Escapist Podcast: 087: The Death of LucasArts (But Not Friendship!)

The Escapist Staff

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087: The Death of LucasArts (But Not Friendship!)

This week, the podcast crew laments the loss of LucasArts. We also talk about friendship and who'd make the best leader in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

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PunkRex

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Feb 19, 2010
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Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
 

Kuredan

Hingle McCringleberry
Dec 4, 2012
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Heya Podcast- Why not compromise and get inflatable couch(es)? Easily disassembled and you get the bonus of amusing squeaking noises when you move, not to mention the dubious comfort of sitting on them.
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
Unfortunately for new players, Persona 4 frontloads the story like mad, so you have to sit through a good two hours of doing nothing but hitting X to advance the dialog before you can actually start fighting something. Once you go through the TV and meet Teddy, things start picking up.
 

PunkRex

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Feb 19, 2010
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Susan Arendt said:
PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
Unfortunately for new players, Persona 4 frontloads the story like mad, so you have to sit through a good two hours of doing nothing but hitting X to advance the dialog before you can actually start fighting something. Once you go through the TV and meet Teddy, things start picking up.
So its Monster Hunter, great... im getting flashbacks of carrying those bloody wyvern eggs again... AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

On a side note, I freaking loved Eternal Sonata, its got so much damn charm.
 

WMDogma

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Kuredan said:
Heya Podcast- Why not compromise and get inflatable couch(es)? Easily disassembled and you get the bonus of amusing squeaking noises when you move, not to mention the dubious comfort of sitting on them.
Certainly an option, but something tells me the squeaking noises would get old real fast :p
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
7,222
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PunkRex said:
Susan Arendt said:
PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
Unfortunately for new players, Persona 4 frontloads the story like mad, so you have to sit through a good two hours of doing nothing but hitting X to advance the dialog before you can actually start fighting something. Once you go through the TV and meet Teddy, things start picking up.
So its Monster Hunter, great... im getting flashbacks of carrying those bloody wyvern eggs again... AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

On a side note, I freaking loved Eternal Sonata, its got so much damn charm.
It gets better, I promise! It really really does!
 

Kuredan

Hingle McCringleberry
Dec 4, 2012
166
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WMDogma said:
Kuredan said:
Heya Podcast- Why not compromise and get inflatable couch(es)? Easily disassembled and you get the bonus of amusing squeaking noises when you move, not to mention the dubious comfort of sitting on them.
Certainly an option, but something tells me the squeaking noises would get old real fast :p
Haha! I know, I was being somewhat sarcastic. Seriously though, I had a 6 month TDY and slept on a futon for the first week and air mattress for the rest. The futon left grill marks and back pain and the air mattress was awesome. I used it for the first month in my apartment at my duty station as well while I waited on my goods shipment.

Alternately, if you had good joists you could hang eye hooks and string up hammocks. I love me a good hammock.
 

PunkRex

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Susan Arendt said:
It gets better, I promise! It really really does!
I should really listen to the entire vid before comenting but you talking about 'The Phantom Tollbooth' was awesome.

When I was younger my mum and dad split up and watching them two struggle to work affected me alot, my dad to actually make something of himeslf buisness wise and my mum to support me and my sister. As a result I got really attached to over manly, hard working characters like Samurai Jack and Gai from Naruto who I still try and emulate today in my own endeavours!

The idea of slacking off or 'killing time' really annoys me, something im sure you understand.

God I love that film. I also totally had that thing with advanced books when I was younger as I was dyslexic but all my friends were nerds so I HAD to read Terry Pratchett. I didn't understand half of the content but Death was damn cool.
 

The Lugz

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~~IDEA~~

Theme!

dudes.. you have half the answer already lava lamps and inflatable couches
go back to the 80's! you could even get the luminous 8 bit color scheme right
inflatable chairs/couches are super cheap too, i got a lounger for £8 once
that's like $12-$16 or so? you can afford it.

a super basic round table, with a dnd game on it, some magic cards whatever
it's literally perfect.

you spend less than $100 and get a theme for your podcat.

I shall now return to the podcat, had to suggest it.
 

caballitomalo

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Aug 12, 2009
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Hello there, question for the Podcast: are you guys making another Game of Thrones extra cast? I loved those the last time around, it was fun listening to it while playing defense grid XD.

Great show.
 

Garland

Sincere Ruffian
Aug 24, 2012
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I really liked Final Fantasy X's Blitzball for its imbalance; destroying the Goers and the Psyches with Jecht Shot was really satisfying after the former had excellent douche-ification at the beginning of the game. But I also liked Tetra Masters in Final Fantasy IX.

I concur that many new JRPG's falter in the characterization department rather than the story (but many stories could use some trimming and editing). In my opinion, I don't think the audience for JRPG's has moved on, but rather the bar is vary high when making a quality JRPG. These expectations have led Square Enix to their graphical and combat system revision obsession which has led to a decline in quality in their more recent titles.
 

Garland

Sincere Ruffian
Aug 24, 2012
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PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, here is a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was so drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like pointless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scott it made me wonder when I'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
The simple fact is that Persona 4 and all games in general are not for everyone and you are not alone for getting antsy in the introduction. I personally adored the set-up; the introduction of Persona 4 was an answer to the lack of agency the introduction of Persona 3 presented, which got you playing faster, but without context or motivation. This focus on player agency made me unable to put it down before I actually began playing the game in contrast to your experience.
 

PunkRex

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Feb 19, 2010
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Garland said:
PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, here is a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was so drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like pointless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scott it made me wonder when I'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
The simple fact is that Persona 4 and all games in general are not for everyone and you are not alone for getting antsy in the introduction. I personally adored the set-up; the introduction of Persona 4 was an answer to the lack of agency the introduction of Persona 3 presented, which got you playing faster, but without context or motivation. This focus on player agency made me unable to put it down before I actually began playing the game in contrast to your experience.
I'll struggle through, the rest of the game does look really engaging, its just the it gets such un-real praise and it bugs me. Its got to the point that if someone critises it even slightly, they get destroyed, and NO ART is above critisism.
 

shiajun

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I deinfately nail down games that defined my personality. Perhaps, for my then tender age (11-12), I shouldn't have gotten a hand on Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, but I'm sure as hell happy I did. I have vague memories of other adventure-y games I played before, but it was this masterful gem that set in this joy of complex, intriguing, powerful storytelling, and for investigation and reasoning. It was the stepping stone into adventure games, so the whole Gabriel Knight series and Jane Jensen's fantastic writing, belding of mystery and fact completely set the tone for the kinds of stories I like. The same feeling came back with The Longest Journey and Grim Fandango. I can't settle for shoddy, mediocre characters and plots. However.....

Tomb Raider, the first one, also gave me this deeply ingrained desire to explore and uncover hidden mysteries. Again with mystery. I guess it all can be stripped that games (along with the tons of books I devoured in my young age reading) just defined this "I need to know what's behind all this mystery, and I'll search for the answer myself" drive that I think eventually led me to be a scientist. Also, it helped me understand that being alone isn't bad, and having to rely on wits and nimbleness to solve problems can be better than brute strength. There was this recent article on Rock, Paper, Shotgun's "Gaming made me" about Tomb Raider, and it felt very familiar.

If we're going by books, I think Michael Ende's "Momo" really moved me in this idea that even the smallest things are important, and everything you do with people matters. "Don't become a materialistic person and treasure your time" was my take away notion, which I've tried very hard to keep up, even with the weird habits my profession tends to impose on me. Like Susan, Alice in Wonderland also made me feel incredibly happy that I "got" all the wordplay and clever little language distorsion going on. I didn't know Phantom Tollbooth was a book. I only saw the movie adaptation and it was great.
 

Xman490

Doctorate in Danger
May 29, 2010
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One of you was breathing into one of the microphones, and it is VERY distracting! I can't enjoy the Podcat as usual with "huff, huff" going on.
 

Vie

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Nov 18, 2009
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I haven't actually finished listening quite yet, but there's something I have to say.

In the nicest possible way, bugger you all - I'm having sympathy pains for ALL of your stories.
 

DrRockor

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Jun 24, 2008
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PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
As someone who reads and watches anime and manga that is just people in highschool talking about pretty mundane stuff I liked how it started but I can see where its frustrating for people who dont like that sort of thing. I think its maybe 2 weeks in game time for everything to really kick in. If you don't enjoy all the talking so much, I'm not sure if you'll like the social linking a lot.

I think the only game that would make me buy a PS4 in general would be Persona 5. I think I would buy it the day it comes out if that was announced. Its how they got me to buy a Vita.

Good luck to Janelle, whatever it is I hope she get better soon
 

PunkRex

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Feb 19, 2010
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DrRockor said:
PunkRex said:
Okay Persona 4 fans, heres a question:

When do they stop talking?

I managed to find the original Persona 4 on PS2 and get one of my many old Playstations to play the bloody thing and not spit it out claiming it was a DVD but I got two hours in and it was sooooooooooooooo drawn out. I finally got to a dungeon but all my interest in the story and characters was spent, I was just so bored with them going on and on about what seemed like ponitless shit and the pace was like trying to swim through jelly. I really want to like it (the characters really seem likable) but great fucking scot it made me wonder when i'd get to actually play the thing as opposed to listen to it.
As someone who reads and watches anime and manga that is just people in highschool talking about pretty mundane stuff I liked how it started but I can see where its frustrating for people who dont like that sort of thing. I think its maybe 2 weeks in game time for everything to really kick in. If you don't enjoy all the talking so much, I'm not sure if you'll like the social linking a lot.

I think the only game that would make me buy a PS4 in general would be Persona 5. I think I would buy it the day it comes out if that was announced. Its how they got me to buy a Vita.

Good luck to Janelle, whatever it is I hope she get better soon
Heres the thing though, I do enjoy slice of life stuff. Hell, one of the reasons I like alot of romance/harem animes and manga is because of the human element. I do like what i've seen, it was just so slooooow, not that im against slowing down every now and then... I dunno. I'll give it another go.