After an unplanned two week haitus from recording, we return to the studio to talk through our early impressions of Assassin's Creed Shadows! Despite the series rocky history, Nick (and much of the general audience) is finding the game to be surprisingly satisfying! Brad is taking a break from Monster Hunter Wilds to play... Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate! Chris Davis played a bunch of Dragons Dogma 2 (for reasons?) but his experience is anything but average. We also check in on the latest Fantasy Critic drama and go for a new record with the length of our 4Player Minute. 

• Impressions - Assassin's Creed Shadows (6:40)
• Impressions - Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (33:30)
• Impressions - Dragon's Dogma II (59:50)
• News - Metroid Prime 4 Trailer Shown at Nintendo Direct (1:22:00)
• Fantasy Critic Updates (1:26:40)
• 4Player Minute (1:35:20)

Things in 2025 are starting to heat up and it's getting hard to keep up. This week, we delve into Split Fiction, a game that expands upon the strengths of it's predecessor (2021's hit, It Takes Two) in some really fun and interesting ways. We also deliver our reactions to the batshit insane trailer for Death Stranding 2 and discuss the release date which is coming sooner than any of us expected. Of course, we devote plenty of time to Montster Hunter Wilds and squeeze in some Like a Dragon talk to boot.

• News - Death Stranding 2 Trailer + Release Date (3:32)
• Impressions -  Split Fiction (16:20)
• Impressions - Yakuza: Like a Dragon (41:20)
• Impressions - Monster Hunter Wilds (50:42)
• Fantasy Critic Updates (1:23:50)
• 4Player Minute (1:31:00)

The time has come. The long awaited sequel, Monster Hunter Wilds, is out in the... wild! Brad and Krispy take our first (of many) deep dives into the game's new systems and mechanics and assess where it stands in relation to the series other critically acclaimed games. Chris Davis has finished our Game of the Year videos so he kicked his year off with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza and Nick talks about his love for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2; Despite new found addiction to gambling the game seems to be instilling in him! Despite all that, we still find time for some truly unexpected tangents related to Shrek, finding dirt on John Lithgow, and... whales?

• Impressions - Monster Hunter Wilds (20:39)
• Impressions -  Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza (1:05:00)
• Impressions - Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (1:24:30)
• 4Player Minute (1:40:40)

Between dramatic dips in internet, discord instability, and Nick's unprecedented noobism when it comes to podcast production, this week's live recording was about as messy as it gets... but the show must go on! Regardless, we've got some big games to talk about including the long awaited release of Avowed from Obsidian and the obligatory Yakuza release for the year titled, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza! Nick played a Yakuza game, finally finished Metaphor Refantazio, AND he talks briefly about his time with Spirit of the Samurai; The game he was tasked with trying after coming in last place during our 2024 Fantasy Critic competition!

• Impressions - Metaphor Refantazio (17:07)
• Impressions -  Avowed (23:30)
• Impressions - Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (47:15)
• Impressions - Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza (56:20)
• Impressions - Spirit of the Samurai (1:12:40)
• 4Player Minute (1:27:50)

It feels like 2025 is off to somewhat of a slow start in the world of gaming but that changes as we move deeper into February. Brad spills the beans on the first surprise hit of the year, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2! He also brings a game that stands at the opposite end of the video game spectrum, Lonely Mountains Snow Riders. We continue to press Chris Davis about his midhandling of the Dino Crisis series and Krispy's love affair with Yakuza reaches new heights now that he has finally finished Yakuza: Like a Dragon!

• Impressions - Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (11:15)
• Impressions - Lonely Mountains Snow Riders (58:00)
• Impressions - Yakuza: Like a Dragon (1:08:10)
• 4Player Minute (1:34:00)

David makes a sudden and somewhat chaotic return to the podcast this week to talk about the latest news involving the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the surprise announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4! On top of that Chris Davis talks about his time with Ninja Gaiden 2 Black which was announced and shadow dropped at the same time. In the second segment, Brad talks about his addiction to Lorn's Lure; a game about climbing megastructures that seems like it was absolutely made for Brad specifically. David brings his usual randomness to talk about his frustration with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and... Clock Tower Rewind?

• News - Ninja Gaiden 4 Announced
• Impressions - Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
• News - Nintendo Switch 2 Announcement
• Impressions - Lorn's Lure
• Impressions - Donkey Kong Country Returns HD
• Impressions - Clock Tower Rewind
• 4Player Minute (Filibuster Edition) 

As is customary, we jump start a new year by revisiting the old one! It's time to run through a bunch of meaningly award categories that we made up for fun! We even introduced a new set of "Wild Card" awards that are complete surprises for everyone at the table! So join us as we celebrate 2024 in all of it's glory. Our discussions cover everything from Dragons Dogma 2 to Silent Hill 2 to 1000x Resist... and everything in between. 

• Best World / Level Design (6:45)
• Best Storytelling (23:05)
• Best Gaming Moment (43:30)
• Wild Card Award #1 (1:08:13)
• Break | Best Soundtrack Picks (1:21:10)
• Best New Enemy / Boss Design (1:24:10)
• Best New Character (1:36:30)
• Biggest Surprise (01:48:30)
• Wild Card Award #2 (2:01:10)
• Break | Best Soundtrack Picks (2:15:10)
• Biggest Disappointment (2:16:30)
• I Won't Quit You, I Promise (2:33:20)
• The Spotlight Award (2:41:30)

This week, we found some time to squeeze in a semi-regular show in between our Fantasy Critic draft and our upcoming game of the year awards show! Brad talks about Slitterhead, the next game from the original creator of Silent Hill... and it turns out, it exudes some serious PS2 energy (which is not necessarily a bad thing). We also take a moment to speculate about the upcoming reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Xbox Developer Direct. 

• Impressions - Slitterhead (10:00)
• Rumor - Nintendo to Announce Nintendo Switch 2 on Thursday (29:05)
• Rumor - New Game Announcement at Xbox Developer Direct on Jan 23 (44:20)
• 4Player Minute (57:50)

As is customary nowadays, we kick off another new year by drafting games into our Fantasy Critic League rosters! If you are unfamiliar, think of it as Fantasy Football but for video games where scores are tallied based on each game's review aggregate score on Open Critic. Of course, this also gives us a great opportunity to talk about a bunch of great looking games that you can expect to hear us playing and talking about throughout the year! 

We bring 2024 to a close with some film banter right out of the gate followed by impressions of two new entries in sibling franchises. Chris Davis delivers his impressions of Metro: Awakening, marking the first time the franchise has delved into the VR space, and Nick talks about STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl now that recent patches have finally rendered the game playable! In the second segment, Brad takes us through the final results of our 2024 Fantasy Critic competition including announcing the winners in each of our community leagues! Thanks for sticking with us in 2024. We'll see you in 2025!

• Chit Chat: Film talk (2:40)
• Impressions - Dragon Age: The Veilguard (17:12)
• Impressions - Metro: Awakening (22:00)
• Impressions - STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl (46:00)
• 2024 Fantasy Critic Wrap-Up (1:06:13)