Kojima is always up to something and this week is no different. On this week's very special epsiode of Podcast Beyond!, Jada, Nick, and Max break down their favorite Kojima games, why hes so influential, and why him preparing to keep his legacy going long after he dies via a USB stick isnt even the strangest thing hes said lately.

***

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Limon and is produced by Nick Maillet

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sony’s big push for live-service games hasn’t exactly been a resounding success, and the news that Haven, the studio behind the upcoming extraction-shooter Fairgame$, recently lost its founder Jade Raymond doesn’t exactly instill confidence. But, on the bright side, Helldivers 2: Heart of Democracy update takes the battle to Super Earth, giving the Starship Troopers-like a bit of an Earth Defense Force spin. Jada reviewed Blades of Fire, which apparently has a great smithing minigame, but underwhelms otherwise, and Max has been playing Revenge of the Savage Planet, and Nick’s been ripping and tearing through Doom: The Dark Ages. Finally, we chatted with Sea of Stars creative director Thierry Boulanger about the upcoming DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker.

00:00 - Intro

00:53 - Will Fairgame$ be the next Helldivers 2 or Hyenas?

16:48 - Helldivers 2 New Patch Is Pretty Cool

22:06 - Come hang out at IGN Live 2025!

25:57 - Blades of Fire Review Discussion

35:28 - Max has been playing Revenge of the Savage Planet

43:40 - Nick’s Been Ripping and Tearing Through Doom: The Dark Ages

47:00 - Sea of Stars Creative Director Thierry Boulanger

01:03:29 - Outro

***

For thousands of years (or at least since the 90s) PlayStation has been pushing the boundaries of the video game medium. For almost as long, Beyond has been along for the ride. Join a panel of passionate playstation experts and enthusiasts including Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and company. Each week we unpack the latest gaming news, gush about what we’re playing, chat with developers and voice actors and explore the ever-expanding world of PlayStation - and Beyond! Catch a new episode every Wednesday on IGN, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Limon and is produced by Nick Maillet

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re rippin’ and tearin’ into Doom: The Dark Ages - but in a nice way! id Software’s recent installments in the beloved FPS series have been heavy-hitters in their own right, but the latest entry offers a truly satisfying experience with some of the most brutally crunchy combat in recent memory, an arsenal of new weapons and abilities that keep it fresh, and bottomless monster closet of nightmare demon hellspawn to explode into blood. Meanwhile, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 are still hella sick, possibly even more so since getting a modern overhaul, and Nick had lots of nice things to say about his time with them, aside from the snow levels, which he has a problem with for some bizarre reason. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach will probably have some snowy areas, despite its title, and we unpack some of the details revealed in a recent preview event during which IGN Japan’s Koji Fukuyama got to play a whopping 30 hours of Hideo Kojima’s next magnum opus. Meanwhile, Jada and Michael Higham sat down the the developers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to get some insight into how one of the best games of 2025 came together. Beyond!

00:00 - Intro

***

For thousands of years (or at least since the 90s) PlayStation has been pushing the boundaries of the video game medium. For almost as long, Beyond has been along for the ride. Join a panel of passionate playstation experts and enthusiasts including Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and company. Each week we unpack the latest gaming news, gush about what we’re playing, chat with developers and voice actors and explore the ever-expanding world of PlayStation - and Beyond! Catch a new episode every Wednesday on IGN, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Maillet, Nick Limon and is produced by Tayo Oyekan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GTA 6 is set to redefine visual fidelity in gaming, but beyond the graphics, we have nine very specific questions about Jason and Lucia's adventure. From gameplay mechanics like Jason's in-game console and Lucia's ankle monitor to narrative possibilities like prison time and relationship dynamics, this episode dives deep into what Rockstar's trailer suggests about the experience. We also explore whether GTA 6 could be gaming's first true "lovers on the run" story, a trope well-established in film but rarely attempted in games. Join Max, Jada, and Brian as they analyze these details and more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this weeks very special epsidoe of Beyond! Max, Nick, and Jada react to the Borderlands 4 State of Play where they share their thoughts on the games new direction, its gameplay improvements, Randy Pitchfords shirt choice, and if they think the game was moved forward to accomidate that one Florida simulator everybody is paitently waiting for. After that they get into their thoughts on the newest trailer for Ghost of Yotei, its similaraties to Assassins Creed Shadows, and how dang good that game is going to look when it releases this October. After that, Max and Jada give their honest reactions about the Until Dawn movie thats very much not like the game and Nick asks if this is worth watching if youre a fan of cheesy slashers. Finally, Jada reveals next months Game Club game, its Dave The Diver! Beyond!

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Maillet, and is produced by Red Rigos

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether you’d like a turn-based foray into a whole new fantasy realm, or a meticulously overhauled return trip to a familiar open-world, there’s plenty to keep you busy this week between Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. We’ve got plenty to say about these role-playing games, which are both doing very different things very well (and which of course have their own shortcomings.) But overall, the role-playing game genre seems alive and well. Baldur’s Gate 3 proved there’s plenty of demand for old-school isometric turn-based dungeon crawling, while Final Fantasy XVI and FF7 Remake/Rebirth have both broken into realtime action-heavy combat. We’re getting brand new IP like Clair Obscur and Metaphor Re:Fantazio, but plenty of classics are getting new leases on life, whether it’s in fully modern overhauls like Persona 3 Reload, or Dragon Quest’s HD-2D remakes. Heck, even Like a Dragon decided to ditch beat-em-up action for a turn-based party system. In other news, Jada and Nick have nice things to say about Unbeatable, which has a free demo on PSN and PC, and Max is obsessed with Bionic Bay, a puzzle-platformer that’s reminiscent of Limbo and Inside, but with a dash of Portal thrown in for good measure.

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Maillet, and is produced by Marhyan Franzen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by our pal Mike Drucker, stand-up comedian and writer, formerly of IGN, more recently of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and Full Frontal With Samatha Bee, and most recently the author of the book “Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games.” Drucker’s book is a semi-autobiographical trip down memory lane, recounting some hilarious and endearing anecdotes about growing up with gaming. So, we took the opportunity to reflect on some of our earliest memories of the PlayStation, and when we knew it would fare better than so many other Nintendo competitors. Looking ahead, there are rumors circulating yet again about a next-gen PlayStation Portable, or a portable PlayStation of some sort, which is in line with what everyone else is doing - but we do want Sony to do what everyone else is doing? The Steamdeck is an awesome machine, but it’s generous to call it handheld or portable device. The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting bigger, and more powerful, and for a lot of people, that’s great, but some of us are nostalgic for the days of gaming being a bit more… pocket sized. Meanwhile, we discuss this month’s Beyond Game Club game, Bloodborne. Have you heard of it? Well, too bad, you’re gonna hear even more about it.

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Brian Atlano, Mike Drucker, and is produced by Nick Maillet

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve got a jam-packed episode this week! First order of business, Blue Prince just dropped and it’s currently the best-reviewed game of the year so far, so what’s the big deal? We invited IGN’s executive reviews editor and Blue Prince reviewer Tom Marks to discuss the many brilliant things this roguelite first-person puzzle game does right, and the handful of nitpicks that keep it from being a totally smooth experience. But fans of The Witness, Return of the Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds will likely find something here to love. One thing we don’t love is the announcement of a very Bloodborne-coded FromSoftware game that’s not a Bloodborne sequel or even coming to PlayStation. The Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive multiplayer game The Duskbloods looks cool, but with a lot of caveats. Bloodborne turned 10 a couple weeks ago, so we’re celebrating the milestone with a return to Yarnham in this month’s Beyond Game Club. Also in this episode, Jada and Akeem sat down with performance-capture actor and stuntman Eric Jacobus to talk about what it’s like bringing some of gaming’s most brutal actions to live, from punching like Kratos to performing Fatalities in Mortal Kombat without anyone getting hurt, Eric had a ton of insight.

This week’s show is Max Scoville, Tom Marks, Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, and is produced by Nick Maillet

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Beyond Jada Griffin is hosting yet again! Joined by Travis Northrup, Cameron Kingdom Hearts Hawken, Kevin Diaz and Brian Altano makes an appearance for an Atomfall Interview with Ben Fisher - Head of Design at Rebellion - and Rebellion CEO and modern day knight, Jason Kingsley. We talk about Sony’s appearance at Cinemacon with unveiling dates for not one but two Spider-Man Movies, we speculate on the tiniest of updates on Ghost of Yotei, and we spotlight six more games to keep an eye on that we hope to play before 2026. We also announce Aprils game for Beyond Game Club and we hope that you will all join us as we play it. All this and more on this week's BEYOND!

00:00:00 - Intro & Ghost of Yotei

00:06:35- Blue Prince

00:10:08 - Wildgate

00:15:58 - Sunderfolk

00:21:37 - Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter & Den of Wolves

00:31:15 - Spine

00:36:31 - Atomfall Developer Interview

01:00:01 - IGN Live & What We’re Playing

01:09:07 - Beyond Game Club Announcement

01:13:23 - Outro

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Beyond Jada Griffin is back in the host chair along with Akeem and Brian for one of our longest episodes in a while. They talk about the numerous anniversaries happening over at Sony this month including Bloodborne's 10th which Brian gets nostalgic for, PSP’s 20th anniversary, and God of War’s 20th anniversary all with 67 inches of Jormungandr for your pleasure. We also picked out five plus one bonus game to keep your eye out for in 2025 and spoiler most of them are out in just a few months! Jada then shares her favorite games she got to play at GDC, including some with some really strange controllers. Finally March’s Beyond Game Club comes to an end as they give their final thoughts on returning to Batman: Arkham Asylum nearly 16 years later. All this and more on this week's BEYOND!

This week’s show is Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, Brian Altano, and is produced by Nick Maillet

Beyond! is a part of Geek Media Podcast Network, an IGN Entertainment Brand.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices