Maximum Hearts

We're joined by friend of the show Veerender Jubbal to discuss Concord's shelf life being lower than most produce, as well as go over some of our favorite games and experiences at PAX West 2024.

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The Mana series is finally back with its first brand-new entry in nearly 20 years. John is joined by Derek and Finn to discuss this hotly-anticipated Action RPG, what this new game could mean for the Mana franchise, and what it might say about the future of Square Enix.

This game was reviewed on PC with a code provided by the publisher. Thanks to Square Enix for providing us the opportunity to cover this game.

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A relatively light episode, the crew discusses some of our favorite reveals of the last week and bubble with excitement about the upcoming PAX West.

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Despite being a Final Fantasy megafan and growing up steeped in Disney films, Derek has managed to avoid Kingdom Hearts their entire life. That has finally changed with the release of the franchise on Steam. Now, having completed Kingdom Hearts 1 Final Mix, Derek is here to tell us what it feels like coming into this monolithic franchise with fresh eyes as what SHOULD be the target demographic.

A Part 2 will be coming at some point later this year, covering Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 2, followed potentially by more episodes down the road.

Thanks to Square Enix for providing us codes for the franchise.

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In an update to one of this year's most depressing stories, South Korean publisher Krafton has saved Tango Gameworks and nearly half of the developer's former staff after being shuttered by Microsoft. We also try to talk Gamescom predictions but, uh, it's just Gamescom y'all.

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We're joined once again by Austin Lee Matthews for an episode full of japery, Brit admits to being almost banned from Overwatch (the reason will shock you), and a discussion about Warner Bros licensing out their IP to other gaming studios somehow turns into us talking about The Simpsons (famously not a WB property).

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Our primary story this week is the frankly unforgivable massive round of layoffs at Bungie, the second in less than 12 months, after the release of a highly successful expansion to one of the biggest games of all time, while Pete Parsons swims in a pool full of golden coins. Enough said.

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Derek and Finn sing the praises of Capcom's latest release, the incredibly experimental Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Why more people aren't playing it we don't know, because it's like if Nintendo bought Clover Studios and let them make whatever they wanted. Kunitsu-Gami? More like Kunitsu-GOTY.

This game was reviewed on PC with a code provided by the publisher. Thanks to Capcom for providing us the opportunity to cover this game.

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Bethesda Game Studios and the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard unionize in partnership with the CWA, and the actor's guild SAG-AFTRA authorizes a strike in the gaming industry over lack of protections against AI. Can you smell that? In the air? It smells like another Hot Labor Summer.

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John and Derek discuss a recent email from a Microsoft employee about the company's failure to commit to its DEI practices, and how all corporate DEI initiatives are in placative at best. "The master's tools will not dismantle the master's house."

But let's be real, this is going up Monday, y'all probably have a million political podcasts to check today instead. Samesies.

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