Deep Fried Gaming

Here in 2025, a notion has begun to pick up steam in many communities: video games are dying. For some, video games and gaming itself is dead. In spite of the fact that Gaming is the highest grossing form of media consumption in the United States, it is often argued that the influx of normies into the space, lazy and formulaic development that retreads well-worn ground, ham-fisted politics, and pi...

Before the Godfather, Gone with the Wind, or Don Quixote, there existed an even more renowned and influential piece of art. Though the film adaptation of Barnyard would not be released until 2006, the ideas and concepts were created in the 30s and helped move America through the Great Depression. Today, we take a look at the Pinnacle of gaming and dive into the 2006 GameCube port of Barnyard, the...

The past decade has not been kind to game journalism. The profession has taken a hit due to a plethora of issues ranging from skill issues and dishonest review scores to the unnecessary politicization of games and games media. Today, however, the savior of Games Journalism’s reputation has descended: Ben Sledge, and he is here to set the record straight in a piece he has entitled: It’s time to Sta...

Episode 5 is a double feature: Superliminal and Viewfinder. Today we bring both games to the judgement table in order to dissect each for their own merits, compare them with one another, and roast theelephants that seem to be always-present in the room. We hope you enjoy our discussion of Superliminal and Viewfinder. You can email us at deepfriedgamingpodcast@gmail.com or follow our Twitter(X) pag...

What do you get when the chicken crosses the road? If you answered that capitalism is bad and CEOs killed it, you'd be partially right. For the second half of the answer to that question, you need to listen to the rest of todays episode. Welcome back to the Deep Fried Gaming Podcast. Today we turn our sights to one of the most insightful and cleverly done critiques of Capitalism and unchecked...

In 2022, we covered Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. While the consensus was ultimately a mixed bag, we generally liked it and thought much of what it had to offer was at least fresh and swung for the fences with ambition and Nintendo Charm The Thousand-Year Door was released in 2004. 3 Years later, another Paper Mario game hit the shelves and proceeded to spit in the face of TTYD, the player,...

*This episode Contains Spoilers for Death Stranding Throughout. Check Timestamps to see the severity for each section. It is highly advised you do not listen past the Act Man Review roast if you have not, but plan to play Death Stranding* In this Companion episode to our Season 3 Debut, we take one last drive by of the game start started us off: Death Stranding. This time, however, we have somethi...

We kick off season 3 with a hefty title: Death Stranding. In 2019, the title was the first release from the freshly-formed Kojima Productions. Controversy and confusion plagued the game even from before its release. Was it nothing other than a walking sim? Why was it so bloody weird? Why didn't Sam talk? What's up with the baby in a jar? These questions and more caused the game to be panned by mos...

Episode 40 marks the end of Deep Fried Gaming's Prolonged second season. In it, we dig deep into the breakout star of 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Timestamps0:00 Intro14:33 - Prologue Discussion ( Prologue Spoilers) 25:20 - Sound Design 32:35 Gameplay 40:25 - Character builds, Pictos, Luminas, Character mechanics, Combat 1:03:00 - Technical Questions and Concerns 1:09:00 - The Overworld/The Co...

As we (slowly) approach episode 40 of DFG, we slow things down for a much more chilled out and deliberate experience: the 2021 rough like deck building game from solo developer Daniel Mullins (with help from a few others). Scrolling the steam page for this game provides a pretty clear image of what to expect: a cabin, cards, death, puzzles, and intrigue. As it turns out, there's a lot more bubblin...

Today's installment focuses on 2024's Children of the Sun; a frenzied but deliberate shooter that blends elements of Sniper Elite, Super Hot, and just a little Far Cry 5 . Join us as we pick apart this games mechanics, presentation, and short length. Further, we discuss the price to playtime proposition of games like this and others. How much playtime should you get per dollar spent? Is ti...

*DISCLAIMER: This episode is made for entertainment and critique purposes ONLY. Bullying or Harassing the Author of this article in any way is entirely unacceptable. Be an adult, listen to the podcast, and go about your day like a well-adjusted person, please.* In episode 37, we dive into another review roast. This time, surprisingly, not from Kotaku but gamesradar. Our journalist today tells the...

Today's episode focuses on 2023's game by Black Salt Games entitled "Dredge", a narrative fishing experience with unsettling undertones. Dredge adopts a charming, cartoonish artstyle, simplistic fishing gameplay and throws in a healthy dosing of mystery and horror to make the high seas a little more interesting. Today we discuss Dredge's various merits and pitfalls: its gameplay, story, music, and...

In 2018, a ragtag squad of degenerates set out into the wilds of Bolivia for the first time without a clue of what was waiting for them. Blood-brother pacts were formed, friendships cemented, and podcasts were etched into the stones of future fate. This episode is a look back on Ghost Recon Wildlands and how it influenced us. We examine all the things that made it special at the time and to this d...

Bashing into our 34th episode slot is a 2015 game from Moon Studios. Centering on a baby Night Fury and taking place in a woodland of incredible beauty, Ori and the Blind Forest is an easy sell at face value. The game was an Xbox and PC exclusive for years until a Nintendo Switch port was released in September 2019. In this episode, we take the ride through the Definitive Edition and examine the g...

**This episode contains light spoilers throughout its entirety. Most pertain to general themes of Detroit: Become Human and the characters within, however, a few reveal specific story beats. The larger spoilers are marked below in the timestamps. Anyone seeking to enter Detroit: Become Human completely blind should avoid listening to this episode**Episode 33 brings us to a companion episode on our...

Quantic Dream is a studio known for its immersive, story-heavy games that challenge the player with the weight of their choices and the consequences that result from them. In 2018, they released their fifth game Detroit: Become Human to the PS4 console. It was a powerhouse in both the graphical and storytelling departments. Similar to previous Quantic Dream games, Director David Cage weaved a comp...

Between the dishonored series and their wildly underrated immersive sim, Prey, Arkane has proven themselves a reliable and inventive studio. They're responsible for creating interesting worlds with layered characters, morality systems, and stellar gameplay that has high replayability  years after release. So when the word was out they were making a similarly crafted game with a 60's style aes...

Wolfenstein is a game series with a long and illustrious history pioneering a genre and spanning multiple decades. After many rehashes, Machine Games took a swing at developing what would become the Wolfenstein formula in the mid-2010's. Wolfenstein: New Order breathed new life not only into the Wolfenstein series, but also Blazkowicz as a character. This game makes BJ Blazkowicz in the 1960's for...

In this episode, we take the trip back to 2004 and hunker down with a Gamecube classic: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It is the follow-up to Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 and is the second game in the Paper Mario franchise. One of us is a resident JRPG noob and it was supposed that perhaps this title would be an excellent introduction to the genre.  In this episode we dig deep into th...

One of the most hated games we've covered up to this point was the original Mirror's Edge from 2008. Its combat was clunky and poorly tuned, its story was borderline nonexistent, and the parkour that was the basis for the game was unsatisfying and lacked momentum. Great news, though: there's a sequel. Here in episode 28 we are covering it. We discuss what made the original game so weak and how Mir...

Episode 27 brings us to the Gloaming Galaxy. A small, fascinating galaxy inhabited by a race known as the Hearthians. The game is set up quickly and within minutes, you find yourself in a pair of Hearthian boots, suited up, and strapped into a rickety space shuttle careening through the ominous depths of space with the wonders of the galaxy before you. The elevator pitch does not do justice to wha...

Episode 26 officially kicks off season 2 of the Deep Fried Gaming podcast. In it, we take a look at a game released only last year, in 2021. Created by a small team and funded through Kickstarter, Backbone is a game that proves to be ambitious and beautiful in many ways. However, it is also a pretty stark reminder of how crowd-funding campaigns can kneecap a game even if a team has the desire and...

Episode 25 brings us to the end of our first season. In this episode, we dive into a classic PS2 game focusing on a gang of three very slick operators. They bash skulls and steal whatever is in sight, but it's morally justified because they are cute and quirky.  Of course, this game is Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves. The game is composed of 8 episodes in a heist movie styling and encompassing a han...

Pulling up late but not forgotten, here is episode 24. In this episode, we finish off our fourth retro game in the series: Jet Set Radio. It was released in the year 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast and later received both a sequel and Steam port.  The theme, aesthetic, and environment of this neon splashed skating game is a true product of its time. It revels in 90s skate and street culture, focu...