4Player Podcast #790 - The Bonds of Friendship Show (Inkbound, Content Warning, Shadows of Doubt, and More!)

The calm before the storm that is May. We have a smaller crew this week but we assure you... it's not short; it's not boring; and most importantly... it's not organized! Brad kicks things off with a little candy interrogation followed by some random movie talk before we buckle down to talk about video games. Nick shares his early impressions of Stellar Blade and is surprised by how much substance there actually is in a game that seems more interested in being titillating. Brad also returns to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and his enjoyment is only getting more and more intense as time goes on. Throw in a little bit of random Baldur's Gate 3 talk along with some of our usual chaos and you've got yourself a podcast! Housekeeping (2:00) Brad takes the Wheel (6:20) Impressions - Stellar Blade (21:35) Impressions - Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes (53:40) Fantasy Critic Updates (1:20:20) 4Player Minute (1:27:30)

We've got a short show for you this week but it's no less important! Brad - resident Suikoden fanboy - finally got his hands on the modern day spiritual successor, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes! It's a game that feels light on modern conveniences yet it remains relevant and important to the fans. In the Fantasy Critic segment, we cover some exciting new pick-ups following some big announcements and release-date reveals! PSA: We experimented with a new pre-show format this week by doing 'Trailer Talk' LIVE as a group before recording the show and we expect it to become part of the routine going forward! It's a lot of fun so make sure you tune in at 8:00pm so you can catch up on the latest game trailers! Housekeeping (3:20) Impressions - Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes (5:25) Fantasy Critic Updates (40:00) 4Player Minute (58:00)

We took a week off of podcasting but dipped our toes into the wild world of Content Warning and the results were hilarious to say the least! Chris Davis revisits Shadows of Doubt now that it is approaching its 1.0 release later this year; It's an interesting discussion that delves into the strengths and weaknesses of making games using procedural generation. Brad talks about Inkbound, the next game from the creators of Monster Train and of course, we spend a little more time with Dragon's Dogma II. During the Fantasy Critic and 4Player Minute segments, we talk a little about the recent news regarding Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed codename Red, and impressions of the new Fallout TV show on Amazon Prime. Housekeeping (2:30) Impressions - Content Warning (8:35) Impressions - Shadows of Doubt (24:35) Impressions - Dragon's Dogma II (51:00) Impressions - Inkbound (1:01:20) Fantasy Critic Updates (1:35:35) 4Player Minute (1:48:00)

Despite Team Ninja's apparent unfamiliarity with real world horses... Brad is happy to report that the world may have it all wrong about Rise of the Ronin! Despite an all too familiar open-world design philosophy, the game has proved to be fun, addicting, and surprisingly competent in the storytelling department! Krispy returns to share his thoughts on Dragon's Dogma 2 and Chris Davis has continued his love affair with Vanillaware thanks to Unicorn Overlord. Finally, Nick talks about his first impressions of the titillating new action game, Stellar Blade, now that Sony has released the demo. Housekeeping - Fantasy Critic (7:50) Impressions - Rise of the Ronin (13:00) Impressions - Dragon's Dogma II (39:30) Impressions - Stellar Blade Demo (1:14:00) Impressions - Unicorn Overlord (1:36:00) 4Player Minute (1:52:45)

Can you believe it has been 12 years since the release of Dragon's Dogma?! As we finally delve into Dragon's Dogma II, one of our most anticipated games of the year, we revel in just how impressive it is despite the formula having changed very little. To Brad's point, the game hasn't changed much but WE have changed a lot in those 12 years. In this episode we also take some time to check in on our Community Fantasy Critic Leagues now that we are a quarter of the way through the year and Chris Davis gives us an overview of the first Judas preview coverage that is rolling out this week. Also, if you were waiting for Nick to play Alone in the Dark... get ready... because he didn't; Chris Davis did... Twice. Housekeeping - Checking in with the Community Fantasy Critic Leagues (3:10) Impressions - Dragon's Dogma II (30:40) Impressions - Alone in the Dark (1:14:00) News - Judas Preview Coverage Rolls Out and Chris Davis is here for it (1:46:00) 4Player Minute (2:11:45)

This week is all about revisiting some of the big games that have been keeping us busy while we patiently await the launch of Dragon's Dogma 2! Nolan dives DEEP into the depths of Balatro; A game that has successfully pulled his attention away from Like a Dragon! Nick's complicated feelings about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth grow more complicated by the day but Brad's love of Unicorn Overlord has only grown deeper now that the full game is out. In other news, Brad goes off on Princess Peach Showtime after a disappointing demo and we argue over whether or not kids have naptime in Kindergarten! Housekeeping - Fantasy Critic updates (10:48) Brad Rant - Princess Peach is a shameless Puppeteer knockoff for Babies (18:00) Impressions - Balatro (29:40) Impressions - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (58:05) Impressions - Unicorn Overlord (1:34:00) 4Player Minute (1:50:00)

This may not be an official Final Fantasy VII Rebirth special but it may as well be as it accounts for more than 50% of the episode! Most of us have all spent a decent chunk of time with this hotly anticipated follow up to Final Fantasy VII Remake and while the game certainly has some ROUGH edges in places, it still manages to live up to the hype! Quite honestly, Rebirth is a baffling game; Capturing the spirit and variety of the original game in the most fanciful, expensive way possible... while clumsily fumbling the ball in some truly unexpected places. We also spend some time talking Fantasy Critic, random movie talk, and continuing to shake our heads at the awful state of the industry right now. Random Movie Talk! (2:55) Housekeeping - Fantasy Critic updates (14:20) Impressions - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (46:10) 4Player Minute (1:52:40)

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth looming on the horizon, Nick and Ed both bring other FF7 games to the forefront. Ed shares his thoughts on Crisis Core Reunion and Nick revisits the remake in the form of Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intermission; the DLC starring Yuffie. While we manage to squeeze in a fair amount of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth talk, Brad jumps on the opportunity to nerd out over the demo of Unicorn Overlord; a demo which is actually just the first 7-hours of the actual game! Nick also sings the praises of Pacific Drive which finds new and exciting ways to tap into the magic of games like Subnautica. Oh... and the industry is on fire. Housekeeping - Fantasy Critic updates (6:30) Impressions - Crisis Core Reunion (25:45) Impressions - Final Fantasy VII Remake Intermission (37:30) Impressions - Pacific Drive (58:30) Imrpessions - Unicorn Overlord (1:12:05) Impressions - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (1:37:50) 4Player Minute (1:48:00)

We're down a chair this week but it has little effect; Even this early in the year, there is so much to talk about! After Brad officially challenges Nick to play more Japanese games in 2024, the Fantasy Critic talk leads straight into a discussion about Balatro; one of the year's first niche indie darlings! Later, Nick tries to decipher Ultros but it proves more difficult than he imagined. In the 2nd segment, Brad dives deep into the complicated reception of Aspyr's remaster of Tomb Raider 1 - 3. Of course, we cap off the show with some more Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Housekeeping - Brad's Japan challenge to Nick (2:40) Housekeeping - Fantasy Critic updates (17:10) Impressions - Balatro (27:30) Impressions - Ultros (40:40) Impressions - Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered (57:15) Impressions - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (1:32:00) 4Player Minute (1:45:00)

We open the show this week with the reveal of our community's top 10 games of 2023! After that, we are finally able to play and talk about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League; Rocksteady's long-awaited follow-up to the Arkham series and their first (and hopefully last) foray into GAAS. Krispy has played the entire campaign and has plenty to say about it; Both positive and negative! Brad talks more about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth this week but he focuses entirely on one aspect... a mini game that can only be described as "Sleazy Animal Crossing." Nick gives his early impressions of Persona 3 Reload as well; Which coincides with his first time playing this game... ever! Finally, the Chris's talk about Helldivers 2 which certainly holds the potential to be surprise hit... the question is: Does it have legs? Housekeeping - The Community's Top 10 Games of 2023 (3:50) Impressions - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (30:20) Impressions - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (1:01:15) Impressions - Persona 3 Reload (1:20:00) Impressions - Helldivers II (1:35:00) 4Player Minute (1:59:20)