Stay ConnectedWhat’s good, Internet? Join Waypoint’s Rob Zacny, Patrick Klepek, Renata Price, Natalie Watson, and Ricardo Contreras two times a week, as they break down the biggest stories in video games, talk about their favorite media, and unfairly compare everything to Dark Souls.
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Natalie and Rob went on a tear through Inscryption on last week’s stream, and so now the whole crew has to talk about how awesome this game is. Then special guest Austin Walker joins Cado and Patrick to talk through their time in the Elden Ring network test, and try to contain their hype as they discuss what worked and what questions still remain unanswered about the full game. After the break, the crew talks about the first two episodes of Otherside Picnic, the Roadside Picnic inspired anime about two women who find each other (and quite possibly themselves) in a creepypasta infused version of The Zone.
Discussed: Inscryption 3:30, Elden Ring 26:32, Xbox Back Compatibility 1:02:09, Otherside Picnic 1:05:13, Shin Megami Tensei V 1:42:36, Question Bucket 1:45:25
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The crew is fully on their bullshit this week, some of it good, some of it great, and some utterly disappointing. First up, Cado is becoming the pilot he always hoped he could be in Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation: Code Fairy, a game about a group of young women that form a secret elite squad of Zeon pilots that were always just off to the side of the original Gundam anime’s story. It’s got a convincing weight to it that has Cado chomping at the bit to play the next volume (or maybe hop into the multiplayer game it’s mechanics come from). Patrick regales us mere mortals with tales of his time in Elden Ring, the upcoming From Soft open world game. He’s enjoyed his time checking out all sorts of fun bullshit in the surprisingly dense world. After the break, Rob is back from an extremely uneven review event for Battlefield 2042. Even looking past the technical issues the event had, the main game modes he played left a lot to be desired, that is until DICE let him at Battlefield: Portal, a build your own game mode with an intricate amount of fine tuning available, with assets and maps from across Battlefield’s history. Stick around near the end of the podcast for an Anime Announcement, and Cado and Patrick yelling a bit about Natalie and Rob’s Inscryption run.
Discussed: Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy 2:42, Elden Ring 19:31, Battlefield 2042 55:14, Guardians of the Galaxy 1:45:46, Monday Pod Announcement 1:53:18, Inscryption 1:57:12
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The Waypoint Radio crew welcomes Motherboard senior editor Jordan Pearson onto the show to talk about gaming NFTs. We discuss how some of the current trends portend a grim future, the NFT games that already exist and how they operate, and what a AAA developer might do with this technology. Come along and listen as we collectively stare into the abyss! After the break, Rob, Patrick, and Cado talk about two recent sci-fi epics: Foundation and Dune, and how they both tackle the way empires oppress people on different timescales.
Discussed: Games and NFTs 5:19, Foundation and Dune 53:00
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We’ve got an extra beefy episode today, because guess what, it’s JRPG time! Gita Jackson joins the pod to talk Shin Megami Tensei V, a game we totally don’t call “the dark souls of Pokemon” in any serious way but it was too cursed to not get out of my head I’m sorry. It is, however, a traditional JRPG in a lot of ways that most other franchises have moved on from, for better and for worse. After the break, Rob and Patrick have been revving up their engines in the new Forza Horizon 5. Patrick is enjoying it as a first time Horizon player but Rob has a bone to pick both with some electronic break models and the ghost of Cado’s drivatar haunting his races. After the outro stick around to hear Patrick and Cado, then Patrick and Austin, gush over the 15 minute Elden Ring gameplay video. #potboygang
Discussed: Shin Megami Tensei V 9:32, Forza Horizon 5 52:35, Darkest Dungeon II 1:29:59, Question Bucket 1:36:58, The Elden Ring Minute 1:58:50
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We’re back and boy, do we have GAMES to talk about! Natalie is taking the traditional Animal Crossing walk of shame, as all her villagers berate her for being gone so long, but the real problem with being away for so long is much worse, and flower shaped, and might have its roots in some real life, uh, tendencies that everyone except Patrick share. Patrick is finding time for gaming with his kid in Zookeeper World, a solid match three game. Rob has the answers to all of our organizational worries, just play hybrid Basebuilder/ARPG Riftbreaker, at least you can make a neatly organized base! Natalie and Cado have been having pretty different experiences with Eastward, a beautifully produced action RPG that shines in it’s world building and story but lacks something in its combat. Patrick has been bitten by the Inscryption bug, he and Cado try their best to communicate how cool the game is without any major spoilers, and Natalie and Rob may have been intrigued by this discussion enough to stream it. Then, Natalie checks in with the latest from Apex Legends before the crew takes a tiny baby dip into the question bucket.
Discussed: Animal Crossing 12:34, Zookeeper World 24:51, Riftbreaker 31:57, Eastward 41:24, Inscryption 55:05, Apex Legends 1:12:18
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Rob, Patrick, and Cado are joined by special guest Yussef Cole to talk about Guardians of the Galaxy, a surprisingly not horrible action game that has flown over expectations by being just … fine. Patrick and Yussef break down the game’s workable combat, and the way side stories let these characters breath in a way the movies don’t. After the break, Rob has been enjoying a dip into history, both his own and that of medieval Europe in Age of Empires IV, an RTS that not only throws back the clock with its setting, but some of it’s RTS design choices as well. Cado has finally finished Metroid Dread, and is about as high on the movement and combat as he is low on the overall map structure. This leads us into a discussion over MercurySteam's crediting practices and labor practices across the industry.
Discussed: Guardians of the Galaxy 2:54, Age of Empires IV 54:11, Metroid Dread 1:23:28, Labor in the Games Industry 1:33:55
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The bucket calls to us, and we must answer. We’re doing a heft dive into the question bucket today, but first! We hit some news stories, like “Does Tom Holland Age?” and “Hey, wtf is up at Bungie?” Patrick is also getting back into VR with Resident Evil 4 VR. After the break, we take a quick look at the trailer for Haunted Chocolatier, the newly announced game from the creator of Stardew Valley, and get into the new home Chocolatier fad that Rob has the skinny on. Then we dive into the question bucket to answer some questions about… well fish, that’s why we’re diving obviously.
Discussed: News 5:06, VR 36:01, Resident Evil 4 VR 40:47, Question Bucket 1:04:34
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It’s a new Monday in October, which means we’re one week closer to the spooky apex of the season. We’re slowly ratcheting up the spookiness this week by immersing ourselves in S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. We discuss the early game as Patrick continues to play on stream, and we start to reach some of the scarier moments of the game. Rob is being Rob by reaching back in time to play Medal of Honor Airborne, a game that has Rob considering a path that Military FPS games could’ve taken in a different world. Cado’s playing … well a roguelike deck builder of course. Inscryption is his game of choice for this spooky season, with some immaculate scary vibes, even though it’s missing one or two Content Warnings up front. After the break, Rob, Patrick, and Cado wrap up their Ted Lasso discussion and hit on the “surprise” villain of season two, and just how off the extra episodes ended up landing for us.
Discussed: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 1:40, Medal of Honor Airborne 13:56, Inscryption 21:37, Elechead 41:50, Ted Lasso 46:48
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The WPR crew is back from their day off on Monday recharged and ready to discuss the finer points of … the best way to make a PB&J. The crew talks about their time with Back 4 Blood, the new iteration on the Left 4 Dead formula made by some of the people who created it. While it has an uneven first showing, as with most co-op games it’s often better with friends. After the break, Natalie and Cado dive into their time with Deltarune Chapter 1+2, and discuss the ways the game continues to play with themes set up in Undertale in new ways. Then, Rob is colliding into his past as a matchbox kid by checking out Hot Wheels Unleashed, an almost too brutal arcade racer that has a bizarre home decoration component? And Patrick wraps up his time with Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and finds the back half challenging in a satisfying way that the first half was not.
Discussed: Back 4 Blood 13:42, World Flipper 43:18, Deltarune 50:30, Hot Wheels Unleashed 1:04:13, Kena: Bridge of Spirits 1:25:01
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The fall game season is in full swing! Gita is on today's pod to talk all things Remedy, but first! We talk about Far Cry 6 and the Ubisoft franchise fatigue so many of us have felt at one point or another. Patrick has been checking out Metroid Dread, a good game that is limited by the conventions that the Metroid franchise introduced to games as a whole. After the break, Gita has been diving back into the world of Alan Wake Remastered, and ended up taking a tour through many other Remedy games. Then there's the Cado Destiny Minute, where they discuss the new vaulting announcement and how Destiny 2 is one of the only MMOs that gets rid of content.
Discussed: Far Cry 6 1:15, Metroid Dread 32:24, Alan Wake Remastered 56:38, Destiny 2 Vaulting 1:34:06
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