Berries & Blades

Creepy Geppetto, dying over and over and over, and a game that puts the fun back into lying. Join us for a conversation about Lies of P, a soulslike game inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio. 

In this episode, we share our thoughts and experiences about Lies of P. We 100% confirmed our speculation that this game could be the Game of the Year. Seriously, it's that good, and if you enjoy playing soulslike games, we strongly recommend you play Lies of P. From great game mechanics and fantastic weapons to a solid main storyline—Lies of P feels like the total package. Joseph thinks this game is the master of delayed and mix-up attacks, Taylor is still getting his P-Organ stretched by the final boss, and Willie digs through the end credits for clues about the upcoming DLC. All three of us loved playing this game, and we can't wait for more. Until then, we'll continue our theories about Paracelsus, the Arm of God, and the single stargazer that can't used in the game. HINT: you can cheese enemies through walls with the Puppet Ripper's charged attack. 

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Somehow, we've crammed clips about Baltimora, Eve 6, SPM, Creed, Nickleback, Jason Aldean, and Metallica—all in one episode. Join us for another mashup of outtakes, hijinks, and other shenanigans.  

In this episode, we take you back behind the scenes for a collection of audio clips that didn't make it into episodes 11–19. Mostly, these clips are a little too off-topic to include in regular conversations, so we're featuring them here to celebrate reaching another goal for the podcast. Tune in to hear Taylor talk about going to war with a Gatorade-obsessed "supermouse" and check on his chickens to make sure they're not getting f*cked up. Willie revisits our previous discussion about "Tarzan Boy" and wonders how many people don't realize Boomhauer—from King of the Hill—is using legitimate words when he talks. Together, all three of us bash "Try That in a Small Town" by Jason Aldean for its traditionally racist ideas and completely confuse ourselves about whether or not there's a character named Curly Bill in the movie Tombstone. Also, this episode is brought to you by Pippy's Peanut Butter—"if you're not eating Pippy's, you're not ain't eating sh*t."

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

[Rap] Yo, you're in for a treat, so hang onto your seat. Get ready for adventure and remarkable feats. You'll meet Koopas, the Troopas, the Princess, and the others. Hangin' with the plumbers, you'll be hooked on the brothers. Join us for a conversation about the highest-grossing film based on a video game, The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

In this episode, we trade thoughts and comments about the 2023 blockbuster, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Ultimately, we all came away with a similar feeling about the movie. It was fun to watch, but it comes up short in a few ways. There's certainly no shortage of terrific easter eggs and clever ways of incorporating nostalgic sound effects and sounds. But some of the main story beats felt like they lacked depth. However, one thing's for sure—we all loved how they portrayed Princess Peach as a badass. You can expect great voice-over performances from the entire cast, and they don't hold back on the number of "Mamma Mias." It's worth watching, but it left all three of us wanting a version of the movie crafted for the generation of Super Mario Bros. players who grew up with the franchise in the 80s and 90s. Collectively, we give The Super Mario Bros. Movie an 80 out of 100. "Let's-a go!"

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Have you ever heard of a game called Pac-Land? It's very different from the "action maze chase game" we all know and love. These series—the ones that bounce between different genres—are the focus of this episode. Join us for a conversation about game franchises that have explored different genres.

In this episode, we tackle a list of games Willie created that have shape-shifted between different game styles. You know, starting as a real-time strategy game but switching to a first-person shooter—that sort of thing. We highlight games in famous franchises like Pac-Man, Resident Evil, Fallout, World of Warcraft, and Grand Theft Auto. Later in the episode, we speculate how AI could help or hurt the gaming industry, and Willie introduces us to a game called Resident Evil Gaiden—WTF, lol. We wrap with comments about Unreal Engine 5, water?, and misleading thumbnail images on YouTube. 

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Stock your inventory with alien plant matter, build conveyor belts, automate stuff, and explore underground caves. We somehow stumbled across a game with so much to do—BUT—so little to do. Join us for a conversation about a first-person factory automation game called Techtonica.

Welcome back to Hip Fire, a mini-series where we share our first impressions about a game after 5–10 hours of gameplay. In this edition, we talk about our co-op experience with Techtonica. Joseph takes his first crack at a factory automation game but quickly realizes it's not the genre for him—and gets lost for most of the time. Willie highlights some game mechanics and keeps the crew grounded by ACTUALLY learning how to play the game. At some point, Taylor glitches his way into seeing everything in the entire game—all at once. Despite our gripes with the game, Techtonica seems like a great take on a factory automation game, you know, if you're into that sort of thing. At the very least, we'll make you think about your favorite burger! 

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Mirror matches between the Chilean twins, preserving arcade culture and Evo Moment 37. Also, how in the hell is it possible for people to react so quickly in fighting games? Join us for a conversation about the largest fighting game competition in the world, the Evolution Championship Series.

In this episode, we discuss Evo 2023 and delve into the culture of the fighting game community. For over two decades, Evo has attracted the most elite fighting game players to compete in games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Super Smash Bros. Joseph talks about how he got interested in fighting game tournaments, mentions Evo Moment 37 and explains how Street Fighter 4 saved a dying community. Willie brings up the intricacies of frame data, asks questions about the brackets and structure of Evo, and talks about sinking time into playing Mortal Kombat 1. Taylor lightens the mood with a fight stick-skateboard crossover, notices how much blocking happens in fighting games at the elite level, and helps us rant about YouTube's resolution for 10 minutes. Shoryuken!

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Joseph and Taylor square off in a no-holds-barred video game guessing game hosted by Willie. Join us as we stumble through a game we call The NOT the Leonard Maltin Game.

In this episode, Wilie introduces us to a guessing game he created called The NOT the Leonard Maltin Game—inspired by The Leonard Maltin Game from Doug Benson's podcast called Doug Loves Movies. In short, Willie chooses a game and reads a maximum of ten reviews for it. From least to most helpful review, Joseph and Taylor try to name the game with as few clues as possible. In general, expect a lot of wrong guesses, lol. We're limiting the spoilers here, but buried in the episode, Joseph—a pro gamer—magically guesses correctly with ZERO clues, and Taylor butchers the name of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Let the Hunt to the Bloodborne begin! 

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Madeline vs. Badeline, Batman vs. Mr. Freeze, and Sahelantro-what? Join us for a conversation about six different boss fights we thought were memorable and worth fighting to this day. 

In this episode, we take on the challenge of making a list of boss fights we think are worth remembering. Willie starts with Batman: Arkham City, talks about stealth attacks and recaps the fight against Mr. Freeze. Later in the episode, he brings up the brilliance of Hideo Kojima and the Psycho Mantis boss fight from Metal Gear Solid. Taylor has fun talking about the most ridiculous-sounding boss—Sahelanthropus—from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and remembers rage quitting because of the gigantic Ancient Dragon from Dark Souls 2. Joseph talks about the biggest, toughest MF from Gears of War—General RAAM—and highlights Madeline's fight against a Part of Her and how it's a turning point in the game, Celeste. Also, "I've got it. Use the Controller Port!! Plug your Controller into Controller port 2."  

Here's the full transcript for this episode. It includes links to some of the videos we watched during this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com

For you—today—the day Bison graced your favorite podcast listening app is the most important day of your life. For him, it was Wednesday. Join us for a conversation about the hilariously bad golden nugget of a film, Street Fighter: The Movie from 1994. Wah-CHOP~!

In this episode, the gloves are OFF. Well, not for Balrog, lol. Unfortunately, we secretly love almost everything about Street Fighter: The Movie. Raul Julia, as Bison, minimizes the damage with a fantastic performance, despite being terminally ill. On the other hand, our beloved Jean Claude Van Damme gave "one of his most wooden performances" ever. Together we question everything about this movie in an episode full of laughs, criticism, DNA Mutagens, and "that son-of-a-b*tch Bison." Taylor mentions the enormous number of jump cuts in the editing, Willie questions why this movie isn't rated more mature than PG-13, and Joseph gives the Gooood Morning Shadaloo announcement. Say, anybody out there know what to do if a Bison Trooper throws a grenade right in your face? 

Here's a link to the full movie.

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

"Your Springs Are Reacting." Who doesn't want to fight as a puppet resembling Timothee Chalamet, tell lies in the plagued city of Krat, and explore their P Organ? Join us for a conversation about a new soulslike inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio, called Lies of P. 

Welcome to the first episode of Hip Fire, a mini-series where we share our first impressions about a game after playing it for only 5 hours. Well, more like 5–12 hours for the Lies of P Demo. Yeah, we know we suck at things, lol. Anyway, this demo is incredibly polished. So polished Joseph thinks it might be the best demo he's ever played. Willie breaks down the scrambled messages seen in the boss fights, and Taylor wonders if he can finally wield Pi-NOSE-cchio's nose as a deadly weapon. Together we dig into the game's combat mechanics, intelligent level, and boss designs and talk about the potential of the full release. In our opinion, this game will be good enough to compete for GOTY. Get good or get rekt, fool. 

Games briefly mentioned in this episode: Amnesia: The Bunker, Starfield, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Yakuza, Aliens: Dark Descent, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, Mortal Kombat 1, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.  

Here's the full transcript for this episode.

If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.

Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. 

The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.

berriesandblades.simplecast.com