Monthly Archives

April 2020

086: The Last of Us

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We make travel across the country to potentially save humanity in the Last of Us.

Developer: Naughty Dog | Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment | Initial Release: June 14, 2013

Jacob, Mike and special guest Matt aka Stormageddon craft weapons, stumble through visceral battles and make human decisions throughout.

Players: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt) & Mike Ruffolo (@ruffolom)

Special Guest: Matt aka Stormageddon (@DJ_Stormageddon)

Twitch: twitch.tv/dj_stormageddon | Facebook: facebook.com/stormageddonnyc

Matt also hosts a number of podcasts:

Web: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

SHOW NOTES:

  • 2:40 An introduction to Matt’s work (and a thank you to the Games Gone podcast)
  • 4:45 Fast Pitch for The Last of Us
  • 6:40 What are our personal histories with The Last of Us?
  • 11:10 What does The Last of Us feel like to play?
  • 18:20 The setup of The Last of Us and the opening of the game
  • 22:55 The voice acting in the game
  • 25:10 A primer on the combat and the gameplay and comparing it to Naughty Dog’s other games
  • 30:10 Talking through Uncharted 3’s train sequence, a comparison to horror games and Matt enters into the Mario vs. Luigi fray
  • 33:15 Is Mike being too hard on the game? Mike’s hot take on TLOU.
  • 35:55 Matt compares the game to the original Mass Effect
  • 39:30 The game’s jump cuts and comparisons to The Walking Dead
  • 45:45 We talk about the game’s cross-country journey (with Price is Right rules)
  • 48:20 Talking through some of the highlights in the story
  • 53:30 After teasing it throughout, we fully spoil the ending here
  • 56:05 The “re-bar” moment and the repercussions of that incident
  • 1:01:45 What do we want to see in TLOU2? [we do not speak about leaks here] 
  • 1:05:00 Moe would be envious of our weapon and tool talk
  • 1:09:45 Our standout moments from the game
  • 1:13:05 A deep dive on the hospital sequence
  • 1:17:15 “Do you think that Joel did the right thing?”
  • 1:19:30 The sound and music in the game and some 
  • 1:22:25 Questions from @lukewarmlewis, @LudonarrativeFM & @CtrlAltNoob
  • 1:28:45 Matt talks about his projects (links above)

NOTES ABOUT THE EPISODE:

  1. We did not discuss the multiplayer because PS3 servers for the multiplayer were shut down.
  2. We have avoided discussions about COVID-19 on the past few episodes, but for The Last of Us, we chose to discuss playing this game in our current environment. 
  3. We recorded this episode prior to April 27 when the new release date was announced and the leaks about the sequel occurred. The show only talks about sequel details from official Naughty Dog media and presentations.

NEXT SHOWS:

  • May 6, 2020 – Kentucky Route Zero Act I feat. Jacob, Mike and special guest Adam Ianetta
  • May 20, 2020 – Firewatch feat. Jacob, Mike, Moe and special guest Dan from the Greatest Story Ever Played Podcast 

DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast with a focus on positivity & community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

TIP JAR: If you’re feeling generous and love the show, we have a PayPal tip jar! Any funds raised will go towards hosting our site and paying for games and equipment as we look to bring you higher quality content every month.

085: A Short Hike

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We explore the great outdoors at our own pace in A Short Hike.

Developer: Adam Robinson-Yu | Publisher: Adam Robinson-Yu | Initial Release: April 5, 2019

Jacob, Mike, Moe and special guest Flora Merigold fish, hike, and play an imaginary sport that is a cross between volleyball and badminton.

Players: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt), Mike Ruffolo (@ruffolom) & Moe Murtadi (@mmurtadi)

Special Guest: Flora Merigold, co-founder of EpilogueGaming.com

Twitter: @LudonarrativeFM | Twitch: @LudoFM

Web: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

 SHOW NOTES:

  • 2:20 A summary of Flora’s work
  • 2:40 Our Short Hike Fast Pitch
  • 3:50 What did we know about A Short Hike before we started?
  • 8:10 What is it like playing A Short Hike? We explain the game’s Golden Feather system.
  • 12:00 “This game just lets you play,” the team refers to Adam Robinson-Yu’s GDC talk often (and Moe took a lot of notes)
  • 18:40 Some of the game’s ancillary system and mini-games (fishing, treasure hunting)
  • 21:10 We also talk about some of the characters and their snappy dialogue
  • 26:35 A Canadian connection to A Short Hike
  • 28:50 Silver Feathers?
  • 31:10 What do we think the game looks like?
  • 33:40 We talk about the sweet soundtrack
  • 35:30 We talk more specifically about the story and the dialogue
  • 43:30 Comparisons to Super Mario and Costume Quest
  • 45:25 Final thoughts

NEXT SHOWS:

  • The Last of Us w/ Jacob, Mike and Matt Storm: April 29th

DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast with a focus on positivity & community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

TIP JAR: If you’re feeling generous and love the show, we have a PayPal tip jar! Any funds raised will go towards hosting our site and paying for games and equipment as we look to bring you higher quality content every month.

084: Oxenfree

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We experience John Hughes’ version of Goosebumps in Oxenfree.

Developer: Night School Studios | Publisher: Night School Studios | Initial Release: January 15, 2016

Jacob, Mike, Moe and special guest Kam Konek from the New Entertainment System Podcast try and remember what it’s like to be a rebellious teen, explore a cool/freaky deserted island and talk a lot about fate.

Technical note: Mike knocked the cable out of his microphone partway through recording, so we are using a back-up for his track. The audio quality is a little bit lower than usual.

Players: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt), Mike Ruffolo (@ruffolom) & Moe Murtadi (@mmurtadi)

Special Guest: Kam Konek (@TheKamdyman)

Web: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

The NES Pod: Website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

SHOW NOTES:

  • 2:00 Kam tells us about the New Entertainment System Podcast
  • 3:15 Fast Pitch: Oxenfree Edition
  • 4:55 What did you know about Oxenfree before we started recording?
  • 6:55 What platforms did we play Oxenfree on?
  • 7:35 What is the gameplay of Oxenfree?
  • 9:40 Mike compares the game to Night in the Woods, Jacob compares the game to coming-of-age movies like Perks of Being a Wallflower and the Spectacular Now and Moe talks about Unity
  • 11:55 The game’s characters
  • 16:05 An explanation of the game’s multiple endings and “Clarissa [expletive] sucks”
  • 18:10 The start of Oxenfree and Mike explains the dialogue/speech bubble system
  • 22:25 The game’s big spooky twist [major spoilers start here]
  • 25:45 Comparing Oxenfree to a VHS player
  • 28:15 The game’s music and scenery were tranquil, but the lack of fast travel made Moe rage
  • 30:45 The map is frustratingly hard to use
  • 32:05 Bugs
  • 34:45 What the heck is actually going on?
  • 37:30 “What did you all think of the dialogue and writing?”
  • 42:55 The game starts funnelling you towards the end of the game
  • 50:00 We compares Oxenfree to Stranger Things and Interstellar
  • 54:05 The final choice and time loops?
  • 1:04:15 “Is leave possible”, New Game+ and the Oxenfree ARG (the ARG documentary that Jacob mentioned)
  • 1:08:00 Other players entering your experience?
  • 1:10:10 Mike brings up Nietzsche and Amor Fati… Moe brings up Frozen
  • 1:17:00 We cap off the episode with some sound talk and our final thoughts
  • 1:24:30 A solo version of the Left Behind Game Show and a blooper

Thank you to @jacobdekk, @storyeverpod and @LudonarrativeFM for the questions!

NEXT SHOWS:

  • A Short Hike w/ Jacob, Moe, Mike: April 15th
  • The Last of Us w/ Jacob, Moe, Mike and Matt Storm (aka Stormageddon): April 29th

DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast with a focus on positivity & community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

TIP JAR: If you’re feeling generous and love the show, we have a PayPal tip jar! Any funds raised will go towards hosting our site and paying for games and equipment as we look to bring you higher quality content every month.