Daydreamcast

On this very late '00s edition of the Daydreamcast, our friend Murph returns to talk to us about the world of video games. We get a status update on his Assassin's Creed playthrough which, thankfully, is in its twilight years. We revisit the contentious and topical subject of roguelikes/-lites with more Hades talk, and even get some Yu-Gi-Oh discussion in. If that's not enough 2000s energy for you, Brogan adds two period-relevant platformers from opposite ends of the qualitative spectrum to the mix with Little Big Planet and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. You can tell it's a strange episode when Pavlos is the one to report on the new hotness with New Pokémon Snap, a worthy sequel to the original that gets a lot of things right and a couple wrong as the photography conceit is unthawed again, at last, for another spin-off that is much better than whatever is going on in the ailing main series. Our game of the week highlights genre hybrid and species simulator Spore and its troubled history and subsequently skewed trajectory as moderately disappointing but still interesting footnote in video game history. Thankfully, Murph was a Sporehead from day zero so besides our usual rundown of the game's somewhat simplistic but conceptually ambitious mechanics, including its five gameplay stages and the creating tools, we kick back and listen to our buddy tell stories from the days of Spore yore, the pre-release excitement, notes from the cutting room floor, as well as the community hijinx on the Sporum. It all culminates in the ballad of the Hugmonster, a tale of trust, betrayal, and pedophiliac forum mascots like no other. We also reminisce about old internet forums because it really just was that kind of episode.

Time Stamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020)

09:30 Hades (2020) and genre brethren

17:46 Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution! (2019)

32:11 New Pokémon Snap (2021)

44:17 Little Big Planet (2008)

47:38 Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008)

Featured Game

51:29 Spore

The prodigal co-host returns, and with him a whole slew of relatively questionable video games! After we're done covering the topics everyone has been talking about – some Crash Bandicoot runner, a sleazy '90s FMV game, and Tekken 6's cooperative campaign –, we turn our attention to less trodden paths. That's right, we break new ground with revolutionary talk on From Software as well as a little game series we have affectionately dubbed Super Mario. Brogan spearheads both as he reports from his research into From's history by exploring their early years with the King's Field series and then proceeds to beat his co-host to the punch on finally breaching the matter of 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Pavlos, meanwhile, got sidetracked by Risk of Rain 2, an exciting sequel to 2013's indie roguelike hit and an all-around multiplayer delight. The game of the week is one near and dear to our heart, warts and all. Knuckles' Chaotix is an experimental co-op focused Sonic spin-off for Sega's Mega Drive add-on, the 32X, and a pretty successful first outing for a relatively inexperienced (not-Sonic Team) team that mostly just fails in one major way: the level design. As we are happy to break down, most other aspects are top notch, particulary the stylish art and animation as well as the evocative soundtrack, or at least fun in an interesting way, like the central conceit of the tether mechanic that lets you zoom around the (sadly, mostly empty) levels in exhilarating fashion. And then there's the mystery of Charmy's surname. A comparison of Chaotix to Knuckles' blue rival's adventure from the year before, Sonic CD, becomes the subject of much debate and, dare we say, elicits a hot take or two along the way. As we table this contended subject for another day, we bid our Chaotix friends farewell and hope that they return one day. Jet Set Radio x Vector, Sega, think about it.

Time Stamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Crash Bandicoot: On The Run (2021)

05:40 Tender Loving Care (1998)

10:16 Tekken 6 (2007)

17:46 King's Field (1994) and King's Field II (1995)

27:21 Risk of Rain 2 (2019)

36:00 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)

Featured Game

52:01 Knuckles' Chaotix

After Brogan's resurrection, Pavlos was put on ice for whenever the world may need him again. This episode consists of Brogan and guest star David Punch picking up the pieces of the podcast. That's right: it's the second bananas on their own podcast! David has been reliving early internet meme culture with a nuzlocke run of Pokémon Platinum. Remember Lost? Wow. Brogan has been playing Ghosts 'N Goblins: Resurrection and the two examine what men are in the shadows of their own failures. Then, there's a Zelda block in which David talks about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Brogan discusses The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Largely, it's Brogan trying to justify a mediocre difficulty mode that you have to pay money for. It's okay when Nintendo does it. Finally, there's the game of the week: Donkey Kong Country! Back when reboots chose radical over gritty, Donkey Kong Country revolutionized everything and nothing at the same time. There are beautifully dated graphics, inventive but imprecise platforming, and a bunch of monkeys that we love but never really think about. It's all a barrel of fun until you accidentally press the button a second too late and Donkey Kong is sent flying into his doom. Don't fear, dear listeners: the editing and comedic stylings of Bro won't last long. Pavlos is sure to hear this hack job and thaw out of ice just to bring this podcast back to a rightful standard of quality.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Chaos.

Whatcha Playin

3:00 Pokémon Platinum (2009) Nuzlocke Run

7:30 Ghosts 'N Goblins: Resurrection (2021)

12:30 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

18:00 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

Featured Game

23:45 Donkey Kong Country

Everyone's favourite Alabama man returns for this brand-new episode of the Daydreamcast! We catch up with what Brogan managed to play before nature cut off his power, including the hefty narrative experience Disco Elysium and the disappointingly slight Resident Evil 3 remake. Pavlos postpones Mario talk for another week to discuss his time with the stylish if a little lacking Annapurna visual novel If Found... and divulge his research into the true next-gen console coming later this year, the hilariously misguided Intellivision Amico. If you thrive on yearning for an illusive phantasma you like to hallmark as The Good Old Days, an arcadian place in time when video games "were still fun", and if on top of that you like to pretend that children have an active interest in playing those games with their parents, then the Amico is just the thing for you: an expensive bow to put on that awkwardly wrapped package of self-lies. Luckily, no pretension or backwardness is needed to recognise our game of the week as a fun time, Capcom's fifth Mega Man outing on the Game Boy. As the first on the platform to not recycle bosses from its big brother counterparts on the NES, Mega Man V pits the Super Fighting Robot against an alien menace that is definitely not in cahoots with the previously once-and-for-all defeated Dr. Wily († for realsies). A full-fledged addition to the series, we break down why it's deserving of anyone's time, throwing out fun original robot masters, a shop system, and some banging tunes at a steady pace – you know, like Mega Man do. The game also introduces a robot cat named Tango. You cannot pet it. This information brought to you by The Tender Gamer.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Rocket League (2015), the state of the football game, and birds

10:20 Disco Elysium (2019)

21:22 Resident Evil 3 remake (2020)

29:20 If Found... (2020)

42:10 Intellivision Amico

Featured Game

56:18 Mega Man V

We welcome you back to the Brogan Memorial Podcast, the video game podcast made in tribute to former co-host Brogan before they took away his power, presumably to stop him from podcasting specifically.. we're just kidding, we're just kidding! Pavlos finds himself in a Zoom call with Calvin and David, both returning guests and, more importantly, not wearing any clothes while we recorded the episode. Unsurprisingly, David deems it the occasion to come out of the closet, confessing his feelings for emotionless robots and anthropomorphic bats as he airs his carnal lust for Rouge the Bat and Rosalina live on-air. Our collective therapy session continues as we discuss our new addiction, Rocket League, and birds. We love birds here, especially ones that provide a lot of points and good card effects in the digital version of the acclaimed board game Wingspan. Meanwhile, Calvin gushes about some game called Super Mario Galaxy which has zero birds in it. Given the highly irregular circumstances this week, we actually tend to a piece of current events, discussing some highlights from the recent Nintendo Direct. And even more unusual is our game of the week, the household favourite that is Splatoon 2. A handful of nitpicks aside which we hope to see addressed in the recently announced sequel, we explore our deep-running love for this highly creative and innovative third-person painting/shooting hybrid, an ink-redible blend of turf control, flexible loadout strategising, splatting, painting, swimming, DJing, stealth, and just capital F Freshness that permeates the entire post-apocalyptic world of inklings and octolings. Our discussion of the intricate mechanics and style is rounded out by examining its various distinct modes, the community, and the future of Splatting. And now, an assortment of Splatoon film titles: Kid Now, Squid Then (Hong Sang-Soo), Three Colours: Neon Green (Kieślowski), Barton Ink (Coens), Splatfesten (Vinterberg).

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Rocket League (2015)

12:30 Wingspan (2020)

21:12 Super Mario Galaxy (2007)

30:31 Nintendo Direct

Featured Game

58:48 Splatoon 2

The Daydreamcast spin jumps back into the action, and it's all about the devil in the details this week. We touch on throwback games, particularly action side-scrollers, old and new, and decide they are only critisable in the nitty-gritty, in the quality of the tried-and-tested individual components. While Pavlos is too busy recounting his time working for The Man, Brogan serves up fresh-from-the-oven impressions of Cyber Shadow, a new Ninja Gaiden-like published by Yacht Club Games, and pontificates on how it fares against previous efforts in the space, namely The Messenger from two years ago. For our game of the week, we discuss an inconspicuous Strider knock-off, Run Saber, only to put it back into the very bottom shelf it came out of. Indeed, this curious release barely passes the bar of 'fine', choosing to settle instead on 'severely lacking in all areas', and we break down the many ways it falls short. As such, Run Saber can be regarded as a useful critical exercise and one that exemplifies our core thesis of the week: value can be judged from practice, appearances can be deceptive, all are not hunters that blow the horn, fair face may hide a foul heart, and an online thesaurus is a heck of a thing.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Splatoon 2 (2017)

12:43 Modern throwback games: Cyber Shadow (2021), The Messenger (2018) et al.

30:29 Deep Rock Galactic (2020)

Featured Game

44:22 Run Saber

It's a jumbo-sized kick-off to the new year, and to the second season of your favourite video game podcast, with topics aplenty! Our usual cross-generational grab bag this time includes 2009's Brütal Legend, an action-adventure that's actually an RTS, and no one's favourite Bond game, From Russia With Love, a shooter that's actually a horror game as it turns out! Pavlos shares tales of playing multiplayer games on the Switch with non-gaming-affine friends and recounts the wonders to be gleaned from seeing gaming literacy develop, a process all of us have undergone and that has faded from our memories. And is that the sound of a relatively recent new video game being discussed I hear? Why, yes, as if one game of the week wasn't enough, we collectively and extensively sing the praises of Paradise Killer, a highly original detective game set in a shiny Vaporwave nightmare setting that you should check out, nenorocito! But that does not replace our actual spotlight title for the episode, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, a game both old and new at the same time. A landmark title for tactical RPGs on the Famicom, the first in Intelligent Systems' now long-running series, the twice-remade debut never saw a Western release until last year. It benefits from various quality-of-life improvements which mostly speed up the the gameplay and provide rollback options – a welcome addition to a sometimes obtuse and often challenging experience –, giving everyone an opportunity to investigate the roots of a beloved Nintendo series. We break down its systems and many innovations therein, but also highlight the equally numerous shortcomings that stick out, particularly with later iterations in mind. Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light harkens back to a simpler time; a period of peace, it takes place in the pre-waifu era just before the evil wizard Anime broke free from his prison and laid waste to the lands, consuming everything in his path. No trace of that here, and that's real justice served.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (2005)

10:47 GOTY 1985 addendum

16:53 Multiplayer games on Switch, the beauty of NES Ice Hockey (1988), and Gaming Literacy

36:20 Brütal Legend (2009)

43:04 Paradise Killer (2019)

Featured Game

01:12:30 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

As the end of the year draws near, the Daydreamcast assembles one last time for an unusual season one finale. Joined by friend of the show Calvin, and true to our style, we sit down to scientifically determine the best game of the year 1985. In this longest show, yet, you get to hear the entire process, raw and uncut. We consider almost 40 games released in the year that marked the launch of the NES, its launch titles facing some tough competition with computer platforms and the arcades in full bloom – at least outside of the US which was still recovering from the industry crash of 1983. Giving every game its due, we arduously whittle things down to a ranked top 10 after much deliberation. As we wish you and your families all the best for the new year, we hope you enjoy one last serve of drama, betrayal, and heartbreak from us. A celebration of video games past, present, and.. well, mostly past. Only past, in fact. See you next year!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 The Great Video Game/Videogame Debate

02:16 Game of the Year 1985

We wax philosophical at the Daydreamcast this week, touching on the state of modern game design, the trend of serialisation, the practice of modding, what really constitutes a video game, the ethics of stealing eggs out of monster brothels, and the severely phallic nature of Tetris – that's right, all the questions that have been keeping you up at night. Brogan gets caught playing a Star Wars game with Jedi: Fallen Order but talks his way out of it by calling it a Sekiro-like. Meanwhile, Pavlos sings the praises of the best Pokémon game since Pokémon was good, Capcom's genre experiment Monster Hunter Stories. The meat of the episode is dedicated to 2008's Mirror's Edge: We give a detailed breakdown of its striking aesthetical achievements, its Lola rennt-inspired runner/parcours-style gameplay, and the numerous contradictions within the – undoubtedly creative – design proposal it puts forward. Indicative of a lot of bigger indie games today, Mirror's Edge represents a brief period in time where Electronic Arts mysteriously defied their pecuniary-minded nature and funded several original projects; a lot of them, like Skate or Dead Space, still revered creative successes. We contrast this late '00s period in the company's history with the dumpster fire state they choose to be in today. For the love of Sonic, won't someone hose them down already?

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Xbox Game Pass and Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)

09:05 Monster Hunter Stories (2016)

15:50 Tetris Effect (2018)

20:00 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

37:10 Mirror's Edge

The Daydreamcast is looking to score this week, and we got a guest to help us succeed! Our friend Murph joins us to discuss everything we usually don't (like Assassin's Creed) and everything we usually do (like Kingdom Hearts and Pikmin). Meanwhile, Brogan clamours for the return of pet games as we reminisce about Nintendogs and lament what has come to replace them, as the animals gave way to the animes. The trio shows no mercy in its hot takes, sinking beloved classics and entire genres with ease. Our game of the week follows a loveable(?) loser in Larry Laffer, a mildly skeevy to downright sad little man, depending on the version you play, looking to get laid before dawn. This humourist adventure game from Sierra On-Line, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, impresses based on the company's trademark liberty of choice and exploratory openness which, compared to predecessors like King's Quest, is reined in here through relatively logical and straight-forward progression and puzzle design. The question of balance in design and writing guides us not only through the deep-dive into the game itself but alsoits remakes and the text adventure it is based on. We guarantee no one else has talked about Leisure Suit Larry for almost an hour in the entire month of November, so please drop us a 'magna cum laude' review on your podcast service of choice.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Murph's joke

01:26 Assassin's Creed Unity (2014) and the series as a whole

17:10 Murph introduces himself; Kingdom Hearts series (reprise)

29:48 Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2020)

33:50 Pet games: a lost genre?

39:49 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

59:25 Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards