To some a fun pasttime, to others a blight on modern gaming: Free-to-Play games. The microtransaction-infused grindfests that had humble beginnings in mobile games. Ratnado and SqatCobblr discuss the upsides and downsides they present. They share their experience with hit early 2010s app games. Covering some of the more egregious examples and proposing how to improve the model for those that wish to spend a few extra bucks.

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In this very special episode of Scrollies, Ratnado finds himself without SqatCobblr due to the barrelgram running on empty due to inflation on time travel juice. Regardless, the show must go on! Plaidman86 guests in this episode to talk about his memories of video game magazines. From Nintendo Power to Electronic Gaming Monthly, video game magazines were for many years the best way to get exclusive and hot information on the production of your favorite games, cheat codes, and rankings of the current games out. Which ones do they remember? What made video game magazines so entertaining? In this episode, Rat and Plaid find out!

Telltale games was a uniquely 2010s phenomenon. While the studio had been around for longer, the studio rose to the highest heights before collapsing in on itself. In this episode, SqatCobblr and Ratnado discuss with friend of the podcast SheriffMcLawdog what draws people to Telltale games, why Sheriff enjoys playing them on stream, and what strengths and weaknesses the genre of game had.

For Ratnado, RPGS are just an every day thing. However, the hype of the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) was at its peak during his teenage years. In a show of good will, SqatCobblr subjects himself to hearing Rat talk about all of the times he had in the game, discussing how the game was not like other MMOs of the time, what lead to its downfall, and some of the stories he got to live through that he still remembers two decades later.

BONUS EPISODE: With the memories of Ratcon 2022 slowly fading, Ratnado and SqatCobblr take a moment to share their favorite moments of that legendary meetup. They cover their favorite rides ridden, theme park experiences had, food eaten, and fun times streamed.

They also look forward to the potential of Ratcon 2023 being a bigger and better event than the first! They share their hopes and desires for that very likely successor.

For Ratcon is no longer just a real life meme but a living dream!

Tetsuya Nomura.

To some, a visionary responsible for crafting their childhood favorites. To others, a hack who's storytelling is trite and allegedly promotes the zipper industry.

Ratnado has some strong feelings on Nomura's main works. Joining him as a guest is longtime Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy fan, Samsonite_D. These two discuss their experiences playing these series, whether Nomura's involvement benefitted them or not, and how they understand the core demographics of these two series to differ.

Meanwhile SqatCobblr tries  to avoid discussing these matters after the backlash received for his Kingdom Hearts III stream.

Recorded LIVE at Ratcon 2022!

Ratnado & SqatCobblr have frequently referenced the Metal Gear Solid games on Scrollies, but this episode they dive into the entire mainline series with fellow fan crash and the bois. They attempt to narrow down which game would have "best" ended the series. They share their experiences playing through the series, some to completion more than others. Disagreements are had, passions run high; it's just like one of my Japanese animes!

Once upon a time, video games were seen as yet another way to advertise a big upcoming film or television project. Throughout the past few decades, however, video games have improved and audience's tastes have, too. In the past decade, video games are rarely directly based off and related to film counterparts. Luckily, these game tie-ins provided great meme material mine for Scrollies down the road.

The Scrollies podcast invites the Catt on to talk Zelda! Chunkycatt shares her past with the franchise. As a gamer who has seen Zelda in its many forms, she talks about her unique experiences playing Zelda, the gang looks ahead to talk about what the future holds and what they wish to see in Breath of the Wild 2, should it ever be released. Chunkycatt brings in her usual hot (but sometimes infuriating) takes to Scrollies!

What makes a game character a favorite? Is it their depth? The degree you relate to them? A connection to your childhood? In Sqat and Ratnado's case maybe all three but mostly the last one.

Join them as they each list their Top 5 favorite characters of gaming and a little bit of why that is. There are basically no surprises here.

Check out Shraxa listing all the "Snakes" she's learned of through osmosis and Plaidman86 overcome by nostalgia for Blast Processing.