The Experience Points Podcast

Think you escaped 2019? Think again! Our game of the year podcast was so jam packed that we had to save some our favorite games for later. Grab your most comfy pair of sweatpants and forget about counting calories: it's time for leftovers.

Happy New Year listeners! We are celebrating 2020 by rounding up our top games of 2019.  It was a weird year for games. My list was tough to put together and had numerous iterations with very different games at the top. Take a listen and let us know your favorite games of 2019!    - Runtime: 54 min 13 sec  - Music by  Brad Sucks

This is it: the moment we've been anticipating and/or dreading all year. It's the 2019 Gamey awards! At the end of the year, everyone (including us) starts to get really serious about bestowing accolades, so we think it's fitting to hand out some of the most ridiculous awards we can think up. Join us in recognizing the essence of what makes video games so great and so silly: the inherent gameyness...

Small birds, big geese, boyfriends swords, and more this week as we discuss some end-of-the-year news out of Sony's State of Play 2019 and Nintendo's recent indie games showcase. While some of these games are exciting, 2020 remains a big question mark. What does the future hold!? Well, for one, it holds the annual Gamey Awards! Join us next week when we discuss the gameyist games. If you have a ga...

As we continue our headlong sprint towards the decade's end, we pause to recognize some of the memorable characters of the past 10 years. Using Polygon's list as a starting point, we discuss some standout examples and take stock of where games are in terms of character development. After all, this might be the last decade where we can safely treat these things as fictional characters rather than s...

It's American Thanksgiving this week, and I know one thing that I'm thankful for: a new version of Sonic that doesn't look like the monkey-kid from Jumanji. This week on the EXP Podcast, we emerge from the uncanny valley unscathed and carrying a VR headset and some pokeballs!  - Runtime: 36 min 00 sec  - Music by  Brad Sucks

All the sudden it's November and we find ourselves in the thick of release season. This week we took a break from delivering packages long enough to do an in-progress check-ins on Luigi's Mansion 3, The Outer Worlds, and Death Stranding. Now that I think of it, Gooigi seems like the sort of thing that would be right at home in a Kojima game.

The decade is almost over and we've come a long way since Y2K crashed our computers and sent modern civilization spiralling towards a Mad Max Oblivion. This week on the EXP Pocast, we discuss the games that got us through the last 20 years and why picking our favorite or the most important games of the 21st century is so damn hard.  - Runtime: 36 min 16 sec - " The 50 Best Games of the 21st Centur...

Rise and shine, adventurers! Your dream has come true: a debrief on this year's Link's Awakening remake. We ask the hard-hitting questions: Who is this game for? Has Breath of the Wild ruined everything? Why would a banana man want dog food? Don't worry about it too much; just enjoy the adorable tilt-shift goodness.

We are back after a brief work/life-induced hiatus! And we brought an obnoxious feathered friend with us and... uh... also a girl on a motorcycle. This week on the EXP Podcast, we review  Untitled Goose Game  and  Sayonara Wild Hearts  in a double debrief! While very different, both games are well worth your attention. Especially if you're into either A) pop albums or B) being just a total asshole...

If there is one thing I've learned from years working at a white-collar job, it's to never underestimate the destructive power of a thrown office chair. This week on the EXP Podcast, we toss around all kinds of office equipment using the telekinetic power in  Control , the latest game from Remedy Entertainment.  For good and bad, this is an interesting game full of excellent ideas (some of which a...

Our 6-part  Final Fantasy VII  debrief comes to a close this week as the dust settles on Sephiroth's reign of terror! We share some potentially controversial opinions on the conclusion to one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, craft some fan fiction of our own, and ponder what the remake holds for players still smitten with FF7 nostalgia. Show Notes:   - Intro and fight scene music from the Fin...

Dear listeners, Jorge has reached a critical point in his continuing mission, his trek through the stars if you will: the holodeck. This seminal piece of science fiction tech was inspired by and in turn has inspired the types of video games we play and how we even conceive of a virtual world. This week we dig into the concept of the holodeck, something that is simultaneously a blueprint and an sou...

We are back in the cockpit of the Highwind this week in our continuation of our  Final Fantasy VII  debrief. Our adventure has taken us up to the stars and down to the deep recess of the ocean. Also, we killed a big ol' kaiju.   Show Notes: - Runtime: 46 min 38 sec - Music from the Final Fantasy VII OST

Another month, another Nintendo Direct full of the hottest, most delectable morsels a person could ask for.  Or at least that's the case for fans of Terry Bogard (you weirdos).  This week we offer our takes on all of the recent announcements as well as try our hand at some international cultural analysis by way of region-specific Smash character requests.  Apparently there's a huge diversity of op...

The fall season of games fast approaches and we've got some fresh (albeit mediocre) beats to discuss. This week on the Podcast, we chat about  Remnant ,  Control ,  Pathologic 2 ,  Cadence of Hyrule  and few other things to come. Got a game you're loving right now? Send us an email and tell us about it!  

We're back in the saddle...the chocobo saddle! This week it's part 4 of our Final Fantasy VII debrief. Things are really heating up at this point what: startling revelations about Cloud's past, honest-to-goodness kaiju, and hidden menu options all make huge impacts. And speaking of huge, check out this materia! I mean I've seen big materia before, but this is just huge.

Google held another  big announcement  recently revealing some pricing around their games streaming platform and an assortment of games that will appear on the platform when it soft-launches this year and becomes fully available sometime in 2020. Google has lofty ambitions, but does the messaging live up to the dream?  This week on the EXP Podcast, we help sell Stadia to all the boys and girls of...

Bust out your grill and put some sandals over those socks, Guardian: it's time to build the dad loadout. This week, we discuss the phenomenon of the "dad build." It's a concept that has arisen from players pursuing in-game equipment that is useful but also attainable in the hopes that they can stay competitive without having to neglect their real-world responsibilities.

Like his feudal warrior class namesake, Ninja - one of the biggest gaming streamers on the internet - has disappeared and reappeared on a different platform. It seems like a minor thing for a gaming culture celebrity to move from one service to another, but it could be a sign that Microsoft is setting the stage for retaking their place at the forefront of the gaming culture landscape. Or maybe Tyl...

Look out Jigglypuff mains: your precious ledges are being taken away from you! This week, we talk about an upcoming Smash Bros. tournament with a new rule meant to tamp down defensive play. It's a small change, but it brings up big questions about esports, tournament rules, and overall game balance.

This week on the EXP Podcast, we duck, dive, and dodge our way through the endless levels available in  Super Mario Maker 2 . We are both big fans of the first game on this show and we're thrilled not just to talk about the new features and experiences available in the latest game - but to invite you to try our levels as well! Find Scott's levels Mario Maker code SWD-HY5-1HG and my levels at JH4-T...

The sun is shining, the fireworks are popping, and I'm desperately trying to avoid the genetically engineered ultra-mosquitos released by one of the many tech CEOs/super-villains that live on the west coast. That's right, it's summer and with it comes a specific set of games that just feel right during those long warm days. Seasonal gaming is a topic we've covered before, but this time to dissect...

From the red stone bluffs of Cosmo Canyon to the strange "underwater" ruins of the Forgotten City, we continue our journey through  Final Fantasy VII  in Part 3 of our ongoing debrief. This week we experience one of, if not  the , most important deaths in video game history. But is it how we remembered?   - Runtime: 52 min 15 sec - Music from  Final Fantasy VII OST - Music by  Brad Sucks

It wasn't so long ago that we were seriously questioning the future of the single player game. "All those multiplayer live games are taking our precious single player games!" we wailed. Fast forward a couple years and single player, predominantly story-based games are thriving on both the indie and big publisher sides of spectrum. But, as Daniel Friedman points out, games like Anthem, Destiny, and...