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

Hey Folks! We recorded a massive show where we effectively burned through our entire backlog of topics.  We start off talking about the new character, Maru, in Destiny Rising, and how this seems to be leading us to finally getting off the planet.  Kodra discusses Broom Sweeper, which is effectively the Roguelikeification of Minesweeper.  Bel got sucked into a local pen and paper game for Public Access and talks a bit about the setting.  Ash is doing a “Three Job Fiesta” run of Trials of Mana, and Tam has been playing some ArcRaiders.  We are all pretty pumped for the announcement of new Steam Hardware and what this means for PC gaming.  Kodra and Tam talk about It Takes a War, and Bel revisits his Freezy Boom character in Path of Exile.  We wrap up the show with some rapid-fire discussions about Gunfire Reborn, Winter Burrow, and Ambrosia Sky.

Topics Discussed:

• Destiny Rising

• Pirate Queen Maru

• Broom Sweeper

• Public Access TTRPG

• Trials of Mana

• Three Job Fiesta

• Arc Raiders

• More Steam Hardware

• It Takes A War

• Path of Exile

• Freezy Boom Revisited

• Gunfire Reborn

• Winter Burrow

• Ambrosia Sky

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

We start off the show with some discussion about Geek Girl Con and how it is a great experience for the entire family.  From there, Ash has played a bit more Daggerheart and discusses how not having initiative in that game actually works out really well.  Kodra is trying a new mine build in Path of Exile 3.2,7 and we talk a bit about how Rolling Magma Mine has been working. Bel has finished most of the endgame prep and discusses the state of his build and how Breach has been working as a league mechanic.  Touhou gets a little less difficult to engage with as Fantasy Maiden Wars attempts to present twenty years worth of assorted games into something more approachable. Tam revisited VTM Bloodlines 2 and thinks that maybe we are misremembering the first game, and how the thing that exists is actually pretty good if you give it enough time.  Lastly, Bel finished Frieren this weekend and talks a bit about it being really good and well worth watching.

Topics Discussed:

• Geek Girl Con 2025

• Daggerheart

• Initiative is Overrated

• Path of Exile 3.27

• Rolling Magma Mines

• Breach So Far

• Fantasy Maiden Wars

• Super Robot Wars With Shrine Maidens

• Touhou

• VTM Bloodlines 2 Revisited

• Frieren is Great

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

This week, we start off with some discussion around Path of Exile 3.27, the Keepers of the Flame league, and how we are doing breach to make things with the tree tree. From there, we talk a bit about the murder of Amazon Game Studios and how New World is essentially a shambling corpse now…  spooky. After that horror story, we needed something chill, so we talked a bit about Powerwash Simulator and its interesting method for delivering a story.  Grace and Bel finally finish the Destiny Rising raid and talk a bit about how good it is at teaching mechanics in lower-level content.  Dispatch is a wildly good game that is being delivered in an episodic method that feels like you are playing a really good television show.  Guild Wars 2 Visions of Eternity launched and we talk about some of our early thoughts, namely around the builds introduced by the new elite specs.  Finally, we talk a bit about Outer Worlds 2 and how it makes good on the idea of Obsidian’s very own Fallout New Vegas that the first game started.

Topics Discussed:

• Path of Exile 3.27

• Keepers of the Flame

• The Tree Tree

• New World in Zombie Mode

• Powerwash Simulator

• Destiny Rising Raid

• Dispatch

• GW2 Visions of Eternity Early Thoughts

• Outer Worlds 2

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

Good Morning, Folks! This week we had the entire crew and a stacked list of topics, forcing us to bump several to next week.  Tam starts out talking about Time Flies, leading into Grace talking about Ball X Pit.  Bel shares his thoughts about the Path of Exile 3.27 reveal stream, and Ash discusses the Session Zero for the Critical Role Daggerheart system. Tam has been playing Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2…  and how it is very much not a sequel to the first game. Bel talks a bit about the CSGO Gambling Crash, where the illicit market lost some 3 billion dollars of value in a single day. Ash discusses playing Entropy Effect, which is set in the BlazBlue universe, and Bel shares some further bad news about the self-destruction of Xbox, with some new updates and Halo officially being announced for the PlayStation 5. We wrap things up with first impressions of Dispatch and Outer Worlds 2, which we are likely going to be talking about next week.

Topics Discussed:

• Time Flies

• Ball X Pit

• Path of Exile 3.27 Reveal

• Daggerheart Session Zero

• VtM: Bloodlines 2

• CSGO Gambling Crash

• BlazBlue Entropy Effect

• Halo on PS5

• Dispatch First Impressions

• Outer Worlds 2 First Impressions

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

Hey Folks! This week, Grace and Bel start off the show talking about how good Destiny Rising has been now that they have arrived at the endgame.  They also talk a bit about Helhest, the new banner character. Grace shares her initial thoughts about He is Coming a roguelike that they have been playing. Bel shares some of the early spoilers for Path of Exile 3.27 Keepers of the Flame, which we are getting a full reveal for on the 23rd and is starting on the 31st.  It seems like we are maybe getting a Breach expansion league, with a bunch of quality of life changes.  From there, we dive into the topic that got bumped from last week about how there are so many good games… that it makes it really hard to play less-than-excellent games anymore. We also talk about how players are seeing through pointless grinds, and how AA games are back with a vengeance, while AAA games are floundering.

Topics Discussed

• Destiny Rising

• Helhest Banner

• Master and Grandmaster Mode Content

• Trikora Happened

• He Is Coming

• Path of Exile 3.27 Spoilers

• Keepers of the Flame

• Breach League

• When There Are Too Many Games

• Players Rebelling Against Grind

• The Rise of AA Games

• The Floundering of AAA Games

• Questionable Business Decisions

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

Hey Folks! We start off the show with a discussion about how we all dogpiled on Discord and attempted the pre-release version of the MIT Mystery Hunt… and for those completely lost about the show title, one of the clues to one of the puzzles… was just the specific color of the Charlie XCX Brat Album. From there, Bel talks a bit about the Halloween event in Guild Wars 2 and how some folks take the Mad King’s Labyrinth way the hell too seriously.  Tam discusses what seems to be a complete rework of how the factions work in Infinity, and Bel discusses the launch of World of Warcraft Legion Remix.  We talk a bit more about Hades II, and more specifically playing the game AFTER beating Cronos.  Finally, Bel talks just a little bit about his early experiences in Blue Protocol, where he is trying to find the fun in the game.

Topics Discussed:

• AggroChat vs Mystery Hunt

• Mad King’s Labyrinth in GW2

• Infinity Major Factions Update

• World of Warcraft Legion Remix

• Hades II

• Blue Protocol

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

We had a pretty meandering show where we thought we ran out of topics… and then suddenly remembered a few more at the very end.  We start with talking about Grace and Bel’s adventures in All Ikora PVPVE nonsense with Destiny Rising.  From there, Grace talks about the full release of Slime Rancher 2, and Ammo some adventures in Mathematics with the Final Fantasy Tactics remake.  Xbox seems like it is cooked as they continue their trend of raising the price on everything, this time with Gamepass. Bel talks about revisiting the MySpace 1.0 era with an almost one-for-one clone called SpaceHey. Tam shares some thoughts about why Rise of Ronin did not land for him, but Ghost of Yotei absolutely has.  Bel has popped back into New World and was shocked to find some pretty significant updates to the game.  Then things go off the rails a bit, and we eventually talk about Hades 2 and the Electronic Arts sale to the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Topics Discussed:

• Destiny Rising Only Ikora Edition

• Slime Rancher 2 Release

• Final Fantasy Tactics

• Xbox Price Hikes

• SpaceHey

• Rise of the Ronin

• Ghost of Yotei

• New World Aeternum

• Hades 2

• Electronic Arts Sale

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

We are down a Grace this week, but carry forward with a handful of topics.  Bel talks about Diablo IV Season 10 after having sat out for a few seasons.  The game is in a pretty good state now.  Bel also goes on a tirade about how much he dislikes the builder/spender architecture in ARPGs and how you usually evolve your build to NEVER hit the builder. Tam, Kodra, and Ash offer their own rebuttals.  From there, we spend most of the show talking about Hades 2, which has been released this week into its full 1.0 version with some significant changes. We wrap the last few minutes of the show talking about a few other roguelikes that released recently, namely Wander Stars and Aethermancer.

Topics Discussed

• Diablo IV In A Good Place

• Builder Spender Feels Bad

• Hades 2 Full Release

• Wander Stars Full Release

• Aethermancer Full Release

Hey Folks! This week, we have a second opinion of Destiny Rising to offset Bel’s fanaticism… and Grace doubles down on pretty much everything that has been said to this point. From there, Ash talks a bit about Alabaster Dawn which currently has a demo available. Grace discusses her further adventures in idle gaming, this time with Cast N Chill.  Bel talks a bit about what is ultimately a Gibsonian Transhumanism masterpiece in the Pantheon animated series. Ash dives into the Digimon Time Stranger demo and expects it to be his monster collection game of the year when it eventually comes out.  Hades 2 finally releases fully this week, and we are looking forward to it greatly. Bel talks a bit about further adventures in Guild Wars 2 fractals, and Tam and Thalen share their thoughts about Tiny Book Shop.  Grace discusses briefly that Deeprock Galactic Survivor has released its 1.0 version, and then we dive into a bit of a meatier topic, as Kodra, Tam, and Thalen have all hit 100% in Silksong.

Topics Discussed:

• Destiny Rising Second Opinion

• Alabaster Dawn Demo

• Cast N Chill

• Pantheon

• Digimon Time Stranger Demo

• Hades 2 1.0 This Week

• Guild Wars 2 Fractal Incursions

• Tiny Book Shop

• Deeprock Galactic Survivor 1.0

• 100% Silksong

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

Hey Folks! We start off the show with a discussion about the hidden episode of this season’s Game Changers over on Dropout TV.  Bel regales the group with his adventures in the endgame of Destiny Rising and how it really is a better Destiny game than anything we have gotten in years.  Grace instantly sells us on Star Birds just by telling us its from the folks behind Dorfromantik. More than that, it has the art style of Kurzgesagt so you adventure the galaxy with adorable birbs.  There is currently an event going on in Guild Wars 2 where you can run random fractals with complete strangers, and it is delightful and stupidly rewarding. Bel talks a bit about Borderlands 4, and while it is probably the best Borderlands since the second game…  it has some massive performance issues on PC.  Kodra talks about the recent board game A Place for My Books, and most of the crew dives into further discussion about Silksong.

Topics Discussed:

• Samalamadingdong

• Destiny Rising Endgame

• Star Birds

• Random Fractals

• Borderlands 4 Performance Woes

• A Place For My Books

• More Silksong - Trobbio!

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

Hey Folks! This week, we are down a Grace, and Bel botches the intro… but we keep moving forward. We start off the show with a brief discussion about Silksong effectively breaking every digital game distribution platform when it released this week. Kodra and Tam talk about puzzler Is This Seat Taken, and Bel reprises the discussion about Path of Exile II Third Edict and how it is actually rather good if you are playing a well-balanced class.  From there, Tam talks about Aero GPX and Sword of the Sea and how they give F-Zero and SSX Tricky vibes. Bel talks about playing Destiny Rising and how it is quite possibly a better Destiny game than anything we have gotten in many years.  We discuss Capes, and then dive into the meaty topic of the week and talk about some of our early interactions with Silksong.

Topics Discussed:

• Silksong Breaking All Storefronts

• Is This Seat Taken

• Path of Exile II is Actually Good

• Aero GPX

• Sword of the Sea

• Destiny Rising

• Capes

• Silksong Early Thoughts

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

Hey Folks! Happy Labor Day holiday weekend for our fellow countryfolk. We start off this show with Thalen making a reference to a dream that Bel had… which forces a recounting of the madness.  From there, we talk about Last Epoch and a completely silly build that Bel is playing, where things explode around him without doing anything.  Grace also talks a bit about their similarly silly single minion build that just melts most things.  Bel talks a bit about YoloMouse and how it solves the problem of not being able to find your cursor on screen.  From there, Tam talks a bit about PEAK, which is a new popular multiplayer frustration adjacent experience. Bel talks a bit about the launch of the Third Edict league in Path of Exile II and how it seems like none of the streamers are actually having fun… and he most definitely was not.  We close out the show with some discussion about some of the recent updates to Star Citizen and how it continues to shape up to actually being a game.

Topics Discussed:

• The Beefists

• Last Epoch

• Fun with Thorns and Aboms

• YoloMouse

• PEAK

• Path of Exile II Third Edict frustrations

• Star Citizen 2025 updates

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

Hey Folks! This week, we have the entire crew and start off talking about Last Epoch Season 3 with the release of Beneath Ancient Skies.  We talk briefly about the patch reveal for Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict, and while it sounded promising, it is mostly a bunch of nerfs.  From there, we talk a bit about some of the news coming out of Gamescom 2025 and specifically the date reveal for Hollow Knight Silksong.  Ash talks a bit about the Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct and some of the things that came out of that.  Bel talks about his further descent into madness with Miniatures and Warhammer.  Finally, Kodra talks a bit about some more Starfinder Society with Starfinder 2e.

Topics Discussed:

• Last Epoch Season 3 - Beneath Ancient Skies

• Path of Exile 2 0.3 - The Third Edict

• GamesCom 2025

• Hollow Knight Silksong

• Kirby Air Riders Direct

• Bel’s Further Delve into Miniatures and Wargaming

• Starfinder Society

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

Hey Folks! We had a bunch of topics left over from last week that rolled over to this week.  First, we talk a bit about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the Shinobi Metroidvania. From there, we talk a bit about Summer Games Done Quick and some of the better runs. Tam talks about his plans to adapt the Starfinder 2 game system to create a Shadowrun Campaign.  Ash shares his initial thoughts about Draw Steel, a new RPG coming down the pipe. We talk a bit about the upcoming Last Epoch Season 3, which drops on August 21s and some of the significant changes.  We also talk a bit about Path of Exile II 0.3.0, which drops shortly after that on the 29th. Lastly, Tam shares some of his thoughts on actually playing quite a bit of Burrows and Badgers, a squad-based leveling miniatures game along the lines of Mordheim. Grace talks briefly about the new Dwarven Realms season that has started, and Bel shares his suggestions for the Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone and both Weapons and Barbarian by Zach Cregger.

Topics Discussed:

• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

• Summer GDQ

• Shadowfinder

• Draw Steel RPG

• Last Epoch Season 3

• Path of Exile 2 0.3 Spoilers

• Burrows and Badgers

• Dwarven Realms 

• Craft Sequence

• Weapons and Barbarian

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

Hey Folks! We are back after a week off, and like always, when that happens, we come back to a large stack of topics.  We start off talking about Hellclock and Grimshire, two great games that Grace has been playing quite a bit of.  From there, we discuss Kodra’s adventures in GenCon as he talks about the various LARPs he played in and some exploration of the Starfinder 2 system.  Bel talks about how he has come to understand eSports through Path of Exile and discusses a bit about The Gauntlet event that is wrapping up.  Bel also talks about effectively trying to speed run several decades worth of advancements in wargaming as he juggles trying to figure out what paint range to invest in.  We briefly discuss our non-spoiler thoughts about The Fantastic Four movie, and then a few updates on the books we have been reading.

Topics Discussed:

• Hellclock

• Grimshire

• GenCon

• LARPS

• Starfinder 2

• Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast

• Understanding eSports

• Path of Exile and The Gauntlet

• Speed Running Three Decades of Wargaming

• The Fantastic Four was Good

• Book Updates

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

Hey Folks! We got the full crew and dived into the topic of what defines a game. Is it still a game if it mostly plays itself? From there, we talk about the recent acquisition of Eleventh Hour Games by Krafton and what it might mean for the future of Last Epoch. We reprise the topic of connecting with players since Kodra was out last week and had thoughts. This deteriorates into a general topic about Guild Wars 2 and chasing rare items.  Tam shares the conclusion to his new computer topic from last week and what he decided to do.  Finally, we talk a bit about how Hades 2 has released the last patch before the official 1.0 launch.

Topics Discussed:

• Is it a game if it plays itself?

• The Sale of Last Epoch

• Kodra on Connecting with Players

• General Guild Wars 2 Discussion

• Pulling the Trigger on a New Computer

• Hades 2 is Coming

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

Hey Folks! We are down a Kodra this week but assembled a surprisingly long list of topics. First off Bel discusses the return of Commodore and the new product being released. Blaugust is coming up soon, and Bel is not running it this year. Tam shares the tribulations of trying to upgrade a PC right now, and the expense of hardware. Ash is finally back on the Final Fantasy XVI trai,n and it is really good.  Donkey Kong Bananza is pretty great…  but completely unintelligible. BPL or Badger Private League is a thing in Path of Exile and watching people participate is wild.  Guild Wars 2 announced the Visions of Eternity expansion and we talk a bit about the upcoming features.  Finally, Tam dives into a topic about how you get players to actually communicate with each other in games…  and we brainstorm ways to make those interactions happen.

Topics Discussed:

• Commodore is Back

• Blaugust is Coming

• Upgrading a PC Sucks Right Now

• Final Fantasy 16 Is Great

• Donkey Kong Bananza

• BPL in Path of Exile is Wild

• Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity

• Communicating With Other Players

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

Hey Folks.  We start off with a pretty frank discussion as to why we did not record last week and the death of Belghast’s wife of almost thirty years.  From there, we talk about what if Stardew Valley were a Pirates game with Seablip.  Bel shares his thoughts about the overwhelming success of KPOP Demon Hunters.  Kodra has reached the endgame of Minecraft Dungeons and talks about Apocalypse.  The crew has been playing some Sunderfolk and talking about that experience, and Tam shares his initial thoughts about Sky: Children of Light. Grace makes us want to buy the second game of the podcast as they share thoughts about Cauldron.  Tam has been brute-forcing his way through Guild Wars 1 Prophecies, and Bel has attempted to get into Borderlands 3 and still does not think that is a great game.  Finally, Bel shares his first thoughts about the Superman movie and how you should ignore some of the bad press and go see it.

Topics Discussed:

• Death of Bel’s Wife

• Seablip

• KPOP Demon Hunters

• Minecraft Dungeons Apocalypse

• Sunderfolk

• Sky: Children of Light

• Cauldron

• Guild Wars 1 Prophecies

• Borderlands 3 is Not Great

• Superman Is Great

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

Hey Folks! This week, we start off talking about Four Job Fiesta and how Ash’s playthrough is going as he takes the donation route to fix his class choices.  Bel talks about the Absolum a new demo up on Steam which mashes together Streets of Rage, Hades, and Darkest Dungeon into a really fun Roguelike Beat Em Up. From there, Kodra talks about his recent foray into Minecraft Dungeons and how it is a really good entry point to the ARPG/Diablo-like genre.  Ash has been revisiting Guild Wars 1 and talks about his progress so far.  Thalen shares his early thoughts about Persona 5 The Phantom X and how it seems to be a non-egregious gacha.  Finally, Kodra and Bel go on at length about the current Path of Exile league.

Topics Discussed:

• Four Job Fiesta Status Report

• Absolum

• Minecraft Dungeons

• Revisiting Guild Wars 1

• Persona 5 The Phantom X

• Path of Exile

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

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for long enough that folks have really gotten some time to play Mario Kart World, and we discuss some of its features.  We also talk a bit about the Donkey Kong Direct and the upcoming game releasing in July. It is the second week of Path of Exile 3.26, and Bel talks about his progress so far and some of the finer details of Mercenaries.  We talk briefly about the news that Marathon has been delayed to an indefinite date in the future, but that Sony is still talking about it like it is a thing.  Ash shares some thoughts about Siralim Ultimate and the upcoming 2.0 patch.  We then devolve into some nonsense about Dune Awakening as we discuss recent happenings on our private server.

Topics Discussed:

• Mario Kart World

• Donkey Kong Direct

• Path of Exile - Mercenaries of Trarthus Week Two

• Marathon Delayed Indefinitely

• Siralim Ultimate and 2.0 Patch

• Dune Awakening Nonsense

Hey Folks! We have the full crew this week, and Kodra and Thalen have made their way into Dune Awakening, so we talk a bit more about that game. Bel asks what the dumbest thing we have done in a video game to make currency. Ash is back in Guild Wars 2 and attempting to catch up on the story. Kodra and Tam share their thoughts about the Microsoft PuzzleHunt event and contrast it with the MIT Mystery Hunt. Bel shares his early experiences with the Mercenaries of Trarthus as the Secrets of the Atlas expansion kicks off in Path of Exile. Grace talks a bit about Be My Horde as it lets you play a Necromancer, raising an army in a Vampire-Survivors-like game. Finally, we talk a bit about Deltarune actually getting a proper release and Toby Fox accepting money for the game.

Topics Discussed:

• Kodra and Thalen Join Dune

• Dumb Things for Money

• Guild Wars 2 Catch Up

• Microsoft PuzzleHunt

• Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas

• Fun With Mercenaries

• Be My Horde

• Deltarune Purchasable

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

Hey Folks! We are down a Grace this week, but still end up filling up more than our normal slot full of nonsense.  There is a big sale going on right now for Guild Wars 2, and if you have ever thought about checking it out, now is the time. The Nintendo Switch 2 was released, and we are all pretty happy with it so far, and was at least a MASSIVE upgrade over the OG launch Switch. We talk a bit about the Summer Games Fest… which we only found out this week was not plural… thanks to LRR.  Tam and Bel have been playing the Dune headstart, and it is a wild gaming experience. Tam talks a short bit about TMNT Splintered Fate and Bel gives a heads up that Path of Exile 3.26 is coming next week.

Topics Discussed:

• Big Guild Wars 2 Sale

• Nintendo Switch 2

• Summer Game(s) Fest

• Dune: Awakening

• Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate

• Path of Exile 3.26 Next Week

Featuring: AmmosArt, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, and Tamrielo

Hey Folks! We are down a Thalen this week, but that is mostly because he was up visiting Bel Town, so Bel talks a bit about that.  Kodra discusses how playing a lot of Blue Prince has ruined his brain for every other game… especially Cyberpunk 2077. It is Path of Exile 3.26 Spoiler Season, and Bel talks about some of the quality of life changes coming.  Tam shares his experiences with Skin Deep and why it may not be the “sandbox stealth” game that it is purported to be. Kodra and Tam talk about their experiences playing Lorelei and the Laser Eyes “Co-Op” without official support for that. The early looter shooter Defiance makes a return, and Bel talks about that, and then Tam shares the realization that given enough time, you massively improve almost anything that you try… in his case, painting miniatures.

Topics Discussed:

• Blue Prince Rewires Brain

• Path of Exile 3.26 Spoiler Season

• Skin Deep

• Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3

• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes “Co-Op”

• Defiance Returns

• Painting Realization

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

Hey Folks! We are down a Grace this week and start off with what seems like a reasonable list of topics…  that we immediately have to bump half of because the night ran long. Thalen starts off with a bit of a rebuttal to our Eurovision topic as he shares his thoughts about Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. From there, we talk about the death of Marathon and potentially Bungie as things keep getting worse for that game and its studio. Speaking of angry crowds…  we also talk a bit about the self-own of Star Citizen’s recent round of pay-to-win allegations. Steam OS is officially available for devices that are not the Steam Deck, and we share our thoughts about an eventual future where we are running this on desktops. Somewhere in the midst of the show, we have this entire unintended conversation about how making PVP work for non-PVPers would mean needing to make losing feel enjoyable. Finally, Tam shares his thoughts about what he has played of Dune Awakening so far, and it is probably enough to rope several of us into trying the game on release.

Topics Discussed

• Space Opera

• The Marathon Debacle

• The Potential Death of Bungie

• Star Citizen Self-Own

• Steam OS Broad Release

• PVP for Non-PVPers

• Dune: Awakening 

Featuring: AmmosArt, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, and Kodra

Hey Folks! We are down a few folks, but we had a lot to talk about.  Bel and Grace have been watching Eurovision for several years at this point… and talk about some nonsense that went on during the Saturday show that was amazing. From there, Ash shares his broadening love of Taiko Drum games and tries to figure out a way to play them at home. Bel talks a bit about recent Last Epoch updates that have added quite a bit of quality of life to the game. Enshrouded got the Thralls of Twilight update that has massively improved some of the game visuals as well as added quite a bit more gameplay.  Dwarven Realms is going through Chaos Week right now, and Grace has been playing the brand new Necromancer. Several of us have spent time playing Slormancer, and it is a phenomenal and easy to get into ARPG with a pretty delightful art style.  Right now, Steam is doing Creature Collector Fest, and Ash talks about trying out several demos. Finally, Bel has returned to Guild Wars 2 and dragged Ammo along for the nonsense.  He talks about finishing up his fifth Legendary Weapon and setting his sights on the way more daunting Vision Legendary journey.

Topics Discussed:

• Real Winner of Eurovision

• Taiko Drum Games

• Last Epoch Quality of Life Patches

• Enshrouded - Thralls of Twilight 

• Dwarven Realms Necromancer

• Slormancer

• Creature Collection Demos

• Voiding Bound

• Synth Beasts

• Yaoling Mythical Journey

• Aethermancer

• Guild Wars 2

• Fifth Legendary What Now?

Featuring: AmmosArt, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

Hey Folks! Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there who might be listening to our show. We are down an Ash and a Grace and have an under-the-weather Kodra, but push on.  We start off with Bel asking the question: What is the bare minimum required for something to be called a crossover in a game? Kodra shares his thoughts about his playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077 and how it gives the impression of time pressure, but that there really is not any.  This branches off into a whole discussion about imaginary time pressure and actual hard clocks in games.  Weirdly, this also then branches off into a discussion about how “sexytime” is handled in games. In a more pure gaming experience, Tam shares his thoughts about the wildly successful Burrows and Badgets.  Bel talks about rolling a Gauntlet character in the Sir Gog led Path of Exile league and hitting a hard stop in Act 8.  Finally, we talk a bit about Dune Awakening and then attempt to explain the Dune universe to Kodra.

Topics Discussed:

• What Constitutes a Crossover in a Video Game?

• Diablo IV x Berserk Collaboration

• Cyberpunk 2077 and the implication of time pressure.

• Actual Time Pressure vs Imagined

• Sexytime in Gaming

• Burrows and Badgers

• Sir Gog’s Soft Gauntlet in Path of Exile

• Dune: Awakening Beta Hopes

• Explaining Dune to Kodra

Featuring: AmmosArt, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen

Hey Folks! We start off with almost no topics on the docket and then fill up a full show as we are rolling.  Bel saw Thunderbolts and shares that it might be the best Marvel movie he has seen since Guardians 3.  From there, Tam dives into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an aggressively French take on the JRPG genre that is insanely good. Grace shares their experiences with Conquest Dark, a new Vampire-Survivors-like that they have been playing. Bel gets sucked back into Path of Exile for Pohx League 2.0 where every map has two random additional bosses.  Tam shares some early thoughts about South of Midnight, and Ash shares their recent experiences with Samurai Bringer and Metal Bringer.  Kodra discusses some of the recent Chess drama, as Dr Lupo very clearly cheated in the recent PogChamps Tournament. Finally, Tam discusses his recent return to Infinity in edition 5.

Topics Discussed:

• Thunderbolts Movie Great

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Conquest Dark

• Path of Exile

• Pohx League 2.0

• Atlas Invasion

• South of Midnight

• Samurai Bringer

• Metal Bringer

• Chess Drama

• Infinity: N5

Featuring: AmmosArt, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, and Thalen

Good Morning Folks! We are down a Tam this week and went into this with no topics on the docket…  and still managed to pull together a full-length episode.  We talk a bit about our experiences attempting to preorder the Nintendo Switch 2, and what a massive cluster that was. From there, we talk a bit about the worst-kept gaming secret, the Oblivion remaster, and how magical this product is.  Magic: The Gathering has seemingly lost its mind, and we talk a bit about the Omenpaths thing and how poorly ideated it is.  Finally, Last Epoch is still a heck of a lot of fun, and we talk about some of the experiences, especially around playing with other folks.

Topics Discussed:

• Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Order Mayhem

• Oblivion Remaster

• Magic the Omenpaths Nonsense

• Last Epoch is Still Great

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

Hey Folks! Happy Easter to all of our listeners, since this happens to be dropping on the actual holiday. We talk a bit this week about how we recorded last week on the eleventh anniversary of this show…  without realizing it until far too late to discuss.  We start off the show talking about the second season of Last Epoch and the Tombs of the Erased expansion.  This expansion is largely focused on the endgame, and for the last year, they have apparently been cooking because it is amazing.  After that, Thalen discusses his playthrough of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and how it reminds him of 7th Guest…  but reasonable.  We wrap up the show with some more discussion of Blue Prince, and that apparently no one has seemingly solved the game yet in the broader community.

Topics Discussed:

• Last Epoch Tombs of the Erased

• This Season is amazing

• Endgame Changes

• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

• Blue Prince is Still Unsolved

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

Hey Folks! We were out last week but, as such, came back with a stacked list of topics to discuss.  We start off talking about Path of Exile II and the bad launch patch for Dawn of the Hunt.  We also talk about the interview between Zizaran and the Devs and the resulting updates.  We then dive into some discussion about an amazing-looking season for Tombs of the Erased in Last Epoch coming next week and all of the new features.  Kodra and Tam share their experiences with Blue Prince, which is a puzzle exploration game that highly suggests you keep track of some real-world notes.  Bel discusses his thoughts on the Minecraft Movie and how it splits the line between brilliance and trash and ends up providing a pretty great time. Ash has restarted Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, and Thalen talks about the Hugo Award Nominations.  Sudokucon has happened, and Kodra shares how the event went.  We also have a brief revisiting of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which Ammo and Ash are still playing through.

Topics Discussed:

• Path of Exile II League Issues

• Last Epoch Tombs of the Erased

• Blue Prince

• Minecraft Movie

• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX

• Hugo Award Nominations

• Sudokucon

• Xenoblade Chronicles X

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

Hey Folks! We are down a Grace this week, but push on with several topics.  This week, Path of Exile II revealed the Dawn of the Hunt league, and we talked a bit about how it did not really resolve some of the problems we had with the game.  Bel also talks a bit about pushing up his third level 100 in the Legacy of Phrecia Event.  We then discuss the very last Switch based Nintendo Direct because next week we are getting one announcing the Switch 2.  Bel shares his experience playing the aggressively British fallout-like called Atomfall, Tam shares his initial thoughts about Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Kodra shares his struggles with more competitive Chess.  Finally, we have a bit of a revisit of Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Topics Discussed:

• Path of Exile II - Dawn of the Hunt Reveal

• Bel Gets Third level 100 in Legacy of Phrecia Event

• Last Switch Nintendo Direct

• Atomfall

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows

• Kodra’s Chess Struggles

• Xenoblade Chronicles X

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

Hey Folks! We were out last week because Bel’s world was burning and all of the smoke was killing his lungs. This week we start off with a discussion about the Eleventh Hour Games and Grinding Gear Games situation as GGG pulls a Blizzard and ambushes the Last Epoch Season 2 launch.  From there we talk about the chill tea shop gameplay of Wanderstop, telling us that sometimes it is a good idea to stop and relax for a bit.  Tam and Kodra played through Wanderstop and talked about how it has evolved the already great co-op gameplay of It Takes Two with a much better story.  Ash and Ammo talk about diving into Xenoblade Chronicles X as it just was re-released on Nintendo Switch.  Bel talks a bit about Gunlocked which attempts to be the Vampire Survivors of Bullethell Shooters…  and fails in interesting ways that will hopefully be addressed in the sequel.  Bel also shares his initial thoughts from the Titans Quest II playtest, and Tam shares his thoughts about what he is seeing about Dune Awakening.

Topics Discussed:

• The EHG/GGG Situation

• The ambush scheduling of Path of Exile II

• The reschedule of Last Epoch Season 2

• Wanderstop

• Split Fiction

• Xenoblade Chronicles X

• Gunlocked / Boons and Burdens

• Titan Quest II

• Dune Awakening

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

Hey Folks! We are down an Ash this week and start the show down a Kodra who slips in while we record.  This week we talk about the press tour for Last Epoch Season 2 and some of the new information that came out on a podcast with Raxxanterax and Zizaran.  From there we talk about the fatal wound that is the upcoming Season 8 in Diablo IV because Season 7 was apparently too fun and Blizzard cannot stomach that.  Tam shares his experiences with Megamek an archaic way of playing Battletech Tabletop online.  From there we dive into our further experiences with Monster Hunter Wilds as Bel has finished all of the story content and the majority of folks have hit the credit roll that transitions to High Rank play.  Kodra shares some thoughts about Finspan and also engaging with Chess.com as a way to learn better chess play.

Topics Discussed:

• Last Epoch is Cooking

• More Season 2 Reveals

• Diablo IV Enshitification

• Incoming Bad Season

• Megamek

• Oldest School Battletech

• Monster Hunter Wilds

• Finspan

• Chess.com

Featuring: Ammosart, Belghast, Grace, and Thalen

Hey Folks! We are down our West Coast contingent this week but carried forth with a relatively short show.  Bel talks a bit about the Anti Sanctum Alliance and how it seems to have actually made an impact at least in the pricing of Sanctum Tomes in the Legacy of Phrecia event. From there Thalen shares his experiences with The Roottrees Are Dead, which is a logic puzzle spiritual successor to games like Return of the Obra Dinn.  We move on to talking a bit about Monster Hunter Wilds and our early experiences so far.  We’ve needed some Palico shenanigans to help us cope with our present dystopia. Last week we got a new feature trailer for the upcoming Last Epoch Cycle 2 coming April 2nd.  We spend a bit of time talking about what has been revealed for the new features and how it appears like the long wait has been worth it.

Topics Discussed:

• Path of Exile

• Legacy of Phrecia

• Impact of the Anti-Sanctum Alliance

• The Roottrees Are Dead

• Monster Hunter Wilds

• Last Epoch Cycle 2 Trailer

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

Hey Folks! We have the entire crew this week.  We start off the show with Bel explaining to Kodra the weird faction war currently happening in the Path of Exile Reddit. Bel also talks about his experiences so far with the Legacy of Phrecia event. From there we talk a bit more about Avowed now that Tam has had a chance to play it. Kodra shares his experiences with Civilization VII talking about how wildly different of a Civ game it is.  From there he also talks a bit about Pigment and his ambitions to speedrun it.  Ash shares his thoughts about Dynasty Warriors Origins and Tam discusses a Steam recommendation find, Deliver At All Costs.

Topics Discussed:

• Path of Exile

• Reddit Faction Wars

• Legacy of Phrecia

• Avowed

• Civilization VII

• Pigment

• Dynasty Warriors Origins

• Deliver At All Costs

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

Hey Folks! This week we are down a Grace and Kodra but get back an Ammo.  We start off with a topic that got bumped from last week about how much of a difference music makes in games.  Specifically, we talk a bit about Star Citizen getting music but also talk about how important good audio queues are.  From there Bel shares his early experiences with Avowed a game by Obsidian that is very much Elder Scrolls if you removed the awkward simulationist tendencies.  Ash and Bel talk a bit about the upcoming Legacy of Phrecia event in Path of Exile now that all Nineteen Ascendancies have been fully spoiled.  We also talked a bit about the upcoming release of Monster Hunter Wilds and Ammo offering custom Palico commissions.  Ash touches on Soulstone Survivors a bit and then we close out the show with a discussion about the Dungeon Crawler Carl series of books and why Bel and Thalen love them so much.

Topics Discussed:

• Music Makes a Difference

• Star Citizen: Fight for Pyro

• Audio Queues in Games

• Avowed

• Path of Exile Legacy of Phrecia Event

• All 19 Ascendancies Now Revealed

• Monster Hunter Wilds

• Soulstone Survivors

• Dungeon Crawler Carl

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

Hey Folks! This week we are down an Ammo which throws Ash off a bit.  We start off with a discussion about the changes to the death system and multiplayer in Windblown.  From there we talk about the most recent updates to Utopia Must Fall.  Citizen Sleeper 2 has been released and Tam shares some of his early thoughts.  Dwarven Realms Season 3 is going on and the game continues to get more polished over time. Bel and Grace talk about the Lunar Awakening event and how it represents this perfect example of why Blizzard’s Design Ethos makes the game less fun.  Path of Exile has an upcoming Phrecia event with 19 new Ascendancies and we talk about the four that have been spoiled so far.  Grace talks about Spirit Swap which is Lo-Fi Beats to Match Three To.  Kodra has had a bit of a revival of Ultimate Chicken Horse in his house as his son gets super into it.  Grace shares her early experiences with Deep Rock Galactic Survivor and we bid farewell to Kodra’s cat Willow.

Topics Discussed:

• Windblown Death System Updates

• Utopia Must Fall Update

• Citizen Sleeper 2

• Dwarven Realms Season 3

• Diablo IV Lunar Awakening Event

• Blizzard Design Ethos Issues

• Path of Exile 3.25.5 Phrecia Event Spoilers

• Spirit Swap

• Ultimate Chicken Horse

• Deep Rock Galactic Survivor

• Goodbye Willow

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

Hey Folks! This week we started with a single topic…  and by the time we were finished ended up having to bump half of the assembled topics to next week in order to keep the runtime down.  We start off with Bel talking about the bad news for Path of Exile players, and how there is no new league around the corner.  He also talks a bit about getting sucked into the private league that Pohx created which has capped out at 20,000 players.  From there Grace talks a bit about playing Heroes of Hammerwatch II and enjoying that.  Kodra shares his thoughts about the Diablo IV Campaign thus far as he still is effectively in the first act. Grace and Ash share their experiences with Coridden a more narrative-driven action roleplaying game.  Finally, Kodra and Tam talk about their experiences playing Battletech and how Kodra is coming around to the idea of playing games for fun, rather than simply optimizing the strategy for winning.

Topics Discussed

• Path of Exile League Months Away

• Pohx League

• Heroes of Hammerwatch II

• Kodra’s Diablo 4 Thoughts

• Coridden

• Battletech - A Game of Awesome Moments

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

Hey Folks! We are down a Tam this week but start off the show talking a bit about our various mental states with the happenings going on out in the world.  From there Grace talks about Rusty’s Retirement a delightful idle game that has a lot of the same functionality as Stardew Valley but runs in a small window at the bottom of your monitor.  From there we talk about Diablo IV Season 7 and how it is quite possibly the best D4 season ever…  that no one is really giving much fanfare.  We talk a bit about how the streamers have seemingly abandoned the game.  Kodra shares with us the process of resolving combat in the Battletech tabletop game from the 80s…  giving Thalen and Bel flashbacks in a bad way.  Finally, Ash has been playing Sonic Frontiers and talks about it actually being a really good open-world Sonic game.

Topics Discussed

• Screaming Goats

• Rusty’s Retirement

• Diablo IV Season 7

• Season of Witchcraft

• Battletech is obtuse

• Resolving Combat

• Sonic Frontiers

• Actually Good

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

Hey Folks! Welcome to our actual first show of the year since we did Games of the Year shows for the last two weeks.  We start off with being shocked that the Nintendo Switch 2 leaks and rumors were actually real.  From there we talk about the Path of Exile II Patch 0.1.1 information, Elon Musk’s being panned by the community and his subsequent Meltdown, and the frustrations of playing multiplayer.  We also weave in a bit of discussion about Last Epoch as several of us are playing that again.  Tam and Kodra spent some time playing Elden Ring using the Multiplayer mod.  Tam also talks a bit about 1000xRESIST, and Ash shares some of his recent experiences playing Grim Dawn and preparing for the expansion this year.

Topics Discussed:

• Nintendo Switch 2 Announcement

• Path of Exile II

• Patch 0.1.1 Info

• Elon’s Meltdown

• Multiplayer Frustrations

• Last Epoch

• Elden Ring Multiplayer Mod

• 1000xRESIST

• Grim Dawn

• Upcoming Expansion

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

Hey Folks! We have a bit of a long show because we wound up cramming a few games that we missed in the first show into this list.  We round out our yearly tradition with the second part of our Games of the Year show.  I am once again so glad that we decided a few years ago to start doing these on multiple nights because this year would have been a four-hour-long epic marathon of recording.

Games Discussed:

• Space Marine 2

• Path of Exile II

• Metaphor Refantazio

• Kunitsu-Gami

• Games Finally Leaving Early Access

• Caves of Qud

• Middara

• Gundam Breaker 4

• Dwarven Realms

• Nova Drift

• UFO 50

• Warhammer 40k Franchise

• Tactical Breach Wizards

• Path of Exile Settlers of Kalguur League

• Enshrouded

• Warcraft Pandaria Remix

• Rabbit And Steel

• Helldivers 2

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Last Epoch

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

Hey Folks! It is that time again when we pull together our list of favorite games from 2024.  In theory, we each get three primary choices and an almost unlimited number of honorable mentions… which causes us to divide the show into two packed episodes.  In this case, we have 36 games on the list divided into two shows of roughly 18 games.

Games Discussed:

• Unicorn Overlord

• Pesticides Not Required

• Minishoot Adventures

• Little Kitty Big City

• PC Releases

• Horizon Forbidden West

• Final Fantasy XVI

• Ghost of Tsushima

• Secrets of Grindea

• Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred

• Beatmania IIDX Infinitas

• Zenless Zone Zero

• Visions of Mana

• Star Wars Outlaws

• Rogue Trader

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

• Zelda Echoes of Wisdom

• Peglin

• Guild Wars 2 Janthir Wilds

• FFXIV Dawntrail

• Dragon Age Veilguard