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Baldur's Gate 3 is the best game of all time and Overwatch 2 is the worst?! - Add to Party 08.16.2023
4 Plays1 year ago
This week we ramble about our favorite movies, Baldur's gate 3 continued domination of the internet and Overwatch 2's continued fall from grace.
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts' Banter
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to Add to Party. A Friendship Simulator masquerading is a new show. I'm your host, James Hartwell, and I'm joined by Charles Jamont, and I'm joined by Andy Kay. Good evening, gentlemen. Good evening.
00:00:28
Speaker
How are you doing? Hello. You know, I'm doing good. Just one step closer to death. Oh, that's nice. Well, you just have to anger it away, James. Oh, you can't anger this way, Andy. Oh, oh. Wait, do you have a new malign- mal- malignant? Malignant? Malignant? No, no. I know. Damn it. Now I can't even say it.
00:00:54
Speaker
That's it. Well, you could also say Malady, I guess. Malady is the one that is the one you're looking for. Yes, Malady. Yeah. Yeah. What else are you doing to make yourself old?
Genetics and Personal Fitness Jokes
00:01:07
Speaker
Oh, I aged. You know, I just got in the mail my MST 3K backer rewards. Oh, yeah.
00:01:17
Speaker
And I ordered a shirt, or I was part of my rewards, and they sent me a small. And I was like, let's see.
00:01:29
Speaker
Andy, how would a small fit over your bulging muscles? All right. Oh, thank you. Thank you, James. Rippling. I'm able to fit in a small. An eight pack, just bustling. Yeah. That's what it was. You guys, no, no. You know what I learned the other day?
00:01:51
Speaker
that you're the, the amount of your abs is based on. I saw that too. Yeah, you did. Yeah. Wait, I want to know what the amount of abs you have is actually genetic. It's based on a number of muscles in your stomach area. So like not everyone can have like a six pack or a 10 pack or an eight pack. I think 10 pack is like the like limit. Yes, the most. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's like you're born with a certain number of muscles and that will determine what kind of like
Reflecting on College Lifestyle
00:02:20
Speaker
like eight pack or six pack that you have. So you're saying I can't have abs genetically. No, you have a certain number. You could have a four pack. Could I? Or, or maybe Andy, maybe you have a one pack. Oh, wait, is that my gut? Yeah. No, I'm going to rip your rippling muscles in your small shirt. My small shirt. Yeah. You had that problem where it's kind of tough to breathe in it.
00:02:49
Speaker
You're just it's not it's not it's not a thing So like I don't understand how I used to be able to live in a body like that how how wait Oh, so this wasn't an accident you ordered a small no no no I ordered a medium because I live I fit mediums
00:03:08
Speaker
Which isn't always true either, but I mean, I fit in them better than smalls. Right. Right. You fit in mediums asterisks. Yeah. As long as they don't shrink after the wash, you'll still fit in them. Exactly. To be fair, I'm fitting better in my mediums. Not perfectly, but I'm sure. Good job, Andy. I bet if you cut out alcohol, you'd be fiddling even in that small. No, you just have to eat less so you can drink more.
00:03:34
Speaker
I'm counting those. But I don't know how I used to be. I don't know. I don't know. It was just making me think about how was my body ever like that. I think back then I only ate apples to be fair.
00:03:49
Speaker
So I just walked a lot and ate apples. So so I guess if I'm going to get back to that, guys, I got a weird hipster lifestyle used to
Revisiting Favorite Movies
00:04:00
Speaker
leave it. It was it was college. It was, you know, you had your you had your guitar on your back. Honestly, yeah, I had a guitar. That was when the first time I grew out my hair.
00:04:15
Speaker
And I was just living that life. There's such a good joke part of the Barbie movie about guys playing acoustic guitars. Oh, I'm going to go see that on Thursday. Oh, it's so good. I'm a big movie boy because this weekend, have either of you guys seen Old Boy?
00:04:36
Speaker
Oh, that's right. They're airing it back in theaters, right? Yeah. The Korean one or the James Brolin one? The Korean one. Okay. It's going to be in theaters, so I'm going to go see it. I just made plans today to go see it this Saturday. You know it's hyper-violent, right? It's my favorite movie.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, OK. I don't know. I wasn't. I mean, like I've never seen the Korean old boy, but I've seen like parts of it to know that it's hyper hyper violent. Yeah, I. Well, this is what actually has been on my mind today is that I have always called old boy my favorite movie. And I saw it way, way, way, way, way back when, like 2005 or whatever.
00:05:16
Speaker
And so I've always carried it with me as my favorite movie, and then I realized I haven't seen it in a while. And then I realized, does my favorite movie hold up? Like, what is the frequency you need to visit a movie to maintain it as your favorite movie?
00:05:34
Speaker
I don't think it's bad. I think that depends on a lot of people. Yeah. Some people do some people do a yearly rewatch of their favorite movie. Oh, I'll watch Shawshank Redemption like once a year. Is that your favorite movie? It's I can't. It's like the perfect movie.
00:05:50
Speaker
I think Old Boy is the perfect movie from when I last saw it however many years ago. So I don't know, but you have the credentials to call it your favorite movie. I have these memories that live in my head, these impressions that I carry. But what if I go see it and then it's not my favorite movie anymore? I'm scared you guys. Why means you've grown as a person. That's all that matters.
00:06:15
Speaker
I mean, in the 2000, that would have been around high school. I was an edgy high schooler. I was waiting at the library. You haven't seen it since high school? No, I saw it maybe in 2010. I probably haven't seen it for like 10 or 11 years. Well, I mean, how often do you rewatch things in general and rarely ever, except for I rewatch it all the time. OK, that's well, that's like your favorite piece of media. Yes. Yeah.
00:06:44
Speaker
But it's also not movies. Correct. I stare at the audience. I guess I would just say that Ava is the only media that I really rewatch. Oldboy is just something I carry with me and I'm a little bit scared. It's like I'm confronting the tastes of like myself, like 10 years ago or something.
00:07:07
Speaker
What if I am different? What if I have changed? Andy, how often? Good. No, I'm just saying, Andy, then that's OK. But I don't want I don't need all this self reflection. What's wrong with self reflection? Nothing. I was about to say, Andy, how often do you just like?
00:07:27
Speaker
Go about your day and you just remember something from your past and you go, oh, God. Oh, I cringe all the time. Yeah, that's good. That's growth, Andy. The fact that you can do that means you have grown.
00:07:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah. But I don't I guess I don't want to cringe about something important to me. Hmm. I don't. I mean, I mean, old boy is pretty widely well received. And that's the thing. It's I'm complaining about something that is well received. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And he real controversial. OK. Yeah.
00:08:00
Speaker
But I don't know. It's just been a while since I visited it and I'm going to go see it with a friend. And then it's that weird thing where it's just like, hey, this is something I really like and is important
Popcorn Debate and Solo Movie Experiences
00:08:10
Speaker
to me. And then another person is going to be like, OK, that's that pretty video. He's just watching. So.
00:08:20
Speaker
So Andy, are you so the movie theaters near me are Regal theaters and AMC Regal has a has a membership for a monthly membership and for all you could watch movies. Oh, I see has that too. Yeah, yeah. I'm assuming they must have. Right. But like, do you think you're reaching a point that maybe you should invest in the membership?
00:08:48
Speaker
I literally thought about that, too, because I want to see the new Toon Age Mutant Ninja Turtles. Me too, actually. Right. Yeah. So I am going to wait for that one to come to streaming, but I do want to see it or we had a membership. You could go see it. Yeah. Or we could all watch it together in Seattle. Oh, that would be sweet.
00:09:07
Speaker
Well, I need some popcorn, too. Do I get discounts on my popcorn? Actually, yes. Oh, my God. Can I can I tell you something? So I went to see Barbie with my niece and my mother. And when I got there, we got popcorn. My niece put butter and salt on her popcorn. I looked at her like my brother raised you wrong. You don't listen.
00:09:34
Speaker
Movie theater popcorn is bad is like when they give it to you, it is buttery and salty enough. Wait, wait, hold on. Can you repeat your initial reason? Yeah, wait, they put extra butter.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah, you know how there's like the butter thing like over by the like the napkins and the condiments or whatever? That depends on the theater. Oh, before. Yeah. Oh, no, that's a thing. I mean, I've never I've never not seen that at a theater. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So she like, you know, put more butter on top of it and then she got the little salt shaker and put more salt on.
00:10:04
Speaker
No. So here's my thing. I think the most effective butter application is that the straw is the person that actually is when the person scooping it so that they can layer the butter. So, you know, they fill it halfway butter, then fill it to the top butter. That way, there's still butter, no matter how deep you go. But I'm going to admit something to you, gentlemen, you know, as we've gotten older. Yeah, I order a small popcorn.
00:10:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Can't finish. I can't I can't ever finish a large one. And yes, the difference is only a dollar or two. And that's how they get you to buy the bigger they get you. But no, I'm just not finishing it. And I just feel bad for throwing away the unbuttered top layer of popcorn. Charles, I have a confession. Oh, God.
00:10:58
Speaker
I do the same thing. And it feels like you're doing something wrong. It feels like you are a dollar away from a garbage truck of popcorn. And it's like, no, I don't want more than I can eat. Right. I've only gone I've only gone down to a medium.
00:11:19
Speaker
To be fair, I fluctuate. I don't want to say I've committed to the small because the medium is OK, but I do not finish the medium most of the time. I still get the gallon of Coke Zero, though. Oh, well, yeah, that that one is fine because you definitely you will find yourself still being able to finish that throughout a two hour movie.
00:11:40
Speaker
Oh, I can't do a large drink either. I do a medium drink. Whatever the whatever the largest drink they have. I want to pee. Well, yeah, Andy, that's the thing.
Video Game Movie Discussions
00:11:50
Speaker
I've accepted that I'm going to go pee at once in a movie. I see my my bladder still holds strong. Even in my advanced age, I can go through. That's a gift, James. You were given. Yeah, it's Kegels. You know, it's it's.
00:12:07
Speaker
Well, I yeah, I can't make it through a lot of movies. So I have to downsize my drink and I have to pace myself, too. I have to be like, Andy, don't no, no, no, don't finish it. You're going to have to pee. They opened an elbow draft house in Boston. I'm very excited. Now that that means it has like food in it, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then also they don't take any. Yeah. And they don't take any shit for people being like annoying in the movie theater.
00:12:37
Speaker
Oh, they'll like kick you out. Oh, yes, he will kick you. Well, we'll see. It is Boston, but yeah. Oh.
00:12:49
Speaker
I like movies. Movies are great. And I'm actually loving. I've been enjoying going to movies. It's nice going to a movie by yourself, too. Yeah, I've been enjoying that. Yeah, I from work, it's only a block away from the movie theater. So I just like set up a movie.
00:13:08
Speaker
Matinee style. I'm just just like after work, walk straight over because they let you carry your backpack in. Oh, that's nice. It's just nice. Serial monogamous James Hartwell doesn't like going to movies by himself. When was the last time you've gone by yourself? Oh, I mean, recently because the puppy has been annoying. Sure. Like actually, Barbie was the first time we've gone to see a movie together since the puppy since we got him. OK.
00:13:36
Speaker
And he did OK. He barked some of the time he slept other because we had the camera on him. So we're watching. But yeah, I think I would see Spider-Verse by myself. And I think I went to see No Way Home by myself or not. Well, no way home was before. But did I tell you about my first solo movie experience? Hmm. What was it? It was to watch Resident Evil.
00:14:01
Speaker
in theaters. The first one? The very first one? Actually, hold on, hon. You know what? It wasn't Resi. It was Final Fantasy Spirits with them. Oh, I saw that by myself too. Yeah. But I was a very young child. Yeah. And again, still true, 20 plus years later of just being like,
00:14:23
Speaker
Final Fantasy is my favorite video game. I need to see this movie. And I went to see it in the morning. And the theater was like five people. Oh, for sure. But the thing was, by myself as a kid, in line for the movies, and as this older guy, I think a college kid, just struck a conversation with me.
00:14:50
Speaker
And he was just like, let's see, you're seeing Final Fantasy? And I was like, yeah, I love Final Fantasy. It's my favorite movie and our favorite game. And he was just like, awesome kid. That's it. It's one of my favorites too. And then we like high fived.
00:15:05
Speaker
And then we then I went to my twin to the movie, watched it. And then I and then I was waiting outside to get to get picked up. And then the college kid honked at me and waved as he was leaving and drove past. And I was like, we both have Final Fantasy. It's our favorite movie. Oh, yeah. That's so sweet. Oh, did you like spirits within?
00:15:38
Speaker
I was I was incredibly disappointed, but I also didn't say like I also wasn't like this movie sucks, but I was down like this movie has nothing final fantasy. I do believe I dragged my father to that movie and he was like, it's not a good movie. But he and I would always see like a lot of shit movies. Yeah, the the the the constant back and forth is he blames he blames me for taking him to see Wild Wild West.
00:16:08
Speaker
And I blame him for seeing the Angela Jolie Tomb Raider. Oh, that's a great movie, though. Oh, it's not. Yeah, it's a great man. It's a bad move. Take it back. Take it back. No wonder. Equal to Wild, Wild West. That's what I'll do. Wild West was great, too. Yeah, that was a good job. What's wrong with you? The saw blade that's attracted to magnets. Because if people wear magnet collars, that was great.
00:16:37
Speaker
I'm not saying it's not a fun movie. I'm just saying it's not a good movie. I mean, well, see, here's the problem, James. I have such a big range for OK. Yeah, even even not great movies still fit in the OK range. It's just OK. And then unwatchable. There's nothing else. So if you're saying that great, I equate it to you saying unwatchable. I was like, that's it's watchable. It's a completely enjoyable. Yeah, it's certainly watchable.
00:17:07
Speaker
But it's like like I would not leave a theater. I would still watch the rest of it. What movie did my father leave? I think he left an exception. He didn't like you. It's the inception by himself. And he walked out halfway through. He's like this stupid. It's stupid.
Tomb Raider Movie Debate
00:17:27
Speaker
My father is an interesting man. Listen, I isn't he like super into K-dramas now? He was into live action anime, right?
00:17:44
Speaker
He did. He was like, James, let me tell you about this guy. I was like, I, dad, I know. And now he has a blade and the edges in the reverse. He doesn't believe in killing people anymore. But guess what? Sometimes he does use the blade. It's really like that. He really liked those movies. And I was like, they're based on anime. That's so beautiful.
00:18:00
Speaker
Well, no, he, he, he started watching the, he was watching the Roroni Kenshin movies and he didn't know.
00:18:15
Speaker
Oh, what a nice story. I can't believe you didn't like Tomb Raider though. Screw you. No, that was I was I was certainly bored. I will say that is not the most. I don't know how old was I when Tomb Raider came out. I was probably I was either late elementary, early high school probably or late middle, early high school. But I don't know. I remember being bored.
00:18:44
Speaker
I have a permanent obsession with wild cherry Pepsi because of that movie. What a weird thing. The promotional for it was actually I think the the mug I got from the movie theater was wild cherry Pepsi like branded or it was at the store. I forget one of the two. And I love Tomb Raider. And now it's like this joyful memory for me to drink wild cherry Pepsi and play games, especially Tomb Raider.
00:19:14
Speaker
That movie is great. How dare you? How dare you? I remember this is this is how it went down. That for Wild Wild West, I was like, my dad was like, I don't want to see that movie. I'm like, come on, let's go. Let's go see it. And he hated it. You never stop blaming me for it.
Lord of the Rings Movie Analysis
00:19:29
Speaker
And then what happened with Tomb Raider was I was like, I don't really want to see Tomb Raider. He's like, Roger, you ever gave a thumbs up? We should go see it. I was like, OK. Look.
00:19:39
Speaker
It's like where Lara Croft has this bungee room in her house. Yeah. And she has to fight off people as she's bungee jumping in her house. That's also a museum. That's so cool. It's so cool. Like what's wrong with you? I'm sorry. I'm sorry, James. I'm sorry. You're allowed to like what you like. And I support you. I'm sorry. No, it's fine. You just be mad at me, Andy. But I don't know. I'm sorry.
00:20:08
Speaker
Andy, I believe that you'll still like Oldboy. I'm like, like 20% of me is a little bit worried, but... Oh, you'll like it. I just think it may not spark the same joy that when you first watch it. Yeah, but I'm excited to revisit it. It looks such an impression on me. I love that movie. So we'll see. I can report back if it's garbage or not.
00:20:33
Speaker
Are you seeing it? When are you going to see it? Saturday. Okay. And you're seeing Barbie and you're seeing Barbie on Thursday on Thursday. Yep. You see Oppenheimer on Friday. No, I'm not here for the bombers. Although old boy is kind of a bummer, but it's a, Andy, I'm gonna be honest with you. It's a big.
00:20:54
Speaker
I mean, it's an old movie, but I won't spoil it because not everyone's, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. The twists and turns are everything. That movie is a bummer.
00:21:04
Speaker
But I don't even know if I should call it fun. It's just great. It's impactful. I'm always interested in what someone's favorite movie says about them. I don't know what it says. I'm not a violent event seeker. I know. What about the other thing, Andy? Does it say that?
00:21:24
Speaker
What's that? Oh, oh, shut up. No, no, no, no, no. But it's I don't know. It's the music, the cinematography, the pacing, the action, the everything. And just like it's just how it got, it's everything. It's everything. It's the perfect movie to me. That's the thing with that's like me with Shawshank Redemption. And it's the for me, there's no wasted scenes in that movie. Yeah.
00:21:53
Speaker
Every scene is memorable. Every scene is good. Mm hmm. Like and that's why I can just pick up, watch it everywhere, because there's like there's not that movie is cut perfectly. There is no point in that movie where I'm bored. And like that's I again, I haven't seen Oldboy. That's literally what it is to me. Well, I mean, from my memories, it's perfect. It is a perfect movie. Yeah. Yeah. I'm having trouble, actually. I am.
Identity and Favorite Movies
00:22:20
Speaker
You know, everything everywhere all at once came out and that became my new favorite movie. But I can't recall what was my favorite movie before that.
00:22:35
Speaker
I mean, to be honest with you, it might be Lord of the Rings The Two Towers. Oh, yeah. That is a great that is a great movie. Yeah. Nope. Like, because I fellowship was night was really good. Right. And it set up this.
00:22:53
Speaker
Um, the world and had this like small, some small scale. It was more small scale and two towers when the world's opens up and then you're dealing with like, Oh, this is like countries that you're really like focusing on and dealing with. Um, and helms deep is like one of the coolest things in the world. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The battle of Gondor isn't as good as home Steve, which is sad.
00:23:17
Speaker
considering how dramatic it is. I think because even for as long as it is, the Battle of Gondor is a little bit rushed in the stages of the fight that happened. All the ghosts just come in and it's like, oh, all right, yeah.
00:23:34
Speaker
It's kind of, well, you should be a little bit more layered than just ghosts, but yeah, you know, that's the thing you're like, okay, yeah, sure. I get it. It's three and a half hours already. Okay, fine. I can't wrap this up. I agree. Yeah. I mean, that's my problem with Return of the King. Return of the King, Andy, it was probably one of those movies that I almost, I almost gave in and had to leave to go to the bathroom. One of those six endings. I'm like, can we hurry this up?
00:23:59
Speaker
It even tested James's bladder. Yeah, that was a young man back then. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah.
00:24:07
Speaker
Um, by the way, everybody do watch their director's cuts, extended editions of every Lord of the Rings. That's the best way to watch them. So, uh, yeah. I think I ever saw those. Really? Really? Yeah. Oh, Andy. Well, they're on my, they're on my Plex server. I need you to revisit those. They just be available everywhere. Kind of like a library book. They should just be given.
00:24:33
Speaker
I think the extended editions usually aren't available. It's usually only the theatrical cut. Really? I think I've bought the extended editions like three times now. I bought it on DVD. I bought it on Blu-ray and then I bought it on 4K Blu-ray. Wait, hold on. Let me double check. It says it's on HBO Max. I was like, really? But extended? Yeah, it's usually the theatrical. Right. By the way, we have like two news stories. We have like two news stories today.
00:25:03
Speaker
And one of them is basically the story from last week. So the talk about it, but, hey, you know, exploring what media is important to us. Oh, God, what does it say about you? I am not violent. OK, I am the least violent person.
Baldur's Gate 3 Success
00:25:20
Speaker
I don't think I I in the same way that people like horror are like, like, yeah, it's no, it's you can like a movie. It doesn't say anything about you. Yeah. Unless that movie is Atlas Shrugged.
00:25:33
Speaker
That was um...
00:25:35
Speaker
I haven't seen that one. It's Ayn Rand or Ayn Rand. Oh, I read that book and I remember nothing. Good. That's what you should remember from it. I'm a reconder that one. Yeah, there's a problem with I think it's Ayn Rand. I forget how to say it either. But there is a problem with the people who champion that they've read those books tend to be people that are insufferable.
00:26:05
Speaker
Also, they ruin even if, you know, any actual quality to the books themselves. Oh, no, no, no. Extended editions are on HBO Max. Also, by the way, it's Max Charles. Yeah, come on, Charles. Oh, you know what? That's true. Much like how people say X instead of Twitter now.
00:26:28
Speaker
So HBO Max, right? It has all three. It has theatrical and extended editions for all. That's cool. I didn't know that. Yeah, including the Hobbit movies. Man, those Hobbit movies. What is Peter Jackson up to? I'm scratching his butt with millions and millions of dollars. Oh, he's old now.
00:26:55
Speaker
You know, and is not in kind, not that they're the same person. I don't know why I always think of Guillermo Guillermo del Toro famous and famous deaf stranding actor. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Did you hear that he reached out to Konami about PT because PT is like seven years old today. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker
And like he wrote in like some try-hard Latin or something that like I'm coming back or something I don't know what it was or like I'm coming for you Konami or I'm visiting you Konami So maybe we're gonna get a PT Not from Peter Jackson. I mean Konami's thing now is like well, you know what we could just license this out and make money Why don't we do that?
00:27:40
Speaker
You're not just. Well, here's my problem, right? They're going to license it out not to go. So. Oh, no, absolutely not. And so that's why I'm not. I'm not interested in Guillermo del Toro. He's a good guy. He is a good guy. But you can dance. Labyrinth was a great movie. Yeah. That's it. But I still waiting for Hellboy three. But that does not mean he can make a enjoyable video game.
00:28:07
Speaker
That is the word. I'm sure Kojima was a big, big, big part of PT. But they're friends. Better friends than him and Jeff Keeley. He'll never be on Del Toro's level. I know. Give it up Keeley. Well, speaking of never being on the same level as someone.
00:28:30
Speaker
Baldur's Gate 3 is now the best reviewed game of all time. Wait, are you serious? Oh yeah, buddy. Wait, more than like Ocarina of time? Yeah. Well, on Open Critic, currently, the all-time scores, Baldur's Gate 3 is tied with Super Mario Odyssey with a 97.
00:28:51
Speaker
So tied for first place position just to give some context tie a three way tie for third place is Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and Red Dead Redemption 2. And then I think it's one sixth place Elden Ring and then a five way tie or six way tie for seventh place of God of War, God of War, Last of Us Remastered, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Metroid Prime Remastered.
00:29:18
Speaker
And Hades. James, which of your links is this? The first link? Yeah. Yeah. OK. And on Metacritic, I believe All There's Gate 3 is the top reviewed game of 2023. That makes sense. Setting it one point higher than Tears of the Kingdom. Wow. People love it. Actually, James, though, you hate it.
00:29:42
Speaker
I don't hate it. I have, as we discussed, I have luxury problems with it. Although no, you ran into that thing. Yeah, I know. Uh, I'll start by saying also on Metacritic on the all time list, uh, legend of Zelda, uh, occupies the number one spot at 99. Tony Hawk, pro skater two holds a 98 number two spot grand theft auto four.
00:30:02
Speaker
No, that's fine. The other one is four. It is four. Yeah, four. Soul Calibur, Sumaro Galaxy, Galaxy two, and then Baldur's Gate three at the eight spot all time on Metacritic. How embarrassing. The best game of all time. Okay. Hold on. Wait, which one was it? I saw the sword by all time. Okay. I see. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:25
Speaker
Uh, and then, yeah, so I, I'm currently into act three of Baldur's gate three. Uh, I ran into a bug that very much annoyed me today.
00:30:35
Speaker
But, you know, I try not to like, but they'll fix it eventually, that kind of stuff. My issue with Baldur's gate three, and I think a lot of people are going to kind of, the shine is going to come off it when they get to act three. And this is not necessarily a Baldur's gate three problem as much as is a D and D problem. It gets hard to balance encounters at higher levels. Um, and they've, they've been doing that by either making
00:30:58
Speaker
people just do crazy amounts of damage or throw like, you know, 20 fucking enemies at me at once with my four player party. So it's it's losing a bit of the shine. The story is still fantastic, though, and that's keeping me going. But
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah, and also just keeping this going, this past weekend, Baldur's Gate 3 accounted for 28% of total player time spent on Steam, leading all their titles by far, including CSGO, which was only at 5%. Whoa!
00:31:36
Speaker
You know, I'm surprised to hear that there's that many nerds, like 28% playing. I thought Baldur's Gate would be more fringe than that, but it's not. I mean, it was it used to be fringe. It has. I think this Baldur's Gate 3 is now broken through into the wider gaming
00:31:56
Speaker
A consciousness, right? I would say this is kind of like how Elden Ring exploded. Right. Oh, sure. Or it's like Souls games kind of lived in this weird little like everyone likes Souls games. You know, the people who like Souls games like Souls games. But then Elden Ring kind of broke through and like.
00:32:12
Speaker
everyone kind of got a better understanding. I think this is kind of a similar thing. Also, I remember we were talking last week about them hitting their concurrent player count on Steam, and I was like, I don't think it's going to go much higher. It doubled. As of two days ago, they hit 875,343 people playing on Steam at the same time.
00:32:39
Speaker
Nearly a million people. How cool. I think that puts it somewhere in like the top five. I have to find that. Of all things, Baldur's Gate. Like, I think it's wonderful, but I think I mean, I mean, much as I walk through the world, assuming people only like the things I like.
00:32:59
Speaker
Oh, also currently, like literally, as we're recording right now, 945 Eastern Time on a Tuesday, 600, basically 600,000 people are playing it. That's wild. And again, it doesn't include the people like me who are playing on GOG. Oh, sure, sure, sure. Yeah. Yeah. People love this game. I think that's incredible that this is like where the taste is of gamers, like this is what people are wanting. OK, confirm or deny this for me. I was told.
00:33:29
Speaker
that like, and I don't know how serious this is, but that there's like pushback on Baldur's Gate for the quality of the product it delivered because it sets the bar too high. So we talked a little, we talked a little about that last week, but it, I think, no, no, go ahead, Charles.
00:33:48
Speaker
So I'll be honest, my interpretation of that is that it is overblown. I do not think like much like how you see a movie and then don't demand every movie should be that the movie you just saw.
00:34:05
Speaker
People aren't just going, how come every game isn't Baldur's Gate 3?
Impact of Baldur's Gate 3 on Starfield
00:34:11
Speaker
But I bet you there was a vocal minority that said, you know what? Every game should just take on more Baldur's Gates polish, mechanics, and depth.
00:34:23
Speaker
I don't want to see any RPG that doesn't have these gigantic branching story paths and dialogue and, you know, engaging storyline, blah, blah, blah, you know, and, you know, to smaller game developers credit. That's not their fucking thing. They no one should ever try to live up to other, you know, other games just because they've done it. Right. That's not that is not the pursuit of creativity for anybody.
00:34:51
Speaker
Yeah. People want to make their game. If it's not like another existing game that people like, that should not be the knock against them. They should be judged solely by itself.
00:35:01
Speaker
OK, all right. Yeah, I like because I'm not I guess I'm not in that sphere. I don't know if this was like sounding off on Reddit or I don't know. Do people go on game fact forums? Is that a thing still game facts still up? OK, I don't know where people are talking, but it did make me remember slightly. Do you guys who said it? But they said like all cutscenes shouldn't be
00:35:26
Speaker
like shouldn't take away player agency or something. Right. I mean, I don't know. And that's that's a weird me. I've heard that argument before. It's a weird argument because that's weird. It's an entirely dependent on the game. It's a game. And I should be able to because like like I guess they're using Half-Life and Half-Life 2 as an example. And all I thought in my mind was how miserable.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah, I don't want that. And like, honestly, forever. And I thought of this because for every game to be the scale and the scope of Baldur's Gate, how miserable because Baldur's Gate is like a billion hours. I don't want my games to be that long. I mean, Andy, that's also a different thing, right? Like just like you said, people have different expectations of how long they want it. People love 100 hour plus things. Some people do.
00:36:17
Speaker
You know, 800,000. You've talked about it before. Like there's some people who only, you know, buy like one or two games a year.
00:36:24
Speaker
And, you know, they they only have like, you know, because they have like multiple jobs or family obligations or anything like that. They only have like, you know, an hour or two, like sometimes a week to play. Right. So like sometimes you're getting a lot of bang for your buck with those large games. I always try to keep that in mind, too. And I review games as people don't play games. The majority of people who play games don't play games like I do.
00:36:50
Speaker
I still haven't beaten 16. I don't know how to beat it in 35 hours. Oh, I just, you know, played. Yeah.
00:37:01
Speaker
I think part of how I play games, too, which is is that I almost have no issue with starting and stopping. So I will just leave the game on walk. Oh, I have like I have 15 minutes. I sit down and play for 15 minutes. I get back up. I walk away. Oh, you know what? That might be it, too, because I also I'm not a 15 minute game player, but I am at the very least like if I have an hour, I'll play for the hour.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yeah, like, yeah, I think I make it make it a priority to play games when they come out and not everyone has that luxury. So, yeah, I would say I make it a priority for story based games to try not to get spoiled no matter how your friends can ruin it by James. Yeah. But, you know, that's it. Even then, I haven't.
00:37:55
Speaker
I didn't think I'd spoil anything for Baldur's Gate 3, at least. Actually, I know you two are waiting for the PS5 version. Are you both going to play it as soon as it comes out on the PS5? I won't, no. Actually, I put some thought into it, and I don't think I will be playing Baldur's Gate at all. Oh, interesting.
00:38:16
Speaker
But I mean, I I don't remember you loving divinity original sin when we fucked around with it. No, no, I like divinity. It's OK. I had a great time with it. I know this is my own personal thing of not wanting wizards to succeed. And at this point, yeah. Well, yeah. And that's the thing, right? So it's just like.
00:38:38
Speaker
I approach this game knowing it's going to be great, because Larian is a great developer, and I know they would greatly expand on what they've done with Divinity. And they have, and I'm really happy for them. And I was just like, I wasn't hotly waiting for this game beforehand. And if not, and knowing there's a tidal wave of games coming out soon, I can let this one go.
00:39:08
Speaker
even though it might just be game of the year. Yeah, yeah, it's going to be interesting. Something so I looked it up on the all time steam concurrent list. Baldur's Gate three is currently sitting at ninth place just beneath Hogwarts legacy by only four thousand players. How interesting. Hogwarts legacy. Yeah. And number one pub G back when it was hot with three point two million concurrent users.
00:39:36
Speaker
But also, very confusingly, just below Baldur's Gate 3 at 10, Goose Goose stuck. It was 700,000 Eastern. A game I've never heard of. Oh, really? It's basically the expanded Among Us.
00:39:51
Speaker
Oh, OK. That must have completely just missed my radar. Among Us in the top 10. You know what? Among Us is in 19th place. Goose Goose Duck, a ripoff. This is what was that ripoff of threes called?
00:40:10
Speaker
$3,000 or something? $3,000? Well, there was $2048 or whatever. $2048. That's what I'm thinking of. Oh, OK. The game where you put the $2048. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Overwatch 2 Reviews
00:40:22
Speaker
I read an interview with the developer of Threes, and they're like, how does it feel another person literally ripping off your content and making way more money than you? And he's like, I'm just glad someone likes it.
00:40:33
Speaker
It's like, no, brother, you're missing that money. That's why. That's why Threes is my actual go to offline game on my mobile device. If I'm somehow without a signal, I was like, I'll just play some threes. Threes is great. Yeah. But 2048.
00:40:52
Speaker
So here's an interesting question. And I think Andy, Andy, you are going to place ball or get three ball. There's gate three when it comes out. It looks too overwhelming. I can barely beat 16. Give me 120 hour game.
00:41:10
Speaker
Well, here's the thing. So Baldur's Gate 3 is coming out exclusively on the PS5 on September 6th. Guess what's also coming out on September 6th exclusively on PC and the Xbox? What's that? That's right. Starfield. Oh. Starfield, you should just delay until next year.
00:41:27
Speaker
No, they can't delay anymore. I mean, the hype around Baldur's Gate, Starfield can't even. Man, here's here's a here's a real interesting thing, right? Everyone was like, oh, what a good move by Baldur's Gate to get out in front of Starfield by moving up a month. Holy shit. That was the best possible thing they could have ever done. Yeah. Yeah. And it's because I think I think people would have been very distracted by Starfield for sure. I don't know if Baldur's Gate three would have broken through as hard. Yeah.
00:41:58
Speaker
Well, I mean, that's that's a very interesting thing about Father's Gate, like that it was in early access. So it was already available to its player base that had it has established, you know, from previous games. Right.
00:42:14
Speaker
And then they do, they start wrapping up. They do their press run. You could fuck a bear. And boom, it's back in, right? And that one presentation was good enough, including fucking the bear, that
00:42:34
Speaker
Everyone was like, all right, I'll give it a shot. And then they liked it. Yeah. And then they caught on. Right. Like it was just it worked. It turned it into this game that has peak players of almost 900000 players back in Sunday. Like that was it. Like I don't think there was much any other advertisement besides that press. It was it was all word of mouth. Yeah. All word of mouth. Yeah. That's a good point.
00:43:02
Speaker
Like how much of its success do you think can be owed to to the bear? A hundred ninety eight percent. And that was driven by the audience, right? Well, it's basically that came out in a lull of a news cycle. What was the most recent big game that came out? Was it just 16? Did anything come out in July?
00:43:27
Speaker
July. I mean, remnant from the ashes, right? But yeah, but that's not the same calendar. Yeah. No. Yeah. Nothing else. Nothing else that as big. Yeah. So there was there's kind of like a lull and they hit it perfectly. It was like people were like, ah, we need news to talk about and shit. And it's just like ball is gate three. Let's you fuck a bear. And everyone's like, you have my attention. Exactly. You have. Hmm.
00:43:52
Speaker
Um, and well, it's consensual. It's consensual barefoot. Yeah. Well, we've been saying it around a bear can fuck you. That's also, that's also very true. Uh, so is it Pikmin four came out? Yeah. No one cares.
00:44:09
Speaker
What other? Yeah, that was it. Yeah. Pikmin four and Final Fantasy 16 and Diablo were the last two games. Yeah. And Final Fantasy 16 was the end of June. So it was like, yeah, it was already like a few weeks out. Yeah. So no, it got July. Yeah. It basically got to take up the rest of the summer. But now now Starfield has to get judged against this measuring stick of Ballers Gate three, which man, that's not an enviable position, right? Because the worst.
00:44:37
Speaker
And here's the thing that does it. I don't I don't necessarily think they're comparable, right? Because it's not really. No, it's it's a Bethesda RPG. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And everyone's kind of hoping like they're going to course correct from Fallout 4 a little bit back towards maybe like Fallout 3 and Skyrim. Right. So.
00:44:56
Speaker
Well, we'll see what happens with it. But man, there you have two narrative heavy player agency filled RPGs. Right. That if you don't look at like the actual minutia of what makes them different are very similar on paper and they're going to get judged against each other. And man, that just fucks starfield so hard. This game came out so good. Yeah. Yeah. Because like, yeah, the entire thing is just this whole thing of like.
00:45:23
Speaker
If people were selling Starfield on the fact of its like exploration and depth and all these systems that it has going for it,
Upcoming Game Releases
00:45:32
Speaker
well, Baldur's Gate 3, while not being the exact same style of game, has a lot of depth.
00:45:38
Speaker
an exploration and variants and all this other stuff that people have their own stories of my shadow heart did this or my. Asterion did, you know, do this and you're like, oh, that like dominates. So it's similar, not the same game. And like, oh, OK, Starfield. Yeah, Starfield's got to come out swinging like I it's got a man.
00:46:08
Speaker
It's so tough. It's like I don't I've been cautiously optimistic about Starfield. I'm like, I don't know if Starfield can be as good as Baldurge 3 in terms of like the story because Bethesda is always just like a little OK with story. You know what I mean? Like everyone points to Fallout New Vegas, which wasn't Bethesda. It was obsidian. So I don't know. I'm worried. I'm worried about Starfield.
00:46:35
Speaker
Like literally the worst case scenario for like so many things have gone wrong for them. Just yeah, just like to make it like this stack thing, even if it was a great game now, it would only be considered like it would be considered OK in the minds of gamers. Like it's not going to make it's not going to fully flip everybody because they'll just be like, well, I mean, Baldur's Gate did this.
00:47:01
Speaker
And here's a kingdom to this. And, you know, there's so many good games out that it's going to be hard. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, well, you know, it's not a good game. What? That's Overwatch 2, baby.
00:47:16
Speaker
So as one rises to the top, one must fall. Overwatch 2 is now greeted as overwhelmingly negative after 27,000 plus Steam reviews. It is, I believe, currently the worst rated game on Steam. Okay, well, okay.
00:47:35
Speaker
And in fact, so there's a lot happening here. It's really interesting, actually. Is it sexism? No, no, actually, it's actually not. Yeah. This is why it's so good. This is why it's really interesting. All right. Let's go. So this Daniel Ahmad, who is a games journalist, posted this to
00:47:57
Speaker
God damn it, Elon. Overwatch 2 currently has 100,000 reviews on Steam since launching three days ago, of which 91% are negative. However, nearly two-thirds of those reviews, 63,000, are written in Chinese, with 97% of them being negative.
00:48:18
Speaker
How interesting. On the surface, the Chinese reviews mention a lot of the same elements as reviews from the rest of the world. The lack of promise to be re-content criticism in the game content pricing and perceived downgreens compared to Overwatch 1. However, what you don't know is that Blizzard and NetEase ended their agreement for the distribution of Blizzard PC games in China, leading to the shutdown of Overwatch 2 and other titles.
00:48:43
Speaker
on January 23rd, 2023. To cut a long story short, gamers in China have been upset over losing their accounts and ability to play on their national server with no endowment of return so far. The launch on Steam is the first time the gamers can vent on an open and international platform with many taking the opportunity to do so.
00:49:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah, because I was I thought they weren't in China anymore. Blizzard. Yeah, that's what happened. Right. So basically everyone in China lost their accounts, like all their skins and like, you know, stats and all that shit. And so now that it's on Steam, they can go in and fucking be like, I won't fuck you. I put all this time and money into it. And now I don't have anything. Right.
00:49:24
Speaker
Now, wait, hold up. So if Overwatch is on Steam, does that mean like other Blizzard games are going to go on Steam? I mean, eventually, probably going to get WOW on Steam. Honestly, probably. Huh? Once Microsoft finishes that merger. I mean, yeah, that's true. That's true. How interesting. And that sucks. Usually only Microsoft exclusives don't end up on Steam. OK, so like Starfield will probably never be on Steam.
00:49:52
Speaker
or though maybe it will be, who knows? But it's interesting, though. So, OK. And I think that they're right to to to voice their grievances because that's super crappy. Yeah. Also, hilariously, previously, the worst reviewed game on Steam was War of the Three Kingdoms. What was the people? I don't know. It's some game I don't. I it's it's.
00:50:21
Speaker
It was the previous immerso game, isn't it? War of the Three Kingdoms. Remind me of romance of the Three Kingdoms, but that was like a strategy game, wasn't it? So some people are so mad at Overwatch that they've gone to War of the Three Kingdoms and given it positive reviews to make sure that they keep Overwatch team. Oh, that's wonderful. Oh, I love it.
00:50:43
Speaker
And the thing that sucks for Overwatch 2 is that this is right when it released. So you can't even keep it in the the because Steam has that like recent reviews. Yeah, it is. Whatever to catch review bombing. No, right out the gate. This is your legacy. You're bad. Yeah. I mean, Overwatch 2 is a wonderful story about how to destroy a brand. Yeah.
00:51:11
Speaker
Man, I should go back to school and then see if these are showing up in textbooks. No, that would mean people learn from their problems, Charles, and no one does that. Well, we. One last thing I want to. So, you know, we didn't really only have these two stories going on because it's kind of late and I think it will probably be late.
00:51:37
Speaker
Well, actually, maybe it won't be like because we're going to be inundated with a review soon. But and into that in that thought, I went through the release calendar and I just want to just kind of remind everyone what the fuck is about to happen to us. Yeah. So in a scant two weeks, we have armor core six coming out about a week after that.
00:52:03
Speaker
You have Ballers Gate 3 coming to PS5 and Starfield coming out. Then about two weeks after that, we have Liza P. A week after that, you have the big X-Pac to Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty. Two weeks after that, we have the sequel to Lords of the Fallen, Lords of the Fallen.
00:52:19
Speaker
I bring that in because actually they've been putting up gameplay demos. It looks really good. It looks very interesting. I'm keeping an eye on that game because I think it might be a sleeper hit. This is a Souls-like game, right? Yeah, it's a Souls-like game.
00:52:39
Speaker
Four days after that, you have Alan week two. Three days after that, you have Marvel's Spider-Man two and Super Mario Brothers wonder. Four days after that, Metal Gear Solid Master Collection volume one comes out and then you get a small break until November 17th when Super Mario RPG comes out. Like in this list, there's about seven game of the year.
00:53:08
Speaker
This is... It's rough. Yeah. What a terrible problem to have.
00:53:16
Speaker
Well, I think it's like, and I think a lot of people said this is the effect of COVID where a lot of these, a lot of games have been delayed because of COVID and now they're finally like caught up. So, and they're just, everything's getting out because they have to get these out and make money because they've been in delays and projects for so long. So it's going to be interesting in the coming years. I don't think we're going to have this problem. I don't, yeah, I don't need this problem. Yeah.
00:53:43
Speaker
I remember. It must have been like 10, 12 years ago, I were talking about how it was like GTA five Assassin's Creed and there's like a third game or all coming out at the same time. And I was like, God damn it. Don't do this to me. But this is like crazy. I'm I mean, out of this list, here's the interesting thing.
00:54:10
Speaker
Oh, about armored core. I'm really waiting for the reviews of armored core. We talked about this off the podcast. I've never played an armored core. So I'm kind of light on it where I'm like, I don't know if it's for me and that's okay, but I really love from software. So I want to play it. I just don't know if I'm going to like it.
00:54:26
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, and as somebody that does love armored core, yeah, I would say it's it's
Prioritizing Upcoming Games
00:54:32
Speaker
a niche game. You know, it's mode. I would not say it's for everybody. You know, you're welcome to give it a try. I'm sure there'll be demos. Maybe that'll be a way for people to make sure that. Well, there'd be a demo. I don't think a from software game has ever had a demo. Yeah, that's true. There might be some time. There might be a time trial. OK.
00:54:54
Speaker
Because what I'm going by is I believe a lot of the PS, if you're like a PS plus extra or something, they tend to have a lot of trial times for a lot of things to come out. That'd be good if they do that for this, because that would be great for me. Yeah, it's really a privilege.
00:55:11
Speaker
But I mean, just for me. Right. So maybe, maybe not armored for six. Then Starfield. I mean, I'm already playing ballers. Get three lies of P cyberpunk expansion. Spiderman to Super Mario Brothers Wonder and probably Super Mario RPG. Like that's a lot of games. Yeah. What I'm thinking of doing is I'm going to play armored court six lies of P.
00:55:39
Speaker
Here's my problem. I do want to play Alan Wake to. But if if I hear it's a long game, I'll probably wait till after I play Spider-Man. Now, here's the thing, too. How in week two is also one of those things it could be a sleeper like a sleeper hit for game of the year. Like remedy has been killing it. Like control was so good. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like I can see Alan Wake to being like a big hit if it grows off how well they did control. Yeah.
00:56:07
Speaker
So I was thinking I might even stream Alvin Lake 2 just to share my fears as I scream. Charles, I got to give you the Steam credentials or the Twitch credentials. You should see them at the party. Thanks.
00:56:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. That's true. We do need more hours. Yeah. Only if only we need a three, we need a 350 subs so we can get that 75 30 split. Yeah. I mean, you know, I, I don't know. I'd be willing to play more if, you know, maybe some new games are allowed to give us a chance to play it.
00:56:49
Speaker
Andy, Andy, how many of these games will you commit to play before the end of the year? Maybe Spider-Man 2, because I really liked Spider-Man. Maybe Super Mario Brothers Wonder. That's probably a good one. I was just thinking about the first Metal Gear Solid game with a friend a little bit ago. So maybe I'll revisit that. But what are they going to do with Metal Gear Solid 1 on PS5? What are you going to do with it?
00:57:18
Speaker
I should just pop in my old copy. And then if I can get over how weird Mario and Peach look in Super Mario RPG, maybe I'll play that or either of your. Well, Charles, you you you were funded cyberpunk, right? So you've never like beaten it, right? Yeah. Are you not are you not interested in like going back to cyberpunk? No, no, I'm not really interested. Like, you know, I'd like just like to, you know, say again, once burned,
00:57:48
Speaker
I would like you to not exist anymore. So once burned twice vengeful. Yeah. So that's just how I am. You know, don't lose me like that. It takes it takes it really a lot. And Cyberpunk 27 7 on launch was a lot. Well, next week, we will probably have the armored core reviews, I would imagine.
00:58:15
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it'll be the twenty second. Yeah, let's say our quarter six is less crazy than other games. Oh, also, I believe the Starfield review codes are going out this Friday. I'll check my inbox. No promises, guys, or journalists. But yeah, it's it's going to be a crazy time. Mm hmm.
00:58:41
Speaker
Even me, who prioritizes gaming, are like, this is going to take, I'm going to have to put a lot of thought to this.
00:58:48
Speaker
Just like that's the thing. It's like, I mean, that's the thing, too, where it's like Baldur's Gate three. I'm like, Oh, I would love to do a second playthrough. Probably not. Probably not for that. I there's a streamer I like to have on when I go to bed because they are a DJ and streamer. So they stream from like 10 p.m. to like seven a.m. And they were they went through Baldur's Gate. And I think a day ago or two, they were just like,
00:59:18
Speaker
I might be finishing it. No, I wanted to keep going. And then just when I woke up and I looked at the screen, it said the message was finish the game. Started my second playthrough right away. Wow. Here's the thing with Baldur's Gate 3. There is a custom character class called the Dark Urge that you play where it actually changes the entire game.
00:59:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I think that's what we did. Yeah. Yeah. Because you basically wake up with no memory and you have a lot of internal narrative, internal monologues urging you to do bad things like so like you get a lot of extra content you don't get when you play any other character. So that's a lot of people are doing that. They did their normal character and then they go back to play the darker. So
01:00:08
Speaker
But we'll see, because I'm leaving for the Jersey Shore this Friday. So that's right. Yeah. I have to make sure I can get my fucking GOG copy of Baldur's Gate working on my steam deck.
01:00:23
Speaker
But we will talk about that on another episode of Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I've been your host, James. I actually have to go to the bathroom really badly, Hartwell. And I've been joined by Charles. I guess I'll watch Barbie by myself too, Yamant. And I've been joined by Andy. I do still like old boy. Good for you, Andy. I will. Okay.
01:00:50
Speaker
I'll spy everyone. I'll be covering you. Gotta go. Shut up. Gotta go. Bye. Hold it. You've missed her for six hours. Yeah, actually. That was just an hour. Coward. Bye.