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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 185: Analyzing Your Gaming Hot Takes

Kids say the darndest things. And so do gamers, as it turns out, who are full of infinite nuggets of wisdom that sometimes make us think, sometimes give us pause, and sometimes stretch the very limits of credulity. Today's episode of + is dedicate to your hottest takes, submitted without edit, and judged by... well... us. Is Uncharted vastly overrated? How about Horizon? Did the DualShock controller line feel cheap? Why do people care about God of War so much? Was MAG ahead of its time? Does Sony's fixation on games-as-a-service portend an ill future? Has The Last of Us too heavily influenced PlayStation's first party output? Friends, we've much to get into, so hit play without delay (rhyme unintended).

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 185: Analyzing Your Gaming Hot Takes

Comments

As someone who is always a few episodes late because of lack of time. The episodes are not too long. As Colin referenced he is just getting going at the hour mark. Podcasts that cut themselves short miss the whole point of podcasts which is the natural flow of conversation over topics. Keep up the great content!

Eric S

Too clarify, I get that your goal may be to read these silly takes and then disagree, but your disagreements were of varying strength or absent. For example, all three of you should have been able to unequivocally say that anyone that finds Uncharted’s writing to be lacking is a joker. Instead Chris takes the opportunity to say yea, Uncharted sucks but not because of the writing. You guys should obviously do whatever you like but it rubbed me the wrong way. It didn’t seem like these ridiculous opinions were being treated as such.

Greg Hommel

I suppose not if “Uncharted is poorly written” deserves answering. Seems like a waste of your time, not mine.

Greg Hommel

Several characters in Horizon reference that Aloy should not be taking this all on herself and that she is too stubborn to accept help. Smh at Chris.

Greg Hommel

Greg, do you understand the point of this episode?

Colin Moriarty

Why are you addressing the jabs of haters and detractors instead of the thoughtful opinions of fans? Uncharted is poorly written? God of War’s action is poorly executed? The podcast is too long? I can’t take these topics seriously. A dick can’t be too long, but a pussy can be too shallow. Wink wink

Greg Hommel

Thanks!

Colin Moriarty

Fun episode - great idea!

Jeffrey Rommel

Glad to hear it. =)

Colin Moriarty

3hr+ is just fine to me. Gets me through my work day.

JayLou83

Same. It really helps out on some boring workdays.

Alex

We will. =)

Colin Moriarty

I love the long podcasts. I usually listen to it in pieces throughout the week, so keep them coming!

Devin K

Great!

Colin Moriarty

Patreon RSS, yes.

Colin Moriarty

3hr+ shows are the best! Gets me through the day.

Darrell

Has this hit rss feeds for anyone else yet?

John King

Hmmm. I'm not even sure what the spoiler could have been.

Colin Moriarty

We wouldn't do that.

Colin Moriarty

We won't. =)

Colin Moriarty

I do that with the podcasts I enjoy, too.

Colin Moriarty

We don't roll that way 'round these parts.

Colin Moriarty

Dude there's a difference between dodging pre-release/leaked spoilers and STILL not playing a game 2 YEARS after it came out. If you really cared, you'd have played it by now.

Ian (616Entertainment)

I absolutely hated when I was listening to GOG and Greg would hurry the conversation along. Let these things be 4 hours long. I doubt anyone is trying to listen to these in one sitting and I like jumping back in throughout the week. Typically I like to listen to 1 hour of SS at a time, that's 4 workouts I can do while being entertained. IMO, F these clowns saying it's too long. The show is as long as it should be.

Messenger

Chris you just dropped a fucking MASSIVE TLOU 2 spoiler like it was fucking nothing. Dude. Wtf. Y'all give uncharted 4 plenty of spoiler warnings to this day but just let this one go like Jesus Christ dude. See I assumed that was what the shit talk was back on the release of that game but I have avoided it. Till ya just blurted it out. Thanks man.

BakerShop

I work long hours and I'm listening to SS, DD, and sometimes KB everyday. The fact that they are so long and I'm able to stretch each episode across several days most definitely elevates my enjoyment of them. I know you'll never do it but I would be really disappointed if SS was dropped to 2 hours.

Connor Peterman

I’m going to be loud and tell you.. that 4 hours is fucking perfect. Do not cut this back because of loud misbegotten

A Hind D

Huge fan of the 4 hour podcast. I like consuming it in bits throughout the week.

lazer_josh

Yeah, it's not a word I use in my own parlance, generally. I remember Dave Rubin was the first person to ever use it in front of me, when he interviewed me in 2017, and I didn't know what it meant.

Colin Moriarty

To each his own!

Colin Moriarty

That's a good name. =)

Colin Moriarty

Good to hear. <3

Colin Moriarty

Stay safe out there.

Colin Moriarty

Right. If Ellie's gayness was central to how we understood her, we'd know she was gay in the first game... which we don't. And never even get a hint at.

Colin Moriarty

Me neither.

Colin Moriarty

No, we're going to do an entire episode dedicated to it.

Colin Moriarty

I think his demotion is peculiar. He oversaw a lot of the games we look back at and love.

Colin Moriarty

Good!

Colin Moriarty

Yes, but it's beholden to the licensor.

Colin Moriarty

"Woke" means "I don't understand what I'm seeing, I'm uncomfortable, I am unable to articulate exactly why I feel this way, and I refuse to educate myself." Everybody who uses the term unironically is the same kind of person who would have called Rock & Roll "Satanic" back in the day. "Sorry, Liberals! The world is changing, and I'm terrified!"

MJ SKA BOI

4 hours is the perfect length! In fact my biggest complaint about snark tank is that Chris is so dead set on that 2 hour time limit that sometimes they won’t even get into questions

Captain Bon Clay

If the do another MAG game they should call it MAG Alpha , also I like long podcast, I can enjoy it all week long especially on long road trips. Never change Colin unless you want to, your the Boss

Hose A Contra Razz

I’m team 4 hour pods… it’s takes an hour of smack talking to even Begin and I wouldn’t want it any other way 🤓👍🏽

Miguel Siguenza

The four hour shows get me through my mail round. Don’t stop!

Joshua Brown

That angle doesn't make much sense Matthew. The Seraphites are clearly established as a cult in the story, and you yourself described them as religious fanatics, which means they would be willing to expel members for all sorts of reasons (or do worse than expel, since there is no discernible law in the world of TLOU). Like, would you still be calling this a woke move if Lev and Yara were expelled for smoking weed? It just seems excessively reactionary to call something woke purely because a story contains LGBT characters and related themes.

Kaare Eriksen

Loved the conversation about what "woke" even means anymore. It's fine to be annoyed or roll your eyes at obvious virtue signaling. But in my opinion thats not the case with tlou2. Some people have lost all nuance when in comes to these things, and almost anything seems "woke" because of it.

Dennis

I have no knowledge of Neil Druckmann being "woke" but I do see Last of Us 2 as kind of "woke". Not because of Ellie being gay or Abby having muscles, that's nothing. It's Lev. And not just that there's a trans character in the game, it's that the main plot point of Abby's story is Lev and Yara are fleeing the Seraphites because they are religious fanatics who do not accept Lev as a boy. I actually really like Last of Us 2, still play it on the regular, but it does have some degree of "woke" to it. It doesn't ruin the game, but it's there.

Matthew Cooper

Isn’t the whole point of a podcast that you just keep listening until it’s over? What difference does the length make? I’ll never understand that…

Korey Beaver

Can we stop having the episode length discussion? I feel like we’ve spent a 4 hr podcast just discussing this same topic. You guys do you.

Sean P.

Since Shuhei Yoshida was demoted from Head of Worldwide Studios, he obviously was stirring up some trouble at Sony. Perhaps he knew of a couple Sony executives on Epstein's flight logs? #Shudidntkillhimself

David Joyner

Man do I love the 4 hour episodes 🤣

Nicholas Coso

Isn't an obvious choice for a game as a service "the show" especially now that it is on all platforms?

Austin Schumann

<3

Colin Moriarty

I'm a fan, for sure. I DM once in a while with Kmele; he's a nice guy.

Colin Moriarty

Glad you enjoyed it. =)

Colin Moriarty

I remember there not being a lot of gunplay.

Colin Moriarty

There's no time limit. This is the internet!

Colin Moriarty

Thank you! We will.

Colin Moriarty

That's a lot.

Colin Moriarty

Indeed. We're proud of that.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

I took a swing immediately.

Colin Moriarty

But I'm telling you, he isn't woke.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your feedback.

Colin Moriarty

Indeed. In fact, I'd recommend that.

Colin Moriarty

I read this quickly as '4 hour gangbang'.

Colin Moriarty

Indeed.

Colin Moriarty

That's my point. I often listen to my long podcasts piecemeal, and usually fall behind entirely.

Colin Moriarty

Much obliged.

Colin Moriarty

3-4 hrs is a sweet spot for me.. gets me through a quarter of my shift.. sometimes I even build them up for the weekends I work.. love the show if anything more lol

drivebyjoe

I shouldn’t be surprised Colin listens to the fifth column but I’m so hyped to hear he does. That’s the number one show I recommend to friends and family when discussing politics.

DeucesBruh

MAG was awesome after u got the understanding on how to play. Having to work as a team and actually communicate to win and u also got more points for healing team mates apposed to kills to encourage team work. Game was awesome

Kurt Seamon

Uncharted 4 was the one where the gameplay didn’t held up for me. Story did, good game movie.

Philip Andersen

If you don't like a 4hr pod don't listen to it all go listen to ign with the"we're running out of time"hour long foolishness. 3 to 4 hrs is perfect for a pod. Also "woke uncharted" 🤣

Robert Mc

Really liked this idea I hope you do a part 2!

Walker Simmons

The guy saying naughty dog is too woke is probably referring to the Abbie character being in the game.

Taylor kazemba

Naughty dog is an amazing studio. Probably PlayStations best. They are becoming too woke. Everything woke turns to shit.

Taylor kazemba

I’ll take a 40 hour podcast per week. That way I can listen for my whole work week.

Taylor kazemba

That retention rate state at 8:20 is amazing! Especially considering many people stop and start these things multiple times as they go.

KeanuReeve

I love the long Podcast. I am a mail carrier, and the podcast entertain me on the street.

Jeremy Seal

Also, I didn't have any issue with Lesbian relationships being shown and I thought that was done well. Nothing wrong with incluing women, gay people, trans people etc in stories but my issue is when it seems to go against reality and is only there to push an agenda

Sam

I'm going to defend the 'woke' comment regarding Naughty Dog. Since Druckmann took over there have been some inclusions which just don't feel right. Nadine in UC4 for example, seems unrealistically strong compared to Nate, and is just a really unlikeable villain. You get the impression Druckmann wanted to insert a 'strong powerful woman' to show of his progessive values. It's worse in The Last of Us 2. Abby's physique is ridiculous. She has the body of a professional bodybuilder in today's resource-rich society, not a normal girl who likes to work out in a post apocalptic zombie-infected wasteland. The Lev character is poorly done too. We are expected to believe that Abby and all her friends immediately see Lev as a boy, despite looking for all intents and purposes like a girl with a shaved head. I find it hard to believe that in this brutal world regular people are particularly accepting of trans people. No-one ever even 'mistakes' Lev for a girl, except for Lev's former tribe who are painted as cartoonishly evil. The wokeness that's in the newer Naughty Dog games essentially is putting things in not because they make a good story, but because they want to promote a progessive message (in this case, 'trans men are men' and 'women are as strong as men, sex difference are a made up thing because of patriarchy')

Sam

I know I'm in the right place when there's a Bush reference 5 seconds into the show

Big Swingin' Rick

I think the ‘woke’ thing is more about Neil. Most likely due to the presentation https://youtu.be/DHynFVW7-KY

Theotokos Respecter

I think the long runtimes work well for the type of podcasting that you guys do. There ARE some podcasts out there that I think benefit from being shorter-form (improv/sketch comedy type content comes to mind—that kind of thing needs to be quick and snappy, and having a time constraint can help move things along), but for a more free-flowing, conversational exchange of ideas type experience like SS I think the longer format is appropriate and more engaging. It makes it feel natural.

Supes

4 hours is definitely not too long for me. If I have to, I'll just listen to the podcast bit by bit on different days :)

Cole

4 hour gang represent!

Retlaw

Is it true, ever get invited into a residence by a lonely housewife.. 😉😉😉😉

Doug Hogancamp

4hrs is too long? Idk maybe go for a walk, take a break, smoke a joint. No one's telling y'all to listen in one sitting.

Asique Alam

P.S. I often think the Sacred Symbols+ are too short lol

Bambi_Cobblestone

I'd happily have SS be even longer to be honest. I use it at work and on long drives. Doing chores. Sometimes I take a day or two to listen to the whole thing but that's fine.

NuclearProstate

Long live the 4 hr bangers of episodes

Jamie

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GUY THAT SAYS 4 HOURS IS TOO LONG. For the hard laborers that depend on the amazing content throughout the day. I love having something to listen to for almost a whole work day of carrying mail. Cheers my sweet baby boys

Guns vs Kittens

The longer episodes are always my favorite. You guys have gotten me through some of my hardest times and hard days of work. Thank you for all you do! Thank you Dustin for all you do to make it happen!

Bambi_Cobblestone


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