Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

 

Tonight we have a bit of an odd show to usher in sleep theft weekend.  First we talk about Bel’s descent into madness…  that is getting super engaged in Guild Wars 2.  He spent the last week chain running World Bosses and talks about how freaking fun that is.  From there we talk about some of the long grind systems and how there are multiple paths for different playstyles to reach the same ultimate goal.  From there we dust off a topic that has been sitting on the list for a long while, that was originally inspired by Warhammer 40,000 but applies to a lot of different games.  Largely we discuss how the most hardcore players represent the smallest portion of the community, but also are the ones that set the pace that everyone else is forced to live up to.  This covers a wide swath of topics from Magic the Gathering to MMO Chain Pulling to even the death of New World.  It is one wild ride  of a show.

Topics Discussed

  • Bel’s further descent into Guild Wars 2
    • The Joy of Chain Running World Bosses
    • The Good Long Grinds
  • Catering to the minority in games
    • How the most competitive players set the rules of the community
    • Warhammer 40,000
    • FFXIV and MMO Chain Pulling
    • Magic the Gathering
      • Netdecking
      • Missing Jank Magic
    • Destiny 2
      • Death of Skill Based Matchmaking
    • New World and how catering to a minority is killing game
    • Missing the innocence of being able to be bad
Direct download: aggrochat_episode381.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:31am EDT

Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

Tonight we start off talking about the weird game Babylon’s Fall and how it potentially had the worst launch ever of a big budget looter style game.  With a steam launch of concurrent users in the neighborhood of 350 players…  we talk about what went wrong.  From there we discuss Warhammer 40,000 and the release of new Craftworld army lists.  So in a weird turn of events…  Bel apparently likes Guild Wars 2 now?  He finally lands on a class that feels the way he wanted Warrior to feel…  and it is apparently a caster.  We also talk a bit about End of Dragons expansion and how well Cantha appears to be received.  From there we dive into a topic that is sure to anger many listers about what it means for Open World gaming to be done “Right”.  This mainly involves a discussion of Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, Horizon series, and even some discussion of things like open world Assassin’s Creed games.

Topics Discussed

  • Babylon’s Fall
    • Worst Looter Start Yet
  • Warhammer 40,000
    • Craftworlds
    • Aspects are Finally Good Again
  • Bel Apparently likes GW2
    • Necromancer is Caster Tank
  • End of Dragons
    • Fun in Cantha
  • Open World Done Right
    • Breath of the Wild
    • Elden Ring
    • Horizon Series
Direct download: aggrochat_episode380.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:31am EDT

Tonight we have a blend of new topics and bumped topics starting with discussion of recent plays of Chicory, and how the musical soundtrack is phenomenal.  Ash talks a bit about how maybe there are games with too much complexity…  more specifically Xenoblade 2.  From there Kodra talks about his first major VR game experience with Psychonauts Rhombus of Ruin.  We contemplate what the heck a Disco Elysium TV Show might look like.  Tam talks about his experiences with the latest Total Warhammer game.  Finally we finish the show with a long discussion about Elden Ring and how maybe most of the game reviews are a little biased.

Topics Discussed

  • Chicory is Great
  • Xenoblade 2
  • Psychonauts Rhombus of Ruin
  • Disco Elysium TV Show
  • Total Warhammer III
  • Elden Ring
    • Problems with Game Reviews
Direct download: aggrochat_episode379.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:27am EDT

Tonight we talk about how constructed Kamigawa is a challenge and how effectively there are only so many viable decks that you can build.  From there we talk about Vampire Saviors a game that Bel griefed Ashgar with and he has been playing at length.  Grace discovers Chronicon, a game that we would consider the perfect diablo clone…  if it had reasonable graphics.  Finally we dive into a long discussion about our earlier feelings about Horizon Forbidden West, a game that has in large part consumed most of the cast since its release on Friday.  There is a weird diatribe about dpads and the importance of a good one as well as a quick blurb about how Psychonauts does not maybe hold up as well from a representation of mental health aspect.

Topics Discussed

  • Kamigawa is Hard
  • Vampire Saviors
  • Chronicon
  • Horizon Forbidden West
    • Initial Thoughts
  • Diatribe about DPads
  • Psychonauts Holds up Less Well
Direct download: aggrochat_episode378.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:21am EDT

We start off with a quick update on Elden Ring and how From Software is working on fixing the exploit prior to launch.  From there we spent quite a bit of time talking about the Nintendo Direct that happened last week and the interesting and wildly unexpected things that came out of it.  We talk a bit about the Lost Ark launch and how only one of us is actually playing it.  From there we talk some more about Control and how Grace has beat the main campaign now and Tam is working his way through it.  Bel talks about his fixation on Remedy games and playing Alan Wake and Quantum break.  Kodra talks about replaying Psychonauts 1 in order to prepare for the sequel.  Finally we dive into a topic about how games can make it a net positive to see other players in the open world.

Topics Discussed

  • Updates about Elden Ring
  • Nintendo Direct News
  • Lost Ark Launch
  • Control
  • Quantum Break
  • Bouncing off Prey 2017
  • Psychonauts 1
  • In Game Events
    • How to make seeing other players a good thing
Direct download: aggrochat_episode377.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:31am EDT

One of the things about AggroChat is we very often rarely get into a game when it is new, which leads to us putting several titles on our games of the year list that are several years old.  This week Belghast finally got around to playing Control and is now trying to hook everyone else on it.  From there we talk a bit about the cyberpunk state of Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons and how Cantha is now a high tech kingdom.  Keeping the cyberpunk theme going we talk about Kamigawa Neon Dynasty.  Ash talks a bit about Trials of Mana and their New Game Plus system that allows you to easily see how the OTHER party would have finished the game.  From here we roll into a discussion about the most recent controversy going on with Star Citizen.  Then we wrap things up with a few quick topics like how Elden Ring might have a serious security vulnerability.  Then Kodra talks for a bit about Kaizo Mario and how maybe things aren’t as difficult as folks seem to think they are. Topics Discussed
  • Control
  • Jade Cyberpunk Cantha
  • Neon Cyberpunk Kamigawa
  • Trials of Mana New Game Plus
  • Transparency in Game Dev
    • Aka Star Citizen Recent Controversy
  • Elden Ring potential exploits
  • Celeste.smc and Kaizo Mario
Direct download: aggrochat_episode376.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:36am EDT

Hey Folks!  Tonight we dive into a few topics that we did not have time for last week.  First off Grace shares their adventures in Wytchwood, a game largely about crafting interesting potions.  From there we talk briefly about first impressions with a wildly different Pokemon game, Arceus.  From there we talk a bit about Chorus which dives into a longer topic about games that try different things without fully committing to them.  This brings forth a long discussion about minigames and breaking up the rhythm of a game without doing it poorly.  Kodra talks a bit about Celeste.smc which is a version of Celeste playable on the Super Nintendo.  Then we wrap things up with a quick discussion about God of War on the PC and Bel’s thoughts in playing through it.

Direct download: aggrochat_episode375.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:55am EDT

Tonight we are trying to get back into the swing of regularly recording shows.  It was a bit of an odd week because no one saw Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard King before it was announced.  We talk about this a bit, and Game Pass…  then Bel shares a whole bunch of games that he has been playing from Game Pass.  We also talk a bit about a game called OneShot that Kodra has been spending some time playing.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Microsoft Buys ActiBlizz
  • Game Pass
  • Nobody Saves the World
  • New Super Lucky’s Tale
  • Oneshot
  • Old School Adventure Games
  • Wadjet Eye Games
  • Interactive Fiction
  • The Gunk
  • Forza Horizon 5
    • Car MMOs
Direct download: aggrochat_episode374.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:26am EDT

Hey folks it is that time again, time for the Games of the Year show.  As is often the case we ended up with way too many things to talk about and could in no way fit them into a single show.  As a result this week I bring you the continuation of last week's show as we run through the second batch of games.  We covered twelve games in the first show and we cover the last seven games in this show.  As you can tell when we go further into the list more active discussion happens as there is a bit more overlap in the titles.

 

Without further waffling, I bring you the second round of discussion.

Topics Discussed

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake - Intergrade
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Mass Effect Legendary Edition
  • Valheim
  • Wildermyth
  • Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart
  • Final Fantasy XIV / Endwalker
Direct download: aggrochat_episode373.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:38am EDT

Hey folks it is that time again, time for the Games of the Year show.  As is often the case we ended up with way too many things to talk about and could in no way fit them into a single show.  As a result I will bring you part one this week and next week it will conclude with part two.  We have nineteen games to discuss this year, which means we left some ten honorable mentions on the cutting room floor just because there was nowhere near enough time.  This is probably the most diverse list of games that we have compiled because as a group there was not a whole lot of overlap in the titles we played this year.

Without further waffling I bring you the first round of discussion.

Topics Discussed:

  • How we Choose Games
  • Ghost of Tsushima - Director’s Cut
  • Cozy Grove
  • Boyfriend Dungeon
  • Celeste
  • Chicory a Colorful Tale
  • Deathloop
  • Deltarune
  • Haven
  • Psychonaut 2
  • Subnautica Below Zero
  • Tales of Arise
  • Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries
Direct download: aggrochat_episode372.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:50am EDT