On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Riley discuss the new Assassin’s Creed, Shadows, which is set in feudal Japan and stars two main characters: a ninja and a samurai. It looks more interesting than the past few games in the series, if nothing else! Of course, since the ninja is a woman and the samurai is black, a certain subset of gamers are Big Mad. We (begrudgingly) talk about that part, too. Then we move on to Animal Well, an unexpected Metroidvania-but-not hit that came out last week. Chris loves it, Riley doesn’t get it. (Gentle) fireworks ensue. We also discuss the recent flood of extremely good indie games and how triple-A publishers – who’ve chosen to go all in on a small handful of big hits, at the expense of everything else – have forgotten how to make these types of games that there’s clearly still a hunger for. Oh, and of course we talk about Hades 2 some more, because that’s just who we are. Then we close out by answering a very important question: Who would you rather be able to talk to? Animals or the dead?

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Gita take stock of Microsoft’s no-good, very-bad week, in which the increasingly embattled giant shut down four studios, two of them – Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks – beloved by fans. More small games or big franchise hits? Microsoft doesn’t seem to know what it wants. Then we check in on Sony, which is having the opposite problem. After landing the biggest breakout hit of the year in Helldivers 2, it nearly fumbled the bag with a bunch of needless PSN sign-in nonsense all for what: to assert more control over the player base? To lure people into its ecosystem under false pretenses? Lastly, we discuss some things we’re actually enjoying in Hades 2 (it’s so good) and Crow Country. Oh, and we discuss ideal game length, which is of course 12-15 hours, 20 hours, or 35 hours, depending on who you ask.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Gita Jackson

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Gita ponder orbs. There used to be so many of them in video games. What happened? Where did they all go? And whose idea was it to replace the smooth, satisfying act of vacuuming up orbs with slow, tedious loot grinds? After that, we discuss Another Crab’s Treasure, a Spongebob-inspired Soulslike that’s surprisingly great (and surprisingly existent, considering that I just typed the phrase “Spongebob-inspired Soulslike”). Then we move on to a subject I’m sure you’ve already heard plenty about on other video game podcasts: Taylor Swift. Gita is working on a piece about her parasocial appeal and the rabid fanbase she’s cultivated, so we use that as a springboard to talk about modern fame, fandom, and eventually, the recent Drake vs Kendrick Lamar rap beef. Finally, we close out by reflecting on campus protests taking place across the nation and especially in our backyard of NYC. Solidarity forever.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Gita Jackson

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.