A new videogame podcast by the editors of thetwingeeks.com

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/9/20/22/58df6968-25a1-484f-a181-fd84d1058dea_daydreamcast_ep28_fez.mp3

Summer vacation is over and your favourite podcast returns with a nice sun tan to discuss all manners of video gaming! Joined by our friend Stephen from sister podcast <a href="https://thetwingeeks.com/author/rankingthemonsters/" rel="nofollow">Ranking the Monsters</a> we tackle most, hell, every new release you could possibly care about, from Psychonauts 2 to WarioWare: Get It Together!, from (urgh) Twelve Minutes to that Skyward Sword re-release, from yet another Pokémon spin-off to yet another disappointing Mario sports title. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2vy5JQIXcmo9jH3d8THq-w/videos" rel="nofollow">Youtube extraordinaire</a> Brogan continues his journey through From Software&#39;s catalogue from before they became known for only one thing, Pavlos brings up a tower defence game (probably the very first for the show, period), while our guest is up to all sorts of shenanigans with the King of the Universe. Or so we&#39;ve heard, we don&#39;t like to pry. Our game of the week is the indie darling Fez, initially an XBLA exclusive, it has since made its way onto most platforms, including the eShop this year. A puzzle platformer with a uniquely realised perspective-shifting twist, Fez is a two-faced bag of wonders, one part the thing everyone thought it would be, one part Mastermind, hiding a whole game-behind-the-game that will put your code-breaking abilities to the test. While it kept all of the internet busy in 2012, we not only reminisce but discuss the merits of the game as they still persist today, with favourable results. If life seemed a little flat to you up to this point, this week&#39;s show will add a whole new dimension to your exi-- we&#39;re just happy to be back, okay?Time Stamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Our guest Stephen&#39;s history with video games09:40 Katamari Damacy Reroll (2018)17:04 Psychonauts 2 (2021)27:30 Mario Golf: Super Rush (2021)49:10 Pokémon Unite (2021)55:30 Kingdom Rush (2014)56:25 Shadow Tower (1998)01:02:12 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (2021)01:12:50 Resident Evil 5 (2009)01:20:58 WarioWare: Get It Together! (2021)01:25:13 Twelve Minutes (2021)Featured Game01:37:22 Fez

Ep. 28: Fez (2012)

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After a long sabbatical, we are back to tee off with a new edition of the most leisurely gaming podcast around. We tackle everything exciting that happened at the Electronic Three (who are more the Electronic Six or Seven at this point) and hit you with all the talk you never knew you wanted on the off-beat rhythm game Dedede&#39;s Drum Dash Deluxe and a remaster of what could be considered the former incarnation of the B game (a concept alien to the present landscape), Destroy All Humans. Pavlos also kicks off a new series entirely dedicated to verbally demolishing Resident Evil 6 as he slowly crawls his way through it, regardless of how easy a target it might be. After this sand trap of a game, we move on to greener pastures with our game of the week, Neo Turf Masters, a delightfully dynamic and breezy golf game for the arcades and the Neo Geo. The special click system of the game as well as its idiosyncratic mix of cartoonish and realistic graphical elements, and, most importantly, its invigorating sounds make the game another essential entry in the SNK lineage of care-free and flat-out cool arcade sports delights.Time Stamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 The most belated E3 coverage in the biz40:55 Dedede&#39;s Drum Dash Deluxe (2014)48:27 Destroy All Humans (2020)53:33 Resident Evil 6ucks (2012) Part 1Featured Game01:06:00 Neo Turf Masters

Ep. 27: Neo Turf Masters (1996)

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We got a murder mystery on our hands at the Daydreamcast this week! But first, some familiar topics: We return to one of the earliest subjects of the show, tackling the recent Overwatch 2 announcements. Brogan continues to wade through the King&#39;s Field(s). Pavlos follows in the footsteps of a recent guest, however, with a differing conclusion on whether it is, in fact, time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel (answer: it is not). We have the hot scoop on the new entry in the Resident Evil series, so tune in to find out how tall that lady really is, and stay for our game of the week, a truly influential early adventure game and genre-defining visual novel for Japanese computers and, later on, the Nintendo Famicom, called Portopia Serial Murder Case. After making our top 10 of 1985 in last year&#39;s Game of the Year deliberations, we hereby supplement the deep dive. The maturity of themes and competence of the procedural narrative is striking in this early effort by Chunsoft and Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, with the pre-formulated courses of action at your disposal being in equal parts intriguing and amusing due to their idiosyncratic, pre-codified nature. Designed as a game of branching paths, with a clearly defined modern day setting, and omitting the possibility of a Game Over, Portopia Serial Murder Case captured the imagination of many future game developers and has been readily playable in English for a while thanks to fan efforts. If you want to know more, you&#39;ll have to beat it out of us! Time Stamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Overwatch 2 (2021)12:05 Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution! (2019)27:10 Resident Evil 8 (2021)36:21 King&#39;s Field III (1996) and Bro&#39;s ongoing From adventuresFeatured Game41:55 Portopia Serial Murder Case

Ep. 26: Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983)

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On this very late &#39;00s edition of the Daydreamcast, our friend Murph returns to talk to us about the world of video games. We get a status update on his Assassin&#39;s Creed playthrough which, thankfully, is in its twilight years. We revisit the contentious and topical subject of roguelikes/-lites with more Hades talk, and even get some Yu-Gi-Oh discussion in. If that&#39;s not enough 2000s energy for you, Brogan adds two period-relevant platformers from opposite ends of the qualitative spectrum to the mix with Little Big Planet and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts &amp; Bolts. You can tell it&#39;s a strange episode when Pavlos is the one to report on the new hotness with New Pokémon Snap, a worthy sequel to the original that gets a lot of things right and a couple wrong as the photography conceit is unthawed again, at last, for another spin-off that is much better than whatever is going on in the ailing main series. Our game of the week highlights genre hybrid and species simulator Spore and its troubled history and subsequently skewed trajectory as moderately disappointing but still interesting footnote in video game history. Thankfully, Murph was a Sporehead from day zero so besides our usual rundown of the game&#39;s somewhat simplistic but conceptually ambitious mechanics, including its five gameplay stages and the creating tools, we kick back and listen to our buddy tell stories from the days of Spore yore, the pre-release excitement, notes from the cutting room floor, as well as the community hijinx on the Sporum. It all culminates in the ballad of the Hugmonster, a tale of trust, betrayal, and pedophiliac forum mascots like no other. We also reminisce about old internet forums because it really just was that kind of episode. Time Stamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Assassin&#39;s Creed Valhalla (2020)09:30 Hades (2020) and genre brethren17:46 Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution! (2019)32:11 New Pokémon Snap (2021)44:17 Little Big Planet (2008)47:38 Banjo Kazooie: Nuts &amp; Bolts (2008)Featured Game51:29 Spore

Ep. 25: Spore (2008)

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The prodigal co-host returns, and with him a whole slew of relatively questionable video games! After we&#39;re done covering the topics everyone has been talking about – some Crash Bandicoot runner, a sleazy &#39;90s FMV game, and Tekken 6&#39;s cooperative campaign –, we turn our attention to less trodden paths. That&#39;s right, we break new ground with revolutionary talk on From Software as well as a little game series we have affectionately dubbed Super Mario. Brogan spearheads both as he reports from his research into From&#39;s history by exploring their early years with the King&#39;s Field series and then proceeds to beat his co-host to the punch on finally breaching the matter of 3D World + Bowser&#39;s Fury. Pavlos, meanwhile, got sidetracked by Risk of Rain 2, an exciting sequel to 2013&#39;s indie roguelike hit and an all-around multiplayer delight. The game of the week is one near and dear to our heart, warts and all. Knuckles&#39; Chaotix is an experimental co-op focused Sonic spin-off for Sega&#39;s Mega Drive add-on, the 32X, and a pretty successful first outing for a relatively inexperienced (not-Sonic Team) team that mostly just fails in one major way: the level design. As we are happy to break down, most other aspects are top notch, particulary the stylish art and animation as well as the evocative soundtrack, or at least fun in an interesting way, like the central conceit of the tether mechanic that lets you zoom around the (sadly, mostly empty) levels in exhilarating fashion. And then there&#39;s the mystery of Charmy&#39;s surname. A comparison of Chaotix to Knuckles&#39; blue rival&#39;s adventure from the year before, Sonic CD, becomes the subject of much debate and, dare we say, elicits a hot take or two along the way. As we table this contended subject for another day, we bid our Chaotix friends farewell and hope that they return one day. Jet Set Radio x Vector, Sega, think about it. Time Stamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Crash Bandicoot: On The Run (2021)05:40 Tender Loving Care (1998)10:16 Tekken 6 (2007)17:46 King&#39;s Field (1994) and King&#39;s Field II (1995)27:21 Risk of Rain 2 (2019)36:00 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser&#39;s Fury (2021)Featured Game52:01 Knuckles&#39; Chaotix

Ep. 24: Knuckles' Chaotix (1994)

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After Brogan&#39;s resurrection, Pavlos was put on ice for whenever the world may need him again. This episode consists of Brogan and guest star David Punch picking up the pieces of the podcast. That&#39;s right: it&#39;s the second bananas on their own podcast! David has been reliving early internet meme culture with a nuzlocke run of Pokémon Platinum. Remember Lost? Wow. Brogan has been playing Ghosts &#39;N Goblins: Resurrection and the two examine what men are in the shadows of their own failures. Then, there&#39;s a Zelda block in which David talks about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Brogan discusses The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Largely, it&#39;s Brogan trying to justify a mediocre difficulty mode that you have to pay money for. It&#39;s okay when Nintendo does it. Finally, there&#39;s the game of the week: Donkey Kong Country! Back when reboots chose radical over gritty, Donkey Kong Country revolutionized everything and nothing at the same time. There are beautifully dated graphics, inventive but imprecise platforming, and a bunch of monkeys that we love but never really think about. It&#39;s all a barrel of fun until you accidentally press the button a second too late and Donkey Kong is sent flying into his doom. Don&#39;t fear, dear listeners: the editing and comedic stylings of Bro won&#39;t last long. Pavlos is sure to hear this hack job and thaw out of ice just to bring this podcast back to a rightful standard of quality. Time Stamps:0:00 Chaos.Whatcha Playin3:00 Pokémon Platinum (2009) Nuzlocke Run7:30 Ghosts &#39;N Goblins: Resurrection (2021)12:30 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)18:00 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)Featured Game23:45 Donkey Kong Country

Ep. 23: Donkey Kong Country (1994)

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Everyone&#39;s favourite Alabama man returns for this brand-new episode of the Daydreamcast! We catch up with what Brogan managed to play before nature cut off his power, including the hefty narrative experience Disco Elysium and the disappointingly slight Resident Evil 3 remake. Pavlos postpones Mario talk for another week to discuss his time with the stylish if a little lacking Annapurna visual novel If Found... and divulge his research into the true next-gen console coming later this year, the hilariously misguided Intellivision Amico. If you thrive on yearning for an illusive phantasma you like to hallmark as The Good Old Days, an arcadian place in time when video games &#34;were still fun&#34;, and if on top of that you like to pretend that children have an active interest in playing those games with their parents, then the Amico is just the thing for you: an expensive bow to put on that awkwardly wrapped package of self-lies. Luckily, no pretension or backwardness is needed to recognise our game of the week as a fun time, Capcom&#39;s fifth Mega Man outing on the Game Boy. As the first on the platform to not recycle bosses from its big brother counterparts on the NES, Mega Man V pits the Super Fighting Robot against an alien menace that is definitely not in cahoots with the previously once-and-for-all defeated Dr. Wily († for realsies). A full-fledged addition to the series, we break down why it&#39;s deserving of anyone&#39;s time, throwing out fun original robot masters, a shop system, and some banging tunes at a steady pace – you know, like Mega Man do. The game also introduces a robot cat named Tango. You cannot pet it. This information brought to you by The Tender Gamer. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Rocket League (2015), the state of the football game, and birds10:20 Disco Elysium (2019)21:22 Resident Evil 3 remake (2020)29:20 If Found... (2020)42:10 Intellivision AmicoFeatured Game56:18 Mega Man V

Ep. 22: Mega Man V (1994)

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We welcome you back to the Brogan Memorial Podcast, the video game podcast made in tribute to former co-host Brogan before they took away his power, presumably to stop him from podcasting specifically.. we&#39;re just kidding, we&#39;re just kidding! Pavlos finds himself in a Zoom call with Calvin and David, both returning guests and, more importantly, not wearing any clothes while we recorded the episode. Unsurprisingly, David deems it the occasion to come out of the closet, confessing his feelings for emotionless robots and anthropomorphic bats as he airs his carnal lust for Rouge the Bat and Rosalina live on-air. Our collective therapy session continues as we discuss our new addiction, Rocket League, and birds. We love birds here, especially ones that provide a lot of points and good card effects in the digital version of the acclaimed board game Wingspan. Meanwhile, Calvin gushes about some game called Super Mario Galaxy which has zero birds in it. Given the highly irregular circumstances this week, we actually tend to a piece of current events, discussing some highlights from the recent Nintendo Direct. And even more unusual is our game of the week, the household favourite that is Splatoon 2. A handful of nitpicks aside which we hope to see addressed in the recently announced sequel, we explore our deep-running love for this highly creative and innovative third-person painting/shooting hybrid, an ink-redible blend of turf control, flexible loadout strategising, splatting, painting, swimming, DJing, stealth, and just capital F Freshness that permeates the entire post-apocalyptic world of inklings and octolings. Our discussion of the intricate mechanics and style is rounded out by examining its various distinct modes, the community, and the future of Splatting. And now, an assortment of Splatoon film titles: Kid Now, Squid Then (Hong Sang-Soo), Three Colours: Neon Green (Kieślowski), Barton Ink (Coens), Splatfesten (Vinterberg). Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Rocket League (2015)12:30 Wingspan (2020)21:12 Super Mario Galaxy (2007)30:31 Nintendo DirectFeatured Game58:48 Splatoon 2

Ep. 21: Splatoon 2 (2017)

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The Daydreamcast spin jumps back into the action, and it&#39;s all about the devil in the details this week. We touch on throwback games, particularly action side-scrollers, old and new, and decide they are only critisable in the nitty-gritty, in the quality of the tried-and-tested individual components. While Pavlos is too busy recounting his time working for The Man, Brogan serves up fresh-from-the-oven impressions of Cyber Shadow, a new Ninja Gaiden-like published by Yacht Club Games, and pontificates on how it fares against previous efforts in the space, namely The Messenger from two years ago. For our game of the week, we discuss an inconspicuous Strider knock-off, Run Saber, only to put it back into the very bottom shelf it came out of. Indeed, this curious release barely passes the bar of &#39;fine&#39;, choosing to settle instead on &#39;severely lacking in all areas&#39;, and we break down the many ways it falls short. As such, Run Saber can be regarded as a useful critical exercise and one that exemplifies our core thesis of the week: value can be judged from practice, appearances can be deceptive, all are not hunters that blow the horn, fair face may hide a foul heart, and an online thesaurus is a heck of a thing. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Splatoon 2 (2017)12:43 Modern throwback games: Cyber Shadow (2021), The Messenger (2018) et al.30:29 Deep Rock Galactic (2020)Featured Game44:22 Run Saber

Ep. 20: Run Saber (1993)

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It&#39;s a jumbo-sized kick-off to the new year, and to the second season of your favourite video game podcast, with topics aplenty! Our usual cross-generational grab bag this time includes 2009&#39;s Brütal Legend, an action-adventure that&#39;s actually an RTS, and no one&#39;s favourite Bond game, From Russia With Love, a shooter that&#39;s actually a horror game as it turns out! Pavlos shares tales of playing multiplayer games on the Switch with non-gaming-affine friends and recounts the wonders to be gleaned from seeing gaming literacy develop, a process all of us have undergone and that has faded from our memories. And is that the sound of a relatively recent new video game being discussed I hear? Why, yes, as if one game of the week wasn&#39;t enough, we collectively and extensively sing the praises of Paradise Killer, a highly original detective game set in a shiny Vaporwave nightmare setting that you should check out, nenorocito! But that does not replace our actual spotlight title for the episode, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, a game both old and new at the same time. A landmark title for tactical RPGs on the Famicom, the first in Intelligent Systems&#39; now long-running series, the twice-remade debut never saw a Western release until last year. It benefits from various quality-of-life improvements which mostly speed up the the gameplay and provide rollback options – a welcome addition to a sometimes obtuse and often challenging experience –, giving everyone an opportunity to investigate the roots of a beloved Nintendo series. We break down its systems and many innovations therein, but also highlight the equally numerous shortcomings that stick out, particularly with later iterations in mind. Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light harkens back to a simpler time; a period of peace, it takes place in the pre-waifu era just before the evil wizard Anime broke free from his prison and laid waste to the lands, consuming everything in his path. No trace of that here, and that&#39;s real justice served. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (2005)10:47 GOTY 1985 addendum16:53 Multiplayer games on Switch, the beauty of NES Ice Hockey (1988), and Gaming Literacy36:20 Brütal Legend (2009)43:04 Paradise Killer (2019)Featured Game01:12:30 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Ep. 19: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

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As the end of the year draws near, the Daydreamcast assembles one last time for an unusual season one finale. Joined by friend of the show Calvin, and true to our style, we sit down to scientifically determine the best game of the year 1985. In this longest show, yet, you get to hear the entire process, raw and uncut. We consider almost 40 games released in the year that marked the launch of the NES, its launch titles facing some tough competition with computer platforms and the arcades in full bloom – at least outside of the US which was still recovering from the industry crash of 1983. Giving every game its due, we arduously whittle things down to a ranked top 10 after much deliberation. As we wish you and your families all the best for the new year, we hope you enjoy one last serve of drama, betrayal, and heartbreak from us. A celebration of video games past, present, and.. well, mostly past. Only past, in fact. See you next year! Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 The Great Video Game/Videogame Debate02:16 Game of the Year 1985

Ep. 18: Game of the Year 1985

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We wax philosophical at the Daydreamcast this week, touching on the state of modern game design, the trend of serialisation, the practice of modding, what really constitutes a video game, the ethics of stealing eggs out of monster brothels, and the severely phallic nature of Tetris – that&#39;s right, all the questions that have been keeping you up at night. Brogan gets caught playing a Star Wars game with Jedi: Fallen Order but talks his way out of it by calling it a Sekiro-like. Meanwhile, Pavlos sings the praises of the best Pokémon game since Pokémon was good, Capcom&#39;s genre experiment Monster Hunter Stories. The meat of the episode is dedicated to 2008&#39;s Mirror&#39;s Edge: We give a detailed breakdown of its striking aesthetical achievements, its Lola rennt-inspired runner/parcours-style gameplay, and the numerous contradictions within the – undoubtedly creative – design proposal it puts forward. Indicative of a lot of bigger indie games today, Mirror&#39;s Edge represents a brief period in time where Electronic Arts mysteriously defied their pecuniary-minded nature and funded several original projects; a lot of them, like Skate or Dead Space, still revered creative successes. We contrast this late &#39;00s period in the company&#39;s history with the dumpster fire state they choose to be in today. For the love of Sonic, won&#39;t someone hose them down already? Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Xbox Game Pass and Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)09:05 Monster Hunter Stories (2016)15:50 Tetris Effect (2018)20:00 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game37:10 Mirror&#39;s Edge

Ep. 17: Mirror's Edge (2008)

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The Daydreamcast is looking to score this week, and we got a guest to help us succeed! Our friend Murph joins us to discuss everything we usually don&#39;t (like Assassin&#39;s Creed) and everything we usually do (like Kingdom Hearts and Pikmin). Meanwhile, Brogan clamours for the return of pet games as we reminisce about Nintendogs and lament what has come to replace them, as the animals gave way to the animes. The trio shows no mercy in its hot takes, sinking beloved classics and entire genres with ease. Our game of the week follows a loveable(?) loser in Larry Laffer, a mildly skeevy to downright sad little man, depending on the version you play, looking to get laid before dawn. This humourist adventure game from Sierra On-Line, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, impresses based on the company&#39;s trademark liberty of choice and exploratory openness which, compared to predecessors like King&#39;s Quest, is reined in here through relatively logical and straight-forward progression and puzzle design. The question of balance in design and writing guides us not only through the deep-dive into the game itself but alsoits remakes and the text adventure it is based on. We guarantee no one else has talked about Leisure Suit Larry for almost an hour in the entire month of November, so please drop us a &#39;magna cum laude&#39; review on your podcast service of choice. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Murph&#39;s joke01:26 Assassin&#39;s Creed Unity (2014) and the series as a whole17:10 Murph introduces himself; Kingdom Hearts series (reprise)29:48 Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2020)33:50 Pet games: a lost genre?39:49 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game59:25 Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Ep. 16: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987)

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Happy Halloween from your friends at the Daydreamcast! Timely as ever, despite our one week break, we indulge in seasonal musings as we explore the philosophy of modern horror games, the horrors of being a completionist, as well as the most horrific creature known to man: the Pac-Man reimagining from Pac-Man &amp; his Ghostly Adventures. We refuse to move on, however, before tackling the real reason for the season: more F2P gacha games! Please pray for Brogan&#39;s recuperation, but not until listening to our deep dive on the daddy of modern stealth games, Thief: The Dark Project. Thief focuses on providing the player with a toolset within a rule set and going: &#34;Your move&#34;, pioneering emergent gameplay and many more staples of the stealth genre we take for granted now. Complete with a dense atmosphere, an amalgamation of medieval and steampunk, and that Y2K edge™, the game warrants (and rewards) thorough re-examination. Halloween Vile wishes you and your family blessed holidays. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Pac&#39;s Scary Halloween (2016)06:30 Five Nights at Freddy&#39;s (2014) and the modern horror game19:40 Downwell (2015), a completionist&#39;s lament26:24 Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem (2018), Rockman X DiVE (2020)35:15 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game45:11 Thief: The Dark Project

Ep. 15: Thief: The Dark Project (1998)

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The Daydreamcast is buggin&#39;! The anime has taken over the show, leaving Brogan beyond salvation, as we talk about the gacha craze that has swept the nation (and its name is Genshin Impact) and Kingdom Hearts, of all things. Meanwhile, Pavlos finally delivers his thoughts on the Meiji era Ace Attorney spin-off which never made it out of Japan. Thankfully, we have the palate cleansers at the ready with two hot-as-heck-for-realsies-this-time hot takes straight from hell, definitively rewriting the general consensus on two beloved platformer series. A little less revisionist is our take on the game of the week, Donkey Kong 3, the ugly duckling of the original arcade trilogy. While we&#39;re down with Stanley the Bugman (formerly known as The Fumigator) and shooting things with pesticide, we acknowledge the epigonal nature of the game and its lack of variety. A podcast episode full of lessons, just like the following: whatever you do in life, always go for the Full Melon Run. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Genshin Impact (2020) and other gacha games10:39 The Great Ace Attorney: The Adventure of Ryūnosuke Naruhodō (2015)27:00 Kingdom Hearts series37:23 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game47:37 Donkey Kong 3

Ep. 14: Donkey Kong 3 (1984)

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There may be an imposter on board but this podcast ain&#39;t it! The Daydreamcast returns to talk about the newest hotness of two years ago, Among Us, a game of love and betrayal, of murder and hats. We proceed to usher in the spookiest time of the year as we wrestle with the horrors of bad ports and delisted games on GOG, 3DS, and elsewhere, before we turn our attention to horror video games. Silent Hill gets the hot take treatment, and the 1995 cult classic Clock Tower the game of the week treatment. A marriage of survival horror and point-and-click adventure, this Argento homage by Human Entertainment features a dense atmosphere and actual narrative variability within a fully realised mansion setting, capitalising on the two scariest things in the world: the sensation of being chased, and giant scissors. Aggrieved mums are also in there somewhere, so buckle up, Jennifer Connelly! Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Among Us (2018)25:45 Konami&#39;s GOG dump and the (mis-)treatment of legacy titles28:40 Pavlos&#39; 3DS shenanigans, part deux22:27 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game51:23 Clock Tower

Ep. 13: Clock Tower (1995)

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In our most jam-packed episode, yet, we are joined by RPG and anime savant David from the Twin Geekscast to talk all of the talk, every last drop of the talk, about The World Ends With You, the inventive and expressive Nintendo DS rpg gem single-handedly developed by Tetsuya Nomura and no one else. But not before Pavlos is back on his puzzle game/Pokémon spin-off bullshit again and Brogan hands in his report on turkey mounts in Spelunky 2 fresh off the presses. The Hot Takes are the hottest they&#39;ve ever been, featuring outrageous claims about Zelda, Metroid, and a third thing! Lastly, we are happy to announce we have been acquired by Microsoft for 7.5 billion dollars. This podcast is now available for free via Xbox Game Pass and we&#39;ll be introducing support for the Zune family of devices soon. 7.5 BILLION dollars. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 7.5 billion dollars01:24 Pokémon Picross (1999) &amp; other spin-offs11:25 Spelunky 2 (2020)16:17 Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (2003)22:27 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game42:17 The World Ends With You

Ep. 12: The World Ends With You (2007)

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Late, but not too late, the Daydreamcast is here to light up your night. We get into the controversial announcements for the 35th anniversary of everyone&#39;s favourite Italian entrepreneur in a segment we like to call &#39;Nintendo: Who Knows?&#39; before we break down the catalogue of New Blood Interactive&#39;s throwback FPS games in a segment affectionately dubbed &#34;Doom and Quake-Likes: Brogan Knows!&#34;. Once again, we leave the verdict on the hotness of our takes in the hands of our listeners as we try to bring the heat to Smash Bros. and water levels in platformers. Our game of the week is the GBA remake of the 1993 NES platformer, Kirby&#39;s Adventure, which we discuss with unprecedented depth. That&#39;s right, we talk about frame lag, sprite size, and even critique the menus! We also talk about normal things for all the listeners not called Sakurai. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Super Mario 35th anniversary announcements14:18 New Blood Interactive games (Gloomwood, Dusk, Amid Evil, Ultrakill)18:30 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game29:48 Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Ep. 11: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (2002)

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The Daydreamcast bounces back this week as we take on the new gaming sensation, Fall Guys, and personally say &#34;hello&#34; to the fellow kids. We certainly don&#39;t stop there, though, as Pavlos recounts doing inappropriate things to his 3DS inbetween watching what is widely known as the &#39;beautiful game&#39;. Meanwhile, Brogan sticks with what he does best: talking about Hylics. We launch a new segment about takes so hot your ears might get burned from listening! Equally heated is our discussion on this week&#39;s main feature, the 1995 rail shooter Panzer Dragoon, mainly because the game is hot tras--, a flawed if not original experience. We meditate on its successes, its many limitations, and the differences between the original version and its 2020 remake. If you have come for answers on what the heck happens in that opening cutscene, move right along! Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (2020)08:11 Pavlos&#39; 3DS shenanigans13:49 Hylics 2 (2020)19:15 Reigns: Kings &amp; Queens (2018)26:40 Hot Take Central (also known as The Hot Take Minute)Featured Game40:06 Panzer Dragoon

Ep. 10: Panzer Dragoon (1995)

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The Daydreamcast returns with all the fighting game talk you never would have expected! We fight pesky connections as we learn about the netcode saviour called &#39;rollback&#39; and fight the power as we condemn their modern DLC practices. We mash on the buttons and smash on the Dolphin, and despite how it sounds, we consider neither dirty. Right at the heart of it, an epic full of twist and turns, a ballad about the cruel irony of Kickstarter. Finally, we lift off with our game of the week, the often overlooked Game Boy gem Balloon Kid. A natural and creative iteration on and evolution of the Balloon Fight formula, it represents the best in early bite-sized handheld gaming with its charm and thrills. And remember: it might blow up but it won&#39;t go &#34;pop!&#34;. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing00:00 Street Fighter V (2016) and the problem with modern fighting games14:00 Battle Princess Madelyn (2018) or A tale of Kickstarter33:25 Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) on Dolphin38:07 itch.io Minute: Secret Little Haven (2018); Lyne (2014)Featured Game46:14 Balloon Kid

Ep. 9: Balloon Kid (1990)

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A wild Daydreamcast draws near! It&#39;s a full-on role-playing extravaganza this week as Brogan returns and with him the hard-hitting game talk. We delve into Mario&#39;s most recent stationery adventure, the trippy world of Hylics, the regular deluge of HyLeaks out of Nintendo&#39;s Google Drive, the masochistic pleasure of Japanese captchas, and a damning account of the PS4&#39;s retro emulation. For our game of the week we focus on Phantasy Star, Sega&#39;s flagship RPG on the Master System, as we pit it against its contemporaries, discuss its many ambitions, and the various ways to engage with it today. Before you listen, please look up the sprite of Werebat. We have contacted his agent to get him to guest on a future episode. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)16:41 Hylics (2015)23:28 Nintendo Leaks34:04 Brogan&#39;s Sobering PS2-on-PS4 Experience37:39 itch.io Minute: Nuclear Throne (2015); Anodyne (2013)Featured Game44:45 Phantasy Star

Ep. 8: Phantasy Star (1987)

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In this week&#39;s Daydreamcast, we revisit and get visited by old favourites of the show. Calvin(&#39;s wallet) steps up to deliver the hot-from-the-oven take on the sequel to Deadly Premonition, Alligator Skating 2020. We vent our frustrations on the vices of gaming media before shifting gears and sharing much warmer thoughts on the overwhelming nature of Forza Horizon 4 , the sadomasochistic qualities of Ludo and other tabletop classics in Clubhouse Games, as well as further recommendations from the itch.io bundle. Finally, we tip our proverbial hats to the pulsating arcade classic Windjammers, a household favourite competitive disc-throwing delight that, over 35 years later, is getting a sequel for a reason. We hope this episode isn&#39;t a &#34;MISS!&#34; and we humbly give it &#34;FIVE POINTS!&#34;.P.S.: We played a 12-game match directly after the show and you already know who won. Timestamps: Whatcha Playing0:00 Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise (2020)14:03 The Paper Mario Fallacy20:11 Forza Horizon 4 (2018)29:20 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020)37:39 itch.io Minute: Heavy Bullets (2014); Starseed Pilgrim (2013)Featured Game42:07 Windjammers (1994)

Ep. 7: Windjammers (1994)

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In this week&#39;s only seemingly light Daydreamcast, we talk nightmares. The nightmare of Pyramid Head selling out, for one. The nightmare that is working retail in a consumerist society. And, lastly, the nightmare that is the concerning lack of Covid safety measures in Pokémon cafés around the country. As the main course, we serve a goofy-yet-earnest nightmare in Dead Rising, a creative and ambitious early Xbox 360 game which stands at the crossroads that is mid-00s game design. We focus on the various systems of the game, its design philosophy and unique approach to an open (yet defined) world, and trace back the steps the series would go on to take. Also, we forget to mention how Carlito looks like a scrapped Tekken character, so there! Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 The Great Pokémon Café Mix (2020) Soliloquy07:44 Dead By Daylight (2016)14:19 itch.io Minute: Beglitched (2016); Night of the Consumers (2012)Featured Game25:22 Dead Rising

Ep. 6: Dead Rising (2006)

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In this tangent-filled episode of the Daydreamcast, we talk shop on competitive digital board games, the recent Sony PS5 presser, the Paper Mario series, and the wonderful treasure trove that is the recent itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. We barely have time to mourn Animal Crossing Minute (2020–2020) as we dive right into Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, our feature title. A GBA launch game and the template (based on a previous template!) for the numerous portable entries going forward, we honour it with an in-depth discussion of the game&#39;s systems, and try to understand its place in the long-running, household favourite Konami series. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020)06:08 itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality; Death and Taxes (2020); The Real Texas (2012)15:08 PS5 Reveal &amp; Games30:15 Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (2019); Paper Mario seriesFeatured Game39:01 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Ep. 5: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (2001)

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In this new tittilating episode of the Daydreamcast, we present our first guest, Calvin Kemph, editor-in-chief of some film site called Twin Geeks and actual former gaming journalist for many years. Things quickly turn raunchy as we reflect on the properties of anthropomorphic goo, the many forms of S&amp;M, and the questionable importance of undergarments in making new friends. Our main game of the week leads us down the rabbit hole of &#39;90s adventure game goodness. Coming from our game of the week, the wacky detective/noir spoof Sam &amp; Max Hit The Road, we talk about our history with adventure games, re-open the age-old argument on Sierra vs. LucasArts, and give credit to the Scummiest of Virtual Machines. Also, SHARK MONTH! Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Pantsu Hunter: Back to the &#39;90s (2019)4:35 Panel de Pon (1995)8:29 Calvin&#39;s History As Gaming Professional11:53 Luigi&#39;s Mansion 3 (2019)20:48 Deadly Premonition (2010)28:09 Pavlos&#39; Animal Crossing MinuteFeatured Game31:08 Sam &amp; Max Hit The Road

Ep. 4: Sam & Max Hit The Road (1993)

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In the new episode of the vanguard Daydreamcast, we take up a new quarantine hobby: gardening of a... special kind! Join us as we discuss the seemingly harmless but immensely fun Pikmin, Nintendo&#39;s original take on a real-time strategy game. We discuss both the Gamecube and the Wii version in detail, focusing on the game&#39;s striking aesthetic, its not-so-daunting time limit, and the value of the almighty Blue Pikmin. Other insights of the episode: Nintendo listens to our podcast, Bloodborne is good (finally someone has figured this out!), and M2 is the supreme caretaker of The Old Games.Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Panel de Pon (1995) and others coming to Switch SNES VC3:16 Bloodborne (2015)8:33 Pavlos&#39; Animal Crossing Minute17:33 Retro Compilations (Mega Man, Castlevania) aka M2 vs. the rest of the worldFeatured Game28:50 Pikmin

Ep. 3: Pikmin (2001)

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Ever listen to a podcast in the pale moonlight? Well, you should try – and what better opportunity than with a new sizzling episode of the only video game podcast around! This week, Brogan thought it was 2013 and bought a PS4, Pavlos breaks down laziness in the work place and the difference between music and rhythm games, and both of them discuss games based on comic books. Fittingly, Sunsoft&#39;s Batman, a short and tough sidescroller on the NES, gets the game-of-the-week treatment, providing our hosts with ample opportunity to talk about The Bat, The Burton, and, of course, The Old Games. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 PS4 Experience &amp; Bloodborne (2015)5:18 Thumper (2016): Music vs. Rhythm games15:19 ToeJam &amp; Earl: Back to the Groove (2019)22:10 Pavlos&#39; Animal Crossing Minute28:09 Spider-Man (2018)Featured Game31:42 Batman

Ep. 2: Batman (1990)

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In the first &#39;for real this time&#39; episode of the Daydreamcast, our hosts discuss the possible pinnacle of walking simulators, Riot&#39;s new hero shooter Valorant, the revolutionary addition of NPCs into Fallout 76, and, of course, the meta of Windjammers. But nothing beats the thrill of non-stop brain-twisters and loveably overbearing British accents provided by this week&#39;s featured game, Level-5&#39;s debut for their long-running puzzle game series, Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Thankfully, every puzzle has an answer. Except the ones where you have to imagine dice in your head, jesus. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 What Remains of Edith Finch? (2017)7:00 Valorant (2020) Beta10:50 Overwatch (2015)15:33 Hollow Knight (2017)22:34 Pavlos&#39; Animal Crossing Minute26:44 Fallout 76 (2018)30:22 Windjammers (1994)Featured Game40:25 Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Ep. 1: Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007)

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In this inaugural episode of the Daydreamcast, The Twin Geeks’ new gaming-focused podcast, our hosts talk about the grab bag of games they spent time with this week, including the game of the week, the indie game Minit. A short and simple Zelda-like on the surface, Minit relies strongly on puzzles involving its main mechanic, a time loop that is set off every 60 seconds. Our hosts discuss the characteristics of the game’s structure as well as the company Minit keeps with other games (and films like <a href="https://thetwingeeks.com/2019/02/01/the-twin-geekscast-13-groundhog-day-1993/" rel="nofollow">Groundhog Day</a>, 1993) that are built on a similar chronological premise. Disclaimer: As this episode served as a technical test, the audio quality is uneven in spots. Naturally, future episodes will not feature these issues. Timestamps:Whatcha Playing0:00 Pokémon spin-offs: Puzzle Challenge &amp; League (2000) &amp; Pinball (1999)8:05 Doom Eternal (2020) &amp; Doom 64 (1997)14:30 Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)29:18 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)Featured Game34:37 Minit (2018)

Ep. 0: Minit (2018)

The Twin Geeks play videogames

TheTwinGeeks.com presents their latest show: a bi-weekly discussion on the world of videogames, presented by co-hosts Bro & Pavlos.

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