In this episode of THE BURN, hosts ⁠Aviv Icel Manoach⁠ and ⁠Yehuda Halfon⁠ travel back to Midgard to follow our favourite dad in God of War Ragnarök. On the news, more Warhammer 40K and a new Sims competitor making waves.

Original recording date - April 11, 2023.

Game of the Show: God of War Ragnarök

Published by Santa Monica Studio, MSRP $60, Buy the game.

In 2018 the God of War franchise got relaunched in Norse mythology. After we killed all(most?) of the Greek gods now we get to do it again but in the cold. We haven’t talked about the first game but there are some connections to the second one so here we go (yay spoilers for a 5-year-old game).

In the first game were playing Kratos in some kind of Nose country he has a kid Atreus and they go on a journey to the highest mountain in the realms to spread the ashes of Kratos’s late wife. While there we are hunted by some gods because we’ll bring Ragnarök to the lands. We kill three gods during the game, Modi and Magni & Baldur. This leads to their parents (Thor and Freya) seeking revenge against us in the second game.

In the second game God of War Ragnarök we are back in the same world but now we are trying to stop Ragnarök. If the first game was more about Kratos learning how to communicate with his son and filling his wife's last wish in this game everyone learns about redemption and trying to change their destiny. The whole forgiveness arcs of Thor and Freya are amazing. If in the first game Kratos always told Atreus to close his heart to the suffering of the world in this game Kratos finally understand that this is a gift and not something that needs to be changed.

In this game, we meet Odin, and we learn how much he’s afraid of losing and how far he’ll go just not to lose and to keep his power. I think that we can talk for hours about this game, but we only have 20 minutes, so do yourself a favour and play this game, it is that amazing.

On the news:

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Our theme was created by ⁠@AnneDorko⁠ with vocals by ⁠@FishyTwitch⁠.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts ⁠Aviv Icel Manoach⁠ and ⁠Yehuda Halfon⁠ check out Chained Echoes, a homage to old-school JRPGs with contemporary mechanics and a pixel art flair. And on the news, we discuss the new upcoming addition of Warhammer 40,000.

Original recording date - March 28, 2023.

Game of the Show: Chained Echoes

Published by Matthias Linda, MSRP $25, Buy the game.

A new (end of 2022) old school like J(like)RPG. The game takes place in Valandis where there is a long-lasting war. In the beginning hours of the game, we learn how the game works. Unlike other JRPGs there is no level-up in the game, you get skill points and can buy new skills and upgrade them. Part of the skills are active and others are passive.

During the game, many new characters join the group, but it feels tight and not just to make the group bigger. The story is very well written, but the most innovative thing in the game is the combat. Throughout the combat, there is a bar the as long as you keep your marker in the green you cause more damage and take less damage, but if you get to the red you suffer more damage, this could have been nicer if the combats themselves weren’t so much damage sponge.

If you loved the old JRPGs give it a go, the plot is nice and well-written, and the combat is new but still feels old school (unlike the new JRPGs that try to make everything new). It’s part of the GamePass so that’s always good, it’s not a long game, I don’t remember when was the last time I played a 40-50 hour JRPG.

On the news:

The 10th edition of Warhammer 40K has been announced. They will make it more streamlined, with many updated rules. The tactic will stay the same but it will be faster rounds. The rule book will be released in the summer, and all the army rules will be released for free at the same time:

10th Edition Warhammer 40,000 – Your Questions Answered! - Warhammer Community (warhammer-community.com)

Creative Corner:

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You can subscribe to the podcast feed at ⁠theburn.live⁠, support our shows by visiting ⁠support.theburn.live⁠ and join our Discord community at ⁠discord.theburn.live⁠.

Our theme was created by ⁠@AnneDorko⁠ with vocals by ⁠@FishyTwitch⁠.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts ⁠Aviv Icel Manoach⁠ and ⁠Yehuda Halfon⁠ go to war against the abyss in Wrath of the Righteous, an excellent RPG that captures the feel of its tabletop origins. On the news, a major boon for indie developers with Epic opening up its game store for self-publishing. 

Original recording date - March 13, 2023.

Game of the Show: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Published by Owlcat Games, MSRP $50, Buy the game (Humble partner link).

Wrath of the Righteous is the second CRPG from Owlcat, following Kingmaker, both take place in the Pathfinder campaign setting and follow the tabletop adventure paths of the same name.

In WotR, we play a part in the crusades around the area known as the Worldwound, a crack in the physical world into the Abyss, a realm of demons. Throughout the campaign, we help push back the forces of the Abyss and find the true intention behind the creation of the Worldwound.

Like its predecessor, the game uses the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ruleset, including over 20 character classes and all that comes with them. It’s a very accurate representation of the tabletop game and one of WotR’s major hindrances: First, the game UI/UX does not do a good job of explaining the rules, when the player is allowed to do something, and how. Second, many decisions in the creation of the game that aims to imitate a tabletop campaign are just not good when transferred to the video game medium - that can be seen with the overworld travel and associated game mechanics.

But those weaknesses do not hurt the game much. The story is very well written and told. The combat system is intricate and involved. When you find the right challenge level for you, it feels amazing to win battles, figuring out how to make the mechanics work for you.

On the News:

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You can subscribe to the podcast feed at ⁠theburn.live⁠, support our shows by visiting ⁠support.theburn.live⁠ and join our Discord community at ⁠discord.theburn.live⁠.

Our theme was created by ⁠@AnneDorko⁠ with vocals by ⁠@FishyTwitch⁠.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Yehuda Halfon fight a demonic invasion with beloved Marvel heroes in Midnight Suns and discuss game announcements such as the Elden Ring expansion, Final Fantasy 16 previews and early access launch of Kerbal Space Program 2. 

Original recording date - February 28, 2023.

Published by Firaxis Games, MSRP $60, Buy the game (Humble partner link).

Midnight Sun is a strange beast. It’s a roleplaying game, a tactical turn-based strategy game, and a deck-building game, all at once. And it works! The good people at Firaxis said to themselves “what if we made Dragon Age, but with Marvel characters and the combat uses cards!”.

In the game, the world is under attack by Lilith, the mother of demons, and we play her resurrected child, destined to lead humanity in the battle against her. The Hunter is an original character made for this game and can be customised by the player. The rest of the crew is made of various Marvel comic characters, from the Avengers to Blade, some X-Men and others.

The titular “Midnight Suns” are mostly those characters with something to do with magic or the occult, like Magik, Nico and Ghost Rider. The variety of characters is decent, although some of the adaptations are not to my liking - specifically Iron Man and Doctor Strange.

Its combat system is exciting and captures well the comic book feel. It’s a tactical combat which uses a deck of cards for attacks, similar to games like Slay the Spire or Monster Train. Using regular attacks fills up the heroic meter for the entire party, which in turn allows you to use heroic ability cards. The game’s characters specialise in different areas of combat, such as single enemy attacks, crowd control, generating hero points, or environmental damage. Team composition becomes important.

What the game is lacking compared to its predecessors is its limited combat arenas, which are always just as big as the screen and unlike XCOM have no element of exploration; and the lack of verticality which could have fit very well with the superhero genre.

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You can subscribe to the podcast feed at theburn.live, support our shows by visiting support.theburn.live and join our Discord community at discord.theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Yehuda Halfon discuss Jedi: Fallen Order, reminding us of everything we like about Star Wars. Microsoft comments on GamePass's sales in the litigation around the Activition-Blizzard merger, and EA's bids to create their new FIFA replacement.

Original recording date - February 7, 2023.

Published by Respawn Entertainment, MSRP $40, Buy the game.

Jedi: Fallen Order reminds me of everything I like about Star Wars, with contemporary graphics and gameplay that draws inspiration from classic Star Wars games like Dark Forces: Jedi Knight. I liked it so much that I immediately proceeded to play Titanfall 2 from the same developers when it first came out.

Dark Souls and especially Sekiro influence the game’s progression and combat system: Shadow Dies Twice, as combat relays heavily on timed parries and blocks. Enemy respawns after resting at a checkpoint, and you may lose your XP if you die.

However, the game does include multiple challenge settings, including a Story Mode. You can feel like a badass Jedi Knight, even if you’re not up to par with their parry mechanics.

But the sliding sections continue to be the worst part of the game. No, Aviv, the worst part is the puzzles.

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You can subscribe to the podcast feed at theburn.live, support our shows by visiting support.theburn.live and join our Discord community at discord.theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan go back to their childhood with the new Ninja Turtles game! And on the news, we talk mods, remakes and why can't we have nice things.

Original recording date - June 20, 2022.

Published by Tribute Games, MSRP $25, Buy the game.

The name ‘tribute’ is so fitting to this company - they created a masterpiece of a game that honours the SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and puts a modernized twist on top of it. It’s a 4-10 hour experience depending on the difficulty setting but so worth it.

Maybe I’m a bit nostalgic since I played the SENS version so much

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, comment and leave your reviews on your preferred listening app, at theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan rule ancient civilisations in Old World, a mix of Civilization and Crusader Kings. On the news, we had plenty of announcements on June's "game fest", and Aviv released a new game!

Original recording date - June 20, 2022.

Published by Mohawk Games, MSRP $40, Buy the game (Humble partner link).

The most common description of Old World is something along the lines of “Civilization and Crusader Kings had a baby”. And this is pretty much what this game is all about - you choose an old-world kingdom (in the Mediterranean setting) and do your Civilization stuff, while in parallel you have to secure and train your heirs, influence your council and foreign rulers and deal with events.

It’s more structured than CK though, as you collect “victory points” that get you to the end of the (timed) campaign through conquest or the “ambitions” (quests) system.

Another innovation of Old World is the “order system” for movement where a unit can act multiple times per turn (to an extent) and “orders” is your action currency which you can increase by population, influence etc.

Recommendation? Hard for me to fully recommend yet - it kind of feels right in the middle for both Civ and CK so it doesn’t fully scratch an itch. Maybe I should get back to it after I’m free from CK for a bit.

Trippin’ Troll Trucker Tales

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, comment and leave your reviews on your preferred listening app, at theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan look at the new hit crafting survival game V Rising, where you play as a vampire and most rebuild your castle and enslave humanity. And Untitled Goose Game, a former hit of chaotic shenanigans.

Original recording date - May 30, 2022.

Buy the game (Humble partner link)

I promised an update on my CK3 “conquer my way to Jerusalem” effort: I was doing well and I was hoping the Mongol invasion would throw the region for a loop and allow me to gain some ground, but the kingdom of Jerusalem survived it, won the conflict and is now huge and strong. I ended up being a small kingdom squished between two big Christian kingdoms, one holy war later I got assimilated. The end.

Game of the Show: V Rising

Published by Stunlock Studios, MSRP $20, Buy the game.

The new hit survival crafting game that took over Twitch. We play as a vampire, awaken from their sleep after hundreds of years and we need to rebuild our castle and hunt down those possessing the “v blood”, which are bosses spread across the open-world map.

As is par for this genre, you can play with friends on servers of up to 40 players by either PvE or PvP rules. it gives a bit of an MMO feel to the game, especially when hunting later bosses in the game. That’s the impression I for watching the game on Twitch. As for myself, I played the game solo.

I like the game and it got very good impressions across the board. However, it has a slow start. The early game has many tasks that take a while to complete and long travel times across the map. In the mid and late-game stages, there are ways to mitigate this, with mounts, shapeshifting the more. Experience players will also build their castles in more accessible areas than just the starting zone.

The game is early access, but it’s already full of content and in my opinion, very much worth the price.

What is there to say about the puzzle game that is Untitled Goose Game? You’re a goose, you seem to not like people very much and you’re on a mission which I can’t spoil (there’s a story there).

As a goose (which has the personality of geese I have around where I live so I can confirm) you can do all the things the average goose does: Honk, flap your wings, lower your head, walk run and swim - unlike geese flying isn’t an option. You go through different areas of your town and to get to the next one, you have to complete your goose to-do list - then you would most likely annoy enough people to trigger some reaction that takes you to the next zone: You visit the garden, commercial area, local pub and more.

There are two difficulty tiers to the game -  the official todo list which is a nice 4-8 hours experience and the secret todo list which has tons of cool events that are more challenging and you don’t know what they are as you’re playing the game.

I had fun: Honked at people, stole a bunch of stuff, and played as a goose.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, comment and leave your reviews on your preferred listening app, at theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan go back in time to the Last Epoch, a new take on the ARPG genre. Omer has also been playing a lot of Crusader Kings 3, trying to conquer the Holyland! On the news, we discuss PlayStation Plus changes and Tomb Raider's new potential.

Original recording date - May 20, 2022.

Recall: Crusader Kings III

Omer has been playing it non-stop since the last episode, some tips on what helped in settling into the game.

Minigame: Unpacking

Game of the Show: Last Epoch

Published by Eleventh Hour Games, MSRP $35, Buy the game.

Getting a “Diablo-like” experience is no easy feat!

I was looking for an Action RPG I can play solo and Last Epoch is probably the closest thing. The story isn’t very compelling (yet?) but the classes are unique, and the skills are flashy but way less than Path of Exile or Lost Ark (in a good way!)

Got your passive skills, your skill passive trees (eh…)

This is also a single-player game with apparently unfinished multiplayer so you’re playing solo, but with multiplayer chat available which I think is great.

On the news:

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, comment and leave your reviews on your preferred listening app, at theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.

In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan take up the mantle of medieval kings in Crusader Kings 3, the newest and most approachable grand-strategy game from Paradox Interactive. We also go back to the excellent rogue-lite deck-builder, Monster Train.

Original recording date - April 29, 2022.

Recall: Monster Train

After we discussed the game in Episode 18 when Omer played it, Aviv recently got hooked on the game.

The short rounds and diverse strategies make this game something special. You have five different types of decks (and the DLC adds a six) and each run uses two of those decks. Even when playing with the same combinations you have different strategies that are based on the Champion you pick, the upgrade path and the different game mechanics that synergise well with those deck types.

Bottom line: highly recommended.

Game of the Show: Crusader Kings III

Published by Paradox Interactive, MSRP $50, Buy the game (Humble partner link)

Aviv has been a long time player of Paradox strategy games, with Stellaris, Crusader Kings 2, Heart of Iron 4 and Imperator Rome.

Crusader Kings 3 has proven to be the most approachable Paradox game to date. The interface is cleaner, tooltips help explain how to do everything a lot better. If in CK2 I was often stuck on how to get more money or how to advance in technology, those mechanics are better presented and just as deep.

At launch, CKIII have 50x the content that CKII had, such as diverse religions and cultures. When CK2 launched, you could only play as Christian kings; Muslim, Norse and other cultures were only available through expansions. In CK3, they are all present from the beginning. They also make other systems more generic so that they could be used by any ruler type and not just the crusaders.

Bottom line: if you always wanted to try those big grand strategy games, this is an excellent one to start with, and it’s included in Game Pass.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, comment and leave your reviews on your preferred listening app, at theburn.live.

Our theme was created by @AnneDorko with vocals by @FishyTwitch.