Thumbstick Athletes

Our resident Pokemon expert Will, (the only one of us that consistently plays all the pokemon games) weighs in on the controversial new entry into the mainline Pokemon series.  You've no doubt seem some of the memes, screencaps and videos from it, but is that really representative of the game as a whole?

Will and Corey played the updated tactical RPG Tactics Ogre Reborn for this week's episode....a game that sits right in the wheelhouse of the Thumbstick Athletes podcast, who hold Final Fantasy Tactics in such high esteem.

During nibblebits we cover the nominees for the 2022 Game Awards, and it seems like there's 4 or 5 games that were nominated for everything, so if you're a fan of Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, or A Plague Tale: Requiem, you're probably going to have a good awards season.

Will takes the reigns this episode in talking about God of War Ragnarok, being the only one of us that purchased it....being that he's the only one of us with a PS5.  A legitimate GOTY contender and solid experience, find out what Will thinks about the latest PS5 blockbuster.  Later on in the episode we discuss some VR, remaining competitive as aging gamers, and A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Will, Corey and Dan record a new episode on a weekday morning?  Times are a changin...but we discuss the pros and cons of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.  Mostly cons it seems, but a few pros too.  Later on in the episode Corey gives his early impressions of Persona 5 Royal, and Will has been playing a ton of Overwatch 2.  

Apologies for the large amount of time between episodes, but we get you caught up on what we've been doing and playing over the past several months.  Corey has a new Gamepass/Indie gem in Hardspace Shipbreaker, and shares his experiences so far with the Steam Deck.

We don't have a formal topic for this week's episode so we use it as an opportunity to talk about some of the games we've been playing.  Covered this episode are games like Triangle Strategy, Fortnite, Elden Ring, and Deathloop.

For this week's episode, Will discusses a game that kind of came out of nowhere for us in Ghostwire: Tokyo.  He describes it as an open world, supernatural action adventure game with some horror elements.  It checks a lot of boxes certainly, but what is it?  

In our Nibblebits segment we cover the cancellation of E3 among a few other topics, and during "What We Played" we get you caught up on the new Zero Build Fortnite, some Elden Ring, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

One of our show's favorite games Final Fantasy Tactics gets a spiritual successor in Triangle Strategy, find out if it meets our high standards for the tactical RPG genre.  We also talk a little bit more about Elden Ring during "What We Played."

Will takes the lead for the main segment this episode, talking about yet another superb 2022 release in Horizon Forbidden West.  It's a sequel that both lives up to and surpasses its predecessor in every way.  

During "What We Played" there is some more Elden Ring discussion as well some a tiny bit more of Triangle Strategy.  Stay tuned for our next episode that will cover Triangle Strategy in much more depth!

Dan and Corey, (and later Will) sit down to talk about what everyone is calling FromSoftware's Magnum Opus in Elden Ring.  What do veterans of the Soulsborne series think of the newest, open world entry?

We tried to get a Pokemon Legends: Arceus episode scheduled but just couldn't get a time that worked, so we talked about it this episode, along with very brief first impressions of Triangle Strategy.  

For next week's episode Will is going to cover Horizon Forbidden West....episode to be available next Saturday afternoon.

Part two of the gaming awards show you don't want to miss, with a few more of our ever popular awards like the "Steamy Turd" award, "Game We Wish We Played" and our yearly console wars award..."Most Valuable Console."

Be sure to catch our next regular episode on Pokemon Legends: Arceus!

It's well past time for our annual awards episode, being well into January....so here it is, Part 1 of the 2021 Thumbies awards.  We cover memorable categories such as "Best Rainy Day Game", "The One That Got Away" and the ever popular "Please Stop" award.  

On a side note, apologies for Dan's audio quality....his mic decided to up and not work as we were sitting down to record so he had to improvise and go with the lower quality microphone on his headset.

This week we welcome Will back into regular hosting duties, for the first time since probably the Summer.  We take the opportunity to find out what he's been playing and his thoughts said games.  Some of the titles discussed were Halo: Infinite (of course) Deathloop, Far Cry 6, and Call of Duty Vanguard.  Other topics of discussion include the end of Fortnite Chapter 2, nominees for the Game Awards, and a top 10 list from a listener.

It's been a hot minute since Dan or Corey have sunk any time into a Halo game, especially multiplayer...yet here we are.  The surprise release of the Halo Infinite Multiplayer has the TSA Pod taking up arms against their fellow gaming community and sticking noobs with plasma grenades.  Later on in the episode Dan talks a little about the Animal Crossing's Happy Home Academy expansion and Corey played an indie gem in Moonglow Bay.

We have everyone back on for the big 5-0-0!  In usual fashion we revisit our top 10 games lists, as well a re-live some of the many moments and conversations we've had on the show!

Corey carries the episode this week, relating his experiences with the new and trending game The Riftbreaker...available now on Steam and PC Gamepass.  In nibblebits we cover some exciting PlayStation exclusives coming to PC and in "What We Played" some brief first impressions of Age of Empires 4.

Also I wanted to note that I know my audio is cutting out a bit, I'm still working out the kinks in my new setup which should be ironed out soon!

So yeah, the Metroid series is one that we collectively as a podcast don't have a ton of experience with.  Will played the Metroid Prime games many years ago, but that pretty much sums up our experiences with it.  So it was a good opportunity to play a metroidvania style game, coming from the OG devs! 

For Nibblebits we talk about the Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct, and the new additions to Nintendo Switch online.

Our topic for this week is the first (successful) game from Amazon Game Studios New World...and is the $40, no subscription fee MMORPG set in a fantasy style Age of Exploration type world worth it?  

For the other segments we discuss the Twitch hack and two new games in Astria Ascending and (very briefly) Metroid Dread.

Recording at their new Saturday morning podcast time, Dan and Corey relate their experiences with new indie action-RPG Eastward.....a spiritual successor of sorts to the fabled Earthbound.  Then during "What We Played" Dan gets a little further in depth with his experience with New World.

For realsies this time!  After a super busy summer, things are have slowed down a little for Dan and Corey and we can get into a normal recording schedule again...likely on the weekend mornings.  But for now we get ya'll up to date on what we played over the summer, today's Nintendo Direct, and what the heck we did all summer.

Just as E3 rises from the ashes like a Phoenix so too does the TSA Podcast!  Though I guess ashes is too strong a word, more mismatched schedules and a general lack of time for us.....E3 has, however, risen from the ashes.  We cover the Ubisoft Forward event, since that's one of the few conferences that took place already, along with discussing some other miscellaneous announcements and some of the things we'd like to hear about from the other conferences.

During "What We Played" Fortnite Season 7, the new Ratchet and Clank, Stardew Valley, and a few others are discussed by Dan, Will, and Corey!

It's been a hot minute since we've had an episode so we take the opportunity to get you all caught up on the news, what we've been playing and what we've been up to!

We're back with an irregular episode release, this time covering Outriders.  Dan was unable to play due to the whole PC/XBOX Gamepass confusion issue, but played some Cozy Grove to make up for it.

What are some great games that got left behind on their old systems, and haven't made the leap yet to modern day consoles or PC?  This is the question Will and Dan discuss in this new (likely series) episode.  

We review the excellent addition onto the Super Mario 3D World, Bowser's Fury for this week's episode.  Spoilers...its pretty darn good and we hope they make a full Mario game in the same vein.  

I don't believe we talked too much about it when it first happened, so now that it's official we took the opportunity to talk about what it will mean for both companies and the studios involved.  Later on in the episode Will talks more about Days Gone and Dan played Fortnite Season 6.

While I had a pretty good main segment planned for this week's episode, it was derailed before it even started.  Graphics cards are so hard to buy right now that even pre-built gaming PC's are out of stock.  So most of the main segment this week was talking about the gpu shortage!

For this week we cover a few digital events that most gamers seem to not be too jazzed about.  Though Pokemon stuff is usually a hit, many were disappointed in the nature of the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes.  The event was saved, however, by the announcement of Pokemon Legends: Arceus which appears to be a Breath of the Wild-esque Pokemon game.  Seems like it will be a safe bet.  On the PlayStation front, lots of things coming, but nothing really first party which is what everyone was hoping for, but some neat announcements nonetheless!  Dan and Will were not disappointed.  

During Nintendo's February 2021 Direct, a new game was announced that's very near and dear to the TSA Pod...and that game was Project Traingle Strategy.  Slated for release in 2022, PTS is a Final Fantasy Tactics-esque Strategy RPG with graphics very similar to Octopath Traveler.  Even better than the game announcement itself is the fact that they released a demo later that day!  So we played and share our thoughts.

 Later in the episode we cover the rest of the Nintendo Direct, with announcements about Splatoon 3, and Skyward Sword coming to the Switch and some of the Blizzcon announcements.

Since we missed another episode last week we decided to spend an episode on catching up on the games we've played.  Will updates us on his 4 in February progress, talking about The Witcher 3 and Days Gone and Dan sunk a significant amount of time into the 1.5 update for Stardew Valley.  We also set a new recording night at the end of the episode so we can get back to weekly episodes.

GameStop was finally in the news again over the past week or so, and for a good reason for once!  Dan and Will breakdown (at least in layman's terms) what happened with the GameStop stock, and the importance of what it means.  Later on in the episode we cover some crazy Nintendo news, Will played Hitman 3 and Dan is getting a new phone.

Another new year staple in the TSA Pod arsenal...our yearly predictions episode!  We sometimes make this a "bold predictions" episode, but really coming from 2020 into 2021....its hard to read.  We also report that Ubisoft is going to be making an open world Star Wars and we talk during "What We Played" about Final Fantasy 15 and Hollow Knight.

It's a pretty meager selection of new games for the start of 2021....a few Nintendo releases in Super Mario 3D World DX and Bravely Default 2 for February.  Later on in the episode we discuss some more Cyberpunk 2077, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and have a somewhat spoilery discussion about The Last of Us 2.  Not to worry, we do give a warning!

The gang is all here for the TSA Pod's final episode of the year, the 2020 Thumbies Awards!  We have such classic awards as the Steamy Pile award, Best Ambassador game, and the ever favorite 2020's 2019 Game of the Year.....yeah, that one!  It also has a very 2020 finish....

Corey joins the pod this week to share his thoughts on the controversial Cyberpunk 2077 which we talk a little more in depth about this week.  Later on in the episode Will really sells us on a new under-the-radar game he's been playing and we recap our experiences with Winter Storm Gail, whose epicenter was right where we live!

Since Cyberpunk is such a huge game, we figured we would be doing the game an injustice by reviewing it so shortly after release.  Especially since Dan played the most at only about 15 hours, Will at about an hour, and Corey not having played any yet.  So expect a more thorough discussion further in the future and maybe as soon as next week even.  

During Nibblebits we cover some of The Game Awards winners, and during "What we Played" some more Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity, and Dan covers Fortnite Season 5!

We finally get to experience the events that lead to the masterpiece that is Breath of the Wild in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.  It was most definitely an unexpected surprise announcement to come out of this year in gaming...with nobody anywhere either predicting a game like it would exist, or having any sort of leaks before the actual announcement.  A rarity in the industry these days!

During "What We Played" there is of course a lot more Assassin's Creed Valhalla talk, since that is still the new hotness in the gaming world.

With Assassin's Creed Odyssey being one of our podcast's favorite games, Valhalla had some pretty big shoes to fill.  So we felt the need to compare and contrast pretty heavily between the two.  Later on in the episode Dan and Will give their early impressions of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

Corey and Will relate their first few days with the new Xbox Series X, and we discuss the form factor, the UI, and the performance along with whether or not it was worth an upgrade.  During "What We Played" we give our first impressions of Assassin's Creed Valhalla....to be covered in a full episode nest week!

Corey joins us for this week's episode as Dan talks about his experience with Watch Dogs: Legion and Ubisoft's new subscription service...which didn't go well at first.

During nibblebits we learn that the Mass Effect Legendary Edition is on it's way, (an original trilogy remaster) and a new Mass Effect is currently being developed.  

During "What We Played" Corey gets us caught up on what he's been playing, including Spiritfarer, some Civ 6 and a few others!

Just a tad over two weeks until the new consoles come out, so we do a quick and dirty comparison of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.  

The first episode on our current recording schedule of Sunday morning....Dan and Will cover the best titles released on the PS4 in it's lifetime now that most of the heavy hitters have come out.  If you've listened to us for any amount of time, you can probably guess some of the games that were on our lists...but also Dan hasn't owned a PS4 for a lot the generation.

We're back from our brief hiatus with some heavy hitting news on the new consoles....we've got release dates for both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X along with prices, launch titles, and PlayStation's answer for Xbox Gamepass.  We also hit a few other topics like Microsoft's acquisition of Zenimax, WoW Shadowlands delay, and the new Smash Bros character.

During "What We Played" we talk about our experiences with Spellbreak and Super Mario 3D All Stars.  Lots to cover!

This week we cover Ubisoft's "Nintendo Direct" style event called Ubisoft Forward...where they gave some updates on released games, showed more from Immortals Fenyx Rising and announced Riders Republic.  It was a good event, jam packed with neat things.  We also FINALLY got some info on the releases for the Xbox Series X and S including a release date and price.  

During Nibblebits Nintendo drops a bombshell announcement out of nowhere for Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity....and we're super excited for it.

Quality over quantity would definitely describe this year's fall games lineup...with not too many games coming out.  The ones that are though...heavy hitters like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion and the surprise of the day, Super Mario 3D All Stars!  We also cover a few of the other things announced during today's surprise Nintendo Direct, like the Super Mario 3D World port, Mario Kart Live Home Circuit and Super Mario All Stars on the SNES app for Switch Online.  

With E3 cancelled this year in favor of smaller and more piecemeal gaming announcements, it's nice to have Gamescom to look forward to!  Geoff Keighley again this year hosted an event called "Gamescom Opening Night Live" where he made some new game reveals, had developers announce updates to current games, and gave us a little bit of the E3 hype we've desperately been looking for.  Some of the stuff we recap is Season 2 of Fall Guys, World of Warcraft Shadowlands, Star Wars Squadrons, and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond...among other things of course!

Later on we talk about Will's new PC, Fall Guys cheaters, Fortnite Season 4, Horizon Zero Dawn on PC, and Will's adventures over the past two weeks.

In light of the crazy attention Fall Guys has been getting lately, we figured it would be a good time to dive into what makes it so interesting.  In addition to just talking about our thoughts for Fall Guys, we also offer up some tips on how to run the gauntlet and earn your first crown...so you don't end up like TimTheTatman and the be target of the Fall Guys twitter jokes.  

Then during nibblebits we revisit the Epic/Apple lovers spat, and Corey played UnderMine on Xbox Gamepass.

Corey went and did it again....and dug up yet another indie gem that everyone needs to play stat!  This time it's Littlewood, where the battle against good and evil is already won, and our intrepid hero has to now....build a community.  It looks legitimately great and I look forward to playing!  Later on in nibblebits we talk about the Halo Infinite delay, the Apple/Epic spat over Fortnite, and Dan played The Touryst for this week's episode. 

Will up and decided to buy everything for a brand spanking new gaming rig earlier in the week so we took it as an opportunity to talk about the selection process and had a discussion on the different parts involved in a gaming PC.  During Nibblebits we talk about Nintendo's soaring profits from the COVID 19 gaming boom, and during What We Played we covered some Animal Crossing New Horizons, Paper Mario The Origami King, and of course a little bit of Ghost of Tsushima.

We finally get to Ghost of Tsushima this week, with Corey, Will and Tito all having played it at various lengths.  And apologies for the spotty audio at the beginning...we've been having internet hiccups lately which disrupted some of the beginning of this episode.  Not to worry though, after a few minutes it clears right up.  

Anyway, Ghost of Tsushima is great and Dan looks forward to it's release on PC someday!  Later on in the episode we talk some more Paper Mario: The Origami King, some of Obsidian's game announcements, and Will's ever changing living arrangement!