The Giant Beastcast: Episode 153

It's time for the Beastie.

Got that fresh Friday feeling!

Jalapeno Jack Sun Chips

I really don't agree what is being said about upgrading in God of War, it's a kind of a waste to upgrade early game armor on normal difficulty, save your stuff for the equipment you know you'll still be using in the end game (like the talisman of protection, that thing is fantastic). I very rarely upgraded anything that wasn't Epic rarity, and the one time I did, I immediately got something better.
I pretty much jumped over every other level, the digital deluxe edition armor carried me until the Wolfskin set and from there I think I went straight for the epic fire set, followed by the best armor in the game. Pommels and enchantments will do a lot of the heavy lifting stat wise.
I'd really like to know how the level system works, becaue it really seems like a Destiny style light level nonsense where your level matter more than the actual stats you have.

Weird. Podcast version on Overcast is last weeks episode.

@ybbaaabby Abby, Dan doesn't realise how varied the puzzles in The Witness are. In a way they indeed all are about drawing lines, but there is a whole other set of them that Dan never found. "Found" isn't even the best word, but it's too easy to spoil the awesome realization to use a better one. I hope you'll be more curious about what the monoliths are for.

VINNY please do a feature with Battletech! Have Brad and Alex ride shotgun while you drive. Austin could do a guest appearance on the first episode.

You should cover your nose and mouth.

infinity war ruled. that is all.

10 times a week?!

Vinny really nailed his God of War analysis

I see SunChips as the podcast image and I approve this.

hope the podcast shows up on itunes when i wakeup for work in 7 hours

also a thumbs up to the Sun Chips thumbnail for the podcast

I started enjoying the Beastcast much more after I started turning it off when they move on to off-topic emails - usually the last hour of the show.

Oh my god! Alex I'm an Avs fan and boy I hate Nashville, those guys were big big assholes!

What I think erked me the most was the way guys like Subban would dive for calls, and then throw a lot of cheap shit around themselves. And it was the way the games were officiated. Preds got away with bloody murder and the minute we retaliated we got matching penalties. It was like we'd only get calls in our favour if we retaliated. And then of course we were terrible 4 on 4 and would get scored on. So Nashville keeps doing shit and Avs try not to retaliate, refs dont call anything and we just get beat up.

Ugh. It was an emotional rollercoaster of a series. And in saying that, I've seen worse from other teams. Still hate Minnesota and Anaheim, but defs adding Nashville to that list

Still, those Avs boys had a great season.

@alternate: yeah the fan questions are always terrible attempts at humor one particular bomb cast question was a would you rather be able to x or y and being a person disabled due to the topic they laughed and made fun of people saying could you imagine if you couldn't do this I would kill myself or something along those lines. It was a low point and made me realize they are pretty ignorant about medical issues.

Vinny reads headline about Hearthstone director leaving Blizzard.

"Guess what. I left Hearthstone too."

"Yeah, we're gonna get to that story later."

lol

Syndicate is an amazing assassins creed game and its worst crime was coming out at the end of a AC fatigue. Easily my favorite in the series until Origins.

@infinity_thor: Syndicate is the only AC game that I didn't finish cause I found the story to be so dry and boring. I don't even remember where I was or what had happened until that point. Maybe the shift from the usual melodramatic tone of the previous AC games to something light-hearted didn't work for me I dunno... I just found it kinda aimless and lifeless.

I love the AC series so I might still go back and finish it but does the story improve later on? Why do people like it? (Maybe knowing that will help me get into it)

Hurray Alex is back! You know what that means.

As a Blackhawks fan, hearing about Stanley Cup playoffs this season just makes me sad... *siiiiigh*

Spoiler: Did Vinny shit his pants?

The best podcast in the known universe

Stupid feature idea: The Danley Cup.

Anybody else think God of War doesn't really have a slow start at all like the duders keep saying?

@mendia:

I’m with you, I think it gets better as it goes along but I’ve found it captivating from the start

Stanley Cup talk on my favourite Games podcast? Good morning WORLD! This is great

They are so certain that the new From Software game is Bloodborne 2 but I don't think it is at all. In that 15 second little teaser yes the weapon/torture device or whatever certainly looks like something out of bloodborne, but in the background is a piece of paper with chinese writing on it. Also there's a quick music sting that to me sounds like some sort of Asian instrument.

I think it's still going to be the same style of game but instead of being based on medieval fantasy (dark souls) or victorian gothic horror (bloodborne), it's going to be something new based on chinese mythology.

If I'd sent that book recommendation e-mail (or selected it to be read on the podcast...) I'd be pretty bummed out by Vinny's total rejection of the question. There were two possible approaches to take:

1. Recommend nothing, in which case there is a zero percent chance the question asker gets a book they like.

2. Recommend ANYTHING, in which case there is a ***NONZERO*** percent chance that the question asker gets a book they like.

Even when Abby simplified/focused it he was just like, laughing at the question.

Good episode other than that but...damn.

@mendia: I’m with you. I thought the game was great from the get-go. I find it weird how all of them are pushing the “Oh it gets better at X moment” narrative. At least for me, there wasn’t an obvious “Oh yeah NOW the game is getting good” moment.

I thought they might be referring to when the world opens up a bit, but Alex is already past that part and Dan/Vinny are still saying “oh don’t worry it’s about to get great.”

Who is or has replicated Vinny's Domino's binge?

They laughed at Jeff when he said he's collecting band shirts to make them into a blanket...I'm not sure if it was sarcasm...but I had the same idea...

Never got around to doing it

My tongue loves Sun Chips, but not my stomach. :(

After getting something spoiled for me on God of War on bombcast this week, when does GoW talk end? Don't wanna take any chances lol

I like sun chips

@madlaughter: I mean he did end up recommending what is considered one of the best books of the last century and everyone just laughed at him, so it's not like he didn't recommend anything, but it is a silly question. The absurdity is the person e-mailing in didn't narrow it down at all. What if Vinny actually really wanted to give a quality recommendation but is given the one question where he is almost guaranteed to not recommend something the listener wants because the only thing he knows about the listener is they don't read books.

Thanks for answering my email about parental bonding in gaming.

The idea of name a book without any context seems very strange to me. Also, The Master and Margarita is pretty good.

Correction! Yes Solaris is great, one of Lems best: there was one good movie.

@vinny: too late you nerd

I never wear band shirts these days because I fear the exact situations Alex describes. I don't follow music like I used to and I have no desire to try and defend myself from a musical inquisition.

Why isn't Overcast pulling in this episode?

That Serious Sam 4 tag is misleading.

@infinity_thor: @y2ken:now that infinity war is out id love if the crew did a whole fast and furious thing and watched all 18 movies. It was cool seeing them start off hating fast and furious in a kinda meme this is a dumb series uninitiated critc way then slowly realizing the heart and why people let the 7th movie make a billion dollars. The team is one of the few news outlets on games that actively dislikes marvel movies but doesnt really even interact with them. They know the characters cause they play the games so it shouldnt be too bad.

Hmm when I was eating dominos regularly I would eat 2 large pizzas and a bunch of chicken strips... guess I was overeating ;)

Dan is a wonderfully bizarre guy.

Yeah, that was a really weird reaction. I feel like they've definitely answered "I'm new/my SO is new to gaming, what would you recommend?" questions and did not have that sort of mocking attitude while answering the question.

Really bummed me out that they just took the opportunity to make fun of someone excited about a new hobby.

Maybe because you're trying to answer the "What books do you think I would like?" question while the question's poser was asking "What books do you like and would recommend?"

This is the second time in as many months that I've heard The Master and Margarita mentioned on a gaming podcast. I'd read it before a while ago, maybe it's time I revisited it.

I just heard this part and had to check if someone else felt the same way. Being bummed out is the right description.