(Note: This episode contains a detailed discussion of Adios, and at points veers into spoiler territory. The Adios talk begins at the 20-minute mark and lasts until 1:17:00, with some direct references to the ending at about 1:15:00.)

• The need for feed in Jurassic World: Evolution


• A deep-dive into Adios: is there enough game in this game?


• Skye wants to do chores harder


• Skye also wants to milk a goat


• Adam talks himself into liking Adios even more than he already did


• Tearin' stuff up with Turnip Boy, who is a dick


• Sometimes the curtains are blue


• Trading minigames and their acceptability


• Scarlet Nexus, cosmetics, and anime (*so much anime*)


• Trails 'n Tales


• The !FALcast game of 2021 (which was timely when we recorded this)


• (Look time just got away from me, OK)


• (I've been playing a lot of Trails of Cold Steel)


• (It's really good btw)

• What's the grossest food word?


• Adam's very real, very intense problem with yogurt


• Back 4 Blood: it's current, it's gurgly, and we like it!


• (but we gripe about it anyway)


• (and first we talk about Evolve for a while, because of course)


• Weird magical cards, and the guy who helps you with them


• B4B's lonely, arbitrary hub area


• And just when you think it's over, BAM: 30 minutes on Metroid


• Samus Returns crams too much Metroid into Metroid


• But how about that cutting-edge 3DS tech?


• The one (and only one) not-so-great thing about Hollow Knight


• Skye, of all people, refuses to let the podcast die

• oh hey check it out it's the !FALcast again


• Matt's Pinball Journey


• Skye wants a good, clean, brisk episode (and does not get it)


• Matt would have us all Stop Believin'


• Dwerve: tower defense in motion, with spider flowers


• The suspicious motives of the chef in Lady and the Tramp


• Tribes of Midgard = Don't Starve Diablo (with microtransactions)


• The tutorial that refuses to teach


• Fortnite to Fall Guys: when every game expects you to play forever


• We played No Man's Sky (aka The Space Game) alone, together


• YOU'LL PLAY DRAGON QUEST V AND LIKE IT


• Everyone look at this fun picture my kid drew


• Finding the game you want to play in the game you're playing


• Wait, Graveyard Keeper Dude is *married*?


• Enjoyment vs. engagement


• Fishing (Ridiculous and otherwise)


• Seriously though, why won't they let me talk about Ys 9, it's *so good*

-Amorous olds

-I rehash the plot of FF4 for some reason

-"To be a true paladin, you must not fight now!" *fights*

-This episode's hot take: After Years was bad

-The merits/demerits of random encounters

-Cosmic Star Heroine and its beautiful pacing

-Eagle Island: it's bird-themed!

-The tragic servitude of Pokemon (with a brief detour into monkey personhood)

-Matt really likes Mega Man 11

-Air Man, Crash Man, Metal Man, Bubble Man, Wood Man, Heat Man, Flash Man, Quick Man

-Skye continues to not like roguelikes/play video games

-Hardspace: Shipbreaker and watching people perform manual labor

-Darren P. vs. Darren C.

-The mundane joys of House Flipper

-Surprisingly, ASMR doesn't work on Skye

-ok then there's a weird little ASMR cul-de-sac for a while

-Left 4 Dead is basically Destiny (?)

-Matt assuages my palpable fear that he wouldn't like The Outer Wilds

-You guys I *love* The Outer Wilds (AND SO DOES MY KID!)

-Skye worries it might actually be *too* good

• Crunch and the ends (not really) justifying the means


• Van Goff


• The delightful million-thing cleanquest of Horace


• Matt the Save Piggybacker ruined rental games, possibly childhoods


• Can you walk on time? (Also no)


• Boy this time-walking thing sure overstays its welcome


• Skye threatens to quit the podcast because of the time-walking thing because literally of course he does


• Reference as game design in Evoland


• The perfect medley of Retro Game Challenge


• Do you know the KACHO?


• Check out Skye's Last of Us 2 video and a bunch of other stuff at his YouTube channel, you see Skye this is what friends do they support each other

• "Woman Stuff" is not the title of this episode


• We love Overcooked!


• We hate Operation Raccoon City!


• (Also Games for Windows Live is haunted or something)


• Experiencing the joy of failure and yelling at wheelchair-bound raccoons


• Dumb pretentious nonsense about "speaking the language of video games," and it's not even Skye saying it!


• Steam remote play worked! ...at the TIME


• I LOVE SAYONARA WILD HEARTS


• ...no seriously though I really really love Sayonara Wild Hearts


• Gris' beautiful representation of grief, and us forgetting how many stages of grief exist


• (Also you trundle around as a stone block with a little head on top)


• Let's throw a Swery game in here for good measure because why not


• The open beta of West of Dead that no longer exists is cool


• (West of Dead is cool)

• OK *now* we're gonna talk about Warsaw


• The brevity of Warsaw (see?) vs. the cruelty of Darkest Dungeon


• But whither base building?


• Chimera Squad as XCOM Junior


• What does it mean to be at full health?


• The ramifications of sternum injuries


• Gameplay systems: Less is more (except when less is less)


• XCOM's fake accuracy percentages continue to remain fake


• No seriously though get a load of these two gaslighting bastards acting like probability isn't a thing


• PROBABILITY IS A THING

Oops Wonder what Matt thinks of Death’s Gambit? Oh well, suppose we’ll never know Is potato salad a salad? (Or, failing that, a video game?) Skye only got into the podcast game to pad his resume He also maintains to-do lists of games instead of playing them The incomprehensible narrative, anime oversaturation, interminable barks and … Continue reading Ep. 35: Look at Those Friends →

RetroAchievements.org offers a great excuse to play old games The 7th Saga is hard to recommend but easy to love (honestly it’s pretty rough going) Jurassic World Evolution and the art of the Ungame Guarding the gate at Silent Hill/pushing the Mushroom Kingdom back down a Brooklyn drain Control: Brilliant with just a hint of … Continue reading Ep. 34: A Weeping Fridge →

*Note: This episode contains GREAT BIG HUGE GIANT SPOILERS for Dying Light: The Following, Lost, The Dark Tower series, and Dragon Quest: Your Story. The spoiler-y stuff starts 8 minutes in and ends at about 43 minutes.* The frustrations of reaching a destination that negates the journey Chasing diamonds right off a cliff in Dying … Continue reading Ep. 33: I Hate This Episode →

Quick hits! (sort of kind of not really) Dead Cells is great, but is it a Metroidvania? Deck assembly vs. dice rolling in Slay the Spire and Dicey Dungeons Void Bastards is great, full stop Days Gone was better than people acted (Deacon St. John is a worse name than people acted, and people acted … Continue reading Ep. 32: Mysterious Grandpa →

“What are we gonna talk about?” Is pinball a video game? (No, it very much is not) Holes Farming, comedy clubs and flesh reanimation: the high-stress days and unholy nights of Graveyard Keeper Where does YOUR meat come from? The judgment-free zone of Stardew Valley Making townsfolk your friends/undead ranchhands Who wields the true power … Continue reading Ep. 31: My Eagle is a Horse →

Matt is hungry Musings on a graveyard; butt A rash of Neverland poisonings Will Adam ever get to talk about Persona 5? [PERSONA CONTENT REDACTED] The thought-provoking, generous, occasionally pointless brilliance of NieR: Automata Seriously though, play Binary Domain Celeste shows kindness through challenge (The mountain is a metaphor you guys) Nintendo Switch as perfect … Continue reading Ep. 30: No Good at Learning →

Destiny 2: Why is it like that? Matt has recording troubles (and a phone call) An attempted intervention for a Destiny addict The need for variation within repetition The gauntlet is thrown at Eminem, hastily withdrawn, and thrown again Binary Domain vs. Gears of War Destiny 2 vs. Borderlands/Titanfall 2/The Division No, seriously, Skye, your … Continue reading Ep. 29: Video Games Should Stop →

Does Prey spoil its own ending? Mimics and organic jump scares Another interesting crafting system for Adam to hate Inventory management and compulsive leveling Do Bethesda games have a random crap problem? Quest logs and adaptive nonlinearity Dynamic diamond-chasing Pre-order bonus cheat packs

The surprising success of Horizon Zero Dawn’s apocalypse Strong world and setting design sets it apart from other open world games Dynamic, tactically improvisational combat But the game should be harder in a few ways We discover a crafting system that Adam can tolerate The implied sense of resource economy fails to come through in … Continue reading Ep. 27: A Beige Room →

Oxygen Not Included is Spacebase DF-9 but better A required build order stifles creativity Complexity turns us on and turns us off “Who among us does not love infrastructure?” Adam’s PixelJunk bias returns Nom Nom Galaxy and the problem with soup How to identify (and avoid) strategy games Space tomato farming tips for budding soup … Continue reading Ep. 26: Take Disease to the Next Level →

Balls.

The Last Guardian: A great and terrible videogame …that we spoil a little Classification of a monster An indirect experience Has development limbo left its mark? Should a remake strive for preservation or improvement?

Matt returns to Dark Souls Killing friendly NPCs in Souls games Adam is a dirty FAQ user Is equipment in Dark Souls too complex? Is equipment in Bloodborne too simple? Quest-givers and combat allies Time progression and Insight Mechanically encouraging aggressive play Speculation about Chalice Dungeons Old news: Bloodborne is great