Hitpoint Pals

You want a good girl, but you need the bad podcast. 

After eight seasons of highs and lows, HBO put a bow on Game of Thrones, a pop culture phenomenon that transcended genre to become a cornerstone of water cooler discussions. Despite its unavoidably nerdy status as a sword and sorcery story, the world fell in love with David Benioff and Dan Weiss's small screen adaptation of George R. R. Martin's sprawling novels, and episode upon episode became a must watch event as viewers tuned in following weeks (Tyrion's trial) or sometimes years (Jon Snow's death) of unresolved cliffhanger tension for relief in the knowledge of what happened next. Would Rob Stark succeed in the northern campaign? Would Daenerys ever cross the narrow sea? Over nine years we watched all the big pieces fall into place as Game of Thrones brought its saga to a close, although in a condensed fashion that left most fans feeling left out in the snow.

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Episode 16: Paradox's newest grand strategy title Imperator: Rome blends the best parts of Crusader Kings and Europa Universals, but the final product feels too heavily distilled to remain engaging over long gameplay sessions. We talk about how Paradox games generally launch feature lite, and what we're hoping to see added to Imperator: Rome in the future. Speaking of wanting new features, we also recap news stories about labor conditions in the games industry, against the backdrop of competitive multiplayer gamers' demands for constant balancing and new features, and how post-launch content now feels like a necessity rather than a bonus feature, even across the single player games market. In pop culture talk, we give our spoiler-lite impressions of Detective Pikachu, and look back on the controversial fifth episode of Season 8 of Game of Thrones. 

News discussed: 

Games discussed: Imperator: Rome, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Spider-Man. 

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Episode 15: Reflections on The Elder Scrolls spark a discussion on how games treat race, and from there we dive into a rabbit hole that begins with a deep lore reading of the exclusively mono-racial identities in Tamriel, and ends with a sharp rebuke of Gamergate culture and the practice of labeling diversity as politics. We share some of our experiences as biracial Asian Americans who have all, at some point, been asked, "What are you?" Somehow we also manage to mention the reveal of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and how a focus on survival could help steer the series back towards its tactical roots. 

Show notes: 

Games discussed: Rimworld, The Enigma Box, Battle Brothers, Mordhau, Ghost Recon: Wildlands

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Episode 14: James Marsden's police car says "Green Hills." Then he yells, "SFPD!" Which is it, James Marsden? We look back on the first trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog film, the criticism it received, and the surprising announcement by director Jeff Fowler that changes "will happen." We also touch on new hardware entering the VR market as well as some Borderlands 3 impressions, before chatting about the games we've been playing. But the moment we've all been waiting for, the Battle of Winterfell, came and went, leaving us with numerous questions. We cap this episode of the podcast with a solid hour of cathartic talk about The Night King, proprietary video players, and the themes of A Song of Ice and Fire. 

News discussed: 

Games discussed: Borderlands, Rimworld, Frostpunk, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Breath of the Wild 

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Episode 13: Rebekah and Cam join the podcast and fill us in on the D&D campaigns that they are currently running. In games we've been playing, we discuss the pensive farming game The Stillness in the Wind and the meditative city puzzler ISLANDERS. Plus, Travis enters the modern era of Assassin's Creed games with Assassin's Creed: Origins, and the leap of quality it brings to the series. Finally, Cam looks into the Satanic Panic that arose in the 80's, aimed at Dungeons and Dragons, and the wild story of a missing D&D player, a shady private investigator, and a pre-celebrity Tom Hanks.

Games discussed: Where the Goats Are, The Stillness of the Wind, ISLANDERS, Assassin's Creed: Origins 

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Travis and Caleb discuss Avengers: Endgame and the Marvel Cinematic Universe series as a whole, reflecting on 11 years of movies leading up to this moment. Is the film an effective follow-up to Infinity War and the other films preceding it? And what are we hoping to see in the MCU moving forward? This is a discussion of Avengers: Endgame in its entirety.

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Episode 12: Caleb discusses two games he has been playing on stream, Spec Ops: The Line, a military shooter that makes you feel bad about yourself, and The Darkness II, an action shooter where you're an antihero with Venom inside you. We also take a look at a story about a secret server for City of Heroes operating in the dark for an exclusive group of players secretly for six years, and the backlash the group has been receiving following the revelation of this server to the world.

News:

A Secret Server for the Dead MMO 'City of Heroes' Has Players in an Uproar (Motherboard)

Games discussed: Spec Ops: The Line, The Darkness II, City of Heroes

Hitpoint Pals is co-hosted by Travis Lien, William Suitt, Amy Rutherford, and Caleb Warwick. 

Keep up with the show and send us your questions on Twitter!

Episode 11: That disturbance in the force you felt was the Star Wars Episode XI trailer debuting. Equally as exciting was our first look at Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. We gathered around our mics for a special Star Wars edition of Hitpoint Pals.

Games discussed: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, The Force Unleashed, Knights of the Old Republic, Game of Thrones - a Telltale Series.

Hitpoint Pals is co-hosted by Travis Lien, William Suitt, Amy Rutherford, and Caleb Warwick. 

Keep up with the show and send us your questions on Twitter!

Episode 10: In games we played this week, Travis discusses the final episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season and its sendoff to the series and Telltale Games as a whole. Amy starts a zoo in Zoo Tycoon 2, and takes us into the world of kinky Sims 3. Caleb continues his Dark Souls journey, and William revisits wholesome mouse RPG Ghost of a Tale. Then we try our hand at breaking down the biggest stories from the week, starting with an internet debate over a Forbes article about Sekiro, and whether the game should have an "easy" mode. Borderlands 3 is launching as an Epic Store exclusive, and Kotaku publishes an in-depth report on the troubled development of Anthem, shining a new but all too familiar light on the troubling workplace norms of game development at some studios. Lastly, we discuss the new trailer for the Todd Phillips "Joker" film.

News discussed:

Games discussed: The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Dark Souls III, Zoo Tycoon 2, The Sims 3, Ghost of a Tale.

Hitpoint Pals is co-hosted by Travis Lien, William Suitt, Amy Rutherford, and Caleb Warwick. 

Keep up with the show and send us your questions on Twitter!

Travis's first impressions of The Elder Scrolls: Blades early access release, plus William and Caleb have been playing the Dark Souls series. We also recap the week in gaming news, starting with Gearbox's reveal of Borderlands 3, then Sony's VR-heavy "State of Play" announcements, the Apple Arcade subscription platform for mobile games, and Daedalic is working on Gollum game. Plus, beloved Skyrim content creator Shirley Curry, the 82-year-old "Skyrim grandma," gets honored by Bethesda as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls VI.

News discussed:

Games discussed: House of the Dying Sun, Dark Souls Remastered, Ape Out, The Elder Scrolls: Blades, Bayonetta, Dark Souls II

Hitpoint Pals is co-hosted by Travis Lien, William Suitt, Amy Rutherford, and Caleb Warwick. 

Keep up with the show on Twitter!