Chamberlain And Chance

There is noting to play. There is so much nothing to play that Chamberlain dredged through his PS+ backlog and came up with a bad VR horror game and a mediocre brawler. Alex has gone all the way back to Dead Island, which he swears holds up. And Chance, having finally left his well groomed island, is enjoying a his second attempt at Breath of the Wild.

Chance returns to us, stronger than ever, bringing tales of Overwatch, Streets of Rage 4, a bunch of movies and, surprisingly, very little virtual gardening. Chamberlain has also played Streets of Rage 4, was unimpressed, and moved on to a mediocre Hotline Miami homage/rip off. And Alex has decided that three simultaneous JRPGs is what life is all about. Now that Person 5 Royal is over he goes looking for something equally long and dangerous to fill his time.

Please be patient with Chamberlain, he has been tasked with relaying Overwatch information via this week’s headline that he does not really understand. He also gets frustrated with a game that does not understand how gravity works before settling in with another remake. Alex, not content with playing two RPGs at the same time, starts up Final Fantasy 9 for the trifecta or time killing.

Chamberlain desperately wants to spoil the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and he does, but there is only so much he can say when no one else finished it. Alex finished Persona 4 Royal, proving that his heart, soul and wallet belong to Atlus as opposed to Square. And Chance’s time traveling has granted him an impossibly flowery island, for which he feels no remorse or regret.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is not the game you remember. Well, Tifa is still dressed like Tifa and Cloud has spikey hair, but the combat is (for the most part) fun, the characters are well written and interesting things happen to them. Three out of three podcasters agree, just what a good boy or girl needs when stuck inside for weeks on end! No spoilers yet, that comes next week.

Chamberlain learns that the Resident Evil 3 remake minus any nostalgia for the original is just okay. Better than nothing but gladly not purchased. Alex learns that Atlus always gets his money twice and that Persona 5 Royal is also good but also not quite worth the asking price. And Chance learns that Chamberlain is right once in a while. Below is not good and Mortal Kombat 11 is a good time at all levels.

Chance no longer plays video games. He has left them behind for high stakes turnip trading, hard core gardening and the precision organization of a cute digital zen garden. Chamberlain hasn’t play much either, but not for lack of trying. After Doom Eternal, what else is there. And Alex reaches peak Borderlands 3 with it second expansion.

At long last, Doom Eternal has arrived. Chance celebrated this dark emergence by plating pear trees and visiting other people’s islands in Animal Crossing New Horizons. Disgusted, Chamber lain ripped and teared through all comers until running in into an enemy so out of place he nearly walked away. Alex had the sense to stop playing when it got to sweaty, returning to old friends with remastered textures.

Three men started Ori and the Will of the Wisps. One finished it. No spoilers yet, but Chamberlain liked it a lot while Alex and Chance decided that bugs were better than deadly furry things and got distracted by Hades (again) and X-Com 2 (again). By the time you listen to this Doom Eternal will be out. You have no reason to leave the house, you can live on demon murder.

Chance and Alex have a wonderful surprise for Chamberlain: they are playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps, too! And all three agree that it’s pretty good. More than a little derivative of a certain game about bugs, but certainly a shining bit of fun in these strange times. Alex continues to try and shame Chance into playing X-Com 2 and Chance continues his march through Hades with a new, very personal weapon.

The remake of Final Fantasy 7 is a real game, a real demo anyway, that you can, and should, download and play right now. It hit the appropriate nostalgia buttons for Chamberlain and even managed to amuse Chance, in spite of some adolescent trauma involving a party and being separated from Resident Evil. And Alex has decided that Darksiders 3 is not quite as bad as he has been told. Barely. Fury is really cool, at least.

Caution, despite out best efforts to avoid it, discussion of the real word sneaks into the final few minutes. There are also Darksiders Genesis spoilers, fresh opinions about Borderlands 3, a well thought out defense of the 2-2-2 mechanic in Overwatch and a very, very serious analogy involving unsatisfying manual sexual stimulation and Hugh Laurie. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Nary a beat to drop this week. Chamberlain continues to struggle with Hollow Knight, a game he now plays only out of spite for the Souls genre and all the evil it has done. Chance has killed Hades several times and continues to go back for more. And Alex returns to Path of Exile years after its release and find it bigger, better, and best of all, still free.car

It’s understudy week! The part of Chance will be played by a reasonable facsimile of Eminem, complete with his verse from Forgot About Dre and reactions to Hades. Someone who sounds a lot like Chamberlain is here but it cannot possibly be him as he is playing Hollow Knight on purpose. No one can replace Alex, but Alex replaces The Outer Wilds with No Mans Sky.

Don’t tell anyone, but Chamberlain has feelings. A few. Maybe one, as exemplified by his reaction to To The Moon, an ancient PC game that just came out on Switch. He also enjoyed a little bit of No Mans Sky light with Journey to the Savage Planet. Chance’s gaming wanderlust took him through Untitled Goose Game, Overwatch and finally Hades on his swanky new PC. And Alex heaps more praise Dragon Age Inquisition. Also, heavy spoilers for the final season The Good Place, the first episode of Picard and maybe one or two for The Gentlemen.

Gather round, children, and listen to Uncle Chance tell tale of his favorite vampire movie. He also played just enough of Wandersong to learn that Chamberlain was right and that he really should play the rest of it. Chamberlain forced his way through Valfaris, the follow up to Slain and Alex has returned to Dragon Age Inquisition because he wants to remember Bioware for what they were, not what they are now.

200? 200!It’s true. Welcome to episode 200 of the Chamberlain, Chance and Alex podcast. Games were delayed. Chance played Overwatch. Alex knows more than the average man about Greek tragedies. Chamberlain hates a soulslike. There may not be much coming out  now, but that is what a solid backlog is for.

We all made it to 2020. Mostly. So here are our picks for the 2020 hype list. There is a lot to look forward to and that doesn’t even include new hardware in the fourth quarter. Plus, Chamberlain finished a Souls-ish game and complain about it! Alex played just enough Death Stranding to have an opinion on it! And Chance has gone back to Sekiro and Overwatch because crushing his opposition never gets old.

This is how the decade ends. Star Wars fights and spoilers. Gaming wanderlust. More Borderlands 3 and Overwatch. And a one final (maybe) discussion about Death Stranding that takes Chamberlain, Chance and Alex to some very strange places, indeed.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time for lists, arguments, and much less agreement than last year. These are our top games of 2019. While Alex and Chamberlain believe it was a less than mediocre year and struggled to fill their lists Chance found joy in walking, shooting swinging a sword. Yes, there is fighting about Death Stranding. As there should be.