The Dope 2022 Games that You Missed and 2023 Switch Predictions Ft. Giovanni Colantonio

During this 2022 games spotlight episode, we had to invite games journalist, Giovanni Colantonio on the show. He is the gaming section lead at Digital Trends. He has played and covered tons of games for Inversedomcom, Polygon, and the LTRTcast.! 

In this episode, he will give you some cool games to put in your video game backlog list, his predictions for the Switch in 2023, and more.

If you’re looking for something new to play, this episode has a ton of unique games you don’t want to miss. Listen in to hear Giovanni's top games of 2022, and what he’s looking forward to in 2023!

We've got all this and more on this episode of the Single Player Experience.

Follow Giovanni Colantonio:

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This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/

what's up?

What's up?

What's up?

And welcome to the single player experience.

As always, I'm your host, Sebastian Malden, and in this episode we're

talking about the dopest and weirdest games that you missed in 2022.

And we're talking about game mechanics that should be

copied more from video games.

So for these two topics, I had knew, I just knew I had

to bring in a heavy hitter.

That's why joining me on this episode is none other than digital trends

gaming section lead, Giovanni Co.

Antonio.

Giovanni has been in the gaming industry for a while now.

You've probably seen his works on inverse.com, on polygon.com,

and on digital trends.

Of course, this guy knows all the ins and outs of the gaming industry.

In this episode, he's gonna talk about those two topics that I

mentioned, and he's gonna give some Nintendo Switch predictions, and

he's gonna take on the daunting task.

That is the pro nerd trivia challenge.

We got all this and more coming right at you right after the intro.

DJ start the intro.

Mine.

Like I said in the intro, we have a very special guest joining us today.

He is the Gaming section Lead for Digital Trends.

He's the host of the Dope podcast, left Trigger, right Trigger,

and he's one of the hosts of the This Week in Baseball podcast.

He is the one, the only Giovanni, Mario Prime Co.

Antonio,

thank you for having me.

Excited to be here and excited for the hyped Up Wrestling intro,

man.

No, I'm glad to have you on the show.

Super excited to have you here.

But for the people who may not know you, can you introduce

yourself to the audience?

Yeah, for sure.

Um, I'm Juvan Cal, Antonio.

Um, I am a games writer, uh, games media journalist, I guess.

Um, but my focus is a lot on criticism and reviews and whatnot.

Um, but I, I kind of run the show@digitaltrends.com, so if

you've ever seen a review from that website that made you mad.

Sorry, , that's just, that's just what we do.

I guess now people get really mad at , I dunno.

Um, but yeah.

Uh, you know, been playing games for, for my whole life as, uh, as is

the case, I think with most people in the industry, uh, at this point.

Um, and, and I love him.

Uh, big, big indie game guy.

Um, you know, grew up on, uh, Uh, Nintendo and Atari and everything and, and just

play pretty much everything these days.

Um, and yeah, just, just having a lot of fun doing it is, is cool.

It's a cool gig.

, Sebastion: you know, before

something that I did not know.

What was the Mattis you've ever seen someone get from a review?

Like what game?

Oh,

oh boy.

It was Sonic this year.

Uh, Sonic Frontier.

Frontier Frontiers.

We, we were, we were the one, we, we were the jerks about it.

Like, we really didn't like it.

Like we really didn't like it.

Um, you know, like the person who wrote the review liked it even less than me.

I thought it was like not great.

I, I, I mean, I, I didn't like it personally, whatever,

but, um, he, he like hated it.

Um, he wrote a very kind of like detailed review of it that got into like, why.

The sonic fandom, like the, the most we've ever been harassed at the website.

Like, it, it's, it sucked.

I mean, like, really just really like a cruel, cruel thing.

Um, but you know, like we're, we're also kind of used to it at this point, but

people get mad at us for everything.

It's like, you know, we gave Eldon Ring, uh, an eight, which I thought

was like a real, a great scorer.

Like, I mean, we, we consider it eight like amazing and people were mad as

hell that it wasn't a 10, you know?

And it was like, it was like, I don't know, man.

Our bar is just different.

Like, we're not, we're not trying to give everything a nine and a 10 , you

know, like we, we have, we have our, our, our standards that we're keeping to, so

people get mad at this all the time cuz our score is always like one below the

average and people care about this stuff.

Um, but Sonic Frontiers was the one where like we were a real outlier on it.

And um, and people were very upset.

I, you know, I can't imagine ever being upset over one website's video game review

score, but like, I, I mean, people just, I, I guess you know, this, this stuff is

really important to them, so I hope they had a good time with the game anyways.

for sure, for sure.

Sonic is probably the one fandom I look at and think to myself, I'm

like, that is probably the one of the most loyal fandoms I've ever seen in my life.

In absolutely, oh, pheno, like phenomenally loyal,

like almost to a fault.

Like, you don't see this kind of loyalty outside of sports very often

because I live in Dallas and so I get the in denial cowboy fans all the time.

I get that all the time.

But yeah.

But like Sonic is one of those to where it is almost mirroring the cowboys to

wear, like for 3D Sonic, there's not very many wins that come from like, not

right from the 3D space a little bit.

And then like, if you criticize just a little bit of it,

people really get offended

about that.

They get really upset.

Yeah.

And, and I get it, like I, I appreciate people who are really

passionate about their, uh, the things they love and whatnot.

Um, I, I think that maybe sometimes that fan base gets a little,

like personally offended in a way that is, that is strange.

And I'm kind of like, I can't imagine tying my identity

to this brand in that way.

Um, but I get it, you know?

Uh, people, people really care about it.

They grew up with it.

Um, but yeah, like when we, when we had the review, like I was getting messages

from people who were like begging us to, to raise the score and they were like, Can

you raise it so that the Metacritic score goes up so that it sells more so that

like, they can keep making sonic games.

And I was like, they're gonna keep making sonic games.

It's the like most successful IP , it's one of the most successful

gaming ipss in the world right now.

Like, what are you talking about?

Um, I, you know, I, I think they just, they, there's like a big culture

war over Sonic where it's been the laughing stock for a long time.

And, and these people, you know, they, they love it and they care about it.

And, um, it's, it's complicated and, you know, I get it.

Uh, I get it and I don't get it, you know, like it's, it's very foreign to me.

Um, but I also understand that, uh, these things mean stuff to people,

but, um, maybe a healthier way to do it, but , but, you know, some people

are better than others about it.

Like it really, I think it's probably a smaller subset of the fandom, uh, than

it seems, I think, I think it's one of those things where the loudest people

are probably the ones that are out there and, and most of them, I'm sure, Lovely.

Um, but yeah, we, we got, we got, we got a really, a really rough, uh, thing.

But yeah, I understand the sports analogy too cuz as, as a Massachusetts born

person, like I'm, I'm New England Patriots trash whether I want to be or not.

So like, I know what it's like to just have to defend it no matter what.

Mm-hmm.

, it's like, oh, they cheated.

No they didn't . Um, you know, you, you gotta do it.

So I guess I, maybe I do get it more than I think . Yeah.

. Sebastion: Hey man.

Well you put stuff in like sports terms, everything kind of gets a

little clearer, but Absolutely.

But Giovanni, let's segue into some video game talks here.

Let's talk about your top five games of all time.

Uh, icebreaker question.

I like to ask many

of my guests.

Yes.

And I have this list.

I, it's, I keep, I keep meticulous track of stuff like this.

Um, because you never know when these questions are gonna come up.

Um, it's gonna seem, this list is gonna seem very basic and I, I apologize.

It's, it is what it is.

Um, five.

Okay.

You're going in or you like descending?

Yeah, no, let's do the, let's do the drama.

Let's do the drama.

Okay.

Five Super Mario World.

Um, it's my favorite Mario game.

I think it, it's just like a perfect.

, like Super Nintendo era, like platformer.

I, I think it's like the height of the series still.

And, and I love Yoshi.

It like writing Yoshi in that game feels incredible.

Um, four, the irony of this entire conversation is Sonic the Hedgehog to

It's like a genesis.

It's incredible.

It really, it's like a fantastic game.

The like vibe of it.

The music, uh, the movement, like the level design, like everything

firing in all cylinders, like truly a perfect video game.

Uh, so Sue me.

. No, no.

I, I, I dunno.

Uh, the enigma, um, number three, earthbound, God,

that game is, is phenomenal.

Um, like one of the funniest games I've ever played, uh, like a really clever

use of the R PPG genre that is like, so going against tropes and, and doing its

own thing and wildly creative in a way that like only games can be sometimes.

Um, two, this is the basic one.

It's like saying The Beatles are on your list, but arine of time.

Um, the first, I mean like the first time I played Arine legend to double arine of

time, I was just like, Whole, like seeing the Matrix, you know, like this is whoa.

And like, it probably hasn't aged that well.

I refuse to go back and play it cause I know it's not

gonna be that same experience.

But, um, you know, at the time that I played it, um, which even like

wasn't, when it came out, it was like during the Game Cube era that I played

it, and it still was like, this is beautiful and, and incredible and

feels like con like epic and, and canon to gaming history, you know, in the

same way that like a piece of classic literature would, would be where it's

like, oh, this is a foundational story.

You know, even if it's kind of like simple by today's standards.

Um, and then number one, it's a meite prime, uh, for, for

the old Nintendo game cube.

Just like a perfect, perfect video game.

I mean, again, the vibe of it, you know, the, the music and the, and the

level of design and everything, um, is like unbeatable, just truly unbeatable.

And I, I just think that like the first person shooting platforming adventure

format is, was so phenomenally like different for the time and like,

Games still don't really match it.

Like games have tried to do it.

Mm-hmm.

and some of them have come close to it, but like, it is still almost like

a unique game in that kind of genre.

So it it, yeah.

It it's the best, it's the best.

A heavy Nintendo list.

I know, but, uh, I, I swear there's, there's stuff that's not

Nintendo further down the list.

. Yeah.

So I gotta ask you, based on your, your five games of all time,

if you can choose any game to just be remade into like a modern version

of that, which one would it be?

Ooh, I'm, yeah, like you answered the top five.

Too easy.

I have to find a spicy question.

. Giovanni: I have.

No, that's good.

You know, uh, that, that's a really, really good question.

Um, it, it's hard cuz I'm like, cuz a lot of these games I think are

like kind of perfect and I wouldn't wanna change anything about them.

Like, even, even Metro Prime, like, I think that'll probably get an HD remaster

that's been the rumor for a while.

Mm-hmm.

and like, I'm sure that'll be great and, and everything but like,

God, every time I go back and play it, it's still is really modern.

I think that.

At this point, maybe not like this year, but like, you know, next switch

hardware, I could see aino of time really benefiting from like, hey, let's like

give this the full modern treatment and make it feel like this big realistic

epic that it felt like at the time.

Um, just to make sure, my whole theory with remakes is I'm like, when you're

remaking a game, you are remaking like the feeling of what it felt like to

play that game for the first time.

You know, like that's what you're preserving.

Like, it, it should feel exactly the same as it felt in the nineties or

something, but, you know, modernized so that it is playable again.

And I think awkward awakening.

Yeah, exactly.

Like links awakening, like that game feels like what it felt like to play

it on the Game Boy, but it's obviously plays completely differently from it.

Um, or like the, the shadow of the Colossus remake that was

like, I think 2014, like mm-hmm.

, you know, that game doesn't look great now, but like the, the remake

of it that came out like, Looks like you remember it looking in,

in the two thousands or whatever.

Um, so I think aka of time could like benefit in like five years like, we'll,

we'll give it five from that moment that's like, here's like the big epic remake of

this that like, you know, looks like a modern game, like, looks like a from soft

game or something , you know, like that that ha that puts people in that mindset

of like, hey, when this came out in 19, 19 96 or, or whatever year it was like, this

is what it felt like to look at this game and like experience it for the first time.

Um, I think that's gonna become necessary because again, like it's aging

probably not super, super well mm-hmm.

and, uh, I think you gotta preserve the feeling otherwise people will

just be like, I don't get it.

Like, why is this a big deal?

? Yeah, for sure.

For sure.

I can completely understand that.

What, um, what like, Zara art style would you

choose?

I think, I think for a arena you have to go realistic for it.

Mm-hmm.

, um, I think like, you know, the, the Twilight Princess

kind of like style that I.

You know, that was trying to draw from, from Macarena, I would do

that over like the tune style.

Um, because again, I think in, in like 96 or, or whatever, like that's kind

of what it felt like, like it felt like it was striving for, I mean, it's still

very stylized, but there was almost something about it that felt like weirdly

grounded , you know, just like how like grassy and earthy the whole thing is.

Um, so I kind of think I, I kind of think you would want that.

And again, like, you know, I, I'm kind of thinking of that like from soft

kind of look, you know, where it's like this grand epic like, um, fantasy.

Look, I, I think you gotta preserve that and I, I, I don't necessarily

think that you'll get that as much out of the, the tune art style, which I

think is more of like a whimsical thing, you know, and like a storybook thing.

Um, you know, a is very much like this is a canonical fantasy classic.

And, and you know, I think that that would probably fit it.

Yeah.

I like that answer.

Mm-hmm.

. Yeah.

Is that, is that how you'd go?

Yeah.

Yeah.

That, that's pretty

much exactly how I'd go because I, I'd want something

that felt, I don't know, I like zda when it has a little grit to it.

Like I, I feel like when it has a little grit to, it has a little bit of an

edge, I feel like I lean towards more of those games than I do the more whimsical

side of Zelda.

Yeah, totally.

I think they both have their place, um mm-hmm.

, you know, for sure.

But yeah, like, you know, the, the links awakening, remake style, like

certainly wouldn't be the fit for it.

Yeah, for sure.

It's not, not quite tonally there.

Um, so yeah, it's a good question.

Yeah.

So let's, I have one more icebreaker question for you before

we get to the topic of this show.

So, if Kirby, you, you're a big Nintendo guy, if Kirby absorbed you, what kind

of powers would he get?

God, the, the easy answer to this is anxiety,

He would, he would, it would screw him up real bad.

He would like, you know, when sometimes you like eat a power

and k you eat an enemy and Kirby and you're like, what the hell?

Disability stinks.

You know, when you're like, oh, he just turned into like a, he just turned

into a rock and he can't move now.

Um, I feel like that might be what Kirby would run into where he's like, he's

spitting that thing out real quick.

He's like, oh, I don't, he's like, I don't like that.

Like, I don't, like I don't wanna drive.

I feel like I can't drive a car now cuz it's too stressful.

. Um, I think that would be, that's the first answer that comes to mind.

Um, I feel like that's one of my, one of my.

Defining traits.

Um, I also feel like, you know, something very Italian.

I, I think we could, we could get into, obviously I'm way too Italian.

Uh, it's, it's a problem, , like, I feel like, you know, there's

like Chef Kirby, right?

Mm-hmm.

where like, he, he goes in that mode, I think, like, maybe that, but like Pasta

Chef Kirby, where he's just like rolling out the dough on the table, you know, he

like takes enemies and he rolls them out and do a dough and he, you know, like puts

them through the machine and everything.

And, you know, long animation takes, takes way too long.

But like, he's got the patience because you know he's gotta do it right.

You gotta put love into it.

Mm-hmm.

, um, I think that would be like the Italian Kirby that like, That that would come out.

Have you asked yourself this?

Have you asked yourself this question?

You know, I've, by yourself,

I've always asked people, I've never asked

myself, what, what would it be?

And

I guess, gimme the answer.

I'm turning it around.

Oh man, you're putting me on the spot now.

Loud.

Yeah, I got it.

Look, if you're gonna put me on the spot, it's coming right back.

. Um,

let's see.

I think you would be really knowledgeable about nonsense.

Like, I, like, I think, I think you would know a whole lot about stuff that wouldn't

necessarily help him in the long run.

Like I, for some reason, like I, you know, my wife's always watching like TV

and she's al, she's one of those people who like, I want, I really don't know who

that actor is, um, or where he's from.

And I'm like, I can look at it and be like, oh, I know where that, and like

I can just recite it, just walking by.

And I'm like, yeah.

She's like, you didn't even watch that show.

How do you know?

And I'm like, . I like, I just, I just know I've watched trailers.

I've, I'm like, I soak in Id, I mdb, I, I I was gonna say the human I mdb thing.

Yeah.

Very much so.

Like, I feel like Kirby would just have that useless knowledge just

sitting around.

That's good.

Now you have the answer.

So next time somebody asks, be like, oh, we already did this . Yeah, for sure.

, if we know for sure.

I'm gonna write that down.

. Yeah, . Don't forget it.

Don't forget it.

It's gonna come up again, I swear.

Uh, cool.

Good answer.

Good answer.

For sure.

I like that.

I like that.

So, Giovanni, I gotta ask you, let's, let's go to the topic of the show.

2022 was, uh, uh, like a very stacked year for video games.

Like, uh, some people might argue was top heavy.

Some people might argue like indies kind of carried us through the,

through the year in between the major releases, you know, d different

narratives for different perspectives.

But, you know, what were some of the games that really stood out to you in 2022?

Yeah, so I mean, I, I thought it was a really cool year.

I mean, like, my list of, of games that like I liked this year

was like longer than most years.

Mm-hmm.

and it didn't have as many.

Huge things at the top where I was like, oh my God, there was like 10

games that I think are like Alzheimer's.

Um, but I think that the few that like kind of are like way up there, um,

I'm, I feel pretty strongly about.

Um, and then there's just a lot of like, God, these are just like really cool and,

and diverse and interesting experiences.

Um, yeah, a bunch of games.

I'll, I'll get the, I'll get the obvious ones out of the way.

The big, big dogs outta the way, basically.

Yeah.

Let's, let's get the, let's get the big ones outta the way, the, the big one

Outta the Way, which is like, obviously Eldon Ring I think is, is there's a

reason that everyone's talking about it.

Um, you know, I, I wasn't a Souls person before Eldon Ring.

I like hated

I hated those games.

So I played like three hours of blood board and was like, everyone's

playing a joke on me, like, why did you do this ? Um, like I, I,

I, I just didn't understand it.

Um, and, and I think Eldon ring like I.

Like I, I, I really like it.

It's, it's somewhere on my list.

Um, and I, I think it makes sense that that's the one that people like really

widely connected with because it kind of solves some of the problems with those

games, which is like, usually you just like wanna see all the cool stuff and

you just can't, because unless you're really good, you just can't see it.

And, and I love that, that game, like you can genuinely spend like a dozen hours

just walking around and not fighting a single enemy and like, actually just

have that experience of like, whoa, I just saw a bunch of like, really cool

art and like, surprises in the world.

Um, and I think that's kind of what that series needed.

You know, like the, the souls formula really needed that like, Level of

openness where like you can still get something out of the game, even if

like, you know, you just, you just can't butt up against the difficulty.

Um, and it just made me like actually be able to get through most of it, um,

you know, until the ending and then like when it railroads you into the

last couple of fights, I was like, oh, this is what I hate about these games.

Um, but you know, just like the experience of riding around this year

I thought was, was just incredible.

Um, and, and I get why people like really love that game.

Um, so that's a big one.

Um, now the cooler answers, I guess we'll, we'll go into, Coincidentally,

like I, the only game I pretty much rage quit was also bloodborne.

Like, I, I completely, like, I was just like, I hear this game is phenomenal.

I'm gonna try it out.

I popped that baby in and by the third boss, I was just like,

no, this is not gonna be for me.

I'm tapping

out.

That's like kind of where I, I popped off as well.

Like, I, I mean, for me, here's my thing.

I'll say this with ProSoft before we go on.

Mm-hmm.

, I go on so many tangents, which you're about to learn.

, um, . My thing with ProSoft is like the frustration I have with them as a

developer, you know, I, I I'm starting to understand the more, you know, Eldon

Ring kind of turned me around on them.

I went back and I played Demon Souls and was like, oh yeah, this is, this is great.

I get it.

Um, but the frustration I have with them is that like, , uh, their games

require perfection from players.

Mm-hmm.

, like, you, you have to be like, frame perfect, you know?

And like a lot of these dodges and, and like, there's, there's no room

for error and, and you know, it's like very punishing, but like the

games themselves are really imperfect.

Right.

The camera's bad, like, enemies will stab you through walls, you know, like for

sure things will, things will just clip.

And it's like, you can't ask me to be perfect if, like, the game

doesn't have like the framework to, you know, like mm-hmm.

to make it so that everything feels like my fault and bloodborne.

Like, I was just dying and it never felt like my fault, you know?

It, it always felt like, where's the camera?

Like, I can't see myself, oh, I got hit.

Cool.

Um, that stuff happens in Eldon Ring too.

And that's my one, like pushback with that game.

Mm-hmm.

when people are like, it's incredible and like, best game of all time.

I'm like, but it's still that, you know, it's still like you bump up

against this boss and like, you know, you, you just can't see what's going

on and you can't see them hitting you.

And like, that's not, that's not fun.

Um, and I think that's like a, a core flaw.

Um, In, in that company's design.

So bloodborne, same thing, like three bosses.

And I was like, if, if you are going to expect so much out of me and you cannot

give me it in return, like mm-hmm.

, then then the contract is off.

You know, like, I, I can't do this.

Um, and that, that's always been my hangup with it.

But again, I'm starting to kinda like learn the language and, and

like work in spite of the flaws.

And I think the people ultimately love from software, like in

spite of itself sometimes.

Mm-hmm.

where it's like, yeah, like there are these problems.

They're never gonna clean them up.

They're never gonna fix them.

And like, we like the games enough that we just have to deal with it at this point.

Um, But I mean, if people criticized it more, maybe they would fix it.

I don't know.

Like, come on, let's, let's give it to 'em.

Um, I believe, I believe in the power of constructive criticism.

I'm right there with you.

firm self games to me have almost felt like a real life relationship where

you feel like you want the person on the other side to give more to

the relationship and firm software, games expect you to put yourself

out there, 70, 30 versus, you know?

versus meeting you even even halfway through the equation.

So I get what you mean completely.

And I felt that, yeah, because I've, before Eldering, I was just like yourself.

I never really connected and said, oh, this is, this is the game that

got me into soul games, basically.

Yeah, the, I think you, you put it perfectly there, like

the 70 30 thing is, is spot on.

It's just like you have to do so much work.

Um, and like the game is giving you these beautiful visas and like incredible boss

fights and, and visuals and whatnot.

But like, it's just, you know, sometimes it's just not giving you

enough of like the basic quality of life that like, I don't know.

It makes them really, really frustrating and I get why people hate

them, and I get why people love them.

I think it really just comes down to like how much you can deal with that.

Um, and again, I do think that Eldon ring is the game this year that like,

made it easiest to deal with that.

Mm-hmm.

, which is why I think it's like the crossover one that everyone loves.

Um, because like end of the day you can just like go around and

grind up a ton, you know, in like a really natural way and like just not

have that, that gap mean as much.

Um, so yeah.

I feel that that's a good way to put it.

Um, I can go up my list.

I'm, I'm basically gonna go through my top five here.

Okay.

That's, that sounds good.

If that works.

Um, we'll, we'll do it that way.

And then, you know, we can talk about some stragglers if, if we want to.

Um, but getting into the, the other stuff, and these are all

like, single player games, so I think it fits the podcast here,

Um, so, uh, tear down, do you know much about Teardown?

This is like, kind of like the hidden gem of the year in my mind.

I know, uh, can you describe it a little bit?

Absolutely.

Would love to, teardown uh, came out in early access like two

years ago or something like that.

It is basically like a heist game.

That's, that's the way I would describe it.

It has these like, very kind of like blocky graphics, like, you

know, box graphics, like almost like a Minecraft kind of situation.

And basically what it is, is that you get dropped into a level and you get an

objective and everything is destructible.

Every single.

Every inch of it is destructible.

Um, and you get different tools to do this.

And basically it's like almost this action puzzle game where it's like,

okay, you need to steal a bunch of cars off this level, but as soon as

you move one, a timer starts, and like, you have to get all of them to

this spot before the timer runs out.

And you have like no time, right?

It's like 60 seconds to get like four cars that are around this map, like

to a spot and then get out of there.

Um, and so what the game becomes is like you have to create this perfect

route and perfect plan by like blowing walls through things, you know?

And just like doing really clever movement to be like, okay, I'm gonna

blow a wall in front of this car so that I can like, drive it out

of this window and into the spot.

Then I'm gonna like blow a hole through this house so I can come through the other

way and grab this other one that's in a garage here and like shoot it back out.

Um, and you just like execute these really kind of like, um, you know,

mostly heists and whatnot or like crimes, like stealing safes or something.

Um, and it's just all through like really.

Clever, like spatial awareness.

Puzzling, you know, there, there's one that I love in it that's like, you

have to get a safe out of this house.

Um, and like as soon as it gets outside, um, you know, like

an alarm is going to go off.

So you're trying to figure out like, how do I get it out of the house?

How do I get it in a position so that like, once I do get it outta

the house, I can move it quick.

And I had this thing where I was like blowing holes in the floor underneath it

so that it would like fall to the next floor and then blow, blow that floor

up and it's like, fall to the next one.

And then like, setting it up so that like, you know, when I'm ready to go and like

get these four safes around the map, I can go like, blow up that last floor, move

it here really quick, like run over here.

Um, it's a really hard game to describe.

It's, it's cuz it's like unlike anything I've really played.

And I, and I think you'll see that as a theme, I guess.

Mm-hmm.

maybe on this list a little bit, but like, I really like stuff that feels

different, um, that feels entirely new.

Like, I don't necessarily wanna play stuff that just feels like another

game that I loved at some point.

It's like, I already played that game, , you know, like gimme something new that

feels, that feels really different.

Um, And tear down for me, like really fits that bill.

I wish I'd gotten talked about it a little bit more.

Um, I, I think it had its moment in 2020 when it was like an early access game.

Mm-hmm.

and people just didn't keep up with it.

Um, but it is, it is like my kind of like hidden gem recommendation this

year where I'm kind of like, if you miss this, like this is the one where

it's like when you're doing your indie game cleanup, like don't skip it.

Like it's really, it's really a cool one.

Um, and a cool steam deck game.

I played that thing on Steam Deck and it was, it was a lot of fun.

Really pushes that thing to its limits.

So, yeah.

I was, um, I like I was watching the trailer on mute

while you were describing this.

Yeah.

And I remember, I remember seeing the trailer for this.

I remember, yeah.

The talk about this for like back in 2020.

I was mistaken in thinking that this game was like the Lego game that was

coming that came out earlier this year.

Yeah.

It's what?

Cause it has a very similar art style.

Yeah.

I saw some people like playing this game earlier this year and I thought

they were just playing the Lego

game.

Right, exactly.

Mm-hmm.

, they were doing like a construction sandbox thing.

Exactly.

It's like, it, I think it has like a mode that's like that, but yeah,

it's, it's like secretly this very clever puzzle game that is like

the, the best heist video game.

Like the only , the only heist video game like ever.

Um, where, where you're just like, you have to think really smart, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, and you have to almost think like, you know, like, uh, someone pulling

off a heist, like it's like a, a fast and furious game sometimes, right?

It's like fast five where you're like, okay, like we go through the

house here, we do this, and then like, we get this out here and

when we do that, blah, blah, blah.

And, and like that to me is such a cool experience.

I, I haven't had that in, in any video game.

Like, um, I'm a big puzzle game.

I'm a big puzzle game guy.

And, and I love to see games that like use the puzzle idea

in, in a really different ways.

That that's not just like the explicit, you know, expected.

Like, oh, here's what a puzzle looks like in a game.

Um, and, and I think that was just like the coolest one I played this year where I

was like, This makes me think and problem solve, but it's like still, you know,

kind of like an action game in some ways.

Mm-hmm.

. Um, and, and I think that that is like, really cool.

Yeah.

Definitely worth checking out.

Tear down.

Uh, I think it's on pc.

Um, I don't know if it came to anything else.

Um, it might, it might be on some console at this point.

I don't know.

Um, but really cool studio, uh, they get like acquired by like the

Embracer group or something this year.

Like they were, everyone did basically . It was during that

whole, like, it was during that whole wave where they picked up like

the Lord of the Rings IP and stuff.

They were like, also, we bought the tear down developer and I was like, wait, what?

? Mm-hmm.

. Um, so really, really cool thing.

And I think probably really big things coming out of that studio now that they're

gonna like, actually have a, a bunch of money to make whatever they do next.

So, um, that's, that's a cool one on my list.

Um, let me ask you a question before we move on to the

next one.

How

does it control?

Uh, I mean, I played it on Steam Deck and it, it, it

controlled really well, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, it's, you know, first person, you know, basic controls there, um,

the like, Being able to destroy anything is really smooth, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, it's just kind of like you have a bunch of tools, you, you put 'em up, um, you know,

some of 'em are guns, some 'em are like, you strapped C4 to a wall or whatever.

Um, yeah, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Pretty basic there.

Mm-hmm.

pretty basic.

Yeah.

I, I think like it pulls it off pretty well.

Um, like, it, it's, it's pretty simplified in the, in a way that it

kind of needs to be to make it work.

Um, yeah, it's definitely smooth.

Again, the fact that I played it on a steam deck, you know, like that's my

mark of like, , how well does it control?

Because like the controls on it, they're kind of weird sometimes.

Mm-hmm.

, like they, they can feel a little like strange in how it's laid out.

Um, so yeah, I definitely didn't have a problem with it.

Um, but it's, it's just cool.

It's cool if you like heist movies especially, and you just wanna like have

that moment of like, I wanna like have that like mastermind Ocean's 11 moment

of like, uh, how do I put this to you?

How do I pull this off?

It seems impossible.

Um, I think it, I think it's just like totally, uh, out of

the park, cool game this year.

Oh, good.

Good.

What's the next recommendation?

Let's do it.

Um, I'm huge on sentiment, which is the hardest video game to recommend

this year, . And I cannot recommend it to most human beings, uh, because they

will look at me and be like, this is the most boring looking thing of all time.

And maybe it is , but it's very much my thing.

Um, I think this game is phenomenal, but I, I think it's like you have to

really dig into it to get to that point.

Like when I started it, um, and I like demoed at games com in like mm-hmm.

Germany this year.

And like, I played it for like 45 minutes and was like, that's fine, . I was like,

I was like, this is, this is like cool.

It's like a visual novel.

Like I played a million games that are like this.

Um, and you know, when I started the full game, I was, I was hour or two, I was

kinda like, same thing, you know, I'm just kinda like walking around and talking to

people and it's like a lot of lore and a lot of reading and, you know, I wish

I had voice acting, blah, blah, blah.

What the game does really, really, really well.

And, and you don't really.

Pick up on it until like, like five hours into it.

Which, which is tough because it's so demanding.

Um, what it's doing with choice is like better than I think any video game has

ever handled the concept of choice.

Um, because it is explicitly most video games when they do choice, like a mass

effect or something like that, right?

Mm-hmm.

, it's always like, there's the good or the bad, or there's the right

or the wrong, and that's it, right?

It's, it's always like this morality system.

It's always like a very black and white system.

You know?

Sometimes maybe a game will be like, or you could be apathetic,

and that's like the third choice.

Um, but it's like rare that you get a game where it's like, Hey, any choice

that you do is like, that's the choice.

Like that's fine.

Like, we're not gonna penalize you for it, but like it's going to have

an impact on the world in some way.

Um, and like you will see how that is laid out.

So, so I guess for people who don't know anything about it, you know,

Penman is like, Set in the 17th century in like a fictional European village.

Uh, you're a journeyman artist who comes to this town and like the, the basic setup

of it at the beginning is that there's a murder and you get roped into solving it.

So like, at the beginning of the game, it's just kind of like a murder mystery.

You're kind of like spending your days trying to like, it's

almost like you have that like persona, social link sort of thing.

Mm-hmm.

where it's like you have like two moments during the day where you can,

you know, like chill out basically.

Mm-hmm.

, yeah.

Chill out and find your leads and like, hope that you, that you uncover

something and you have some like r p.

You know, background stats that are kind of like, oh, I have an ultan, I

have an occult background or something.

So like, maybe I'm gonna find details about the occult.

Um, but like, the whole thing is just like dialogue choices.

And there's not a ton of them, but they're really impactful.

Like every time there is one, it is important and you

understand what that is doing.

And what's cool about the game, and, and I don't know if this is like a

thing that is widely known about it for people who haven't played it, is that

like, it takes place over like 25 years.

It's like three decades of, of game that you go through over

the course of like three acts.

So the thing that's really cool about it is you see how your decisions like

impact the future of this town, and the people in it, you like revisit

them 10 years later and it's like, Hey man, remember this thing that you

did, like it has snowballed into this.

Or like, you know, it has, it has screwed up this person's life, , or

like, you know, or they remember you in a really positive way.

Um, and I, and I don't, you know, because video games don't like do that mm-hmm.

, you know mm-hmm.

, like, they, they don't let you like.

You know, it's always short term, like you made this choice in the next hour, like of

the story that is going to have an impact.

Um, but actually being able to see like you are shaping, like your decisions

have an impact and they shape like not only people, but like culture, you

know, and, and that stuff is really important and like, there's, there's a big

responsibility to that, um, is beautiful.

And, and the last act of it, um, takes that to this like

really different conclusion.

Like, it, it kind of like gets away from the murder mystery thing and,

and gets into this idea of like, um, I don't wanna, I don't wanna spoil too

much about it, I guess, but like, it gets into this idea of like, you are

making choices that like, are going to represent this culture for like, history.

You know, you're making, like, you are making artifacts that like, are going

to like, tell people the story of this town when like the people are long gone.

Um, and, and I just think that like it.

Such a phenomenally interesting game.

Um, I get why people would bounce off it in like two seconds, and, and I,

it's like, really, I've recommended it to so few people despite loving it.

Um, you know, I'm just always like, yeah, I mean, if you like books , you

know, like, and you're gonna love it, but like, it's not a game,

you know, in a traditional sense.

Um, but I think like once you get into it and, and get what it's doing

with choice and like understand, um, the, the nuance of it, I guess, like,

I, I think it's, it's just terrific.

Um, and again, just a, as a single player game mm-hmm.

, you know, One of the best, just in terms of like how personal and like quiet it

is, you know, where you can just sit with it and like, those choices feel

like your own and, and are important.

Um, so that's, that's been one on my list and it looks, I mean, unbelievable.

Like really one of the best looking games this year.

W kind of like mirroring, you know, wood cuts of the 17th century

and having that look like it's, there's really nothing like it.

Um, and some great sound design.

It's got everything.

It's great.

I would not recommend it to a soul.

If this sounds boring, you probably will think it's boring.

, don't worry about it.

Uh, I like boring stuff sometimes.

I played an

hour of it, and it wasn't that I couldn't get into it, it was just that

I had, there were so many things that came out, you know, around that timeframe.

Yeah.

It was like, it was a stacked, stacked line of game.

So I, I think I'm gonna play this this week because this, right now

I have a kind of a lull and I do love, uh, I love obsidian and I

love these stories that they tell.

So this is one of those I think I'm gonna get back to and, and very much

try to see how these stories play out.

Yeah.

One of the questions I have for you though, is like, yes.

Do you think this is obsidian

best game?

Ooh, you know, I, that's a tough question.

I, I feel like I haven't played all of their game.

Like, I haven't played Fallout New Vegas.

I hate to say no.

Okay.

I, I know.

I know.

That's the one that everyone loves.

Um, you know, I've played a bunch of obsidian games.

Um, what I would say, I think is that like it is their most.

Well, it's, it's tough because like, it was made by a 14 person team, right?

Mm-hmm.

. So like, as opposed to it being like a really big, like, full studio

effort, um, it's almost like the vision of like Josh Sawyer, like

carried out by like a very small team.

Um, but because of that, I think it's like, it's most

complete and like, direct game.

Like it is, like everything about it is firing on all cylinders.

You know, it's not like it's overstuffed with content to try and get it over

the line or something like that.

Or like, oh, it's taking tropes from open world games that it has

to do, or something like that.

Um, or doing genre things that it has to do.

Um, and so in that sense, I think it's, it's maybe it's most like.

Again, like focused mm-hmm.

focused project where it's like, yeah.

Like they set out to do something that is completely original and unique

and there's like no compromises.

It's like truly no single compromise in this game is made.

Like everything that they wanted to do feels like it's here.

And it doesn't feel like they had someone breathing down their neck and being

like, well, but it has to be marketable.

So like, it's gotta be longer, or it has to have loot, or it has to have whatever.

Um, yeah, I think like it is the purest vision of obsidian.

Mm-hmm.

, because I, I think I, I interviewed somebody on the team about it and I

asked them about like, you know, how does this fit into obsidian games?

You know, it's, it feels so different.

Um, but the thing they emphasized was like, choice is, is the thing

that matters to us as a studio.

And, and we want to be making, like, we don't wanna throw a million

choices at the players we want, like, we want to make a, like, selection

of them that feel important, um, and aren't about right and wrong.

And I think that like, this is the most.

Core obsidian game where like you strip away all the action and big effects and,

and you know, like huge storytelling and you just get to like, what makes their

games and like the meat and potatoes.

Yeah.

You, you can see it, you know, you can see like, take away all the

huge r p G elements and like, this is what their games are and this

what defines their studio, which is like meaningful, impactful choices.

Um, so like, best, I don't know.

Most Yes.

, you know, like most fundamental like building block, obsidian game.

Like if you wanna just like deep dive into the studio and be like,

but what makes an obsidian game?

Mm-hmm.

, like, I think it's a cool one to go to cuz it's so opposite of anything they

do, but then like you can kind of see like, oh, this is exactly what they're

going for in all their other games.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, that's a good question.

I

think the, I guess the best way of describing it then is like,

if Obsidian made a indie movie, this is what would be that, that movie?

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

, um, you know, it, it just kind of feels like.

Again, like Microsoft gave them the, the free reign to just like,

make an indie movie, you know, where it's like, do whatever you want.

Like what's the thing you care about?

What's the passion thing you care about?

And I, and I wish that was something that happened more.

Um, I, I think it's happening a little bit more, um, especially on the

Microsoft side, cuz they're starting to finance like a lot of much weirder

projects like this cuz they've got game paths and they just need games on it.

So they're like, just make stuff.

Just make stuff y'all.

Like what do you, what do you like?

Let's do it.

Um, and, and I hope to see more of that, like going into 2023 and, and beyond.

Like I, I would love to see more small projects like this that are off the

beaten path that are completely different, you know, like, you know, bring on

the star fields and everything mm-hmm.

and like cool.

Like I'll play those and, and that's exciting.

Um, but like, I, I really wanna see these things that feel like somebody

has something to say and like they are, they are doing an uncompromising,

um, thing to get it across.

Even like games that I don't like that do that I really respect,

like Scorn came out this year.

I really.

I don't like it.

I don't either.

I did not like it either.

I, I really don't think it's a good game at all.

But like, it's cool that like you can see them doing exactly

what they wanted to do, right?

Mm-hmm.

, you get like, they wanted to make an HR Geiger inspired game.

Like they didn't want to do a bunch of like, trophy stuff.

They wanted to like butt against a bunch of stuff.

Um, whether or not that's a good decision,

, Sebastion: it's like, for you

to decide, that's a, that's a, for a lot of debate and

I hope that some people dig it.

I like, I really don't, but like, you know, it's, it's cool that Microsoft,

um, you know, when, when kind of looking for games for Game Pass was like, cool.

Like this game is weird and it's gonna be polarizing and like, you know, some

people aren't gonna like it, but like, it's, you know, it's like an interesting

thing that they're trying to do and like, let's, let's find the audience for it.

Um, I, I would like to see more of that, even if it, even if it means like, stuff

that is not gonna be for everyone and that like, I just don't think is good.

Um, I would, I would rather play games that are bad and interesting than

games that are like, good and boring.

Um, and that is like, You know, how I feel about a lot of, a lot of games that

came out this year were like, a lot of stuff that I liked and like was, was great

and like very technically impressive.

Um, but you know, like I didn't think about it much.

, Sebastion: you know?

Yeah.

Like, I completely, I'm right there with you.

Like I, and I said this on an earlier episode, um, of the podcast where I

also concur that I think Microsoft, you know, like there is the argument

that they need bigger AAA experiences.

Like there's, there's star fields and everything like that, but there's also

an argument that they can go their own complete route and have these

smaller, more intimate experiences.

And these, these things are gonna fill out the library and they're gonna fill out the

content that they are dying, that fans are

actually dying for right now.

You know?

Yeah.

You know, and, and there was, there was a discourse like really early in the

year about Microsoft when Starfield got delayed, where people were like, why

should I have Xbox Game Pass right now?

Like, there's nothing coming to it.

You know, there's no big games.

And then like you look back.

at what was on Game Pass this year?

Really good year and like really, really phenomenal year.

Like honestly, Xbox had like the best year out of anyone.

It was crazy.

Like when you actually look back at what was on it, it was like all the indie games

that people were talking about, right?

Mm-hmm.

, it was like tunic, immortality.

Vampire Survivors.

Survivors, citizen Sleeper.

Yeah.

Like all of those things.

Signal Acknowledge was like on Game Pass, like all of the cool games

that like, people actually like wanted to discuss and talk about.

Um, were, were on Game Pass this year, and like, again, not all of

them were necessarily good and a lot of them were really polarizing

and whatnot, but like, damn cool.

You know, . Exactly.

That's Take a swing.

Yeah.

Take a swing.

And, and I would, I would.

Like rather those big swings as opposed to like really comfortable swings.

Mm-hmm.

that are kind of like, here's what we know we'll do good.

And like, here's a sequel to a game and it's the same game, but a

little bit bigger and like, cool.

Um, I, I would always kind of prefer to play something like sentiment,

um, over, over something, you know, very safe and, and established even

though I love those games, you know.

No shade.

God, A four Ragner rock on my, on my top 20 for the year.

Mm-hmm.

, I think it's a phenomenal game in, in a lot of respects, but I also was kind of

like, yeah, this, I, like, I played this , you know, like this is the 20 18 1, like,

turned up 2, 2 11 and like, that's cool.

Again, I, I, I think it is a great game.

I'm not, I don't wanna undersell it.

Um, but, you know, I definitely like, thought more about Penman playing it.

Um, I get it.

And, you

know, it's, it is thought, it is a thought invoking

game and it's almost like, you know, playing something you never played

before always leaves an impression versus playing a, a sequel like I.

I, no, I could play high on life right now.

Yeah.

And I've, I've played several hours of it, probably about to beat it.

But then I can look back and remember like my time with Gears five and sure.

Gears five is just a blank spot in my mind.

I'm like, I know I played that game, but I cannot tell you what

the hell happened at that game.

Yeah.

Not a single detail.

Yeah.

. Exactly.

I

was like, I don't know what the hell happened in Gears five.

It was a Gears Award game.

Cool.

Mm-hmm.

like, that's it.

Um, yeah, totally.

Like I'm, I'm, I'm absolutely with you on that.

Like, that's, that's the kinda game I really like.

So yeah.

What's

the next game of the list?

I'm let's the, the direction

we're going here.

Yeah.

I like it if, yeah.

If I, hopefully I'm not going too long on it.

Each of No, for sure.

Go.

Um, this, this is a weird one, especially cuz uh, I don't think that

people under, like, I think this game undersold itself like very intentionally.

Um, the Stanley Parable Ultra de.

Now, I don't know if you got it right of playing Stanley Parable alter de legs.

So the way they advertised it is like, this is the console port of Stanley

Parable X amount of years later, you know, a decade later, whatever.

Um, you know, like same game, right?

Like it is, you know, just HD graphics or whatever.

Um, that was a lie, . And it's a very, it's a very intentional

lie that they tell, um, because of what the game is trying to do.

I don't wanna like fully spoil the, the trick of the game, but what I'll

say is that like, if you like the original Stanley Parable and we're like,

well, I don't need to play it again.

I already played it.

Go, just go play it.

Cause like it.

A full second game.

I mean, like that, like, I'll stop short of calling it a sequel, but I

think you actually probably could call it like a sequel to Stanley Parable.

Um, and it is this really self-reflexive, um, very meta commentary about like, it's,

it's, it's like a boat itself, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like it is about like, hey, we're making new content for the Stanley.

We're re-releasing the Stanley parable.

And because of that we have to make new content for it.

Cuz if we're gonna re-release it, there has to be more stuff.

And that's like the conceit of the project where like the original game is in it.

But then like there's a door with a big glowing neon sign that says new content.

And when you go in that door, the game like spirals quickly

into like its own crazy odyssey.

Um, without saying too much about it, . Um, but what I will say about it is that,

um, I think we are in an age right now.

That is about content, right?

Mm-hmm.

, it's like everything is content, content, content.

People just want to consume like a million pieces of media, right?

People want like more out of their ips, right?

It's like next Star Wars give, gimme like the next Star Wars thing.

Gimme like a thousand Marvel shows.

Um, and, and there's just always this feeling of like, I

don't gimme a moment of quiet.

Like if I like a thing, give me more of it.

Mm-hmm.

, and you saw that reflected in Game Game ips this year where like Silent Hill,

it's getting a revival and it's gonna have 500 games, and it's like, okay, I

guess if you like Silent Hill, you're gonna, that's the only thing you're

gonna play for the next three years.

Mm-hmm.

, um, assassins Creed had that thing this year where they were like,

it's not enough to just tell you the next Assassins Creed game is coming.

I'm gonna give you like six of 'em.

Yeah.

Basically, yeah.

There's like six games coming at a TV show and five mobile games and

like a hub that connects them all and like, this is gonna be your entire

life, if you like Assassins Creed.

Um, and what Stanley Parable, ultra Deluxe is a commentary of is like basically

where we're at with that right now, where it's like, How do we take this thing

that was like a very direct and specific piece of art that people like now love

and like almost see as like an ip and like how do you just make more of that?

Like it's meaningless to just like make more of this thing if

it doesn't have anything to say.

Um, and the game, like very much grapples with that question of like, why do we feel

the need to just have more, you know, why do we feel the need to have more content?

Like why do we need to feel like to, to just turn everything into

this endless, endless cycle?

There's like a scene in this game where like, um, there's like an audio recording

that just over and over is looping.

The end is never, the end is never, the end is never the end.

And it's like this really haunting moment in the game where like, that's

what we're in right now, right?

This cycle of like, we, the, the content, you know, it just can't stop.

Like we just have to have more and we have to have more.

Um, and I, I think like if you, if that sounds interesting to you.

Like if, if you are someone who thinks about, um, You know, games

and, and like, thinks about, uh, media, just media and what mm-hmm.

. Yeah.

Media, media in general, like movies, whatever.

Um, and, and you think about that constant churn, you know, and you feel it, I think

with like Marvel especially right now.

Cause there, there's so many projects in the air, um, and Star Wars and whatnot.

Um, I think it's really worth playing this.

Um, if you've never played the original play through the original,

then do all the extra content.

If you have played the original, it'll ask you right at the beginning, have

you played the original Click yes.

Just go into the other thing.

I mean, it's like a full, like, as long as the original game of new content.

Um, and like, it is hysterical and self-reflexive and like bleak,

like very bleak at times, uh, in a way that is interesting.

Um, and, and like, I, I just think it is like one of the most, like, it's

stuck with me this year more than.

Like any, maybe even even my number one on this list, like

a, anything in, in this year.

Cause I, I just think it's so of the moment, and I don't think there's

a piece of media right now that has like, grappled with that idea

better of like the machine, right?

Mm-hmm.

of like, we don't value art anymore, we just value like content and

like, what does that do to us

Um, so yeah, that, that's, that's my like really left field number

two, where I think every time I say it, people are like the port

of the Stanley parable on consoles.

And I'm like, no, , no, listen.

Got it.

You gotta play it.

Just trust me.

Um, really great game.

It sounds

like this game is reflective of like the, the big argument that's

going around, especially since like the ar and the AI art like

generator came out and such like that.

Yeah, it is very much that question of like, you know, what is art?

What isn't art?

And then like, are we consuming too much media?

There's a whole lot of that, that conversation going around.

Couple of questions here about this.

Yeah, please.

Stanley Parable.

Like what cons, well did you play in

console or pc?

I think I played it on PC and I think I actually played it, like sat down

on PC with that, not not steam deck.

Um, but it is on, on everything.

Um, I think pc uh, you know, I just see it as a PC game cuz the original was a

PC game, which is why I played it there.

Um, and also, you know, it's like.

I dunno.

I just want parody with like, I have the steam achievements for

the first one important note.

It has its own achieve.

It's not like an upgrade for the Stanley Parable.

So it has its like own set of achievements, which means that if

you played the original Stanley Parable and you've been trying for

years to get the achievement, that's don't open this game for five years.

Don't worry.

, ultra Deluxe, ultra deluxe will not screw that up.

Like it'll, it'll still go.

And also Stanley Pedro Ultra Deluxe doubles that joke by adding an achievement

that is don't play this game for 10 years.

. That, that is crazy.

So funny because I like, love the game and I literally cannot play it for

10 years if I want the achievement.

And like the, the fact that it is challenging me to not play it and like

not continue to live in this thing is like also part of the point of the game.

And like that is something that like, You know, the achievement.

The first one was just kind of a funny joke.

Mm-hmm.

, um, you know, like at the game it's about free will.

So it's like kind of testing your free will where it's like, can, are

you strong enough ? You know, like, do you have control over yourself?

But this is like almost double that where it's like, don't play it.

Like, do not, don't consume this.

Or think about you.

You did it.

You had the experience.

Like, you know, you don't make this your life.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

. Um, so yeah, that's, yeah, that's the long answer to Is it a PC game?

. . Sebastion: That's, that's amazing.

I didn't even know about those trophies.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

You, I mean, if you played the original, you might have the five year one.

That's, you just gotta like, load it up and see it'll like, pop.

Oh,

that's amazing.

I'm gonna have to check that out.

So how long did it take you to beat

the, the original content?

So the original game I think is like, you know, I think like if

you do everything in it mm-hmm.

it's like a four hour game, you know, it can be beaten a lot quicker.

Beating is like a really weird term for people who haven't played this one.

Mm-hmm.

for, for I guess listeners who haven't played the original Stanley Parable,

it is like, The premise of the original game is that you are a guy in an office

and it is like a, a narrator starts like narrating your day and is like, Stanley

got up from the computer and walked out the door and you know, you walk out the

door because the voice tells you to.

And what happens is that you start to like find these branches in the narrative

where it's like he went left down this hallway, but then you decided to go right.

And the narrator's like Stanley decided to go, right.

I'm not sure why he did that.

It's only like a storage closet down there.

Like, I don't know why he's, he's going there and like the, the original game

is about this concept of free will.

It's about like, um, you know, going off the beaten path.

Um, so because of that you can spend a lot of time in it, you know, cuz

there's a bunch of like different endings that you can get to.

Um, you know, it doesn't have like a defined ending.

It's more of just like how much you.

Find its jokes and whatnot.

So the original, I think like you can get four hours of it out of

it, and honestly like four hours for the new content as well.

So it like basically is the same length as the original in, in new content.

It is like, um, you know, a, a double length game in, in that regard.

It's like, again, like a sequel within the original game, which

is such a phenomenally weird and, and fantastic, uh, thing about it.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean that's the commentary.

They're, they're like saying, you know, not to equalize everything, basically

something Don't do it.

Yeah.

There's, there's, uh, I, I won't spoil it, but there's like a really direct

thing about that in the game that is like, so funny and like, just hysterical.

Like, it's, it's such a, it's such a wild game,

man.

That's so dope.

So what's the last game of the list?

Or is this

the second or the last?

Oh, it's the last one.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's the last one.

And then, you know, I can rattle off some things really quick at,

at the end as well if we want.

Um, my number one this, I feel like this one has become like more polarizing.

I feel like it got like really well reviewed and then people were kind

of like going back and forth on it.

Um, immortality.

Uh, I loved it.

Absolutely love it.

Okay, cool.

We're on, we're on the same page.

I absolutely love it.

I had to bring it up cuz there are some people I've talked to who are

like, uh, that game's like really cynical and like, I don't like it.

Um, I think it's amazing.

I mean, I really like have not played anything like it.

I, I've liked Sam Barlow's games, um, since her story, like I mm-hmm.

, I've followed his work.

I've liked everything he's put out.

Um, and I think that this is like, so above and beyond like everything

that he was experimenting with and like her story and, and telling lies.

Um, just in, in every way.

Uh, I guess to set the stage for listeners who maybe don't know

about it, um, immortality is a kind of F M V game where you're

looking at like real filmed footage.

Um, the premise of the game is that you are trying to figure out, uh,

what happened to this actress, Marissa Marcel, who made three movies that were

never released and then disappeared.

And you're almost playing the role of like a film archivist where you're like

at one of those old school editing bays, you know, like Moviolas, and you're

just like looking through clips and the clips are from her three movies.

They're like dailies from onset, they're like behind the scenes

footage, you know, location scout footage, table reads, interviews,

whatever, all of this archival stuff.

And you're just trying to figure out like, what the hell happened?

You know, like where did she go by going through like three dec like

movies that spanned a couple of decades.

There's like a sixties, seventies, and like nineties thing.

Um, and it is like this deconstructed mystery game.

I, I always, I always call it like a deconstructed true crime podcast.

Mm-hmm.

where.

A, a true Crime podcast like puts everything together for you, right?

And it's like, Hey, we took all the pieces, we found all the

pieces of the story, and we are laying them out in a really clear

timeline so you can understand it.

And like immortality is like, no, you're the researcher who has

to put that timeline together.

Like you're the person who's like sourcing all of these clips and

being like, what the hell happened?

And like, I need to put this in an order so that people can understand it.

Um, so it's like this deconstructed mystery game that I always describe

as, um, it's like a lot of game, a lot of media, I'll say ime

like mystery media in general.

Like my problem with a lot of it, uh, is that like it's a box

of, it's a box of puzzle pieces.

Mm-hmm.

, you know, that's what, so what's winning mystery is, and a lot of media like

puts the pieces together for you, right?

It's like they're giving you them one by one and then they're like, see, this one

connects here and this one connects here.

And then like, at the end of it, they made the puzzle for you.

And I'm always like, I didn't really solve anything you just told me.

You know, like, maybe, maybe I figured it out before the ending, but like, you

know, I didn't, I didn't solve anything.

Um, and immortality is like a game, the the rare piece of like mystery media where

like it just gives you the box of puzzle pieces and it's like, go find clips.

The mechanic of the game is that you like discover more clips by

clicking on things in the frame.

You know, like you click on a person's face, it'll find another

clip that person's in and go to it.

You click on like a prop in the scene and it's like, here's

that prop in another scene.

Um, so like you are finding puzzle pieces.

You're going through the box, you're pulling them out and being

like, where does this connect to?

Like, let me try to find another piece that like, you know, maybe

is like close to it in sequence.

And there's no like mechanic of like actually sequencing it together.

It's all mental.

It's this big mental puzzle.

Do I get the story?

Do I understand what happened?

Um, and then there's another layer of it, on top of all of this that is

like a, a like psychological horror layer that I won't go too deep into,

I guess . Um, but like that, that completely changes what the game is.

Um, and, and gets into like, uh, a much like deeper kind of like heady

commentary, um, about like, you know, art.

Mm-hmm.

, but, but beyond art, you know, kind of like, hey art.

Like, sometimes like, you know, art is this like, beautiful thing that people are

so passionate about, but like sometimes there are things that exploit it.

You know, there are like systems of power that exploit art.

Like, like in this case, Hollywood, you know, where they're kind.

Doing kind of like they, they're really extorting like the,

the passion of these people.

Um, and I think like there's just a lot to chew on with it.

I think there's an element of it, um, that I read the game as like,

also asking the viewers about that.

Mm-hmm.

where it's kind of like talking about the way that we project

ourselves into art, you know, and it's like, oh, I wish that were me.

Or like, oh, I'm picturing myself in this.

Um, and how like we take over , you know, like these people who are very real,

like we put ourselves into their shoes instead and like consume them, you know?

Mm-hmm.

in, in a weird way.

Um, and it's just asking a lot of like really difficult questions about like,

you know, yes art is this beautiful and amazing and, and passionate thing,

but like, you know, there, there're also things about it that like,

it gets exploited because of that.

Um, and, and there are things about it that like, you know, there, there's a

darker underbelly to that and I think that's, Some people have like, read

this game as cynical and been like, this is a game about how art is bad.

Like what a, what a shallow and stupid thing to say, but like, I don't think

it's about that, you know, it's not about like, if anything is good or bad,

it's just like this interrogation of something that is very real, which is

like, you know, like a lot of work goes into this stuff and like that is kind

of manipulated and exploited sometimes.

Um, and it's just such a cool game.

Like, I I, I mean if, you know, for folks who haven't played it, it is

on Game Pass, but like also if you have Netflix, um, it is like on the

Netflix app, yeah, it's available.

Like you have it on your phone, you have it.

If you have an account, go to the app store and download it.

Like you have it on your phone.

It is like, like watching a movie, you know, like an interactive movie.

Um, and, uh, it's not for everybody.

Like none of these games that I put on this poster for everybody,

like, I guess except Eldon Ring, but even then, not really.

Um, but like, I think if, if that sounds interesting to you and if you're

someone that like likes, you know, That kind of like mental puzzle game.

Um, and, and if you're someone who like, loves cinema history as well, like this

thing just goes really deep into like, you know, it, it's doing a recreation

of sixties, like, you know, Italian JLo, which was like this whole like

smutty, , you know, like form of cinema and like recreating like the seventies,

like psychosexual, thriller and whatnot.

Um, and like that stuff is just really fun on its own where it's like these

pitch perfect, like recreations down to like the aspect ratio and the matte

paintings and everything of the era.

Um, so like, if, if you're especially like a cinema history

buff, which I am, you know, like it's, it's a treat in that respect.

Um, but yeah, I just think nothing is like it.

And, uh, it, it's, it's like, I would say like this Stanley Parable

impediment, especially like three games where I'm like, nothing is like,

you know, nothing are like these.

Mm-hmm.

, you know, in, in like, in what they're doing is, is so next level.

Um, and hard to recommend because of it.

But, but like I appreciate that.

Um, so yeah, that's, that's what I think.

I'm glad to hear you liked it though.

I

really enjoyed it.

I came in this really blind because I, while I heard of her story, like I

never actually dove into playing it.

It was one of the games on my backlog list, but yeah.

Yeah.

But I've heard a lot of good things about Sam Barlow games, but this was

the first one where I really just took the dive in by the way, if you're like,

if you have the experience of doing like backseat gaming to where you like

playing with a significant other around you, this is the perfect game for that.

Everyone totally.

Like this is that kind of game where you and your partner or whoever you're

with can like, try to piece together like what the hell is exactly going on

in this situation and what the hell is going on with this like, game entirely.

Yeah, it's like, it's a, it's a conversation game.

Like I played it alone, but like, it's almost like you can play it like a

multi-player game, like you said, where like, it, it begs discussion because

it begs like, what the hell happened?

Or like, click on this, I wanna see where this goes.

Um, and even just like really begs conversations about like,

what's it about, you know, and like, what's it talking about?

Um, you know, like it's been really fun to talk to people about it and,

and get different perspectives on it.

Um, you know, not just about like, like about the core story, you know, which like

has so many like, weird aspects of it, but even just like talking to people and

being like, what do you think it's about?

You know, what do you think it's saying about art and whatnot?

Um, and people have like, wildly different interpretations of it.

Um, even the ones I really disagree with and think are like, not

like, I think are totally off.

Like, I'm really interested to hear them because it's like, oh yeah.

Like I, I understand how you arrived at that.

Like, I disagree.

Here's, here's what I think it's actually about.

Um, but I think that like games.

Lack that sometimes.

Right?

Like thematically, games are kind of thin sometimes.

Mm-hmm.

, right?

Like it's, yeah, they're like about things, you know, but like, they're

usually pretty clear about it.

Like, you know, it's surface level.

Yeah.

You don't get like art house cinema games so much where it's like, you know, the

tree of life situation of like mm-hmm.

, what the hell is he trying to say with this?

Um, and I, uh, I think it's really cool that we have a game like that.

I think it's really important that we have a game like that because like,

I'm, I'm just big on like, for me, the mark of like, gaming becoming, like,

reaching its full form and becoming like, I think what it should be.

Mm-hmm.

is where we, where we get past the conversations of like, oh, my

criticisms of this game are like, it doesn't play well or it has

bugs and whatnot, like mm-hmm.

, I wanna get to a point where the criticisms we have of the game

are like, thematically this game doesn't work because of X, Y, and Z.

Or it does work because of X, Y, and Z.

Like, um, That was something with the last first part too,

that I actually appreciated.

Were like, a lot of the things about that game are unimpeachable when it

comes to like the tech, which is great because it lets you have debates on

whether or not it actually makes any sense, like from a thematic level.

And, and those debates are way, way more interesting to me.

And like, I loved talking about that game because of it, cuz it was like, I don't

think this makes sense, or I think this, this part does and this part doesn't.

Um, and those are just the conversations I think like are important to gaming.

Mm-hmm.

Like if we want to mm-hmm.

have it be like a better medium and growing medium.

Yeah.

Y yeah.

And, and like things that are worth talking about.

And like you said, like being able to sit down with another person and like play it

and, and have those conversations live.

Like it is the perfect game for it.

It really is like such a, such a special.

Yeah,

you know, it's funny that you brought up the last of us too, because

like I, that is probably one of the most thought-provoking AAA games I've

probably played in the last, like, maybe 10 years to where like, yeah, good.

To where like the conversations around that game, for better or for worse,

whether you liked it, whether you didn't, there were you all, everyone had their

opinions about that and everyone Yeah.

You know, talked in a deeper understanding and a deeper layers of conversation.

There was more nuance conversations Totally.

About that game.

Yeah.

Yeah, because like, because again, like there's nothing to complain

about with like, I mean, the action's tight, it looks amazing.

Like every, you know, it's not buggy like when that stuff is all out of the way

and like the craft element of like, we have perfected how to make a game that

runs well and works well and everything.

Once you get that outta the way, you can get to the conversations

that actually matter, which are.

This game is talking about cyclical violence.

Does it do a good job at it?

You know?

Mm-hmm.

and like how does its story fail and how do its mechanics, you

know, support it or not support it.

Um, and I think that's why the first one is like amazing, uh,

you know, as well, cuz it like, you know, also reached that gap.

Oh yeah.

Um, and yeah, immortality for me is like a game that also does that, where it's

like, this thing is so like iron clad on a craft level, like the acting mm-hmm.

, how it's put together, like the direction of it.

Um, that like we can just talk about.

What, you know, like what it's about and the fact that there were conversations

of people being like, I think actually it's cynical and like it's doing this is

way more interesting than people being like, I don't know how it, like, I don't

know about the controls of this game.

You know?

Mm-hmm.

like, wow, that's so cool.

. Like, I love that

. Sebastion: Yeah.

It is a completely different conversation.

Um, like all three of these games, you know, all three of the last games we

were talking about, like are completely different conversations than what you and

I would probably be talking about, about like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet right

now.

Yeah, right.

Exactly.

Absolutely.

Completely.

We're, we're not having conversations about like what that game story is about.

Mm-hmm.

. Right?

It's just like, well, the thing doesn't work.

That's a bummer.

We can't get to the point where we're talking about like, is this

an effective children's story?

You know?

Mm-hmm.

, like Exactly.

It's just lost.

Yeah, for sure.

Giovanni, I'm curious about something you, like, a lot

of the games you suggested are very thought provoking games.

Uh, yeah.

What games did you play this year, or what was your main game that you

played this year when you just wanted

to sit down and chill and.