cares about the turn based Final Fantasy games. Yes, because I want the like, in my opinion, I think the Final Fantasy seven remake combat is perfect.
01:51:40
Speaker
it's It's very action-packed. It's also... It is kind of turn-based in terms of the ATB system. Yeah. Where it's like you kind of fill up your games and then you use it. It's more strategy It's more strategy-based, where it's like, is this an optimal time and position that I'm in to unleash my fucking... ah Braver. Yeah. Or like, you know, fire on a specific yeah frosty lady or something. Should I Faraga this pig? Yes.
01:52:13
Speaker
And it's a frosty pig. So yes, please do it. Like, it yeah like it again, it is. There's a lot of strategy in this action-based combat. It is fantastic. It is perfect. It's a blending of both worlds. And there's still the stagger bar system.
01:52:28
Speaker
So they can still use that. Perfect. Perfect. And they can still make offshoot games like Final Fantasy Resonance. And it's just it's just so unfortunate because I don't know why they weren't doing this for the last like 20 years.
01:52:44
Speaker
Because even if you look at... They definitely could have like... ah Closer around like obviously like we did get like yeah, we like obviously we did get the pixel remasters in between that stuff and like well, that's nice. It's not like a new Yeah, it's not a new game. It's not a new experience, but I also do kind of want to throw this out there because ah I know a lot of people, again, when it comes to the Final fansy final Fantasy franchise specifically, they want for it to go back to turn-based.
01:53:13
Speaker
I don't care if it does. But if they make games like Resonance off to the side, I'm totally cool with that because they also, these are the same people, Square Enix and a turn-based system, Octopath Traveler, that are making Resonance.
01:53:28
Speaker
So they always have been making turn-based games, Octopath Traveler 1 and 2. And Zero. There's three of them. there's yeah Don't forget Zero. Oh, you're right. I actually do forget, but I still haven't done that one yet. The fun fuck the funny thing about Zero is Zero is ba is was when the Octopath mobile game was canceled. Zero's the Octopath mobile game just turned into a non-mobile version of it and they made it work. Yes, and that's what I'm saying. is like like I think Square Enix is finally getting it.
01:53:57
Speaker
To where you can, have again, it's very much like Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy. You can have your cake and eat it too. It's fine. You can do both at the same time.
01:54:09
Speaker
And I think what they're doing with the like reused assets and making them into a full 30, 40 hour experience is perfect. I'm buying both of these games when they come out.
01:54:20
Speaker
And I'm going to love them both.
01:54:24
Speaker
That's all I'm saying. i fuck now i'm i was going to I was going to ask, do you think Ariana Grande and Katy Perry will be secret units because they were units in Brave Exvius? But they did reveal actually the the whatever they're called, like...
01:54:41
Speaker
ah crystals are like uh you like just special spirits i forgot what hero spirits yeah they did reveal the list uh we are getting basically uh the main hero from each game so we are getting the warrior of light thurion the iron knight cecil barce tara cloud and sephiroth yes uh squall zadane Titus Wow Chitato Oh Lightning Okay Estola Wow Noctis and Clive Oh just wow okay that was actually more than I thought um here say where There's like an additional set of like original characters too yeah And again there are characters from the spin-offs Which I didn't recognize because I haven't played the other spin-offs But that that was of the of the numbered games those are the characters appearing
01:55:33
Speaker
Yeah. As spirits. Again, they're just spirits. I know a lot of people are like, oh, well, that's totally unoriginal. It's like, oh, you're just using legacy characters. That's but that's how Brave Exvius
Resonance Gameplay Discussion
01:55:44
Speaker
was. Absolutely. And the funny thing is in Resonance, they're only basically like ability based as in like, yeah if you have you have the original you have your original party and they basically basically like act like a summit almost. Yeah, or like a material loadout. Yeah, from what I understand, that's how it workedre they they're working. Yeah, they're basically like, say, you know, Cloud himself is like, okay, basically you get like a buff on attacks or whatever.
01:56:09
Speaker
Because he's more attack based. He's basically just like having, you know like a you know, just like an armor piece or like a necklace. That's basically what the spirit ashes are or whatever.
01:56:20
Speaker
So it's like it's not like they are the characters that are actually attacking. They're just like equipped Like they're just equipped. Yeah. Things. They're just equipped things that you can use. It's almost in a sense. It's kind of like Fire Emblem Engage in a sense where you would ah equip rings of the past heroes. Yeah. ah To your party members. That's perfect way. And then they would get their abilities. It's very similar to that with how how it's being described here. Exactly. Exactly. So, I mean, again, it's like it's a completely original story. The actual like spirits or whatever they're called. i Maybe they're called Resonance. I don't know.
01:56:55
Speaker
But um it's something along those it's sign along those lines. But yeah, it's like they have nothing to do with the story and they will have nothing to add to the story. They're just combat based. Yeah.
01:57:08
Speaker
yeah additions like really that's it they have nothing to do with the story but um yeah this is basically just a condensed version of almost brave exfius like i'm so down for that because yeah it's like about 30 40 hours for the main game up to 80 hours for 100 completions and i hope ariana grande's fucking bunny outfit comes out and also kitty perry has an ultimate called firework or something you know what like i would so I would totally see this game getting DLC and if that was released for DLC I think I would be a-okay with that because that would just be funny. I think it would be hilarious. ah Okay.
01:57:45
Speaker
Is there anything else you want to add on either Revelation or Resonance? um No, not really. Like I said, it's like, I think these were the main two topics I wanted to talk about because I yeah i think that this, to me, is the future of Square Enix, is that you can have a great combat-based game with an ATB system that that works perfectly and do a turn-based offshoot off to the side.
01:58:11
Speaker
You can do both. Square Enix, you're doing great you do that. I was going to ask you, have you picked up ah the Millennium Tales, the Adventures Elliot? You know what? um i I've heard that I was about to get it. I was about to get it. and then I will say it's fantastic. i It is. It is a very, it's if you come it's like they took the Legend Zelda formula, but like Square Enix did up a bit.
01:58:39
Speaker
Yes. And HD2D styled. It's really, really fun. Actually, it's funny. I was talking to somebody who's in my Discord and just talked to him personally. He he has been wanting me to play it.
01:58:50
Speaker
I want to. I kind of pulled out. It's a really good game. It's really good. I liked it a lot. If you like OG Zelda, if you like the HD2D art style, um if you like Square Enix fantasy storytelling, this is ah it's it's good.
Game Recommendation: Millennium Tales
01:59:09
Speaker
Yeah, I heard a lot about it, but um I've kind of heard mixed reviews, so I took a step back. I just haven't. That's fair. I haven't got back to it yet. But i ask for still I would recommend it. Sweet. Okay, might get it then. Yay. So with that, let's dive into the bonus level. Great deals and recapping gaming history. It's all here in the bonus level. right. And starting it off, we got Game Clash. This is our small eight entrant tournament yeah where the guest decides the winners. Our theme today are the areas within the Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy oh that we ah we have had access to.
01:59:45
Speaker
yeah it So Critical, you are going to be the one that decides the winner of each match. Are you ready? I'm so ready. All right. Match one, Cosmo Canyon versus the Meridian Ocean.
01:59:56
Speaker
ah I mean, there wasn't much to do in the Meridian Ocean besides run over things. Cosmo Canyon. Junon versus Midgar. You know what? ah Absolutely, Midgar. There is just so much in Midgar.
02:00:11
Speaker
There's just too much in Midgar. Uh, Nebel versus the Grasslands. Uh, I mean, oh, that's tricky because those were probably the two most disappointing areas. Because, Nebel, like, of course, the events of Nibelheim are kind of a huge deal, but the actual area itself is kind of pointless. There's really not much in that area. Grasslands is, like, the first place that you come to.
02:00:35
Speaker
ah dang it. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but going to Nebel. Oh, well, that's the first time you get to fight Gilgamesh. Like physically.
02:00:47
Speaker
is it right. It is. is it I think. Yeah, it's like one of the little mountains off to the side. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So actually, Nibble. Yeah, I'll go for Nibble. Corel versus Gungaga. Oh, my God. That's funny. OK, so in Rebirth, Gungaga was the first time I actually had open world fatigue.
02:01:06
Speaker
um oh the fatigue hit hard right when GoGaga showed up I was like you know what fuck this I'm just gonna plow through it um so Corel oh but even at that Corel is Costa del Sol it's Gold Saucer yeah it's the entire desert area as well as Barrett's hometown oh yeah Corel for sure okay Cosmo Canyon versus Midgar oh god Midgar there's just so much in Midgar there's too much And Neville versus Corel.
02:01:40
Speaker
Corel, because obviously I just love. Yeah, grand finals, Midgar versus Corel. Midgar versus Corel. Dang it.
02:01:52
Speaker
Because the gold saucer is in Corel. But Midgar. ah can't believe I'm going to say this just because an entire game was dedicated to Midgar.
02:02:04
Speaker
I'm going to say Midgar. there's just so much there's so much in that game yeah ah congratulations to Midgar for coming out number one on top again totally not paid for by the propaganda that is the Shindra Corporation coming to you from the Shindra Corporation Moving on, brought to you by the Shimmer Corp. Moving on this week in gaming history, July 20th to August 2nd. Here's some stuff that happened in the past. Starting off July 20th, 2005, the aszuret Entertainment Software Rating Board, the ESRB, re-rates the video game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas from mature to adults only.
02:02:44
Speaker
July 28th, 2017, Nintendo launched the 2DS XL in the U.S. priced at $150.
02:02:52
Speaker
wow August 1st, 1994, a federal district jury in New York awards 208 million us doll USD in damages to Alpex Computer, fining Nintendo guilty of infringement of an early video game patent held by Alpex.
02:03:08
Speaker
In-game birthdays. On the 20th, Bastion turns 15. On the 21st, Splatoon 2 turns 9. the 23rd, Catwoman turns 22. On the Wii Sports Resort turns 17. the 27th, Dr. Mario turns 36. On the 28th, Pikmin turns 9. On the 29th, Soul Calibur 4 turns 18. On the 30th,
02:03:22
Speaker
on the twenty seventh dr mario turns thirty six on twenty eighth hey pickman turns nine on the twenty ninth soul caliber four turns eighteen on the thirtieth Pokemon Crystal turns 25. On the first, Super Monkey Ball Adventure turns 20. And on the second, The Legend of Link's Awakening turns 33. How's that back feeling after that? It's only good. ah Moving on to our seasonal poll, Tony's Game Poll. This is a poll that changes every season where we poll our guests and we reveal the winner at the very end of the season. oh no way.
02:04:02
Speaker
What sport should Mario play next that he has not played before? So you cannot you can't you cannot use tennis, baseball, soccer, basketball, golf, volleyball, dodgeball, ice hockey, horse racing, dancing or like track and field Olympics, because we're going to limit the Olympic sports. OK, so to like.
02:04:21
Speaker
To that, obviously. OK, so can I make one? So, yeah, what sports Mario play that he has not played before? um Well, I mean. Curling.
02:04:33
Speaker
I don't know if I want to count that because that is a big in the Winter Olympics. It's a big one. ah i don't know if I can count curling.
02:04:43
Speaker
shu wait white does I don't think I can because like Winter Olympic wise curling is like a main event. So I Mario has played it technically. Oh, he has. Oh, dang. Because I it would be funny because you can literally push it. And also you could be the little scrubby but ah guys with the broom, too. So it's very interesting. That is what you do with the event as well. thelythic Games. OK, I did anything else.
02:05:09
Speaker
I can't think of it. um ah Lacrosse. I'll take we will. We we do take that. OK, OK.
02:05:18
Speaker
Okay, ah your deals of the week, starting off with your free games you can get on Epic. Until the 23rd, you can get Echo Generation Midnight Edition and Luto for free. And from the 23rd to 30th, you can get Four Tails for free.
02:05:33
Speaker
As for Steam sales, up until the 26th, you can take part in the Games Made in Sweden sale. And until the 27th, the Roka Play publisher sale, SMEG publisher sale, and Marmalade Games Studio 10th anniversary publisher sale are currently on ah Steam sales.
02:05:50
Speaker
ah For PlayStation sales, the summer sale goes on until the August 12th. And if you didn't know, Big Walk, one of the the new games from House House, is going to be on PS Plus for August. So be sure to take advantage of that next month when it when it comes out.
02:06:05
Speaker
I'm looking forward to that one. Your achievement of the week is in Densh Attack, and not a scratch, which is complete level without crashing. And the game of the week is Halo Campaign Evolved.
02:06:16
Speaker
woo And critical. If there is a game old or new that you would recommend to the audience, what game would that be? Oh gosh. I would have to go something a little newer. Um,
02:06:28
Speaker
uh oh can i give two absolutely um okay returnal probably one of the best roguelites i've ever played my life and i love it and i'm gonna have to give a shout out to clear obscure expedition 33 they did what square enix could couldn't do in 20 years for some reason the question for you about returnal have you played seros as well not yet but i Of course, I'm going to love it because if it's exactly like Returnal, of course, I'm going to love Saros or Saros, whatever. I don't know how it. Whichever of the two pronunciations we choose to call it this day. yeah
02:07:07
Speaker
i don't even know the definition of what Saros is. So, yeah. Perfect. I love Returnal. It's so good. People get on Returnal. Amazing. I need to play it. I know it's I believe it's ah on the PS Plus catalog. So I should I should play it. Yeah, it's free.
02:07:22
Speaker
I believe I should play it that I should I should just play it then. It's great. Yep. That's all got. All right. Well, with that, we've made it to the end of another episode. Woo.
02:07:34
Speaker
Critical. Thank you for joining. Thank you for coming back on. I mean, I'm glad to come back fully to streaming as of next week. yeah As of this episode's published date, actually, because if you're listening to this on the Monday of its release, yeah which is the 20th, you're officially back now. Yep, I will be back on yep probably starting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week. yep ah So where can we feel where could people find you on the internet? Yes, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube. Those are definitely going to be the main three, and that's going to be Critical Unc.
02:08:09
Speaker
Critical spelled exactly the way it is, and Unc is in Uncle UNC. Perfect. Be sure to go check those out. ah And of course, you can find me at Tony's Game Lodge on everywhere. X, Blue Sky, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube.
02:08:26
Speaker
the whole kit in caboodle, uh, is where you can find me. Uh, you can find highlights of this podcast over on my YouTube channel, uh, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. so be sure to check those out as well. And, uh, we stream on Twitch whenever I can. i don't have a set schedule cause I work a part-time job. Uh, so it's whenever I have the time to, uh, you'll either catch me doing a playing a final fantasy game for my final fantasy marathon or B over these summer months, we've got the game lounge, summer Olympics,
02:08:57
Speaker
So you'll see me and like 12 other people doing a game, a part of that series as well. Uh, So look forward to that as well. Critical Unc.
02:09:09
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming back on. Yeah. Thank you for having me because I'm not kidding. I'm i'm so thrilled to come back and hang out again. This was fun. Excellent. It was fun.
02:09:20
Speaker
And thank you, the listener, for tuning in Be sure to like, share and follow the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to this on. We will be back in two weeks time with another new episode right back here in the Game Lounge.
02:09:35
Speaker
Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Tony's Game Lounge. New episodes release every two weeks. Make sure to follow, like, and share the podcast on your streaming service and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, and X.