MisanthroPlay

we talk smack on reactionary shitheads within game development, before we move on to discuss our thoughts on Resident Evil 2 Remake, Devil May Cry 5, The Division 2, and Warframe.

follow Robert on twitter @nurvuss, Alva @vinomatic, and check out Robert’s Twitch stream, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night.

Alva and Robert look at video game marketing from the 80s to the 00s in America and the UK, and ruminate on Sonic the Hedgehog pissplay and Rayman’s gargantuan dong. We also talk about how to host your AMA on a message board for racist paedophiles, and Ape Out’s troubling equation of jazz with primal savagery.

We Play: Ape Out, La Mulana.

It’s the start of MisanthroPlay Season 5(!!) and we attended the Sunless Skies launch event at Failbetter Games’ South London office. We talk a little bit about that experience, and a whole lot about the first 10 hours of Sunless Skies, an unconventional and fiercely literary RPG that understands the potential of steampunk without stumbling down the usual pro-imperialist pratfalls.

Also, We Talk about the latest Final Fantasy XIV announcements, Subnautica, Resident Evil 2, and Ace Combat 7.

Shortly after recording this podcast, it was announced that Spatsz of the French cold wave duo KaS Product had passed away. The intermission music in this week’s episode is KaS Product’s “Loony Bin” in tribute.

We’re here to talk about the games of 2018, and read some listener mail.

The Anticapitalism Award

Broken Reality

Fortune 499

Donut County

Holedown

Stop Trying So Hard

Agony

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

God of War

Far Cry 5

Octopath Traveler

Red Dead Redemption 2

Detroit: Become Human

Best Art Direction

428: Shibuya Scramble

CrossCode

Donut County

Dragon Quest 11

Octopath Traveler

Pokemon Let's Go

Return of the Obra Dinn

Best Re-released 8/16-bit game

Crystalis

Phantasy Star

Thunder Force IV

Best Old Game

Minecraft

Mega Man X

Lumines

No Man's Sky NEXT

Shin Megami Tensei If

Biggest Mess

Fallout 76 (GDPR)

TellTale Closure

The Quiet Man

PlayStation Mini

Biggest Disappointment

Death Mark

Sega Classic Mega Drive Collection

Favorite Moment

Drinking in Valentine, Red Dead 2

Wulfric and the Old Lady, Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Intro, Yakuza 6

Pokemon in the world

Queerest Game

Heaven Will Be Mine

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Tiniest Game

Donut County

The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game

Black Bird

Worst Trend

Late Stage Capitalism

Alva’s Game of 2018

Into the Breach

Robert’s Game of 2018

Monster Hunter: World

Happy Holidays! Robert Fenner and Alva Chua catch up on what games they want to (or don’t want to) play over the Winter Holidays; namely, Tetris Effect, Far Cry 5, Hollow Knight, Soul Calibur VI, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Hacknet.

See you in 2019!

Alva Chua explains to Robert Fenner who Bungie are, from Alex Saropian’s bedroom game Operation Desert Storm, to Halo, to their beloved/maligned Paul McCartney-featuring Destiny, and how the developer has weaved their approach to storytelling throughout their history. Join us to learn about sword logic and waterbeds.

Robert and Alva discuss Red Dead Redemption 2, and how to examine a game surrounded by unacceptable labour practices.

We Play: Pokémon Let’s Go, Evee! The Lost Child, Mega Man X, and SNK 40th Anniversary Collection.

And hey. Nice.

Robert and Alva are back to share some of their favourite video game music with each other, and with you.

Tracks featured:

Hustlers’ Concept - “Loin” (from Black/Matrix)
Atsunori Namba - “Samurai Gunman ~ Shin Za Zaan” (from Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman)
Masashi Hamauzu - “Aussenwelt” (from SaGa Frontier II)
Rob Hubbard - “Loading” (from Sanxion)
Masafumi Takada - “Where Angels Play” (from Killer7)
Zuntata - “Daddy Mulk” (from The Ninja Warriors)
Hidehito Aoki - “City 1 ~ School Revisited” (from Revelations: Persona)
John Foxx - “Into the Wonderful” (from Gods)
Kenichiro Fukui - “Badlands” (from Einhänder)
Masashi Hamauzu - “DG - ‘Sadness’” (from Unlimited Saga)
Jake Kaufman - “Caught Red Handed” (from Mighty Switch Force)
Toshiko Tasaki - “Kuzunoha Detective Agency” (from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner)

We bring out the calipers to talk about the problematic legacy of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and how games such as Bloodborne, Cultist Simulator, Sunless Sea, and Garfield Kart make a case for cosmic horror to leave the author behind.

We Play: Call of Cthulhu, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Death Mark.

Music this week is “Imps of the Perverse” and “The Evil Clergyman” by Rudimentary Peni