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)

What a week! The Game Awards came and went but they left a trail of insane game announcements in their wake. We try our best to cover the highlights including Okami 2, a new game from Fumito Ueda, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and more! Unfortunately, we eventually ran into some poorly timed internet troubles so our broadcast (and this recording) took a hit. When we get those sorted out (for now), we jump into impressions of Marvel Rivals and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle! 

• Chit Chat: Brad Interrogates Nick about 'Dexter: Original Sin' (3:00)
• Recap - Highlights from The Game Awards (12:20)
• Technical Difficulties
• Impressions - Marvel Rivals (27:28)
• Impressions - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (49:55)

It has been awhile since an unexpected discussion topic reveals some unusual truths about the group... That changes this week as we learn some interesting fears that Brad has about sleeping. But of course, we are here to talk about video games so we revisit some big recent releases like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Metaphor ReFantazio! On the new game front, Brad talks about new, fast-paced indie game called Echo Point Nova and Chris Davis (and Nick) talk about their early impressions of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl!

• Quick Mention - Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2:55)
• Impressions - Echo Point Nova (23:45)
• Impressions - Metaphor ReFantazio (36:40)
• Impressions - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (1:00:40)
• Fantasy Critic Update (1:39:00)
• 4Player Minute (1:46:48)

It's the week of Thanksgiving here in the states so we decided to take a little podcasting detour to talk about the games that we are most thankful for! These aren't necessarily our favorite games of all time but they all mean something important to us for one reason or another! Whether it helped shape our current tastes in games or put us on a new path in life, the impact these games had on us cannot be understated.

**Please Note: We had an internet hiccup early on during the stream so there is shift in audio quality around the 16 minute mark.**

With Nolan officially out on paternity leave (congratulations!), we press forward into the wacky world of video games once again! We re-visit Dragon Age: The Veilguard to discuss how the game is progressing and examine Nick & Brad's drastically different playstyles. Chris Davis expresses his enjoyment of Life is Strange: Double Exposure after the first three episodes but braces himself for the tides to shift (if the reviews are to be believed). Brad also brings back the UFO50 minute with two new games from the collection and hypes up I am your Beast, the next game from the developer of El Paso Elsewhere! Oh... and we also dig a little bit into the controversary surrounding The Game Awards GOTY nominations.

• Nolan's big news! (1:38)
• Impressions - Dragon Age: The Veilguard (10:30)
• Impressions - Life is Strange: Double Exposure (36:30)
• Impressions - I am your Beast (59:30)
• The UFO 50 Minute (1:09:00)
• News - The Game Awards Announces their GOTY Nominees (1:19:45)
• 4Player Minute (1:39:00)

Time to get back on the podcasting horse... It IS Brad's week to shine as there is a new Dragon Age game AND some major Castlevania content to discuss so he is firing on all cylinders! We take our first deep dive into Dragon Age: The Veilguard and find that Bioware has managed to put together a polished, fun, and addicting game despite having an undeniable resemblance to modern God of War. In the second segment, Brad goes full nerd while discussing the crazy new Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors and Chris Davis revisits Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 now that he has spent some time with the co-op campaign.

• Impressions - Dragon Age: The Veilguard (5:15)
• Impressions - Vampire Survivors Castlevania DLC (1:04:00)
• Impressions - Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 (1:22:40)
• 4Player Minute (1:36:00)

The stars have aligned on this very Hallowed Eve; Blessing this episode with a bevy of sweet horror games to talk about! Krispy continues to tackle his backlog of life-changing games and talks about his time with Signalis! Brad brings two new indie-horror games to the table with The Closing Shift and Tormenture; Both of which defy expectation but in completely different ways. Nick discusses his first night of playing The Outlast Trials with the community and delivers his early impressions of this year's reboot of Alone in the Dark (RIP Pieces Interactive). Of course, we also talk a little about the critical reception of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the looming Beta of Monster Hunter Wilds!

• News - Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd Reviews are Out! (10:30)
• Impressions - Signalis (19:40)
• Impressions - The Closing Shift (37:10)
• Impressions - Tormenture (46:40)
• Impressions - The Outlast Trials (1:08:00)
• Impressions - Alone in the Dark (1:24:45)
• 4Player Minute (1:42:10)

We're running a little late this week but we have a lot to talk about! After a little detour to talk horror films and general spooky season stuff, Krispy takes us back to 2019 now that he has finally played (and loved!) Death Stranding: Director's Cut! It's a fun discussion that puts a lot of us in the mood to revisit the game ahead of the looming sequel. Brad gives his first impressions of the Silent Hill 2 Remake now that he's played a significant chunk of it and Chris Davis shares some thoughts on his time with the story campaign of Mech Warrior 5: Clans. Of course, we've got another does of UFO 50 highlights and some Fantasy Critic talk mixed in there for good measure.

• Halloween Season Chatter (2:40)
• Impressions - Death Stranding: Director's Cut (17:55)
• Impressions - Mech Warrior 5 Clans (48:45)
• Impressions - UFO 50 (1:05:10)
• Impressions - Silent Hill 2 Remake (1:15:00)
• 4Player Minute (1:49:30)