Episode 44 - Phone Hom - Hotline Miami

Who's leaving podcasts on your answering machine?

Welcome back to the show this week. We're going to be talking about Dennaton's Hotline Miami, an ultra violent top down beat 'em up that became a bit of an indie darling at the time of its release in 2012. While we end up thinking the game misses its narrative mark, the games punishing but intensely satisfying mechanics combine well with the cocaine-fueled pseudo '80s aesthetic making the game difficult to put down. We're going to be talking about violence and the game's commentary thereon, gameplay loops and variety, and feverishly bumpin'.

Thanks for checking us out again this week, and we'll be back next time to talk about Metroid Prime!

Episode 43 - Atlus Shrugged - Trauma Center: Second Opinion

How can I work under a doctor that doesn't even try to podcast?

Welcome back to NOCLIP! This week we're going to be dissecting Atlus's Trauma Center: Second Opinion, a Wii game that used the Wii Remote to simulate surgery of all things. An expanded version of Under the Knife on the DS, Trauma Center changes up its control scheme for the console and creates an entertaining and incredibly challenging game that manages to feel unique and interesting over a decade after its release. We're going to be talking about difficulty, level design and variety, and a mysterious zombie man.

Thanks for checking us out this week and join us next time when we tear into Hotline Miami!

Bonus Episode - Rollin' Coal - GOCLIP

NOCLIP. Innovation comes standard.

Apologies for missing a week, our Trauma Center episode will be going up this Saturday. In the meantime, what you're going to be listening to today is more of a general discussion podcast. We had the (retrospectively not super bright) idea of duct taping our microphone to the dashboard of my car while we took a trip and recorded our conversation. Because of this, the audio quality isn't up to our usual standard, but I think the discussion topics we cover warrant putting this out anyway. We're talking about the Wii U, Splatoon, Dark Souls, Fire Emblem, the Switch and we teach you about the West Virginia tradition of Rolling Coal.

Hopefully this is a fun one for you guys and we'll be back on our regular schedule next week.

Episode 42 - Better Than Punching the Pope - Metal Gear Solid

Do you think a podcast can bloom, even on a battlefield?

Welcome back to NOCLIP this week, where we're going to be discussing Konami's classic stealth action game, Metal Gear Solid. Before Konami went complete off the rails and their business philosophy drifted toward "we hate Kojima," they released one of the most prolific stealth games of all time which spawned an extremely popular series, lauded by players and critics alike. We crack open the first of the series to examine how it holds up today and what design decisions make it an all-time classic that has influenced games in and out of the genre to this day. We talk about stealth gameplay, attention to detail, and the meatiest, manliest ways to end your game.

Thanks for checking us out this week and prep yourself for surgery, because next time we're talking about Trauma Center: Second Opinion!

Episode 41 - Cool Guy Cat Coffee Cafe Connoisseur - The World Ends With You

Like a bolt from the blue, it's time for the podcast review,

Welcome back to NOCLIP, today we're going to be talking about Square's unique DS Action RPG that is absolutely JAM PACKED with mechanics. Like an environmentally conscious hunter, Square uses every part of the console from the touch screen to the microphone to the internal clock to govern the myriad systems that sacrifice user accessibility for a complicated and ultimately satisfying combat system that has you constantly doing something, or even forgetting to do things. We're going to talk about action management, incredible aesthetic themes and being a God. Damned. Slammurai.

Thanks for listening this week and be sure to check us out next time when we talk about Metal Gear Solid!

Episode 40 - Cheetah? Too Regular! - Bayonetta

I don't think I've got time to entertain your blather. I'd much rather hear it straight from your podcast.

Thanks for joining us again this week while we talk about Bayonetta.  Platinum's flagship franchise started with this send-up of classic Devil May Cry games featuring satisfying action combat and a tone that's straight out of grindhouse cinema.  We talk about combo systems, Bayonetta's character design and the cultural ramifications thereof, and the best Subway sandwich advertisement of all time.

Thanks for checking us out this week and be sure to come back next time when we talk about The World Ends With You!

Episode 39 - Regular People Eating Lunch - Inside

NOCLIP is recorded inside of a dead studio audience,

This week on NOCLIP we're going to be talking about Playdead's Inside. Inside is the second puzzle platformer from the developer of Limbo and the evolution in design is immediately apparent. The game evokes a dark tone in a way that is incredibly effective given its presentation. We discuss striking visual design, puzzle difficulty and pacing and how deep underwater you can be before you can no longer make friends.

Thanks for checking us out this week and join us again next time when we talk about Bayonetta!

Episode 38 - Ancient Sheikah Power Windows - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Part 2)

The Blood Cast rises once again...

Welcome back to NOCLIP as we finish out our discussion on Breath of the Wild and are joined again by Dan and Janelle.  With the formalities out of the way, we get into the depths of the design of the dungeons and the ways in which you interact with the physical world. We're going to be talking about physics simulations and weapon degradation in games, the lifespan of narrative tropes in the medium, and the... it's a... well it's a door that's like... it's sphincter doors. We talk about sphincter doors.

Thanks for checking out this second part of the Legend of Zelda, we'll be back in two weeks to talk about Inside, Playdead's follow up to Limbo!

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:

Episode 31 - He Might Be a Car - Rascal

Five Out of Five Podcasters Agree, Rascal is Terrible,

Thanks for joining us, and our guests Dan and Steven, again this week while we talk about an objectively awful game, Rascal on the Playstation. Developed by Traveler's Tales, Rascal is a mostly unheard-of action platformer that focuses on a young boy traveling through time to shoot enemies with bubbles and rescue his father. As exciting as this might sound, Rascal is truly a masterclass in poor design decisions and a lack of understanding of the concept of fun. We talk about curved walkways as prescribed challenge, unexpected death and frustration, and how, while bad, the game might be made well enough to enjoy as an example of poor design.

Thanks for listening (and thanks to Dan and Steven for coming on to fill out this conversation), and be sure to check us out next time as we take a look at the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series.

Map: 

Episode 30 - Armageddon Tired of These Remakes - Pokémon (Part 2)

Your Pokémon Was Holding This Podcast, We Have No Idea How it Got There,

Today, we're concluding our discussion on the Pokémon franchise. It's been a constant part of the gaming landscape for twenty years, and those twenty years have been pretty stable for the Pokémon Company. Now with the seventh generation released and a new console on the horizon, the franchise has to look to the future and start designing hundreds of new monsters to keep itself relevant. Or does it? We look into the design of the games and what we believe the franchise is doing to ease expectations and prepare its audience for change as well as take a more in depth look at Generation 7 now that we've finished the games. We talk about Pokémon visual design, the future of the franchise, and the unending cycle of remaking games until the only logical alternative is to create Jurassic Park.

Thank you for listening this week and come back next time as we're joined by Dan (from the Trine episode) to talk about a childhood favorite and all around terrible game, Rascal, on the Playstation.

Episode 30 - FaLaLafel, The Singing Falafel - Pokémon (Part 1)

NOCLIP Unleashes Its Full-Force Z-Cast!

On today's episode, we're going to begin our massive undertaking that is talking about the Pokémon series as a whole. With the franchise celebrating it's 20th anniversary, the popularity of what was the biggest fad among kids in the nineties has spiked back up to numbers rivaling those it had in the beginning. The games have largely stuck to their roots, offering minor changes from generation to generation of main series games while nurturing a ballooning collection of TV series, movies, toys, and spin-off games, and this has developed a fan base ranging from the enthusiasts who have played each game from the beginning to new converts. In this episode, we discuss what it is about the series that created the sensation that it was, how the design has, however slowly, gotten better over time and things that #Only90sKids will remember like Zoids and Monster Rancher.

Thanks for listening again this week and check us out next time for Part 2!

Episode 29 - Respectful. Wait, No, Badass - Assassin's Creed 2

You Broke Her Heart! Now I'll Cast Your Pod!

Welcome back to the show, today we're going to be talking about Ubisoft's follow up to 2007's Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed 2. Released two years after the first, AC2 is widely considered to have successfully iterated on the concepts the first game pioneered and has become warmly remembered by fans of the series. This, however, does not keep the game safe from retrospective criticism, and we take a look at what about this game worked at the time and still works now and a few areas that time has not been particularly kind to. We talk about parsing the game's combat system, climbing all over a meticulously rendered city, cruising with whores and dropping cheddar.

Thanks for listening this week and tune in next time when we take our first ever look at an entire series, talking about the Pokémon franchise.