Episode 38 - Hundred Year Fluid Nap - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Part 1)

The podcast that must shine upon Hyrule once again,

Welcome back to NOCLIP, where this week we are beginning our discussion on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and we're joined by our friends Janelle and Dan. This game's release is an event for a number of reasons, as it launched a new Nintendo console and represents a departure from what most would consider the way a traditional Zelda game works. The fact that it has been embraced by fans of the series in light of this is testament to how well Nintendo pulled the open world game off. We talk about Shrines, Zelda's role in her games over the years, and everything you need to know about horses.

Thanks for listening and join us in two weeks as we close out our discussion on Zelda!

Episode 37 - Bench Press the World - Overwatch

The world needs podcasts,

This episode of NOCLIP is going to look at Blizzard's populous dominating FPS, Overwatch. The key to the overwhelming reaction to this game seems to be the game's near universally appealing design that was assembled and iterated on from a number of sources. We're going to dive into that design and see why this game keeps us playing it for a number of hours that is frankly embarrassing. We talk about incredible character design, the reasons behind frequently balancing and patching a live game and how much extra health you get just for being ridiculously swole.

We hope you enjoy the episode this week, and be sure to check in next time when we talk about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Episode 36 - Number One Womb - Earthbound

You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas's podcast,

This week, we're going to be talking about one of the most interesting RPGs to come out of the SNES era, Earthbound. Known as Mother 2 in Japan, Earthbound is the first entry in the Mother series to be released in the States and despite underselling on its initial release has developed a cult following and it's tone and visuals have inspired both game players and developers for years. We haven't seen too many games that are this unusual and aggressively weird out of a major developer since. We talk about contrasting tones, mechanical and narrative pacing, and neurosurgery.

Thanks once again for checking this episode out, we'll be back in two weeks to discuss Overwatch!

Episode 35 - The Eldritch Truth About Yellow - The Last of Us

Once we're done with this whole thing, I'm gonna teach you how to podcast. Yeah, I reckon you'd really like that.

Welcome to NOCLIP this week, and this time we're talking about The Last of Us. One of the most popular games to release on the PS3, Naughty Dog's take on the zombie apocalypse got a lot of people talking about the narrative elements of games, including a lot of people who seldom considered games to be a great storytelling medium beforehand. We break down that story, as well as the game it's attached to, in what ends up being a surprisingly divisive discussion on what elements live up to the hype, surpass it and sometimes even fall short. We talk about the evolving perspective on the narrative throughout a playthrough, crafting and dissonance, and what kind of belt buckle or trailer hitch decoration Joel is most representative of.

Thanks again for listening, and join us next time when we talk about Earthbound. There's been enough time since we covered Undertale, right?

Episode 34 - Horse, Adjective; Murderer, Profession - Bloodborne

We are born by the cast, made men by the cast, pod by the cast,

Welcome back to NOCLIP everyone! Having established ourselves as a podcast that likes to talk about Dark Souls, we sit down to talk about FROM's Souls-alike game Bloodborne. Despite the fact that the games do have a lot in common and share the majority of their major design points, we find a lot to talk about to differentiate the two series and talk about the points that make Bloodborne a unique experience in its own right. We discuss Lovecraft's influence, weapon and stat progression and what effect it has on a playthrough, and a whole lot of disgusting grossness.

Thanks for listening this week and join us again next time for our discussion on The Last of Us!

Episode 33 - Acceptable to Above Acceptable - Metroid Fusion

When Adam decided who would podcast, he chose incorrectly,

Welcome to NOCLIP and this week we're talking about Metroid Fusion, the first GBA game in the series and one that attempted to add an explicit narrative with dialogue and also dial back the difficulty present in previous Metroid games. The result is a game that feels very unlike its predecessors, but still manages to nail a tone and be enjoyable to play. We talk about claustrophobic level design, conveyance of tone, and a non-threatening bouncy stalk man.

Thanks for listening to the podcast this week and join us again in two weeks when we talk about Bloodborne!

Bonus Episode - Some Confetti Falls, Balloons Fall - Best Games of 2016

Our top 3 games (each) that released in 2016

After a full year of podcasting, we've decided to do an obligatory January retrospective episode. We sat down and talked about what games really gripped us this year, and generally speak to why these games were successful, which games we think are interesting and what really failed to meet expectations. Not much more explanation is necessary, so let's get to the high-octane, hyperinteresting blathering.

Hope you enjoy this bonus episode, and check out our episode on Metroid Fusion next week!

Episode 32 - Ripped Apart by Eagles - Guitar Hero and Rock Band

If the Police Aren't Complaining, You're Not Podcasting Loud Enough,

Thanks for joining us for our second series examination where we're looking at the genre defining games of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We look back on why these games were so immersive, and why they started a sensation in a way no other rhythm games could. Basically, we're looking at plastic guitar peripherals. We talk about the popularity of Rock and Roll, difficulty of Metal music, and the differences between a human being and someone who is good at Dance Dance Revolution.

Thanks for listening this week and tune in next time when we talk about Metroid Fusion.

Guitar Hero Carabiner: