The Pitch

Gary went and caught Covid, so this week Kole is joined by the AV Club's Will Hughes to talk about Zoop, the shallow puzzle game that magazines in the 90s put a lot of effort into getting people to buy. And since Gary isn't here, we kind of go hog wild on talking about things that would otherwise send him into the stratosphere.

This week we head to northeastern Liurnia, to learn more about some of the elemental forces that stand athwart the Erdtree and its Golden Order. First we visit the Frenzied Village and its ominous tower to learn about Vyke's fall... Then we head to the Knifeprint Catacombs to uncover a little more information about the treachery that began the Shattering itself.

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Elite: Dangerous, Thumper, and much more!

• Dennis: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Chorus.
• Ben: Before Your Eyes. Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
• Kole: The Quarry. Thumper.
• David: Elite: Dangerous.

• What art style would you like to see used more often in games?

• Studio Canal films being pulled from European PSN.
• Ubisoft tries to pull some nonsense with digital storefronts.
• Halo Infinite’s co-op campaign mode will never come out.

It's impossible to talk about some games objectively. Castlevania 2 has a lot of problems but unbeatable atmosphere for the NES, and the best soundtrack in the series (fight me), makes that go down oh so smooth. Let's get to collectin' ribs!

We'd also like to direct your attention to the Totally Trans Podcast Network which is an ongoing podcast about the search for the trans media canon.

Support Watch Out for Fireballs!

Everything To Guppy is a weekly comedy/gaming podcast that releases four 15-minute episodes in a single hour-long chunk every Tuesday for reasons that seemed good at the time. Gary Butterfield (Watch Out For Fireballs) and William Hughes (The A.V. Club) attempt to analyze every single item, boss, character, and concept in the rogue-lite video game The Binding Of Isaac. They manage to pull it off only slightly less than 50 percent of the time.

This week we head back down to the other side of the Liurnian continent, venturing up a high road littered with wreckage from the civil war. We stop by a very noteworthy catacomb, check in with Hyetta, visit Jarburg, and take a history lesson from the game's biggest dork: Miriel the Turtle Pope.

In the end, it was a story about family. In the beginning, too. It was really all a story about family. Children of Morta was made as an attempt to marry a roguelike game structure to a fixed, detailed story... and it works. The Bergsons are a tight-knit family who live in the shadow of Mount Morta, and they are charged with being Guardians of all the land. When Corruption starts appearing, everyone in the clan pitches in, with most venturing down into the tunnels and town to stop the crisis.

The individual characters all have their own gimmicks, and while some work better for us than others, we appreciate their presence. But for as much as we like the broad strokes of the concept, the crowd control action RPG gameplay lands a little flat for us. But it might work for you!

Big thanks to this episodes executive producer Julia for getting us to play this neat little game.

This episode is also our first whack at promoting smaller projects from diverse listeners. So check out Teo and the Cosmic Neighborhood, a Brazillian brother and sister pop band with influences from bossa nova and video game music. Check out their sweet animated music videos on their YouTube page.

Support Watch Out for Fireballs!

The idea of millionaires who happen to be talented artists using their resources to make video games where they go on little adventures is extremely charming. That's our baseline approach to talking about Def Jam: Fight for NY, which is ABSOLUTELY not a bad game. Just not a game for us. But, growing up in the 90s, it was impossible to escape both hip hop and wrestling, even if you wanted to, so we have some stuff to talk about here.

A Level 1 villain has to start somewhere, and that's where the Big Villains program comes in. The Monarch steps up to take Augustus St. Cloud under his wing for his first arching, which is less an act of altruism and more another attempt to get under Rusty's skin. The result is a fun episode that's mostly jokes and doesn't really move anything forward, but we need those from time to time.

Special thanks to Joshua Jarett for our cover art, Gwen May for our theme song, and Brayton Cameron for being our announcer.

Everything To Guppy is a weekly comedy/gaming podcast that releases four 15-minute episodes in a single hour-long chunk every Tuesday for reasons that seemed good at the time. Gary Butterfield (Watch Out For Fireballs) and William Hughes (The A.V. Club) attempt to analyze every single item, boss, character, and concept in the rogue-lite video game The Binding Of Isaac. They manage to pull it off only slightly less than 50 percent of the time.