Chamberlain and Chance

Are you hungry? You will be because this is a cooking show now. Chance lets his culinary burger tips slip and Chamberlain extolls the virtues of high proof stouts that he drinks for the flavor. No really. Come for the food, stay for Hamilton reactions that are years out of date, more talk of Slay the Spire and The Last of Us 2, and of how much Chance needs Ghost of Tsushima right now.

Beware, this episode is filled to the brim with The Last of Us 2 spoilers, but it has been two weeks since it came out, you should have finished it by now. Chamberlain and Chance have some nice things to say about it, and some not so nice things to say about it, but you’ll have listen for all the sordid details. Alex, needing to be different, played the Remnant From the Ashes expansion and swears that it is good. At the very least, it doesn’t have beloved characters behaving irrationally in service of the plot.

Chamberlain is significantly behind the curve in a lot of ways. This week it is in his progress towards the end of The Last of Us 2, so no spoilers past Seattle day 2. Chance has finished it, mostly holds his tongue regarding late game happenings, but still has serious issues with what is otherwise a fantastic game. And Alex has opted for Griftlands, another Borderlands 3 expansion and sharing the spotlight with his soon to be famous roommate.

It’s The Last of Us Part Two eve and two of our three heroes are giving it a pass, at least for now. Chamberlain made it all the way through a roguelike shooter by pretending it was a really hard shooter and deciding now to die. Alex has returned to Persona 4 Golden because he can play it on his fancy PC And Chance has Ellie’s newest adventure pre-loaded. He might even get around to playing it.

The PS5 is a real thing that exists. The box itself is questionable looking but there is no denying that a day one Spider-Man sequel is enough to get everyone hot and bothered. Chamberlain has grown tired of Path of Exile, opting to baselessly attack entire genres of game he does not like to keep himself amused. Alex is reasonably offended and Chance just digs into the hate mail bag for a good story. Also Brad Pitt at 22 was just dreamy.

It’s been a heavy, difficult year, for a lot of reasons, for a lot of people. More than just a lot, for everyone who has a brain in their head and even a modicum of compassion for their fellow human beings. And while this podcast is usually a silly, if a bit profane, oasis from real life, to ignore current events, specifically the protests in many major American cities, would be a defacto endorsement of the evils they are fighting. We aren’t going to do that. Yes, there are still games to talk about, but this week there are more important things going on.

…Chamberlain still hates roguelikes.

Beware, Chance has acquired a taste for man flesh, having chewed through Maneater from beginning to end and back to the beginning again. He also has the audacity to say not nice things about Torchlight 2, for which he is taken to task by Alex, who is more interested in what may or may not look like a man in Prey. And Chamberlain has rejected manliness altogether and is playing Minecraft Dungeons because it was on Game Pass and he desperately needed something to do.

Chamberlain takes his turn in the way back machine this week, indulging in Ion Fury, a new shooter built on a twenty year old engine. Chance is happy that the wave of new blood has subsided and Overwatch is back to normal. Game are going so well that we another entry into Chance’s hate mail bag! And Alex puts the console versions of Diablo 3 and Torchlight 2 into the thunderdome. Plus real time reactions to Tenet! Yeah, we have no idea what it is about, either.

There is noting to play. There is so much nothing to play that Chamberlain dredged through his PS+ backlog and came up with a bad VR horror game and a mediocre brawler. Alex has gone all the way back to Dead Island, which he swears holds up. And Chance, having finally left his well groomed island, is enjoying a his second attempt at Breath of the Wild.

Chance returns to us, stronger than ever, bringing tales of Overwatch, Streets of Rage 4, a bunch of movies and, surprisingly, very little virtual gardening. Chamberlain has also played Streets of Rage 4, was unimpressed, and moved on to a mediocre Hotline Miami homage/rip off. And Alex has decided that three simultaneous JRPGs is what life is all about. Now that Person 5 Royal is over he goes looking for something equally long and dangerous to fill his time.