Deep Fried Gaming

Today's episode focuses on 2023's game by Black Salt Games entitled "Dredge", a narrative fishing experience with unsettling undertones. Dredge adopts a charming, cartoonish artstyle, simplistic fishing gameplay and throws in a healthy dosing of mystery and horror to make the high seas a little more interesting. Today we discuss Dredge's various merits and pitfalls: its gameplay, story, music, and more. Timestamps: 0:00 Preamble Introduction 00:45 Episode Preamble 14:45 Dredge Introduced 16:30 What is Dredge: An overview 26:25 The Gameplay of Dredge 39:35 Story and Lore of Dredge (Spoilers) 45:45 Non-Spoiler Story Discussion 48:10 Final Thoughts and Wrap Up

In 2018, a ragtag squad of degenerates set out into the wilds of Bolivia for the first time without a clue of what was waiting for them. Blood-brother pacts were formed, friendships cemented, and podcasts were etched into the stones of future fate. This episode is a look back on Ghost Recon Wildlands and how it influenced us. We examine all the things that made it special at the time and to this day. We reminisce on the triumphs of flawless team work, chaos of incompetence, and all the finer details of what made both such a joy. Time stamps 0:00 Intro 6:25 Guest Introduction 8:40 WHY spend so much time in this game? 17:35 What do we dislike about the game? 32:20 Summary of Wildlands Positives and Negatives 36:00 How does Ghost Recon Breakpoint Compare? 45:00 Conclusions

Bashing into our 34th episode slot is a 2015 game from Moon Studios. Centering on a baby Night Fury and taking place in a woodland of incredible beauty, Ori and the Blind Forest is an easy sell at face value. The game was an Xbox and PC exclusive for years until a Nintendo Switch port was released in September 2019. In this episode, we take the ride through the Definitive Edition and examine the game's draws and drawbacks to uncover what makes this game such a gem. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 3:19 - RJ has not seen How to Train Your Dragon 3 4:05 - Game Intro and Description 7:00 - General Overview and Discussion 30:35 Story Discussion (Spoilers) 40:50 Final Thoughts and Wrap Up (Spoiler Free) Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.

**This episode contains light spoilers throughout its entirety. Most pertain to general themes of Detroit: Become Human and the characters within, however, a few reveal specific story beats. The larger spoilers are marked below in the timestamps. Anyone seeking to enter Detroit: Become Human completely blind should avoid listening to this episode** Episode 33 brings us to a companion episode on our review of Detroit: Become Human. We largely praised the game for its fantastic storytelling and compelling characters, but it seems not all were so like-minded. Introducing: Allegra Frank, an ex-writer for Polygon and current editor at thedailybeast. She is none too pleased with the writing of the game or its prominent use of buttons. In an article entitled "Detroit: Become Human tackles civil rights without a grasp of history", she airs her grievances over the game and what she feels to be a poor depiction and implementation of political messaging. In today's episode, we delve into the article in its entirety and explore why Allegra's reasoning and complaints are so severely flawed that they make Beetlejuice answering arithmetic questions on the Howard Stern Show look like one of the world's top thinkers. Original article: Polygon.com//Author: Allegra Frank - Original Article *Bullying or harassing the author of the original article or any other figures discussed in this episode is strongly discouraged and entirely unacceptable. Be an adult.* TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 4:20 - Article discussion (light theme/story spoilers) 22:00 - 23:30 Markus story spoilers 25:40 - individual character theme discussion (theme spoilers) 28:45 - All about Markus (light Markus story spoilers) 35:30 - BUTTON PRESSES (theme spoilers) 41:00 Conclusion: How would Da Journo fix this game? Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.

Quantic Dream is a studio known for its immersive, story-heavy games that challenge the player with the weight of their choices and the consequences that result from them. In 2018, they released their fifth game Detroit: Become Human to the PS4 console. It was a powerhouse in both the graphical and storytelling departments. Similar to previous Quantic Dream games, Director David Cage weaved a complex and twisting tale for players to experience. Reviews were very positive at the time and the game was later ported to the PC platform in 2020. Today we discuss the game from frame to finish and examine its visuals, soundtrack, story, and more in order to see if it's truly as good as the kids say it is or simply some overblown console fanboy cope. TIMESTAMPS Intro- 2:12 Housekeeping- 5:04 Game Intro- 9:38 Visuals- 13:14 Soundtrack- 28:27 Connor's Theme Analysis (Spoilers) 34:15 -37:30 Gameplay- 40:29 Story (Spoilers) - 57:35 Final Thoughts: 1:20:03

Between the dishonored series and their wildly underrated immersive sim, Prey, Arkane has proven themselves a reliable and inventive studio. They're responsible for creating interesting worlds with layered characters, morality systems, and stellar gameplay that has high replayability years after release. So when the word was out they were making a similarly crafted game with a 60's style aesthetic, a jazzy soundtrack, and an emphasis on time manipulation, there was near instant excitement. As reviews rolled in, it seemed like this would be Arkane's strongest game yet, but the public wasn't as easily impressed. So where does that leave Deathloop in the rankings of Arkane titles? In this battle between polish and enjoyment, we discuss the newest and most intriguing title in the Arkane catalog.

Wolfenstein is a game series with a long and illustrious history pioneering a genre and spanning multiple decades. After many rehashes, Machine Games took a swing at developing what would become the Wolfenstein formula in the mid-2010's. Wolfenstein: New Order breathed new life not only into the Wolfenstein series, but also Blazkowicz as a character. This game makes BJ Blazkowicz in the 1960's form of the Doomguy, killing Nazis and taking names right out of the heart of Berlin. Strap in and gear up as we tackle this exciting and seemingly conflicted game and dissect the good and the bad of what it has to offer.

In this episode, we take the trip back to 2004 and hunker down with a Gamecube classic: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It is the follow-up to Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 and is the second game in the Paper Mario franchise. One of us is a resident JRPG noob and it was supposed that perhaps this title would be an excellent introduction to the genre. In this episode we dig deep into this game and discuss its various unique gameplay mechanics, the story, its litany of worlds, and the many colorful characters and companions that join Mario on his adventure. How does this game stack up in our classic game lineup nearly 20 years later? Find out in episode 29! Timestamps 0:00 Intro 8:00 Initial Impressions 10:00 Viewing the Visuals 16:35 Listening in on Soundtrack and Music 23:50 Getting the Grip on Gameplay 44:30 Tier Listing Paper Mario TTYD Companions 59:50 Discussing the Chapters of Paper Mario TTYD 1:26:45 Discussing the Story 1:30:35 Final Thoughts and Wrap-up Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more. Other socials: Twitter https://twitter.com/DFGPodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepfriedgamingpodcast/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgHhIsuBnCZtys2Zq_dCaA

One of the most hated games we've covered up to this point was the original Mirror's Edge from 2008. Its combat was clunky and poorly tuned, its story was borderline nonexistent, and the parkour that was the basis for the game was unsatisfying and lacked momentum. Great news, though: there's a sequel. Here in episode 28 we are covering it. We discuss what made the original game so weak and how Mirror's Edge Catalyst improved or regressed from that original formula. There is a lot of ground to cover here. Combat, parkour, characters, story, and maddeningly clique tropes. All of these things fit tightly together in another compact Mirror's Edge experience, though the sequel is significantly expanded over its predecessor. How does this game stack up? Is it better than the lackluster abomination of the first game? What lessons did Dice learn from their previous outing? Is Catalyst truly as generic and by the numbers as many reviews would have you believe? We discuss these questions and many more in this episode. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 7:30 The Questionable decision to review Mirror's Edge Catalyst 13:15 Why is Catalyst so degraded in comparison to the original? 21:00 Did Mirror's Edge Catalyst fix the issues of its predecessor? 25:55 A Look into Catalyst's Visuals 43:15 An ear to the Soundtrack and Sound Design 53:10 Getting Jiggy with the Gameplay 1:27:26 Analyzing the Story (Spoilers) 1:55:40 Recap and Summary (Spoiler Free) 2:02:30 Outro Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more. Other socials: Twitter https://twitter.com/DFGPodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepfriedgamingpodcast/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgHhIsuBnCZtys2Zq_dCaA

Episode 27 brings us to the Gloaming Galaxy. A small, fascinating galaxy inhabited by a race known as the Hearthians. The game is set up quickly and within minutes, you find yourself in a pair of Hearthian boots, suited up, and strapped into a rickety space shuttle careening through the ominous depths of space with the wonders of the galaxy before you. The elevator pitch does not do justice to what this game truly sets before the player. Contained here is a very dense story, a lot to learn and a world of wonder and terror to be discovered. Who are the Hearthians? Where did they come from? Who built all the ancient, crumbling architecture strewn about on the various planets that orbit the sun? This is a dense game and to do it justice we dive into the story and break down exactly how it all plays out in the second half of the episode. If you are curious how all the pieces of Outer Wilds fit together, be sure to stick around to that portion of the episode to hear the fruits of hours of research. Please Enjoy episode 27 of the Deep Fried Gaming Podcast. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 8:15 Visuals 14:15 Soundtrack 21:30 Gameplay 35:00 Spoiler-Free Summary 36:40 (Spoilers) In-Depth Story and Lore Explanation 1:16:50 Final Summary and Wrap Up (Spoiler Free) Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more. Other socials: Twitter https://twitter.com/DFGPodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepfriedgamingpodcast/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgHhIsuBnCZtys2Zq_dCaA

Episode 26 officially kicks off season 2 of the Deep Fried Gaming podcast. In it, we take a look at a game released only last year, in 2021. Created by a small team and funded through Kickstarter, Backbone is a game that proves to be ambitious and beautiful in many ways. However, it is also a pretty stark reminder of how crowd-funding campaigns can kneecap a game even if a team has the desire and skill to bring their imagined experience to life. In this episode, we discuss what makes this game so unique in the modern video game space as well as dig into what happened to cause such a promising title to become so badly tarnished. Join us as we investigate the clever, creative, and fractured creation and story of 2021's Backbone. Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more. Other socials: Twitter https://twitter.com/DFGPodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepfriedgamingpodcast/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgHhIsuBnCZtys2Zq_dCaA

Episode 25 brings us to the end of our first season. In this episode, we dive into a classic PS2 game focusing on a gang of three very slick operators. They bash skulls and steal whatever is in sight, but it's morally justified because they are cute and quirky. Of course, this game is Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves. The game is composed of 8 episodes in a heist movie styling and encompassing a handful of locations and villains, all with treasure ripe for swiping. Players find themselves in the shoes of Sly Cooper, the anthropomorphic raccoon and must slide, climb, jump and dodge their way around various levels in order to obtain the shinies that litter the game's worlds. With the popular revival of the Ratchet and Clank series on PS4 and PS5, its interesting to go back and play another classic Playstation platformer from the early days and see the inspiration from the title and what has been carried into modern experiences. After a hot streak of games that we just can't seem to agree on, will this arcade-stealth based platformer finally be the experience that breaks the pattern? Timestamps: Intro: 5:51 Visuals: 6:16 Sound: 12:22 Gameplay: 20:42 Story: 38:15 Final Thoughts: 49:58 Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more. Other socials: Twitter https://twitter.com/DFGPodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepfriedgamingpodcast/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgHhIsuBnCZtys2Zq_dCaA

Pulling up late but not forgotten, here is episode 24. In this episode, we finish off our fourth retro game in the series: Jet Set Radio. It was released in the year 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast and later received both a sequel and Steam port. The theme, aesthetic, and environment of this neon splashed skating game is a true product of its time. It revels in 90s skate and street culture, focusing on a group of ragtag rebels as they grind their way around the fictional city of Tokyo-To, tagging everything in sight while fleeing from an angry police force. The game places an emphasis on movement and level navigation and encourages creative play to evade the fuzz as they try to put an end to your quest of vandalism. The game achieved a cult-classic status and is still played by some to this day, but what made it popular in the year 2000, and does it still feel fresh and fun today? Timestamps: Intro- 2:07 Visuals- 4:48 Sound- 8:50 Gameplay- 13:41 Story- 40:36 Final Thoughts- 47:37 Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Star Fox 64 was the N64 remake of the original Star Fox which was released on the Super Nintendo. It was the ninth best-selling game on the console and was successful enough to spawn another handful of sequels, the latest of which was released in 2017, but the N64 game is widely considered to be the best in the series even today. Like all the games in our retro series, we seem unable to have a common consensus on this game. Are these visuals dated to a painful degree or should we cut the game a little slack and appreciate what it was able to accomplish? Even more importantly, is it even fun to play? We tackle these questions and more in our discussion of Star Fox 64. Visuals- 05:02 Sounds- 10:16 Gameplay- 17:57 Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Riding in on its witchy broom in 1998, Banjo-Kazooie landed on the N64 and was an instant classic. Besides being one of the best-known and most popular games on the N64, it helped popularize the 3-D collectathon platformer. The game spawned a sequel a few short years later which was even more ambitious and expansive, but the original's more focused and carefully crafted worlds tend to be looked on with more appreciation. What made this game so popular at the time and do these same quirks and qualities still shine like so many golden jiggies today, or have they been scuffed and scarred by the passage of over 20 years? We will dive deep and explore the worlds, collectibles, characters, combat, moves, and mechanics. Every Note and Jiggy will be overturned in our pursuit of objective truth and unbiased scrutiny. Also, Josh is biased regardless and will be severely nostalgia-checked. Timestamps: Intro- 1:20 Visuals- 5:30 Gameplay- 10:32 Sound- 36:59 Final Thoughts- 53:00 Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Another week, another high-profile release. From Software's Elden Ring has finally pulled into the station, and it's lugging behind it a string of 10/10 reviews. This game looks to be a real heavy hitter and one that will potentially change open-world games as we know them for the better. However, there's no denying the many issues plaguing it. These issues are present on nearly every platform to varying degrees, some more severely affected than others. Reports suggest that the only way to play Elden Ring with smooth performance is to play a PS4 copy on a PS5 Console. With this being the case, the question has to be asked: should this game have received so many perfect scores and accolades? Perhaps reviews have become too lenient towards games whose performance and optimization are sub-par. We discuss this issue and the possibility that gamers are becoming fed up with the lack of polish on new games and the day one patches that still don't fix glaring performance issues. We also take a ride on GabeN's Steam Boat and chat about the newly released Steam Deck. Who is the target market for this product and will it be able to properly compete with the Nintendo Switch? We offer our thoughts on the device and one of the more perplexing moves made by an early adopter. Timestamps Housekeeping- 1:40 Elden Ring- 6:23 Steam Deck- 19:01 Email any questions, game suggestions, comments, and hate-mail to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Kicking off our two-month classic game event is Ape Escape. A classic platformer from the late '90s developed for the original PlayStation. This is a bold game that took its job of selling the concept of the DualShock controller seriously, even if it didn't do the same for its story or its American voice acting. Further, it's quite polarizing when booted onto the forefront of our games roster over 22 years after release. Hop into this week's episode to hear why our consensus on this game is so split. Timestamps: Intro- 00:00 Visuals- 14:05 Gameplay- 22:15 Sound- 43:55 Story- 54:50 Email any questions, suggestions, or crude comments to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy... Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Splinter Cell is a series beloved by those interested in the stealth shooter genre. Unfortunately, it has not seen an official release since 2013 and that release was a bit controversial. With triple digit hours in the game, RJ finally drags his co-host through one of his favorite childhood games and the pair assess it with a more objective lens. We discuss Josh's sarcastic thoughts on the soundtrack, the impressive detection AI, and more of what made this game a fun playthrough nearly ten years after its release. Time Stamps: 0:00 Intro 4:40 Visuals 8:31 Sound 18:08 Gameplay 37:05 Story (Spoilers) Email any questions, suggestions, or crude comments to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

Hot on the heels of the first Psychonauts, we pull up to Psychonauts 2 and once again open our brain to the psychological damage this series seems to have a desire to inflict. Sure enough, despite the creativity being intact, an odd lobotomy has been performed which makes the game moderately painful to experience. What do the Psychonauts do? What makes a strong woman? Psychonauts 2 may or may not answer these questions, but we certainly will. Email any questions, suggestions, or crude comments to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.

God of War rebooted its franchise in 2018 with the highly acclaimed PS4 exclusive, but it's exclusive no more. We are here to check it out and let you know how the past 4 years have treated it as well as how this PC port performs. In the latter half of the episode, we take a good, hard look at the story of this game and discuss the characters and drama that make this game tick. Time Stamps: 0:00 Intro 6:30 A Peek Into Visuals 14:25 A Ear to Music and Sound Design 21:00 A Touch into Gameplay 1:10:20 A Read Into the Story (Spoilers) 2:05:30 Wrap Up and Final Thoughts Email any questions, suggestions, or crude comments to deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com. They might get read on the show if deemed worthy.. Also, check out our partner website at Harddrivesigma.com for articles, reviews, blogs, the Deep Fried Gaming homepage, and more.