Episode #103: Voluntary Isekai

AVoCADo GamesCast

Featuring:
Merve
ThoughtsThoughtsThoughts
Wolfman Jew
The Kappa

Editor:
The Kappa

Timestamps:
0:15 – Introduction
5:40 – Might & Magic Heroes VII and the State of Ubisoft
20:35 – Baldur’s Gate 3
38:35 – Borderlands
54:15 – Dungeons of Hinterberg
1:05:10 – “7/10” Games: Intro
1:07:20 – “7/10” Games: Resident Evil: Revelations
1:11:55 – “7/10” Games: Ace Combat
1:21:45 – “7/10” Games: Kingdom Hearts
1:43:45 – “7/10” Games: Strange Brigade
1:51:15 – “7/10” Games: Rapid-Fire Round
2:08:00 – “7/10” Games: Community Choices
2:23:10 – Superhero Games
2:29:55 – Bethesda, Microsoft, and the State of the Industry
2:49:55 – Conclusion

Download Link: https://archive.org/details/avocadogamescast_ep103

Podcast header image from Dungeons of Hinterberg. Spoiler warning: Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix; Baldur’s Gate 3; Resident Evil: Revelations; the Kingdom Hearts series; Scarlet Nexus. Linkdump and timestamps for spoilers after the jump.

Introduction (0:15)

• Aaron Sorkin’s bizarre fantasy editorial about replacing Joe Biden with Mitt Romney as the Democratic presidential candidate that became completely moot the very day it was published. (Source: The New York Times)
• An editorial on Roger Ebert’s pronouncements on video games. (Source: Polygon)

Might & Magic Heroes VII and the State of Ubisoft (5:40)

MAJOR SPOILERS: Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

• Wikipedia article on Might & Magic Heroes VII.
• Wikipedia article on Ubisoft’s crossover series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.
• Wikipedia article on XDefiant.
• Wikipedia article on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s media company HitRecord.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (20:35)

MINOR SPOILERS: Baldur’s Gate 3

• Wikipedia article on Baldur’s Gate 3.
• The interview with Kevin Bacon where he reveals that he once disguised himself as a regular person. (Source: Vanity Fair)

Borderlands (38:35)

• Wikipedia article on Dark Souls.
• Steam store page for Balatro.
• Steam store page for Celeste.
• Steam store page for Borderlands.
• Correction: The font used on the Borderlands box art is likely some variant of Compacta, not Comic Sans. (Source: FontBolt)
• Wolfman Jew’s article on Borderlands. (Source: Source Gaming)
• Wikipedia article on Candy Crush Saga.
• Wikipedia article on Genshin Impact.
• Wikipedia article on Destiny 2.
• Wikipedia article on Deep Rock Galactic.

Dungeons of Hinterberg (54:15)

• Wikipedia article on Dungeons of Hinterberg.
• Correction: The technique used to create texture and shading in Dungeons of Hinterberg is not cross-hatching, but Ben Day dots. (Source: Wikipedia)
• Wikipedia article on the Persona series.
• Wikipedia article on Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
• Wikipedia article on Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale.

“7/10” Games: Intro (1:05:10)

• Wikipedia article on Super Mario Sunshine.

“7/10” Games: Resident Evil: Revelations (1:07:20)

MAJOR SPOILERS: Resident Evil: Revelations

• Wikipedia article on Resident Evil: Revelations.
• The single-legged wetsuit outfit of Resident Evil: Revelations character Jessica Sherawat. (Source: Resident Evil Wiki on Fandom)

“7/10” Games: Ace Combat (1:11:55)

• Wikipedia article on the Ace Combat series.
• Clarification: “Itasha” is a Japanese term referring to painting figures from otaku media on cars. (Source: Wikipedia)
• An example of an anime character painted on a plane. (Source: Reddit)
• A screenshot of Rosa Cossette D’Elise from Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. (Source: Gaming Bolt)

“7/10” Games: Kingdom Hearts (1:21:45)

MAJOR SPOILERS: The Kingdom Hearts series

• Wikipedia article section on Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories.
• Wikipedia article on the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Coded.
• Correction: Anthony John Agnello’s piece on Kingdom Hearts for The Escapist compared it to outsider art, not fanfiction. (Source: The Escapist)
• Wikipedia article on Kingdom Hearts III.
• Wikipedia article on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

“7/10” Games: Strange Brigade (1:43:45)

• Wikipedia article on Strange Brigade.
• Correction and confirmation: Strange Brigade does not have any story or lore connections to the Sniper Elite series, but it does use the same engine. (Source: Source Gaming)
• Steam store page for Zombie Army Trilogy.
• Steam store page for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

“7/10” Games: Rapid-Fire Round (1:51:15)

MAJOR SPOILERS: Scarlet Nexus

• Steam store page for Starfield.
• Wikipedia article on Alpha Protocol.
• Wikipedia article on the Batman: Arkham series.
• Confirmation: The average of the scores Merve cited is 6.75, which is indeed in the 7-ish range. (Source: Google)
• Wikipedia article on Brütal Legend.
• Wikipedia article on Psychonauts.
• Wikipedia article on the Darksiders series.
• Wikipedia article on the Dynasty Warriors series.
• Wikipedia article on Fallout Tactics.
• Wikipedia article on Ryse: Son of Rome.
• Wikipedia article on WarioWare: Get It Together!
• Wikipedia article on Scarlet Nexus. The game sold 1 million units as of April 2022, and including Game Pass players, had around 2 million players total.
• Wikipedia article on the Tales series.

“7/10” Games: Community Choices (2:08:00)

• Wikipedia article on Pathfinder: Kingmaker.
• Wikipedia article on Pillars of Eternity.
• Wikipedia article on Chained Echoes.
• Wikipedia article on Tales of Legendia.
• Wikipedia article on Far Cry 2.
• Wikipedia article on Saints Row 2.
• Wikipedia article on Just Cause 2.
• Wikipedia article on Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age.
• Dragon Quest Wiki article on the slime. (Source: Fandom)
• Wikipedia article on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
• Wikipedia article on Spy Fox 3: “Operation Ozone”.
• Wikipedia article on Lord of Arcana.
• Wikipedia article on American McGee’s Alice.
• Wikipedia article on Virtua Quest.
• Wikipedia article on the Mega Man Legends series.
• Wikipedia article on Tokyo RPG Factory.
• Gameological commenters on I Am Setsuna and Chrono Trigger. (Source: The A.V. Club)
• Wikipedia article on the X-Men Origins: Wolverine video game.

Superhero Games (2:23:10)

• Report on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s troubled development. (Source: Bloomberg UK through archive.is)
• Wikipedia article on City of Heroes.
• Clarification: A rogue, player-hosted City of Heroes server existed for many years, but in January of this year, it was given NCsoft’s official blessing. (Source: Massively Overpowered)

Bethesda, Microsoft, and the State of the Industry (2:29:55)

• Report on the new wall-to-wall union at Bethesda. (Source: IGN)
• Report on Microsoft underspending on Xbox marketing in Europe. (Source: Windows Central)
• An analysis of Sarah Bond’s interview with Bloomberg. (Source: Seasoned Gaming)
• Report on Matt Booty’s comments on leadership at Tango Gameworks. (Source: VGC)

Conclusion (2:49:55)

• An archive of Avocado politics threads.