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State of Play is Back & you can't take Steam with you - Add to Party 05.31.2024
19 Plays5 months ago
This week we talk about the Sony State of Play, COD on Gamepass, your steam library dying with you, and reviews for Hellblade 2, Paper Marion, and Animal Well.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Add to Party'
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome to Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I'm your host, James Hartwell, and I'm joined by Andy Kay, and I'm joined by Derek Castillo.
00:00:28
Speaker
Good evening. How are you guys?
Blood Donation Experiences
00:00:34
Speaker
I'm doing pretty good. I got my blood drawn. Oh, I did. How many vials? I did that on Tuesday. Seven. Oh, Jesus. Oh, my God. I did four and that felt like a lot.
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, so I had a nice hearty dinner, two of russet potatoes, some chicken and veggies. OK. But yeah, once a year, got to make everything right because I go on immunosuppressants. Oh, OK. Do they do? Do you chug water before you go, Derek? Oh, yeah. Well, not right before, but I just drink water because that's all you can do from midnight when you go in. Oh, sure. Did you at least get a morning appointment?
00:01:17
Speaker
No, I did a walk-in, actually, which was wild because I went to the location and they were closed permanently. So I just had to drive 15 minutes away. Oh, my goodness. No, I don't I don't like to make appointments. Are you good with needles? Oh, God. Well, I'm not bad with needles. I just don't look at it. Yeah, I turn away and breathe heavy. Oh, no, I turn away and try to keep the conversation. OK.
00:01:45
Speaker
What conversation are you making as you're dumping seven vials of blood on the floor? It's not on the floor. All over the floor, Derek. Yeah, I noticed that it's already going up in territory whenever that at some point they take the band off to get more blood in your arm. Yeah. That happened to me on the fourth vial. They're like, this is going slow. Oh, my gosh.
00:02:11
Speaker
They reseed it. I don't know if I've ever had that much. They release it so that your arm gets more blood. But I followed it up with a nice healthy dose of a hundred milligrams of caffeine. We love it. Down to the milligram. I had a rich pastrami sandwich afterwards.
00:02:30
Speaker
Are they feeding you after this or just like after donating blood or are you just running something? Well, donating blood, they give you like oranges and stuff. Yeah. I remember I used to get treats, but then I stopped donating blood because one person poked me. I started bleeding everywhere and they just walked away. Literally just gone. I was just bleeding and like, you know what? I don't need to do this again. Screw you guys. I'm keeping my own egg to myself.
00:02:57
Speaker
Oh, you're on negative two, Andy. Oh, we have hero blood. We are heroes. I've never donated blood once in my life. Why?
Altruism and Skepticism in Donations
00:03:08
Speaker
I'm not holding it against you now. Well, I'm on Team James right now.
00:03:14
Speaker
of never donating blood? Well, at some point, they I got tested and test deposit for hepatitis. Oh, and then and then all the testing, they're like, yeah, this is what we'd expect if someone is completely cured of hepatitis. Oh, I'm on the no donor list forever ran like a month before I got called for like, hey, do you still want to donate bone marrow? And I was like, fuck, yes, I do. But I can't. Oh, because you're no donor. Yeah.
00:03:43
Speaker
I've heard about donating blood marrow. It's really like painful, right? It's supposed to be painful for like a moment and you give a lifetime of joy. A lifetime of just holding it above other people's heads. Oh, I donated bone marrow. A lifetime of joy for them, not you.
00:04:06
Speaker
I, you know, I think it was on Anthony Burch on the Dungeons and Daddies podcast. He said he donated a kidney. Is that the one you have two of? Yes. You have two of. He donated a kidney. Didn't know who. He just donated it. And then he was like, I have the ultimate superior like Trump card of over all of you. You cannot criticize me because I donated a kidney. Like, man, he's a better man than a bone marrow.
00:04:35
Speaker
He's better than all of us. He's certainly he's certainly better than me. What's that? Well, you won't even donate. I try not to donate. Listen, it's all to like, I don't remember. I remember reading something where they're like private or like these places that collect blood are private and then they sell it to hospitals. Some some do. I mean, that's why it's called donating because you're
00:05:03
Speaker
You're you are you aren't getting paid because you can you can sell your blood and plasma Yeah, but the thing is if you sell your plasma They'll tell you who they sell it to yeah, and it's just like they're open like oh, yeah We're doing it with these companies and they're doing this with it. It's really
Blood Types and Personalities
00:05:20
Speaker
cool. You donate plasma You hope it helps your neighborhood or your community, but you don't know I want a Christmas card every year of all the people who took my blood and
00:05:32
Speaker
I want to be thanked for it. I just worry. It's like I struggle to fill up four vials. I'm going to be there for like a day if I have to get paid for me. I remember they hook you up to a machine and then you just chill for like a half hour. Yeah, I'm good. Well, they make you feel like a hero. You even get like a punch card and everything. Pregnant women and car accident victims will just have to go without my blood. I, you know, you know, oh, negative to.
00:06:03
Speaker
We run the world. But whatever. We have. We have. We're givers, Andy. That's our blood type. I do. Is that what it is?
Living Honestly and Blood Type Revelations
00:06:13
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that's like the Japanese thing where it's like they do blood types or like part of like personality tests, which makes no sense. Yeah, I know it does. You know, eight personalities, B plus type personalities, O types. And it doesn't really make entirely like any sense at all.
00:06:33
Speaker
It's kind of fun. You know, it's just like astrology. Do they print in their newspapers what a certain blood type is going to have that day? No, but here's. So blood type A, you're earnest, creative, sensible, reserved, patient and responsible. Bs are passionate, active, nature, creative, strong. AB types are cool, controlled, rational and adaptable. And O's are confident, self-determined, strong-willed and intuitive.
00:07:03
Speaker
That's that's Andy. That's me. Strong will. What? You are strong. You are strong, little Andy. Oh, God, no. Well, you are because you're very much when you don't want to do something. You go, no. You go, no, no. Also, also when you really want to do something, but your back of your head says no, you just won't do it. You'll come up with any excuse. There you go. You know, that's the right thing to do. But I'm full of excuses.
00:07:30
Speaker
Listen, I'm trying to exist in this world honestly, all right? I tried when I became an adult to not give excuses anymore. I don't want to do that to someone, all right? Let's just live honestly. I don't always have a headache. Sometimes I do. But not always. Sometimes you're just too tired. Sometimes you just can't. Sometimes life, you just can't. Derek, what type are you then?
00:07:59
Speaker
Oh, it's gonna be awkward. I can't remember. Oh, that's okay. No, that's not okay. If I ever get into action and get to go to the hospital, they're gonna have to test me first or they're gonna have to need James's blood. Yeah, exactly. You're not getting my blood. You should wear one of those. Do they still wear those bracelets? Do you remember those? Some people do. Yeah, okay. I think like hemophiliacs wear them usually.
00:08:27
Speaker
Okay, that makes sense. My phone had it set up where it can display all my information in an emergency. What if your phone breaks? Well, then we're screwed. Then we're screwed.
Emergency Preparedness
00:08:41
Speaker
Hopefully we don't. Mine also has car crash detection on it. And you know what? When I was in a car accident, didn't go off.
00:08:53
Speaker
To be fair, though, the car accident, I don't think, was at a level that should have gone off anyway. But didn't go off. No, no, no. But, well, I'm glad that we're all not donors. We're all putting good into the world. We're all lying. And that's a good thing. You know, I'm trying to put good into that. What did you do, Andy?
00:09:19
Speaker
Maybe it's not so much what I did, but what I've fallen into. I found a new rabbit hole.
Bodybuilding Adventures
00:09:28
Speaker
It is not long furbies. You guys, I'm a bodybuilder now. Oh, God, how much I would pay to see you in a gym, Mandy? I'm a bodybuilder.
00:09:44
Speaker
And I'm just addicted to number one. As all the other things I fall into, I love when someone explains someone in techno or something in technical terms. And so I found like some YouTuber that describes like workouts and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all using technical terms. I'm like, yes, feed my brain. And then you go into the comments and it's the most supportive, positive communities you can imagine.
00:10:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Like, it's incredible. Like, these videos are for Jim Bros. But then you go down and it's just everyone hugging each other, doing a good job. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful place to spend your time. Andy, that's just what Jim Bros do. Yeah. I didn't know they're so supportive. Yeah.
00:10:33
Speaker
I did. To be fair, why should I think otherwise? OK, that's a critique. That's your own personal biases. Yeah. So I know why you could feel that way. Why is that? Because there's the subset of Jim Bros called the social media lights and they are not the Jim Bros. They go to the same spaces. They do the same things, but they're not that supportive. Oh, I hear what you're saying, like they're filming and they're, you know,
00:11:01
Speaker
trying to make everything look great. All the content you see of Jim Bros is not from an actual Jim Bro. It's someone put filming for clout. That's fair. The one person I watch, they just like critique stuff and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I get those videos too.
00:11:19
Speaker
Aren't they fascinating? Yeah, especially because they're attractive women. That's a lot of what you get is like all the thumbnails are either like female squatting, just a bunch of women, a bunch of women, a bunch of butts, and then a bunch of dudes with impossible abs. And, you know, all of them have great bodies, so I got to listen to them.
00:11:44
Speaker
Just remember, abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym. I listen. Oh, my God, dude, I've been learning all about body fat, like your body fat percentage. And then I was so inspired. I was like, what's my body fat percentage? And so I ordered the calipers that you can use to measure body fat percentage. Why would you do this to yourself?
00:12:07
Speaker
To set goals and guidelines. So there are. And so I took the calipers and I was like, I'm going to know how fat I am. And then I tried to like follow the instructions. And so you just take like, you just pinch your fat like a different parts in your body. But it's so like, at least with my body, it's so hard to get anything that's repeatable in terms of measurements.
00:12:32
Speaker
And so I went online, I was trying to figure out like, how do you measure? How do you measure? And then it just like one person was just saying like, okay, this is how you do it, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, oh, but if you're fat, don't even bother. Like, this tool is not good if you're fat. It's not going to do anything.
00:12:47
Speaker
Um, so I returned it to Amazon. Yeah. If once you pass a certain amount, you need to go in the, uh, what is it like the water tank? Oh, and there's a, yeah, there's a, like a water one. Um, I don't, I don't know. I was like, I wanted to know my body fat percentage, but I'm too fat. I'm too fat. My, my, my doctor has a thing where you stand on, um, like this.
00:13:13
Speaker
It's almost like a scale, but it has you. You have to take your shoes off and you put your you hold these two sensors and then you stand in a specific way and it sends electrical signals through your body. And that's how it measures your body fat. Oh, I I've never been on one of those, but also no one's asked me my body fat. I just want to know my body fat. And I think I'm about 30 percent body fat.
00:13:39
Speaker
So like 30% of me is body fat. And then if you want abs to show up, you need to be at like 15% body fat. And then you can go down to like 10%, which not many people do. And then you can go down to like 5% and these people look like not humans anymore. It's insane. But I didn't know that much about body fat.
Fleeting Enthusiasms and Recommendations
00:14:04
Speaker
And then I learned Oh, god, I'm forgetting all the words already. It's out of my brain now. But I'm into body. I'm a bodybuilder now. Okay. This isn't this is a healthy, positive thing. And you should usually go into this if this is this going to have you going to the gym more? Absolutely not. Get him watching gym videos more though.
00:14:26
Speaker
I just like this one person critiquing. I love them using all the technical words, but eventually I'll burn out on it, as I do with most other things, until I learn all the vocabulary. I'm not remembering the vocabulary, but there's something about... I don't know. I don't know. I'm just lifting weights now.
00:14:51
Speaker
Andy, I have a hypothesis I want to prove after this. I just want to give you a YouTube channel and give you one video to watch and see where it takes you in a week. Oh, no. Are you going to change my algorithm? Not in a bad way. Please do. I now. Yeah, my mind for you or I don't have a for you page. I'm just on. OK, I'll just spoil it for anyone who might know the channel is called Practical Engineering. And I think I've subscribed to them.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, they do very
Sony's State of Play Announcements
00:15:21
Speaker
good videos, very technical, but very approachable, too. I don't know if I've seen them in a long time, though. I don't know if they post a lot. But that's the kind of stuff I love. I want to be explained to. I just want to be explained to.
00:15:41
Speaker
Well, I'll explain some things to you, Andy, like Sony's state of play that happened just a few a few hours earlier. Let's go. Yeah. So the kickoff, the summer conference season, Sony announced yesterday that they'd be having a state of play today.
00:16:02
Speaker
And it was pretty good. It wasn't terrible. It was fine. Kind of go through it a little bit. It opened with an in-depth cinematic trailer and gameplay trailer of the game Concord. And this is from Firewalk Studios. And Firewalk Studios did
00:16:37
Speaker
I don't think they have done anything else. They might not have. Yeah, this might be their first game. Yeah, I don't want to take any wind out of your sails, but if I describe it in a sentence, it'd be overwatch, but slower. Well, here's the thing. So they had a I want to say five minutes. Yeah, four forty nine. They had a five minute cinematic trailer.
00:17:03
Speaker
And you would be forgiven for thinking this was Sony's next narrative first-person, third-person game. Because it was just so richly world-built. The characters were so thought out and everything. You're like, oh, I want to live in this world. This is so great. And then it's like, how about a five versus five hero shooter? Would you like that? No.
00:17:31
Speaker
What? Why? Does anybody want like all I could think of when I was watching this and please correct me is who wants this? Sony. They want life service games. Like I I was like literally picturing the boardroom and that was almost a theme for me. This is not the entire show, but I was just picturing everyone sitting around and building these games.
00:17:55
Speaker
or planning it out and like, how long do they expect these games to survive, right? Like, are they planning for it to be obsolete within six months? Because no one's gonna play this.
00:18:07
Speaker
Well, and here's the thing, they have not confirmed if this game will be free to play or if it will be pay to play. Oh, that's fair. If it's free to play, it's got a better shot, but I don't know about that. Early access starts on August 23rd, so you will get a chance to play it sooner than later, actually. I mean, here's the thing I'll say about it.
00:18:30
Speaker
They put their work in like this is a it's beautiful looking game. The combat like the the gunplay looks solid, like the different characters they showed all played very differently and had very unique skills. We're going to talk about Marvel Rivals in a minute, but it didn't look like Marvel Rivals were just really like just copied Overwatch abilities.
00:18:53
Speaker
So, you know, it's definitely they put the work in to make a good game here seemingly based on the gameplay trailer. I'm not looking for a five versus five hero shooter in my life. No one is. I don't know if that's true. I decided. So you decided that all the Overwatch and all the Valorant players and all of the paladins, if they still exist, players are wrong. Wait, what's paladin?
00:19:22
Speaker
Don't worry about it. It was the first Overwatch clone I could think of. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's fair. I just, it was just seeing so much budget poured into this and then just me thinking of all these games just always get shut down.
00:19:38
Speaker
They all get shut down. I was just reading the other week about like one from EA. Just no one played it. And I think they actually just gave all the profits to the studio because they felt so bad. They were like, we know you tried, buddy. You did your best. And I think they released it like exactly the wrong time.
00:19:55
Speaker
I mean, here's the thing. I would say, go out and watch the Cinematic Trailer. Like it's this is just it's such a beautiful realized world and it just feels so bad to be like it's a hero. You're like, oh, God, this would be such a fun world to have like a heist. Like it's it's a it's sci fi aliens. It's very Guardians of the Galaxy coded. Oh, but it's.
00:20:21
Speaker
Oh man, it's almost like what I would say Ubisoft Star Wars outlaws. Like if, or even maybe like Beyond Good and Evil. Like if someone told me this was like the next Beyond Good and Evil game, like I would believe them.
00:20:38
Speaker
I the because you mentioned it, it feels like you want to go on a heist with these characters. Well, the the the conceit of the the trailers that they performed a heist. Right. Right. And then you go into the gameplay and it's just five five. And I was like, oh, maybe they're going to have like really interesting environmental objectives. Right. And I thought like that the five five would have to like compete with each other against. And it was just nothing. It was just shooting each other.
00:21:08
Speaker
But they build it up like, oh, we have such a cool world and then just everyone's shooting each other. I thought that could have been interesting if you're doing something, but no. But again, also, these games aren't for me. Yeah, I'm too busy in the gym. I can't. I don't have time. Well, Andy, is Dynasty Warriors for you?
Game Announcements and Nostalgia
00:21:28
Speaker
Because they just because they announced Dynasty Warrior Origins coming in 2025.
00:21:34
Speaker
Oh, it's that far out. Yeah. I haven't played a dynasty warriors since two. So I'm kind of out of practice. That can't be true. But did you know, though, did you play any of like the IP Musso ones like the one piece ones or the Gundam ones or?
00:21:55
Speaker
I'm completely out of the loop. But what I was remembering, and I don't know if this is something that still carries with Dynasty Warriors, but like I remember when two came out, the big thing was how many characters you could have on screen. Right. Yeah. It was just insane technology. And then everybody else tried doing it. And I would say they're they're they're they're pushing that in here like. Yes.
00:22:17
Speaker
Dynasty Warriors, at least the most recent ones, and those have been the IP ones, I guess, really. They have been they all kind of look in the same way. This looks like them taking the next step. This, you know, this is like the next Dynasty Warriors engine that all the other games they're going to rerelease are going to be built off going forward. It looks it looks really pretty, honestly, and.
00:22:43
Speaker
If you're if you're into Dynasty Warriors, I think it probably going to be a fun next step for the franchise. Yeah, it does look like it. It's a lot of a lot of people on screen, just waves and waves and waves of people.
00:22:58
Speaker
by it and it's called Origins. The origin of what? There's like a million of them. I guess maybe they had to reset. Maybe they didn't. It's Lulu before he became Lulu. Right? I only know the name Lulu because of Dynasty Warriors and because he was like, at least in that one, he was like the strongest character or something, if I remember.
00:23:20
Speaker
I mean, it's just he's just famous in the Three Kingdoms era of China. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, when that when it first started up, I thought we were getting a romance of the Three Kingdoms game. When the trailer started, I was like, this is weird. Who wants a romance of the Three Kingdoms? But it wasn't. It wasn't. Derek, are you a Dynasty Warriors guy? No, I've I've liked to play at other people's houses as a kid, but I never felt the need to buy it.
00:23:50
Speaker
That's fair. That's fair. They're just there for a silly fun good time.
00:23:55
Speaker
And speaking of silly, fun, good times, we got a trailer for Infinity Nikki, which is described as an open world, dress up adventure game. This one. And I mean, here's here's what I'll tell you. Looks real cute. No, no. All I could think was is like this is a pervert game. Well, here's the thing is what she I heard this later from some people who were talking about
00:24:24
Speaker
This this game that apparently Nikki is like a super popular mobile game that that like that started as just a dress up game and then they started adding like platforming elements and gameplay elements, things like this. So this is like the first console version, I think, of the Nikki series that's built up. So it's like one of those things where it's like I've never heard of this game. Two billion people are playing it. You know what I mean?
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah. So I've never heard of it before. Yeah. But I mean, it very much looks like, you know, a strong focus on dressing up your character. There's lots of cute little side characters. There seems to be a lot of platforming elements. And don't forget the photo shoots. That's right. It becomes a pervert game.
00:25:19
Speaker
is the photo shoots. I like... Oh, I can't women be beautiful without it being a perfect game. Honestly, none of these outfits are like super revealing. They're very much... They're not at all. It's a perfectly like innocent, fun, cute game. Like really like the art design, everything. It's colorful. It looks really cute. It looks like it could be a lot of fun.
00:25:41
Speaker
And then they had they showed in the trailer, like where the girls are standing there and you can like rotate the camera to take pictures of her. That's a pervert game. I'm so sorry. That's a pervert game. It takes me back to Mel, your solid VR missions. You ever played that one?
00:25:58
Speaker
And there was a mode where you could take pictures of Naomi or Mei Ling. And that was a pervert thing. But all I could think is like everybody's just trying to get up skirts. That's all that's going to happen. It's all up skirts. They built games around taking pictures of women and getting up skirts. What's that one where you take pictures of women so they fall in love with you? I don't know, Andy, I'm not a pervert.
00:26:24
Speaker
Anyways, it's a long running series of nine. I know. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, it's a. But anyways, I was really worried because like this looks so innocent and fun and cute. And then for some reason, for me, seeing the camera like it was like triggering. I was like, no, no perverts perverts something so cute and fun. But we'll see. We'll see. They're going to have to put heavy protections in place. I'll tell you what.
00:26:51
Speaker
That camera's not going very low. Next up, we had two quick
PC Releases and Hero Shooters
00:27:00
Speaker
announcements. One, that God of War Ragnarok's coming to PC September 19th with a flurry of PC specific information about it. And by God, if you want it, you will make a Sony account to play. Yeah.
00:27:20
Speaker
And I heard people complaining about that. That's that's such the least of your problems. Then there was another trailer for the remake of Until Dawn. It says it's coming sometime this fall. You would assume October, but who can say?
00:27:40
Speaker
Who can say? Honestly, it looks the same as the PS four one. No, the lighting's different. They have. It's a different. I could tell I was looking at both of them and it's the lighting engines is revamped. That's a good point. Thank you.
00:27:57
Speaker
After that, we had a Marvel Rivals trailer with the announcement of Marvel, the other five versus five hero shooter. And it's coming to console with a closed beta coming this July. They also showed off new characters, Venom and Adam Warlock. Yep. And I, for one, appreciate all the little touches and nods to the comics.
00:28:24
Speaker
I mean, here's the thing. There is a there is a lot there. They also focus a lot on the team up mechanics where characters can work together to do like hero abilities. Like I haven't played it yet. And I know I keep shitting on it for just being an Overwatch clone, but it does look like they put at least some effort into it, although they showed they showed their new level, which was a like futuristic Japanese temple kind of level. And it's like
00:28:52
Speaker
Yeah, I was like, is this Hanamura? You look pretty much exactly like the Overwatch map. Someone said this is kind of like a power world to Pokemon. We're like, is this legal? But yeah, doesn't exist on PC, right?
00:29:11
Speaker
No, it does exist. The PC had a closed beta or like invite only beta this past like this past month. Oh, OK. Because they introduce it as like this hotly anticipated game. And I've never seen this before. No, no, no. Because it's it's not launched yet. So I think it's launching sometime this fall. So I. And that's a Marvel license. Yeah. NetEase is making that which in three months.
00:29:38
Speaker
I don't know. We'll see. Rivals is weird. It's one of those games where I don't think it will survive, but for some reason it's just going to do really well. It depends on how they implement everything. It looks like they use the team up mechanic as some kind of combined teamwork of the Overwatch ults, which could be interesting, could be just the exact same stuff and fill up a bar and then blow it at a good time. I don't know.
00:30:06
Speaker
but I really am liking what I saw. Yeah, I think this trailer made it
00:30:17
Speaker
They didn't focus on the abilities as much as more and more kind of like, oh, there's also like revolution here where you can actually kind of destroy levels and change the map, too, which is unique to them. Overwatch doesn't do that. Let me just contrast it there with the concords one. This is fast paced. There's action going on. Yeah, it zooms out so you can see storms like ability destroyed building. It keeps on moving. The concords one, they went to slow mo so much that I just.
00:30:45
Speaker
Did not look like fun game just because of it so Like just from trailer alone Marvel Rivals is clear winner, but I'm also biased. That's fair
00:31:00
Speaker
Next up, we had the first gameplay trailer from Monster Hunter Wilds. Yes, we did. And it looks real good. They they showed off a bunch of new monsters, which we don't know the names for. One is like this big weird frog guy and others. I don't know. I want to call them almost yak like like if you mix the yak and a bear together.
00:31:32
Speaker
They what interests me was it seemed like they showed almost like a parry mechanic where the parried monsters attack. And also there was a point where the monster lunged with its mouth and they blocked almost like they stuck the sword in the monster's mouth to stop it from biting them, which those are interesting context aware abilities that they might have.
00:31:49
Speaker
Yeah, it was probably one from that PC-only, Japanese-only Monster Hunter game.
00:31:58
Speaker
Yeah, and both of those are good fit for the Greatsword, which is what they were using. So I think it might be pointing towards little nice modern touches to each of the weapons they choose to port. Well, now, Derek, you're our monster hunter.
00:32:15
Speaker
Stan. I like Monster Hunter too. Did you install the Japanese only version on your PC? No, no, I didn't. I did. But I might just throw I might rip up my Monster Hunter fan card how they started the trailer. Oh, why? The Palico spoke in English. Oh, yeah.
00:32:38
Speaker
Like I didn't catch it at first and my buddy was like, I don't, it's not feeling good. I'm like, what do you mean? There's this like, and then I go back and I'm like, Oh God. But I'm sure that if that's not a setting, I'll have to get used to it because these beautiful landscapes and the fauna is, reminds me more of world than a rise. They are bringing the, uh, they brought the mounts from rise into this. So.
00:33:07
Speaker
They brought the mounts back, I think, as a medium between the clutch claw and the wirebug mobility. You see at one point they get knocked down. And then normally where you would wirebug out, the mount comes up behind and you mount up very quickly and escape. And also speaking about the clutch claw, they used it to break terrain, but they did not mount a creature.
00:33:31
Speaker
I have to imagine that still will be in there, but yeah, I mean, they didn't give a date for this game. It's still 2025. I would assume probably late 20. Like what I saw from that trailer suggests to me, they're still well into development of that game. It does not feel like they are close to being done. No, that was very much a vertical slice. You know, but I do have one more green flag and one more red flag for that trailer.
Platformers and Nostalgia
00:34:00
Speaker
Go for it.
00:34:01
Speaker
I saw the small predators. They were taking part in a turf war against one of the big boys. Yep. So the fact that I might be able to go into an area with some bullfangoes and they won't just immediately go for me sounds amazing. Nothing's more annoying than a bullfango coming up and just not charging you when you're trying to fight a larger creature. And then the one
00:34:26
Speaker
Worst thing I saw about it is the I saw them shoot the gun on the mount. Yeah, I saw that, too. That was interesting. Like they were. It's not a mount. So you use the mounts typically to get into position with the monsters. You can attack off of them. But all they were ever used for, like you could they had their own very minor weak attacks. But if you can just run around and shoot your gun,
00:34:55
Speaker
That seems like very anti Monster Hunter gameplay, where you have to learn how to survive. The balance of the weapons was that the guns, the guns users were pretty immobile when they were firing. So that kind of answers that. But it's a it's a pretty big buff to them. So I don't know. I mean, it might be. I have faith in the Monster Hunter dev team to to figure it out.
00:35:23
Speaker
I don't really think it's a balanced thing because I think low levels, poor hunters would use it to and abuse it to get higher than their skill level is. And then once a monster hunter has a wide enough area of attack that you actually need to evade instead of just run away, then they're just going to get clowned on. Yeah. And then I'm going to get stuck teeming with those clowns. It's going to be us, Derek. We're going to play together. Oh, you're not a clown. At least I hope not.
00:35:52
Speaker
I'm a charge blade user. OK, you're definitely not a clown then. OK. What weapons do clowns use? Longsword is a classic one, but also the best players in the game use Longsword. Is that the anime one? Yes. Oh, I like that one. Tounding Horn is never a clown. Those are the people you look up to. They are the healers of the Monster Hunter world.
00:36:17
Speaker
Really, it's varying degrees of never a clown and always like there's no weapon that's that's always a clown behind it. Okay. Okay, sounds well balanced then.
00:36:30
Speaker
Uh, whoop. Uh, they also showed, uh, uh, two more things. Uh, they showed another trailer for silent Hill to remake. And I think they had a release date on it as well. Uh, October 8th. Yeah. So becoming out, which is a perfect time for a silent Hill game to come out. And I don't think they had pyramid head in it. Not in this trailer. Yeah.
00:36:58
Speaker
I believe they showed him in the last trailer though. Oh, okay. Yeah. Cause I was like, you're here, like, cause I was thinking too, like who is going to play this? Like all the people who loved it and how do you get them excited? Well, I think releasing it in October is a good time. People are looking for spooky games to play.
00:37:15
Speaker
I mean, that's a very good point. And, Andy, you have to remember the immortal words of Pro-ZD. You got to tickle the balls. You can't just put pyramid head in there. You got to tickle the balls a little. That's fair. I mean, they had sexy nurses, so they checked one box. And then they closed the show with.
00:37:35
Speaker
Your favorite PlayStation icon, Astro Bot, getting a new game coming this September. Heck yeah. The trailer started off really badly, I think. It looked really slow, really goofy, really childlike. You jump on the controller and fly. And then as it goes farther and farther, it just looks like a really solid 3D platformer. Yeah, I was going to say, I got a lot of feeling of Kirby and the Forgotten Land from this.
00:38:05
Speaker
I get elements of Kirby. I get elements of Mario Sunshine. I like this just looks like it's a very solid RPG. Lots. And it has character like it's oozing character the entire time. Yeah, I mean, lots of like nods to PlayStation history and PlayStation characters, like lots of astro bots dressed up as like Kratos and and now Aloy from Horizon and Nathan Drake from Uncharted, like
00:38:34
Speaker
So, you know, at one point you fly on a PlayStation five console, which is a spaceship and use it to fight a boss. And there's a rap of the rapper. I'll put a rap of the rapper was there to knock thelings. Like I'm going to ignore all the PlayStation nods because like at its core, it looks like a really good platform or like.
00:38:58
Speaker
We'll see. I mean, it can certainly be a good platformer. There is that risk of it being too easy. But and that's why I said to like, it reminded me of Kirby in the Forgotten World, where it's like Kirby in the forgotten land. Kirby in the Forgotten Land can be very easy. It also can be very difficult. Right, Andy? So perfect. The perfect game.
00:39:24
Speaker
It looked more like, it looked just like whatever the one when the PS5 released, I can't remember. That's Astro's Playroom. Playroom, or is it Playroom? Playroom, I thought it was the PlayStation VR one.
00:39:40
Speaker
It could be though. It looked like more of that, which I loved that game so much. And just like with everything I love, I didn't let myself finish the game because I didn't want it to go away.
00:39:55
Speaker
So now it sits unfinished on my PS5, but that one leans so heavily into the nostalgia. I actually cried. Like when you enter, like when it starts to do like PS1 and PS2 stuff on different levels, I was just like, I can't even. I can't even. You play that PS1 startup noise, I'm done. I'm done. And this looks like more and I'm so excited.
00:40:17
Speaker
Uh, I was hoping the, cause this studio, what is it? A sovie or something? What's the name of this? The one who survived when PlayStation was killing all of its internal studios. Um, they survived and they made another one and it looks perfect. It looks perfect. And I'm excited.
00:40:35
Speaker
And I wonder if it'll trigger my feelings some more. And that rounds out Sony State of Play. Yeah. I think it was pretty pretty average. Like I don't I didn't come away like bored or upset. I think it was pretty good. But there's nothing in there that really blew me away. Yeah, there was no like big. I think Astro Bot was like the big announcement. And I was like, yeah.
00:41:04
Speaker
I thought it was so cute. Oh, actually, I missed. There's two games I missed. There's also Ballad of Antara, which is Souls like and where the wins meet, which is another kind of Souls like two. So there are two actual game in there. If you look them up, those are they're interesting, but those are third party games. And you know, Souls like sir.
00:41:26
Speaker
I want to say dime a dozen, but it's very much hair and mess where it's like it could be lives of P or stellar blade where it it's surprisingly good or it could be surprisingly bad. You never know how those go. Oh, they also only show to PlayStation VR games, too, which they are really PlayStation is done with VR, which is a bummer because I really felt like they did a good job with the first VR.
00:41:54
Speaker
I mean, all they have to do is partner with Pornhub and they're right back. No. Oh, sure. Yeah, they will. Yeah. Can you get to a browser in VR to? I don't know. There's ways to make it work.
Digital Legacies and Game Pass Impact
00:42:14
Speaker
How did your work? How did you two feel about the state of play?
00:42:19
Speaker
Well, it was sort of average, but I watched the wild trailer three times. So I mean, that was definitely the most interesting thing to me. So. I thought that was a big get.
00:42:42
Speaker
Yeah, the the wild trailer. I just cared about the Astra Roylan or not. What is it called? Astra Bot. Thank you. Yeah, you really care. That one surprised me. I was going to stop it halfway through until it started getting off the jet section. I was like, oh, this is a legitimate game. It's going to be great or maybe not. It looks like more of the same, which I'm fine with, but
00:43:12
Speaker
Listen, we killed Sony Japan, what was it called? Can't even remember the name of the studio, so I guess it did really mean a lot to me. But yeah, PlayStation State of Play, we love it. They only gave us a day's notice. I don't know why, but okay. Well, you know what, Andy? What's that?
00:43:41
Speaker
They only give you a day's notice because you don't get any notice when you die. That's fair. That's fair. And people have found out because of one intrepid user that your Steam account cannot be transferred to anyone after you die. Like the pharaohs of old, your library will go with you. Just buried with you. I mean, unless you give someone your credentials and they just log in.
00:44:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think the more accurate headline is Wills are now recommended to have your phone and Steam account IDs and your password to your Steam account and your email account and instructions on how to transfer it to someone. That was a period. They can't stop you from changing all of the passwords so that someone else can log in.
00:44:39
Speaker
I haven't thought about putting that in your will you can put like your phone in your will and Well steam has only really been in existence since 2006 so We have to for someone to die I mean it's it's very feasible for people to have died who have steam accounts, but what I mean more of like I
00:45:03
Speaker
you know, to have a Steam user who has been using the Steam longer than an average human's lifespan. It's going to be a while before we get to that problem where Steam will be like, hmm, this person is 125. They've been using their Steam account for 125 years. You also need to keep in mind that a lot of the initial users since 2003 are people who were well into their adult years. No, that's what I mean. Like, yeah, but
00:45:34
Speaker
That's very feasible. People would have died. But Steve, like Steve wouldn't be able to to. To look at this and go, hmm, this person may have died and transferred their credentials without it, you know, without their account being a certain amount of age, how would they know otherwise? Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. Just a fun little story.
00:46:00
Speaker
It's got me thinking now. Like, what do you do with your entire digital existence? It bleeps out and let it I said, you get buried with you like the pharaohs of old. And if you have good friends, the hard drive gets microwaved. That's where we go. Plug it in and drop it into a tub. Thank you. Yeah, what do you do with a solid state? Oh, yeah, you do that. Solid state could survive a tub.
00:46:30
Speaker
Uh, no, I mean, if it gets a surge, it'll wipe itself. Oh, I hear what you're saying. Yeah. I was just thinking like, just water, just get it wet. Get wet. Next up in no shit story, Cod is the next Cod Call of Duty is going to be on Game Pass. Game Pass again.
00:46:57
Speaker
I mean, here's the thing. People were wondering if they were going to do this, weren't going to do this, because, hey, you know, seventy dollars is a lot of money and Call of Duty is a consistent seventy dollar seller. This is guaranteed money.
00:47:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's still going to there's still going to be people who buy it. It's also PC and pass as well. So Xbox and PC and pass. It'll be available day one. No waiting, although they haven't confirmed if there's going to be like an ultimate edition where you get like three or six days early access or anything like that. So we'll have to see. Well, they're having a Call of Duty showcase, I think on the seventh.
00:47:39
Speaker
of June, so we'll find out more then. So but yeah, this is I think this is going to be Xbox last like big move with Game Pass. Like if this doesn't move the needle on Game Pass, like I'm very curious what they'll do with it.
00:47:56
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm very surprised that they didn't say only multiplayer or only single player on Game Pass. Just they are games on Game Pass. Yeah. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah. Just put single player on there or something. Huh? Like a lot of people that I see online, no one I know personally, unfortunately, say they really enjoy the single player of Call of Duty's and single player. I like a good single player Call of Duty.
00:48:26
Speaker
Have they stayed good? I mean, good is a loaded word. I think I think they are. They are what they are, which is like if you go in with the expectation of playing a shooting gallery, then you will have a good time. I'll say they're good up until the 360 era. And then after that, I cannot confirm. Fair. There's been a lot more since run black ops six. Yeah.
00:48:58
Speaker
Well, I hope it's good. Like, cause yeah, I'm trying to like run numbers in my head now. Like, they would have to make their money back.
00:49:07
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, they would have to have someone get Game Pass is Game Pass Ultimate is $18. So let's just use 20 for round numbers. So they would have to get someone to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate for three months to recoup the same thing if they had just bought it.
00:49:28
Speaker
or to retain current Blythe passes to subscribe to keep playing. Yeah. That's true. Then maybe they just stick around and you don't get rid of it just like your Netflix. I should really cancel my Netflix. Well, I've been watching
Netflix Reflections
00:49:47
Speaker
more things. Andy, you watch Dungeon Meshy on Netflix. I want to, but my brain doesn't let me.
00:49:55
Speaker
Looks great, though. Andy, it's so cutesy. It looks great. This is the dungeon cooking one, right? Yeah. Yeah. But hold on. I don't want you to have Netflix. Never mind. Don't watch it. Well, they've had my money since. Oh, my God. I don't know. I have paid money to Netflix continually since probably like 2006.
00:50:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think mine might be 2007 or 2008. I would get the DVDs in the dorms, I remember. I would get my eight DVDs, rip them and get them back out into the mail same day. Oh, my God.
00:50:37
Speaker
I did that with Gamefly though. I hacked my PS2 hard drive, and I would rip games to it. And I still carry that guilt to this day. Let's just think about it, Andy. You've given $3,000 to Netflix. Oh my god, why did you say that? Huh? Has it been that much money?
00:51:00
Speaker
I put in a conservative ten dollar per month, which I know it was that factor is the average moving. Yeah. Yeah. So it's rough, but it's probably close enough. Three thousand. Yeah. I think I've gotten three thousand dollars worth of entertainment out of Netflix. Well, you probably have. Yeah. I mean, I feel that I feel the DVD binder. Well, yeah, you you.
00:51:32
Speaker
I'm like shook right now. This is like when I figured out how many hours I've been on YouTube. My life is different now. I need to cancel Netflix. 3,000? Andy, I think you need to channel your energy into something where it has something to show after. So you're already doing the upload. That's good. You should get the 3D printing. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
00:52:01
Speaker
Where am I going to put that thing? What am I going to print? The speedy of it. Anime figurines. I listen, I follow someone on YouTube where she paints figurines. I'm sure 95 percent of them are naked. And it's not easy. Like painting those figurines or at least getting them to look really good. Well, you know what else isn't easy?
Gaming Reviews and Sequel Debates
00:52:25
Speaker
What's that? Releasing a hit game.
00:52:29
Speaker
because sending with Saga Hellblade 2 came out and it scored an 81, which is not probably what Xbox wanted. Wait, is it better than Starfield? What is Starfield at? Let's see. Starfield.
00:52:48
Speaker
85 so it's a little less than Starfield. Is it better than what was that vampire game? Redfall was in the 60s, I think. Okay, so it's better than Redfall. But yeah, Senua Saga Hellblade 2 came out this past week.
00:53:04
Speaker
Uh, it's currently sitting in an 81 and open credit with 75% of critics recommending it. Uh, Rob, uh, Tristan Ogleve at IGN given eight out of 10. Sino Sagas Hellblade 2 is another Viking worthy feast for the senses that meets the high bar set by its predecessor, even if it never really manages to clear it.
00:53:25
Speaker
Then you have Metro Game Central giving it a 5 out of 10, a joyless slog of barely interactive entertainment, and a muddy portrayal of mental illness that just so happens to have the best graphics ever on a video game console. And then Marcus Stewart at game four gave it a 9 out of 10. Senua Saga Hellblade 2's conclusion ends on another strong note, and despite my initial reservations about continuing Senua's story, I walked away happy to see her conquer new monsters, both literal and metaphorical.
00:53:53
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean, what I've heard, I haven't played it yet. And I don't know if I necessarily will play. I still haven't played the first one, to be honest with you. But I've heard nothing but good things about the first one. And what I've heard for about the second one is, if you like the first one, you more than likely will like this one.
00:54:15
Speaker
And it is beautiful. Like, it is an incredibly beautiful game. Like, this is Unreal 5, I'm pretty sure. And they are just stunting on fools with how good it looks. Even on running it on, like, Xbox, like, on the Series X. Like, it runs beautifully. It looks beautiful.
00:54:34
Speaker
And of course, like if you never played Senua Saga, the first one, it involves mental illness and more or less schizophrenia. And even if you watch videos of people playing it, put headphones on and you can hear the left channel, right channel of people talking in your ears in different ways. And it always feels very, very interesting to have those voices almost coming in the back of your head with headphones. They recommend you play with headphones on.
00:55:01
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, it didn't blow up the world. This is not like Xbox. I'm sure wanted this to be the must play. You know, this is our what's a good example from PlayStation, like like Last of Us or or like Ghost of Tsushima or it's like this is or this is a console seller. This isn't a console seller. Oh, yes. Yeah. All right. You know,
00:55:30
Speaker
Wait, it was Microsoft that closed all those great studios, right? Yes. Oh, God. Now Team Ninja's got Ninja Theory closed. Well, I see. I. Oh, no.
00:55:45
Speaker
It just kind of looks like a prestige title, right? Like, see, we don't just make shooters. Well, the problem is it's a sequel in a game much the same vein. So they've already got the prestige title that was well reviewed. It was an experience. But most people held back on saying it was a good game. It was a good experience. Yeah.
00:56:10
Speaker
Like I said, the combat is pretty rote and it's like almost why is why is it even there? And the puzzles were. Not as engaging as they were in the first game. Oh. Well, they never been as good at gameplay. Yeah, but they never. They make devil me cry. Oh, that's right. I love the empty. Oh, they made one of them, didn't they?
00:56:37
Speaker
Just DMC. I loved that one. Didn't they get help, though? Like they like flew people in that said, OK, guys, let us let us let us in here. They have made. They made DMC. Yes. That one was fantastic. I loved it. I thought it was so great. It was just an inch. It was just they also made heavenly sword.
00:57:00
Speaker
Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, like no one is can come at them for their gaming for like for their production chops, but I don't know the first Hellblade was an experience but Then like it was an interesting take it was hard to actually get the different perspective of going through mental illness they did a really good attempt and I didn't even look into this one because I felt like the first one was
00:57:30
Speaker
Enough. Sure. That's a good point. That's fair. And I mean, I don't think people say there's anything here that's so gripping that you need to run to play this. Yeah. Is it a game that needed a sequel? Hmm. That's true. Were they making the sequel before they were bought? Oh, maybe I think so. I think the demo for this is what got them bought. I think you're right, Aaron. Huh? Well,
00:57:59
Speaker
speak old new games don't do well, but old games do do well.
Praise for Remakes and Metroidvanias
00:58:06
Speaker
Oh, dude. And I know I just had a stroke. That's for Paper Mario. The Thousand Year Door remake came out this past weekend and it's scoring in 88 on open critic with 98 percent of critics recommending it.
00:58:21
Speaker
Logan planted IGN, gave it 9 out of 10. Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is an amazingly loyal and visually dazzling remake of a treasured RPG, and the improvements made throughout easily make this the definitive way to experience Mario's unforgettable quest. Steven Petit at GameSpot, gave it a 9 out of 10, a faithful enhancement of one of the best RPGs of its era. Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is once again one of the best RPGs of its new era.
00:58:49
Speaker
And... Zoe Handley at Destructoid gave it an 8.5 out of 10. The fact that Paper Mario did diverge after the Thousand Year Door makes this remaster even more effective. It's been absent for 20 years and the new territory that's been covered since then hasn't resulted in the discovery of the same magic. It's a new opportunity to see the series... Oh Jesus, Apogee.
00:59:10
Speaker
Really, really breaking out the ten dollar words there. It's a reminder that while the JRPG light can approach has its limitations with the right voice, it can really sing. Oh, I never played it. Yeah. Well, this apparently this is the definitive way to play it. Definitive. Hopefully I play it someday. So as much praise as it deserves for
00:59:37
Speaker
like very respectfully porting it and updating it. It is a very dated game, so you can critique its gameplay. It's a little bit hollow and repetitive, but, you know, it's still a great game. Did you play it the original? Yeah. Oh, are you going to replay it? I don't have a switch. That's right.
01:00:07
Speaker
Say milk at it.
01:00:09
Speaker
Uh, and then finally, just to close this out, a little indie game that kind of took the world by storm, uh, came out actually at the beginning of the month, but it's kind of built up steam since come out animal well, which is, uh, sitting at an 89 on open critic with 98% of critics recommending it. Uh, Rebecca Valentine gave it at IGN, give it a nine out of 10 animal oil is a beautiful multi-layered puzzle box. That's well fun.
01:00:37
Speaker
to simply play around with in an utter delight to slowly crack open secret by secret. Sean Prescott, a PC gamer, gave it a 90 out of 100, a sleep destroying puzzle, Metroidvania of bass baffling depth. Animal Wall may go down as history is one of the genre's best. And Game Central gave it a nine out of 10, much more than just another indie Metroidvania as its intricate level design, gorgeous visuals and clever item usage conspired to make one of the most entertaining puzzle adventures of its generation. Wow.
01:01:07
Speaker
Yeah. Very high praise. People are batching. So here's the thing. And this will say I played animal. Well, I returned. Yeah, I I played. So it is a beautiful game. It is well done. I got very frustrated with platforming puzzle. And I went, you know what? I don't need this.
01:01:34
Speaker
I have other things to do with my time. I have to play Elden Ring again. But I don't think that's a knock at it. That's a knock of where I am currently and wanting to play games. This is also a very much like an 8-bit 16-bit kind of game where
01:01:50
Speaker
I think it's like 256 megs. It's something ridiculous like that. It is a tiny little game that can run on a fucking postage stamp if it needed to. But it is beautiful and is deep. I've heard a lot of people talking about it where you can play as just a Metroidvania and have a great time with it. Like the platforming is tight. The the puzzles are good. Like it asks you what it's asking you to do is very reasonable.
01:02:17
Speaker
But there's also like layers deeper into it of almost like a a RPG like augmented reality game in there where it almost recontextualized the entire game when you figure it out. I've heard people talking about it and I'm like, wow, holy shit, this sounds incredible. I don't want to play it right now. Yeah. But if you're into Metroidvanias, I think this is maybe one of the best examples that have come out in previous history. So I would definitely give it a look for if you're looking for that kind of game to play.
01:02:47
Speaker
And if you do look into it, the number one tip I can see without spoiling anything is use your map markers. Yes, this is a game that almost like it gives you a pencil at one point, which you can use to write notes on the map, which make you look like a crazy person. I've heard people describe it as like it looks like a fucking Unabomber thing where it's like. Jump, jump, carrot.
01:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's like I can't heap enough praise at it while playing it. I was like, oh, this is a great game. Just don't want to play it right now. I get it. Yeah. Maybe one day. Yeah.
Conclusion and Farewell
01:03:33
Speaker
Maybe I'll play it on another episode of Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I have been your host, James.
01:03:44
Speaker
I'm a club user at all the drink now, and it's pretty fun. And I've been joined by actually Hartwell, and I've been joined. I mean, my brain's not here tonight. It's OK. Andy, Jim Ratt. OK. And I've been joined by Derek. What the hell do you say, Palico?
01:04:14
Speaker
Good night. Oh, I was going to wait for Derek's lesson. OK. Yeah, you didn't say his last name either. Again, y'all speak over me. Hey, Derek, you're so funny. We laugh. That's true. Oh, you did say it. Oh, I'm sorry. I was just filled with too much joy. You bring me too much joy. Have a good night. Have a good night. Bye bye.