Aaron joins Andrew, Amanda, and Rich to talk about so many games, your emails, and more!
Games: God of War: Ragnarok (PS5), Tactics Ogre Reborn (Switch, PC), Sonic Frontiers (PS5), Marvel Snap (Mobile), Orbital Bullet (switch), A Little to the Left (PC), A Castle Full of Cats (PC).
To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind.
Download the official apps
Comments
00:01:20 God of War: Ragnarök
00:07:03 Tactics Ogre Reborn
00:19:38 Sonic Frontiers
00:26:30 Marvel Snap
00:33:04 Orbital Bullet
00:38:20 A Little to the Left
00:43:15 A Castle Full of Cats
00:48:35 Your Emails
For a long time I was convinced that GOW: Ragnarok was going to be ok but not as good as the original. Now, after all the incredible reviews, etc, l’m very excited. I really don’t know how I’ll respond when I finally let myself play it.
Sometimes you can be looking forward to a game so much that getting it and firing it up for the first time feels like an event in itself and it can be anticlimactic when you start playing. Not liking Atreus could be a problem though. I was fine with him in the first game. I though he was a great little kid who was in danger of being messed up by his father.
‘…or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to go home.’ - Mark Watney, The Martian.
My Marvel Snap is listening to TurboHoodie's description and thinking, "this sounds like Gwent" then hearing TheHarpoMarxist say it about 90 seconds later.
As for GOW, I get the same problem with hype -- when you expect a game to be 10/10, any gripe feels major as it ruins your perfect experience. I can see flaws in GOW, and it does start a little slow, but the core fighting is so satisfying to me that everything else is gravy. (I also forgot many of the details from 2018's story, but I'm just rolling with it).
I contrast that with, say, Elden Ring, where I knew others had massive hype but didn't expect to like it myself, as I'd bounced off of Souls games before. I had to try it though, as it was THE game of the moment, thinking I'd just see how far I'd get before noping out. I ended up loving it as much as everyone else did and put 130+ hours into it. Got right up to that last boss fight (which I still haven't finished).
Also, it's funny how you can pick up Sonic Frontiers, an objectively inferior and punier game, and have a blast. Lower expectations can be liberating :).
It's going to make GOTY decisions hard this year. Do you pick a game that exceeded expectations, met some very high expectations, or one that came out of left field where you had no idea what to expect?
Defunk'd Bloggue
Bluesky: @lancecalhoon.bsky.social
I’m holding off on buying GOW: Ragnarok to try and get myself focus on a few jobs that need doing about the house that have been endlessly postponing up until now. Spikeout is convinced that I’m trying to delay playing GOW:R long enough that I don’t have to decide between it and Elden Ring for my best game of 2022.
‘…or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to go home.’ - Mark Watney, The Martian.
Haha, clever, but what's coming out in 2023?
It's a Sophie's Choice for GOTY 2022 ... I thought nothing would beat Elden Ring, but now I'm not so sure, and I haven't even finished GOW yet.
Defunk'd Bloggue
Bluesky: @lancecalhoon.bsky.social
I was sure Elden Ring would be my GotY too. Although I just played GoW 2018 for the first time in the spring.
And then I spent even more hours playing Wildermyth this summer.
Probably waiting on Ragnarok for a couple months
What Stele said ^ -mortalgroove
Switch: 6273-9936-5107
Pretty sure my GOTY right now is a deadlock between Marvel Snap, Vampire Survivors, and Immortality. There's some heavy hitters in December so we'll see how it shakes out for me, but overall a good year for games.
Frequent GWJ Conference Call contributor.
I run a podcast called The Co-Operatives where my wife and I discuss co-op games and how to create healthy gaming relationships. http://ListenToTheCoOps.com/