That was the EXACT moment I set the controller down and turned off my PS4. I remember it happening and thinking "Oh I guess this is a thing that happens in this game... I think I'm done here." I am not a brave soul and I have no shame about it.
Stage Select: I have a confession to make. I can't handle horror games at all. I think it's an anxiety thing. I stopped playing Batman Arkham Knight because of the random jump scares it had in it. So excuse me if I make some weird choices here.
3. The Faceless from XCOM 2. These guys were big clay... things that were disguised as people you were sent to rescue. You didn't know who they were until you were right next to them. It was not comforting at all. No sir, I didn't like it. I lost men... Good men.
2. Malboros from Final Fantasy. I have never held shoulder buttons to run away from a battle so hard. I don't like their faces. I don't like status effects. I am just not about that life. Why do they not have eyes!? Why does a plant monster have such poor dental hygene!? It's not okay!
1. Nurse Edna from Maniac Mansion. WHY IS SHE BLUE!? WHY IS SHE SMILING!? WHY DOES SHE WANT RADICAL SURFER DUDES TO ROT IN HER BASEMENT JAIL!? I am not about this life.
Chrono Crossing: Maniac Mansion. My mom used to love this game. She used to spend entire nights trying to figure out different ways to beat the game, and as a kid I would spend those nights watching her play, and running to hide when one of the creepy blue people would come to throw one of her characters in jail. She used to have to call me back into the room when they were gone because I was so scared of them. That being said, we bonded a lot through that, and when she sees me playing games now she always jokingly asks if I'm playing Maniac Mansion. In 2014 my mother developed Korsakoff Syndrome, which is basically alcohol related brain damage. Her memory is very short term, and certain memories she has are either fabricated, or gone completely. She's a lot better now than when this first happened, but as a test, I bought a copy of Day of the Tentacle and rushed to the part where you can play Maniac Mansion in it. I gave it to her to play, and she still remembers most of the game. We both sat around trying to piece together how to beat everything, just like we did when I was a kid. If this doesn't speak to the power of video games, I don't know what does.
My episode comment: For context, I am 31. I followed Zelda Ocarina of Time in every magazine I could get my hands on about it at age 12. I was super hyped for it. While I do agree, it did a lot of good stuff for it's time, I just couldn't get into it. I've tried to go back a few times because of how highly regarded it is, and I just don't see it. I think I just find Hyrule a boring place. It's probably a me thing more than anything else. (I love the 2D overhead view ones though. So it's weird) I also had just spent 100 plus hours exploring every aspect of Final Fantasy 7 at a friend's house not long before playing it, and I was reallly into ANY story in video games at that point. (I'm not saying FFVII's story is amazing at all. I was just really coming off a HOLY SHIT VIDEO GAMES TELL STORIES! revellation at the time.) So maybe I was just asking too much out of a Zelda game. I'm gonna have to go subscribe to Digital and Dice after this show, those guys were super fun to listen to. Culdcept Saga will live on in my heart always. Also I apologize if my chrono crossing is too long, I just really wanted to tell that story, because it was one of my favorite moments as a gamer. Also I'm glad someone appreciated my Roman Reigns reference. I thought it was pretty good.
Stage Select:
3. God of War. I remember seeing this game and being impressed with it, but I was bored with it pretty quickly after that. I think visually for it's time it was very good, but that doesn't save the fact that Kratos is a terrible character. Julian has said he was sick of Kratos after God of War 3. I was completely tired of angry man doing angry things for reasons I didn't care about after about 2 hours of this game. Kratos is the Roman Reigns of video games, and I will never understand the people that think he's awesome. Also quick time events and mashing one button repeatedly does not make good gameplay. It's just boring.
2. Super Smash Bros. I like fighting games. I really do. I'm not the best at them, but I love them. Super Smash Bros is not a fighting game. It's just chaotic garbage. The amount of times I have played this with friends and died because I lost track of where my character was is just stupid. The concept is find the cheapest tactic you can and exploit it for an entire match. Nintendo nostalgia does nothing for me. I couldn't care less about some 12 year old's dream match between Captain Falcon and Pikachu. These games are not good... Or I'm just not fun to be around when I miss a jump and die IN A FIGHTING GAME!!!!! ...It's one of those two.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Yep. I'm one of these people. I think this game is a good game. It's perfectly fine for the most part, but I don't think it's the 10/10, all time great masterpiece that people make it out to be. Link is boring. The world of Hyrule is okay at best. The gameplay is fine usually. There's nothing mind blowing about it at all. Maybe I just don't get it. I mean... It's like a solid 7.5 - 8 game to me. Note to the internet: Please put the phrase "Ocarina of Time is mediocre" on my tombstone when I die after I am inevitably murdered for saying this.
Chrono Crossing: Super Mario Bros. 2. The first game where being a princess had a distinct advantage. This game was pretty fun as a kid so... that's my pick... I recently met a guy who dreamt Birdo was going to eat him as a kid and was deathly afraid of the song that would play at that part. I tested this by humming it around him... Am I an asshole? Probably.
My episode comment!: I missed you guys. I really did. It was a long enough hiatus that I actively forgot what I wrote for the episode. It was kind of fun hearing what I said for that reason. You guys have gotten into the emulation debate before on an older episode so I wasn't surprised by the passion that topic brings out. I loved it. So good job pantsless dudes. It was worth the wait!
Stage Select:
4. John Carmack. I'm admittedly not the biggest Doom guy, because I didn't have a PC in the days when it was huge, but there's something about games being called "Doom clones" for a long period of time, that leads me to believe this guy deserves a spot on the mountain. Can't deny his influence on the industry.
3. Hironobu Sakaguchi. I like Final Fantasy a lot, and I especially like the ones he was involved with. They were just better games, and there were a lot less unnecessary zippers. This guy made RPG's cool to me, and that's special.
2. Hideo Kojima. His games are always cool, and I loved how he was one of the first to really make me feel like I was playing an interactive movie. I think he's influenced the industry a lot, and I don't want to imagine gaming without him... Please don't make me do that.
1. Shigeru Miyamoto. I may not be the world's biggest Nintendo guy these days, but when Nintendo ruled the gaming world, boy did they rule with an iron fist, and this man's games were a big reason why. The fact that he's still making games with crazy new concepts is nothing short of amazing. I actually did a presentation in 6th grade on Nintendo, which basically turned into a Miyamoto shrine. So thanks for that A+ Mr. Miyamoto. Keep doin' you.
Chrono Chrossing:
I'm gonna pick my personal favorite beat em up of all time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. I liked me some Ninja Turtles in those days, so this filled my young heart with joy. I have many fond memories of... getting to the third level before dying... I wasn't very good at games then.
My Episode Comment: I sure hope I did Stage Select correctly this week, as the previous post picked... not real people. I thought too hard about real developers at work all day today to not use them, so I'm sticking with my picks. Also, I've only met one other person who played Mendel Palace and I think we were both shocked that somebody else knew what it was and had played it. It's pretty obscure. (I believe it was Gamefreak's first game actually before that whole Pokemon thing happened) And I don't think you're a dick Julian, you're just an honest dude who isn't afraid to give his opinion. I know the struggle, as I'm kind of the same way. Keep doin you bro! OH! And Yakuza Zero is a lot of fun. I completely forgot about that game. It's actually a good place to jump onto the series as it's a prequel story, and the mini games are super great.
Stage Select:
3. Nier Automata. I know, I just used this one, but it's still stuck in my head. I loved this game. This game could have been just an anime and I would still be singing it's praises on how great and different the story was. But it's a game, and the way the story is told is perfect for the medium. It's just awesome. Set it on easy and enjoy the ride if you have to. I swear it's worth it.
2. Street Fighter Alpha 3. I just picked my favorite Street Fighter here. I think it's anime enough. It had animes based on it, and one had Chun Li fight Vega in the shower. This was a life changing moment for me. Let's leave it at that.
1. Fire Emblem: Fates. After spending a good 80+ hours on this game playing matchmaker for my army, and hanging out at my sweet pad with my goth/necromancer girlfriend, I can't put it anywhere else but the top spot. I think there was a story about killing an evil king and being kidnapped when you were a child in there somewhere? But I was way too focused on making time traveling babies. Thanks Fire Emblem: Fates!
Chrono Crossing:
I'm gonna pick a bit of a weird one here, but I had a game called Mendel Palace on NES as a kid, and I loved it. I don't think I've ever played a game quite like it since. The premise was each stage was a square and you had to flip the tiles of the room over to knock the enemies into the walls to kill them. Some of them split into smaller versions of themselves, some of them were,,, synchronized swimmers? ...It was weird. But my mom and I had a blast playing it co-op, so that's my pick.
My episode comment: This was such a good episode. I seriously choked up a few times. I've added so much stuff to my playlist now that I didn't know about. I also laughed so hard at the Chun Li sound test comment that I was asked if I was alright by someone at work. I've definitely done that before in more formative years of my life. Thought I would share this.
Stage Select: This one is kind of hard because I'm a very manly man who's full of manliness... I'm also a liar... I cry like a child.
3. Weight of the World from Nier Automata. This game is just so heavy. It has way too many sad moments, and it's recent so I'm not going to spoil any of it. Most of the saddest moments of the game don't have any music behind them at all, but when the music in this game kicks on it is heaven. This soundtrack is just so good, and if I could pick the entire thing as a choice I would. But I can't, so here's the end theme. It sums it up pretty well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_janwmzRU&list=PLc_RJ2laVnkAwYhZ7V8t4n4y-U1zd0fOj&index=62
2. Father and Son from Metal Gear Solid 4. This is the song where Big Boss comes back after snake puts a gun to his own head. He then laments about the mistakes he made in his life, before saluting The Boss' grave. Then he collapses to the ground, tries to light his final cigar and is too weak to do so.
"Boss, you only need one Snake. No... Maybe the world would be better off without snakes."
>Old Snake lights Big Boss' Cigar and puts it in Big Boss' mouth<
"This is good... Isn't it?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Pu92St5O0
1. Final Fantasy VII's The Great Warrior. Let me just set the scene for this...
You just used an X potion to kill the boss of the dungeon you were in. As you proceed down the path, you observe a statue resembling your party member Red XIII. It is a statue of the warrior Seto, who Red XIII has regarded as a coward and a traitor to his tribe. Bugenhagen then reveals the truth. That his father Seto was in fact a hero, who rushed into the battle to keep the evil Gi tribe from invading Cosmo Canyon. The Gi tribe's arrows turned Seto into stone. This statue is Red XIII's father's grave. As Red XIII howls at the statue, tears fall from above. And Red XIII finally knows, he is the son of the great warrior Seto, not Seto the coward... Oh the salty emotional juices my 11 year old self shed on this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrI8bHs6Qvk
Chrono Crossing: As I view Chrono Crossing as the game that has left the fondest memories for me, I have to pick Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior. I was very small when I discovered the arcade cabinet in my local mall. I used to beg my dad for quarters to play it, and he would have to actually lift me up so that I could reach the buttons. I could beat the first guy, who was usually Ryu. But, the second one, I could never get past. It was a small Chinese girl by the name of Chun Li, who could bounce off walls, and would taunt me by laughing at my lack of motor skills after I lost. It's one of my earliest childhood memories. I now have a ridiculous Chun Li crush as an adult, probably because of all the times she kicked my ass... Maybe I should talk to a psychiatrist about this. Either way, I love you Chun. Call me?
Oh yea, I know this is going to sound kind of crazy/suck upish of me to say, but as a listener to both of the video game podcasts you mentioned there, I actually like this one the best just because of the personalities. It's starting to freak me out how close my opinions are to this show's. So when you guys recommend a game, I know I'm probably going to like it. And I love Bombcast and Rebel FM for my video game news, but I'll take NWP's game suggestions over their's 9/10 times. And for tracking purposes I'm almost to the Rob episodes of the old stuff. I have no idea what I'm going to listen to at work after that.
You are also influencing my need to play things, as I recently had a week off work, and I was bored... And I kept reading tweets about Fire Emblem... Which then led to me buying a 3DS along with all the Fire Emblems and Bravely Default, because I listened to the NWP about it not long ago. I haven't played much of Echoes yet, (Or Bravely Default) but I put about 60 plus hours into Fates. I do not regret this decision so far.
Also I would like to defend Injustice 2 just a little bit as I've really enjoyed it personally. The fighting system in it may not be the greatest, but I really do like all the stuff they packed into the single player aspect. I'm not a competitive fighting game... guy at all. I avoid playing them online like it's the plague, but I had a real good time doing all the missions for loot boxes of gear and leveling up my characters. I thought it was a pretty cool thing, and I wish more fighting games would do something like that. The story mode was also pretty cool. It just felt like there was always something to do, which for a fighting game, is pretty rare. The fighting itself is mediocre, but I kept going back to it for all the other aspects.
I also apologize for putting in my stage select/chrono crossing stuff in early, but I have a terrible memory sometimes, and I like to do things while they're fresh in my head.
I think I said the exact same thing about Anthem when I seen the gameplay and found out it's multiplayer based. It looks pretty cool! Too bad I'm never going to play it. I'm still waiting for something to get excited over this E3. It's just a lot of FPS's so far and I am just not big on those at all. Hopefully my attitude changes after the next couple presentations. Everything looks super pretty, but nothing has just grabbed me gameplay wise.
I found the show through the Square Roots podcast. I'm pretty new to podcasts in general, so whenever I hear something recommended by another show I check it out. You had John Brandon on for the music episode and I loved the format. I've been listening ever since and loving it. I know I love a podcast when I start commenting out loud to it. So then I figured I might as well start putting those comments on this site cause why not? It's easily in my top 2 favorite podcasts for sure. It's very laid back which is what I love about it. It also helps your cause when I find someone who feels basically the exact same way I feel about Zelda games Julian. We may be a minority, but I'm glad we exist.
