Episode 33 - Batman Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Beyond: Two Souls and Pokemon X/Y

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 33:

Batman Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Beyond: Two Souls and Pokemon X/Y

On this decidedly epic episode of the Joy of Gaming Podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) take to the studio once more to tempt not the fates, and discuss the season’s biggest game releases.

First up it’s Beyond: Two Souls, Quantic Dream’s cinematic follow-up to 2010’s fantastically moody Heavy Rain. Writer/Director David Cage’s new game is a quick-time-event-laden ode to ghosts, death and the afterlife, and it has been very divisive among critics and outspoken gamers alike. We discuss the game on its own merits, and also discuss it in comparison to Quantic’s previous offerings, including Indigo Prophecy.  

Next, we hit the high seas with pirate-assassin Edward Kenway in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Last year’s Assassin’s Creed 3 concluded the modern day Desmond story, and also left many fans a bit cold due to a plot that took too long to get moving, a less-charismatic main character, and a rough game launch due to many significant bugs and glitches. With Black Flag, all indications so far seem to point to the series finally getting its bearings again, but this certainly isn’t your father’s Assassin’s Creed. With a new focus on seafaring and ship battles, and an entirely optional modern-day section, Ubisoft took a lot of risks with this one, and we discuss whether or not this truly is a return to form for the series.

Then, we travel to Gotham City for Batman Arkham Origins, a prequel story set just two years into Batman’s crime-fighting career. Warner Bros. Montreal have taken over the reins of Rocksteady’s outstanding Arkham franchise, and the results are roughly what gamers have come to expect based on the series’ first two entries. The game is still a combination of moody atmospherics, free-flow combat mechanics, predator missions and villains galore, but there are some changes to the formula as well. This time around, there is a focus on second-string villains (giving baddies like The Electrocutioner, Anarky and Shiva some time in the limelight), and a larger focus is placed on Batman’s detective prowess with the addition of solvable “case files.” In the end, we tackle the ultimate mystery, of whether or not the game deserves a place on your shelf next to its famous siblings, Arkham Asylum and City.  

But all of this gaming goodness is only the appetizer before our main course of Pokemon, Pokemon and more Pokemon. Pokemon X/Y (or Generation 6) has received nearly universal praise for the way it evolves the series, taking all of the things that make Pokemon great and making them more accessible, better looking and even more fun. This time around, developer Game Freak only added 68 new Pokemon to the index, but it also introduced new Mega evolutions to the mix, as well as new ways to catch and train your favorites in a more user-friendly, less time-consuming way. The social aspects of the game received the biggest overhaul, however, and it has never been easier to connect with friends to trade Pokemon and battle for supremacy. All of these new additions have fundamentally changed the game for Poke players, both in the main game and the online metagame.  We are joined by TJOG engineer Ray Zulkowski, as we take a look at all of these changes, go in depth on every aspect of the experience, and just generally celebrate all things Pokemon.

So join us, for the longest (and quite possibly the best) episode of TJOG ever recorded, where it truly is all about the games. This…is the Joy of Gaming!