Sacred Symbols, Episode 229 | Shimmy Simulator
Added 2022-11-18 17:00:13 +0000 UTCGod of War: Ragnarok has finally arrived, and with it comes opinions. A whole slate of them. The three of us have sat with the newest PlayStation 5 smash-hit for varying amounts of time, and we come away with equally-varying opinions that we're eager to share, expand upon, and challenge. Needless to say, we spend a whole lot of time talking about the game this week, so buckle-in. We also delve into the last seven days' news, touching on Witcher III's much-delayed PS5 release, the official announcement of Remedy's Control 2, Embracer's perilous studio structure in the face of a truncating games industry, and more. We round things out, as always, with listener inquiries generated from our audience on Patreon. Is Sacred Symbols taking on too negative a tenor as of late? Should we expect better than 1080p60 on PS5? Why do people keep giving a platform to Adam Sessler? How young is too young to join the Gamer Batallation?
Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:08:26 - LSM ruins Christmas
0:10:34 - Where do Colin’s shirts come from?
0:14:36 - LIVE EVENT TICKETS
0:17:30 - Some small corrections
0:18:36 - Why does Colin hate accountants?
0:24:07 - What is the enlistment age for the Gamer Battalion?
0:28:25 - Should you crush young children in video games?
0:33:55 - Don’t throw it away!
0:39:46 - Should I pretend to need a service dog?
0:44:35 - Is Nibel a creator?
0:54:50 - Did we pre-order PSVR2?
1:02:46 - Ubisoft has released Splinter Cell art
1:11:29 - Where does Santa Monica Studio go next?
1:16:19 - Crisis Core Remake runs at 4K/60
1:18:49 - In 2022, gaming revenue is down
1:20:57 - id Software and Bethesda throw Mick Gordon under the bus, again
1:32:26 - Kevin Conroy has passed away
1:38:51 - Insider trading at Square Enix
1:39:29 - A New Dark Pictures game is going to space
1:42:29 - What have we been playing?
2:19:20 - The Witcher III is coming to PS5
2:27:10 - Control 2 is in development
2:34:38 - Phil Spencer reaffirms Call of Duty will stay on PlayStation
2:42:01 - The NPD Group has revealed monthly sales data
2:54:01 - Embracer Group has a lot going on
3:02:09 - Sony has filed an NFT-ish patent
3:13:31 - Is Sacred Symbols too negative?
3:30:15 - Does a heavy grind devalue a Platinum trophy?
3:34:21 - Is 1080/60 enough?
3:40:33 - Does Elden Ring deserve an award for its narrative?
3:46:41 - How does Adam Sessler still get gigs?
3:50:11 - Did Colin miss Arkanoid: Eternal Battle?
Comments
Well said
Brer Rabbit
2022-11-24 06:50:46 +0000 UTCYes.
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:14:13 +0000 UTC<3
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:14:05 +0000 UTC=\
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:14:02 +0000 UTCI really don't see how the original game's puzzles and these are the same.
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:13:57 +0000 UTCIt's definitely not compelling me forward. I'm glad I'm not alone.
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:13:47 +0000 UTCWe get taxed on our income. We make up (or get back) the difference. We also pay state sales tax, income tax, property tax, etc.
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:13:33 +0000 UTCI will reserve my fuller thoughts for the spoilercast. I'm not nearly done yet.
Colin Moriarty
2022-11-24 03:13:04 +0000 UTCIf I were to say you’re high for not thinking God Of War is great, I would be just as correct as you saying someone is high for not thinking The Last Of Us is great. Just as I’ve been told I was high for thinking Final Fantasy is not great. Games are subjective. We are all right and we are all wrong. The only important thing, and the difference between a fanboy and a an enthusiast, is the recognition of quality. God Of War sits atop the rest of the industry, breathing rare air with a small percentage of other games. As long as you don’t deny that, anything else you have to say is perfectly valid.
Greg Hommel
2022-11-23 22:00:15 +0000 UTCI almost stood up and cheered at my desk during Colin’s rant about the inferiority complex in games. Been saying it for years that we don’t need to replicate movies
Henry Morgan
2022-11-23 14:37:03 +0000 UTCIt's called resting dick face, Dustin.
Trenton Campbell
2022-11-23 07:01:54 +0000 UTCDid I play the same God of War (PS2)? Uncharted puzzles have been a GoW staple since before Uncharted existed.
Kyle Fox
2022-11-22 23:58:46 +0000 UTCColin, I feel you on God of War Ragnarok. I think the game is great overall so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows and changes during my playtime, but I feel like I'm just not into it at the moment as much as I should or want to be. I was super late to the finish Forbidden West and got the platinum days before God of War to clear my schedule, so to speak. Now, every time I turn on God of war, I feel this pull to go back and 100 percent the entire Forbidden West map. I've still gotta see Ragnarok to the end, but I'm getting shades of 2018 - I loved God of war 2018, but God of war 3 still stands above all as the best god of war and a PS3 masterpiece.
Dennis Johnson
2022-11-22 15:57:44 +0000 UTCin the US your taxes DO come out of your paycheck, you only report them because it's both mandatory and to see what they give back to you. (small %) HOWEVER, this is NOT true of self-employed people so they must keep track of EVERYTHING afaik. So when they report they actually *owe* money to the US gov. It's very different compared to working for a salary job.
easelgames
2022-11-22 13:37:46 +0000 UTCWorth noting in the "doom and gloom" conversation that despite the claim that companies have to focus on known quantities with remakes and sequels, Microsoft have put out two new first party IPs this year in Pentiment and As Dusk Falls and their next two planned releases, Redfall and Starfield are both originals too.
Mark Whittington
2022-11-22 13:08:43 +0000 UTCI don't get the American tax system. I don't even think about my taxes in the UK, they just come out of my wages without thinking then Direct Debit for council tax. And our prices on the shelves show the full price with VAT.
Mark Whittington
2022-11-22 08:43:40 +0000 UTCAs far as open world games go, hands down better value, production per square inch wise, compared to any ubisoft game. Almost on par with rockstars level of detail.
Jakob Podstawek
2022-11-21 21:35:39 +0000 UTCIm glad you loved Horizon Colin, I really am looking forward to seeing this story through cause it feels like mass effect all over again, waiting for the reapers to arrive. Ragnarok however has a far more engaging and rewarding weapon and armour upgrade path, personally. Anything I improve does not instantly become obsolete by a new armour or weapon piece, unless I want to change my play style or strategy against a new threat. I will agree that the pathing and circling back is not always congruent to the characters ability to traverse the environment but even Fobidden west's open world didnt allow you to climb on every rockface, even when it looked like it could be. The fact that I had to always use my scanner to see which wall was climbable, instead of just highlighting the rocks that were was a bit of an over sight.
Jakob Podstawek
2022-11-21 21:32:44 +0000 UTCI really wanted to love Horizon forbidden west. The world is gorgeous, the characters, side and main, are fleshed out, its anthropological veiwing of our "current" culture through the eyes of a bronze age tribal society is fascinating. The game mechanics however really let me down. Specifically the grinding nature of gathering resources for the bows. I was fine getting each new coloured variant of the same bow in the first game, but this took away the fun by having 5 of the same type of bow, with slightly different attack/elemental damage, that required 3 to 6 upgrades to max out the single weapons power output. Multiply that by 4 for each color rarity and you have a unnecessarily grindy game. Specially makes it worse when the main resource needed(machine cores), only has a max 40% drop rate, which is needed to upgrade every weapon. I didn't even bother getting the legendary weapons cause of how long it took me to max out my preferred purple weapons, while skipping the blue entirely cause I invested most of my time in the early game upgrading most of my green tier arsenal.
Jakob Podstawek
2022-11-21 21:17:13 +0000 UTC
