We continue our investigation of what big-budget gaming means with one of the titans of AAA graphical fidelity, marred by a rocky launch. Yet, after 4 years, the game captivates us all. Was it all the dollars spent on Polish demoscene graphics programmers, fantastic voice acting, and Studio Trigger tie-ins?

From Keighleys 2024 winners to Italian gamebook dozen-sellers.

Season 5 is all about AAA gaming in 2025, and in episode 1 we inspect the EA-published Immortals of Aveum, which was declared a commercial failure last year, with most of its studio laid off. What is going on in the game - can we find a reason for its lack of success? Is it actually an indie game in disguise, and is that what "AA" gaming is?

• Remap Radio interview with Bret Robbins

We ride the cozy caravan into the storm in this charming open world. We ponder identity, coziness, and the differing texture between this and Sable.

We dive deep into the mind of a lekky on a crumbling North Shore oil rig as the otherworldly manifestation of our avoidance gives us a hard time.

We press through the fog of trauma.

We fall into the Olympic Peninsula trauma-bonded to a four-wheel Object of Power.

We probe the tender and potentially autistic-coded Harold Halibut, a German narrative game handmade with over 200kg of clay.

Three gamers absolutely fail to grok a cultural phenomenon that uniquely represents today's neoliberal world.

• Ordered map of Elden Ring

We question the voice in our head during a surrealist existentialist Siberian adventure about faith and relationships, full of a lot of interesting and satisfying mechanics. This game has it all!