Max from the Mooglecast and Gary from the Platinum Achievements Podcast slide in to talk about the newest artistic release from indie developer and publisher Giant Squid. Their game Sword of the Sea evoked feelings for all three of them in different ways. Max opens up his first impression thoughts with a point that neither Kevin nor Gary picked up on and it completely changes how they view an essential element of the game. They talk about how the art style, music, and gameplay make this more of an art experience than a game, and why it’s meant to be experienced by absolutely anyone. They also note how this game retains many elements that appear in the developers’ previous games and how the new pieces introduced in this game fit surprisingly well with them. They talk about the minimal story and a few ways to interpret it. Lastly they all talk about the extra challenges that a player can tackle if they want to earn the trophies and how all three of them had different experiences overcoming them - collectibles, no-damage fights, and speed-runs. We hope you enjoy this episode of a short but excellent piece of art. Bonus points if you start this episode with a speed-run of the game and roll the credits before the episode ends.

Madeline Stanley returns to talk with Kevin about what is arguably the best of the Dark Pictures series, House of Ashes. They first cover why they both love the “movie” style games and how Supermassive has perfected this sub-genre. They also talk about some of their favorite horror movies and games that this reminds us of and why any fans of those examples will love House of Ashes. Then they get into a full-on spoiler cast where they break down every major story beat. Along the way they explain who their favorite characters are, which characters have the most memorable relationships, and who has the best action-movie one-liners. They also discuss what makes the monsters in House of Ashes so special and how Supermassive has once again subverted our expectations of what the danger was. Surprise! It’s not exactly what you think it is.

Madeline Stanley joins Kevin to talk about The Forgotten City after the Trophy Talk Discord voted for it to be the September game for the episode. They start things off by discussing the game’s unique development history and recommend a few excellent non-spoilery documentary videos on YouTube talking about what makes the game special. Then they get into a spoilercast covering the mystery of the game, the sidequests, and the main story from its beginning all the way through the “fake endings” and real ending. We highly recommend you play this game to truly appreciate this episode, but we hope you love our discussion none-the-less.

Colin joins Kevin to talk about Sayonara Wild Hearts. They start off the episode with the usual plat shoutouts and game overview. Then they get into a deeper discussion of what makes this game so special and how it was nothing like what either of them expected it to be. They also try to break down each of their own readings of the story, which shows how this piece of art can be interpreted in many different ways. It’s impossible to talk about this game without discussing the music, so they both highlight some of their favorite tracks in the game. Then they get into a discussion about which stages had the best and most unique gameplay experiences. Finally they wrap up the show with some recommendations for games that are a little like this one, but really this gaming experience is so unique that there is absolutely nothing like it on PlayStation. We hope you enjoy our break down and analysis of this beautiful game.

In this mammoth episode Kevin is joined by fellow “metroidvania” enthusiasts Jordan Vickers and Kade (@TheGreenGorillaGamer) to tackle the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Jordan warned Kevin and Kade the game is much bigger and longer than expected, but they had no idea how hard the story goes and the epic turns it takes. They all spend more than two hours gushing about it in great detail, starting with some general thoughts about the game, covering what amulet builds and Athra (magic) surges worked best for each of their play styles. Then they jump into a long discussion about some of the amazing environments, epic boss fights, and story surprises that were genuine shocks for them. Kevin decided to go all-in on the game and gives a brief overview of the DLC and why it is a must-buy if you like the base game at all. This is a massive game and we hope this episode helps convince you to play it if you haven’t already.

Zac suggested that we include Cult of the Lamb again for our quarterly vote in the Trophy Talk Discord and it won despite no one else we know playing it (as far as we can tell). We cover our favorite weapons and spells to take on the crusades through the dungeons, what it’s like to build a community with the scarce resources we have, and why it feels terrible to leave our little followers alone while rampaging through another ancient god’s lair. Then we get into the weird, funny, and sometimes disturbing things each of our cultists asked us to do. We also cover what can make this kind of game frustrating if you are trying to see and earn everything it has to offer. Sometimes this kind of game can be too much of a good thing.

Jordan and Zac have finally convinced Kevin to play Untitled Goose Game and they all sit down to talk (and laugh) about it. They cover all of their favorite antics that the player can take part in as the goose wreaks havoc through this small “Sim-like” neighborhood. Zac makes a case for why this is a game that EVERYONE should at least try, and how it’s the perfect length for what kind of game it is. If you know what you’re doing, you could even finish it in the time it takes to listen to this podcast, but we recommend not ignoring the faultless sound design and music that adds so much character to this experience. There’s another mischievous bird out there besides Woody Woodpecker causing just as much trouble. So watch out and thanks for listening!

This time we are highlighting one of the best games of 2018, Celeste. It won awards from multiple outlets that year and has been a part of the gaming zeitgeist for long after that. Celeste has been hailed as one of the best 2D platformers to come out in decades and that’s all because of its perfectly tuned control and gameplay, classic-looking visual style, beautiful soundtrack, and very poignant story about coping with anxiety and depression. We hope you enjoy our discussion covering everything about Celeste and we tip our hats to the small team of Maddy Makes Games for giving us a wonderful piece of art to love.

Zaclre from the Mooglecast in the Trophy Talk Network joins us for a journey to AR-Y26, a new planet that the Kindred Corporation has sent us to in order to assess if it is viable for colonization. Unfortunately they didn't plan a return trip for us, so it's up to the player to find a way home while exploring and cataloging everything on the planet. It's still nice though that Kindred sent us a lot of entertaining commercials for us to watch. We share stories about our favorite animals and antics while exploring, reminisce about the few times we tried to squad up together, and talk about our successes in speedrunning this hilarious game. Zac and I also both notice that we view this game through different histories and recognize different inspirations that went into it. Because of that, we each bring our own recommendations for other games like it, but agree that you should take a Journey to the Savage Planet and we hope you enjoy the trip with us.

Rachel Saalfeld from Critically Tipsy joins the Game Club to talk about Bee Simulator, an endearing indie game that was surprisingly educational. We talk about the many ways it gamifies bee activities and tries to show life from their perspective. We also fly by a few of the buzz-worthy facts the game tries to teach. Did you know that bees can fly at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour? Or that they have five eyes on their head? After a few plat shoutouts from the Trophy Talk Discord we land on some of our favorite movies about bugs and any other games that you might like to check out if you liked Bee Simulator. Hope you enjoy hearing about this adorably bee-autiful game!