Waypoint Radio

Patrick has some BREAKING NEWS to share, as the CEO of Unity has responded to complaints from employees about parts of the company working with the US military. Rob and Austin jump in to talk about labor organizing and the reasons certain strategies have fallen out of use in the US. Then the WPR crew talks through the Gamescom opening night live, but not before losing their minds at the latest Fortnite event, a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. After the break, Austin, Rob, and Cado took on some freelance work for the uhhhh … Weyland-Yutani corporation? They talk about their surprisingly good time in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, a co-op misson based third person shooter that finally fills the almost too obvious niche of “Left 4 Dead but in the Aliens universe.” Then Patrick and Austin set out to explore the universe in Jett: The Far Shore, an exploration based game with deeply interesting world building.

Discussed: Unity CEO responds 0:48, Fortnite March Through Time 41:42, Gamescom 45:22, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 1:04:06, Jett: The Far Shore 1:29:04

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Content Warning at 1:22:00 for discussion of Violence against a pregnant woman, Death, Incest, and Drugging

You ever have one of those days where nothing can go right? Well what if you had to have that day over and over again. Sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about the seminal time loop dark comedy Groundhog Day, a time loop I’d rather be stuck in than play another loop of Twelve Minutes. The whole Waypoint Radio crew played through it and boy do we have a meaty spoiler segment for you. Before that, we dipped into the Question Bucket to hear more Christmas stories, and a follow up to a question on getting into rogue likes. That was right after Rob took us through his aesthetically dense but mechanically mediocre experience with The Ascent. Austin is hopeful for the studio behind Foreclosed, a cyberpunk game that has great storytelling and visual style, but lacks a special something in it’s action sequences. Patrick and Rob took us through their mind palace as they explored Psychonauts 2, but not before we talk about Patrick’s article on Unity’s non-gaming ventures and how workers at the company feel about its military contracts.

Discussed (in actual order) : Unity 2:06, Psychonauts 2 35:35, Foreclosed 50:32, The Ascent 53:27, Twelve Minutes Spoilercast (see above for Content Warnings) 1:22:00

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There’s some big news in this pod! We kick things off with two special announcements, then dive right into the game's we've been playing. Austin’s started the next Waypoint 101 game Super Metroid, Patrick and Cado joined him on stream so they discuss the early hours of the game. Then, Rob and Patrick discuss some of the less convincing moments in Twelve Minutes, an adventure game with some interesting time looping mechanics but questionable plot points. After the break, Austin is getting out of the country on Road 96, a game about teenagers hitchhiking out of a country during a politically turbulent moment. Austin and Cado are then learning the dark arts in Black Book, a deck builder that isn’t a roguelike for once, and has a great atmosphere and interesting mechanics around learning local folklore. Then we take another dip in the bucket for more Christmas lore, and a premonition from pods of Waypoints past. 

Discussed: Super Metroid 13:56, Twelve Minutes (Light Spoilers) 21:01, Road 96 54:27, Black Book 1:16:16, The Question Bucket 1:29:19

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Gita Jackson is on the pod today to tell Rob, Cado, and Patrick all about the different dates they've been on while delving into Boyfriend Dungeon. The crew discuss the content warning controversy around the game, how the visual novel genre has handled similar content in the past, and what “play with care” can mean for different people. After the break, Patrick checked out Axiom Verge 2, the sequel to the 2015 indie Metroidvania that leaves something to be desired. Rob is checking out Humankind, whose “Civ but not” tech trees seem to eschew the way cultures and history can build on top of each other by allowing you to jump between playing different real world civilizations depending on the era you’re in. Cado’s finished up the most recent Destiny 2 season, and feels like the Vanguard could’ve been implicated in some of the hatred towards The Fallen that the season focused on. Then in the question bucket we talk about LARPing.

Discussed: Boyfriend Dungeon 0:59, Axiom Verge 37:43, Humankind 52:30, Destiny 2 1:08:53, The Question Bucket 1:23:29

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It’s hot as hell in NYC this week, which is apt for this particularly hellish episode! Austin, Rob, and Cado discuss some of their recent games of Hell Let Loose, and the different ways the tactical layer can (and will) break down. Then Austin and Cado check out Jupiter Hell, an isometric ranged combat based “traditional” roguelike, which translates FPS mechanics into its tile and turned based gameplay. After the break, we enter the atomic hell of the exclusion zone in Chernobylite, where Austin and Rob are finding ways to make the zone a little more cozy. Then Austin introduces us into a whole new hell of … librarians that turn unsuspecting visitors into books? Library of Ruina’s deck building and card game mechanics may seem inscrutable at first, but at least you have a sick soundtrack to listen to while you figure them out! Then the crew takes a dip in the question bucket to learn about what Pokemon Rob is, Bread, and parents who love Christmas pranks.

Discussed: Hell Let Loose 4:14, Jupiter Hell 27:50, Chernobylite 45:47, Banners of Ruin 1:03:50, Library of Ruina 1:08:35, The Question Bucket 1:24:13

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Very special guests Em and Jackson from Abnormal Mapping join Austin and Cado to discuss the hot new game that everyone’s playing: The New York Times Crossword. Thanks to Chris Remo’s new video series, everyone on the pod has been learning the nuances and tricks the NYT like to employ, from esoteric clues that appear again and again to the specific clue construction logic that allow just enough space for multiple interpretations that might still fit in the puzzle. After the break, Cado and Jackson have been checking out Splitgate, the “Halo meets Portal” multiplayer game that has recently blown up, despite it having released a few years ago. Em’s been checking out Final Fantasy XIV, and is having a better time with the new A Realm Reborn changes than either Austin or Cado did with the original content. We also dip into the question bucket to figure out “what kind of Pokemon are you?”

Discussed: The New York Times Crossword 5:33, Halo 4 29:29, Splitgate 40:22, Apex Legends 58:05, Final Fantasy XIV 1:16:57, Back 4 Blood 1:34:00, Question Bucket 1:45:15, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster 1:48:27

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Gita Jackson joins Rob and Cado today to talk about Neo The World Ends With You, a worthy successor to the original The World Ends With You, whose episodic structure and focus on character writing makes it feel like playing a CW show. After the break, Cado fills in the crew on Gengar's fall from grace as the new patch hits in Pokemon Unite. Then Rob and Gita talk infrastructure games and how roads and bridges can cause all sorts of headaches in City Skylines. Then, Cado joins the other scavengers in the Exclusion Zone in Chernobylite, and talks about how the zone looks and feels great, but the base building aspect is maybe not all the way there. Then they take a quick dip in the question bucket and talk jobs and the myriad ways management can (and will) undercut workers' ability to organize.

Discussed: Neo The World Ends With You 8:05, Pokemon Unite 47:22, City Skylines 1:02:55, Hell Let Loose 1:08:55, Chernobylite 1:10:26, The Question Bucket 1:23:26

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Austin and Cado have joined Rob in the trenches, and they’re having a hell of a time! Commander Rob is joined by a few new squaddies in Hell Let Loose, and someone messed up and let Cado get behind the wheel of a tank. After the break, Patrick is exploring his own cyberpunk hell in The Ascent, an extremely divisive top down shooter with a very slow start. Austin and Rob are scavenging a new exclusion zone in Chernobylite, Cado is doing a dance of deductions in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and the question bucket has all sorts of new music stories in it.

Discussed: Hell Let Loose 7:02, The Ascent 39:45, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: 59:14, Chernobylite 1:03:52, Question Bucket 1:11:37, Death’s Door 1:53:12

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It can be difficult to give game recommendations to people, but every once in a while a game lines up so purely with a person’s tastes it almost felt like it was made for them. This is the case with Hell Let Loose, a World War Two military shooter with a chain of command system that Rob described “[like] an RTS, but your units are other people.” Austin and Cado accidentally convince the rest of the crew to download Pokemon Unite, even as they complain about their less than ideal patch notes. After the break, we get a quick update from Patrick on the current situation at Activision-Blizzard. Austin has been checking out Highfleet, an extremely stylish game set in a Dieselpunk Eastern Europe. And Patrick checks back in with quick updates on Death’s Door and Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City. Then we get some clarification on Patrick’s cruel band class rejection from the Question Bucket.

Discussed: Hell Let Loose 6:24, Pokemon Unite 41:10, Activision-Blizzard Walkout 55:40, Death’s Door 1:22:17, HighFleet 1:24:46, Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City 1:39:27, Question Bucket 1:44:34

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Austin and Cado are still playing Pokemon Unite, and do some live research into some of it's more hidden forms of microtransactions. Patrick is living his best music playing life with Ragnarock, a VR drum rhythm game with a slightly frustrating boost mechanic. After the break, Cado's been playing The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, the historical fiction entry into the Ace Attorney franchise that has only just been released outside of Japan despite the first game being six years old at this point. Austin has been checking out Chernobylite in early access, a first person exploration shooter that takes cues from games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R, but with base building akin to State of Decay. Then the crew takes a quick dip in the question bucket and discuss how to get into rogue-likes, even if the structure seems to not be your cup of tea.

Discussed: Pokemon Unite 1:28, Ragnarock 35:31, The Great Ace Attorney 58:09, Death’s Door 1:23:46, Chernobylite 1:28:56, Question Bucket 1:32:26

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