Chamberlain and Chance

Yes, this is another game of the year list show. Ours is better. Why? No sponsorships, no external money at all, and very few, if any, fucks given. No Keighley, no Kojima, Alan Wake 2 gets nothing and Spider-Man 2 does not get ignored. It is also less then half the length of the Game Awards, so much more respectful of your time.

You heard us.

(Recorded during the first hour of The Game Awards, so be prepared for random outbursts, mostly by Chamberlain)

Different things satisfy different people. The Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer more than sated Chance's and Alex's desire for open world, booty filled ultra-violence but Chamberlain was left out in the cold. Chamberlain finds happiness in a game that could have easily come out ten years ago: Stray Blade. Alex and Chance are playing Diablo 4, but for different reasons, but what Chance really wants to play is Overwatch 2.

FYI, buffing Tracer literally broke the game on PS5.

With a week off there is much to talk about and unfortunately Alex is not here this week. Instead of making the world a better place, Chamberlain finished up Assassin's Creed Mirage, the first Ass Creed game in ages that had an actual ending. He also died an obscene number of times getting to the end of Ghostrunner 2, yet still says he had a good time. Chance beat people up in Overwatch, watched a ton of movies, and betrayed everything he stands for by purchasing Diablo 4. Microsoft own Blizzard now, so this is okay. Or something.

Based on Chance's recommendation, Chamberlain watched one episode of Blue Eye Samurai. Alex watched all of it. You can predict how this discussion will go. This does not meet Chamberlain's complaint quota, so he also says a few choice things about Assassin's Creed Mirage. Chance travels far, far away, back into Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Alex fruitlessly mashes X, trying to get to the good parts of Like A Dragon: Ishin!

This week, good Overwatch games stir Chance's creative juices, leaving time for little more than plays of the game and more Spider-Man 2. Chamberlain remembers that, once upon a time, he liked Star Trek, and he liked Telltale Games, and those past proclivities (on top of having nothing else to play) made Star Trek Resurgence inescapable. And Alex tries not to be jealous of the new Steam Deck. How much better would Skyrim look on it, really?

Also, listen to Chance and go watch Blue Eye Samurai.

There is a spider shaped hole in all of our hearts and the only thing that can fill it are spoilers. Spoilers of Spider-Man! GET ME SPOILERS OF SPIDER-MAN, PARKER!

Ahem.

Against their better judgement both Chance and Alex purchased Alen Wake II. While neither can understand the reviews, at least one of them is enjoying it enough to finish it. Chance embraces, or at acknowledges, his inner child with Super Mario Wonder and Chamberlain settles into the Lovercraft flavored boomer shooter, Forgive Me Father.

Spider-Man 2 is out, meaning that 2023 has officially peaked and it is all downhill from here. Everyone has played it, Chance and Alex have finished it, and Chamberlain took time out from the new AAA hotness to spite finish Blasphemous 2. Seriously, just go back and play the first one.

Mild Spider-Spoilers throughout. Serious Spider-Spoilers next week!

Good news everyone! The soundalikes for Chamberlain and Chance have arrived and they are indistinguishable from the real thing. Without Alex here to defend it, Chance is able to lay into The Fall of the House of Usher, saying it is so slow a burn that it actually goes out before the end. He also returns to Hyperlight Drifter and Dead Space after suffering through a few hours of Callisto Protocol. Chamberlain finishes up Ad Infinitum, a noble first effort from Hekate whose tech fails what could have been a pretty good game. Also, in spite of the impending release of Spider-Man 2, he starts up Blasphemous 2, a game that is just fine if you forget the first one existed.

SEE! Chamberlain bounce off of another souls-like and then settle for a pale imitation of an excellent game! FEEL! Alex forget enough about Elden Ring to fall in love all over again, then mess up his build in the first 15 minutes! HEAR! Chance enjoying a Dairy Queen blizzard before disparaging Phantom Liberty and talking about a whole bunch of good movies!

It doesn't happen often. Chamberlain, Chance and Alex all consumed the same piece of media, at the same time, and feel roughly the same way about it. Castlevania Nocturne came out, and in a vacuum, it is quite good. Not as good as the first series, but still better than most of the other anime lurking in the dark corners of Netflix. Also this week, Quantic Dream still doesn't know how people work, Ubisoft can't make a good open world racing game, Alex still likes Remnant 2 and Chance is getting preemptively worried about the Sombra rework.