Deep Listens

We're trying a slightly different structure for the podcast this week.  We've broken the podcast into two halves, the first half is spoiler free and the second half is spoilerful.  Each half is roughly one hour long.

In this half of our Mark of the Ninja discussion we break down the mechanical innovations that make Mark of the Ninja one of the most fun and deep stealth games in recent memory.  We break down the game's various items and systems and highlight the different play styles that the game encourages.  Billy also treats us to some insight on how he made it to the top 1% of the game's leaderboards.

In this podcast we have our first annual Game of Our Year discussions in which we bestow a series of awards on the games we played on the podcast this year!  The awards are: Game of The Year, Character of the Year, Best Comedy, Best Drama, Best Adventure, Best Soundtrack, The Grindfather Award, The Alan Touring Memorial: Fight Against Anthropocentrism Award, The Award for Excellence in Elegant Game Design, Worst Story, Best Mechanic, Worst Mechanic, Best Twist, Prettiest Game, Best Post-Apocalypse, Least Game, Best Coming of Age Story, and Game of Our Year.  Feelings get hurt in this one.

In this episode of Deep Listens we are joined by a special guest to talk about the hot new indie game, Undertale.  We first answer some audience feedback about Until Dawn and then proceed to discuss the slow beginning of Undertale.  We talk about the game's characters, how the game breaks the 4th wall, how the game deals with player agency and choice, and how the game's multiple endings shape our understanding of what games are capable of.

In this much awaited episode ZombiePie and I discuss his end of our video game bet and his experience playing FFVIII.  We discuss his decent into madness and I try my best to make sense of the chaos that is FFVIII's gameplay and story.  We cover everything: every gameplay mechanic (even chocobo world), every location, every story beat, every character, we even talk about songs. This is truly the deepest of listens.

In this episode of Deep Listens a special guest joins us to discuss the "teen horror movie" game Until Dawn.  We discuss how the game attempts to blend movie tropes with gameplay, how the game handles mental illness, how the game uses native Canadian folklore, and whether life or death decisions are the only decisions that matter in a game about player choice.  Also Billy had a lot of problems with the game. 

In this bonus episode Gino is joined by a special guest to discuss a stupid bet they made and 90s adventure games.  The first half of the podcast covers Myst and Riven, two games that simultaneously made adventure games mainstream and helped to kill the 90s adventure game boom.  The second half of the episode discusses the criminally under-appreciated Pajama Sam games and how they still manage to hold up to modern scrutiny.

In this episode we discuss Tomb Raider and the ways the 2013 game tries to differentiate itself from earlier entries in the series.  We discuss where some of the characters and characterizations fall short and how the game's story and gameplay clash.  We also discuss the how the game could better reward completionists.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss Child of Light and go over the game's unique combat system, story, and aesthetic.  We also discuss why coming of age stories are so ubiquitous in games.  Join us as we once again stare into the abyss of Billy's obsession with grinding... and the abyss stares back.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss the award-winning, indie game Thomas Was Alone.  We cover the game's minimalist art style, strong narration, mechanical storytelling, and a few of its potential themes.  Towards the end we compare and contrast the Talos Principle and Thomas Was Alone's treatment of AIs and person-hood.  There are a few spoilers for the Talos Principle during the second half of the podcast so watch out.  Also at some point we got sidetracked into talking about whether AIs could ever be people.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss the Kickstarter darling Valdis Story: Abyssal City.  First, appreciate the game's mechanics and aesthetics.  Then we discuss Kickstarter's role in Valdis Story's development and the far-reaching impact of Kickstarter on the video game industry (as well as other industries).  We close up talking about the game's unique story structure.