This week, we bring you a mandatory stealth mission. Because of course we do.

Let us recap what is going on in the plot so far. First, the island our protagonist and his douchebag friends skydive over is run by a group of evil pirates. When we escape, we arrive at a camp where we are given a tattoo, and told that we are the Ultimate Warrior. Using this pretense, we are attempting to rescue our friends.

Then, we decide that it would be best to petition the natives to help. To that end, we talk to their leader, Citra. After spending a few minutes trading insults, see agrees to help after we take an acid trip, acquire a missing dagger, and truly become the Ultimate Warrior. When we look for the dagger, we discover that we need to get the help of a CIA agent to track down sources of information about the dagger. We go even further than that later, with a whole Indiana Jones-inspired expedition questline.

Shamus Young once wrote a piece about how games tend to do this, in response to Neverwinter Nights 2. In essence, what we are doing in order to, theoretically, make our end game easier is takes significantly more time and effort than it should realistically take to just complete our main objective. After all, our goal is to save our friends and get out. Instead of sticking to that, we are embroiling ourselves in a conflict which does not exactly further our self-interest. It’s not as bad as the example Shamus is talking about, but it is related and definitely the sign of filler content.

We also talk a lot about tailing mission at the tail end of this episode. As many players of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, also by Ubisoft, will know, tailing missions tend to be extremely poorly paced. More often then not, the tracked subject will take a super-convoluted path to their objective, ignoring a much more direct and simpler path. At the same time, the move at a snail’s pace, meaning that you have to as well. Even if we know where he will go, we fail the mission if we just head directly there.

I play games of all manner of strips. Platformers, shooters, RPGs, and many other genres. As a result, I have acquired many unique tastes. No game represents “unique tastes” any more than Deadly Premonition. Developed by Access Games, this title was, and is, the brain-child of Hidetaka Suehiro, more commonly known as SWERY. It embodies a style and tone all its own, distinct from almost every other game I have ever played. Though it still has flaws which cannot be overlooked, it is truly a gem of a game.
Taking place in the fictional town of Greenvale, Washington, Deadly Premonition follows the adventures of FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. He has put himself on the case of the murder of an 18-year-old waitress named Anna Graham. The reason is that it possesses an alarming amount of similarities to an unusual string of killings he has been investigating across the continental United States. Through many trials and tribulations, York must gather clues from various crime scenes to solve the mystery behind these deaths.
Like in Persona 4, I found the murder mystery hook worked extremely well for me. I love analyzing all of characters and clues to see if I can piece the puzzle together myself. This game has plenty of that. If the player pays careful attention to the story, characters, and clues, it is entirely possible to deduce the culprit early on. In that sense, the writing is extremely fair. The game does not cheat by holding back key elements of specific scenes until the last minute. Despite that, I did not completely figure everything out until the big reveal. I was personally quite impressed by the game’s writing.
Another aspect to the game I give it credit for is its cast. Though I have never watched the show, I have it on good authority that the cast of characters was heavily inspired by Twin Peaks. Every character in the game has their own unique quirks and traits. In their own way, every one of them is memorable. At the same time, and I am still unsure if this is intentional or not, they all have something “off” about them. Either in the way they speak, their personality, or in their animations, the entire cast each have some way to invoke the feeling of the Uncanny Valley. As a result, while the town is memorable, and players will begin to slowly feel more and more at home as they play the game, there is an inescapable “creepy” feeling. During my playthrough, I found it oddly compelling.
This is especially true of York himself, who might be the most quirky. After all, the player does not even truly play as York. Rather, they assume the role of Zach, the personality inside York’s head that gives him advice and helps to guide him in his cases. This persona helps by giving York someone to explain his thought process to, and a way to elicit response and interaction from the player. In a very real sense, Zach is a player cipher. Having said that, he has a history and background with York, that also gets explored through the course of the game. It is a very interesting tactic to bring players into the world, one I think could be applied to other games.
In terms of play, Deadly Premonition is very much like a life-simulator in many respects. As time marches on, Agent York grows more hungry and sleepy. The player is tasked with making sure that he eats and sleeps at regular intervals, to avoid exhaustion or starvation. Furthermore, story events only take place at specific times. For example, a character who needs to be interrogated will only appear at their location from 10:00 to 17:00 (the game uses military time for arbitrary reasons, just go with it). If the player does not arrive at the specified destination in time, they will have to try again the next day. Should they get there early, they will have to come back within the mandated timeframe. On the surface, it appears that this is to grant the player free time to explore the area. However, since I did not really have an interest in side content, I had my character pass the time in the menu. None of this is difficult, and food is pretty cheap, so it mostly serves as a way to become more invested into the town of Greenvale. To the game’s credit, this endeavor is largely successful.
The other aspect of gameplay seems wholly unnecessary. That is, whenever York enters a new crime scene in order to gather evidence, he is accosted by what appear seem like zombies. These scenarios are never difficult, as most of them will die in a few (easy to make) headshots. Furthermore, although these segments are easy, the controls feel very clunky. York cannot even move and attack at the same time unless he uses a melee weapon. Should the player take the melee route, they should know that weapons degrade as they are used. Fortunately, defeated zombies have chances to drop melee weapons and ammo for ranged weapons, and the default pistol has infinite ammo. It appears to try to invoke many common horror tropes. At the same time, the player never seems to feel like they are in any actual danger. Since these areas also seem to take place in some alternate world, York does not even get hungry or tired in these sections. They just seem very tacked on.
At the same time, they do offer one good element as well. As York collects the clues in an area, he will continually profile the events of the crime. Initially, the profile will be very fuzzy. However, for each clue, portions of the profile begin to fill in. Once all of the clues are gathered, York will then have a complete picture of what happened, which will further the investigation and reveal new leads to progress the story. These scenes help the player to better understand York’s deductive method, by observing the wheels turning in his mind. Though I do like this, this same level of immersion could be achieved better by removing the unnecessary combat.

Ultimately, Deadly Premonition is not a game for everyone. It has some minor flaws, but they are not what makes the game so difficult to recommend. What does make it difficult is the fact that it is so unique that it has the potential to off-put people looking for a more traditional experience. That said, some people, like those who appreciate Telltale’s brand of storytelling, will feel right at home with Deadly Premonition. Others who enjoy a good murder-mystery inspired by Twin Peaks will also enjoy their time. So give it a try, but be warned that it may not necessarily be to your liking.

At long last, the crew is all together again. As a result, we’re all rearing and ready to go with our usual shenanigans.

0:02:02 Viewer Questions
“What do you guys think of Project Steam?”
I wish at least one of us took a more serious look into it. Unfortunately, this was a very disappointing answer to the viewer question.

“What do you guys think of Splatoon?”
This was a much better answer. Not much more to add aside from what was said. I need to see more before I can comment further.

0:08:55 Gaming News
Transformers Universe shutting down
We do talk a bit about MOBAs and microtransactions in this segment, which is an interesting conversation. Mostly because it shows our groups various levels of tolerance with regards to microtransactions. For example, Garrett and Sam don’t really question paying $10-$15 for a skin. I, however, could not possibly justify spending that much on something purely cosmetic in a video game. There’s just no way.

Evolve DLC/Special Edition Convolution
This reminds me so much of the Watch_Dogs special edition chart. It’s so silly that it hurts.
Watch_Dogs is a single-player game, so as annoying as it was, it is not a big deal. Evolve, however, is a multiplayer game. This is a base-breaker, in much the way that map packs are in Call of Duty.

Shadowrun: Hong Kong Kickstarter
If you love Computer RPGs, you should definitely get in on this. I can’t stress how good these guys at Harebrained Schemes are.

Uncharted 4 won’t have 60 FPS if it “impacts the player experience”
The great frame-rate discussion continues.
This is a pretty big topic, because it hits to the core of what many criticize about AAA gaming. That is, the push for higher graphical fidelity over smooth play. That topic is one I cannot hope to do justice to in the annotations of a podcast, so I will let the conversation stand.

Publishers wanted male protagonist in Life is Strange
This conversation is where we got the title for this episode. I just find it odd that no other publisher was willing to let Dontnod have a female lead. You think they would learn by now.

0:48:10 Garrett has been playing Evolve
It pretty much confirmed what I was most afraid of. This is a game, a lot like Left 4 Dead. If you don’t play it with a group, you should not be playing it at all. That’s just not worth $60 to me. I don’t find enough value in that.

0:49:09 Garrett goes on a movie binge.
Y’know. Movies. That’s more Chris and Garrett’s expertise, not mine.

1:09:00 I played Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep HD Final Mix (via the 2.5 ReMIX)
And that is it for the 2.5 ReMIX.

1:10:00 I played Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut.
Hearing about how the combat is thrown in because publishers really brings sense to the whole game. Now that I know that, it makes so much more sense.
It does make me want to watch Twin Peaks, as an aside.

1:17:40 We detour to discuss Hotline Miami 2 banning in Australia.
I actually took the time to do research on this after the fact. As it turns out, the Adult rating in video games only allows for more violence. Sex and sexual content is still just as taboo.

1:19:25 I played Diablo 3 on the PS4.
Items and number, my friends. Items and numbers.
And no auction house.

1:25:25 I played Assassin’s Creed: Unity: Dead Kings
It’s not a bad DLC, but it’s not particularly brilliant. It’s pretty average. Still, the story does more in that one DLC than the main game did for Arno’s character, giving his arc a bit more closure. If you’ve got Unity already, it’s free so you might as well try it. However, it’s not worth getting the game to play this DLC.

1:38:10 Chris has been playing Assassin’s Creed 3!
That game is awful!
One of the things we hit on in this conversation is the optional objectives in Assassin’s Creed games. I personally think that those perfect synchronization objectives are totally antithetical to what I want from an Assassin’s Creed game. I want to be able to choose my own path where doing missions. Those objectives are the opposite of that, because it makes players conform to one strategy. This was worsened by the excessive linearity of the missions as well.
The collectibles were also really pointless, because they were mostly for trophies without much of anything in terms of in-game rewards.
Overall, the game sucks. Don’t play it, watch it.

2:01:35 Sam watched some anime.
Like how Chris and Garrett are the movie guys, Sam is the anime guy. I’ll leave that to him.

2:16:50 Sam and I record some Interactive Friction
And we talk about it. You, on the other hand, should go watch it.

2:20:20 Wrapping Up
You can check out my Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep article here.
Sam’s site is also here now. Remember to update your bookmark.

In this episode, we actually make some very piercing commentary on this game. This is probably our most insightful episode yet, and it’s definitely one of the best.

I actually really like the idea of Liza’s character. She’s by far the most grounded of all the characters in the game. She understands more than anyone else the sheer gravity of the situation at hand.

The problem is that we aren’t in a real world scenario. We are playing a video game. As a result, there is some dissonance between her being a real person, and Jason being a goddamn video game hero. This could have been really interesting if the game acknowledged a bit more, but it almost feels like an accident.

The ultimate problem with Far Cry 3’s story is that the premise could have been used to write any number of excellent plots. However, the game takes almost none of these opportunities. Liza and Vaas both take turns pointing out that Jason is ostensibly a rich, white boy pretending to be an action hero (in their own way), but this becomes less and less of a plot element the more the game goes on.

The conversation Sam and I have in this episode really doesn’t need me to tell you this. It stands out on its own. If there is only one episode of Interactive Friction that you watch, it should really be this one.

In this episode, we finally fixed the audio issue that we were having before. Now, our audio should be balance. Also, this episode is longer than we intended as not much of note happened in the beginning episode. The same thing occurs towards the end, which is why we fast-forward through a lot of it.

Since we brought up first-person driving in this episode, I want to take a second to elaborate a bit more on why I disliked it in this game.

The only reason I bring it up now is that shortly after the time of this recording, I played Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut. That game also had first-person driving, but I didn’t mind it as much as I did in Far Cry 3.

I can think of a few reasons for this. First, Deadly Premonition’s driving feels a little slower than it does in Far Cry 3. While that seems counter-intuitive, it means that in DP, I have an easier time seeing where I am going while driving. Also, it is still significantly faster than walking.
Meanwhile, in Far Cry 3, the cars go so fast that the scenery, at least for me, just zooms passed me. This makes it much more difficult to navigate,

Another reason I can think of is that Deadly Premonition allowed you to have conversations in the car, which passed the time. Although car rides were not that long, the conversation made them zoom by even quicker. In Far Cry 3, there is nothing to pass your time.

I’m curious to hear what people have to say about first-person driving. If you have some thought leave a comment either here or on the YouTube comments. It is probably best that you use the later because if you fill out the comments wrong on Blogger, it has a tendency to eat your comments up.

We continue our playthrough of Far Cry 3 by sneaking onto a ship wreak after tripping our on drugs.

This is one the first drug-induced hallucinations that we will experience in Far Cry 3. It also happens to be one of the most pointless hallucinations in the game. Very few things of note actually happen during the scene. My gut feeling says that they only had it to introduce the concept of psychedelic mushrooms on Rook Island before we got into the more intense trips later in the game. Even still, I think just having a drug dealer on the island is introduction enough without Alice in Wonderland nonsense.

We also get the scene where Jason’s dead brother Grant shows up in his vision, telling him that he’s good with a gun. If done with a bit more of a subtle hand, then it could have been a very interesting start down Jason’s path to madness. As it stands, like with the beginning of the game, it is done with such a heavy hand that it feels like the writers are insulting my intelligence.

Later on, these hallucinations will be a bit more important to the story, but they also their own problems as well, which we will see later in the Let’s Play. For now though, while that mission only took 5 minutes, it really does not seem to serve a large purpose beyond introducing drugs.

It is also interesting how quickly this game goes by when we are only worrying about the main story, and almost completely ignoring the side content. Games developed by Ubisoft tend be like that, I’ve noticed. Most of the game’s reported length comes, for better or worse, from all of the side content that liters the game world. In our own playthroughs, Sam and I didn’t get to the stealth mission in the boat until about 5 hours into the game. Considering that we are barely over an hour into the playthrough, that means most of my time was spent capturing towers and outposts, because I did none of the other side stuff until I needed the mission-exclusive hides for crafting.

Since I finished Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, via the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX, it is only natural that I go on to the other playable game in the collection. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep came out during an interesting period in the history of the franchise. During this phase, there was no sign whatsoever of the appearance of another main-series game. In order to serve the duel purposes of expanding on the franchise lore, and to capitalize on its popularity, Square-Enix kept releasing side games. Despite their status as side stories, many of these games tied quite strongly into the main plotline seen in the numbered entries. Games like Birth by Sleep on the PSP and Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS, among others, are some of the games I am referring to.
Though originally a mere PSP game, Birth by Sleep is still considered to be a very important game in the franchise. So important that, combined with its status as a prequel, gives it the common nickname of “Kingdom Hearts 0”. Not it only does it give context to what Sora and company need to do in the eventual Kingdom Hearts 3, but it explains many of the plot elements from previous games, and how they are woven together. Questions like “How did Kairi make it to the Destiny Islands?” and “Why was Riku the keyblade’s chosen one?” are answered in the narrative of Birth by Sleep.
And on that subject, the narrative is also interesting for how it compares to other stories in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It is told from the perspective of three different characters: Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. The three of them begin the narrative as close friends, training in the Land of Departure to become Keyblade Masters. Through circumstances out of their control, they each find themselves investigating the appearance of a mysterious new group of monsters, collectively referred to as the Unversed. Each of them set out separately to look into the phenomena, and each of them have their own perspective on the events at hand. The only way to fully understand the plot is by playing each character’s campaign from start to finish, then the Final Episode afterward.
Which transitions nicely into one of my biggest problems with the story. Though I really like the way the story is told, and I find the concept of playing the same story from multiple perspectives interesting, the plot strongly hinges on the fact that the three main characters do not speak to each other. Without spoiling the events of Birth by Sleep, the villain’s grand master plan relies heavily on the characters simply not telling each other about dangers they are already aware of. If at any point in the game where the characters meet up with each other, they just said “Let’s stop to review what we’ve learned so far,” the villain would not be able to gain any headway whatsoever. Had they simply compared notes, none of them would have been caught off guard by what occurs in the finale. Even when the group realizes what is coming, they still opt to let it happen.
That aside, having three different playable characters is an overall boon for the game. Since each character has a different playstyle, the game naturally varies the gameplay just by forcing the player to play through each campaign to get the full story. Terra, while slow, is the heaviest hitter in terms of physical damage. His exclusive moves tend to lean towards the Earth and Darkness elements and powerful physical strikes. On the other hand, Ventus takes a more balanced approach with regards to physical and magical attacks, with a larger focus on speed. Lastly, Aqua is in the middle of the guys in terms of speed, but she is easily the best at magic. Though the campaigns can be technically played in any order, it is most recommended that Terra goes first, followed be Ventus, leaving Aqua for last. This is because Terra’s lack of defensive/evasive options makes him significantly less fun to play than the others. Furthermore, the plot seems written with this order in mind, as they seem to visit the various Disney worlds in this order.
One of the more clever things they did was have each character visit the same worlds as the other characters. However, they all visit the same world at different times. As a result, each world’s plot, like the plot of the overall game, can only be fully completed by going through it with each character. Generally speaking, Terra tends to visit worlds first. As the dark-hero of the three, he often gets hoodwinked into working with/for the villain of a given world. Ventus tends to follow after him, helping to clean up the resulting mess. Aqua then shows up last to tie-up loose ends. Some worlds follow a slightly different pattern, but that order is true for most of them. This gives off a very natural sense of progression with each world’s writing. And each scenario tends to more naturally tie into the themes of the main story and/or the friendship between the three leads, which fixes a major problem I had with Kingdom Hearts 2.
On top of that, when there will occasionally be scenes where multiple playable characters are present. However, the player will only witness the part of the scene that the character they are playing as saw. Meaning that even when re-watching a scene from a new character’s point-of-view, there will be a new take on it, which is a very nice touch that can be easy to overlook. Each campaign is also only about 10 to 15 hours long, so combined the game will last about 30 to 45 hours for story completion, depending on what difficulty it is being played on. This is about the length of a typical Kingdom Hearts game, so the developers managed to avoid the common trap of allowing multiple campaigns to artificially lengthen the game. On top of that, the three characters develop separately, so what one does with one character will have no effect on the other two. Overall, the presentation is excellent, and the game is very well paced as a result of splitting up the plot between three heroes.
The game also plays very well. Despite originally being on the PSP, it feels like a full-fledged Kingdom Hearts title. As one would expect, fights occur in real-time. The big twist with Birth by Sleep is that skills and spells do not cost MP to perform. Due to the memory limitations of the PSP, the game utilized a Command Deck system. Players could set up to 8 commands in their deck to be used at will. After using a command, there is a cooldown period before it can be used again. New commands can be acquired as enemy drops and in treasure chests. Old commands can also be fused into new ones. This allows players to better customize their character’s layout and skillset.
The other new addition is the Shotlock system. Along with the commands, each character can also equip one of many possible “Shotlocks”. Then can then use this command to lock-on many targets at once, and shoot a volley of projectiles at all of them. The player character is also invincible during a Shotlock’s execution, so it has defensive purposes as well. Though many of the bonus bosses have moves to reduce their effectiveness, shotlocks are a mechanic I found frequent use for across my entire run of the game.
Now that that 2.5 HD ReMIX has placed it on the PS3, the game controls better than it ever has. Since a PS3 controller, unlike a PSP, actually has a right analog stick, direct control of the camera is now possible beyond simply locking-on to targets. Another addition to the controls is that the L2 and R2 buttons, which are again not present on a PSP, can be used as an alternative to the directional buttons for scrolling through commands, making it easier to scroll through the Command Deck while moving. Furthermore, all of the Final Mix content, like the Secret Episode unlocked after playing through all three campaigns and beating the Final Episode, is included as well. Along, with the Secret Episode, the addition of Critical Mode, the equivalent of Super Hard mode in other games, allows skilled players to replay the game with a new challenge.
The other well-known pieces of new bonus content are contained within the aspect of the game that was significantly worsened by the HD ReMIX. One of the biggest feature touted in the PSP release of Birth by Sleep was the Mirage Arena. In this location, players could join up with others, via Ad-Hoc connection, and either work together to complete arena missions, or compete against one another in combat or one of the minigames. The bonus bosses, Armor of the Master, Monstro, and No Heart, are additional co-op missions that were included in the Final Mix.
The PS3 version of Birth by Sleep: Final Mix made some changes to Mirage Arena. Because the designers wanted to divert more resources towards developing Kingdom Hearts 3, they opted to not even try to get online multiplayer working in the 2.5 ReMIX. In fact, there is no multiplayer included whatsoever. Mirage Arena is now a 100% Single Player experience. As a consumer who purchased the collection, along with a friend, partially in order to play Birth by Sleep online with other players, this came as a supreme disappointment. In fact, it pretty much erased any desire I had to fight the bonus bosses. I understand the reasoning behind the decision, but I cannot deny that what once felt like a major feature being reduced to an afterthought really hurts the game in a big way, especially since much of the game was structured around its presence.

Despite this glaring omission, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep HD Final Mix is a wonderful addition to the 2.5 ReMIX. Though I would recommend purchase of the 1.5 HD ReMIX first, Birth by Sleep does serve as a pretty good entry point for the franchise, as it takes place before any other game in the series. Along with Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, and the ability to watch Re: Coded without actually having to play that terrible game, the $40 price tag is easily justified for series fans. The two collections combined contain every single game released in the franchise aside from Dream Drop Distance. As a result, they are a great way for people trying to play catch-up to get the most bang out of their buck.

We have been made aware of the audio issue where Sam’s audio is significantly quieter than my own and that of the game. This episode was recorded before that issue was made apparent, so we didn’t fix it for this. (It will be fixed for Episode 4 and all episodes following it.)

We spend some time in this episode interacting with the game’s hunting and crafting systems. Like I said in the episode, this is one of those acceptable breaks from real world logic. In the real world, you could use pretty much any animal hide to make the pouches, quivers, and holsters that you would need to hold everything. Leather is leather, no matter what the source is.
However, the game requires you to use the hides of specific animals to create specific holsters. The obvious reason for this is that it would otherwise be far too easy to just craft all the holsters in the beginning of the game. Since different hides are required, the designers can better control your progress in this area. Furthermore, it means that the player, as Jason, needs to grow in skill, to the point where no animal in the jungle is a threat to them. You earned that 4th holster, because you successfully killed a bull shark to get it.
Besides, most players probably won’t even question it, so it’s not a huge deal regardless. Even still, things like the distinction between Boar and Pig hides further stretch the credulity, even when you give the gameplay concession that you need different hides to create different holsters.
The whole element of gunfire not ruining the hides of your hunts is also another concession just to make the game more interesting. Otherwise, your arsenal would be limited strictly to the bow and melee weapons when hunting. Unlike other games, the bow is pretty much your only non-firearm ranged weapon. You get no throwing knives, crossbows, traps, or anything of the sort. If firearms couldn’t be used to hunt, your entire weapon selection would be worthless.
The other major crafting items you obtain are the special leaves. All of the plants in this game are divided into colored leaves. Green leaves are used for medicinal purposes. Yellow leaves produce drugs that improve your hunting abilities. Red leaves are used to make combat enhancing drugs. Blue leaves are used in drugs that improve exploration. And lastly, White leaves are used in the creation of “Special” drugs. I have never actually seen a recipe that requires the use of white leaves, but I imagine they would have some pretty powerful effects. If anyone has any information in that regard, feel free to comment either here or on the YouTube comments of the video.
With those leaves, you can make some pretty powerful drugs. For example, a few green and blue leaves can be combined to make a drug that lets you breath underwater for a short while. As with the hunting, these drugs are an acceptable break from real world mechanics. In the real world, these drugs would be extremely useful. Such knowledge to create this drug, would be coveted by athletes around the globe. Still, these drugs need to have powerful, noticeable effects or players wouldn’t use them.
I do not have a problem with hunting mechanics. I just find it interesting to analyze how designers try to keep in the real world, and what concessions they make for the sake of player enjoyment. It’s something to think about.

This episode was… interesting. In hindsight, a lot of us were just really tired when recording it. Hell, Sam had just gotten home from work when he got on, so he was spent. Still, I think we did a decent job with this one.
I need to work more on my hosting, though. And my incessant need to keep rambling on about nothing. I swear these things wouldn’t last two hours if I could reign myself in.
0:00:00 Introduction
Pretty simple intro.
0:00:50 Viewer Question
“What would be some of your favorite art design in games?”
It was a tough question to answer, because the stock answers are usually Okami and Vanillaware games. They are the poster children for how art style can make games look fantastic.
I feel like we all did well in answering this question, despite not having those freebees. In retrospect, I would also like to mention the art style of Supergiant Games, known for Bastion and Transistor. They were not just great in terms of soundtrack, but they’re both very beautiful games.
0:05:40 Gaming News
We already kinda talked about it last week, so I have nothing further to add.
This is really only news because Square-Enix isn’t known for being timely about releases. Fans like myself are accustomed to waiting for years after a game’s announcement.
It’s honestly about time this happens, if it is indeed the case. Honestly, I don’t think that model even works anymore. WoW and EVE can cost by on legacy subscriptions and brand recognition, but newer MMOs don’t have that luxury.
This makes more sense than the old plan they had. However, for the reasons we discussed in the episode (like lack of demand, strong competition, and poor infrastructure), I still don’t think it has a chance to succeed.
The PSP had such potential, but it only got a very limited catalog in its lifespan.
I’ll let Garrett explain it. League of Legends stuff goes straight over my head. X_X
I will say, that I would love to learn more about the process behind how the developers of games like League work on patches and updates, from identifying problems and things that could be worked on, to figuring out what can be feasibly done to fix the problem, to actually implementing the fix.
0:31:00 Garrett got Minecraft working on his computer
I think the biggest takeaway from this discussion is how amazing it is the Minecraft runs on Java, and such a primitive version of it at that. As someone who studies Computer Science, I would never program a game, especially one that large, in Java. It’s easy to program, sure. However, it is so slow because of the way it handles memory and garbage collection. This is why most game developers just C++ (or an engine built on C++).
0:35:32 Garrett played more League of Legends
Sam is always saying that the reason the LoL player-based is so toxic is because a single match takes way too damn long. I think there’s truth to that, especially after hearing Garrett’s stories.
People take their video games WAY too seriously.
0:38:35 Garrett, Chris, and I talk about college.
A lot of people will tell you that you need to work super hard in college to get a 4.0, so that people will recognize you. That mentality will destroy your mental health in college. Just go for a B instead. For me, it gives me enough wiggle room to do things like this podcast and my blog, while allotting enough time to do my work.
Since I’m in my final semester before I get a Bachelor’s Degree, I take this time to dispense college advise to people starting out.
0:51:20 Sam talks about The Song of Saya.
And dear god, does it sound creepy. I’ve not much more to say about it.
1:05:09 Sam got an Xbox One and talks about controllers.
I do like how both Sony and Microsoft dramatically improved their controllers, compared to previous generations. I can’t speak to the Xbox One, but Sony’s controller for the PS4 just feels so much better in your hands.
1:06:30 Sam played some Persona 4 Ultimax (with me)
And he uses Marie, which I can’t use.
Sam also inundates us with anime stuff.
1:09:05 Sam played Valiant Hearts
I wish I had more to say about it, but I’ve yet to play the game myself.
1:12:45 Garrett brings up the Steam sale
And pretty much everyone agreed that the sale was pretty sad. The sales were pitiful, and the games I did want didn’t go on sale for deep enough discounts to buy.
1:14:50 We discuss Awesome Games Done Quick again.
One of the things I find most fascinating about watching speed-runs is that said runs do a fantastic job revealing the many glitches and exploits in the games we play. These help guys like me better understand exactly how many of the features seen in the games we play are implemented. It’s very interesting.
1:23:10 Chris has been playing more Destiny.
Every single time, we mention Destiny. It’s truly amazing.
Not as amazing as how empty Destiny is, but amazing nonetheless. But you already know about all of that.
1:35:04 Chris has a rant about next-gen and the Wii U.
Really, just listen to it. It speaks for itself.
We also take the time to discuss the state of affairs for each of the major consoles out right now, compared to their predecessors at around this time last generation.
1:45:05 I mention Interactive Friction.
It’s the new project that Sam and I are doing. The first post is here, so check it out.
1:47:25 I played Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, via the 2.5 HD ReMIX.
And it feels so much more comfortable to play this on a big screen, using a PS3 controller, than on a PSP.
We also take this chance to discuss Kingdom Hearts lore. The problem with Kingdom Hearts lore isn’t that it’s hard to understand. It isn’t. The problem is that there is too much of it. There is so many plot details to memorize, that fully understanding the lore involves tons of memorization. Furthermore, there are details that aren’t in the games, but it outside source material. As a result, it is damn near required to read a wiki to keep track of everything. Dream Drop Distance does well by including summaries of the stories to every other Kingdom Hearts game before it. I wrote an article about lore in Kingdom Hearts 2 as well, which you should check out.
Then, I discuss the terrible mini-games this game has. Kingdom Hearts has always had the problems where most of the mini-games just simply aren’t fun. Birth by Sleep continued that trend.
Lastly, the video on the Kingdom Hearts lore I mentioned, by GameTrailers, is here.
2:08:30 Wrapping Up
Good night, guys.

Welcome to this new joint venture between myself and my cohort Sam Callahan, from The Texture Pop. Those of you who watched shows like Spoiler Warning, or my first such venture, Disclosure Alert, already have an idea of what this will be.

Like those shows, this will be using a Let’s Play format to discuss the many elements of the game. These discussions are completely unscripted, off the cuff conversations, based on what is going on in the game. Spoilers for the game are to be expected as a result. For example, if we end up talking about the game’s ending just because that’s where the conversation is going, we’re going to just let the conversation takes its course.

Our first game, because it’s a game that both of us wished to cover, is Far Cry 3.

Now, without further ado, we present the premiere of Interactive Friction.

I’m going to be honest, the intro cutscene already really made me dislike the protagonist, Jason Brody, and his friend. The kind of people who go out and party all the time, drinking heavily and preforming dumbass stunts, are not the kind of people I like to associate with in real life. I am sure that they aren’t bad people, but they annoy me.

Another thing I want to mention about the primary cast is that it seems like it would make more sense for Grant to have been the protagonist, instead of Jason. After all, he’s a trained soldier for the US Military, back from his tour. He would have already known how to kill, and it would be more fitting for him to be treated as a warrior. Jason’s shift from nobody to warrior is so abrupt that it strains credibility.

On the other hand, Vaas serves as an extremely interesting secondary protagonist. You could be forgiven for thinking he’s the real villain, but he’s not even the second-in-command. The actual villain is significantly less interesting, which makes the second half of the game really unsatisfying.

Another noteworthy thing that we talked about in the episode is how little sense it makes for a slavery/ransom operation this big, who took so many large, noteworthy targets, to remain operational. If they have stayed in Rook Island for so long, they would have been invaded and stopped by various governments long before it got this large.

We also meet Dennis in this episode. This whole scene with Dennis leads to a whole bunch of problems. He gives Jason a tattoo, then says that since he was given a tattoo, he is going to become a legendary warrior. Then, he gives Jason a machete and money for a pistol, because why not.

There’s also a fun fact with the line “You have the right to take my life, but know that I will also take yours.” Originally, Jason was going to go for a pistol he already had on him before Dennis pointed that machete and spoke that line. In that context, the line makes sense. Now, it feels out-of-place, even when you consider how dumb the rest of the scene is.
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