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The Rebels record their 100th episode! As usual, they discuss what they are playing. Amanda threatens to hurt Stacy if he speaks about Disco Elysium again! Then after the news, they decide to take a look at where they came from by revisiting the 1st episode and Stacy’s favorite topic, horror games!
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Intro Music – Final Impasse By Ground is Lava
Gaming News
We talk about how despite Phil Spencer’s recent statement about the early announcement of the Xbox Series X being a positive move; Amanda thinks the fact that it was not followed up by a launch may actually give Playstation time to innovate on the leaked Xbox specs.
Stacy discusses how Blizzard has moved away from a place of innovation for player delight to one based solely on profit generation. He feels they have begun to tolerate the corrupting market forces and balance these influences to avoid a tipping point of player rebuttal.
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WHAT THE REBELS ARE PLAYING
BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES
Amanda – I finished the Batman game this week, which I think is worth a play even if you’re not a fan of Batman himself. Having a more complex backstory, which is a welcome deviation from cannon that adds dimension to the character that’s (in my opinion) needed. I wasn’t able to replay it (due to not being a fan overall of Batman) but I will play the second installment if it comes on game pass.
Stacy – I looked at the game going into it as a man who had been betrayed. I didn’t expect anyone to help me and I tried to be self-sufficient the whole time. The next game in the series isn’t quite as good but it’s definitely worth a play -especially for Harley Quinn, who is truly terrifying.
Overall rating: It’s must play if you’re a fan, rental if you’re not
100 Episodes Later…
The first Retro Rebel episode was on horror games. We’ve done this topic recently with Frankengame, but in this episode, we’ll take a look back at questions and statements from the Retro Rebel first podcast on October 31st, 2016. In that first episode, Stacy joined Danniel and Rooster to discuss horror. Have any of Stacy’s opinions changed? Let’s find out:
Q: You hadn’t beaten Alan Wake or Until Dawn as of Oct 31, 2016, has that changed?
A: No, and it’s no surprise. I’ve seen the ending of Until Dawn but not Alan Wake.
Q: The last scary game you purchased and played was Silent Hill 2 then, what is it now?
A: Doom (the reboot) was the last horror game I purchased and played. I almost bought Resident Evil 7, but I held off.
Q: You talk about silly tropes that launch scary video games, like how in Silent Hill you get a letter from your dead wife. You said you’d never have gotten involved within the first place over a letter, so what other silly horror beginnings have you encountered in the years since?
A: I stand by my original answer that I would NOPE my way out of a letter from my dead wife. I’m trying to think of any other games since then other than Doom guy waking up to punch Hell in the face, but I have watched a lot of scary games. The Last of Us is horror in my opinion and it starts where you’re at home and the news is on. They are talking about all of these mysterious things happening in Austin that hints at the world falling apart. You interact with some of these deranged people who break-in and that starts the story. That’s pretty normal. Contrast that with steam greenlight a project that starts with you owning a creepy bayou house… I’d nope my way out of that. Just put it on the market, I’m not going in.
Q: Back then, you hated jump scares like Five Nights at Freddie’s the most, more than ghosts or creepy or Dead Space gore horror types. Is that still the same?
A: I still agree, 100%. I think real feel is better than jump scares which are jittery and undesirable. The game that really scared me and left an impression on my life is the ending of Silent Hill 2 which is just done really, really well.
Q: Apparently, then your co-op horror game move was to pause before the scary part and hand the controller to someone else, do you still do that now?
A: Still funny every time. I can’t do it as much now but if my son enjoyed horror games, I’d do that to him. It only works if I know where the jump scares are, which means I need to have watched it before. That move came from Resident Evil on the Gamecube. I knew where all those zombies were.
Q: Your first scary game was Doom (which the other hosts did not consider a horror game), does it still scare you? Have you played the remake?
A: They both scared me at the time and I’ve definitely played the remake. Doom 3 was probably the scariest for the formidable demons with teleportation. But Doom from the 90s is no longer scary to me now. I do want to play Doom Eternal.
Q: You preferred playing horror games with others at the time instead of alone, is that still the case?
A: I would much rather play these games with someone else. You get immediate feedback and you can use them for help with puzzles. There’s a lot to be said for that. You’re not alone in sharing the fear. At the time, I think I was playing Bioshock with Rooster at the time (which some don’t consider horror), but we had a great time working through the story together. We went to loot a body that was actually a live splicer and I fell off the bed and threw the controller. Rooster ran out of the room!
Q: Bioshock ruined old-timey music for you, making you think of splicers. Have you picked up a love for the 30s and 40s tunes since then?
A: Every time I hear that music I still have a Pavlovian fear response. The movie Clue added to that fear as well. So, yeah… nothing has changed on that front. Its upbeat music combines with horror that really does it for me.
Q: Eternal Darkness was spoiled for you at the time, so you didn’t play it- have you played it since then?
A: I haven’t and I don’t know if I ever will. It hasn’t aged well (the themes have). But since then, I’ve seen the endings of other series and still play them because I want the experience, but not with Eternal Darkness.
Q: At the time you were looking forward to playing (with a friend) The Evil Within and the ‘new’ Friday the 13th, did you ever play them?
A: Not The Evil Within and I don’t think I will. After I saw more trailers and gameplay footage, I didn’t think it was for me. I have Friday the 13th but no people I know to play it with, so it will probably not get played.
Stacy’s final thoughts:
I’m enjoying watching other people play these days. If I had paid attention to my gaming habits, I could have saved myself some money by only buying games that fit with my lifestyle. Twitch and YouTube allow me to live vicariously through others which I think is how I’ll enjoy horror more in the future.
