Left Behind Game Club: A Video Game Podcast

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070: P.T. Oct 28, 2019

Show notes

We prepare ourselves for Death Stranding (and Halloween) with the very spooky P.T.!

Developer: 7780S Studios aka Kojima Productions | Publisher: Konami | Release Date: August 12, 2014

Jacob and special guest Jessica Fantauzzo (her 3rd apperance) scream at the top of their lungs many times, learn the worst ways to decorate your home and talk to a bagged lunch.

The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast with a focus on positivity & community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage!

If you liked the show, consider giving us a review on iTunes!

Player: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Special Guests: Jessica Fantauzzo (@jfant)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

1:30 What is P.T.? What did you know about P.T.?
2:40 Who is Hideo Kojima?
3:30 The initial sequence of P.T.
4:30 Who screamed first?
6:05 The setting and bad decor of P.T. (including a “table of regrets”)
9:20 We introduce you to the antagonist, Lisa
11:00 P.T.: “The Corn Maze of Video Games”?
14:50 Picture fragments and Lisa attacks
18:00 New decor in the hallway (like red lights and a bloody fridge) gives us (P.T.)SD
20:30 The writing is on the wall (“Hello!”)
23:40 Lisa sticks to you
25:20 A change in perspective aka “the red hallway”
28:10 The bathroom scene
29:55 The final sequence of P.T. and the heavily scrutinized way to finish the game
34:50 Slient Hills starring Norman Reedus (note: Jacob wants to play Shattered Memories)
35:55 The zeitgeist around P.T., Silent Hill, Hideo Kojima and Konami
37:10 We talk about revelations from two great videos about this: The Grate Debate and Super Bunnyhop
40:25 Closing thoughts about P.T.
45:25 Bloopers

Please note: you cannot get this game on PS4 anymore, but you can get a remade version of the game on itch.io!

Next Shows:

DOOM (2016) – November 6th
Wolfenstein: The New Order – December 4th

069: Valiant Hearts: The Great War Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

We learn about the hard truths of World War I in Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier | Publisher: Ubisoft | Release Date: June 24, 2014

Jacob and special guests Travis Colenutt (his 6th appearance) and Katie Lesperance (her 1st appearance) solve tons of puzzles, trek around Europe and talk about the dogs of war.

If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Player: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Special Guests: Travis Colenutt (@TravisColenutt) & Katie Lesperance (@lesperak)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes:

1:30 An introduction to Katie’s gaming preferences
2:40 What did we know about Valiant Hearts beforehand?
3:45 How did we play Valiant Heart: The Great War + our Switch impressions
5:15 How would you describe Valiant Hearts?
6:15 Katie shares her love of the The Curse of Monkey Island & LucasArt vs. Sierra adventure games
9:25 The opening of the game and the five main characters (Emile, Karl, Anna, Freddie and Walt)
11:25 World War 1 and video games
12:35 The game’s partnership with Apocalypse: World War I
15:15 Our big issue with the game: its “tonal whiplash” (spoilers begin at 16:20)
18:50 The unique mechanics for the five main characters
19:20 Katie is a nurse and she has an issue with Anna’s compressions
20:55 THERE’S A DOG… save the doggo!
22:35 Risking Walt’s life in front of a flamethrower
24:00 The Dogs of War and we all thought that Walt was going to die
27:25 Tons of block puzzles… did we like the puzzles?
29:45 Anna’s driving sections
30:30 We talk about UbiArt and compare the game to Scribblenauts and Castle Crashers
32:40 Were all of the puzzles logical?
33:55 Jacob compares the final boss to Metal Gear Solid 4
35:00 Travis struggled with his aim
37:50 The hint system
40:45 Jacob’s story book report and the final sequence of the game (The Nivelle Offensive)
45:15 How emotional did we get with the ending? Cold dead heart or a weeping, sopping mess?
51:15 The music fit the game perfectly
52:15 We fight about character and narrator accents (“some PBS narrator”)
58:00 Some of the cool “comic book-like” visual elements (Katie’s husband called it “trippy”)
59:55 Our final thoughts about Valiant Hearts + Jacob’s recommendation: The Lion’s Song
1:04:25 Please let us know if you know about Tintin in our Discord

068: Splinter Cell: Conviction Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

We mark and execute our foes in Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal | Publisher: Ubisoft | Release Date: April 13, 2010

Jacob and Moe give their best Michael Ironside impressions, use some cool gadgets and talk too much about movies.

If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Players: Moe Murtadi (@mmurtadi) and Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

1:50 Our history with Splinter Cell (with SOCOM/Hitman talk)
4:30 How did we play Splinter Cell: Conviction (including a story about Ubisoft Uplay)
5:10 Playing the game with a controller on PC
6:05 Jacob shows off his Splinter Cell: Conviction (Collector’s Edition) aka great audio
7:35 Jacob explores the Clancyverse (Ghost Recon, H.A.W.X. and EndWar)
8:45 Jacob reads Kevin Van Ord’s Verdict on the game (read his Xbox 360 review)
11:40 The controls and gameplay of Splinter Cell: Conviction
- 11:55 Using the dark
- 13:20 Using your snake cam
14:10 The Michael Ironside talk begins (Command & Conquer and Jacob looks at his face for the first time)
16:10 The Batman, 24 and My Hero Academia variety minute
18:05 Continued talk about controls and gameplay
- 18:10 Mark & Execute
- 22:10 Last Known Position
- 23:30 Using cover in the game
- 25:10 Interrogations (and Monster Closets)
27:00 The LBGC’s Chief Guns Officer chimes in on Splinter Cell: Conviction’s weapons
29:30 Gadget talk
33:00 A follow-up on the control (they may be too loose)
34:10 Storytelling in the environment (with a What Remains of Edith Finch callback)
37:00 Comparing Splinter Cell: Conviction to today’s graphics
39:00 The sound in Splinter Cell: Conviction
39:50 Where should you start with Splinter Cell?
41:35 Jacob’s Splinter Cell: Conviction Book Report
46:00 Who is Megiddo (with slight Metal Gear Solid spoilers)
47:15 Jacob compares Splinter Cell: Conviction to Steven Seagal’s Under Siege 2
48:45 Product placement in the game #brands
49:35 Our final thoughts about Splinter Cell: Conviction
52:55 A special shout-out to the The Player Player Podcast

067: Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

What do the voices in your head sound like?

Developer: Ninja Theory | Publisher: Ninja Theory | Release Date: August 8, 2017

Jacob and Mike take a dive into psychosis as they recount their experience with runes and Norse mythology.

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Players: Michael Ruffolo (@ruffolom) and Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

2:00 What did we know about Hellblade coming into this?
4:49 How did we play Hellblade?
6:25 Hellblade is just puzzle solving and combat, right?
8:00 Solving puzzles wasn’t rewarding
9:05 Astaroth from Soul Calibur makes an appearance
10:00 Jacob really enjoyed the combat and Mike is surprised
11:45 How difficult did we find it?
13:20 If this was longer, we would have needed more variation in gameplay
14:30 What are the stakes in the game?
15:20 If you die, your save gets lost?!
16:39 There’s a documentary in the game that we watched after playing
17:40 Psychopathy vs Psychosis
18:00 Jacob loved the sound design and acting
18:36 Ninja Theory used video of actors acting in the game, instead of models
20:25 Senua’s actress was great
21:00 Wait, so what was the story the game tells?
23:15 Jacob loved the trials at the tree, and Mike hates the Blindness trial
25:20 Mike lays out the reasons it didn’t connect with him
26:00 Jacob makes a good attempt at explaining it
27:20 The Darkness and the different boss battles
29:30 Road to Helheim, Hela and the final boss battle
32:00 Hellblade went right over Mike’s head, but thankfully Jacob gets it
34:05 There are things this game has done that no other has attempted
37:47 Jacob wouldn’t recommend it to everyone but would recommend it
38:40 Closing thoughts

066: Bioshock Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

We take a stroll through Rapture and see what Andrew Ryan has built.

Developer: Irrational Games | Publisher: 2K Games | Release Date: August 21, 2007

Mike, Jacob and Moe share stories about the great year 2007 was for games, how they came to Bioshock, and whether the twist holds up in the current day and age.

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Players: Michael Ruffolo (@ruffolom), Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt), and Moe Murtadi (@mmurtadi)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

2:00 What did we know about Bioshock coming into this?
4:30 Bioshock was like going to Disney world
5:10 2007 was a great year for games
7:25 Expectations were high and it broke Mike’s heart playing it again
8:15 Do the game mechanics age well?
8:40 “The Citizen Kane of Games” and Roger Ebert
10:10 How did we play it? PC, console, original and remaster
11:58 What is Bioshock and how does it start?
13:15 Morality system and consequences (or lack thereof)
13:50 Who is Andrew Ryan?
15:30 Splicers and Atlas
16:30 What does the game look like? Answer: dark and creepy
19:10 Rapture feels like a character
20:00 This game still looks good, and looked great back in the day
20:45 What are Plasmids?
22:00 What is Adam and Eve and where did it come from? Sea slugs and superhumans
23:15 “Little Sisters are Demons”
24:00 Big Daddies are like momma bears and just as tough
26:00 How did you take down Big Daddies?
28:00 Incinerate and Shock
28:50 Plasmids and the wrench
30:15 Jacob feels the gameplay is dated
32:30 KOTOR is the best game ever made and Mike’s co-hosts are trollish dickheads 🙂
33:30 The AI is really good
34:20 What are your favourite parts of the game?
38:30 Jacob and Mike geek out over Fort Frolic and Sander Cohen
41:30 What did you do with the Little Sisters? Jacob McCourt is a bad man
45:00 Tennenbaum and the different endings
48:30 Bioshock and the illusion of choice
51:00 Frustrated with a second playthrough
52:00 The bad PS3 port made Mike happy
53:20 Jacob felt it drags on and doesn’t end well
54:00 What we felt about the ending
55:00 Randian Objectivism and the politics of the game
59:00 Simple impressions on the sequels, Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite
1:01:00 LBGC connection to Bioshock 2
1:03:00 What’s next for Ken Levine?
1:04:30 Sharing our final thoughts and takeaways
1:05:20 Mike almost got a regrettable Bioshock tattoo

065: Catherine Jun 26, 2019

Show notes

We talk extensively about our romantic relationship because of Catherine.

Developer: Atlus | Publisher: Atlus (in most regions) | Release Date: February 17, 2011

Mike, Jacob and special guests Shay Whiston and Rocco Tenaglia III let their feelings out, talk about cursed puzzle games and really get to know each other on a personal level.

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Players: Michael Ruffolo (@ruffolom) and Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Special Guests: Shay Whiston (@ShaelynTai) and Rocco Tenaglia III (@SixHundredBucks)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

2:50 What is Catherine?
5:15 “How do slip into an affair?” Alcohol.
8:00 Mike pre-ordered Catherine
9:25 We talk about Catherine’s puzzle gameplay by comparing the game to Q*Bert and Pushmo
11:40 What’s the anime part of Catherine?
12:50 What about choice in Catherine?
14:50 The binary morality system in the game
16:20 Jacob brings in the Bechdel Test
19:50 Vincent is so frustrating
21:50 Sheep = People?
22:35 The curse
25:10 The overarching plot of Catherine
26:55 The art-style (in-engine vs. pre-rendered cutscenes)
28:40 The music in Catherine
29:30 The voice-overs in Catherine (Troy Baker & Laura Bailey)
30:30 Going into the washroom for… stuff?
32:35 New techniques? Rapunzel game?
34:45 How you’re supposed to play Catherine (with callbacks to our The Witness episode)
36:35 Catherine and its take on relationships
40:15 Did Catherine change your take on relationships?
42:00 Michael’s in the Hot Seat
47:35 We enter the confessional and give our moral takes
54:50 Baby play
56:40 Wrap-up
58:00 Rocco talks about his new book, How to Write a Book And Make At Least Six Hundred Dollars

Announcement: Year 3 Changes Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

A brief announcement about changes to the podcast as we enter Year 3 in July 2019.

064: Our Top 3 of E3 2019 Special Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

We talk about video games on our 2019 E3 Special!

Jacob, Moe and Mike break the Game Club mold by talking about E3 2019!

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes:

2:00 The Format of our E3 Special
2:45 We head into AnimeLand to talk about My Hero Academia (and Disney’s Sky High)
4:15 Jacob’s #3: Fire Emblem: The Three Houses
7:05 Jacob #2 & Moe’s #1: Pokemon Sword and Shield
9:00 Mike’s Pokemon Defense: Totally Not Mark’s Pokemon: The Devolving Designs (ft. Tom O’Regan)
12:15 Don’t forgot about Pokemon Home, Pokemon Sleep and Pokemon Go Plus Plus!
13:10 Jacob #1: Control (and Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy)
18:50 Mike’s #1: Fable 4 (and signing Peter Molyneux’s wall)
22:30 Mike’s #2: Watch Dogs: Legion (and our love for Driver: San Francisco)
25:45 Mike’s #3: The Opportunity Caused by Sony’s E3 Absence (probably from Microsoft)
30:40 Moe’s #2: An Update to APEX Legends or a new Battle Royale
34:35 Moe’s #3: Surprises!
38:10: Games Gone’s Most Anticipated Games from E3 2019!
- Games Gone Links: Podcast | Twitter
39:00 Video Game Rations’s Most Anticipated Games & News from E3 2019!
- Video Game Rations Links: Podcast | Twitter
41:15 Community Voice Clips & Comments
- 41:25 Thomas Reiss
  - Twitter | Twitch | Charged Shot
- 42:50 Ky (aka feenietrite)
44:35 Wrap-Up

Additional Music:

Cold, In My Mind (from Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy)

Our E3 2018 picks:

Moe’s Top 3:
- Super Smash Brothers for Switch
- Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee
- Spider-Man
Jacob’s Top 3
- Ghost of Tsushima
- The Last of Us Part II
- Rage 2
Mike’s Top 3
- Anthem
- Fallout 76
- Beyond Good and Evil 2

063: Bastion May 22, 2019

Show notes

We deal with the aftermath of the calamity and all things Bastion.

Developer: Supergiant Games | Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | Release Date: July 20, 2011

Jacob, Moe, Mike and Nick do their part in rebuilding civilization while admiring the designs and sounds of the game

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Show Notes (spoilers):

1:56 – We’re playing Bastion… on Vita?
2:30 – What we knew coming into the game
4:45 – XBLA… remember that? what we played on
6:50 – What IS Bastion?
9:50 – The audio and Narrator are great, I don’t care what you say
10:40 – Action RPGs and Platforming
12:00 – Our choice of weapons
14:52 – What is THE Bastion?
19:00 – Difficulty mods and the risk/reward of them
30:00 – The enemies in this game feel natural
33:42 – WE’RE ROLLIN ROLLIN ROLLIN ROLLIN (WOOO)
34:40 – This devolves into a puddle of wrestling talk and references
36:15 – The story and narrative
43:00 – Zulf is like Thanos
47:00 – The first choice and consequence of our actions
49:30 – Supergiant sequels
51:00 – The second choice you have to make
54:00 – Do we recommend it?
1:00:00 – The wrap-up and where you can find us

062: Undertale May 08, 2019

Show notes

We go on some weird dates in Undertale.

Developer: Toby Fox | Publisher: Toby Fox | Release Date: September 15, 2015

Jacob and Travis question their morality, flirt with mommies, go down to bullet hell and discover who’s the better person (it’s not Jacob).

Join our Discord server! Go to LeftBehindGame.Club and scroll down to the Discord section of the homepage! If you love the show, please consider a review on iTunes. It helps a lot.

Player: Jacob McCourt (@JacobMcCourt)

Special Guest: Travis Colenutt (@TravisColenutt)

Website: LeftBehindGame.Club | Twitter: @LeftBehindClub | Instagram: @LeftBehindGameClub

Additional music this week:

Cold open music: Undertale OST 001 – Once Upon a Time by Toby Fox
Credits music: Hopes and Dreams / Save the World (Undertale) – GaMetal Remix by GaMetal

Show Notes (spoilers):

1:40 Two warnings before we start the show (aka reverse marketing)
2:45 The setup of Undertale
3:45 Meeting Flowey and how the game’s battle system works
5:40 Meeting Toriel and the game’s overworld
12:50 Your final Undertale spoiler warning
13:00 Jacob is a bad man; an introduction to the game’s morality system
16:15 Shout-outs to our friends at Video Game Rations (check out their new Undertale podcast & website)
17:20 We talked about the 93 different permutations of the game’s ending (Undertale’s endings in a flowchart)
19:30 Is Jacob more of a Sans or Papyrus (shout-out Inspector Gadget)?
24:45 The Papyrus fight
28:25 Jacob and Travis’ date with Papyrus (shout-out to Mass Effect)
34:00 Jacob = Mettaton + Papyrus & Travis = Alphys + Sans
34:35 Undyne and the Monster Child (and “Toby says no”)
37:20 The music of Undertale
38:20 The enemy variety in Undertale
42:05 Dating Undyne
44:50 The Hotlands, Mettaton and Alphys
50:45 The Mettaton-Alphys twist
51:40 Alphys is like a 2007-era Facebook user
53:00 Cool, but what is it like to play Undertale?
54:40 The Mettaton fight
58:40 Asgore
59:20 Explaining the game’s initial story
1:02:20 The final Sans interaction and the LV/EXP revelation
1:04:50 The Asgore fight
1:06:40 Explaining the differences between weapons
1:09:15 Photoshop Flowey aka Omega Flowey, God Flowey or Flowey X
1:12:00 Jacob deleted his Switch save… thank you Flowey’s Time Machine
1:15:30 Going back to romance Alphys
1:17:50 Deep lore about Flowey and determination
1:20:30 Back to the True Pacifist ending
1:26:00 The Genocide ending (shoutout to Nitro Rad’s Undertale Story Explainer)
1:29:00 The choice that gave Jacob legitimate goosebumps, the consequences of this choice and Sans
1:32:40 Jumping into YouTube videos (like Game Theory’s Who is W.D. Gaster?)
1:34:10 Jacob brings it back to Professional Wrestling with Kenny Omega’s Wrestle Kingdom 13 en trance (Kenny’s Quest)
1:35:55 Our final thoughts and Deltarune

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