Welcome to another exciting episode of the Crystal Core Radio podcast! In today's episode, Brian returns as your co-host alongside Chris and Chrono, with special guest Chili. We kick things off by reflecting on last week's spoiler-free deep dive into Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail, which featured insightful perspectives from Elio and Chili. If you're avoiding spoilers but still want to stay updated, be sure to catch that episode.

This week, we celebrate a milestone of crossing 60,000 downloads, thanks to our dedicated listeners. The team discusses their current gaming adventures, from soft-modding the Wii U and playing Twilight Princess HD to diving back into Fortnite and Final Fantasy XIV. We also touch on the challenges of balancing new and old games and the nostalgia of titles like Age of Empires and Minecraft.

Our main topic of discussion revolves around the recent price hike of Microsoft's Game Pass. We explore the implications of the new standard tier, which excludes day-one releases for console players, and the FTC's reaction to this change. The panel shares their thoughts on the potential impact on consumers, the value of family plans, and the missed opportunities for adding more value to the Ultimate tier, such as including subscriptions to popular MMOs like World of Warcraft.

We then shift our focus to No Man's Sky and its latest 5.0 update, which brings it closer in visual fidelity to the upcoming title, Light No Fire. We discuss the impressive eight-year journey of No Man's Sky, the team's commitment to free updates, and the excitement around Light No Fire's promise of a fully rendered planet-size open world. The conversation also delves into the potential benefits of early access for Light No Fire and the innovative reuse of existing assets to create new gaming experiences.

Finally, we wrap up the episode with a challenging game of 20 Questions, where the panel tries to guess a nostalgic N64 game. Tune in to find out if they can identify the game and join us for some fun and laughter along the way.

Don't miss this engaging episode filled with gaming insights, industry news, and a trip down memory lane. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and we look forward to bringing you more exciting content in the future!