Dark Souls, by Denman Rooke

And so here we are, the final episode of My Favourite Game - Season 6, the All-Ireland Season. And we pick up where we left off last week with Jordan Bradley of Amber Isle developer Ambertail Games talking of Neopets as her favourite game.

Tonight, the final episode of Season 6 delves into other creature character games like Pokemon, Tomogatchi, Spore and more; the black market economy of Neopets and more. We also delve a little more into Ambertail's upcoming life-sim Amber Isle - a lot of which has been covered already here, but there are a few other nuggets here too - and wholesome as a movement.

And that is Season 6 of My Favourite Game. As always, thank you so much for listening to this season and any other episode of My Favourite Game. You're all awesome.

Look after yourselves and take care. <3

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@TalunsArt

And so we come to the beginning of the end. The All-Ireland themed Season 6 of My Favourite Game hits its last game with Neopets and kicks off a two-part finale that has roots tied back to the start of 2020.

As I said announcing the full guest lineup back in January, the initial inspiration about doing a season of the show based on the Irish games industry harkens back to Ambertail Games co-founder Jordan Bradley and an interview with her for a Press Play episode that year, recorded before the start of the pandemic at the pan-Irish games event Run for the Border.

“I know we have talks and networking, but what if we had mini game jams where North and South came together or workshops or even having this event more often?,” she said when I asked about potential collaborations between the games industries in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “I know that’s a whole lot of work with organisation, but the reward is far greater, I find.

“There are many ways I can see it changing. Even just online – let’s make a Discord server where we all come together because there’s one for North, one for South. Why not have an [All-Ireland] one? That would be cool.”

Two years on from that interview in Co Dundalk that gave the idea of doing an All Ireland season of the show, Bradley wraps up Season 6 with an in-person episode in Belfast talking of Neopets as her favourite game.

In the first of a two-part finale, we talk of the duality of a person such as with Jordan and how Neopets shaped that for her, the community built up around it, how the end of service of Flash has cratered the game as it is and a lot, lot more.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@TalunsArt

For the first time in seven-and-a-half years since the show's inception, we finally have a Dark Souls game!

This isn't My Favourite Game's first rodeo with a From Software game - you have to go back to 2016 and Season 4 with Bloodborne and ex-Naughty Dog artist and current freelance concept artist Alex Neonakis - but tonight marks the first time a Souls game has been talked of as someone's favourite game.

Tonight, in the penultimate game of Season 6, Sumo Digital associate art director Denman Rooke (note: Denman was art director at Romero Games on Empire of Sin when this was recorded) talks of the original Dark Souls as his favourite game.

Here, we talk of its art direction and influence, having to fight skeletons over several hours, its legacy in the ten years since its release, the somewhat toxic mentality of get gud the games throw up and a particular instance of his mother being aghast at seeing Goldeneye being played in a non-violent household.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@DenmanRooke

Talking of Petz, or any pet simulation game as someone's favourite game, is a bit of a jarring experience (nor, with three episodes and two guests to go, will it be the last time this season - spoiler, it's not next week either).

But tonight's My Favourite Game sees Whitepot Studios co-founder Vicky Potts talk of Petz as her favourite game. Among the key selling points: getting into games and finding a lot of time playing them on PC than PS2, the sense of community and being established by Petz, Maple Story (and playing it one time in a 24-hour stint) and more.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@NinjaPotts

We're starting to hit the beginning of the end of the All-Ireland themed Season 6 of My Favourite Game, but before we do, we're talking of one of the most beloved arcade racing series of all time.

Tonight, Shane McCafferty of Love: A Puzzle Shaped Box developer Rocketship Park talks of Burnout 2 as his favourite game. We talk of it, first getting to games as a youngin' in Waterford - he now resides in Toronto, Canada - a golden era of the arcade racing genre (especially between 2007 and 2011) and Criterion Games' output on both Burnout and Need for Speed.

We also talk of the religious experiences of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus (and they are religious experiences, frankly) and more.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@EGVroom

For the first time since Season 2’s Majora’s Mask episode with Molly Carroll of Larian Studios (then of Chucklefish) in 2015, we have representation within The Legend of Zelda on My Favourite Game again.

Tonight, in a special St Patrick’s Day episode drop to reflect the All-Ireland theme of the season, “jack of all trades” writer and designer Ellen Cunningham provides the fourth unique episode on the series – there would have been a fifth by now for what was the original Season 5 back in 2018/what became The Lost Tapes involving Ocarina of Time were it not for a hard drive failure – with 2006’s The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess on Wii and GameCube.

We talk of the somewhat horror vibes within Ocarina that got them down the path of horror, the dark themes surrounding The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, ‘that Nintendo magic’ within it and other Zelda games and a lot more.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@ephemerellen

The second half of Season 6 of My Favourite Game gets underway by delving into a well-loved franchise and the hilarity it provides.

TechRadar’s Vic Hood talks of TimeSplitters Future Perfect as her favourite game and delves into the sort of humour it has, the different kinds of humour in games like it, Fable and others as well as a lot more.

We also delve into mental health depiction in games and why if you have to go to an Irish bar that isn’t in Ireland, your best bet is to go to one in Germany.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@hood_vic

Tonight, the first half of Season 6 of My Favourite Game comes to an end. And it ends with a debuting franchise!

Here, Colm Larkin of Cardpolcalypse and Guild of Dungeoneering developer Gambrinious talks of Baldur's Gate as his favourite game.

Here, we talk of his early days playing games on the ZX Spectrum, how he played RPGs like Baldur's Gate as a chaotic good and the characters he'd craft in them, Baldur's Gate 3 and how Larian is a perfect fit for it, why he feels the first few hours of an RPG are more meaningful to him and a lot more.

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@gambrinous

Tonight’s episode of My Favourite Game is not the first episode released from a face-to-face recording of the show – that was last week with Outsider Games’ Stephen Downey on The Witcher 3 – but it is the first face-to-face episode to ever be recorded (to say of it being the first episode of Season 6 to be recorded).

Tonight, Bellular Studios (nee Coffeebox Games) art director Jess Campbell talks of Ratchet and Clank as her favourite game (if you even see her Twitter, this doesn’t come as the biggest shock in the world, but still!).

Here, we talk of the character building, writing across the series, the 2016 remake (based on the film coming out at the same time that is based on the original game), halcyon days of playing Resistance 2 co-op with her brother, Sunset Overdrive and provide a little context to the party that basically solidified what this season of My Favourite Game was going to be about plus more!

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@jessanight

Another week, another My Favourite Game.

Tonight, we delve into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Stephen Downey, founder of Outsider Games, who are putting the finishing touches to upcoming point-and-click adventure Jennifer Wilde: Unlikely Revolutionaries.

Seems like only yesterday it was the first game in the first annual Game of the Year special of My Favourite Game back in 2015.

Anyway, we talk of how Triss is a forbidden term in the Downey household, the fears of The Witcher 3 being an overwhelming game and a lot, lot more (including the Netflix TV show and, to a much less extent, Cyberpunk 2077).

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@OutsiderGames