Episode 99 - NO CRIME NOVEMBER - Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel

Transcript

Speaker: We've been coy about this for the past month, right? I'm always coy. We've been kind of playing this sort of like, like oh, something next month. It's a big month for video games, right? And I think everybody knows what we're talking about, right? I think so. I think we've ah made many implications. And yeah, I think they got it. Because, you know, it is It is You know, the last game...

Speaker: In this series was, for better or worse, one of the biggest video games of all time. All time? do you know this? Yeah. Do you know that? So the first the and the fifth game in this series, which came out in 2013, was...

Speaker: was it it It is the best-selling – it is one of the best-selling video games of all time behind Tetris.

Speaker: i tet Tetris is number one, but also Tetris is like – there's all these other things, right, with Tetris. like Tetris isn't necessarily just one game. It's like – ah many, many different games that just keeps being named Tetris. Are you telling me that Dr. Mario is the number one best-selling game of all time? And then, and then the next one, and then there's like a, ah a,

Speaker: there's a controversy about the next Okay. About the next on the list because it's like, it might be Minecraft. Okay. Okay.

Speaker: And then I forget what the other one... ah best and That makes sense. Minecraft is huge, obviously. But but Minecraft also has a...

Speaker: ah

Speaker: Minecraft also has like a mobile version, a mobile yeah right? Yep. um But this game, number five, has 230 million... ah dollars in sales right wow or or so maybe i don't understand maybe maybe it's sold 230 million copies maybe that's what it means okay and then the next the next that's even even vaguely close is also a rockstar games game and it's red dead redemption 2 and that is 87 million not even half yeah wow okay

Speaker: and And the thing about it is it's only one game, right? Like, yeah it was released for a couple of different consoles, but it's only one game. in Absolutely insane.

Speaker: Like, did you even know it was that and that popular? No, not at all. And so the number six, I think now people know what we're talking about. Number six came out is coming out this year. wow.

Speaker: And so we just wanted to, you know, every every video game podcast, every video game website, every video game publication is going be talking about this.

Speaker: So we just wanted to get in here and say

Speaker: we are absolutely against it. Are people kidding with this shit? Well, Matt, you're so impassioned. You're with me, right? These people are breaking the damn law.

Speaker: ah sure Oh, yeah. I mean, i'm I'm with you. I personally have a very strong moral compass. um I would never subject myself to such criminal behavior as as this. And yeah, I'm with you. I'm totally with you, Matt.

Speaker: We here at Save Your Game value good family morals. Entertainment. morals and yeah that' Good family entertainment that's about that's about, number one, following the law.

Speaker: Yeah, of course. You can't drag me to a game called Grand Theft. I mean, what do we look like? Grand thieves?

Speaker: I had nothing after that. What do we look like here? We're not criminals. We're not criminals. Even though we did tease a neck tattoo last episode on my neck that said criminal. That was a joke. That was a joke. She actually got a neck tattoo that said follow the law.

Speaker: thought you were to say follow the Lord. but Follow the Lord. Follow the Lord. Follow the Lord whom the... the Law. The law. The Constitution of the United States of America.

Speaker: And I'm so that is why this month we are going to so we are going to put our morals where our mouths is.

Speaker: And we are instituting No Crime November. no Crime November. messed in. You were right. There will be no crimes this entire month. No crimes. From Save Your Game. We are we are a law-abiding podcast.

Speaker: Play the damn music. All units. All units. Be on the lookout. We have reports coming in of video games. At large and on the street. Exercise extreme caution.

Speaker: Let's ride.

Speaker: Wow, Matt, you know what? Yes. That was a very moral, very amazing theme song. I will miss spooky theme. miss spooky theme. Always and forever. I know you do. I know deep down in your heart you do. You know, this theme has its own spookiness to it because it reminds us that there are people out there who think it's okay to commit crimes in their video games.

Speaker: Listen, I have never... Done a crime in a single video game and especially not in Stardew Valley, okay? Crimes are illegal. And that's the thing that I think a lot of people aren't realizing when they put their money down on Grand Theft Auto 6.

Speaker: Crimes are illegal and they're still illegal. They're still illegal in the game. They're still illegal. That's true. They're illegal in the game. And the game... What is it? It throws up its hand. It's like, you're committing a crime. That's funny. No, it's not.

Speaker: It's against the law. i have i have a confession. i lied. is that a crime? Is lying a crime? Let me look it up.

Speaker: he laugh

Speaker: I thought you would know offhand. No, lying is not a crime unless you do it in front of a jury. Are you a jury? Or the senators. Okay. If you do it in front of the senators, it's a crime too. No, I'm not a jury and I'm not the senators.

Speaker: I kind of a little bit sort of, ah just a little bit enjoy Grand Theft Auto. That doesn't mean that I'm pro-crime though.

Speaker: Just little bit, Matt. You have enjoyed Grand Theft Auto in the past. Look, yeah all of us have our youthful indiscretions. That's true. But me and you are against them ah promoting this.

Speaker: okay By releasing a brand new one? No! Brand new crimes is what I say. i say I got all my crimes out in Grand Theft Auto Vice vice City. so If you look it up, no you know, if you look it up, if you look up a chart of releases of Grand Theft Auto games and all the crimes in the world, yeah they all they happen at the same time.

Speaker: Like in the game? Like they're all in there? Well, they only happen when Grand Theft Auto Games is out. i so Oh, wow. That's an interesting correlation. I didn't know. Yeah. If you look at its if you Is that why my Amazon packages got stolen? yeah because the Grand Theft Auto Games was out.

Speaker: Oh, my God. Uh-huh. Video games promote violence. So anyway, this is Save Your Game. Your name is Pushing Up Roses. My name is Matt Alkamp. And we are both officers of the law.

Speaker: That's me. more Moral compass. i I just think it's we should be responsible as players of games.

Speaker: Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. Well, definitely didn't like pre-order it or anything. No, because you had to pre-order. um and Instead, you had to pre-order ah ah Zelda. Zelda. Which I did, by the way. Me too. And it's coming while we're in London. I know. What is this absolute and utter bullshit? I fucked up, guys. I should have just not pre-ordered it and just bought it when we were in London. But then it would have probably done that.

Speaker: It would have done that thing. it would have done that it would have been that thing where it's like, oh, it's region locked. And I buy it in London and I'm enjoying it and I drive home. or drive home I drive home. I'm driving from London because I don't know the criminal record of this of these freaking airplane pilots. Right?

Speaker: uh they could have yelled at a child so i drive home from london back to pennsylvania and the game stops working it's like hey you're not in europe anymore oh ew can that happen i was gonna bring my switch um i don't understand how region locking works to be honest Me either. um um I'm a real dumb. I really don't know. But now you're kind of you're kind of yucking my yum a little bit. We're not going to be able to play this game until we get back?

Speaker: i Maybe. i don't know. I honestly don't know. i think probably we can. But um I'm also worried that we can't. right. You bring your Switch. can't. I can't. I'm not bringing my Switch.

Speaker: And I won't have i won' of the game. The game's coming to my house. yeah I pre-ordered it. But it's not digital? oh i ordered physical copy. What are you talking about? I ordered the physical copy. You ordered... What?

Speaker: ah Why didn't... You didn't? No! ordered the digital copy? I don't know what I did, okay? I don't know what I did. I like to video game. I like to see it in my little hand. What did I do? I don't know what I did.

Speaker: you're Are you Googling it? What did I do? did you think What did I do? do to that? I'm looking in my orders. I can't tell. It doesn't say. Good throw up. What are we to I think we'll just go enjoy our trip, and then we'll play Zelda when we get back.

Speaker: Fine. I think that's probably what we'll do if I had to guess. Fine. But you know what I have been enjoying? Please tell me. Following police procedures to a T. In?

Speaker: In? Oh, no. I just mean in my life. Oh, okay. All right. I thought you were maybe playing a video game. Oh, no. I've been doing that, too. In which you followed police procedures to Oh, what have you been enjoying? Guess what I – well, enjoying is – Oh, no. It's a very strong word, Matt. First of all, before we get all that, all that – Oh, yeah. Besides that one. Yeah. I just want to tell everyone that I beat Tenebrous Somnia. Yay. I got I'm working on the the last ending, which is crazy. The crazy ending. I haven't quite got yet because it's a little bit it's a little bit tougher, think. Yeah, the crazy ending, you can get it about halfway through the game. I assume this But do game at least once, maybe twice. I forget you it. I think you need both. Yes, you do. You need two endings. You need the bad ending and you need the good ending. To be honest, don't have to beat the game twice. You can get both endings from just by, like, I think, like,

Speaker: a minute or two before the boss fight the final boss okay if you save the game and then it's just it's just based on what your choice is see in this last that last minute but yeah i beat i i loved it i thought the ending was incredible the good ending the long ending the like the long minute yeah the long yes yes yeah it's really good It's very good. I was very shocked. ah So i did I wanted to get both endings so I could get the novelty ending that I had wanted to do, which is just simply leaving like you would do in in Clock Tower. Yes. Except in Clock Tower, it's not a good ending. You can't simply leave. um You can leave, but Scissorman follows you.

Speaker: um But there is a similar ending here, and it's a good ending. It's just very short. ah But the the good long ending... I was so impressed by there is a lot of of interesting things going on in this game, like a lot of interesting feelings um as you are because we talked about this in last episode, you know, as you are fighting. and well What is essentially your ex-boyfriend, right? You were in a theater. That's where the boss fight is in this theater. And there are clips going on on the on the screen.

Speaker: And some of them are like your character, Julia, is is like cuddling with your ex and then it'll cut to something really sad or something really disturbing. And it's it's it's very, very good. um i struggled a little bit with the boss fights.

Speaker: um Okay, yeah. But i realized i was doing something way wrong. I'm going to tell you what I did. We're going to save people a lot of time. So I was trying to get both endings. So I... um I was – so I beat the – I got the good ending, and now I'm going for the bad ending, right? Just so I can have it, so I can have all of them. And they're different bosses. They're different bosses, yeah. It's just you fight – yes. So – and before you explain, I want to say I've never seen anything like that boss fight, right? Yeah, it's crazy. There is an FMV sequence on the screen as you're doing pixel art boss fight in the foreground. It's very good. I've never seen just like visually anything like that in a video game. It was so wild. It's very good. I was so impressed by just the aesthetic of what was happening. And actually, I'm getting it swapped. I was going for the good ending. So again, you're fighting your – what is essentially your – In that, you're yourself.

Speaker: Sort of. The giant head? The giant head is your ex-boyfriend. Yes, that's your boyfriend. That is the bad ending. um The good ending, you fight basically yourself. Right, right. Yes. Okay, I am thinking. Okay, never mind. Switch it back again. Okay. This is going to be for the...

Speaker: i don't I don't remember. It's the one with the head, okay? the one where you're fighting the head. Yes, the one where you're fighting your boyfriend's head. That's the bad ending, but it's still yeah an ending. yeah First of all, ah you will get sucked up and eaten into this head if you don't know what you're doing. Right. ah I was shocked. that what a good What a cool little thing. to to experience that was very shocking so i thought because i had the aura fire that that would be stronger than the shotgun am i wrong in thinking that this incredible amazing weapon that you made and crafted for the the purpose of this world that you're in wouldn't that be the strongest weapon you have would you would you think that uh i um

Speaker: You know what? Never mind. I didn't think that. No. Well, I did. thought that. And I was stabbing and stabbing and stabbing. I tested it, right? Like I tried it. Oh, you did? Yes, I tried it against, I think I tried it against like a different enemy before I got to the boss fight.

Speaker: just to just to see, just to test out that exact theory. And it didn't that that That person didn't – the enemy didn't die in as few of hits as they would have had I shot them with a shotgun. And so by the time I hit the boss, I was like, okay, ah I'm going to use my guns. Yeah. I should have known because I didn't use it when I was fighting myself for the good ending because I didn't want to. I thought that would be the wrong thing to do, but I thought the right thing to do in accordance with the story that is being told to me. story

Speaker: I thought this would work. It didn't. And so I was struggling. I i i couldn't I didn't know what I was doing wrong until finally i switched the shotgun and beat it in like two minutes. It was ridiculous. Yeah. But yes, I beat the game. I love the game.

Speaker: um it's it's It's up there for me as one of the best games of the year. And that's saying a lot because we played some really amazing like mystery games that are maybe even more in line with what I like. But yeah.

Speaker: This year, if we is this just going to be every year from now on? We have to say, like, this year was an insane year for games. and like I think we can probably stop saying that. Best games I've ever played are number five and number six. Yeah. I think we could maybe just stop saying this is a crazy year for games and just be like, all right, here's all these games are great and here's our favorites. you know As soon as we stop saying it, though, there's going be one year where games fucking suck.

Speaker: You think we'll jinx it? Yeah, we're going to jinx it. We can't because we're doing this extremely moral month of no crime. And how can we jinx it? meaning like Meaning like we are earning ourselves such good karma yeah that never again will there be a bad video game. Correct. I believe in karma and this is our good karma. Well, you know, but it's like one of the things about following a moral path in life.

Speaker: is that ah sometimes it you your life sucks because of it. And you stop doing the things that are good fun and nice. Things have been pretty boring lately. And things that you enjoy. And instead, you do a bunch of bullshit. And then, because when you die...

Speaker: there's a There's a slight chance. There's a slight chance that... Very slight, but... But, you know, I'm not going to take that chance. I'm going follow these procedures. I'm just going to take the bet that if I follow the the law that my lord and savior, um Mario, huh ah when I die, will accept me into the Mushroom Kingdom. Listen, i I'm done talking about Tenebris, by the way. I'm also enjoying, not enjoying quote, enjoying. ah This is a related, I swear. ah

Speaker: For Halloween, i so I started a rewatch of like every American horror story, starting with Murder House from 20-fucking-11. It's old now. Um, and the way they portray like death and ghosts, that's what like my fear is. So I don't want to be stuck in limbo.

Speaker: I want to be a happy little ghosty doing little prank, you know, like, you know how, like the Squirtle Squad, as an example, this is all related you guys. Just stay with me. The Squirtle Squad. Stay with me. You know how the Squirtle Squad, they're not like really good guys, but they're not bad guys. They're kind of like a menace.

Speaker: Yes. Right? Like, I don't want to be like, I i know I do. I want to be that I want to be a fun loving little ghosty who's like a little bit of a menace. um But I don't want to be stuck in limbo where like hell is just repetition.

Speaker: And that would that would that would suck. So like I have to atone right fucking now so I can be a happy little haunt. And if I die before you, it's going to be so much fun. Because you're going fuck with me. Yeah, oh yeah. right Absolute menace. You're going to menace me.

Speaker: I'm going to leave Legos all over your house. Like the Squirtle Squad do. Like the Squirtle Squad do. And then I'm going to become a firefighter like the Squirtle Squad does for some reason. It's very strange.

Speaker: Ghosts would be good firefighters because... You can't can burn them. They can't get burnt. Well, it's interesting. Like in some, ah because so since horror is kind of my, one of my favorite things, some ghosts can get hurt like over and over again. It doesn't, and and that doesn't mean you die, but you can get hurt. And that is a very terrifying a concept for me. So in, in murder house, the ghosts can actually get hurt.

Speaker: Huh. and and suffer because they're in this kind of limbo state right they haven't moved on so they're in limbo so they just experience suffering without dying and let me tell you there are some things worth worse than death and it's suffering so i don't want to be that i want to be happy little squirrel squad ghost did we get on this topic?

Speaker: We're talking about police quests. Well, what later we're talking about police quests. I don't know what we're talking about. I don't know. I don't know what's going on here. don't know if you're building towards something. But yes, later in this episode, we're talking about the video game police quest. But I don't know.

Speaker: I don't know why we're talking about the Squirtle Squad. But listen, said that the point is, that's the other thing that I've been enjoying. And I kind of forgot... how not good the first season of American Horror Story is. It's not really all that good. I've seen it. I've never seen any of it. You know what? I think so i think some of it's worth watching. um I totally understand the problems in in the series, and I think Ryan Murphy has some very, very deep problems with women. But in terms of like horror stories and anthologies, I do think it is worth watching, and I think at least Murder House is worth watching.

Speaker: um I also enjoyed the freak show season because I love circuses and I love that stuff. Like I love sideshows and things of of that nature. But I do, I did kind of forget that the, the writing is a little questionable. Okay.

Speaker: ah ah Maybe a little inconsistent. I think when you're trying to write like rules for the undead and for ghosts, it's a little like, wait, why is this why can they do that? But they can't do that.

Speaker: But they can do that. it yeah gets a little questionable. Which is why I think horror is best when you kind of like forget. you don't i don't think I think focusing too much on the rules yeah can ruin horror. can. And I think it's best when you leave it yeah when I'll say this. yeah It's a little difficult to do that with Murder House because of how it's written.

Speaker: um and the editing is a little strange. like The quick cuts are very strange. But i overall, I'm enjoying it because it's it's a weird, it's a very weird, creepy, disturbing horror show. i'm I'm actually kind of enjoying riffing on it so much that I really highly considered doing just like a really long...

Speaker: like series on American Horror Story and how it didn't it didn't age very well um but yeah it it came up on my streaming services because there's a new season I think it's called 13 and the thing with the thing with American Horror Story is everybody kind of has their favorite seasons they're not connected the actors remain the same they're they're recurring So Jessica Lange is in, I think, most of the seasons as like a peculiar character. ah Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, they're all recurring actors. ah But and nothing nothing is really – it's like Final Fantasy. Nothing's really connected. So I liked Freak Show. I liked Coven, which is about witches. i liked Murder House, which about ghosts.

Speaker: If it's like Final Fantasy, is there going to be one season where all the all the different guys from the different American Horror Story seasons team up with the Disney characters and go on an adventure?

Speaker: Just like Final Fantasy? mean, yes, but it's... ah what Wait a second. Are you saying Kingdom Hearts? What are we talking about? Of course. Oh, okay.

Speaker: I mean, if that happened, Mickey Mouse would have to be like a murderer. you know Yeah, so maybe it's not Disney. Maybe because it's American Horror Story, it's not Disney. and It's like, ah o I don't know, like Warner Brothers.

Speaker: Oh. So it's like they go on an adventure. They help. A little anime boy and all the Looney Tunes and like the Animaniacs and stuff go on an adventure to do something that this the the biggest fan of the series in the entire world, it would take them four hours to explain what they're doing.

Speaker: So many video essays would come out about that and we'd be seeing like Animaniacs being dismembered. It'd be fucking terrible. It would be such a bad a bad combination.

Speaker: But yeah, that's what I'm enjoying. I'm sorry I took over. ah i wanted to i wanted to talk about that before I forgot about it because i want to like propose this video series idea that I have of just like really deep diving into Murder House.

Speaker: Hell yeah. Did you watch or play anything spooky over Halloween? You know, not not really, to be honest. You know, I i was... ah I think I was just kind of like busy preparing for...

Speaker: Our trip, or my my trip. We're doing separate. Oh, thank you. Are you preparing for mine too? Because I am overwhelmed. Our live show, my trip, is what I meant to say. Damn it. I'm going to do this laundry. I'm so irritated. But I did play a little bit of game. It's not spooky, but is. It's cute.

Speaker: it was it was it's cute And it's fun. It's called Gecko Gods. okay and And I didn't know about this game until there's an Adventure Game Hotspot review on it by Drew Onia.

Speaker: And he raved about it. What a cute looking game. And I was like, holy shit, okay, yeah. i'm I'm down to play a game that somebody considers one of the games of the year, especially in a year like this, right? ah So I start playing it. You are a literal gecko.

Speaker: yeah not like You're not like a gecko who talks. You're not like a gecko with sunglasses. You're not like a gecko that has a gun. you are the animal. You are animal. and the only thing i'm sort of special about is The only thing that's different between you and an actual gecko is I don't think real geckos have an air dash.

Speaker: I don't know. i don't know if haven't spent a lot of time with geckos. but I'm also going to say, like, there's some screen caps here that look slightly like Wind Waker where you're on a boat. And I'm just going – I don't know, personally. You do get on boat.

Speaker: I'm not an animal expert, but, like, I don't think geckos, like – can be on a boat what are you talking about no like the like use boat via for like for transportation i just don't think they need that gecko on a boat it's gonna transport are you saying somebody put the gecko on the goat or did a boat or did he get on the boat he got on the boat but the boat i don't think he controls the oh he does control the boat ah he does So I'm just saying, again, not an animal expert. There's definitely not, like, an amphibian expert by any means, but I don't think that – I think that might be something special if he can, like, pilot a boat. It's kind of like an exploration platformer, and you can crawl you can crawl all over walls such. It's not adventure game at all?

Speaker: um It's adventure-y, like you are on – it's adventure-y in the way that, like – Those what what I always call playground games are are adventures like. um why Why am I blanking on that fucking game? The really good game, you know, that really good game.

Speaker: Oh, he's Quest V? Oh, yeah, of course. A short hike um is is is an adventure game or a little gator game or or one of those ones. do consider a short hike and like a at least a hybrid adventure game. Because you're on you're on an adventure, but it's it's technically a platformer. and and Yeah, I guess so. This game is similar to that um But also just very different. Because you're just you're a gecko. You fall ah off your... It's kind of like smushy come home. That mushroom game where you get... You're like on an island...

Speaker: The way that Smushy come home is on a... I think it's Smushy, Matt. Smushy? For mushroom? Smushy? Mushroom? Smushy sounds better. It does sound... I do agree. So Smushy's on an island of mushrooms and then he falls off and then he ends up in a different place and he's got find his way home. This one...

Speaker: um The gecko is on an island full of geckos and he falls off and he finds his it's himself on this weird island. and He's got a... I don't know if you're finding your way home. like I don't know that your ultimate goal. I know that you find an old temple and you awaken the gecko gods by doing like a series of... There's gecko gods? A series of challenges. And then...

Speaker: the world opens up and you start being able to visit different islands. And yeah you're, you're again, you're climbing on walls. You're solving like really fairly simple puzzles and platforming challenges, but it's got a real, real sense of exploration, a real sense of wonder, a real sense of fun. It's got a cool soundtrack.

Speaker: um You're collecting things. bugs by when you find a new bug you eat it and it goes new bug collected oh i love oh i love that though yeah yeah yeah i love collecting stuff and it's i don't know it's so far i haven't gotten very far i haven't i haven't left the first island but Very, very fun. Very well designed. does. It honestly does look very fun. Very pretty. Very like ah it's it's just a cool little adventure to go on. And I think that's like that's going to be like my plane ride game, I think. Oh, good call. Overwhelmingly positive reviews. Always love to see that. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker: Really, really worth playing. It's called Gecko Gods. Oh, looks And it has nothing to do with following the law, or being spooky, but it is a great game. But you should probably steer your boat in accordance with the boat procedures of the marine laws. You should look up what what is the speed limit for a boat with a gecko on it. And this boat, I don't think it's a sailboat. So I don't think we can really.

Speaker: And you control it. So that fast. So ah most of the things you, a lot of the puzzles that you kind of solve ah are based around grabbing a little handle with your mouth.

Speaker: Yeah. Moving it in directions to open doors or ah rotate a little thing on the ground or whatever. And seems like that's how you sail the boat. I haven't gotten on the boat. I unlocked the boat, but I haven't gotten on the boat yet.

Speaker: One of the ah tags, like user-defined tags for this, is wholesome. And I never clicked on a tag so fast in my entire life. I i want to know what other games are considered considered wholesome in this vein of cute geckoness.

Speaker: A lot of animal games. The snufkin games? the moon Like the Moomin games? The Moomin. Moomin is so wholesome. oh my gosh. ah So cute. And man...

Speaker: A lot of ah AI games, unfortunately. Are you serious? Oh, man. But, yeah, there's some cool games and in in... There's a Daedalic game called Woodo that looks cool. Dude, I'm on that page right now. oh too.

Speaker: she That's not AI. That's not. Because Daedalic doesn't fuck with that. No, I don't think so. i don't think so um Oh, A Little to the Left is here. That game was kind of fun.

Speaker: feel like i don't I don't think I've happened across any AI, at least in the automated like trailers that I'm going through. it's sort of it was sort of like the stuff at the top seemed AI.

Speaker: Yeah. yeah um'm this these are so Man, this is my favorite tag ever. You've done it. You found it. Wholesome. Oh my god, wholesome. You're going to start a new podcast called...

Speaker: I can't think of a riff on save your game though. Hole your sum. Hole your sum. Yes. Sum your hole. Dude, I would be willing. I would be so willing to do maybe like a let's play or a stream on one of these. You can join me and we can plug like save your game.

Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. While playing a very wholesome game. I would also do a wholesome month sometime. That might be fun. Wholesome month? Listen, I know that I'm very evil.

Speaker: I get that. But even even dark and spooky and frankly scary people need comfort. And I'm going to get comfort ah with Widow, which has a goose in it or a duck. And that makes me very happy.

Speaker: um They are wearing hats. I'm just putting that out there. but But this is not here. This is not a wholesome month because we live in a world of of filth and crime and iniquity.

Speaker: And you know what? We need... and as

Speaker: purveyors of the law which we are this month because apparently no one else wants to do it apparently everybody else in the world just wants to friggin steal cars and and launch them launch them me and you have to be the law so okay this month i've always we are talking about

Speaker: A frigging game. Or this week. This week. Sorry. This week. Yeah, we're just going to, every episode this month is going to be on this game. There's going to be another Police Quest. No, it's just about Police Quest 1 every week. Yeah, exactly. Every week we just review Police Quest 1 again and again. It's like, wait, here's the VGA version. We got to cover that.

Speaker: So for this month, in case it's not clear, we're doing all cop games this month. And the first one that we're starting out with is a ah little ah little game made by Sierra Video Game Company in 1988. And it's called Police Quest.

Speaker: Police Quest what?

Speaker: The quest for the big man. No, it's called in pursuit of the death angel. That is correct. They all have ah like all the other quest games. They all have like titles and in parens. You know, I could have just looked upwards because we are, could have just looked upwards because we are in the, we, people don't realize this. We live in the audio bar. When you play this podcast,

Speaker: And you see the little audio bar that's, like, going across as it as as as the podcast progresses, right? We live there. We live in the audio? I was wondering why things were so, like, weird lately around here. Cramped. Yeah. And so I could have just looked upwards and seen the title of this episode and seen Police Quest and the Pursuit of the Death Angel. You got there. I didn't. I just, i i i'm folk I'm looking ahead. i'm looking forward.

Speaker: And i'm looking forward. and I'm looking at the future of video games and it's police quest. All right. but like What if you play the oldest fucking song that we legally can play?

Speaker: yeah Because, of course, I don't believe. i believe in you know public domain. Everything I do is legal.

Speaker: Me too. Play an old song and we'll talk about Police Quest.

Speaker: everyone, welcome back to Save Your Game. I am Pushing Up Roses, one of your enigmatic hosts, but with a very good strong moral compass. And with me is the very chaste, ah the very white as the driven snow, Matt Aukamp. Hi Matt.

Speaker: Get down on the ground! Get down on the ground! This is a stick-up! I mean, no right no, not a stick-up. This is a stick-up! This is a, this is a, fuck, this is the police, is what I meant to say.

Speaker: Fuck, I'm so bad at following the law. You are kind of bad at it. I accidentally i accidentally did a robbery. you actually it's so Yeah, you accidentally just did a stick-up. Damn it. That's not good. Damn it. But please share the law. I'll arrest myself right afterwards. No, no, no. Don't worry. We're like Robin Hood. That's not a crime.

Speaker: It's not a crime if you're Robin Hood. if you're rob We all know that. If you're Robin Hood, it's not a crime, and you can actually do whatever you want if you're Robin Hood. That's true. Even eat human flesh. That's true. that's true It's true facts.

Speaker: You can take my word on it. So we are indeed covering the first Police Quest. I know you said 1988. I am looking at something that says 87. it's older.

Speaker: Yeah. it's Police Quest 2 was 88. Police Quest 1 was 87. I was a whole one year old. When this game came out.

Speaker: Can you believe Little baby Matt playing Police Quest. I hate criminals and It's not true, by the way. So I did a video on this when I was still doing adventure games. as As people know, I did adventure games for a very long time and I got through a lot of the classics, but especially the Sierra games because they're some of my favorite. And of course I had to do police quest much to my dismay.

Speaker: ah i railed on this game. i mean, i mean at least I always think I'm being pretty fair, even when I'm being a little a little critical. But it was one of the videos that a lot of ah male adventure gamers, purists,

Speaker: said I didn't understand the game. because they didn't i don't I don't know what they think I didn't understand. Well, what did they explain? I'm sure they some of them at least had to have made explanation.

Speaker: Well, a few of them said that I was too young to understand it because this is a game like ah that is a product of its time. I did call some of this game...

Speaker: A male fantasy, like a male power fantasy. Prove me wrong, by the way, people. ah It is. and i'm not And I'm saying that kind of neutrally, almost. That is that is what it comes across to me. It's kind of this male power fantasy. And men were telling me, I just don't understand what that is. Because I'm not a guy.

Speaker: Taxi Driver came out in 1976. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: And it is a satire of things like this, right? Like, in this game, you, like, save a prostitute from her ah from her evil, wicked ways and make her your wife.

Speaker: You know what is very... There is something I said in my video, and I do stand by it. And that is very interestingly... The sex workers in this game are kind of nice yeah fun and heroes. nobody, like the cops, don't mistreat them or anything. it's said i thought I thought that was kind of interesting. There's also there's a few other interesting things that we'll go over. We'll talk about it as we get through it, but it's implied that Sunny is either dating or frequently ah

Speaker: employs this sex worker in the game. i Yes, I think they have ah they have both a working relationship and a fondness ah towards each other. It's implied that they have, what I'm saying is it's implied that they have hooked up Yes, absolutely. That's what I'm saying. They have a fondness for each other. I see what you're saying. yeah it's like it's like It's unclear whether he pays for it or whether they're kind of dating, but yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. Okay. All right. Which, yeah, again, which is very interesting. So this is a game by Sierra 1987. It is in the vein of, let's see, ah King's Quest three came out in 87. So that is the graphic style you can expect to see. It's your very classic graphic. Oh, you think so?

Speaker: oh you think so From King's Quest 3? This feels more like King's Quest 1 or 2. I think, like, understand, though, like, the the developers were a little different on this game. ah This developer is credited as Jim Walls, who was a beat cop.

Speaker: Now, there is much debate on, yes, there is much debate on how much he contributed to the game. I i do think he did. i think if you play the game, you will note the very um strict, very strict police procedural. That's the mechanic, and it is a very strict. And it it does come across different from the other Quest games. And he will go on to have a very short...

Speaker: not very impressive career in designing video games. So it's not, and not just cop games. So it's, it's not like, yeah. so it's, it's code, ah code name Iceman, right?

Speaker: Well, yeah, he did code name Iceman, but he also did, um, it was hard code name Iceman. yeah Well, yeah, it's got, well, just like this game, it's got stuff that is chance based. Yeah, but does it it's hard.

Speaker: But he worked on Blade Runner, the Westwood Studios game, which is not a bad game. That's a fantastic game. Blade Runner is really good. And then he worked on a game called Pirates, the Legend of Black Cat, which is not very well regarded. game called Earth and Beyond, I've never heard of. But, you know, it seems like it's got okay scores. Sure. Sure. Another thing about Police Quest and Jim Walls is Jim Walls is not a designer or a developer by any means. I think he did probably more consulting and writing. There is a rumor that Al Lowe worked a little bit on this game. He is credited, there's rumor that – Yeah, there's jokes in this game that are very Al Lowe.

Speaker: He's credited, but not as a writer. And I think that he did do some ghostwriting. I make my point in the video. ah There's a character named Helen Hots, you guys. And it's that close up of ah of a sexy woman like you would find in Leisure Suit Larry.

Speaker: It might even be a reused asset. I'm not sure if I proved that or not in my video. And Alo is in the damn game. He's in the game. He's one of the people who you pull over.

Speaker: I didn't realize that. One of the people you pull over, you see their portrait, and it is very clearly a picture of Allo. I also think there might be, because, like, keep in mind, guys, let's go back to the 80s when um game development was more in line with what indie game development is today. these are These are small teams, and they all know each other, and they all make fun of each other. So I think, and especially in-game, right? There's a lot of references in-game when it comes to Sierra. I think there is a picture of what is Ken Williams on the wall. I'm not sure, but I think it is. I think that's funny. um

Speaker: But yeah, I've played this game multiple times. i I never enjoy it. It's not a good game. and why don't we okay Why don't we start talking through whent we start talking through what happens in this game?

Speaker: Yeah, yeah. um There will be a lot to expound upon i think as we go. So much like the other Quest games, there is a ah character that you play here. So in an a Space Quest, you have Roger Wilco, right?

Speaker: really heavy quotes character. Sure. Yes, sure. Of course. ah You know King's Quest has King Graham and Police Quest has Sonny Bonds. His name is Sonny Bonds and you are a beat cop at first. You start out as a beat cop. And my God, this this is it a lot of procedural stuff. this ah This game, by the way, all takes place in one day.

Speaker: That's what oh there is one day? Yes. How is this possible? There's not a moment where you go home and go to sleep. There is, there is you continue, every scene leads to the next scene.

Speaker: That's true. Honestly, even though if you don't know how to play this game, like let's say you didn't have a manual or you didn't have a map, it is very difficult to know what to do. that You know what? If you don't have any of those things and just... You can't play it without ah without a manual, I don't think.

Speaker: It's tough. Yeah. If you do play it without a manual, then this is the most trial by fire game that I've ever played. You can die. Yeah, you're right. You'll just so die over again. And then they'll tell you what you did wrong. So i will give I will give it a little bit of credit for that because there were i I went over all the ways that you can die.

Speaker: And to the credit and the strictness of Jim Walls' procedural ah design, they will tell you what you did wrong if you die. So if I forget to put my gun in the locker – before going into the to the jailhouse, you'll die. But it will say, hey, don't you think you should have put your gun in the locker? So yeah, trial by fire for sure.

Speaker: so The first thing you you have to be on time to a briefing. If you're not, you die, by the way. Seriously? Yes. The game will end if you knew you lost points. I didn't know you died. Well, there's a cap on the time. If you're a little bit late, fine. If you're 15, 20, 30 minutes late, fine. Because you take time to explore a fun video game. I know. Fucking heaven forbid. think that's where I'm not – because, like –

Speaker: you have to I'm trying to get into the mind of like a Sierra fan from this time who have played King's Quest and Space Quest, where you do a lot of you can do a lot of exploring before you do anything at all, especially in King's Quest. But now you boot up Police ah police Quest, and you have to follow this to a t you If you explore too much, you will get punished for it.

Speaker: um Right. Yeah. So... you you start yeah You start in the police station. You have to you have to start your work shift by going into... is this a one

Speaker: It depends whether you're playing the... So I played original version i'd played the original version Way back in the day.

Speaker: The, what is it? EGA? Yes. EGA. And what is, what is EGA? Oh gosh. um Graphic.

Speaker: I'm looking it up because I don't remember. I should know this to be frank. The enhanced graphics adapter. Yes. and the engine.

Speaker: Hold on.

Speaker: so There are people, there are huge frigging nerds. Oh, I know. Who just know this. like I know. I used to. that i When I did, when I was like doing all of this, I did i did know it. Okay, so it's the AGI. AGI.

Speaker: So you, so it's the AGI, which means it is, it's a text interpreter. It is very lo-fi graphics. That's the EGA. And...

Speaker: um and In 1991, when they had their SCI, which is the Sierra Creative Interpreter.

Speaker: I think that's correct. Yes. um When they had their SCI engine, which was more point and click, they remade this game. And it was VGA, so it was a little bit more ah high fidelity graphic. Yes. They did that with King's Quest 1 as well. ah it's very much They very much look the so they look the same king's quest one looks the same between or you're saying the vga versions are very similar between police quest and king's quest i see what you're saying okay yeah so yes so in the first one like you show up there's a there's a slight difference here you either have to get changed you have to go go to the locker room and shower and get dressed, uh, and turn and the original version. You get dock points. If you don't turn the shower back off. yeah

Speaker: Yes. Yes. Yes. It's a waste of water. It's a crime. So, but in, uh, Oh, okay. It's in both of them. I'm ah sorry. I'm like looking through the walkthroughs to remember. Oh, okay.

Speaker: Yeah. So you have to, the first thing you have to do is you go to the locker room in the shower, ah Get all your stuff out of the locker room. Otherwise, you'll die later. And then ah get dressed in your police uniform because can't go into the briefing room unless you have your uniform on. If you go out in a towel, your co-worker will laugh at you when the game ends.

Speaker: Oh, that's funny. You can also take your clothes off at any point. I believe you can die try to do that in almost all of the text parser quest games. Oh, yeah. You could type you remove clothes and then you just die right there. I think in like in one of the games, I think it's Space Quest, actually. If you say that, it'll be like, you first.

Speaker: Oh. Yeah. um and then he got it So then you just you go to the briefing room. You get your all your ah you sit through a police briefing. None of it is important. like None of it matters whatsoever. Yeah.

Speaker: But it does live listen, it does matter to Jim Walls. It matters to Jim Walls, yeah. for what There is something I got that I took away from this design and this mechanic, and that is Jim Walls is very serious about police procedure and accuracy.

Speaker: So are we now. So are And so am I. So it's not like this is a one-to-one comparison on what it's like to be a beat cop, but it is very clear that he wanted to be as accurate as possible.

Speaker: After um the briefing, you have to just you have to take notes three times. Like, why? and then And then you go outside. This is the most absurd thing in all of video games. Yes. you You go outside, and before you get in your car, you have to, and and again, you wouldn't know this unless either you die or...

Speaker: And it tells you why you died or unless you're looking at the manual. So the the the police quest manual told like has a very specific. This is what police have to do. This is what your procedure is. And you have to follow that procedure to the letter, which is not fun. Why is that fun? i'm going to say this. I think there are some people who find procedurals very fun ah or at the very least like fulfilling. Right. Because it's the same way people feel about the Sims.

Speaker: Some people play The Sims not just to kill their Sim. They actually play The Sims. Like, they'll do the – what is it called? They have ah the job the job simulate the job DLC for The Sims. And I played that straight.

Speaker: I was a detective, and I did play that straight. So I think some people like this. have too. have too, but that's different than – reading off of a piece of paper yeah saying, okay, now now I have to walk around the car and check it for whatever. Now I have to... yeah Like, that's...

Speaker: All right. So I do think though, like, I think, I think we talked about this or someone, i don't remember where we did, where we talked about this, but I think we had mentioned at one point that it is a little novel to have like a manual that comes with it and that it probably wouldn't work so much today. Cause I don't, I don't want to read a manual these days, but I think it was novel at the time to have this manual in box and have that be a part of the game. Yeah. Yeah, there's something novel about it, but it when it's... when it's If it it was it was full of clues and that that weren't in the game and you had to kind of like go back and forth between the manual and the game, that would be cool. But when it's telling you point by point what you have to do, that yeah sucks. It's rough, yeah. You have to walk around the car. And the way that you inspect the car is you just make your character walk in a circle around it, sometimes two to three times. Yeah. and

Speaker: if you do it, He says, all right, I inspected my car. It's perfectly, it's clean. And then you get in and you can drive away. If you don't inspect the car, suddenly there's a bomb on it and it explodes as soon as you start to drive away. Now, that good game design is there is a bomb on the car or there is not, right? Like, that's good game design. yeah And if you...

Speaker: walk around the car, you find the bomb and you disarm it. If you don't walk around the car, you don't know there's a bomb there and you explode. Bad game design is if you don't walk around the car, there's a bomb on your car. If you do walk around the car, there's no bomb on your car. It's like...

Speaker: It's Schrodinger's bomb. It is. it's And that is why I actually think it is more fun. it is a little bit fun to play this game by as a trial by fire thing. You just have to make sure you save your game a lot.

Speaker: And in different safe slots. So I went to see a comedian named Ruby Setnick just ah this past week. yeah And she had a joke that reminded me of this scene, this um Schrodinger's bomb scene. And it was yeah it was, when you, if you light a candle You have to blow it out before you leave the house.

Speaker: Because if you don't, the candle knows you left the house and it'll burn your house down. Yeah. That is...

Speaker: that is that is the car bomb in this fucking game for sure. And then you play a pretty, uh, like difficult to control kind of ridiculous, uh, driving game. And you basically just drive around the city from like a top down map. If you're playing the VGA, you have to like control your, so make sure you're going the speed limit. You have to use your turn signals. You have to, uh, in both games, I think you have to stop at stop signs.

Speaker: e ah Yes, I think so. Also, if you don't have the map handy, you're just going to drive around forever. Like, I found... i was driving around so much...

Speaker: Thankfully, in the VGA one, you can click on a street and it'll tell you the name of it. That's nice. And you can click on a building and it'll tell you the name of the building. And when, if you get called to a specific place, they will tell you which streets it's between. So it makes it a little easier to find it. But yeah, the original version, you have to have a map. Otherwise, you're just, it's going to be impossible. It's tough, yeah.

Speaker: And then you just kind of drive around aimlessly until stuff happens. Yeah. And so, like, you will... There will be an accident.

Speaker: That's, like, I think the first thing. Yeah, it's an accident. An accident, and then it turns out the guy in the front seat of the car was shot in the head. um And then then you just leave as soon as your lieutenant gets there. Yeah. um you go well a lot of this game is like I feel like the majority of this game isn't confronting the death angel, which is the the bad guy, the antagonist. It's a lot of like solving petty crimes. not but I mean, they're not all petty crimes, but like I pulled over Helen Hots for for speeding.

Speaker: Um... I like that scene a lot because you can like let her go. and ah she so there's a character named Helen Hotz. She's very much a Leisure Suit Larry girl. in vg In the VGA version, her name is Tawny.

Speaker: Oh, interesting. I changed the name. Okay. Yeah. yeah So yeah, in my version, it's Helen Hots and she's speeding and you pull her, pull her over and she's like, I will do anything to get off of this charge. Like, please officer. And in the correct way to do this, the procedural way is to say, no, here's your ticket. Right. But you can also say, okay.

Speaker: And you can like swap your dignity, right. you know like for for some quote torrid sex she gives you a number she says it's her number you go call it it's not her number it is not her number it is the chief's wife's number how helen did she get that helen hacker i don't know helen hots man she's got connections wow But, you know, i don't I don't love that this woman is is being kind of a weird stereotype of just trying to use her feminine while. That's never even worked for me. that you think that's worked for me?

Speaker: No. I can be speeding in my leather corset with my boobs and I'll still get a bucket. That's never worked for me. I always get a ticket. I've gotten out of a ticket just by being nice.

Speaker: That's sweet. Yeah. I should try that. Instead of hitting on the cop. So, yeah, I mean, yeah, you stop. as You like the things that you do. a lot of times you're just driving around waiting for the thing to happen. So, like, you pull over a drunk driver. You pull over Helen Hotz, who's speeding or Tawny, if it's the other. um And then you fuck around.

Speaker: right Like. There are some, I guess, what you would call humorous parts to this game where it's like one of your ah it's one of your colleagues' birthdays and you go to like ah birth like a yeah like a birthday party where they hire a sex worker to like dance around. and Yeah. She's actually kind of cute. i actually kind of like that. It's ah Hoochie Coochie Hannah is her name.

Speaker: And in the VGA version, she has a different name, but I can't remember what it is. Do i have it written down somewhere? wonder why they changed the names. Yeah, I don't i don't know. um Maybe just because the names were so ridiculous. They're pretty ridiculous. Yes, they're pretty. I mean, I think i feel like everyone's name is kind of ridiculous.

Speaker: ah yeah what would Like the chief's name was like Whipple Stick or something. I don't remember. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: And then, like, there's this slight plot line that I don't quite understand where somebody is trolling the chief of police. The gremlin. The gremlin. And you, would like, go into his office randomly and there's just a chicken at his desk, like, having a fit, like, throwing a dandrum. There's another time where he gets a memo and somebody sprayed it with mace. And I think those the only two things.

Speaker: Like, I think those the only two pranks that get pulled on him. And then the gremlin is never revisited again. Never revisited. it's just a little thing that happens. So you... But yeah, there's, like, the reason...

Speaker: There's no reason for the gremlin. The reason for the guy who it's his birthday. And I do want to say, since this is all, this all happens on in one shift, right? You go out, you drive around, you pull over the woman. Wait a second though. Wait, Matt, that means you get promoted in one day. Yes. Okay.

Speaker: yeah I mean, that's, that's what happens, right? So you go, you meet in the morning, you meet your friend, Steve for coffee, and then you get called, ah wait ah

Speaker: You get called back to okay hold on. Let me think. Okay, so you get called to let you know, i think, something about like the promotion, and then yeah you go driving around, whatever, you get called back to Caffeine Carol's, the the diner. yeah And then she's like, there's motorcycles in front of my house. and then you go into a bar next door and you beat a man with your nightstick so that they move their bikes. Oh, you don't do that in the EGA.

Speaker: Yes, you do. What? Really? He threatens you, but you... I didn't think we beat anybody. Oh, you did. Okay, you're right. In the EGA, you just spin your nightstick around. In the VGA, you hit him in the knee, and he falls over.

Speaker: And then they move their bikes, but their bikes weren't parked illegally, Right. They were. Yes. Yeah. Yes. What? Carol's just like, oh they're taking up all my parking. Can you tell them to move their bikes? I knocked all the bikes over because I think it's funny.

Speaker: then then you ah yeah Then you arrest a drunk driver. And if you do it, if you like, he's like, ah, the cuffs, I don't want them. can we Can you cuff me in the front? I don't want to be cuffed from behind. It hurts. And if you let him, he'll run away.

Speaker: yes oh in EGA, like box you on the head. ah um But then, yeah, then you go like right from there.

Speaker: You go to the blue room and that's where there's the dance. But what you find out is that your coworker, he, you have Steve and Jack, I think their names are. And Jack, his daughter has gotten into drugs. Yeah.

Speaker: And then later, his daughter's in the hospital in a coma. And then later, his daughter's dead. and so Yeah, from an OD. yeah That like gives you motivation to take down the death angel. But yeah you you are just going from one thing to the next. like You are at the Blue Room when Steve tells you, oh hey, you have a briefing at the station in 10 minutes. you Yeah, I'm trying to enjoy Hoochie Coochie Hannah here.

Speaker: and we just get called almost immediately back to the station. Yeah. And then, like, you that's you go back to the station. This is when the actual plot kicks in. Yes.

Speaker: it it stops It stops kind of those unrelated crimes, and then the crimes become related to the Death Angel. Yeah, because then you you end up in a potential shootout, depending on if you follow procedure. If you don't follow a procedure, you get shot and your partner gets shot. If you do follow procedure, you just arrest a guy in a stolen car. He eventually breaks out of jail or whatever, it just despite you...

Speaker: How did that even – I was shocked. How did that even happen? Unbelievable, yeah. um And then you get promoted to narcotics. Yes. And again, same fucking day. It never turns from day to night or night to day. You never go home. You just keep going out doing the thing, and then going back to the police station, and then stuff happens. So again, this guy, your your buddy Jack, his daughter went from getting into drugs, he thinks – to ending up in a coma in the hospital, right to dying of an OD in one day, and you... And you switched departments in one day. Yeah, you go from a traffic cop to... Granted, it is a temporary switch. You are temporarily switched to narcotics yeah because you nailed the the the drug guy who had the stolen car. Yeah.

Speaker: And I think you find him dead later, right? Yeah. Yeah, he gets ah he gets offed by what I assume is the death angel for fucking up. You know, it's a typical ah kind of like gang stuff, I suppose.

Speaker: i don't know. They don't explicitly call it a gang, but it's obviously like a group of like bad people who do trafficking and such. And then you join a sting with your sex worker girlfriend. Yeah.

Speaker: Her name is Sweet Cheeks Marie. Sweet Cheeks Marie. I really love her. yeah I'm going to say a couple things about this game that are works that are more positive. So in reviewing this game, I did find that these sex workers were portrayed actually quite ah positively, which I appreciated. sweet cheeks marie is a now granted this is part of the the power fantasy i think because she's a little too nice to sunny she's just like oh my hero i would love to go with you like kissing him i'm like holy shit she is fawning like like a like a crazy fawn

Speaker: Like a crazy fawn. Like a crazy fawn. ah But that being said, she is one of the good guys. ah Sunny even warns her that there might be a sting like at her, like where she walks, where she works. And she still gets arrested. she's like, she just completely ignores it. She's like, no, I gotta get fucked. But whatever girls got, God forbid a girl has hobbies. Am I right? So she's portrayed very well. And also if you, again, this is a very strict game where when you're apprehending suspects, you have to follow the rules. If you kill people,

Speaker: if you shoot people, you will be chastised for that. You will lose the game. And it's, it's clear to me that Jim Walls definitely had disdain for, you know, trigger happy police that do not follow procedure.

Speaker: Um, So I think that is a plus that you cannot simply shoot your way through this game. You have to do the correct procedure. You have to book them. You have to put them in a jail cell. If you kill people, you you will lose. You will lose the game and the the game will kind of shake its finger at you. ah Wow. Yeah, it's...

Speaker: There's... there's a lot going on this game and i don't think jim walls was a police officer for very long he was like an had he what was his his original job was as a

Speaker: let me i gotta pull it up i can't remember i'm pulling it up yeah He was actually an optician for seven years. That's right. He was an optician. Then he was briefly a cop. and he was He was a traffic cop like Sonny Bonds.

Speaker: ah Until. Oh, I guess. Yeah. No, wait. 13 years. He was a traffic cop. Okay, maybe I'm wrong. I'm wrong. He was he was a traffic cop from 1971 to 1984, and then he was in a shootout, and he had PTSD. and Yeah, he was on leave. He was on administrative leave. oh Yeah, he was on leave. And then that's when he started becoming a video game designer. was i was going to say, I don't think it was... i I was going to say, I don't think it's a brief thing. Yeah, it's 13 years. Yeah, yeah. um So, yeah.

Speaker: Interesting...

Speaker: Interesting guy. Interesting guy. that but like a Very, very by the book. like that's It seems like that's what he made this game for. I was just going to say that. It seems like he wanted people to know there are processes that police have to follow, and it's not just what you see in...

Speaker: It does feel like a simulator game, doesn't it? Yes. Yeah. Which, and we'll talk about this after we get done talking about the first game, um but that sort of fades away. A lot of this falls away in later games. but ah So, you end up, as part of a sting, you and Marie, or part as part of a sting on Death Angel. I'm sorry, what's her name?

Speaker: I'm sorry. Two Cheeks Marie. Thank you. ah And by dyeing your hair blonde and dressing in a pimp outfit. Oh, winnie I have thoughts on that. Winning game of poker.

Speaker: Wait, one? Well, yeah. we Not me Okay. There is a... There's a little bit of a hack where you can you can do it with only winning one game of poker. Well, that's not what i that's not what the fuck I did.

Speaker: played so much poker. if you... if you if you Enter the game with only $10 and then lose your first hand. you will you're The counter will roll back around to a negative number. role And negative numbers in this game ah parse as the highest possible number.

Speaker: Okay. And so you have maximum money. and they Whoa. tell you But if you don't do that, you have to play poker for a long time. and Which I did. Is chance based. And you could you could be playing for hours and constantly reloading saved games to try and make this happen.

Speaker: it's It's kind of similar to ah using the... slot machine in Space Quest 1. I did a lot of saving. i like I think there's like a widget you can use, but I didn't do that because I was young and didn't know what I was doing. So, ah little fun fact. What do you mean, widget? Oh, ah in Space Quest, there's like a device you can put on the slot machine. Oh, I got you. I didn't do that.

Speaker: I played it straight because I'm an idiot. but here you Took forever. There's no There's no puzzle. there's yeah po it is just It is just your playing poker. But... So now, even if you don't use the one hand of poker thing, it's still one game of poker.

Speaker: Multiple hands, but it's one game. Yeah, multiple. Yes, yes. Multiple hands, one game. but So after playing one game of poker. The crime boss of the entire city of, what is it? It's Lighton, California. I don't know quite how to pronounce that. Is it Litton or is it Lighton? I don't know. L-Y-T-T-O-N. guess we'll say Lighton.

Speaker: For the why? The entire crime boss, Jesse Baines, a.k.a. the Death Angel, is like, hey, I like you. You should be part of my business. And then you end up like in a room and you have a shootout and you kill him. and you You don't kill him.

Speaker: Oh, you don't? No. Well, oh, yeah, near fatal. Yeah, you kind of subdue him and he goes to court. And then you get the key to the city and Cheeks Marie marries you. She fucking loves you, man. Well, she kisses you at the end, but in the next game, she's your wife. so Oh, interesting. Okay. Okay. I do love Sweet Cheeks Marie.

Speaker: I mean, it's unbelievable. Of course it is. like literally I mean, it's literally unbelievable, but it's also ah crazy. It's such a crazy, crazy game.

Speaker: um Did you have any fun at all? Yes. I think okay from the moment that you bust the drug dealer with the stolen car yeah to to the end of the game, it's absurd and stupid, but it is fun. Yes. I will say that i did have some fun with Police Leading up to that moment, it's not fun at all.

Speaker: It is not fun at all to just drive around and wait for the thing to happen and then fail over and over. like And this is not the first time that a Jim Walls game has done this because he also did this in Codename Iceman.

Speaker: Like the beginning of the game is ah is trying to get a submarine to work, like a simulation. And then like kind of picks up. I think Codename Iceman is later, but yes, Codename Iceman is nearly impossible to play. And I think, like, police Police Quest in pursuit of the Death Angel is...

Speaker: there's just It is just a how-to guide of bad choices. And I think when you read that um the the rules of adventure games, though like rule what is that ah that infamous post? There's an infamous post by adventure game designer Ron Gilbert where he lists a bunch of rules for how to design adventure games or how to make a good adventure game.

Speaker: And I think stuff like this

Speaker: is It's like the sort of thing, it's it's his it's his thing, Why Adventure Games Suck, ah written in 1989. And I think things like Police Quest are like exactly what he's talking about. yeah End objective needs to be clear. as long if you're It's okay if the objective changes mid-game, but at the beginning the player should have a clear vision as to what he or she is trying to accomplish. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: I do. do. Police quest do that. well Can we, so do you mind? I just had to, I just had a thought as I was looking at this, can we go down this list as I could checklist and see, does police quest follow these? Yeah, go ahead. Okay. up late Before we do that, I have a couple of comments. We were, we're absolutely going to do that. ah So in this game, we have to disguise ourselves to get, to do the sting yeah with the death angel.

Speaker: They make us bleach our hair. ah This is not how bleach works. You don't put bleach into shampoo and suddenly you have beautiful blonde hair. ah i was like laughing so. But also I wonder. i gotta go. Oh no.

Speaker: oh no Is that why – if you get to the convention bald, I'm going to be very upset. um So in for the sting, they actually dress you up as a pimp. I don't quite know what else to call it. that's your you You kind of look like Leisure Suit Larry, though. You're in a leisure suit. It's it's white. ridiculous.

Speaker: And I wonder, part of me is like, did they do that so your little pixel character didn't exactly resemble the EGA character of leeious Leisure Suit Larry? I'm not really sure.

Speaker: Because it just seemed so odd. I'm like... well Bleach activator? What the fuck is this? It's not anything. um And I had another thing, but I forgot what it was. So we can we can we can keep going. Okay. Maybe you'll remember it as we get on this. Okay. yeah and So you tell me if a Police Quest follows these. End objective needs to be clear.

Speaker: No, ah because it's the simulation that kind of drives it. So it's not completely clear until a certain point. Sub goals need to be obvious. Most good adventure games are broken up into many sub goals, letting the player know at least the first sub goal is essential in hooking them. If the main goal is to rescue the prince and the player is trapped on an island at the beginning of the game, have another character in the story tell them the first step. Get off the island.

Speaker: I think it does do that to a degree. It's just these these little these little goals are just so difficult. you know They'll tell you what the goal is. They'll be like, hey, ah go to the Carol's Caffeine Castle. Best name ever, by the way. love us Shout out to Carol's Caffeine Castle.

Speaker: ah So they do tell you what you're supposed to do. It's just that trial by fire thing that's going on. okay Live and learn. As a rule, adventure games should be able to be played from beginning to end without dying or saving the game if the player player is very careful and very observant.

Speaker: It is bad design to put puzzles and situations into a game that require a player to die in order to learn what not to do next time. Absolutely not. That is not how the, that's not how a lot of the Sierra games work, but I do, I do want to, I love Ron Gilbert and I love Lucas art design. I do want to push back a little bit on that because I do play a lot of games where you do die and then have to start over.

Speaker: Does it translate well to adventure games? I'm not sure people like colossal cave adventure for a reason. And I think that carried into graphic adventure. I don't think people liked Colossal Cave Adventure after 1985, though. Maybe. And things change, right? I agree that things change. But I want to push back a little bit. I think it is okay to die and learn from that mistake. I do think that's okay. I think it depends if it allows you to reload ah few seconds earlier.

Speaker: Sure. mean, Tenebrisomnia didn't do that. I died and had to go pretty far back to a safe point. Yeah, but you were fighting monsters, right? You didn't die because you weren't paying attention to... Because I didn't throw the food at the cat in Space Quest 5. Yeah, yeah. I get you. I get you. I just... In theory, right, in concept, I don't mind if I die. I think some people would argue that the death sequences in Space Quest, for example, are some of the more fun parts of the games. They're actually quite notorious. I think death has to be fair is, is, is I think what I, how I would amend this thing. If you have, if you die, it's not that you can't die in video games. It's that death has to be fair. You have to have known exactly what you were supposed to do and done it poorly.

Speaker: And yes in Sierra games, that's not the case. You just die randomly and then you go, okay, I guess I was supposed to do something fucking different here. I don't fucking know. To be fair, I think that did get better with the inclusion of King's Quest VI. So like Ron Gilbert is saying, if you are careful and observant, you should be rewarded for that. And I think if you are observant, if you do pay attention, especially in King's Quest VI, and don't get me wrong, there's crazy parts.

Speaker: there's crazy There's some crazy puzzles in King's Quest VI. But I do find that Sierra at that time was trying to do that a little more. Try to make the death fair. If you don't pay attention and you die, that's clearly on you For example, in Laura Bow, maybe don't touch the giant sword that's on the wall above you. Maybe you don't do that. That's stupid. You shouldn't do that. And so I do feel like... I don't know if I agree with that one.

Speaker: With the sword? Yeah, because I don't think it's very often. It warns I don't think it's very often that if you touch a sword on a wall, it falls and cuts your fucking head off. that it's it's It's rigged because it's wolf's it's Wolf Heimlich's office and you're warned.

Speaker: Okay. Many times. so So if you or or here's OK, better example than the sword, right? Much better example than the sword. There is a mousetrap on the floor that is very, very clearly, very visually clearly hooked up to a trap.

Speaker: maybe don't try to take the cheese from the the trap. Like, I think if it is obvious and there are warnings, I'm okay personally, personal preference. Well, I think that's specifically what he's saying here. Yeah. If the player is very careful and very observant,

Speaker: Yeah. i think but I think what Ron and I would maybe clash on is the depth of being careful and what that means. Maybe. You know? All right. So next one. Backwards puzzle. The backwards puzzle is probably the one thing that bugs me more than anything else in adventure games. ah Blah, blah, blah.

Speaker: The crevice should be found before the rope that allows the player to descend. You know, this is an interesting one. Because Police Quest is so procedural, it kind of doesn't let you do anything like out of order. If you don't follow the rules, you're just going to <unk>s gonna end the game. So i can't I can't think of anything where we're doing something totally backwards because the game chastises you for that. i agree. Yeah. All right.

Speaker: I forgot to pick it up. this is the real This is really part of the backwards puzzle rule, but in the worst way. Never require a player to pick up an item that is used later in the game if she can't go back and get it when it is needed.

Speaker: ah That is a good one. I don't know if that happens in Police Quest with the inventory items. Oh, it absolutely does. Can you give me an example? Sure. If you leave your club behind in the – if you leave anything behind in locker, you'll die. Okay. get it now. it now. If you leave your gun behind in the – yes.

Speaker: Yeah, I get it now. It is the dead man walking scenario. I thought he meant like. Soft locked. Yes, a soft lock. I thought he meant. I don't know quite what I thought he meant, but I. Correct. that That is correct about police class. Puzzles should advance the story. There is nothing more frustrating than solving pointless puzzle after pointless puzzle. Each puzzle solved should bring the player closer to understanding the story in the game.

Speaker: Gosh, I think this is subjective because I think if you would ask Jim Walls, I think these little procedurals and and kind of um vignettes of crime, I think i think if you asked Timmy, would say, yes, this is absolutely my point of view and it contributes to the point of view of the character and police quest. It contributes to the world building and the story.

Speaker: um I don't think it's necessarily the best, but I don't think it necessarily... doesn't do that. What do you think? um I think it is... I think the puzzles advance the story in that the story is you are living a day in the life of a yeah police officer. I don't think there's any... I don't think there's any random puzzles in this game where it is like... Why did I do that?

Speaker: No, it's it it is structured in a way that at least it... i I mean, again, I think we call this game more of a simulation type of adventure game. So some of these questions are hard to answer because it does.

Speaker: It is a little different in that respect. Real time is bad drama. One of the most important keys to drama is timing. Anyone who has designed a story game knows that the player rarely does anything at the right time or in the right order. If we let let the game run on a clock. So he's talking about, like, restraints, imagine. Yes, especially invisible ones. Invisible ones, yeah.

Speaker: will happen with dramatic timing so he's talking about like time restraints i imagine yes especially invisible invisible ones yeah um Well, I mean, Police Quest definitely have time. I mean, I already told you guys but fails that yeah already tells you guys I died because I missed my briefing. there's it Yeah, you die if you miss your briefing. There's a moment in this game. There are moments in this game where, like, if you're following the walkthrough on the VGA one, especially, they will tell you to put your siren on every time you drive anywhere because you probably don't have time to flip your siren on quickly enough to pull over

Speaker: the the the people who are committing traffic crimes. Yeah. if you Like, the time it takes to turn your siren on they've gotten away. um Incremental reward. The player needs to know what... know that she is achieving. The fastest way to turn a player off is to let a game drag with no advancement. This is especially true for people who are playing adventure games for the first time.

Speaker: I think Police Quest does its best to reward you for doing the procedures. I... I just also happen to think it punishes you more.

Speaker: I disagree. I think you could get you could be an hour or two into this game and feel like, oh, is this all I'm going to I'm just going to keep stopping criminals? right you you You have no sense that you are advancing a story, that you are going somewhere. that you're you're not you're not When you're solving these crimes, you're not getting new...

Speaker: You're not getting new areas of the map. You're not moving on to new chapters. You're not even getting new inventory items, right? Like you are just back on the street doing the exact same thing. i mean, we did get advanced to the narcotics ah team.

Speaker: Eventually, right? Like after I think three or four traffic crimes. Yeah. yes yeah And that's more than half of the game. Yes. I think, yeah, might be.

Speaker: Arbitrary puzzles, puzzles and their solutions need to make sense. They don't have to be obvious, just make sense. No. No. No, I think we covered that pretty yeah pretty succinctly, especially with ah the car inspection. Yeah, so this this fails. Reward intent. The object of the game is to have fun. Figure out what the player is trying to do. If it is what the game wants, then help the player along and let it happen.

Speaker: I'm going to say I didn't not have fun. I did have fun because it is I like Sierra adventure games. I like crazy text parser games. And yes, I'm a little biased because there's nostalgia and nostalgia attached to it, but I'm not going to say I did not have any fun.

Speaker: Well, he's not saying a game – the rule isn't game should be fun. The rule is that the game should reward your intent. And I think this game fails at that, right? Okay. Yeah. If you don't click if you don't type in open door, get out of car, close door, right? you have to close the door. yeah Yes. Oh, you forgot to close the door. Your car is stolen. Yeah, exactly. You lose the game, right? like Yeah. is not rewarding. You know what their intent was to get out of it. Yeah.

Speaker: they They weren't like, oh, I should leave the door open. They just didn't know that they had to close the door. yeah so like, I think Sierra games are horrible about rewarding intent. i know um I know. I think that is one of the main problems with Sierra games is that they...

Speaker: They regardless of what you're trying to do, you will fail if you don't do exactly what they thought you should be doing. yeah And that that includes their text parsers are so strict. Right. There's a there's a moment where you have to interrupt court proceedings to deliver evidence to stop a guy from getting bail.

Speaker: ah And and there's so I think there's only one word that works, and the word is emergency. And anything else you try to do, you show up, you try to give the clerk of the court the papers, doesn't work. You try to ask him to see the judge, it doesn't work. You try to open the door, it doesn't work. That's got to be in the manual, right? tell him to give you...

Speaker: You tell him you're going to give him. You have evidence. It doesn't work. Like nothing works except for the word emergency. And then he's like, oh, it's an emergency. I'll talk to the judge. Yeah. I don't think it's in the manual.

Speaker: um And that is a failure on every level to reward intent. Agreed. Yes, agreed. And I would also put that in a puzzle design that doesn't make sense.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. unconnected events in order to pace events some games lockout sections until certain events have happened there's nothing wrong with this this is almost a necessity the problem comes when the event that opens the new section of the game world is unconnected

Speaker: if the designer wants to make sure that six objects have been picked up before opening a door make sure there' is a reason why those cig job objects would affect the door um so like So, like, all right, if I'm designing a game, ah Roses, and it's, like like like, to use the six objects ah idea, right? if i'm If it's, like, there's six gem slots in the door and I need to make sure I get six gems and when I put them on the door, the door opens. That, good puzzle to decide, right? Yeah, yeah. If it's, like, I collected six gems, put them in my bag, and now...

Speaker: At that moment, as soon as I get the sixth gem, somebody walks through the door and accidentally leaves it open. Yeah. That's a bad puzzle design. Yeah, yeah. um um So does Police Quest...

Speaker: these but ah These puzzles are so different from from other things because they're so dependent on doing the procedure from the manual. So I'm not really sure how i feel about that. Some of the puzzles and progression arrive after just a se segment of time, right? I'm driving around. True. Yep.

Speaker: doing nothing and then suddenly the next puzzle appears and if i if i arrest the drunk driver then my friend tells me it's time to have a birthday party for my other friend right yeah those are completely unconnected so i think this fails that okay fair yep fair um here's the last one give the player options I don't think we even need to read the description to say, no, this failed. No! Yeah. So it feels like game like Police Quest is specifically what Ron Gilbert was talking about when he wrote these rules. And this is like what LucasArts was responding to as a company was like, we will not make games like Police Quest and Pursuit of the Death Angel. Yeah, right. Yeah.

Speaker: um And LucasArts was, you know, i think so withstood the test of time a lot more than Sierra, right? Like, I think they those games are still more beloved ah amongst the like the general public than Sierra games, who are only which are only played by diehard graphic adventure game fans.

Speaker: Well, thank you. that's i will take that compliment. but I do love me the Sierra games, truly. i do. I know that they're extremely flawed, especially in puzzle design.

Speaker: But I spent many an hour in my ah childhood and adolescence playing these games. And I do like them for their whimsy and for their their worlds and their fairy tale and stuff. It is a different vibe than LucasArts. And I love LucasArts. My favorite game in the world is Grim Fandango. It's not a Sierra game. yeah ah But I do love with the whimsy of the Sierra games. And they hold a special place in my heart. I don't think Police Quest does necessarily, but a lot of the Sierra games do.

Speaker: So, all right. Do you have anything – think we should just like – because I don't think we're going to be covering any more Police Quest games. Probably not. Unless it's The Kindred because that one was written by Jane Jensen and I'm just a little curious about it. And good. It's a good game. I've heard that. Yeah, I've heard that. So why don't – do you have any other thoughts about Police Quest in Pursuit of the Death Angel?

Speaker: No. Okay. Then let's talk about sort of where –

Speaker: This series goes. okay Oh, no. Okay. So... Nowhere good. i know. i know. i know. the this is This is the problem. So Police Quest...

Speaker: After this, they have another... theirre Their second game is very similar to the first game. called Police Quest 2 The Vengeance. I think it's the very next year. It's a little more graphically complex.

Speaker: Yeah. And then ah you're going after Jesse Baines again. Right, they and they kind of imply that in the first game that he's going to try to you know track down your character. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. um It's comparable, right? it's There's not that much of a difference between the two games that, you know.

Speaker: But then the third game, the Kindred, is, like you said, Written by Jane Jensen or co-written by Jane Jensen. And it's very good.

Speaker: Yeah. It is. Even the name, the Kindred, is so different. It's in line with Gabriel Knight, right? Yeah. I mean, you're tracking your wife, Sweet Cheeks Murray, since is attacked.

Speaker: And you're sort of like, I think you're hunting down a cult, right? ah Don't ask me. I haven't played it. It's been a long time since I played it, but it is...

Speaker: ah I mean, it's a really well-paced, really interesting. it It looks like it's a story that makes you want to play it. Yeah. And it looks like it's also we've transitioned into SCI. It is a point and click. The graphics are a little more palatable, I think. And the gameplay is probably more palatable. I mean, it's still got some real bullshit. like Don't get me wrong. Gabriel Light has some some bullshit. So, yeah, we're not out of the woods just because it's point and click now. Yeah. And now we're at the point where when ah when you die one of the designers of Sierra appears and tells you why you're so stupid.

Speaker: That's Jim Walls. And Jim Walls appears. and Yes. so Yeah, Jim Walls does appear. And he's like, and eddie explains why you're why you're dumb for dying. I think that's kind of funny and awesome. um And then after that, that is the last Jim Walls game.

Speaker: Yes. unfortunately okay so then the game moves on to uh it's fourth installment police quest open season and is an fmv game and you no longer playing sunny bonds and this is the most racist game i've ever played in my life You know what's really interesting, though? People like this game. enjoy playing this game. But it is very... But I do not enjoy, like, anything the game stands for. of course not. Anything the game is trying to tell me about humanity or the characters in the game. don't enjoy any... There's... I think I just... enjoy playing it because it is...

Speaker: and designed a lot like any of these weird fmv games from the era isn't but man it fucking sucks so bad i mean daryl gates was the guy in charge of the l la police department during the beating of rodney king and he tried to cover it up yeah He's not a good – sorry, his sense passed, but he was not a good person. And after he did that, Ken Williams said, hey, want a job? That's true. Yeah. He – yes. ah it may It gives me pause a little bit about what was going on with Ken Williams at the time.

Speaker: ah There's – I mean, this game was in in its day –

Speaker: ah criticized for its portrayal of black characters and every black character in the game is incredibly racist and

Speaker: I don't even know i don't even exactly know how to explain the depth to which it's disturbing. the way that the way this game was written. Don't you find like a child's body like in a in like a dumpster or in like a car? it's It's just got a weird vibe. It's got a real weird vibe to it.

Speaker: i think and the ultimate conclusion of the game is it's like based around that ah that trope of transgender people being is being psychotic that was that was popular in the uh early 90s um like yeah silence of the lambs kind of deal and and i don't think it's it's at that point i don't think they we were even not we because i i wasn't there uh but they weren't even really identifying people as transgender they were just calling them freaks just being cruel just being mean and and and horrible

Speaker: And that's, yeah, that's basically how this works. So. Yeah. ah Police Quest. And then Police Quest moves on to what is SWAT? SWAT, Which is, I think, also tries to be like a shoot-em-up or something, right? Yeah, it is different. I don't know. Like, I know that SWAT is related to Police Quest. I know Sierra had a, like, did stuff with that. But they are different games.

Speaker: Yeah, and it. Sucks. Like, it sucks. I don't like them. It sucks. People shouldn't... You know, I just don't recommend any of the... I mean, maybe The Kindred.

Speaker: But than that, I don't recommend a single... I almost little bit recommend one just to have some stupid fun with it. A little bit. Sure. A little bit. Yeah. i think I think generally it it kind of sucks. um I think they all suck. And I think they... That's fair.

Speaker: I don't think it is...

Speaker: You know, I just kind of don't think they're worth playing. That's fair. Yeah, that's that's totally fair. But i do think they're way more worth playing than this godless crime game that's coming out this month.

Speaker: I mean, like we said, we have a moral compass. um Clearly, you can probably tell. Yeah. And we will not stand in support ah violence in video games. And I mean, this is so directly copaganda, right? Like, it is it is very so very specifically saying cops are heroes and...

Speaker: and bikers and our bad guys i know what they have to get dude in space quest 2 like the bikers are are like bad like what do y'all have against like motorcycles and bikers come on guys motors people on motorcycles were just like the the easy villains can you imagine what they would think about me i walk in with my boobs out and my leather and my tattoos i i look i look like i'm on drugs But you but you arrived in a car, so you are you're ahead of the game. Yes, but I arrived in a yellow Challenger. Maybe I stole it.

Speaker: You probably did. Grand theft. I mean, no, I wouldn't do that. you wouldn't. You never would. You would never commit I wouldn't do that all. So...

Speaker: All right, Rosas, do you want to wrap up? Yes, I do. yeah But man, do I love to rail on this game. and It's a bad game. I'm glad you're here with me because, again, back in the day when I did my review on Police Quest 1, a bunch of kind of crappy male gamers came for me.

Speaker: they They came for me. They're probably still in the comments. You can probably go to my video and maybe still find it. i don't recommend it. i don't recommend reading the comments ever. Come yeah Come at me, Matt. Just go to Matt. I mean, I will kick your ass, quite frankly. Come at me. I'm a little spicy, but Matt is, he's, you know, muscly.

Speaker: come at Come at me. Anybody who disagrees in the Unpoliced Quest and is like, actually, it's good and it's not a male power fantasy and it's not propaganda and it was a was a stupidest fucking thing to say. it was a product of its time. hate that. yeah People were making...

Speaker: people were making shit about what was wrong with cops as and as wrong what was wrong with these sorts of male power fantasies as far back as like the 1940s you dumb pieces of shit if it come at me it's true by definition it was a product that came out yeah at that time in a time so i guess that's true better creative people smarter people were making better fucking things than this so shut the fuck up God damn it. So you agree with my review.

Speaker: You agree it's a male power fantasy. And you're not going to – you were not one of the men coming for me in the comics. I think – I don't think – I think the biggest problem with it is that that it's copaganda. I think the second biggest problem with it is that it's a male power fantasy. I think they hold hands. I wouldn't have – I would – well, you know, I don't think –

Speaker: I don't think male pay power fantasies necessarily um

Speaker: uphold the systems of, say, racial inequality. Yeah. ah That police

Speaker: propaganda does. Yeah. I'm just thinking about the kind of the kind of men that are drawn to a job like this. Are probably...

Speaker: susceptible to both or being influenced by both. copie Yes. I'm not saying everybody, but we know historically and we know from from patterns, right? Though, you know, though there is the male outlaw power fantasy too, right? Yeah, that's true. And i think, for example, fucking Grand Theft auto is a good example of that, right? Or Robin Hood.

Speaker: Well, I don't think rob Robin Hood's a little bit better than that. I think, like, Grand Theft Auto is, like, legitimately um about this long-standing idea of, like, oh, the rebel outlaw, and they don't follow the laws, and they get all the girls, and they get all the money, and it's, like, which is...

Speaker: in some ways equally as damaging. um But at least some of that is done with kind of like ah like a a sarcasm about it where I think Police Quest is being 100% serious. I agree. I think Police Quest is absolutely 100% sincere and to the extent that it makes fun of cops is just as just in the sense of like, oh, we have fun. We're people.

Speaker: yeah And it's like, No, you ah propagate um systems of inequality and violence ah and whatever. ah I think it's it's clear...

Speaker: Regardless of the fact that it's no crime November. think it's clear both me and you what our actual views are on police. I think people know who I am at this point.

Speaker: So anyway.

Speaker: don't you say goodbye to the people, Roses? But i miss them. all right Wait, what? I don't want to leave. I miss them. you roses you gotta leave sometimes you gotta say if you love someone like 10 more minutes if you love 10 more minutes go ahead I'm kidding I sound like I was when I was like 4 years old and I wanted to stay up and watch some bullshit 10 more minutes right if you want as though 10 more minutes made a difference if you want 10 more minutes go ahead no it's okay I just you know no go no it's okay because this is part of it this is part of it because because Matt yeah

Speaker: yeah Am I just ending this? No, you got it. You got to do the outro stuff. You're right. I'm not doing it. Okay. Well, listen, fine. We're going say goodbye, even though I like it here in this, in this sound bar. It's, it's, ah there's no, there's no ah light in here. And I know, and we're getting towards the end of the sound bar and I feel like we're going to get squished. Squeesh.

Speaker: ah If you like us, or even if you don't like us, follow us. Follow us anyway on Instagram. Save your game podcast on Instagram. You can email at us. Matt and Rose is at gmail.com.

Speaker: Please join our Discord server. We have so much fun in there. It is a great welcoming space for those who love adventure games and all things nerdy.

Speaker: What else? What else do we want to tell the people, Matt? I think we want to tell them you can find us on yeah you find us on Instagram at SaveYourGamePodcast.

Speaker: it By the time this comes out, I think you'll have... what, four days left to get your tickets to Adventure X and come see our live show.

Speaker: Yeah. and Maybe even less than that, honestly. So if you want to do it, do it now. it now. I want to say I think there's only 10% of tickets left. ah this This convention is a smaller convention and it does tend to sell out. So get your tickets before you go. don't don't don't don't Yeah, don't even risk Don't wait to try to get them at the door. You might be able to, but like don't I wouldn't risk it.

Speaker: Yeah. You're not going to get like a discount by getting them at the door. Just buy them um Yeah.

Speaker: I think that's everything. So, guys, unless you're following the law, then I have to say.

Speaker: Wait, hold on. No, because because I'm always setting it up because I always think the suffer things comes first. And then it's like, no, it doesn't. It doesn't. Suffer things come second. That's true. so I guess it's just following the law is art.

Speaker: Following the law is art, but it is, Matt, it is also suffer.

Speaker: I think. I think I don't know. I don't know. We've got to work on No Crime November's outro. Ha ha ha ha.