Damage Per Second Podcast

Podcast: THE EVIL WITHIN AKA The Green Gel Collection Simulator

Hello all, We are diving back into THE EVIL WITHIN-verse since both Mitch and myself played it…probably around launch? That would be about 12 years ago now…. After Shinji Mikami worked on VANQUISH [https://jessebartel.substack.com/p/podcast-time-revisiting-vanquish] with his boys over at Platinum Games, he broke away to start his own studio: Tango Gameworks. TG would go on to develop wonderful games and finally fall victim to Microsoft’s "we’ll buy you but then close you” business practice. But we don’t have to talk about that now. Tango Gameworks ran out of money quickly after they first got started and reached a deal with ZeniMax (the Bethesda parent company). With an injection of cash flow, Mikami and team got to work on THE EVIL WITHIN which may be seen as Mikami’s reluctant journey back into the survival-horror genre. If you don’t know, Mikami was the director for RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL 4 and seen as the grandfather of popularizing that style of game. Whether he wanted to or not, Shinji returned with THE EVIL WITHIN in 2014 and it was met with mixed reviews. Many praised the game for its ambition, mood and action sequences but critics/gamers became hung up on the performance and at times, frustrating game design. Critics were also mixed on the aspect ratio the game is in. The letterbox format was never a problem for me but I remember the online chatter at the time taking issue with it. Returning to THE EVIL WITHIN 12 years later I found I still enjoyed it but was less patient with its clunkiness and poor visual fidelity. It’s an ugly game that reminds me of those Nintendo Switch ports where everything is blurry (I played this time on my Xbox Series X - not sure how PC version looks). But outside of that and a couple of “whoops you died unexpectedly” set backs, I actually found myself engrossed in the story more so this time around. Maybe because I knew the game goes off the rails that those expectations allowed me to grasp what was going on. THE EVIL WITHIN is a clunky boy but one I still have fondness for. I praise Mikami’s ambition here to make a game both familiar and wildly imaginative. Mitch and I had such a great time again that we will be going back to play THE EVIL WITHIN 2 which Mikami was not the director of and it was also a bit of a departure from the first game in terms of its structure. I remember liking it but let’s see if it has aged well. Another fun fact - the asylum in THE EVIL WITHIN was based of the Winchester Mystery House. If you don’t know anything about that place, GOOGLE IT but here is a picture. Until next time, enjoy video games while you can still afford them! Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe [https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Podcast Time: Revisiting VANQUISH aka The Rocket Knees Simulator

Fresh off the release of BAYONETTA [https://jessebartel.substack.com/p/the-bayonetta-podcast-the-dommy-mommy], Platinum Games released another SEGA published 3rd person stylistic action game called VANQUISH. While it doesn’t feat. a sexy witch who turns her clothes into monsters to help you dominate your enemies, it does have Sam who can blast around with propulsion devices attached to his experimental suit. This would be the first and last game internet fav Shinji Mikami would direct for Platinum Games. If you don’t know Shinji, he is responsible for RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL 4 (pretty good portfolio!). But I love him most for DINO CRISIS even if CAPCOM took that franchise in the backyard and shot it. VANQUISH is about Sam Gideon who works for DARPA and has been given an experimental suit which can boost around, punch harder, and facilitate weaponry. He is asked to test this suit out after Russian evil-man-theater kid wants to nuke New York City. From there, you fight Russian robots for about 4 hours until you find out this was all a big scheme from OUR OWN GOVERNMENT. Imagine our government being held accountable? Video games really do provide the fantasy. Mikami wanted this game to be open-world but due to crunch and resources, the games was scaled back. He was also smart enough to build the game off the PS3 architecture so that it would run well on PS3 and Xbox 360. If you were not aware, the PS3 was difficult to develop on and even hard to port over Xbox 360 titles so he started with the problem child. Much of the game’s design was borrowed from the 70s-80s anime CASSHERN. Mitch and I also discuss MARATHON and RESIDENT EVIL: REQUIEM amongst other things. I hope you enjoy! Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe [https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The BAYONETTA Podcast: The Dommy Mommy Supremacy Simulator

Hello all! Welcome to another episode of THE DAMAGE PER PODCAST! This week, Mitch and I tackle one of my favorite series - BAYONETTA! To pull off a character like Bayonetta without it being regressive is a FINE LINE. I mean, homegirl walks around in a skintight outfit in stilettos that ALSO have guns attached to them while only shedding her clothes to punish demons? Incredible. Empowering, sexy, and badass? What a combo. While it’s obvious BAYONETTA has a male following, she has gone on to inspire cosplayers for years. All hail Bayonetta! BAYONETTA was one of the first games released by the newly formed studio PLATINUM GAMES. Consisting of CAPCOM royalty including Shinji Makami (RESIDENT EVIL) and Hideki Kamiya (DEVIL MAY CRY), PLATINUM GAMES set out to make creative, original titles in a time where that didn’t seem relegated to just the indie market. Along with MADWORLD for the Wii, they also shipped BAYONETTA in 2009 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC with the help of publisher SEGA. The game was met with a universal “this is dope” but like every game we seem to talk about, it didn’t make its financial goal (sold over a cool million initially - it has since sold LOTS more but that didn’t help at the time). Luckily BAYONETTA (the IP) would go on to be acquired by Nintendo and we would get 2 more (and I think way better) direct sequels. I’m still not sure Nintendo was the best purchaser of the brand in terms of an audience but hey, they are great followup games. Hideki Kamiya who was the creative mind behind BAYONETTA clearly wanted to make a new versions of DEVIL MAY CRY but with what he considers his “ideal woman.” That’s a troubling quote to read as it says more about Kamiya’s psychology than it does about anything else but hey, she IS an icon now. Shout out to Mari Shimazaki for the art design and model creation. She also went on to work for POKEMON so figure that out. Replaying BAYONETTA after both 2 and 3 have graced us is less stellar than the first time around but there is personality bursting from the seams (literally). I mean licking your middle finger and sticking into the ignition of a motorcycle to get it turn on is by far the best way to sum up this game. Also can we talk about the soundtrack??? Anyway, enjoy the show! Mitch and I will be tackling VANQUISH next! Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe [https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Podcasting about ASURA'S WRATH AKA That Game Where You Use A Sword in Your Mouth B/C Your Arms Were Ripped Off

Hello all, Back at it with another podcast this month about a game that blew my mind in 2012 and all these years later, it still blows my mind. There is nothing quite like ASURA’S WRATH - it’s a game, an anime, and all around rage simulator. You watch it more than you play it and clocking in at about 6 hours, it strikes prefect balance. The game also sections itself out into episodes with breaks and catch-up vignettes. It’s refreshing to this day with great pacing and characters who you are invested in even with all the silly over-the-top anime tropes. ASURA’S WRATH was a Gamefly rental for me back in 2012 and I went in blind. Artistically, it looked like a game I would vibe with. But little did I know I would take part in absolute cinema - a game where a fight has a sword go through a moon and for the titular character Asura has to stop the sword with his HANDS. Outrageous. But as beloved as the game was by folks who did play it, it didn’t sell well. A tale as old as time, I know. Capcom, who published it, didn’t see the need to expand on this formula and Cyberconnect 2, the developers, went back to making games for NARUTO and DRAGONBALL. There are a couple of smoking guns here. It was hard to sell a $60 game that was over in 6 hours and didn’t require that much playtime from the player. It was also an original IP and public awareness on WHAT this game entailed felt muddy. Was it a brawler? sorta. Was it an area fighter? sorta. Was it an interactive anime? sorta. It failed to find a wide market instead it rocket-punched its way to niche. The other issue was the DLC. The REAL ENDNG could be unlocked if you payed more money for the other episodes. Yay! That’s what consumers want to hear. I’ve heard there was development issues getting the game done in time but with Capcom at the wheel in 2012 one can assume they were interfering. Many reviewers at the time agreed that this might’ve flourished as a digital purchase where you could buy chapters at a clip. It would’ve been a better format. And then later follow up with a physical release of EVERYTHING included. As such, ASURA’S WRATH is now relegated to popping up on HIDDEN GEM lists and WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT…videos. As long as it keeps finding an audience, I can’t be mad but I wish my boy Asura wasn’t done so dirty. I watched this fun video on YouTube which I’ll post below and in the comment section, there was a great summation of the game that I found so sidesplitting hilarious, I’ll share with you. Let me get this straight. Asura got framed for murdering the emperor, his wife got murdered and his daughter got kidnapped, then he got sent to hell for 12,000 years just because he wasn’t ok with the deities using his only child, and then he climbed back out so casually out of hell, punched a planet-sized person’s finger so hard he exploded, got killed again for another 500 years, crushed an old guy in his escape shuttle, spent time with baddies in a hot spring and fought his master on the moon, whose katana can go through the planet, got so angry over a little girl’s death he pulled his devil trigger so hard that he destroyed a bunch of spaceships and slashed the queer Shakespeare in half, while his voice actor screamed so hard that he started coughing blood(thank you for your sacrifice,) teamed up with the intentionally blind guy to break into the planet sized man that is actually a machine and proceed to flip Zeus with nunchucks like Two-face’s coin and kills him with a DBZ blast, killed the lava earth kraken who used the earth as his crab shell, and killed the devil lookin dude in control who copied Asura’s giant arms, then payed DLC to watch a spider kill the simp woman and possessed his daughter to become god, who I originally thought was a woman, then Kratos but more powerful became the size of the planet, flies to the center of the universe as his wife and victims cheer him on, and “god” wipes out reality and fights Asura in the void and turns into a freak, then Asura got his daughter back and he punched the fraud god so hard he fades out of existence, and somehow all of this inspires Mortal Kombat before Mortal Kombat. Why would he do all of this? They made his daughter cry. This is from user hottopichotsauce who we will give all the credit to. We are taking a break this month for the holidays and will return at the end of January to talk about an absolute banger from Platinum Games. Stay Tuned! Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe [https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

HALLOWEENCAST: THE QUARRY (2022) - AKA WHOOPS I PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON AND IT KILLED A MAJOR CHARACTER SIMULATOR

Hello all! Welcome to another edition of DAMAGE PER PODCAST! This month we are making it just under the wire for a SPOOOKY episode where we tackle Supermassive’s 2022 game, THE QUARRY. Supermassive made a name for themselves in 2015 when they partnered with Sony to create UNTIL DAWN which blew up in popularity as a streamer game and a party-game. After several releases with their Dark Pictures Anthology, they circled back with a big investor (2K) to make THE QUARRY - a werewolf terrorizing a summer camp adventure with shockingly sympathetic characters (except for 1, maybe) and choices that MATTER. As someone who never played any of their titles (but always wanted to!), I feel bad that I never checked out their previous work. Shout out to Mitch for choosing this one for October! I am looking forward to their next release (2026 supposedly!). Enjoy the episode as we talk about THE QUARRY but also Gamepass, Nintendo, and Atlanta! Thank you so much for listening :) Get full access to Damage Per Second at jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe [https://jessebartel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]