TechRaptor Gaming Podcast

This week Robert, Andrew, and Stretch share their thoughts on Super Mario Bros. Wonder. We cover the game from top to bottom including the way Mario moves and reacts to the world, the weird new Power-Ups and Wonder Flowers, and why the last level of the game caused Stretch to rage quit.

This week on the podcast Rut, Otton, Robert, and Stretch put our heads together to see how well we know our team. They’ve each submitted their top 5 games and it’s up to us to pair them to it.

Do we know our team well enough, or are we going to embarrass ourselves with wrong guesses?

This week on the podcast, Robert, Stretch, and Will celebrate Monday the 16th (which is somewhat close to Friday the 13th). As it’s ALSO the month of October, we decided to do a draft of our favorite horror games.

With some well-known picks, like Resident Evil, and some obscure selections, you’ll have to tell us who came up with the best horror list!

Next week is the release of Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse and its level 3-7 Adventure. Rut, Scrappy, and newcomer to the pod Will join Stretch as they awaken in a Mortuary on Sigil and try to make their way out.

If you’re interested in more Planescape, it’s available on Oct. 17, and you can already check out our review here:

This week on the Podcast Robert has a bit of a challenge for us... ‘Who’s That Assassin?’ We test our 16 years of Assassin’s Creed knowledge to try to remember which assassin is from what game and what their names are.

After that Stretch and Otton join the conversation to talk about what elements of the Assassin’s Creed story and genre we’re fans of and what they should leave behind.

This week on the Podcast Rutledge, Robert, and Stretch discuss the never-ending torrent of games that have been releasing through 2023. We go back and highlight the big games of 2023 that might be up for GOTY, what games we’ve got on our horizons, and look ahead to 2024.

We also talk about how we pick and choose which games we’re wanting to play and when we know that a game just isn’t going to be worth our time...

Today, Wizards of the Coast released their newest adventure for Dungeons & Dragons, Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk. This continues a party’s journey after the famous starting adventure, The Lost Mines of Phandelver.

To celebrate, the TechRaptor Podcast team plays their first session with the new adventure book. What mysteries lie with these new goblins? Will Rut ever land an arrow? Find out in this exciting 3-hour real-play podcast!

Ahead of Starfield’s launch, the TechRaptor podcast crew breaks down the past two decades of Bethesda Game Studios’ catalog. The team makes a lot of huge, open-world sandboxes, but are they fun to play in?

Everyone’s up in arms about the Baldur’s Gate 3 controversy, because it’s a video game that’s so good that every other video game should be put to shame -- or so says some parts of the internet. Is there one singular golden standard we can apply to video games? And what do microtransactions really have to do with any of this? We dive into that and more in this week’s episode of the TechRaptor Podcast.

Join us for our first Dungeons & Dragons podcast! This week, our reviewer Erren Van Duine shares her review-in-progress snapshot of Baldur’s Gate 3, which we’ve all been playing.

The level of detail and branching paths have already led to some wild stories, some of which come from the inside of a jail cell or two.

When it comes to buying games, every evaluates prices differently. One full-price game could have “more value” to one person and less to another, depending on taste, time spent in game, and enjoyment outside of play time.

Join us as we dive into how the value of video games differ among all sorts of people. Can you ever really waste money on a game? Are some games worth more than others? Find out the answers to these questions on this week’s TechRaptor Podcast.

e’re trying something new this week we’re calling The Big 3 where we face off against one another by creating our own individual best of lists. This time we’re going for the best movie tie-in games, which are games directly related to a movie, not just something from the franchise. We structured it like your classic fantasy sports draft, so there are some definite reaches in picks later on.

Where would you pick such classics like Goldeneye 007 or Spider-Man 2? Would something like X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Star Wars: The Phantom Menace make your list? We discuss these and more, including some honorable mentions.

What games did we forget? Who had the best Big 3 roster?

Breaking away from our normal structure, Robert, Andrew, and Stretch take a look at the history of Xbox Game Studios and analyze how they’re doing. From formation and early purchases like Rare, to the flood of announcements in 2018 and the impending acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, we talk through each studio and their contributions. 

Are Xbox taking the right approach staying hands off with their companies? Has Xbox been missing a consistency that they used to have? What will it mean if Starfield or Fable flop? 
 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:03:11 – Early Days of Microsoft Game Studios 

00:26:52 – Mojang and Minecraft 

00:36:45 – E3 2018: Obsidian, InXile, Ninja Theory, and More 

01:03:54 – The Big ZeniMax Acquisition 

01:23:51 – What the Xbox One Did to Microsoft 

01:28:35 – Do Xbox Games Review Poorly?

This week Scrappy, Otton, and Stretch get together to talk about the PlayStation Showcase, highlighting Sony doubling down on live-service games, the PSVR2 offerings, and some of the other big announcements including Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater and Spider-Man 2.  

In the games we’ve been playing department, we’re all still stuck in Hyrule playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Scrappy has decreed himself the ultimate Zelda gamer. 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:20 – PlayStation Showcase 

00:02:19 – All the PlayStation Live Service Games 

00:17:28 – PSVR2 Games, Including Resident Evil 4 VR 

00:25:00 – Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater 

00:31:43 – Dragon's Dogma 2 

00:33:32 – What’s the Deal With Project Q? 

00:41:36 – Spider-Man 2 

00:54:00 – What This a Good PlayStation Showcase? 

01:00:06 – Tears of the Kingdom Impressions 

This week on the podcast, Stretch, Robert, and Rut give predictions on this week’s Sony PlayStation Showcase. Do we think the hard hitters like Spider-Man 2 or The Last of Us 2 Factions will be shown off, or one of the many rumored games like Metal Gear Solid or Silent Hill 2? Also, Blizzard baffled us this week as they announced Overwatch 2 will longer have true PvE game modes. What does that mean for the future of Overwatch 2? 

Rut has been squashing bugs and building bases in Starship Troopers: Extermination, working with different groups to re-enact their favorite over-the-top bug fights! Robert and Stretch have been playing more Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (And I can stop whenever I want! - Stretch). They talk about some of the discoveries they’ve made, and how the mechanics and world have felt. 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:00:46 – TechRaptor Indie Gaming Showcase 

00:03:49 – Sony Announced PlayStation Showcase for Wednesday 

00:24:37 – Blizzard Cancels Big PvE Promises for Overwatch 2 

00:39:28 – Starship Troopers: Extermination Impressions 

00:47:40 – Tears of the Kingdom Is Still Good 

In a week filled with financial reports from everyone in the industry it was Nintendo and EA that caught our eyes. Robert and Otton talked about EA’s claim to want to be an acquirer and not an acquiree, and Stretch thinks he knows who could voice Link in a Legend of Zelda movie. 

While we’ve only had a limited amount of time to get sunk into Tears of the Kingdom our minds are already flying with ideas of different combinations. Really at this point we just devolved into talking about funny things we had seen or done already and how we were all wanting to get back to playing... 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:30 – EA CEO Andrew Wilson Chimes in on the Microsoft Activision Acquisition 

00:16:45 – Nintendo Wants to focus on Expanding and Engaging the Switch’s Base Audience 

00:28:48 – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Impressions 

This week Rutledge, Robert, and Stretch discuss the big three console developers. Sony studio PixelOpus, known for Concrete Genie, announced they’re closing down. Phil Spencer spoke with Kinda Funny’s XCast on the current state of Xbox, the CMA’s decision, and the brand going forward. Finally, Nintendo issued a DMCA on a tool that allows people to obtain key files that could enable preservation, or piracy, of Nintendo Switch games. 

In the games for the week, Stretch talks about the short ARPG Ravenlok from Cococucumber, and everyone dives in to talk full spoilers about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. With so many Jedi being around, was Order 66 successful? 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:10 – Sony Shuts Down PixelOpus 

00:07:35 – Phil Spencer Interview on the Kinda Funny Xcast 

00:32:57 – Nintendo DMCAs Lockpick, Hurting Switch Emulation 

00:41:37 – Ravenlok Impressions 

00:47:20 – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Impressions 

00:53:56 – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor SPOILERS

Microsoft suffers a big loss this week after their acquisition of Activision Blizzard gets shot down by the CMA, what’s next for Xbox’s purchase journey and how petty will they become? The podcast crew also discuss the announcement of Armored Core 6 from FromSoftware and how it might be influenced by recent success. 

Rutledge, Scrappy, and Christian talk about their experiences so far with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, some of the mechanics that they’re enjoying, and a happy frog dude called Turgle. Getting excited for Tears of the Kingdom, Christian has gone back and completed Breath of the Wild’s DLC, getting to visit one of the major dungeons of the game and scoring himself a sweet set of wheels. 
 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:30 – UK's CMA Blocks Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard Acquisition 

00:22:07 – FromSoftware Reveals Armored Core VI Release Date 

00:33:12 – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Impressions 

00:57:20 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom 

This week on the podcast the crew talks about the massive failure success of Hi-Fi Rush and how Xbox is changing their definition of success in the age of streaming games. This week has been all about acquisitions as Sony purchases Firewalk Studios and SEGA purchases Rovio. Do we think that Sonic will show up in a new Angry Birds game, or that the Angry Birds will be appearing on Mobius? 

Talking about games that they’ve played Otton talks about his time in Horizon: Forbidden West Burning Shores DLC and how empty the new area feels. Rut plays an idle game for children. Stretch expresses his frustration with a boss that won’t let you progress in Stray Blade, and Scrappy finally dives back into Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to get hyped for the new game! 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:05 – Hi-Fi Rush Is a Breakout Hit for Xbox 

00:15:15 – Sony Acquires Firewalk Studios 

00:21:17 – Sega Acquires Rovio (and General Discussion on the Mobile Gaming Market) 

00:35:35 – Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores Impressions 

00:43:20 – Realm Grinder Impressions 

00:49:17 – Stray Blade Impressions 

00:57:00 – Replaying Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

This week on the podcast Rutledge, Robert, and Stretch discuss major gaming news as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is delayed into 2024. How much can you really change about a game in such little time though? Redfall announced it would launch without a performance mode that has led many to question the acceptability of a 30fps shooter, and the larger Xbox discussion around it’s releases. Nintendo is headed to Seattle this September to show off it’s games.

Stretch discusses his time attending Creator Clash 2, the creators he saw, and the fights he witnessed. Rutledge is seeking out immortality in Survival: Fountain of Youth, and Scrappy has been trying out the new Thai Overwatch character, Lifeweaver.

00:00 – Intro

01:05 – Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Delayed

10:56 – Redfall Will Launch With Only a 30 fps Quality Mode, 60 fps Is Coming

28:01 – Nintendo Live Is Coming to Seattle in September

33:00 – Creator Clash

44:32 – Survival: Fountain of Youth Impressions

50:55 – Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver Impressions

This week the podcast has their book game club and talk about Resident Evil 4 Remake. From the first moment you set foot in the village and take on a chainsaw wielding psychopath, to the final battles with a giant mutated eye spider we discuss our thoughts after completing the game. 

The podcast crew talks about what aspects of Resident Evil 4 they like, what didn’t land, and where they think improvements could have been made. We at least all agree that Leon’s one-liners can stay! 

Join us this week as we have a moment of silence for E3 2023’s cancellation. We discuss what that means for the industry and a year already filled with events. We get lost in the weeds discussing all of the different possibilities we could imagine from Tears of the Kingdom and it’s new Fusing mechanic. We also talk about the unfortunate issues plaguing the PC port of The Last of Us: Part 1. Did it need to be rushed out the door to align with the HBO series? 

Instead of games we all discuss how much we enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. We give our general thoughts at the beginning before we dive into spoiler talk. 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:02:04 – E3 Is Cancelled 

00:21:52 – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Gameplay 

00:35:49 – The Last of Us PC Port Isn’t Doing Well 

00:44:19 – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 

00:50:55 – Honor Among Thieves SPOILERS 

The ongoing saga of Microsoft purchasing Activision continues this week as the UK CMA changes it’s thoughts on the merger and how Call of Duty getting Shredder is likely indicative of the future. Counter-Strike 2 is getting a surprise sequel that shows off some very impressive use of smoke physics. The podcast crew also rolls our eyes at the gameplay and closed beta reveal of Crash Team Rumble. 

Scrappy was able to go to A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy in Seattle. There he saw cosplayers, listened to emotional music from across Final Fantasy’s history, and watched the conductor play a slide whistle to the Chocobo Theme. Otton returned to give us an update on his time with Tactical Roguelike The Last Spell. 

00:00:00 – Intro 

00:01:37 – The UK’s CMA Aren’t Worried About Microsoft Acquiring Activision-Blizzard 

00:23:40 – TMNT's Shredder Is Coming to Call of Duty 

00:31:31 – Counter-Strike 2 Has Some Wild Smoke Grenades 

00:42:44 – Crash Team Rumble Is the Next Great Live-Service Game 

00:51:07 – A New World: Intimate Music From Final Fantasy Concert 

01:02:47 – The Last Spell Impressions 

This week Stretch, Rut, and Austin pivot away from news and instead have a discussion about game preservation. With the WiiU and 3DS eShop shutting down in just a week there’s so many games that will be lost to time. How does physical collecting assist in the preservation of games and where does legal and illegal emulation play a role in preservation? 

Rut and Austin have spent the weekend diving into the pits of hell in the Diablo IV Closed Beta (Codes provided by Activision). They discuss how they’ve enjoyed their time with Diablo IV, how Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 fans will enjoy the game, and what their hopes are for end-game activities. 

Intro – 00:00:00 

Game Preservation and the WiiU/3DS eShop – 00:00:50 

Diablo IV – 00:26:31 

Lots of moving happening at Square Enix this week as we discuss the new CEO Takashi Kiryu and the reabsorption of Luminous Studio into Square Enix. After showing a few janky looking images the team behind Dead Island 2 gave us an extended showcase of what to expect when their game releases.

The team spends a lot of time talking about game development with the release of the PsychOdyssey docu-series about the creation of Psychonauts 2. Like A Dragon: Ishin has been Robert’s obsession this week, when he’s not impaling warring samurai he’s kicking back with some karaoke hits. Stretch travels back to his childhood and realizes how bad he was at Mario + Luigi: Superstar Saga.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:45 – Square Enix Is Getting a New CEO

00:18:00 – Dead Island 2 Gameplay Reveal

00:28:48 – Double Fine PsychOdyssey (also game development is hard)

00:51:54 – Like a Dragon: Ishin! Impressions

00:59:18 – Mario + Luigi: Superstar Saga via Nintendo Switch

This week the podcast crew talks about everything that Baldur’s Gate 3 has them excited about (and the potential issues of the Series S), as well as everything that Suicide Squad has us NOT excited about including high gear numbers and the promise of another live service game.

Rut discusses his lovecraftian fishing adventures in DREDGE, Stretch brings up his... interesting experiences with the dialogue of Atomic Heart. Scrappy and Otton have a chance to deep dive about their experiences playing games like Horizon: Call of the Mountain, The Last Clockwinder, and Ragnarok on the new PSVR2.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:40 – Baldur's Gate 3 Release Date Revealed

00:13:52 – Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League (With Guns and Battle Passes)

00:29:12 – DREDGE Impressions

00:37:50 – Atomic Heart Impressions

00:47:26 – PSVR2 Impressions

This week the podcast crew is stunned by the latest trailer for I Am Jesus Christ. Game Pass is once again in the news as it turns out that it actually doesn’t lead to higher game sales. Ubisoft confirm their presence for E3 but it has us wondering just what they might be about to show off.

Rut rekindles his passion with Valorant this week comparing it to great team shooters like CS:GO and Splatoon and Stretch does some hunting in the Edo-era lands of Wild Hearts. Scrappy surprises the crew by arriving with a Like a Dragon themed quiz game “Who’s that Sujimon?”

00:00:00 – Intro

00:00:46 – I Am Jesus Christ Trailer Reaction

00:12:57 – Games on Xbox Game Pass See a Decline in Sales

00:27:13 – Ubisoft Will Be at E3, Also Teased an Unannounced Game

00:33:24 – Diablo IV Will Get an Open Beta

00:43:03 – Rut Is Back on Valorant

00:48:51 – Wild Hearts Impressions

00:59:05 – Who’s That Sujimon?

This week the Podcast crew moves away from talking about video game financials and discuss the latest developments in the ongoing acquisition of Activision/Blizzard by Microsoft. After that they dive into everything Nintendo Direct discussing the new Tears of the Kingdom trailer, questionable DLC and pricing, and our personal rating of the Nintendo Direct.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:06:00 – UK's CMA Isn’t a Fan of the Microsoft Activision-Blizzard Acquisition

00:22:48 – Nintendo Direct 02/08/23 Breakdown

00:25:59 – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

00:41:56 – Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection Has Some Weird DLC

00:49:20 – Splatoon 3 Has Some Weird DLC

00:53:55 – Metroid Prime Remastered Launches Out of Nowhere

00:56:45 – Pikmin 4 Is a Dark Survival Game

00:59:17 – Octopath Traveler 2 Demo Impressions

01:08:50 – The Rest of the Nintendo Direct

01:15:06 – How Do We Rate This Nintendo Direct?

This week the game companies of the world have released their financials, for some it looks pretty good but Square Enix and Konami seem to be having some troubles. Activision Blizzard is once again paying out for workplace misconduct, this time for hindering the voices of whistleblowers.

For games Rut talks about early access title Superfuse, Stretch dips his toes into the world of Tabletop with the RPG Frosthaven, and Robert talks about how much he’s enjoying Hi-Fi Rush and not enjoying Forspoken.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:20 – Activision Blizzard Ordered to Pay $35M to Settles Whistleblower Charges

00:14:04 – Square Enix Announces Declining Finances, but Plans for More New IPs

00:23:37 – Konami Announces Profit Drop, but It’s Putting More Money Into New Games

00:31:23 – Superfuse Impressions

00:37:08 – Frosthaven Impressions

00:47:53 – Forspoken Narrative Thoughts

00:51:14 – Hi Fi Rush Impressions

In a week packed with game releases and news the Podcast crew got the update (and finale?) to Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License drama and Paizo’s push for more of the TTRPG space. We also heard about the latest legal woes for The Day Before.

In games there has been no shortage as we’ve been playing the recently shadow dropped Hi-Fi Rush, returned to curbstomping necromorphs in Dead Space, and enjoyed fantasy parkour in Forspoken.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:37 – Wizards of the Coast Rolls Back Its OGL Plans; Paizo Continues Its ORC Plans

00:15:24 – Is The Day Before Vaporware?

00:22:58 – Hi-Fi Rush Impressions

00:33:12 – Dead Space Impressions

00:45:23 – Forspoken Impressions

The crew get together for our 69th episode of the TechRaptor podcast to talk about the walk back that Wizards of the Coast have been taking for the OGL 1.2, how the PSVR2 release window is shaping up pretty nicely, and the current trend of tech industry layoffs including Xbox.

Stretch talks about how Persona 3 Portable shows Persona’s roots and growth but might not be a great game, Otton talks about how Naughty Dog has managed to pair Open World gameplay and the Uncharted franchise so well in Lost Legacy, and we all gush over how great The Last of Us on HBO is.

00:00:00 – Intro, Google Stadia Eulogy

00:04:14 – Wizards of the Coast Reveal Draft of OGL 1.2

00:16:38 – Sony Reveals More PlayStation VR 2 Launch Window Games

00:29:08 – Layoffs in the Tech World, Including Microsoft and Xbox Gaming

00:37:20 – Persona 3 Portable Impressions

00:43:56 – Uncharted: Lost Legacy Impressions

00:50:22 – HBO’s The Last of Us Episode 1 Impressions (SPOILERS)

After an eventful week, the crew get together to discuss learning of Ubisoft’s canceled unannounced games, Mario’s disappointing performance, and that Skull and Bones is apparently still coming out... Dunkey’s Bigmode announced the first game it’s publishing, and Wizards of the Coast roll a natural 1 while still coming up as a winner.

Otton talks about his inability to see what an excellent game Crisis Core is (yes, Stretch wrote this), and Scrappy gives us the lowdown on what Luffy is up to in One Piece Odyssey.

00:00:00 – Intro, Skull & Bones

00:11:44 – Ubisoft Cancels 3 More Games, Soft Sales

00:21:22 – Dunkey's Bigmode Announces Animal Well

00:27:03 – Wizards of the Coast and the OGL 2.0

00:47:09 – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion

00:55:23 – One Piece Odyssey

The TechRaptor Podcast crew take a look back at the year of 2022 and go over each of the winners of TechRaptor’s Game of the Year Awards. From Best Multiplayer and Best Visual Design to the highly coveted Game of the Year we talk about all of the nominees, their effect on the gaming landscape of 2022, and why they deserved their wins.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:47 – The TechRaptor Game Awards of 2022 ft. Al Pacino

00:02:39 – Best Multiplayer Game

00:07:02 – Best Writing

00:17:26 – Best Visual Design

00:27:18 – Best Soundtrack

00:34:33 – Best Expansion/DLC

00:46:08 – Best Evolving Game

00:57:22 – Indie Game of the Year

01:14:58 – Tabletop Game of the Year Nominees

01:17:47 – Game of the Year