ROCK AND ROLL! Brendan discusses visions of the future, Murph talks about the best Yakuza game yet, and Brogan schpiels about Tears of the Kingdom with the others for like an hour.

Then, we cover famous licensed needledrops in games, then we cover our game of the week: Brutal Legend. Double Fine, Tim Schafer, Jack Black. The list goes on, but this is one epic tour. Be sure to tear down that shitty merch booth on your way out.

Bro and Murph team up with journalist and freelancer Will Borger to discuss a whole bunch of stuff. Murph talks about Titanfall 2 and No Straight Roads, while Will talks about Strayed Lights and discovering Metroid Prime for the first time in 2023. Bro talks about Cassette Beasts, then we all dissect Zelda handhelds and their game design differences to the console Zelda outings.

Then, we venture to Koholint Island to wake the Windfish.

Time Stamps:

3:00 - Metroid Prime Remastered (2023)

16:00 - Titanfall 2 (2016)

28:30 - Cassette Beasts (2023)

33:00 - No Straight Roads (2020)

36:30 - Strayed Lights (2023)

Variety Minute

45:00 - Zelda handheld titles

Game of the Week

1:00:00 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)

Cal Murph and Bro talk about the 1993 film Super Mario Bros, and the 2016 film Detective Pikachu. Which one is the best? The answer may surprise you. Or it won't.

Brendan, Murph and Bro team up to go over the summer game schedule, it's STACKED bruh.

Murph returns just as it's terror time again. Our hosts trade out the Satellite of Dreams for the USG Ishimura to talk about the original Dead Space from 2008. Can a game like this hold up when it has no limbs with which to hold?

Brogan also talks about some hot indies he found at PAX East, and Murph adds a new game to his Resident Evil Tierlist.

This is an additional THREE HOURS to cover the final game in Shigesato Itoi's MOTHER trilogy. That's right, we have 3 hours of discussion dedicated to MOTHER 3 and Lucas and Boney and the gang. No real time stamps but a huge disclaimer.

In general there is a lot of sensitive material in this game. MOTHER 3 is a complex title written by an auteur in a specific time period. There are spoilers, there are violent things that happen and death surrounds the game.

At roughly the 51 minute mark we will go into the subject of a particular race within the game. It's a controversial subject, there's a disclaimer within the episode, but we call them by their name within the game then discuss their portrayal for better and worse. Trigger warnings are possible for the Romani peoples or any of our trans or lgbtq fans. We love and support anyone's gender identity and do not support harmful stereotypes.

Can you read our minds? Bro and David tackle the entire MOTHER trilogy, but this episode only covers MOTHER 1 and MOTHER 2. Before that though, we tackle games David has played: Blanc and Fire Emblem: Engage. We then look at the legacy of Earthbound's subversive nature onto newer titles in the variety minute. Then, we finally tackle both games.

Oh, and Bro teases a PAX trip that already happened cause this episode came late. Oh well.

Whatcha Playin'

3:00 Fire Emblem Engage (2023)

15:00 Blanc (2023)

Variety Minute

27:00 Games influenced by the MOTHER series

Games of the Week

36:00 MOTHER 1 (1989)

1:24:55 MOTHER 2 (1995)

(ep. 54)

Tucker from the Backlog Banter joins Bro in discussing a bunch of different games! We talk Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Resident Evil series, and Pizza Tower. Then we discuss the role of acting in video games and iconic performances, then we discuss the game of the week. Telling Lies is another FMV game by Sam Barlow, examining the lies of David and the women in his life whom suffer because of them.

Timestamps:

0:00 Tucker's introduction

Whatcha Playin'

10:45 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)

15:00 Last of Us Parts I and II (2022) (2020)

24:00 Resident Evil franchise discussion (again, for the billionth time)

42:30 Pizza Tower (2023)

Variety Minute

45:10 Acting Performances in Gaming

Game of the Week

1:12:00 Telling Lies (2020)

Daydreamcast Ep. 53 Murph couldn't make it but Cal and Bro team up to talk about all things colorful! Bro talks about Chained Echoes and Jojo's All Star Battle R, Cal talks about Persona 4 and Hi-Fi Rush. Then we talk about the game of the week: Jet Set Radio! Join us on our journey into counter culture and vandalism in the name of art.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playin'

1:00 The term "JRPG" and Chained Echoes (2022)

12:00 Persona 4 Golden (2008)

18:30 Jojo's All Star Battle R (2022)

24:00 Hi-Fi Rush (2023)

Variety Minute

30:00 Cel shaded games

Game of the Week

37:00 Jet Set Radio (2000)

We have a special little spin-off of the Daydreamcast! When the video games get boring, Murph Bro and movie expert Cal unwind with video game movies! This week look at the two essential titles everybody praises: Mortal Kombat and Silent Hill.

Bro and Murph go on an adventure! Come sail away with us as we play King's Quest VI! Murph talks about Anatomy, Akane, and Teardown! Bro complains about Devil May Cry 4, and then they talk about true endings and King's Quest VI. A classic Sierra adventure game that may be the best of the series. Presentation, story, and puzzles all tie together in a nice, forgiving bow. Let's have some fun, I know Jollo did.

Time stamps:

0:00 When did Daydreamcast jump the shark?

2:00 Anatomy (2016)

8:30 Akane (2018)

15:00 Devil May Cry 4 (2008)

26:30 Teardown (2022)

Variety Minute

33:00 True endings

Game of the Week

50:15 King's Quest VI (1992)

Season 4? The season of summer! Murph and Bro kick the season off right by going on a vacation to the tropical island of Isle Delphino. We talk about Gundam Evolution, Bro goes back to the nineties with Crash Bandicoot 4. Murph goes Gaga over Exo One, and then laments the issues with Adios. Murph and Bro talk about the giant hype machines of Cyberpunk 2077 and Deathloop.

Then we get down to business: Mario. On the Gamecube. Murph talks about what he loves about Gamecube era Mario and then we dissect our game of the week: Super Mario Sunshine. Does the FLUDD help the game or is it a shallow gimmick? We'll find those answers and more, dear listener.

Timestamps:

1:40 Gundam Evolution (2022)

7:00 Exo One (2022)

12:45 Crash 4: It's About Time (2020)

16:45 Adios (2021)

21:00 Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)

31:20 Deathloop (2021)

Variety Minute

41:25 Gamecube Mario Games

Game of the Week

55:15 Super Mario Sunshine (2002)

Number fifty? Where does the time go? Bro seems MIA, but Murph cobbled together a rag-tag team of Brendan Hesse, and Oliver (Yep)! Oliver talks about games he hasn't finished, such as Bayonetta 3 and Live A Live. Brendan talks about Gundam Evolution and Crisis Core Reunion (and we get some juicy JRPG final fantasy kingdom hearts bullshit lore.) Murph talks about Wavetale and Yakuza 0 (a game Yep also didn't finish.) and then they talk about the game of the week: Vagrant Story! A creative masterpiece that feels dynamic and impressive, even with all of its warts.

And there's a surprise guest at the very end, I wonder who it could be?

Whatcha Playin'

3:00 - Bayonetta 3 (2022)

6:30 - Gundam Evolution (2022)

14:00 - Wavetale (2022)

21:25 - Live A Live (2022)

29:45 - Crisis Core Reunion (2022)

41:30 - Yakuza 0 (2017)

Variety Minute

54:30 - JRPGs of the Playstation

Game of the Week

1:30:00 - Vagrant Story (2001)

A special for the ages! Murph and Bro talk about their top ten games they've played for the first time in 2022 (so not necessarily released in 2022) and they rank season 4's game of the week picks (with some exceptions. We'll play Vagrant Story, we promise.)

The top ten discussion is basically the first hour, the game of the week discussions are the second hour.

This episode is a nice little breather for Murph and Bro. Just us, no guests. We also play a beloved classic for the two. Murph pretty much only played Yakuza 5, but Bro has played a bunch of stuff. Shallow phone games, old games he's already played but slightly upgraded, and brand new games based aesthetically on very very old art styles. We follow all of that up with the Playstation 2 platformer: Jak and Daxter! A """perfect""" platformer, but we examine what makes it work and the flaws that do exist.

Whatcha Playin'

1:00- Marvel Snap (2022)

6:00 - Persona 5 (2020)

12:45 - Pentiment (2022)

21:30 -Yakuza 5 (2012)

Variety Minute

4:45- Gaming Duos

Game of the Week

48:00- Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001)

A short time ago, in a podcast right on your rss feed...

Bro and Murph team up with the music meister himself: Jack! Jack's music mastery means little when we talk about everything but that! We talk about Jack's recent interest in JRPGs and Dragon Quest XI. Bro talks about The Last Hero of Nostalgaia (its second appearance in whatcha playin), Murph plays the Undying and Crusader Kings 3. We take a refresher on licensed fighting games before tackling the final boss of the episode.

Our game of the week is a Star Wars fighting game with a reputation as ugly as its being. We spend just as much time talking about the expanded universe and other Star Wars missteps almost as much as we talk about the game itself. This episode is very silly, but then again, aren't they all?

Timestamps:

0:00 Jack introduction

Whatcha Playin'

7:00 Dragon Quest XI (2017)

13:30 Last Hero of Nostalgaia (2022)

20:00 The Undying (2022)

26:30 Signalis (2022)

35:00 Crusader Kings 3 (2020)

40:00 Metroid Prime (2002)

Variety Minute

43:00 Licensed Fighting Games

Game of the Week

1:00:00 Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi (1997)

It's a halloween special. BoooooOOOOooooOOOO!

Murph and Bro are greeted on this dark and stormy halloween night with a friendly face: Illusory Wall! The youtube superstar has taken time off from his busy schedule explaining how poise works in Fromsoft games to talk to us about sound design in video games, Castlevania 3, and of course: the best Halloween candy!

Illusory Wall talks about Stray, Murph talks about the new Jackbox Party Pack, and Bro talks about Scorn! Eventually all of our unique playable characters team up to talk about vampires in games and the beloved game Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse.

Thank you to Jack for the new theme song, also we are all very interested in Illusory Wall's Boo! game and demand all the information we can on it.

The Castlevania 3 hybrid mix was by Kirby Pufocia and can be visited here:

https://kirbypufocia.bandcamp.com/album/cviii-no-densetsu-or-whatever

Illusory Wall's channel can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/illusorywall

Timestamps:

0:00 (NEW THEME SONG! Spooky edition!)

0:30 Introduction with Illusory Wall

12:00 Stray (2022)

19:00 Jackbox Party Pack 9 (2022)

29:00 The Last Hero of Nostalgaia (2022)

34:00 Scorn (2022)

41:00 Faith Trilogy (2022)

Variety Minute:

47:00 Vampires in games

Game of the Week:

1:02:00 Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (1990)

Back to the past, back to the past, A LINK to the past! Bro and Murph team up with I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things host Vaughn to go over this retro classic for the Super Nintendo. Murph's played some children's games, Vaughn plays Deathloop and Trombone Champ, while Bro is upset at the newest first person shooter: Overwatch! Wow, it really is like the old days. For the Variety Minute we talk SNESquels, but the main event is the blow out knock out drag out fight. Does A Link to the Past not hold up to time? Only one way to find out.

Timestamps:

00:45 Vaughn introduction

Whatcha Playin'

7:00 Deathloop (2021)

13:30 Overwatch 2 (2022)

19:15 Unicorn Tails (2020)

24:30 Trombone Champ (2022)

29:45 Sizeable (2021)

Variety Minute

36:25 SNESquels

Game of the Week

51:00 A Link to the Past (1992)

And put your little hand in mine...

In this episode of the Daydreamcast: Murph, Bro, and special guest Theomeny tilt windmills and escape the evil shadow fortress by playing ICO! The critically acclaimed masterpiece, but is it all that it's cracked up to be? (Probably.)

We also look at Déraciné, a VR effort by fromsoftware, Murph talks about his new steam deck and playing old games on it. Bro talks about The Outbound Ghost, and then Murph descends with two indie titles about office work and biking (two great tastes that taste great together).

Timestamps:

0:00 Stadia Memorial (rest in peace)

7:00 Theomeny's essay writing

16:15 Murph's Steam deck

25:30 The Outbound Ghost (2022)

31:45 Déraciné (2018)

45:00 Going Under (2020)

50:45 Multiversus (2022)

55:00 The Descenders (2019)

Variety Minute:

1:00:00 Escort Missions

Game of the Week:

1:10:00 ICO (2001)

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode talks about Doki Doki Literature Club, which has multiple violent and traumatic instances and possibly triggering content. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, we try to fall in love with our waifus. Murph and Bro are playing Doki Doki Literature Club! We also discuss things like Murph's PAX experience, Dread Delusion, Gloomwood, Yakuza 4, and Splatoon 3. The variety minute is a whole bunch of fun, where we dissect romance elements in non dating sim games. What makes a game romance work?

Our game of the week is something that involves a heavy dose of spoilers, so be sure to listen in and join the fun.

OH, and after the game discussion we bring some poems to class. Be sure to listen for that!

Timestamps:

0:00 Murph's back

Whatcha Playin'

3:30 Dread Delusion (2022)

10:00 Splatoon 3 (2022)

19:00 Gloomwood (2022)

29:00 Yakuza 4 (2009)

Variety Minute

40:30 Romance elements in games.

Game of the Week

59:00 Doki Doki Literature Club (2017)

1:41:30 Poetry show and tell