Ep. 255 - It's Boss Time Now, with John Learned

Game annotater and journalist John Learned joins the panel to cover dead babies, doing a Batman, and Mr. Bones and me.

Questions this week:

1. What’d you think of Return to Monkey Island, Frank? (04:57)
2. What have been the most significant improvements to the Metroidvania format since Symphony of the Night? (11:30)
3. How many fighters should be in a fighting game? (16:53)
4. What’s the best use of a musical instrument in a non-music based video game? (21:53)
5. What job in the video game industry are you not qualified for, but could do an okay job at anyway? (27:14)
6. Spencer’s Gifts asks: Are lost memories a compelling story device? (35:27)
7. Violence Island Season 2 (41:37)
8. Other than an achievement or trophy, what’s the best way to reward a player for 100% completion in a video game? (58:00)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Pull Quotes (01:03:30)

Recommendations and Outro (01:08:19)

Return to the forums to discuss this episode!

A SMALL SELECTION OF THINGS REFERENCED:

• Alexey Pajitnov
• Street Fighter series
• Legend of Zelda series
• Perry Mason
• Asuka 120% series
• Radiant Silvergun
• Perry Farrell
• Demon’s Souls
• Dark Souls series
• Return to Monkey Island
• Monkey Island series
• Castlevania / Akumajō Dracula series
• F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
• Chasm
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
• Hollow Knight
• Super Metroid
• Yoku’s Island Express
• King of Fighters series
• Tekken series
• Skullgirls series
• Big Band
• Mr. Bones
• Ninja Baseball Bat Man
• Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
• Darkstalkers series
• Super Mario series
• Mortal Kombat
• Fatal Fury Special
• Windjammers
• Sunset Riders
• Power Dolls
• Vagrant Story
• Final Fantasy series
• Dragon Quest III
• Deckard Cain
• Abel
• Marina Liteyears
• U-1
• Yuna
• Raidou Kuzunoha XIV
• Captain Marvel
• Captain Commando
• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Yakuza / Ryū ga Gotoku series
• NieR series
• Stardew Valley

Recommendations:

Brandon: Buy stuff from Japan right now since the exchange rate is so good, Cypher (2002),

Frank: Beavis and Butt-Head

John: Breaking Bad

Jaffe: Send proof of new or upgrading Patreon membership to personally choose an obscure video game reference to open a future episode with! Wishlist Demonschool on Steam by Necrosoft. Check out our sister show, The Video Game History Hour. Enjoy the new action button reviews boku no natsuyasumi. Subscribe to Annotated Games by John Learned.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Brandon Sheffield, and John Learned. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.