The CritCast

Officer Bidoofy

Honestly, the fact that Darryn and I were able to pull this off for sixteen weeks without killing each other is nothing short of a miracle. Listen gang, it’s been a fun ol’ ride, hasn’t it? I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one: This will be the last episode of The CritCast before the show goes on a bit of a hiatus. It’s no one’s fault and we still love you! It’s just that I’ve stumbled into a somewhat important career opportunity that’s about to consume all my time and Darryn is about 3 cups of coffee away from full-blown burnout; Man works hard at his two jobs. Thus, we’re taking a bit of an extended break but who knows? Once a new rhythm is found and normality is restored, we might return to plague your ears once more… In any case, we’ve got a show that’s stuffed filled with games this week! Darryn talks about how frustrating yet rewarding Returnal is as well as elaborating on whether or not New Pokemon Snap is a first person shooter or not (it totally is). Then we also discuss some dumb anime about fighting mechs in space, Mobile Suit Fighter G Gundam and have a rather lovely conversation about how much we enjoyed The Falcon and The Winter Soldier now that that’s all wrapped up. As for the news, well it’s financials season, baby! It’s been a fun little experiment folks! Thanks for humouring us and our dumb nonsense which you’ll still be able to find in spades on the website every day. So having said that, I’ll see you in whatever bit of news I think is interesting tomorrow!

Cybertron Pranks

There’s a tremendous amount of laughing in this one so if you don’t vibe with unbridled joy than I recommend giving this one a miss. You know, every Saturday Darryn and I come together to discuss our favourite things (sometimes there are a few not so favourite things in there but generally, it’s pretty good). Yet this week was undoubtedly the best recording of the CritCast if you ask me. Darryn brought his trademark chaotic energy to the fore and, well, it’s better if you just listen to it. I’m still recovering from the cackling fit it left me in, honestly. Yet when everything had calmed down, we doffed the professional hats that we so often wear and set to work talking about a whole bunch of topics. Firstly, we quickly delve into Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker on the PSP before diving into the excellent majesty of Titanfall 2. We spend a while ranking some of the best (and worst) DC Animated Movies while Darryn was able to explain the process of making a very authentic Wolverine cosplay. Lastly, there was the news of Square Enix being up for sale even though it wasn’t [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/square-enix-might-be-up-for-sale-but-dont-get-too-excited/], Resident Evil’s big ol’ showcase [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/everything-announced-in-last-nights-resident-evil-showcase/] and it’s ridiculous policy of timed demos, Nintendo’s Indie World showcase [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/everything-announced-in-nintendos-latest-indie-world-showcase/] (complete with new Ollie Ollie World!) and lastly the terror of a potential open world Bioshock game [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/new-bioshock-game-might-have-open-world-elements/] that no-one actually wants. If you want to dip your toes into this week’s multi-layered discussion, you can check out our Anchor here [https://anchor.fm/critical-hit-critcast/episodes/Grand-Theft-Arkham-esmul2] or you can stream the show on YouTube or Spotify. If there’s something that you’d like to see in the CritCast or you need some answers that only we can provide, drop myself or Darryn an email at either brad@criticalhit.net or editor@criticalhit.net [editor@criticalhit.net]. Enjoy the show and we’ll see you next week for another!

Balan Underworld

No one believed me when I said that Balan Wonderworld was a complete nightmare. But now they understand. They all understand. Wow, we’ve been doing this show for 14 weeks now, who would have thought we’d be able to keep it going this long without skipping an episode? We have serious matters to attend to this week as I unpack the complicated nuance of Trials of Fire, a game that’s both exceptionally good and much too smart for me, and Darryn can finally tell us all about Balan Wonderland [https://www.criticalhit.net/review/balan-wonderworld-review-a-terrible-fete/]. Turns out, he loved it! It’s his game of the year so far, which I’ll admit I didn’t see coming. It might just be the fact that he enjoys self-inflicted agony though, so bear that in mind. Then we talk in-depth about Close Enough, the latest animation from the creator of The Regular Show, JG Quintel, and Way of the Househusband, and anime that even I’m vaguely interested in watching (even if the animation is complete ass). As for news, we’ve got a delightful platter to choose from: The Deathloop delay [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/deathloop-delayed-again-this-time-to-september-14/], an explanation behind why Mass Effect 1 desperately needs that combat rework [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/mass-effect-legendary-edition-completely-revamps-the-original-games-clunky-combat/], E3 leaping back into action [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/e3-has-confirmed-that-it-will-return-in-2021-as-a-free-digital-event-in-june/] and that new report that’s come out about Sony and its disdain for indie games [https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/days-gone-2-was-pitched-to-sony-but-director-wont-confirm-if-it-was-rejected/]. It was a busier week than expected! Go ahead and give the show a follow on Anchor or Spotify, why don’t you? Hell, tell a friend about it! Word of mouth is so important in the marketing process. I hope you enjoy this hour of discussion Darryn and I cooked up and we’ll be back with another one next Tuesday!

Rock Filled Eggs

That’s right folks, we worked on a long weekend so we could ensure you wouldn’t be starved of Darryn talking about that one time he murdered a leprechaun. Okay, straight off the bat I want to apologise for this episode: I talk about Hearthstone a lot. Like, it’s not a five minute check-in, I go all in on the latest Forged in the Barrens expansion. Darryn practically gnawed his arm down to a nubbin so at least you won’t be suffering alone. Beyond the stimulating Hearthstone discussion (at least, I thought it was stimulating) we get into the weeds on good games and old! Darryn talks about his experiences with Outriders which, from the sounds of it, is very good when you’re able to play it and I bring up Doom (2016) as one of the finest games ever made. Prove me wrong, you can’t. Then there’s the whole conversation about Godzilla Vs. Kong, which does have some very light spoilers (based on my speculations) so just be warned about that before charging in there. Lastly, we wrapped up a very empty news week by talking about how Japan likes the wrong Final Fantasy characters and that Alan Wake really deserves a sequel. Oh, there was also a segment dedicated to old consoles again. At this point we should just spin off into a console-collecting podcast. If there’s something that you’d like to see in the CritCast or you need some answers that only we can provide, drop myself or Darryn an email at either brad@criticalhit.net or editor@criticalhit.net [editor@criticalhit.net]. We appreciate any and all questions from folks listening and we’ll do our best to answer as professionally as possible (even if it’s not all that professional a question).

Billy Crystal Dynamics

Hey, kids! Have ya’ll ever played a video game? Oh, you have? Well, then this is good news because if you’ve played one then I assume you enjoy talking about them too? Right on, brother! Take a seat with us and we can gab for a second. Nah, grab whichever one you want, there’s a free one next to Darryn. He doesn’t bite but he does sometimes… Ah, there he goes licking again. Just ignore him, he’ll soon get over your taste. Unless you’re wearing Axe Chocolate deodera… don’t tell me that’s what you’re wearing. Give me a second, I’ll be right back with a towel, a squeezy bottle and some soap. After we’re done cleaning up Darryn’s saliva, we’ll be able to talk all about how the excellence that is Monster Hunter: Rise, how mediocre Marvel’s Avengers continues to be and unpack why the Undertaker is such an iconic wrestling powerhouse (who’s also a lovely man off stage, apparently!) Then we’ll hit a quick wrap up of last weeks news and you can head on your way! Oh, you want more of our dumb bullshit? Don’t panic, friend! We’ll be next next Tuesday with another CritCast and if you can’t wait that long head on over to Spotify or Anchor to view our back catalogue. 12 episodes already, where does the time go. If there’s something that you’d like to see in the CritCast or you need some answers that only we can provide, drop myself or Darryn an email at either brad@criticalhit.net or editor@criticalhit.net [editor@criticalhit.net]. We don’t pay to advertise the show so word of mouth is a real blessing for us right now, if you’d be so kind as to tell your friends and family who might be interested; we’re very good with grandmothers, just so you know.