It’s time to take on the Black Baron and bring Penelope into the Cooper Gang. I’m sure he’ll be no pushover, but we always find a way to prevail. This time will be no different.

And afterward, Bentley has a proposal for another new recruit… one that even Sly has difficulty processing.

It is easy to discount Penelope and the Panda King both for the simple that they both bring in expertise that Bentley already brings to the table, remote-controlled vehicles and demolitions respectively. And while it’s not incorrect to make that comment, that criticism also ignores what both of these characters bring to the group dynamic.

Penelope highlights the tension that exists between Sly and Bentley, which will be tugged on closer to the end of the game. The game only points it in passing, but Bentley has grown more bold, courageous, and audacious with his plans and schemes. In many ways, he’s starting to come out of Sly’s shadow. And yet, seeing how Penelope swoons over Sly is a not-so-subtle reminder, that he’s still playing second-fiddle to his ally. It’s not enough to make him do anything rash, but it stings, and it does create a minor rift between them.

And the Panda King ties more into the game’s central theme of legacy and being weighed down by the past. It’s part of why we’ve seen so many other familiar faces like Dimitri and Muggshot as well. A major theme of this game is how history can easily weigh us down when we allow it to, or when we fail to move on. Sly and the Panda King are naturally distrustful of each other given their past. It’s kept the Panda King trapped in that moment, and only by accepting that they’re both had time to grow and change is he able to move on.

It’s easy to let history trap you, but you’re far better off learning from it and acknowledging it without letting it define you.

Our plans to sabotage the Black Baron’s legitimate aerial dogfighting competition so that we can recruit one of his staff, for the sole purpose of stealing back Sly’s accumulated family fortune, are proceeding apace. And now, it’s our turn to take to the skies. We have to win, even if we need to play dirty.

Thinking back on it, it’s almost strange to consider how heavily marketed the biplane sections on Sly 3 were in particular because there are only two of them in the entire game. And yet, when I think about all the advertising that I remember about Honor Among Thieves, hearing Tom from Toonami talk about that section and the cheat code that could be used to unlock the Toonami branded skin for the plane are the first things that come to mind.

It’s easy to say that these small gimmicks take away from the game (and I have). At the same time, that’s been a criticism of the trilogy since the very first game. One of the biggest complaints people had with The Thievius Raccoonus is that the final stage was majority set piece-driven gimmick levels, with very few instances of the platforming that made most of the rest of the game so strong, up to and including the actual final boss fight against Clockwerk. In that sense, bringing in a crew of characters and short one-offs is perfectly in line with the rest of the trilogy.

And in truth, it doesn’t matter too much either way. Even as minor recurring gimmicks, most of these small sections work well. I can’t think of one that I dislike off the top of my head since none of them overstay their welcome. Additionally, something we’ll get into later is how these new members of the Cooper Gang do a great job of exploring the core cast and what internal struggles and conflicts exist within and between them.

Last time, we did Covid-19 a favor by destroying a mask so completely that not a single trace of its existence remains. And as a result, the Australian Outback is set to improve, freeing up Murray’s Guru to become the 4th member of the Cooper Gang.

But we need more help than that if we’re going to break into the Cooper vault. So it’s off to Holland to participate in an aerial dogfighting contest to recruit an RC specialist whose expertise exceeds even Bentley’s.

The fascinating aspect of this section of the game is that where we didn’t have an overarching villain in the Outback, here in Holland we have an antagonist who isn’t truly a villain. He’s just a wealthy dogfighting champion who wants to have a fair match. The reason his guards are out on patrol is simply to discourage the competitors from sabotaging each other. It doesn’t work, but he’s still putting in an effort to stop cheaters like us.

Arguably, we’re the villains because we’re actively sabotaging the event just so that we can recruit a member of his team to our gang. Bentley in particular starts to grow especially devious in this episode, devising plans to generate animosity among other teams and stealing the competition roster to give an unfair advantage to our single (admittedly) underdog airplane pilot.

Even if the game doesn’t dwell on it, or bring it up, this setup is far more morally gray than we typically see in Sly Cooper. As he’s stealing, it’s usually from the kind of people who “deserve it” as a form of karmic justice, and that’s not the case here.

A hot new card game from the former lead designer of Hearthstone has been making waves in the short time since it debuted worldwide a few weeks ago. Beyond that, it also brings the full weight of the Marvel universe to the table.

But is it any good? Well, let’s find out as we play Marvel Snap!

As far as card games go, Marvel Snap does a lot to distinguish itself from its competition, even down to many fundamental game structures. Because decks are only twelve cards deep, and we draw nine of those cards over the course of the six-round structure, we actually have a 75% chance of drawing the key card that the deck revolves around if it is built around a specific synergy or combo. And those odds only climb higher if the player can find other cards that have similar effects.

Additionally, it rips one of the few good pages out of Artifact’s book by creating a system of three lanes, only instead the winner is the player that controls two of those lanes after the end of the sixth round. And since each of these lanes is represented by a location, which it’s own special ability attached, there is often a ton of small decision-making that needs to be made in the moment on how to both maximize the value of our cards and position them so we come out on top.

Then we get to the Snapping concept, which adds a meta layer on top of the game. In essence, either player can Snap to double the stakes of a given match, the winner earning double the advancement in rank and the loser falling twice as far. This creates a tactical meta layer where players have to decide if a match is even worth continuing, or if they should just cut their losses and run away before they take a big loss.

I’ve been enamored with it since I started playing, and I find myself jamming quick rounds even when I have no more daily quests left. If there’s a stronger sign that I’m enjoying the game, I don’t know what it would be.

The Mask of Dark Earth interfering with our plans to recruit the enigmatic Guru of the Australian Outback to our gang. More than that, it’s turning all the NPCs into a macro furry’s dream come true.

And since we’re running a PG-13 stream here, that’s gotta stop right now!

I must confess, remembering that the lemonade bar level was used as part of the demo for Sly 3 made me nostalgic for the era in which game demos were more common. Thankfully, the practice has regained some traction in recent years, when companies like Square Enix have started to release demos, even allowing us to import our saves from the demo into the main game most of the time. Still, it’s something that more companies could stand to do.

The other thing of note is the Mask of Dark Earth itself, as it’s pretty unique in the context of Sly Cooper villains. Usually, we learn about the villain’s backstory and motivations, the things that drove them into a life of crime. Here, it’s just an evil mask. There’s nothing to hook into for interesting conversation pieces. The best you can say is that I have friends who are happy to see it because macro and growth are their kinks.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s just unusual for a Sly Cooper villain.

Our friend Murray is back in the gang, but he’s still facing an emotional crisis of sorts since he broke an oath to his Guru. We had best help him apologize to his mentor and face his issues head-on.

And if we can add a new member to the Cooper Gang at the same time, all the better.

At this point, we’ve recruited our first new character to the Cooper Gang. With that, we can start talking a bit more about one of the more contentious aspects of Sly 3.

It’s not a new conversation, even in the context of this channel. We’ve discussed it both in the context of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon. Like many third games in platforming trilogies, Honor Among Thieves attempts to use new characters, vehicles, and other gimmicks to add variety to the core Sly Cooper gameplay. To some level, we’ve already taken steps in that direction back in Band of Thieves, by making Bentley and Murray playable characters.

However, they were core characters back in the first game too, presented as vital members of the team. Their chemistry as a trio is at the heart of what makes the Sly franchise so beloved, and adding new members to the mix does run the risk of diluting that chemistry by taking time away from it. After all, every minute we take with a character like the Guru is a minute we aren’t spending with one of the main three.

In fairness, the game does a great job from a writing standpoint of making each integrating each of the new characters into the personal story arcs of all core Cooper Gang. Though one could argue they take some mechanics away from Sly, Bentley, and Murray just to give them to these side characters.

It’s a tough balance to tow.

I’ve learned my lesson from last time and slept soundly the night prior to the stream, so now we won’t have any issues with my falling half-asleep in the middle of playing the game.

After all, our buddy Murray needs us, and I can’t help him if I’m passing out at my desk.

While we took pains to appreciate David Scully for his performances as Rajan, Dimitri, and Octavio in the Sly trilogy, it’s worth pointing out the incredible quality of the voice performances across the board, especially as they improve over the three games.

It seems like a lot of actors, from what I can find on IMDB, haven’t done much voice work since 2013 when Thieves in Time was released. And considering the talent they all brought to these games, that’s a real shame. The chemistry that the core cast of Kevin Miller, Matt Olsen, and Chris Murphy brings to the table, after working together for so long, adds so much to their performances. It’s difficult to tell how much of it is the writers getting more comfortable writing them versus the actors getting comfier reading the lines, but both are contributors.

Ironic that this would be the topic of conversation in this episode since at the times both of writing and recording, the Bayonetta 3 controversy is still fresh in the discourse, but the conversation goes where it goes.

Our plan to sabotage Octavio and restore the waters of Venice from heavily polluted back to merely highly polluted is proceeding apace. If we keep at it, then The Murray will be back with us in no time.

I played pretty poorly in this episode, but in my defense, I didn’t sleep a wink the night before. As a result, I was completely out of it.

Still, possibly another benefit to losing clue bottles is that the system of dialing in safe combinations had a chance to be repurposed in these little segments where we need to find the safe combination in paintings. It’s small, but it helps sell the fantasy of being cool, suave international thieves.

It’s also worth pointing out how well the team at Sucker Punch handled the fact that one of the core three members of the Cooper Gang is now disabled. They don’t make any efforts to dance around it, or the events that lead up to it and how both those things have impacted him, but nor do they dwell on it. It’s just a part of Bentley’s history at this point, and it’s something he’s quickly come to terms with. Arguably, with the improvements he makes to his wheelchair over the course of the game, he’s more capable now than he was back when he could walk on two legs. And over the game’s story, we’ll see more of him and how comfortable he’s become despite his circumstances.

I’m not among the disabled community, so I can only speak on that based on what I can observe. However, given the fact this was a 2005 game, it’s pleasantly surprising to see them tackle this subject with nuance.

If we want to get Murray back, it looks like we’re going to need to bring Octavio down a peg, and stop him from polluting the waters of Venice… more than they already are. Let’s help him out.

As I mentioned in this batch of episodes, one of the most immediately noticeable changes to the game in Sly 3 was the absence of clue bottles and the vaults whose combinations they revealed. I believe the reason for that was simply the short dev cycle this game went through, but either way, I’m one of the few people who seem to think it was better for the game.

I felt that clue bottles in Sly 2 felt more like a legacy carryover from the first game than a useful mechanic in their own right. As someone who likes to finish everything as soon as possible, I would start most episodes by scouring the map for clue bottles to get all 30 of them before I even start the story mission. Not only did this hurt the pacing, but in many cases, the clue bottles were hidden in places I couldn’t access until I made enough progress on the main story missions, leading to my frustration.

Without them, this pacing killer was a non-issue. I could just play through the story without feeling the need to constantly detour just to take a few clue bottles that were off the beaten path. Additionally, not many of the powerups unlocked through clue vaults in Sly 2 has a dramatic effect on the moment to moment gameplay, so even when I got them they would just clog up my gadget select screen.

Obviously, my opinion is not the commonly popular one here, but it is my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

With Dr. Nefarious defeated, we have finally reached the end of our adventures in the Solana Galaxy and the original Ratchet & Clank trilogy. Fortunately, we have another funny cartoon animal mascot from the PS2 era whose trilogy has yet to be completed.

I’m of course talking about Sly Cooper. We’ve been with him and his pals throughout their adventures to take down the Fiendish Five and the Klaww Gang. Now, it’s time for his biggest heist yet.

Welcome to Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Before Thieves in Time came out, there was fierce contention among the Sly Cooper fandom over whether or not this or The Thievius Raccoonus was the “worst” game in the franchise. Neither of them are bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but nor did they reach the heights of Band of Thieves. The debate is now over since Thieves in Time is still pretty poorly regarded, but it was interesting while it lasted.

As I mentioned in the episode, there was a comic that was released between Sly 2 and Sly 3, that worked to bridge the gap in time between the two stories. I erroneously said it was through Playstation Magazine, but it was actually brought to us in collaboration with GamePro and DC Comics, which is why I had a copy of it. It’s worth checking out since fans have made scans of each page for anyone to read.

You don’t see many of those kinds of cross-media one-offs anymore. It was pretty common in those days, when print media was still a viable medium for gaming news and review outlets, to make these kinds of projects. These days, something like this would probably be made for an official YouTube channel instead, but it was still fun for the time.

That said, it’s still a part of gaming history, and I’m happy to see it preserved.