The Giant Beastcast: Episode 194

Beastcast? More like Bestcast, am I right!

100% with Jeff on Apex Legends and other BR games.

As a dog, and thereby a beast, I really really love the Beastcast.

More info on the machinima news: HERE

Regarding the MK11 gore, i personally have no issue with it. But i definitely understand why some people see it as sickening.

The thing that bothers me the most is that some man or woman in the art department responsible for that stuff probably had to look at some really fucked up source material. Heard a few times that some designers where checking autopsy and nasty accident wounds.

I hope they have some good supervision going on in some of these studios. I can't stand seeing stuff like that.

The way Vinny says Tony Shalhoub's last name drives me crazy. Sha-LUBE

apparently the Tom Brady post interview scrum was cause by the Disney World people who bum rushed him to get him to say "Im going to Disney World"

There's a faction of mercenaries called Apex Predators in the Titanfall universe. The legends part of the name is probably taken from a lot of other games to imply that the characters you are playing as are special hero characters. Looking at the name without that context sure makes it seem like the worst way to name a game.

And I also think that Apex Legends is going to make a lot more people start using Origins, and through Origins making a lot of people who wouldn't know about Anthem at all discover it.

I really like Apex Legends. The only thing I would say is that it would really benefit for more people in one match. Sometimes it does feel sparsely populated.

I believe Respawn has mentioned that they might increase the player count in the future.

I'm enjoying Apex so far, just a bummer that they grind-gate/paywall characters - that just gives more tactical options to those that fork out or have more time to work through the steep grind curve. They should have gone the DoTA 2 model and have all the characters be available to players.

Thanks for not wanking on about Apex for an hour.

TRACER CORE

Oh no, the team that isn't good at BR games commenting on a BR game "all I do is grab gear then die in 2 seconds" eugh...

Vinny's oars in the water analogy makes a certain amount of sense:

You have to row the boat when you don't have the wind at your back, which is appropriate for Anthem, which feels like its a little dead in the water after the demo. Between that and their recent troubles with Battlefield and lootboxes, EA isn't exactly in shipshape and Bristol fashion right now. They might be pushing Apex out the door in an attempt to batten down the hatches, but it might just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

This was an especially fun, goofy episode of the Beastcast.

You guys seriously make my Fridays super enjoyable.

I'm here for updates on Dan's reading habits.

Code Veronica is on ps4

How did they come up with the Fatalities?

Easily?

I'd like to see a fatalities outtakes/blooper reel

I must be in the minority but Anthem's demo sold me completely on it. The build customization and min maxing, the flying around, the abilities, and the guns there to fill in during cd's all felt great. Between Apex Legends, Metro Exodus, Crackdown 3 (had fun with the mp last night in the test), Anthem, The Division 2, and Sekiro (i want dmc5 but there's too much) this next month and a half is going to be absolutely insane for games.

I don't really care about the gore in the Mortal Kombat fatalities, but I do wish they were more creatively silly rather than just ways of skinning a person's face. Where are the dragons chomping down on people or the arcade machines falling from the sky? The explosives destroying the world?

Glad to hear some different opinions on Apex Legends. I've been playing it recently and I'm more in the Abby and Jeff corner here. Something about these games doesn't click with me. The downtime to action is grossly disproportional. It really feels like a Counter-Strike match where the buying phase is 10 minutes long and then you get that one encounter and you either survive or don't. Armor has also been an issue for me because I will assume three point blank shots from a shotgun should take someone down and then it somehow doesn't. Admittedly Apex Legends has got me to try one of these at all and certain parts about it I enjoy whereas I would never have touched PUBG because it's semi-realistic military approach holds zero appeal to me.

I guess I just had a bad streak because in the past 10 games or so I feel like I've encountered mostly bullshit situations and not enough fun ones. That and of course when you get into a streak of looting, running, scavenging, seeing noone and then suddenly getting killed from out of nowhere that can be rough.

My wife took me to Sleep No More but didn't tell me anything about what it was going to be ahead of time. I got pushed out of that elevator and had no f'ing clue where I was or what was happening. It was amazing. Anyone who lives near or visits NYC should definitely see it.

A Golden Girls fighting game would have to feature Jerry Orbach and that's great.

@humanity: I've never played a BR before and I'm really liking this. I came from CS:GO and Siege and the action is very different from those games as its an extended and constant conflict. I feel the game is fast, its strategic, and the encounters are managed by keeping your eyes open and moving with purpose. Some matches yes, are looting, looting, dead. But if my squad and I have a loose plan, smart movement, and pay attention to the map, it's easy to put yourself in winnable situations. As for the shotguns/armor I'm not sure if its your latency or aim but armor can really only take 1-2 direct shots from a shotgun (its only 25 armor per segment). I love chipping armor down with a rifle and sliding in with a shotgun to instantly down them.

I've been pretty hopeful for Anthem, but came away from the demo a bit concerned. That was mostly a result of technical issues such server problems/poor framerate/mission loading bugs. However, the world/story/characters also seemed a bit dull, in my opinion. The flying and combat felt solid, but the mission design felt pretty linear and repetitious with way too many mid-mission loading screens. Also, I just have trouble suspending enough disbelief to accept a world where mech suits are build and designed to fly, but overheat every 10 secs unless they fly into a waterfall.

If they get the technical stuff worked out, I'm guessing Anthem will be fine. But to be honest, I think all of the games you listed off as coming out over the two months also just look fine. None of them have me wowed or thinking it's insane, but maybe that's just me.

to each their own

I just finished Resident Evil HD Remaster and I loved it. Maybe I'm not as steely as Vinny but the suspense of going through a door still gets me every time and I appreciate the buildup of tension and release that comes along with it. As regards the fixed camera angle, the more I think about it, I'm thinking it's a marvel in game design. It was considered a limitation during the late 90s because camera control was not a thing back then but it served as an effective way to convey horror. Yes, it obscures visual information to the player but the superb sound design does inform the player about the threats and the dangers that lie ahead. It kept me on edge and engaged the whole way through knowing that for every door I open lies potential danger and sweet relief after taking care of the threats and clearing the area. The fixed camera is also used as a tool in foreshadowing where some zombies might show later on. I'm just amazed that the game flourished in spite of the limitations at the time through smart game design. No other game that I have played capitalizes on the fear of the unknown. Yes, backtracking can be a pain but the atmosphere more than made up for it.

my experience with apex legends has gotten worse every day since it came out to the point where i'm now doubtful i'll ever play it again. first two days I had a lot of fun but now I feel like I'm standing no chance against anybody when the gun fights happen. I have decent weapons with upgrades and land my shots (I see damage) and then just get destroyed in like 2 hits and die. It is beyond frustrating because I want to finally like a BR game and I thought this would be it. Instead it's this now endless stream of BS where I only see new ways I'll just die without any real understanding of why. It sucks and has 99% turned me off of the game.

I'm not trash at FPS either. Been playing them online for a long long time and while I'm hardly elite I'm at the least above average. Yet in Apex I might get 1 kill every 4 hours of gameplay. That isn't quite kosher. I just played two matches of Halo 5 and had an infinitely better time than the entirety of my apex play the past two days (about 5 hours). It was nice my guns actually did damage and resulted in kills.

@pretty_sharp: I don't know what it is either but I've consistently had bad luck with shotguns in close quarter situations to the point where I am starting to question latency. I was pretty good at Titanfall 2, although by no means a pro player. But I could definitely aim well enough. My experiences in Apex are just very inconsistent to the point whjere I still have no baseline. Some guys I've downed and it felt like yah, they took enough shots to have gone down. Other times it feels like I've peppered guys quite a bit and they turned around and sprayed me once for a kill. The other day I was in a fist fight at the beginning of a match and it took 3 punches to eliminate a downed player - thats a lot when someone is already down.

@jedikv: Steep? They unlock super fast. Far better than other games like LoL. You can unlock your first hero in like 12 hours, which is time you can spend enjoying all the starting heroes.

Also, you really overstate the "tactical advantage" of having some more heroes unlocked. The only true tactical advantage is getting good with your hero, which you can't pay for.

They referenced doing an ad spot for Extreme Restraints (an old ad standby on MBMBaM) but say it got vetoed. Too blue for the Beastcast, I guess.

@vinny: Door skip mod:

http://residentevilmodding.boards.net/thread/3092/door-skip-mod-v1-3

Oh crap I just realized you’re probably playing the PS4 version. Welp, sorry :(

You effectively have to grind to level 40 to get enough in-game points to buy both characters). The payouts slow way down after 20. That is really steep (unless you either extremely good or got a lot of free time on your hands)

Not really overstating it, there's always going to be tactical impacts with the trio of heroes you choose. How they complement each other or counter others. If options are restricted, that limits what tactics you can do and creates a natural imbalance between haves and have-nots.

They should have gone the DoTA 2 model and let the characters be accessible to everyone. it keeps it balanced and doesn't favour those who have time to grind or money to short cut it.

The last time I saw the Groundhog Day trope was in Legends of Tomorrow and it was quite a good episode.

I always cringe when the Beastcast discusses comic or beer.

Love the Kindles. Have the Paperwhite and Fire 10 HD.

@meierthered: Reminds me of how the Dead Space artists supposedly looked at pictures of car crash victims to design the Necromorphs, which doesn’t sound like a fun day at the office.

Fun Fact! Tony Shalhoub has already worked in the game industry. He voiced Aradesh in the original Fallout.

Yeah i remember that as well, also i think back then Todd Howard was doing PR runs for Fallout 3 he also mentioned something in those lines when the developers where doing their decapitation and gore stuff.

You know what? I'd probably be as annoyed as Vinny if I played as Chris in REmake my first time through. Jill's two extra inventory slots make all the difference when you aren't familiar with what items you need and when you need them.

I would have been down for an Extreme Restraints ad read

What was the VR game Dan was on about? The one about taking apart a cabinet....?

Huh weird I totally look at all the MK11 gore and nothing really fazes me. It's just kinda fun how they think of different ways to be weird with dismemberment.

You want to know the only time I actually winced? It was in the trailer of MK11 at the game awards. There's a moment where Raiden bends Scorpion's finger backwards and I wasn't having any of that.