Chamberlain and Chance

Contrary to the intro, this is episode 273, not 263. Chamberlain apologizes (not really). He also did the right thing by giving up on D&D Dark Alliance and moving on to Scarlet Nexus, a game that actually wants to be played. Alex attempts to use the Crash Team Racing remake as a Mario Kart replacement. And Chance agrees to hand over more money to Sony for shinier samurai and a new island on which to kill people. His only demand is a plain straw hat.

Alex is using this lull in releases to replay one of the best games of last year, Ghost of Tsushima. He, and it, are very sweet. Chamberlain plays several half-baked demos before running into the less than half-baked D&D Dark Alliance. Chamberlain is sour. And in a stunning turn of events that simply could never have been predicted, Activision Blizzard has released a questionable patch for Overwatch that enables cross play and screws everything else up. Chance is salty.

It's E3 time! It's not as fun as it used to be, thanks to both the absence of Sony and the general malaise of an online only presentation, but it happened and we should talk about it. Spoiler: only Microsoft and Nintendo had anything to say. But at least there was something to play those lucky enough to own a PS5: Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. Of course it is good, but Chamberlain and Chance need to fight about it anyway. Alex played a few bad roguelikes before coming back home to Hades, all the while telling himself that getting shut out of Sony's PS5 queue was not the end of the world.

This week, Chance beats the shit out of Chamberlain at VF5 AGAIN, Alex delves into Dungeons of the Darkest variety, and have you seen that Elden Ring trailer? (Note from Chamberlain: screw Elden Ring, there was a new Painkiller game teased that no one in the whole world cares about but me. If they make it exclusively co-op I will quit videogames)

That turkey is Chamberlain and his jive is indeed immaculate, though he did at least show up at the appointed time and play a serious number of embarrassing games of Virtua Fighter 5 with Chance. He also played Biomutant, which no one else should do. Alex has played enough of Mass Effect 3 to remember why he hated and loved it. And Chance watched a whole bunch of movies and posted a YouTube video that you should by no means watch.

People deal with the calm before the storm in many different ways. Chamberlain did something truly against type by watching Castlevania Season 4 after swearing off the series before making an honest, if a bit short, effort to replay a game. It's not his fault that blitzball is terrible. Chance watched several movies that no one else has heard of, then took a bullet for the team by trying out Biomutant. And Alex saved them all, on the second try, by completing the suicide mission at the end of Mass Effect 2. Team Tali for life.

Prepare yourself for Resident Evil 8 and Castlevania Season 4 spoilers! Also this week: Alex revisits old sci-fi friends who look better now than they ever did but play just about the same. Chamberlain literally falls asleep playing Ys Origins and Chance plays a game the he does not like to completion three times just because he has nothing else to do and wants to make very sure that he does not like it.

Returnal gets talked about again this week, and there might be a bit of drama around it, as Chance still loves it and Chamberlain still hates it, but there is a new release to talk about that Alex has played as well: Resident Evil Village. No spoilers this week but it will be open season next time. Also, a movie that Chamberlain doesn't understand, an actual metroidvania that Chance is unimpressed by and a new season of Castlevania that Alex has only watched a few episodes of.

Returnal has come out and, as expected, Chance and Chamberlain disagree vehemently on its quality. Chance is in love with a game that seamlessly blends genres into a science fiction horror metroidvania rogue lite that is exclusive to his console of choice. Chamberlain sees the vile scourge of the rogue like moving in on a previously pure game architype and is none to pleased, to put it lightly. The game's simple existence makes him angry. Firework ensue. Plus, Alex has returned to Cyberpunk, promising that the PC version finally works as advertised.

Desperation has set in. Chamberlain finished up a passable side scrolling action game, a cute, albeit forgettable game about clouds and then forced his way through Crash Bandicoot, a PS1 game that should have remained in the past. Alex was shamed unto a second attempt at Dishonored 2 by Chance. Chance is unable to find solace anywhere, bouncing off of good and bad game alike. At least next week there will be an argument about Returnal.