Diablo IV

Luke and Alex Talk Diablo IV.

In this episode, Alex and Luke dive into Diablo IV, Blizzard Entertainment’s long-awaited sequel to the legendary action RPG series. Released in June 2023, Diablo IV brings players back to the dark, demon-infested world of Sanctuary with a new open-world structure, seasonal play, and a whole lot of skeleton-clicking chaos.

At the time of this recording, Diablo IV holds a Metacritic score of 86. According to HowLongToBeat, the main story clocks in around 26 hours—though depending on your build, your class, or how easily distracted you get by side dungeons, it can stretch much longer.

Alex played on both PC and Steam Deck and completed the main questline. Luke stuck to PC and is still meandering through Sanctuary like a cursed tourist. Together, they talk about their first real dip into the Diablo franchise, how the seasonal structure actually works, and why the always-online thing feels just forgivable enough.

This episode is unofficially brought to you in part by Disc Golf.

Audio Credits:  “Cathedral” by Leo Kaliski, from the Diablo IV Original Soundtrack — composed by Leo Kaliski, Ted Reedy, Ryan Amon, and Derek Duke — © Blizzard Entertainment. Includes a voice clip from Diablo I (“Fresh Meat”) — © Blizzard Entertainment.  Original theme music owned by Low Five Gaming.

Chapters

• 0:00 Diablo IV
• 47:22 Unsanctioned Sponsor: Disc Golf
• 57:31:00 Sidequestin'

Transcript

LFG Ep. 044: Diablo IV

00:02:18 luke: Um. All right. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the first and most pleasant ring of hell podcasting. How you doing, buddy? This is low five gaming. My name is Luke. This is my brother and co-host, Alex. How you doing?

00:02:35 Alex Stahlmann: What up? Bro? It's good to see you, man. I'm doing well. And I'm impressed you got your name in there. You introduced me like, it's like we've been doing this for, like, 3 or 4 years.

00:02:43 luke: It was clumsy still because I, you know, thought of it as I did it, but I was like, instead of me getting balls deep in some little joke that mostly I enjoy, and then you telling me that I need to do those things. Let's just sneak those in right away.

00:02:57 Alex Stahlmann: Right on. I can dig it, dude. I can dig it. It's good to be back. And it's fun to be talking about Diablo four.

00:03:02 luke: Diablo's the Diablo. Yeah.

00:03:05 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:03:05 luke: I

00:03:05 Alex Stahlmann: know

00:03:05 luke: never

00:03:05 Alex Stahlmann: the

00:03:05 luke: thought

00:03:05 Alex Stahlmann: people,

00:03:05 luke: I'd play Diablo game. Dude, I

00:03:07 Alex Stahlmann: dude.

00:03:07 luke: really

00:03:07 Alex Stahlmann: I know

00:03:07 luke: didn't

00:03:07 Alex Stahlmann: the people

00:03:07 luke: think.

00:03:08 Alex Stahlmann: can't see. But are you. Are you just gonna not even bring up the fact I'm sitting in this red light right now, just hanging out in hell?

00:03:16 luke: You know, it's starting to dawn upon me now, but I'm mostly bitter because sometimes you do, like little audio cutouts, and you have, like, a camera close to your face and, like, a little prop shot. And I'm just like this, like balding, crusty toe that's like, three feet from his camera. So anytime you do that, I'm like, never looking at the camera. I just look like stupid and ugly. And I just want the audience to know that I'm, like, way hotter in that al, uh, be doing me dirty. Be doing me so dirty. But, um. It's okay.

00:03:47 Alex Stahlmann: Sorry,

00:03:48 luke: I

00:03:48 Alex Stahlmann: Luke.

00:03:48 luke: appreciate

00:03:48 Alex Stahlmann: You're a beautiful

00:03:49 luke: your

00:03:49 Alex Stahlmann: boy.

00:03:49 luke: red hue. Good, sir. It's great.

00:03:53 Alex Stahlmann: Hey, Google, change the lights to purple.

00:03:55 luke: Also, I feel like I've worn this shirt for like four of these podcasts, so hopefully you don't string too many of these together. I own more than one shirt, but I like this shirt. What's up?

00:04:04 Alex Stahlmann: Uh. Go Vikes! Go, Vikings, buddy.

00:04:06 luke: Hell yeah.

00:04:09 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, I changed I changed my lighting to purple is more my vibe. Uh,

00:04:12 luke: Mm.

00:04:12 Alex Stahlmann: and again skull bikes. But, uh. Yeah. Dude. Diablo four. Man, you just said that you've never played Diablo game. You never thought you played Diablo game, and then all of a sudden you're like, dude, l I'm fucking buying this game for you because we're playing it.

00:04:25 luke: Yeah, I don't know what it is. Um, it just

00:04:28 Alex Stahlmann: You've

00:04:28 luke: looked

00:04:28 Alex Stahlmann: been.

00:04:28 luke: cool.

00:04:29 Alex Stahlmann: You've been like, it's been on your radar for a while, though, right?

00:04:33 luke: Yeah, I've had it wishlisted since it came out. Really? Um, I was just kind of curious about it. I read Jason Shriver's book about, um. Well, two of them, and, uh, there's a decent amount of talk of Blizzard stuff, and, um, I don't know if I had this conversation with you off mic or on our last pod, but I was just asked a friend if he ever played Diablo, and he's just like, I don't really fuck with the isometric style. And I was like, I actually really like that. But for a long time my life I would have agreed. I would have thought games with that viewpoint, vantage point, uh, would have been stupid, but I kind of like that panoramic vibe to it all, you know what I mean? So

00:05:12 Alex Stahlmann: I do. It's kind of

00:05:13 luke: panoramic

00:05:13 Alex Stahlmann: like a

00:05:14 luke: is not the word I'm looking for. What's

00:05:15 Alex Stahlmann: diorama,

00:05:15 luke: the what's the dioramic?

00:05:16 Alex Stahlmann: maybe.

00:05:17 luke: There we go. Yeah, the diorama, little box, little, little set pieces. I really like that. So the game kind of had me curious and I, you know, we did that D and D once. I feel like it's not official, but it's like pretty D and D adjacent in a way picking classes and RPG in it. So I

00:05:33 Alex Stahlmann: For sure.

00:05:33 luke: don't know man. My lizard brain, it just called to me

00:05:35 Alex Stahlmann: Right now I

00:05:36 luke: it's

00:05:36 Alex Stahlmann: can dig

00:05:36 luke: the

00:05:36 Alex Stahlmann: it.

00:05:36 luke: simplest,

00:05:36 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, I've been,

00:05:37 luke: but.

00:05:37 Alex Stahlmann: uh. I've, uh. I've dabbled in Diablo. Diablo one. I've never gotten very far in it. Um, my. But it is part of my gaming. Like, I don't know, foundation in a way. Right. So before we I don't think we had a computer at the time, but we went to one of dad's coworkers, invited us over for dinner. Like, they're just like, basically mom and dad hanging out with with them chatting away or whatever. And this dude had, uh, his, like, home PC set up in the in the basement, right. Like the full on, like back in the day when you got the big box computer and you got the whole, like, desk situation that like, everybody had, you know, with the shells and everything on there to put your CD cases in. ET cetera. ET cetera.

00:06:18 luke: Oh, sure.

00:06:19 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm.

00:06:20 luke: Different

00:06:20 Alex Stahlmann: So

00:06:20 luke: infrastructure

00:06:20 Alex Stahlmann: uh

00:06:21 luke: back in the day.

00:06:22 Alex Stahlmann: dude for sure.

00:06:23 luke: Less

00:06:23 Alex Stahlmann: But.

00:06:23 luke: LED lights.

00:06:25 Alex Stahlmann: Right.

00:06:25 luke: You should

00:06:25 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:06:26 luke: switch

00:06:26 Alex Stahlmann: it

00:06:26 luke: the

00:06:26 Alex Stahlmann: is

00:06:26 luke: color again, you fucking dork.

00:06:28 Alex Stahlmann: what

00:06:28 luke: We

00:06:28 Alex Stahlmann: color

00:06:28 luke: continue.

00:06:29 Alex Stahlmann: you want bro. What

00:06:29 luke: This

00:06:29 Alex Stahlmann: color

00:06:29 luke: is probably

00:06:30 Alex Stahlmann: you want.

00:06:30 luke: blue. Let's switch to blue now.

00:06:34 Alex Stahlmann: Hey Google change the lights to blue.

00:06:35 luke: Oh, Jesus.

00:06:37 Alex Stahlmann: I can do any color you want, bro.

00:06:38 luke: I

00:06:38 Alex Stahlmann: It's.

00:06:39 luke: was the hey Google, that really made me double down on the dorkiness. But continue. You're playing it in the basement, I was there. I actually do remember being like, what's al up to? Because I think I was bored out of my mind.

00:06:48 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:06:48 luke: He

00:06:48 Alex Stahlmann: don't

00:06:48 luke: might have

00:06:48 Alex Stahlmann: yeah.

00:06:48 luke: had a kid younger than me. So it was like, all right, but like, you were just posted up playing this spooky ass looking game. It's

00:06:55 Alex Stahlmann: Dude,

00:06:55 luke: kind of

00:06:56 Alex Stahlmann: that's

00:06:56 luke: unhinged

00:06:56 Alex Stahlmann: so funny.

00:06:56 luke: to let your, like, coworkers kid play this demonic game, though. That's kind of funny.

00:07:01 Alex Stahlmann: It is wild, like I think back at that. And that's why I say it's like part of because I remember like, vividly to this day. Like, I don't know, man. Like 25 years later, maybe even more 20 close

00:07:13 luke: 42.

00:07:13 Alex Stahlmann: to 30 years later, dude. Close

00:07:15 luke: Yeah.

00:07:15 Alex Stahlmann: to 30 years later, I'm like, still have vivid memories of playing this game down this dude's basement. Uh, wasn't like a dingy basement. Nice basement, but it was dark. And this game, like Diablo one is creepy, man. Like, it's got creepy vibes to it, for sure. And it's scary and, like. But I got a solid, like, maybe an hour and a half. Two hours just fucking, you know, killing skeletons and stuff, being freaked out by by little demons in Tristam.

00:07:40 luke: Did you end up buying it? Because I feel like

00:07:42 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:07:42 luke: I remember

00:07:42 Alex Stahlmann: did,

00:07:42 luke: watching you playing it at home to.

00:07:44 Alex Stahlmann: yeah, for sure. So I ended up so it was a game that like, it stuck with me. That was like a crazy little experience that, uh. But then I don't even know where. Dude. Like, maybe I could list off some old computer stores that used to exist. CompUSA. Who knows? But, like, I ended up buying Diablo. Uh, and so we have it. It's actually at mom and dad's still, I believe, but it's like I got it in the jewel case, the CD, I got the the manual. It's kind of fun, dude, but like, um, but yeah, that's kind of my bad. I never beat it though, because it is game. I think it was like I was trying to play it at a time that I just didn't have. Like for what? I don't know, man. I just never got very far in it because it like, it gets pretty hard pretty quick if you don't know what you're doing. And I never knew what

00:08:24 luke: Yeah,

00:08:24 Alex Stahlmann: I was doing.

00:08:24 luke: these games can get pretty dense. Or I shouldn't say these games I don't know shit for can get pretty dense if you want it to be. It has like a higher level of approachability. I'm willing to guess, um, I would say a big piece of the reason I never played any Diablo game too, is like my age is kind of like, when did Diablo two came out? Because Diablo two is like, revered, right? It's like.

00:08:45 Alex Stahlmann: I was in high school, so it would have been early

00:08:47 luke: So

00:08:47 Alex Stahlmann: 2000.

00:08:47 luke: yeah.

00:08:49 Alex Stahlmann: And it was a

00:08:49 luke: Yeah.

00:08:49 Alex Stahlmann: big deal then, too.

00:08:50 luke: So that was that was 2000. So like that's not a game I would have been buying at that

00:08:55 Alex Stahlmann: Right.

00:08:55 luke: age. And then Diablo three was like a huge messy launch as detailed in Schreier's book, but eventually becomes particularly popular. And I, my buddy James tried to get me to play it once and I just kind of I wasn't ready. I just kind of bounced off and that one came out in give me 10s here, 2012. So that's when I was in

00:09:16 Alex Stahlmann: Okay.

00:09:16 luke: college and like pretty much fading away into not playing very many video games, spending all my money on beer and food and dumb shit like that. So like each of these, like at least the releases, they all had long tails, but each of the releases, like, I can kind of come up with a pretty quick reason as to why I would not have bought or invested in that game. So when four came out, it was a pretty big event. It was a pretty big deal for games

00:09:41 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude.

00:09:41 luke: and

00:09:41 Alex Stahlmann: People are stoked

00:09:42 luke: Microsoft

00:09:42 Alex Stahlmann: on it.

00:09:43 luke: and Xbox, and I was, you know, there was the whole acquisition, The Activision Blizzard. So I was always wondering when I did pay for Game Pass, I was always wondering if I could just sneak on there and then it was just like, it has not gone on a deep, deep discount below

00:09:59 Alex Stahlmann: I have

00:09:59 luke: 50%.

00:09:59 Alex Stahlmann: never seen it hit 50. I think

00:10:00 luke: I've

00:10:01 Alex Stahlmann: 50

00:10:01 luke: been

00:10:01 Alex Stahlmann: is maybe the deepest.

00:10:02 luke: I've been waiting for a dirty one like that. So 45 to 50 ish was like the closest I was going to get. And I was summer break, uh, burnt out on Fuggin. Uh, what's that souls game I was playing, dude. Elden ring. Fucking

00:10:19 Alex Stahlmann: Elden

00:10:19 luke: burnt out

00:10:19 Alex Stahlmann: ring.

00:10:19 luke: on Elden Ring, dude. So I was just like, I need me some click clack, clickety in bed, and I just want to. I just want to grind on my steamy D and play like the perfect little game for it. And I'd say this was this was pretty close to the perfect steamy D experience, if I say so.

00:10:35 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude, I played on this DVD and the and the PC. It was great to be able to do it on the DVD, but like once you get a rocket on the PC, it's it's I mean, it's not like better or anything, but it's I don't know, I enjoyed it. The

00:10:47 luke: Smooth

00:10:47 Alex Stahlmann: screen, the

00:10:47 luke: and

00:10:47 Alex Stahlmann: big

00:10:47 luke: big.

00:10:47 Alex Stahlmann: screen,

00:10:48 luke: Yeah.

00:10:48 Alex Stahlmann: the big screen for everything going on on the screen, like everything going on was nice.

00:10:52 luke: Yeah.

00:10:52 Alex Stahlmann: But this was announced the game. So Diablo four was announced at BlizzCon 2019 and released June 5th, 2023. So we took a took a little bit of time, slept on it a little bit to to, you know, before we before we checked it out.

00:11:05 luke: Yeah. I mean, I guess I've been waiting on that discount for a long time, but two

00:11:09 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:11:09 luke: years? Pretty

00:11:09 Alex Stahlmann: Dog.

00:11:10 luke: much. Uh,

00:11:10 Alex Stahlmann: Right, right.

00:11:11 luke: it's

00:11:11 Alex Stahlmann: And it got

00:11:12 luke: funny,

00:11:12 Alex Stahlmann: its

00:11:12 luke: though.

00:11:12 Alex Stahlmann: first expansion in October of 2024. So I think there's another expansion coming in 2026. So this game we've been playing in a very interesting time, dude, because like we can probably get in a little bit more the weeds on it later. But uh, it has these seasons you know it is it's an online game. It, it actually does a pretty well like um, because you don't necessarily if you, if you decide not to do the online play stuff like you do have to be connected to the internet, but like you do not

00:11:39 luke: I

00:11:39 Alex Stahlmann: have

00:11:39 luke: hate

00:11:39 Alex Stahlmann: to

00:11:39 luke: that

00:11:39 Alex Stahlmann: like indulge.

00:11:40 luke: so much.

00:11:41 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude. It does.

00:11:42 luke: I

00:11:42 Alex Stahlmann: Like

00:11:42 luke: would

00:11:42 Alex Stahlmann: I'm

00:11:43 luke: kill

00:11:43 Alex Stahlmann: not

00:11:43 luke: for a pause, brother. Kill

00:11:44 Alex Stahlmann: For

00:11:44 luke: me for a pause

00:11:45 Alex Stahlmann: sure.

00:11:45 luke: button,

00:11:45 Alex Stahlmann: For sure.

00:11:46 luke: dude.

00:11:47 Alex Stahlmann: No, I feel you on that one. But at the same time, like, I think it's like it's forgivable. Like whereas we were talking about in Elden Ring, like the no pause thing is unforgivable. Like, you can, like, I don't know, I had less qualms with it in this game. Um.

00:12:00 luke: I also think it's funny that we're doing a pod on this game because, like someone who's just, like, desperate for more Diablo content, we're not the guys who want to hear because this is like baby's first Diablo, literally for me. And then, like, understanding this whole culture and scene where we have a literal foot in there, like we played a good 30 hours, uh, 30 to 35. I'll definitely play more. I dig it, but like, there's so much I don't know yet. And that's okay. I had a good time. But

00:12:27 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:12:27 luke: here's the

00:12:27 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:12:27 luke: disclaimer

00:12:27 Alex Stahlmann: think that.

00:12:28 luke: is that if you just have a general curiosity, this is the pod for you.

00:12:32 Alex Stahlmann: Hey. For indeed. Uh, I'm not gonna. Yeah. We won't get to the nitty gritty on how things work, but it's interesting, man. And the perspective of a couple folks just coming into it, I think is interesting as well. And, uh, we also are playing at an interesting time because it is. Season nine just dropped like just about a week ago or something. And these seasons that I brought up, you know, it's part of the online culture or whatever. So they, they like drip feed you new stories and new stuff. So like makes things fresh. People who are really into it get excited for these because there's new loot drops. There's new like missions to do and everything. And it's also just like that, like deep discount that, you know, you finally capitalized on like coincides with it finally being added to Game Pass and also, uh, recently being added to whatever Sony calls their thing. PS plus. Right?

00:13:19 luke: Okay.

00:13:19 Alex Stahlmann: So you have an influx of uh, old players being excited to play season nine and an influx of players.

00:13:25 luke: Fresh noobs.

00:13:27 Alex Stahlmann: Exactly,

00:13:27 luke: Lots

00:13:27 Alex Stahlmann: exactly.

00:13:28 luke: of fresh noob casuals. Love that

00:13:30 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, 100%. So,

00:13:32 luke: man.

00:13:32 Alex Stahlmann: like, we, uh, we just like, kind of, you know, uh, by accident. But we definitely jumped in on this game, like, during a moment.

00:13:39 luke: Yeah, that's pretty funny. Um, I had so little, like, knowledge heading into it of, like, the structure of how it worked, where it's like you have the first character you make, you have like the storyline, and you're in like this, like this world. And I say world, as in, like, it's the same map no matter what world you're in. Kind of. But like the online ness connected of it will put in the seasonal stuff.

00:14:05 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:14:05 luke: So I made a new character instead of beating the game like you, I just fucked around like a child and made a new character. And then, like, I definitely did see some more people moving around and more like crazy shit happening around the world. So like, I can see how that works a little bit. Um, if you've played games like journey, how you're playing, like, or at least seeing other players play at the same time as you, it's like kind of jarring. It's like, it's not like they're ghosts, like in Elden Ring. It's like you're kind of literally in the map with like some people. So I think you got to be on like a server, right? Like where I'm on a seasonal server when I'm going on that one, and

00:14:37 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:14:38 luke: then I probably log into like a base server or a set of servers for like when you don't want to do the seasonal stuff. And it's like talking to me about all this stuff, about how I can do this, to carry this over into this thing. And I'm like, dude, I have no, I just want to, like, spam a few buttons and mow down a horde of, like, creepy looking enemies and hear the sound effects and have all the numbers go brr! And just like lizard brain through some lizard brainy ass quests. And, uh, this game is so lizard brain in the best way possible.

00:15:11 Alex Stahlmann: It is indeed. Dude, it's funny, it actually like I, I had dabbled in, so I was talking about playing a little bit of one and I skipped two completely. And then I ended up buying three for the switch, and I only put a couple hours into it. Right? Just enough to get a little taste. Um, so I wasn't like 100% for sure what I was signing up for. And when I think about Diablo, I think about like a mouse and clicking a bunch, click click click click click click click right.

00:15:39 luke: Fair.

00:15:39 Alex Stahlmann: This is this. There's elements of that. But this is like I don't know man. Pump it full of creatine and whatever. Like you've gotten beyond just a click like your whole controller is a is a mouse click. Like each one of the inputs like does a different thing. And you get to go through your skill tree, you get to assign things to it. It's it's pretty rad, dude. Like I remember when we were first talking, uh, to each other about like, our build outs and we, we actually linked up. We were talking about the, um, the, the whole connected internet piece of this. And both of us are traditionally, you know, we we we I don't want to say scathe. I think we've warmed up to online gaming a little bit over the years, but like, we're not online gamers,

00:16:21 luke: Comically

00:16:21 Alex Stahlmann: right?

00:16:22 luke: adverse to it.

00:16:23 Alex Stahlmann: Right. Right, right. Uh, but this game is actually probably the most joy I've had. Well, this in Elden Ring, dude, like linking up with you and Elden Ring was fun. We recently actually played some twok I beat your ass and took. That was fun too. So I guess I'm an online gamer now.

00:16:37 luke: Jesus Christ.

00:16:39 Alex Stahlmann: But this was actually really cool. Dude, I like the I just love like the openness of how you can connect in this game. So like and how like it was allowed. It allowed me because I was at a point earlier that you were probably maybe five, six, maybe even seven hours further than I was at the beginning. So you joined me to go through some like, side quest stuff, even plowed through some of the main quests. You actually joined me at a choke point. I had gotten to some, like werewolf thing that I couldn't beat.

00:17:05 luke: Sure.

00:17:05 Alex Stahlmann: I was kind of like going through this game, uh, playing as barbarian. We should we should mention our builds.

00:17:10 luke: Mhm.

00:17:11 Alex Stahlmann: So you mentioned the build out thing, but you get all these different character classes and we I gravitated towards the tank character, I always do. I was like, God damn it, Alex, you shouldn't do this, but you're going to do this.

00:17:21 luke: Yeah. We brought two rocks to a gunfight. Dude. We were. I'm a druid, which is very tanky. Maybe it's just the way I built out the druid, but I was super tanky because he turned into a bear and a werewolf and I shoot lightning bolts. This is pretty fucking sweet, dude.

00:17:35 Alex Stahlmann: You have a little magic mix in there, I suppose.

00:17:37 luke: Yeah.

00:17:39 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:17:39 luke: No. It's cool. Um,

00:17:40 Alex Stahlmann: But you.

00:17:41 luke: the difficulty

00:17:41 Alex Stahlmann: But you join

00:17:41 luke: I.

00:17:41 Alex Stahlmann: me.

00:17:42 luke: Yeah.

00:17:42 Alex Stahlmann: But you joined

00:17:42 luke: No.

00:17:42 Alex Stahlmann: because I had this chokepoint. You joined me, and then I was able to. That was like, dude, I was like, I couldn't die in this game. I got to this little mini boss in this, like, random dungeon. Uh, and you join me, beat it. And then I didn't die again in this game until the final. The final boss. And it was

00:17:59 luke: Yeah.

00:17:59 Alex Stahlmann: because I got greedy. And I'm not going to, like, spoil anything, but like, it was like it was not because the boss was. The boss was like, difficult ish, but it was. I was way op ed is what my bottom line that I'm trying to say.

00:18:09 luke: Yeah. The baseline difficulty. What's interesting, too, is like, let's say I was ten levels ahead of you when we first met up. Like,

00:18:16 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:18:16 luke: we both like. It's not like I went into your world and I was way overpowered and, like, crushed the enemies. We did crush the enemies, but like, the game scales your enemies in such a way where we're both fighting the same enemy and it's scaled to both of us somehow. Or maybe I'm

00:18:29 Alex Stahlmann: Is

00:18:29 luke: just

00:18:29 Alex Stahlmann: that how

00:18:30 luke: scaled

00:18:30 Alex Stahlmann: that works?

00:18:30 luke: to dude, I don't even really. I know the enemies scale with you,

00:18:33 Alex Stahlmann: Yes, I did know that

00:18:34 luke: So

00:18:34 Alex Stahlmann: too.

00:18:35 luke: like whenever I entered your world, like, essentially it just picked a baseline where both of us were at. Which is

00:18:42 Alex Stahlmann: Okay.

00:18:42 luke: interesting. And then that base level difficulty, like we made jokes because we, we linked up a few times and fought a few different bosses and dungeons and stuff, and it was like, dude, we would just like stand around the boss and just absolutely cheese the shit out of them. It's

00:18:57 Alex Stahlmann: For

00:18:57 luke: like.

00:18:57 Alex Stahlmann: sure.

00:18:57 luke: It's like cutting butter with a katana. It was just not not particularly hard. Uh,

00:19:02 Alex Stahlmann: No.

00:19:02 luke: I did some experimenting. I've probably paid, you know, a small chunk. You know, let's just say five, five hours or so as my second character, which was a rogue. Um, and it's been a lot of fun, but I play on the difficulty one step above, which gives you higher rewards and

00:19:19 Alex Stahlmann: Big

00:19:19 luke: higher

00:19:19 Alex Stahlmann: boy.

00:19:20 luke: XP. Yeah. Uh, it's nice to die again. I will say like

00:19:24 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:19:24 luke: it. Sometimes it's frustrating because I do just want to roll around OP as a god and just once again watch the numbers

00:19:29 Alex Stahlmann: That's it.

00:19:29 luke: go up and clear waves of mindless

00:19:32 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:19:32 luke: enemies. But like, it feels nice to die. I like had a boss where like, I beat the boss by the skin of my teeth and like, had to, like, do some shifty stuff just to, like, hit him. The bosses have, like, this interesting marker on their health bar that lets you know when they're going to drop potions, which is cool. I

00:19:48 Alex Stahlmann: Aha!

00:19:48 luke: thought that's like

00:19:49 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:19:49 luke: a cool, uh, visual

00:19:50 Alex Stahlmann: That is nice.

00:19:50 luke: quality of life mechanic. Um, and I, like, just barely survived that fight, and I felt really cool about that. So just understanding this game has taken me over 30 hours, and I feel like if I played for another 30, I would probably still be scratching different understandings

00:20:09 Alex Stahlmann: Sure. Dude!

00:20:10 luke: because

00:20:10 Alex Stahlmann: It's

00:20:10 luke: there's like

00:20:11 Alex Stahlmann: nuts.

00:20:11 luke: a whole end

00:20:11 Alex Stahlmann: It's

00:20:11 luke: game

00:20:11 Alex Stahlmann: so

00:20:11 luke: thing

00:20:11 Alex Stahlmann: deep.

00:20:12 luke: that starts at level 60 and neither one of us got there, right.

00:20:15 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm. I'm pushing 60 on my base character. I've moved on to the seasonal character now. So like I don't think I'm quite at 60 now but

00:20:23 luke: So

00:20:23 Alex Stahlmann: I do

00:20:23 luke: there's

00:20:23 Alex Stahlmann: think

00:20:24 luke: like

00:20:24 Alex Stahlmann: it

00:20:24 luke: a whole

00:20:24 Alex Stahlmann: maxes.

00:20:24 luke: leveling maximization like arc end game thing that just starts when you get to 60 that people online talk about. So.

00:20:35 Alex Stahlmann: And that's something that like, I don't know, the community can can jump in our discord and yell at us and tell us how it works. If you feel but

00:20:40 luke: If

00:20:40 Alex Stahlmann: like

00:20:40 luke: you feel like it. Yeah.

00:20:41 Alex Stahlmann: but there's a wild thing too, because like when that season nine dropped, there was a new option for me to go and respec my entire character at level 50 or something

00:20:52 luke: Yeah.

00:20:52 Alex Stahlmann: to like, get them closer to end game. And this was at a time that my guy was like level 30 or whatever.

00:20:57 luke: Yeah.

00:20:57 Alex Stahlmann: So

00:20:57 luke: Me

00:20:57 Alex Stahlmann: I was

00:20:57 luke: too.

00:20:57 Alex Stahlmann: like,

00:20:57 luke: That was weird.

00:20:58 Alex Stahlmann: so I was like, but I didn't do it because I was like, no, I'm not just gonna respec my dude. I mean, like, it's kind of cool. But I was like, okay, like, I feel like I'm like you said, cutting through butter with a katana, but like, dude, I'm not just gonna, like, go and just get a free 20. Like, great upgrade. Like. That's ridiculous.

00:21:14 luke: Dude. Hitting the upgrades is, like, probably the most fun part about the

00:21:17 Alex Stahlmann: Right.

00:21:17 luke: game is just

00:21:17 Alex Stahlmann: They

00:21:17 luke: like

00:21:17 Alex Stahlmann: make a

00:21:18 luke: that.

00:21:18 Alex Stahlmann: little noise,

00:21:18 luke: Stupid.

00:21:18 Alex Stahlmann: makes you feel

00:21:18 luke: Yeah.

00:21:19 Alex Stahlmann: good. Like.

00:21:19 luke: All the stupid little stimuli that gives you is tight. And, like, how much paralysis did you get on the tree? And, like, trying to figure out which ability you're going to assign to your next slot and like, what

00:21:29 Alex Stahlmann: Dude.

00:21:29 luke: you're going to do because like, I feel like even with my new rogue, like the bear or I shouldn't say the bear because he's a bear, a werewolf, the druid. I feel like I picked, like, a lot of skills that were like, super synergistic and, like, it actually really helps. Like, it's like a button mash game. Uh, but I like, I hit him with the bear first and that, like, fortifies my strength. And then, like, if I, if they plow through that, I hit him with the werewolf. And that gives me, like, uh, vampiric abilities where, like, I regenerate health and, like, I, like, have a lightning storm that comes in and, like, this debuff hits him and then I get extra damage when that debuffs going. And like, all these things are lining up and it feels pretty fucking sweet. Uh, the rogue.

00:22:10 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:22:10 luke: I don't have anything that smooth yet, but like, have a bit of a system based on what I've chosen,

00:22:15 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:22:15 luke: and

00:22:15 Alex Stahlmann: For

00:22:15 luke: it's pretty

00:22:16 Alex Stahlmann: sure,

00:22:16 luke: cool.

00:22:17 Alex Stahlmann: for

00:22:17 luke: Uh, embarrassing.

00:22:18 Alex Stahlmann: sure, for sure.

00:22:18 luke: How long did it take you for? You realize that you could just hold the button?

00:22:23 Alex Stahlmann: What are you talking about?

00:22:24 luke: Huh? So, like, let's say, uh, a is like your base attack where you just like, whack, whack whack whack. I would, like, hit it as fast as I can. You can just hold the button down and he just keeps attacking. Did you know that?

00:22:36 Alex Stahlmann: I just learned that right now.

00:22:37 luke: Yeah. I learned

00:22:39 Alex Stahlmann: I don't

00:22:39 luke: that

00:22:39 Alex Stahlmann: like

00:22:39 luke: after,

00:22:39 Alex Stahlmann: that as much.

00:22:40 luke: uh, there's been at least, like, 3 to 4 times where my wife has straight up walked away from me because it's just silent in

00:22:47 Alex Stahlmann: Really?

00:22:47 luke: the room. I'm just. I'm just smacking on those keys, dude.

00:22:50 Alex Stahlmann: Really interesting. I

00:22:51 luke: It's.

00:22:52 Alex Stahlmann: did not know that.

00:22:52 luke: I'm button hacking so hard on the CBD that I'm just smacking

00:22:55 Alex Stahlmann: Dude.

00:22:56 luke: away. And she was not a fan. And I can't blame her, but it was pretty funny.

00:23:00 Alex Stahlmann: Dude. That's clowning. That's. You know what? I'm glad I didn't know that, though, because, like, that's half the fun of this game. Is, like, you end up getting in this flow state of like, you are button hacking. You're like mashing buttons for sure. But you and you know, you've got your your set, your move sets and you assign them to there's two on the controller. There's two buttons that are always going to be the same. So it's B on the Xbox controller or whatever is going to be your dash. Right.

00:23:26 luke: I'm sure.

00:23:27 Alex Stahlmann: And then L1 is your to take your potion to heal the rest

00:23:31 luke: Yeah.

00:23:31 Alex Stahlmann: of them. You can you can assign not the direct, not the D-pad, but all the other buttons you can assign to your movesets. So you end up like figuring out what works for you. Flow. Uh, but the thing and they're all on, they're all in a cool, a cool down time or two. After you use them in each of the moves, depending, they'll have a different amount of time that you can until you can use it again. Right. So some you can use immediately. Other other ones you can like it'll maybe be 20s before they let you do it again. And

00:23:55 luke: So,

00:23:55 Alex Stahlmann: you can

00:23:56 luke: yeah,

00:23:56 Alex Stahlmann: also

00:23:56 luke: I

00:23:56 Alex Stahlmann: upgrade

00:23:56 luke: almost feel

00:23:56 Alex Stahlmann: those

00:23:57 luke: like

00:23:57 Alex Stahlmann: things

00:23:57 luke: it's a

00:23:57 Alex Stahlmann: to bring

00:23:57 luke: base

00:23:57 Alex Stahlmann: the cooldown

00:23:58 luke: attack.

00:23:58 Alex Stahlmann: down.

00:23:58 luke: You start off with, like, base attacks, then you unlock

00:24:01 Alex Stahlmann: Sure.

00:24:01 luke: like a selection of cooldown attacks. Then you have, like, you can equip like one ultimate ability. And

00:24:06 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:24:07 luke: that's like my big old thunderstorm that comes in with, like, cyclones

00:24:10 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:24:11 luke: and shit and just wrecks everything in the area. That was cool.

00:24:14 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. But the thing I'm driving at here, though, is that you end up like getting into a flow of the timing of the buttons that you press. So like, even though it looks like you're going fucking bananas on this controller, there's like there's a method to the madness, which is like a really fun thing to do. And I think that's not as fun if I'm just holding the button.

00:24:31 luke: I mean, I think there's got to be a compromise with how hard I was smacking the buttons and holding them.

00:24:37 Alex Stahlmann: Fair enough. Fair enough. Uh, but to your question, dude, like probably half the game until I, like, really dove into the skill tree. Like, it actually was like, maybe I was probably, like, five hours deep until I realized I should stop just maxing out, like, the first part of the skill tree. Like that. I could go further and then I it was like, it was silly, dude. Uh, because I was just wanting to play and I didn't want to, like, read anything, and I just didn't

00:25:00 luke: Dude,

00:25:00 Alex Stahlmann: want to figure

00:25:00 luke: there's

00:25:00 Alex Stahlmann: it out.

00:25:00 luke: there's lots of stats to read

00:25:02 Alex Stahlmann: Um.

00:25:03 luke: in systems, and I think that's why,

00:25:05 Alex Stahlmann: And

00:25:05 luke: like.

00:25:05 Alex Stahlmann: a lot of it doesn't make sense until you, like, are actually dabbling in it, you know?

00:25:09 luke: Yeah, it's dense and I've been talking. I gotta come up with some new terminology, but like it's it's very approachable. So like, we can, you know, some dumb dumbs like us can go up there and, like, you know, melt a crowd of skeletons or goblins or werewolves or whatever, that we're fighting demons. And then you know someone who wants to play a way more literal hardcore version or just way more hardcore versions of the same game. You can get into all sorts of specking of your character, all these like layers improving your weapons, even putting gems into the weapons. Dude, I think I was like

00:25:42 Alex Stahlmann: Dude,

00:25:42 luke: 20

00:25:42 Alex Stahlmann: I fuck

00:25:42 luke: hours.

00:25:42 Alex Stahlmann: with that for sure.

00:25:43 luke: Yeah, it's too it was too much busy work for me. So I think I was like 20 hours in before I ever, like, even like,

00:25:49 Alex Stahlmann: Dude

00:25:49 luke: added.

00:25:50 Alex Stahlmann: and legendary weapons have different boons too. Like

00:25:52 luke: Yeah,

00:25:52 Alex Stahlmann: it's crazy.

00:25:53 luke: yeah. Once you get into the legendary weapons, I'd say like, that's when you actually end up sticking with a weapon for a long time.

00:25:59 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:25:59 luke: And that's

00:25:59 Alex Stahlmann: For

00:25:59 luke: what

00:25:59 Alex Stahlmann: sure.

00:25:59 luke: made me actually start paying attention to some of the stuff. So example, like on the skill tree, I unlocked a companions. Um, I don't know, do you guys, do you get a companion like that in your skill tree or is that a Druid thing?

00:26:11 Alex Stahlmann: I think it's a druid thing.

00:26:12 luke: So I unlocked the wolves as my companions, but one of my legendary gears made it where, uh, my wolves turn into werewolves. So, like, I'm just rolling with a pack of werewolves. It was, like, fucking tough as fuck, dudes.

00:26:25 Alex Stahlmann: Nice.

00:26:26 luke: So once that stuff started to settle, I like started to actually read my item descriptions and it's cool. Like, there's nothing better in a video game than a knocking like a bitch in sword or staff, or like helmet that looks particularly rad and is ultra powerful. Like, that's that lizard brain. Like, really does leveling up really well? It really does. Like the numbers really well.

00:26:47 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude. And like, it's

00:26:48 luke: Stimuli?

00:26:49 Alex Stahlmann: wild, though. Those are the things, though, that I appreciate about a game like this where you're not only getting that loot and that gear, but when you put it on, like your character reflects, like that's what they're wearing, right?

00:27:00 luke: Yeah.

00:27:01 Alex Stahlmann: Like it's such like, it seems like such a novel, like silly thing, but like, there was a time when that wasn't always the case. And I think we're spoiled now that a lot of games do that. But I fucking love it, dude. I fucking love it.

00:27:11 luke: Yeah.

00:27:12 Alex Stahlmann: But,

00:27:12 luke: I get

00:27:12 Alex Stahlmann: but

00:27:12 luke: too

00:27:12 Alex Stahlmann: but

00:27:13 luke: obsessed

00:27:13 Alex Stahlmann: the

00:27:13 luke: with stuff like that though. Like

00:27:14 Alex Stahlmann: dude,

00:27:14 luke: I gotta have my outfits matched. So I had

00:27:16 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:27:16 luke: to let go

00:27:17 Alex Stahlmann: was

00:27:17 luke: of

00:27:17 Alex Stahlmann: gonna

00:27:17 luke: this game

00:27:17 Alex Stahlmann: say

00:27:17 luke: where I

00:27:18 Alex Stahlmann: the,

00:27:18 luke: was just like.

00:27:19 Alex Stahlmann: the inverse of that is that, uh, you might like, find a helmet that you're like, I look fucking dope. And then you get some shitty helmet and you're like, but it's like, so the specs are better, so you're gonna wear it, but you're like, but don't look as cool. Um, but they've got a, they've got something for you for that you can, you can freeze or you can like lock or like set up your you can basically like set up your aesthetic of your dude. Um,

00:27:39 luke: Yeah.

00:27:40 Alex Stahlmann: but that's not fun. Like, I'd, I'd prefer

00:27:42 luke: No.

00:27:42 Alex Stahlmann: to, like, just

00:27:43 luke: And

00:27:43 Alex Stahlmann: be at

00:27:43 luke: I

00:27:43 Alex Stahlmann: a

00:27:43 luke: think

00:27:43 Alex Stahlmann: random

00:27:43 luke: that's,

00:27:44 Alex Stahlmann: hodgepodge

00:27:44 luke: that's a lot

00:27:44 Alex Stahlmann: of

00:27:44 luke: of

00:27:44 Alex Stahlmann: stuff.

00:27:44 luke: the, it's a lot of the appeal of the seasonal stuff too, is

00:27:48 Alex Stahlmann: Um.

00:27:48 luke: like seasonal stuff. You just unlock a lot of skins.

00:27:52 Alex Stahlmann: Right. And people love that shit, and they'll

00:27:53 luke: Yeah.

00:27:54 Alex Stahlmann: pay for it. And like, they, they think it's great. And I'm like, I don't know, I'll just wear whatever sweet fucking cool thing I just found. And you find cool things every three minutes in this, I swear to God.

00:28:03 luke: Yeah. I'm forever shocked by people who are like 20 bucks for this. Let's go.

00:28:10 Alex Stahlmann: Dude. It's wild. I was grinding a little bit, like, because I want to dabble in the, um, you know, the whatever that loot store deal or whatever they got going on where you unlock stuff. Uh, because the grind, I mean, they make it like, it's like in a the grind to get your whatever gemstones to unlock those things. It's like too slow in the sense that because of course, they want you to pay some real money to be able to get some extra, like whatever they in-game currency is, uh, it's a little too slow if you're just grinding it out, but it's not unbearable, if that makes

00:28:40 luke: Yeah.

00:28:41 Alex Stahlmann: sense. Um, so so I unlocked a couple things, but, like, nothing I really care about. Like, my

00:28:47 luke: Yeah.

00:28:47 Alex Stahlmann: horse got some, like, cool shit that I can wear and like, but that's, you know, like, whatever. Who cares? Like, that's what, you know. That's that's just me. Um,

00:28:55 luke: Yeah.

00:28:56 Alex Stahlmann: but yeah, dude, like, uh, the let's let's. You haven't completed the story. I have. I'm curious, like, just where you land on the story. We don't have to get into super details on it, but, like, are you are you digging it or is that just a throwaway for you?

00:29:12 luke: Somewhere in between. I mean, the cutscenes are particularly cool and, well, animated, so, like, the spectacle of that is pretty fun. Um, they're using a lot of proper nouns. I love that they like almost released like little mini series around it. So, like, if you're in this, there's like, so much to gobble up. There's books. I don't know if you noticed that, but there's like books or graphic novels that have like you're into it. So they've like Blizzard as much as on the surface it looks like a simple game. They like they do all the little things. Right. It seems like in world

00:29:44 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:29:45 luke: building and like the game and like the way it hits your stimuli senses and it's just it's pretty sick. So I'd say it's okay. I mean, chasing down Lilith is is cool. I mean, all the corruption, people acting silly, the little mini stories of each person and their descent to madness kind of in their corruption, I think is cool. It's a little bit repetitive and a little

00:30:06 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:30:06 luke: bit obvious, but it's also like a very specific well done note that they're hitting.

00:30:12 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. So Lilith is the main antagonist, the main bad guy. You mean in the beginning? And that dude, that intro cutscene I looked at, I looked up online to see if there were real actors. Like, that was fucking dope, dude. I was like, I was like, Holy shit, this is good. But it's all CGI. It's crazy. Uh, and then it's a really interesting mix of this game because they have those like really top that intro like scene or whatever is like, that is spectacular. Uh, there are other scenes not quite as long throughout the game that almost match that level of, of production, um, which is cool. And then towards end game you get some more of that. So it's really cool as well. But then they sprinkle in like these also cutscenes that are basically just a zoom up on your diorama. Like it's like, I don't know, whatever. It's like, this game's huge, dude. I don't want to be like, how fuck you like Blizzard. Like you didn't, like, do your due diligence to make all this shit cool, because that'd be absurd. But like, it is a little silly how they, uh, the mixture, in my opinion.

00:31:06 luke: I'm cool with it simply for the fact that, like, I don't know when it happened in my life, but like most games, if I hit a cutscene, I'm like, ah.

00:31:14 Alex Stahlmann: I'm sure.

00:31:14 luke: Which is why I like Death Stranding. Might have literally killed me. I never beat it. But like I remember, I tried to get into it in like the first five hours of gameplay. There's probably three hours of just like a

00:31:25 Alex Stahlmann: That basically is a movie, right?

00:31:26 luke: movie. Yeah. Happening. Um, so the storyline was pretty cool. I like just doing the stupid, like fetch quests, dude. It's always just like, go over here, clear this area, go kill this type of this animal. I'm

00:31:38 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:31:38 luke: so into that because I just

00:31:39 Alex Stahlmann: Open

00:31:39 luke: like

00:31:40 Alex Stahlmann: your loot.

00:31:40 luke: that's why I don't like that it's always connected online because, like, I want to grip it and rip it and like, set it down and pick it up. So like, having to log in and stay logged in kind of hurts that. But when I do have a chunk of time to play, I love just picking it up and like finding a stupid side quest and ripping it. And when we played, we should mention we briefly talked about it being cool, but like the online like to sync up as players took like five seconds. You and I usually

00:32:07 Alex Stahlmann: Oh, dude.

00:32:07 luke: for like a minimum like Elden Ring is a bad example because that game is just like obtuse for the sake of it.

00:32:14 Alex Stahlmann: UK

00:32:15 luke: Like

00:32:15 Alex Stahlmann: was weird.

00:32:15 luke: Took was a little funky. This took us, like us, to the

00:32:19 Alex Stahlmann: A couple

00:32:19 luke: two

00:32:19 Alex Stahlmann: of

00:32:20 luke: dumbest

00:32:20 Alex Stahlmann: clicks,

00:32:20 luke: guys, huh?

00:32:21 Alex Stahlmann: like two clicks.

00:32:23 luke: To.

00:32:23 Alex Stahlmann: It

00:32:23 luke: Yeah.

00:32:23 Alex Stahlmann: was like.

00:32:23 luke: We were like, oh, oh, that's it. Like I was shocked it was that easy. And like, it's fun to, you know, pal around and talk and do this stuff. And then one time, like, you were like, you try to link up, I was like, yeah, but I don't want to talk. So like, I'll just follow your character around. And that was fun

00:32:39 Alex Stahlmann: It's

00:32:39 luke: too.

00:32:40 Alex Stahlmann: still

00:32:40 luke: Like,

00:32:40 Alex Stahlmann: fun. It was

00:32:40 luke: there's

00:32:40 Alex Stahlmann: still fun. Yeah.

00:32:41 luke: tons of times that I was playing where I was like, I don't necessarily want to go through the work of like linking up and talking, but if al was just following my character around or vice versa, I'd be into that. So

00:32:51 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

00:32:51 luke: I

00:32:52 Alex Stahlmann: dude.

00:32:52 luke: feel like

00:32:53 Alex Stahlmann: For sure.

00:32:53 luke: it's not like a high end, like communication game where you got to be, like, all intense and like,

00:32:59 Alex Stahlmann: And

00:32:59 luke: communicating.

00:33:00 Alex Stahlmann: they've got the communication buttons that do like the get like, I don't know, come here like or like.

00:33:04 luke: Yeah.

00:33:04 Alex Stahlmann: And then they have like a taunt that's kind of ridiculous. Like

00:33:07 luke: Yeah, yeah.

00:33:08 Alex Stahlmann: he's like,

00:33:09 luke: Doing

00:33:09 Alex Stahlmann: you're

00:33:09 luke: that.

00:33:09 Alex Stahlmann: foolish and weak or whatever it

00:33:10 luke: Yeah.

00:33:11 Alex Stahlmann: is.

00:33:11 luke: I kept doing that for no good reason.

00:33:13 Alex Stahlmann: Dude.

00:33:13 luke: Um.

00:33:14 Alex Stahlmann: Not just you, man. Like random players on the internet be dropping that too. I think it's hilarious.

00:33:17 luke: Oh,

00:33:18 Alex Stahlmann: Like,

00:33:18 luke: they do that

00:33:18 Alex Stahlmann: uh,

00:33:18 luke: to you?

00:33:18 Alex Stahlmann: yeah. So you can like and back to the whole like internet and online connected thing. I agree. Like I don't love the fact that you have to be connected all the time. It's I think it's like, I think it's for piracy sake, um, to like, avoid that. I think that's part of why they do that. Um, but so like linking up super smooth. Loved it. But you also run in when you're running around, you end up seeing. And I have no idea how this works, dude. But like there are X amount of characters that are other humans playing this game that you can see, like if you're in a big town or whatever, you're going to see other people that like portal in there and they run around, they do their thing. Right. Uh, what I think is really fun about that, though, is that kind of like what you're saying. It's fun to just, like, link up and then you run around, we'll run around and, like, take care of business. Like, you can just randomly like, there'll be some sort of event on the map and they'll be some other random person is just going to run to that too. And then all of a sudden you take care of business together and you're like, go like peace. Like. I don't know.

00:34:15 luke: I

00:34:15 Alex Stahlmann: That was

00:34:15 luke: got,

00:34:15 Alex Stahlmann: fun.

00:34:15 luke: I

00:34:16 Alex Stahlmann: Like.

00:34:16 luke: got my ass saved a few times on the harder difficulty

00:34:18 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:34:18 luke: because someone else, like, cleaned up my mess and I was like, hell yeah brother, appreciate it. Which I didn't actually do anything, but like, I

00:34:27 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. And

00:34:28 luke: didn't

00:34:28 Alex Stahlmann: you can.

00:34:28 luke: thank them in any type of way, but like, I appreciated it the hell out of it. So like, it also like, um, Elden Rings a very beautiful game. But like, at first I was, like, weirded out by, like, let's just call him people's shadows and, like, messages and like, the little thing where you can see someone else running, but, like, it made the game less lonely. So I can also see that, like, it makes the game feel less empty, and it makes it feel more like you are playing as a part of something. So even without like the events, it's just cool to see people running to like the blacksmith and then to this person and then to that person, and then there's like running out to do adventures and then helping them out randomly, or them helping you out like it's just kind of cool, the simultaneousness of it. It's it's a neat concept. I just wish I could fucking pause.

00:35:12 Alex Stahlmann: For sure. Uh, I'm. You're a map guy, dude. I'm curious. You. You've been side questing and whatnot. So I wonder, um, how

00:35:20 luke: I have such

00:35:20 Alex Stahlmann: much

00:35:20 luke: a tiny fraction of this map.

00:35:22 Alex Stahlmann: that's

00:35:22 luke: Such

00:35:22 Alex Stahlmann: what I was. That's what

00:35:23 luke: a

00:35:23 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:35:23 luke: tiny

00:35:23 Alex Stahlmann: was wondering.

00:35:23 luke: fraction.

00:35:23 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, it's a huge map, bro. And we don't even have the DLC. The DLC adds, like, a whole nother. Like, it doubles it,

00:35:30 luke: I

00:35:30 Alex Stahlmann: I guess.

00:35:32 luke: we could play to see that whole map in a meaningful way.

00:35:38 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, I would say

00:35:38 luke: 200

00:35:38 Alex Stahlmann: that I've,

00:35:39 luke: hours,

00:35:39 Alex Stahlmann: like,

00:35:39 luke: man.

00:35:40 Alex Stahlmann: I would say like a fifth of the map I know pretty well is just because I spent a lot of time doing shit around it. And then like the rest of, I've been just about everywhere on the main map because I have played through the main, the main quest. Um, there's so there's like so I've been to the other areas, but like by that time though, like so the first part of when I first started playing, I was like dicking around, doing all the little dungeons, like just taking care of side quests. And then, I don't know, I was like, I'm just gonna try and beat this game because I want to roll credits. And, uh, and so I plowed through. I just plowed through. The main storyline. Didn't do any side question. Uh, so like, I sprinkled myself around in different areas that I needed to be in the map, but it's amazing how how vast it is. And I asked you earlier what you thought of the story because I was like, this story is I mean, it was like like you said, the intro was cool. It's like cool to see that scene. But I was like, I don't give, I don't, I don't care.

00:36:28 luke: Yeah.

00:36:28 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, I would say about halfway through, like, I was like, story pretty dope. I'm like, I'm into it. I'm like, I'm into what's going on here. This is cool. Like, I want to see the next thing I want to push through. I want to see, like the ending. And it pays off, man. It's, uh, it's fun. It's like there's some. There's some cool stuff. There's some stuff that, like, I didn't I shared with you in the discord and everybody in our discord. There's a blizzard dropped this like for series YouTube thing, which is like I always gripe about how like, uh, you know, manuals and box sets and all this. I mean, they, they exist for the premium, like, you know, boutique type bullshit, whatever. But like, that was just that was just a thing back in the day. You got a manual. It would have stuff in there. It was like, kind of fun. Maybe some backstory. or whatever. Uh, anyways, uh, Blizzard put out A44 episode little mini series that basically lays down the law, uh, of this game is animated, um, and it's basically lorath who's like, your main companion in this game is like, he's the he's the narrator of the game as well, which, um, I think there's reasons about that, but we won't get into it because it's some spoilery stuff. Um, but it's just like, super cool. It's super cool that Blizzard put this out there and like, you know, I bring up like, I always like, gripe about not having like, my box set, but like at the time they didn't have YouTube. So it's cool, like to have this like this type of thing available to you on YouTube to kind of give you some of that lore and history or whatever. And like kudos to Blizzard for, for, uh, for spending the money and time to do something like that just to like,

00:37:53 luke: Makes

00:37:53 Alex Stahlmann: add to this

00:37:53 luke: sense.

00:37:53 Alex Stahlmann: game.

00:37:54 luke: They would do stuff on the fringes simply because they're such an old ass company. Like, I was thinking the other day about

00:38:00 Alex Stahlmann: Sure.

00:38:00 luke: Bethesda and how Bethesda, like, is probably one of the most influential studios ever. But like when they release a new game. It's like, jeez, what do you guys think this is 2008? So like how a company evolves or refines? It's like Blizzard's been around since before 2000, so 25, 30 years minimum. I'm not sure about the total, but like they do for some degree, kind of stay in their lane. So like I wouldn't call a lot of Diablo's gameplay revolutionary. You just kind of run around, kill things, clear hordes. There's like some puzzles if you're really into that. But I've seen like maybe 3 to 4. I'm sure there's more. It's like base stuff, but like, they do what they do very, very well and they continue

00:38:45 Alex Stahlmann: Totally,

00:38:46 luke: to refine.

00:38:46 Alex Stahlmann: dude.

00:38:46 luke: And I guess they revolutionize in other ways. As far as the online world and the synchronicity and all that. But yeah, all that stuff around

00:38:55 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:38:55 luke: the fringes, it makes sense for how old of a company they are. They're not just gonna leave all that out, so to speak.

00:39:02 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude. They definitely. And they sprinkle in, like a bunch of Easter egg type stuff, dude. Like like I said, I only played a little bit of Diablo one, a little bit of Diablo three, and like, even I was able to pick up on like some of the Diablo one nods that they gave throughout. That was really cool. Like, it's like it's fun. So like, it definitely is a game that it makes. I have a hard time sometimes. Like you're like, let's play for. I was like, no, we got to play one, two, three, four, you know?

00:39:26 luke: Yeah.

00:39:26 Alex Stahlmann: But uh, but it's cool because like, I mean, they're all they're like, they're connected, but they're like, they're standalone. So you don't need to go through that way. You don't ever need to go through that way. I'm actually coming to a point in my gaming life where I'm like, Alex, it's okay, just play the newest game.

00:39:40 luke: Yeah. Turns

00:39:42 Alex Stahlmann: But,

00:39:42 luke: out you're never

00:39:42 Alex Stahlmann: uh,

00:39:42 luke: going to get through these. You're

00:39:44 Alex Stahlmann: right,

00:39:44 luke: never going to get to. Yeah.

00:39:45 Alex Stahlmann: right. But, uh, but but saying that though, like it did give me like playing this game was like dog. I should really go back and see what's up with, at least for a couple hours. See what's up with to see what's up with three. You know what I mean? Just give him some tastes.

00:39:58 luke: Well, two has like, uh, the remastered,

00:40:01 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:40:01 luke: like comeback. So that would be the most intriguing. especially because it's like, I'm sure people's favorite Diablo game. If you asked ten people, I'm sure like seven of them would tell you two.

00:40:13 Alex Stahlmann: Dude. Shout out to shout out to Keith on the main Quest podcast. He did a Diablo episode not too long ago and I asked him, you know, like, you know, I don't want to spoil. I'm going to spoil his episode a little bit. He recommends it. And

00:40:25 luke: Diablo

00:40:25 Alex Stahlmann: like, dude,

00:40:25 luke: one?

00:40:26 Alex Stahlmann: Diablo one. And this is this is a dude. We're on. We're on. Uh, we did the X-Men episode with him. With Keith, you'll remember. But, uh, so Keith, like, he. He, like, plays a lot of games, to be fair, when he will call them out for being shit. Like, he will call him out because he's, like, going back and replaying a catalogue that, like he played in his youth and he's seen if they hold up to date, that's kind of the basis of his podcast.

00:40:50 luke: Sure.

00:40:51 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, I will just go out there and say that, like I listen to his episodes and like, by God, I feel bad for this kid because he, like, plays a lot of shitty games. You know what I mean? To the to credits. It's one thing to play a game and it's another thing to play to credits and then

00:41:04 luke: Yeah,

00:41:04 Alex Stahlmann: fucking podcast about it. But

00:41:06 luke: yeah.

00:41:06 Alex Stahlmann: he did it with Diablo and he was like, this game fucking slaps, slaps today. Like. And I was like, I love to hear that dude. Like, it's one of those games that I think it'd be crunchy. You would want to play with the mouse. I've heard though that the because they ported to PlayStation, so I've heard that the like the controller version like is is pretty good too. So it could be worth checking out. Dude, for sure.

00:41:26 luke: Yeah. I think you gotta go on a gog.

00:41:29 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, it's on Gog. It's probably on whatever Blizzard's thing is. Um, Battle.net?

00:41:35 luke: I think the only place I saw when I was doing some brief research was Gog. But you could be correct.

00:41:40 Alex Stahlmann: I think it might be on Battle.net. I have it on Gog for sure. Um, I don't know. We might be able to load up to your computer if we bring over my external hard drive. Put the put our own discs in there. Yeah. Uh, but I'm going to I'm going to bring this way back to when you were asking me about that skill tree, dude, because I want to bring this up real quick. Um, did I ever fully figure it out? No. I'm way more my minds mind's wrapped around way better than it used to be, but it's interesting. I got really used to the moveset that I was kind of rocking and rolling with, and it was actually after like, we haven't even linked up since I switched over to like, some better moves for for my Barbarian, like the new moves I gave him. And then once you max them out, he's unstoppable. It's ridiculous. Like,

00:42:21 luke: Yeah,

00:42:21 Alex Stahlmann: it's just

00:42:21 luke: you

00:42:21 Alex Stahlmann: just

00:42:21 luke: pretty much

00:42:22 Alex Stahlmann: ridiculous.

00:42:22 luke: got to where I was with the Druid, where I was just like,

00:42:25 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:42:25 luke: I am. Death

00:42:27 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, dude.

00:42:28 luke: got

00:42:28 Alex Stahlmann: Totally.

00:42:28 luke: to a point. Me and my

00:42:29 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:42:29 luke: fucking

00:42:29 Alex Stahlmann: then

00:42:29 luke: werewolf

00:42:29 Alex Stahlmann: you.

00:42:30 luke: companions were just a storm of death.

00:42:32 Alex Stahlmann: But there's so. And I wanted to bring it up though, because there's so many different paths you can take and there's like, I'm sure you can min max it and I'm sure that there's, like, stuff on the internet that's like, this is the ultimate whatever. And like, but the thing is, is you can go all these different directions and I think that's super cool. And it lends the replayability of this game, which brings up the super interesting, super weird, like, I like seasoned thing that I've been talking about, where you get to, you just get to make a new character. I think you can get up to 30 characters or something you can make and you just make a new one. So

00:43:01 luke: Thought

00:43:02 Alex Stahlmann: like,

00:43:02 luke: it was ten.

00:43:03 Alex Stahlmann: okay, 3010. Whatever. Dude, what are you doing? No, I'm just kidding.

00:43:07 luke: What are you doing with these numbers? Yeah.

00:43:10 Alex Stahlmann: But, you know, that's just like, you know, you get so attached and you have this fucking beast. Um, when that scene, when the new season dropped, it was like, we do recommend you start with a new character, and then you can play with the one you can import in the one that you've been using. But they like, recommend, like using a new one. So you

00:43:27 luke: Yeah.

00:43:27 Alex Stahlmann: did a rogue. I did a sorcerer. And dude, like it took me. It was like interesting because like right off the bat, like it wasn't doing great. But then I found a few moves and I played around with a few different things maxed out. The another great thing about the skill tree that we got to make sure that we put in there is it doesn't penalize you for refunds. So if you want to like change something around, you're like,

00:43:48 luke: Yeah.

00:43:48 Alex Stahlmann: yeah, it lets you respect I fucking love that dude because you're like,

00:43:51 luke: Got it.

00:43:52 Alex Stahlmann: yeah, if you're like, oh, this doesn't really work out for me. Like, you can or if you've like maxed out, like the power on something or like did extra things for you. Did you take all those things back and then respec it in a different way? I love that you can do that. And it's like, dude, now though, my sorcerer. Like she's got like these moves, man, that I just go in and I just like, tear

00:44:11 luke: Do

00:44:11 Alex Stahlmann: people

00:44:11 luke: you want

00:44:11 Alex Stahlmann: down

00:44:11 luke: that?

00:44:12 Alex Stahlmann: with fire. It's crazy.

00:44:13 luke: You want that bass difficulty, though? Still.

00:44:17 Alex Stahlmann: I opted one more, just one more. But

00:44:18 luke: Okay.

00:44:18 Alex Stahlmann: it's interesting, the, uh.

00:44:19 luke: Do you die now?

00:44:21 Alex Stahlmann: What? Uh, every once in a while and

00:44:23 luke: Okay.

00:44:23 Alex Stahlmann: even even in the base, I was, like, getting real close to dying. And yeah, I know the harder one, but even on the base, like, because the new season, it does these nightmare dungeons, dude, and they scale on difficulty and they're, they're tough man. Like it was like, oh, I gotta be

00:44:37 luke: Yeah.

00:44:37 Alex Stahlmann: strategic again.

00:44:38 luke: I was thinking we should link up for one of those, uh, my rogue. I now have, like, more issues with crowd control because I had such, like, areas of attack moves with

00:44:48 Alex Stahlmann: Ah,

00:44:49 luke: the

00:44:49 Alex Stahlmann: yes.

00:44:49 luke: druid, and I was just this big, beefy tank that would just go in and just start mauling motherfuckers. Whereas, like, my rogue,

00:44:55 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:44:55 luke: I got this bow, which I loved. I wanted to play with a bow, But like, I gotta drop these caltrops, I run away, I set these poison traps and then try to drop the caltrops so they, like, slow down and then like, get stuck in the poison traps. Then I'm shooting them with my little machine gun, little shot thing with my bow. And like, it's a cool little thing. I don't know if it's truly effective. I'm sure someone who cares would tell me no, but that's part of the fun. Um, but like, I have to think about it, and I'm. And you know how the maps set up where, like, if you're fighting a horde of enemies and you, like, move, there's, like, a new horde of enemies.

00:45:29 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:45:29 luke: I'm always accidentally dragging my current horde and, like, into the next horde, and I'm like, ah, I'm just dying. I'm dying. Or just, like, getting into way bigger fights than I just ran out of the town. So it's like, it's not even my objective. I'm just getting into fights I can barely handle, like 100m from the from the fucking map. It's silly.

00:45:50 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, I've got this. Uh, I can't remember what the movie's called with the with the sorcerer, but it's basically this pillar of fire that she shoots out. It's like a flamethrower, right? Uh, but you can you can get it going and then and it, like, you can use it until the mana is depleted. So, like, you can shoot this fire for a decent amount of time. Uh, but you can also not only is she shooting it, but you can, like, rotate the, the joystick so that she spins in a circle. So it's basically just this fucking fire circle tornado that like just when you when those swarms come, I'm like, all right, let's go. And then I just burn everything down. Dude, it's fucking bananas.

00:46:23 luke: I'll take it. I'll

00:46:24 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:46:24 luke: take it.

00:46:25 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, yes.

00:46:26 luke: Boss

00:46:27 Alex Stahlmann: Um,

00:46:27 luke: fights are cool. I should probably mention that.

00:46:28 Alex Stahlmann: the

00:46:29 luke: They're like,

00:46:29 Alex Stahlmann: boss

00:46:29 luke: they

00:46:29 Alex Stahlmann: fights

00:46:29 luke: look

00:46:30 Alex Stahlmann: are super

00:46:30 luke: real big

00:46:30 Alex Stahlmann: cool.

00:46:30 luke: and they do more intricate

00:46:33 Alex Stahlmann: Dude.

00:46:33 luke: sets that it

00:46:35 Alex Stahlmann: We

00:46:35 luke: gets

00:46:36 Alex Stahlmann: gotta

00:46:36 luke: pretty intense.

00:46:37 Alex Stahlmann: we gotta give love to. We mentioned the whole diorama thing, but. So basically, it's that top down. It's not top down. It's like, what would you say? It's like at a 45 degree angle or something

00:46:45 luke: Isometric.

00:46:45 Alex Stahlmann: like that. Isometric. Yeah, but it's isometric. It's isometric. Uh, but like, dude, these set pieces are insane, I know one. It's kind of a gripe. This game is so big. Like it is like almost 200 gigs. Dude. It's absurd. Like

00:47:05 luke: Really?

00:47:05 Alex Stahlmann: it is. It's a ginormous game. Um, and I was like, how is this game so freaking big? But then I, like, sit there and I look at these set pieces and I'm like, okay, this makes sense because there's so much detail in the background, all these things moving around. And like when you're the more you like, go through the story too. Like you'll end up finding different like areas that you're in and they'll be there's a couple big bosses that you fight or like, I don't know, there's this one area where there's this big snake. It's not a boss or anything. It's not it's not spoilery, but like, you see like little pieces of the snake in the background. And I just love that, like, like set piece storytelling they got going on. There's another big boss that you fight where like it's such a huge boss, but you see pieces of it like on the way to to the fight or whatever, you know, in the background. And I just like, love that, like, uh, that scenic storytelling is super cool.

00:47:53 luke: Blizzard does seem to really care about their art, which I admire.

00:47:58 Alex Stahlmann: And, uh, and beyond the beyond the graphics and those set pieces. Dude, the voice acting is actually top notch as well. Got to give the voice acting a nod.

00:48:07 luke: It's, uh, it's campy in a good way.

00:48:10 Alex Stahlmann: I feel like on purpose. Almost.

00:48:12 luke: Yeah, yeah, it's like an. Yeah, it's like it's like an epic campiness. It's like it knows

00:48:18 Alex Stahlmann: Right.

00:48:18 luke: it's. Yeah, it's not trying to be too cool, but it like kind of nails it at the same time, so I fuck with it.

00:48:24 Alex Stahlmann: This game on my computer is 127GB, dude.

00:48:28 luke: Yeah. I was gonna tell you that because I looked. But then I didn't want you to be like 1030. What's the difference? So I couldn't be that guy twice. Uh,

00:48:38 Alex Stahlmann: Sure.

00:48:38 luke: I'm glad you looked it up.

00:48:40 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

00:48:40 luke: So

00:48:40 Alex Stahlmann: dude,

00:48:40 luke: the real

00:48:41 Alex Stahlmann: that's

00:48:41 luke: number,

00:48:41 Alex Stahlmann: why

00:48:41 luke: huh?

00:48:42 Alex Stahlmann: it's so big, though, that I had to, like, clean off my my steamy d to, like, make for the update like it was already on there. And then it

00:48:49 luke: Uh,

00:48:49 Alex Stahlmann: had some ginormous update and

00:48:50 luke: yeah,

00:48:50 Alex Stahlmann: I was like, well, I had to like delete three games

00:48:52 luke: I

00:48:52 Alex Stahlmann: just

00:48:52 luke: actually,

00:48:52 Alex Stahlmann: to get this

00:48:53 luke: had

00:48:53 Alex Stahlmann: update

00:48:53 luke: to

00:48:53 Alex Stahlmann: on

00:48:53 luke: get

00:48:53 Alex Stahlmann: there.

00:48:53 luke: greedy with downloading games that I haven't gotten close to playing

00:48:56 Alex Stahlmann: Same.

00:48:56 luke: on the steam CD, but like, yes, I don't think I could play it on my gaming laptop. I don't think I have enough gigs available to even play the game, tragically. So like,

00:49:06 Alex Stahlmann: See? That's wild dude, it's not like.

00:49:08 luke: it's not even

00:49:08 Alex Stahlmann: I mean,

00:49:08 luke: like if

00:49:08 Alex Stahlmann: we're

00:49:09 luke: I wanted

00:49:09 Alex Stahlmann: just saying

00:49:09 luke: a bigger

00:49:09 Alex Stahlmann: it's.

00:49:09 luke: screen, I could do it. It's like it's got to be on the steamy D.

00:49:14 Alex Stahlmann: Right, right. Uh, but yeah, man, that's Diablo. I don't know anything else we should say about Diablo.

00:49:19 luke: Yeah, dude.

00:49:20 Alex Stahlmann: Diablo?

00:49:20 luke: Uh,

00:49:20 Alex Stahlmann: Diablo four?

00:49:21 luke: because apparently I'm housekeeper today.

00:49:24 Alex Stahlmann: Yes.

00:49:24 luke: Um, on of your ratings of five. Dude, you're low five meter. Dude. What are you giving it?

00:49:31 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, I'm going to give Diablo five out of five Pentagon tips, dude.

00:49:35 luke: Well, I was gonna say a Diablo four, so

00:49:40 Alex Stahlmann: Right

00:49:40 luke: I'm glad

00:49:41 Alex Stahlmann: on.

00:49:41 luke: we both got cheesy, uh, dynamic ratings on there. I think it's really, really awesome. I just I love that you can pick it up, play it, And like I always, you know, I become an ongoing, ongoing joke similar to your top ten of all time list. Uh, where like, I'm always like, I'm going to continue to play this game, but like, I like the online component of it so much, I like that I could just text you and like, we could either chat and hang out or just like, literally just like, go take down like a weird dungeon and get a reward. I like that I can pick it up and it's been a while, and I'm going to know exactly what to do and how to do it. And there's not going to be a reintegration. And it's just grip it and rip it. And I think it's really good for that.

00:50:24 Alex Stahlmann: 100%. Dude, I think the I think the story ends up being pretty cool. There's just a, there's just a wealth of things you can do in this game. Like

00:50:31 luke: Yeah,

00:50:31 Alex Stahlmann: I tore through the

00:50:32 luke: a

00:50:32 Alex Stahlmann: main

00:50:32 luke: big old

00:50:33 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:50:33 luke: playground.

00:50:33 Alex Stahlmann: yeah, I like in that's it. So like I did the main quest. Oh I do maybe I, I'm gonna stick with my five tips.

00:50:42 luke: Okay.

00:50:42 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:50:43 luke: Four and a half.

00:50:44 Alex Stahlmann: here's, here's one gripe dude. And this I did a little bit of Reddit digging. And I think the problem is, is uh, So I rolled credit. I didn't roll credits on this game. I beat it, but I didn't roll credits because they don't fucking do that anymore after they added the DLC, to my understanding. So I did the whole main quest, and then all of a sudden, like, after all the cutscenes and all the main quest stuff, and then I went to a black screen and it just was blacks where the credits should have been, and it held that black screen for, I don't know, too long. And then it dropped me back into just the regular open world, you know, like the like the like just to continue the game. Uh, I was like, what? Like no credits. Are you kidding me? Like, is this a glitch? And I looked it up and like, other people are having this gripe as well.

00:51:32 luke: I'm surprised

00:51:32 Alex Stahlmann: Um,

00:51:32 luke: they didn't

00:51:32 Alex Stahlmann: and.

00:51:33 luke: just, like, send you to the DLC storefront.

00:51:37 Alex Stahlmann: This might as well. Right.

00:51:37 luke: That would

00:51:38 Alex Stahlmann: So,

00:51:38 luke: have been funny.

00:51:39 Alex Stahlmann: um, but that's I think that is, I think you have to beat the DLC to get credits now, which

00:51:44 luke: To

00:51:44 Alex Stahlmann: I'm

00:51:44 luke: see

00:51:45 Alex Stahlmann: like, uh,

00:51:45 luke: Steve,

00:51:45 Alex Stahlmann: just give

00:51:46 luke: the

00:51:46 Alex Stahlmann: me

00:51:46 luke: engineer's

00:51:46 Alex Stahlmann: my

00:51:46 luke: name.

00:51:46 Alex Stahlmann: give me

00:51:47 luke: Damn.

00:51:47 Alex Stahlmann: my credits, you know what I mean? Like, roll credits, bro.

00:51:51 luke: Yeah. I don't want to look at him as much as I just want that.

00:51:54 Alex Stahlmann: The feeling

00:51:54 luke: That

00:51:54 Alex Stahlmann: of being

00:51:54 luke: sensation.

00:51:55 Alex Stahlmann: like,

00:51:55 luke: Yeah.

00:51:55 Alex Stahlmann: yeah, but apparently I have to beat the DLC to get that, which means I have to buy the DLC, which I'm not sure,

00:52:02 luke: Vessel

00:52:02 Alex Stahlmann: like I just

00:52:02 luke: of

00:52:02 Alex Stahlmann: said.

00:52:02 luke: hatred or something.

00:52:04 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. So I mean, this game is dope, but like, I'm not. There's so much to do in this game still that like, I have no, like

00:52:10 luke: That's

00:52:10 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:52:10 luke: a

00:52:10 Alex Stahlmann: don't

00:52:10 luke: problem

00:52:10 Alex Stahlmann: need to

00:52:10 luke: with

00:52:10 Alex Stahlmann: buy.

00:52:10 luke: someone. Like, the biggest games I've played is, like, if it's in, I think you get some classes in the DLC. That's

00:52:17 Alex Stahlmann: You do

00:52:17 luke: the. That's the only

00:52:18 Alex Stahlmann: like

00:52:18 luke: thing that

00:52:18 Alex Stahlmann: a necromancer

00:52:19 luke: would get me.

00:52:19 Alex Stahlmann: and stuff.

00:52:20 luke: No,

00:52:20 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:52:20 luke: because we can play as the necromancer.

00:52:22 Alex Stahlmann: Oh can we now. Okay. Weird.

00:52:23 luke: I think we

00:52:24 Alex Stahlmann: There

00:52:24 luke: always

00:52:24 Alex Stahlmann: was like

00:52:24 luke: could.

00:52:24 Alex Stahlmann: a thing. No. At the get go, it's like not unlocked. But I think you had to, like, get to a certain point or something, but but yeah, that makes sense.

00:52:31 luke: Okay.

00:52:31 Alex Stahlmann: If there's new classes, it's kind of

00:52:33 luke: That

00:52:33 Alex Stahlmann: cool.

00:52:33 luke: would be like

00:52:33 Alex Stahlmann: I

00:52:33 luke: the

00:52:33 Alex Stahlmann: mean.

00:52:33 luke: type of thing that would that would get me. But yes. Um, strong recommend to Diablo as Non-online playing gamers we appreciated and enjoyed and excelled. Excelled is a strong word, but we actually like put a few good sessions and for us that is an accomplishment. So strong recommend. Loved it.

00:52:53 Alex Stahlmann: I can dig it. Well, shit, man, you want to take a little break, come back with a unsanctioned sponsor, then do some side questing.

00:52:59 luke: Sure thing.

00:53:02 Alex Stahlmann: Right on.

00:53:03 luke: Did I shout out the library last time, dude? I think I did.

00:53:06 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

00:53:08 luke: Your boy just loves the library.

00:53:13 Alex Stahlmann: I got one that we can we can riff on. I think you'll like it.

00:53:17 luke: All right.

00:53:20 Alex Stahlmann: Oh, Dougy, this month we are unofficially brought to you in part by the great sport of disc golf. Froth, if you will.

00:53:36 luke: Real golf. There's ball golf and there's disc golf. Continue.

00:53:39 Alex Stahlmann: And I'm just, you know, I'm feeling it. My rotator cuff, little sore, my arm a little limp. Dude, I got out, I got I played 30 holes the other day. First

00:53:47 luke: That's

00:53:47 Alex Stahlmann: time out this season

00:53:48 luke: actually

00:53:49 Alex Stahlmann: reinvigorated

00:53:49 luke: insane.

00:53:50 Alex Stahlmann: my love for the game.

00:53:51 luke: Yeah.

00:53:51 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, what a great sport though. Disc golf. What a what a glow up is like an intense word for it because like, I'm not sure. Like, I mean, it's had a glow up, but we're not talking like this thing. It's still crunchy. The game is still crunchy, but how far has disc golf come in the past 15 years?

00:54:10 luke: It was already exploding, and then Covid definitely sent it. You know, people needing hobbies outside sent it into a new stratosphere. Um, but, yes, uh, the only thing holding me back is cheering because I used to get out all the time. I'm not a cart guy. Um, shout out to my cart boys. That's how you know you're really about it. Um, but, I mean.

00:54:33 Alex Stahlmann: When you say car, you don't mean like a vehicle. Like in golf. You're talking about

00:54:36 luke: No

00:54:36 Alex Stahlmann: the roller bags.

00:54:37 luke: other roller bags. Yeah.

00:54:38 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

00:54:38 luke: Oh, I should call them roller bags. Although you put the bag in the cart these days, to be honest. Like, you buy the cart and then the bag inserts into the cart. So, uh, pretty intense. Uh, we've been playing for ever, man. I think the first time you brought me out there, I was like 12.

00:54:57 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, that makes sense.

00:54:58 luke: I suck balls, but it was tight.

00:55:01 Alex Stahlmann: Nothing's changed.

00:55:02 luke: Yeah, right. Uh, I was gonna avoid this, but you notice how al is real cocky about how he beat me in UK. And that's because for like, two straight decades, I've just had a stranglehold on any sports game we've played. And, uh.

00:55:16 Alex Stahlmann: Like what? Okay. With how much? Dead time in two decades.

00:55:21 luke: Doesn't

00:55:21 Alex Stahlmann: Like

00:55:21 luke: matter.

00:55:21 Alex Stahlmann: we weren't playing.

00:55:22 luke: Doesn't matter. Dude, I would have whooped your ass any day of the week, and now you actually play some twok and I don't. So you beat me in, like, two games and I beat you in the third, and you're like, I'm better than Luka. So one of the most. How many summers ago was that where you were like, let's bet some money on it. And

00:55:38 Alex Stahlmann: To.

00:55:38 luke: I was like, okay, buddy, I would

00:55:41 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:55:41 luke: beat you. And you're like, your pride hurt a little brother? Because I'm the little brother. So we went out again. You're like double or nothing. Let's do it. I was like, oh, man. And then I took your money again. You're like, oh, I still want to play. But I don't think we should gamble this time.

00:55:58 Alex Stahlmann: I got no shame there, I understand. I knew I was losing my money.

00:56:01 luke: Yeah, I would say it's not nearly as crunchy as it used to be. I don't see any dudes wearing Metallica shirts, crushing beers, listening to their music too loud anymore. Dude. I see like, none.

00:56:13 Alex Stahlmann: That kind of sad, actually.

00:56:14 luke: I mean, they kind of sucked, but yeah, it is kind of part of like, it was part of its its core essence or aesthetic of disc golf was like old metal dudes, like Gen X metal dudes. And,

00:56:27 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:56:27 luke: you

00:56:28 Alex Stahlmann: how

00:56:28 luke: know.

00:56:28 Alex Stahlmann: old were those dudes? When? When? When we saw them. When we were kids, though, they had to be, like 40, right?

00:56:34 luke: I'd say, yeah, they're like 50s now, so maybe like

00:56:38 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:56:38 luke: late 30s to 40s,

00:56:39 Alex Stahlmann: There.

00:56:39 luke: but yeah. Um, love me some disc golf and you played BRP, which is hilarious to me because you haven't played all year and you're like, I'm going to go to the fanciest, most elaborate course. And then it's right after a tournament where there are pin locations normal. Do you know that? Because if it was

00:56:54 Alex Stahlmann: Uh,

00:56:54 luke: a tournament,

00:56:55 Alex Stahlmann: yeah.

00:56:55 luke: I had extended pin locations and that would

00:56:58 Alex Stahlmann: No,

00:56:58 luke: fucking me, dude.

00:56:59 Alex Stahlmann: they had, uh. So burp is always switching it up. Dude. They always have a different. Like, they're always moving their baskets around, so always gonna be fresh. So every time you go out, they're gonna be a little different.

00:57:07 luke: Blue

00:57:07 Alex Stahlmann: But.

00:57:07 luke: Ribbon Pines for the uninitiated.

00:57:09 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:57:10 luke: Yeah.

00:57:10 Alex Stahlmann: Indeed. Uh, I think they were. They were playing the a baskets. So regular baskets. Um, but but there was three extra holes. There's 30 holes to it. That's so many. Dude, I thought I was signing up for, like I forgot the burp is, like, usually 26, 27, something like that.

00:57:30 luke: Yeah, I

00:57:30 Alex Stahlmann: Um,

00:57:30 luke: actually

00:57:31 Alex Stahlmann: it's

00:57:31 luke: always

00:57:31 Alex Stahlmann: like

00:57:31 luke: forget

00:57:31 Alex Stahlmann: too many.

00:57:31 luke: that too.

00:57:32 Alex Stahlmann: It's like some weird disc golf thing that happened, like, beyond, like when I stopped paying attention to the I mean, I play the sport. But anyway, the point is, is like, apparently that's like the tournament number. It's

00:57:42 luke: Mm.

00:57:42 Alex Stahlmann: like a tournament number

00:57:43 luke: Okay.

00:57:43 Alex Stahlmann: 27.

00:57:44 luke: Yeah.

00:57:44 Alex Stahlmann: Um, so it's it's this it is one of the best courses in the nation. It gets, you know, rated right up there. Uh, they had three extra holes, so 30. Dude, by hole 21, my arm was like, you can just fuck off and die. Like, why are you even doing this?

00:58:00 luke: Yeah, but you can hang out. I love BRP. You can hang out at the shack. Dude, get some whiskey gingers,

00:58:03 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm.

00:58:04 luke: do some hot

00:58:04 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm.

00:58:05 luke: dogs, some

00:58:06 Alex Stahlmann: Dude,

00:58:06 luke: snacks.

00:58:06 Alex Stahlmann: that's some brats. We definitely down a sausage dude for sure. It

00:58:09 luke: Was

00:58:09 Alex Stahlmann: was

00:58:09 luke: that

00:58:09 Alex Stahlmann: great.

00:58:09 luke: one lady working there? That's always there. Being rowdy,

00:58:12 Alex Stahlmann: You know she was.

00:58:13 luke: I don't know her name. The locals and the

00:58:16 Alex Stahlmann: You

00:58:16 luke: regulars

00:58:16 Alex Stahlmann: know she

00:58:16 luke: will

00:58:16 Alex Stahlmann: was

00:58:17 luke: know. Dude, she's a clown and

00:58:18 Alex Stahlmann: dog. She

00:58:19 luke: she's

00:58:19 Alex Stahlmann: uh

00:58:19 luke: kind of

00:58:20 Alex Stahlmann: when

00:58:20 luke: abrasive.

00:58:20 Alex Stahlmann: we.

00:58:20 luke: But if you're there long enough

00:58:21 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

00:58:21 luke: and like, you're

00:58:22 Alex Stahlmann: She's nice.

00:58:22 luke: interacting with the locals, you're like, this lady's hilarious. It's like your favorite

00:58:25 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm.

00:58:26 luke: townie bar in the middle of a disc golf course. It's fucking

00:58:28 Alex Stahlmann: That's 100%

00:58:28 luke: sweet,

00:58:29 Alex Stahlmann: what it

00:58:29 luke: dude.

00:58:29 Alex Stahlmann: is dude.

00:58:30 luke: It's fucking sweet.

00:58:31 Alex Stahlmann: For sure. Uh because you the way that the course is set up, you like pass the, the shack or whatever. And then you,

00:58:37 luke: Yeah.

00:58:37 Alex Stahlmann: you come back to it around like hole 26 or whatever.

00:58:40 luke: Bit

00:58:40 Alex Stahlmann: I don't

00:58:41 luke: of

00:58:41 Alex Stahlmann: know

00:58:41 luke: a

00:58:41 Alex Stahlmann: what

00:58:41 luke: bit

00:58:41 Alex Stahlmann: it

00:58:41 luke: of

00:58:41 Alex Stahlmann: is.

00:58:41 luke: an axis. Yeah.

00:58:42 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, but when we were coming back, we didn't we didn't, like, get another, you know, we didn't stop at the second time because that's usually the end of it or whatever. But we had three extra holes we had to play.

00:58:52 luke: You're

00:58:52 Alex Stahlmann: But

00:58:52 luke: holding

00:58:52 Alex Stahlmann: she

00:58:52 luke: on

00:58:52 Alex Stahlmann: was

00:58:53 luke: for dear life. You're like, I don't

00:58:54 Alex Stahlmann: dude.

00:58:54 luke: need more whiskey.

00:58:54 Alex Stahlmann: Honestly,

00:58:55 luke: I need, I need home.

00:58:56 Alex Stahlmann: dude. For real? And, uh, but it was super funny, though, because they've been coming off this stretch of like, all these, all these tournaments. And she's loud. So she's like talking to some of her friends that are there, but, you know, kind of talking to all of us. And, uh, she sits down on the chair and she's like, ah, fuck it. Hey, finally sit down and relax. And she's like. And she like, busts out a cigarette and like, has this, like, smokes a cig. And she's just talking about how they've been grinding up a whole bunch of people playing disc golf. Dude, that tourney tourney time.

00:59:25 luke: I think Minnesota has the most disc golf courses per capita in the world. I could be wrong

00:59:30 Alex Stahlmann: Are

00:59:30 luke: on

00:59:30 Alex Stahlmann: you

00:59:30 luke: that.

00:59:30 Alex Stahlmann: super sure? I don't know if it does anymore, but

00:59:32 luke: Yeah.

00:59:32 Alex Stahlmann: it did for

00:59:33 luke: So

00:59:33 Alex Stahlmann: a while.

00:59:33 luke: we're it's not it's no longer niche to us. Um. Big shout. Let's get a following in Norway, dude. In Sweden. So we can, uh, go play disc golf there. That would be cool.

00:59:45 Alex Stahlmann: They got. They got it going on in Sweden.

00:59:47 luke: Dude. Uh, a lot of the plastic disc companies are based out of Sweden, I believe. And then Norway

00:59:51 Alex Stahlmann: Interesting.

00:59:51 luke: has got a big scene too. Um,

00:59:54 Alex Stahlmann: Interesting.

00:59:54 luke: so I know those two, those two Nordic countries play a lot of disc golf, and, um. I love it, man. Uh, I've been out one and a half ish times this year, and I was like, actually good last time I was out there, for the most part, my arm was falling apart by like a whole 12 to 16, so I don't even know. I don't know how you got to 30, dude, I was so fucking. It was really hot. Day two I was

01:00:17 Alex Stahlmann: Dude,

01:00:17 luke: so tired.

01:00:18 Alex Stahlmann: dude, we woke up early, dude. We, uh, we we teed off at nine, which means

01:00:23 luke: That's

01:00:23 Alex Stahlmann: we

01:00:23 luke: the move.

01:00:23 Alex Stahlmann: like.

01:00:23 luke: And.

01:00:24 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. I mean, it was great with the heat and everything, but it was funny as, uh, my my boy AC and my boy KP. But the thing is, is, like both of those dudes, like, I was like, if one of them at like 18 holes was like, we should just go. I would have been like, okay, but like, I wasn't gonna be that guy. I wasn't going to be that guy. That was like, we should go. But like, if they were

01:00:45 luke: Yeah.

01:00:45 Alex Stahlmann: like it, I was like, yeah, dude, I'm down like, fuck this shit. It's getting hot. My arm hurts. But

01:00:49 luke: Yeah.

01:00:49 Alex Stahlmann: we played all 30, which is basically like two rounds. Like. That's nuts. Uh, man. Uh, how many? How many? Like, what do you think the record is at BRP for rounds in a day? Three. You think someone got out there, played three? Basically 90 holes of disc golf?

01:01:07 luke: Yeah.

01:01:09 Alex Stahlmann: The place open 24 hours. We could go right now, bro. We could go right now.

01:01:12 luke: Is it really? I know they've

01:01:14 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

01:01:14 luke: done like.

01:01:14 Alex Stahlmann: yeah,

01:01:15 luke: Like

01:01:15 Alex Stahlmann: yeah.

01:01:15 luke: I'm surprised. Back in your little rave days, you never went to the little electronic. They'll, like, put lights in the baskets and

01:01:22 Alex Stahlmann: For

01:01:22 luke: they'll

01:01:22 Alex Stahlmann: sure.

01:01:22 luke: have, they have like a big stage. They do like concerts and stuff there. So.

01:01:26 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. They got a scene going. It's fun,

01:01:28 luke: We

01:01:28 Alex Stahlmann: but

01:01:28 luke: should

01:01:28 Alex Stahlmann: I never

01:01:28 luke: have

01:01:29 Alex Stahlmann: made it out. No.

01:01:29 luke: no dang dude. Well talked

01:01:33 Alex Stahlmann: But I got

01:01:33 luke: about.

01:01:33 Alex Stahlmann: the. I got the itch, man. I've only been out my first time out the summer. You know I love my boy. You love your boys. But here's the deal. They do hold us back from getting in more disc golf. We just gotta figure it out because these big

01:01:43 luke: I used

01:01:44 Alex Stahlmann: men

01:01:44 luke: to play

01:01:44 Alex Stahlmann: are

01:01:44 luke: like

01:01:44 Alex Stahlmann: out there.

01:01:45 luke: I used to play,

01:01:45 Alex Stahlmann: Ladies,

01:01:45 luke: like a minimum

01:01:46 Alex Stahlmann: fellas.

01:01:46 luke: three

01:01:46 Alex Stahlmann: Whatever.

01:01:46 luke: times a week, dude. It's

01:01:47 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

01:01:47 luke: crazy.

01:01:48 Alex Stahlmann: dude. People out there golfing, people out there hunting. We should be able to disc golf whenever we want, right?

01:01:52 luke: I mean, give me another year and they might be less feral and they can at least walk around while I

01:01:59 Alex Stahlmann: Uh,

01:01:59 luke: play.

01:02:00 Alex Stahlmann: dude, I'm down for that. Dude, I think that's, uh, that'll be it. Like, once in, like,

01:02:04 luke: They'll

01:02:04 Alex Stahlmann: 5

01:02:04 luke: be

01:02:04 Alex Stahlmann: or

01:02:04 luke: raised

01:02:04 Alex Stahlmann: 6.

01:02:04 luke: on it eventually. Yeah. Um.

01:02:08 Alex Stahlmann: Disc golf though. Dude, I got the itch again. I was looking at new because I still play with that ridiculous small bag that I've had forever. So I was

01:02:15 luke: Yeah.

01:02:15 Alex Stahlmann: like, poking

01:02:15 luke: At this point,

01:02:15 Alex Stahlmann: around

01:02:16 luke: I'd be bummed

01:02:16 Alex Stahlmann: like.

01:02:16 luke: if you didn't play with that.

01:02:20 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, I gotta get a new bag. It's ridiculous.

01:02:22 luke: I mean,

01:02:22 Alex Stahlmann: But

01:02:23 luke: so

01:02:23 Alex Stahlmann: it's

01:02:23 luke: it's

01:02:23 Alex Stahlmann: kind of fun.

01:02:23 luke: worse, essentially.

01:02:25 Alex Stahlmann: Pretty much. Pretty much. Yeah.

01:02:26 luke: Yeah. Um, well, if you think Alex should meet up with me and give me $10 to beat him again and give him lessons. You just let us know in the discord.

01:02:37 Alex Stahlmann: This is inflation, dude. We play for five bones around here.

01:02:40 luke: Uh, yeah. Well, we used to play for beers, and then you always had to buy the beers, so. We'll have to find a new version of that.

01:02:49 Alex Stahlmann: Right on. Right

01:02:50 luke: All

01:02:50 Alex Stahlmann: about

01:02:50 luke: right.

01:02:50 Alex Stahlmann: disc

01:02:50 luke: Man,

01:02:50 Alex Stahlmann: golf, if you will.

01:02:52 luke: uh, don't do that. Tyler was rock hard, and now he just lost his boner. You can't call it off, dude.

01:02:59 Alex Stahlmann: That's why I said it, because it bugs people. But that was originally what people called it.

01:03:03 luke: Uh, you're old enough. You've been playing long enough where it was introduced to you. As for all right.

01:03:08 Alex Stahlmann: I'm an old head now.

01:03:09 luke: Yeah. This has got to get you your Metallica shirt. Dude, you're fucking

01:03:12 Alex Stahlmann: I was

01:03:13 luke: ready.

01:03:13 Alex Stahlmann: about to say, man, I got my I got, I got I was about to say I, I had to go to a concert. That's the only way.

01:03:20 luke: To Metallica. And then

01:03:21 Alex Stahlmann: I

01:03:21 luke: you gotta.

01:03:21 Alex Stahlmann: seem to talk alive. It's all good.

01:03:23 luke: You have it.

01:03:25 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

01:03:25 luke: Oh.

01:03:25 Alex Stahlmann: I worked the concert,

01:03:25 luke: Oh.

01:03:26 Alex Stahlmann: though.

01:03:26 luke: That's right. Hilarious. But yes. Disc golf. Get out there. People follow course

01:03:30 Alex Stahlmann: Get out there

01:03:31 luke: etiquette,

01:03:31 Alex Stahlmann: and throw.

01:03:31 luke: but get out there.

01:03:33 Alex Stahlmann: Gotta go. Throw!

01:03:34 luke: Gotta go through. All right. Dude.

01:03:37 Alex Stahlmann: What up? Dude? You been. You been side questing, bro?

01:03:40 luke: Yeah. Um, bro.

01:03:42 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

01:03:43 luke: It's officially a problem. Uh, so the issues I had with Diablo is that because of the online connectivity, I can't just pick it up and play it and then stop and then look at something else and then do. So I ended up just playing so much, bro. Because, dude, it's the perfect flow state game. I'm like 40 hours into bro. It's gross. I bought the expansion during the last sale because like, hell yeah, it's dirt cheap. It's worth it. Got some new characters. Fucking love Roto dude. So Roto is one I bought this new one that's more interesting for you to hear about, other than me as a weaponized potato taking down hordes of whatever the fuck they're supposed. He doesn't even look like a potato. He looks like an egg. What's up with that? What's up with that

01:04:28 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

01:04:28 luke: potato,

01:04:29 Alex Stahlmann: I know,

01:04:29 luke: people?

01:04:29 Alex Stahlmann: I know, you talking about. Yeah. What is that all about?

01:04:31 luke: Why? Why did they make the potato white? Make them brownish? Like we all know what a potato looks like. What's going on there? But anyway,

01:04:37 Alex Stahlmann: I don't know,

01:04:38 luke: um.

01:04:38 Alex Stahlmann: bro. Bro. Bro. Agullo doesn't sound as cool,

01:04:42 luke: Yeah,

01:04:42 Alex Stahlmann: bro. Bro.

01:04:43 luke: but potato looks cool. Dude, looking at the cover art right now, he's got the double the double SMGs, dude with the bandana and the scar over his eye look. Fucking lit, dude. But anyway, um,

01:04:54 Alex Stahlmann: You're like, can I play right now? Can we just.

01:04:56 luke: joke's on you, dude. I've been playing bro tato this whole time.

01:05:00 Alex Stahlmann: You got more hours on than you do, Diablo,

01:05:02 luke: Correct?

01:05:02 Alex Stahlmann: son.

01:05:03 luke: Correct. But also, like, kind of makes sense. Dude, it's just so easy to just do something else, watch something else and play

01:05:12 Alex Stahlmann: Sure.

01:05:12 luke: bro potato. Um, although right now, for some reason, it says that I have 108 hours. That is not correct. Um,

01:05:21 Alex Stahlmann: Oh, interesting.

01:05:22 luke: so I don't know what's up with that. I gotta hit the sink one more time, I guess. But, um, I

01:05:26 Alex Stahlmann: Reads

01:05:26 luke: think it's closer

01:05:27 Alex Stahlmann: 40

01:05:27 luke: to

01:05:27 Alex Stahlmann: hours.

01:05:27 luke: 40. 40

01:05:28 Alex Stahlmann: 40

01:05:28 luke: to.

01:05:28 Alex Stahlmann: hours if I look at your profile. Yeah.

01:05:30 luke: Okay. Um. Cardboard town. Now, another game you have heard me speak about upon this podcast is, um. God, these all have these crunchy names. I always forget what they're called, but I was playing a bunch of it, and I used to always annoy you. God, you should write down a little thing on your calendar so you know it or not. Your calendar, but your notes, so you can know to fucking cut this down. So I sound smarter on the podcast. Oh, where is it? Where is it? Oh my God, this is so cringe,

01:06:02 Alex Stahlmann: Their escape.

01:06:02 luke: dude. Thank you. Terror escape. You've heard me talk a lot about Terror Escape, which is like this hex grid like kind of tile card based, like builder, essentially. And you get all these synergies and these things. Um, Cardboard Town is kind of close to that. Once again, it is card based and you're now on like just a traditional grid and you have different things to manage. It's a roguelike more so you run into these scenarios about five hours in. I get my ass beat every time. Um, but it's got like this cute little cartoony style. I've been playing that. That's super cool. I just wanted to give that one a quick shout out, and then spent more time fumbling for the names of other games. Um, and then NCAA came back and, uh, I don't have a full report for you yet, but the sickness is back. And you know what? That'll happen. And the last thing I'll mention

01:06:56 Alex Stahlmann: Luke

01:06:56 luke: is

01:06:56 Alex Stahlmann: Dukes

01:06:56 luke: that Luke,

01:06:57 Alex Stahlmann: 2026.

01:06:58 luke: Coach Duke's dude, uh, I want you to know that Duke's is my name of my Diablo character, and, uh, we didn't get to meet up online to as our new characters, but we both made our new characters female. And my character's name is Lady Duke's, and that makes me laugh every time. It's just.

01:07:14 Alex Stahlmann: Nice.

01:07:14 luke: Why wouldn't I, um.

01:07:15 Alex Stahlmann: Mine is. Mine is Sabrina. Because she's a sorceress.

01:07:19 luke: Okay,

01:07:19 Alex Stahlmann: Sabrina the teenage witch.

01:07:20 luke: okay. It's like the.

01:07:23 Alex Stahlmann: I was like, what witch names do I know?

01:07:25 luke: Uh, sure, sure, sure, sure. Um. I have HBO, courtesy of my brother. Um,

01:07:32 Alex Stahlmann: Me.

01:07:32 luke: which is tight. Mhm. And I've stumbled upon something I've probably talked about on this pod, but I fucking love it and it needs a shout out. I don't give a fuck about the MCU. I don't give a fuck about the new Superman movie coming out. You know, superhero

01:07:47 Alex Stahlmann: Looks

01:07:47 luke: content

01:07:48 Alex Stahlmann: dope.

01:07:48 luke: I'm here for. It's fucking DC has an absolute heater of an animated movie catalog, dude.

01:07:55 Alex Stahlmann: Yep.

01:07:56 luke: So Batman Ninja two dropped Batman versus the Yakuza League. Dude, the Yakuza League is tight. I watched, like, another one. They just dropped Batman into different periods. They just do different period pieces of Batman. And I will watch everyone. Dude, it's so tight. Like, I love that they do that with Batman as a character because like a lot of these characters, a lot of times just get reinvented constantly, which is a kid I didn't quite understand, but I do now. Um, because it's a character, right?

01:08:27 Alex Stahlmann: Sure.

01:08:28 luke: It's just something that can be reinvented and it's just the story gets told and it gets a new context. So DC just does an awesome job in their adult animation section on HBO Max. They don't have all of them that they used to. They seem to cycle a few, which is pretty annoying, but I've been getting into those. So, uh, you should look into your own HBO and just see what you've been watching recently, Alex, and some good suggestions in there for you, dude.

01:08:55 Alex Stahlmann: I can dig it.

01:08:56 luke: Ignore

01:08:56 Alex Stahlmann: I can dig it.

01:08:57 luke: all that softcore, but I don't know

01:08:59 Alex Stahlmann: I've heard

01:08:59 luke: what's

01:08:59 Alex Stahlmann: that,

01:09:00 luke: going on

01:09:00 Alex Stahlmann: uh,

01:09:00 luke: with that, but.

01:09:01 Alex Stahlmann: that the Harley Quinn series is supposed to be fantastic as well.

01:09:05 luke: Um, is that Birds of Prey?

01:09:07 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah, I think so,

01:09:08 luke: Yeah.

01:09:09 Alex Stahlmann: yeah. Or

01:09:09 luke: I'm

01:09:09 Alex Stahlmann: wait, is

01:09:09 luke: watching.

01:09:10 Alex Stahlmann: that the movie, or is

01:09:11 luke: Uh.

01:09:11 Alex Stahlmann: that the, uh. I don't know, Harley Quinn got she she got an animated series. It's supposed to be amazing as well.

01:09:16 luke: I heard it's

01:09:16 Alex Stahlmann: DC,

01:09:16 luke: awesome.

01:09:17 Alex Stahlmann: DC animated stuff is like, great, dude.

01:09:19 luke: Yeah. What's what's up with Marvel? Dropping the ball completely and with DC doing so bad with their live actions for so long, but then just absolute heaters just churning out heaters in the animated space. I also watched The War of Rahim. Um, the Lord of the rings one. That was cool, I liked that.

01:09:35 Alex Stahlmann: Nice. Nice.

01:09:37 luke: So that's what kicked all this off. I was like, hell yeah. So I don't watch any TV or movies, but that's what I apparently got time for. I don't know, I'm a strange guy.

01:09:44 Alex Stahlmann: Where are you getting these in on? Are you watching? Like, just on your main TV? You watch on your computer. You watch

01:09:48 luke: Yeah,

01:09:49 Alex Stahlmann: it on a steamy day.

01:09:49 luke: I'll play like, either the steamed downstairs or NCAA football, and then I'll burn out around 9:00 and I'll watch like a half an hour to 45 minutes and then do the same thing the next day and finish it,

01:10:02 Alex Stahlmann: Right on.

01:10:03 luke: because none of them dragged too long. I tried watching a Justice League one, but there's like a bunch of time hopping with the flash, and I was like, this is annoying as hell, so maybe I'll pick that one back up. Um, a bunch of them I've seen already because I go on these spurts occasionally. I'm currently watching one that's like this creepy ass thing where, like, the French made it in, like, the 70s to early 80s. And it's like humans are like basically bugs, small animals to these aliens. And I'll let you know how that goes. But it's fucking weird as hell. It's cool.

01:10:33 Alex Stahlmann: Right on.

01:10:34 luke: Yeah. Yeah. So what? So what are you playing? Man, that was a weird tangent for me. What's up?

01:10:39 Alex Stahlmann: Dude, as far as video games go, like I haven't really played much outside of Diablo. Did just a little bit of sampling here and there. Uh, Freedom Finger, which is a shmup that I like. Been playing a little bit of that because, uh, one of the homies was talking about some shmups, and I was like, freedom finger can play that. Have you, have you picked that one up yet?

01:10:56 luke: Never

01:10:56 Alex Stahlmann: I should have

01:10:56 luke: heard.

01:10:56 Alex Stahlmann: bought it for.

01:10:57 luke: Never heard of a freedom finger.

01:10:59 Alex Stahlmann: Oh, you should check it out. Dude, it's you're a flying middle finger in space and you're like the soundtrack or the like. Yeah, the soundtrack is amazing, dude. It's got, like, everything from Sage Francis to, like, I don't know, like fucking dude, it's it's nuts. It's cool. I'll show it to you sometime. Maybe I'll buy it for you one of these days. Uh, it was just on a pretty deep discount. But if anybody's a fan, like, go check out Freedom Finger, that shit's dope. Uh, but as far as, like other other gaming outside of Diablo, dude. Uh, well, I guess it's kind of a major side quest. I've been doing more short form content on

01:11:30 luke: Hell,

01:11:30 Alex Stahlmann: the low

01:11:30 luke: yeah.

01:11:30 Alex Stahlmann: five gaming page. Um, whether you're on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, you can check that shit out. Uh, but I've I've launched a series of series, so I've got pocket picks. Pocket picks is basically me showcasing my, uh, handheld collection slash. Um, so Game Boy games, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, uh, I will likely expand that into, uh, the 3DS at some point and maybe even the Vita, basically any handheld device. In theory, I could maybe even do the switch. We'll see. We'll see how froggy I am. Uh, but it's been fun, dude. Mostly, mostly been focusing on, like, the Game Boy and the Game Gear games right now. And it's like a really great excuse for me to, uh, basically

01:12:18 luke: Justify

01:12:18 Alex Stahlmann: play those games

01:12:19 luke: your

01:12:19 Alex Stahlmann: a little

01:12:19 luke: massive

01:12:19 Alex Stahlmann: bit

01:12:20 luke: collection of fucking

01:12:21 Alex Stahlmann: and

01:12:21 luke: Game

01:12:21 Alex Stahlmann: just

01:12:21 luke: Boy

01:12:22 Alex Stahlmann: justify

01:12:22 luke: games.

01:12:22 Alex Stahlmann: the collection a little bit, dude. You know, I got hundreds of Game Boy games, so it's like it's tight to kind of dig through the boxes. Like I've got them all in little Star Wars lunchboxes. Uh, but I'll just dig in there. I'll pull out one at random, and then I'll talk about it a little bit or whatever. That's, that's the that's the pocket pick series

01:12:37 luke: I do

01:12:37 Alex Stahlmann: and

01:12:37 luke: enjoy

01:12:37 Alex Stahlmann: that's

01:12:37 luke: those.

01:12:37 Alex Stahlmann: it. Cool, man.

01:12:38 luke: Mhm. Mhm.

01:12:39 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, those have been super cool. I've also been doing a, uh, something I'm calling Bite Line, which is a weekly, uh, just round up five five story roundup of different news, uh, gaming news. So that one's just it's a different flavor, different thing going on. And then the third is something I'm calling Start Screen. And that is basically exactly what it sounds like. And it's just a start screen of various, uh, right now retro games. So I've done uh, 1080 snowboarding. So 64 games right now, 1080 and Pokemon

01:13:10 luke: Uh,

01:13:10 Alex Stahlmann: Snap.

01:13:11 luke: yeah. That's it. That's what I saw. Um well I've seen both

01:13:13 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

01:13:13 luke: of them. But I do have a suggestion which is

01:13:16 Alex Stahlmann: Mhm

01:13:16 luke: going to bother just me.

01:13:18 Alex Stahlmann: mhm.

01:13:19 luke: I want

01:13:19 Alex Stahlmann: Um.

01:13:19 luke: you to rotate your amiibos on those.

01:13:22 Alex Stahlmann: It's planned. Dude.

01:13:24 luke: All right. I was like, staring at the amiibos for half the video, and I was like, he should. He has more amiibos than he needs. He should be

01:13:31 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah,

01:13:31 luke: rotating

01:13:31 Alex Stahlmann: that's

01:13:31 luke: these memes.

01:13:31 Alex Stahlmann: that's part

01:13:32 luke: And if

01:13:32 Alex Stahlmann: of the

01:13:32 luke: the

01:13:32 Alex Stahlmann: plan.

01:13:32 luke: game lines up with it, that's perfect. Um.

01:13:35 Alex Stahlmann: That's part of the plan, for sure.

01:13:36 luke: That's hilarious.

01:13:37 Alex Stahlmann: Um, but it's been fun,

01:13:38 luke: Yeah.

01:13:38 Alex Stahlmann: man. It's. It's like. I don't want to say it's been like. I mean, it's crazy. It's fascinating to me because I'm in marketing and I do a lot of social media marketing. So like to see how all the different platforms react and the different audiences in each. It's been really fascinating and cool, and people have been really receptive to them, which is like fun too. Uh, for anybody out there listening that is like dabbling in content creation or like just wants to for fun. Like it can be. It can be totally like, uh, it's like it's really easy to have a lot of apprehension about putting yourself out there creating stuff. Um, but it turns out that a lot of people are going to like your shit. You know.

01:14:14 luke: I enjoy watching your videos while I take a shit.

01:14:18 Alex Stahlmann: Hey, man, I appreciate that. I appreciate those poopy views.

01:14:21 luke: Hey, poopy likes for me every time, dude.

01:14:24 Alex Stahlmann: I can dig it, dude, but that's that's been a major side quest. So I mean, like, every single day I've been trying to get, like, stuff out every day. Um, not going to today, but that's just how it goes. But, uh, but yeah. So basically I've done, you know, nearly, nearly 20 videos in the last two weeks or three, 2 to 2 and a half weeks or whatever. Um, and that's been like dabbling with mostly just dabbling a little bit in each of those different games. So all these little mini side quests along the way. It's been fun.

01:14:47 luke: Hell, yeah. Brighten up your poop, dudes.

01:14:50 Alex Stahlmann: Um.

01:14:50 luke: Brighten up your morning coffees whenever you get your short form content in.

01:14:55 Alex Stahlmann: Yes,

01:14:55 luke: I like

01:14:55 Alex Stahlmann: sir,

01:14:56 luke: them, I

01:14:56 Alex Stahlmann: yes,

01:14:56 luke: like them

01:14:57 Alex Stahlmann: sir.

01:14:58 luke: and don't

01:14:58 Alex Stahlmann: Uh, and. Yeah.

01:14:59 luke: don't sue Alex. Nintendo I don't know if you can legally, but you'll find a way, so don't do it.

01:15:04 Alex Stahlmann: I think I'm, I think I'm in the means of, uh, Creative Commons. I think we're okay. Um, and I'm showcasing actual carts, which is like, kind of a fun bit of it. I think that makes it, like, kind of fun because, uh, you know, you can. I mean, nothing against emulation ROMs, that kind of thing, but I think it's cool to be able to be like, hey, what you're seeing right here is like, it's off of this fucking physical piece of media.

01:15:25 luke: Hell,

01:15:25 Alex Stahlmann: It's

01:15:25 luke: yeah.

01:15:25 Alex Stahlmann: kind of dope.

01:15:26 luke: No. They're cool.

01:15:27 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah. Well, that's, uh, that's a that's a big, uh. Other than that, dude, I've been reading Star Wars comics back back in my Star Wars comic binge. Um, that's been fun. I've been reading the whole, like, Star Wars line that has, like, started maybe 2018 and it goes to current. Uh,

01:15:41 luke: Hell,

01:15:41 Alex Stahlmann: so

01:15:41 luke: yeah.

01:15:41 Alex Stahlmann: that's been cool. And, uh, yeah, I think that's it.

01:15:46 luke: I'm. You know, you know me. I'm still hitting up the library. I tried to get a graphic novel in a book every time. So I'm with you on that journey in a slightly different way.

01:15:56 Alex Stahlmann: I can dig it. Well, shit. Everybody, thanks for listening. Uh, join us in the discord. The cool little spot. Uh, we will drop little notes. Or at least I'll drop little notes on whatever game that we're playing for the month. Uh, next game is going to be plucky, Squire. I started that the other night. It's fun. I don't know if you had a chance yet, dude, but it's, uh. It's a cool one. Um, more

01:16:14 luke: My

01:16:14 Alex Stahlmann: more

01:16:14 luke: keys,

01:16:14 Alex Stahlmann: on that.

01:16:15 luke: the computer.

01:16:15 Alex Stahlmann: What?

01:16:16 luke: So

01:16:16 Alex Stahlmann: What's

01:16:17 luke: instead

01:16:17 Alex Stahlmann: that?

01:16:17 luke: of punched in the keys today at the computer.

01:16:19 Alex Stahlmann: Nice. Nice, nice.

01:16:20 luke: So I had to get

01:16:21 Alex Stahlmann: Yeah.

01:16:21 luke: on.

01:16:21 Alex Stahlmann: But more. More on that one next month. Uh, it's, uh, it's an interesting one, man. I think it's like it's very different from from Diablo. Like, I hope you enjoy. Uh, it's one of those games that I like very much appreciate. And I'm like, do I like it? I mean, I like it, but it's like, I'm not, you know, we'll talk more about it later.

01:16:39 luke: Do be do be looking beautiful. That's all I know

01:16:41 Alex Stahlmann: It is very

01:16:41 luke: so

01:16:41 Alex Stahlmann: cool. It's

01:16:42 luke: far.

01:16:42 Alex Stahlmann: very cool. Uh, yeah. But thanks for listening. Check us out. Low five gaming.com if you are on YouTube, TikTok Instagram. Follow low five gaming. Uh, give me give me some love on those on my hard work on my on my series is my series I.

01:16:59 luke: Like like they're good.

01:17:01 Alex Stahlmann: All right, all right, bro. Much love. Peace.

01:17:03 luke: Piece.

01:17:05 Alex Stahlmann: Right on.

01:17:08 luke: Hell, yeah.