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Dragon Quest Downtime and Sony AI Patent Player Bot
64 Plays14 days ago
In the first episode of the year, Spencer and I ease back in by talking about holiday games, including Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D and revisiting classic Final Fantasy. From there, the conversation turns into a long discussion about AI tools in games, Sony’s rumored AI player bot, and why accessibility options don’t need to threaten how anyone else plays. It’s a relaxed but thoughtful episode about time, burnout, and what players actually want from games in 2026.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Number Jokes
00:00:00
Speaker
Oh, so excited.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to episode... Ooh, what episode is this? We did not check. We did not check. The mystical episode. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my damn. Episode Dub Here.
00:00:32
Speaker
What is, It's a new one year, know that. It's in my twentys a new... Welcome to the future. is as cool as hope? course.
00:00:43
Speaker
Episode 129. How can I forget? That was what I guessed. Wow. That's a good, it's a good number.
New Year Greetings and Larry David's Cutoff Date
00:00:50
Speaker
It's good number. I'm your host, Azar Lopez, and with me today is Oh, just a special, special boy.
00:00:58
Speaker
Spencer, the legacy. Hello, how is everybody? hello Happy New Year. How long into the month du can we say Happy New Year? Well, Larry David says January 7th is too late. So today is the cutoff.
00:01:12
Speaker
but I agree. But if I didn't say that, our our viewers might not have known that we recorded it on January 7th. But then they'd think that we just took seven days to edit it. Plus. So...
Holiday Gaming: Astro Bot and Silent Hill F
00:01:23
Speaker
can't we can't win we can't win with these crazy little characters in our comment section what did you do over the uh what was your over the holiday games that you played if any what did i do i play oh i uh i played astrobot that was very good i was very happy with that game it was uh it was I was like, oh, everyone saying that said it's good.
00:01:46
Speaker
um And there's lots of little cameos. Hopefully that isn't the only thing that everyone's talking about. is like all that But no, it's it is mechanically a very fun platformer. it was ah The challenge levels that they they added is free DLC.
00:01:59
Speaker
They were great. They were ah very very challenging, but very fun. um its And then I played Silent Hill F twice.
00:02:10
Speaker
Oh, wow. Very good. Very good. um I'll do more down the line to get all the, all the endings. Cause once you've done it, one like the first time took me like 10 to 12 hours.
00:02:21
Speaker
And the second time took me like four. Cause when you go to skip a cut scene, it'll say, you want to skip this cut scene? It has new content. And if it doesn't have new content, it won't say that. So then you can go, Oh, okay. Skipping through cut scenes.
00:02:35
Speaker
and Although sometimes the new content is like, there's a flower on the stair in the background. It was like, i don't know if i don't know if you needed to tell me not to skip that one. But for the most part, no, it's very good. um Very, very atmospheric. It was very interesting to see a Silent Hill that is so... i mean, it sounds silly because it's it's always been made by Kami, but such a Japanese Silent Hill. like not Not a take on not Japanese take on America. This was 1960s Japan Silent Hill. but that was It was interesting to see that um compared to all the games that are
00:03:11
Speaker
you know, comparatively to two and three and one and stuff. um And then ah I bought, oh yeah, I got the, I got a new a new side gig as an editor for ah a few YouTube channels.
Azar's Side Gig and Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
00:03:28
Speaker
Final Fantasy Union, Final Hearts Union, and Datalog. Thank you. um So I thought, oh, I can be doubly productive. I bought the Pixel Remaster collection um and i'm I'm slowly playing through a bunch of Final Fantasies again and leaving save points in a bunch of places to get footage very easily.
00:03:47
Speaker
Oh, smart. So if you ever need footage from a Final Fantasy, I got save points every fucking 20 minutes. What's up? Yeah. um So I platted. I went all the way through Final Fantasy one.
00:03:58
Speaker
Right now i'm doing Final Fantasy seven because it's my favorite game ever. I haven't played it like 10 years. um But the OG seven, the OG seven, my very favorite game in the world.
00:04:10
Speaker
I love that game. What's your favorite ah song from that game? ah it's It's probably the world map, like the main theme of the game. To me, that's like that's Final Fantasy VII. I like the Final Fantasy overworld song. Oh yeah, over the Over the Hill. That's a great song. It's a little lo-fi vibe-y. Yeah, and PS1 pan flute.
00:04:35
Speaker
i love Yeah. It's like the Game Boy Advance trumpet. I love it. um Yeah. Yeah, that song comes a lot of times when I walk to and from the gym, I have a bunch of different playlists for like, oh, walking there.
Favorite Final Fantasy Music
00:04:45
Speaker
Oh, the gym. but And the walking one has a bunch of like world map themes stuff because that's nice walking music. That's literally what it was made for.
00:04:51
Speaker
ah So one one day over the break, it was like there wasn't too much snow, so it wasn't awful to walk, but it was atmospheric and it was snowing a little bit. And it played that song and I was like, oh, this is this is Christmassy. This is that's so cool.
00:05:04
Speaker
Final Fantasy nine song walking through the snow. um I think I like in Final Fantasy 7, I think I like the Shinra song. It's like doom. Oh, that is a good one. And the Turks. Yeah, it just keeps getting better. Yeah, it just keeps getting better.
00:05:19
Speaker
Truly one of the peak soundtrack. Like every character theme is excellent. Obviously, you have one ganja, have Birth of a God, yeah like the fighting theme. I sometimes at the gym, the the the main, the either version, the original or the remake version of the the mate the regular fight, like, dead did did dead edit edit it and you're like, oh, I got energy. I'm ready to go.
PS Portal Gift and Flexible Gaming
00:05:41
Speaker
Yeah. So that's been, I've been playing it on my PS portal that I that i got over the holidays. Is that your Christmas gift?
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah. So um yes, I was like, talked about last episode, I believe. Yeah. I told my parents like, oh, I'd love money towards that. um And they they were they were went above and beyond and bought it outright for me, which was incredibly kind of them. Easy.
00:06:04
Speaker
So I've been yeah, I've been I'm playing that in bed. I've been having I've been able to have the TV on and play my PS5, not on the TV while my brother watches stuff. um It's basically turned my PS5 into a switch, which I like. um And yeah, so that and then ah I'm going play the Dragon Quest 7 demo that came out today soon. Oh, I haven't played that yet.
00:06:27
Speaker
Yeah, it just came out today. downloaded it. When we get into the show, can we have your opinions on that?
Podcast Schedule and Patreon
00:06:32
Speaker
Yes, 100%. ah hundred percent um Before I get too far and talk about my winter, um forgot we got to we got too excited. this This podcast is recorded every week on Wednesdays and posted to podcast services on Thursdays. But if you want it a week early, please subscribe to our Patreon where you'll get it there. And ah yeah, sometimes I don't even post episodes to the YouTube channel. so What's the most recent one posted? It was the holidays. I will post the most recent one to the YouTube tomorrow. it was the holidays. You were busy.
Office Reorganization and Manga Challenges
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah, so they'll they'll have a two-week-old episode there. So see, anyone on our Patreon is already in the know about what we're to. It's going like nothing in that episode aged poorly. We were like, the the year is going to start wonderfully, peacefully. There'll be no invasions or evil things happening.
00:07:21
Speaker
we were young back then. We were inexperienced. Yeah, and it it's going to be a very good episode for you guys. it will be Yeah, I think you'll love it. Yeah, I had a I shaved my mustache over the. ah Wow. Oh yeah, it is thinner than the the winter.
00:07:38
Speaker
know them before. um It just got a little itchy and I was like, you know, I was changing this room around. This what I did over over my winter break. I changed this office around and it was um for someone with ADHD. It was the toughest project. That will be hard. That's a lot of life because you got to take the games out to move the shelves or else theyll be super heavy.
00:07:59
Speaker
Right. Um, and also I just have a lot of shit. Like that, that people, so throughout the year, I don't have place for anything that people send me. So I'll just like throw it on the floor, or under my desk, on the side of my desk. You get a lot of stuff.
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah. What you see might look nice, but like outside of frame, there's just crazy. crap on the floor. Yeah, that's that's a green screen behind Azario. That's not even his room. His room is behind the green screen and it's a disaster.
00:08:24
Speaker
You know what I had? do You know what I was forced to do, which I'm kind of bummed out about, is I had to um put my manga in a and like um storage containers and put them the garage. That's a shame. I just ran out of room. I had almost like, so these bookshelves right here, I had almost like three bookshelves of manga that like,
00:08:46
Speaker
It was in my closet, and then my closet was filling up, and there was just stacks of manga. I was like, you know what? I'm just going to prioritize the games for now. Soon soon I'll have... um My plan is to convert the garage into a ah little man studio.
00:09:04
Speaker
a man cave. So I have it all out there, and and I'll maybe bring out the manga for that. But manga, I don't know how anybody collects that shit. It fucking takes up so much room. And it's like every week or every month a new a new um volume comes out. So you're like...
00:09:20
Speaker
constantly getting stuff with games. You can just buy one, you know, and even if it's a series, it comes in for a while. Yeah. But, um, yeah, I had to do that. My closet is still a mess. Um, I just kind of stacked up all the crap
Dragon Quest HD Remasters Experience
00:09:35
Speaker
that I couldn't find in there. so that would be so maybe spring break, I will do that. But, It's really hard. it took Anyway, the game that I played over um over Christmas break was Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD remastered. Very nice.
00:09:50
Speaker
um i'll be I'll be honest, man. When I first started when i first started playing Dragon Quest, I didn't know I wasn't having fun and it was weird to me.
00:10:01
Speaker
It was weird to me because know Dragon Quest one. I know what I know. I've had fun in this game before it took almost like two days. Yeah. And I think it's because there was no content. I wasn't making content. I was just supposed to. I was supposed be playing this game. You're just supposed to zone out and enjoy it. Yeah.
00:10:20
Speaker
And so I'm like criticizing it or like taking mental notes about my experience. And I was like, wait, Osario, just fucking have fun. Yeah. ah Like you can, you can waste time. You can adventure off to the side of this, of this map and see what's over there because you're not stretched for time. Like, yeah, go and really explore.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, go go do things. Go go ah look at stuff. um I don't know it Grind. Level grind. you know It's really hard to do that when you're reviewing a game. Yeah.
00:10:49
Speaker
So... ah so i So it took me about two days and then I was having fun and I beat it. I beat both of them over Christmas break. I tried to play Marvel's Spider-Man 2 because I wanted a triple-A game that I hadn't played. So it was down to that or our God of War Ragnarok.
00:11:07
Speaker
yeah And dude, that game sucks. Damn, I think it has issues for sure. don't know about so sucks. The gameplay is very fun. I played it for like an hour and a half and had no freedom. It was just like, go here.
00:11:23
Speaker
Oh, go here. Oh, press this button. That's a Sony issue though. They definitely that shit. Yeah, that's what i'm saying in though. It's like... It's like, I get it, dude, but like you're telling me to like now do this attack. No, fuck you. I'll do whatever fucking attack I want to do to take out these. let's say I'm an hour into the game. Stop telling me what to do. It's very much like the Pokemon issue where it's like you need something where you can click and say, I've played these games before. i know. Please let me go.
00:11:52
Speaker
so that So that's going to bring me to um actually a topic that I want to talk to you about that that came out today where Sony is allegedly patenting an AI player bot.
Sony's AI Player Bot Potential
00:12:03
Speaker
And I want to know your thoughts on um it's supposed to be just where... Doesn't Ken already do that? Yeah, we've heard about this before. Like friend share Yeah. Yeah. and yeah oh yeah there was like There was also like things that are supposed to come out, like a friend share, where you can like tell you give your friend the controller, and then then they can play it for you or get you through a part. But I haven't really heard about this that in a while. i don't I've never used it. But now, allegedly, they're they're planning an AI assistant that you can turn on, and it'll play the game for you um while you're watching it.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like I thought Nintendo did that with like Donkey Kong Country Returns on Switch or where like no you can get like this silver power up or something and then it'll just play through is long. I don't know. I mean, i don't I don't personally care. I used to be kind of passionate about this guy. I have like embarrassing articles and shit from when I was a bit more of a spitfire. um being like oh you have to play the game is really intense but at this point i don't care like who gives a shit it's like it's not affecting me i'm not going to use it i like the challenge part of games but other people like i understand i especially understand it games like ace turny and shit where it's like they have that mode where it's like story mode and it just goes through it because some people are like
00:13:20
Speaker
it's I want to treat this like it's an anime and it they just goes through it. um That's like a visual novels, by the way. Yeah, because it's like that does make it like a show or a book, um especially if like you're not there's not that like there's I really love in Ace Attorney Games doing the thing where I'm like looking for the contradiction because it makes me feel very smart.
00:13:41
Speaker
But I get some people are just like, i want to I don't know, I want to watch Madlock. Yeah, I want to watch Matlock. I want to watch anime Matlock. It's like, okay. That's fine like, hey, it means more people ah experiencing the series, i guess. I mean...
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, I like I don't I don't mind. i again, I'm not going to use it. I'm ah like with Astro Bot and shit, I wouldn't when the hard levels, the whole fun of them for me was that they were hard. So I liked beating it because it made me feel cool. But other people who are like less intense about games and and more into just like the vibes or they just want to do whatever. i don't know. don't care. It's
AI in Game Development and Ethics
00:14:21
Speaker
here. Here's my thoughts on it. It's like I think, okay, I've seen the argument against it.
00:14:28
Speaker
and And anytime you see word the word AI yeah anything now, um people online are going to no give you their opinion.
00:14:39
Speaker
Even though this isn't generative AI, this is literally like an AI player. This is AI player, yeah. It's literally like a CPU in a fighting game. Right, right. Yeah. And it's weird because the general audiences on their views of AI, they're um It's almost like they come out to come to bat for like people that they like if they love an artist or a developer who doesn't like AI more often than not, those fans will also echo that AI is a negative.
00:15:09
Speaker
like And i've been I've been listening to a lot of like developer podcasts um more recently. um Jonathan Blow is has been doing like a round of like podcasts and talking about his new game. What is it called like Sinking Something? um ah something like that yeah it's it sinking soldier boy let's look at it let's not let's not let's not uh annoy jonathan blow huh i think by saying this soldier your boy i might have already annoyed him what is it called i'm sorry order of the sinking star yes um m yeah so
00:15:46
Speaker
ah
00:15:49
Speaker
he's He's had conversations on AI, and it's weird to me because I listen to the way developers talk about about AI, and then I see the way that general audiences talk about AI, and it's it's totally different, like, emotions. and For developers, it's like, it seems to be like,
00:16:07
Speaker
reluctancy, but also like, man, I would really love to like cut some corners of instead of doing all of this stuff over and over again. Now in Jonathan's blows case, they, they create custom engines and I don't think it will help them because they literally create new languages for their games. So I doubt that an could, could do that. Basically they recreated C++ plus plus for this new game. Like that's the kind of shit that he does. So I don't think he'll ever or help his studio. but um
00:16:39
Speaker
But I feel like the consensus is ah a good developer, ai will only make a great developer um more efficient. But if you're if you're bad if you're not a developer,
00:16:52
Speaker
um
00:16:55
Speaker
it'll take it it won't give you It won't make it out right. It's just like they don't they don't like the programming right now. you know and yeah and it's And it's evident in their comments about it. But it's more like open to the idea than the general audiences where they're super closed off about it. So I find that interesting. I think it's a lot of it comes down to...
00:17:17
Speaker
I mean, this is a very... cynical time for good reason. um And I think it's completely fair to be like, maybe it's a a handy tool, but it will not be used ethically.
00:17:31
Speaker
It won't. No company is going to use it ethically because there's that's the whole point is that it's to maximize efficiency and profit. So right no company is going to be like, you know what, we're going to make sure that the people that we train it off are paid or you know what we're gonna make sure that it doesn't eliminate any roles of people right now it's 100% gonna be Square Enix 80% of our QA department is gonna be fucking AI and it's like That's not great. That's not, you know, that's completely understandable why people are like, that fucking blows. because that's Because the thing is, is like nobody, no consumer.
00:18:09
Speaker
And to Troy Baker, ah recent headlines ah show Troy trey Baker's like um
AI in Customer Service: Human vs. Machine
00:18:15
Speaker
saying something about AI um actually making people want more human experiences over AI experiences. And i and and and to that point, people, if you pay for a service,
00:18:30
Speaker
How many fucking times have you called an operator and just said, let me talk to a representative. Let me talk to a representative. It's like, I couldn't hear you. Did you say years now that's been, that's been my last 15, 20 years of like, no, nine zero. through text It was on. have to fucking trick the chat bot into letting me talk to someone where I have to be like, I'm having an issue with Amazon music. i don't use Amazon music. I'm like the the Amazon music issue is not listed here.
00:18:55
Speaker
I would like to speak to person. That's the only like pathway to speak to a person. And then they'll be like, what's what's wrong with Amazon Music? I'm like, nothing. I'm trying to fucking return this grill. Like, it's it's insane. So, i yeah, can clearly understand being like, I don't want subpar automated service when I'm paying valuable money.
00:19:12
Speaker
especially when economically everything kind of fucking sucks right now. So we have less money than to throw around. It's like, so I'm not going to buy an $80 game if you didn't have fucking humans QA.
00:19:23
Speaker
but I'm not going to do it. yeah I'm not going to fucking do it. I, I refuse to pay for something, for a premium product. Yeah. A premium product that you cut corners on.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I don't give a shit what you use to help you. I don't care. i I have no skin in the game in generative AI. I have no real opinion on whether it's good or not. I think it's up to the user. But for me, it comes down to what my money is worth and what I'm getting.
00:19:51
Speaker
I want human-created experiences. And if it's a if it's an indie developer... I give them grace because you are putting, you're still a student in, in so much regards, you know, like you, you're allowed to learn. You're allowed to like do the, the, the, the community will tell you when you're doing it wrong. Your, your fans will tell you what you're doing wrong when you're, when you're an indie developer, your followers will at least. And, and that's how you learn.
00:20:18
Speaker
But these larger studios, um, I don't think, I think QA would be the worst part of automated, but I digress. This AI chat, this AI chat, um this AI freaking um PlayStation bot.
00:20:32
Speaker
I kind of like the idea only because there's so many people don't beat games anymore. that's true too. So I like this idea of you're playing a game and hey, fuck, I'm a little bored, but I still want to beat this game. I just, I don't have enough time right now.
00:20:48
Speaker
Put it in auto mode and just watch it being played. That's for for a couple hours and then put it back and then play it again. You know, and it's a kind of thing where it's like, again, we might not use that, but that will make someone who is not as into games, is used to everything and is willing to be trying, like, play more of the game, which I would imagine is is a win for the developers. And like, ah sure. I mean, the only thing is it might lead to less.
00:21:16
Speaker
I don't even think that like i was gonna say it might lead to less like community like communities kind of bond around like if you're like oh everybody fucking hates Seymour Flux and Final Fantasy ti like everybody knows the hardest parts of games and they bond over there like Whitney's Miltank and Pokemon Gold like there's memes and stuff about that but like online fan communities for games and shit are so shit now anyway that it like who cares yeah if there's less yeah and again it doesn't affect so they have the data the Sony has the data on health how far people people get sticks on on how much actually people play and maybe like you can see like yeah 70 people didn't get past like yeah for your first trophy is 90 second or second story first tro story trophy is 90 second story trophy 70 and then it just goes down from there it's like eight percent of people beat this platformer it's like okay like even like a me boy this is like
00:22:11
Speaker
Astro Bot like yeah, 100%. It's a lot of people don't don't finish it. And if this helps them finish it and feel accomplished, then sure, it's not a I'm not I'm not competing with people to be like, yeah,
00:22:22
Speaker
I love that. Oh, you need to beat the platform? I beat, who cares? Who fucking cares? I'm not competing with you. If you need to use cool, use it. But enjoy video games the way you want to enjoy them. As long as there's as ah long as there's options, I don't think that we should be um gatekeeping an experience because someone doesn't like to actually play games, but they don't mind watching them. As long as you're not annoying about it. Like if you if you watch through the fucking hardest part and you're like, i fucking beat it.
00:22:53
Speaker
and yeah Yeah, we don't want no liars here. Don't be a fucking annoying person. so Yeah, let's not do that. but But I mean, if you're like, yeah, no, that part's really hard. So I just fucking watched it. That's like, yeah, okay. like ah Yeah, easy. i would I would actually watch that Seymour fight on that mountain. Is that what the water you're talking about? yeah Yeah, the one on the mountain where he makes some yeah zombies. Yeah, fuck Seymour. Fuck that bitch. but there is like to people i I agree, but to people who are kind of like me where there's a feeling of like, I beat it.
00:23:28
Speaker
I beat him. Right. i I defeated him. don't know. feels like it's a nice- Dude, and were just level grinding on top of that mountain for days. You gotta have half the party have the thing that makes you not zombie and half the party can be zombie because that way, when he does the zombie thing, half of them can make the other half not zombie because he's gonna do the shit that kills all four of them.
00:23:48
Speaker
fucking crazy fight. um And then obviously like super bosses and shit where it's like the whole fun is super like i don't want to watch someone beat. Well, i I like watching people do it on YouTube because like that's how they do That's crazy. But i don't want to walk and watch somebody. actually are watching how people beat lingering rules.
00:24:05
Speaker
actually are you Yeah, because it it changes my strategy. And like, it's it's strategies that you develop throughout the entire game. And then you'll get to this part and they'll be like, oh, you need to have XYZ equipped. And I was like, I never even picked that up or i even I never even got that ability. It depends on the type of game. If it's like a turn-based RPG, I don't have that shit. That's tough. But when it's something like Kingdom Hearts and you're like, oh shit, that ability? didn't even think of that. that Okay. And then you can like equip it really easily and you're like, oh, this is how it works. I think there's like an interesting kind of fun way to, it's almost like a communal experience. I see. This is how I did it And you're like, holy shit, I didn't even fucking think of it.
00:24:42
Speaker
That's kind of fun. But yeah, when it's like, oh, you need all the options. Like if if you're at that fight in Final Fantasy X and someone's like, just fucking use Yojimbo. And you're like, what's Yojimbo? I don't have that. Like, then you're like, yeah, that's.
00:24:54
Speaker
But then even then that inspires you to go explore more of the game because you're like, I'm going to go find Yojimbo. don't know. But again, I don't care how someone... If someone was like, I love Final Fantasy I watched the Seymour fight through an AI agent rather than beat him. I'm not gonna be like, well, then you don't like Final Fantasy X. You didn't beat it. like Again, I would have been like that like 10 years ago when I was like a snotty little brat, but who cares?
00:25:17
Speaker
I don't care now. I know. it's play Play however you want. Fucking. it used I used to be really annoyed by the the people who would be like, I watched a Let's Play of Persona 5. It's my favorite game ever.
00:25:27
Speaker
And it's like, that is kind of weird. But again, it doesn't affect. i don't care. i think the whole world needs to to take into account the lesson of like, does this actually affect or matter to me at all? This thing i'm mad about? And if the answer is no, it's like,
00:25:44
Speaker
from your own well-being just be like okay never mind who cares I think I think there's I think there's room for like um for like having being ironic you know like how like how we are with uh you didn't beat it you know it's like I think yeah I think that's funny sure yeah yeah I think I think I think uh being I think room for for irony is always fun but there are people who take it a little too seriously bad actors in there Even even for even for us, like um right now where I took two weeks off over my over over the holidays, I did not edit any videos. I wrote all these pieces, but I just checked out. It's surreal pe to to not have to edit addict shit for like a cops pretty late dude. I was watching. i was watching like ah like Survivor, like ah old seasons of Survivor, you know, like I was I was pretty happy.
00:26:43
Speaker
You're like, wait, this is how people, is how rich people can live all the time. I'll fucking honest with you. Yeah. I was going to the gym every day. I was doing my, was walking my dogs. I was.
00:26:55
Speaker
See, I was, I was a good boy. i didn't let the gym slip over the holiday. I still walk there every damn day. think I missed one day and I went on the weekend to make up for it. But because was like. I was like, if I fail now, it's fucking over. no yeah The holidays are tough too. Winners are the hardest to get through on ah on a diet for sure.
00:27:13
Speaker
It's true. um but i forgot I forgot one game I played over the holiday. day I started Final Fantasy XI. The 23-year-old the twenty three year old mmo Yeah.
00:27:24
Speaker
is People still play that though, huh? People do still play that. yeah It's very interesting. it's I have to put my brain in like 2003 mode for like, oh, this is how internet games worked back. like ah You take so much for granted if you play like 14 and you're like, yeah, this all just works. um With 11, the example I always use is One of the first quests is a guy's like, go kill orcs and get our goblins. Give me an orc axe. And I was like, OK. And that took me a really long time because drop rates there' fucking shit back then. i was like, OK, I got it. I went and I talked to him and he was like, go get the axe. and i was like, I have it. I talked to him again. He was like, go get the axe.
00:28:03
Speaker
I was like, what am I doing wrong? I Googled it and you have to highlight him. Open the menu. Go to trade. Yeah. but give him the axe and then talk to him and I was like yeah shit did used to be like this this this is how stuff you like in a modern game like 14 you'd walk up and be like hello and they're like oh you did the quest thank you and then it's like axe removed from inventory but this everything is very intentional and you have to every step and it's it's a game where I have a guide open the whole time because I'm constantly like I have where the fuck do I go? Because there' the hint there's there's no waypoints. There's no you have to buy maps individually. I don't have any fucking maps. I'm lost all the time.
00:28:42
Speaker
But it's very interesting because of that. I'm like, oh, this is unlike anything I've played in the last 20 years. So it's it's very interesting to do that. Yeah. And I have on my Steam Deck so I can just lay in bed and get cozy and play it.
00:28:54
Speaker
do a the only experience I have with that game is when I remember it coming out and my cousin was the only one who had like an HDD and um a network adapter. um and And I remember watching him play it and totally not liking what I was seeing.
00:29:13
Speaker
It's very basic. Combat is very basic MMO shit. um Yeah. i was like I mean, I was like 13 or 14 the time, too. so I mean, you're right. it's not It's not an exciting game.
00:29:28
Speaker
I really liked RuneScape back then. Like, so, I mean, it wasn't far from like what I was into, but it was just not Final Fantasy. It wasn't like, I just, you know, you're, you're getting off of Final Fantasy 10 and it's like, that's what you get. That's what you go to. And what's funny is like 12 feels more and MMO like with combat where you like, you play 12 in the combat. You're like, this would be like a good MMO. Like it's a huge open area. Right. Right. Yeah. it's like And it's like, oh yeah, so you play 11 and you're like, oh, this was before 12. They didn't quite have it yet. 12 is pretty much like World of Warcraft, kind of. It's literally like single player. Yeah, exactly. Like literally. Yeah, so I'm enjoying it. don't know how far I'll get. I just really wanted to, I want to get a lot of the story in so that if it gets shut down one day, can be like, I did play all the mainline Final Fantasies. And then I'm going to return to 14 because I really want a pretty nice badge of honor.
Collecting Final Fantasy XI Expansion Packs
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah, I own i own them on PS2. I own all the expansion packs that are that are fit the physical ones for PS2 to hell. Yeah, that's yeah nice question. I'm trying to I got to buy one of those. I bought a I traded a bunch of old shit in at a a local store the other day and I was like, oh, I have like $10 left store credit. I wish I get like got a fucking PS4 copy of 14. I was like, he looked at me and i was like, I know this isn't actually like a thing. This doesn't do anything, but I want to have it on my shelf so that I have a 14 physical and he was like, oh yeah, no, I feel you.
00:30:49
Speaker
So I have to do that with 11 too. You're, you're, you're smart to do that. Yeah. Those are like, they're like 10 bucks too. So you're, oh you're, yeah. um you but can have real deal do what I I, I doubt I can find it for you, but I own a sealed PC copy of vanilla Final Fantasy 11. I remember seeing it in Walmart when I was in high school and I was like,
00:31:11
Speaker
oh, that's cool, but i can't I can't pay for a fucking subscription model. I'm 14 or 15 or however old I was. and then But now I'm like, should have bought that. It's the limited edition. That's when it was failing. It was not doing well. I want to see. I'm going to take a look at ah how much that's. It has the guy on the cover like this. Yeah.
00:31:34
Speaker
I remember the guy like walking through the water or something. Wasn't that like a part of the key art? Yeah. the warrior of light. PC physical. God, I very vividly remember seeing that in Walmart in the electronic section in the PC area.
00:31:53
Speaker
oh it was crazy back then they had fucking play arts i got a i got a snow villiers play arts from final fantasy 13 from walmart for 20 bucks on sale i'm so excited dude i still have it yeah these are all like 10 bucks dude you're good hell yeah i'm gonna order that i'm gonna get and to good ah but it's uh yeah that's a are you planning on beating that game I'm planning on at least beating the base game.
00:32:21
Speaker
And then, like I have, because it was on the Steam holiday sale, it was like 11 bucks for the entire, like it and all its expansions. And then just the monthly. um So I want at least beat the base game. And then if I want to later, I can do more.
00:32:35
Speaker
or if I'm really digging it by then, like I'm really in the flow of it, then i'll I'll do some expansion. I really want to see Shantado in action because of Dissidia, like growing up and you're like, she's a fun character. Who is this character? Yeah. Yeah. Who is this? um So that would be, that'd be neat. Same with like Prish because she's in Duodesim. But um yeah, no, I'm, I'm, I'm doing it in between stuff right now. But yeah, I, ah I need to get, i I think, at least the base game because then I can be like, okay, I i played through the entirety of the original 11 and, like, got whatever out of it. um
00:33:08
Speaker
And probably this month because January is pretty light in terms of review games for me. So, we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, today i was kind of... um i So because I took those two weeks off, i i now I'm playing catch up with all the reviews that we have to do. So I put out like six videos today. You might share a familiar voice in them, viewers. Yeah, thanks, Spencer. would not have been able to do it had would not help i love doing it. Audio is the worst thing for me. One, because I don't know how to read. in two, because I'm lazy. Brother, if I left in a lot times, go, fuck.
00:33:45
Speaker
yeah i dude why oh dude it's yeah dude and it's always like one or two sentences and you just can't say them and i'm like yeah especially doing uh where wins meet first of all that dude i don't know how how you did that where wins meet if you would think it's like where win meets or wins meets no that was hard but then there was chinese words that i had to like i was like google translate like i was doing how do you pronounce it and then there was two in a row in one where it was like two areas and i was like When you go to Cheng Fuo and Zhion, and I had to keep saying it over and over to be like, Cheng Wah and Wah. Yeah. So... ah
00:34:22
Speaker
It was interesting. It's a fun little challenge. And like the other one i had like Icelandic words, and I was like Googling those and being like, i don't even know if my tongue can do this shit. It's like, because you can't make how they don't have L. it was like, there like here in Iceland, there was like it was a weird combination. I was like, um like is fuck it was interesting. It was cool. Yeah, that was a language game. That's going up tomorrow. Yeah. Today, i was going to put them all out today, but that freaking um Parasite Mutant.
00:34:55
Speaker
Yeah, I saw that just one. yeah So i was I woke up this morning and I was like, fucking great. I played it. i review i wrote the fucking 1100 words in like an hour. That's imp impressive.
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah, and then did the audio and then put out the video um right right in this morning, like quick, quick turnaround. Yeah. and And it sucked because ah Cassette Boy had an embargo at three and I had not finished that. So I also had to do like the audio and um a busy day we editing of for that before 2 p.m., which you and I had a press of a digital press event ah to go to. I'm in time.
00:35:35
Speaker
Yeah. I think ah I think I was annoying the you held one side the controller and I held the other side and the middle hand it was like a little shining twins.
00:35:46
Speaker
I didn't know you were very charming. I was like, every time you sent the message, i was like, I wish I had that social confidence because just think that was excellent. Thank you so much. But in person, better at it. Just over the over text, I'm like, I don't know how they're going to fucking read my tone. So I'm nervous.
00:36:02
Speaker
You know what it is, dude? Emojis. Yeah, it's true. You got to use emojis so they understand like that you're not being serious. That when you're like, this fight's kicking my ass. It's not like, are you mad about this? Another game I previewed over the over the um the holiday was Romeo is a Dead Man. And I put out that preview a couple days ago. And it sucked because...
00:36:25
Speaker
on what you're saying about the words, you were saying, i was saying i had to say, ah no more heroes, Killer killer Seven. and i was And so as I was saying them throughout this whole thing, I said i accidentally said, no man's heroes. No man's your no man's cause i want always a no bad sky. you know And I was really focused on saying Shadows of the Damned, which come next. So i was my head was focused on that. So I didn't care about what a how I said no more heroes.
00:36:52
Speaker
ah But I said no man's heroes. No man's heroes. And even Romeo is a dead man is kind of like Romeo must die. i want to say Romeo must die every
Previewing 'Romeo is a Dead Man'
00:37:00
Speaker
single time. yeah So um ah interesting game. Very Suda.
00:37:06
Speaker
but um That's what we like from ah from a Suda joint. But other than that, hitting all hitting all my ah deadlines. Tell me about Dragon Quest VII before, so we can wrap up the show. Oh, well, i'm I haven't played the demo yet.
00:37:18
Speaker
Oh, okay. Next week. Yeah, next week it will. But I'm very curious to see, because Dragon Quest VII's whole thing is is known for its pacing, right? Like, it's the the selling point in the first version, the PS1 version was like, you won't fight a slime for four hours. And then a lot of people were like, that fucking blows. So the 3DS one made that way faster.
00:37:38
Speaker
ah But a lot of people were like, oh, I like the methodical pacing of. so So we'll see. I'm interested to see because I'm pretty sure the demo is just the beginning of the game, right? They always do that where it's like beginning and then your save carries over. Yeah, and then your save file.
00:37:49
Speaker
um You get a costume too. Yeah, and you get a costume for Maribel.
Episode Wrap-Up and Listener Feedback
00:37:54
Speaker
So I'm very curious to see. My suspicion is it's they made it even faster because they've mentioned a bunch that they like things are streamlined and potentially like altered or removed or whatever, which...
00:38:07
Speaker
Normally I'd be like, oh, that kind of sucks. But Dragon Quest seven is fucking long and it's a huge that's like 100 hours base like so going straight. So I did. They cut that down in this. I think so. I think they meant I feel like I read that they mentioned that they're like streamlining and trying to make it more less intense. My cat. Oh no. All good. oh meals I was like, he's trying to reach out to me. um But no, yeah. So I'm curious to see ah if they whether they made some story stuff into optional stuff to make you able to streamline it fast or beeline it fast. I don't know. I'm curious to see. so yeah, I'll update you all next week.
00:38:47
Speaker
something something to look forward to or next next week if you're not on the damn Patreon um but with that we'll wrap up this first episode of the year hell yeah we got know he had other deadlines I think we got a ton of shit to wrap up we're gonna 8.30 guys are hungry I know get get some food in you yeah yeah thanks for all the help this week Spencer yeah I'll record that last one after you after I shove noodles down my throat and then I'll send you a And thanks to everyone for listening and let us know how you feel about these AI tools in the comments below. And and I really want to know how to how to gauge coverage as well. Like, should I even cover this stuff? You know, it's, it's I don't want.
00:39:34
Speaker
You got a direct line to the main man commenters. Let him know. You're talking about the Rupert Murdoch of Noisy Pixel here. Tell him what you want to see. Well, I do declare, declare this AI is a rather a fascinating thing. But whether it's offensive or not, what will attract the most ah consumers?
00:40:01
Speaker
Well, I'm Azario and I'm an old southern boy. And well, I don't know whether they want that AI or not. I'm not. that's yeah All right, nerds. We'll have a good week. We'll see you next week. Hopefully. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye Bye. Bye.
00:40:17
Speaker
Bye. Bye Bye. Bye. Bye
00:40:28
Speaker
excel