Literate Gamer (Octopus Park)

Jonathan discusses Metroid Fusion, a worthy successor to the Franchise, in the style of Super Metroid. I recommend it. You can still get it on Nintendo 3DS or Wii-U.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Diablo Immortal, and dopamine machines generally, if they can be good, and the future of the industry.

Jonathan and Nick spoke with the makers of Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition direct from GenCon, Karim Muammar and Jason Carl.

https://www.worldofdarkness.com/store/item/59994/Vampire_The_Masquerade_5th_Edition_Corebook.

Find out more about The Vampire Sabbat event in Austin from The Dark Archive's interviews in May.

Check out the upcoming Austin LARP, The Night in Question.

Nick regails Jonathan of the joys and tribulations of Horizon: Forbidden west, highs lows, and lots of bows.

Jonathan and Nick speak with Matt, creator of Streets of Rogue, published by TinyBuild, a bizarre game of innumerable choices and variety. @Madguy90 Streetsofrogue.com

https://www.tinybuild.com/streets-of-rogue

Jonathan and Nick discuss intentionally departing from society with a few friend-coworkers with the aim of writing. Listen in to hear lessons from this recent experience, and some important reminders and requirements for this type of undertaking.

Jonathan and Nick interview Emma Larkins: Author, game maker, artist! We discuss indie publishing, ebooks, and Stardew Valley.

Mechalarum, Blade Ballet, HeartCatcher: www.emmalarkins.com

Jonathan and Nick discuss different Japanese Video game story types, from Kabuki to Noh, to a live PopCon audience.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Elite Dangerous, a space-flight-simulator with ships, upgrades, combat, markets, factions, and space tourism. A bit complex, but deep, and a lot of fun.

Nick regales Jonathan with the latest Rune Factory, and the strange and surprising choices within this entry in the series.

Jonathan recounts a pleasant, puzzle-light platformer, low on tension and high on relaxation.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Humankind, the era-spanning, turn-based, empire-building game to truly rival the Civilization franchise. This one is legitimately good, and you should get it.

Ken Levine, director of Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Sytem Shock 2, and both Freedom Force games sits down to talk about writing in video games, directing, and his roll as creative director.

Yeah, we have no idea why he came on the show either. No one's more surprised than we are, but it was a great time and a genuinely interesting conversation.

Ken Levine is the Creative Director as Ghost Story Games and you can find him on Twitter @Levine.

I went the whole episode without calling him Kevin 'Lah Vine'.

Jonathan discusses the latest Super Mario game from Nintendo: still fun, not 4-player, but a great two-player experience with the young gamer in your life.

Literate Gamer revisits where it all began: Demon's Souls, specifically the Blue Point remake for the PS5. It is a faithful and beautiful recreation, loyal, with little extra in just the right places.

Jonathan expounds on a Nintendo classic, Metal Gear 2, when the franchise was still more platformer than soap opera: a great platformer and overall game.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Astroneer, a romp of crafting and spacewalk exploration, tailored for multiplayer fun and joy. Enjoy it with friends of all ages.

Jonathan discusses The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, a Super-Nintendo classic, and not-to-be-missed entry in the Zelda franchise.

Jonathan recounts the joy of pummeling a hundred evildoers to Nick in the new game Sifu, a mechanical masterpiece that is 100% loyal to the kung-fu theme.

Rainworld is an indie adventure game set in dystopian ecosystems featuring the adorable Slugcat. Rainworld and Videocult developer James Therrien joins Literate Gamer to talk about his development experiences on Rainworld.

Rainworld is available on Steam and on PS4. You can also find both Rainworld [@RainWorldGame] and James Therrin[@BRIGHTPRIMATE] on Twitter.

Sadly, the Slugcat plushie is currently out stock, but will be available on Sanshee

Our friend and Patron Amir sponsored this episode for Kyleigh about her writing project about his game. We go into detail about this particular writing project, our feedback, tips, and tricks for authors.

The narrative masterpiece of the Soul Reaver series continues with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2. This game is where they take all of the narrative elements and spin them into a twisted gold fabric of vengeance and smiting of foes. My favorite game of all time until the next one in this series. Available on gog.com.

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Nick and Jonathan discuss Icarus, a novel take on survival crafting, introducing a mission system, with pleasing results, though a bit of balance at the top is needed. Quite fun, and content updates are forthcoming.

Nick tells Jonathan all about Resident Evil 8 Village, another in a classic horror franchise with ups and downs, but returning quality and occasional innovation.

Jonathan and Nick discuss the true nature of genre in the wake of a variety of new Star Wars movies and shows, and a rich history of Star Trek and other properties. What is Science Fiction, and what is Fantasy or Western in Space? Listen in for the answers...

Jonathan and Nick discuss the late game of Elden Ring: hard learned lessons, giant birds, our troubles, and our joys. Wondrous lore: https://www.youtube.com/c/VaatiVidya A great Elden Ring Wiki: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Elden+Ring+Wiki

Jonathan and Nick discuss Hitman 2, the latest in the franchise that pioneered disguise stealth gameplay: a brilliantly executed power fantasy.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Russian philosophical science fiction masterpiece STALKER, spawned from the book "Roadside Picnic", along with three games of quality and a surprisingly vibrant mod community. The film is VERY GOOD.

A video on the making of the film: https://youtu.be/lhK7hMBli4s

Watch the movie on the Criterion Collection streaming service: https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/stalker-1

Trevor Zaple, author of Prospero's Half-Life, joins Literate Gamer to discuss all the best ways to assassinate your family members for fun, profit, and empire expansion. In this week's episode Paradox's strategic narrative engine Crusader Kings 2 gets the GAMER treatment.

Jonathan waxes philosophical about Enter the Gungeon and Tormentor X Punisher, bullet hell shooters, proper game design, and mechanics.

Nick recounts his experiences with Control, mind-bending action brought to you by Remedy Games. A bizarre experience of reality-warping dystopia.

Jonathan and Nick discuss The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

Also, check out http://www.gsprints.com/: it's where we got our great shirts!

Jonathan and Nick discuss Above and Below, a board game by Red Raven Games. It's an amazing mix of resource-allocation and choice-branching storytelling: unique, fun, and exciting. A mechanically solid game that's accessible to many ages. Red Raven Games.

Jonathan revisits a platformer classic: Mega Man X, available now in a collection on the switch. Still great, and at a great price.

Jonathan and Nick discuss the light romp 'For the King'. A turn-based RPG where you don't have to think, good for those new to role-playing, or just for relaxation. Fun by yourself, more fun with friends or family.

The Dune book club continues in part 2, where Paul and Jessica enter the desert, he has a family (theoretically?), and somehow Jonathan misses an orgy.

Grant Howitt sits down with Literate Gamer to discuss his current project of designing a single page RPG game, each month. He covers his other gaming relatred projects, including a Zombie LARP, the Unbound setting, and Hearty Dice Friends his podcast with Chris Taylor.

You can find Grant Howitt on Twitter and on Patreon . His podcast, Hearty Dice Friends, is available on SoundCloud.

Jonathan and Nick speak with Domenico of Mechanical Centurion games, makers of the upcoming "Unworthy Life". He's doing ALL the right things to make a fantastic game.

Get it on IndieGoGo: https://igg.me/at/UnworthyLife/emal/10592139

https://twitter.com/unworthylife?lang=en

https://www.unworthylife.com/

This episode was recorded live at Indy PopCon on the Podcast stage. We were joined by Jason Percy and Dave with World's Collide where they discuss their new card game, challenges that an independent game designer encounter, and their plans for their game going forward.

Worlds Collide can be found on Facebook at ColideWorlds, and on Twitter.

In the near future we'll be sharing our Game Criticism panel discussion we also recorded at Indy PopCon.

Jonathan recounts the honor, snark, and platforming sophistication of The Messenger, a triumph of a game, available on Steam and the Epic Store. Go get it.

Jonathan and Nick talk Chimera Squad, a great little game sprouting off the X-COM franchise, nourishing for those jonesing for another hit of the good stuff. It's not as long as a full game, but at this price, that's more than worth it!

Jonathan and Nick discuss Ghost of Tsushima, a true love letter to the struggle of the Samurai, and a very solid game besides. It oozes attitude and style, an absolute joy for any fan of Akira Kurosawa's works.

Jonathan recounts the joy of Kingdom: Two Crowns, a wonderful follow-up and enhancement to the original work. A pleasant and fruitful continuation of the series.

Valheim! A 3rd-person, crafting, survival game, with viking style and a vast world. If you can host a server, or find a friend who can, or can keep your computer online, up to 10 people can be on at once, for a Viking town of your own! This game oozes style and soul, more than enough to overcome some low-rez textures. And it's still in early access!

Jonathan recounts the wonderful experience of Ghosts 'N Goblins Resurrection, an update to a classic platformer, with all the latest quality of (un)life improvements and art updates, while completely staying faithful to the style and difficulty of the original, should you so choose. If you love platformers, you owe it to yourself to get it.

We breakdown one of our favorite grand strategy games, Stellaris.

This game is continually evolving and improving, so a critical assessment on such a dynamic and organic game is difficult, but we felt the game was worth the effort.

You can pickup Stellaris directly from Paradox, or wherever you get amazing games.

We sat down with one of Red Hook Studio's co-founders, Chirs Bourassa, to talk about mortality, player capital, and eldritch horror in their amazing turn-based RPG, Darkest Dungeon.

Darkest Dungeon recently released a DLC, the Crimson Court, and will be available for iPad on August 24th.

You can find Darkest Dungeon online at http://www.darkestdungeon.com/, and on Twitter @DarkestDungeon

Nick and Kevin discuss Fallout 76, Bethesda's foray into a multiplayer experience: not their strong suit. Also, Jonathan chimes in. Kevin's page: http://theResistanceIsDead.com Kevin's books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0SM27U Kevin's mad theories: https://youtu.be/rbvgfoedzLg

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Jonathan and Nick discuss Nier Automata with Amir Rajan, games, philosophy, and everything. We ended up recording for two hours, of which this is the first. We get really deep into this, and you won't regret listening.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Red Dead Redemption 2, a loyal continuation of the well-developed and deservedly popular cowboy action franchise.

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Nick tells Jonathan about Kerbal Space Program, an incredible space simulation game, and apparently training tool for the next generation of NASA.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: BreakPoint. Sometimes the industry succumbs to temptation. We'll see if they learn their lessons.

Jonathan discusses Q: a Neon Platformer, a simple game that quickly spirals into a certain complexity and shiny fun. The developer sent me a code for this one, but I can honestly say that it's a good game. Check it out on Steam.

The gang discusses Heretics of Dune, a welcome source of politics and action after God-Emperor, if unfocused, and full of more of the novel weirdness we've all come to expect from Frank Herbert.

Nick and Jonathan discuss Motora with Calum from Twisted Bit Games. It's a competitive, worker-placement, resource-management game. Carefully designed and lovingly tested, you can feel the love they put into this game. You can support the kickstarter now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1323929220/motora?ref=587141&token=2de574b6

“Motora” https://www.twistedbitgames.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TwistedBitGames/ @twistedbitgames

Play it online: https://tabletopia.com/games/motora https://en.boardgamearena.com/

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Jonathan and Nick speak with Joel Clark and Stephen Bell about their creation Blaseball, a real game about fake players playing fake games in a fake league, with real heart and real fun. This goofy nonsensical circus of a game season is the oddest and compelling thing I've seen for a long time. Also, it's all free.

Blaseball.com Patreon.com/blaseball https://discord.gg/3uFgJhu

Gwen Frey, animator for The Molases Flood, sits down to talk about their latest game, The Flame in the Flood - or at least we assumed she was sitting. It was a long conversation so we hope she sat down.

Gwen recalls her work and experiences she had on The Flame in the Flood and BioShock Infiinite. She speaks favorably of Chuck Ragan and the unique nature of his musical contribution into the end experience of The Flame in the Flood.

You can catch her on Twitter @DireGoldFish, where you can also find @MolassesFlood. Gwen also has an awesome podcast called The Dialouge Box.

Jonathan discusses The Textorcist, a bizarre, irreverant anti-hero priest who fights demons and the possessed with the power of words... Type for your life!

Jonathan and Nick discuss Divinity: Original Sin, a turn-based, extra crunchy, story-heavy, combat-heavy RPG.

Literate Gamer examines the famed Ubisoft franchise in detail and evaluates the combat mechanics, attention to detail, and historical settings of this annualized series. Listen as we marvel are inexplicable decisions made by Ubisoft Management, like why Assassin’s Creed IV is an Assassin’s Creed game, or why the need for an over-arching meta narrative is so important when it does so little (but it is certainly Assassin’s Creedy).

Nick tells Jonathan about Story of Seasons, the zen art of butter and cheese, and they discuss the calming, ephemeral city-builder puzzle-esque game Islanders.

Short episode: Jonathan goes on a fan-rant about how awesome the crafting mini-game is in Final Fantasy 14. Honestly, it's the best part of the game. I just tolerate the combat and story-line. :)

Jonathan recounts and wonderful gameplay experience of Rogue Legacy: charming, fun, and a great rogue-lite all around.

GenCon 2016: Jonathan and Nick interview Michael Richie and Grant Wilson from RatherDashingGames.com. Game philosophy, publishing, books, and living the dream.

Nick regales Jonathan with the current progress of the Assassin's Creed franchise, ups and downs, progress and pitfalls.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Vampyr, a step forward into new territory of story and morality, more than just some sort of simple good and evil mechanic, and certainly enough to overcome a few rough mechanical edges. A fascinating gem amidst a sea of higher-budget games.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Outriders, a first-person shooter with rough edges and a good heart. The story is badly edited, but contains some real pathos, and the gameplay is phenomenal.

Katherine Isbister, researcher in games and human/computer interaction, joins Literate Gamer to discuss the role of emotion in game play and design.

Katherine Isbister is a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, and a core faculty member for the Center for Games and Playable Media. She is the author of How Games Move Us, Better Game Characters by Design, and Game Usability. She's also a generally groovy person and you can find more about her at http://www.katherineinterface.com/ and on Twitter @kcisbister

Jonathan recounts the experience of Hades, an action rogue-like from SuperGiant games, brimming with character and mechanically interesting. I heartily recommend it.

Jonathan discusses Mega Man X 4 and 5, fresh from the Mega Man X legacy collections on the switch, preserving fond memories and playing experiences of classic platformers: loyal to the franchise with more content and minor tweaks.

Literate Gamer is joined by self-described RimWorld aficionado TheMeInTeam to discuss Ludeon Studio's survival-colony simulator RimWorld.

Listen for the insightful commentary on a complex, evolving game. Stay for the stories of cannibalism and depravity the title is famous for.

Nick and Jonathan speak with Matt Forbeck, a truly phenomenal font of creativity, writer of dozens of books, contributor to scads of games, including BioMutant and the upcoming tabletop Marvel role-playing game, and of course his own Shotguns and Sorcery. Check out everything at Forbeck.com.

Introduction to Literate Gamer, the hosts Jonathan Small and Nick Rust, and discussion of Demons' Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne.

This podcast contains swearing. Music Courtesy of The Romanovs.

www.OctopusPark.com

Jonathan and Nick discuss Scythe, an extremely well-designed, fast-moving, competitive nation-building production/war game. It's very accessible, fast, yet complex. One of the best games I've played. This game is great in person, but feel free to check it out on Steam's TableTop Simulator, though the full digital version is very slick, and takes care all of the administration. It's shocking how good this game is. Get it.

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Team Ninja's recent sously release, Nioh, is dissected and examined by Literate Gamer along with special guest Fightin Cowboy. They discuss the specifics of game play- with Nioh's emphasis on combos, the Sengoku period of Japanese history, and even the real world identifies of the game's principal figures.

The name Nioh is derived from Nio, a Buddhist wrath deity common in Japanese Buddhism.

www.youtube.com/user/fightincowboy713
www.twitch.tv/fightincowboy
@fightincowboy

Jonathan and Nick discuss Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the games that gave birth to the nemesis system, a brilliant generator of emergent gameplay, which must not be missed.

Jonathan and Nick discuss Asymmetric Multiplayer, a blooming young game type, often involving predators, aliens, zombies, and a wide assortment of famous murderers.

Jonathan and Nick speak with Mike, Design Director of A44 Games, about their game Ashen, a new spin on a phase-story take on a Dark-Souls-esque action game. A44games.com @a44games on twitter

This week we cover Spore.

This was a canned episode we've been sitting on for a bit. We're taking our summer break, so you're getting it now. However, our Patreon backers are getting a super awesome epsidoe TODAY tthat the rest of you won't be getting until next week.

https://www.patreon.com/LiterateGamer

It's not too late, you could still sign up for the Patreon.

Jonathan and Nick discuss the new Stellaris update 'Le Guin'. It's complicated, but an overall improvement, much like the game in general.

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Jonathan discusses Castlevania 64, the first 3D entry in the franchise. There are a few departures from form, but enough novelty and loyalty to the name that it remains fun and worthy of inclusion in the halls of whips and vampires.

Jonathan and Nick discuss the pitch perfect vampire action/base-crafting game 'V Rising'. The name may be ridiculous, but the game is fun and flawlessly themed, aimed squarely at those seeking to wet their fangs playing a classic vampire.

Jonathan and Nick speak with Dorian Richard, co-designer of Hidden Strike: American Revolution, a cooperative or competitive game of high-level war and history. You can feel the love the makers have for both game design and the historical period. Available for preorder here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1456271622/hidden-strike-american-revolution?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=hidden%20strike%20american%20revolut or on the Worthington site: https://www.worthingtonpublishing.com/collection/hidden-strike-american-revolution-pre-order-ships-in-march-2021

Jonathan examines Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a loyal spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the night, and the DS Castlevania games. If you need another hit of Castlevania, this is the game for you, even if it's not official.

Jonathan reveals a new discovery, the board game platformer Slide Quest: quite ingenious, novel, with some real challenge at later levels! Check it out on BoardGameGeek.com: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/271785/slide-quest

Jonathan discusses the action adventure game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It's an old Playstation game, but overflows with stellar voice acting and compelling story. I recommend it.
Contact me if you find it for legitimate sale beyond the original PlayStation disk: all I've been able to find is the videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kDzqScUs-E.

Jonathan and Nick talk with the makers of the Witcher tabletop RPG, Lisa and Cody Pondsmith.

Find them at rtalsoriangames.com.

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Jonathan and Nick froth and gibber about the new and amazing Elden Ring, open world successor to the Dark Souls, and an absolute triumph. Not perfect, but absolutely worth it, even if you haven't ever played any of them before. Get it. Do it now.

Sethatos returns to talk about Dwarf Fortress, now on Steam, thanks to KitFox games. Still the best home for all of your war-rhinocerous needs.

Jonathan discusses Castlevania 2, the true first Metroidvania game, and one of the first open-world experiences. It shows its age, but is still a lot of fun. Find it on the Konami Collector Series: Castlevania and Contra.

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Jonathan erupts enthusiasm about this holiday spooktacular: Super Ghouls and Ghosts, a classic that still holds up, wonderful fun and fantastic monster-slaying action.

Jonathan visits the latest Shovel Knight expansion: King of Cards. It's a bit harder, but another fun romp in the great world that Yacht Club Games has created.

Jonathan gushes about the hilarious platformer by Le Cartel "Heave Ho". Great for couch co-op, great for the family. This game is an absolute delight, laughs and fun from start to finish.

Jonathan recounts the delightful and relaxing tile countryside builder 'DorfRomantik', on Steam now.

Jonathan and Nick discuss two games by CMON: Rising Sun and Gizmos, true innovations in their respective genres, and a kinder, more fun way to play competitively.

Nick and Jonathan Discuss the latest iteration of tabletop roleplaying classic, Dungeons and Dragons: 5th edition.

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Jonathan recounts the Mega Man X 3 experience. A good game, in a great franchise, with a side order of design rant.

Jonathan gushes about Indivisible: a new zenith in platformers. It's not a metroidvania, preferring instead to radiate joy from every pore, with beautiful art and voice-acting, difficult jumping puzzles, and a unique combat system focused on custom combos and split-second timing. It's not easy, but is always tons of fun. I highly recommend it!

Now on Switch, Steam, PS4, and XBox One. https://indivisiblegame.com/

Jonathan and Nick discuss Machi Koro, a brilliant board game that's fun and accessible. We recommend the base game and harbor expansion, or alternatively the all-in-one rerelease 'Bright Lights, Big City'.

https://www.target.com/p/machi-koro-bright-lights-big-city-board-game/-/A-51093080

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Author Michael G. Munz returns for the promised follow up episode covering Deus Ex. Follow us on an epic journey of cybernetically enhanced discovery.

We don't have much else to say on the subject. It's Literate Gamer, the episode covers Deus Ex, you know what's happening.

http://michaelgmunz.com

Twitter: @TheWriteMunz