0:00

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the greatest, but

0:02

let me play devil's advocate here. Let's eat,

0:04

so... No, that's a good

0:06

thing. Uh... That's definitely

0:08

not a problem. Reese's,

0:11

you did it! You stumped this

0:13

charming devil! In

0:16

the tradition of radio classics, here in Tales

0:18

of the Night are

0:21

the stories, horrors, and

0:23

legends that inhabit the streets of Mexico

0:25

and Ibero, America. The

0:28

darkness of the most successful and

0:30

acclaimed horror podcast across all categories

0:32

in Latin America looms over

0:34

you. Now in English.

0:38

Tales of the Night. Tune in now. But be

0:40

warned, because in the silence of the dark, you

0:43

might just become the next protagonist of Tales

0:45

of the Night. Listen to Tales of the

0:47

Night, wherever you get podcasts. Hello

0:58

and welcome to the iGen UK podcast

1:00

on our big blockbuster week. We've got

1:03

some big things to talk about this

1:05

week. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, June

1:07

Part 2, and the

1:10

new roguelike that's taken over my life, which I'll

1:12

tell you all about later. But first, anyone watching

1:14

Lob is Blind season 6? I am. Yeah.

1:18

Always. I love that show.

1:20

I never really watched that show, for some reason I

1:22

just needed something to turn my brain off of this

1:25

week and I was like, I'll go watch this. They're

1:28

just all doomed, aren't they? It's never going to work.

1:31

It'll be like every season where like one or two of them

1:33

will make it, but then majority of them, you can already see

1:35

the writing on the wall for a lot of them. It's

1:38

just, I get the experiment. It's a fun reality show. That

1:41

isn't how life works. It's not going to work like this.

1:44

That's right. Do you know what? When

1:46

I saw there was a new season, I was like, so excited. Because

1:48

it's the show that me and my wife watch together and we just

1:50

bitch about everybody on the show. It's like, we

1:53

don't watch many reality shows, but it's one we do like. If

1:55

there is one very cute couple who could actually

1:57

work, but they Just seem like two nice people. They're

2:00

actually a good couple. allow the as he gonna

2:02

which ones you took bad I see what should

2:04

I thought well i bore and move have to

2:06

go get married or what about because the drama

2:08

and I like the ones whether the love triangle

2:10

and then they meet the of the person he

2:12

realized oh senate race and you big pharma at

2:14

love it's been a summit. He'll have a team

2:16

of. Thought. And all nice

2:18

says it. Reality, it's not my bag.

2:20

Success is surveys have some reason I

2:23

once yeah, what's that? One season at

2:25

ease Netflix things on my. Ass.

2:27

Muscle for the era. think the older male that

2:29

get a reward sites not ones that one as

2:31

just where they'll be blow to cope with a

2:33

man who have that if one of them wants

2:35

to get married and the other one doesn't answer

2:37

it's like I bloody the final to mail and

2:39

what they do with a subscriber is the allies

2:41

yet where they will be done on around me

2:43

on a on what partners I'd like to they

2:45

get to live and someone else for like three

2:48

to see what life would be like with someone

2:50

else. And then then megabytes of average

2:52

apart of and say okay now to watch want to

2:54

marry you and on Sometimes when I'm with said sense

2:56

of they fall in love with the person that they

2:58

as is set up Voted me mad is Mullet I

3:00

was. Ten suggested he needs gone

3:02

to reality show and give your partner an

3:04

ultimatum like in a week. If you don't

3:06

Mario got a new release is probably not

3:09

in the right play. Absolutely. These people are

3:11

is extremely naive to the see choice and

3:13

I says. That a lot of time

3:15

they want to do the says because they want

3:17

to say the way to become plate is actually

3:19

But I like that because they will. They will

3:21

do stupid things because of bad effects of fun

3:23

television. Good. While there

3:25

we go there is a little

3:28

the yearly Netflix reality romance bump

3:30

for them until they needed I'm

3:32

sure as probably what most people

3:34

watch on Netflix these days and

3:36

see that murder documentaries or or

3:38

romance a reality and we gets

3:40

ah phone fancies. Seven.

3:43

Rebirth. Said it right there

3:45

we go as low bad romance in the

3:47

if you lot going on a date with

3:49

dogs aura women or men s our spare

3:52

we'll go until outlay or I'm sure but

3:54

I'm a thing we can all agree. We'll.

3:57

very very very much enjoy this game not

3:59

say it doesn't in places but

4:01

we all think it's a very fun game. Should we start

4:03

with about what we love about this

4:05

game first? Which is, I don't know, where do we want

4:07

to start? Do you want to start with the combat? It's

4:09

still good, isn't it? Yeah, I find it so hard to

4:12

talk about the things I love because I just, honestly, I

4:15

find that in life in general but I just enjoy

4:17

them and it's the niggly thing that I always have

4:19

things to say on. Okay, well we'll get on to

4:21

the nitty-clay. I know, I know, I know. Okay,

4:24

this is something I thought last night that I'm

4:26

sure you guys are in agreement with. I

4:29

think it might be one of my favourite

4:31

open worlds, just

4:33

in terms of how the areas are

4:35

built because they're so packed, so dense

4:37

and each one is so uniquely designed

4:39

in how you get around them and

4:41

manoeuvre around them. I always feel like

4:43

I'm discovering new crevices, new corners. It's

4:46

like the opposite of these, especially Fireman 16

4:48

which are just flat landscapes. It has. It

4:51

sort of, I think, takes you by

4:54

surprise in the fact that the very

4:56

basic fundamentals of the six

4:58

is the kind of open world hubs that

5:00

are in this world and

5:03

you work out what you need to do

5:05

in them by activating towers which is the

5:07

oldest trick in the open world book at

5:09

this point and feels like it should be

5:11

really like trie and

5:13

an old hat and boring

5:16

and whilst, you know, kind of like actually activating

5:18

those towers is exactly what you've done in Far Cry,

5:20

each one's a little bit different to Climb and

5:22

then you activate it and it puts things on your

5:25

map. I think what you

5:27

said, Dale, is these maps are

5:29

constructed not like typical

5:31

open worlds. They're almost,

5:35

it's not as twisty and knotty as God

5:37

of War's level design but if you spread

5:40

that out over a much larger place, it's

5:42

kind of got a bit of that to it. You

5:45

can't just beeline from A to B. Getting

5:47

from A to B will always require you

5:49

to find like an interesting route which might

5:51

require you to use a chocobo that has

5:53

a unique ability. It might require you just

5:55

to think a little bit about how am

5:57

I going to climb this area, how am

5:59

I going to narrow this area. the gay

6:01

or it might require so of like fighting

6:03

through different so of enemies and stuff like

6:05

that and the fact that it's never a

6:07

cases. Just. Follow my

6:09

compass direction, it makes you feel really

6:11

engaged and when I was talking about

6:13

a preview I spoke about this by

6:16

them adding games to fight the climbing

6:18

and soul. I be able to swim

6:20

and stuff like that while a lot

6:22

of that is a bit too slow

6:24

for its own good as the sense

6:26

of adventure. And. Everywhere you've got

6:28

to go in the open world it feels

6:30

like you are on an adventure and it

6:32

helps that everybody tags along with you. See

6:35

Got this big group of kind of by

6:37

the end of the game like eight people

6:39

tagging along with the each one has their

6:41

own climbing animation, swimming animation, walking animation and

6:43

it really feels like those moments in like

6:46

Lord of the Rings when you got the

6:48

shots and the entire saw the ship is

6:50

tracking across the world. It gives you that

6:52

and so I think it's It's an open

6:55

will that is consistently engaging because of that

6:57

and. He swore yeah I like thought that

6:59

ago. Even like each area has it's own clerk

7:01

like sites guarana know all of them a great.

7:03

Some of them are a little annoying to go

7:05

around for at least I do like the this

7:08

game even Still pretty much the very end is

7:10

throwing me things your way and nice things to

7:12

do like love them at the appeal but it

7:14

never have to. I say never maybe only once

7:16

or twice for like twenty minutes. threats. his was

7:19

either. Close the board in this

7:21

game so it's giving you something different to

7:23

do. And it's Lights Family that combat is

7:25

just at. One of my favorite combat systems

7:28

in any games and is for a pretty

7:30

much the same as the As remake with

7:32

a few wrinkles added. The I just enjoyed

7:34

playing it so much. that's the thing like

7:37

even when the stories and progress and seamless,

7:39

I enjoy playing this game so much. In

7:41

that spirit is a game you wouldn't enjoy

7:43

planet right and I just. I

7:46

said. Even any terrier light you'll

7:48

have a similar checklist of things to do.

7:50

Like you said, like they'll be lights. These

7:52

proto relic quests which are at first glance

7:54

heat and light dismisses our just like open

7:57

mode villa stuff. I think. i'm

7:59

but I don't know what

8:01

happened on Google Meets, there we go. A

8:04

little like, a little thumbs up there. A little thumbs up

8:06

there and pops up on your screen. What was it? It

8:08

wasn't Google. I don't know

8:10

what I pressed there. Stop me a mid

8:12

thought. I saw all of our faces just

8:14

going, what happened there? Anyway, I

8:17

was talking about Open World quirks. And

8:22

they're like, there's this list of, like I

8:24

said, these proto-relic quests that are in each

8:26

region. And I think at first

8:28

you could dismiss them as just Open World filler and

8:30

just like, go here, collect this thing for someone, or go here

8:32

and beat this thing for someone. But

8:35

in each region, they're a completely different type of quest,

8:37

and I like that they didn't just, it would have

8:39

been very easy for them, for example, to do, don't

8:41

want to keep the barriers to Final Fantasy XVI. But

8:44

like, those side quests were the same thing

8:46

the whole way through, and they were basically

8:48

all fetch quests. Like these were, there's so

8:50

much better variety. And not all of them,

8:53

like you said in your preview, Matt, not all of

8:55

these mini games and quests are pinnacles of game design,

8:57

but they're all varied enough that you're

9:00

not doing the same thing 20 times. You'll,

9:02

a maximum, probably do the same thing four times.

9:04

For a game that is, you could potentially play

9:06

this for 100 hours. And

9:08

I do feel that every single hour of

9:11

your play, it's not that you're going to be

9:13

doing something completely different every single hour, but

9:15

I think you're never going to have

9:17

a sequential set of like four hours

9:19

where you're doing the same thing for

9:21

four hours. It feels like every 30

9:23

minutes, even in the main quests. And

9:25

sometimes, sometimes it asks you to

9:27

do some shit. Like there's a bit later,

9:29

quite far into the game where you just

9:31

have to spend about 20 minutes throwing boxes.

9:34

And it's really bad. But

9:36

immediately either side of that are

9:39

completely different activities that you'll be doing. Some of that

9:41

will be very combat heavy, some of it will be

9:43

very exploration heavy. And then you'll go into a section

9:45

which is very dialogue heavy. And

9:48

then you go into the open world where every

9:50

third quest that you're doing is

9:53

like a weird mini game that you'll

9:55

play once and never see again. It's

9:58

really strange. Main

10:00

story at times like they are mini games a lot of

10:02

them are optional but at times you're like you will be

10:05

spending two Hours stretches just playing mini games, which I enjoyed

10:07

because I find them fun and I'm having fun playing this

10:09

game But I do see it could it

10:11

does slow the plot down We'll get on to

10:13

probably story later because that's where quirks will happen

10:15

But like I just want to about the

10:17

characters and I feel like they do and this kind of links

10:19

to story They do such a less people don't

10:22

know I'm I Haven't I've

10:24

only have played the first like few hours of the

10:26

original Final Fantasy from 97 So I

10:28

don't have a great connection to these characters apart

10:30

from in remake So you guys love the original

10:32

to death and know it inside out like I

10:34

thought this game did such a great job More

10:38

than like I never felt the in the first game.

10:40

I had a fantastic time I loved it by never

10:42

the characters are like all these are a cool group

10:44

of characters this game That's such a

10:46

great job at connecting you to those characters

10:49

I think through side quests through the main

10:51

story and I just I really do like

10:53

care about all these characters now and it made

10:55

the main story at times mean more and There's

10:58

just I wet like I don't know

11:00

if this has always been the case And I'm probably like

11:02

regret saying old news like to me cloud is the worst

11:04

character in this game and everyone around him is better That's

11:08

how I felt in this in this one. I'm sure about that,

11:10

but I would say this is the best portrayal

11:13

of these characters and me Matt have spoken about

11:15

this idea of like You know when you got

11:17

30 years of these characters being out in the

11:19

world It's you know makes it a little bit

11:21

with hindsight makes it a little bit easier to

11:24

refine them and make them More palatable

11:26

like I think personally from the original game But

11:28

I had no attachment to Yuffie at all in

11:30

the original game I never had any interest in

11:32

her but all of a sudden now in this

11:34

game to some of the clever writing and characterization

11:37

I've done I've grown attached to

11:39

these characters like way more than I ever

11:41

have always easily just be irritating and she's

11:43

not and like times This is a day,

11:45

but like ultimately you understand her character. She

11:47

has more dimensions to her Understand like why

11:49

that's that part of a personality exists And

11:53

there are moments where it leans a little bit

11:55

on emotional blackmail at times, but it most of

11:57

the time I think it works. Well, it's even

11:59

bits like I don't really care about these characters.

12:01

There's one bit like the end of Far Quest

12:03

I was just playing, I think it was Aerith's

12:05

theme on the piano to some cats and I

12:07

found myself like choking off of this I don't

12:09

why do I care about this so much I

12:11

was like I only just like I haven't known

12:14

these people along but yeah and Barrett I just

12:16

love barry and his story and in this so

12:18

much. I think the writing has been significantly improved

12:20

and obviously the original English language version of it

12:22

was full of like weird translations and stuff and

12:25

also like very even though some of these

12:27

characters are still stereotypes to a certain degree

12:29

like it was even worse than the original so

12:32

like these years of refining this dialogue

12:34

and just and making their interactions so

12:36

much more palatable like um Red 13's

12:38

um side stories like one of my

12:41

favorite stories from the original and I

12:43

just think they've just expanded on

12:45

it and made it even stronger this time around.

12:47

Was that always in the main like well all

12:49

that that's a question I like we're not spying

12:51

on people like are all these because

12:53

all these quests on the mainline path with these characters

12:56

they seem like they might once upon a time have

12:58

been side stories or are they always just part

13:00

of it? Only um so Yuffie's was

13:02

a side story and Vincent's but they

13:04

were optional characters as well but everything

13:06

else was part of the main story

13:08

yeah cool yeah I'm

13:11

just yeah I love that we can talk about story now

13:13

because you guys probably haven't what to say

13:15

about this than me like I I

13:17

enjoyed the story I do feel like for long

13:20

stretches it kind of it does put the main

13:22

threat into the background you're kind of left at

13:24

times thinking like what are we actually like

13:26

what is what is the main goal here like

13:28

where where is Sephiroth he goes missing for long

13:31

stretches um but I don't know

13:33

if that's how the original game was and

13:35

that's kind of an inherent problem of this

13:37

middle section yeah essentially so the

13:40

the worst thing that you can say about the plot of

13:42

this game is that there is no plot um

13:45

because it it is taken from a

13:47

section of the original game in which

13:50

they have established that Sephiroth is a villain and

13:52

they probably need to stop him and

13:55

this is a almost slightly aimless

13:58

journey to pick up a a

14:00

bunch of characters, each one that has

14:02

their own motivation to help Cloud stop

14:04

Sephiroth, and it's really only when

14:06

you get to the end of this section of

14:08

the game that it starts to clarify why

14:11

Sephiroth is such a distinct threat. Well

14:14

when you turn that section, which I would

14:16

say is probably about 8 to 10 hours

14:18

of the original game, when you turn that

14:20

into at bare minimum a 30 hour RPG,

14:22

which is going to be if you just

14:24

play the story, at max a

14:27

100 hour RPG, you do have a

14:30

game that sort of feels like it's just spinning

14:32

the wheels for a certain amount of time, but

14:36

I feel if you can look past that and

14:38

play this as a character piece rather

14:41

than a plot piece, then what you're going

14:43

to get is lots of segments

14:45

of characters

14:47

being introduced and explaining

14:49

why you should care about these people

14:52

and why you should care

14:54

about the world they're from to

14:56

make the much more apocalyptic third

14:58

game feel like it's worth going

15:00

into. I would say this game

15:02

definitely feels more like you play

15:05

Mass Effect but you're just doing the loyalty missions.

15:07

Yeah. And I remember thinking that in the original

15:09

game as well, I was like, okay, now we

15:11

go to Red 13's home, now we go to

15:13

Barrett's home, and you do loyalty

15:15

missions with all these people, and like Matt

15:17

said, it's only really at the end that

15:19

we're like, okay, now we're starting to put

15:21

things in order of where we're heading, what

15:23

our goals are. I

15:25

will say, as though it did kind of, I wouldn't

15:27

say it ever frustrated me because I was just always

15:29

enjoying where the story went, like all the funny places

15:32

it went, like you go to a place like Cossosil,

15:34

Del Sol and Goldsalls and just have a fun time.

15:36

It never truly frustrated me, I was

15:38

always having a good time. I think that's because

15:40

it reminded me of what I like about like

15:42

a Dragon and the Persona game so much is I

15:45

just like kind of hanging out with my friends in

15:47

those games and that's what you do a lot in

15:49

this game is kind of, you're like, they even, they

15:51

know it's ridiculous, at times they'll be like, oh,

15:54

can we just go and have fun in this amusement park?

15:56

And clouds kind of like, but everyone's like,

15:58

yeah, let's do it. And you're kind of like. Yeah, let's

16:00

do it. Why not? Let's have some fun. We

16:03

kept like, we're not going to obviously spoil what

16:05

happens at the end of this game. Neither

16:08

really what happens in the 1997 original or in

16:10

this one. Or how, if at

16:12

all, it differs. But like, I think

16:14

we can all agree and I think that's been the

16:17

consensus I've seen in almost every review. It's

16:19

like, the ending's just messy, right? It

16:21

doesn't necessarily give you, and that's the, I think

16:24

that's probably the most frustrating thing about this game

16:26

is you can have dozens and dozens of hours

16:28

of fun, but it doesn't quite

16:30

land its ending. It is a problem. It

16:33

is what the actual turn we're looking for is. It's

16:36

a mess. It is a very clunky mess

16:38

and we've been speaking about it already and

16:40

saying like, this idea of

16:43

trying to create ambiguity and

16:46

you know, leave you with questions and stuff, but

16:49

it's going too far down that direction. And

16:51

there's times where you just need to be

16:53

clear. I

16:56

also think having, so it took

16:59

me a while to come around on the end of

17:01

Final Fantasy Remake. You know, that was a game which

17:05

essentially breached fate, which meant that

17:07

anything could happen in this second

17:09

game. This

17:11

second game is, I would

17:13

say, between 85 to 95% just

17:16

a straight remake of the original game.

17:18

And obviously much more expansive

17:21

because it's a huge new RPG

17:23

with modern storytelling

17:25

techniques, modern graphics, modern combat techniques.

17:27

So it is much bigger and

17:29

expensive, but it is still for

17:31

the most part the same story

17:34

with the final five hours of the game, which

17:36

is where it goes a bit skeweth. And

17:39

so I'm starting to question what the

17:41

value of doing this whole breaking

17:43

of fate, and it's not going to be the same as

17:45

what you remember is, when so

17:47

much of the game is

17:49

brilliant as a just straight up

17:52

remake in the same way that the Resident

17:54

Evil games remake. Yeah, it's like they're kind

17:56

of caught in between two spells, right? It's

17:58

either be completely faithful or just go... bonkers

18:00

of it and that kind of in between. I do

18:02

feel like kind of conned a little

18:04

bit because I really love this game and I

18:06

love the original in this because it's replicating a

18:08

lot of the original but they

18:10

did end the first one by saying

18:13

the unknown journey will continue and the

18:15

implication was forget everything you know

18:17

about the original we're going in a completely different

18:19

direction and I thought oh we'd see all the

18:21

same places but everything would be different and it

18:23

turns out it's not that at all and

18:26

so it is a little bit disappointing in a

18:28

way because I really didn't like the ending of

18:30

Remake but that promise made me excited for what

18:33

I was going to see and I really love

18:35

Rebirth but it's not what I thought it was

18:37

going to be. Yeah but like I should

18:39

emphasize no matter how much I think I don't speak for you

18:41

and no matter how much I think it does stumble the last

18:43

half an hour to an hour I still

18:45

had what 57 to 58 amazing

18:48

hours of this game I couldn't stop playing it

18:50

I was having so much fun that is largely

18:52

down to that combat which like if

18:55

you haven't if you don't remember how to play that game

18:57

it took me a few hours to learn how

18:59

to defeat big bosses again it's like all

19:01

about building up that stagger while basically and

19:04

then just once you get it dropping infinity

19:06

and infinities end on them basically to smash

19:08

into bits. It's straight up it's

19:10

the best combat the square

19:12

team have made for a final fantasy since ATB

19:14

existed in 1997. There

19:18

we go. I think it is

19:20

like the way that it combines

19:22

the real spirit of what final

19:24

fantasy is with

19:26

those kind of command based things with

19:28

an action system that by

19:31

and large feels really strong and

19:33

punchy to use. It has each

19:36

of its characters I cannot believe that

19:38

you know it adds another three playable

19:41

characters in each one of them feels

19:43

absolutely nothing like any of the existing

19:46

characters to play. Red 13 has this

19:48

really interesting hybrid between defense and offense

19:50

and you keep him defensive for a

19:52

certain amount of time of the fight

19:55

and then you can unleash all of

19:57

that like harnessed defensive power into attack.

20:00

Yuffie is so

20:02

fast and you can use it as

20:04

both a ranged or close attacker. And

20:06

she's, I'd say, completely different. You

20:09

would think maybe she's a bit like Tifa because she's

20:11

a martial artist. Absolutely nothing like

20:13

it. And the way they've done that, but

20:16

the other thing that they do that I really love is

20:18

the new wrinkle of the combat system. Are

20:20

these synergy abilities and over

20:22

time you can build kind of out

20:25

this skill tree that allows certain

20:27

characters to do certain special moves

20:29

with each other. They

20:31

are incredible because not only

20:33

do they give you interesting boosts through

20:35

the battle, so there's one I constantly

20:37

use between Cloud and Tifa that

20:40

would remove MP costs

20:42

so they could then cast as much magic

20:44

as they want for a period without it

20:46

costing them anything. But

20:48

they also do stuff that allows you to extend

20:51

the stagger period on enemies, which is where you

20:53

can deal 200% extra damage. So

20:56

doing all of that felt

20:59

really beneficial to that combat system and

21:01

really gave it interesting wrinkles. But

21:03

also, the thing I love

21:05

about this game is it's a game about a bunch

21:07

of friends doing what it takes to

21:09

kind of like take on big problems in

21:12

the world and having a

21:14

combat system that allows the animations

21:16

to really show these people working

21:18

together. It's astonishing.

21:20

And it always does something that's just really

21:23

fun. There's one between Aerith and Barra where

21:25

they send back to back and they put

21:27

sunglasses on. And it's so

21:29

fun. It

21:32

all happens so quick and there's so much effects on

21:34

screen. You kind of can't properly see it until

21:36

I've had to slow down video and watch it

21:38

basically. But it's

21:41

just all very fun. That's the

21:43

main takeaway I have in this game.

21:45

It might sound just very basic. No,

21:47

I think you have language, right? It's

21:49

just so fun. And it really captures

21:51

the sense of fun that Final Fantasy games have

21:53

just lost over the years. They're

21:55

so perfect. And this game has moments where

21:58

it's really perfect and serious. knows

22:00

how to have an

22:02

amazing laugh all the way through it. Like

22:04

everybody's, not just the players having fun, the

22:06

characters are having fun, a lot of the

22:08

game as well. And then you compare it,

22:11

God, when was the last time in a Final Fantasy game when they

22:13

had fun? Maybe 12, maybe? Like

22:15

even then. Even 12 is very heavy. Like

22:17

I think 10 is quite honestly the time

22:20

when you feel like there was actual genuine

22:22

joy in the world. Yeah, exactly. And it's

22:24

like- And a lot of that can come

22:26

through Queen's Blood, which I should add is

22:29

an excellent card game. Yeah, I wanna

22:31

retract my statement that I made on Queen's Blood during

22:33

preview, because I said that I didn't think it was

22:35

gonna be very good. It's actually

22:37

a really, really well thought out

22:39

deck builder. Yeah, and

22:42

it has its own, again, it's like,

22:44

this game does have surprises, like don't sleep on it. For

22:46

the first time, a few times you play it, you might

22:48

be like, oh, this is a cool, fun

22:50

game, I'll leave it. But like, it actually has

22:52

its own side story and side quest to follow

22:54

through right until the end. That's actually quite cool.

22:57

A lot of the side quests and stuff have that in that

22:59

game, which I'd say is like, so I

23:02

blasted through the main story. The

23:04

main reason was because I want to think,

23:06

because we're working on an end of the explain video and I want

23:08

to get to that as quick as possible. But since

23:11

then, I've gone back and put nearly 30 hours of

23:13

extra stuff just going around doing all the side quests.

23:16

And I'm always surprised at how much effort

23:19

in terms of storytelling is put into side quests. A lot

23:21

of it, they could just make fluff side quests, go and

23:23

do this, go and do that. Every one of them has

23:25

some sort of character relationship or

23:27

building or story from the past or character from

23:30

the first game that's come back and they're involved

23:32

in some way. Although

23:34

it is mad how easily all these people who

23:36

lived in Midgard get around, even though it seems

23:38

like the biggest challenge in the world for you

23:40

to get around. Like, Chadleys everywhere, like that guy,

23:43

just nonstop. There's a lot of suspension and disbelief

23:45

you have to do in this world. Yeah,

23:48

once you do it, you'll have a great time.

23:50

And I will also add, like, I think Bizali

23:52

Square did say this is a standalone game, which

23:54

it technically is, you can buy it and play

23:56

it by itself, but I think you'd be so

23:58

lost if you haven't played the first game. I

24:00

mean I think a lot of people are lost if you

24:03

haven't played the original game I think you can still just

24:05

about muddly way through. I mean yeah, I got it. I

24:07

got it. It was only when Obviously

24:09

remember it's only the very end and where like you've

24:12

had to explain like a few and I still knew

24:14

what was going on But you know it doesn't mean

24:16

as much to me basically, but yeah, but yeah, I

24:18

the the

24:20

idea of it being standalone it is Absolutely

24:23

not but it does

24:25

stand head and shoulders above Final Fantasy 16

24:28

I think I'll reinforce that I know I said

24:30

that when we were talking about this at preview

24:33

that I'd found 16 disappointing I Cannot

24:36

believe how how far in advance this

24:38

is over 16. This is Exactly

24:41

what in many ways I think my ideal

24:44

final fantasy 7 remake is this game with

24:46

the full story in it You

24:49

know kind of like allowing that full story. I think you

24:51

can you can play the original from a 97 in about

24:55

30 hours, so I'd say kind of a nice 60

24:58

hour version of that with these big

25:00

expansive open worlds would have been

25:02

my ideal way of doing this but Hopefully

25:06

whatever comes next improves on it, but

25:08

if that one completely bips it This

25:12

one is my ideal type of Final Fantasy and

25:14

has been my favorite thing could they just use

25:16

this formula for the next I don't know how

25:18

many different regions and cars head all the spoilers

25:20

or anything like it. Could you just Know

25:23

there's not as many run with it.

25:25

There's not as many more We there's

25:27

probably about three major places left to

25:29

go to really so like

25:31

Medea or Rocket Town Where

25:34

the icicle in is the snow area and

25:37

then like all the endgame stuff But

25:39

I suspect they're going to do

25:41

bigger for it. I suspect Rocket Town is gonna be

25:43

way more significant In there

25:45

and I suppose it depends how they what they

25:47

add Right without entirely

25:50

dance around these about what other

25:52

places you might spend them in with Well,

25:54

I'm genuinely hoping that they fulfill what I

25:56

thought was going to be happening this game.

25:58

Where is they completely? mix it up in

26:00

the next one and yes you visit the

26:02

same locations but the story goes in

26:04

its own way. I would be excited to

26:06

see that. I am

26:09

a lot in this

26:11

game that they mention it

26:13

in Remake that there was this war between

26:15

Shimura and Wutai and that

26:17

is kind of yeah that's been pushed

26:19

forward so and I imagine whereas

26:22

Wutai is a small town in the original I

26:24

have a feeling that Wutai will be much more

26:26

defined as a country in whatever comes next. Yeah

26:29

Wutai is a big one I completely forgot. Yeah

26:31

there is a reasonable amount of locations I don't

26:33

know about biomes though we kind of only got

26:35

really got snow one left and everything is kind

26:37

of similar. I am legit I mean I've started

26:40

this game about four times in my life I'm

26:42

legit and what you think about just playing the

26:44

original now because I am hungry for more and

26:47

life only ever got I don't think

26:49

I've ever actually got through mid-game I've played it like

26:51

four times I've never actually got through to like any

26:53

of what this game was showing me so I probably

26:56

should do it. In regards to the I just want

26:58

to go back to the Final Fantasy 16 thing and

27:01

it's extra mad to me considering they

27:03

were being developed like it's similar times

27:05

and one team is not looking at what another

27:07

team is doing and seeing what can we

27:10

do like 16 is so straight back

27:12

and minimal in comparison and which actually blows my

27:14

mind they came from the same

27:17

you know publisher really. Yeah you've got

27:19

it's funny as well because Seven feel

27:21

this rebirth feels so maximalist right like

27:23

it has everything almost to a degree

27:25

to its detriment in the fact that

27:27

there is so much here that it

27:29

means that the quality bar can't be

27:31

even across it but when you

27:33

look at them in like trailers

27:36

well 16 is the maximalist one because

27:38

that's the one with all of these

27:40

gigantic boss battles against deities that are

27:42

you know kind of the magical equivalent

27:44

to nuclear bombs and yet it's

27:47

quite low-key what you play in that

27:49

game aside from those boss fights and

27:52

it is essentially a game where you

27:54

travel in straight lines through combat arenas

27:56

into cutscenes and

27:58

for this to feel so. so much like

28:00

a genuine adventure, which is absolutely exactly what

28:03

the original Final Fantasy 7 was. And it

28:05

had to capture that to work. And

28:08

it couldn't have, because I can remember when I was playing

28:10

16, I was doubting myself as

28:12

I was like, is what

28:15

I like about Final Fantasy, like

28:17

not real? Does it not exist? Is it always

28:19

a game where you just play combat bits and

28:21

then move into cutscenes? And to

28:24

play this and be reminded, no, I was

28:26

right, Final Fantasy was always quite adventurous and

28:28

you did get to have a feeling

28:30

of agency in the game and go and do cool

28:32

things. It's very vindicating to me

28:35

to remind myself Final Fantasy is good when

28:37

it wants to be. I do like, want

28:39

to almost toot my own horn, but

28:41

go back to the same when we were talking about

28:43

16. I vividly remember saying like the biggest flaw for

28:45

me was not having a party of playable characters, just

28:48

being focused on one character is not Final Fantasy to

28:50

me. It's about the team. It's always about the team

28:52

going out on an adventure. That's

28:55

exactly what this game is about. And that's like

28:57

you actually actively build bonds with them. You can

28:59

check, see how happy they are with you. And

29:01

that all leads to the gold source, which, you

29:03

know, go on a date with someone. Dale, you've

29:05

actually seen all of these dates. I've

29:07

seen all the dates. Which one is still the one

29:10

people should go for? Which one is the best date

29:12

seen? Ooh, well, best

29:14

in terms of like information you get or best

29:16

of just like fun to watch? It's just the

29:18

most, the most, the most fun one without spoiling

29:20

it. Or a couple. So

29:23

I got one, which I imagine a lot of

29:25

people won't get, but I think it's because I

29:27

was going so fast. This is the

29:29

reason I got it. But there's one, if you don't

29:31

build up any relationships enough, you

29:33

get one where you go with Kate Sif,

29:36

Vincent and what's

29:39

his name? Sid. Sid.

29:41

Yes. And you go with like a three way

29:43

guide date. Sid actually says the lines that there's

29:45

nothing weird about three bros hanging out going to

29:47

watch a play or something along those lines. And

29:49

you just go out on a Sky World date

29:51

together and nobody really wants to talk and it's

29:53

awkward in Kate Sif's trying to break the ice

29:55

and it's just a bit of fun, you know.

29:57

So we're basically saying make no fun with anyone.

29:59

That's probably the opposite way. If

30:02

you want bonds, honestly, I would

30:04

say Yuffie, mainly because that

30:07

was where I really found a moment where

30:09

I made a connection with her. At that

30:12

point in the game, she's very much one-note,

30:14

she's just about, I want to

30:16

get materia because I want to help Wutai. And

30:18

she's like, all she's focused on. But

30:20

then she has some real breakthrough

30:22

moments in that Skyrim. Was that a love is blind

30:24

moment? It's like you're in the pod in the Skyrim.

30:26

You are in a pod, yeah. You can see for

30:28

now, yeah. But honestly, all

30:30

of them really have a lot of value,

30:33

way much more than the original game, which

30:36

you could date Barrett and Yuffie in the original game and they

30:38

were very much joke scenes. But now

30:40

they're very much vehicles

30:43

for emotional moments between characters where they

30:45

can break through and talk

30:47

about their shared insecurities and things. And every one

30:49

of them has something like that. So yeah, it's

30:51

a lot of value. And Red 13's one, you

30:54

get some important story stuff that isn't told in

30:56

any point in the game. So

30:58

it's good stuff. It's a

31:01

fantastic game. If you're looking forward to this game, I don't think

31:03

you're going to be disappointed. It's

31:05

very, very fun. Can we

31:07

talk about one criticism though? Or a couple of

31:09

criticisms? We did, we just found the story.

31:12

But I do want to say this thing, I've said to you guys before,

31:14

but I want to say it's like, I do

31:16

think everything in the game is about 20% too

31:19

long all the time. And that's, I'm

31:22

not sure it's everything. I think almost everything. I

31:25

think that falls in the fact that this is like

31:27

a 10 hour chunk of a game stretched out. The

31:30

first game had that same problem. But I even

31:32

think it comes down to mini games and

31:35

sequences. I think everything, it

31:37

always feels like it just goes just a little bit too long

31:39

where I'm ready to move on. I

31:42

can honestly say there was only like two,

31:44

maybe three sections. One of the box throwing

31:46

we talked about is not good. There's

31:48

like a mind sequence. I thought it was a

31:50

bit longer. I think it gets increasingly worse. So

31:52

I don't have that problem in the first half

31:55

of the game. The longer it

31:57

goes on, I think in the back half, it

31:59

really does like. The penultimate chapter is probably

32:01

an hour or two. Yeah, well that's way

32:03

too long. But I think even like there's

32:05

several sequences in the game, I think it's

32:07

probably about four different times, where they force

32:09

you to stop and say, you have

32:12

to do some minigames to progress. Yeah, I did

32:14

really like those. But I'm a

32:16

sucker for that, so I'm a sucker for in

32:18

games like this, like Persona games where like you always

32:20

inevitably go on a school holiday for like five

32:22

days and just talk to people and have fun. I'm

32:25

a sucker for those like downtime bits in big eyes.

32:27

I love the option of all these minigames, and a

32:29

lot of them are good fun. But sometimes I

32:31

just like, yeah, I didn't want to stop. I

32:34

wanted to carry on with the story. And that's the

32:36

way I play, I suppose, like leaning to that. But

32:38

yeah, I agree with Cardi on this one that I

32:40

thought the pacing of this game was actually

32:43

surprisingly strong for the most part. It

32:46

helps that I think Fun

32:48

and Fancy Remake was quite egregious with

32:50

its pacing problems. And really

32:52

in the back half was just like, we

32:54

want everything to last longer. And

32:57

so much so, like moments that took two

32:59

minutes in the original took like two hours

33:01

in remake. And then they make

33:03

you go back to shit characters and do more

33:05

stuff with them that you didn't really want to

33:08

do. I think this doesn't necessarily have

33:10

that. But what I really like about this is it's

33:13

a game that is split up. The

33:15

opening essentially is you do a big linear section,

33:17

which you've probably played if you've played the demo,

33:20

which is very kind of like story focused. And

33:22

then you go into an open world section, and

33:24

then you'll go into a linear section, and then

33:26

you'll go into an open world section. So it's

33:28

got a good set of pace there. But I

33:31

think the way that it has those mandatory mini

33:33

game sections, such

33:35

as when you go to Costa del Sol for

33:37

the first time, I think it's really for me

33:39

who was playing it at about a 60 hour

33:41

thing, that pacing felt right. Because it

33:44

meant that I was having these moments

33:46

of not high octane

33:48

energy fights or high octane

33:51

energy conversation. That's like

33:53

those heavy story beats. So it's having a moment for

33:55

these people to just be human

33:57

beings, just to live and

33:59

have. a bit of fun and so

34:01

having that displayed through more

34:04

frivolous mini games and you only have

34:06

to really play them once in that

34:08

section, that for me felt kind of

34:10

like it aided the pace and

34:12

it helped with the humanity of the story. I

34:15

can see that. I can see that. It's

34:18

a big game and it served a big

34:20

chunk of time to talk about it. There we

34:22

go. I like when we get to actually delve deep in

34:24

on a game. It's a very very good game. I

34:27

really do love it. It's probably my favorite game

34:29

of the year so far. We've only had two

34:31

months but we've already had some great games like

34:34

A Dragon, this, Helldivers, chipping

34:37

in that again and having

34:39

a great time and another game which I'll

34:41

talk about very soon actually. But first from

34:43

one massive game to a massive film, me

34:45

and you Matt, we have seen Dune Part

34:48

2 which I was actually thinking about this. Actually very

34:50

similar to Final Fantasy 7 and I know they're

34:52

kind of both got the Star Wars links that

34:55

Star Wars was based on. Dune and Final Fantasy

34:57

7 is essentially kind of based on Star Wars

34:59

in a way is what I'm getting a lot

35:01

of it. I don't

35:03

know what to say based on it but there's a lot of

35:06

parallels anyway. And as

35:08

much as this film I get

35:10

really really like but kind

35:12

of also I think for me anyway it fumbles

35:14

at the end and kind of fumbles some of

35:16

its big moments like Final Fantasy does. And

35:19

it's definitely the middle story

35:22

in a three part structure right? I

35:27

think the quickest

35:30

way to say is if you like Dune from

35:32

a few years ago I think you're going to really like Dune Part 2.

35:35

It's in the best way kind of more of the

35:37

same I think than as much as nothing

35:41

I've seen in cinemas. Maybe

35:43

apart from Top Gun Maverick

35:45

recently has like blown me away

35:47

on like an audio visual scale

35:49

in a cinema like the Dune

35:52

films have. Denny Villeneuve's production design

35:54

his team on these films is

35:56

absurd and every little

35:58

like it's not even just. the score every like

36:01

little like creaking mechanical sound in this

36:03

film is just so like you

36:05

can like it's so alien but

36:07

yet you can so like you can feel every

36:09

like the bit of metal in it

36:12

so I'm I'm obsessed with

36:14

the production design on this film it

36:16

is everything it's the same as what

36:18

both June part one and Blade Runner

36:20

2049 was it speaks to me on

36:22

such like a level that it's almost

36:24

like direct to my soul in how

36:26

much I love what I'm seeing on

36:28

screen but there is there's a sequence

36:31

where the

36:33

Harkonnen troops are going in and they

36:35

still do that thing where they float

36:37

which is so weirdly eerie and alien

36:39

it's like nothing I've seen in sci-fi

36:41

before but their suits have

36:44

got like this little like weird fan in

36:46

the back of the head and you see

36:48

it in so many shots but it doesn't

36:50

spin like a normal fan it's I

36:52

don't know how they've got it to look like

36:55

it does and you can just hear it

36:57

like very quietly whirring and it's obviously some sort

36:59

of filtration device but it's

37:01

that is indicative of the wider

37:03

design philosophy on this film of

37:06

things that you know

37:08

that Star Wars used future kind of aesthetic

37:10

that they like it's got

37:12

that but whereas everything in Star

37:14

Wars looks like it's designed for

37:16

sci-fi this just looks like it

37:18

was designed by a completely different

37:20

civilization far away from us

37:23

it is genuinely alien feeling even

37:25

though they're made by humans but

37:27

and they're all meant to work so I remember

37:30

when I talked to Denny Villeneuve for the

37:32

first June like we were talking about how he built like the

37:34

ornithops and stuff he was like and the

37:36

suits and everything it's like actually designing building

37:38

it so it would all physically work like

37:40

if in theory this needed to happen and like

37:42

could be built it would work like and

37:44

that's what you say about that filtration there's no

37:47

need to show you the filtration system on

37:49

a suit of armour but he's thought about

37:51

it they've designed it and they've built it so

37:53

it would work and it's just it really

37:55

does make make it feel like it yeah he's

37:57

a play yeah and like there's in that

37:59

whole secret There's also a bit where

38:01

kind of like a batista is stood

38:03

behind a pilot The pilot's helmet is

38:06

one of the best props I've ever

38:08

seen in a film. It is just

38:10

so beautifully robust and believable

38:12

and unlike the closest thing I could say

38:14

is it reminds me a little bit of

38:16

things I've seen in cyberpunk but very

38:19

kind of dirty and Sandy

38:22

I suppose is the right term. But yeah

38:25

like production design is incredible just

38:27

to look at and hear this film is is Phenomenal

38:29

light and especially what they do at the Harkonnen world

38:31

and how they kind of use it

38:34

Sun to like paint But you're watching a

38:36

different film for like a 15 minute when

38:38

they're on Edie Prime. Yeah Yeah, is the

38:40

entire film goes into almost like monochrome, right?

38:42

Cuz the atmosphere is so oppressive that everything

38:44

just appears in black and white You've

38:47

got Austin Butler being absolutely mad It

38:51

does delve more like the first film did it

38:53

as well this one as well It delves into

38:55

horror at times in like imagery not in like

38:57

scares or anything But like the image is so

38:59

like oppressively like gothic Sci-fi horror at

39:01

time and like this prop like it's a spoiler

39:03

to say that the Baron gets in his bath

39:05

again Everyone all of that he gets in his

39:07

big tar bar. I Do

39:10

I said I think it looks

39:12

phenomenal sounds when all performances are phenomenal I

39:14

think anyone who doubted for me anyway that

39:17

Timfy Chalamet like doesn't have like the power

39:19

to pull off this or I think he

39:21

genuinely does display I've a really good like

39:23

yeah got a rule roar at times I

39:26

don't know spot like it's an old story,

39:28

but if you don't know what happens in June like it

39:31

happens, but It's

39:34

and I feel like this and today actually as

39:36

well when I shout is very very good Like

39:38

she doesn't have a lot to do in the

39:40

first one, but in this film she relies as

39:42

much her film I think I actually think she's

39:44

the most important character in the entire film obviously

39:47

Paul is the You

39:49

know his his this Messiah

39:51

like figure that is leading kind of the

39:53

Fremen You know to

39:55

retake June is the whole kind of gold of the film,

39:58

but Shani is a character,

40:00

you know, she is the heart

40:02

and she is the political

40:05

kind of angle that this film

40:08

really required. She brings,

40:11

which wasn't in the book, it was

40:13

something that came in June Messiah where

40:15

Frank Herbert realised that not

40:17

a lot of people really understood the

40:19

idea that the Messiah figure in June

40:21

is not supposed to be something that

40:23

you immediately are just like, yeah, amazing.

40:25

So that's where June Messiah comes

40:27

in to make it out that what Paul is doing

40:30

is not necessarily something we should all be on board

40:32

with. And I think Shani's

40:34

character brings that into this

40:36

film so incredibly well. Yeah,

40:40

it is magnificent, I think, but it's not

40:42

about, I think, some flaws, which I

40:44

think comes in, it's like, it's kind

40:47

of, and I think part of it is down to

40:49

the fact of this is a story that's been riffed

40:51

on so many times that you at times don't feel

40:53

like you're, like, you're kind of waiting for a twist

40:55

or something to happen that's not going to happen because

40:58

this is a story that has been told a lot

41:00

of times. I do think it has, in its

41:03

imagery and in its action scenes, enough

41:05

to, like, surprise and, like, show you

41:07

things you haven't seen before. But story-wise,

41:09

it's kind of fairly A to B

41:11

and I know that it

41:13

doesn't maybe go quite as weird as the book

41:16

and that's where you were maybe slightly disappointed in

41:18

where it goes. Yeah, there's a, there's a sequence

41:20

that I was waiting for and it just never

41:22

happens, which involves a baby and that

41:25

just never happens, which is, it's just

41:27

sort of a shame, but also I

41:29

recognise that maybe that is so strange

41:31

that it wouldn't necessarily fit the Vilna's

41:34

version of Dune. No. I feel

41:36

that this does have a more

41:39

satisfying ending than part one.

41:41

I know a lot of people very much felt like part

41:43

one built and built and built and then never, and then

41:45

kind of ended, right? It kind of ended. I really liked

41:47

that it kind of ended with an understated,

41:49

like, sword fight and then kind of that was

41:51

it, like, wait for part two and we're lucky

41:53

we got part two. But this

41:55

does definitely has much, it has an ending

41:58

but definitely leaves the door open. for

42:00

a third film. So hopefully we

42:02

do get that one day, I doubt we won't.

42:04

But yeah, you'll afford to it though. Very much

42:06

so actually. Like, do you know what? My dad

42:09

used to watch the first June film a lot

42:11

when I was a kid and I hated it.

42:13

And I was like, no interest in this whatsoever.

42:15

And then when that film came out, there's something

42:17

about it appealed to me. I watched it and

42:19

now I've seen it like three times since. And

42:22

now I'm into it. Maybe I should read the book as

42:24

well actually. The book is

42:26

genuinely great. Obviously I'm full of so much

42:28

weirdness because of all like the Ben Gesserit

42:30

and stuff. But this kind of story of

42:32

a bunch of mad witches that do a

42:34

psyop to create the Messiah. It's genuinely very

42:37

interesting. I don't know what, maybe after I

42:39

watch part two, then I'll read the book

42:41

after that. I think you can see. Yes.

42:45

Please be excited. I believe it's out next

42:47

week. I think next Friday or next Saturday. I

42:49

know. Please be excited for June. I'm going to

42:51

tell you about a new game soon. But first,

42:53

let's take a little break. As

42:58

a podcast network, our first priority has always been

43:00

audio and the stories we're able to share with

43:02

you. But we also sell

43:05

merch and organizing that was made

43:07

both possible and easy with

43:09

Shopify. Shopify

43:11

is the global commerce platform that helps you

43:13

sell and grow at every stage of your

43:16

business. From the launch your online shop stage

43:18

all the way to the did we just

43:20

hit a million orders stage, whether

43:22

you're selling scented soap or offering

43:25

outdoor outfits. Shopify helps you sell

43:27

everywhere. They have an all in

43:29

one e-commerce platform and in person

43:31

POS system. So wherever and whatever

43:33

you're selling Shopify got you covered

43:36

with the Internet's best converting checkout 36

43:38

percent better on average compared to other

43:40

leading commerce platforms. Shopify helps you

43:43

turn browsers into buyers. Shopify

43:45

has allowed us to share something tangible with

43:48

the podcast community we've built here. Filling our

43:50

beanies, sweatshirts and mugs to fans of our

43:52

shows without taking up too much time from

43:54

all the other work we do to bring

43:56

you even more great content. And

43:59

it's not just this. Shopify powers 10% of

44:01

all e-commerce in the US. Shopify

44:04

is also the global force behind

44:06

all birds, Rothy's, and Brooklyn, and

44:08

millions of other entrepreneurs of every

44:10

size across 175 countries. Because

44:14

businesses that grow, grow with Shopify.

44:17

Sign up for a $1 per month

44:20

trial period at shopify.com/realm,

44:22

all lowercase. Go

44:25

to shopify.com/R-E-A-L-M. Now to

44:27

grow your business, no

44:29

matter what stage you're in. shopify.com/realm.

44:40

Reese's peanut butter cups are the greatest, but let

44:42

me play tell as advocate here. Let's eat, so,

44:45

no, that's a good thing. Definitely

44:48

not a problem. Reese's,

44:50

you did it. You stumped this German

44:53

dude. And we're back and I'm

44:57

knee deep in another roguelike. It's

45:03

happened again, I've caught the bug, the

45:05

Bellatro bug, have you guys heard about

45:07

Bellatro? It seems

45:09

to have cards involved, like actual,

45:12

like aces. So

45:14

this is a roguelike of

45:16

card proportions. I don't know

45:19

who I'm talking about. Basic

45:21

a roguelike based around poker hands.

45:24

So you score by playing poker

45:26

hands. So if you don't know what a

45:28

poker hand is, for example, a flush is

45:30

five cards, all of the same suit. So

45:32

put five clubs down and you'll score or

45:34

two pairs. So two cards

45:37

of the same number down. And

45:39

that's how you score points, simple enough. But this

45:42

game is all about bending the rules of

45:44

poker and kind of cheating at poker in

45:46

a way. And the

45:48

way you go through these levels is you'll

45:50

have four or five hands, you get to play to

45:52

score a certain amount of points. And

45:54

you'll have a target for each round to get further

45:57

and further. And I actually beat my first run late

45:59

last night. actually done one which is good

46:01

and that's I think it's like 24 battles roughly

46:04

you'll have to do to get through and

46:06

you're just set it's not really a battle

46:08

you're kind of just set up points each

46:10

time and you go through like a row

46:12

like building up your deck of cards and

46:15

building up more importantly these Joker cards so

46:17

you have five at the top of your

46:19

screen that kind of affect cards and ways

46:21

of scoring and poker so like my way

46:23

has to be go with flushes so I've

46:25

tried to build a flush heavy kind of

46:27

Joker set so for example you

46:30

earn currency and you buy these Joker cards in the

46:32

store after each round and a Joker card will say

46:34

like four times multi score

46:36

on flushes so obviously I want that one

46:39

because I'm trying to get flushes in

46:41

every hand and that's why I'm building or like clubs

46:44

and spades equators the same suit

46:46

so like basically any black card now I put

46:49

down counts as a flush and it's all about

46:51

kind of cheating at poker and kind of building

46:53

up these specific scores you're trying

46:55

to get and watching the combo meter

46:57

just go ridiculously high so you're going

47:00

like 200 times 147 multi like

47:02

player to get like 49,000 or whatever

47:08

in a score and it's just like that real

47:10

like part of your brain that just enjoys seeing

47:12

numbers tick and tick up really just

47:15

gets me it's kind of like that it

47:18

is that sort of like what you call it

47:20

like one more thing a fruit

47:22

machine thing of like just watching things spin

47:24

round and winning but like yeah it's just

47:27

I'm just a sucker for a like a card

47:29

based road like and this is really really him

47:31

that's why I can't recommend it enough is out

47:33

on Steam PS5 and switch

47:35

and I just every time

47:37

I like if you've been playing this

47:39

game and you're going off the flushes like I

47:42

am every time you see a Jupiter card pop

47:44

up your eyes glow because you can also get

47:46

these celestial cards which are like

47:48

all the different planets and lights so like I

47:50

think earth like relates to straights and

47:53

Jupiter relates to flushes so like you

47:55

just want to keep collecting Jupiter cards

47:57

and that also ups how much a

47:59

flush will score And it's just you

48:01

kind of this is same if any road guide basically isn't

48:03

it like early on in that run you have to decide

48:05

This is my strategy for the run and build all around

48:08

it to try and score high and I Don't

48:10

know. I'm just having such a good time playing Bellatro.

48:13

I just I can't stop that I'm Queen that's a bit had

48:15

to choose one for the rest of your life Sorry

48:19

choose one natural Queens blood for a seal

48:21

I Bellatro

48:23

of unless Queens blood became a PvP

48:25

game and I could play against other

48:28

people on the internet But

48:30

I've done all I can of Queens blood now

48:32

and fun But there's no more they should release

48:34

it as a mobile game one that you can

48:36

play online They they might like

48:39

they do do it went right in the witch I don't know

48:41

if this has quite the same like I

48:44

don't know room to grow the sign like

48:46

Gwen does but We'll see we'll

48:48

see Yeah, I'm a sucker for card

48:50

games and Bellatro is the best I've played in

48:52

a long time So if you want to lose

48:54

your life to something get Bellatro

48:58

That's B a L a TRO if you don't

49:00

know how Bellatro is about because it's not a

49:02

real word And I'm still not 100%

49:04

sure why it's cool that to be perfectly But

49:07

I'm in a good time Do

49:09

you know else is having a good time

49:11

all the people who write into IGN underscore

49:13

UK feedback at IGN calm? It's

49:15

the most fun you can do during the week

49:17

is is Write us

49:19

an email. So why not do it? We've

49:21

got a lot of KitKat correspondence there and

49:23

a lot of people Writing

49:26

in to tell us what TV shows scared them

49:28

as a kid a lot of these I've never

49:30

actually heard of so maybe you guys Can enlighten us

49:32

but Matt you've got the first email here. I

49:34

believe this is from Simon Brock who says hi

49:36

lads as per your request

49:38

The scary kid shows I wanted to

49:40

submit the walking nightmare. There was CBBC

49:42

moon dial. I don't know what so

49:45

I He said

49:48

I'm older than water You guys

49:50

might be too young for it But it

49:52

was essentially a time travel jape for kids

49:54

with the pitch black oppressive tone of hereditary

49:57

It's about a girl called minty whose parents are killed

49:59

in a car crash episode one, because

50:01

that's what kids love, who finds

50:03

a sundial that takes her back to

50:05

the Victorian times to witness the absolutely

50:07

wall-to-wall suffering of children back then, perfectly

50:09

timed viewing. There was

50:12

a little Victorian girl called Sarah who had

50:14

a birthmark on her face, and the Victorian

50:16

kids thought that it meant she was evil.

50:19

My enduring memory is a ritual in which

50:21

a gang of masked kids made an effigy

50:23

of Sarah and stomp on it and burn

50:25

it, chanting, devil's child, devil's child. I

50:28

was eating my fish fingers in front of the TV and

50:30

being so frightened that my mum had to turn

50:32

it off before I was sick. So awesome. Don't

50:35

make them like that no more. Don't drown. It

50:38

had one season. Good advice. One season in

50:40

1988. Yeah, I

50:43

just looked up a picture of the kids and the

50:46

kids looked terrified. Yeah. Can you see why

50:48

they didn't get picked up for further seasons?

50:51

You can get it on Amazon. $6.99 for all of it on

50:53

DVD. Absolutely.

50:59

When I was reading that, I had a

51:01

very, very vague recollection, and now I've gone

51:03

on the Wikipedia, I recognise

51:05

the sundial from it. So

51:08

I think I have watched this at

51:10

some point, because obviously as

51:12

someone that is 35 years old, 80s

51:15

things tended to get repeated in my childhood.

51:17

I watched a lot of 80s shows. So

51:20

I think I have... was it written

51:23

by Helen Cresswell? What else did she write? I

51:26

have a feeling that... Oh,

51:28

she did like the Famous Five and Phoenix

51:30

and the Carpet and stuff like that, and

51:32

the Demon Headmaster. Or Phoenix and the

51:34

Carpet. So yeah, I have a feeling

51:36

that at some point this was part of my

51:38

childhood, but I have not the

51:41

horrendous memories that Simon has suffered.

51:44

No. But I

51:46

might check out a bit of it on YouTube. It

51:49

sounds horrible. I've not thought

51:51

about Phoenix and the Carpet in a lot of

51:53

times. What a mad thing

51:56

that was. Just a bit. I'm

52:00

having weird flashbacks. Dale, we've

52:02

got another email, save me from the bottom four.

52:05

Yeah, we've seen our straight from Albert Square, it

52:07

looks like as well, because this comes from one

52:09

Nick Cotton. Sorry Nick, I'm

52:11

sure you've had that here in your entire life. Hi

52:13

IGN UK team, first time, long time and

52:15

that. On the subject of great

52:17

TV shows that are in dire need of a

52:19

reboot, does anyone remember The Interceptor on Channel 4?

52:22

Imagine a cross between The Running Man and

52:24

Orienteering Course at Scouts and you're halfway there.

52:27

I do not know this, do you guys know

52:30

this? Not a clue. I

52:32

remember, I've seen,

52:34

I've definitely seen it when I was young.

52:37

I've, Faeghram is of the opening credits

52:39

of like a big helicopter, like going

52:41

over a lake. Well, that goes on

52:43

to explain the process. The premise of

52:46

this, two contestants are each given a

52:48

locked backpack, one containing money and one

52:50

containing weights to simulate money. They

52:52

each have a key for the other's

52:55

backpack. Then they're blindfolded and dropped off

52:57

five miles apart, usually around some quaint

52:59

English village surrounded by farmland. They

53:01

have to meet up and exchange keys,

53:03

guided through the earpieces by Dad's favourite

53:05

Annabelle Croft, who usually sets up in the

53:07

village hall, flanked by members of local government,

53:10

desperate to get on the telly for five

53:12

minutes. So far, so

53:14

harmless. Right, enter The Interceptor.

53:17

A blonde Scottish man dressed like an

53:19

Aldi Terminator is hunting your plucky contestants

53:21

with a laser gun. He

53:23

shoots the receptors on the back of the backpack

53:26

two or three times and it's locked forever. Sorry,

53:28

if he shoots them, I assume. It's not for

53:30

him. Oh, and he's got a

53:32

goddamn helicopter. I swear this

53:34

wasn't an elaborate fever dream. I seem to

53:36

remember him having some bizarre crow

53:38

screech call that he'd make when he was new. I

53:40

definitely watched this. OK, I'm sure it only ran for

53:43

one or two seasons. Helicopters

53:45

aren't cheap to run, I guess. Anyway, apologies for

53:47

the length of this, but I needed to give

53:49

you all the batshit details. If

53:53

I remember

53:55

rightly speaking of

53:57

Nick Cotton, it was actually similar

53:59

vibe and time. as Fort Boyard

54:01

which of course the Nasty Nick

54:03

presented. Or was it Dirty Dead? Yeah

54:05

I'm not sure about that. Oh

54:08

getting it all mixed up now. But

54:12

yeah definitely I'm gonna watch some clips

54:15

of this. I found actually a video I'll send it

54:17

to you after over three minutes of highlights of internet.

54:20

What was the show? And it was nothing like this

54:22

but there's a helicopter where, reminded

54:24

me of it, where oh it was like

54:26

Annika Rice in it with a helicopter. What was

54:28

that called? Oh my god. She

54:32

used to fly around in a helicopter and do things.

54:34

It was a kids show and had Annika Rice in

54:36

it with a helicopter. Oh Treasure

54:38

Hunt. Yeah I guess that's what it

54:40

was yeah. Yeah I was also thinking

54:42

of Come Outside With Auntie Mates in

54:44

the spot of you playing with the

54:46

dog. I think it was

54:49

Challenge Alica actually I think it was. God

54:51

they're so weird. So

54:54

what do kids watch these days? That's what I

54:56

want to know. That isn't Bluey. That's the only

54:58

kids TV show I know. Hey

55:00

Dougie. That's what my nephew's into. And Bluey's for

55:02

younger kids as well you know. We're looking at

55:04

shows. What are the shows for like 11 year

55:06

olds? Yeah what are they haunting

55:08

kids with these days? Or is

55:11

it? You wouldn't get Interceptor

55:13

anymore would you? They're just a watch

55:15

ticked on now I guess. Time for

55:17

shows anymore. I've

55:19

got some important KitKat correspondence here from Rick

55:22

Powell. He says hi ijin crew.

55:24

Hope all or else. Long time, third

55:26

time etc. Just wanted to

55:28

wade in on the KitKat discussion to firstly

55:30

say the best form factor is the chunky.

55:32

The others just don't have the thick enough

55:35

layer of chocolate. I have to agree it's

55:37

chunky all the way. But KitKat's the originals are

55:39

the original you know like chunky was the new

55:42

boy on the block but originals can be improved.

55:44

I'm not sure about that. I like the split.

55:46

The fact that you can choose to have one

55:48

and then just you know there's a nice pause

55:50

in the period. Who does that though? Who just

55:53

hates one? Are you one of those madads

55:55

that keeps the four connected and then just

55:57

buy? Oh no. No you never get a

55:59

four thing. You eat them one after another. I

56:01

split them and then bite the ends off and then

56:03

bite the chocolate off around the side. If it's just

56:05

a two finger, I probably will just eat the two

56:07

fingers and then I won't split the two. Oh no,

56:09

always split, always split. I

56:13

rarely have a Kit-Kat anyway, but if I do it, it will be

56:15

a chunky. Anyway, Rick

56:18

continues, secondly, wanted to say the best way to

56:20

hands down is banana. I've never

56:22

been a fan of banana flavored sweets, they're

56:24

always artificial in flavor, but the banana ones

56:26

I had from Japan are hands down my

56:28

favorite. The chunky version of those would slap

56:31

so hard. I've attached a picture

56:33

of my wife and I's haul of Kit-Kats

56:35

from our first trip to Japan. Respect the

56:37

Sea, Grave Diggers, and many other perversions that

56:39

don't get the credit they deserve. We

56:41

have got a picture, we have to describe this. Is,

56:43

when I say that this is a picture of about

56:46

30 different types of Kit-Kats, I'm not

56:48

overstating that. It's an absurd, it's a

56:51

whole dining table is covered basically. It's

56:53

peach, that is great, wasabi obviously. I

56:55

think I see the one that's kind

56:57

of a cheesecakey one, that

56:59

reminds me, I think my favorite one in Japan, they

57:02

had, it was either creme brulee

57:04

or something very similar, it's like a creme brulee

57:06

flavored Kit-Kats. There's one that looks like, it was

57:08

very good. There's an apple flavor one here. A

57:10

lot of it looks like it's just cheese and

57:12

wine and grapes. Cheese

57:14

and wine. What's the cheese and wine one? Oh

57:16

no, I just see a picture of like a

57:18

glass of wine. There's grapes, there's a grape. Oh

57:20

it's grapes, yeah. Oh, people are not looking at

57:22

the one that appears to be a sandwich flavor.

57:25

Where's that? Well that's the one on the far

57:27

right. Yeah, under

57:30

the apples, it looks like, a

57:33

Nutella sandwich maybe? Yeah, like a little pie

57:35

or something, it's hard to make out. I

57:38

think there's a... Oh no, that's like a

57:40

little, that's like the little like Japanese little

57:43

like filled pancakes. Oh is it? Or

57:46

is it like a Nutella sandwich? It's hard to tell,

57:48

that might be like a Nutella sandwich. We might need

57:50

some annotations here, Rick. We're a little confused, but I

57:52

see the peach one, the peach one. Is there a

57:55

kiwi one there, is that a kiwi? I'm

57:58

very much into following. Rick's

58:00

advice because I love banana flavoured things.

58:02

I don't actually like bananas as a

58:04

fruit but I hate bananas. But I

58:06

love banana ice cream is one

58:08

of my favourites. I love banana yoghour like anything

58:10

like that. So a banana Kit-Kat I would be

58:12

well for and if it was a Twinkie. I

58:14

hate bananas Simon. I hate bananas. Yeah the text,

58:16

the mushy text but I can't stand the picture

58:18

of a banana. Really? Yeah I've always hated bananas.

58:20

My lad's got a bone to put in. He's

58:22

well into banana brekkie at the moment. Well things

58:25

change like when I was a kid I would

58:27

not stop eating baked beans then around the age of eight

58:29

or nine. I hated baked beans. I still regularly

58:32

eat baked beans all the time. A lot

58:35

of people do. Again it's the texture. They're

58:37

saying about that mushy texture of beans and

58:39

bananas and things. I just don't. I don't

58:42

know. Not funny.

58:44

I'd eat one if you made me.

58:46

I'm not going to enjoy it. But

58:50

yeah. I want a Kit-Kat chunk you know. Such

58:54

is life. What

58:56

a fantastic episode of the IGN UK podcast.

58:59

That's what you're going to get every week.

59:02

IGN Unschool UK feedback at ign.com

59:04

for whatever you want to talk

59:06

to us about. We'll probably talk

59:08

about it as long as

59:10

it's reasonable and legal. What

59:12

music should we have at the end? It's got to

59:15

be a bit of fun. Yeah. I see. Remember what

59:17

there's so much. We don't even touch on the music.

59:19

The music is just so good. Music from Cosmo Canyon.

59:21

I think that might be a bit

59:23

of fun. Also I want to shout out my

59:25

favourite track in this entire game was in Cosmo

59:27

Canyon when you were just in the world area.

59:29

When you go into battle they do a remix

59:31

of just the world environment music as a battle

59:33

track. It absolutely fucking slaps.

59:36

Music is so so good in this

59:38

remake as well. I mean even just

59:40

the standard battle film theme is

59:42

incredible. Really we didn't

59:45

talk about. We were talking about Final Fantasy and the

59:47

piano minigame is so good. We had to play some

59:49

of the themes. I love Tifa's theme. Tifa's theme is

59:51

so good. Also how did you get on playing

59:53

that? Because I found it really easy to get

59:56

into because I know Tifa's theme by heart. I

59:58

can hum it. I was okay but... I'm

1:00:00

not like I'm just okay with what kind of like

1:00:02

with the me game Like that so I find like

1:00:05

I could I could predict like what the next one

1:00:07

was gonna be I know like even

1:00:09

though I haven't played the original person like that

1:00:11

music is coming great I've heard that music so

1:00:13

many times refer events or like live I'm sure

1:00:15

that I just I know most of the music

1:00:17

from this game weirdly So you not find it

1:00:19

difficult playing the piano with I found it doing

1:00:22

two sticks at once. That's the bit I found

1:00:24

really yeah, the right stick was Focus

1:00:27

on the right thick and then in the corner

1:00:29

of my peripheral I'd see the left one I'm

1:00:31

like, oh shit. I'd always end up hitting the wrong

1:00:33

part. Some of them in that and maybe yeah,

1:00:35

but yeah good fun Anyway, here's what the Cosmo

1:00:37

Canyon Just theme is

1:00:39

that what it's called? I don't probably

1:00:41

we'll play it anyway. Enjoy. Goodbye You

1:01:20

Here's a quick question for you How

1:01:22

did you sleep last night if your

1:01:24

battle for a good night's sleep feels relentless

1:01:27

I have the answer It's a

1:01:30

podcast called sleep waves with meditations

1:01:32

and hypnosis created to help you fall asleep

1:01:35

My relaxation techniques will help you feel

1:01:37

calm and ready for sleep with soft

1:01:40

music that will help you fall asleep

1:01:42

in minutes Most listeners

1:01:44

never hear the end of an episode So search

1:01:47

sleep wave on your favorite podcast

1:01:49

app and find out why over

1:01:51

a million people have fallen asleep

1:01:53

to my voice