Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

In this episode we're joined by Nave from Gaming Together Pod to talk about some of the toughest decisions we've encountered in video games and how they impacted us. Listen in as we dive into great moments from Mass Effect, The Witcher, Life is Strange and more.

Transcript

00:00.00
sentfrmheaven
I Hope I spot decision is right? There's my auto correct on P d.

00:04.93
Jaime G
If not it'll make it more epic.

00:05.72
nave Gaming Together
Ah.

00:11.24
Carson
Now you should just spell it different in 3 different ways and it's what choice. Do you make to spell decision. Ah you go.

00:16.67
sentfrmheaven
Right.

00:17.16
Jaime G
Oh oh.

00:20.89
nave Gaming Together
Is really meta.

00:26.30
tanomsak
Ah.

00:33.34
sentfrmheaven
Said again, the I is. Ah, to J you. That's not hes but decisions is how what you hello hello. Okay, you do we? Oh yeah, you to we ought? oh you to be.

00:40.79
tanomsak
You talking to us. Oh ah.

00:48.72
Carson
Ah.

00:48.84
Jaime G
Um, oh you got to use this tony.

00:51.18
tanomsak
Oh I vote Yeah I'm all recording. So yeah, this is going into the audio podcast for sure.

00:57.16
sentfrmheaven
You think me all we are I ah you but did you just bought some else. Yeah Argue give me that one I know oh the I is C I is.

00:57.75
nave Gaming Together
I what I do is I always just open up a second tab and Google it right away.

01:01.69
Jaime G
Hey.

01:11.14
Jaime G
All right.

01:18.19
Jaime G
Carson you got to what's the intro animation.

01:19.41
Carson
Okay.

01:22.69
tanomsak
The who wants to go first on the um with their with their when we get to the main topic. Anybody want to go first carson.

01:24.63
sentfrmheaven
A yeah.

01:28.93
Jaime G
Um I say Carson. Yeah.

01:29.20
Carson
Oh me I feel I feel like mass effect would be the good segue though since part of it is also talking about like do your choices really matter and like that's a huge game especially with the ending of the third game. It's like.

01:30.17
sentfrmheaven
I I am but make if you have.

01:46.62
Carson
Um, doesn't really matter I don't know how much you guys know about the ending of mass effect trilogy. But.

01:47.22
Jaime G
Okay.

01:47.60
nave Gaming Together
I I.

01:52.00
Jaime G
No, no yeah yeah.

01:52.89
tanomsak
Don't ruin it for me. No spoilers. No just kidding.

01:53.91
nave Gaming Together
I was I was wondering about that because when I was thinking about mass effect I was thinking about a decision that's made in lore but not specifically by your character even though you interact with that decision with the ramifications of it I think that the the decisions that that a specific Alien Race made. Is just a lot more interesting than anything that you end up doing like it's my favorite part of the wholes of the whole game. Ah franchise.

02:14.46
Carson
And price. It.

02:17.21
tanomsak
Ah, like ah, let's just ah, let's just Spoiler Royal Spoiler wise I think just go ahead and I mean he is of talking around it unless you guys just feel like that's the best way to do it like I don't.

02:21.76
sentfrmheaven
Um, we laugh the a.

02:29.78
nave Gaming Together
I.

02:31.55
Carson
I mean the game the trilogy the the final game in the trilogy was released in 2012 it's been eleven years um if you haven't played it yet. Yeah, but and also to like.

02:31.92
tanomsak
Like Mass effect's been around for salone now. It's like.

02:36.88
Jaime G
Yeah, yeah.

02:39.26
nave Gaming Together
I'll spoil mass effect but I refuse to spoil Spec ops the line I Vhemaly refuse to do that to anybody.

02:47.58
tanomsak
Ah, it's like the Underin rule of game with thrones.

02:49.17
Carson
Everyone has heard about the mass effect ending at this point I think like it's become such a major part of like gaming culture and memes and talks about stories and games like.

02:55.98
Jaime G
Yeah I agree I don't know what the ending is bill by agree.

03:02.23
tanomsak
Absolutely.

03:04.42
nave Gaming Together
Ah, what flavor of explosion. Do you want.

03:04.68
Carson
Okay, well ah you write? Do you want the right cupcake the green cupcake or the blue cupcake.

03:12.78
tanomsak
Oh Carson you're the you know you're the mass effects you know in my in my circle friends. You're the mass effect experts. So you know that but a I feel like you. Ah. Ah, you get you? 2 guys are gonna be carrying the the bulk of the conversation on mass fight I think I played like 1.

03:30.30
Carson
You know you you bought mass effect 3 when I was 12 when it first came out, you never played the first 2 games and you got through I think priores c are cash and you were like hey Carson I think you'd like this game.

03:44.32
tanomsak
I do.

03:47.97
Carson
You should play it and then you never touched it again and then I finished it I played the third game first went back played the second game and then went back and played the first game so I played the trilogy backwards and it was such a weird experience because everyone else it's like ah you see your party mates. Um, in each game. It's like oh my gosh there they are. They're back at my party again and I'm over. They're like that's how I met gars. That's how I met Tay like woa yeah, that was called me but we played the trilogy backwards.

04:06.55
nave Gaming Together
Um.

04:16.50
nave Gaming Together
If you guys ever do if you guys ever do go and start playing mass effect the original one. There's this really cool podcast called play along and they do like a book club and right now they're currently playing mass effect one and those are some awesome Guys. There's 2 of them have never played it before too So you get to. I've been experiencing vicariously through their virgin eyes like playing through the ah play a along podcast. Yeah, Love those guys.

04:34.97
tanomsak
Oh really, what? what's what's the podcast again play along. Okay, love to check that out. Yeah, all right? So vance is telling us that we are live on Twitch. So let's get this party started you guys ready all right.

04:38.43
Jaime G
Way along.

04:43.70
Carson
Literally.

04:50.20
Jaime G
And good to go.

04:52.25
nave Gaming Together
Cc.

04:52.82
Carson
Um, yeah.

04:54.38
tanomsak
All right folks Welcome back to another episode of good game radio. Ah here we are with a larger party than normal. Ah, we're going to go around the table here and introduce our guest to the show and we'll start with from the gaming together podcast nave. A.

05:13.90
sentfrmheaven
Are.

05:13.46
nave Gaming Together
Hey how's it going? ah gaming together is a cooperative podcast. We like to talk about multiplayer and stuff like that we get really crazy over there I can you can see me AdHD looking around my room because people are making noise outside but I'm a try to not I go try to focus as much as I can.

05:26.19
Carson
Um.

05:27.42
tanomsak
Awesome! Yeah I listened to your last episode and you guys are you know, really entertaining and and the depth of knowledge that you guys have you know from on so many different games I was really impressed by your discussion.

05:35.40
nave Gaming Together
Ah.

05:41.67
nave Gaming Together
It really bites us sometimes because sometimes we'll go reference inside a reference inside a reference and I'm just with spin around trying to like acknowledge all of it.

05:52.68
tanomsak
ah right but ah yeah so if if you haven't ah checked out gaming together podcast check those guys out there. Great our other guest. My daughter odest. Carson say hi. This is our first is this your first appearance on the show. Awesome. We brought her in for her lover of expertise on particular game that she's gonna be talking about tonight. So.

06:09.26
Carson
Um, hi I'm Carson I'm Tony's oldest daughter. This is my first appearance on the show.

06:29.10
tanomsak
And she ah brings a level like excitement about that game so should be pretty contagious. Ah and our usual ah fellow co-hosts here. We got hiimy.

06:40.81
Jaime G
Yo, How's it going guys.

06:44.21
tanomsak
And Vance and then myself Tony if so anybody who's checking out the checkout show for the first time that's your panel for tonight's tonight's episode is decisions, decisions, decisions, tough decisions, points and games that really you know.

06:44.42
sentfrmheaven
Hello Hello Hello hello.

07:03.90
tanomsak
Made you stop and think about you know what to do? Ah, you know like ah what's a term ah paralysis of analysis. Yes, yes like I have you know several games where he's just like okay let put the controller down I gotta go think about this right? So ah.

07:11.30
nave Gaming Together
Choice paralysis.

07:12.36
Jaime G
Yeah, yeah.

07:23.73
tanomsak
It's those top of decisions predominantly in games that we've played but before we get into that main topic we're going to go around the the panel here and talk about what we've been playing Dave want to get started.

07:40.60
nave Gaming Together
Well, ah, woe long just came out really stay one on game pass and it has been a obliterating me. Um I so I whenever on the first day it was out I saw a bunch of people on Twitter complaining about how hard the first boss is and I'm just at work going pathetic fools. And then I come home and I I died like 87 times on the boss and the main thing was is that I didn't realize that the morale level mattered and so I recorded our own show with ah Mr. Bad bit over from the trophy room. We talked about see if thieves and. We talked about woelong for a little while because he's really enjoying it and he's really good at it and whenever he mentioned that the morale love the morale level effects. How much damage you take and how much you do I was like yeah yeah I know that ah of course I know but really I go back and I get it to level 25 and I beat the boss on the second try and I'm like oh my.

08:28.94
tanomsak
Ah.

08:33.74
nave Gaming Together
Oh my God I can't believe it's but it was that easy. It's all I had to do.

08:35.99
tanomsak
So interesting that you brought up that game I literally just downloaded that game and started playing like 2 hours ago right? before we got on the air and you sent me the email link about some of the topics you were going to be talking about tonight I was playing woelong for the first time and I feel like. You know I like like souls like games and I like difficult games like that elon ring. Ah ah and then um, blood souls and some of those other from software type titles. Ah I must be really getting like old and impatient because.

09:11.58
Carson
Yeah.

09:13.38
tanomsak
Ah, literally in the game for in the starting level and I don't know I don't know if it glitched out or maybe I Just don't know what I was doing because like after I killed all the dudes I couldn't figure out where to go and I said this thing must be broken I'm I'm in an I'm an uninstalling it right now I can't take this.

09:13.70
nave Gaming Together
Ah.

09:31.83
tanomsak
But no I finally figured out. Oh I Just got to jump over over this wall into the next section but the the tutorial was telling me about the spirit and usually I'm just running through because I like look it's all basic B for Notge Ah X for for attack you know y or Tryingang oh depending on which system you're on.

09:43.39
nave Gaming Together
Um, yeah.

09:51.30
tanomsak
Ah, for like ah yeah, lunging attack. It's all the same and but then I actually stopped for a second and read about the spirit part of it I'm like oh well, that's new. So but then so hopefully I'll get back to it.

10:03.23
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

10:09.60
tanomsak
Later tonight or you know sometime later in a week. But yeah, woe long and it's great hey game pass for a game pass. So awesome deal.

10:19.10
nave Gaming Together
Once you get past that first boss you get unlock co-op and stuff so I'm really excited to start playing around with like helping people fight bosses. That's my favorite part of Eldon Ring was going back to ra dawn and just helping people. Ah yeah I think as.

10:25.37
tanomsak
Um, yeah, is there a co-op portion to it like.

10:33.41
nave Gaming Together
I've heard that it's easier to do than elder ring. So there's none of that nonsense of writing your name and cursive like at the ninety degree angle on a wall. Yeah.

10:38.15
tanomsak
Ah, that's why I never did it I like I was just you know I'm just gonna play about myself like if I've got to go through this whole trouble of like riding chalk on the floor. You know now I'll pass I would just do it solo. But yeah Carson what you playing.

10:54.29
Carson
so I actually so I finished building my gaming my new very first gaming pc this week. Um, and I've gone back to a game I've never really gotten to play. But I've had a download it on steam for ages. So I started playing oblivion last night. Um, so but having fun with that I recently finished spirit far on switch which was a game I went into knowing it would tear me apart like emotionally and grip into my soul and kill me and I went nah. Um.

11:25.10
nave Gaming Together
Ah.

11:30.11
Carson
Not going to get emotional like it's 5 I probably cried 5 times playing the game. A really good story. Really emotional really has a great impact with the characters and you you never really want to. Guess take them on that last journey so to speak I won't really talk too much into it as it is a game. Best experience like on your own going through blind. But I just finished that that was an excellent game as well. So.

12:05.40
tanomsak
That's ah, that's a that's impressive. You're telling me the game made you cry and I've I've seen you cry in your entire life like 2 times like like Carson is just not emotional. She's like her mom right.

12:07.75
Carson
I Yeah I cried.

12:17.37
Carson
Ah, yeah I cried.

12:23.43
tanomsak
Like is 1 either 1 of 2 states whether like being stubborn or mad. So um, trying I would have like to have seen that because like I like really like 2 times in your retire life I've seen you cry.

12:31.70
Carson
Ah.

12:37.69
Carson
Well and here's the crazy part is there was 1 thing that happened in the game where I I thought I was going to be upset when it happened because I it has happened to every other character I was like okay I'll be upset and then I wasn't just because of kind of what happened in the story. But then there's. Finally closure to that at the very end of the game I probably stayed in that scene for 5 minutes refusing to move on because of that and the way they did that. Yeah seriously.

13:10.71
nave Gaming Together
It's kind of what the whole game's about to is moving on.

13:15.00
tanomsak
Ah, all right hi me but you got.

13:18.63
Jaime G
I yo you know I'm I'm I'm still stuck on debt spacece man I ah I've said this before I mean I have to ah game around times when my my kids nott around watching this television because deadspace is kind of graphic and and the ne animations for sure. And so I'm just like not playing it in front of my son and and I'm just playing it in the evenings and and holy smokes I had a near death experience like real life last Friday I was playing the game and you know you know how in other games you you know off. Off us di know more for necramorph and you go out of the room come back. The body's gone. Ah well not in this one I mean I was backtracking to go open up a door you know and all of a sudden There's like a corpse of somebody I had killed like several hours before. And of course I see it and I start shooting at it but it kind of like jumped at me because I I was like turning around a corner and then realized I was like dude, there's like somebody right there in front of you and I literally like did a jump scare on a on a corpse.

14:31.63
Carson
Ah.

14:32.64
tanomsak
That's what that picture you sent in our Discord group right? yeah.

14:35.60
Jaime G
In the discord. Yeah, but if you look at the picture the dudes like like they're just saying like hey what's up. Um, dude you know, no no lie.

14:35.17
Carson
Question. Yes.

14:40.66
nave Gaming Together
Is hard out there on the ishi more I man I totally understand.

14:45.74
tanomsak
Yeah, now, do you like the part that they they added in the where you can go back and forth kind of like visiting old parts of the ship. Yeah now is that something you have to do now or is this optional.

14:54.88
Jaime G
Yeah, the the train The Tramor Yep course you did sometimes sometimes you have to backtrack because you get security clearance ah upgrades so you can go and say hey now I can open up a different door or go. Go pick up something that I couldn't before which apparently is the game Changer If You don't pick it up and they give you some optional side quests that you can decide whether you want to do or not and those side quest revolve around going back into these areas and corridors.

15:22.85
tanomsak
Right.

15:28.25
tanomsak
Now did you play the original so this is your first experience with the with the title and your your your your opinion just off the cuff.

15:31.57
Jaime G
No knit never played it watch my roommate play it. Yes.

15:43.47
Jaime G
I'm I'm having a blast with it. You know it's ah I wish I'm I'm so I'm in chapter seven I don't know how many are left but I'm I'm enjoying it I I don't want it to end. Yeah and did and ah.

15:52.30
tanomsak
Go.

15:53.82
nave Gaming Together
Think there's 12

15:58.30
Jaime G
And the other thing I'm I'm doing is I've been grinding a lot on marble snap because I'm getting ready for the eighteenth so that we can do ah our our our tournament. Um, so yes I'm trying I'm experimenting with different decks trying to see what I can really bring to the table that'll be competitive enough to make.

16:01.66
tanomsak
Oh yeah, the tournament.

16:14.89
tanomsak
Yeah, yeah, yeah, why you I guess why you cinch brought it up for the listeners or the audience out there. Um, we are. We're doing our Marvel snap inaugural marvel snap tournament what they was it on the eighteenth. Yep.

16:15.92
Jaime G
Make me go beyond the first round.

16:30.62
Jaime G
Um, on the eighteenth yep reserve an hour so that we can go through the the bracket not single elimination. You'll get guaranteed 2 matches and let's see who comes out on top.

16:33.66
tanomsak
And like five o'clock yeah

16:45.61
Jaime G
On topping has bragging rights for the rest of the year

16:47.91
tanomsak
Yeah, let's go be. We're really just trying to experimenting with like how it works Well so as far as setting up a tournament. So.

16:53.18
Jaime G
Yes I.

16:58.94
nave Gaming Together
I'm so nervous about starting that game because everyone's been asking me to play because I'm such a huge card game fan and I'm I'm like I play magic the gathering and I'm like okay and I'm not going anywhere else I've spent like $10000 on the cards over many over like a decade and a half.

17:02.80
Jaime G
Yes.

17:15.70
Jaime G
So so they I have a ah ah good coworker who is an ah magic the gathering player and he started playing this I actually got him into this and he's he's now like you know buying the season pass. Whatever.

17:15.42
nave Gaming Together
And it's like.

17:29.30
Jaime G
And I was asked I was you a hard hard time I was like dude don't buy it. You know, just play for free. He's like dude I played magic the gathering I spent like several thousand dollars in my lifetime on this you know dropping dropping ten bucks every every eight weeks is nothing.

17:43.29
nave Gaming Together
Do that's what I'm saying man I I'll be the same way when when we played see if thieves the thing the very first thing I did was bought a pet I bought a little sheba you knew that followed us around that did nothing but look cute but I was like this is $8 well spent I'm glad I did this.

17:58.48
Jaime G
Yeah, so yeah, Tony that's that's that's my gaming right now.

18:02.88
tanomsak
Yeah, well back when I played War to warcraft the card game. They would include those loot cards in the packs that were ah pets and you.

18:18.91
tanomsak
You'd scratch it off you know and put the code in if you were a wild player. You'd put the code into your account and it would give you a rare pet that would follow you around in the in the game itself and let me tell you the. Those things were really popular. Those things went for a lot of money. Yeah, okay.

18:38.94
nave Gaming Together
I'm a sucker for him like I almost bought a Fox too. But I can only have one pet out at a time so I was like I made my decision. It was a 5 second decision but I made it already.

18:49.57
tanomsak
Ah, right? yeah magic gathering. That's like the grandfather of all card games and then like you got that much if you tell me you forgot like 10 grand into that. Yeah, that's hard to hard to go look for something else. Yeah yeah, and nobody can really compete either.

18:52.66
nave Gaming Together
And probably.

19:00.27
Jaime G
Yeah.

19:01.20
nave Gaming Together
What's bad.

19:04.75
tanomsak
Like nobody has really seriously while I think while back in the day cause I used to be a competitive card player and while and we would we would cross over occasionally into magic and I really really so stink at Magic I Just I'm so bad I just would just quit as soon as I sat down up.

19:24.49
Jaime G
Easy win.

19:24.50
tanomsak
Your win. So um, yeah, easy win easy win but all right? Let's move on to Vance Vance well you've been playing.

19:25.41
Carson
But.

19:37.53
sentfrmheaven
I Recently just so hook my ah kids five back up? Um, so I'm back to playing a call duty into gay but more so call of duty. Ah, um, our youngest he wanted to play So I saw let me hop on.

19:54.36
sentfrmheaven
He probably averaged like 35 kills team deaf match I think his highest was like 60 some like he's only 10 you knowm saying sos like I time me get back off you got it. But yeah, yeah, back on ah I'm at the bottom you know I'm um, um.

19:58.44
Carson
Um, no method.

19:58.77
tanomsak
Yeah.

20:07.49
tanomsak
Ah, but you didn't mention how many kills you got.

20:11.67
Jaime G
What? what.

20:11.88
Carson
But if this touch.

20:13.42
sentfrmheaven
You know, maybe cuing 10 le I'm chilllied. Um I'm chilly you know my reflex is not what they used to be so you know I just hold this bomb point. You know you only stay here. Got it? Yeah yes in two k they just released the ah.

20:17.58
tanomsak
Yeah, right. To.

20:22.51
Carson
Um.

20:24.24
Jaime G
Wait are you are you still just playing with the sniper.

20:31.48
sentfrmheaven
Ah, put Yeah yeah, between the sniber then ah we was on shipment and they pissed me off so I brought out the shotgun you know I won't find some people you know like I a man clay moist right? and claymo was in random spots.

20:35.22
Carson
But.

20:39.94
tanomsak
Shotgun Shot shotgun and Shield with some thermite or our C four in the and what's your field upgrade.

20:42.74
Jaime G
Good to go.

20:49.00
sentfrmheaven
Ah, field upgrade is the flash bang and the no no no I'm sorry it's the ah the mobile UAV the little dome looking you a v thing you could throw down and it gives you the personal personal radar. Yeah yeah, that's what I'm ah, that's what I'm using the 2 k they drop new season. So.

20:56.22
tanomsak
Okay, gotcha.

21:07.27
sentfrmheaven
Ah, play like 1 level a day just to you know, get on there. But yeah, yeah, that's what I'm playing and.

21:12.72
tanomsak
Cool, awesome! All right? That's what everybody's playing right now. So let's let's get into our main topic. The decision decision points and games that you know I made a stop and think for a minute. So ah, the idea for this. Um. Episode kind of spawned off the fact that I was playing a hogwarts legacy for the first time you know a couple weeks ago and um I got to the point where you're in the in hogwarts and you're talking to professor weaselly and um. You've gone through some traumatic experiences you know to get there you you know? Basically you're attacked on your journey there and ah and the person that you're with ask you to you know, hey, let's not talk about this. Keep it on a down low. Keep it secret right? And so I'm like yep. I'll keep it secret just like you said professor you know? and ah so you go to class you know part of the part of the charm of hogwarts I I say is you know why in between you know your adventures you go back to the classroom and hang out with the professor where they teach you a new skill or whatnot. But.

22:11.45
Carson
Um.

22:27.28
tanomsak
Ah, very first ah class with Professor Weasley at in the class she asks you know about that trip that got interrupted and she feels like something happened ah and what I share with her what happened and I was like ah. Is this ah is this like if I tell you like something bad is going to happen you know or can I just tell you and it doesn't matter like but the way like the the dialogue was written in a way like the voice actor kind of delivered the line. Just had this little hint of menace to it to me so I was like you know what nothing happened it was uneventful. Nothing really you know? Ah, as far as outside of the the part that everybody knew. Um, but yeah, nothing and she would keep asking me.

23:08.71
Carson
Um.

23:21.93
tanomsak
And then everybody in in the in the school kept asking me like they're just wanting me to say this but I would always say Nope nothing happened. Um, but that's so like I yeah right? yeah right? Well I eventually did tell a couple of the other students that I trusted but.

23:30.89
nave Gaming Together
So you pass the test. That's what that means.

23:35.35
Carson
Um, if it.

23:36.30
Jaime G
Or did he right.

23:41.42
tanomsak
I Still don't know is there an impact for that. You know that choice of of telling or no so that's kind of where this idea of this this soul just coming from is like you know decisions a lot of decisions we encounter have more immediate. You know you can see. The outcome of the decision but in in this case, it's I don't know but I'm just a it was great. Great design because like I'm still scratching my head whether or not it made a difference or not.

24:10.60
nave Gaming Together
I I like that you were talking about Hogwarts legacy because I didn't even consider that before but like way further in the game I won't spoil anything but like you're able to learn unforgivable court curses which apparently bad I'm not sure I'm not really that familiar with the with the lore.

24:21.97
tanomsak
Right.

24:26.89
nave Gaming Together
But when I got sorted into slither and I was offended I was like those are the bad guys I'm not a bad guy I'm a good guy and then the moment the millisecond I'm allowed to learn one of those unforgurable curses I'm like teach me teach me now I want that I want to be able to please.

24:40.33
tanomsak
Right? So and and that's kind of fun like Vance you texted me the other day like hey is gryffindor overrated because that's that's the house I was sorted into and your daughter was wondering right? and I said yes, it's overrated. Because like as soon as I got slotted into gryffindor I felt like I need to be like all good and stuff right? like I don't know like it kind of changed how like how I felt when I was playing the game like. Because I really wanted to be like ravenlaw or Slytherin. Um because they seem to have ah, there's dudes on Twitter and stuff like wearing their little slitherin robes and like doing little dances and stuff like yeah yeah, we're having fun over here. You gryffindor dudes or a bunch of duds. And that's kind of like I felt that way but there is a point. Um, where if you make friends with one the Slitherin guys he he'll sleep. He'll secretly teach you ah 1 of the ah the the spells that you're not supposed to know. Like you and it's a choice. Do you want to learn it or no yeah tell tell me come on. So.

25:57.65
nave Gaming Together
That's what I thought was really interesting was that you have the choice to not learn it. So like that just giving the player that small amount of like agency in their like role play experience I think that that's really important for immersion. You know it's really cool.

26:13.24
tanomsak
Yeah, it definitely definitely was ah pulled me more and more into the story it really and like I said question marks does this decision make a difference. Maybe it does maybe it doesn't but you know just like not knowing but then having the moments where. Hey I feel like I'm kind of getting away with something because like it's s latted me into to this thing that I'd perceived to be like you have to act a certain way. So I thought that I thought that was great. So that's let's go around the let's go around our panel here and and ah. Talk about some of the games that have impacted them and their journeys as gamers and Carson I think you wanted to jump in first right.

26:58.15
Carson
Ah, well one of the things that popped up pretty quickly when this this question topic was first announced in the Discord was mass effect. Um I think when a lot of people think about the mass effect series. You know you think 1 you think about the ending. Ah too. You think about? Um, you know paragon ridnee choices the little circle wheel with all of your different choices. Um, and so there were a lot of times. So even still where you had to make some really like tough choices. Um. And we've kind of decided I think to go into spoilers isn't that right nave we were gonna go into spoilers. Yeah mass effect spoilers. Um, yeah, but um, obviously one of the main.

27:37.97
Jaime G
Oh yeah, yeah, the act Mutant are we gonna put out like a disclaimer spoilers upcoming. Okay yeah, any game spoilers really.

27:47.40
tanomsak
I Don't yeah go for it.

27:48.59
nave Gaming Together
Let's go.

27:54.10
Carson
Ones that we think about is the Ver Myer choice do you save Kaden or Ashley and I'll go into a playth throughugh 9 time to 10 I'm I'm going I'm gonna save Kaden I like him more I like him with his biotic play style with the way I play my characters because I like to do the biotic combos. Um, and that's really cool. But there's always that question. You know do I save him or Ashley and even if I have my mind made up I'll get to that moment in the game and I'll sit there I mean Ashley has her sisters but Kaidin's a nice guy and that's. That's 1 choice but um, another choice that I brought up um, is there's a dlc in the very first game called bring down the sky and kind of the whole premise of that dlc is you're sent to this human colony world called Terra Nova and these alien space terrorists um who arearians they're basically taking this asteroid that they've been doing a lot of mining on and they're going to crash it into the planet and so you're left with the choice to. When you kind of get through and finish the quest line of deactivating those torches and you confront the terrorists. Ah, he's taken hostage 3 of these engineers who have been helping you with the radio the entire time and you're basically given the choice. Do I let those 3 people die.

29:25.43
Carson
Chase the terrorist down or do I let him go and save those 3 people and you know, especially from a role play perspective you you really have to think like well what would my shepherd. Do.

29:42.59
nave Gaming Together
There.

29:43.90
Carson
Even if this doesn't have much of an impact or maybe if you feel it does have a bigger impact later on in the game I mean if you let him go, There's no telling whether or not he's committed terroristic attacks or not in the future. But if you try to kill Him. You're killing 3 innocent people. Um, and so I'll sit there and I'll go back and forth. Well I think my ship would do this but would would she really ah and usually I want usually I end up killing ballot because I'm like. I don't want a terrorist on the on the loose which is really interesting because I play mostly Paragon and that's the Renegade choice. Um, but I feel like that's more I don't know to me like saving the 3 innocent people is fine at all and you definitely want to save those innocent people. But.

30:41.55
Carson
Do you actually risk him killing more people now later on in mass effect 3 if you do let him live he actually does show back up and he can be added as additional war assets which kind of goes into the flavor of the ending of the game. Um. Which we can get into in a few minutes he he can show up and if you save him you get those additional war assets that kind of helps you boost you to getting a better ending. Um, if you don't save them. You still get some more assets. It's just not as much.

31:00.74
tanomsak
So let's.

31:18.19
tanomsak
So you brought up a interesting point about the roleplaying aspect when it came to your decision making Oh how mean want's that say something go ahead, hi me okay and finish my thought. So ah, you.

31:26.74
Jaime G
No, go go ahead and you know finish finish the idea. Yeah.

31:36.19
tanomsak
In your decision process that you were describing. You actually included like what my character if I was roleplaying my character. What I thought that character would what their decision would be versus your own personal decision and you you. Went with what you thought the character would be as the more deciding factor right? So is that for you in playing games is that especially rpgs and stuff is that how you're approaching your rpgs and stuff like you know I'm into this character.

31:57.90
Carson
Right? yeah.

32:13.26
tanomsak
This is how this character ah would act in this dilemma or this moral decision that takes precedence over your own like if you were looking at from like a third objective point of view over to the side. You know that or.

32:29.96
Carson
I'd say eighty to ninety percent of the time. Yes, especially if I'm again I'm playing a game like mass effect or like even skyram. Um I mean there's a choice in Skyrem which you know you sit there if you do the. Dark brother head quest line. For instance, you get all these extra requests. But the game gives you you can actually destroy the dark brotherhood. That's a thing you can do and just I know it's not as fun, but if I'm playing this noble character who.

32:46.68
Jaime G
I Wait wait wait. You cannot not do the dark brotherhood quest but it' like but it's not so fun if you don't.

33:03.73
Carson
Doesn't lie cheat or steal as much as I want to join the dark brotherhood like like me personally I might not want to necessarily deal with them I might want to get rid of them and of course you could just say well you. Don't even have to encounter the quest on at all if you don't kill grela the kind in Rifton but what if I want to kill grelllaw because if you you go into that orphanage and if you're playing this out upstanding character. You go into that orphanage and is this the thing that always makes me like. Yeah, even though I'm playing your kid I'm gonna kill her because like there's this little room and there's like a bucket with shackles on the walls and I look in there and I'm like well and you hear the stories from the kids and from the other lady that works there I'm like this this this witch is like torturing these kids basically like I get rid of her. And if I had to get rid of the dark brotherhood later cool I'll get my 3000 septums and I might not get that whole storyline on this character but nothing says I can't play another character too in play a minnace.

34:06.52
tanomsak
Right? Let's get let's get hiim his question in here. What were you gonna ask.

34:12.83
Jaime G
And no no I was going to say Carson you actually brought up the the the at the the Trolley problem dilemma right? So it's like ah for those not familiar with it. You know the question goes something along the lines of.

34:18.60
Carson
Yeah.

34:28.00
Jaime G
You're in a train you have the direction to change the train to go on. You know one way or the other if you're going one way, you're going to hit 5 people you you could decide to shift gears and change into like the other direction but you're absolutely going to hit one person so which one do you pick.

34:43.43
Carson
Um, right.

34:43.56
sentfrmheaven
We are we taking out that one. Yeah.

34:45.23
Jaime G
So that's kind of like what you were saying right? you.

34:45.57
nave Gaming Together
I don't remember what degenerate Youtube where I was watching but he was talking about. He's like I get the guy the 1 guy on the track I put him with 5 other people and then I myself lay down on the track and then we all go.

34:59.79
Carson
Um, if.

35:01.22
Jaime G
Um, actually there was an episode of in the good place where you know the the Ted Dansen is not a good guy and he's like oh the problem's easy. It's like how do you do to do exactly that to maximize and get everybody. You know.

35:18.41
tanomsak
Yeah, um, all right? So ah nave. Do you have any? ah anything you want to add about the mass effect.

35:18.46
Jaime G
Um.

35:26.18
nave Gaming Together
Ah, the thing that I always like especially when in regards to decisions is the there's a huge plot point around this thing called the genofage which is probably 1 of the most interesting things that I've ever experienced in a video game just trying to dive deep into. Like lore and stuff like that and masss effect is so much lore that the general phage just to kind of poorly sum it up is ah 1 alien race ah is a warmongering race that is ah extremely violent and reproduces rapidly. And they were basically conquering the entire the entire solar system and 1 of the ways that they decided to attack these these guys because these guys were just winning. They were just going to conquer everything and they were going to make like a giant fascistic solar system government. And so what they what they decided to do was they developed this disease that sterilized all of the females so that they couldn't reproduce anymore and killed a ton of the of the of the warring Alien Race and that's something that comes up a lot. Like there. There is a there is a tension between the humans and the tyrians because when the humans the humans first contact it's called the first contact war in the game whenever they run into the first aliens it's immediate war right away and so there's there's there's tension between those 2.

36:57.45
nave Gaming Together
But then against this Alien Race that developed I think it's the solarians and I can't remember what race wreck is called.

37:00.70
Carson
Yeah, the malar so the solarians developed the Jeni age and the turians deployed it on the krogen home world. Yeah.

37:10.86
nave Gaming Together
The krogen are the are the warmongers. Um, there is a there is a real tension between the krogen and basically all of the council races because of this because everyone's very resentful for what happened, but it's also this situation where it's like yeah if we got cured. We'd probably do it again. You know? and so there's like this really interesting dynamic where you have to fight you you have to fight through this racism that is just inherent in the interactions with these characters that you have 1 of each race essentially on your crew and you will have moments of tension between these and my favorite character and the whole mass of ex trilogy. Is ah Morden Solace who is the he's so awesome you you get a you get a really awesome interaction in mass spec too where with this character he you realize he know he knows a lot more about the jenith age than he's been letting on. He's.

37:48.80
Carson
Same I Love him so much. He's one of my favorites.

38:05.48
nave Gaming Together
You you immediately know he's like a ruthless scientist that will do anything to help people even if it means killing people which he's he's a very complex character and you realize that he has a lot more to do with the genage than he initially lets on and you come across. This person who's trying to cure the jeniphage and you have an option to destroy this because it is inhumane testing that this person's doing. He's like kidnapping Krogan and and experimenting on them like um, um, like there's some allegories here to real world events. But the the end result is that he's trying to cure the jeniphage even though he's killing many of the krogen he's trying to help them in the end and you have to decide if this is something that's worth keeping this information that he's gotten from this all of these it wasted innocent lives. Or and some of them volunteer like you learn that they're not all captive. You've run into one that is like I want to be here if it means I'm saving my race. This is the really awesome decision making that bioware used to be capable of and and I'll never for like I think about I think about the jeniage and more than all the time. Just in any any everyday life I think about this stuff.

39:18.65
tanomsak
Yeah, and it's correct me if I'm wrong, but in mass effect your your commander shepherd right? That's the name of your character. Ah that you're trying to bring together like a coalition to fight.

39:27.60
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

39:27.36
Carson
Um, yeah.

39:33.35
Carson
The reburs.

39:35.90
tanomsak
Um, the reapers who are who come every so many thousands of years and basically destroy all the other civilizations in the galaxy right is somethinglon of lines. Um, so a lot of your decision making is based on like.

39:44.19
Carson
Yeah, every 50000 years

39:53.53
tanomsak
I'm trying to build a coalition and like how is this going to benefit how can I benefit the coalition the most as another factor that you're trying to factor in in a lot of these decisions. Yeah, so it's like mass effect. It's just ah, it's just a game of thousands of decisions.

40:05.90
nave Gaming Together
Um, yeah.

40:13.37
tanomsak
That are critical for their survival of the entire galaxy. No pressure.

40:15.44
nave Gaming Together
Yeah, that's beautiful.

40:17.51
Carson
And you the discussion on the Jeni age and what you brought up brings me to a really good point in mass effect 3 at the end of basically the first arc um during priority to chunka you have a chance to cure the jenniage.

40:33.42
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

40:34.92
Carson
And it's a culmination of all these different points throughout the last 3 games that can kind of determine the outcome and how it affects you know your your war assets how it best serves the coalition because right before all of this you get a message. From one of the solarian dalatras is I think it's a Solarian counselor herself and she's like if you cure the jeniage like do not count on a ton of soarian support like we're not, we're not goingnna help you um and the interesting thing is there's a way to get both.

41:00.42
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

41:11.27
Carson
The k crogen and the soarian support for the most stuff but it's like it's a really awful choice and I've not had the heart to be able to play a playthrough where that happens because it requires the death of like 1 of the other major.

41:28.23
tanomsak
All right? Let's stop you right there that is what I want to know why why tell me why you can't pull the trigger on that. Okay.

41:28.77
Carson
Like well-loved characters.

41:36.33
Carson
Because I love err not Rex way too much and it sucks because you have to choose between Rex and Morton and like I hate losing mor than too because he's my favorite character like he and garres are my favorites but like also Rex is trying to do good by the krogan he's trying to. Make them better. Um, and if you don't have Rex in place because he can die in mass effect one like you can shoot him on burmier because you come across Sain's base who's the main bill in a mass effect one and you find out sain's trying to cure the Janeni age this plot device comes up multiple times throughout the series.

42:13.80
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

42:16.25
Carson
It's like Sarah's trying to cure the Jeniage and Rex is like I don't know shepherd like I want to help you stop him, but he's trying to cure the jeniage and if you there's a side quest you can run that can basically help you save Rex or if you have enough paragon or renegade points. You can convince them otherwise like. Either you or 1 of your squad mates shoots and kills him. Um and if you don't have Rex his brother Reeve takes control of the Krogen and Reeve is like how we were describing like the mindset of the rest of the warmongering Krogan like Reeve just wants to destroy everything. Um.

42:49.52
tanomsak
No.

42:53.80
Carson
And then the point about the data comes into play too. So if you decide to let Rex die put Reeve in charge. He's a terrible person and then don't save the data so that ah Bakara dies in mass effect 3 this all culminates to where. You can actually trick read into thinking you cure the jeniage let morton survive and you get the solarian stuff too. But it's like at what cost like you've just doomed the krogan pretty much like you just doomed entire race to basically genocide about.

43:24.85
tanomsak
A.

43:26.75
nave Gaming Together
And also you you miss out on one of the best self-sacrificing scenes in all of gaming.

43:31.83
tanomsak
Now All right.

43:32.71
Carson
Rights And as much as I Love Moron. It's It's a good end to his character that sacrifice because he spent so long defending his work on modifying the jeniferage and then he turns around and decides. No I'm going to fix what I've done. And I'm going to help stop the Gen of age.

43:52.16
nave Gaming Together
And it's great to you because the last thing he says to shepherd is it's like what is it is like it has to be me if anyone else did it. They'd probably screw it up and then he just goes up and he leaves you and you're just like god damn I love you Morgan.

43:54.38
tanomsak
Ah.

43:58.47
Carson
Ah.

44:04.20
Carson
Right? And then he like he like is like humming like a song to himself like it's with the one that he sings a mass effect to um I I am a very model of a scientist Salarian and he he's humming that at the end um into a you he dies? um.

44:16.99
nave Gaming Together
A know.

44:20.23
tanomsak
Yeah, so it. So so so so buyware. That's makers of Mass effect right? So they've done an excellent job of like making you the emotionally connected with all these different characters and then putting you in in just.

44:21.85
Carson
So yeah I I can't I want to do a play through one day where you kill Rex but I I can't ah this yeah.

44:36.59
nave Gaming Together
Um, ah.

44:39.64
tanomsak
Positions of just hey how can you hurt yourself in in and these people that you've come to to um, enjoy as part of your parties right? I All right? so.

44:42.11
nave Gaming Together
First. Oh.

44:57.16
tanomsak
We could probably talk about mass effects sounds like for hours but we get on to some other games ah nave what? Ah what? Ah what game. Ah, do you want to talk about.

44:58.87
Carson
Yeah.

45:01.73
nave Gaming Together
Ah.

45:08.84
nave Gaming Together
Well I think I should bring up one of the most important decisions in all of gaming and that's at the beginning of Saint Tro four where you become the president of the United States and they ask you if you want to be the president that cured cancer or the president that ended world hunger and then. 5 seconds after you make that decision aliens invade and it does nothing matters.

45:29.12
Jaime G
Hit hit.

45:29.20
Carson
Ah.

45:33.32
nave Gaming Together
But ah actually I really want to talk about spec um speck offs. The line is obviously the thing on my in my mind right now. But I don't want to spoil speck off the line, especially it's gonna be a hard. It would be a hard conversation to have to talk around that but there's a very very emotional decision at the end of that game. And it's the probably the only time where I've ever been just stunlocked by a decision. There are I can't talk about it. So instead I'm gonna talk about the bloody baron from whicher 3 have you guys have you guys ah gotten to the first that's it's like the first 8 hours of the which or 3 this is.

46:10.15
tanomsak
Yeah, it's been a few years. But yeah I've I've I've played through which or 3 and I I vaguely remember that quest.

46:11.81
Jaime G
I Have not.

46:12.57
nave Gaming Together
Probably the first main story beat of the game.

46:13.18
sentfrmheaven
I haven't played anything.

46:23.40
nave Gaming Together
So the bloody baron is. It's a string of quests where at first it's a main storyline quest. But after you get done with the first part you can screw off. You can go do whatever you want afterwards, but you can continue to interact with this baron for that. He he has lost his family and he tasks you to find them and the more you uncover about this entire situation. You realize that these people weren't kidnapped and or they weren't like killed or anything these people ran away because the baron is ah a horrible alcoholic and a very vicious abuser of. His wife and his kid to the point where he beat his wife so badly that she lost a child that they were going to have and that's what what broke the straw of the cameras. That's what broke the Camel's back was that situation and you go through an entire storyline where this this. This character who is an empathetic figure at first becomes a demon and then slowly becomes an empathetic character again while you're trying to sort out all of this guy's baggage and in the meantime you're you're going around. You're wrestling with a tree that has the spirits of things and it's like. Do I kill these spirits or do I let the spirits live these have implications further down the line and different quest lines and and moral implications and all of that and you run it you you run into this cascade of events where you have you have all of this stuff at your feet. Suddenly you are the arbiter of of of.

47:49.67
nave Gaming Together
Of Time. At this point you're gonna decide where we're going in the timeline and the the ending that most people get with this bloody bear and Saga is probably 1 of the biggest gut punches that I've ever had in a game in in a game probably in all my life that only topped by like maybe Spec ops and that is. It was so it was so impactful for me that I put the game down the moment I resolved those quests I went and I bought the witcher one and the witcher two and I said I refuse to play anymore the whichitcher 3 until I figure out what this is about because this is incredible This it's it's the epitome of. Decision based storytelling. Ah that beginning of that game. The rest of the game is pretty good but the bloody Baron story arc is worth the price of ad admits alone.

48:36.48
tanomsak
Yeah, now which is pretty famous for ah the just those side stories just this being these huge game like not really games but just huge stories onto themselves. You know, usually we're used to like hey.

48:48.58
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

48:52.89
tanomsak
Can you go get me some you know wolf pelts you know and bring them back. You know those are the top of side question we get in most games but whicher witcher is giving you like and a whole narrative. Um that that's impactful but I yeah vaguely remember that one. It's been.

49:04.78
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

49:11.95
tanomsak
I Mean yeah that our chicken.

49:13.26
nave Gaming Together
It's really interesting to you because it's kind of hard to spoil it I mean that you can spoil the the the the actual story beats but the decisions they they start branching things out so wildly to the point where I I remember trying desperately. Just as with everything in my power to make I was like for sure I have to get this woman and this child away from him I want the baron to be good I don't want to decimate this little this little shanty town that they're hiding in so I tried as hard as I could to make the best out of these situations. And I ended up just dropping every single ball and just ended up with the worst probably the worst possible outcome Besides the fact that the that the wife got away I got her out of there and then screwed everything else up thinking that I was doing the right thing.

49:57.14
tanomsak
Right? So so is that enough like is that enough to cause you just like I got to restart the game or I have to live with my decisions.

50:10.40
nave Gaming Together
It's it's it's written so well that I loved it. It was so tragic it was it was It was fantastic and I think that a lot of people ended up with the baron not surviving this story arc and I think that. There's many ways that that's kind of they could have gone but I think most of the time the baron doesn't survive if I'm if I'm remembering correctly like the game is just it's told in such a compelling way that there are 3 different endings though the witcher of which I won't spoil but I got the worst ending and I was just.

50:30.14
tanomsak
Now.

50:44.79
nave Gaming Together
I was just obliterated for like three days like I couldn't play anything else because the ending was so it was so good even though it was the bad ending. It was just a wonderful experience.

50:54.48
tanomsak
Um, so that just reminded me, you're talking about this tragic I'm so bad. Um, you're talking about this tragic story with the bear and I'm the whole time I'm thinking about the unicorn and ah ah.

51:04.52
Carson
Ah, can do.

51:07.72
nave Gaming Together
The unicorn. Yeah, never explicitly stated what the unicorns were.

51:09.70
Carson
I.

51:13.83
tanomsak
Um.

51:16.72
Carson
Next.

51:17.90
tanomsak
Ah, ah, ah, but ah, yeah, so yeah, how many different decisions you had to make ah to get the ah the unicorn scene. But yeah, but was there a mechanism in that game.

51:27.90
nave Gaming Together
Very funny.

51:30.74
Carson
Um.

51:34.56
tanomsak
That didn't ah we were talking about I think Jaimie and I were talking about this other day about ah ah I was recently playing forspoken and got to the end and there's a there's a point where you you get where you're given a choice right? one? ah.

51:42.70
nave Gaming Together
And.

51:54.28
tanomsak
Choice number 1 is continue through this portal to this door and you get to be the hero basically or fight to be the hero to save everybody option two go through door number 2 and you just go home right. Um, you don't care about what happens in the world that you're in and you're just gonna go back and be a couch potato. That's literally yeah, right? So ah so of course what I do I cheated I saved the game right? there and I was like okay.

52:21.74
nave Gaming Together
It's like the matrix.

52:33.55
tanomsak
Um, save right here I'm gonna go do option number 1 and then I'll come back and do option number 2 was there a mechanism in the witcher that prevented you from doing that.

52:41.12
nave Gaming Together
I think there was because I think the decision a lot of the decisions that attribute to your ending are scattered throughout the game so it was just my incompetence essentially that ended up fumbling everything towards the end which funny thing is guys I did go on Google I mean on Youtube and I watched the rest of the endings. The bad ending is the best ending so I will die on the ill it is so tragic. But um I yeah I don't think there's a way to salvage it I think you have to be aware I think even to be aware that the endings can change so that you can use your decision making at the moment.

53:03.58
tanomsak
Um, is it. Ah.

53:17.40
nave Gaming Together
I Didn't know there were multiple endings so I just thought that that was the canonical ending that I got.

53:21.88
tanomsak
Right? So the first time I played through which are I didn't know there were multiple endings either and then it it went through like the end credits and it's like here's here's your ending or whatever I came or high was presented and they're like wait. There's most there's multiple endings which one did I get and ah.

53:34.19
Carson
Next.

53:39.30
tanomsak
Had to immediately go check it out I think I got a pretty good one if there was a scale you know of good endning bad ending. You know it was up there to top of good but I can't.

53:46.24
Carson
I Remember you telling me about this to you. You beat the game and you're like I realized though it's like I got a good ending but I didn't get the best ending and you you were able to go back and like there was one single decision that you had to make.

53:59.39
tanomsak
There was one point in the game where it's like if you continue with the story here. You know there's no going back or something like that I remember that but for mostly game because it has this just like constant saving mechanism that you see a lot in games. But.

54:06.80
Carson
Yeah.

54:15.37
nave Gaming Together
Um, yeah.

54:18.20
tanomsak
I Think that's just like why it was preventing like a like you couldn't like save a specific save or something I'm not sure I'm totally totally wrong. Um, anyway, let's jump to hyy lets you had anything else. You wouldn't add nave. Yes.

54:31.69
nave Gaming Together
Oh no, everyone play witcher and spec ops play spec opbs first.

54:37.31
tanomsak
Hey when you told me that we were going to you were thinking about talking about spec ops I'm like I've never heard of spec ops. So let me give me go on Youtube and look check it out and it's got like ah man there were there were like comparisons video and of video essays on.

54:47.26
nave Gaming Together
You. Video essays a million of them.

54:57.18
tanomsak
On this game like hard a darkness apocalypse now comparisons like I'm like what and the you know it? Yeah well I mean.

54:59.87
nave Gaming Together
Oh yeah, it's so good I'm so happy you don't know anything about it that don't just stop at this point just play. It don't know anything. That's the best way.

55:02.40
Carson
The hip.

55:11.92
tanomsak
I merely looked it up is this compatible with with my steam deck because I I I want to put it on a steam that can play but it's.

55:15.30
nave Gaming Together
Yeah, it's backwards compatible on Xbox as well. If people are curious.

55:19.83
tanomsak
Yeah, um, all right hi me what you got.

55:19.98
Jaime G
You? Yeah yeah, hey so you know I've been brainstorming a lot on this un this answerered but you know when when Tony you and I got together. We were brainstorming ideas I mentioned the one of the earliest recollections that I had about a game where. You had to make a decision and I was so upset with it was the original streets of rage you got to the end you got to Mr. x you made it to the final boss 5 and he asks you do want to be good or do you want to be evil if you decide to go evil.

55:47.10
nave Gaming Together
A.

55:55.41
Jaime G
You get this. He opens up like a trap door and then you're you're like sent back to like level 3 or something you have to like play the whole game again. This is but this is before save states worth thing. Um, so you know I've been thinking about like things that have happened and I was getting ready for this. You know I was ready to talk about Bioshock right? You know? do you harvest the little sisters because I never did I was always too chicken enough because because harvest harvesting is code for You know you know getting all high on on on Adam um, or or you know i.

56:15.50
nave Gaming Together
Oh yeah.

56:32.64
Jaime G
I even was thinking about persona 5 because you have to make the use of your your time or in between missions and a persona five always left me with that feeling of am I really making the best use of my time should I go and you know. Be friends with somebody so I can increase the you know their bond level or go and do activities to get you know, be better at negotiating with with the bad guys when you capture them etc that that one always like left me thinking like maybe I should have spent my time more wisely. But. The one that I actually ended up coming back to was the original life is strange and I know probably everyone here's going to be thinking if you've played life is strange as the the decision at the end where it's like in the final chapter. Do you choose to save your friend chloe. Or you yeah, if you choose if you pick her you basically doom Arcadia Bay completely do it or do you choose Arc Katia Bay and you know goodbye with your friend. Well no, that was not the hardest decision that I had to make in this in my playthrough. Because at the end I think it's at the end of chapter 3 or chapter four I can remember. There's a character her name's Kate and she's being bullied because she was in the she went to a vortex party and she was taking some pictures making out with guys and in in the game.

58:01.25
Jaime G
Kate is a a christian you know, very like wears a cross everything and that in ah and after being bullied so much and again life is change is all about decisions.

58:14.33
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

58:15.59
Jaime G
You can even rewind and go back and re retake some decision accept some key ones well at at the end of this this chapter Kate Kate's just fed up. She's like she goes into the top of the dormitories. She's about to jump off. And you're having an exchange with her try to convince her to not jump off the ledge and there's 1 question in here in the series of questions and it's like you're giving 3 options. Do you tell her a suicide is a sin. B proverbs 1521 I mean that is a choice that the game the game gives you or do you say Matthew 1128 and so I'm I'm playing this I'm thinking I have no context.

59:10.00
tanomsak
Ah.

59:10.64
Jaime G
I Like what? what do I answer and luckily the game does isn't doesn't pull a walking dead on you where you know you have a timer that is that that's elapsing so exactly like but but pop pop pop. But.

59:21.83
tanomsak
Ah, right? you? Yeah yeah, you had a chance to go play your bible.

59:26.20
Carson
Um, but typical.

59:28.87
Jaime G
But in the series of questioning this is I think this is the second to last question There's there's 1 more question at the end where she decides whether to jump off or not and let's just say that my series of answers was not the right one and she jumped off and she does not come back in the game I mean. At this point you you get to a part where you know your main character is basically saying I can't rewind right now. So so you know that this is a choice that matters. Um and and it's what's terrible is that right? after this, you know the police and the principal are questioning you and.

59:57.50
tanomsak
Yeah.

01:00:07.30
Jaime G
You can rewinding change your answers but you can't rewind in this scene. So after the fact I was like going like to forums and stuff me like can you save this character. The answer was yes but I had already committed to the path of she was gone So it.

01:00:25.73
tanomsak
Um, yeah.

01:00:26.56
Jaime G
It was. It was a deep Honestly, it was a deep moment because I was like man I don't know what the right answer was and so it just left me lingering with that feeling.

01:00:34.67
tanomsak
So that that one that is more like like you're you're wrestling with all those questions that you had to answer or ask before that right? like where did you where did you go wrong in that series.

01:00:47.25
Jaime G
Right? Where did you because there's like maybe 4 or 5 questions in the string of of of the conversation and and and all of them I was thinking. okay okay I got this no these answers seem legit. Obviously this one where it's like you know, bible verse a by whatever be years. Or this is a sin. It's like what? Um, so yeah, that was one that again to me was very difficult because I thought everything was going well until I got to that point I was like okay. And then the next question was like hey you're going to disappoint your dad your mom your brothers and and I picked the wrong one I I said you know you're going to disappoint your mom and she's like I I don't like my mom by um, so yeah, that's that's the one that i.

01:01:38.92
tanomsak
So ah, made you it made you have a whole new respect for those people that volunteer at the suicide hotlines and stuff like I don't know how people I mean yeah I can never muster the courage to do that.

01:01:39.68
Jaime G
That stuck with me.

01:01:45.28
Jaime G
Dude I mean if if if a game if a if a game you know, really messed me up I was like okay yeah it it gives you some new appreciation. So if you're if your playing life is strange. You can save Kate.

01:01:56.21
tanomsak
Um, yeah.

01:02:01.96
Jaime G
And this never went back and did it because just to me the the storyline that I picked the the story that I carved out for myself was my story I didn't want to go back and alter that.

01:02:10.26
tanomsak
Yeah, right? Yeah I mean it's that's like impactful right? like you don't want to change just like ah nave was talking about. You know the tragic story with the baron like that. That's just. Story that you felt like you know that you have now here and you're in your in your heart when it comes to like if you love like if you love the story. You Love the game. It's like I'm I'm not messing around you know.

01:02:30.42
Jaime G
Right? Well well and this is a thing like I can be having a conversation with anybody who's played this game and we've played the same game. We we're going to have completely different stories to tell it's like hey I did this.

01:02:45.43
tanomsak
Yeah.

01:02:49.33
Jaime G
Dude I didn't know you could do that? Um, because there is some of that really I got I got to look into this now. Yeah yeah.

01:02:50.52
tanomsak
A yeah.

01:02:51.71
nave Gaming Together
Spec offs. The line is just like that I love it.

01:02:59.94
tanomsak
Ah, you're recruiting creating all these new spec out players. Um, that's what you got.

01:03:01.38
Carson
Um, had to download it open. You can see. Yeah.

01:03:10.30
sentfrmheaven
I Ah want to tell my mom so lame cupberty. Ah so ah, a lot of people know I don't play single play games at all like at all just not my thing. Um, so the hardest decision to me doesn't matter from playing. 2 K Call Duty Whateverever I Play Multiplayer is your lineup if we're going out there to win if we're going out there far, you know have fun who are we putting in lineup. That's that's you know death Yeah teammates. That's my hardest decision you know because.

01:03:37.17
nave Gaming Together
The teammates.

01:03:39.64
tanomsak
Hey hey I've seen the results of poor decision making here because some of the teams that you've got videos where it's just you know you guys are just stinking.

01:03:43.32
sentfrmheaven
Hey man you know in you know, like hey here I.

01:03:59.61
tanomsak
And ah you because he streams a lot of his his matches bad. It's entertaining but you should just tune in just to see the fireworks bad bad choice. You made nothing but bad choices. Ah.

01:04:07.72
sentfrmheaven
I right? right? hey because you think about like what? ah the one and only time I played overwatch two is with you All know you hi me and who else we had hiy.

01:04:19.13
Jaime G
Yes, we had We had jrod.

01:04:24.48
sentfrmheaven
Was it your yeah and I was just picking carriages ain't understand what was going on what they ability was I was out there V week is link like.

01:04:30.40
tanomsak
Yeah, well there there is there is that that certain pressure that goes along when you're coming into a game. You're not familiar with and it's like a co-op game and you're you're asked to you pick a a characters. You don't know how to.

01:04:49.42
Jaime G
Well and not only that in over watchtch you, You're committing to a role. Not just a character you're committing like am I going to be offensive defensive or I'm going to be support and if you don't play that your role you're out.

01:04:49.58
tanomsak
You know what? you're supposed to be doing with it. Yeah.

01:04:53.98
sentfrmheaven
Right? right? right.

01:04:55.10
Carson
Right.

01:05:00.67
sentfrmheaven
I was a I didn't know if I was either.

01:05:04.65
tanomsak
Yeah, you're just waiting for that comment from the somebody hey man you need to need to get good. Ah.

01:05:12.14
nave Gaming Together
Yeah I mean I understand I was I played I was playing with my friend danre we were playing some halo infinite and I've never seen a game like this before I took a screenshot of the leaderboard at the end because halo infinite four v 4 generally and so Don it was first to 50

01:05:12.37
sentfrmheaven
You right? right? You gotta get good right? so.

01:05:14.89
Carson
Um.

01:05:31.68
nave Gaming Together
My friend dantra 22 kills and 9 deaths I had 20 kills and 12 deaths. Our teammates had a 1 kill in 12 deaths and 0 kills and 17 deaths and I'm like if they had just gotten 2 more kills we would have won I don't even understand how it's possible.

01:05:43.64
tanomsak
I.

01:05:50.50
nave Gaming Together
to go 1 in 7 to 1 in 17

01:05:51.41
Carson
But.

01:05:52.53
sentfrmheaven
Um, hey we send messages after the game I'm sorry I.

01:05:52.66
tanomsak
Um, so we're hey, yeah yeah, um, man.

01:06:01.36
Carson
It's like 9 year old me playing call duty black ops in this like during summer break with my neighbor and we would always start the summer and we'd have like 2 kills and 30 deads and then we'd in the summer because we'd play like every day we'd we'd end with a. Closer to like 1 to 1 kill death ratio at the least. Um, but cat. Yeah.

01:06:23.52
tanomsak
Yeah, as just learning the maps getting used to. You know that sort of left. But yeah, um, but yay, that's like you said the choice of ah do I play with this person again. Because I know they stuck. Yeah.

01:06:39.88
sentfrmheaven
Right? right.

01:06:40.60
Carson
With the uplift.

01:06:40.20
nave Gaming Together
Oh that's the worst I've been starting to appear offline on Xbox because I I have like a hundred and fifteen people and just from rainbow 6 siege and like from halo and I just get bombarded sometimes or if my party's open I'll have like someone join like. And just screaming into my mind and they might get on rainbow six I need you right now. It's terrible out here like I can't dude I'm playing ghost to tsushima or something i' not know i' already in on the Xbox right now.

01:07:04.31
tanomsak
Um.

01:07:06.52
sentfrmheaven
Man look speaking to that man like so when you're searching for people you know like and if you know somebody's off line D You know you got to scroll all the way to your friends list find her name. You know So my Brotherin law and my wife.

01:07:11.28
Carson
Um.

01:07:16.71
nave Gaming Together
Oh my God I.

01:07:23.94
sentfrmheaven
You know they come from the same cloth. They always offline I'm like Brah but hey I see why now. So I slide off line I like a I want to why he che and me up let me pick and choose who I want to play with you know, right? like yeah, it's.

01:07:36.58
nave Gaming Together
Yeah, what my my game plan is I owe the people I send. Ah the people I play with a lot that appear offline I'll just send them a message so that they're just somewhere in there and I can invite him from there said I'm just scroll through all the all that nonsense.

01:07:49.10
sentfrmheaven
Yeah, yeah, see then I gotta make sure you know like they're not playing with anybody who I don't want to play with I am who you playing with now I'm I'm by to get off, Go go go get some need.

01:07:49.66
tanomsak
Yeah.

01:07:57.32
tanomsak
Yeah, ah the word, the the the yeah tough decision you're playing like a four player co-op. Theres 3 of you in your party and somebody messages you take can I join you if you like.

01:08:13.50
Jaime G
Oh dude, you're just describing me right now.

01:08:13.56
tanomsak
Ah, that guy wants to play. What do we tell him that we're all getting off. Hey yeah we just we're just we're just finishing. We're getting off now. Sorry next time. Ah yeah.

01:08:14.89
Carson
Um.

01:08:15.94
sentfrmheaven
And.

01:08:21.19
nave Gaming Together
You can't go offline immediately because they know like I kind of want to loop back around I don't remember who brought up streets of rage the first one. But so we just recently did that for our show and.

01:08:24.10
Jaime G
And.

01:08:24.44
sentfrmheaven
Right? right.

01:08:40.16
nave Gaming Together
We played it in japanese for some stupid reason and when we got to the end we didn't know there was a choice at the end of that game so when a prompt popped up and it's just Kanji or kanji and I'm like okay I don't know so I'm gonna pick the top 1 Philip you pick the bottom one and then that makes you fight.

01:08:44.79
Jaime G
Yeah.

01:08:53.31
Jaime G
Oh if you do that you got a fight right.

01:08:55.87
Carson
So.

01:08:57.30
nave Gaming Together
Yeah, and so we didn't know that so we're like okay and now now now Philip is like googling what does it mean and meanwhile I'm just like ah ah, beating his ass I don't care.

01:09:05.50
Jaime G
Yeah.

01:09:08.41
Carson
Um.

01:09:09.20
tanomsak
Ah, yeah I Thought when you brought up street your rage. Ah you guys had just talked about that and your last episode I Yeah yeah yeah.

01:09:16.10
Jaime G
Oh I didn't know that man no but I had told you I had told you that even before that that I like man I didn't know like okay I'm going to be bad Boom you're punished for doing that.

01:09:16.66
nave Gaming Together
Yeah.

01:09:30.58
tanomsak
Yeah, awesome. Ah, well we're we're pushing one ten. So we said we'd we'd wrap it up about this time. It seems like we have gone around the panel here and and it was ah it was a great episode. Nave thanks for joining us tonight. Ah and it was ah it was ah it was great to hear everybody's ah discussion on there. Some of their favorite ah decision, points and games and stuff. Um, as a reminder if you're I think of. Vance has it in our chats. Our Discord channel and so if you want to join check out you want to join our Discord community check that out get in there and sign up for our Marvel snap tournament that's on the eighteenth.

01:10:12.82
Jaime G
the Twitch the Twitch stream

01:10:23.88
Jaime G
Yeah, yeah.

01:10:26.80
tanomsak
And Dave you want to give us another plug for gaming together.

01:10:31.42
nave Gaming Together
Ah, yeah, we you can find us over on Twitter at game togetherpod it's going to be me just posting a bunch of stupid videos and memes and stuff like that. Whatever I find funny on the internet and we also run an Instagram. Which is also full of stupid videos and memes and all that nonsense and then our show gaming together is a cooperative show where we talk about multiplayer and just roast each other as much as we possibly can and um I really appreciate having you having a me on it was really interesting conversation because normally we don't get to get in the guts of. Actual video games. We normally just get stuck talking about how I keep team killing Philip. That's it.

01:11:06.50
Jaime G
I can.

01:11:10.40
Carson
Um.

01:11:11.77
tanomsak
Um, anybody else got anything they want to add caution.

01:11:14.60
Jaime G
I no no man I only have a question because this is something I read in the Discord and I want to make sure ah make sure that everyone knows that we are reading the Discord um, you know here's some of the top answers that we we saw in the in the thread. Um. Apparently some people said that you know playing the walking dead choosing Kenny or Jane um, big discussion around that I don't have the context um somebody said and I don't and and Carson you might know this.

01:11:35.28
nave Gaming Together
Oh boy.

01:11:46.16
Jaime G
Somebody says that one of the hardest choices is telling a character they're dumb. Although that wasn't really the.

01:11:50.83
Carson
That's that's fair there that usually shows up in Biowear games. Um, maybe it doesn't specifically say it like oh you're dumb. But.

01:11:55.27
Jaime G
Up.

01:12:03.43
Carson
I mean there's a choice in the first mass effect game where you can call just a random in pc you meet. He's like fighting with the police officer. No no, but you're fighting with the like he's fighting with a random police officer and you can literally sit there and call him a big stupid jellyfish ah.

01:12:07.96
Jaime G
Oh that doesn't count out That's it such an a pc.

01:12:18.56
nave Gaming Together
Oh I Know what you're talking about and how do you not say that when you see that grace your screen. You're like oh.

01:12:20.78
tanomsak
I.

01:12:23.14
Carson
Um, that's one of my favorite moments in the game. Ah right.

01:12:24.43
Jaime G
Um, and and and and the other the other this I guess top answer from Discord was the hardest choice is choosing what class to play in on any m mmo.

01:12:24.62
sentfrmheaven
And.

01:12:28.87
tanomsak
Yeah.

01:12:31.30
Carson
Yeah, but.

01:12:40.97
nave Gaming Together
Because it's you. That's such a commitment that's such a time sink if you don't like to be a major suddenly.

01:12:41.51
Carson
Yeah, can you.

01:12:43.10
tanomsak
And no, no more.

01:12:47.60
Jaime G
Yeah.

01:12:48.16
tanomsak
Oh yeah, well and what was the other most important question. What's the starting what's starting Pokemon

01:12:56.87
nave Gaming Together
Ah, water.

01:12:57.13
Carson
Awesome! This is the best pokemon pick up best choice at least at least for gen 4

01:12:57.44
Jaime G
Oh yeah, that I think that was you um.

01:13:01.78
tanomsak
Ah.

01:13:02.30
nave Gaming Together
The only the only generation that I've ever broken. My water roll is weed cat the 24 cat and the news game I had to go with weed get.

01:13:12.41
Jaime G
Yeah, so so those are the top I mean some of these are you know mass effect get come coming kept on coming back up so we talked about mass effect but those are like the top Discord answers for this question? yeah.

01:13:25.20
tanomsak
Awesome kill.

01:13:26.80
Carson
And we could probably do a whole show on just the ending itself to for mass effect because there's still a lot of discourse on that as been for years and that's its whole other can of worms.

01:13:40.57
nave Gaming Together
Doing do an hour long episode on each character.

01:13:42.33
Jaime G
Um, yeah.

01:13:45.16
tanomsak
Oh yeah.

01:13:47.65
Carson
You probably you could? ah.

01:13:50.52
sentfrmheaven
I hey y'all are the first people I've ever met doing the play math effect I've always seen it don't know anybody who's played it I need new friends.

01:13:51.24
Carson
And.

01:13:52.74
tanomsak
Um.

01:14:01.89
nave Gaming Together
It's great if you like if you like making decisions and I like making bad decisions so high in and seeing the consequences of my actions and that game is good at doing that.

01:14:07.27
Carson
Despite all like despite typically like making a lot of Paragon choices. There are some choices a mass effect too where I go the re a gay route because it's funny like you can push a dude out a window At one point, there's another guy.

01:14:24.40
tanomsak
Oh Russian and faith.

01:14:24.73
nave Gaming Together
There's a reporter is like this reporter that's like slandering you and you can just punch her right in the head and I'm like oh my God I did not know if that was all gonna happen whenever I chose that.

01:14:26.26
Carson
Yes. This.

01:14:35.27
sentfrmheaven
Yeah I was left with no.

01:14:35.32
Carson
There is a choice in 1 of the loyalty missions where you're sneaking through like the catwalks above all these different businesses and you run into this dude who's like oh you're not supposed to be here in like the paragon option is oh I'm the h vac repair man. And then the ridigate option you just run in there and you throw your hands up, you're like run. There's a bomb go what run.

01:14:59.57
nave Gaming Together
Um, here.

01:15:02.54
nave Gaming Together
Reading. Great.

01:15:05.27
tanomsak
Awesome! All right, let's wrap it up this old us old people. Gotta get to bed. Ah all right? Thanks for joining us again here on good game radio. Ah check us out on Twitter.

01:15:13.22
Carson
Um.

01:15:21.38
tanomsak
You know we're occasionally on there our Instagram and again join a discord our growing community there and we have lots of discussion on gaming and film. So we'll catch you guys next week ah Jamie you're out of town right.

01:15:35.39
Jaime G
I will be out of town but I will be listening in. Yeah.

01:15:39.70
tanomsak
Okay I think we might be talking man Oren not sure. But yeah, all right? We'll catch you guys later bye right? to me stop on the recording.

01:15:42.40
Jaime G
Yeah I think that was it. Right? see? yeah.

01:15:47.63
nave Gaming Together
Piece.

01:15:50.77
sentfrmheaven
And later.