Chamberlain and Chance

STALKER 2 is finally out, which in and of itself is impressive, and the game is a lot like the first game, which is not entirely good news. Chamberlain bemoans the poor console port and swears vengeance upon the packs of radioactive dogs that are far too hard to shoot. And Chance dives into the Star Wars Outlaws DLC. Not enough sabacc but just the right amount of Lando. Rawr.

No Alex, he was busy putting up Christmas decorations.

Videogames, movies, and nothing else. Nothing else of importance happens. Really.

Chamberlain finished Alan Wake II. Everyone who told you that the game is good is wrong and their taste should be questioned. Chance (who hated Alan Wake II) is still throwing old games at his new TV and PS5 Pro to see what sticks, stopping only to play 6v6 in Overwatch and remembering that the game used to be fun. And Alex (who also hated Alan Wake II) is still working on the companion quests in Dragon Age Veilguard, a game he now at least slightly recommends.

How important are the writers? Chamberlain is playing Alan Wake 2, a bad game that should feel bad about itself, whose characters induce headaches every time they open their mouth. Alex is playing Dragon Age The Veilguard, a game that pales when compares to his predecessors. Chance gets around all this writing nonsense by looking at all the new pretties on his PS5 Pro.

Surprisingly little, if any, talk of horror games this week. Boo! But there is the once a year treat of Chamberlain, Chance and Alex all playing the same game at the same time. This time it is the Diablo 4 expansion. One finished it and loved it, the second was enjoying before a bad PC patch killed the framerate and the third got bored and wandered back to Overwatch. Also this week, Russian nihilism in Indika, Dragon Age Veilguard is good and Chance finally finishes Horizon Forbidden West.

Knowing that it was going to be a slow week, Chamberlain gave the podcast an assignment: come prepared with a list of the top three videogame soundtracks. A list of nine games was produced and there was almost no arguing! Also this week, Alex finishes Metaphor, Chance gives Horizon Forbidden West a second (maybe third?) chance and Chamberlain settles in to the Diablo 4 expansion.

Chance didn't play anything new this week, but he did play old things as the god of resolution and HDR intended on his brand new TV, named the new hotness. Alex has flown through Metaphor, a game he is this close to calling Atlus's best. And Chamberlain moped his way through the Silent Hill 2 remake, easily the best thing that Bloober Team has ever done. Take that how you will.

It's October and there is a new old scary game! Chamberlain was unable to resist the call of Silent Hill 2, the only game to ever give him literal nightmares, and much to his and everyone else's surprise, it's good. He tempered this experience with Astro Bot, a game that Chance ambush played just so he could say that it was not as good as Chamberlain thought it was. And Alex has spent far more time on the demo for Metaphor ReFantazio than is healthy, has consumed the kool aid, and will be up at midnight for the full game.

2024 is promptly forgotten as Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed and, more importantly, Ghost of Yotei has been announced. In the present, undefined time, Chamberlain is still working his way through Dungeons of Hinterland, which has moved far beyond mediocre dungeon crawling into political intrigue and the failings of a tourism based economy. No really. Alex shrinks down to Grounded because he wasn't scared enough of spiders. And Chance stopped playing Star Wars Outlaws just long enough to download Ghost of Tsushima and remember what good combat feels like.

In the rarest of occurrences, Chamberlain, Chance and Alex have all played the same game. This time it is Star Wars Outlaws. Unlike modern classics like Spider-Man, however, there is some disagreement on its quality. In other words, Chamberlain hated it and cannot be dissuaded. He brings Nobody Wants To Die and Dungeons of Hinterburg to the table, but makes no progress. Chance is still playing sabacc on Tatooine and Alex has gotten back together with an old girlfriend named X-Com 2, having forgotten how abusive that relationship really was.

Yes, two thirds of the people on the podcast are not fans of the PS5 Pro's price. Two thirds will also end up buying it, but is that the same two thirds? Also this week, Chamberlain was right to be concerned about Vision of Mana's writing. They are either bad at their job or cowards. Chance wishes Star Wars Outlaws had a new game plus and Alex continues to enjoy an incredibly deep, complicated game that few other people understand.