Describing The Skybox

There are no podcast truths.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re talking about Everhood, an indie bullet hell/adventure/rhythm game. Everhood has several notable factors that could be considered a main point of conversation about it. It is surprisingly difficult on its standard difficulty setting and requires some mastery to actually get through it, giving it a similar feel to more arcade style rhythm games. This is notable because one of those other big factors is that this is also an adventure game with a narrative that not-so-subtly calls back to Undertale as an inspiration, with a focus on quirky characters and a heartfelt story centering around choice and violence. There is definitely some demographic overlap for these concepts, but it’s at least a little uncommon to see these facets of a game given equal weight like they are here. These elements don’t clash, in fact they coexist pretty well, but I would argue the storytelling is a better selling point than the mechanical side. The game takes a while to ramp up, and the difficulty getting there is going to cause some friction for some players. We’re going to be talking about how the game feels to play and how it is less “rhythm game-y” than we had anticipated, which characters we liked and which we felt could have used some more development, and we somehow manage to fit in a reference to the Moonlight Great Sword.

Thank you for joining us again this week! This is our last episode of the year, which means that we have a couple events coming up soon! First, and what will be our next upload, we’re going to be doing our annual awards show. With the name change, we’ve decided to rename the awards to “The Scribies.” Only time will tell if we stick with that one. After that, we’re going to be approaching Fanbruary, so let us know your suggestions for games you’d like us to play over on our Discord, in the comments on YouTube, or through any other means available to you to contact us. We hope to hear from you and we hope you’ll enjoy the upcoming episodes!

My podcast’s come alive.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re going to be talking about Hades II, the sequel to one of the most popular roguelikes of all time and the first sequel that Supergiant Games has ever made. And I for one am happy about that because I needed an excuse to play hundreds more hours of Hades. Hades II is very much a game that can be described as “the first game, but more” which could be a good or a bad thing depending on what you’re looking for, but what’s surprising is just how much more it actually includes. With two full routes to take and a suite of new weapons and gods, it has a ton of things to try and do mechanically, but also just enormous volumes of dialogue and numerous NPCs, making it feel like you’ll never run out of new things to see. We’re going to be talking about our favorite weapons and builds, the unique narrative position this game put itself in, and we talk about what kind of menacing grandpa Chronos is.

Thank you for joining us again this week! This is one of those episodes that I felt I was slightly overprepared for, so we ended up going deeper into some subjects than we normally do but then also skipping over some stuff that a newer player would probably be thinking about. Let us know if this spoke to literally any part of your experience with the game by leaving a comment or over on our Discord! Next time, we’re going to be talking about Everhood, so we hope you’ll join us then.

To listen to this podcast is to walk in a world of impurities.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re going to be talking about Silent Hill f, an action survival horror game and the latest entry in the Silent Hill series. This game takes a more combat-focused approach with stamina management and dodges, making it feel different from the majority of games in its genre. Beyond that, it separates itself from Silent Hill as a physical location as it is usually depicted in other Silent Hill titles, and is instead set in 1960s Japan. This change in context allows it to tell a story that, while it does still focus on the personal demons of its protagonist, takes the setting more into account and can address the societal issues of the time and place more directly. And it does a really good job telling this story, particularly through its cinematics and their impeccable pacing. It gives the story so much room to breathe and emphasizes when things really pop off. Which they do, of course, the game is not entirely comprised of slow, quiet moments. There are moments of the game where the mechanics can clash with the tone, and the combat itself isn’t exceedingly well designed, but it work shockingly well more often than not and I think it’s a game worth checking out, especially during this spooky…Thanksgiving season? We’re going to be talking about enemy designs both visually and mechanically, our favorite and least favorite areas and puzzles, and a joke is made that will really only work for some of the more cultured in the audience.

Thank you for joining us this week! It’s been a bit of a hectic time recently so we’re just now finishing up the Halloween games, but I assume that’s expected at this point. I know this game has received ever so slightly mixed reactions online, so which side do you fall on? Do you like the direction the game took compared to previous games or are you disappointed in the sort of mechanical/tonal mismatch? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord! Next time, we’re going to be talking about Hades 2, which just had its full release recently, so I hope you’ll join us then.

Listen to this podcast. I’ll show you what this mouth can do.

Happy Halloween oooooooooooooooh! and welcome back to the podcast. Today, we’re going to be talking about Slitterhead, an action horror title, and the first game from developer Bokeh Game Studio, founded by one of the creators of Silent Hill. In Slitterhead, you play as a kind of spirit entity with the ability to possess regular people. Some of these people are more special than others, “rarities,” and they mostly act as your main playable characters throughout the game. While possessed, characters can attack and use skills and you can swap between people with very few restrictions. This allows you to cover distance quickly, make it harder for enemies to hit you, as well as more specific tech like “avoiding” fall damage and setting traps with certain skills. This is a really cool concept for a combat system and an even cooler concept for the tone and narrative of the game. Unfortunately, that’s about the best that Slitterhead gets. The whole game is designed in a very dated way, with disconnected missions that need to be replayed multiple times with little to no variation, a lack of enemy types to flesh out the combat system which could have been fairly deep, and generally shows a lack of polish that could have really helped it sing. What is there can still be cool, if you’re particularly nostalgic for that sixth or seventh generation design, but it requires some patience and the ability to appreciate the ideas the game has despite its flaws. We’re going to be talking about the classifications of rarities and what we think the game was trying to accomplish with its systems, the frustration of being forced to play through a section multiple times, and we lament the state of development that makes games so expensive.

Thank you for joining us again this week! This is one of those games that feels like it has such a good idea that it just wasn’t quite capable of delivering on that makes the finished product more disappointing than anything, but still, I’ve seen the game has its fans. If that’s you, let us know what it is you like about it in the comments or over on our Discord. I’m sure some things that were a big deal for us might not be for you, and some of our negatives are positives in your eyes, it’s all subjective. Next time, however, we’re going to be talking about Silent Hill f, so we hope you’ll join us then!

Even if you don’t understand, your mitochondria will.

Welcome back to the podcast! For our second game for the Halloween season, we’re talking about Parasite Eve, a survival horror action RPG from PlayStation era. And for being from that era, Parasite Eve honestly looks incredible and is, for me, the biggest draw. Mechanically, the game is a little clunky, with some extremely crunchy systems and a real time battle mechanic that can be frustrating to interact with at times. But they you will get rewarded with a perfectly disgusting cutscene where a rat’s eyeball melts out and its arms grow ten times larger. It’s a push and pull, but it never becomes entirely unfun and it’s a surprisingly gentle difficulty level. You’re largely playing this game for the (somewhat silly) narrative, creature designs, and wild visuals, but if you take that into account it is a surprisingly enjoyable experience. We’re going to be talking about the surprising roster of people who worked on this game, the disparity in the systems between different styles of paly, and hot bodies in multiple senses.

Thank you for joining us again this week! This game has a reputation that after playing it I completely understand. I would be so nostalgic for this just based on the set pieces alone had I played it when it came out, and I was surprised at how quickly we were able to pick up the basics. Are you a long time fan of this game (or its sequels)? Did you understand the weapon system better than us and are frustrated with our struggle? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord! Next time, on Halloween itself, we’re going to be talking about Slitterhead, so I hope you’ll join us for that!

I can podcast it. I’ll take responsibility.

Welcome to the very first episode of Describing the Skybox and the first horror game episode for October! Today, we’re talking about Mouthwashing, a narrative adventure game set on a freighter in space. There isn’t too much in the way of interaction in this game, a few light puzzles and traversal challenges, so the story takes the spotlight for the majority of the experience. Which is entirely fine because of how well written this game is. Mouthwashing is a pretty tragic story that despite its low-fi and sometimes surreal visuals, really emphasizes the horror in the human experience, whether that comes from systemic problems or directly from another person, and the narrative does a good job of navigating its nonlinear story in a way that as each new layer is uncovered in the story it hits you in new and strange ways. The game is also short and easily played in a single, albeit somewhat long, sitting, so it can feel very tight and self contained, almost like a film. We’re going to be talking about how the intro sets up different elements of the story that get paid off throughout the entire game, how the individual shots and short mechanical sections emphasize the tone of the story at each moment, and we discuss what may or may not be a womb.

Thank you for joining us this week, and please don’t be scared or confused by the new name and logo, we really haven’t changed that much under the hood. I know Mouthwashing gained a bit of a following over the last year, so if you had played the game before, what about it really sucked you in? Was it the development of the characters, the game’s enigmatic visual style, or the dystopian vibes? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord! We hope you’ll bear with us as we shift everything over to the new branding (and let us know if there’s anything we missed or broke in the move)! Next time, we’re going to be talking about Parasite Eve, so we hope you’ll join us then!

Did you know you can hold a podcast in your off hand?

Welcome to the 200th and (kind of) final episode of NOCLIP! With it being both the 200th episode and our tenth anniversary, we figured now would be as good a time as any to finally play Minecraft, one of the most popular and the best selling game of all time, which neither of us had actually played before. Minecraft popularized the previously niche genre of survival games, captivated a huge number of people, and to some degree altered the landscape of online content creation, all while being a procedurally generated game full of blocks created predominately by one guy. Reputation of that one guy aside, it’s impressive what this once small game accomplished and the culture it developed. The simplicity of its design allows for more complexity in its systems, with hundreds (probably? Thousands maybe?) of items to craft and a huge world to plumb for resources. The game is also very self-directed, allowing for a lot of player creativity if it does leave you a little directionless at times. The world is equal parts hostile and enticing due to unforgiving enemy spawns and procedural generation, so it is up to the player to determine where and how far they want to go given their current gear and needs. We’re going to be talking about the ubiquity of Minecraft in modern culture, the ups and downs of the open nature of the game, and how Minecraft is about two inputs away from a dissociative experience.

Thank you for listening this week and for the last, shockingly, ten years. Minecraft is probably the biggest milestone type game we haven’t covered yet, and for those of you who have been playing this game for a decade or more, we probably only embarrassingly scratched the surface, so be sure to let us know in the comments or over on our Discord. We have a lot of changes coming soon, the biggest of which is that we are changing the name of the podcast (same great taste though, we aren’t changing the format or the contents), so keep an eye on things and don’t be shocked when elements of our branding change. Additionally, to celebrate both occasions, we have released a list of my top 100 games of all time, something I’ve personally wanted to do since I was a kid, so give that a read here (splattershot.pro/top100) if you’re interested! Next time, and for the first episode of Describing the Skybox, we’re going to be talking about Mouthwashing to kick off the Halloween season! We hope you’ll join us then.

It won’t end nicely. Not this time.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, on a special epilogue episode, we’re going to be taking another look at Bloodborne. This is a FromSoftware action RPG, tragically confined to the Sony ecosystem, but still containing a lot of the genre trappings of the games related to Dark Souls. However, the combat has ben retooled to be faster and more aggressive and the setting has been moved from medieval dark fantasy to gothic and Lovecraftian horror. Similarly to Sekrio, From, even when experimenting with genres and themes outside of their typical wheelhouse, manages to create a shockingly complete package. The mechanics of the notoriously difficult series play into the unfathomable nature of cosmic horror, the gothic werewolf stuff has a consistent narrative throughline into the otherworldly stuff, it’s all very well considered. It still uses the Dark/Demon’s Souls style of storytelling that leaves the burden of interpretation on the player, but it works especially well in a world in which clear answers would run counter to the game’s themes. It’s a fantastic game and one we wanted to take another crack at given that it’s been eight years since our original episode. We’re going to be talking about the interplay between the studio’s signature style and the game’s themes, how the weapon mechanics change the way you approach Bloodborne compared to other Soulslikes, and we give a massive shoutout to our boy Floory.

Thank you for (re) joining us again this week! Without accounting for some anomalies here and there, we’ve released around three hundred episodes of this podcast over ten years and Bloodborne has been one of those that seemed ripe for the epilogue series given its age relative to how much we like it as a game. If you haven’t played the game yet, is it because you don’t own a Playstation? That would be a good reason. If you do own one, what’s up? Do you hate quality? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Discord! Next time is an extremely special episode leading into some also special announcements, given that it is Episode 200 and on the cusp of our ten year anniversary, so we’re finally playing the game that we are the last two people on Earth to have not played, Minecraft! We hope you’ll join us then, and keep an eye out for the upcoming news.

Caked up podcast, goated with the sauce.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re going to be looking at the most recent Life is Strange title, Double Exposure. This picks up roughly ten years after the first game in the series and returns to the point of view of Max Caulfield who has not been using her powers. The game largely follows the same trajectory of the more recent games in the series, lacking time reversing powers, it is a narrative adventure game where you make choices in dialogue and occasionally solve puzzles. The character dialogue is as awkward as ever, but it does still have the earnestness that the series is known for. It is, however, much smaller in scope than previous games, with few locations to explore and a reserved, linear plot. Mechanically, there is potentially more to explore with the set of powers available, but it has a smattering of interesting puzzles here and there that put the game’s premise to use and it’s well worked into the story. Whether you enjoy this game will probably come down mostly to how much you like that story and how it is told, but I think fans of the series (as in, more than just the first game) will find something about it to find endearing. We’re going to be talking about the story and how it calls back to the first Life is Strange, how the characters and world building have evolved over time, and lame dudes.

Thank you for joining us again this week! I recognize that we talk about Life is Strange fairly often, but it felt appropriate to talk about a podcast favorite series as we inch ever closer to Episode 200. Double Exposure may not reach the highs of the series, but I think it also avoids the lows. How was your experience playing through the game? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord server! Next time, we’re going to be doing a very special epilogue episode where we talk about Bloodborne, something like 9 years after we did it the first time, so I hope you’ll join us for that!

Live in your world, podcast in ours.

Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re going to be talking about Astro Bot, a 3D platformer and a PS5 exclusive. When it comes to console exclusivity, I would usually argue against it, as it restricts people’s access to games and tend to only benefit established developers and publishers who already have a lot of clout in the industry. This game, however, really wouldn’t exist without it. Set in a very Sony-themed world where your lead character travels through space inside a PS5 and flies between levels on a DualSense 5 controller, your goal is to complete levels in order to regain the internal components, fan, GPU, etc., of the PS5 and rebuild it. The main collectibles for progression are robot representations of games that Sony has had a hand in over the years and the lead up to the final boss involves fighting atop a PS Vita. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel a little dystopian. It is cute, to some extent, and the game’s levels are well designed and rotate between a variety of interesting powerups, so I wouldn’t fault you for enjoying the game in spite of the branding, but I might look at you a little funny if you enjoyed it because of it. We’re going to be talking about the use of the unique hardware of the PS5, how motivational the collectibles are, and what you could and could not consider to be a box.

Thank you for joining us again this week! This was a pretty smooth game to play, all things considered, and there’s something to be said for that. Sometimes you’re just in the mood for something that doesn’t throw up too many roadblocks, and this fills that niche pretty well, being not too challenging but very visually vibrant and playful. Were you looking forward to this game after the previous Astro titles, or did you get this game because of a lack of other titles on the PS5? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord server! Next time, we’re going to be talking about Life is Strange: Double Exposure, so we hope you’ll join us for that.