Child Labour

Wed, Jun 26, 2024 Year 2, Autumn 26

Al and Codey talk about the year so far in games, and what they are still excited for.

Timings

00:00:00: Theme Tune
00:00:30: Intro
00:04:39: What Have We Been Up To
00:08:47: News
00:53:27: Mid Year Check-in
01:14:35: Outro

Lou’s Lagoon
Farlands

Games discussed:

Disney Dreamlight Valley
Window Garden
Rusty’s Retirement
Coral Island
Stardew 1.6
Starstruck Vagabond
Go-Go Town
Kamaeru: Frog Refuge
Go-Go Town
Tales of the Shire
Of Life and Land
Southfield
Mika and the witch’s mountain
Len’s Island 1.0
Research Story 1.0
Chill Town 1.0
Snacko 1.0
Coral Island 1.1

Contact

Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot
Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot
Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/

Transcript

(0:00:30) Al: Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season.
(0:00:35) Al: My name is Al.
(0:00:38) Codey: Cody.
(0:00:38) Al: And we’re here today to talk about cottagecore games.
(0:00:42) Codey: Woo!
(0:00:46) Al: That was a really long woo.
(0:00:48) Codey: It was…
(0:00:50) Codey: It’s like when you’re…
(0:00:50) Al: Like it sounded like we were falling off a cliff there.
(0:00:54) Codey: It’s like when you’re hugging a friend and you’re like,
(0:00:56) Codey: “Who’s gonna end it first?”
(0:00:58) Codey: Like…
(0:01:01) Al: It’s like the, you know, the Disney hug rule.
(0:01:04) Codey: Oh gosh, no I do not.
(0:01:06) Al: So the Disney hug rule and I mean, Disney have never confirmed that this is true.
(0:01:10) Al: But when you watch some videos, it’s pretty clear that it’s true.
(0:01:14) Al: The theory is that cast members at Disney are told that they are not allowed to stop a hug.
(0:01:22) Al: So the kid has to has to be the one that decides when the hug ends.
(0:01:26) Codey: That’s horrifying. I would hate that.
(0:01:28) Al: So, so you just had, there are,
(0:01:31) Al: I’ve seen some TikToks of kids like hugging for like three, four minutes.
(0:01:37) Al: And it’s like, I mean, like, well, I mean, presumably Cody,
(0:01:41) Al: you would never want to do that job anyway, right?
(0:01:45) Codey: I mean, I think it would be fun to like, because I did choir for a really long time and I have kind
(0:01:51) Codey: of a Disney voice in choir. I guess they don’t ever really sing at Disney, but like I could,
(0:01:57) Codey: like I always thought that would be super fun, but then I remembered I hate children, so.
(0:02:04) Al: kind of an important thing for a job at Disney, I would think.
(0:02:06) Codey: I also hate, I also hate non-consensual physical content, particularly with children.
(0:02:10) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, so I would say don’t do that job, Cody. That would be my
(0:02:15) Codey: So, yeah, no, I’m not going to, yeah.
(0:02:20) Al: advice to you. But yeah, I think it’s it’s very funny because like, the comments on these
(0:02:26) Al: TikToks tend to be, oh, that kid really needed it. And I’m like, okay, sure, fine. It’s just
(0:02:30) Al: funny. [laughs]
(0:02:34) Al: Anyway, I think the kids that actually need a hug probably aren’t going to Disney because the parents aren’t taking them. So…
(0:02:34) Codey: - Sure.
(0:02:40) Codey: Well, and that’s what makes me so uncomfortable.
(0:02:42) Codey: Like when, you know, like my little cousins
(0:02:45) Codey: or whatever, when I was with my ex
(0:02:46) Codey: and like they would come up
(0:02:47) Codey: and they would just hug my leg constantly.
(0:02:49) Codey: And I was like, ah, I hate this.
(0:02:52) Codey: Cause like no amount of me hugging you
(0:02:55) Codey: is gonna make you feel better.
(0:02:57) Codey: Like, please let me go.
(0:03:00) Al: Wow.
(0:03:01) Codey: But more importantly, transcripts are available with show notes and on the website.
(0:03:07) Al: Woo!
(0:03:10) Al: This episode, we’re going to have our mid-year check-in.
(0:03:13) Al: So this is something we started last year
(0:03:15) Al: when we doubled the number of episodes.
(0:03:18) Al: We got to the middle of the year and went,
(0:03:20) Al: we’ve had a lot of episodes.
(0:03:21) Al: Let’s maybe see what the year’s been like so far
(0:03:24) Al: and chat about that.
(0:03:26) Al: I thought we would do that again because it’s the end of–
(0:03:29) Al: is this autumn?
(0:03:30) Al: Is this– is that the current season?
(0:03:32) Codey: Oh, and the show.
(0:03:32) Al: No, no, no, no, no.
(0:03:34) Al: Nowhere’s spring.
(0:03:35) Al: No, we’re summer.
(0:03:36) Al: We’re summer.
(0:03:37) Al: We’re in summer, I think.
(0:03:38) Al: Episodes.
(0:03:38) Codey: I mean, in the real, real, we’re in summer.
(0:03:41) Al: No, I know what we are.
(0:03:42) Al: Nowhere in autumn.
(0:03:42) Al: We’re in autumn, too.
(0:03:43) Al: That’s what we are, of course.
(0:03:44) Codey: OK, for the podcast.
(0:03:46) Al: Yes.
(0:03:46) Al: So this is the last day of autumn.
(0:03:48) Al: Next episode will be the first day of winter.
(0:03:52) Codey: Can you hear my dog panting?
(0:03:54) Codey: Very, very lovely.
(0:03:55) Codey: Yeah, no, she’s…
(0:03:56) Al: A little, not a huge amount.
(0:03:58) Al: So we’re going to chat about the games
(0:04:01) Al: that we’ve enjoyed so far from the year.
(0:04:03) Al: Spoiler alert, apparently, we’ve not
(0:04:05) Al: played a lot of games from this year.
(0:04:08) Al: We’re going to talk about what we’re most excited to play
(0:04:14) Al: for the rest of the year because we’ve still got six months to go.
(0:04:17) Codey: Gosh, it has simultaneously flown by and also–
(0:04:18) Al: Or we’ve only got six months to go.
(0:04:20) Al: I don’t know which it is.
(0:04:24) Codey: there’s still six months.
(0:04:28) Codey: But this year is going way too slow for–
(0:04:32) Al: yeah before that we have a bunch of news still so much news why is there still so much news
(0:04:36) Al: it’s the summer stop giving us news but first of all cody what have you been up to
(0:04:42) Codey: I have been doing research, but for video games, I’ve been still playing Power Wash Simulator.
(0:04:52) Codey: I have… I believe I’m on the last thing of the, like, story quest.
(0:05:01) Codey: So that’s exciting. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone, but that game has been very awesome.
(0:05:07) Codey: And then, midway into me playing it, my landlord actually brought me a Power Washer.
(0:05:12) Codey: So now I can do it in the real too, which is great, because here soon I’m going to have a void in my heart that is Power Wash Simulator shaped.
(0:05:23) Codey: I also started Cassette Beasts, so that was something recently when I noticed that I was going to have a void in my heart.
(0:05:31) Codey: I looked at what was available on Game Pass, and I was like, “You know what? Let’s just do it. Let’s do Cassette Beasts.”
(0:05:39) Codey: I’m enjoying it so far. It’s definitely
(0:05:42) Codey: Pokemon yeah so I mean it’s it’s nice I enjoy it I don’t know if that’s kind of
(0:05:44) Al: I have heard good things from some people.
(0:05:55) Codey: what I’m looking for right now but I will continue to play it and see where
(0:06:00) Codey: it goes so yeah those are the big things other than that I’ve been working my
(0:06:04) Codey: coffee job and also doing rover dog-sitting so that’s me what about you
(0:06:11) Codey: well. You’re cooking, you’re clicking.
(0:06:12) Codey: In what game? Oh, you’re doing it on your computer.
(0:06:13) Al: Yes, I’m not fishing. In Farm RPG. Yeah, did you know you could do that?
(0:06:24) Al: Maybe that’s dangerous for you to know, I’m not sure.
(0:06:26) Codey: so I was going to say, you’re clearly on farm RPG still.
(0:06:29) Al: Yes, no. Yeah, I just unlocked a new area to fish in. So, oopsie. I am. Yeah, sorry,
(0:06:36) Al: just give me… I literally, I’ve been working towards the thing that I’m currently, I’ve just
(0:06:41) Al: unlocked for a week.
(0:06:43) Al: I had to do two and a half thousand eggplants to unlock a specific runestone so that I could
(0:06:48) Al: then get to a new area. So I’m suddenly like, “Oh, I can do this now! Yay!” But no, that’s
(0:06:54) Codey: Yeah, make number go big, number get big, number go brrrrrrrrr.
(0:06:55) Al: bad. Yeah. I mean, that is one thing I’ve been doing a lot, is farm RPG. So I’m now making
(0:07:03) Al: maybe like 100 to 150 million silver a day. So yeah, a lot.
(0:07:09) Codey: Crazy.
(0:07:13) Codey: How many drinkings are you at?
(0:07:13) Al: Drinkings. Oh, the 99. Yeah, yeah, it bothers me a bit. I have completed 82. But that’s
(0:07:17) Codey: Bar, bottles of beer.
(0:07:23) Codey: Okay.
(0:07:25) Al: taking ages to get to the next level, because like, my crafting is at like level 91, but
(0:07:30) Al: my farming is down at 82. And it’s just, it takes so long to up the farming, because there’s
(0:07:35) Al: only, you can’t speed it up, really. Like, I’ve sped it up as much as I can. So I think
(0:07:40) Al: it’s like roughly they take about half the time now that they’re
(0:07:43) Al: meant to but it’s still like that’s and I’m up to 32 plots and to get another
(0:07:51) Al: four I need a billion so like that’s not that’s gonna take a long time to get
(0:07:56) Al: there but yeah I’ve unlocked a lot of stuff and I feel like I’m just grinding
(0:08:01) Al: through the mid game now it’s just taking a long time yeah it is fun and I’m
(0:08:06) Codey: - Yeah, I mean it was a fun game though.
(0:08:08) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:08:10) Al: I’m definitely not finished yet.
(0:08:13) Al: And I’m not gonna stop yet, but yeah, we’re getting there.
(0:08:19) Al: We’re getting there.
(0:08:21) Al: What was the quest I was looking at?
(0:08:24) Al: Can’t remember.
(0:08:26) Al: Fishing.
(0:08:27) Al: Right, yes, sorry.
(0:08:28) Al: Sorry.
(0:08:29) Al: I’ve closed the tab now.
(0:08:32) Al: I’ve also been playing Go Go Town and Starstruck Vagabond,
(0:08:35) Al: and hopefully eventually I’ll do episodes on both of those games.
(0:08:39) Al: Because I feel like I’ve been playing both of them for ages
(0:08:41) Al: and not done episodes on that.
(0:08:44) Al: Time is a timing, so we’ll get there.
(0:08:44) Codey: -Well, speaking of things being delayed and maybe doing episodes on things later,
(0:08:52) Codey: that’s what we’ve been up to for news, Southfield.
(0:08:52) Al: “Wooooh! Time for the news! That says the problem with the segue between sections doesn’t really
(0:09:02) Al: work that well when you have to introduce the section. Southfield Early Access has been delayed.”
(0:09:10) Codey: which this was like very close to release right like it was
(0:09:13) Al: Yeah, it was like tomorrow. Yeah.
(0:09:14) Codey: supposed to be released tomorrow when they announced it on Friday.
(0:09:20) Al: » Yeah.
(0:09:21) Al: » Yeah.
(0:09:21) Codey: So like three days before release, which
(0:09:23) Al: Yeah, I always find these interesting because it’s like they only actually announced the
(0:09:26) Al: release like two weeks ago. So to give the context, they’ve said the reason they’re delaying
(0:09:32) Al: is because of performance issues that people have found in the closed beta. But they’ve
(0:09:37) Al: been running the closed beta for months, and they announced the early access date two weeks ago.
(0:09:43) Al: And this is when they’ve gone, “Oh, we’re not actually going to do that.” So it’s like,
(0:09:46) Al: I’m not saying that delaying is a bad thing. It just feels like I’m confused by their timing
(0:09:50) Al: of all of this and
(0:09:53) Al: like did nobody say anything about the performance in the first multiple months of the closed beta?
(0:09:56) Codey: No. So I think that they said, so yeah, it says that they’re a recurring problem being
(0:09:58) Al: Or did they think they’d managed to fix it in time or…
(0:10:05) Codey: performance. And then in response, we implemented a new way to make the game run more smoothly,
(0:10:10) Codey: which worked well. So I’m assuming that they were like, Oh, cool, we’re good. Uh, but the
(0:10:14) Codey: caveat is, but created lots of complex issues over the past few weeks. So I think they’d
(0:10:20) Codey: like probably felt like they had solved that issue, but then all of these other issues
(0:10:26) Codey: are dropping up. Not entirely sure what those are, um, which is fine. I mean, you know, it
(0:10:31) Codey: would be better for you to, to perf not perfect, but like, uh, address those issues before
(0:10:38) Codey: release. Um, though it was very interesting to me that they say safeguarding our devs
(0:10:44) Codey: is very important to us. Oh, okay. I was like, are people going to like attack them if the
(0:10:46) Al: Yeah that’s about crunch. They don’t want to crunch. No, so they say the last thing
(0:10:53) Codey: The game is bad.
(0:10:55) Al: we want to do is put enormous pressure on them to fix these issues for launch and beyond.
(0:11:00) Al: Safeguarding is very important. So yeah, they don’t want to crunch basically, which is good.
(0:11:02) Codey: Yep.
(0:11:06) Al: We don’t want them to crunch either. Do not crunch. Well, it is how things work. That’s
(0:11:06) Codey: That’s good.
(0:11:08) Codey: Yeah, no, nope.
(0:11:09) Codey: That’s not how things work.
(0:11:12) Al: that’s the problem. It’s not how things should…
(0:11:15) Codey: It shouldn’t be how things work.
(0:11:16) Al: I’m actually really happy about this because I was getting very stressed about Southfield
(0:11:17) Codey: Yeah.
(0:11:23) Al: coming out tomorrow because long time listeners will know that I go away for a month in the
(0:11:30) Al: summer and that’s in a month’s time. I wasn’t figuring out… I had no idea how we were going
(0:11:42) Al: to cover this game and I really wanted to cover this game when it came out as soon as
(0:11:46) Al: I could. Hopefully it’s delayed till at least the second half of August. That’s when I would
(0:11:52) Al: like it to come out because then it’s much more sensible timing for us and we can get
(0:11:57) Al: a good episode for it. Because Go Go Town came out before it, so obviously I was going to
(0:12:03) Al: pick that one up then. It came out like a week ago or something. Is it a week and a half maybe?
(0:12:07) Al: I lose track. I could just look at my list but I’m not going to.
(0:12:12) Codey: Yeah, I don’t think it matters. I’m trying to see what all it’s on.
(0:12:16) Al: I think it’s just on Steam. I don’t know if it’s on Mac.
(0:12:16) Codey: Go go 10.
(0:12:17) Codey: Oh, I could play it on Switch.
(0:12:22) Codey: It says Nintendo Switch PlayStation 5.
(0:12:25) Al: Yeah but it’s not out on them yet because it’s in Early Access so it’s only on Steam so far.
(0:12:32) Al: And I will say the Go Go Town team have been very good at responding to issues. There was a really
(0:12:39) Al: fun issue that crashed the Steam Deck, which was really impressive. But yeah.
(0:12:46) Al: So playing the game would be fine and then I would put the Steam Deck on sleep and then I would wake
(0:12:52) Al: it back up and I would play for a little bit and then the game would just crash and the entire
(0:12:57) Al: system was dead. So I would have to like hard reset it and then come up and then I would have
(0:13:03) Al: lost some progress. Interestingly it didn’t seem to be like tracking the amount of time in game.
(0:13:09) Al: So like Steam says I’ve played for six hours but I’ve definitely played for like 11 or 12 hours
(0:13:13) Al: I’m pretty sure so it was like not
(0:13:16) Al: tracking that time but anyway they fixed that issue but then that broke a different
(0:13:20) Al: issue on the Steam Deck and I tweeted them and then they fixed it the same day so they’re
(0:13:25) Al: very responsive and yeah it’s that’s going really well but I’ll talk about more about
(0:13:30) Al: go-go 10 in a future episode speaking of future episodes and past episode Hello Kitty Island
(0:13:37) Al: Adventure is finally coming to Switch woo and also also PC and PlayStation but switch
(0:13:40) Codey: Whoo!
(0:13:42) Codey: Whoo!
(0:13:43) Al: Whoo! (laughs)
(0:13:46) Al: So it’s not coming out till next year, early 2025. I suspect Q1 for Switch and PC.
(0:13:53) Al: They said that Switch is a console exclusive, a timed console exclusive. And then I suspect
(0:14:01) Al: PlayStation like Q3 maybe, but we’ll see. Excited. They announced this in the Nintendo Direct,
(0:14:07) Al: if you’ve not seen that. And, you know, obviously it’s still a bit away, but I’m very excited that
(0:14:14) Al: that they’ve actually finally said it’s
(0:14:16) Al: happening because, like, when me and Maddy were talking about it in the episode, we’re
(0:14:22) Al: like, yes, Apple Arcade exclusives do sometimes come to other things, but we don’t know if
(0:14:28) Al: they are actually planning on doing it, and if so, when, and how long, because, like,
(0:14:32) Al: obviously they sign a contract with Apple saying that they’ll be exclusive for a certain
(0:14:36) Al: amount of time, and it could be years. We just didn’t know. Now, it does look like that
(0:14:41) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:14:42) Al: That might have been two years, if it’s coming next year, because it came out last year.
(0:14:46) Al: But yeah, we’ll see. Exciting.
(0:14:47) Codey: Yeah.
(0:14:49) Codey: Yeah?
(0:14:49) Codey: It sure looks like Animal Crossing.
(0:14:53) Al: Yeah, it feels so… It’s been a while since we’ve done the episode, but like, it doesn’t…
(0:15:00) Al: It’s less Animal Crossing, certainly less New Horizons. I guess maybe it’s more like New Leaf
(0:15:07) Al: in so much as like, you’re not making the town, right? Like you don’t decide where houses are and
(0:15:14) Al: stuff like that. You do.
(0:15:16) Al: You can like you design inside the houses, I think. But I don’t think you get to decide
(0:15:21) Al: like where things are and stuff like that. The town is defined. The buildings are where
(0:15:26) Al: the buildings are and you build them but you build them in so much as there is a plot and
(0:15:33) Al: it says build a house here and you go yes please and it’s built.
(0:15:37) Al: So yeah, I’m excited to see how that goes. Are you going to play it when it comes out?
(0:15:40) Codey: Yeah. We’ll see where my debt’s at at that point.
(0:15:43) Al: Fair, fair.
(0:15:48) Codey: Also, next year is when I’m going to try and graduate.
(0:15:50) Codey: So I might be tearing my hair out.
(0:15:53) Al: Cool.
(0:15:56) Al: Don’t know what to say.
(0:15:57) Codey: Another game, another game that I may or may not play is our next one, which is Harvest Days.
(0:16:02) Al: Yes.
(0:16:03) Codey: I don’t know if I’ve ever looked at this game or seen this game before.
(0:16:06) Al: Yeah, we’ve we definitely have talked about it before.
(0:16:09) Al: I think early access came out, it was maybe late 2022.
(0:16:14) Al: I think it’s a like a family that develop it.
(0:16:18) Al: Like I think it might be husband and wife, it might be father and son.
(0:16:23) Al: But yeah, yeah, it’s quite simplified, like
(0:16:24) Codey: It sure is just farming simulator, but a cozy version though at least that’s what it looks like
(0:16:33) Al: person character models and a few kind of things are clearly a little bit
(0:16:39) Al: simplified, like the kind of buildings and stuff like that.
(0:16:42) Al: But like the trees, I mean, it doesn’t look bad.
(0:16:44) Al: Like certainly there’s like areas of like trees and grass that look quite nice.
(0:16:44) Codey: No, not at all
(0:16:49) Al: The animals look interesting kind of balance between
(0:16:54) Al: Cartoony and real I think
(0:16:55) Codey: Yeah, I think that me saying farming simulator but cozy is meant to be a compliment because
(0:17:01) Al: Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
(0:17:04) Codey: farming simulator they go hard so having it basically kind of be the quality of
(0:17:09) Codey: that but be a little bit more of a cartoony or illustrated feel looks
(0:17:14) Codey: really interesting and the 1.0 is coming on July 24th 25th and it’s also coming
(0:17:19) Codey: to consoles on that day.
(0:17:21) Al: Yeah, that was just like a hey, but we’re also coming to consoles on that day. I don’t
(0:17:28) Al: think they really talked about consoles before. So honestly, impressive. I guess we’ll see
(0:17:34) Al: how well the console versions run because obviously they’ll be using porting companies
(0:17:38) Al: and they can be hit or miss depending on which one you have, as we found with Stardew. So
(0:17:46) Al: yeah, it’ll be interesting to see because it’ll either be really impressive, like…
(0:17:51) Al: Is that how you play games now? You only play games now?
(0:18:02) Codey: things, random things come to Game Pass, so I’m never.
(0:18:08) Codey: Yeah, so anytime I’m feeling a void in my life, I go to the Game Pass page and I’m
(0:18:14) Codey: like, and I have a, this is what I wanted to play later page.
(0:18:18) Codey: And then I go to that and then see what’s, or like anything that’s new or popular or
(0:18:23) Codey: something like Coral Island was on my, even though I wasn’t going for Coral Island.
(0:18:28) Codey: I was like, Oh, there it is.
(0:18:31) Al: Next, we have Natsumon 20th Century Summer Vacation, which up until this point is a Japanese
(0:18:38) Al: exclusive on Switch, I think. They have announced they’re coming to Steam, and on the Steam page,
(0:18:48) Al: it says, in big letters, in English, the only English on the page, it says, “English will
(0:18:54) Al: be available on August 6, 2024.” They also announced there was a DLC for the game.
(0:19:01) Al: That’s all in Japanese, so I’m not going to talk about that just now.
(0:19:06) Codey: Yup. And then, uh, give Matt’s who on Twitter, um, said that they, um, had
(0:19:14) Codey: asked, they’d emailed, um, the developers were spike Chunsoft to find out,
(0:19:21) Codey: um, if that means that the switch version is also coming, uh, to English.
(0:19:27) Codey: Um, and their response was, um, that they don’t have any information to share.
(0:19:32) Al: Yeah, you would think that they would do it, right?
(0:19:34) Codey: and yes.
(0:19:36) Al: Surely.
(0:19:36) Codey: Some people are thinking, some people are thinking
(0:19:38) Codey: that there’s a couple like game, not like direct style things
(0:19:43) Codey: like happening in Japan soon.
(0:19:46) Al: Ah, so they might announce it in one of them. Makes sense. Yeah.
(0:19:46) Codey: And so maybe they’re going to announce it.
(0:19:48) Codey: Yeah, so they don’t want to announce it to Gamatsu,
(0:19:51) Codey: but they, it might be announced in something like that.
(0:19:54) Al: I need to double check because I’m pretty sure the last one also did the same thing where they
(0:20:00) Al: just came out in Japan and then they released on Steam and released the English language as well.
(0:20:06) Al: I can’t remember what that one was called. Look, the game names are just so complicated.
(0:20:13) Al: Um…
(0:20:16) Codey: before you. Oh, Shin Chan, me and the professor on summer vacation. Wait, is Natsuma on Shin
(0:20:16) Al: yeah that one I think yes me yes so yes no I don’t know so this is that so
(0:20:24) Codey: Chan? Oh.
(0:20:32) Al: it’s I believe no but maybe okay so Shinshan is not the same thing but it’s
(0:20:42) Al: It’s a spiritual successor to summer vacation.
(0:20:44) Codey: okay
(0:20:46) Al: But now there’s also the new summer vacation game.
(0:20:50) Al: Maybe.
(0:20:52) Al: It’s really hard because there’s so little information on these games and actually in English.
(0:20:57) Codey: is it one of the boku no natsu yes
(0:20:58) Al: The new one, this new one is, yeah.
(0:21:04) Al: But not Shun-chan. It’s not technically the same.
(0:21:07) Al: So Shun-chan, me and the professor on summer vacation, I don’t think is technically…
(0:21:13) Al: Yeah, so Wikipedia says the game has been described as a spiritual.
(0:21:16) Al: This was definitely the game I was thinking of, so I didn’t realize it wasn’t actually an official Boku no Nats.
(0:21:32) Codey: Not to you, sumi.
(0:21:33) Al: I need to get Micah on the podcast to tell us, because he knows about all these games, and which one is what, and so I need him to explain this to me.
(0:21:33) Codey: Yeah.
(0:21:38) Codey: My– yeah.
(0:21:43) Codey: OK, cool.
(0:21:44) Codey: Well, I’ll leave it to Micah.
(0:21:46) Al: I will definitely be having him on in the next couple of months, but I won’t spy a wolf.
(0:21:51) Codey: Was, is it for Natsuman 20th century summer vacation?
(0:21:56) Al: I said I’m not going to spoil it. Come on.
(0:21:58) Codey: You have no information to share.
(0:22:00) Al: I have no information to share, but I’ll also put some information somewhere else,
(0:22:06) Codey: Okay, cool.
(0:22:07) Al: because it’s like the Steam page saying “oh this is happening” and they’re like “ah we have no
(0:22:11) Al: information to share”. Okay, sure, whatever. Roots of Patria have a 1.2 update coming out on July the
(0:22:13) Codey: Right, right, right.
(0:22:14) Codey: I’ll watch your Steam page.
(0:22:23) Al: 31st, which is also the same day the
(0:22:26) Codey: Yeah, the roots of Pacha, um, again, I’m excited to see if they will, if this will
(0:22:31) Codey: be on game pass, because then I’ll start a new save.
(0:22:35) Codey: Um, so I guess I have it on switch.
(0:22:37) Codey: So I guess I could just play it on switch or did I play, I don’t
(0:22:40) Codey: remember how I played this game.
(0:22:42) Codey: Um, the update has a lot of really cool stuff.
(0:22:45) Codey: Uh, there’s an update to the pets system and some of them you can upgrade to be
(0:22:51) Codey: amount and in that it said that there’s a giant cave spider.
(0:22:56) Codey: Um, shook because I didn’t know that there was a giant
(0:22:59) Codey: cave spider in this game as a pet.
(0:23:01) Codey: Uh, so I now want, yeah, there’s also a new way to water.
(0:23:02) Al: I, yeah, I don’t, I don’t know what to say.
(0:23:09) Codey: So instead of having to water everything, they basically have a sprinkler,
(0:23:12) Codey: but it’s not a sprinkler.
(0:23:14) Codey: It’s like, it’s a thing called an Ola where you just put water in us in the
(0:23:20) Codey: central thing, and then it waters the, uh, surrounding eight blocks.
(0:23:25) Al: Yeah, so this this had like irrigation lines, I think previously, which was the only way
(0:23:30) Al: you watered. So this is just a new option for watering, which is cool. Also child labour.
(0:23:34) Codey: Yeah. Uh, child labor. Yeah. Let’s, you want to expand on that.
(0:23:41) Al: So yeah, I find this really funny because I was just like scrolling through it all and I’m like,
(0:23:44) Al: oh, OK, cool, cool. Yeah, animals. That’s fine. Oh, there’s this some stuff about the school.
(0:23:49) Al: Cool. And then the learning. So what’s a learning station? Let’s see. After building the school,
(0:23:54) Al: you’ll get a learning station that can
(0:23:55) Al: be placed in the fields, affecting a 7x4 area. After adding some contributions, the children will
(0:24:01) Al: check it every morning to clean affected sheds and talk to the animals living inside, water and
(0:24:06) Al: harvest plants, refill olives, pump irrigation pumps, harvest honey and harvest trees. So yeah,
(0:24:12) Al: that’s child labour. Whoo!
(0:24:14) Codey: - Child labor.
(0:24:16) Al: Woo! (laughs)
(0:24:18) Codey: It also coincides with the,
(0:24:21) Codey: they have a new like development stage for your child.
(0:24:23) Codey: So they go from being like a toddler to a school age student
(0:24:27) Codey: and then, or not student, school age child.
(0:24:30) Codey: So they go from being useless to being mildly useful,
(0:24:32) Al: They’ve gone from being an inconvenience to being mildly useful.
(0:24:33) Codey: which is why they’ve added the labor, I guess.
(0:24:42) Codey: What an energy suck.
(0:24:44) Codey: Now I’m…
(0:24:46) Al: And that’s not what happens with actual children, right?
(0:24:49) Al: Even if they are useful in some ways, they are still a drain on you emotionally and physically.
(0:24:52) Codey: I thought you were going to say that’s not what happens, they’re very loving even when
(0:25:02) Codey: they’re inconvenient, you still love them very much.
(0:25:03) Al: No, well, yes, yes, but they are also a drain on you emotionally and physically.
(0:25:04) Codey: You’re like, they always suck.
(0:25:09) Codey: That’s true, that’s true, that’s- yep, that’s- yeah.
(0:25:12) Al: I love my children. I love them most when they’re sleeping.
(0:25:20) Codey: There are very few kids.
(0:25:22) Codey: And then there’s just such a gamble about whether or not I would like mine, so I’m just not going to happen.
(0:25:31) Al: Children are a gamble. Great.
(0:25:32) Al: And…
(0:25:33) Codey: There, a gamble.
(0:25:34) Codey: You can also, other things that were added in this release, midday saves.
(0:25:39) Codey: So before, if you wanted to save in the middle of the day, it would end your day.
(0:25:44) Codey: So now you can say, oh, I just want to save and keep playing versus save and end the day.
(0:25:48) Al: I wonder why they’ve restricted it to your bed when you don’t have to go to sleep now.
(0:25:54) Al: That seems like a weird, like, you can save at any point in the day but you have to go to your bed to do it.
(0:26:00) Codey: You take you nap and you just go you just go rot in bed for like an hour and that’s.
(0:26:02) Al: But they’re not napping, they’re just saving. That’s it.
(0:26:07) Al: But they don’t, they don’t. I’m watching it just now. They just stand next to it,
(0:26:10) Codey: This is what this is what this is what I do.
(0:26:10) Al: it saves, and then you’re still standing there.
(0:26:14) Al: Like, what? I just, I don’t understand. Like, either you think that the
(0:26:18) Al: it’s an important part of your game loop is that you have a day and it saves between them, right? I,
(0:26:24) Al: personally, I think we’re past that. And I don’t think you should just do that. But like,
(0:26:28) Al: or you let people save whenever from a menu, like, why this weird halfway house?
(0:26:30) Codey: Yeah.
(0:26:35) Al: Like, because then you get into the whole, oh, well, we don’t want people to like save scum. And
(0:26:39) Al: I’m like, I don’t care. Why, why do you care what people are doing? Like, because they can still do
(0:26:44) Al: out with the whole game.
(0:26:46) Codey: Let people, let people.
(0:26:48) Al: It just seems like such a weird restriction, like if you think that you should only save
(0:26:52) Al: at the end of the day, fine. I think that’s silly, but fine, go for it. If you’re going
(0:26:56) Al: to allow people to save whenever, allow them to save whenever, don’t put artificial restrictions
(0:27:01) Al: on top of that. It’s like they didn’t want to add an extra menu. That’s what it feels
(0:27:03) Codey: It’d do be a thing.
(0:27:09) Al: like, right? They have the menu already to go to sleep, so they just added an extra item
(0:27:13) Al: in the menu, and they’re like, they’re done, happy, stop moaning at us. That’s what it
(0:27:16) Codey: Yeah, I mean, it’s fair.
(0:27:18) Al: feels like.
(0:27:22) Codey: Uh, another thing that they added was, uh, some different relationship mechanics.
(0:27:26) Codey: So it sounds like now you can say when you only want to date one person versus you also
(0:27:34) Codey: can like have it so that people don’t tell, tell others that you’re dating.
(0:27:40) Al: Yeah, this is weird, right? Because they did already have unions, right? They’re not new.
(0:27:42) Codey: Yeah.
(0:27:45) Al: They already existed in the game. But something has changed, and neither of us played the
(0:27:49) Al: game, I think, enough to actually understand what’s changing here.
(0:27:52) Codey: Yeah, I never I never went to it. I never got to the union stage. So
(0:27:56) Al: So I don’t know, if you wanted to do something with relationships that you couldn’t do,
(0:28:02) Codey: most important thing you can smooch at your wedding there’s also a few new
(0:28:03) Al: maybe you can do it now.
(0:28:10) Codey: languages Korean being one of them I don’t remember the other one
(0:28:16) Al: a traditional change.
(0:28:18) Codey: but the most important thing they had some small quality of life things and
(0:28:22) Codey: one of them is to have a transfer all or transfer matching options in storage
(0:28:27) Codey: boxes and inventory I love this I love like if you have something in your menu
(0:28:32) Codey: or in your inventory and it’s in the storage box and you can just be like
(0:28:37) Codey: transfer the stuff that is already in there that is in my like just get it out
(0:28:38) Al: Yeah, I
(0:28:41) Codey: of my
(0:28:41) Al: I use that feature in Stardew all the time
(0:28:44) Codey: yeah
(0:28:44) Al: It’s like especially in Stardew when you have like such limited boxes, right?
(0:28:47) Codey: yeah
(0:28:48) Al: You go up to a box you click the button you go to the next box you click the button and it’s like half your
(0:28:52) Al: Inventory is gone. It’s great
(0:28:53) Codey: yeah it also says that there’s new sorting methods which is great as well I
(0:28:57) Al: Do they make any more sense in the Stardew sorting methods maybe
(0:29:00) Codey: I don’t know, I’ve never…
(0:29:02) Codey: I just… it’s something that I’ve… from playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, I really like the way that you can sort and do your inventory stuff in that game, so I’m just… I like seeing that in other games.
(0:29:16) Al: Cool. Next we have Chill Town, who have a new update. The Auto Farming Update, which
(0:29:24) Al: is coming out on the 28th of June. Fully Automate Watering and Harvesting. So I don’t know, have
(0:29:31) Al: you watched the video for this Cody? I was so confused by this, because I was like, oh
(0:29:32) Codey: I did. So the way that…
(0:29:36) Al: so they’ve got like sprinklers and like the equivalent of Junimos or whatever. And then
(0:29:42) Al: I watch the video and like it appears
(0:29:46) Al: you like press a button and you go automate farming and your character goes in like
(0:29:52) Al: waters each individual crop and harvests it.
(0:29:52) Codey: Oh, yeah, I mean, I love I love this.
(0:29:57) Codey: I love this idea that it’s like, OK, I’m going to go farm.
(0:30:00) Codey: Let me do that.
(0:30:01) Codey: And while I do that, I’m going to go to the bathroom
(0:30:02) Al: Well, this is the thing. This is just like, I don’t, I don’t understand what, like, this
(0:30:03) Codey: and I’m going to read something.
(0:30:08) Al: is weird. Like, I don’t, I don’t.
(0:30:10) Codey: It’s chill town.
(0:30:12) Al: Well, this is the thing. I don’t understand. So you’re not playing the game. Like, it’s
(0:30:13) Codey: You’re chilling.
(0:30:15) Codey: You just watch the game play.
(0:30:24) Codey: You were up to that point.
(0:30:25) Al: and I, and I don’t mean, and I don’t mean, right, I don’t like, oh, you have, you should
(0:30:33) Al: people will know I love automation in games. I love it. But for me, the automation in games,
(0:30:39) Al: it frees you up time in the game to do other things. This is not doing that. This is just
(0:30:46) Al: means you press one button and you leave it and it does the same thing over and over and
(0:30:48) Codey: It…
(0:30:51) Al: over again.
(0:30:52) Codey: It frees up your time in the real.
(0:30:56) Codey: It’s like Rusty’s retirement.
(0:31:00) Codey: I love it.
(0:31:03) Al: Rusty’s retirement is different, right? Because that the whole point of that game is you are
(0:31:06) Al: telling somebody, hey, these are the things that you do, right? Like, you’re not actually
(0:31:11) Al: controlling him. You’re telling him what to do. This is completely different. I just, I
(0:31:15) Al: don’t, I don’t understand why anybody would want this feature. It seems weird to me. I
(0:31:23) Codey: I love it. I really like multitasking. And one thing that I get stuck with in power washing
(0:31:29) Codey: my leader, for example, is I put on my little silly little audio book. I wash powerfully,
(0:31:37) Codey: and then I get four texts. And I’m like, for you know, a couple texts from different people
(0:31:41) Codey: or a message or something like an email, and I’ll be like, Oh, I’ll check that once I finish
(0:31:46) Codey: this wall. And then an hour and a half later, I’ve finished the entire building, and I check,
(0:31:53) Codey: 10 messages. And I’m just like, it, it will because you go you so it’s like, Oh,
(0:31:54) Al: I don’t think this is going to solve that problem for you Cody.
(0:32:01) Codey: time to harvest my stuff, click auto harvest, check all my messages.
(0:32:05) Al: not going to do that, you’ll just get distracted by something else instead. This is not going
(0:32:10) Al: to solve your ADHD, Cody. That’s not what this is going to do. And I just, I can’t,
(0:32:14) Codey: It’s supposed to.
(0:32:15) Al: I can’t, it’s not. I just, I can’t imagine ever wanting to do this, because I, what am
(0:32:23) Al: I doing while that’s happening? I’m not going to sit sitting at the screen, I’m just going
(0:32:28) Al: to go TikTok. Like I don’t, I don’t. This is.
(0:32:32) Codey: i’ll like play with my dog in between this i’ll that’s this one i’ll like get her i’ll either
(0:32:37) Codey: check my messages or i’ll be like go get your ball and then we like throw the ball for a little bit
(0:32:42) Codey: while it’s happening that’s the kind of stuff I would
(0:32:44) Al: I love automation. This is not it. I don’t understand it. And if you are excited about this,
(0:32:49) Al: you’re fine. I’m glad for you. I don’t, I don’t want it. I don’t understand it. It doesn’t make
(0:32:50) Codey: Chiltown you do you you do you
(0:32:57) Al: any sense to me. I know, but like, give me proper automation is what I’m like. I was excited and now
(0:32:57) Codey: Well, you know what it’s toggle and you don’t have to do it what I’ve been
(0:33:07) Al: I’m confused. Maybe, maybe. I do think the, the automating. Well, no.
(0:33:08) Codey: Maybe that’s not maybe that’s the next thing
(0:33:12) Codey: Speaking of the next thing
(0:33:14) Al: Just before that, they did look like they had automated fishing as well. Now that, because
(0:33:15) Codey: Okay
(0:33:19) Al: when they went into the auto menu, let me just double check. Yeah, these got auto fishing.
(0:33:25) Al: Now that does sound interesting, but we’ll see. I’ve still not played this game. It’s on my list.
(0:33:30) Al: We’ll see. Sorry. I’ll let you do your segue now. Okay.
(0:33:32) Codey: the next, next on our list.
(0:33:39) Codey: Disney Dreamlight Valley, uh, is pulling me back in, um, just in time for
(0:33:44) Al: Oh, disaster.
(0:33:46) Codey: me after powerwash simulator ends.
(0:33:49) Codey: Um, they’re going to have a new update called the lucky dragon update.
(0:33:52) Codey: Uh, it looks like it’s adding, uh, Mulan, Mushu, possibly some other
(0:33:56) Codey: cherry blossom items as well.
(0:33:59) Codey: Um, cause there’s a lot of cherry blossoms in the picture and you have
(0:34:03) Codey: that you’re wearing, uh, that have a lot of cherry blossoms on them.
(0:34:06) Codey: Uh, this is called the, uh, I don’t, I mean, like she, they talk about
(0:34:06) Al: Is there a link there? Is there a link between?
(0:34:14) Codey: blossoms, like the perfect petal, perfect flower, um, and how not every
(0:34:23) Al: It does look like the cherry blossom in the movie. Okay, fair enough.
(0:34:26) Codey: Yeah, and then also like in the trailer, yeah, you got to be more specific
(0:34:27) Al: It’s been a while since I’ve watched it. All I care about is the song.
(0:34:33) Al: No, I do not need to be more specific, though, come on.
(0:34:37) Codey: Some good songs in that movie
(0:34:39) Al: Yeah, I know, but there’s one that’s the best, and you all know it. You’re all singing.
(0:34:41) Codey: So
(0:34:43) Codey: Yeah, it’s kind of a yikes um
(0:34:46) Codey: I mean, it’s a good it’s a good song. It’s called the lucky dragon update. It’s coming on June 26th
(0:34:51) Codey: So I think by the time this is out
(0:34:54) Al: the day it comes out, yeah, same day so well so you’ll know more than us because
(0:34:56) Codey: The day the day you are listening that if you are listening to this it’s out
(0:35:02) Al: it’s out now well I’m sure we’ll talk about it in the next episode speaking of
(0:35:04) Codey: Yeah, yep, I will play play it much
(0:35:06) Al: updates smooshy come home have a new update the heart of the forest update
(0:35:12) Al: and this adds some postgame content it’s out now and it adds some new areas some
(0:35:18) Al: new skins and some new mushrooms yeah
(0:35:24) Al: it looks like a pretty decent sized update for the game and that’s cool
(0:35:29) Al: Sprout Valley speaking of small games that have pretty decent sized updates
(0:35:34) Al: Sprout Valley have their summer update I think it was actually technically called
(0:35:38) Al: like summer 2024 they’ve not got very imaginative names with their updates
(0:35:42) Al: here they that adds some new biomes sand stone and jungle some new resources
(0:35:51) Al: cactus and bamboo, new fish, sandfish.
(0:35:54) Al: Stonefish and jadefish, new pets and pet buffs to increase their speed, travel, luck and energy.
(0:36:02) Al: I mean honestly this feels like it might double the size of the game based on what I played which is pretty cool.
(0:36:02) Codey: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know. The fish are exclusive to the biomes. I’m assuming cactus is in sand
(0:36:16) Codey: and bamboo is in jungle. Yeah, cool. Updating games.
(0:36:22) Al: Speaking of updating games, Research Story is now officially Steam Deck compatible.
(0:36:28) Codey: Does this make it more likely that you’ll play it?
(0:36:33) Al: Yeah. Theoretically. I feel like they already added controller support. That’s really,
(0:36:38) Al: like, when they say, like, playable, there’s… When Valve say whether a game is compatible
(0:36:46) Al: with the Steam Deck or not, they have, like, five things that they say, and of the five things,
(0:36:53) Al: and that’s controller support. The other ones, they might be annoying because it’s things like
(0:37:00) Al: tech size, right? Which isn’t a huge issue for me. I’ve got pretty good eyes,
(0:37:05) Al: and it’s things like, does it have its own keyboard, or do you have to pop up the keyboard
(0:37:10) Al: and type in yourself? And, like, realistically, these games don’t have a lot of cases with that,
(0:37:14) Al: so I don’t really care. If once every 10 hours of game I have to pop up the keyboard manually
(0:37:20) Al: and type something in that is not the end of the world.
(0:37:22) Al: So yeah, so the five things are the games default graphics configurations performs well on Steam Deck.
(0:37:32) Al: That’s reasonably important, right, but for most of these farming games,
(0:37:36) Al: unless they’re like big 3D stuff, they’re probably fine like that.
(0:37:40) Al: The game shows Steam Deck controller icons.
(0:37:43) Al: Yeah, important, but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t, right?
(0:37:48) Al: All functionality is accessible when using the default controller configuration.
(0:37:53) Al: Yeah, but like these will probably be really tiny things, right?
(0:37:54) Codey: Yep, and the yep, and those are the three that research story has. The other two are still needs to be worked on, I think, but we’ll be fine.
(0:38:07) Al: Hey, tiny text, because and so like, but this is the thing, it could be one word, right?
(0:38:08) Codey: I get it because the text is small and maybe difficult to read I got it.
(0:38:17) Al: Like they check everything, so if there’s one thing that is small and difficult to read,
(0:38:21) Al: Then it’s marked as
(0:38:22) Al: most of it is readable and it’s perfectly fine. The other thing is the game supports
(0:38:29) Al: Steam Deck’s native display resolution but does not set it by default and may require you
(0:38:35) Al: to configure the display resolution manually. It’s like okay I don’t care like oh no I need to
(0:38:40) Codey: Yeah.
(0:38:41) Al: go into the settings once. Okay great fantastic and yeah the other one that’s not listed here
(0:38:48) Al: It is the keyboard because presumably that it does have its own keyboard now
(0:38:51) Al: Okay.
(0:38:52) Al: Um, but sometimes, sometimes they’ll pop up and say, Oh, you might need to open the
(0:38:56) Al: keyboard to input text.
(0:38:58) Al: And I’m like, that’s fine.
(0:39:00) Al: That’s not the end of the world.
(0:39:01) Al: It’s not great.
(0:39:02) Al: I mean, the steam deck keyboard is not a good keyboard.
(0:39:04) Al: It is a really slow, bad keyboard.
(0:39:08) Al: So in game keyboards are always better than that, but like, it’s not like I’m playing
(0:39:12) Al: text heavy games ever.
(0:39:14) Al: So yeah, but yeah, it’s, it’s the added, as I say, the added controller support like last
(0:39:21) Al: year, I feel like, so nothing.
(0:39:22) Al: It’s always good when they’re fully compatible, so yeah, good fun.
(0:39:36) Al: Far Magia This is the game that was announced by Marvelous.
(0:39:38) Codey: for my farm agia.
(0:39:43) Al: Technically a year ago, they announced it as Project Magia, but then they told us nothing
(0:39:48) Al: about it.
(0:39:50) Al: And then this year they announced it again
(0:39:52) Al: I’ve been in Australia and told us very little, all they did was “Hey, here are the hot anime people!”
(0:40:00) Al: And then, in the Nintendo Direct, suddenly we actually got some gameplay, so that’s exciting.
(0:40:08) Al: So, it looks like you are, as I suspected, you are farming and then harvesting your monsters.
(0:40:16) Al: And it’s really interesting because there are…
(0:40:22) Al: It seems to be like you have tens of monsters.
(0:40:28) Al: It’s not like Ooblets, where you grow and you have like five of them in your party.
(0:40:34) Al: Like, this guy’s walking around with like 30 foxes.
(0:40:38) Al: And it’s like “OK, this is suddenly very interesting. Oh my word, let’s get like 50 of our monsters and attack this massive dragon!”
(0:40:48) Al: I am very interested.
(0:40:51) Codey: Yeah. Uh, someone on Twitter said Pokemon, but make it fairytale.
(0:40:56) Codey: So if you watch, if you see in the anime fairytale, uh, that’s what the person
(0:41:00) Codey: thought. Uh, I also thought the animals, the monsters growing from plants was
(0:41:03) Codey: really interesting. Um, like the Fox, when it’s a plant, it looks like a corn
(0:41:08) Codey: plant and it looks like it’s just the tail that you can see.
(0:41:12) Codey: And the tail is all bushy and kind of looks like corn. Um, it’s really cute.
(0:41:14) Al: Yeah, it it’s a weird a weird decision to make I feel like it’s like yeah, they look like food
(0:41:23) Al: But they’re animals
(0:41:26) Codey: There are resources.
(0:41:26) Al: Okay
(0:41:28) Al: Fine
(0:41:29) Al: Yeah, I don’t know. I’m intrigued
(0:41:33) Al: It feels like it might be quite a deep and detailed game right because it’s an RPG
(0:41:41) Al: Yeah, I have we’ll see what happens
(0:41:44) Codey: Well, I mean that’s all you and if you want to cover that game, I can cover the next game with Johnny.
(0:41:44) Al: Okay, right, let’s let’s get into this then, shall we? So Tales of the Shire. I feel like
(0:41:50) Codey: Um, you know, I’ve been wanting to cover Tales of the Shire.
(0:41:59) Al: I get whiplash with this game. Like, so I just I don’t know whether I’m excited about
(0:42:03) Codey: - What?
(0:42:08) Al: this game or not. I can’t I can’t explain it. But there’s something about the game that
(0:42:14) Al: makes me go this is a bit weird. And I don’t know what it is. I mean, the character models
(0:42:21) Al: I think are a bit confusing to my brain. Like, it’s not like they look bad, right? I’m not
(0:42:24) Codey: Yeah.
(0:42:26) Codey: Yeah.
(0:42:27) Al: trying to say it’s not like, Oh, bad graphics, right? And I don’t want I don’t need people
(0:42:30) Al: coming in going, Oh, it’s because of the switch. I don’t care. Shut up. Right? One, the switch
(0:42:35) Al: can clearly have good graphics, right? Have you looked at Breath of the Wild? Come on,
(0:42:38) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:42:40) Al: It’s not that they look bad, it’s not that they’re like
(0:42:46) Al: It’s just there’s something weird about them, and I can’t describe what
(0:42:50) Codey: Well, I think that, so for me, it’s they feel chibi almost, but also they’re, they’re
(0:42:57) Codey: hobbits.
(0:42:58) Codey: They’re just, they, okay.
(0:42:58) Al: Yeah, it’s not the proportions to me that’s confusing, right? Like, the proportions look
(0:43:04) Al: like what I would expect from Hobbits, right? Because they’re Hobbits. I don’t know if it’s
(0:43:09) Al: their facial expressions. I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know. I think we’re gonna have to see.
(0:43:19) Al: Like, I’m not saying I won’t play it. I will play it, of course.
(0:43:24) Codey: Yeah, there’s there have been a lot of sneak peeks on site different sites. We looked at IGN and watched the IGN one
(0:43:31) Codey: looked really cool
(0:43:33) Codey: to me, you know, I saw the
(0:43:37) Codey: It sure has farming and and cooking and fishing
(0:43:42) Codey: I’m curious to see what more it is than other things
(0:43:46) Al: I don’t think it is. I think it’s trying to be exactly what you expect it to be, which
(0:43:52) Al: is Stardew but Hobbits. I wouldn’t expect any more. I would almost be a bit disappointed
(0:44:00) Al: if it was more than that, because it’s Tales of the Shire, right? It’s not Lord of the
(0:44:04) Codey: Yeah.
(0:44:08) Al: Rings, it’s not The Hobbit, it’s Tales of the Shire. And the Shire is meant to be the
(0:44:12) Al: a place where things don’t happen.
(0:44:14) Codey: but they also don’t have like,
(0:44:17) Codey: at least we never really saw like mining or anything.
(0:44:20) Codey: Like everyone there was a farmer
(0:44:22) Al: Yeah. It sucks. It’s the Shire.
(0:44:23) Codey: or a gardener or something.
(0:44:25) Codey: So like, it just,
(0:44:27) Al: They’re not going to be mining. Those are…
(0:44:28) Codey: but SARDU has like other things.
(0:44:31) Codey: It also has kind of a magic system underneath
(0:44:32) Al: Yeah. Okay.
(0:44:34) Codey: like the judamos and all of that.
(0:44:36) Codey: Like what, and like a community center and stuff.
(0:44:39) Codey: Like I’m not, I’m trying to figure out
(0:44:42) Codey: how this is gonna be built up more.
(0:44:43) Codey: I’m gonna play it, hundo.
(0:44:44) Al: I see what you mean so we’ve got so in terms of like game loops right you’ve got the the
(0:44:44) Codey: 100%, but…
(0:44:50) Al: primary game loop which is the same as stardew right you’re you’re planting things you’re
(0:44:55) Al: watering them you’re you’re growing crops right that’s your primary game loop and then
(0:45:00) Al: your secondary game loop is you’ve got villagers and you’re kind of building relationships
(0:45:06) Al: blah blah blah blah but in the third the tertiary game loop in stardew is you are making your
(0:45:11) Al: farm bigger and you’re exploding other areas.
(0:45:12) Codey: Yeah.
(0:45:14) Al: What is that in this game? That’s a good question.
(0:45:16) Codey: I don’t think, yeah, it’s, I don’t think it’s going to exist.
(0:45:20) Codey: I mean, I think that you’ll be able to explore the Shire, but you’re not
(0:45:20) Al: I think you might be right.
(0:45:25) Codey: going to have more land.
(0:45:26) Al: Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right.
(0:45:29) Al: It’s going to be, I think the IGN article says at one point it says it’s a zero,
(0:45:34) Al: zero stakes relaxing time spent in the Shire.
(0:45:38) Al: And I think that’s what it is. I think that’s exactly what it is.
(0:45:41) Al: you might have, like, trading.
(0:45:44) Al: Right?
(0:45:45) Al: Like, there might be some form of trading, so…
(0:45:45) Codey: Yeah, there’s gotta, yes, yes, I’m expecting that.
(0:45:51) Al: But I think that’s probably it.
(0:45:53) Al: You’ve got your cooking and you’ve got your farming and you’ve got your relationships.
(0:45:58) Al: But it does seem like that’s it.
(0:46:00) Codey: I don’t know we’ll see I mean it’s still far off it’s there’s still a lot more to it so that can be seen I just I think I’m also reticent but I also know that because it’s the Lord of the Rings property or like it has to do with Lord of the Rings and even tangential tangentially I’m a play it so it’s fine I’m going to be looking for those Easter eggs if they’re if they’ve got anything from the Tolkien estate.
(0:46:26) Al: So yeah, I suspect so we see at some point there’s someone that looks like it could be Gandalf or
(0:46:32) Al: another, it’s a wizard of some kind, right? Like clearly a very tall person with a wizard’s hat on,
(0:46:37) Al: so who it exactly ends up being? Not sure. I’m not sure of the exact timeline. So this says it’s
(0:46:46) Al: after the Hobbit, but before the Lord of the Rings. So Gandalf is around, but…
(0:46:50) Codey: it’s it has to be I mean it can’t there so there’s only five Wizards so and
(0:46:58) Codey: Gandalf is the one that interacted the most with the hobbits so it’s it has to
(0:47:04) Codey: be Gandalf but
(0:47:07) Al: probably. But I wouldn’t pass them to do weird stuff, right? But I guess my point is there
(0:47:12) Codey: Yeah, cool, well, Andrew, yeah.
(0:47:16) Al: might be more visitors. So I could see that as being maybe something like, you know, maybe
(0:47:21) Al: you get some dwarfs arrive and some elves arrive at some point or something like that, they’re
(0:47:26) Codey: And they’re visiting Bilbo.
(0:47:27) Al: just passing through or something. Well, that’s an interesting thing. Will Bilbo be around?
(0:47:34) Al: as if it is after the hobbit, and before the Lord of the Rings healeth.
(0:47:36) Codey: Then he should.
(0:47:38) Codey: He’s there.
(0:47:38) Al: So are we going to meet him or not?
(0:47:40) Al: I don’t think we, there aren’t very many hobbits that we know of before the Lord of the Rings, right?
(0:47:46) Codey: There’s also, I mean, no, I mean, they talk about some of them that have done heroic like things, like something a long time, I think it was bull roar took a long time before had in the goblin wars had like kicked the goblin had goblin Kings head off and invented golf is what this the how the story goes.
(0:48:09) Codey: So like, they’ve not done nothing and they’ve not they’ve they’ve been there. And then from the
(0:48:14) Al: Yeah, that’s probably not someone that would be around at this time though, that’s the thing.
(0:48:17) Codey: No, no, no. And so
(0:48:19) Al: That’s why I’m wondering, are there any other Hobbits that we know of that could be around
(0:48:24) Codey: The Sackville Baggins is but no, I mean, none that like our Oh, we could we could meet like the parents of Frodo and them.
(0:48:32) Al: Yeah, because we don’t we don’t really know much about them, do we?
(0:48:37) Codey: Just that they died.
(0:48:37) Al: It’s been a long time since I’ve it’s a long time since I’ve read the books and I’ve not read any of the expanded books.
(0:48:45) Al: And I’ve obviously watched the films and the new series, the Rings of Pyro series.
(0:48:50) Al: But like my knowledge is very like confused because it’s so long since I’ve done a lot of this stuff.
(0:48:50) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:48:55) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:48:58) Codey: - Yeah, not sure.
(0:49:01) Al: Well, yeah, OK, we’ll see.
(0:49:01) Codey: - Looking forward to it though.
(0:49:02) Al: We’ll see what happens, but you’re right.
(0:49:05) Al: Interested to see if there’s more or not.
(0:49:10) Al: But I mean, it’s good that we’re actually
(0:49:11) Al: seeing some gameplay like, you know, we’ve seen basically nothing up to this point.
(0:49:16) Al: The trailer had just some cut scenes showing the area with the graphics and stuff.
(0:49:23) Al: So we’ll see.
(0:49:25) Al: We also have two new games that have been announced.
(0:49:27) Al: So one is Loo’s Lagoon, this is an open world adventure.
(0:49:32) Al: about running a seaplane delivery service, collect, harvest, fish, craft, and trade goods and they have a Kickstarter.
(0:49:45) Codey: And on the Kickstarter, it has a steam symbol with like a check mark and then all
(0:49:51) Codey: the consoles with question marks.
(0:49:53) Codey: So I’m wondering if they are, um, stretch goals.
(0:49:56) Al: stretch goals probably. Yeah, yeah. And this is Tiny Roar, the company. They have done
(0:50:05) Al: a bunch of games, including Into the Emberlands, which I think just released on early access.
(0:50:15) Al: And they are also doing Wonderful, which we talked about in the last episode, I think.
(0:50:24) Al: Oh wait, wonderland’s is…
(0:50:26) Al: No, ‘wonderful’ is different from ‘wonderland’. Sorry, ‘wonderful’ ‘wonderful’ ‘wonder’.
(0:50:33) Al: No, that is now into the Emberlands. They changed the name of it.
(0:50:37) Al: It’s confusing. Anyway, yeah, this isn’t their first game. They’ve done others. There we go.
(0:50:44) Al: We don’t know very much about this game.
(0:50:46) Codey: Nope, it’s got pink hair.
(0:50:48) Al: But they say they’ve been working on it for a while also. Cool.
(0:50:53) Al: Pink hair is so common in games nowadays.
(0:50:56) Al: The other game we’ve got new, which is Far Lands.
(0:51:01) Al: So this, the blurb for this one is congratulations, you’ve bought your own planet,
(0:51:04) Al: an agrarian rock at the edge of the galaxy that for some reason was practically being
(0:51:10) Al: given away for free. So the time has come to leave your hectic stressful life in an
(0:51:14) Al: overcrowded metropolis for a more rural and rewarding life. It’s stardew story.
(0:51:21) Codey: - Sure, yep.
(0:51:24) Al: This one is
(0:51:26) Al: 2D farming game, standard Stardew, Harvest Moon style thing.
(0:51:30) Codey: Yep.
(0:51:32) Al: It’s kind of pixel art, but it’s, it’s quite, it is pixel art.
(0:51:36) Al: It’s not kind of. It is pixel art, but it’s quite high definition pixel art.
(0:51:36) Codey: It’s pixel art.
(0:51:37) Codey: It looks– yeah.
(0:51:40) Al: Like you can make out the pixels, but it’s much less pixely than other pixel art.
(0:51:46) Codey: Yeah.
(0:51:47) Codey: I’m watching the developer play right now.
(0:51:49) Codey: And it’s– I mean, it’s giving Stardew.
(0:51:52) Codey: It sure looks like Stardew.
(0:51:54) Codey: Gosh, the way he just watered those plants was wild to me.
(0:51:57) Al: Yeah, what organization were you doing there?
(0:51:57) Codey: Um…
(0:52:02) Codey: » So how you’re supposed to water plans is from top down or from bottom up.
(0:52:08) Codey: He was going middle, bottom, top, middle, bottom, top.
(0:52:12) Codey: I was like, what the heck?
(0:52:12) Al: And also like the way he’s laid them out is like three, a line of three, and then a gap, and then a line of three, and then a gap, and I don’t mean like a three by three, I mean a three by one, right?
(0:52:16) Codey: I hate it.
(0:52:24) Codey: Yeah, yep.
(0:52:24) Al: It’s such a weird, like, what are you doing?
(0:52:28) Codey: Um, but yeah, it looks a lot like
(0:52:30) Codey: like stardew. Um, the one thing while I was sitting here watching him play a little
(0:52:35) Codey: bit that I thought was really cool is you use your spaceship to go between planets.
(0:52:41) Codey: Um, so I don’t know how big your planet is that he’s currently scything, uh, the rocks
(0:52:47) Codey: and getting the rocks and the herbs and stuff, uh, picking them up. But the, um, like maybe
(0:52:54) Codey: you go to the other planets to explore or, um, get resources that you’re
(0:53:01) Codey: that you cannot get on your own place. I don’t know, but looks interesting. Um, sure is the
(0:53:08) Codey: start of clone. So yeah, it’ll be on steam PC only. Uh, it’s releasing on July 24th this year.
(0:53:16) Al: Cool. Yes, and it doesn’t say Early Access, so sounds like it’s just a straight into full release,
(0:53:25) Al: which is rare. Okay, that’s all the news. Only took us an hour to get through all the news.
(0:53:26) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:53:34) Al: My word. Can we calm down with the news now, please? Because it’s the summer. There’s not
(0:53:39) Al: meant to be too much now. We’ve done like three weeks after Summer Game Fest. That was the time
(0:53:44) Al: time for you to give us all the news.
(0:53:46) Codey: Well, it was the direct was.
(0:53:48) Al: Yeah, Nintendo don’t help, do they?
(0:53:51) Codey: Yeah, no.
(0:53:52) Codey: So now that that’s done, I don’t know.
(0:53:57) Al: Yeah, cool. Right, so we’re going to talk about, we’re going to get our mid-year check-in,
(0:54:03) Al: is what I’m calling it. So we’re going to talk about what we’ve enjoyed so far this
(0:54:07) Al: year, if any of them have been games for this year. Anything out of those that might be
(0:54:14) Al: in contention for a game of the year, maybe, maybe no, we’ll see. And then what we’re still
(0:54:19) Al: looking forward to this year, which could be stuff that’s not out yet, or it could be
(0:54:23) Al: stuff that we just haven’t played yet because we’re bad at this.
(0:54:27) Al: So Cody, what’s your first thing that you’ve been enjoying this year?
(0:54:32) Codey: First thing that I played the absolute heck out of
(0:54:37) Codey: was Disney Dreamlight Valley.
(0:54:39) Al: A very 2024 game!
(0:54:42) Codey: So the first– it’s been in early access.
(0:54:44) Al: Yeah, I came out of Early Access last year.
(0:54:48) Codey: I’m trying to remember–
(0:54:49) Al: I’ll have you fine.
(0:54:50) Al: I’ll have you know.
(0:54:50) Codey: oh, last year.
(0:54:53) Codey: My bad.
(0:54:54) Codey: I’ve been playing it a lot this year, though,
(0:54:56) Codey: and they’ve had a lot of updates.
(0:54:58) Codey: that’s I think that was like a game.
(0:55:00) Codey: that I have enjoyed so far this year maybe not one that was necessarily
(0:55:05) Codey: released this year there have been a lot of updates that were released this year
(0:55:08) Codey: that I and I will continue to play it and continue to enjoy it
(0:55:12) Al: Nice. Are you at the point where you’re only playing with this new stuff because you’ve done most of it?
(0:55:15) Codey: yep yep I sure am
(0:55:17) Al: Cool. So the new update will come out and you’ll play it for three weeks and then you’ll put it down again. Fair enough.
(0:55:21) Codey: yep
(0:55:24) Codey: speaking of games that did not come out this year Al
(0:55:27) Al: Stardew 1.6 I think you’ll find did come out this year. Thank you very much.
(0:55:30) Codey: but stardew itself did not come out
(0:55:33) Al: But 1.6 did and it will be in contention for game of the year if we want it to be. I make the rules.
(0:55:39) Codey: oh my gosh
(0:55:43) Codey: is it in your is that something that you think is in contention for game of the
(0:55:47) Al: We’re not at that part yet.
(0:55:50) Al: I…
(0:55:52) Al: Oh, I guess we can. You didn’t say anything about Disney Dream Live LA, did you?
(0:55:53) Codey: Cuz you make the rules
(0:55:55) Codey: Well, you were pooping on it
(0:55:59) Al: I’m just mocking you because it’s like like we’re just we’re we’re just bad at playing new games is my point.
(0:56:00) Codey: You really are
(0:56:05) Codey: Yeah, um, I mean it I don’t think it would be game of the year
(0:56:13) Codey: Cool so no, what about stardew 1.6? Do you feel like that is something that?
(0:56:17) Al: It probably actually shouldn’t qualify should it maybe we need to have our best update
(0:56:22) Al: category
(0:56:23) Al: because
(0:56:25) Al: Like yeah, if we start doing any game that has an update can be game of the year. That’s a lot of games
(0:56:32) Al: like
(0:56:33) Al: I’ve typically done like
(0:56:35) Al: Any early access anything that comes out in early access or comes to 1.0 in the year can count
(0:56:42) Al: But yeah, feel like maybe the update version is a bit much
(0:56:47) Al: I’ve got six months to figure it out
(0:56:48) Codey: little bit. It’s also, it’s your house, your rules.
(0:56:49) Al: Uh
(0:56:52) Al: I uh, yeah, sure
(0:56:55) Al: um
(0:56:56) Al: Yeah, I don’t know. It’s interesting. I feel like
(0:56:59) Al: So this was the first time that I hit perfection in Stardew, right?
(0:57:03) Al: um
(0:57:04) Al: And a lot of that I think is to do with the quality of life improvements we got in the update
(0:57:09) Al: And I never really played 1.5.
(0:57:12) Al: I played a lot of 1.4 and 1.3 but I really didn’t play 1.5 so I was
(0:57:20) Al: playing all that content as well so that helped, you know, adds on a bunch of
(0:57:23) Al: extra stuff. No, no, so I’ve hit perfection but I don’t have a hundred
(0:57:28) Codey: Didn’t you not hit perfection though because you didn’t do
(0:57:33) Al: percent of the Steam achievements. But you can check on Steam, I have the
(0:57:36) Codey: Right. That doesn’t count.
(0:57:38) Al: perfection achievement but technically
(0:57:42) Al: perfection doesn’t include two things that the
(0:57:46) Al: steam achievements have and one of the steam achievements I don’t have is
(0:57:49) Al: the community center because of course I was running I was doing a Jojo run
(0:57:50) Codey: Yeah, that one.
(0:57:53) Al: but you can’t like that’s not how perfection works right like
(0:57:57) Al: perfection is complete everything that’s in your version of the game
(0:58:00) Codey: I don’t know why not.
(0:58:01) Al: right like it can’t be do Jojo and do not Jojo you can’t do both of those in the same save
(0:58:09) Codey: You can do that in Skyrim.
(0:58:12) Al: I have done the community center and multiple saves they’re just all on the
(0:58:15) Al: switch so at some point I’ll put up another save and do the community center it probably
(0:58:20) Al: wouldn’t actually take me that long to do it again because I’ve played the game so much now but
(0:58:26) Al: the other two achievements I had were to do with the the arcade games in the pub
(0:58:32) Codey: Right frontier, whatever you gotta, you gotta, you gotta do it without dying.
(0:58:36) Al: you got to complete it and then you well so there’s two achievements one is just finished
(0:58:42) Al: and one is finished without dying
(0:58:43) Codey: So you just finished without dying.
(0:58:45) Codey: And then that gives you both achievements.
(0:58:47) Al: oh yes easy
(0:58:49) Codey: Just do it.
(0:58:50) Al: just why not just do it yeah great idea I’ll just do it fun
(0:58:54) Codey: Yep.
(0:58:54) Codey: There you go.
(0:58:55) Codey: You’re welcome.
(0:58:57) Codey: Two, two achievements with one stone.
(0:58:58) Al: but thankfully thankfully that wasn’t required for perfection
(0:59:02) Al: because I guess Mr Chi obviously doesn’t think that arcade games are worth it I don’t know
(0:59:09) Al: Which is funny, because one of his, one of his, uh…
(0:59:12) Al: Things for getting walnuts, not walnuts, chi-chi gems on Ginger Island is to finish
(0:59:22) Al: Junimo Kart with 50,000 on endless mode.
(0:59:26) Al: So he’s like, he obviously does care about the games.
(0:59:30) Codey: Yeah
(0:59:30) Al: He just doesn’t care about your, uh, the other game.
(0:59:33) Codey: Junimo cards the one
(0:59:34) Al: Clearly.
(0:59:36) Al: Anyway, Stardew 1.6, I played so much of that game.
(0:59:40) Al: Like, what did I get?
(0:59:42) Al: 120 hours or something, this year.
(0:59:45) Al: So, yeah, I like Stardew, what can I say?
(0:59:48) Al: And he just keeps making it better.
(0:59:50) Codey: there you go my next one is window garden which did release this year um it’s maybe not
(0:59:51) Al: What’s your next one?
(1:00:00) Al: Was that this year that he came out? Really?
(1:00:02) Codey: did it not am I wrong okay um I did go through the the notion document and looked at what was
(1:00:03) Al: Mmm, you’re correct. No, no, you’re correct. I did.
(1:00:13) Codey: in the 2024 folder so um so yeah the window garden was
(1:00:15) Al: that’s why i’ve got it
(1:00:20) Al: oh that was you in bev that did that
(1:00:20) Codey: definitely something yes I think it’s a very fun game I don’t think it hits all of the right notes
(1:00:27) Codey: to become game of the year for us but it was very fun I did have to uninstall it because I was
(1:00:33) Codey: spending too much time on it um
(1:00:34) Al: How many games have you done that with this year?
(1:00:38) Al: Because it’s also the same with farm RPG.
(1:00:41) Codey: pretty much all of them honestly though i’d still have rusty’s retirement and I actually still have
(1:00:47) Codey: my desktop on my laptop configured so that I can play rusty’s retirement because I had to move my
(1:00:53) Codey: um my bar tool bar ui bar like to the side because it was in the way of the rusty of
(1:00:59) Codey: me playing rusty’s retirement so I moved it to the side and I made it vanish um and so everything is
(1:01:05) Codey: still set up to be able to play rusty’s retirement but um which I guess i’ll just say is another one
(1:01:11) Codey: ones that I have enjoyed this this year so far i
(1:01:15) Codey: got every I think I unlocked everything and I unlocked the second farm uh and then I have not
(1:01:21) Codey: played again since um I really just have not been on my laptop very much or if I am on my laptop
(1:01:27) Codey: because i’m not writing anymore if I am on my laptop i’m basically just entering into an excel
(1:01:32) Codey: spreadsheet like every few minutes um and other than that i’m looking down a microscope so
(1:01:40) Codey: I don’t.
(1:01:41) Codey: Really pay attention to my laptop when I’m doing specimens.
(1:01:45) Codey: So, um, don’t, I don’t have retirement, resties retirement.
(1:01:49) Codey: Yeah.
(1:01:49) Codey: So window, window garden and rusty’s retirement.
(1:01:52) Codey: I feel like rusty’s retirement could be like, I feel like Johnny and I might put
(1:01:57) Codey: it up for game of the year, but everyone else is going to do something big.
(1:02:02) Al: Cool. Nice.
(1:02:05) Al: And what’s my next one?
(1:02:08) Al: Starstruck Vagabond.
(1:02:09) Al: Yeah, I’ve been enjoying that.
(1:02:11) Al: I don’t think it will be game of the year for me, but I’ve been enjoying it.
(1:02:12) Codey: - Mm-hmm.
(1:02:13) Codey: - Mm-hmm.
(1:02:15) Al: Like, not that it’s a bad game and it’s not that it’s not a really good game.
(1:02:20) Al: It is a really good game.
(1:02:21) Al: There’s just I’m not sure why exactly.
(1:02:25) Al: And it might be easier to explain in the episode when I cover it.
(1:02:28) Al: But yeah, it’s no game of the year for me.
(1:02:32) Al: But it’s very good, and I’m very much enjoying it, but game of the year is like another level,
(1:02:38) Al: you know?
(1:02:39) Al: Not much I can say about that because I’ve not done the episode yet.
(1:02:40) Codey: Yeah.
(1:02:44) Al: Does it count as me playing it?
(1:02:45) Al: Yeah, it counts as me playing it, even if I’ve not done the episode of it yet.
(1:02:49) Codey: Sune, TM. My last one is also not a 2024 game. But yeah, it’s Coral Island. It’s another
(1:03:00) Al: Bye!
(1:03:05) Codey: game that I picked up this year for the first time and really sunk my teeth in and hit that
(1:03:12) Codey: wall of, oh, there’s nothing, nothing more to do with the things and no more. So.
(1:03:13) Al: Such a frustrating wall.
(1:03:20) Codey: I’ve kind of paused on playing, which is good because, you know, I’m waiting for 1.1. So yeah,
(1:03:26) Codey: that’s definitely could be up for game of the year.
(1:03:30) Al: Well, could it though? Because it’s not a 2024 game.
(1:03:33) Codey: And the 1.1 is
(1:03:35) Al: That’ll be in the update. The game of the update year. The game of the year update.
(1:03:41) Al: The update of the year. That’s what I’m looking for.
(1:03:42) Codey: there we go let’s do game of the year and update of the year we’re just gonna
(1:03:46) Codey: start having like we need like a composition music composition of the
(1:03:49) Al: Look, why not? Why not? We got… Well, why not? Why not? Where a whole… It’s a whole
(1:03:52) Codey: year yeah let’s do it
(1:03:57) Al: thing now.
(1:03:57) Codey: mobile game of the year yeah let’s do it so yeah coral island is my other other
(1:03:57) Al: Bye.
(1:04:04) Codey: game that I have been playing this year and it’s
(1:04:06) Al: And my final one, not that I haven’t been enjoying other games, but my final one of stuff that’s actually come out this year, which is what I tried to restrict it to,
(1:04:16) Al: is Coco Town, which again, I haven’t done the episode on yet, but I mean, it’s great fun just now.
(1:04:24) Al: I’m this is like why I feel like I’ve not
(1:04:30) Al: had my game of the year yet because I don’t think Google
(1:04:32) Al: Town is it either not because it isn’t like I think it’s I’ve had so much fun
(1:04:38) Al: playing this game and I’ll get into the details in an episode about it but it
(1:04:42) Codey: - Yeah.
(1:04:43) Al: definitely feels like an early access which it is but I don’t think 1.0 will come
(1:04:50) Al: out this year so I don’t think not that I would not that I would never give an
(1:04:56) Al: early access game of the year. I did try
(1:05:00) Al: one year, I think. But I would struggle to give it to one that feels incomplete,
(1:05:10) Al: which I know is the whole point of early access. But like, you know how sometimes you
(1:05:13) Al: feel this is like, I guess it’s kind of the main reason why we wouldn’t give, I mean,
(1:05:19) Al: obviously I was going to give it to Carlisle in last year, but if I wouldn’t it would be
(1:05:23) Al: for the reason that it feels incomplete, despite the fact that it shouldn’t be. It’s the same
(1:05:28) Al: Same thing here, it’s like everything that exists.
(1:05:30) Al: Resists in Goldwort Town is great, but it definitely feels like there’s a cliff that you hit, you know, so that would be my reason.
(1:05:36) Codey: Well, that was on my still-looking-forward-to list, but maybe I’ll wait for one point though.
(1:05:48) Al: Yeah, I don’t know, I feel like it’s… I definitely have not regretted playing this
(1:05:53) Al: game in Early Access. And I feel like it’s the sort of thing I could come in just now
(1:05:59) Al: and come in later and have just as much fun in both times. But yeah, it’s a good game.
(1:06:07) Al: Cool, so we’re going to talk about games that we’re most looking forward to for the rest
(1:06:12) Al: of the year. Obviously you said Go Go Town, so that’s your first one. I mean, for me it
(1:06:19) Al: because it just is so silly and so different that I think that’s why I’m most looking forward
(1:06:25) Al: to that one, because it’s just like, it’s yeah, it’s so, so silly. I don’t know what
(1:06:32) Al: else to say, right? Like it’s not just doing farming but this, it’s doing crazy all over
(1:06:32) Codey: The way the
(1:06:40) Codey: The way that they run reminds me of Fall Guys and I know you love that game.
(1:06:41) Al: the place, you know? Yeah, yeah.
(1:06:48) Codey: One that I’m looking forward to is Kama Eru Frog Refuge.
(1:06:49) Al: Yeah, that’s a good comparison.
(1:06:54) Codey: It’s very Usagi-shima, Neku Atsume, like those kinds of games, so I’m excited about that.
(1:07:04) Codey: I’m excited to see how they do it a little bit differently because I know you can revise it.
(1:07:10) Codey: The whole wetland and stuff.
(1:07:13) Al: nice. I think there’s the breeding in this one as well, I think, which you don’t get
(1:07:14) Codey: Yes, there’s also breeding.
(1:07:17) Al: in Usagi Shima, which is cool. My next one would be Mika and the Witches Mountain, which
(1:07:20) Codey: Mm-hmm, correct.
(1:07:24) Al: I feel like I’ve been waiting for years for. Not in a bad way. It’s just like, oh, the
(1:07:31) Al: anticipation. Depending on how well it actually plays could be Game of the Year for me. We’ll
(1:07:41) Al: see.
(1:07:43) Al: It’s promising.
(1:07:47) Codey: I’m trying to go through my ones that have not released before I get to my updates.
(1:07:56) Codey: I mean, Tales of the Shire definitely is something, if it ends up coming out this year, is something
(1:08:01) Codey: that I’m looking forward to.
(1:08:04) Codey: Depending on how they hit it, that could be a game of the year in my mind.
(1:08:08) Codey: I know a lot of these other ones that I’m interested in would likely not be game of
(1:08:12) Codey: the year or might not be eligible for game of the year, possibly.
(1:08:18) Codey: Or maybe not enough people are going to play them on the pod to crown them the winner,
(1:08:23) Codey: but Tales of the Shire has the potential.
(1:08:24) Al: Yeah, yeah, it depends. If we got Johnny on the episode. Yeah, I’ve got this on my list
(1:08:32) Codey: Make it Yumi and Johnny.
(1:08:36) Codey: Or just like have–
(1:08:39) Al: as a question mark, because it’s like, as I said earlier, I’m just, I’m just, I’m unsure,
(1:08:48) Codey: Yeah, yep
(1:08:49) Al: know, like it’s just I’m, I’m just up and down a lot. It’s not
(1:08:54) Al: excited about it. It’s that I’m sometimes excited about it
(1:08:57) Al: and sometimes I’m a little bit unsure. So, well, we’ll see
(1:09:02) Al: where it, we’ll see where it goes but I’m definitely gonna
(1:09:05) Al: play it and yeah, if it is good, it’s definitely got a good
(1:09:09) Al: chance of getting there but that’s a big if.
(1:09:14) Codey: Um, yeah, we’ll see.
(1:09:16) Codey: Uh, my last one that is completely unreleased so far is of like, well,
(1:09:21) Codey: uh, sorry, not unreleased.
(1:09:23) Codey: Uh, it is a new game to this year, uh, is of life and land.
(1:09:27) Codey: Actually Kamaeru and of life and land are both released right now.
(1:09:31) Codey: Um, so I could just play those.
(1:09:34) Codey: Um, but of life and land is the one that, um, another one that I really
(1:09:38) Codey: liked the look of, uh, as we’ve covered it.
(1:09:41) Codey: And so I’m interested in giving.
(1:09:44) Codey: And yeah, maybe that’ll be what I play on Xbox, we’ll see, but not entirely sure at this point.
(1:09:52) Al: Onto updates, I have CarlIsland 1.1 on mine.
(1:09:58) Al: Obviously, it’s one of my favorite games and hopefully this will make it actually a complete game.
(1:10:04) Codey: - Yep.
(1:10:05) Al: 1.1 should be, they should call it the 1.0 update.
(1:10:12) Al: Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, definitely, depending on how things go, I don’t know.
(1:10:19) Al: I feel like if we are doing update of the year
(1:10:22) Al: I don’t think Carl Island could do enough in that one update to give us it because the problem is that obviously Carl Island 1.1 will be an update that will have had less than a year since the game release.
(1:10:36) Al: You know, Stardew 1.6, two years after the previous update, you know, it’s like so much in it that it’s going to be hard to be here.
(1:10:44) Codey: Coral Island just make sure that my partner and/or my dog can go outside and you’ve got it.
(1:10:52) Codey: Stop making them. They’re not my prisoners. That was also on my list.
(1:11:00) Codey: Another update that I’m really looking forward to, two games that I have two games left,
(1:11:04) Codey: two updates, and they’re both games that I’ve played already. First is Lens Island. This is
(1:11:10) Codey: a game that I played a long time ago and it has come such a long way.
(1:11:15) Codey: And I’m very excited for the full 1.0 release.
(1:11:19) Codey: Um, and, and wanting to see, you know, the, maybe even the
(1:11:25) Codey: multiplayer abilities of it and stuff, but just seeing where it’s come from.
(1:11:28) Codey: Since when I played it, when it was just kind of a small little, it had
(1:11:32) Codey: its certain camera angle and limited everything, I could see where things
(1:11:38) Codey: were going to be, uh, added, but they just were not added at that point.
(1:11:42) Codey: So very excited with all.
(1:11:44) Al: Yeah, nice. And then I have two 1.0s, Chiltown, because I feel like that, based on how long
(1:11:55) Al: I’ve waited already for that, I’m just going to wait for 1.0 and I’m interested in that
(1:12:00) Al: game. Obviously, the update today confused me a little bit, and I’m not sure how I feel
(1:12:05) Al: about it, but the game in general I still think is pretty cool looking. I’ll probably
(1:12:08) Codey: Yule auto fish 100%
(1:12:12) Al: I’m all too fish, I don’t think I’m all too farming.
(1:12:14) Al: That’ll just annoy me more than anything.
(1:12:16) Al: And Snacko, which is scheduled to probably have its 1.0 this year,
(1:12:21) Al: but I don’t know, we’ll see, maybe it’ll be next year.
(1:12:23) Al: But that could be very much in contention for Game of the Year as well.
(1:12:30) Al: And I’ve definitely left it long enough
(1:12:32) Al: that I will just be waiting for 1.0 with Snacko.
(1:12:35) Al: Like, it’s like I’m obviously not going to play it until August.
(1:12:39) Al: And then at that point, you know, it’s probably only a few months.
(1:12:42) Codey: Yeah, yeah, uh, they really are.
(1:12:43) Al: they are zooming through the update.
(1:12:47) Codey: They’re getting there.
(1:12:49) Codey: Uh, my last one was research story.
(1:12:50) Codey: That was the other game that I’ve played before, but while it was in early access.
(1:12:55) Codey: And again, I’m really excited to see all the things that they’ve changed.
(1:12:58) Al: you play any of their updates or did you just play the first version?
(1:12:58) Codey: Um, no, I’ve just played the first version of both one’s Island and research story.
(1:13:04) Al: You stopped after the the the episode for Research Story. Cool. Cool. That’ll be nice,
(1:13:05) Codey: Um, yep.
(1:13:10) Al: you’ve got a lot to to get into. I think that’s the bit, unless you’re like this is the only game
(1:13:15) Al: I play, I feel like people need to like get in on Early Access, play for it for a while and then
(1:13:20) Al: just like dip out and I feel like people should probably do that for Disney Dream Land Valley as
(1:13:24) Al: as well. It’s like the updates are not huge.
(1:13:28) Al: Unless you like going back to a game regularly, then I feel like yeah play it in early access
(1:13:33) Al: and then come back two years later when it comes out of early access and it’s like a
(1:13:37) Codey: Yeah, and I think I like it that way because you play it early access and then I know that I know I enjoy it
(1:13:42) Codey: I know I’m interested
(1:13:43) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(1:13:45) Codey: So it’s just then taking the extra step to just revisit it
(1:13:50) Codey: Which is good, I mean there’s definitely games that I’ve played in early access and I’ve been like I get it
(1:13:55) Codey: I’m never touching this again
(1:13:57) Codey: so it’s a
(1:13:59) Codey: You know a good mark in the good column for both lens island and research story and coral island that I’ve played them and I’m
(1:14:06) Codey: gonna replay them
(1:14:08) Codey: during the updates. Cool.
(1:14:08) Al: Nice cool. Well, that’s that’s everything on our lists. So that I mean that’s a lot of stuff
(1:14:16) Codey: There was a lot of information. Yup.
(1:14:20) Al: Links I’ll maybe add links to everything we talked about. I don’t know. We’ll see how I feel
(1:14:24) Al: I’ll at least list them
(1:14:26) Al: I’ll list them in the show notes at the very least whether I’ll actually link to all of the steam pages or not was
(1:14:31) Al: We’ll see how I feel how lazy I am on Tuesday night
(1:14:33) Codey: - Yeah.
(1:14:35) Codey: - Totally fine.
(1:14:36) Al: Cody where can people find you on the internet?
(1:14:40) Codey: You can find me on Instagram @hikingbeagle, beagle,
(1:14:44) Codey: and you can also find me on the Slack.
(1:14:46) Al: Nice. You can find me on mastodon.scot and on Twitter at thescotbot. Not that I
(1:14:55) Al: do much on there, on either of them. I’m there. I’m there. I retweet some things.
(1:14:58) Codey: Yeah, that’s why I stopped mentioning the other things that I was on because I’m
(1:15:02) Codey: just like, I’m never on those.
(1:15:05) Al: That’s about it. You can find the podcast on Tumblr and on Twitter at THSPod. We
(1:15:12) Al: We definitely post stuff there every week.
(1:15:16) Al: At least once a week post the podcast. I mean, you can also like, that’s where you can send
(1:15:22) Al: feedback as well, but you can also send feedback from our website, harvestseason.club. We have a
(1:15:27) Al: feedback form there. And also links to everything on the podcast, including a link to our Patreon
(1:15:32) Al: at patreon.com/thspod, where you can support the podcast and get access to our Slack, where we talk
(1:15:39) Al: about nonsense, and also get access to our extra bonus episodes of the podcast.
(1:15:46) Al: The most recent one of which was the Wholesome Direct. We talked about the Wholesome Direct.
(1:15:54) Al: The one before that was me and Rona talking about the Stardew Concert.
(1:15:57) Codey: That was lovely.
(1:15:58) Codey: I love Rona.
(1:16:00) Al: It was great, wasn’t it? I loved recording it. I think it was so fun.
(1:16:01) Codey: All listeners, all listeners were like, okay, we’re ready to kidnap Rona.
(1:16:07) Al: In fact, that one I made public, that episode, the Stardew Concert one. So you can go listen
(1:16:13) Al: to it if you’re not a patron.
(1:16:16) Al: And we should have one coming out this weekend with me and Cody talking about the Nintendo
(1:16:21) Al: Direct and the games that are in it that we haven’t talked about on the podcast. There’s
(1:16:26) Al: quite a few that I’m excited about. So we’ve got that as well. So I think that’s everything. Thank
(1:16:32) Al: you, Cody, for joining me. Thank you listeners for listening. And until next time, have a good harvest.
(1:16:34) Codey: Thank you for having me.
(1:16:39) Codey: Have a good harvest!
(1:16:39) Theme Tune: The harvest season is created by Al McKinley, with support from our patrons, including our
(1:16:50) Theme Tune: pro farmers, Kevin, Stuart and Alisa.
(1:16:54) Theme Tune: Our art is done by Micah the Brave, and our music is done by Nick Burgess.
(1:16:58) Theme Tune: Feel free to visit our website, harvestseason.club, for show notes and links to things we discussed
(1:17:04) Theme Tune: in this episode.
(1:17:22) Al: OK, that’s enough because I am desperate for the toilet.