4Player Podcast

With new hardware just a few weeks away, Sony has finally pulled back the curtain on it's new Playstation 5 UX (User Experience). We extract what we can from the virtual tour but there are still many questions left unanswered. In impressions, Brad talks about his time with 'Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time' and Ed introduces 'Wildfire,' a game that harkens back to 'Mark of the Ninja.' Nick also discusses his new found love of 'Mortal Shell,' the latest (and perhaps truest) love-letter to the original Dark Souls on the market.

We never would have guessed that EA would manage to crank out not one, but TWO impressive Star Wars games in a row. Krispy returns to the fold this week to talk about 'Star Wars Squadrons' and how it has managed to surprise and delight against the odds. The group also dives even deeper into 'Hades', Nick highlights 'Lost in Vivo' courtesy of Carlos' recommendation, and Chris Davis revisits '13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim' now that he has sunk a considerable amount of time into it. In the 2nd segment, it's been a slow news week so we use that extra air time to catch up on supporter questions.

October has arrived but before we dive into a slew of horror games, we take a closer look at 3 recent releases spanning 3 very different genres. Brad gives us his initial impressions of a visual novel and the latest game from Vanillaware, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Nolan finally has his hands on Spelunky 2 and Nick played through Mafia: Definitive Edition, a ground-up remake of the original. We discuss the sudden announcement of Luna, Amazon's new Stadia competitor and we have some fun trying to decide which fictional post-apocalypse we would prefer to be stuck in.

Nearly 20 years later, Super Mario Sunshine has returned as part of the Super Mario 3D All Stars Collection to remind us that the famous plumber has a dark side. Luckily, Ed joins us this week to ensure us that Super Mario Galaxy is still a delight and to gush over Hades, the latest game from Supergiant, with Brad. But despite all that, Brad assures the group that the best platformer on the market right now is the remake of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2. Oh... and Microsoft bought Zenimax for $7.5 Billion! We hash out what that means for the industry and for big franchises like Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

With only two months remaining until the launch of next-gen hardware, we take a deep dive into the launch strategies and lineups for both Microsoft and Sony. Of course, with that comes the unexpected chaos that unfolded around the pre-orders of the Playstation 5. We each bring a game to the table this week as well including our first look at Among Us, Spellbreak, and Terminator: Resistance. Nick chimes in on Paper Mario: The Origami King and Brad brings an indie gem called There is No Game: Wrong Dimension.

With Y2K Month at an end, we finally have a chance to talk about some of the big games and announcements that took place in August. Nolan gives us the rundown on Fall Guys, Brad pimps Wasteland 3, and we take a closer look at an exciting indie title called Undermine! In the news, we share our thoughts on the Suicide Squad and Gotham Knights news plus the big announcements from Nintendo on Mario's 35th anniversary!

It may be the end of Y2K Month but we still have a ton of nostalgia lined up. In our final episode of the month devoted to the games of the year 2000, we all find something to be excited about. Between the five of us, we revisit The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Parasite Eve 2, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Dino Crisis 2, and more! Brad even found a new passion for Valkyrie Profile and a new found appreciation for The Legend of Dragoon!

With very little in the way of new releases to focus on in August, we have turned our eyes to the games that came out in the year 2000! All month long, we are playing and discussing nothing but games celebrating their 20th anniversary in the year of our lord, 2020. On this episode, we gush over Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, the original Deus Ex, and Perfect Dark! Brad hate-plays Shenmue and visits a classic entry in the Tales series, Tales of Eternia! There's also a healthy dose of Paper Mario in there for good measure.

After weeks of intense discourse and controversy surrounding the release of 'The Last of Us: Part II,' the time has finally come for us to dive deep into spoiler-territory. We dedicated this entire episode to dissecting the biggest game of the year. There is a ton to discuss and we do our best to cover it all. We bridge the gap between both games and deliver our personal insights into the themes, characters, and events that make this game so impactful.

It is rare that all 5 of us both play and enjoy a game on this podcast but that is exactly what happened with Ghost of Tsushima. The discussion that ensues is chaotic and unpredictable, but enthusiastic! Nolan and Brad are a bit torn however after their first few hours with Paper Mario: The Origami King. In the 2nd segment, we deliver our reactions to the big Xbox Games Showcase which included the first reveal of Halo Infinite gameplay and the return of Fable!

On this episode, Nick is joined by three lovely 4Player community members, Skud, Steve, and ChaiThai, to discuss our time spent playing 'Sleeping Dogs!' Released in 2012 by Square-Enix and United Front Games, the project weathered a troubled development cycle and still managed to delivery a memorable open-world action experience at a time when Rockstar dominated with Grand Theft Auto. It draws inspiration from Hong Kong action cinema to tell a story of an undercover police officer who is trying to infiltrate the criminal underbelly of Hong Kong.

There is a lot to love on the PC this year and in this episode we dive into 3 of them! Chris Davis played through Gears Tactics and praises it for it's approach even if it is not the most complex tactics game. Brad is loving his time with Supraland Crash, the big story expansion to the first game, and Nick is addicted to the punishing (but brilliant) Desperados 3. In the news, we talk about our hopes for the future of Fable and Perfect Dark; this amounts to: "everything should just be Breath of the Wild!"

One of the biggest releases of the year is finally upon us! The highly anticipated 'The Last of Us: Part 2' is out in the wild and more than half of the group this week has already plowed through the game's surprisingly beefy campaign! Have no fear though, our discussion this week avoids spoilers by focusing almost exclusively on mechanics and design! (Expect an actual spoilercast in the coming weeks) In the 2nd segment, we discuss some rather disappointing news involving an industry veteran and some telling new domain names that shine a light on what is coming from Rocksteady and WB Montreal!

It's been a few weeks since our last "regular" show so we have a lot of ground to cover! Chris and Nick crack open the newly released 'Desperados III' and Nick finally started up 'The Walking Dead: Saint's and Sinners' in VR! Thanks to the wave of faux-E3 demos flooding the market, we do our best to highlight a few standout titles like 'Gloomwood' and 'In Sound Mind'. There's also an awfully disturbing hypothetical involving Mayonnaise that you won't want to miss.

Joining me on this episode of the Revival Club podcast is 4Player Alumni, David Liao, and community guest, KentonFTW! We took a deep dive into Okami to talk about its legacy, its influences, and even it's potential future as a franchise. There was a LOT to unpack with this game but the discussions in Discord over the past month made it easy to ensure we covered all of the bases.

We return to the fold this week with a special episode featuring 3 distinct segments! First up, Sony finally revealed the Playstation 5 along with a lineup of new games so we run down the list and give our thoughts. In the 2nd segment, David joins the group to have a SPOILER-FILLED discussion about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake - What happened and what does it all mean?! Finally, we wrap up the show with our SPOILER-FILLED look at Half Life: Alyx which, to everyone's surprise, finally addressed the decade long cliffhanger of Half Life 2! As mentioned at the start of the show, we encourage everyone to take advantage of the awesome Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality which supports a very important cause AND scores you upwards of 1600 games for as little as $5! Bundle expires on June 15th!

Chris Davis's beloved Shark game, Maneater, is finally here! While some of us try to avoid shark puns, others aim to do the exact opposite. Brad successfully peddles Monster Train like it's a drug and Nolan vents his frustrations with trying to learn the flow of Civilization 6. Brad and Krispy also talk about their recent foray into Deep Rock Galactic with the community and Krispy shares his new found love of Final Fantasy XIV (a game that Brad then accuses him of peddling like a drug).

Thanks to the announcement of the surprise remake, Nick dives head-first into the Mafia trilogy starting with the new "Definitive Edition" of Mafia 2. Additionally, Brad and Nolan soared through the skies in the demo for Iron Man VR and Brad tried out an exciting (and educational) mode in Assassin's Creed Origins. In the news, we discuss the rumors swirling about the return of Silent Hill.

What a week for video games! We delve into all the surprises from this week including the 18-minute gameplay demonstration of Ghost of Tsushima, the reveal of Unreal Engine 5, and the stealth announcement of Paper Mario: The Origami King! Nolan delivers his early impressions of The Wonderful 101 remaster, Nick shares his thoughts on Pathologic 2 and VR horror "gemmy," Lies Beneath, and Ed brings Iron Danger to the table.

Community extraordinaire, ChaiThai joins the fray in the first segment this week to talk about Streets of Rage 4; a game that has made a big splash in the past week. Nick went back and played some Assassin's Creed Syndicate DLC and we revisit some of the usual suspects including Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Animal Crossing, and XCOM Chimera Squad. In the 2nd segment though, the group reacts to the hyped Inside XBOX event which was supposed to give us our first glimpse of next generation gameplay.

The group cracks open XCOM: Chimera Squad, a game that manages to be both affordable and a worthy follow-up to XCOM 2. Brad loses himself while talking about a big 2020 "gemmy" called Horizon's Gate and Nick revisits Dusk with pleasing results. In the news, Ubisoft finally unveiled Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and Sony announced the new release schedule for The Last of Us 2 AND Ghost of Tsushima.

Courtesy of Nolan (what are friends for?), Brad finally got his hands on a PC VR headset so we finally get a chance to hear his impressions of Half Life: Alyx! We dive a little deeper into the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and discuss Elijah Wood's current abuse of power in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Patron questions are answered and our supporter spotlight shines a light on the popularity of the Football Manager series.

After years of hype and anticipation (and perhaps some healthy skepticism), the Final Fantasy VII Remake (Part 1) is in our hands! The group gives their initial impressions which are leaning in a surprising direction! Nick finally played The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, Brad got weird in Distaster Report 4, and Nolan seems like he's quite taken by Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Also, the return of the Supporter Spotlight!

Despite Nick's best efforts to lead the group this week, he fails in spectacular fashion because David has returned to talk about the release of Resident Evil 3 and the future of the franchise! From there, Sony's new DualSense PS5 controller reveal is discussed, Resident Evil 8 rumors are abound, and a bevy of questions from our supporters are answered! Oh and let's not forget the countless number of tangents.

Ed joins us this week from the walls of his own self-isolation to talk about Lightmatters and the other games that have kept him busy since we last spoke. Brad regales us with talk of Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord. Nolan has moved on from Peaches to Eggs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and we share our continued impressions of Half Life Alyx now that several of us have finished the game. The news is dominated by exciting rumors of a new Super Mario All Stars collection AND the unfortunate delay of The Last of Us: Part 2.

The world may be in turmoil right now but at least there are plenty of exciting games to keep us preoccupied. The group has been ripping and tearing through DOOM Eternal which has proven to be both fun and somewhat overwhelming. Nolan has discovered his hatred of peaches thanks to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Krispy gives us a detailed breakdown of what makes Call of Duty: Warzone one of the best Battle Royale's on the market. And of course, it's been YEARS but Half Life: Alyx has finally brought the dormant franchise back to life... and it's amazing.

With the Coronavirus taking a toll on the world at large, we have taken the precautionary steps of switching to remote recordings for the foreseeable future. We won't let it keep us down though! We have plenty to talk about thanks to Ori and the Will of the Wisps , the recent release of Nioh 2, the Trials of Mana demo, and the reveal of the PS5 technical specs! It may take a few weeks to get the audio right where we want it but if you have any feedback about the live stream or the quality of the audio, please let us know. Stay safe out there folks!

The world is living in fear thanks to the Corona Virus which makes video games seem really damn unimportant. BUT we're going to talk about them anyways! The demo for Final Fantasy 7 Remake doesn't do a lot convince us of it's impending success but Ori and the Will of the Wisps wears it's Hollow Knight inspiration on it's sleeve and that's fine by us! Nick pleads with you to finish Telltale's The Walking Dead, Nolan played Legend of Bumbo, and Brad tried Murder by Numbers! Oh yeah... and E3 is f***ing cancelled!

The Baldur's Gate 3 hype train has officially left the station. We analyze the promising new gameplay footage from PAX East and spend a bizarre amount of time "arguing" about whether Nick actually likes "high-fantasy." Platinum unveiled two more announcements and cause varying degrees of excitement. We also answer patreon questions and rattle off a bunch of quick impressions including A World of Horror, Overwatch, and Kentucky Route Zero!

Dreams is finally out in the wild; Sony and Media Molecule's ambitious follow-up to Little Big Planet faces challenges ahead but they are overshadowed by vast potential. Brad and Krispy tackle this beast and do their best to cover all the bases. Nick discusses his very early impressions of the massive VR RPG, Asgard's Wrath and gives his final thoughts on Journey to the Savage Planet. Per usual, supporter questions leads down to some... interesting places.

What a week! It's Nolan's birthday for starters but he also comes bearing impressions of Final Fantasy 7 which he is replaying in preparation for the upcoming remake. Nick is still swooning over Stormland in VR and Brad is getting swole thanks to Nintendo's Ring Fit Adventure. While most of the news is bad this week, Platinum saves the day thanks to it's wildly successful kickstarter of The Wonderful 101 port!

For the past few months, the 4Player Revival Club has been plugging away at the beloved Capcom RPG, Dragon's Dogma. Released back in 2012, this game has built quite the devoted following in the years since it's release. On this episode, Nick is joined by Nolan and community guest TheGreenGoddamn, to discuss the game and respond to comments/questions from the community. In February/March 2020, the club will be playing Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: Sith Lords; To participate, please visit us at Patreon.com/4Player.

Behold! The first normal show of the new decade and we bring in the year in as if we completely forgot how to podcast! We may not have any idea what we are doing but we do have a lot of video games to talk about. Nick talks about the opening hours of Journey to the Savage Planet and gushes over his time with Stormland on the Oculus Rift. Krispy gives an impressive overview of Manifold Garden and Nolan shares his thoughts now that he FINALLY played through Half Life 2!

It's time to put a nice bow on both 2019 and the 2010s! In part 2 of our 2019 Awards Show, we cover 6 more categories dedicated to the last year in gaming and then 6 awards dedicated to the last decade as a whole. In this episode, we cover the following categories: Best Video Game Moment Best Narrative Best New Character Biggest Regret The Asterisk Award Number 11 Best Narrative of the Decade Favorite Character of the Decade Most Underrated of the Decade Best Hidden Gem of the Decade Honorable Mentions of the Decade Best Game of the Decade

Awards season officially begins here at 4Player. This week, we kick off our annual awards show by discussing our personal choices in 12 exciting categories such as best world design, best new gameplay experience, best debut, and more! Stay tuned for Part 2 where the 2nd segment will be devoted to our Games of the Decade awards and discussion! This week's awards: Best World / Level Design Best New Gameplay Experience Best New Enemy/Boss Best Multiplayer/Co-op Experience Best Comfort Food Most Out of Comfort Zone Best Debut Best Game Nobody Played Best Looking Biggest Surprise Biggest Disappointment Best Character Relationship

We're back for our first old-fashioned podcast of the new decade and we kick off the show with a surprise return to talk about Control! Nick is deep into The Long Dark, Krispy was inspired to jump into Resident Evil 2 Remake following our recent Project M, and Chris Davis is ready to die on the hill for Black Mesa! Brad, inspired by praise on ResetEra, tried SaGa: Scarlet Grace; an inspired but strange new JRPG that hit in late 2019. Also, (really good) inappropriate jokes are made and we're so sorry...

Another new year. Another mass of new games to sort through! In our very first episode of the new decade, we run through a comprehensive (and community-built) list of games scheduled or expected to release in 2020! This includes everything from the hypest AAA productions like Cyberpunk 2077 to smaller creative ideas like 12 Minutes! We cover almost 150 games so get ready to take some notes!

We return for our first show in 3 weeks and we come bearing gifts! With Project M in our rear view mirror, we take this opportunity to revisit Resident Evil 4, a game that has aged beautifully. Chris shows some love for Mechwarrior 5 and the group talks through some of the finer points related to Supraland and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. We also cover the Xbox Series X, Resident Evil 3 remake, and read passages from a... lewd Christmas Gift.

We just wanted to let you our subscribers know that we are live RIGHT NOW on 4pp.tv for our 3rd ever Project M event! We are racing through Resident Evil 4 and raising money to benefit the Trevor Project. For more information, listen to this short message!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and we have a lot of gaming to be thankful for. Death Stranding continues to inspire plenty of discussion and Brad came prepared with 4 new indie games to recommend. In the news, Valve finally did the unthinkable and announced Half Life: Alyx for Steam VR headsets; news that is both extremely exciting AND cost prohibitive. We also deliver our thoughts on the new Game Award nominees and answer some questions from our patrons (for whom we are also thankful)!

This week Death Stranding continues to impress and perplex us. But perhaps more importantly, Respawn's long awaited Star Wars game, Jedi Fallen Order has arrived. Despite a seemingly long list of annoyances and complaints, the game still manages to deliver a worthwhile experience. Brad talks about a unique and mind-bending puzzler called Superliminal and tells the group about his time with the beautifully bizarre Yakuza 7 demo! Oh yeah, there's a new Half Life game coming... and it's not what you think.

The original F.E.A.R. from Monolith Productions is a genre-bending First-Person-Shooter / Horror game that released in 2005. Despite it's age, it may still be one of the best and most modern feeling FPS games available. On this episode of the Revival Club, Nick is joined by elusive podcaster, Carlos, and special community guest, SelfTorment, to talk about the game and how it has managed to remain a benchmark for the genre for so long.

It is November in the year of our lord 2019 and Hideo Kojima has just unleashed upon the world his outlandish new game, Death Stranding. There is a ton to unpack but we do our best to DELIVER our thoughts and reactions to the first 15-20 hours of the game. That's not all though; Brad played through Love, Sam, speaks highly of MO Astray, and Nick continues to praise Luigi's Mansion 3 for it's impeccable design. In other news, we still find a way to make the new Sonic movie redesign into something absolutely horrifying.

This week is packed full of impressions thanks to new releases like Luigi's Mansion 3, The Beast Inside, and the PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2. We continue to shower praise on Disco Elysium which has managed to pull in Krispy and Nick since Brad gushed about it last week! We revisit The Outer Worlds and talk about the news coming out of Blizzcon; including Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4.

In true Halloween spirit, Krispy showed up in full costume to talk about The Outer Worlds! Brad convinces most of us to play Disco Elysium which may end up being a serious Game of the Year contender for some of us. Things get topical when Chris Davis and Nick discuss Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Brad ensures he will never be welcome in China when he talks about Devotion, an awesome little horror game that was pulled from stores worldwide by the Chinese government...

It's a strange week for impressions. Brad tried out Anodyne 2 which is weird in the literal sense but Nick, despite his options, played through the campaign of Call of Duty: World War II. Nolan gives an update on Indivisible and Nick shares his VERY early impressions of The Surge 2. In the 2nd segment, the team deliberates games to be featured in our upcoming Project M and settles on a short list of games.

This week, Brad continues to suffer from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne addiction and Nolan makes his triumphant return from Canada with impressions of Indivisible! Nick delivers his final thoughts on Link's Awakening and showers praise on the original F.E.A.R. which is our current Revival Club focus. Brad also gives us a tour of all the games he's been playing on Apple Arcade including Grindstone and What the Golf? There is also plenty to say about Blizzard's latest controversy and Sony's new PS5 details!

Ed joins us on the couch this week to talk about Blasphemous and give us his final thoughts on big 2019 games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Supraland! Nick talks about his experience co-oping Borderlands 3 and the group dives a little deeper into the whimsy new remake of Link's Awakening! We also give updates on our recent Patreon milestone and get into the Halloween spirit with some horror movie / game recommendations!

After an unexpected week off, the games and news have been piling up so we do our best to play catch up! Chris Davis joins us at the start of the show to talk Gears 5 with Nick plus the delightful new Untitled Goose Game! The group hashes out there first impressions of the Link's Awakening remake and revisits Astral Chain and Greedfall to see how they are shaping up. The second segment is dominated by The Last of Us 2, Batman rumors, and some... colorful stories inspired by questions from our lovely Patreon supporters.

Ed returned from PAX West 2019 in Seattle with a giant list of games to talk about! There is a lot of big stuff on the horizon but let this podcast serve as a reminder that there is a ton of exciting Indie experiences worth looking out for! Hunker down with a pen and paper and write these puppies down! Predator: Hunting Grounds Industries of Titan Phantom Brigade Doom Eternal Sparklite Stranded Sails Stronghold Warlords Felix the Reaper Destiny's Sword Iron Danger Superliminal Disintegration Moving Out Plunge Phogs Creature in the Well Everspace 2 Deleveled Greak: Memories of Azur Frostrunner Trials of Mana Indivisible Journey to the Savage Planet Solasta Vigil: The Longest Night The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics Code Vein Biped Stormlands