Podcast Summary
Surviving The Game Awards: Insights and Antics from Jason Schreyer, Kirk Hamilton, and Matti Meyers: The Game Awards offered a unique blend of game announcements, industry interactions, and unexpected executive behavior, making it a worthwhile experience for the trio despite some challenges.
The Game Awards now feature commercials, and this year, the trio of Jason Schreyer, Kirk Hamilton, and Matti Meyers survived the event, sharing their experiences and thoughts on new game announcements, including Hades 2, and the after-party antics of gaming industry executives. Despite some hiccups, such as traffic and interruptions, the trio found the experience worthwhile for the unique insights and interactions with fans and industry figures. They also discussed their amusement at the unexpected appearances and behaviors of some executives during the post-event gatherings. Overall, the Game Awards provided a lively and entertaining look into the world of gaming, with a few unexpected twists and turns along the way.
Remembering that sometimes a dumb kid is just a dumb kid: Despite initial skepticism, the hosts found enjoyment in Marvel's Midnight Suns and acknowledged the importance of listener support
Despite the changing world and the potential for increased cringeworthy behavior from young people during the pandemic, it's important to remember that sometimes a dumb kid is just a dumb kid. The hosts discussed this in relation to a particular YouTube creator and the defense against anti-Semitism in his content. They also shared their skepticism towards Marvel video games but found themselves enjoying Marvel's Midnight Suns, which they described as XCOM but with Marvel heroes. Despite their initial reservations, they appreciated the humor in the game, even if it was somewhat cringeworthy. The hosts also reminded listeners that they are a listener-supported podcast and encouraged them to become members for bonus content. They will be taking a week off for the holidays and releasing a bonus episode for all listeners on the main feed.
Marvel-themed tactical strategy game: Charming story and engaging mechanics, but micromanagement and bugs are concerns: Speakers enjoy Marvel game's unique card mechanic and charming story, but express reservations about excessive base-building micromanagement and occasional bugs, planning to continue playing despite frustrations
The speakers are greatly enjoying the tactical strategy game they've been playing, which is a Marvel-themed title. They find the card game mechanic unique and fun, with the ability to chain attacks reminding them of Marvel's Snap. The story and writing are also charming and engaging. However, they express some reservations about the excessive micromanagement in the base-building aspect of the game. Despite this, they are deeply invested in the game and plan to continue playing. The speakers also note that while there are many systems in the game, it can feel janky at times with bugs and odd occurrences. A major complaint is the inability to pause cutscenes, which is causing frustration for some players. Overall, the speakers are enthusiastic about the game but acknowledge its flaws.
Lack of pause feature hinders immersion: Player enjoys game's mix of exploration, dialogue, combat, and large cast, but finds it unpolished and distracted by other titles, with character writing and moments being standouts
The lack of a pause feature in the game is a significant complaint for the player, making it difficult to fully immerse themselves in the experience. Despite this issue and some rough edges, the player is enjoying the game's ambitious combination of third-person exploration, Mass Effect-style dialogue, and isometric combat, as well as the large ensemble cast of Marvel characters. The game's estimated length of 60 hours or more is also surprising. Overall, the game feels unpolished and could benefit from more updates and optimization for various platforms. The player is excited about the potential of the game but is distracted by other titles. The character writing and moments are the standouts for the player, but they find the overarching story less interesting so far.
Marvel's Midnight Suns: Avengers and Midnight Sons Unite Against a World-Ending Witch: Marvel's Midnight Suns delivers an immersive superhero ensemble experience with deep character interactions, humor, action, and bond-forming friendships between the Avengers and Midnight Sons.
Marvel's Midnight Suns offers an engaging ensemble cast experience with deep character interactions. The player's character, a hunter and potential child of Lilith, navigates a world where the Avengers and Midnight Sons must team up to stop a world-ending witch. The game's narrative setup involves Lilith, who has taken Wanda Maximoff, and the resulting conflict between the two superhero groups. Friendships and social dynamics add depth to the superhero team-up story, allowing players to form bonds and even damage relationships with characters like Wanda and Stephen Strange. The unique blend of humor, action, and character development sets Marvel's Midnight Suns apart, making it an enjoyable experience for fans of the Marvel universe.
Impactful social interactions in Marvel's Midnight Suns: Players make choices that affect relationships, unlocking new abilities or bonuses in combat.
In the game "Marvel's Midnight Suns," not only is the tactical combat engaging, but the social interactions with the characters are also meaningful and impactful. Players have the ability to make choices during conversations that can positively or negatively affect their relationships with the characters, which in turn can unlock new abilities or bonuses during combat. This adds a layer of depth and complexity to the game, making it more social and less predictable compared to similar games like Persona. Players start off with a limited team of characters, including Doctor Strange and Iron Man, and learn the basics of combat using a deck of cards for each character. The fun comes from using these cards to chain attacks and combo with other characters, but this feature is not introduced until later in the game. At first, players focus on learning the fundamentals of using attack cards and managing their card plays effectively. While positioning and player health are still important factors, the strategic use of cards and social interactions offer a unique and enjoyable experience.
In Marvel: Multiverse of Madness - Battleworld, offensive strategies are key due to lack of cover and abundance of AoE attacks.: Players engage in offensive strategies, plan complex turns, and gain satisfying intricate turns as they progress in Marvel: Multiverse of Madness - Battleworld, unlike XCOM's focus on cover and defensive tactics.
In Marvel: Multiverse of Madness - Battleworld, positioning matters differently compared to strategy games like XCOM. Instead of focusing on cover and defensive positions, players engage in offensive strategies due to the lack of cover and the abundance of area-of-effect attacks. As players progress and build synergistic decks, they plan out complex turns with quick attacks, card redraws, and coordinated team efforts to knock out enemies efficiently. Unlike XCOM, there's no probability of missing attacks, and minions usually die or get knocked out when attacked. The game offers an exciting, action-packed experience with less setup and tactics, allowing for more satisfying and intricate turns as players gain more abilities and understanding of their cards.
Exploring Marvel's Midnight Suns' strategic depth: Marvel's Midnight Suns offers a unique, positioning-based strategy experience with a focus on character abilities and environmental interactions, providing a rich and rewarding gameplay experience.
Marvel's Midnight Suns offers a rich and rewarding strategic experience, with a focus on positioning and environmental interactions, even in its early stages. Players must consider the movements and actions of their characters, as well as the environment, to maximize damage and minimize harm. The game's objects and environmental attacks add another layer of strategy, requiring careful planning and execution. Despite the game's early access, the potential for increased complexity with more characters and potential injuries adds to the depth of the gameplay experience. The positioning-based strategy feels distinct from other games like XCOM, as the characters' powerful abilities require more precise aiming and setup rather than focusing on survival. The game's balance of action and strategy, along with its unique take on character management, makes Marvel's Midnight Suns an exciting and engaging experience.
Experimenting with different hero combinations in Marvel's Midnight Suns: The game's temporary injury system encourages strategic team building and character experimentation, with each hero having distinct abilities and roles.
Marvel's Midnight Suns offers a unique blend of strategy and character development, despite having a limited roster of playable heroes. The temporary incapacitation of a character encourages players to rotate and experiment with different team combinations, as each hero has distinct roles and abilities. Though the temporary injury system may not offer the same stakes as games with permadeath, it adds an element of strategy and planning. The game's depth and length, comparable to long RPGs like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, allow players to become attached to their favorite heroes and figure out their unique strengths and weaknesses. The creative comboing and potential for character interactions add to the overall enjoyment of the game. Though the roster may seem small compared to other strategy games, the focus on character development and strategic team building makes for an engaging experience.
Preference for Deterministic Strategy Games: Marvel's Midnight Suns, Into the Breach, and Slay the Spire offer more satisfying experiences by reducing randomness in strategy games, as shown by their success.
The removal of randomness in certain strategy games can lead to a more satisfying and immersive experience, as demonstrated by the success of Marvel's Midnight Suns. The speaker expresses a preference for games where the outcome of actions is determined by player skill rather than random chance. They cite examples like Marvel's Midnight Suns, Into the Breach, and Slay the Spire, which have eliminated randomness or used it in more creative ways. The speaker also mentions how Firaxis, the developer of XCOM, initially tried to create a Marvel version of XCOM but found it unfun and eventually came up with the card-based system in Marvel's Midnight Suns. The speaker concludes by mentioning that XCOM 2 was released in 2016, and Slay the Spire came out around the same time, suggesting that Firaxis started developing Marvel's Midnight Suns shortly after.
Two Marvel games, one time: 'Midnight Suns' vs 'Marvel Snap': 'Midnight Suns' provides a more comprehensive Marvel experience with immersive storytelling, personalized challenges, and humor, while 'Marvel Snap' focuses on tactical gameplay and character synergies.
"Midnight Suns" and "Marvel Snap" are two Marvel-themed games released around the same time, each offering unique experiences. While "Marvel Snap" focuses on tactical gameplay with deck building and character synergies, "Midnight Suns" delivers both satisfying card-based mechanics and engaging character drama, making it a more comprehensive Marvel experience for those seeking a balance between action and story. "Midnight Suns" also incorporates humor and references to add depth and fun to the gameplay. A notable feature is the presence of a nemesis villain for each character, adding a personalized challenge to the game. Despite their similarities, these games cater to different preferences, with "Marvel Snap" being more simplistic and "Midnight Suns" offering a more immersive and nuanced Marvel universe experience.
Appreciating the nemesis dynamic in X-Men: Legends II: Speakers admired the nemesis setup for iconic pairs like Venom and Spider-Man, and Sabertooth and Wolverine. However, they felt the addition of an original character, the hunter, was a missed opportunity and underdeveloped.
The discussion revolved around the ensemble cast dynamic in the video game, specifically the "X-Men: Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse." The speakers appreciated the nemesis setup for each character, such as Venom and Spider-Man, and Sabertooth and Wolverine. However, they had mixed feelings about the original character, the hunter. They felt it was a missed opportunity to use existing Marvel characters like Kitty Pride or Jubilee, and the character's writing and performance were not engaging. Despite this, they acknowledged that the emphasis on the ensemble allowed other characters to shine and they planned to continue playing the game.
New entertainment recommendations: Tights and Fights podcast and Interview with the Vampire series: Discover thought-provoking discussions about wrestling in 'Tights and Fights' podcast and delve into deeper themes in 'Interview with the Vampire' series
There are two new entertainment offerings worth checking out. The first is the podcast "Tights and Fights" from Maximum Fun, which offers insightful and humorous discussions about professional wrestling. The second is the AMC series "Interview with the Vampire," a compelling and thought-provoking adaptation that goes beyond typical vampire stories to explore themes of memory, storytelling, relationships, and even domestic violence. Both recommendations come with strong endorsements from the speakers. Additionally, they discussed "White Lotus" season 2, which is a return to the bitter-sweet theme of the first season but with more answers and a different setting in Sicily. Despite the bitterness, the speakers highly recommend this show as well.
Standalone 'White Lotus' Season 2 and RPG Game Recommendation: Season 2 of 'White Lotus' is enjoyable without prior knowledge. Try 'Chained Echoes', an innovative RPG with nostalgic appeal and unique combat system.
"White Lotus" Season 2 is a standalone series that can be enjoyed even if you haven't seen Season 1. The discussion also highlighted the recommendation of a video game called "Chained Echoes" for RPG fans. This game, inspired by classics like Chrono Trigger, offers a unique combat system with a gauge that requires strategic thinking to avoid overheating and taking damage. The writing may have some grammatical errors, but it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyable experience. The game is primarily made by one person and offers a beautiful 2D graphics and music that will appeal to fans of old-school JRPGs. Despite the minor writing issue, the innovative combat system and nostalgic appeal make "Chained Echoes" a must-try for RPG enthusiasts.
A late-year JRPG contender worth checking out for fans of the genre: Chained Echoes offers a beautiful experience with rad music, awesome graphics, and intricate attack planning for fans of strategic combat and planning ahead.
"Chained Echoes" is a surprise late-year JRPG contender worth checking out for fans of the genre, especially those who enjoy planning ahead and strategic combat. With multiple systems at play, including member swapping and intricate attack planning, the game offers a beautiful experience with rad music and awesome graphics. Our team was so engrossed in the game that we managed to execute our podcast episode flawlessly, with no edits needed. If you're looking for a game where you can plan ahead and watch your strategies unfold, "Chained Echoes" is definitely worth considering. It's a testament to the power of good planning and execution, both in games and in podcasting. Join us in 2 weeks as we continue our gaming journey. Triple Click is produced by Jason Schreier, Matti Myers, and Kirk Hamilton, and we're proud to be a part of the Maximum Fund Podcast Network. Support us by becoming a member at maximumfund.org/join. Find us on Twitter at tripleclickpods and email us at tripleclick@maximumfund.org. Our show art is by Tom DJ, and we're an audience-supported, artist-owned podcast.