Low Five Gaming

Celeste

• Studio Low Five • Episode 20

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Alex and Luke Talk Celeste.

Celeste is a platform game developed and published by indie developer Matt Makes Games. The player controls Madeline, a protagonist with anxiety and depression who aims to climb Celeste Mountain. During their climb, Madeline encounters several characters, including a personification of her self-doubt known as Badeline, who attempts to stop her from climbing the mountain.

Celeste released on January 25, 2018, for Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows, before being released on Xbox One the following day, and on Google Stadia in July 2020. Upon release, it received universal acclaim from critics, with multiple outlets describing it as one of the best video games of all time. As of publication, Nintendo Switch version of the game has a Metascore of 92 and a User Score of 8.6 on metacritic.com.

Alex played Celeste  on his Nintendo Switch, primarily in handheld mode. He finished the game docked using a pro controller. Luke also played on the Nintendo Switch, but primarily docked.  Both hosts rolled the credits on this one, but neither has tackled the epilogue.

This episode is unofficially brought to you in part by bacon.

Sidequestin':

Alex: Pokémon LeafGreen, Sega's Menacer, Madden 22, Hi-Fi Rush

Luke: Madden 23, Hades, Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Referenced Links:

Why Does Celeste Feel So Good to Play? by Game Maker's Toolkit

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Alex:

Hey there. Welcome everybody to another episode of Lo Five Gaming. This is Alex. I'm with my co-host and brother Luke. What's up, Luke? Oh, you know, just overcoming obstacles, climbing my own personal mountain. What's up? LoFive Gaming is a podcast where we pick a game each month, try and beat it, book club style. Backlog book club if you wish. Backlog book club.

Luke:

Extra shout out to my babies who are gonna be guest appearing with random grunts and spurts in the background. So shouts out, parent parents.

Alex:

That's what's up. Artie and Louie got shit to say about this game, and the game is Celeste. Yes, sir.

Luke:

So Celeste, dude. Shout out to Ginger protagonists.

Alex:

True that, dude. True that. And what a protagonist. This is this has been an uh an dude. I have a lot to say about this game. This game hit me in the field in many different ways. But I chose this game. This is my pick this month. I know it was on your like your list of like games that you really wanted to play, and it's one that I've wanted to beat for a long time. I actually tried, I would say, I don't know, maybe about a year, year and a half ago. I picked this game up and was having a lot of fun with it, but I was playing on the Switch, right? And I was playing and I usually primarily play Switch handheld. And this game gave me joy contrast so bad, dude. So I put it down and I never came back. Oh, I tell you what, I don't think I got far enough in the game where it was eh, that's not fair. It definitely can be frustrating.

Luke:

It's like a three-level game before you want to throw your controller, don't lie.

Alex:

Dude, for sure. I tell you what, though. I I got through this game, I did beat it, I did play on the Switch again. I I risked it. I was like, you know what? Screw it, we're going for it. But whoo, it is hard on the sticks, bro. It is hard on the sticks.

Luke:

I did it on the pro controller, which made it uh a little smoother, but it's not it's not a casual sit on the couch type of game. I mean, it is, but like you're definitely gonna you're making some grunts and some come on and some other stupid noises.

Alex:

Um, dude, I feel that for sure.

Luke:

And this game have wanted to play it for a while. It's in the indie zeitgeist. It's definitely very acclaimed and very talked about for a while now since it came out. So it was on my little bucket list of games to get through.

Alex:

No, you're right, dude. This game really is part of the zeitgeist. A lot of people love it, and I can see why. And it's, you know, I had my I had a lot of fun with it. I also really frustrating, and it's this weird relationship that you have with it, or that I had with it, anyways, where it's like I hated playing this game at times, but it was also so satisfying and so fun. It's it's just a it's a challenging platformer, and I there's a lot that went into this, and it's one of those things at face value. Maybe it doesn't seem that way, but uh as you start to dig into a little bit, you realize how much time, effort, and thought went into this game. It's it's really cool.

Luke:

Yeah, it's cute aesthetic, definitely. Uh what's the word? Beguiles. It's uh it's true challenge. I don't I might have made up a word there, but you know, I'm trying to sound smart out here. I like it. But uh it's cute aesthetic, definitely does not prepare you for what you're getting into. And it's like low-five jam or lo-fi music jams and like all that, or like it's very moody and vibey, so I was kind of surprised how how intense it is. I mean, I knew that heading in because it's been years since it's been out, but right still intense. I thought it'd be a little easier, but you know.

Alex:

Yeah, I thought it'd be a little easier. Well, we both got it done, man. We both we both you know pulled down a capital G for this one, beat the game.

Luke:

Yeah, right. We didn't unlock those secret levels in the cave. They're like, You need to get this many things. I was like, nope.

Alex:

That's true. We're still rocking the lowercase. Nope.

Luke:

As a noodle dog.

Alex:

So Celeste is a 2018 platform game developed by indie developer MaddieMakes Games. Uh, won a bunch of awards when it came out in 2018, and I think they are well deserved. I definitely went into this thinking, you know, especially because I had played a little bit before, thinking that it wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world, a little bit more approachable. I also knew the the time to beat is roughly 10 hours, so I figured it'd be an approachable game for us to hit with other things going on this month.

Luke:

But I tell you what 10 hours exactly. That's hilarious.

Alex:

Yeah, mine is right around there. It's like nine nine hours and fifty minutes or something like that. I got real close. But if you were like you, like you were saying, dude, if you were to go in and hit all those extra extra strawberries and all this side stuff, it's gonna take you a lot, you're gonna spend a lot more time on this one.

Luke:

Who's the masochist you said was trying to 100% this game? Like, no thanks. Uh oh, yeah. So what am I just giggled and I was like, who would ever like God bless you? But who totally.

Alex:

Yeah, one of my old work friends, her her partner, uh suggested this game to me before I you know knew much about it. He was like, Oh, you gotta check out this game, and he was telling me about it and how he loved it. His name's Alex as well. And uh Alex had recently beat the game and he had loved us, he was like, I'm going back in, I'm gonna 100% it. And I was like, Oh, that's interesting, that's cool. But I tell you what, man, he's he's like, I don't know, I've got a newfound respect for Alex's like ability to play bids games.

Luke:

It's a patient.

Alex:

Totally. And or maybe it's the only game he has, I don't know.

Luke:

Right, he can't afford any other games.

Alex:

No, I'm playing. He hit us up on the Hades pod. He he loved that. I know he plays, but it's one of those things, man. If you get into it, I I it makes sense to me, but but at the same time, not for me, man. I'm I'm not gonna be trying to collect all those strawberries.

Luke:

No, no, thanks. Neither will neither will the children.

Alex:

I fuck that. Yeah, dude. But uh, like I said, this game, you know, it won a bunch of awards in 2018 when it dropped. It's praised for its tight and challenging performing mechanics, uh, which like give you this crazy sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And that is explained very well in a video by GameMaker's Toolkit on YouTube. So that was shared in our Discord by the homie day from Tales from the Backlog. And if anyone's interested in like getting a little deeper dive into the mechanics of this game, because I'll tell you what, we're not gonna cover it. But it is super fun, man. I watched it.

Luke:

Came to the wrong podcast for that.

Alex:

Totally. But uh, but but they they touch on a bunch of things, and it's really interesting to hear from the developers about because you have full control over Celeste, like not Celeste, but it's Maddie, or you can rename her to your name or whatever you want, right? Um, but the control you have over your character in this game is really impressive. So, like, for instance, they've they talk about like other platformers like Super Meat Boy and Mario and the physics around them. And Mario is the one that I think a lot of people are are familiar with. So, like Mario, when you start running with Mario, he'll speed. If you stop, he slides a little bit, right? So that's something that you might be familiar with when you're when you're approaching a Mario game. But whereas Celeste, she like it starts and stops very quickly, does really tight turns with your joystick and your jumps, like you really have full control over this character, and that's like really makes a lot of sense for this gameplay, you know. And I think one of the reasons why it feels so good, and there's also all these other elements in there that you feel like you have this full control, but it can be so frustrating, dude, because you just keep dying in this game, you just die over and over and over, and you retry this shit, and it can just it can be maddening, but there's little things that the developers make it that put in there to make it a little bit more approachable. For instance, there's spikes, right? If you hit a spike and then jump again right at the right time, instead of dying, Maddie will jump off the spike, or like you know, just weird things like if you get to the very end of a ledge, yeah. It totally it's it's hard to do, but like people that are really good at this game can pull that shit off really easy, or I don't know if easy is the right thing, but but yeah, no, it's it's cool how they did that kind of thing. Or if you get to like a ledge, they'll actually give you like this little bit of buffer. So like if you get to the ledge, like you should technically fall off, but like you get a couple picks of buffer where you know, like the game will give you it's it's forgiving in a sense, where like if you jump just a little late, like it won't punish you for that, it will continue going. Like it wants you to like it wants you to beat these puzzles, but because they're hard, dude. They can be really hard, but it gives you it, like gives you this sense of accomplishment and like this sense of like you can do this, you can climb this fucking mountain.

Luke:

Yeah, uh failure is definitely a part of the game in a way where when you miss it or you die or whatever you want to call it, you're like loaded up pretty quickly, so it feels pretty seamless, which is really nice because it gets really frustrating as you try something over and over again. Right. Um, and then the death ticker, as far as how many times you fell within a level, is pretty funny. Failure and the death ticker are very much a part of it, and it's kind of funny when you finish a level, you're you always think it's gonna be a little shorter than it actually is. You you're in there for a long time, and then you get out and it's like 200, 300 deaths, and you're like, Woof.

Alex:

For sure, dude. I it that was like a thing out of change in the way I approach this game because you know, most games or a lot of the games I play, you're like you're trying not to die, right? And you're trying not to die in this game too, but you almost have to let go of that, right? Like to really like get through something, you have to like totally get over the fact that you're like you know, not trying to be a perfectionist, trying because I mean it feels really cool when you do hit that flow though, after dying a whole bunch of times, and then you like zip through a little area. But oh man, I once I once I was like, okay, fuck the Death Taker, it's okay to have a thousand deaths, then then the game was way more fun. You know, beating these levels was way more fun because I was less worried about like the failure of it and more honed in on like the achievement of it. It's it's a super interesting thing, and like these feelings I was having about the game tie super well into this story that they're telling, which is pretty amazing.

Luke:

Yeah, that like definitely leads into the acclaim, is the way that they've weaved the narrative and then the progressive narrative, I should say, as far as being around mental health and all that, into the gameplay and the trial and the era and the overcoming the obstacle, which is literally the mountain.

Alex:

Right. Yeah, to give folks a little bit more of a background. So your your character is Maddie, you can rename her, but Maddie is uh basically climbing this mountain, Mount Celeste. Uh she's trying to get to the top of the mountain, and it's like this personal journey for her. Uh, the mountain itself is you know, this mythical thing that basically brings out the worst in folks. It becomes like beyond climbing the mountain, it becomes like an inner challenge.

Luke:

But uh overcoming your own your own demons.

Alex:

Right, right.

Luke:

Yeah, it's a little on the nose, but it's also subtle at the same time. It's cool.

Alex:

It's interesting, yeah. No, I liked it. It's you know, and they don't feed you a bunch of this, like it kind of like gets laid out uh you know in little bits and pieces, and then uh they feed it to you a little bit more heavily towards the end of the game.

Luke:

So the gameplay, it's very challenging. Some basics is there's these collectibles, which like luckily the game lets you know is super pointless, and it's for your own fun challenge. Because I remember right away they're like, hey, it's just to like brag for your friends, which like I got more, yeah. But there's strawberries, there's cassette tapes, which I believe unlock B-side levels in case you wanted more difficult levels, god willing. Uh, and then the hearts, which I believe unlock the bonus stage in the end, which is pretty crazy.

Alex:

Yeah, it's wild, dude.

Luke:

How many deaths did you have by the end of the game? Well, I'm gonna talk about my strawberries first, because um somebody had more of them and probably less deaths than you as well. But I had so some background on the Discord, Alex dropped how many strawberries he had, and he was like way ahead of me when I had beaten that level, and I was like, uh, whatever. So I was like, I'll pick up a few extra, but I'm just gonna I'm just gonna scheme a way to warp this narrative to my benefit and just do the deaths per strawberry, because that felt better than total raw number. So I had ended up getting 66 strawberries with 1,758 deaths, which equals per strawberry 26.6 deaths.

Alex:

Look at you. Yes, yeah. So you beat this game before I do it.

Luke:

Yeah, as per usual, and uh, because I I beat every game we play and I'm better at them. But get out of I also got one cassette tape lol because usually those challenges were super hard and I was never in the mood for them. How about so and then the hearts? I saw one once and I just laughed and I said, I have no idea how to get there.

Alex:

Yeah, I never saw another one again.

Luke:

So how about you?

Alex:

Yeah, I also have one cassette tape. I did not bother to get that stuff. The first time I tried playing this game, I actually approached it like fuck it, I'm not gonna get any strawberries. And this time I didn't like go into it thinking that I was gonna collect a bunch of them, but I really enjoyed the challenge of a lot of them. So the first half of my gameplay, I was like, if I saw one, I would go for it. Uh, but I got 60, dude. And the 60, I think, was the number I dropped in the Discord. So I didn't pick up a single. No, so you went and started harvesting, and I was like, ah, screw it. Luke mentioned he doesn't harvesting.

Luke:

I got like six to ten more.

Alex:

Yeah, dude. So I I stuck at 60. And uh, there's a couple in the last couple levels where I almost won them, and then I was like, nah, screw it. Like, these are challenging enough. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna worry about it. I'm already beaten Luke in the strawberry count, doesn't matter. And then you come in and you come in and got me.

Luke:

I hustled him. So how many deaths did you have?

Alex:

I have more deaths than you too. So 2202. Yeah, a couple hundred more deaths.

Luke:

All your ratios, all your ratios are off. I get the crown on this one.

Alex:

Not that it matters. Hey man, it's about the journey, it's about the experience.

Luke:

You climbed your mountain, I climbed mine.

Alex:

Yeah, dude. And then I also there's a couple same dude. When I saw like the hearts, I was like, nah, that's not for me. Like, I'm not gonna try that one. But when you finish the game, there is like an epilogue, and then there's uh another level at the end, like called the core. And you can't even go into the core unless you have collected for the hearts. So those people, you know, it's it's cool that they have that, but not for me.

Luke:

I was I was relieved to have beaten the game, and I was like, this is fun, but I don't have to play anymore. And then they're like, Do you want this level? I was like, oh no, but then I was like, Well, I can't do it anyway.

Alex:

Right. I might return to it. It's one of those things, man. Like, I really, and that's it's and it's so funny as I thought about this game and like my experience with it, like it frustrated the hell out of me, dude. I'd be on like a certain like area trying to beat it, just dying, dying, dying, dying. And then I get so frustrated, I'd like put down my controller and like do something else, come back to it, and then I'd beat it in one run. Like it would, it would just like it was just like ridiculous, like just like crazy how that worked. But like, you know, as we mentioned earlier, the platforming, it is like it's a mat the game is a masterclass in like a platform game, right? Like I was talking about the tight controls and everything. It's just like it's really cool. Uh that said, it's also incredibly frustrating as many platformers are. But you know, they tie in this whole story of overcoming like this, you know, your personal doubts and all this stuff. And here I am, like, oh, I can't beat this section, I can't do it.

Luke:

And then, you know, take a deep breath, put down the controller, come back, and then that little feather, that little feather mini game was so annoying. It took me forever. The little like feather in the box thing for that little metaphor. I was like, I hate this.

Alex:

Yeah, I thought it was cool, but uh, but I feel you was like cool narratively, but like I hated the mechanic of it.

Luke:

Uh yes, I could not play this game in long sittings. So when I first picked it up, it was a weekend, and I got through the old site, which is like the first is the Forsaken City an actual city, or is that just the quick little? I think I got through the first two levels and I was like, that was a lot. And then I picked up the game the next day, and then it was the Celestial Resort, which is when like you deal with Mr. Uh Oshiro, and he's he's he's a mess. And like that level, like things things get like really hard then, in my opinion. Like it really the kids' gloves are officially off in chapter three.

Alex:

You got the wind blowing, you know, like he's chasing you at points.

Luke:

Dude, we'll get into that in a second. There's a lot of environmental things, like they they add interesting layers to stuff like how you shoot through those blobs or how you touch this thing, and then you can't hit that platform again. I don't know how to describe them, and it's fine. Um But what I'm getting at is that I could not play more than a level a day. Sure. Like I had to walk away, and then I could not play on a weekday because I got the babies, I got work, so you come home, and I'm not trying to come home and like smash a controller to bits on tight platforms, and like if I only have a half an hour or maybe 15 minutes, it's not a game for that, it's a game for like I'm gonna get through this level.

Alex:

Right.

Luke:

But I did have to leave a few times, and when I come back, it was kind of funny how I'd crushed a little section I had been struggling on. I was like, huh.

Alex:

Yeah. But yeah, dude, I did the same where I would try and approach it a level at a time. And dude, not to my like better judgment, I would always like pick this up, like because I was saying I played handheld. The majority of the time I was playing this game, it would be like before I went to bed, I would be in bed playing this game, and the levels are deceivingly long. Like, I would be like, Oh, just knock one out, but then it takes like an hour, and dude, it's it can be stressful. So all of a sudden I'm like, I'm getting all stressed out trying to beat this level, and then I'm gonna go to bed. And so then, like, dude, when I was like my final run on this game, I woke up in the morning because I you you heard my death count. It's a high death count. But that's because like you know, you get in this flow, you get in this weird flow where it's like so repetitive, it's like almost insanity, you know. You keep doing the same thing and getting the same result, you keep dying in the same place, but you just run it back because you're trying to do it fast or whatever, and it's like you gotta like take a new angle or whatever. But anyways, I woke up in the morning one morning and I was having it, this mindset like it was stuck in my my head of like basically so basically Maddie like running into an obstacle, blowing up and just over and over and over again.

Luke:

And I was like having like manic dreams almost, dude.

Alex:

It was ridiculous. This game got my head.

Luke:

Yeah, I think I played Before Bed once too, and I was like staring beams into the ceiling because like the adrenaline run is too high. It uh it reminds me of Metroid Dread.

Alex:

Yeah.

Luke:

I got I got a weird play itch to play Metroid, and it's clearly could not be a different tone of game, but like in the sense that in Metroid Dread, like a boss fight ends up being a bit of a dance where you have to like memorize and then execute, like that's definitely Celeste. And like the amount of times that I would just die, like so you have this section ahead of you, right? We'll just call it that, and there's like spikes right in front of you. So you jump over the first spikes and then you grab onto this thing. The amount of times that I die and then just try to rush it back too quick and immediately hit the first thing and then be like, God damn it, like you stubbing your toe in the game, like is so annoying. And the amount of like stupid deaths I had, like, I wish they could go like pointless deaths because I'd have at least 400.

Alex:

Have you ever played Super Meat Boy? Are you familiar? Grueling, though. I'm yeah, all right, it looks grueling. Right, I I have it. It's fun. Um, although like I'm not gonna touch that game for a little bit after playing Celeste because I need a break. But dude, the the reason I bring it up though is because it's it there's a lot of similarities. Uh, but they do this, they do when you complete a section, when you complete a level, it shows your character like all at once all of your runs, like every time you die, right? So is that this is making sense? So it will it'll basically show a replay of you know, let's say you died a hundred times, all 100 of your times will show on the screen at once, and then they'll drop off as they die, and it's just really like cool to see that progression. There was times in Celeste, I was like, Oh, I wish I could see that mechanic, you know? But and dude, but it's so like frustrating, and it's it's so weird though, because it's like frustrating but fun, right? And that was a weird like juxtaposition that I have with this game, where it's like this game is fucking pissing me off, but then I was like beat a section or whatever, and it was like, Yes, cool. On to the next one, on to the next one. Let's go. New challenge, let's do it. It's just like what why is this game doing this to me?

Luke:

But uh it definitely I had the I had the pride feeling of like hell yeah, but not didn't like to bring it back to Metroid, didn't you like jump up and exclaim when you beat the vinyl boss?

Alex:

Dude, I was uh it was the boss, it was like one of the bosses, it was the pre-vinal boss, like the golden like chose a word or whatever.

Luke:

You like jumped up and yelled. There was times where I was way too excited to be done. The problem is that I was not like in Hades, I've been playing a lot of Hades lately. Like when you get done with a run, you're just like so excited to start a new build and get going again that you're almost like ready to be done, and then like just that idea, you're like, ah, well, maybe I should just start again. Celeste was not that way for me. I was like, sure. Yeah, that was a workout.

Alex:

You are climbing a mountain, dude. And that was just that's just a climbing a mountain.

Luke:

I need to, yeah. Other things to hit on. The game is vibes personified. It is uh very, very cute. I know you really liked the fireside chats, and you liked a lot of the dialogue and the relationships in the game. Alex is a dating sim guy, he's a he's a vampire boy dating sim guy. No, I was playing. I love the music.

Alex:

Dude, I tried playing that coffee talk game. It wasn't for me.

Luke:

But anyway, I love the music of this game. I love the music of this game, and I love just the sound design is really cool and the art and all that. Like, yeah, you know me.

Alex:

I love I I love me some pixel art. And they do like you bring up the story too. It's the the game itself, the gameplay has all done this really cool, like retro piss. I don't even know. It's hard to like call this retro because so many new games use it, but it's a pixel art fashion. Um, but then they bring in the storytelling with the like this animated, like it's like comic book animation almost, uh, where the thought where the speech, you know, that it is it's it's I think it's a cool integration, like it was really fun. Beyond the gameplay, this story that rolls out, and I think that it sounds like maybe I I fed into it a little bit more than you did, but I thought it was really cool, and then you know, I keep touching this juxtaposition of the gameplay with the story, and it's uh there's this particular section where you're talking to Theo, who's this homie that you meet on the mountain, and you you take pictures, like he has he's always doing like uh little selfies with you on the way or whatever. He's kind of like this broy cool, like I don't know, traveler. But um yeah, but there's a section right before the summit where you're you're hanging out with Theo uh by the fireside, and it's the first part in the game, I think, where at first I was like, oh dang, like are they gonna do it gonna matter what dialogue I pick? But you can go through and you can choose what dialogue, and then I was like, oh, interesting. That they've added this into the gameplay a little bit, so you can select what you want to say or who says what's first. Uh it doesn't really, I don't think it changes the game or the story at all.

Luke:

It just gives you more more or less background information than you desire, really.

Alex:

Right. Well, I did I I was hungry for it, dude. I thought it was really interesting. I found myself like, you know, you know, like uh I found myself reading what they had to say, and you know, Celeste, or not Celeste, but uh Maddie is talking about in in my case, I've named her Alex. So but um Oh really? I did, yeah. So, but you know, so Maddie is you know, she's talking about her struggles with depression and and all this stuff, and it's just like it was so relatable. And then Theo's also talking about like why he's at the mountain and like some of the reasons that you know he's there. What up, little homies? Right. But yeah, he's talking about like you know, and as and then his experience was so relatable, and I was I just thought it was really cool, man. Like, and not even just for me, but the people in my life. Like, I actually, you know, Theo was just saying that like he he's like was working all these unfulfilling jobs and he just needed to escape and like lose himself somewhere. And I was like, holy shit, man, like I fucking actually like moved to Spain to like give myself a ridiculous challenge that I didn't need in my life, but I wanted, you know, and it was like this, it was just like this these crazy parallels that from both characters.

Luke:

Alex's mysterious trip to Spain. Uh yeah, and I suppose he's an online bro, so like a lot of social media stuff that's kind of yeah. No, he was cool, he was a little goofy. I kind of liked that he was a little goofy because Maddie is so uh self-deprecating and like clearly dealing with her anxiety and depression. So he's just kind of a jolly, a jolly do a little jolly goober. I kind of liked his vibe, and like even when he's dealing with his demons, he's literally encapsulated in like a crystal thing. Yeah, and they don't they don't necessarily like dive into what that metaphor is, but he's like, whatever this is for, I don't know. He's like, clearly this is something of my own, but I don't know. I've done it.

Alex:

And I think it's it's so you you bring up that, and I think it's it's worth mentioning uh, you know, another main, you know, Maddie and the other main character I would argue is you know Madeline's reflection, the the evil part or the bad parts of Maddie, quote unquote, you know, throughout this that you kind of throughout the game you encounter this character, and it's kind of like this goth-looking version of Maddie or whatever.

Luke:

Yeah, bizarre like inflection.

Alex:

Right, but it's really interesting. So it's like this this actual the battle between the two, but it's like supposed to represent the battle within herself or whatever, the mountain has separated them, and it's it's a it's a cool like storytelling mechanic, right? And it makes it really interesting. So then the end game, how they fight through that was just really cool. Uh, and it's it's just an interesting thing though, dude, because like you're pulling in this story, and and but you still are comparing it with this like grueling gameplay, and it's it's just so interesting to me, dude. Like the juxtaposition of it all.

Luke:

One of the things about the game I was most impressed but most frustrated with was essentially platform games kind of have boss battles. Like if you think of Mario, it's a little bit more like action platforming, you gotta like jump on Bowser, but like in the strict sense of platforming from place to place and getting from left to right. Uh this game had a lot of bosses where like at the end of the level you'd be like chased. Oh my god. And like your reflection would chase you a lot and like fuck shit up for you. And uh oh my god, Mr. Oshiro, uh, that was grueling. And then towards the end, there was one that was really tough too.

Alex:

Um dude, Oshiro, when he chases you, that's yeah, it's real quick on Oshiro, man. That that was uh I agree, man. That was like that was I think that was the first like super tough part of the game. Uh, but once you once you move past that, I was like, I was thinking back and I was like, oh yeah, that Oshiro thing was tough. But then I was like, this new stuff though is so much harder.

Luke:

Yeah, I think the hardest part of the game was when you're being chased by your demons and you have to throw Theo who's like got his head locked in a crystal, you have to carry him out of the whatever.

Alex:

That part was difficult.

Luke:

I I was like, I wasn't gonna quit because like you do kind of have to beat the game. Like you're kind of like, I can't quit now, I've gotten so far. But like you have to throw him around and you have to like dodge your little ghosts, and I was like, this is this is grueling, it's cool, like it's very clever, I would say. Reminds me of uh when we did Mario Maker as a part of the Mario um Super Mario World Pod. And like how when you're building a level, you're test running it as well, sure, and seeing what the lengths are and like does that actually work? Like, I I'm curious as to what it was like in the development because I'm assuming they worked from a toolkit and they had to have done something similar. So, like I know that that must have been really interesting to like test out what was possible and like how grueling that would have been within a particularly small studio. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't just a small band of people, but yeah, I had me thinking a lot. It's I don't can't think of too many like boss platforming sections in a game where you're just like, Oh my god. Uh but it was it was cool.

Alex:

Dude, how about the final move up the summit, right? Where you you have these mile markers almost? Or I think at this point, yeah, it changes to these flags where you like we hit to the flag and that will be your reset point. Uh but it starts, I think it starts at 20, and you have to get to like you have to make it all the way down to one. Let's 13 sticks out to me as really difficult. Three sticks out as really difficult. Some were easier than others. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't really matter. Somewhere they had to do it a lot. Oh man, so you like I died so many times in certain it's so there's times where you can see what the path is, but you gotta do it, you know. So you gotta you can see it, but it's like really hard to like get your thumbs and your brain to work. And sometimes, like, depending on how much is on the screen, how much moving elements, and oh man, it was just it was just a lot, and then you just keep dying, or you get to the very end of something, and then you die. You know what you're supposed to do, but your thumbs just don't won't allow it, and like or the timing's just not perfect.

Luke:

That's that synchronized dance feel where you're just like, all right, I have to jump. And we never really mentioned not that it matters too much, but you have like an air dash, you eventually unlock a second air dash, and like you can run into things that replenish them mid mid, so it becomes like this active platforming, like moment essentially, like sequence, I guess is a better word for it. And you chain together like for some video game jargon, you chain together like some cambos, some combos, you know, pizza flavored combos, and um it gets ridiculous, and you're constantly bumping in and like doing one slight thing wrong, or your stamina runs out, and you're just like, oh my god, and then you do it and you're like and then you're on the summit though, so it's like, well, here's another one.

Alex:

You're like, come on.

Luke:

Right. Uh did you like how right before the summit you had like that nice little section where uh you fell down and gives you well that sucked, and that area down there was that was tough interesting. But the way back up, the way back up was like a little taste of each thing that you've done so far. Yeah, I didn't notice that. I don't know if you know. Which is fun. Yep. So that was really cool. Incorporating that. Did you have a favorite level?

unknown:

Not

Alex:

Not necessarily. They all look cool. They all have cool music and they're all difficult.

Luke:

I think when I when I like look back, I don't know what would be probably this one of the fondest memories of the one I hated the most in the moment. What's that? Whatever whatever that means. The resort? Dude, the resort and the temple were super hard, but like probably had the coolest vibes. Um, but like in the moment I wasn't vibing with it, but like now that I'm reflecting upon it, I'm like, that was pretty cool.

Alex:

Yeah.

Luke:

Which is like the theme of this game in a goofy way.

Alex:

I I would agree with the the temple, and I do think that the summit was was fun. Like, you know, it how it incorporated all the different elements, and like you kind of had to incorporate everything you learned throughout the game to beat it. Uh that said, dude, like just to go back to the frustration with it, I was tearing through. Tearing through is maybe not fair because I was dying, I wasn't doing it fast. I was I was making my way through, and I was like, dude, I started talking to my dog out loud because I needed, yeah, I was I just started talking to Murph because I like needed to like not be stuck in like this. Like, I don't know, I don't even know how to explain it, dude. I was just getting so frustrated with just dying on certain stretches and like having to retry it and retry and try it. I'll just be like, just to like calm myself out a little bit. I was just like, Murph, this is crazy.

Luke:

I am I once I once stopped what I was doing to like get my wife. I was like, look, look what I have to do here. And then like it took me like five attempts, and she's like, Cool, cool. I was like, somebody, somebody needed to see that that was a pretty cool sequence, babe. Like, come on. I kind of laughed in the moment and now, yeah, yeah, talking to Murph.

Alex:

Dude, I think the the whole thing works pretty well. There's not like a level that sticks out to me that I really love. Like it was cool that because they all bring in these different mechanics and they all bring in a little flavor, they all bring in a new element that gives it a little bit of freshness. But what I really liked was all those, you know, all the in-between scenes, you know. Like, so it sounds like you didn't like hone in on like the story part of it as much, but like that was always like a really good breather point for me. It was also like, you know, it gave me it gave me purpose for why I was trying to continue this thing. It's just interesting. So I I you know, looking back, like when I think of this game, like, yes, like I'll definitely recall like the grueling platforming, but like I I I think more fondly upon the story that was laid out for me along the journey, you know. I think it was and then just how that integrates into it's just like the whole metaphor of it all, dude, is just like it's kind of mind-blowing. I think because I'm like, you know, I'm a gamer, I feed into it, like I wouldn't expect someone who doesn't game a bunch to like love that as much, but because I like love gaming and like you know, I I just I just thought it was really interesting, and I so I get it. I get why people like this game so much.

Luke:

It's uh it is for video game players, it is not very casual, it's accessible in a way. Right. Um this if this is your first game, or if you're not like one to play very often, I would not really recommend it. But it's one of those, like it's a fun piece of art, right? I think I said that in a text before this recording was like it's more of like an artistic thing for me than it is like fun necessarily. I think it was fun to overcome the challenge, but like how they weave storytelling and your emotion as the player into uh the gameplay and how they play off of each other. Similar to how like in Hades the mechanic of the gameplay of the roguelike is built into the storytelling, being really innovative and cool, like Celeste's gameplay being used to tell the story and tell your own story parallel alongside. I don't think it's unique to you relate to the story and like certain pull-out points, and like I think it was designed to do that for you to reflect upon your own trials and tribulations, so to speak. That all being said, this really cool storytelling piece and this really cool narrative and all of that and how those all intertwine is not accessible to non-gamers. So uh, it's definitely like when people really love fancy books, and you're like, I don't know what the fuck the author's trying to say. This is way too fancy of a book for me.

Alex:

Yeah.

Luke:

Why is everybody so into Ulysses? Like, I just want to read stupid trash novels. What is this? Uh so yeah, it's like that to me.

Alex:

To use Super Meat Boy as a parallel again, like just because the platforming's very similar in ways, like Super Meat Boy doesn't have the same story, and I just think that the story in this is very deep and cool. And we have a low five education series that I encourage everybody to check out, and we mention Celeste as a potential game before before playing it ourselves. And I do think that the conversations to be had around the story of this game could be incredibly beneficial in a classroom setting or at home or just in an education sense. That said, this game is too hard to give to a general just someone that doesn't game all the time, but the the conversations that can come out of that I think are are really powerful.

Luke:

Yeah, not to get too teachery. If it was with a regular class, you'd have to have other options, and this would have to be like your top tier level. There would have to be a more base, accessible game for the non-super gaming public to you know tackle, so to speak.

Alex:

Nah, I dig it, man. Is there any anything else to wrap up our thoughts on Celeste? Or should we consider this mountain climbed?

Luke:

This mountains, this mountain's climbed. I think uh it's just real, real brief is just super it's a platform as platform. Totally super tight. It's a map. I I think I give the same roundup for so many different games we play. The action of it is so tight and in order. I don't know. It's a well thought out game, man. It's a great platform. It's so tight, so precise, and like so well done.

Alex:

For how frustrated it made me, it's probably the best platformer I've ever played. And I love platformers.

Luke:

That's why it ended up on my bucket list. Is I was like, this is this is so well talked about, it's so cool. That being said, I probably will not return to it. It's gonna be a long time. I'm gonna give it a give it a rest.

Alex:

I might go back to the mountain, but it's gonna get a rest.

Luke:

And if people are like, should I play this game?

Alex:

I'd be like, uh how good are you at games? Totally.

Luke:

Yeah. Do you like to do you like games? Do you just want to dick around for a while? Because this isn't it.

Alex:

Right. Uh cool, man. With that, let's take a little break here from our unsanctioned sponsor and come back with some side quests.

Luke:

Yeah, does McDonald's have any offerings that you want to talk about?

Alex:

They surely do not, but they might have this as an element. This month's unsectioned sponsor, this Celeste podcast, is unofficially brought to you in part by bacon. What do you know? What do you know about bacon, bro?

Luke:

What is the next one gonna be? Cats? What are we gonna be bacon and cats in the internet exploration? Well, you heard it here right now. Dude, you make fun of my McDonald's spots, but you're gonna tell me just just bacon.

Alex:

Some people hate on bacon, and you know what? That's okay.

Luke:

This is a kosher, this is a kosher halal podcast. We are not sponsoring it with bacon, dude.

Alex:

It's unofficially sponsored by bacon, and I tell you what, I get it, I get why people don't like bacon. Get out of here. Dude, I did, I did enjoy some bacon last night. And you know what? That's the thing about a bacon, and it it elevates anything you add it to, dude. Mind you, you have to be a meat eater, and you but like but the thing is Jewish or not. I'm sorry, I'm sorry to everybody, but bacon came in and was like, we don't have any dollars for you, but you are gonna give us shout-outs on your podcast.

Luke:

And I was like, you know what, bacon? Bacon has nothing for you right now, but who's been by your side since you were a fat preteen? Dude, bacon.

Alex:

I tell you what, dude, I'm talking like thick cup bacons from the butcher, dude. Like, just go. Shouts out to Gerald. Shouts out to Gerald. Yeah, Gerald be our grandpa.

Luke:

Our grandpa would just be like, he'd go to the butcher, he'd be like, Don't give me that lean shit.

Alex:

Give me that cut. I'm telling you, this bacon is so versatile, man. People, you might think of bacon, you'd be like, oh, just some sizzly bacon, whatever. But you can get you can get flaked like maple bacon, you can get like pepper bacon, dude. You can dude, you can get pork belly straight up. Oh, what do you know about some pork belly, bro? Come on.

Luke:

Pork, pork belly is lit. Uh don't appreciate this being our non-sang sponsor, but don't don't mean that I don't like bacon. Bacon's delicious. No. He's hating on bacon because he hates bacon. Dude, bacon ain't gonna give us any more money. Bacon and pancakes. Bacon's been there by your side forever.

Alex:

Dude, I had some mac and cheese last night because uh the wifey's out at a little out on a little bachelorette deal. And you know what? I was like, I'm gonna spruce up this mac and cheese with a little bacon and buffalo. What do you know about buffalo mac and cheese with a little bacon? Woo!

Luke:

All this bacon talk and getting excited about bacon as Murphy has entered Alex's camera view and wagging his tail. He's like, Do we have bacon, dad?

Alex:

That's right. Some maple kind. My puppers would love some bacon. And I know you would love some bacon because it's our unsanctioned sponsor. It's unofficially bringing us to this podcast. Dog, you know, Chef. Chef makes that pulled bacon, dude. Pork belly that's been brined, roasted, pulls apart like pulled pork does. Oh, tell me that you don't like bacon.

Luke:

Uh if you ever want to piss off Chef, uh, one, tell them Memphis Grizzlies suck. Two, tell him Memphis rap sucks. Three, tell them that pulled bacon is just pulled pork, and that is always fun to watch. Takes it real well. Uh, that's the only restaurant, Brunson's pub. Go there. It's the only restaurant that uh I will order a BLT at. I love BLTs, but it's like it's such an easy sandwich to make it at home. Sure, sure. With the pulled bacon and the avocado and the egg.

Alex:

You know.

Luke:

Oh my god. You know, oh my god, that's the real unsanctioned spats.

Alex:

You know that. You know you're happy that bacon's bringing us this episode this month, dude. Hey, you know who doesn't pay the bills? Bacon. So you know what? Just deal with it.

Luke:

Next uh next most non-sanctioned sponsored is uh cats playing the keyboard and rainbows.

Alex:

Other things on the internet. Hey, if actually trying to if they're trying to bring low five gaming to the people, I'll let them, man. I'll let them.

Luke:

I have a student that I think it's from an anime or something, but he just wears this sweatshirt that just says, May all your bacon burn. And it's just this picture of this little flame. My buddy Ben was like, what a mean sweatshirt. Would you burn my bacon? So as soon as you said it's bacon, I just kind of giggled to myself.

Alex:

I love it. Shouts out to bacon.

Luke:

Shouts out to bacon.

Alex:

Uh cool.

Luke:

All right. Welcome back. Side question. You have been given a mission. You've been given a witcher's contract. What's your I should save that for next month? Spoiler. Oh, but uh, what's what's your side quest in my guy?

Alex:

Oh, my main side quest this month has been Pokemon Leaf Green. Are you familiar?

Luke:

I have played, yeah. Um, leaf green. I might have played it emulated, which was even cooler, like on a borrowed PSP, because then I could speed everything up. Oh, interesting. Pokemon is brutally slow. Dude, I don't mind it.

Alex:

I don't mind it. It's like it's been interesting, man. Yeah, I've been vibing to it.

Luke:

Just childhood surfing.

Alex:

To be fair, uh, you know, back in my when Pokemon dropped, dude, back in the day, sensation.

Luke:

Pokemon shots out dude shots out 90s for real.

Alex:

But and it Pokemon's crazy. I cannot that it's whatever. We could get into Pokemon. But I played Pokemon Red. That was that was the game that I got. So that got hooked up to me by the homie Andrew Keyser. His mom bought me a Game Boy Pocket and the red version. She bought her uh her son Andrew, my homie, also bought him a pocket and bought him the blue version. So, you know, got the red and the blue and the ideas that we could trade amongst each other.

Luke:

Vacation version of bringing your kid's friend on vacation.

Alex:

Totally. And they brought me on they brought me, dude, the Keysers brought me on a fucking journey to Kanto region, dude. And I am so appreciative. And I just remember, dude, hours and hours and hours of playing that game, like sitting back at the old house that we grew up in, like sitting on one of the chairs in the living room, just getting sucked in, and like, dude, playing multiple times, multiple playthroughs. And I'm 20 hours in right now to leave green, which is a remake for the Game Boy uh Game Boy Advance of the original uh red and blue. But anyways, I'm 20 hours in, I'm about halfway through, which means the game's gonna be about 40, 50 hours to beat in full. I don't know, man. Like it's it's just one of those things. And like you, you may I do know a lot of people really like, and it makes sense to me to be able to speed up and through, like speed up through areas and run faster. I mean, there's little things the game throws you, like uh you get running shoes that make you like do when you have to walk through the first few parts, that that does suck. Uh, but you get a bike. I don't think it is, is it?

Luke:

No, yeah. You could not run in the original.

Alex:

Oh, okay, cool. All right. So that is nice. Um because I I've been really enjoying being able to run.

Luke:

It would be brutal. That's what I'm saying. Like a revisit of those games is still pretty fire. Yeah. Like you also get like Pokemon types. Like, do you look at their personality type? Sometimes, yeah. So you know that that affects like how their stats develop? Yep. Yep, yep. Which is pretty crazy. And it's just like it's nice layers that are in modern games of the series that have been retroactively put into that game to make it like cooler.

Alex:

So dude, it's been really fun. Like, if anybody, I mean shit. I don't care if you've played it before, if you haven't played it before, like pick up Leaf Green, pick up Fire Red, play them shits, dude. It's just so fun.

Luke:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Classics.

Alex:

Trying to think of what else I've been playing. Dude, I've been playing uh, oh dude, another major side quest. I got Sega's Menacer Light Gun. You ever heard of that thing?

Luke:

No, didn't you say like seven were made?

Alex:

No, I mean that I don't know how many they made of the gun itself, but there's only seven games. Well, three games, dude. Three games for the Sega Genesis, but one of them is a six-game peck. So yeah, but it's this ridiculous light gun, dude, that barely works. But it's like it's so cool. But I've I've been playing like so the whole reason is I got turned, I was at the local game shop and I picked up Terminator 2, the arcade game for Sega Genesis. Great game in the arcades, kind of a shit game on the Genesis, using the D-pad to shoot all the Terminators. Whack. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna see what's up with the light gun. And then I started digging into this light gun shit, dude. And Sega, like, I can't remember Super Nintendo's gun. It was like way more like people enjoyed that one way more. But the but dude, uh, I know the people can't see it. Well, check this shit out. You want to describe that to folks?

Luke:

It looks like it's straight out of a 90s catalog. I can see like a white kid with spiky hair like looking real cool trying to shoot it. Um edgier kid than they would use for the math textbook model, like a little edgier. Um yeah, I think I I think I nailed the aesthetic.

Alex:

I got that shit CIB content in box, dudes.

Luke:

And then you opened it.

Alex:

No, it was pretty open. It wasn't new in box.

Luke:

But oh bet.

Alex:

But dog, yeah, so it's been fun. So I've been messing around with that on my little CRT. Shouts out to that unsection sponsor. But uh, but the light gun, the menacer, failed. Uh definitely not a good product by Sega, but it's a fun one to have. And yeah, so I got T2, the Menacer pack, and then the other one's called Body Count. So Body Count is a game that is actually really good. Uh it's a good light gun game for the Sega Genesis, but it's only put out in the PAL regions, which means that my Sega Genesis won't play it. Uh, I do have a Mega SG by analog, it will play it, but the game is but but that doesn't work with like I have to do some weird soldering or mods to get the the mega SG to work with the the light gun. Not gonna do that. And that game also sells for like 200 bucks roughly, maybe 150 to 200 bucks. Yeah, not for me. So T2 in the menacer packs.

Luke:

Might as well be a different language at this point.

Alex:

It's all my collecting heads. Fucking you know what the menacer is. Oh yeah.

Luke:

Shouts out to the niche. Um what's up with you, man?

Alex:

What have you been doing? What have you been? What are your side quests?

Luke:

Well, one, uh, here's my yearly rant that Madden is a failed product that I'll just keep buying occasionally because I like football. But uh franchise mode, the only mode I play because I'm ancient uh uh millennial, but it is broken because once you get far enough into the future, uh Madden does not generate new coaches or assistant coaches, but they do retire. So players eventually mayhem. People people hire your assistant coaches, and then you need to hire a new assistant coach, and there's just no one no one to pick from. And I'm like, okay, that's a little silly and broken. And then you start to play a game in the season and they won't let you play a game. So you have one of a few options. You can either simulate your entire season and hope that one of the other teams fired one of their coaches so you can hire them as an assistant, or you can start another profile, join your own franchise league as another team under that new profile, fire the coaches, and then resign, and then go back to your original profile and hire one of them. So what the fuck? Yeah, yeah. I could do that, but I'm like really salty about it because like I like that's not a hard thing for them to fix, but they're just like who plays who plays franchise more than five, six years deep, which is apparently just me and like some other nerds upset on the internet. But it's like it's been an issue for a few iterations of Madden now, and I'm like, Super Bowl's coming up, football season's almost done. I was like, I guess I can just be done with football, football, football. So it's fine.

Alex:

Uh dude, all your Madden all your Madden talk got me a little inspired to uh hit Madden 2022 on Game Pass. So I've been playing a little bit of franchise mode myself, although I've been 23 dropped on Game Pass in case you want to. Yeah, I know, I or it just did, or it or it's about to, something like that. I think it I think with the super old, maybe it just did. This month, yeah. But um, so I I'll mess with that for sure. But uh, you know, I've been playing it's fun, dude. I finally like re-cause it's been years since I played Madden. Uh kind of I'm not gonna say I'm I'm not good at it, dude, but I I've like figured out the controls so it's like more fun. I'm also doing a franchise mode, but I am doing it a player style, so I have a tight end that I made after myself, but I made him way more athletic and beefier.

Luke:

Interesting choice.

Alex:

Well, dude, it's because like I'm 6'6, and like I like that's I was just trying to like, you know, a little role play. Uh but my dude, he's a he's a he's a super awesome tight end. I score so many touchdowns with my tight end, it's ridiculous. That's good.

Luke:

Yeah, I was like, that's just not like the position, like it's pretty much quarterback is the one where you have control and it's kind of fun. You still play people to running back, yeah.

Alex:

So I'm doing it in the mode in France, I think it's franchise mode. Anyways, but uh yeah, so I you still when you when you do the game, I have it set up so that you when you do the gameplay, you're not like I'm not running routes as a tight end. You can do that in the training mode, in the trainings like every week, but I just simulate those and I go to the game, and then in the game, I play offense only. I don't even fuck around with the rest of the game, dude. I just like only my offensive plays. So, like, you know, it's like Madden on, like, I don't know. It's just like straight to the give me the straight to the veins, like just the fun touchdowns.

Luke:

And the that's why I am so far on my franchise, is because I did a lot of games and seasons as offense only. But anyway, fuck Madden. We're not gonna talk about Madden. Madden is not the bacon of gaming. I had to replay Hades, and I've now beat Dad the amount of times to you know get the true ending. And uh is that 10, 8 or 10? I think it's 10. Yeah. And I won't spoil anything about what happens on the last one. Sick game, dude. I didn't care about the narrative as much this time as I thought I would because I guess I realized that a lot of it was a mystery the first time around. And when you actually know everything, it's not as engaging. It's still cool to like get to know people in advanced stuff. But like, you know, romance Meg and uh Thanatos and uh Deuce. But uh it was is that game that game's sick, dude. Your baby's like, why you gotta be playing Hades on a time, dad? Is that Arthur or Lewis who's agreeing with my point? Arthur agrees. He's like, you know, at nighttime when I'm getting fed and burped, dad be playing Hades and it's lit. I like it. But anyway, and then uh so it's been a ton of Hades, uh, no longer Madden. And uh yeah, that's there's some other little small ones. I want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but I'm too into other stuff right now. That looks cool.

Alex:

I started it, it's definitely got um it's cool, man. It's not like I'm not a big like um rhythm gamer. That said, like I do like how it's incorporated in this game. They'd done an interesting job of incorporating a rhythm game into like a 3D action platformer type uh act. It's it's cool, it's cool. Yeah, and it was shadow dropped.

Luke:

And then uh yeah, and speaking of shadow drops, uh things just generally excited from from this most recent direct. Uh definitely gonna buy the physical copy of Metroid Prime. I never played any of those. I remember I think you had them on the GameCube, but it was like kind of hard and I was a kid and I just wasn't into it.

Alex:

I did. So I was in high school at that time, I want to say, and I've actually never beat Prime, and I have yet to play all the Prime series for being such a big Metroid stand. Like, I'm really just a 2D Metroid guy. And the reason being is because when I had that game, it was just like slightly above what I was willing to like learn and put into at the time. Like it was it was just too hard. And like I think and uh so I'm like looking forward myself to uh playing that as someone who enjoys you know, like enjoys Metroid, but also as like a little bit more ready for that challenge.

Luke:

And uh, you know, also Minish Cap. Yeah, I can finally play Minish Cap. Uh so I've started that. That's now my end time switch game. Right on, uh, which isn't the greatest for that time of day, but you know, I'll I'll still get through it. It's pretty excited for that. You're gonna have some late makes. No, but is it a long is a short game, isn't it?

Alex:

I mean, it's it's a Game Boy game, but it's it's a chunk of time, dude. And you know, it's Zelda, so like you don't really want to leave those dungeons without like getting them done.

Luke:

No doubt. So uh yeah, no, so that's my that's my side quest. And then uh I had to, so you've done a great job, and I've done an okay job of picking shorter games since these very vocal babies were born because you know it's harder to get through them. And I really wanted to do the Witcher 3, but I was like, How am I ever gonna get that done? Well, Madden was like, I'm gonna piss you off, so you're not gonna play me anymore. So I was like, there's some time. And then two, I got a jump start on it this month. So that is very excited, and I'm way too into it right now, and it's awesome. And I'll have more thoughts on that later, but that game is fucking sick, dog.

Alex:

I was like, You're not gonna tell you the people about your witcher side quests. This dude's been hitting me up throughout the month talking about all this witcher stuff. I was like, You beat Celeste yet?

Luke:

He's like, Oh, this bitch, this bitch is like, you need to be playing Celeste, and then who is beating Celeste last night before we friggin' record the pod? Alex. Who beat it last weekend?

Alex:

Me. It's true, dude. Pokemon, that's Pokemon that got the I know.

Luke:

But I'd tell you. Now I have to save my all of my takes and jokes and thoughts on it for next month, and I'll have played way too much by then. So I love it.

Alex:

I'm pumped. Dude, I think the reason that I fell into Pokemon so like heavily is because it was like the anti-Celeste. It was slow, it was like turn-based, dude. Uh it was like the yin to the yang.

Luke:

Yeah, there's something to be said about companion games. When we were playing Metroid Dread, I had a chill game on the side. Yep. Like, I do that all the time. Like, if it's like a huge RPG, I usually have a goofy little thing on the side. Like this, we should someday do pairings. Yeah. Boot games.

Alex:

Boot Pokemon and Celeste. Delicious. Sprinkle a little bacon on there, bro. Ooh, sprinkle a little bacon.

Luke:

No, I I remember when we were playing Dread, I had a super easy game that I played on the side simply for vibes to cool down. So that's a thing, that's a thing I do. You know what I'll stick it back to?

Alex:

Is like how fun Kirby was, bro.

Luke:

I think Kirby got thinking about that a lot too late. And I guess that's because the Dreamland they want us to spend $60 on it. Maybe Nintendo, I don't know yet. Yeah. But uh that that was a really good game that came out last year. And like Elden Ring came out at the same time, so like no one was trying to talk about Kirby, but like that's a that's a game that'll get replayed for sure. Totally.

Alex:

It was beautiful, man. Like, I'm hungry for more. Hungry for more Kirby. And not that not that all Kirby they're dropping, like, I'm happy, and I'll like you said, like, I'll probably get it.

Luke:

But but like Kirby, I have a bottomless hunger that cannot be satiated.

Alex:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, dude. Well, cool. I'm excited to uh to get our witcher on, man. Not my Liam Henserth. Well, I you know, I'll give the guy a shot. We'll see what he can do.

Luke:

I'm we'll get into this later, but I'm re-watching the show and I'm like, I don't think we need to hold on to this like it's a holy artifact.

Alex:

Fair enough.

Luke:

Like I think I think Henry Cabill was dope, but I like I really don't think we need to be standing him that hard. Like it'll be fine. It's like it's good Netflix trash. I don't know.

Alex:

I think it's uh you you gave a nod to it um with Minishcat, but the you know, to time to put a timestamp on this particular podcast, we recently had a Nintendo Direct where Nintendo finally released Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games on the NSO. Been teasing that for a long time. And uh I there's only one game that I don't own that's not a part of my collection. Uh so it's like I didn't need any of these games, but it warms my heart, dude. It makes me happy that so many folks are gonna be able to play a bunch of these Game Boy Classics. I think that Nintendo did a great job curating some bangers, and I'm excited for people to be able to play them.

Luke:

Yeah, I never was super, unlike you, I was never really super into handhelds. So, like, there's some games I've always wanted to play that, like Minish Cat being one of them that I had no access to. So I want some of the more advanced stuff, like the spirit tracks, but we'll get there.

Alex:

Yeah, we'll see. The spirit tracks was uh for the DS, so that that they could probably work that in somehow. That's a little bit more complicated with the dual screens. Although Game Boy Color did announce that the uh um ages and seasons, so Zelda Ages and Seasons will uh shouts out to having no idea what to do as a child.

Luke:

We'll see if uh as an adult I'm any better.

Alex:

So that'll be fun. Those will drop in the future, man. Like it's I uh like I said, I'm happy that uh folks will be able to sample some of the the Game Boy goats.

Luke:

Hell yeah. Alright, guys, go fry up some bacon, turkey bacon, whatever you need.

Alex:

Yeah, some tempeh. Let's call it, man, game over. Much love, everybody. Thanks for tuning in to the Low Five Gaming podcast. You can find us on low5gaming.com. Join our Discord, that's the best place to catch Luke. He's not really on them social medias, but he might chat with you in that Discord. And uh follow us.

Luke:

Oh, the best game ever?

Alex:

Or was it second?

Luke:

This is where the grassroots bring the McRib movement starts. So that's Discord.

Alex:

Yes, sir. We're also on the socials, find us there. You can find links on our website. It's really cool to have you on this journey with us. Get in, get in there. Let's chat, let's talk about the Witcher.

Luke:

Hell yeah.

Alex:

Cool, man.

Luke:

All right, dog.

Alex:

Much love. Give those babies some snugs for me, dude.

Luke:

Coming over emotional obstacles. Overcoming, not coming over. That's strange.

Alex:

Right on, yeah. So uh let's try that one more time, dude.

Luke:

Yeah, right.

Alex:

No. Uh

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Alex

Host
Head Shot

Luke

Host