Hey, you come gather around the campfire and welcome to the party.

This is party chat of JRPG podcast.

We talk about everything that we love in the world of JRPGS and other Eastern titles.

I am one of your hosts, Cameron Hawkins, and with me, as always, is my party partner, Kevin Kenson.

Kevin, how you doing this week?

I'm doing pretty good.

I'm doing better than our last recording because I've now had an extra hour to wake up.

Little, little, little stress at the moment just because this is my last full day in town.

And then I get on a plane tomorrow to Maryland.

I'm going to be going to Magfest.

I'm helping out a friend of ours who does sells merch, star salts.

She's doing multiple conventions at once.

So we're we're team Magfest while they're doing Team Ala, but a good excuse to go out there and and you know, I haven't been there before and I've always heard good things about that particular con, so I'm excited.

I know a couple people go in.

My biggest thing though, that I'm hyped about is their theme this year is Mega Man, and as part of that, one of my favorite bands, Protomen.

They're doing not one, not 2, but three shows where every night they're performing a different act.

That's like, yeah, this is the musical, right?

Yeah.

That you told me about.

It's a it's a Mega Man like musical, The rock opera, really.

And yeah, yeah, yeah.

They've had they just, they're about to release their third album like this week.

And so as part of that at Mag Fest, every night is a different act.

So they'll do act one the first night, act 2 on the next night and then act 3.

They're making like a whole big deal about how like they're not going to record that one or like post anything about it.

So it's like what's what's going down?

Y'all?

Like, what are we doing?

There's I, I don't have time on today's episode to get into the whole minutia, but basically there's all these conspiracy theories about like they've released Act 3 already, but they actually haven't because it's like it feels like there should be more here.

Like maybe we're like we're missing a couple tracks or is it going to be a double album?

Or like there's all these theories right now of like there's actually more music.

And I feel like Magfest is where we're going to find that out.

But we'll see.

We'll see.

I love you Kim.

How?

You doing?

I'm doing good, but I love it.

I like how you're it it it's like you're trying not to be me when I talk about trails right now, you're just like I don't let's not to get into the to the weeds because I'm.

Going to do that to to break the 4th wall a little bit.

We do have a little bit of a time limit on today's recording.

So I'm I'm.

I'm also trying to not.

As ideal out.

An ideal out time.

Probably not going to hit it, but that's fine.

As close to it as we can get.

Yeah, that's fine.

Yeah, I'm doing well.

I'm doing middling like the holiday break was solid, you know, got to go down to Vegas for a few days, see my mom.

That was nice and but unemployed again.

So gotta gotta go gotta back on that grind.

So, but outside of that, you know, and figuring things out there, I'm, I'm doing all right.

I watched the back half of Stranger things, you know, I, I, we could, we could just, we could talk forever about well, how stranger things as a show in season 5.

But I did like the ending.

I was.

Going to ending a lot.

Thankfully we can't because I haven't watched season 5 yet.

So yeah, that'll that'll have to come later.

I, I, I enjoy stranger things.

I enjoyed.

I have not as I said, I haven't watched season 5 yet.

I kind of burned out a little on 4 just because like look, I very much loved the first season of stranger things and wow, did they just keep up in that ante with every season to a point where it's just like this isn't really recognizable as the same thing I liked before.

I know how we got here.

I understand how the escalation happened, but I was into like relatively low key kids on bikes, weird stuff happening and not like MCU level crazy stuff happening in an alternate dimension, you know what I mean?

And so like.

You don't like the DND stuff tied with?

That or anything, dude, that's a whole other thing.

Look, I'm very happy that like, it has helped.

There's like, no denying that like, Stranger Things has played a bit of a role in the additional explosion of D&D.

There's a few factors into why D&D blew up as much as it did in the last decade, however, at least based on clips I've been seeing from Season 5.

I love how much, and I understand why it's to serve the story, but they say so much inaccurate stuff about D&D in Season 5 where there's just like, that's not how that works or like, that's not a spell that class can learn or like that there's just a lot of like someone did not do their homework on that edition of D&D in that year.

But you know, that's just, that's just minor nerd rant rage stuff.

Yeah.

Like I, I, I, I, you know, I enjoy Stranger Things, but I would say my hype level for it, it's definitely not what it once was.

And it's like, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to watch it at some point when I have time.

I'll get through however many hours long this final season is, but it wasn't the kind of thing where I was like, oh man, I got to sit down and watch this the moment it drops on Netflix.

Like I'm, I need to know.

I can't have anything spoiled.

I don't I I'll watch it when I have time.

Yeah, you know, in the short of it, I think that Stranger Things, because I rewatched the series leading up to season 5 and I think that I agree with you.

The first season is the best and I think that season 4, like I honestly like looking back, like I didn't like season 4 a whole lot, especially after a rewatch, because it just feels like that they're playing catch up.

It feels like, Oh, we know what we're doing now with the big, like with what we're doing with the big bad.

And now we're introduce introducing him and trying to find ways to hand wave like, oh, This is why he hasn't shown up to this point.

And I'm like, I I don't buy that.

And like, they just focus too much on it for me.

But yeah.

And I, I, I really think, you know, people there's like, they, they're talking about like, oh, the, the long breaks in between the seasons is like what makes the, the new seasons feel so eventful and stuff like that.

And it's just like, sure, but also like if y'all had given less time in between seasons and gave the show in general two more seasons and ended with a season 7 at this current time instead of a season 5 to really like let things breathe and and and expand on things like the series, the show would be better.

Like season 5 feels so rushed.

Like it all happens.

It yeah.

It just feels.

Very rushed.

Also, if they had been to that point, you know, in time now, we would have had maybe slightly more believable aging of characters and not just like how massively different some people are like between like season 2 and three.

I think 2:00 and 3:00 is the worst gap.

Maybe 3 and 4, but like, where it's just like, oh, they're all adults now.

Like in real life.

Like what?

How, how long are we pulling off, you know, being kids or being as young as they were, at least originally?

Honestly, I think the gap

between 4:00 and 5:00 is the worst.

Like, yeah, I mean, like, you know, obviously season 1 through to to five is whiplash, right?

But like, yeah, like at least in the other Four Seasons, they like, you know, characters look like they do like Millie Bobby Brown doesn't look like what she looks like in Season 4.

Yeah, just doesn't like, you know, and that's just because she's gotten older.

So.

But anyway.

But I also want to say really quick before we get into housekeeping, I saw Marty Supreme and this is a highly talked about movie, partly due to its marketing campaign, which has been fantastic.

And another part because like the reception of the movie, like I've seen a lot, I've I've seen takes all over the place.

Yes, I I've seen both very positive and very negative.

And I think that there's like, you know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not trying.

I'm not trying to insult anybody.

I think that this is one of the late like latest examples of media literacy is dead because like I think because because because first and foremost, Marty is not a good person like right like.

Right.

Not a good person.

One of those classic situations, yeah.

But he is a man with ambitions and he has.

He's like a man with a dream.

And I think that you are able to differentiate the two and be like, Hey, this guy is the the way that he's doing things.

I don't fuck with that, but I do like, I do like love, like the passion of what he is trying to achieve.

And so for someone that like, also, like, you know, has, you know, I feel like I'm, I'm a pretty ambitious person.

Like I, I want like, I've very specific goals that I want to achieve and things like that.

Like for me, I was just like, I, I really vibed with the movie.

But like, I feel like that there's a lot of people that just like think the movie's bad because Marty is a bad person and that the and that like if you like, could find any sort of relation to his character because of the things that he does.

Like it's bad.

And I just like don't.

I just don't agree with that.

It'd be like saying Whiplash is a bad movie because JK Simmons is a jerk.

And it's like that's not hold on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, he's not the main character, but yeah.

He's not, but it is.

I'm just saying that.

But I mean, Miles Teller is also not like he's not really great.

He's not as bad as JK, but he is not.

That's true.

He is not.

A Yeah, And Whiplash is one of my favorite movies I love.

Like Whiplash is one of the few movies I will watch at least once every year.

Yeah.

One again, because that is, as you've said yourself, like that is a theme and a type of thing that you resonate a lot with and that like, yeah.

Also, I'm a musician as well.

So like, yeah, I, I, yeah, I, I really love Marty Supreme.

Like it may be my favorite movie of 2025.

Like I really, really dug it.

And I, and I do think it's a, a film where it's like you kind of either get it or you don't.

Like sure, you either resonate with it or you don't.

And that's fine, but I think that for the people that didn't resonate with it, all of their explanations as to why I was just like, I'm sorry, I don't be real agree.

I don't agree with you.

Say psych, right?

Now.

But yeah, I recommend people say psych.

I recommend people to go see Marty Supreme and and decide for yourself.

Yeah, I've been thinking of checking out.

It's at my local theater that does the cheap Tuesdays, so if it's still around next week I might go check it out.

But we'll see, just because, you know, being gone is going to throw off a lot of my schedule.

That's fair.

That's fair.

Yeah.

Report back if you if you see it.

I'm very curious because because I was, I do want to say really quick because I did see it with one of my friends and like he is a very like calm, cool collected person, like very chill, like super chill guy.

And he he was just like, that was a really well made movie that I hated and he hated it because he hated Marty.

And I'm just.

Like, yeah, I guess no, you can, you can, you can say a thing is made well and that it didn't make you feel good and you don't like.

It Oh no, no, that's the, that's the thing.

That's the thing.

Like I get it.

Like I, I, no one is supposed to like Marty like, you know what I mean?

Like, so when people say like, oh, it's kind of, I don't like Marty.

And it's like, there's got to be more reason than that because like, no one thinks Marty's a good person.

And if you do, you are probably a bad person.

Like, yeah, but, but, but yeah.

So so it was just one of those things.

Like I think that ultimately your reception of that movie, your personal reception of that movie is going to be based off of like your own personal ambitions and your drive and sense of like self and worth and things like that.

Anyway, we're going to be on the housekeeping.

I, as well as Kevin, have played the first two hours of Romeo's The Dead Man, the latest game from Grasshopper Manufacturer and created by the creative mind of Suit of 51.

We have a preview up on podcast services and our YouTube channel.

We did release a welcome to party chat year to update video specifically on YouTube.

We didn't do put on podcast services, just basically like updating primarily our YouTube audience.

Like, hey, we have YouTube membership now and we're kind of resorting our membership and benefit structure of sorts where we basically have put everything into a single tier.

It's 499 a month and it gets you the episode a day early, whether you're on, if you're on YouTube membership, you get on YouTube.

If you get Patreon, you'll get the audio version of the podcast a day early as well as our bonus episode.

We're kind of axing the monthly Q&A moniker and we're, we're just doing a bonus episode.

Yeah, which can.

Still be AQ and A sometimes.

Which can't cancel be AQ and A but and we do have some catch up to do on that.

Yeah, we do, yeah.

And then we also have Campfire catalog which we also have catch up to do on that.

But but it's because we're playing other things to share our thoughts on with reviews and previews and stuff.

But we, we are getting to that.

So yeah, 499, whether it's be on YouTube membership or Patreon, that that those options are there for you.

And then our Discord, our discord is open.

Anyone can join.

There will be a link in both the video version and the audio version of the podcast to join in.

If you want to chat about JRPGS, whatever you want to, you know, it's a pretty LAX space.

So you know, we would love to get more people in there and chat.

We've already had like about 10 people join since we made that announcement, which is really, really awesome.

So we'd love to get more people in there.

Lastly, go to youtube.com/kevin Kenson and hit the subscribe button over there.

And now we're going to get into the news for this week.

We're going to going to do like this different umbrellas, updates on a few different developers.

We got some updates from Atlas, we got some updates from Falcon and we got some updates from Band Dynamco playing.

A little catch up from the end of the year.

Yes, yes.

So the Persona director Hashino had an interview with Game Informer and this is kind of like a, without saying it directly, this is kind of like an update on the JRPG 3 point O kind of comments that he made for last year just talking about like how he thinks that JRPGS like need to evolve and things like that.

So, he says quote, more so than just latching onto a specific genre of game.

We're going back to how we can evolve our JRPG and what it looks like for us.

It's coming to a turning point where we want to really take it to the next level in terms of how our JRP GS are.

With these changing times, we do feel the need to update our format and create games that would be more widely playable, not just within the JRPG realm, but something that would be easier, more accessible, more accessible for a wider audience.

We're hoping to update our format with that in mind.

What are your, what are your, what are your thoughts here, Kev?

I mean, this is The thing is right.

This gets into what do you mean by three-point O And it sounds like the interest here is more in terms of audience expansion and not necessarily evolution of the genre.

Like it is evolution of the genre, but evolution with the goal of, you know, widening your your audience as opposed to say, moving the medium forward in some way that is maybe interesting or a change up for the sake of like innovating within the genre, which is always a thing that I kind of get my back up a little bit about because it's like, look, yes, at the end of the day, as much as we love to talk about video games being an art form, it is also a product.

And for a lot of these companies, like, yeah, like you want a wider audience, you want more sales, you want this to be successful because that goes towards, you know, funding other projects and more things you can do.

But whenever it kind of goes back to this idea of like, oh, we need to do things differently to grab even more people.

And like, that's the goal.

I'm like, man, just like, can we just focus on making like cool new shit And like the people will find their way there because the quality comes through.

And like, that's a much more amorphous thing because it's like you don't, you know, you, you can guess ways to grab more people, finding a way to like break new ground and actually like, you know, start a new trend or movement that's much, much more difficult.

Yeah.

And so it's an.

Odd it's it's not a comment I love to hear.

I guess it's just the the main gist.

No, I mean, I I agree with you because I mean, literally just look at Persona 5, right?

Like Persona 5 was not like, you know, yes, they made some changes with like the palaces and versus like the dungeons, you know, the procedurally generated dungeons.

I'm saying that term right, Right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

OK, OK, OK.

I am.

I'm running on like 3 to 4 hours of sleep everybody.

Anyway, that there wasn't like a super major evolution to Persona 4 to Persona 5 in my opinion.

I mean, the, the evolution of that was aesthetics, right?

Like that was that was the change in visual style, the UI presentation, the the the menu designs.

Arguably to an extent, character designs and updates, especially with having everyone have their alter ego kind of like costume design instead of just like this is me in my school clothes and so like that all I I you know that you there can be various arguments for why Persona 5 that blew up the audience as much as it did.

I would push a large part of it is because it just had that visual cool factor that made a lot more people interested in.

I mean, there was a running joke for the longest time of like, oh man, Persona 5 is finally coming to other consoles.

Persona 5 fans can finally play it because so many people were you get that kind of outside fun of I love these character designs or I love this thing.

And you're getting more fan art and you're getting cosplays and you're getting a lot more people spreading awareness of the thing because there's so much hype and love for the look and vibe of it.

Which was great for expanding the audience, but it wasn't necessarily because five like, revolutionized the combat system or anything.

Yeah, no.

And that that's that's what I'm trying to say, is that like Persona 5 and in a bigger scope, the Persona like franchise got big by word of mouth.

Like, yes, there were some elements.

Like obviously the game is visually striking and stylish and like there's JRPGS that have been inspired and kind of taken that and run with it a bit since then.

But you know, Persona 5 was ultimately like, was it was a good game that a lot of people talked about that led to them playing it.

And like they, they made the game that they wanted to make, right?

Like, it's not like that.

They tried to be like, oh, we're doing this.

So more people will join in like that.

Just they didn't do that with arguably their biggest game, right?

And then And so like that's it's, it's kind of weird to me that like that is kind of like their mentality.

Actually, I, I would argue that's been the goal since like post 3.

Like, like yes, there was innovation in terms of adding the calendar system, but like there's absolutely a tonal shift going from into and out of three where there's a lot more kind of upbeat energy, There's a lot more kind of visually pleasing fun anime aesthetic.

That's when we get into a lot of, like, the musical change into being far less dreary and much more like, you know, we get into the fun stylistic choices with each one.

I forget there's an old meat image somewhere of like, when 3 was happening or going into four where it's like the director being like, yeah, you know, like we're making some changes for the sake of, you know, people are going to like, like, this kind of stuff more and we're going to get a little less philosophical.

And meanwhile, the lead artist at the time is like, I like drawing pretty girls.

And it's like, that's part of how Persona was able to grow its audience.

I mean well beyond what it was during like one and two, what was a far more like kind of cult status sub series.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying that persona didn't get more and more popular from three forward.

Right.

But I'm saying because there were conscious choices to expand the audience with some design choices in those games.

Sure.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know that that to me that's tough just because I feel like Persona 4 Golden popped off because it was like the big like port that came to the Vita, right.

Sure, Like that was.

And then Persona 5 was because it was if one, it finally came out after a very long development.

Yeah, cycle.

And then it, you know, met expectations.

And I, I'm not saying that those didn't go into consideration when developing those games.

I just don't think that I don't know.

I, I guess I, I just don't think it was that significant in a way where it, yeah, I just don't, I just don't think, I don't know, like I never, I never even really like thought of it that like that like that before, you know, with persona, it's just like, Oh yeah, I like, I get, you know, you're technically that could be true.

I just like never really thought of it that way and I just don't.

And like, you know, maybe they, that was something that they were cognizant of.

I just don't think, I just think that like ultimately like where we're at now, it's like really, it was really just like word of mouth that got people into it and like, I don't, I guess like, how do I, how do I explain it?

I I guess I would rather I'm reading this as like a very broad sweeping change or like thing that they want to do in a future JRPG that's more like that's, you know, compared to, oh, we're going to make this upbeat, Poppy J pop game after this dreary like lo fi hip hop music game.

You know what I mean?

Like because I yeah, I think the best example is just them adding the action hybrid system, right?

Like they wanted players to feel more engaged.

They like keep their attention because, you know, for a lot of people turn base doesn't do it for them.

I feel sorry for those people, but that's just the reality that we live in.

And I just think that I don't want them to like, go further than that in a way that just doesn't feel right to me.

I guess.

You know, it's, it's, it's all like hypothetical, of course, but and like, yeah, I just don't.

And at the end of the day, you can chase trends and still make a really freaking cool thing, right?

Like it's not an immediate, like you're not destined to fail just because you're trying to widen the audience, but it does represent a different goal for the type of thing you're trying to make that you know, some people are going to be bigger or lesser fans of.

It's just, it's, it's the choice.

And we don't really know entirely what that means until it's like, you don't know it until hindsight, right?

You need to see the actual thing that they've made and how they channeled that goal into that creation.

More on Hashino and and just Persona specifically.

He mentions that he hasn't been involved with the series since Persona 5 originally released, He said.

Quote right now my Juniors members who have come after me have taken over the reins and are producing titles for P Studio.

I've been on the sidelines watching them and looking over them to see what they're doing.

In that sense, I haven't been super involved in the Persona series.

After Persona 5.

Within the physical office, we have at Atlas the studios that make Shimagami Tensei the studio that makes Persona, and us the studio that makes Metaphor.

We're in the same floor environment.

There's nothing that separates us, even if it is indirectly.

It's stimulating for us to see what other other studios within our company are doing.

We're not completely separated from a creative standpoint, so rest assured on that front.

Of course, we can't really talk about what's coming down the pipeline at this point, but we do have that level of interaction now.

Is it crazy to say or weird to think that maybe Hashino isn't directing Persona 6?

Or isn't, you know that like surely there's been some pre production on Persona 6, but like, maybe that game is farther out than we initially thought.

Yeah, or he's just not involved with it, right.

At least I'm sure there's a degree of oversight or whatever, but like he's not direct hands on.

I mean, like the wording makes sense because obviously they've been working on metaphor for how many years now?

Like when was the original Project Fantasy title thing like first teased?

It's been a minute.

Exactly.

But like, he's been on that and so, you know, who even knows how far along planning has happened for six or how deep in development 6 is.

Maybe this is him kind of lightly saying that he's kind of our hands off on that now and is trying to move towards other projects and making other things and not just being tied specifically to the Persona franchise.

I will say like, you know, looking at how Royal turned out, since, you know, he apparently was not really a part of that.

Lots of great combat updates as well as some good added plot beats that like cool.

Like they're, I mean, clearly there's a sign that good stuff can happen without his direct hands on the the right talent has inherited those roles and such.

And if that's the case, I wouldn't really feel worried about like 6 moving forward, at least based on like that sample, because at the end of the day, like it's it's always tough with the kind of like author argument and video games, because obviously there is far more than just who the creative director is.

Like lots of talent goes into making a game and it can be very easy to, I think doom and gloom where it's like, oh man, that guy's not attached.

This is going to be the shitty one.

And there's all kind of jokes that happened like that with some games, right, Like Dark Souls 2 without Miyazaki.

But, you know, since we have that evidence of how 5 Royal turned out, obviously that was an update, not a whole brand new game from the ground up.

But I think that's a great sign.

And I think that, you know, Hashino's direct involvement, yes or no doesn't make or break 6 necessarily.

I.

Don't know if IA 100% agree with you just because the.

Yes, the additional content in Royal is fantastic, but I also think that that foundation that Hashino does with the with you know, all three of the persona games, like I just don't know if like, I just don't know if there's someone there that can take the reins and do that from the ground up.

I, you know, I, I would love to be proven wrong, right?

Because we're, we're, we've been talking about this before, that there is this like second generation of creative minds that are starting to get there in age, right.

And I definitely want there to be people that are able to take the reins from Hashino by the time he decides that he wants to retire and things like that.

So that, that that is definitely a we'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, Cuz, yeah, Cuz if I, cuz if I hear, cuz, you know, if I guess my thought process is like, if you heard, if you didn't hear this information and you hear Persona 6 announced and it's not be any, and then all you know is that Hashino's not directing it.

Would you not be a little bit concerned?

I understand why other people would be concerned, but to me that feels like you are abandoning ship on far too little information.

I'd.

Say abandoned ship though.

I'd say, but I'm just saying like that's, that's to me, that's unnecessary doom and gloom to just be like, like, like, sure, I get it.

That is a fact that he would not be involved and I can understand why that would cause like concern, but I I just think that that's.

Like I'm still day one for it, but I would also, I would, I would have concern.

I would, I would be like, OK, like.

Yeah.

I just think that's putting a a, a, a bad thought into the experience going in that I would rather just experience the work itself without worrying about like, I I just think that that's putting too much stock sometimes into just like as I was mentioning earlier, like I understand the the desire to like be like, Oh yeah, because of this specific person, but like games development is so much more than one position.

No, for sure I'm not.

Yeah, I I, I agree with that.

And again, like, I love Tokyo Mariah Sessions.

Hashino's not involved with that game, at least as far as I'm aware.

And but I, you know, again, I just think that he is the forefront of that game and or like that that studio in a way where MSA, you know, Alice has definitely made other great games that Hoshino is not tied to.

I just, yeah, it's, it's like it's one of those things where I'm just like, OK, we'll, we'll see what happens.

Like, you know, it's not, it's not like I'm going to be like, oh shit, I'm worried about Persona 6 because, you know, it's just more like, OK, well, let's see what happens here and, and go from there.

He also comments on a metaphor sequel.

He says quote when we initially set out to create this game, we got the ambitions of hoping to cultivate this game into one of our brands with an Atlas like a pillar.

With that being said, just because we had a certain level of success, we don't want to just jump on that and quickly put out something as a sequel.

We want to get really give it some thought and make sure that if we are able to continue on in the series, we're putting together something that is building on the values that we were able to infuse into this game and something that would be worthwhile for the fans that would be waiting for it.

OK, you know, I, you know, like honestly, like I, I love metaphors, my game of the year.

And obviously there's more stories that could be told in that world.

I also think that the way like, just like the conceptual aspects that that game does with its narrative.

I don't because normally, you know, normally when it comes to these things, you start small and you go bigger, right?

This was this was big, this was big the entire time, right?

And so it's like, OK, where do you go from here?

Like not even saying if it's a like a continuation with the same cast, I'm saying if it's a new cast, like what do you really do knowing the things that you did in the in the first game?

And that's my kind of like if you, if y'all can make it work in a way that makes sense, sure.

But I also feel like that this felt like a pretty complete experience that doesn't really need a new entry, at least like in that world, because I just don't know where you go from.

That and I don't think a metaphor to necessarily means it has to be, you know, not even the concept of direct sequel.

It doesn't even necessarily have to be the same world or universe, right?

We have plenty of series that bear the same name, but they are ultimately stand alone stories, each and of their own.

Not just the story, but like the setting, the characters, all of it.

And so because we've only had one metaphor so far, we don't really know what it means to be a second metaphor.

Maybe it is same universe.

Maybe it is somehow a direct sequel that's, you know, however many years later.

Maybe it is just an entirely brand new everything other than the fact that like, yeah, it's going to have the calendar system and it's a fantasy game instead of modern day.

We just don't know what it means to be a a metaphor game in the larger sense like that.

Right?

Like if they're do, if it doesn't end up becoming an IP, yeah, we'll find out.

We also got updates from the SMT team, producer Kazuyuki Yamai said.

Quote.

I was able to release the title I was in charge of in 2025 right out remastered.

Therefore, 2026 will be a year preparation.

The times and society are changing rapidly and the same is true for the game market.

I would like to further update the titles I am preparing and myself.

Incidentally, Alice has a lot of anniversaries coming up, but Shimigami Tense is a little ways off.

And then producer Shinji Ro Takata also said quote.

We've just had a breather after the release of Ride Out and Persona 3 Reload for Nintendo Switch 2.

It will probably be a while before we have anything else to report.

I mean, yeah, makes sense.

I, I do think that Ride out to is what's coming next from, from this team and then maybe a remaster of like SMT 4 or would it be cool if we got like the Devil Survivor or something like that?

Yeah, I, I feel like SMT is in a place right now where we're probably not going to see like a totally brand new game for a minute.

Yeah, I, I think we're kind of in remaster remake territory for the next couple few years and we might not even see anything in terms of that this year.

I mean, it's always roughly these kind of comments because they can only really talk about what is actually officially known and released and out.

So it's like, yeah, maybe this is an off year where nothing comes out within that IP.

Maybe there actually is like at least a smaller project that ends up dropping in the later half of the year.

Who knows?

There's not going to talk about anything until they're able to talk about it.

So yeah, but I mean, that makes sense for that franchise.

I think, you know, I love SMT, but it it certainly has taken somewhat of a second place and I'm glad it's gotten the support it has.

Like I, I'm honestly always thankful that like they're still supporting bringing back those older games and like leaning into that franchise and not just making it the Persona show.

I'm glad that that's the case.

But I also understand that it's not going to get quite the same degree of like full blown support.

Agreed.

Falcon had their like shareholders meeting or something like that over the break and we got updates on everything that they're working on.

So we got AI got a list of games, some detailed, some not so detailed on what they're working on.

So obviously we know that Trails Be on the Horizon comes out this month and we're getting 2nd chapter later this year.

This list does not pertain to those.

So we are getting a ported title, don't know what specifically, an unannounced Nintendo Switch 2 port title, a new Tokyo Xanadu project, which is the main thing that we've known.

And hopefully that comes out at the very least in Japan this year and then we get it like early next year.

That'd be that'd be dope.

A new title, don't know from what series or anything like that.

A new trails title and a new E title.

I'm curious if.

OK so this is kind of where my mindset is at.

Like I think that we need trails third remake like even though it's not as connected to.

You got to finish the arc is kind of the idea.

You got to finish the arc.

They're they're remaking like all of these games.

Yeah, I mean, I, I think there's a pretty at.

Least up to crossbow.

Yeah, up to Crossbow, up to when they were still doing the chibi like simpler art and not full 3D and maybe Cold Steel somewhere further down the line.

But for sure like in terms of the remake treatment, Yeah, I mean that that sounds.

Do you think that that wouldn't be this year though, right For for three?

No, they wouldn't.

I mean, I think that if it's happening, well, I'm not saying that that it would have to, but because it makes it made a lot more sense with the first game.

But like it would be neat if they teased it at the end of 2nd chapter like kind of the same way they did with first chapter, right?

I don't think they're going to do that just because it's not.

As directly connected.

As directly tied in, but it would be cool.

But yeah, I mean, we'll probably learn something sometime, like around the same time we learned about second chapter, about third chapter or the third like.

Yeah, near the end of this year or whatever.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'd like to think that one of these projects is that I assume the Trail series is the next Trails, you know, the final chapter of the Calvert arc.

Now with the E series, I personally want an E 5 remake because that's the one E game that we don't have localized in the West.

So it'd make a lot of sense for them to do it.

And I would, yeah.

I just, I just want, I just want it.

I want it like I I would rather want that than an E 11 person.

Sure.

Yeah, just a complete line up.

Yeah, when it comes to the other things listed, like the ported title and like the switch to port, couldn't tell you.

I couldn't even make an educated guess.

So any any any thoughts?

No, I mean, you're, you're the Falcon expert of the two of us.

You know, I, I have played a couple ices.

Someday we'll get to trails, but I I don't really have any extra insight on that for you.

OK, Tales of producer You Skate Tommy Zawa says the remaster project will continue past 2026.

Hell yeah.

In the interview with Fumitsu, he says quote, the Tales of series has finally reached its 30th anniversary, and we are continuing to promote further promote the remaster project and make various preparations for the years to come.

2026 marks the 30th anniversary.

The remaster project will continue after that.

In addition to these Tales of Series projects, we have many exciting seeds brewing, so we would like to carefully nurture them.

We will do our best to further promote the Tales of Ceres as a whole.

End Quote.

Kevin, you're more of a Tales guy than I am.

How, how you feeling about this?

Because we, you know, we're getting Bursaria, I assume we're getting Abyss just based off of like the art that we've seen and things like that.

Yeah.

I mean, I, I think it's.

Oh, so it's good.

Do you think we're going to get Zestria?

Yes, only because like similar to Bursaria, it doesn't really take as much work because like, look, let's face it, they're calling it a remaster, but it's basically like a director's cut PS-5 update kind of game, right?

Like those games were on PS4.

They don't exactly need like huge major overhauls to their visual design or anything.

So like, yeah, I think this theory is going to happen eventually.

It's not like one that people really have a tunnel of for they're are some ways they could try to address some of the things people dislike about it, but I honestly don't see them doing like a heavier remake like that.

I feel like, you know, you do a remaster release because it's just one of the easier things you can do with it to keep everything you know up to date now on current systems.

Yeah, I see the downline it.

That's honestly the thing that least interests me about like what this could mean because like there were a lot of people who were very worried the remaster project was like specifically a 2025 thing, or at least specifically like within the year from when it was announced.

Because they like worded it like it was like a year long celebration.

And I never really thought that was the case.

Like I get how based on their presentation, you could like have that take away from it, but I was going to like, I mean, if they're selling, they're going to keep pumping out remakes, remasters wherever they can.

I don't see them needing to stop just because arbitrarily, Oh, it's been a year since you said you were going to do this.

Now how far they take it as far as like, you know, heavier remake jobs and older games, which I I think is a thing that has also been kind of lightly talked about or into that.

That's the stuff that I would still really love to see them do.

I think we're still going to clear out a lot of the easier remaster projects first, as you mentioned Abyss, I think it's very likely to happen.

That's just probably, but there is that question of like, hey, like now you know, you've kind of caught up on remastering all the games that came out during these years.

So like what's up with like PS2 era or even going older than that?

You know, there's a lot of titles that have not had a release on modern platforms in quite some time and I don't necessarily need them to be full blown like 3D remakes, but it's like, are you going to do anything with them?

You know, whether that's one of the multiple versions of Fantasia that exists or you know, there's already a remake of the original Destiny.

Like do we just kind of up res and clean that one up for current consoles?

We never got Destiny two.

We have a Destiny 2, but it's not the right one.

It's Eternia.

They just localized it that way.

So like could we get the actual Destiny 2 like over here, which is APS 2 game?

There's a lot of possibilities that I think would be cool.

We just we, we have to see.

I, I think they're going to get through a lot of the kind of lower hanging fruit 1st and then we'll see if they want to like up the ante and get into that older collection more so.

Yeah, I, yeah, I think we're because I think he even mentions that he wants to go back to the older 1.

So like I that would be really cool.

This is like one of my favorite things that's that's happening in the GRPG space.

Like yes, poured everything.

Just just give it to us.

Just give it to us.

Well, I think there's, I think there's a general movement towards doing it more often, not just because it's profitable, but because I think there is a kind of baseline belief right now that a lot more stuff coming out today is going to be more forwards compatible.

You know, you never know, Sony might decide PS6 doesn't play PS-5 or 4 for whatever reason.

But especially if you're releasing PC versions of games, it's like, oh, that stuff can, like, stay relevant considerably longer.

And we've kind of just hit the point where, like, yeah, graphics and stuff is getting pushed more and more.

But unless we have some kind of very heavy tech shift, a lot more stuff today, presumably we should see better like, you know, forward compatibility and support and doesn't necessarily have to be re released four more times like with some games, you know, where final SU4 has however many different versions because they kept re releasing and re releasing and re releasing.

Yeah, I just, Yep, can't wait.

Give us, give us everything, especially the older games like that, that, that would be really, really great.

These are all going to be quickies, but Pikmin 4 and Splatoon 3 have been rated for Switch 2 in Europe, so wouldn't be surprised if we get an announcement for a Switch 2 version of those games during the next Nintendo Direct Monster Hunter Wilds Title 4 update.

It has a date.

There's a date of mine that mentioned that there's a Switch to version, so seemingly take with a grain of salt.

Yeah, Monster Hunter Wilds switch to version coming, which makes sense considering yeah, Capcom's been a really strong partner with Nintendo on Switch to so makes sense.

Final Fantasy Tactics The Eve Release Chronicles has officially sold 1,000,000 copies.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster has officially sold 6,000,000 copies.

Is that counting?

How do they count that?

Because like.

I'm assuming it's what?

Because like physically they sell that as a bundle, but it's like you can also buy them individually digitally on each platforms or like are they counting each individual?

Like if I buy pixel, if I just buy 4 remaster, does that count as one?

And then if I buy all 6, is that 6 or is that one because it's?

It's the Final Fantasy pixel remaster series.

Series.

OK, so they are.

I assume it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's yeah.

The Octopath Traveller series has hit 6,000,000 copies worldwide and that's it.

That's our, that's our news for this week.

We are going to skip what we've been playing this week because we have a review up, a preview up and that's that's what we kind of got going on right now.

Yep, Yep, Yep.

So we're going to get into our topic of the show this week shouldn't go for too long, but we're basically going to be doing a fantasy draft.

We're going to we're going to draft five games each from any Eastern developed game and we're going to set up like a whole fantasy critic league thing where we're going to have the five that we're drafting today.

And then we're going to pick up some throughout the year.

And then by the end of the year we will come back and see who has won.

Now, just as a start, just as a friendly agreement handshake, Kevin, what are your what are your vibes on you letting me take trails 2nd chapter and then you take Fire Emblem.

I mean, I kind of assumed those were going to be our first drafts each.

So yeah, but, but here's the thing, I could have like, here's the thing, I don't know what's going on in your mind.

You could have sniped that from me.

Sure.

I mean, look, if we were gonna yeah, like if if we were doing a coin flip, I mean, I feel like if I took that, you would probably take I I feel like these are each games that we have a decent faith they're going to get a solid Metacritic.

Oh yeah, yeah, no.

If you took trails, I would have taken.

Firearm.

Yeah, exactly.

So it's like I'm fine taking the one that like is more my series anyways, just for like some just some series Rep, you know?

Yeah.

Oh, we'll do that at the end of the show.

I forgot to do the monthly releases, which I'm going to stay consistent about this year.

Everybody, I'm going to stay consistent.

All righty now we're, we're going to do a coin flip to see who goes next.

And to be clear, this is basically like whoever's going first.

So if you win Kevin I, you pick and then I get 2 picks and then you get 2 picks.

OK.

Yeah, snake, Snake snake wise.

So, Kevin, heads or tails?

Tails.

It is tails.

So you I get, I get first.

First.

Well, you get to choose.

Oh, I get to pick if I go OK and.

Then do you want to go first or do you want to go second?

And again it's one, and then two, and then two.

So if you go first, you pick one, I pick two, you pick 2.

If you go second, I pick one, you pick two, I pick 2.

Yeah.

And then we each just pick a final one after that because we have to hit 5, right?

You would pick two more and then I would pick one.

Yes, Yeah, I'll go second.

All right.

So you want me to go first?

Yeah, All righty.

Let me let me take a look at what's releasing this year.

Yeah, I kind of have a roughly together.

Yeah, we.

Definitely have some.

I definitely have some in mind so.

And, and for a little, a little more break in the 4th wall today.

So originally we when we first pitched the idea of doing this draft, Cam brought up the idea of doing GRPGS.

And then neither of us really did our homework until this morning.

And we're like, oh, wait, there's only so many that have actually been announced for this year that it would.

Or that we think has a good chance of coming out this year.

Yeah, there's only so many, and it gets a little weird when you get into certain things like port re releases or remasters.

And it's just like, we should just expand the definition.

So we're kind of now thinking about, OK, wait, what else is this year that's not just GRPGS, but just, you know, Eastern titles in general?

What can we?

What can we go with?

Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep.

I'm going to pick.

I'm just going to be safe.

I'm, I'm going to be safe for my first pick here because I'm curious as to what you're going to pick.

And I'm going to pick Dragon Quest 7.

That's that was on my that was definitely on my short list of ones I would probably end up picking.

We're going to find out about that one relatively quicker than some other ones too, because that's only next month.

Yeah, sad, sad to lose it, but solid pick.

Solid pick.

All right.

OK so I already got Fire Emblem.

And to be clear, while you're thinking about this, for the audience, the point system is decided by the open critic average or whatever.

So for the So whatever open critic has the game, we get points that type of deal and go from there.

Yeah, so.

Yeah, I'm going to go with, but I think is another Safish one Resident Evil Requiem.

Yeah, yeah, I feel pretty, pretty good about that.

And then my other one, this is a little, this is a little little riskier.

But I feel like especially with the way this genre tends to get handled by wider critics, I feel like within the fan base, this is this is rougher.

But if we're just going with general like, you know, open critic type stuff, I'm going to go with Marvel Toko.

Fighting souls.

OK.

I didn't, I didn't think about Marvel token.

Yeah, I just like like like I feel like Arcs's stuff gets consistently pretty well received.

It's Marvel.

So like there's, I, I think there's a lot of hype factor with that where, you know, especially with like they've done open betas and stuff where there's been some decent reaction so far.

I, I feel, I'm feeling, I'm feeling pretty good about that one.

This is tough, all right, my first pick because I I think it's going to be really, really good.

I think it's going to review well.

I'm going to pick Phantom Blade 0.

Oh, that was one of my maybes as well.

I had, I was going to maybe swoop that up on my next one.

So that's.

Yep, Yep, Phantom Blade 0.

Now this is where it gets tough.

This is where it gets to like, OK, I think that we're at a point now where I think I'm going to have to do a quick Google search here because my thought process is the other games that are coming out that we know are coming out, it's kind of a toss up.

Like it could review well, it could review really well, or it could be like fine, or it could be like decent.

I definitely have one wild card, one I'm planning to pick or I'm like, oh, this could review really well or this is.

I know exactly what game you're talking about and you might take.

And you might take it, I don't know.

We'll see.

I don't think I'm going to I, I think I'm going to let you roll those dice.

I don't think I'm going to let you.

I'm not.

I don't think I'm going to take that one.

I'd rather play it safe because here's the thing, because I'm going to pick, my last pick is going to be a wild card.

Sure.

Especially because we're exhausting a lot of the easy picks right away, right like.

Yeah.

And so I'm just looking here.

Wait, really?

OK man, that's lower than I want it to be.

Looking at older games in the franchise and how they were viewed.

Yup, Yup, Yup.

But I also don't know what else is going to come out this year.

So it's just like, do I just do it anyway?

Let's see here.

But you know I'm not.

I'm not trying to show my cards here.

I forgot about that.

Oh, is there a game you just remembered?

Yes, yes, I did listen.

I I honestly like I don't know if like how well it's going to review.

I really don't, but I really I really enjoyed this game.

I think I know what you're meant to say, yeah.

And I wanna show some love.

I'm going dosa Divas.

Oh, OK.

I'm gonna go dosa Divas.

That's how much I've been paying attention.

I thought that came out last year.

I didn't realize that was still going on.

No, no.

Yeah, Dosa Divas.

So all right, you got two more picks.

Yeah, I didn't really think about.

I wasn't paying attention to the Indiesphere as much and there's definitely someones there that I would be curious.

Well, there is one that just got announced that you're really excited for.

My brain's not working.

I'm still, I'm still waking up.

Cam which?

Which game got announced?

Orbitals.

Yeah, I am excited for Orbitals.

This is true.

I am very excited for Orbitals.

Yeah, I wasn't who who's I'd actually pay attention to?

Shape Farm.

It's a Japanese studio.

Oh.

OK, yeah, I didn't pay attention to The Who the devil was so I didn't know if that it.

Look, it's always tough to tell with anime aesthetic games because it's like either this is made in Japan or this is made by Weeds, you know, it's just like one of the two.

But OK, so dos Divas and then did you pick your other one yet?

Did you get 2 picks?

Right.

Yeah, it's Phantom Blade.

Oh, Phantom Blade.

That's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

So I have.

So I have 4:00, so I have one more.

Even more.

OK, All right, let me get my let me get my my wild card pick out of the way.

OK.

I know you're going to.

Pick yeah no, no, this is a risk.

This is a risk and this is one of those games where I'm like this could end up reviewing very well I don't think it's going to be like I don't think it's going to get like fours or fives.

I don't think it's going to be that bad but it could I could definitely see it getting into like 6-7 territory depending on how well they pull off exactly, exactly.

It's a very ambitious game, but Crimson Desert, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put some faith into it by putting on the list.

That's my.

I feel pretty good about all my other picks being like consistent.

That's the one where it's like, this could be like some some high scores or maybe not so much.

That's my.

That's my.

Reason.

Yeah, yeah, Honestly, part part of me regrets not picking Resident Evil.

Yeah, I thought that was.

To me that was like the easiest pick as far as like.

Well, I was thinking JRPG first at the time.

I was like, oh, we're just, we're just getting right out of the I know, I I know that we're trying to do like we're we're allowing everything.

Oh, I thought we're gonna like put a focus more.

So that's fine.

I'm I'm being a little strategic.

And to be fair, had you picked Resident Evil, I would have picked Dragon Quest for sure like that.

That would have been my OK.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I got to pick one more.

Where do we stand?

It needs to be officially announced, right?

Like we can't go with something we're pretty sure this is going to release, but like we don't actually have hard data yet.

You're going to have to tell me what the game is.

Pokémon Gen.

10.

Yeah, you can do that.

You can do Gen.

10 let.

Me double check my list real quick but that might be my 5th pick.

Let me, let me look at what?

We got going on here, OK, OK.

Because like I don't even remember how well.

I mean I know Scarlet Viola got problems because of performance but which hopefully they would fix by this point.

Well, I mean, they did.

We talked about it last year.

Yeah, but I'm talking about like, like a game from the ground up really, you know, not just like having a stable frame rate, but also just like generally looking.

My final pick because I've got some other like risky ones where there's games that like I'm excited for, but I don't know.

I just don't know if they're going to get, you know, the good reviews.

I got one pick where I feel like it's got a safe chance of good reviews but I also I'm just kind of mad at the devs right now.

Yeah, I know, I know.

I know what game you're talking about.

Am I encouraging by picking you?

It's yeah, because we already I already talked about my Kagawa stuff couple episodes ago.

You already picked that.

How risky do I want to?

I mean, you're going to be risky no matter what on your last one.

Just as what's.

I I am, I am definitely being risky on this last pick.

I'm not like doing a safe pick.

Yeah, yeah, that The thing is, I already have one risky pick.

So I mean, I guess Phantom Blade 0 is a little bit of a toss up.

Like we don't like, you know, we've seen some really good stuff, but we're, you know, we're not sure how like, well, that worldview just yet.

I mean, I've played it.

Too, But I, yeah, I think it's one of those things too where it's just you.

You never you.

You never fully know until like I've.

Certainly made the game.

Where the final release I go.

Oh I definitely played the best part of this.

Oh no, that was me with Bayonetta 3.

I did the preview for IGN being like, this might be this might end up being one of the greatest action games ever made.

And I'm like, but when that game finished, I was like.

That did not age.

Like that was yeah, yeah.

OK, I don't want to drag us out too much longer so.

You're, you're good.

You got this.

We'll figure it.

You got.

You'll figure it out.

I've got like 2 that I'm debating between right now.

You're not.

I don't think you're ever going to pick mine, so I'm not.

I'm not stressing.

I believe in you.

Yeah.

All right.

I'm going to.

I'm this is going to be another goodwill one.

And this is a risky 1, I think, even more so than Crimson Desert in some ways.

OK.

Pragmata.

I was definitely thinking pragmata like on my last pick, but I was just like, I wanted to give some indie love so.

I, yeah, no.

And I appreciate that.

And I probably, yeah, I, yeah.

Yeah, I know Pragmat is a good pick.

No, though, no, actually, you're you're right, because I I do want to get some in D love too.

And I actually I I'm going to default to even what I forgot that that was confirmed for this year.

But let's go with orbitals.

People are liking the couch co-ops.

My last pick is going to be I believe this is the year DECA police.

That so how do we rule that if it like gets pushed back again?

I don't know how.

No points.

Just none.

You just get nothing.

There's no yeah.

I got no points.

All right, cool.

No, I this is a.

This is a.

That's a.

True risk.

Because like, it was going to come out in 2024 and they're just like, Oh yeah, this isn't even, we're not even giving it 2025.

This is coming out in 2026 like.

And I, I, I do agree that I think, I think this is the year for it, but just based on that track record, it is a little bit of a scary choice to just be like, who knows?

If it doesn't get delayed to like you know, first quarter of next year or something, we'll find out.

Yeah, I mean like I, I love, you know, level 5.

Like the last time they made a new JRPGIP was Nino Cooney, which is fantastic.

So I have a lot of faith in Deca police.

And like the year that it, they showed it at TGS, like everyone said it was the best thing at the show.

Yeah.

So I, I, I I had to, I have to go with Deca police.

What's your last pick, Kevin?

Oh, no, you did Pragmata.

Yeah.

I did pragmata and no I did orbitals.

Orbitals.

Orbitals, right?

I did have another one that I thought about picking but I for some reason I thought it did not.

Get want to do 6, you want to do 6.

I have one more that is another indie game and I wasn't sure if I could pick it because I was like, I don't even know if this actually gets its own listings because of the special nature of how it's been.

Released Delta in chapter 5.

Yeah, Delta in chapter 5 because it's like 1 so on.

On Open Critic, they list 1 and 2 as a combo and they list 3 and 4 as a combo.

And like 1 and 2 didn't release together initially, but I kind of get how they group them together later.

And the three and four did launch together.

So I just don't know, like are we going to have, are there going to be enough reviews for like 5 to have its own listing?

Are people going to wait?

Because it's like, oh, it's technically like an early access bit by bit release.

It's just a part of a full game.

It, it feels like a weird situation to me.

But there have been reviews for the individual chapters.

Yeah, I mean, there's been reviews for.

I would say you can go for it, but I got to pick mine first because we're doing the snake.

No, if we're doing the snake thing, I get to go first.

No, cuz you picked.

Oh yeah.

Technically, yeah, technically, yeah.

All right, go ahead.

So no, no, you do get no, you do get one more.

You're right, you're right.

No, cuz you did your final one pick, which was deca police and then you need one more.

You're right.

I got confused.

And switched around.

OK now this is tough cuz I I definitely have like a few games that immediately come to mind.

Still, I just don't know it's like it's just a boring pick.

I'm like, I don't want to pick this.

This is boring.

We.

Already have our safe picks, so it's like, you know.

Yeah, exactly.

Like I, I, I got my few safe picks.

Now I want to now I want to get a little wild, but the games that I'm thinking of picking, I'm like I have.

I don't have much confidence that it's coming out this year, even though it's been in development for a long time.

Also, I don't think it's Eastern developed so that that that does that.

Yeah, we're we're making breaks if there are JRPGS in style, but otherwise, yeah.

I think.

Yeah, I think the my last game, you know, I'm I'm playing it safe, but I don't really see anything else right now to to replace it with.

I think I'm just going to go ani musha.

Yeah, that's one that I oh man, I'm excited for Ani Musha and like I feel like I'm going to dig it, but I absolutely do have that part of me that's like, is this going to get?

I like I don't think it's going to get bad reviews, but it's like it could get like 7, you know, could get the IGN 7, just the classic like Yep, it's good solid.

Or there is one other option that I do think will come out this year?

Because you're going to take delta rune anyway, so I'm not if I didn't take ani musha I think.

Yeah, the cutthroat thing would just.

The cutthroat thing would be to.

Take Oh shit.

Oh.

00.

Oh, did you figure it out?

What's your number six?

I can't believe neither of us brought this up.

Uh oh, I think I have to.

I'm going The Adventures of Elliot.

Oh, that was confirmed for next year.

Huh, I forgot that was like, I, you know, for some reason I thought that was more of just a like in the future type title.

But that is 26, isn't it?

Yeah.

Well.

Yeah, dude.

Yep.

Yeah, no solitaire taking the adventures of Elliot.

Go for it and then I'll take delta route and then we have we have 4 slots left after.

So how does that work over the course of the year?

Like when a game gets.

Revealed.

So we basically have a on the website where we do it, we'll have a budget and then we get to bet do bids and then like, I think every Saturday it'll be like you have to keep up to date with it.

They don't really notify you.

They'll be like, and I think in in good faith, we can like tell each other like, Hey, I put a bid for something on the Saturday.

I believe they it shows what the bid is and then you have like a day to respond if you want to take that thing.

Right.

Like luckily you can get higher, yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

But you have a limited budget.

So like if you go over too far and then you want to like, something else comes out and you're like, oh, I want to get this, and then you don't have the money.

Right.

Yeah.

But if there's like something gets announced, we're both like, oh, that's a 10 out of 10 game for sure.

That's where we both kind of risk a high bid because it's like I want that on the list, OK.

Got it.

Yep, Yep.

So we'll figure that.

We'll set that up off the podcast, of course.

Yeah, before like reviews start dropping for games and then yeah, we'll we'll do that.

So for we're going to reread down the list I drafted Trails in the Sky 2nd chapter, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, Phantom Blade 0, Dosa Divas, One Last Meal, Deca Police, and the Adventures of Elliot, the Millennium Tales trials.

Tails.

Tails.

Kevin drafted Fire Emblem Fortunes, Weave, Resident Evil, Requiem, Marvel Token Fighting Souls, Crimson Desert, Orbitals, and Delta Room Chapter 5.

I'm not gonna lie.

Your line up is stack.

Your line up is stack.

So Crimson Desert is the big thing.

That's if.

If Crimson desert hits you, you got it.

You got this right now.

Yeah, I mean, I I do think Orbitals is also a little bit of a risky one just because like I think the trailer shows really good like vibes and we have seen a lot of love for like the kind of couch Co-op, you know.

I mean, this is clearly a inspired by the likes of it takes 2 and such, but who knows, you know, maybe it ends up not really sticking the landing.

Maybe it doesn't play well.

Like we we don't really know that much about this game other than like the vibes look sick as hell, you know.

So yeah, that that's a little bit of a risky one too.

The other 4 though, yeah, like, you know, not saying it can't happen, but like Resident Evil Requiem, that's that's like a minimum.

Guaranteed 85 at least like.

That's that's yeah, Fire Emblem, like there has been weaker ones, but I just feel like in general they get.

It's still going to be 80 at least.

At least 80.

Again, fighting games like I feel like the FTC itself might have opinions about Tokom, but as far as just like the wider open critic reviews go like it's an arcsis marvel fighter guys like this is.

Yeah, it's going to.

It's going to review well.

It's going to review well, Yeah.

I mean, like, you know, I think Adventures of Elliot's gonna review well.

Like I think Phantom Blade 0's gonna review well like Dragon Quest and Trails probably like you.

Know those are much more.

Confident in but yeah, and we got we got some others to to draft if we want to right now or we can just hold off until like probably Nintendo Direct will be like, oh, OK.

Yeah, like, like there's.

No, Oh my God.

You know what we fucking forgot?

To be clear, we don't know if it's coming out this year.

Persona for revival.

True.

We don't know if it's coming out this year.

But it probably is.

Good chance of it, right.

If I mean, like, I think there's a solid chance of like first quarter next year, but like, yeah, this year absolutely is a possibility, yeah.

Yeah, so interesting.

Well we will update y'all as the year goes on or the end of the year whichever we decide to do.

Before we get out of here I am going to read the releases for January.

So for January we have Animal Crossing New Horizons for the switch to on January 15th.

The Legend of Heroes Trails Beyond the Horizon for PlayStation 5, Switch to PlayStation 4, Switch and PC on January 15th.

Dynasty Warriors Origins for Switch 2 on January 22nd.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake integrate for Xbox Series consoles and Switch 2 on January 22nd.

The Seven Deadly Sins origin for PS-5, PC, iOS and Android.

Code Vein 2 for PS.

Wait the seven deadly sins origin is January 20th?

Did I not say that?

Did I say that?

That wasn't like paying attention if I'm going to.

Be honest.

OK, OK, OK.

Origin PS-5, PCIOS, Android January 28th, Code Vein 2, PS Five, Xbox Series consoles and PC on January 30th and Front Mission 3 Remake PS-5, Xbox Series consoles, PS4, Xbox One, PC on January 30th.

We did it.

There it is.

Yeah.

All right, Kevin, do you have anything for the people before we dip out?

No, I just hope everyone has the best energy going into this year.

Yeah, also surprisingly short episode.

We were able to make it through pretty.

Quick.

Not having what we've been playing helped a lot.

I was a little worried because, look, we spent a lot of time on those opening Hashino comments and I was like, oh, Oh, yeah.

We did.

We did.

Well, the the draft also didn't take that long like, you know, we could have.

Yeah.

The actual act of drafting is pretty fast, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You can follow me on socials dot Cam final mix and you can follow Kevin on socials at Kevin Kenson.

Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, holiday break and I hope you all have a great 2026.

And until next time, we'll catch you later.

Later.