Trophy Talk Network

Hello one and all, and welcome back to another episode of Surviving the Horror! This month Josh and Colin got the chance to sit down and play a horror franchise that has somehow eluded them for years at this point, that being Fatal Frame. Fatal Frame is a franchise that you hear about in the same breaths as things like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and other staples of the genre. Taking place firmly in the realm of Japan , and touching regularly on things like Japanese folklore and rituals, Fatal Frame aims to try something different in survival horror. The problem is that many of these titles (Fatal Frame 1-3 specifically) are locked on older hardware and not accessible on modern day consoles. As a result, Josh and Colin decided to make their first foray into the franchise with Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Originally released exclusively in Japan for the Wii in 2008, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse finally received its remaster and port to the West in 2023, selling 120,000 copies in just a few short weeks on the market. While that may not sound like much, when you consider that the franchise as a whole across all five games only has 1.3 million units sold, the success of recent games like Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and Maiden of Blackwater becomes more apparent. Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is also the only game in the franchise to stand alone in its story elements, making it a great jumping in point for newcomers to the series like us. Mask of the Lunar Eclipse tells the tale of (primarily) three characters in Misaki, Ruka, and Choshiro as they explore the Haibara Infirmary on Rougetsu Isle. Rougetsu Isle is known for its ancient tradition of performing the Rougetsu Kagura, a ritual in which the liminal space between the the souls of the living and dead is opened in conjunction with the phases of the moon. Several years ago, this ritual goes wrong (who could have guessed) and The Day of Tranquility ensues; resulting in the loss of several lives, and the loss of our main characters' memories. It's our job then as Misaki, Ruka, and Choshiro to return to Rougetsu Isle and try to unravel the mystery of what happened, restore our memories, and ultimately free the souls of those trapped between the realm of the living and the dead. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy! Next month's episode will be on a smaller 2D pixelated horror game called Dead of Darkness. Thanks again!

Colin joins Kevin to talk about Sayonara Wild Hearts. They start off the episode with the usual plat shoutouts and game overview. Then they get into a deeper discussion of what makes this game so special and how it was nothing like what either of them expected it to be. They also try to break down each of their own readings of the story, which shows how this piece of art can be interpreted in many different ways. It’s impossible to talk about this game without discussing the music, so they both highlight some of their favorite tracks in the game. Then they get into a discussion about which stages had the best and most unique gameplay experiences. Finally they wrap up the show with some recommendations for games that are a little like this one, but really this gaming experience is so unique that there is absolutely nothing like it on PlayStation. We hope you enjoy our break down and analysis of this beautiful game.

Warmest of Welcomes everybody and apologies for the delay! This month on the Mooglecast myself and Zac sit down to spoiler the living hell out of the GOTY contender Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. In this unscripted episode we break down some of the story beats and characters aswell as discuss if final bosses should be a rite of passage. It is highly recommended that you play and complete the main story before listening to the episode as heavy story moments and reveals are discussed as well as some side content. For the pre show warm up we talk about our team of Final 6 for the old school pokemon games and how Max did the ultimate prep work to take down Pokemon Stadium but never followed through with the execution. We hope you enjoy this episode of the mooglecast and we will see you in September as we return to a normal run of the show. but until then... Be excellent to eachother.

This week on Trophy Talk, Colin and Josh are joined by a special guest—longtime listener and fellow trophy hunter, Will aka Sqweezy! We kick things off with some fun updates from the Discord, including the ongoing raffle event, and share our favorite piece of media from July. Sqweezy gives us the rundown on how he got into trophy hunting and takes us back to some Halo 3 memories—shoutout to Guardian and Oddball. We also dive into a couple of solid Patreon questions, including one about our worst nightmare DLC scenarios (thanks, AC Shadows) and another about misleading game trailers that don’t match the final gameplay experience. We wrap it up with what everyone’s been playing lately, covering Ape Escape, Little Nightmares 2, Dredge, Death Stranding 2, Synapse, Borderlands, & phasmophobia. Good vibes, lots of laughs, no crabs, and of course, plenty of trophy talk.

Hello one and all, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Surviving the Horror! On this month's episode Colin and Josh are back to examine a perhaps misunderstood and underrated horror game of the Xbox 360 era. In 2008, Konami and Double Helix published Silent Hill: Homecoming. This game, positioned as the fifth main line Silent Hill title, was the first in the franchise to be developed entirely by a Western studio. With a troubled development cycle, various conflicting inputs from Konami producers, and a change in the horror landscape at the time with games like Resident Evil 4, would Silent Hill: Homecoming have what it takes to rise to the occasion and satisfy fans? The answer at the time was a resounding no, with the game garnering mixed critical and user reception. However, in light of what we know today, and the history of its development, perhaps folks were too hard on Homecoming. Homecoming tells the story of Alex Shepherd, a solider returning to his home town of Shepherd's Glen after being wounded in battle. Alex arrives to find the town is in disarray, and most notably his brother and many other children in the town are missing. As Alex delves deeper into the long held traditions and secrets of Shepherd's Glen he too delves deeper into his own psyche and fragmented self. The end result is a horrific journey through hellish landscapes, and the dark recesses of the mind. Is it the best Silent Hill game out there? Undoubtedly no; but is it as bad as people on the internet would have you believe? Absolutely not. We hope you enjoy this lengthy episode on what is considered the "black sheep" of the Silent Hill franchise. Thank you for listening!