First Byte: Recent Episodes
LGND
As this is the first year that both E3 and the First Byte Podcast are happening at the same time, I thought it would be fun and … maybe slightly frantic to pick five titles out of the entire line-up of announcements that tickle my fancy.
After a vast spance of longing, Backbone was released on PC this week, and while I could have pulled back on the reigns of excitement prior to leaping in, I didn’t, and yet it still lived up to my desires and expectations. And blew them away in many cases.
Engrossing, the tendrils of art in its best form -- which can be described as vaguely Any art that “does it for you” -- is something that can live with you for long periods of time. Especially when it is something like a Video Game in which you are asked to spend a lot of time with said art.
From the same team that brought us amazing and fun video games like Creature in the Well, Manifest 99, and Island Time, comes Stonefly -- a game about tiny beings, building bug-like mechs to battle crawlers, collect resources, and explore their world. And I cannot begin to express how astounding and wonderful this little minuscule universe is.
The story, characters, dialog, and journey through Stonefly is simply described in one simple word; unforgettable.
It is the birth-child of lo-fi study beats, mesmerizingly beautiful wallpaper, and the stories you tell your kids while you’re tucking them in at night.
Elite Dangerous is the most polarizing gaming experience I may have ever fallen in to. Odyssey as an expansion is equal parts stunning, and an abomination without clear explanation.
Resulting in a playground that causes awe, and actual gameplay that breeds expletives. There is … SO MUCH … wrong with Elite Dangerous Odyssey, in terms of actual function, that this launch will be remembered as a joke in the near future.
On paper, everything about Days Gone was created to appeal to me in specific. As a fan of open-world games, post-apocalyptic settings, role-playing game elements (big and small), and motorcycles, I was flush with excitement when Sony revealed Bend Studio’s original franchise.
Unforgettable aspects of the journey include the tech and terror of the zombies’ artificial intelligence, and the absolutely sensational overworld and universe design.
Mass Effect, as a series, means a lot to me.
It means a lot to plenty of people.
Fundamentally changing the modern video game role-playing systems -- gameplay mechanics still in heavy use today -- Mass Effect introduced an entirely new audience of geeks and gamers alike, into RPG fans. And, it took my incessant need to write and tell stories into its arms, and force-fed it. It evolved me. Stranding my recently-sober, high school in the rearview, teenage self on the beach and said “you’ll be damned if you play another game with a soggy story and characters, and feel any sort of satisfaction.”
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It Takes Two is the latest game from the cooperative-focused studio out of Stockholm, Sweden, and it goes a long way to infuse trust and dependability between yourself and whomever you decide to play with.
The Hazelight co-op journey is always a feat of inundation, making who you play them with practically more important than the how or why you take part in them. For their previous title -- a bro-op game featuring two convicts escaping from prison -- I played alongside my forever cooperator, my brother. It was fitting, wonderful, and our hyena-like giggling only paused long enough to concentrate in awe through the bigger, more cinematic moments.
For It Takes Two -- a game about two adults, parents, who have decided to get a divorce, only to be turned into dolls by their daughter, set to face trials that are led by a relationship self-help book in order to challenge their partnership -- I played it with my partner. My significant, insanely uplifting future wife.
It was simple in concept, true in its vision, but Rare was fully aware that they have something special on their hands. It felt like my mum’s macaroni and cheese. There’s nothing fancy about it, it is not an intricate meal, but god damn does it not taste fundamentally amazing and satisfies every time.
Sea of Thieves in the year 2021 feels like a breath of fresh air, and it is mostly due to that same flavor the game had at launch four years ago.
Media and entertainment that is awash with nostalgic vibes and “in-jokes” has become a major portion of our yearly consumption, but Narita Boy manages to raise that retro vibe on top of a truly fantastic and wonderful universe and environment.
Caution, there are some spicy takes regarding art and a look at what begets truly distinguishable pieces of media within this podcast episode. God speed.
People Can Fly's first leap into the looter-shooter multiplayer genre does everything is HAS to do, and does it well. All the while, they bring an extra bit of flavor and quality outside of what gamers expect from a game of this type. The elevator pitch for Outriders doesn't do it any justice.
There is something beautiful, relaxing, and even romantic about returning to a world and formula that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy in your belly. Capcom’s latest title in the Monster Hunter franchise does more than enough to push the series forward, and provide fans with something new.