There may be an imposter on board but this podcast ain't it! The Daydreamcast returns to talk about the newest hotness of two years ago, Among Us, a game of love and betrayal, of murder and hats. We proceed to usher in the spookiest time of the year as we wrestle with the horrors of bad ports and delisted games on GOG, 3DS, and elsewhere, before we turn our attention to horror video games. Silent Hill gets the hot take treatment, and the 1995 cult classic Clock Tower the game of the week treatment. A marriage of survival horror and point-and-click adventure, this Argento homage by Human Entertainment features a dense atmosphere and actual narrative variability within a fully realised mansion setting, capitalising on the two scariest things in the world: the sensation of being chased, and giant scissors. Aggrieved mums are also in there somewhere, so buckle up, Jennifer Connelly!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Among Us (2018)

25:45 Konami's GOG dump and the (mis-)treatment of legacy titles

28:40 Pavlos' 3DS shenanigans, part deux

22:27 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

51:23 Clock Tower

In our most jam-packed episode, yet, we are joined by RPG and anime savant David from the Twin Geekscast to talk all of the talk, every last drop of the talk, about The World Ends With You, the inventive and expressive Nintendo DS rpg gem single-handedly developed by Tetsuya Nomura and no one else. But not before Pavlos is back on his puzzle game/Pokémon spin-off bullshit again and Brogan hands in his report on turkey mounts in Spelunky 2 fresh off the presses. The Hot Takes are the hottest they've ever been, featuring outrageous claims about Zelda, Metroid, and a third thing! Lastly, we are happy to announce we have been acquired by Microsoft for 7.5 billion dollars. This podcast is now available for free via Xbox Game Pass and we'll be introducing support for the Zune family of devices soon. 7.5 BILLION dollars.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 7.5 billion dollars

01:24 Pokémon Picross (1999) & other spin-offs

11:25 Spelunky 2 (2020)

16:17 Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (2003)

22:27 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

42:17 The World Ends With You

Late, but not too late, the Daydreamcast is here to light up your night. We get into the controversial announcements for the 35th anniversary of everyone's favourite Italian entrepreneur in a segment we like to call 'Nintendo: Who Knows?' before we break down the catalogue of New Blood Interactive's throwback FPS games in a segment affectionately dubbed "Doom and Quake-Likes: Brogan Knows!". Once again, we leave the verdict on the hotness of our takes in the hands of our listeners as we try to bring the heat to Smash Bros. and water levels in platformers. Our game of the week is the GBA remake of the 1993 NES platformer, Kirby's Adventure, which we discuss with unprecedented depth. That's right, we talk about frame lag, sprite size, and even critique the menus! We also talk about normal things for all the listeners not called Sakurai.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Super Mario 35th anniversary announcements

14:18 New Blood Interactive games (Gloomwood, Dusk, Amid Evil, Ultrakill)

18:30 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

29:48 Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

The Daydreamcast bounces back this week as we take on the new gaming sensation, Fall Guys, and personally say "hello" to the fellow kids. We certainly don't stop there, though, as Pavlos recounts doing inappropriate things to his 3DS inbetween watching what is widely known as the 'beautiful game'. Meanwhile, Brogan sticks with what he does best: talking about Hylics. We launch a new segment about takes so hot your ears might get burned from listening! Equally heated is our discussion on this week's main feature, the 1995 rail shooter Panzer Dragoon, mainly because the game is hot tras--, a flawed if not original experience. We meditate on its successes, its many limitations, and the differences between the original version and its 2020 remake. If you have come for answers on what the heck happens in that opening cutscene, move right along!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (2020)

08:11 Pavlos' 3DS shenanigans

13:49 Hylics 2 (2020)

19:15 Reigns: Kings & Queens (2018)

26:40 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)

Featured Game

40:06 Panzer Dragoon

The Daydreamcast returns with all the fighting game talk you never would have expected! We fight pesky connections as we learn about the netcode saviour called 'rollback' and fight the power as we condemn their modern DLC practices. We mash on the buttons and smash on the Dolphin, and despite how it sounds, we consider neither dirty. Right at the heart of it, an epic full of twist and turns, a ballad about the cruel irony of Kickstarter. Finally, we lift off with our game of the week, the often overlooked Game Boy gem Balloon Kid. A natural and creative iteration on and evolution of the Balloon Fight formula, it represents the best in early bite-sized handheld gaming with its charm and thrills. And remember: it might blow up but it won't go "pop!".

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

00:00 Street Fighter V (2016) and the problem with modern fighting games

14:00 Battle Princess Madelyn (2018) or A tale of Kickstarter

33:25 Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) on Dolphin

38:07 itch.io Minute: Secret Little Haven (2018); Lyne (2014)

Featured Game

46:14 Balloon Kid

A wild Daydreamcast draws near! It's a full-on role-playing extravaganza this week as Brogan returns and with him the hard-hitting game talk. We delve into Mario's most recent stationery adventure, the trippy world of Hylics, the regular deluge of HyLeaks out of Nintendo's Google Drive, the masochistic pleasure of Japanese captchas, and a damning account of the PS4's retro emulation. For our game of the week we focus on Phantasy Star, Sega's flagship RPG on the Master System, as we pit it against its contemporaries, discuss its many ambitions, and the various ways to engage with it today. Before you listen, please look up the sprite of Werebat. We have contacted his agent to get him to guest on a future episode.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)

16:41 Hylics (2015)

23:28 Nintendo Leaks

34:04 Brogan's Sobering PS2-on-PS4 Experience

37:39 itch.io Minute: Nuclear Throne (2015); Anodyne (2013)

Featured Game

44:45 Phantasy Star

In this week's Daydreamcast, we revisit and get visited by old favourites of the show. Calvin('s wallet) steps up to deliver the hot-from-the-oven take on the sequel to Deadly Premonition, Alligator Skating 2020. We vent our frustrations on the vices of gaming media before shifting gears and sharing much warmer thoughts on the overwhelming nature of Forza Horizon 4 , the sadomasochistic qualities of Ludo and other tabletop classics in Clubhouse Games, as well as further recommendations from the itch.io bundle. Finally, we tip our proverbial hats to the pulsating arcade classic Windjammers, a household favourite competitive disc-throwing delight that, over 35 years later, is getting a sequel for a reason. We hope this episode isn't a "MISS!" and we humbly give it "FIVE POINTS!".

P.S.: We played a 12-game match directly after the show and you already know who won.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise (2020)

14:03 The Paper Mario Fallacy

20:11 Forza Horizon 4 (2018)

29:20 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020)

37:39 itch.io Minute: Heavy Bullets (2014); Starseed Pilgrim (2013)

Featured Game

42:07 Windjammers (1994)

In this week's only seemingly light Daydreamcast, we talk nightmares. The nightmare of Pyramid Head selling out, for one. The nightmare that is working retail in a consumerist society. And, lastly, the nightmare that is the concerning lack of Covid safety measures in Pokémon cafés around the country. As the main course, we serve a goofy-yet-earnest nightmare in Dead Rising, a creative and ambitious early Xbox 360 game which stands at the crossroads that is mid-00s game design. We focus on the various systems of the game, its design philosophy and unique approach to an open (yet defined) world, and trace back the steps the series would go on to take. Also, we forget to mention how Carlito looks like a scrapped Tekken character, so there!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 The Great Pokémon Café Mix (2020) Soliloquy

07:44 Dead By Daylight (2016)

14:19 itch.io Minute: Beglitched (2016); Night of the Consumers (2012)

Featured Game

25:22 Dead Rising

In this tangent-filled episode of the Daydreamcast, we talk shop on competitive digital board games, the recent Sony PS5 presser, the Paper Mario series, and the wonderful treasure trove that is the recent itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. We barely have time to mourn Animal Crossing Minute (2020–2020) as we dive right into Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, our feature title. A GBA launch game and the template (based on a previous template!) for the numerous portable entries going forward, we honour it with an in-depth discussion of the game's systems, and try to understand its place in the long-running, household favourite Konami series.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020)

06:08 itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality; Death and Taxes (2020); The Real Texas (2012)

15:08 PS5 Reveal & Games

30:15 Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (2019); Paper Mario series

Featured Game

39:01 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

In this new tittilating episode of the Daydreamcast, we present our first guest, Calvin Kemph, editor-in-chief of some film site called Twin Geeks and actual former gaming journalist for many years. Things quickly turn raunchy as we reflect on the properties of anthropomorphic goo, the many forms of S&M, and the questionable importance of undergarments in making new friends. Our main game of the week leads us down the rabbit hole of '90s adventure game goodness. Coming from our game of the week, the wacky detective/noir spoof Sam & Max Hit The Road, we talk about our history with adventure games, re-open the age-old argument on Sierra vs. LucasArts, and give credit to the Scummiest of Virtual Machines. Also, SHARK MONTH!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Pantsu Hunter: Back to the '90s (2019)

4:35 Panel de Pon (1995)

8:29 Calvin's History As Gaming Professional

11:53 Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019)

20:48 Deadly Premonition (2010)

28:09 Pavlos' Animal Crossing Minute

Featured Game

31:08 Sam & Max Hit The Road