The Game Room Where It Happens - Guardians of the Galaxy

This episode explores the nuances of the Guardians of the Galaxy game, reflecting on its strengths and weaknesses. The co-hosts address gameplay mechanics, narrative pacing, character development, and the impact of dialogue on immersion, all while pondering the potential for a sequel.

• Overview of the Guardians of the Galaxy game and its unique story
• Character dynamics praised for their depth and connection
• Combat mechanics criticized for repetition and lack of character interaction
• The narrative pacing and emotional impact raised concerns
• Dialogue, particularly the use of "flark," generated contention
• Hope for a sequel and the future of the Guardians franchise

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it Gaming.

Speaker 2: 0:06

Wait for it. Anime PLUS ULTRA.

Speaker 1: 0:11

Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it.

Speaker 2: 0:31

This is the Wait For it Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait For it Podcast. I'm your co-host, phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino.

Speaker 1: 0:40

And I'm your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty, and for this edition of the Game Room, where it Happens, we are here to talk about a game from Marvel that you might have missed out on. You know of this group from the films Guardians of the Galaxy, but have you ever played the game? Well, if you flarkin' didn't, we're going to flarkin' talk about it, and I can't wait to flark and get into it. Phil.

Speaker 2: 1:07

All right, it's fresh on Eric's mind. So it is. He's up to date with the, the lingo and you know it's a team that obviously we have a big affinity for. You know, in terms of the movies, like, there's varying levels of admiration that I'm sure will come up organically here this afternoon as we record here. But, yeah, it is a game that I very much enjoy.

Speaker 2: 1:30

When it came back, I played it when it came out in 2021, and it's a game that I think that had an unfair amount of stink attached to it because of another game that we will also discuss here in this episode. Is it perfect? I definitely don't think that, but because of so many missteps in this genre specifically for them to come out and, I think, make a take, a relatively big risk and a swing in a time where studios are not doing that, I think deserves to be commended. So I'm very excited to finally be talking about the Guardians of the Galaxy here. That was, uh, developed by the edos montreal studio that did the deus ex games, and there's definitely a lot of like influence in that here when it comes to this game. So, once again, as I mentioned, eric is fresh off of his playthrough. I have not played it in since it came out, um, so I had to go back and kind of watch some videos on it.

Speaker 2: 2:24

But, yeah, really excited to do this deep dive, eric, and discuss it with our community. So, for those of you that are looking for any of our other content, make sure you stick around to the very end of the episode and we'll let you know where you can find all of that. So, as I mentioned, guardians of the Galaxy came out in 2021. Action adventure game developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix, set in a original universe based on the comics. So this is separate from the MCU, separate from really anything, and brings the Guardians of the Galaxy to our console. So, erica, you are fresh off of your playthrough. I want to know how you're feeling here in terms of some of the positives you want to take away. You you have, you got notes, so I'm excited to hear what you jotted down as we discuss this game here today yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:12

So, first and foremost, I'm gonna I'm gonna preface it by saying it is a good time, like I can see appeals for this particular game and I think, phil, I don't have the perspective that you have of playing any of the avengers game that came before it. I know it was a nightmare and this game was far from a nightmare, for sure. So I mean, in that aspect there were a lot of things to really enjoy. But I will say, after playing it and I don't know if there were other influences at, you know that were at play here, and I'll talk about those in particular in just a little bit I don't know, this game was okay, like if you told me this game after playing it is under the radar, maybe underappreciated, never brought up up in conversations.

Speaker 1: 4:07

I can kind of see that, though I would push on the underappreciated part, because I think this is a game that has a lot of aspects that we're familiar with already and I think the problem is that a lot of those things have been done in other games better. And I'm curious where we'll kind of pick and choose what the pros and cons are here, because you did allude to it, it's not a perfect game. I think I'm gonna be a little bit harsher on that aspect, and I think for me, phil, it all comes down to when you're gonna play a single player experience. The story at the heart of it is something you got to resonate with, and I think it might've resonated with you a little bit more than me. So I'm excited to get into the positives, because there absolutely are a lot of positives to discuss, but at least on my end there were a couple of disappointments that I experienced, especially in the latter half of the story.

Speaker 2: 5:10

Yeah, disappointments that I experience, especially in the latter half of the story, yeah, we'll definitely talk about that, because I do think the ending is a cluttered mess. But the journey is really what is on display here and I do think that, in terms of the Guardians team, that we, of the teams that we have, you know, we have obviously the MCU version, we have the Telltale version, which I did play part of that. I never finished it, and then we have this one. In terms of like, at least getting an opportunity to flesh out these characters like this is the best opportunity that we've had. If you're not going to read the comics, obviously, so if you're going to go into physical media or into this type of media, whether it be movies or gaming.

Speaker 2: 5:40

This is the definitive team and I really liked eric that this is not an origin story like these are an established team. We actually even find out that there's been like a big intergalactic war with Thanos. That has already happened, so we don't have to be wrapped up in what was going on with the MCU at that time. It is, it took its opportunity to tell its own story. These are the characters that we want to develop.

Speaker 2: 6:01

They already already know each other, they're already a found family and this is their backstory. This is what happens to them individually. That, I think, makes the Guardians I think, once again one of our favorite teams slash just characters individually, even when you split them up in all of the superhero genre. So the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special is so much fun right it's, and it gives us an opportunity to explore those characters more. It gives us a a good amount of lore as well, and I just really like that. We get to meet these characters and kind of already them having said, and the developers saying, hey, they're already here, this is what they're all about and this is what they do.

Speaker 1: 6:42

I thought that was a good decision yeah, and the thing I I took away the most right is both a challenge, which is to be expected, but one that the game overcomes is it's a it's the same cast of characters but a different take on those characters. So immediately, if you're a fan of the movies, you're immediately thrown off. You're like that's not my star lord, that's not my gamora, that's not my drax. Yeah, rocking and groot look characters. So immediately, if you're a fan of the movies, you're immediately thrown off. You're like that's not my star lord, that's not my gamora, that's not my drax. Yeah, rockin and groot look a little different. But those are the two you could probably mimic the most from the films and I'm not a guardian's truth or like I read the comics, like I'm not going to be that guy.

Speaker 1: 7:21

But as a fan strictly of the movie phil, it was very difficult the first few hours of gameplay to really shake that. But what I got to give this game credit for from the voice acting to the character designs, I do like this cast of characters and I do see them as their own separate entity of the Guardians of the Galaxy. That's a huge win in my book for this, because, again, they're fundamentally different in some aspects, but in the same way they have all of the same heart, that each of those characters do all the same motives and desires, and they're played in just a different take of the character, and I really, really enjoyed that. So again, phil, that's just kicking it off. Probably the thing. If I was going to walk away and talk about this game in the future, it would be for that specifically, and I think that's a huge accomplishment, a huge challenge to overcome that led to it.

Speaker 2: 8:15

Yeah, and this is an action adventure game, but really the most meaningful parts of it and where you get the most lore is when they're slowing down. So it's in between a mission. It is a moment where Peter gets to have a really special moment with Drax. We learn a little bit more about Rocket. You know even things that aren't really talked about, like when we see other things that are from the universe that we are familiar with, but they just tell a story, like when they go to the part, eric, where, like, all the things are, you know, from like, from like Asgard, and there's just a lot of like really cool fan service stuff in that moment. So you get to learn more about the galaxy that we are in, and I think those are. This is going back to my hot take and that I think that gaming is the best storytelling medium available and they really take advantage of that here.

Speaker 2: 9:04

To transition to the next thing, eric, I want to know what you thought about the combat, because, knowing what we know now, I feel like this I really enjoy the combat, I really enjoy controlling all the different characters. I feel like the Guardians of the Galaxy, even though these two games are not related. In terms of combat wise, I feel like Guardians of the Galaxy walked so that a game such as hogwarts legacy could run. You know where I'm talking about like controlling and manually, um, using a much like different spells at the same time. But I really enjoyed being able to control the other characters, because when this game is announced, it's like is it going to be cooperative? Is it going to be do I switch characters? But no, you play a star lord the time. So did that work for you or did you have some issues with it?

Speaker 1: 9:47

All right.

Speaker 2: 9:50

Let's get into my notes.

Speaker 1: 9:51

That's unfortunate that you wanted to go there early. I want to start on the positive thing, that the team up combat abilities are fun for time, and I'll kind of come back to what I mean about that. I think Phil playing as Star-Lord only is a missed opportunity, and if there was to be a Guardians of the Galaxy 2, the only interest I would have in playing it is if I got to play at least as the other members of the Guardians. You know we're going to talk about this game pretty freely, so we're going to maybe not reference too many major plot points just for spoilers, but we are going to mention characters that do appear in the game. If you know the Guardians movies, these are characters you know of. So I'm not talking about film characters like Cosmo or Adam Warlock or Mantis, but I am talking about Drax Gamora, groot, rocket. Now I understand it's a hard ask to ask to play as all five of them, especially after the debacle of Marvel's Avengers. Right, that came before it and luckily they didn't focus on microtransactions and the things that made that somewhat of a service game falter. This is a purely single player storyline and I do like that in the gameplay we got, star-lord is kind of the commander in chief. He's assigning people to attack, and those team up abilities again were really fun. But it's just standard NPC combat farming after a while.

Speaker 1: 11:25

The variety of the NPCs that you are facing, I didn't really feel like there was much of one. In fact, in the second half of the game, not only are they clearly reskins at certain points, with just some maybe extra defects or maybe an extra buffer, but they are the same characters. I mean, how many times am I going to fight the Nova Corps and find that fun? So that was really my biggest issue, but it just becomes really repetitive and for me I just think that's probably the biggest missed opportunity.

Speaker 1: 11:57

There are other issues that we will talk about when it comes to the gameplay that I have with this game, but the combat fill I just at certain points I wasn't even fighting as Star-Lord, I would just kind of sit back and let the other guardians do their work, and that just felt easier for me in those NPC just again throw away combat zones that they have in the game. That I just found very, very punishing from a enjoyment or engagement status. And with that being said, I want to just at least pivot to this. There were bugs that I experienced I don't know if that was your experience in the game from things like transition scenes to combat crashes to dialogue overlap. The dialogue overlap we're going to talk about dialogue here in a minute was annoying. It just wasn't very structured. Well, but for the conversation we're having right now. Phil, I had my game crash at least two to three times mid-combat and I think that also may have broken my immersion one too many times.

Speaker 2: 13:01

Yeah, I don't remember that happening Again. I haven't played in four years, three and a half years, so I don't remember anything like that. I do remember there being some bugs and I got it on the PS5. It released on the PS5. So it's not like it came out on the PS4 and then was upscaled. So, yeah, I don't remember anything like that. I do agree that it can get repetitive and it does get repetitive, but again, I think just at that time I was one pretty starved for single player content because, like you alluded to, everything was a live service game.

Speaker 2: 13:34

And I'll take this opportunity to plug the episode I just did with Friendly Neighborhood Gamers where we talked about live service specifically. I think that so many people wrote this game off just because of the Avengers, which was a huge bummer, and I think that's why people wrote this game off just because of the Avengers, which was a huge bummer, and I think that's why, ultimately, we may not get a sequel, which we'll talk about a little bit later but because of what happened with the Avengers and a story that was actually okay for the Avengers game. But again they put in all that life service crap and then for this game to come out and for them to be like no, we're going to stick to single player, which may be a as Star-Lord, because they wanted to make sure they differentiated it as much as possible from the Avengers game. But yeah, I think probably at that time, just so star for a good fun, simple single player experience.

Speaker 2: 14:23

Everything we were playing at that time was Fortnite, it was Rocket League. We were going through how many different live service games each and every single month just to find something to play. So I am 100 percent sure that that that was part of it. But also, you know, the Guardians are one of my favorite teams and I know they're one of your favorite teams, even though you're not a big fan of. You know, clay figure, kurt Russell.

Speaker 2: 14:48

Again for the record.

Speaker 1: 14:49

Guardians, volume two, one of the worst MCU films, and I stand on that with my chest.

Speaker 2: 14:54

That's not the case at all, but it's also not amazing. But still, clay, come on Claymation, that's what you want with Anyway. Anyway, but yeah, I would hope that if there is a second game, it would be fun to play as the other characters. For sure, I don't need to play as the other characters, for sure, um, I don't need to play as any of the other ones you mentioned, but it certainly would be fun to mix it up as a tank with drax or group, use gamora swords, use the firepower of a rocket. So, hopefully, you know, with games, you know getting more and more, uh, as far as consoles getting stronger, and obviously we have pc gaming, you know, maybe it's something that's easier to do. I mean, we just had, you know, grand Theft Auto 5 came out in 2015 and we played as three different characters. Then you know.

Speaker 2: 15:40

So I'm sure I would like to have known what went into that process is to just lock in to Star-Lord. Was it because of technical limitations or was it because they were just, they were okay with what we ended up with. So but yeah, I enjoyed powering up Star-Lord. I enjoyed getting the new elemental weapons and the ammo, which I think was a huge missed opportunity in the live action. I think they should have expanded that. As far as Peter goes, but yeah, I think again I was just so charmed by the overall just family nature of the team that you know, a lot of that stuff I don't doesn't bother me as much, but again I haven't played in a few years.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Yeah, and for context, I played this game up until about a few hours ago from this recording. So while it is a shorter campaign I guess it was it's on the shorter end at 16 hours for completion. Uh, if you're not doing too much of the side stuff and and messing around, not a bad time frame, but yeah, I found myself kind of stumbling to the finish line because of a lot of these issues. Back on the positive side, though, I will say that the vibes are definitely there for a guardians game, from some of the you know chummy dialogue to just the space aspect in general. I thought was really cool. When you see the stars, the planets, you know you're on nowhere. Those things are are a lot of fun, and some of the character designs again I'm going to reiterate that were were really, really positive.

Speaker 1: 17:10

I thought the soundtrack also was on par for a guardians game, what I expected. I think I wanted some more songs or more diversity, but it was a pretty decent soundtrack. Phil, I mean, yeah, I'm never gonna give you up, I I'm gonna be happy. So I mean, as long as they had that, I was gonna be good. But I gotta Phil for the things that I liked about this game. I have a lot more of a bone to pick with some of the stuff that was presented. So I'm very curious, from a positive standpoint, before we kind of talk about and find and align on any critiques, what, what are the things that you want to kind of mention about this game that we haven't touched on already, if anything?

Speaker 2: 17:54

Yeah, not too much else. I again, because it's been so long, I had to go back and watch some videos about some of those story beats and I think that I really hope that they explore a sequel, because there is so much lore here to dive into. You know, you very obviously, the, the soul stone is a big part of this. You know, can you? You have all of that that you could get into. You have a rogues gallery of celestial characters that you could do, and not even touch thanos, which I think is what makes the guardian so interesting.

Speaker 2: 18:27

You know, we would love, I would love to see ronin finally get some justice in some sort of medium. Right, we would love to see that. So I think that one of the things that I would be very excited about is there is so much opportunity here and it would be a really big bummer for them to kind of leave it where it's at right now. And again, because it didn't sell very well I don't have the numbers exactly up in front of me, but again, because it didn't sell very well I don't know the number is exactly up in front of me but again, because it didn't sell very well that we may not get to see that and games are getting more and more expensive to make and let's be honest, if they were to say we're going to work on a guardians of the galaxy game, it's not going to come out until the playstation 6. We will not see it this generation, which is a huge bummer. So that would be one of the things that I would like to see is for them to continue to explore it, but I just don't know if that's going to happen.

Speaker 2: 19:16

I will say this as we have started ramping up to this episode. I have seen it all over social media and YouTube, so maybe you know that's what happens. I mean, we're getting a fucking Days Gone remaster in 2025 for who Like? Who has it other than us who hadn't played that game yet that already wanted to play it. So maybe, because that's happening, you know, you know, you never know you don't need to remaster this game. It's already on ps5, although, if you know, they could fix some of those bugs no, they needed to remaster well apparently they're not going to do that.

Speaker 2: 19:49

The game's been out four years so it's still, and it's still buggy. That's not good.

Speaker 2: 19:52

It's not a good sign um, oh, I will say also in terms of like designs, a lot of really cool suits, just like the spider-man games. Not as many as the spider-man games, but I like that they have all the different suits that you can put on the characters and also it gives you a little bit of lore dump as to where that suit was. Uh, what suit that universe that came from, what comic book and all that stuff. And uh, you know, our boy, cm punk, gets a shout out in the game too. I don't know if you got the cm punk suit, uh, but one of them, but he is in there I know, yeah, no, uh, I'm sure there were some things that I missed.

Speaker 1: 20:24

one of the things that, on face value, is kind of cool is the fact that there are things I didn't get to experience because of the dialogue choices, though they're inconsequential for the actual game. So I mean that would give you a reason to maybe replay it Not for me, but it would give someone a reason to replay it. The other thing I wanted to make sure I mentioned was that, you know, as far as a sequel goes, despite strong reviews it's my understanding Square Enix said that it did not meet sales expectations, though upon discounts the following year, I think it may have broke even.

Speaker 1: 21:05

So, there might be a chance. That's your Wikipedia fact of the day. I am thrown off currently, currently. I guess we'll just start here because, as I was finding some additional talking points that I hadn't yet made notes about, I realized that this game was nominated and won best narrative in the game awards in 2021, which is crazy, because it beat. It takes two which?

Speaker 2: 21:35

well, it takes two, one game of the year, that year.

Speaker 1: 21:37

So I hear you, but this game is far from anything that is a best narrative in my opinion. The story for me, phil and we'll kind of just start there and work our way down the story for me is borderline uninteresting and it makes the gameplay kind of go through the motions because of that. I think the biggest reason why I feel like that is the emotional payoffs don't happen without really spoiling it, although it doesn't really end up being much of a spoiler. As I've learned since we last talked, there is a relationship with a character named Nikki that I feel is completely half-baked. There are several instances of introducing characters maybe a little bit too late into the game for them to really make any type of impact, and then the Guardians themselves from those side dialogue conversations.

Speaker 1: 22:29

I think that was stronger than the main story-driven narrative that was happening for the team and I'm curious how you felt about that, phil, from what you do remember about the game. Because again, I think the story was in fact one of the weakest parts and unfortunately it got weaker as it went on. So I kind of saw the appeal. I was on board for maybe half of this game and then the second half I was like I just want to get through it. Did you feel like that at all in any way, shape or form?

Speaker 2: 22:59

no, not that I recall. Again, I think because I enjoyed the building, the establishment of this, of this uh, you know, found family in this team, I think I'll probably a lot of it really just didn't bother me too much. Once again, as I alluded to earlier, I do think it really stumbles at the end in terms of the finale, but I just enjoyed the ride so much that none of that really I really don't think that bothered me. Now again, is it a better story than it takes to? Probably not.

Speaker 2: 23:34

That's not really fair to the Guardians of the Galaxy, but I do remember at that time, back in 2020, for those of us that did play it really, really being big fans of it, you know. Hence, why I think it's having a little bit of research just now because people slept on it, and not understandably so, but we know why they slept on it. So I don't remember any of those story beats really being too much of frustration. I do remember the part where we get introduced to adam warlock, lasting way too long, like we were in that area. I can't remember what it was, you would have to refresh my mind, but we were there so long because I think we focus on each character right. Doesn't each character get a lore dump in that area, or is it? No, it's just drax right is it just drax?

Speaker 2: 24:15

yeah, I think it's mainly I just remember being in there for so long to get to him and I was like, holy shit, man, I'm ready to, like you said this like there's so many cool areas to explore in this universe and we just spent so long in what I remember essentially being a cave yeah, I mean, no, mean, no, you're pretty accurate. Yeah, and. Drax is not really himself for most of that, which leads to some of the At least Drax is not just a quippy one-lining character.

Speaker 1: 24:44

Yeah, again, I liked all the performances. I would say I mean Groot is Groot. I mean that's kind of a gibby. He did fantastic, he did great. But you know, I really liked I'm going to stop myself from saying I really liked Rocket's performance, because we'll talk about that in a minute with specifically one singular word that I alluded to at the beginning of the episode. But I would say Drax and Star-Lord were probably like right up there. I enjoyed both of their performances and their character designs. Yeah, it just, phil.

Speaker 1: 25:19

When we talk about this game, I'm trying to like, I'm trying to still be nice about it. I guess we'll go to the dialogue and then we'll talk a little bit about the gameplay itself. Yeah, let's just jump right into it. So the word flark okay, the word flark is said and I don't know this for sure, but I'm pretty sure a thousand times, and I and I was thinking before the episode, what number do I land on? That doesn't sound too dramatic. And I landed on a thousand, phil. So I I'm it's coming from a place of like believability.

Speaker 1: 25:55

I think if someone was to go back through the 15 to 18 hours of full gameplay, that's probably here and you count it a thousand times and gamora does it. But fuck man, rocket does it so much. And I understand if you want this game to be like you know, the PG 13 equivalent, the teen I think this was rated teen. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I mean I understand that this wasn't going to be an M for mature game, but the amount of times that it is said is flarking unreal and honestly, it took me out so much of the dialogue through the game. I started skipping dialogue because I didn't want to hear it anymore and I don't know if you remember this. So I'm curious, did that stand out at all to you? Because, phil, it was fucking obnoxious. I was getting so annoyed and if I could go back and tell myself this, I might not play this game because of it. That's how much it got under my skin that I might not play this game because of it. That's how much it got under my skin.

Speaker 2: 26:55

That's insane, I don't even remember.

Speaker 1: 26:59

It didn't bother me, so I might go back to the game to create a compilation. If someone on YouTube hasn't done it, I'm going to look because it's ridiculous. It is ridiculous. So yeah, you don't.

Speaker 2: 27:15

you don't recall that, but I don't I know they say, I know they say it, but not enough to bother me yeah, there's a minute.

Speaker 1: 27:24

No, there's no way this is true. Somebody put together a minute 24 of how many times they say flark. I promise you it's not.

Speaker 2: 27:30

It's definitely longer than that I mean, if it's just him saying, if there's no sentence structure and it's just flark, it could be a minute.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Here's another eight minute one from three years ago. Maybe that's more accurate. Yeah, too much, too much. And then the last real issue I had with this game that I'm going to bring to you is about the gameplay. So when I talked earlier about the fact that all the stuff this game does outside of, I guess you would say, somewhat of a unique premise of the combat with the Guardians themselves, it's just done better in a lot of other games, like when I pulled up the company, the developer that you mentioned.

Speaker 1: 28:11

They also did tomb raider and they said oh, you know how we like to walk through walls to get to another location and we like to slide on. Like landscape, something breaks and you have to slide down. Well, we're gonna do that, but we're gonna do it like every mission, every single mission, and we're gonna have to do it multiple times. There were also things going on where, like there'd be unnecessary dialogue options, not the story driven ones, but just a banter. So I'd have to constantly decide do I want to continue the dialogue, do I want to let them banter?

Speaker 1: 28:48

We also had issues with jumping on platforms to get from place to place, slide down animatics, as I mentioned, time button pressing, which was inconsistent, like you would just randomly do it and it didn't feel part of the narrative. The three times you get to use the milano in battle Also not fun, not fun air combat. So those are all issues I had. The huddle up option is the last thing I'm going to mention. I'm assuming you like that option where they all kind of like huddle up together and they give you the forms of dialogue. That was cool for like the first two times and then I just kept accidentally using it.

Speaker 2: 29:25

It's too accessible? Yes, so it is. I think it's a really cool idea and it's fun for a good amount of time, but because it is so easy to get later on, it rips its purpose away.

Speaker 1: 29:40

So you literally have to stop playing the game for like a long period Right Before you get back into it and I get it as a team up ability.

Speaker 2: 29:47

Again, I do think it's cool and I think it's part of the guardians as as their core and as part of a team and as far as peter being a leader, but you, you're able to get it so easily later on in the game uh, that it does it. It doesn't make it as as much of a special event, because it should be something that, like, you have to earn and you only get every once in a while for the most, like for the situations where you feel like you're about to lose and you could really just do it anytime you want. So I definitely agree with that. I really enjoyed it in terms of its inclusion and the idea of it, but it is too easy to get yeah, 100 percent.

Speaker 1: 30:25

Again, I would accidentally use it more often than not and I just put my remote down and I also at one point put the auto selection like the auto correct choices in the settings because I didn't want to keep doing it.

Speaker 1: 30:38

So I would just put my remote down, I would sit here for 60 seconds let the thing play out and then I would jump back and grab my remote and start playing and again it was those immersion breaking things that, um, overall I didn't enjoy. But again, phil, I mentioned a couple things as far as the, the things that are in games. But, like again, it felt like it took things in, it took little pieces of what worked in other games and it combined it here and it made a cohesive game. But I don't think that's what made it like a big swing, like you were referencing earlier. Like I just don't feel like this game provided anything, from its story to its gameplay, anything to really chew on for much longer than the gameplay hours I spent on it. I know you feel a little differently, so kind of just looking back on the gameplay, any of that resonate with you.

Speaker 2: 31:34

As far as critiques, no, we just had different experiences, especially because you seem to be in the minority as well, and again, like I said, this is popping up a lot more. Watched a lot of videos about it leading up to this episode. Again, like I said, this is popping up a lot more. I watched a lot of videos about it leading up to this episode and even people that had never played it before have a lot of positive things to say about the story, the gameplay. So, again, as far as like level transitioning, I mean, we're not going to act like God of War doesn't do that every opportunity as well.

Speaker 2: 32:08

So, yeah, I think that we weren't necessarily getting at least a, a lot of above average AAA experiences in this timeframe. That's why it resonates with quite a few people and I do see it getting a little, having a little bit of a resurgence. But, yeah, I mean a lot of the things that you're saying, some of the things that you're saying that bothered, bothered you didn't really bother me too much. Again, I am three plus years removed from my playthrough, but yeah, as far as like some of those things, as far, uh, story-wise and also gameplay-wise, definitely agree with you. But yeah, we definitely had two very different experiences yeah, and again, not a game that I hated.

Speaker 1: 32:42

Um, you know I won't be shit talking other than the flark thing.

Speaker 1: 32:44

Dude, that really again it's so crazy, I can't and every time it happened I was just getting angrier and angrier. I'm going to be honest with you, phil. Again, I mentioned it earlier that if I could go back in time I'd consider not playing the game. There was a solid point at about hour 12 where and I think it was around the warlock mission you're talking about there's. That mission specifically felt like it took two hours. It felt like it took much longer than the other chapters.

Speaker 2: 33:12

It's a long mission.

Speaker 1: 33:13

There's 16 chapters and this felt like the longest one. There was a real thought bubble that I was just going to tell you. I'm just going to watch the ending on YouTube and we'll talk about most. I think I spent enough of the game because I went back to when we played Days Gone and I was like, yeah, we stopped after about 10 hours and you made the comment that you shouldn't have to play more than 10 hours to be able to talk about or enjoy a game, and I was going to use that against you because I hated the fucking word flark. So so much. So again, that's something I can only maybe lean on because it's fresh on my brain. Maybe I forget about it, unfortunately. One part of this game I'm going to remember is how they made a established group of characters in pop culture their own, and the other thing is going to be the word flark. So it just is. It just is what it is. But on this, Reddit thread.

Speaker 1: 34:06

That I see the way I would probably explain it. Although I don't agree necessarily with the score, someone said overall worth playing, I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. And if you're absolutely baked, 12 out of 10. Okay, I'd agree with that. So yeah, for the most part I would say this game, I'd probably give it a little lower, but you know know, if I was to give it a rating it'd probably be somewhere in that ballpark.

Speaker 2: 34:31

So again, not a game that I despised in any way, just it had, it had issues that I think explain the lack of sales, in my opinion yeah, if I were to and we don't really give games grades, but uh, you know, it would be because like it's strange, because giving it's strange, because giving it a four out of five and we're giving it like unletterboxed scales, that's too high, but eight out of ten and for a game, that's like that's fine 7.5, 8 out of 10. But yeah, I would definitely go back and and replay it and I and I have thought about it, um, but we are all 2025 is a crazy year for gaming, so I, I don't see myself being able to fit it in here at this time. But I did try and go back and remember, I remember a couple years ago, try to platinum it, um, and then I just kind of started doing other things. But I, like I said, I think it's seeing a resurgence and I I do hope that it would get enough support to see more of these um Again.

Speaker 2: 35:24

Edeos Montreal, excuse me is a very talented studio and I think they could, with a lot of feedback and with a lot of you know, not only us but also other content creators starting to give it more and more notoriety, they could definitely make it fine, tune a lot of those things that we thought were good and make them great. So if you haven't checked it out, it's very easily available. Uh, you played it on playstation essentials or plus or whatever the fuck it's called, right, yeah, yeah, I, I believe it's on game pass and at one point it was free on the epic game store.

Speaker 1: 36:01

So yeah, it was on game pass.

Speaker 2: 36:03

I was actually gonna play it on my xbox, but it is no longer there okay yeah, so I couldn't play it on pc, or it can't be more than 20 if you really wanted to to get.

Speaker 2: 36:13

I think I saw 11 on the xbox store, so yeah, it's not four-year-old game pricey so, and uh, if you for some reason played marvel's avengers and you thought that this was going to be like that, it is not at all, so I'm surprised you finished it. If you hated, if you hated that much, so kudos to you for that I stick. If now, if this was a 30 hour campaign yeah, no, no, I would have told you no, sure, sure, but again.

Speaker 1: 36:39

it was at about hour 10 and 11 that I was like I don't know that I'm loving this game and and had I played it on my own free will, I might've just dropped it.

Speaker 2: 36:51

Yeah, the collection.

Speaker 1: 36:53

Yeah, at that point, you know again, at that point it was a matter of just saying you know we're making content out of it. I want to be knowledgeable and talk about the whole thing. So yeah, it was very, very difficult. So that's the way I approach games. I know you. You will cut it off no matter what. You don't give a shit. I wish I could be like you. I don't.

Speaker 2: 37:16

I don't.

Speaker 1: 37:18

So yeah, that's where we're at. I'm very excited about the future of it more than I am about the first game. I would say if this same exact cast came back and we made this game a little bit more mature, I'd be down for it. I think that would easily again, if the word fuck was used, I wouldn't have minded.

Speaker 2: 37:38

I don't know if we've ever heard rocket say fuck and we probably never will, we don't because of of how like pop culture yeah okay I'm gonna start saying flark instead of fuck.

Speaker 1: 37:48

I'm gonna start saying flark instead of fuck. I'm gonna make it part of my vocabulary and we're gonna see how you're gonna kill yourself first before I kill myself.

Speaker 2: 37:54

So you go ahead and start saying flark I will, I fucking will.

Speaker 1: 37:59

Okay, it's fine, all right, we'll see. I don't know, I might not, anyway, yeah, uh, I want this flarking episode to end, so just go ahead and what have been bring us home.

Speaker 2: 38:13

what if it? What if I like invited you over and we were just hanging out and we were watching guardians of the galaxy 3 and when peter quill says fuck. For the first time in the mcu I edited it so that he says open the door and like you didn't know. But what if I like just totally gaslit you and be like he didn't see that I am going to start putting flark into my vocabulary as much as possible now. Actually, that's what I'm going to start doing.

Speaker 1: 38:39

You already made me play this fucking game, dude Like. I just don't understand why you have to be like this Flarking game. I'm already not doing it, yeah, never mind. I fucking hate this game, never mind.

Speaker 2: 38:54

Well, if you have played the Gardens of the Galaxy game or if you plan on playing it in the future and you want to kind of let us know what your thoughts are, you can find us right there in the Linktree link. In the show notes of this episode, you'll find all the rest of our content as far as our episodes go, as well as all of our social media pages, the most important ones to keep up with being Instagram, tiktok, our thriving Discord channel. We also stream every other week on Twitch and we are on YouTube. So if you want to support the show, there are plenty of ways to do so. One of the best ways is to head on over to your podcast player of choice and give us a five star, a plus, thumbs up I don't know what the hell they're doing these days Give us whatever the highest possible grade is.

Speaker 2: 39:34

All of that is really, really helpful to the algorithm. You can also do the typical YouTube stuff like share, subscribe all of that and tag your friends or tag us, tag anybody you want and let people know about the show and let us and everyone else know that you are listening. But if you'd like to join a flark and amazing crew and team of Weight Watchers and get some extra behind the scenes content. Eric will let you know all about that before wrapping us up for the evening.

Speaker 1: 40:02

Yeah. So one of the best ways that you could support the show other than everything Phil just mentioned for free is to go that extra mile, and if you do that on patreon, you'll be able to get access to several exclusive perks like early access and behind the scenes access to episodes like this one. Come and join the ongoing community that we're building there with briar, stefan, t3kato, corey from the World Is my Burrito and Vintage and Bridget from Retro AV Rewind, where their support continues to help us out with the show. If you're a fan of this particular series or you're a first-time listener, that enjoyed this episode. Marvel is not the only thing that we've covered one time. In fact, it's been up multiple times for the game room and, more specifically, for superheroes. Batman was last month, marvel rivals the month before that.

Speaker 2: 40:53

So if you like this, oh yeah, we're, we are, and that stops next month so enjoy the little mini speed run we did of your favorite superhero games all right, suicide squad next.

Speaker 1: 41:08

Let's go that's our cute episode, guys. My name is mr eric almighty. That is my co-host, phil the filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes every wednesday on the podcast, with bonus content on platforms like tiktok and twitch, and all you gotta do is wait for it.

Speaker 2: 41:28

So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it. Gaming, wait for it. Anime PLUS, ultra.

Speaker 1: 41:39

Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it.

Speaker 2: 42:01

This is the Wait For it Podcast.