CAGcast #567: 31 From 6 to 8

CheapyD

CheapyD

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The gang navigate the strict Halloween rules of Ohio and discuss; Red Dead Redemption 2, Target’s Black Friday Ad, Playstation Classic, and so much more!

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Show Linkage/Notes:
Intro Samsaya - Good With the Bad
Outro - He-Man Touching - Molestation Awareness 80s PSA
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As a lifelong resident of Ohio, I found it weird that there aren't standard trick or treat times everywhere.

Shipwreck, you are not alone.
 
Been listening since episode one, but damn...Wombat needs a hug.  It feels like he really plays games just looking as hard as he can to find things to hate instead of letting the game direct the tone.  AAA game with a giant positive reception?  SPOILER: WOMBAT WILL BITCH ABOUT IT NONSTOP.  Overwatch.  Breath of the Wild.  RDR2. etc.  

I totally agree that RDR2 can add a fast travel system and it will not hurt the core STORY line, but it would massively detract from the intended gameplay loop of discovery and surprise.  Why even play at all if you just want to know the story beats?  Watch the cinematics on YouTube or read the story summary on Wikipedia.  The story missions are possibly the most 'gamified' and boring/predictable missions in the game.  Shoot a bunch of guys, chase a train, fetch something, etc.  These missions do convey a story built around interesting characters, but don't break any gameplay molds.  However, the random events and side missions really are where this particular open world excels.  There isn't an Assassin's Creed-ish map drowning in icons.  Often, there are only 2-3 'mission icons' on the map at the same time.  However, traveling by horse across the map opens up a ton of interesting of-the-moment quests and diversions.  Prisoners fighting Marshalls, a circus train that rolled over, a couple guys breaking open a safe in the middle of nowhere, legendary animals, a dude that needs certain wildlife photos set up, a person being kidnapped, etc and on and on.  Animals interacting with one another.  The best parts of RDR2 really are in pacing yourself and exploring.  It's not my game of the year, and it does start very slowly, but once I 'understood' that I had to let the game lead me, it's been a lot more fun.  No reason to blitz a game the week it came out (as many of us did with Spider-Man for example).  This single player mode can be played in little bursts for the 8 years it may take to release the next one.  The controls might be hard to relearn constantly, however.  Also, there is a toggle in options to make sprinting and button pounding an on/off toggle, instead of having to tap over and over.

Wombat, you find the joy in a lot of things, where other people glaze over it.  Really great hole in the wall restaurants, off the path vacations, neat elements of shows and movies, but with AAA games your perennial stance of having to shit on and find fault with anything that is lauded is tiring and feels like a 15 year old when they finally say 'fuck you dad, I don't need your rules'.  I hope you are able to find contentment with things other people like.  You've put up with shitty Lego gameplay for years, without souring your enjoyment of that series.  Check your tone, partner.

Also, we don't have 6-8 halloween, but that sounds amazing.  When my kids were babies I used to have to unplug my doorbell.  

 
callmesteam said:
Been listening since episode one, but damn...Wombat needs a hug. It feels like he really plays games just looking as hard as he can to find things to hate instead of letting the game direct the tone. AAA game with a giant positive reception? SPOILER: WOMBAT WILL BITCH ABOUT IT NONSTOP. Overwatch. Breath of the Wild. RDR2. etc.
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But I really like RDR2. I never played Overwatch, that's mostly just busting Cheapy's balls. BOTW is hot garbage though. I am trying to think of other well received games I didn't like? I loved Spider-Man, Mario Odyssey, Injustice 2. What AAA games that were universal praised did I dislike outside of BOTW?

 
I’ve frequently heard people refer to the new Spider-man game as the best Spider-man movie ever made. So apparently that story is garbage too? The attempt to prove everyone wrong has just opened a brand new can of worms. No game ever has had a better story than the worst CW show?! No wonder developers don’t want to send you free games. Agree with Callmesteam above, get a hug, take a pill, something. This episode was even worse than usual with the hate just to hate shit. Brutal.
 
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The CAG-crew were a little lost when they were talking about Castlevania. I'll break down some of the details of Castlevania: Requiem, for anyone who is interested in the series.

Shipwreck was partially right about Rondo of Blood. Dracula X, the release for the Super Nintendo, was a drastic re-working of Rondo of Blood that overhauled the level design, and stripped out a lot of what made Rondo of Blood great. It is considered to be a separate title, and not a re-make or localization of Rondo of Blood. It's also consisdered inferior, as well as unfairly difficult. Dracula X is not really worth the expense of acquiring a cartridge for.

Rondo of Blood has been released in the west, in English, once before. The 3D-remake of the game released for the PSP, the Dracula X Chronicles, featured a capable re-creation of the game using 3D graphics. It also featured the original 2D version of Rondo of Blood localized for the US as an unlockable bonus. At that point, this was the only official western release of Rondo of Blood. It was never ported to any other system, so it is only availabe to play on the PSP, and the PS Vita, if you purchase it digitally. Sadly, the PSTV has the title white-listed, so you can't play it on the TV using the PSTV.

The recently released Castlevania: Requiem is a fairly bare-bones port of the version of Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood that were unlockables in the Dracula X Chronicles. There are a few minor extras included in the package, including tighter integration with the Dualshock 4's unique features. But there are no museum or behind-the-scenes extras, which is more than a little disapointing. The option features aren't that great either, only providing a small handful of adjustments. The games themselves run and play fine, and the bonus features for the Dualshock 4 work well.

For Castlevania enthusiasts, the real draw of this collection is having Rondo of Blood playable on a television. Up until this point, the only way to get this officially was to buy a PSP model 2000, the component cables that allowed you to plug it into a TV, and a copy of the Dracula X Chronicles. You would also have to play through the Dracula X Chronicles up to the point where you find the Rondo of Blood unlockable. Obviously, this wasn't a very good option. Requiem does give fans a good option for playing the 2D original on a big screen with respectable performance. Symphony of the Night being bundled in is nice, but not terribly necessary. The PS1 classic version of the game has been available on PSN for years, and runs just fine on a PSP, Vita, or PS3. (and even the PSTV) The Reqiem version also has the re-done audio, which is slightly less jarring, but also more generic and forgettable.

Basically, if you haven't already played these games, Requiem is a good value, and highly recommended. But if you already have these games elsewhere, this bare-bones re-release isn't going to be bringing much new to the table.

 
Trick or Treat from 6-8 is the norm throughout most of the country. It’s why TV, movies, and even costume quest show trick or treating at night. It’s also more fun for the kids than running around in broad daylight and makes the decoration scarier.
 
Wombat mentioned that the plot lines for most video games are crap and generally speaking I agree with him. However one notable exception (besides Alan Wake that Cheapy mentioned) was the first Red Dead Redemption. It had one of the best endings I have seen in any video game. The thing is: The game is so long that it took awhile before you reach that conclusion. Most of the game, you spent all your time completing various missions before it became apparent that all these missions ties together to fit a certain narrative. It's kind of hard to explain without spoiling the ending.

So in the case of Red Dead 2, I would not be so dismissive about the plot.  I have yet to play RD2 but based on my experience with the RD1, it may surprise you at the end.

 
Right, I get that Wombat did say he was enjoying RDR2, but I'm trying to think if he said one positive thing about it.  It was just piling on disdain.  I get that you paid for the game and have a right to state your opinion, and your opinion is one of the reasons people listen to the show, but as a listener, it's really unenjoyable to ONLY hear what you hate about every game.  And even in your comment here 'BotW is hot garbage' just isn't true.  You may not enjoy it, and thats totally fine, but saying a game that is well-received is 'hot garbage' isn't fair to fans or devs or the experience the game was trying to achieve (and for many, successfully achieved).  RDR2 has aspects that could be refined, but that doesn't make it a bad game.  I'm not into Madden, or NBA, or PUBG, or Final Fantasy, or WoW, etc, but I can appreciate that they are not 'hot garbage' just because I don't enjoy them.

I guess my bottom line is as a listener, it's not entertaining to listen to.  It's a sour one-note symphony that Wombat plays frequently.  And as a 'friend', I want you to enjoy things you spend your time with, and encourage you to find a way to find positive moments in lauded games the way you seem to do in your everyday life.  I used to shit on anything that was big too, and it was exhausting.  Not just for me, but for everyone around me.  The toxicity takes away from what makes you endearing.

 

 
Wow you guys have way too much invested in what other people think about a video game you like. I like the story based adventure games people derisively call “walking simulators”. If I got upset every time someone complained about those, I’d spend all my time defending them. People like different games. For the record, I liked LA Noir and hated Red Dead Redemption(though unlike Shipwreck I’m not buying the sequel).
 
I can't believe Wombat really thinks the best stories in games aren't better than a CW show? Alan Wake is a great game, but is that really all you guys could come up with? There are so many great stories, maybe Wombat just doesn't enjoy playing games with deep story telling?
 
The Red Dead talk was painful. Shipwreck barely played it (though it’s a depressing story so he’ll probably hate it) and I don’t know what Wombat means.

There are multiple fast travel options in the game, really exaggerating the issue tbh.

Also, if he thinks this is worse than any CW show as far as storytelling then he needs to stop looking at Twitter during the cutscenes and pay attention.
 
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I'm also from the Midwest (Michigan) and Halloween has always been 6-8pm on the 31st (I've heard of places moving the date to the weekend or if weather is going to be bad, but that is weak imo). I don't know how trick or treating would work at 4pm. Who's home at 4pm on a weekday to give out candy or follow around their three year old? I also think it's kind of a safety thing to avoid the worst of rush hour or commercial traffic.

 
This isn't about RDR2!  Shipwreck got an Arcade1up so I thought i'd show you guys what I did with my Arcade1up. It was actually pretty easy to turn it into a MAME arcade. That's the reason I bought it. I'm not handy enough to build my own and I can't fit a full sized arcade in my house. I also preferred the 4:3 monitor vs one of those other 3/4 sized arcades that require a wide screen TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZv3AXHy5fo

 
Great show this week guys. Love listening to you bust each others balls. A quick question: Do you sometimes play on easy mode just to not have to fight with a game and enjoy the story? I find as an adult that there just aren't enough hours in the day to learn new control schemes. Have a good one.

-Islington

 
4pm is absurdly early for trick-or-treating. Barely anyone is home from work at that time. The only time we've ever gotten anyone showing up before 6pm is when someone was bringing a toddler around. 6-8pm is definitely more normal, but having some preordained time period set in stone is weird as well. We just have a common time window that people generally follow, but nothing scheduled. Really, you don't start seeing the rush here until after 7, and it starts dying down at 8:30.

But we only got 5 kids total this year; it was ridiculous. Heard some talk that people were maybe feeling a bit unsafe this year, and sat it out.

I understand Wombat's RDR 2 complaints, but I don't necessarily agree with them. I think a large reason why it caused such "controversy" (aside from the fact that people simply enjoy arguing on the internet) is what Cheapy said at one point - if the option was there, they'd feel compelled to use it. I'm the same. I once started a new character in Skyrim with the intention of not using fast travel, since I heard it was a fun/immersive thing to do. I don't think I lasted even 2 hours before I caved. Once the option is there, it becomes way too enticing to not use it. I'm not saying that the way RDR 2 is currently is the most ideal and perfect, but I can see why Rockstar elected to not have fast travel.

 
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I'm in NV and we have no trick or treating rules but most people go between 6-8, we started knocking doors with our kids at 6.

I have RDR2 and it seems fine, I don't feel like I'm missing a fast travel system. I'm not super deep into it yet so maybe I'll want one later on.

I agree on video game stories generally being terrible. I love Halo but have never cared about the story, it seems very generic sci-fi story wise but an incredible game. I can't think of a game where I liked the story... maybe Earthbound? I was also 10 when I played it and hadn't read many books yet. Books are great if you want a good story.
 
I completely agreed with literally everything Wombat said this episode. 

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