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Stylized Games, Dragon Quest Remakes, and Why Realism Isn’t Always Better
103 Plays1 month ago
In Episode 132, Spencer and I start by talking burnout, workload, and taking on too much before shifting into Pokémon nostalgia and early favorites. The episode turns into a bigger discussion about realism in modern games, why stylization matters more than ever, and how Dragon Quest VII Reimagined nails its charm. We also revisit our PAX Kingdom Hearts panel and close on how we handle comments and community feedback.
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Transcript
Introduction with Azara Lopez and Spencer the Legacy
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 131 of Unqualified Game Chat. I am your host, Azara Lopez, and with me today is my ever so brilliant, ever so cunning, ever so intelligent Some would say. all the do well Do all those mean the same thing?
00:00:40
Speaker
Who knows? Let him tell you. Spencer, the legacy. conning I think Cunning's like sneaky intelligent. Ooh, a little sneaky. A little snake. A little snake boy. Yeah, when think intelligent, you think of the glasses, the lab coat. But when think of Cunning, you think of like, ooh.
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Intelligence like math Japanese characters, eyes are closed. They have the fox grin. They're like, yeah, that's what you think of. Yeah, those yeah.
Azario's Busy Schedule and Workload
00:01:08
Speaker
It's been a couple of weeks. It has. a been this I think these were both my fault, fellas. Sorry, everybody. i think i think I manifested it, though. You were like, I need a fucking break from him.
00:01:20
Speaker
I need too much stressor in one. He's driving me up a fucking train. He's driving me down. um No, I just, I just think I took on too much.
00:01:33
Speaker
Azario take on too much. That would never happen. Dude, I, it's like, And you know what? I know when I'm taking on too much, when I get comments on our videos that are like, get some rest as are you? Yeah. Even when they were like the community sees that I'm just doing too much. Yeah.
00:01:52
Speaker
They're sorry, you can't to put this many reviews out in a safe manner. like Or well, I'll miss things like I'll like the release date. I'll leave it as 2005, like not up. Oh yeah. six And they'll see stuff like that. And it'll be like, yeah, yeah but that is like, that's all it's like, i should probably sleep a little.
00:02:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's an issue for me though. Every year, like remembering the year before,
Nostalgia for 1999: Games and Music
00:02:14
Speaker
it's hard. Yeah. Like like not saying 2025. Yeah. yeah yeah I said 2025 for an entire year and you just want me to change? 11 fucking months to get there. And then it's the next year right at, oh my God, it's a wreck.
00:02:27
Speaker
Let's stop. Let's stop all this. Let's just choose one number. Yeah. Let's just choose one number and live in that for the rest of our lives. Let's be 1999. That's a fun one. That's a fun one.
00:02:38
Speaker
Yeah. Dude, I mean, Final Fantasy 9 just came out. Yeah, exactly. Three nines in a row. That's cool. Some of my nine favorite emo records came out around that time too.
00:02:49
Speaker
I'm pretty sure. Some pretty sick movies came out. I was very young, so it's hard to remember. But i I lived in like Winnipeg. I saw... feel like I saw Cool I feel like that's the year I played like Digimon World and shit. That's pretty good. Ooh. That was like Pokemania was going on. Digimon was... That was a good time period. Let's let's go back to that. That's pretty good.
Favorite Pokemon and Elite Four Strategies
00:03:10
Speaker
ah Growing up in in elementary school, what was your ah what was the Pokemons that you would always take to the elite? Was there a Pokemon that you'd always take to the elite for? Yeah. so The game I played over and over as child was gold. um so I would take Totodile every time.
00:03:26
Speaker
Well, i played I played, when you're a kid, you have we've talked a million times, when you're have four games. So I would play Pokemon Gold over and over. So I used every starter in different places, but Totodowl is my favorite, so i would always go back to him. And I would always use like a Noctowl and an Ampharos and a all the All the fun little characters. I remember one time when I played through it as a kid, I caught a tentacle and I was like, I'm going use this the whole game. And I didn't use any other Pokemon but that for some reason. That's cool.
00:03:52
Speaker
I love that. Which is very child brain to just be like, going to do this. You get almost attached to it, right? Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I get sad when yeah like i you ah i get sad Because at some point in everyone's like Pokemon Red or Blue, if you're just starting, I think you get Pidgey, which yeah will eventually become a Pidgeot.
00:04:13
Speaker
And because it's like your first game, Pidgeotto? Yeah, Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto. Yeah. Okay. um Like eventually in that game, you'll get better flying Pokemon, but that will be your first. So you'll probably teach it fly. Yeah.
00:04:30
Speaker
But eventually you'll get a better... See, I was never able to do that. When I like when i was a kid, i was like, I caught you first. You're in the door. You're in. yeah yeah i There's some people i don't... I love Pidgeot. Pidgeot.
00:04:46
Speaker
i love pigy up Yeah, I like I'll say her right now. My favorite bird Skarmory, but knockdowns up there, too. But I'm a pretty cool. He's a cool one. little metal little bitch that you could only get after beating the game.
00:05:00
Speaker
It's like, oh I already did it. OK, but i yeah, sure. I'll play some. Yeah. um Enough for about Pokemon. Let's talk about. Let's wait, wait, wait. Oh, I'm Pidgeot.
00:05:12
Speaker
Pidgeot and. ah Well, red and blue were the ones that I played the most. ah but um Abra guy. Loved Abra. I always loved the art of catching an Abra because he's kind of hard.
00:05:26
Speaker
He flees immediately to teleport. He flees. Yeah. Yeah. Whip it out. You got to be quick with him. um Man, I loved Hitmonlee. You know, like... Hitmonlee, in the time when there was only 151 Pokemon, Hitmonlee was one of my very favorite ever.
00:05:43
Speaker
I was like, they're yeah never going to get cooler than that. Golduck, I thought... I still think Golduck is the coolest. It's cool. i would i will I will die for all the Slowpokes. Slowpoke, Slowking is my favorite. Slowking.
00:05:59
Speaker
Yeah. They're all cool. Yeah. Metapod is pretty cool too. Yeah, I was a big, I liked Caterpie a lot as a little kid because the first Pokemon Ash gets. So when you're a kid, you're like, wee! Teasing Misty out there. you're grossed out by it. Because you're a little boy, you're like, haha, she's a girl. She's grossed out by a bug. I love bugs.
00:06:22
Speaker
ah If you could tell listeners, we don't have much to talk about.
Upcoming Game Embargoes and Busy March Schedule
00:06:27
Speaker
i think it's because we're we're kind of heads down in a lot of our work right now. lot of stuff I can't talk about that's coming out in the next couple of weeks. I have a lot of embargoes next week.
00:06:39
Speaker
um Like I said, I i started, I it got to the point where I actually had to write. The pen and paper. are Very snazzy. Write it all down.
00:06:52
Speaker
but Yeah, I have a ton. i already have March embargoes, dude. I have a March 4th embargo. That's crazy. crazy I guess that's, yeah I mean, February is like a few days shorter, so I guess it's less. That's true.
00:07:08
Speaker
No one remembers February.
Plans for GDC and PAX East: Goals and Expectations
00:07:13
Speaker
March is going to be nuts for me because we're going to GDC and PAX East.
00:07:20
Speaker
And you're going be there? Yeah, I will. I will. Woo! There we go. You heard it here. You heard it here first. Barring any insane misfortune happens. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll check the climate. on real align it yeahll check the climate first.
00:07:40
Speaker
Barring like March 15th, there's like ah an executive order that like all Canadians be executed at the airport. Barring any of that, I'll be there. Yeah. Yeah. yeah that's that's we We got him.
00:07:53
Speaker
Spencer will be doing some hosting. with me and not like hosting video. It'd be like Japanese like club hosting. I'm going to have like a suit. Yeah, I'm going to have the wine, the champagne, the noisy pixel champagne, feathered bangs, complimentary. yeah. Noisy pixel champagne 2026. I'm excited. If you like the energy that Spencer and I bring to this podcast, you just fucking wait, dude,
00:08:25
Speaker
dude dont they do I don't think they're ready for us, man. don't think we've ever recorded anything. oh the panel. That was it. Only the panel. panel couple that's it And I was, I definitely...
00:08:37
Speaker
bit off a little more than I could chew in that. You are a shiny. We did it. We hosted it we hosted a um a Kingdom Hearts panel in PAX East a couple years ago now.
00:08:50
Speaker
Six years ago. Six? i still have my bad voice so I still had my bad voice back then too. Yeah, I still i was 23. That was pre-surgery.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah, because when I flew home from that PAX, at the airport when I did the check in, it said, have you been to Wuhan? And I was like, I don't know what that is. So no.
00:09:12
Speaker
And then a week later, everything was shut down. Or they shut down. Dude, that's dude that's the that's the packs. I remember we're eating a we're eating at a ramen place and I got the email that's like GDC canceled and it was like in two weeks. and i was like, what the fuck? That's a little strange. This will blow over soon. Yeah. Yeah. All for the world forever.
00:09:34
Speaker
ah um But I'm really excited to so to see
Kingdom Hearts Panel Recap and Story Explanation
00:09:39
Speaker
what. Oh, but on that panel, let me let me just say that if you go back and watch it, um I think it is still on the PAX. I think it was like YouTube channel. Yeah, it's on the PAX YouTube channel. um But ah It's cool. it's It's basically ranking the Kingdom Hearts games. But I think I don't think we gave we gave this enough thought.
00:10:02
Speaker
We had no idea what it was going to be. yeah Yeah, we kind of We really know how much preparation we had. Yeah, it was. But it turned out to be very fun. And it turned out to be one of the I think Spencer's like time to pull out all of this information that maybe maybe he talks to his parents about. like her theyre like but i know they don't. that's why That's why I like i like dinner. He really wants to talk about this stuff and he just can't. He's choking it down with food and finally he has this full room. room Big ass room.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, pretty full. Maybe one fourth full. Yeah, it's it's but it's a big room. It was the biggest. Yeah. yeah And it was it was live streamed on Twitch. Yes. um A lot of people. wait say More than I thought.
00:10:57
Speaker
and ah And Spencer goes on the complete story of Kingdom Hearts, the history of it. But as if he's rehearsed to this A hundred times in his in the shower. He natural mental illness. It's so it was, there was no arms. There was no, uh, there was just, iie there was just flow and it was beautiful. It was, it it made me, it made me jealous. I was envious. I don't know.
00:11:28
Speaker
You don't got to be jealous of that, brother. you don't have to be. I wish I had that Kingdom Hearts. I wish i need I need that. I need to pull that out at ah at a party. You know, I need to be like, you guys want to hear the complete history of.
00:11:39
Speaker
Everyone sit. haven't been to parties because I know that much about Kingdom Hearts. So obviously you're not getting invited to parties. but I can't imagine it would go super great once you reach the point of like, OK, so then Mickey Mouse appears and everyone's like, what?
00:11:55
Speaker
What? Huh? I think at that point. You might be like, dude, what the fuck are you talking about? But listen, let's talk about kingdom Hearts. What was it when? Let's talk about Chain of Memories. It's very unfortunate. What's the one where like the PS5 one or the PS4 one before Kingdom of Hearts 3 came out? 0.2 of Fragmentary Pass. Cat ears on Aqua.
00:12:17
Speaker
And you saw like before what happened in Kingdom Hearts where Mickey was in. How many years? Yeah, dude, because he doesn't have a shirt in the first game and everyone's like, that's weird.
00:12:28
Speaker
And then they made a whole game to be like his shirt got hit off him. It's like, oh, oh, okay. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for explaining that. Yeah, it's very much like a Darth Vader made three ah three PO and you're like,
Importance of Reviewing Unique and Lesser-known Titles
00:12:40
Speaker
oh, okay.
00:12:42
Speaker
Yeah. Thanks. yes ah Very much Kingdom Hearts. ah That was fun. So expect that kind of energy this year at PAX.
00:12:55
Speaker
Yeah, i'll be I'll be at GDC alone, which kind of sucks. um it's my favorite show It's my favorite show though to go to because you can kind of just talk to developers and have a little- It's less fast, intense.
00:13:11
Speaker
Yeah. Everyone wants to talk. You'd be surprised, dude. therere People are treating it like it's like it's E3. Yeah, they're it's a whole different.
00:13:22
Speaker
It's a whole different thing. E3 is like a live stream of announcements and GDC is like a collection of video essays or it's like, yeah, they're not the same purpose. they They're totally. Yeah.
00:13:38
Speaker
my my goal My goal this year is to, same same as last year, reintroduce NoisyPixel and what we're doing this year, see how we can help indie devs um cover their games, um see where sarah where we fit in. I think our cover our style of coverage is is pretty unique in this space. um so i yeah I want to lean into that as much as possible because it's the only thing that diversifies us from other websites. um You should have like LazyPixel lore. Like you know how Nirvana the band, the show, it's like it's like candidly filmed but there's a lore to it. you should yeah You should have like a fictional version of Azaria Lopes that's like...
00:14:24
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's a lot, though. Like I do too much, I think. That's true. Oh, yeah. You 100% do. I think you have a whole damn buffet plate every day of work to do.
00:14:37
Speaker
But people like i would much rather be doing my lawn right now, though, because I look outside this window, man, and it needs to be mowed in your lawn. I can't even understand that.
00:14:48
Speaker
you You can come you come live with me if you want. Today and yesterday. I i haven't seen grass in fucking four months. dude. i didn't take a shit this year this are this week I didn't take a shower for three days. I'll go on um i'll go on record.
00:15:03
Speaker
and so Stank going on. Dude, i I reviewed Tokyo Scramble. I reviewed Tokyo Scramble.
Embracing the Experience of Reviewing Bad Games
00:15:13
Speaker
Revealed that the Nintendo Direct and Oh my God. You know what?
00:15:16
Speaker
and I really like bad games. I think, I think that's my, I think that's my like, Ooh, it's like, and it kind of upsets me that no one's like but the review embargo lifted today for Tokyo scramble. And I, I was the only one, I was the only review that posted.
00:15:33
Speaker
And, uh, i I just like these websites, these these bigger websites, these IGN and GameSpots, they need to also review these smaller games to like. oh hundred I know they're not sevens, eights or nines. Maybe your freelancer pool won't immediately accept them.
00:15:55
Speaker
But I think there is merit to if I look at IGN in 2014, 2013, dude, Colin Moriarty was reviewing a lot of like NIS America games. Yeah. Like a lot of XSEED games. Like he reviewed like East games and shit. Like nobody else now will touch those. They have to buy freelance. They have to get freelancers to touch those games. Yeah. I think that's why we're so big on that kind of coverage is because that's the era that we like watched IGN and everything like we grew up in. So we were like, they were playing like occasionally imported shit. You'd be be like, wow, this is interesting to me. And then obviously now there's less of that. So it's, yeah. i like it i like you
00:16:38
Speaker
I think it's important for reviewers to play games they don't want to review. A hundred percent. it's like you can't like You gotta to have stinkers to go with your, because a like everything needs to be reviewed and be, uh, it expands your, expanding your horizons. Doesn't just mean stuff you like, no, like you have to when you want to learn more about film or games, you have to watch movies that you aren't going like, or like garbage to be like, Oh, okay. It's just every thing you take in forms some part of you. So you have to like take in everything that you can. That's my perspective. At least.
00:17:16
Speaker
Yeah. Cause you'll see a game like, um, And it kind of looks like Tokyo Scramble, but that game that's like ah the city where the city gets destroyed or whatever in Tokyo. And um it was a whole series in PS2, but they recently brought it back. Like, it's not like danger report. No, it's yeah. Something like that. Like, like the It's like Crisis Report or like Danger or something. Yeah. Because they're yeah. Okay. And they have one on Wii. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:43
Speaker
I like those games. Natural Disaster. I think that's the name of it. something Yeah. Like a Earthquake. Yeah. Those are like so campy and like kind of choppy and just like you don't know what you're going to get. I think is why I like these games.
00:18:00
Speaker
You don't know. i so i look at God of War. i know I know the experience I'm going to have. and i Great experiences, but I like surprises now. I like to play something and be like, what? so like That rocks.
00:18:16
Speaker
I reviewed Romeo is a Dead Man. Oh, I want to play that so bad. Oh my god, dude. love I loved it. And I knew every part of this game that somebody would hate. That's a studio game right there. Yeah. If I was less weird, I wouldn't like this. But this hits.
Love for Janky Games and Their Unique Charm
00:18:41
Speaker
There's this part of Romeo is a Dead Man where it's just the visual novel part.
00:18:46
Speaker
And you know how at visual novel parts, people like mash down X because they don't want to read. And it's an action game. So, of course, you're not going to read it. Dude, Suda fucking 51 and these fucking writers in this never, not again, just once in the entire game does this happen where it's ah you're, you're, you're talking to everybody and you're, you're pressing X to get through the, the, the narrative part. And then a little prompt comes up and the girl's like, Hey, do you want me to tell you this story?
00:19:17
Speaker
about and she starts going into the history, like real history of this event. And if you just mash X, it's long, man. It's like, yeah, it's like 30 props. All right. And if you're just mashing to get through it, another one pops up another like, hey, do you want me to continue? And if you're just you'll like, like, Okay.
00:19:39
Speaker
she's like wow really okay She goes small. Small things like that are so fun and no one does them. like That kind of tiny shit is so good. I loved it. i Because like only gamers would know what it's trying to make fun of. you know and like like the last The last stage, there's like these narrow... you You have to climb a tower pretty much and there's like these narrow walking... But there's like these birds that'll just hit you off and you just start
00:20:11
Speaker
yeah All the way at the fucking bottom. But they hit you off and just any nice style maybe 12, maybe 12 times. Maybe 12 times it took me. And every time I fuck this game. But I love. Oh, my fucking God, dude. The post credit scenes is going to fucking wreck you. I cannot wait. I cannot fucking wait for you to experience it because It is glorious. This entire game is perfect from beginning to end. And it is so fucking like janky.
00:20:48
Speaker
It's so janky. There's so many janky. i fucking love Deadly Premonition. And it is so janky. is it weird But that adds to it. like It's that.
00:21:01
Speaker
But is it weird that people seem to give that like a pass because so many so many like big voices in our industry give it a pass? give it But then they don't give and Yeah, it didn't. think that's revisionist history because people you say, this is the best, worst game. This like the room of games. And that's not true at all. like What are you talking about?
00:21:18
Speaker
I just remember Jim Sterling saying a lot of good things about it. like yeah like it's truly I think they don't like the idea of like, just like movies and shows, like, there are games where, like, you might just not get it. And if you don't get it, you don't have to be like, oh, it's the best worst shit. And, like, no, like, Deadly Premonition rocks. Yeah, it's janky, but, like, it's insanely charming, and the gameplay is, like, super fun and goofy. And, yeah, it's it's Twin Peaks. But, like, like it's such a human game where it's like, this was made by Swery. This is, there's like...
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. Like, ai could not do this. This is a human. Right. This like, yeah. And it's like and I think that, yeah, the like people say now, like, oh it's a it's like ah a janky masterpiece. But 100% when it came out, people would be like, oh, it's fucking three out of ten. But it's a weird, fun, but very Japanese and janky because Japanese being insult by a lot of viewers.
00:22:19
Speaker
ah But they don't like to talk about that anymore either. no we don't.
00:22:25
Speaker
the fuck it but yeah so like I think that they they only retroactively give it a pass where they're like, oh yeah, no, that's always been a a janky masterpiece. It's like, no, you didn't think that 10 years ago. Fuck off. And you're just doing the exact same thing now, but with like No More Heroes 3 or whatever the like the the most recent game, like The Good Light, whatever. And it's like, you have to, yeah, I don't know. I think... yeah hotel Hotel Barcelona was Swery's recent. Yeah.
00:22:55
Speaker
thought that was a smart game. It's an interesting idea. I haven't played it, but I was like, okay, this I can see Swery digging it. Also, i just want a side note, Swery's like the nicest guy ever. I'm his friend friend on Facebook, and he wishes me happy birthday every year. Very nice man.
00:23:10
Speaker
I was like, oh, shit but nice yeah, he's got he's he's ah he he he talked to me for like 45 minutes at GDC and like a lot of people were while like IGN was playing his game like he didn't care. he was just like talk he was talking to me about like ah ah ramen and um drinking with Suda because I told him a drinking story that I had with Suda 51 and he was telling me like stories. It was cool. Like he's he's a very good guy.
00:23:37
Speaker
Easy guy. I imagine Bit Summit in Japan to be like that where but with a bunch of Japanese indie devs, because Suda and Swari, they all go there. um But I imagine like the entire Japanese industry really ends up there, even like Square Enix devs and even like Capcom devs, they'll go there and to to to meet and converse. And that's another event aside from Tokyo Game Show that I think I want to go to in the future yeah because ah that's for the fund That's where the fun's happening.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, when you get to talk to the actual people. Those are the ideas. Play these indie games. Maybe they're not fucking good at this whole visual shit, but there's one or two things in all these games that are really fucking cool.
00:24:20
Speaker
Find those one or two things. And also, think we need to I think we need to kind of get over visuals like in a certain to a degree, because like since the PS3, we've been like, you can see their pores. This is so real. I'm sick of real. I don't want real anymore. I want it in shit where it works. Sure.
00:24:39
Speaker
But I don't want it. you knowve I've probably said on this book because this podcast has been running for like four years now, three, like four. i think a lot of time. Yeah, they keep trying to shut us down. but yeah The DOJs in our inbox every day. back The FCC will let me be. egg um But I've 100% said like like new Mortal Kombat games. i I love Mortal Kombat, but why is it realistic? Why does it look? it's so A, the gore is way less fun when it just looks like a fucking live leak video. And I go on the character select screen and i I don't know half the characters immediately because they just look like people. they just look like dudes. In the original, they're stylized and colorful, and it's like, wow. like There's so many games where I would rather play them but on the like the Dreamcast because they have like weird colors and interesting styles than like on the PS4 and PS5.
00:25:41
Speaker
i don't I don't want it to look... like me i don't want to see real people i've had enough of real people for a while i just want to see cool little cartoony characters or like interesting styles that match the narrative or maybe they don't match the narrative because of a meta reason that makes them more like i we need to get back to to being like you know what i i don't think i need to see pores anymore I think so So Dragon Quest reimagined Dragon Quest 7 reimagined was kind of like loved it. Beautiful.
00:26:09
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
Preference for Stylized Game Graphics Over Realism
00:26:10
Speaker
I love the diorama style. I love that they they made real like puppets models to like base it off of. So charming. Like that's I would 100% be completely fine with, I guess, would it be, i i guess they probably if they did four to six, they'd probably do 2D HD, HD 2D, which I'm fine with too. So I would say if they did eight, nine, um they're not going to do 10. A little MMO. They made an offline version specifically to not bring it over here.
00:26:43
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, so if they were to do like eight and nine and maybe maybe some of the spin offs something in that style, I would be so happy. I would be like, because it's truly like there's nothing else really like it. And it yeah fits that story and those characters. It's very storybook fairy tale-esque. And it's like, yeah, I don't i don't want to see fucking Kiefer's pores. I don't want to. like yeah I think ah i I probably said it on this podcast too. I didn't like Grand Theft Auto five and like, yeah, and it's because it was just too real. It was just like,
00:27:18
Speaker
I really like Vice City where i like you blow someone's head off and blood squirts a thousand feet in the air. like That's funny. and then like like yeah i feel like I'm thinking about this guy's family at home that I just ran over I'm like, fuck, dude, I'm sorry. You're like slicing layers of their face off in a fatality and you're like,
00:27:39
Speaker
Like, I'm not grossed out. I'm just like, this isn't like, it used to be like, you whip out their spine and smack them with it. And they like follow. And it's like, oh, this is like borderline, like techs, like Chuck Jones. Fucking. Yeah. It's just goofy. It's like fantastical.
00:27:57
Speaker
And it's like, that's way more interesting than like, oh, this is just like ogre. Yeah. There's probably. And a you know what? i to Like passing this over to developers, there's probably a fine line.
00:28:08
Speaker
Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. between realism and and the goofy status. I think it's not up to us on how to find that. But we know what we want. We know what we're looking for. And the hyper real even even found in like um Final Fantasy 15, you know, and it's like it's a it's ah i don't know, it's it's unnecessary, I think, a little bit when we're like, oh, neat.
00:28:37
Speaker
Anyway, yeah. on On games that were just announced, like ah Tokyo or not Tokyo Scramble, Paranorma site from Square Enix announced a new game. And if you've played the first Paranorma site, I love the visuals of that.
00:28:51
Speaker
like ah um almost like you wouldn't Jake, like a Jake Hunter style, like, uh, yeah, yeah. but Yeah. And so, so in that style, but like square Enix is doing it, you know, when they're like, it's, it's, it's a comic book style characters, you know, in illustrations and, and I still feel immersed. I still feel tension. You can build tension without it being realistic. I think, I think when it gets too real, I get exhausted a lot easier, quicker. just kind of like glaze over. because youre Yeah. I've been playing some like the PS2, PS2, PSP, Square Enix style is my very favorite because like Kingdom Hearts 2, Crisis Core, Dirge Sur... They're all very colorful and... kind of Like Dissidia is my favorite look for every single Final Fantasy character because they have the colors and they have the cartoonish, not even like cartoon like the the manga-esque, anime-esque look.
00:29:51
Speaker
And as much as I love Rebirth and I love Final Fantasy XV, and it's cool to see those characters in like the the hyper real... it's close like Obviously, they don't look like an NBA game of people. ah like they They definitely look more realistic. It's cool as you to see that. It's like, ah, but they don't look like...
00:30:09
Speaker
like in Dissidia where they're very clearly like Japanese aesthetic inspired characters who were made specifically to be like visually appealing on this screen. That's like, I don't know. They had something so special with that. And I can enjoy what they're doing now. It's like ah it the it was when the new Dissidia came. It's not even new anymore. So when NT came out, I remember being like, that's you can compare like Duodecim and NT and be like, that is like technically nicer, but they all look so like kind of similar vibe compared to like, like cloud lightning look nothing alike. And this, I don't know, maybe we're old men fucking yelling at clouds. Yeah. I say this, but like, I will say that the new resident evils,
00:30:57
Speaker
They really they're really good. They found they they've really found that balance of like goofy meets real. I think like you have the exploding barrels, you have like the the tripping over zombies. You you know, they they And they're zombies, i think. And still, like, realistic enough to be kind of scary. Because, like, in horror, realism works really well because your mind easily syncs to it like I'm in this situation.
Resident Evil's Revival: Balancing Realism and Tradition
00:31:25
Speaker
But Resident Evil, like, it has the perfect amount of realism without sacrificing...
00:31:31
Speaker
the silliness, like even Resident Evil 7, which is probably like very the most realistic kind of presenting one because like Jack and his family all look like like people for the most part. But even that he's he's swinging around like chainsaw scissors and yeah and you're like, oh, yeah, this is Resident Evil like this. is yeah like yeah You get in a car and you hit him. You ramble with it. It's like, fuck, dude. That's the only way to take this guy out they really out.
00:31:57
Speaker
It's crazy to remember like when Resident Evil 6 came out. We were all like, is it cooked? Is that it like Is Resident Evil just done? And then they came back swinging with like, hit after hit. Did you hate like a few months, like six months ago where people were trying to convince us that Resident Evil six was good? Did you see where you were like, oh, it's like a fun B movie. I'm like, all the Resident Evil are fun B movies. That's not a fun. guys are. as the like gives One's a fun B movie.
00:32:22
Speaker
Resident Evil six is a boring fucking bargain bin action movie that didn't hit theaters. Yeah, yeah it it was a mess of ideas that were I guess I get what they're doing because they're doing it in the new Requiem. They're doing the same thing. They're they're having like the action segments and the old um survival horror segments, but they're smart now because Leon has years of experience fighting these guys. You can't possibly have him in a video game and make him as weak as yeah you can't actually be like, yeah, I forgot all the shit that he can do. yeah like yeah come on he has to show up in resident evil 4 he's roundhouse kicking fucking trolls right and be like oh he forgot how to do that no he is he is like he he evolved from resident evil 2 where it's like is his first day on the job and it's fucking scary and then resident 4 where he's like super action star so it's like okay there's a trajectory there that you can trace through the games and be like he should be like punching holes in zombies 100 just by based on that so i think that's very smart in how they did it i agree um as well as they seem more confident in their approach this time where they're like you can do first person or third person yeah it'll be action she'll be yeah so it's like okay this is like this isn't resident 6 where it's like oh uh like people don't like like zombies and like japanese games right now so this is like a cool action movie and it's like
00:33:49
Speaker
That's not Resident Evil. That's not what you are. But Resident Evil 9 100% looks like it's it's Resident Evil. It's just playing something else while still being Resident Evil. I will say I haven't played the oh break Outbreak games on PS2. She's the daughter of the... I've i actually played the Outbreak games.
00:34:10
Speaker
They're good. No, I will i don't. The thing is, is I don't really remember them because I played them at my cousin's house when I was like 14, 15, I think. and he And I only played it there because he had the Internet connection on the PS2. It was like an Internet multiplayer game, right? Yeah. So I brought them there and he just kind of played them.
00:34:29
Speaker
Well, it took us a while because whenever we got into a game, the people would just kill us. Like, we would just do it. It was it was pretty fucked up. Like, i and now that's all coming back to me, actually, it was pretty messed up getting a good group. But yeah, i was just watching him play and it was cool. There's four people and when they were like doing stuff. And I don't remember the story at all.
00:34:48
Speaker
i don't remember the story at all. That's why I've never seen anyone talk about it. So that's why it's so interesting. Me neither, actually. we like Oh, she's the daughter of... cause then I'm surprised they didn't like this month or last month do like a, oh, you can play them in single player only on PS5 right now. like Classic. Re-released if they were going to be connected. but um On Requiem, I got to play the Leon's opening hour and um i I gave feedback to the devs and
00:35:18
Speaker
kind of like scoffed me a little bit, but there's there's a scene and you saw it in like the the recent reveal where he picks up a chainsaw and you can use the chainsaw. And I was like, don't you guys think you should have made this like a cinematic? like like He's picking up the chainsaw. It should be like...
00:35:35
Speaker
a scene of him finally being able to wield this thing that is killed him. But, but yeah, but in the game, you don't even have to pick it up. It's an optional thing. Like it doesn't, yeah, it doesn't tell you to pick it. You have to use it to get through the door in this area and you should pick it up because there's a lot of enemies in it.
00:35:57
Speaker
Excuse me, but I didn't pick it up at first. So, so that's, I killed everyone in the room without picking up, the the um chainsaw. And I was like, you guys should have just given him the chainsaw in a scene and like made it an epic like moment. of make him say something she's Let's go. Yeah, let's let's go, motherfucker. You know, like I'm here to to chew bubblegum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubblegum. would 100% say something like goofy. But yeah, yeah, they should right right. Let's let's cut to the chase. ora Yeah.
00:36:31
Speaker
you would hundred like you And it would rock because it's a Leon. Yeah. Yeah. yeah i am and And he kind of said, yeah, but it's cool. Right. And i was like, that's cool.
00:36:42
Speaker
i was like, I just gave a feedback. Cool. But you could have made it cooler. so So if there's a scene now, if we get the game later this month and they they put in a scene, we know where that
Encouraging Fan Interaction and Community Engagement
00:36:56
Speaker
came from. yeah we Wait, does it come out this month or next month? Yeah, at the end of this month.
00:37:01
Speaker
Oh, dude, this month sucks. it Oh, it's so fucking packed. ah um My headphones just died, so going to turn on the mic.
00:37:20
Speaker
But I guess this is a good natural. Did Nazario have headphones on for this episode? What the heck? No, I'm not kidding. I'm not going back. Am I in a different universe now?
00:37:31
Speaker
and I'm not going back to cutting you this out. Find the Burnstead universe. Yeah, that was a episode. I think we're doing... i think Listen, everybody. Leave a comment. Say, what did you think about our return episode? What did you do you want us to talk about? You tell us.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah, remember at the beginning we'd be like, tell us a game to talk about or something. God, it has been a long time because I kind of forgot about that. We used to be like, tell us something. i don't know. If you want us to talk about something or you want our opinion on something, leave a comment. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:01
Speaker
I read the comments. i look i I read the comments on every video i'm involved. If I do the VO, I check the comments for like three days see if I mispronounced anything. No, that's true. In like a panic, I'm like, okay, did anybody say like, this guy's a fucking idiot? Because then I'm like, oh shit, now I know for the next one. Yeah.
00:38:17
Speaker
I was checking that, what was the Chinese MMO? Oh, the where wins me. Yeah, I was checking that video because I had to learn a bunch of Chinese words. Yeah, everyone seemed to like you on that one. Yeah, so I was like i was like Googling while I was doing it. I was like, woo sha like jaw what and and so I was like i was feverishly checking that for days after where I was like, was all this right? Was all this fine?
00:38:39
Speaker
Yeah, I was like... i i I read all the comments to you guys. All of them. The most neurotic people in the world. So we read them all. I try to respond to as many as I can. And I so and i respond to a lot. You respond to a lot. Yeah. i I think that is important.
00:38:58
Speaker
I think because I've been on the other side of like commenting on my favorite reviewers videos and them not interacting with me. um Kind of a bummer. So I don't want that to happen.
00:39:10
Speaker
um But yeah, I'm there. i'm I'm there with you guys. So thank thank you all. And you know what? We should be better. i you We should be better at at um audience saying at the beginning of the episode to let us know, give us topics to talk about. And we have no problem because Spencer and I can literally sit here for the next two hours and rambling shit to you guys. Also, three out of four episodes will be like, what do we talk about today? Yeah. so Before this one. If you give us one, then we're like, oh, they want us to talk about whatever happened to the the making of series. Oh, what do you guys like about e three Like anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:39:46
Speaker
Yeah, if you want us to talk talk shop, we can we can give you guys all the the juicy deets of the industry, too. I just don't know what you want to hear. So wheo let's be better. Next episode, we'll be sure to say that at the beginning of the episode.
00:39:59
Speaker
And then we will continue to to to let you know, because I think it's on us to to remind you yeah that there where we're open to it. um yeah so So we'll meet you halfway.
00:40:11
Speaker
So tell us what you want to hear 132. to one thirty two we'll make ah We'll make a song too if you want. We will. We will. I don't play any instruments. it's Sorry, to play you play guitar, right?
00:40:23
Speaker
Yeah, I play drums too. There you go. And I got vocal chords of it. Ooh, it's beautiful. It's a siren song. It's beautiful. Karaoke. I've never been to karaoke, so I actually don't know if I can do that. but We should go in Boston. there's There's a karaoke bar that we can definitely go to.
00:40:41
Speaker
No videos for you guys of that. hey unless i anyone really know i i don't i't You know what, guys? If you see us at PAX, come say hi. We we are we are the most friendly. Don't talk us.
00:40:53
Speaker
You are our pay pigs. We don't care who you are.
00:41:00
Speaker
We have designated 10 minutes of autographs at the end of the day. check with yeah I might hit you. That's all Subject to change. um No, we ah i would love to yeah I would love to. People are always thrown off.
00:41:14
Speaker
People are always thrown off when they come up to me and they're like, Hey, are you a Zario? And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're like, ah Oh, I listen to your stuff all the time. And I'm like, dude, sit with us. They're like, yeah, yeah they go this we're not talking to we're like doing it. It gives you like this illusion of like, oh they're famous. But yeah.
00:41:31
Speaker
You want to hang out? Let's get to know each other. If you get the gap between your favorite Let's Player and Tom Cruise, there's probably that size gap between us and your favorite Let's Player. Right. So we're not like, I'm at dinner right now.
00:41:46
Speaker
Did you say Tom Cruise because I look like Tom Cruise? I did. I'm glad you noticed. I'm glad you did. I was going to say you should be in top of three. caught on two. Just saying. All right, guys have a good week. We'll see you next week. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Bye, everybody.
00:42:03
Speaker
Bye.
00:42:16
Speaker
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