Watch Out For Fireballs!

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross join up to talk about the first half of Suikoden II. It's Summer RPG time, and this year we turn our attention toward Suikoden II. It's probably known best nowadays for being incredibly rare and expensive, but there's so much more that makes this game remarkable. The tense struggle between the Kingdom of Highland and the City State of Jowston is memorable, and so are its key players. On the play side, several different genres are represented here, and greatly simplified. For this episode, we play up through Two River. Next episode, we'll finish the game out. Before you listen to the episode, please watch this trailer to get in the proper mindset (thanks, @AllisonByProxy (twitter.com/allisonbyproxy)!). www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNgjIoakzUk LINKS OF NOTE: Starman (www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3WtvzmKCQQ) Johnny Five Aces (knowyourmeme.com/memes/zybourne-clock) Stonewall Jackson (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson) Beyond the Beyond (www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index…-BeyondTheBeyo

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. Links of Note: Lowtax LP (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qISSdqMJF…-OOTb0rqZr6bJlMkQ) American Science and Surplus (www.sciplus.com/) Disappointed (www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9gC1GiSDDA) Covered Bridge Video (youtu.be/WyO18one8fU) Carmageddon (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmageddon)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross wheez Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. It’s Solid Snake’s tiniest adventure yet! Returning to an old place to fight an old enemy, this unjustly forgotten entry in the series returns to Metal Gear’s roots on the MSX. 2D stealth is great. This game defies what you’d expect from the Gameboy Color. LINKS OF NOTE: Timequake: en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timequake Beastie Boys doing Echolalia: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE Echolalia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echolalia Hitman iOs: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYjM8lMSuU Weasing Juice: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1hEKqZz-OY 21 and 24: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfjj7Y9N27c Multiplicity: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH2XDPI5664

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Cave Story.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross plumb the depths of Cave Story. It’s a story that will make you feel like you’ve wasted your life. A while back, a single man dedicated five years to singlehandedly crafting one of the most beloved modern platformers. Oh, and he also fired the starting pistol on the indie game movement as we know it. But excuse us, we’re just talking into microphones forever. LINKS OF NOTE: Speedrun: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqCSJyFOaaw The Diving Bell and The Butterfly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G69Zh7YIg8c Super Meatboy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHJsnXRb_Es Hotline Miami: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWnr3A2YNg 1,001 Spikes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0OWjhHTz-M

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within. LINKS OF NOTE: Reunification Day: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunification_Day Vacation Movies: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rMcRJVY1-0

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Will Owens sniff around Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within. FMV games are a bizarre evolutionary dead end, but we found the very best one to give the WOFF! treatment. Gabriel Knight is back on the case, in full living color, hunting down a Bavarian werewolf and learning a little bit about his own sexuality. We can take solace in one fact: We can’t mangle German any worse than Gabriel Knight himself. Special thanks to our Kickstarter backer Will Owens for suggesting this awesome game AND joining us to talk about it. LINKS OF NOTE: Lieber in Naked Gun: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJhGfjW1-fA Backlog Killer: duckfeed.tv/backlogkiller/ Deinterlace patch: www.gog.com/forum/gabrielknigh…erlacepatchongk2 MiB: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtOkNZK-m4A Bill’s Cousin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eyU7qAJ8zg The Cave: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Gis_JqFRU Chapter 5 intro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4_aw1Vfjvo Never ending Opera Scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE0Gz_GNCQ8 David Lynch: www.youtube.com/watch?

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your thoughts on Crackdown. LINKS OF NOTE: Patton Oswalt on Brian Dennehy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=boTKLuI7nzM Infamous: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-NBsSfxH30 Saint’s Row 4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT03ezSnVL8

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross kick it, you know, just talkin’ ‘bout Crackdown. With the announcement and release of the Xbox One, the Xbox 360 is now just retro enough for us to not feel bad covering it. What better place to start than the pack-in that came with the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta? Crackdown is simple and great. LINKS OF NOTE: Davy Jones: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVfAkIOTOo Stanley Parable Hall of Demos: gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/13…parable-demo Crackdown 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeyBGbJRRe8 Mercenaries: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRSD5aT4JU Twilight Zone Kid: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AZtNokI8wE Busey is Holly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgBMgQ28HJM Blue’s Clues Dude: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzCBxQEDz24 Dance Hall Days: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-xpJRwIA-Q Kick! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROyk9PPBMTQ Pumped Up Kicks! www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ Here it is, what you’ve been waiting for: www.youtube.com/user/ulillillia

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your thoughts on X-Men Legends II. LINKS OF NOTE: The most insane thing ever. Watch this: shakefire.com/video/spider-man-t…e-show-performance U Talkin’ U2 To Me? www.earwolf.com/show/u-talkin-u2-to-me/ Ecks Vs Sever: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8InYkHIP54w

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross tap into X-Men Legends II. Tappa tappa tappa. Tappa tappa tappa. We can’t let Apocalypse win! This marks our first foray into Diablo-likes, talking about the one and only time the X-Men and Brotherhood joined forces for the greater good. LINKS OF NOTE: Aggro Crag: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P8R9fxOOdc Mr. Sinister: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc80tFJpTuo Age of Apocalypse: marvel.com/universe/AgeofApocalypse Patrick Stewart in Oblivion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVWiMWW8ejg I love these guys: www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/times…oved-they-are-th Spider Jerusalem: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Jerusalem Treasures of the Deep: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWm9WGriS88 Riff Raff: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxF5SP9j1R8 Sea Devil: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xdf3mdhPdw How the Space Race Worked: science.howstuffworks.com/space-race.htm Chris Gaines: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4HKIiDzMhI Seige Perilous: marvel.wikia.com/Siege_Perilous

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Ben Merkel interview Chris Avellone about Alpha Protocol, then read your thoughts on the same game. LINKS OF NOTE: Days of Future Past (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM) Transistor (www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJmtn6JP7Ug) Turn up the Radio (www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8CcTYsMHYU) Kendama (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendama) Deck of Many Things (www.wizards.com/dnd/dmt/dmt.htm) Friday the 13th The Series (www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYoUHd82RE) Shoot'em Up (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlx4n_ibNZE) The Culture (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture) Pathfinder Card Game (paizo.com/pathfinder/adventureCardGame) Thomas was Alone (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc0C8H1YgUM)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross investigate Alpha Protocol. We’re talking about talking, as Mike Thorton gets double, triple, and quadruple-crossed on his mission to save the world from all-out-war. What’s the opposite of a critical darling? A critical bastard? Whatever it is, we seek to call out what works in this maligned gem. LINKS OF NOTE: Gar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_0ZVzUO3Os Destructoid Review: www.destructoid.com/review-alpha-pr…ol-174617.phtml Invisible Monsters: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Monsters Acoustic Kitty: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty Wayne’s World 2 Kung Fu: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD0bx2Qlxv0 Hanzo Hiding in Plain Sight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIr6rEndy0A Splash - Madison: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(name) Street Car Dilemma: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem Firefly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPRlHwwVIug OUR KIND SPONSOR: Geekocalypse: geekocalypse.net/

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your thoughts on Killer7. LINKS OF NOTE: Goodbye Cruel World: www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Csg0XCGIk Tiger Lady: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-I8omPcVs

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross deconstruct Killer7. I can't even pretend to summarize what happens in Killer7. It even defies genre delineation. Instead, I will go with the angle that Killer7 is an incredibly divisive game that places style over substance... and how much you'll enjoy it depends on how much you dig the style. LINKS OF NOTE: Videodrome (www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IxeroqZSuo) Flower, Sun and Rain (www.youtube.com/watch?v=juRhRiFqVo4) Killer 7 on Hardcore Gaming 101 (www.hardcoregaming101.net/killer7/killer7.htm) Diet One (www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/162773/Diet) Diet Two (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Diet) K7 Deconstruction (www.gamefaqs.com/gamecube/562551-…ller7/faqs/38193) Frank's Hats (www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2dKXlWVKqA) How Soon is Now? (www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEq8DBxm0J4) Murdock (www.youtube.com/watch?v=8th2J3c88mU) Suckerpunch (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSIetIg7O3M) Everlong (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y) Minerva's Den (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XsRC0EGLfY) Check out these f

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your thoughts on Shadow of the Colossus. Also, at the end, we do some Hardware followup. LINKS OF NOTE: Combo Breaker: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezdptxvyAxo Cut Colossi: teamico.wikia.com/wiki/Unused_Colossi RE4 Super Bunny Hop: www.youtube.com/watch?v=urpHwgOujcw Gameboy Light: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameBoyline Rockband Blitz: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2gkLJegf4

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross surmount a discussion about Shadow of the Colossus. We generally like to avoid talking about things that have been game-clubbed to death, but Shadow of the Colossus is an unabashed masterpiece. We don’t want to give to much away, but here’s a hint: you kill a bunch of huge monsters in this understated yet grandiose experimental classic. LINKS OF NOTE: Latchkey Kingdom: Titan: latchkeykingdom.smackjeeves.com/chapters/…19/titan/ Brothers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPcPDFSLC2M Reign Over Me: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRiqz_WnYxc SotC Lore Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCAjQBpaBBpoW4Iaqami2A Muzzy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WYxLDC5g0E Equus: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_(play) Corey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwqIw9YFXmE Elizabeth Bathory: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B…thory#Accusation Look at this: 28.media.tumblr.com/tumblrl6l9ubNB…d39nmo1400.jpg Now look at this: www.popcornmonster.com/wp-content/up…y_knowles.jpg LobosJR SotC Speedrun: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdP7Q1oB_fQ THANKS TO

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your stories about video game hardware. LINKS OF NOTE: Rocksmith: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaHsqGSetVo Deus Ex Lecture: www.youtube.com/channel/UCkpl-VMsq1m9AcWb2QMFHww Cartridge Tilting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM6JPLUJoIk

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross drop some science in a survey course about video game hardware. Rounding out our roster of Kickstarter special episodes, this one is a whirlwind tour of the boxes and dinguses that make video games work. Side A is systems and controllers, while Side B is weird accessories. LINKS OF NOTE: Prime and Hardcase, etc: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraverse Family Truckster: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTaTitRENDM AVGN on Old Systems: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl2Wz1qlzco Moraff: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Moraff Sega Channel Mega Man: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaMan:TheWilyWars Portopia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThePortopi…rialMurder_Case Smash Hit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkpLDnMzF8 ASMR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVpfHgC3ye0 Sega Nights Controller: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PThsbn1bCFU Inside a Gamecube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfS2beDP08 Nintendo Thumb: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_thumb Child of Eden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYWLYjOa_0 Silver and Gold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2WNs1FAPeA

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your thoughts on Blade Runner. LINKS OF NOTE: Turtles are gross: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCjsWpM9zFU Lorenzo Music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKppFZvG3U Lego Movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTP9U0oDDKg Todd Redden: www.random.org/acknowledgements/ Ingmar Bergman: www.youtube.com/watch?v=anvRFJFUnRE Active Worlds: www.activeworlds.com/index.html Gateway: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe8aJxUqhh0