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Episode 299 – Live From Fretboard Brewing
Recorded Before a Live Studio Audience
This week on the podcast, Brian and Darryl are LIVE on the Stage at Fretboard Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio to celebrate the show’s 6th Anniversary, and talking about some things you might not expect!
Episode Index
Intro: 0:11
The Show: 1:40
Darryl’s Likes
Open World Games
These games don’t force the player to follow a set upon roadmap. Yes, there is a main narrative, but the player is able to navigate the world before them, giving them the freedom to explore as they see fit. A secondary version of this concept are games where choices matter and you must be aware of the consequences of certain actions.
My first true experience with this was Fallout 3 in 2008. This was a massive game where one could stray so far from the main path with the abundance of side quests and a rich world with familiar locations (ravaged by war, of course) that it could be difficult—and less fun—finding your way back to the main story.
Why?
These games are more like real life. You have to take care not to get too distracted from your path lest ye be lost in the side quests of life. The freedom is exhilarating but is not without responsibility. Also, the replay value when so many choices are before you is incalculable (as are the hundreds of hours I’ve spent on these types of games).
MORE EXAMPLES
Infamous (such a great game where your decision to play as a good or evil character determines the way the citizens view you)
Horizon Zero Dawn (fabulous game with a solid open-world but not much in the way of weighty decisions)
The Witcher 3 (very subtle in its choices game to the point there are several endings based on how you treat a major person in Geralt’s life).
Current examples: Assassin’s Creed (Odyssey and Valhalla), Red Dead Redemption 2 (I’m way late to the party), Days Gone (only an hour or so in but looking good).
Urban Fantasy
Taking elements of the supernatural and mixing them into modern-day times.
My first in-depth experience with this in a visual medium was Buffy, shortly followed by both the Necroscope series and the longest-running genre show (15 years!!) Supernatural.
Every bit as powerful in this realm as Buffy and Supernatural is the Dresden Files series (by Jim Butcher). It follows Harry Dresden, Wizard (and PI) as he straddles the natural and supernatural worlds in Chicago.
Why?
For me, urban fantasy makes the events all the more accessible and interesting. It posits the question: if ghosts and ghouls, vampires and werewolves roamed your streets, would you know? And how would you react?
MORE EXAMPLES:
Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series
Being Human (the US version with Sam Witwer, national treasure)
Blood Ties
SCI-FI
One of the more popular genres, sci-fi focuses on the advances of science in a fictional setting. These vary between the uber fantastical (say Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets or Star Wars) or the ones more grounded in reality (The Expanse).
Why?
Sci-fi has always captured my imagination and it’s a staple of how I was initiated into geek culture. My first remembered theater-going experience was at 6 when my family and I walked up to the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale towards a massive line of moviegoers awaiting their chance to see Return of the Jedi.
Sci-fi also makes us ask the question of “what is possible?”.
MORE EXAMPLES
Star Trek
Battlestar Galactica (the original and reboot)
Peter F Hamilton and his Commonwealth saga
Star Wars The Expanded Universe (it’s still canon to me, damn it!)
Edge of Tomorrow
Kevin J Anderson’s A Saga of Seven Suns
And so many more…
Brian’s Likes
Slice of Life Movies
Chef (2014) Written and Directed by Jon
View all episodes
By The Infamous Podcast
4.8
2929 ratings
Recorded Before a Live Studio Audience
This week on the podcast, Brian and Darryl are LIVE on the Stage at Fretboard Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio to celebrate the show’s 6th Anniversary, and talking about some things you might not expect!
Episode Index
Intro: 0:11
The Show: 1:40
Darryl’s Likes
Open World Games
These games don’t force the player to follow a set upon roadmap. Yes, there is a main narrative, but the player is able to navigate the world before them, giving them the freedom to explore as they see fit. A secondary version of this concept are games where choices matter and you must be aware of the consequences of certain actions.
My first true experience with this was Fallout 3 in 2008. This was a massive game where one could stray so far from the main path with the abundance of side quests and a rich world with familiar locations (ravaged by war, of course) that it could be difficult—and less fun—finding your way back to the main story.
Why?
These games are more like real life. You have to take care not to get too distracted from your path lest ye be lost in the side quests of life. The freedom is exhilarating but is not without responsibility. Also, the replay value when so many choices are before you is incalculable (as are the hundreds of hours I’ve spent on these types of games).
MORE EXAMPLES
Infamous (such a great game where your decision to play as a good or evil character determines the way the citizens view you)
Horizon Zero Dawn (fabulous game with a solid open-world but not much in the way of weighty decisions)
The Witcher 3 (very subtle in its choices game to the point there are several endings based on how you treat a major person in Geralt’s life).
Current examples: Assassin’s Creed (Odyssey and Valhalla), Red Dead Redemption 2 (I’m way late to the party), Days Gone (only an hour or so in but looking good).
Urban Fantasy
Taking elements of the supernatural and mixing them into modern-day times.
My first in-depth experience with this in a visual medium was Buffy, shortly followed by both the Necroscope series and the longest-running genre show (15 years!!) Supernatural.
Every bit as powerful in this realm as Buffy and Supernatural is the Dresden Files series (by Jim Butcher). It follows Harry Dresden, Wizard (and PI) as he straddles the natural and supernatural worlds in Chicago.
Why?
For me, urban fantasy makes the events all the more accessible and interesting. It posits the question: if ghosts and ghouls, vampires and werewolves roamed your streets, would you know? And how would you react?
MORE EXAMPLES:
Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series
Being Human (the US version with Sam Witwer, national treasure)
Blood Ties
SCI-FI
One of the more popular genres, sci-fi focuses on the advances of science in a fictional setting. These vary between the uber fantastical (say Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets or Star Wars) or the ones more grounded in reality (The Expanse).
Why?
Sci-fi has always captured my imagination and it’s a staple of how I was initiated into geek culture. My first remembered theater-going experience was at 6 when my family and I walked up to the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale towards a massive line of moviegoers awaiting their chance to see Return of the Jedi.
Sci-fi also makes us ask the question of “what is possible?”.
MORE EXAMPLES
Star Trek
Battlestar Galactica (the original and reboot)
Peter F Hamilton and his Commonwealth saga
Star Wars The Expanded Universe (it’s still canon to me, damn it!)
Edge of Tomorrow
Kevin J Anderson’s A Saga of Seven Suns
And so many more…
Brian’s Likes
Slice of Life Movies
Chef (2014) Written and Directed by Jon