You Should Throw Your Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma II

NARRATOR: Games in this podcast range from E to M.

- What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the official Xbox Podcast. It's the only podcast coming to you from inside Xbox. I don't know if we've ever mentioned that that's a reference to a show that we used to do "Inside Xbox." I miss that show. But, anyway, thank you so much for joining us. If this is your first time watching, be sure to-- or listening, honestly-- be sure to hit that follow button, that like button, that subscribe button, basically whatever button lets when we put out a new show.

We've got a great show for you, by the way, today. We're going to talk a little bit about GDC, what we're playing, because, of course, this is a video game podcast, so we got to talk about what we're playing. And we're going to talk about a bunch of things, but before we do that, I actually want to give a big shout out to Stein, Ethan, and Rebecca, who hosted last week.

That's the past. They're long gone. We have two amazing co-hosts with me today. Beginning with Jeff, Jeff Rubenstein, "The Institution." I'm going to keep that name, even though you don't like it, Jeff.

- Nobody would a name like that.

- I think it's positive.

- Am I a building with pillars? I don't know. I don't want to be that, but--

- OK. How are you?

- That's fine. I'm doing great. I'm glad that the only podcast coming from inside Xbox is, for the second week, running not inside a building at Xbox. But you know what, they're redoing the studio, aren't they? I feel like other people are using the studio.

- Oh, is that true?

- Something like that. I'm sure the cheese couch will still be there. It'll be fine.

- Oh, thank goodness.

- I'm getting a look from the producer. Expect no changes. They were like, you can't come in this week. Like, OK.

- Oh, bummer. Well, we'll be back eventually. But rounding out our co-host panel today is Annette Gonzalez Porter. Annette, welcome back to the show. How are you doing?

- Thank you so much. I'm doing great. It's been a busy few weeks. I'm sure we'll dig into that here in a little bit, but thank you for having me. Happy to be back.

- Of course. And like you mentioned, alluded to, you've been running around at GDC, doing a lot of great work with some of our independent developers. But what's been up with you just generally, in life or in work or whatever?

- Generally, just living the dream, man. Of course, getting to work with awesome developers in my day job, spending my evenings and free time playing games whenever I can. So it was nice to get back home after GDC this weekend, to just get back in front of my TV and play some stuff. But, otherwise, planning some really fun trips coming up, including my honeymoon in the next two weeks.

- Congrats.

- Yeah, thank you. So we're jetting off to Italy, which I'm very much looking forward to, for a well-deserved break, which will be awesome.

- I'm so jealous. Have you been to Italy? Before either of you, honestly.

- No.

- First time. Yes, heading to Rome and then Amalfi, so, yeah, should be a good time, some good food. Definitely looking forward to it.

- Little Italy. Does that count?

- Yeah, that's where I live in San Diego.

- Same thing, yeah.

- But, of course, this is a video game podcast, and so we're going to talk a bit about what we've been playing. And I'm looking at the list here, and there's one game that all three of us have been playing, and that is Dragon's Dogma II. Now, I want to set the stage for those listening. A highly anticipated game that just released, and people have been talking about it ad nauseam on social media, but for good reason. It's highly rated, and people are loving it. How much have both of you played in hours, I guess? Jeff?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, I'm about 10 hours in, give or take. Really just getting lost in the world, and finding time just sort of disappears when I'm playing it, which is really interesting. What about you, Annette?

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Yeah, about five or so hours. But similarly-- well, one, getting lost in the character creator, as it was. There's so many options there. But then as the world slowly opens up ahead of you, it's just like I am just completely deviating off the main path and just exploring as much as possible through the combat and everything else, which is so much fun.

- I think that's what's special about this game, is that I think so many open world games-- look, I love open world games. I play, like, most of them that come out. But a lot of times, they make it very obvious, like, you're supposed to go here, and then once you've gone there, then you can just fast travel, and then whatever's in between where you're at and where you need to go, you don't even see anymore. Because you're just like, zip, OK, do the thing, zip back, cash in the quest, zip somewhere else. And it just becomes like-- and, look, it's very-- there's a lot of player convenience, and people ask for that.

MALIK PRINCE: I ask for that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But then this game doesn't do any of that, or very little of that. And it's really not about the destination so much as the journey. Because if you get asked to do even the most basic fetch quest, it might be a 20 minute walk and, during that 20 minutes, your experience is likely to be different than my experience. Like you might come around a corner and then there's a cyclops there and you're like, oh, what do I do?

And that's the thing that I've loved. You just see something off to the side, and you're like, do I check it out? And I generally found it really rewarding when that happens.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: I agree with that. I definitely ran into the path of a griffin, which I was like, oh, this seems nice and friendly, maybe I can ride it. And I walked up to him, I'm like, hey, man, what's up? And then this thing was homicidal and out for blood, and I just booked it in the other direction and had no hope.

But it's just like that kind of thing where it's just like, you know what, let me find out what's going on over here. And then maybe it's not the best idea, but that's part of the surprise and adventurous part of the experience, which I've really enjoyed so far.

MALIK PRINCE: Honestly, listening to you all talk about it, this is-- everyone knows-- who listens to the show or watches the show that I'm mostly a first person shooter competitive type of gamer. So this show is always great because I get to try new games and talk about it with you all. What was so great jumping into it was, like, I felt like it was super approachable.

I don't know what I thought about games like this, but I was able to jump in. I always get caught by the opening cutscene of a game, and so I just loved it. I thought it was great. And, to your points, when you are playing the game, I love how some of the quests present real opportunity costs.

Like if someone's getting attacked, you have to go after that unless you go for something else, and you may miss a few things. And so it's really cool just watching it, but I also did want to call out that-- Annette, you called out the character selection or creation. And I was like, I'm just going to go in there and pick a few little things. And it is unbelievable expansive to the point where I was like, I just got to start picking things.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Yeah.

MALIK PRINCE: Literally all day if I don't.

- No, that's definitely how they get you. And I've definitely seen a lot of folks online post their creations, and some very cool looking characters too, like, this thing needs to go back in the box it crawled out of. Like, this is absolutely insane. But that's just been the coolest part, just to see, A, the player choice you get right at the top. You start with the character creator. We talked about classes. I picked a thief, but you can pick through--

- Same!

- Oh, nice. Yeah, I was like, I want to be more agile and do all of that, and that's more of my playstyle. But I thought it was great that you have the opportunity to change that up almost immediately, right? So you have that option to kind of play around with these different sorts of vocations and skills and playstyles as you explore the world and kind of tweak what's on the path ahead of you, which is kind of cool that it essentially gives you that option, which has made the combat really enjoyable. Which I'm sure we'll probably talk about the pawns in a second as part of all of this--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We must talk about the pawns, master.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: The pawns, master.

MALIK PRINCE: I have never played-- again, I didn't play the original game, and so going in completely new, I wasn't familiar with the pawns. And, by the way, I chose a fighter because I just love hacking and slashing.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Sure.

MALIK PRINCE: But I was able to choose my pawns, and they are so useful. I was not expecting it. There's one that just leads the way to wherever I need to go, which is great for me, because I always get lost and distracted. And then they heal you, and even some of the things reminded me a little bit of Mass Effect 3. I don't know if all you Mass Effect fans out there-- when Connect was out and you could yell at your teammates to do things-- you can kind of do that with the d-pad in this game and have your pawns help you, heal you, or attack, or have them just wait for you and stuff like that.

I just thought it was really cool, and I just loved the system. Any stories or interesting stories with your pawns that you want to bring up? Because I'm interested to hear.

- So I love that they constantly are talking about you like you're not even there. Like they're completely reverential to you. They love you. They will do anything for you. They will literally, like, jump off a cliff for you. But if one of them-- one of, really, the coolest things is that if you take a pawn from someone else, you borrow a pawn, and their previous player had done something, they will know where to go. And they'll go, oh, I've been here with my previous Arisen. Follow me.

And so you hit up on the d-pad, and then you follow them. But then you see something, and you're like, oh, I'm going to go over here. And they'll be like, I guess we're not going to be going where I said. I'll be waiting. And then my main pawn will be like, oh, he does that sometimes. He'll come back to you eventually. And I'm like, I'm right here, OK? I just went right over here to get a chest.

And it's just so funny, just, like, for whatever reason, they just say-- they're like innocent children, in a way, and everything they say they think is helpful. But you'll pass by a ladder for the 10th time, and-- master, I spy ladder. Wonder what's up there? I'm like, we went up there like five minutes ago. And yet it's not annoying because it's just so cute. I'm like, oh, thank you, that's very helpful. But they really do help so often.

- They are so sweet and encouraging. I wish I just had one with me at work all day to be like, oh, great email, Arisen, or whatever it is. I just super appreciate that. The little fist bumps they do after you battle, and they-- they're like your hype squad, they protect you, save you from falling off a cliff.

Again, the most useful companion characters I've ever experienced, which I've really appreciated.

- One thing I want to call out. Do you know Covent? You probably know him, Malik. Former Mixer streamer on Twitch. And he posted something that I thought was just awesome. So this game, again, does not hold your hand. I wouldn't say it's, like, super hard, but a lot of times you'll see something, and you're like, I don't know how to get there, and they're just not going to make it super obvious. And sometimes your pawn will say, oh, I know how to do it, and you follow it, but sometimes they don't.

Anyway, there was a valley. And you really can't jump that far, and you can't just climb up walls, like, straight up. But there was a ladder that could be dropped, and he just picked up his pawn and he threw it across the valley, kind of like straight out of Lord of the Rings, and then the AI was like-- oh, it goes over, it kicks the ladder down. And he, like, freaks out. And so there's a lot of stuff where you're like, I hope this works. And it's like emergent behavior, and when it works, you feel smart, and it's just incredibly rewarding, and those pawns just become more and more valuable to you.

- That is so cool. Well, I'm glad that Covent was using the throwing mechanic for good, because I was just throwing people off cliffs just for fun. This is what I do in open world games, is I just torture the inhabitants for the entire game. And so it was fun just throwing people off of things, but it's good to know that that's actually a strategy that I should start using in case I need to get somewhere and my pawns need to get up on top of a cliff. I'll just throw them.

- There's one more time you have to do that, apparently. So I don't know if you've encountered this. Maybe you have, Annette. Sometimes you're-- in the idle chatter from your pawns, they're like, I've heard word about some terrible disease where the pawn won't listen to his master. Oh, that would be terrible.

And apparently that's a thing that goes throughout the game. And if you take a pawn from somebody else, which you do at these rift stones, and you borrow them, if they're infected with it, you won't automatically know. You can sort of suss it out, but they will-- your other pawns will contract that. And if you find that out, they start coughing, best thing to do, throw them off a cliff and kill them.

And then they'll respawn, and then they will be cured. But it's just like, you need to have no mercy. Like in every zombie movie you've ever watched, you're like, if get bit, you just need to do the thing. That is the responsibility you owe to your pawns. Because if you don't-- I won't spoil it, but--

- It's dire.

- It is really bad. So, yeah.

- OK. Good to know. Don't say we never give you any tips. That's great for me as someone who just is oblivious to things all the time. But, no, again, Dragon's Dogma II-- I feel like for people who played the original game, you're going to love everything here. But then for folks like me, who haven't played games like this typically or jumping into the series for the first time, I found a lot of enjoyment in it. And I'm only two hours in, and it's just been really great exploring the world, figuring out how everything works, and, again, getting these lovable and very helpful, at times, pawns to do your bidding and make you feel important, because you're the Arisen in the game, and so that's what they're there for. So that's been cool.

Now, Annette, I want to go to you because it looks like you're playing Balatro, a game we've talked about a little bit a few weeks ago on the show.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Yes.

MALIK PRINCE: Tell us a little bit about your time with the game.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Oh my gosh. Well, if you talked a little bit about it, that's awesome. If folks are-- if this is your first time hearing about it, it's essentially a poker themed deck building roguelike, and it'll pretty much ruin your life in the best possible way. I started playing it in the weeks leading up to GDC. I think roguelike-- I'm kind of in my roguelike era right now, where, just, short sprints of really fun gameplay is just kind of all I have time for right now, and this caters to that behavior really well.

But I think just the amount of-- and just how quickly you can kind of find different combinations to help you just kind of beat all of the different score thresholds the game essentially throws at you to keep beating, and just finding the right combination of the proper winning hand with these joker cards. And you unlock to create all these bonuses and wild multipliers, and just watching all of that-- just the scores just balloon up-- is so satisfying.

And while I, on the surface, would probably never have been like, you know what, poker deck building roguelike? Sure, I'll play that. It wasn't my thing, but I saw so many folks playing it that I'm like, I'll just try this out, see what's up. And then hours and hours and hours later, I'm still going for it. So it's been awesome to pass the time with. Definitely encourage folks to check it out, if you have not yet.

- Seems like a believe the hype thing, for sure.

- Yes, mean it. I get so excited, like, my hands start waving when I talk about it. That's how excited I get. And anyone online would be more than happy to share their strategies with you as well that's worked for them, so that's been really fun to watch.

- Yeah. I wish I knew how to play poker. No one ever taught me. I tried in many a games. I had it as a mini game, and I just don't-- my brain can't-- I just don't know how to do these things.

- And, honestly, you just need a basic understanding of winning hands. And it just deviates so far away from standard poker almost immediately so, like, I would say, just give it a shot and then report back, because I want to hear what you think.

- All right, I will do. And, honestly, I was watching an interview with the developer, and it was, if I'm not mistaken, developed by one person. Which is a lot of what we're seeing, these different sized development teams making these games that blow up, absolutely blow up. And to see one person make this game that's gotten a lot of praise is always really great to see. So check out Balatro if you haven't done so already.

Another game that just recently came out was Warzone Mobile. Now, Jeff, I know you've been playing-- Jeff's got it.

- He's playing it while we've been talking.

- Unbelievable. No, I mean, I am actually just like Jeff because I literally just was playing it earlier today on my phone because I wanted to jump in. If you haven't played Warzone Mobile, come from under the rock and give it a shot. It's, of course, the battle royale for Call of Duty, and it's great. It's now on mobile. I played it for like an hour earlier today, and I got to say-- and not to mention, quick tip, you can connect your controller to it. So if you want to get a little--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You have to do that. I mean, you don't have to do that--

MALIK PRINCE: You can still do the touch controls, but yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes. If you do it, it helps a lot is what I found.

MALIK PRINCE: 100%. And like many of these mobile games, you can get a little bit maybe-- I don't want to use the word cocky, but maybe confident in the first few rounds because, of course, you're probably playing against bots. So that's what I did. I was like, oh, I'm so great at this game, it's so amazing.

And then the second-- I think you have to do two training games, and then the second one, there was this person who was actually really great and just destroyed me. I came in second place, and from then on it's all been downhill. The third game, was 19th place.

- Yeah, yeah. That happened to me too. First two games, I won. And I was feeling real-- and I was like, oh, it's because I'm using a controller. That has to be helping. I mean, I'm sure it helped. And I was dropping into the work chat, I'm like, come at me, you need me on your team. And then I came out of those first couple matches, and it was like, oh, third place, so anything can happen. Even the greatest could stumble. And then it was like 25th, and I'm like, out of how many?

But what I love about it is that there's a mode called Mobile Royale, and it's just 10 minutes, give or take. Obviously the further you get in, the longer it lasts. And that's like perfect for-- I just have a few minutes and I can just-- I pick up my phone, I have a controller sitting right here, and I just connect it, and then I'm off.

I literally just lay my phone on my keyboard, play a match, maybe two matches, and then back to my day. And it's just been fitting in my day really well. But then because I have the battle pass or the Black Cell from the current season of Warzone on my console, all my unlocks are there, I'm progressing, and all that stuff is happening, which is really cool. But it's just really cool to see those things carry over, and it's just such a fully featured thing, which I think is really cool to see.

MALIK PRINCE: Yeah. I mean, getting that experience to take on the go, like this is-- I've been traveling a lot lately, and I have a few trips coming up soon, and so I'm excited to be able to take this entire experience on the go with me. I know it sounds super cheesy. It's like, of course you would say that. But, no, this is going to help my flights go by way quicker, more than anything else I could imagine doing on a plane with--

- I am hoping that the ping is, like, acceptable because I'm going to Florida the week after next. And I have T-Mobile, so they give you free internet, which is great, on the plane. And I'm bringing a controller and I'm bringing a little stand, and I would love to just play Warzone Mobile for the five hours it's going to take to get there. We'll see how well that works. But maybe I'll even win a match again. Maybe I'll taste glory once again.

- It sounds like I'll need to download it for my upcoming trip. Sounds like that's the move, yeah.

- Absolutely. Absolutely. Maybe we can team up and get in there one of these days and I'll get a win together. But, no, that's what we've been playing. Interested to hear what everyone listening and watching have been playing, so be sure-- if you can leave a comment, tell us what you've been playing. Maybe we might even take some of those recommendations. It's always great to see what other folks are jumping into.

But if you're looking for more stuff to jump into-- this is a segue-- we have our news, and a few releases-- one that I know a lot of you are probably thinking about, and that is Diablo IV, the game that I've been-- people have been saying, like, play this game, play this game, but now it is coming to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.

Demon slaying is here. And you can check out more news on it at news.xbox.com. Diablo IV, a game that I haven't played, a game that I'm ready to jump into. What do I need to know-- for folks like me who haven't played the game, what do I need to know, Jeff?

- All right. Well, I would say, since you're using a fighter in Dragon's Dogma II, I would recommend you come in there as a barbarian. You get to use all the different weapons. You're just going to get in there and start bashing. I played my first-- the season zero, if you will, as a mage, and there was a lot more staying back and letting other teammates or whomever else do a lot of the work. Here, you get in, you're right there in the front. You're tanking and having a ton of fun.

Personally, I like to have a build guide up, because you're-- especially early on, you're leveling up so quick, so quick, and it literally-- there's ones that are out there that are just like, put your firstborn into here, put your secondborn in here. And I'm like, cool. It takes all the thinking away. I don't need to think about it.

Of course, you can just do whatever you want and you can respec like nothing. Like it costs practically nothing to do that, which is really great. So you're really encouraged to play around. But every season-- and we're mid to late season three-- every season you reroll a new character, and you play through those things. But as you start-- if you haven't played yet, when you start-- you can jump into the season, but make sure you play the story.

It gives you the option to skip the story, which, once you've played through it once, in future seasons you'll probably skip the story and then you just take your points and you do all the stuff. Get in there and just-- I mean, it's a game that has a tremendous amount of depth, but you don't necessarily have to engage with it at all that level of depth.

You can just kind of get in there and just hold down the A button and just sort of whack things, and you get a new ability, and that feels good. And just keep doing that, and that's great too. All the way up to min-maxers, who can beat major bosses in, like, a second and a half because they want to show off that build.

I have friends that are like that. You can team up with them really easily. And I guess the other key thing to just point out here-- I had bought it on both Xbox and on PC last summer because I was traveling. It plays really well on portable consoles, so, like, I have ASUS ROG Ally, which I've talked about a bunch. I played a ton-- like probably 30 hours of season one-- on this. And it played really well, but then when I come back and I'm playing on the bigger screen, which I prefer, you're good to go there too. So you have to play it.

Diablo in general-- like the whole series is one of the best series of all time. And they did a really good job with this, and they keep adding more and more stuff. I'm really excited to see where they're going next. And we'll bring Rod back on then.

- Great time.

- Yeah.

- Yes. Good time to jump in. It's also-- I haven't played Diablo IV either, so this is also going to be my entry point. So appreciate the pro tips as we get ready to dive in.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It really eases you in. So just get in there and just-- whatever feels right is right, I think it's a good way to do in that. And then when you start to engage a little more with the systems, look up a couple FAQs, some good YouTubers. There's so much out there. And then you find-- you go down the hole to hell, I guess, and you're rethinking everything you've done.

MALIK PRINCE: Go down the hole to hell. I love that. I should put that on a t-shirt. Maybe you and I, we can trade tips as we jump into Diable IV for the first time.

- Yes.

- So that we can go in together.

- That sounds perfect.

- Perfect. Awesome. So a game that we actually talked about a little bit last week is also coming to Game Pass and its Open Roads. I'll read the description. It's the next game from the award-winning creators of acclaimed story games like Gone Home and Tacoma, both games available on Xbox. Again, one of these really visceral story-driven games that allow you to discover the story and how it unfolds. And a little bit of discovery in there and so excited to jump into that.

It's actually starring performances by Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever. Is it "dee-ver" or "de-ver?"

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's "dee-ver." Booksmart was an amazing movie. It was so good. I highly recommend.

MALIK PRINCE: And those performances are always so great in those games. And so I love a good cry and so maybe I'll jump into one of those and shed some tears.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: I'm very excited for this one. I always love a good narrative story. I love this type of gameplay where you're just slowly unfolding a story just by exploring different objects and just locations. And I think the art style is really striking. So definitely cool to see this cartoon-like almost art style, which is really neat and stands out. Obviously, great performers doing the voices here. And then of course, the whole story around exploring a mother-daughter relationship which you don't often see in games. And so a lot of complexity there, I'm sure. So definitely very excited to see how that all unfolds.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I got very into Gone Home and Tacoma. So I finished both of those. So definitely one to watch out for just based on pedigree alone.

- Absolutely.

- And oh, this is where I wanted to correct, I don't know if it was Stein or if it was Ethan, they mentioned this game. They mentioned Gone Home last week and they were like, I think you can-- if you get really good, you can beat it in 45 minutes. And I'm like, no. There's an achievement for beating that game and 1 minute in 3 seconds, something like that. Because once you know what the game is, you can actually go and do that. And it's an amazing game because you don't know what the game is and it seems really-- the more I say, the worse it is. But then after you--

- Take your time with it.

- Exactly. It's like the Sixth Sense in a way. Once you know what it is, then you're like, oh, OK, this is not what I was led to believe. But it does it in the right way and your mind plays tricks on you. So I highly recommend that.

- Well, there you go. Open Roads day one with Game Pass. Another game coming into Game Pass and game preview is Terra Invicta. It's from the creators of Long War and Alien Invasion. It has fractured humanity into seven ideological factions each with a unique vision for the future. Now watch the trailer for this game and it's very much a strategy game. And I just thought to myself, of course humans would be invaded by aliens and then they would just split up into factions and fight each other. We can't even get our stuff together when it comes to aliens.

But it's really cool because you can attack, send nukes, which is how I think this world will end in real life. But it's just a cool strategy--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We're going there. I was going to be like, oh, is he going to bring up 3 Body Problem or something. That's an alien thing people are talking about.

- Is that the Netflix show? Not to derail. It sounds like I need to watch it.

- Yeah. There's so much good TV right now. I'm looking at the producer and he's like, where is he going with this. There's so much good TV. Oh, all right, boss.

- So maybe I should watch it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So 3 Body Problem, it's three books that came out of China, I don't know, five-six years ago. I ended up reading them. And very different storytelling style. Really, really interesting story that goes from the '60s in China all the way through the end of the universe. Probably not in season one here on Netflix. And it's really interesting.

Because I remember reading this. I'm like, this is unfilmable. I don't know how you could turn this into a show. But it's the folks behind Game of Thrones. Even Davos Seaworth is in this and a few other-- Sam is in this. And it's a really good cast. And we watched the first episode last night. I'm very into it. Between that and Shogun, I'm like-- I don't watch a ton of TV but now I'm like, we need to do this.

- TV's back, baby.

- TV's back. Some would say it never left.

- Lots of great shows. Cool. Well, check out Terra Invicta's in-game preview, like I mentioned in Xbox Game Pass for PC. And then Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, Turbocharged. I feel like we've all played Hot Wheels as children. And now, again, we're going to be able to jump back in Game Pass with this new game. Of course, get behind the wheel of the coolest cars and vehicles from the Hot Wheels universe, including the new ATVs, and motorcycles, and explore five new stunning environments and race the way you want with new mechanics, and exciting challenges, and crazy game modes.

I think anything Hot Wheels related is always just the coolest thing ever. And so I'm excited to get into the game and race. I just don't know when I'm going to find time to play it but I just know I am going to at some point. But yeah, so those are some of the big games that are coming to Game Pass this week. So check them out. Lots of different games, lots of variety there so there's probably a game for.

- I can't believe that's just this week. I feel like this month has been amazing with games. Oh, so good.

- And it's only going to get better or worse depending on how you look at it. Better if you like more games. Worse if your backlog is already this long. It's going to get tough. But we're going to find time to play these games. But speaking of games, the Game Developer Conference just wrapped up recently. Annette, you were all over this. This was kind of like your big thing. Tell us a little bit about the Game Developers Conference and how Xbox showed up.

- Yes, it is our big thing. Game Developers Conference is, I think, maybe the biggest developer conference that exists. So naturally for the ID@Xbox team, which is the Independent Developers Program for Xbox, it's a really big deal for us. I mean, it's where developers from all around the world group together in the month of March just about every year in the Bay Area to just talk business, show their games, and just get some really cool ideas off the ground.

So my awesome team, we have folks all over the world representing the ID@Xbox team. We all came together for what it feels like our Super Bowl in a lot of ways, where we just team up and try to cover as much ground across the board as possible. So that's anything between meetings to just really cool developer events. So Day of the Devs is one of those things that happened the week of, which is a very, very cool showcase. So definitely check some of those games out.

Meeting new potential partners and just re-engaging with just familiar faces and just, as we're super hyperfocused in helping developers reach more players around the world, these are the touch points we get to have to figure out more ways to collaborate and do that work. So definitely very cool.

We also had-- obviously, there's a lot of games that I saw that I would love to talk about but they're super redacted so we're going to save that for a later time. But we did have a really awesome media event at ID@Xbox showcase where we had 10 titles on display at a really cool venue. I know Jeff was there representing all day long doing the thing. So it's definitely cool. And we'll probably dig into some of those titles that folks should definitely know more about.

- Yeah. You worked with some of these teams. Sorry, you're the host, Malik. And I'm just like, oh, I'm on every word here. I want to keep going.

- I'm jealous of both of you because you were there. Jeff, what were you doing there?

- Oh. Well, like Annette said, we were mostly there showing off these Indies. So what I really enjoy about this, we've probably done this eight or nine times in the last decade, something like that, only COVID years getting in the way. And it's really cool because every year, it's a new group of double digit amount of game developers. And sometimes, they have larger teams and some of the stuff you look at that and you're like, how is this an indie game? And other games, it's like, this is a single person. It's amazing seeing what they've done, as you mentioned about Balatro.

And so you get to meet this different group every time. And inevitably, there's some games that you don't expect completely grip you. And then what happens is media come in or creators come in and they're like, hey, what should I play. And I'm like, I just played this game called inKonbini and you have to sit down and play it. And so there was a bunch of that. And so Annette, I would love to hear some of your favorites because I know you worked really closely with some of these devs through the Developer Acceleration Program and I know some of these are even coming to Game Pass as well? - Absolutely, yeah. And inKonbini, shout out to that game because it looks amazing.

But yeah, we had 10 titles and there were a couple there that are from the Developer Acceleration Program. Which for folks who don't know, it's a program whose mission is to empower underrepresented creators with resources and information to bring their games to Xbox. So consider myself very lucky to get to partner with so many different teams across ID and these two teams in particular are just doing such amazing work of presenting different geographies and voices around the world.

So one of the titles is Sopa from Studio Bando, which is a studio based in Colombia, which is awesome. So their game is essentially-- well, Sopa is the name for soup in Spanish. And the experience is a narrative adventure game about the things that we pass along across generations.

So if you even just look at some of the footage, you can almost immediately get some of Coco vibes in terms of the Disney film. Just fantastic, which you should watch if you haven't. But just that generational storytelling and how that all comes together.

So in this game, you're helping your grandmother make some soup. And you're reaching into the pantry to look for some of the ingredients that you need. And then you just get sucked into this magical, fantastical world where essentially you need to retrace the steps of a traveler before you.

So a lot of the world design is just absolutely beautiful. It's really colorful. A lot of influences from Latin America between the music and just the location. So it's just been coming along so well. It is coming to Game Pass, which is really exciting. And it is targeting a release later this year so definitely keep an eye on that.

And then one of the other titles that we also had from the Developer Acceleration Program is Sonzai and so that comes from a studio called 2 Odd Diodes, which is based in India. So this is a just gorgeous, hand-drawn 2D action RPG with platforming elements. And it's essentially a love letter to the studio's favorite JRPGs and action titles from Japan.

So you'll definitely see it, even if you just watch the footage for just a few minutes to get your hands on it, you'll definitely see some Persona influences. And I say that to get Jeff's attention because I know Jeff's been playing quite a bit of Persona 3 these days. But you definitely see some of that there. And it takes place in the town of Kimitoshi, where you explore and learn more about the town's secrets, build social connections with the different folks in the town, and then of course, just try to learn more about the magic that keeps the town running.

And then most difficult of all, manage being a high schooler. So just the day-to-day high school interactions that you have. But it's such a striking game, really fluid combat. Just absolutely stunning. And Jeff, I think, with your time there, you may have gotten hands on time with some of the titles as well so I'd actually love to hear your experience with some of these.

- Well, first of all, just plus-one, Sonzai-- I don't feel like I've played a lot of games from India. I want to we had 10 games and they were from seven different countries, which was really cool, including a number of places where name another game that you've played recently from India or Ukraine. And we had those, which was really cool.

So again, I played from Japan called inKonbini. So a konbini, it's what, in general, the term for a convenience store is, like a Lawson, or a FamilyMart, or 7-eleven, all of which are way nicer than we have in the US. I live down the street from one of them and it's not like being in Japan, that's for sure.

So basically, you end up taking over the night shift for your family's konbini. That seems to be just kind of way out of the way in a small town near a freeway. And the day starts off, you're restocking shelves and turning things around. And it's very relaxing in that way. I was almost getting vibes of Job Simulator. But instead of sarcasm, it was heartfelt. And so you're stocking things. And I was like, oh, now I want Pocky or now I want like those little chocolate mushroom cookies that they have in Japan.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: It's the best snacks.

- And the dev brought them. And when I said that, he literally produced a box of Pocky and was like, here you go. I was like, that's marketing right there. I have a lot to learn. Anyway, so you do all those things. Then you flip the sign, you open, and then people come in. And you end up having conversations with them. And they're regulars. And they don't really know you that well because they're used to dealing with your aunt, I want to say. And anyway, it was very heartwarming but also just cathartic, I think, to stock the shelves, and do that type of thing, and have that existence. So I like that.

The other one and we've talked about it in the past is Dungeons Of Hinterberg. This is a Game Pass game that we really have showed quite a bit over the past year. The last time I played it was at Gamescom. And I was like, this seems pretty cool. This is a game where you also like in the Persona situation, this one you fight by day and then you are in the town creating social links by night which help you out when you're fighting.

And it takes place in this picturesque Austrian town, I want to say. Somewhere in the Alps. And it looked really cool in August. Playing it again now, whoa, this has come so far. So there was this new mechanic where you-- I forget what button it is now but it's very easily accessible on the shoulder buttons. And all of a sudden, you jump onto this electrified hoverboard and you can move so fast.

And first of all, there's puzzles where you're jumping, and rail grinding, and stuff like that through a glacier in the level that I played. But then I found myself very quickly using that in the combat. And the combat's both rhythm based. But then you're dodging and they actually made the combat a little bit more challenging as well. It's really coming together, really well. So we'll continue talking to that team. They're called Microbird. And the developers are really cool. So when they're ready to talk about a release date, I promise you, we'll be talking a lot more about this game. But it's coming to Game Pass and it is one to watch out for.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Yes. And it's beautiful, by the way. As you walk past and you're like, oh, double take. Just the breadth of content that was just shown at the event was amazing. And I think there are a few different pieces that you can check out across Xbox Wire or at Microsoft Game Dev that talks about each of the studios that were featured and some of these titles as well. So definitely check that out. Just really wonderful to see representation, folks just enjoying the content, lots of smiles everywhere. So very, very cool event.

- It's so cool. I'm so jealous just listening to you all talk about the games. And to your point-- to both of your point, honestly, seeing the diversity of where these creators have come from and how that influences the games that they create, I think that's something that's so important that you all are doing on the ID@Xbox team is finding those smaller developers, finding those developers with new ideas that can infuse their culture into the games. So I feel like it is one of the coolest things. And as Annette just mentioned, be sure to go to news.xbox.com to check out the entire indie wrap up from the GDC. It's just really cool to see.

So tons of great games. Some of them coming to Game Pass. And so we're going to move right along to even more new releases, if you didn't find a game yet that you want. South Park, Snow Day is coming. Join Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny in a three-dimensional glory to celebrate the most magical day in any young child's life, a snow day. I can remember back in New York, snow days were the best thing ever. Honestly, I only got one of them because back in the day, we didn't-- schools weren't closed for anything.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Yeah, Chicago never closed schools.

MALIK PRINCE: Yeah. No, they never closed schools. So this is a little bit-- it depends on where you're from.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Exactly. Because let me tell you, if you got a half an inch of snow in Seattle, they would be like, we're closed for a week. Because I mean, first of all, we have hills. But secondly, they can't deal with it. In Philly, maybe like six inches, they were sending you home. And I feel like, like Chicago, it would probably have to be like three feet and they would be like, so what.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: Deal with it. Find your snow shoes. Get on. [CHUCKLES]

MALIK PRINCE: Exactly. Well, the great thing about this game is you're going to be able to play alone or with three other friends in the snowpiled town of South Park. So be sure to check that out. I don't have to-- I guess, I don't have to tell the South Park fans. They are probably already going to play that game as soon as it releases and so that's great.

But in addition to that, in celebration of Snow Day's release, Xbox is giving away four custom Series X consoles themed after the game. They're on Xbox's Twitter right now, or X, whatever you want to call it. You can go check those out. And they look so cool, again, fashioned after individual characters in the game, both the console and the controller.

So I feel like these have been going wild on Twitter, these custom consoles. Even last week, I know they talked about the Final Fantasy 14 console. That was like the number one trend in the US, was the sweepstakes for that console. So this one I anticipate is going to be right up there. It's South Park, a beloved series. So be sure to check that out.

Next up is The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Definitive Edition. Now this is a game, again, great side-scrolling game, great atmosphere. One that, again, I didn't get to play but it's on the list. Just a great game. And the Definitive Edition is now available on Xbox Series X and S and Steam.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Also a Game Pass game.

MALIK PRINCE: And it's a Game Pass game, yes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So do that.

MALIK PRINCE: It's a lower barrier of entry. Check it out. And then a game that I like to think that I am super excited about because I'm a simulation guy through and through and that is Planet Zoo, Console Edition. Now I don't know if people would think that I'm this kind of gamer but I love simulator games. There's actually a taxi simulator game coming out soon but we'll talk about that at a different time.

Planet Zoo, of course, create unique habitats, and vast landscapes, and make meaningful choices to nurture animals as you construct and manage the world's wildest zoos using intuitive console controls. Now, I went to the zoo for the first time last year, I know, as a--

- Wait, like ever?

- Ever?

- Yes, ever. I had never been to the zoo before. And I went to the San Diego Zoo which is widely--

- It's a good first zoo.

- Yeah, 100%. So I went to the best and brightest, of course because I live here. But it was just so cool to see. And all the animals were sleeping so it ruined that portion of it. But now I'm going to be able to play Planet Zoo, Console Edition and jump in and manage my own zoo, which is--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You have some time to make up for, I feel like.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: 100%.

MALIK PRINCE: I know. I know. It was so sad. It was like, all the little kids experiencing the zoo for the first time and me as a grown adult having the same reaction as them to the animals was quite a thing. But it was a lot of fun. So be sure to check that out. That is coming out as well. So tons of new releases that you can check out. And actually, a few patches and DLC, we're going to go into that.

Elder Scrolls Online, Scions of Ithelia, the DLC, prove your strength to Malekith and defend a demiplane of Oblivion in the Scions of Ithelia, Dungeon DLC. So that's coming out, as well as, Fallout 76, a game that was talked about quite a bit last week. Everyone's really excited to jump back into that game. The America's Playground DLC is coming out and it's taking over Atlantic City, a place where tons of unique challenges probably await in the very unique city in a very unique state. We'll just leave it at that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: [LAUGHS]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: No shade on Jersey but as a Philly guy, we grew up going to Atlantic City.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: I feel like the East Coasters here have opinions. [CHUCKLES]

MALIK PRINCE: It's like every state has their thing. I feel like every state on the East Coast is a very unique country of its own. But excited to see that. Again, like I mentioned, tons of people are jumping back in Fallout 76. And I think this new DLC in Atlantic City is going to be great. And so be sure to check that out.

Speaking of Fallout, we have a Fallout vault giveaway. Now I didn't know about this until I read this in our notes here but there's a 250-pound vault that you can win. Go to news.xbox.com to find out the details. The giveaway runs through April 14. But for people who live in apartment, this is probably not for you. Although, you can get it--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: If you have an elevator. I'm wondering if it was just dropped off.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: I have so many questions about the logistics of getting this anywhere. [CHUCKLES]

MALIK PRINCE: I know. I know.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: How many stamps do you have to put on that when they ship it?

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: All of them.

MALIK PRINCE: All of them. It's wild, honestly. But of course, this is in celebration of the new TV show that is coming out very soon.

- How does that look, by the way? I saw the trailer today. I've watched it multiple times.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ PORTER: It's so good. It's so good.

MALIK PRINCE: I think the shows that do a great job of representing the actual game, I think, this Fallout TV Series, it just gets the entire spirit of it with but also new and interesting characters. And it's just really cool to see how excited people are for it. And so be sure to check out that vault giveaway. Of course, if you're looking for something a little less involved to get, we have our new Fallout controllers on Design Lab. And so maybe get that instead of entering--

- Your delivery person will thank you.

- Yes.

- [CHUCKLES] Quite a bit. Quite a bit. But speaking of controllers, the Arctic Camo Special Edition of the Xbox Wireless Controller is also out. This was previously only available in the US. It's now available globally, actually. And it features a rugged white and gray camouflage pattern. And of course, it pairs on Series X and S, PC, your phones, all those kinds of things.

- Just don't put it down in the snow or you just won't be able to find it.

- It will disappear.

- Forever. And then all your money will be wasted. I actually had a question that I was curious and I don't mean to spring this on you all, but I'm going to ask you to pick your favorite child here. We have a lot of controllers and in fact--

- I have no problems picking a favorite child. That's just easy.

[LAUGHTER]

They know what they did.

- We've got to unpack that a little bit later on. But there's actually a really cool video on Xbox's YouTube channel that was put out probably a few years ago where the designers of the controllers went through every single Xbox wireless controller ever created, all the limited editions, special editions, custom ones. And so it had me wondering and I'm interested to hear chat's and the commenters' thoughts but I want to hear you all's first, what is your favorite controller of all time? Annette, I want to hear yours first.

- I'm having a recency bias but I have entirely way too many controllers. But I'll say the one in recent memory that was very striking to me when it came out was that 20th anniversary controller that had the translucent casing, which I always found just gave me retro vibes of old Gameboys and whatnot that had that sort of aesthetic which I really liked. And then of course, the grips on the back were awesome. So I'm like, oh, I've just been going my whole life without this. Just this is amazing.

So definitely really love that controller and have it as a display piece just for any number of reasons. Also to celebrate the anniversary. But yeah, probably that one. But Jeff, I know you-- what do you what do you got? I know you're looking around.

- I mean, I have some literally on the wall right here.

- One of the other ones is my favorite too. I also like the Forza one.

- Oh, Forza Horizon, OK.

- [CHUCKLES] Oh, yeah. We've got to get a look at this.

- A live show and tell, yes.

- Every time I do this-- I got these on Etsy. Just look for controller holder and then just use a command strip on there. And it's great.

I do love the Forza Horizon 5 one. I just really like these colors. And then also it's translucent so you can see the rumble motors in them and everything. That's a good one. It's good. It's top five, for sure.

I still think-- I'll give an honorable mention to the Starfield one. It would be higher if they had it but it sold out so quickly that I was unable to get it and so I've only ever seen it. I don't think I've ever seen one in real life. I need that.

So I think my favorite one ever is the Sea of Thieves controller. It has this mottled-- actually, you can physically feel it, almost like barnacles are on here. This glows. I love purple to begin with. So the combination of all that, I just think it's great. And then my favorite little additive thing here, it's got-- this trigger is like a gold tooth.

- Gold tooth, yeah.

- Oh, that's cool.

- It's so genius. So there's a lot of contenders. There's no wrong answers. There's a lot of great answers here. But Sea of Thieves controller probably--

- I never got that one. Jeff, I'll give you $10 for it.

- That's a steal, Jeff.

- No.

[LAUGHTER]

- Dang it.

- Don't make it weird.

- What's your favorite one?

- Oh, I asked the question but I don't have an answer. I just wanted you all to answer that. There's been a few that-- I designed a controller. I got to design a controller, I don't have that near me, which is really cool. It just had all the history of Xbox on it, which is cool.

I'm just going to-- I like this Halo one. I'm a big fan of the Halo one. And it's an elite so maybe I don't know if that's cheating. But I keep this with me at all times. It is the coolest thing. And it just feels like I have Master Chief here next to me so I feel a little bit safer. So that is--

- The old dish really works as the visor.

- Oh, yeah. This is my favorite, by the way, D-pad design that we have, the faceted one. I love it. Yeah. Those are-- tons of controllers. But again, if you're looking for the hotness, the new hotness, now available globally, that's the Arctic Camo Special Edition controller.

One more announcement and event, I would say, is the Cyberpunk 2077 free play days and the spring sale. Of course, Cyberpunk 2077, if you haven't gotten it yet, it is now 50% off in our spring sale. That is a great deal so be sure to check that out if you're looking to jump into the game, which has dramatically changed since its launch. Adding a whole bunch of new things into the game and new DLC.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: They added a subway system, I want to say.

MALIK PRINCE: That's what I was most excited about. I was going to bring that up but I was like nobody cares about that. But I'm excited about that. Yeah, I love that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And Phantom Liberty is great. And so as part of free play days, I think, you can play five hours for free. And if you get five hours into it, you're going to want to--

- Yeah, just buy it. Get that discount.

- Yep.

- 100%. So there you have it, a bunch of news, a bunch of new releases, just things for you to keep engaged with us here at Xbox and just make your gaming experience a little bit better. But speaking of Cyberpunk 2077, I know this is a time that you all have been waiting for, but hopefully you enjoyed everything else, but it's Free Code Friday. Of course, that's tomorrow if you're listening to this on the day of the podcast release where we give a few codes and this week we are giving away Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition codes to a handful of lucky audience members.

Now, here's what you're going to need to do, OK? Now, listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once but of course you can rewind it if you didn't hear it. Keep an eye on Xbox Wire's Twitter profile between noon and 2:00 PM Pacific this Friday, March 29, and reply to the Free Code Friday tweet with your answer to the following question of which I'm going to pose to both

Annette and Jeff, which weapon would you use in a futuristic dystopian universe? I'm going to answer since I didn't have a great answer for it. Oh, I guess my answer for the controller--

- It was a great answer.

- Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to say that I would use a crowbar. I think you cannot use something that you need ammo for because that is finite. But you need to use something that is sturdy, that is as effective as you can swing it, which is pretty strong. I've been going to the gym.

- We know. We know. We didn't want to say anything but it's very obvious and I feel--

- And I appreciate you keeping me--

- Grounded, yeah.

- But no, I think that that is exactly what I would use. And Gordon Freeman of Half-Life uses it and so it has to be good. Annette?

- It's a good answer.

- I'm trying to think of what's the silliest possible thing that I can think of just because I don't necessarily want to hurt anyone, even though it's dystopian, things are probably terrible everywhere. So I went two routes. But I think the one was for whatever reason, my brain defaulted to a T-shirt gun. [CHUCKLES]

- Oh, OK.

- I don't know why. Just distract people with free swag and run away. That's the idea. That's kind of the thought.

- If you're ever at an event and they get that T-shirt gun out, what do you do? [EXCLAIMS]

- Yeah, exactly.

- And that's going to stop anyone that's coming at you in your tracks, I think.

- 100%. And maybe because I just came from a convention, I have that on the brain. That's probably where that's coming from. But yeah, I think that was it. I think that's the one.

- OK. Well, what if you run out of T-shirts? Well, then I start using it as a blunt weapon of murder and destruction.

- Then people get hurt. I love it.

- Exactly.

- [CHUCKLES] Perfect. I love that. Jeff, what about you?

- Well, you brought up a really good point on the ammo because I was like, oh, I'll go with some of sort of like-- I think it was-- World War Z in the book or something, everyone was armed with basically this shovel-type situation because it was like-- it doesn't run out of ammo. It does what it needs to do. You're not going to hurt anybody else with it probably. And so there's something to it.

But if we're in a dystopian future, there's probably going to be cooler weapons. So I'm going to want something that de-atomizes. How about something a shrink gun? I want something that's going to shrink them down. And they become little. And I'll be like, are we good here? And then if they're good, then I'll make them big. Presumably it has a reverse on it. So I think that would-- and if not, then they'll just stay that way and they'll be eaten by some sort of rad roach or something. [CHUCKLES]

- I love that. I love that you didn't go where my head went, which is that I would just step on them after shrinking them. Maybe I'm just-- [CHUCKLES] maybe that's a little too dark for this podcast. So we can move on.

- I'm going to change their perspective, is what I'm going to do. Literally.

- That's great. That's great. I love that. I love that. Well, we want to hear from you all again-- I'll say it again, I'll throw you a bone, be sure to tune in to Xbox Wire's Twitter handle tomorrow Friday, March 29 between noon and 2:00 PM Pacific to answer that question and you might just walk away with the code to Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition.

But there you have it. I feel like that's our show. Lots of news, lots of games that have released, and stuff like that, and just a lot of fun. And so I think we're going to end it there. Any last final parting words? Jeff, I'll throw to you first on this one.

- No, it's just great to see you again after a few weeks. And Annette, awesome having you back on the show. And when we're back in the set, we're actually Inside Xbox. Hope to see you again soon.

- [CHUCKLES] Thank you. Yeah, super fun. Thank you for having me on the show. Really appreciate it. Only, guys, parting words for everyone is, check out Indie Selects on the Xbox Store. Some really great curated indie content. So if you like some of the stuff you heard about today, that's a good place to find some hidden gems that our team has lovingly put together for you all. So be sure to check those out.

- Oh, love that. Well, again, feel free to follow the show on Twitter.com/XboxWire, of course, YouTube, and all of your favorite podcast apps. Again, it's been an honor to be a part of your week and we hope you have a great weekend gaming. We'll see you next time.

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