The EarlyGame Podcast

Once more with feeling. Thank you all for listening, rating and sharing the podcast over the years. It's much appreciated. Take care x -Faris & Jon Music Credits: Evan Williams — The EarlyGame Podcast Theme Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori — Never Forget (Halo 3 OST)

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is almost here and we are very, very excited for it. Before we talk about the full game next week, we spend a long time in the character creator and discuss how much fun we already had for it, how it contributes to pre-release hype and what we expect of the release. In the news section, we discuss the leaked PS5 Pro and go through some recent Star Wars-related catastrophes. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 03:10 Dragon’s Dogma 2 Character Creator 11:30 Jon is getting into grand strategy again 14:30 What we expect of Dragon’s Dogma 2 20:20 Star Wars Battlefront re-release is the disaster of the year 29:10 More bad Star Wars news 33:10 PS5 Pro details leaked 50:40 We’re shilling for Steam for a bit 53:00 Our recommendations Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

A ton happened while Faris was on vacation and now that he is back, Jon and him discuss topics such as the Switch 2 being delayed followed by a Nintendo Direct and Microsoft announcing their plans on going multiplatform. The boys also talked a bunch about the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer, but unfortunately that part of the recording got lost and couldn’t be recovered :( Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 06:40 Pacific Drive 13:55 Balatro 19:10 Helldivers 2 26:10 Apex Legends 33:30 Switch 2 internally delayed 43:40 Nintendo Direct & Xbox going multiplatform (followed by around 25 minutes of lost audio :/ ) 50:15 Our recommendations Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

Faris is on vacation so we pre-recorded this episode of The EarlyGame Podcast, where we go back to the mailbag and answer more of your questions! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 01:20 Modern Warfare 3/Warzone 2 03:30 eFootball 2024 04:30 Suicide Squad 08:00 Answering your questions! 09:10 If you had to sit down and do a co-op play through of any game with the main character IRL, who would you choose, why and what snacks would you serve? 17:00 Are there any Podcast mistakes you enjoy thinking back to? 23:50 If you had to bring a video game character back to meet your parents for the first time, who would it be? 28:35 What was your most memorable magic gaming moment? 36:20 What do you think about MW3/Warzone Season 2? 43:20 What are your thoughts on Xbox possibly going multiplatform? Excited or concerned about the move? 54:20 Our recommendations Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

On this week’s podcast, Faris brings a special report from a Nier-based Orchestra concert which he went away to see last weekend. Jon spent his time diving deeper into the new ranked modes for Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone 2. In the news section, the boys discuss reports about Xbox games coming to PlayStation and Switch before answering more listener questions at the end of the show. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 01:40 Modern Warfare 3/Warzone 2 03:30 Nier Automata Live Concert 09:40 We have not played Helldivers 2 (yet) 13:50 Microsoft is bringing Xbox games to PlayStation and Switch 28:00 What’s the biggest let down/worst game since you started the pod? 37:55 What game is there that you'd love to do an episode on, but haven't had the chance to or it hasn't fit into the schedule? 46:00 What is your favorite Film or TV show video game tie-in?/What’s your favorite game based on a film or show? 51:00 Our recommendations Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

It’s episode 100 of the EarlyGame Podcast! You sent us a ton of questions, and we’re answering as many as possible of them to celebrate our milestone. Before that, Faris talks about how Suicide Squad is better than you think and what exciting new games he played at Steam Next Fest, before Jon shares his experiences of playing Modern Warfare 3 Ranked. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 02:30 Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League 19:40 Steam Next Fest 20:10 Pacific Drive 23:10 Anger Foot 24:25 Modern Warfare 3 Ranked 29:20 We’re answering your questions! 30:30 What is the best game you’ve played since the start of the pod and why? 35:30 You can have one Super Mario ability in real life, which do you choose? 38:40 What console would make the best weapon? 40:50 If you could make a Frankenstein console that would combine the best parts of other consoles, what would it look like? 48:15 Are you open to new formats for your podcast? Do you have any ideas/plans for the future? 53:40 Which iconic gaming duo do you think you two could put up the best fight against, and why? 59:00 What game do you most want a remake for?

Send us your questions and comments for our special episode 100! Jon and Faris will take whatever you throw at them next week. Before that, the guys talk about Jon starting with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Faris getting into Enshrouded. It’s the opposite of last week! Wow! In the news section, the guys discuss Palworld being investigated by The Pokémon Company, Skull & Bones actually coming out soon, massive lay-offs at Activision Blizzard and a preview for the upcoming State of Play. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Email us at: Jon.ramuz@earlygame.com faris.delalic@earlygame.com Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 01:50 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth 7:40 Send us your questions and comments! 9:45 Enshrouded 19:30 Palworld to be “investigated” by The Pokémon Company 26:45 Skull & Bones is actually coming out soon 36:15 Massive lay-offs at Activision Blizzard, survival game Odyssey canceled 43:50 State of Play preview 55:50 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

Jon and Faris can finally talk about the games they have been playing for the last few weeks: Faris tells us why he adores the amazing new Action-Adventure RPG Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Jon takes us through Enshrouded, an exciting new Survival game that's out on Steam now. In the news, they discuss Palworld shocking the gaming world, go through the recent Xbox Developer_Direct showcase and discuss some exciting Switch 2 rumors. Enjoy! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 01:20 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth 27:00 Enshrouded 46:15 Palworld’s shock success 56:20 Xbox Developer_Direct 1:09:50 Hundreds of developers are working on Switch 2 games 1:15:10 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown verdict, Elden Ring DLC rumors, Project Tatanka canceled and Ubisoft’s dystopian vision of the future Jon and Faris are both very busy with games they’re not allowed to talk about until next week, but we still have a jam-packed episode this week. Faris gives us his final thoughts on the fantastic Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, before swooning over an exciting hint about the upcoming Elden Ring DLC. In other news, the guys discuss the apparent cancellation of the Halo battle royale spin-off Project Tatanka and what the future of shooters could look like before dissecting Ubisoft’s terrifying vision of the future. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 02:50 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 11:50 Elden Ring DLC might finally be revealed soon 18:50 Halo battle royale spin-off Project Tatanka apparently canceled 32:22 Ubisoft wants us to “get comfortable” with not owning games 44:00 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

This week, we got our first exciting new game release of the year with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown! Faris reviewed the game and tells us all about why he loved the game. In the news section, Jon and Faris are discussing the announcement of the MSI Claw, a promising Steam Deck, a potential The Last of Us spin-off series being teased and the Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke talking about his next project. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro/Happy New Year! 01:25 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 13:00 Crusader Kings 3 15:20 MSI Claw announced 24:30 The Last of Us spin-off teased by Nick Offerman 29:10 Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke talks about his next game 36:26 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

The boys are back in town! In the first episode of 2024, Jon and Faris catch up on what they played over the Christmas and New Year break, before diving deep into the most exciting releases coming in January. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it, and share the episode if you enjoyed it! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro/Happy New Year! 02:20 Faris is still loving his Steam Deck 05:00 Dave the Diver 08:00 Jon’s strategy bonanza 09:00 Anno 1800 13:10 Star Wars Outlaws release window leaked 18:40 Looking forward to the January 2023 releases 19:00 Prince of Persia The Lost Crown 22:30 Enshrouded 25:00 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 33:30 The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered 28:40 Tekken 8 38:00 Outro Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

In the last episode of The EarlyGame Podcast for 2023, Jon and Faris present us their favorite games of the year! What is in their top 5? Will Baldur's Gate or Zelda win? How will Faris cheat his way to a larger list? Listen and find out! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Time Codes: 00:00 Welcome to the EarlyGame GOTY 2023 02:20 RIP James McCaffrey 05:10 Faris’ honourable mentions 09:00 Jon’s honourable mention 12:25 Faris’ GOTY #5 16:30 Jon’s GOTY #5 19:40 Faris’ GOTY #4 22:00 Jon’s GOTY #4 24:10 Faris’ GOTY #3 29:50 Jon’s GOTY #3 34:05 Faris’ GOTY #2 41:15 Jon’s GOTY #2 45:10 Faris’ GOTY #1 52:10 Jon’s GOTY #1 58:20 Outro, Goodbyes & See Ya Laters Music Credits: Main Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi & Tsukasa Usui Down By The River from Baldur’s Gate 3 – Borislav Slavov & Mariya Anastasova

The Game Awards 2023 are now behind us so it’s of course time to look at the awards, announcements and showings and discuss it thoroughly. Listen in to hear us talk about how wrong our predictions were, why the show itself is an embarrassment to the industry and what announcements we were most excited for. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

It’s finally here: the first trailer for GTA 6. In this episode, we talk about it in extensive detail, going through our first impressions, our favorite bits, what we didn’t like about it and how it left us in terms of what to expect from GTA 6. In the second part of the show, Faris gives us a review on the Steam Deck OLED. Spoiler: it’s pretty good! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 03:30 GTA 6 trailer analysis 40:40 Steam Deck OLED review 53:00 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

The Game Awards 2023 are coming up, so we took the opportunity to predict what games will win! We went through (almost) all categories and discussed our picks. Is Spider-Man 2 Game of the Year? Will Baldur’s Gate 3 win everything? Have people forgotten about Zelda? Listen and find out what we expect! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

The LoL World Championship 2023 just finished and just like last year, we once again want to talk about it in depth. And obviously we had to get our resident LoL expert Sabrina back into the studio for it! Sabrina walks us through the LoL Worlds 2023 and tells us about the most exciting moments, the biggest disappointments and how amazing Faker is. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass Note: Unfortunately, we had issues with our recording, so the audio is not perfect in this episode. We tried hard to save as much as we could, but be aware that some parts are still rough. Still a very enjoyable episode!

This week, we got a show filled to the brim with exciting announcements: a GTA 6 trailer! A new Steam Deck! A Zelda movie! So much going on! And Jon is also giving his final thoughts on Modern Warfare 3, now that the full game is out. Wow. Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Jon’s review of Modern Warfare 3 Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 01:30 We correctly predicted the Game Awards 05:00 Modern Warfare 3 29:00 GTA 6 trailer announced 35:40 Live-Action Zelda movie announced 41:30 Steam Deck OLED announced 50:30 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

With the full game now being out, we have Jon's review of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign in this week's episode. Listen to hear him talk about the many issues of this particular CoD campaign and why it feels unfinished and not like a full campaign. In similarly un-fun news, Jon and Faris discuss Bungie firing a large part of its staff and talk about how horrible 2023 was for the industry. To cap this joyous episode off, the boys discuss the news of Microsoft entering a cooperation with an AI company. Enjoy! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 04:20 Modern Warfare 3 Campaign 26:40 Bungie lays off over 100 employees 41:45 Microsoft signs deal with AI company Inworld 50:35 Baldur’s Gate 3 Xbox release date leaked 54:30 What to look forward to Jon's Modern Warfare 3 Review: https://earlygame.com/call-of-duty/modern-warfare-3-review Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

After much hype and anticipation, Alan Wake 2 is finally here! Both Faris and Jon played it and discuss the game in great detail in this episode. Was Faris' 13-year wait worth it? Did Jon get into the game as a newbie to the series? Listen and find out! We also have: A brief look at The Finals, our nominees for the 2023 Game of the Year award and a quick look into the things we're excited for in the future! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 02:30 The Finals 09:30 Alan Wake 2 38:45 Our GOTY nominees 58:30 What to look forward to Music Credits: AGST - Eclipse Majk Jutbo – Glass

The October madness has reached its peak point, with Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Faris has played both games and will tell you all about how amazing both of these games are. He also played Ghostrunner 2, another great game that is struggling for some attention, though. We also have one news item in this week’s show, with leaks detailing an upcoming Far Cry multiplayer game. Enjoy! Rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it and share it if you enjoyed this episode! Time Codes: 00:00 Intro 03:30 Ghostrunner 2 07:15 Super Mario Bros. Wonder 24:30 Spider-Man 2 51:40 Far Cry Multiplayer game will be an extraction shooter 1:02:20 What to look forward to