Flow State

0:00 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon is good
1:06 - Why I played it
1:33 - Why I enjoyed it

More writing at https://MattHorton.live

I'll spoil the point up front for you. Yakuza: Like A Dragon rules. It's a great game, and I regret not playing a game in this series until now.

You know what I usually hate? Long, overly complex games, over the top, macho violence, and turn based combat. So why did I start Like A Dragon? 

Because Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth features a famous Hawaiian t-shirt shop that was also featured in the now defunct reality Netflix show Terrace House.

That's truly it. Just imagining the vibe of watching Terrace House Aloha State and playing Infinite Wealth at the same time sounded so fun.

This video and more writing at https://MattHorton.live

My podcast https://cantletitgo.gay

0:00 - Marvel's Midnight Suns
4:12 - What is Midnight Suns?
4:38 - Hero and Ability Management
7:14 - Combat
12:25 - Superhero Social Sim
17:19 - Abbey Grounds Exploration
18:37 - The Loop that keeps me playing
20:17 - The Problems with Midnight Suns
31:31 - This game deserves a sequel

0:00 - The Game Awards
1:25 - A sequel that outdid its predecessor
3:26 - A beautiful, smart puzzler
5:12 - The indie that surprised me
6:33 - Rethinking an earlier video
8:07 - A game DEMO?!

More writing at https://MattHorton.live

0:00 - I love broken games
0:41 - The game I can't quit playing
3:00 - The game that taught me imbalance is good
6:30 - Making games FEEL great
9:32 - Balance feels bad

0:00 - Cassette Beasts really works for me
1:04 - The vibe
3:58 - Cassette Beasts is Pokémon for adults
6:42 - It's not that deep
10:40 - Great battles
13:06 - Killer music
14:14 - Well-written characters
17:12 - Letting go

🔗 All my links @ https://matthorton.live

Kyle Labriola's Sea of Stars Review - https://cohost.org/kylelabriola/post/2762235-thoughts-on-sea-of-s
The Pre-Order Bonus podcast episode with Jay Baylis - https://www.buzzsprout.com/747596/episodes/12421340
The Back Page podcast episode with Jay Baylis - https://shows.acast.com/the-back-page-a-video-games-podcast/episodes/episode-126-how-to-make-a-video-game-with-jay-baylis

0:00 - A great game
1:50 - The expert
2:59 - What games work on Steam
4:21 - Where Season did well
6:01 - Why talk about Steam?
7:38 - Marketing doesn't mean success
8:20 - DATA
8:44 - A secret formula
9:32 - What games don't work
10:53 - What about Steam Deck?
12:11 - A buzzy game you might know
14:48 - Ways to make a game work
15:36 - What about cozy games?
17:16 - Sports games do bad on Steam
18:22 - Pokémon-likes, on the other hand...
19:38 - Something doesn't add up...
22:11 - This is like software design
23:24 - Twitter is not real life
24:25 - NBZ helps me
26:04 - What people read on a Steam page
28:01 - The false door test

At the end of January, a game released that changed how I think of games completely. Season A Letter to the Future had been building hype through multiple trailers during PlayStation events. Season, at its simplest, is a game about riding a bike, taking pictures, and recording audio. Call it wholesome or cozy, but Season fits nicely into this extremely popular niche of games whose goals are not to best an opponent or kill an enemy. In Season, Estelle's goal is simply to document her world and its culture before that culture comes to an end. Season's first trailer drew a lot of interest. It looked beautiful and contemplative and like a game I was going to devour. It was rather big news when word came out that the game's director and Scavenger Studios co-founder Simon Darvaux had harassed staff working on the game and had a toxic management style. It was a little quieter news when an investigation found that Scavenger Studios had dealt with Darveau's toxicity appropriately and that he would return to the studio in a more isolated role working on a different game. But perhaps the most shocking news came months after Season's release in June, when Scavenger Studios laid off half of their staff due to the game's extremely poor performance. After a strong indie game hype cycle and being featured in multiple PlayStation events, Season only sold around 60,000 copies across PS5 and Steam. The game underperformed what was expected in sales, and very likely, I think, underperformed what was necessary to make up the costs of development. When this news came out, I put a link to the gamesindustry.biz story in a Discord server that I frequent. The series of responses that I got from today's guest are what completely changed how I think about games, or at least how those games are marketed. 

In this video, NBZ walks me through the ways that indie games are marketed and why some great games fail when others don't.

MY LINKS

Find MY Discord, Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch at https://matthorton.live

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🔗 ALL of my links - https://MattHorton.live 

Welcome to Terra Nil, the unique city-builder game that challenges you to restore a barren planet rather than exploit it for resources. In this game, you're not the typical city-builder where you bulldoze forests, pollute rivers and strip-mine mountains to build your metropolis. Instead, you must work with nature to heal the planet and create a thriving ecosystem.

And it's the first game this year to truly blow me away.

0:00 - What is Terra Nil
1:03 - This is Devolver game?
1:24 - How Free Lives make games
2:08 - How I found the game
2:56 - Playing Terra Nil
3:54 - It's a power fantasy
4:47 - Recycling difficulty
5:16 - The first game to grip me this year

🔗 ALL of my links - https://MattHorton.live 

In Papers, Please, you take the role of a citizen of the fictional nation Arstotzka, modeled after Cold War totalitarian Eastern European nations. The government of Arstotzka has just ended a war with the neighboring country of Kolechia, and the player character has been appointed as an immigration inspector as the tensions from that recent war continue.

Papers, Please is also a game that reminded me too much of my real life.

0:00 - This makes me uncomfortable
0:03 - Papers, Please
1:28 - When I finally played it
1:53 - Too close to home
2:55 - No wrong way to be an immigrant
3:46 - I'l never finish this game

While Elden Ring has generated a lot of buzz and excitement, there are other games that interested me more in terms of gameplay, storytelling, and overall enjoyment. I'll be sharing my top picks for the best games of 2022 and explaining why I think they're the ones you should play. If you're a fan of Elden Ring or just want to know what other games to catch up on from this year, you'll find something great to play here.

These are my favorite games of 2022.

0:00 - What games meant to me this year
1:21 - It's a Pokémon game!
4:01 - A puzzle game for mystery lovers
5:12 - This game feels like being a kid again
8:08 - You love superheroes and cards?
13:22 - They made 3 MOVIES for this game
16:43 - The best, ugliest game
17:49 - You still love superheroes and cards?
19:25 - Such a cute little fox
21:08 - The game that made my year

MY LINKS

Find MY Discord, Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch at https://matthorton.live

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Credits:
Marvel SNAP OST - Chris Alan (https://thechrisalan.com/2022/06/02/who-wrote-the-soundtrack-to-marvel-snap/)
Hero - Martin Garrix and JVKE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5spiMVI9U8)
Hero (Piano Cover) - Jarel Gomes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWNBmTIGtY)

Links to everything @ https://MattHorton.live

0:00 - I shouldn't love this game
1:20 - What SNAP does right
1:46 - Cards RULE
2:15 - The Marvel of it all
3:01 - Why do the mechanics work?
4:12 - The Snap
4:58 - Is it pay to win?
6:45 - What Marvel SNAP gets wrong
6:56 - Cyber Holiday changed my mind
8:37 - What did it cost?
9:03 - I'd rather buy the physical copy
9:46 - You have to do better, Marvel
10:57 - We've done this before
11:59 - Players want credits
13:12 - You're supposed to enjoy video games
14:01 - Marvel SNAP is great despite everything
14:47 - A silly thing I'm doing

Marvel SNAP is a card battler mobile game featuring a wide array of Marvel Comics characters. Players collect and build decks of cards featuring their favorite heroes and villains, and then engage in simple, strategic matches against other players (and occasionally bots). Each card has its own unique abilities and powers that often map directly to the character's super powers, and players must use those abilities wisely to outmaneuver their opponents and emerge victorious. Marvel SNAP's deckbuilding is approachable. It's game play is simple to understand, and it's characters are loved. 

But it's a genre known for predatory monetization practices, and I personally hate online competitive multiplayer games. But I love Marvel SNAP.

So what does Marvel SNAP get right?