The 3DO Experience - Episode 73: Out of this World: Delphine's Cinematic Masterpiece!

[00:00:00] Have you experienced the awesome power of the Panasonic Real 3DO System? Obviously.

[00:00:06] Presenting 3DO, the most advanced home gaming system in the universe. It's time to put away your toys.

[00:00:17] 3DO from Panasonic, Gold Star and Creative Labs. Anurl Pais and 3DO.

[00:00:22] The graphics of Panasonic Real 3DO.

[00:00:29] 3DO.

[00:00:36] Hello everybody and welcome back to the 3DO Experience, the 3DO Retrospective Podcast where we talk about all things 3DO, 3DO Company and everything in between. I am Bill and this is Thrak. How are you doing, Thrak?

[00:00:46] Oh, I'm Snowdin, Bill. How are you?

[00:00:50] Ah, I think I'm catching a cold. Oh, you know.

[00:00:55] That's fair.

[00:00:57] Yeah, it snowed a lot where I am.

[00:01:00] So, uh, so we shut stuff down for a couple days, but we should be good to go now.

[00:01:06] We just kind of needed a day or two for the snow to end and for all the roads to get cleared, basically.

[00:01:12] So, I mean, we got like between like seven and ten inches of snow, depending on where you were.

[00:01:18] So, it was quite a lot.

[00:01:21] We really haven't gotten up here yet.

[00:01:24] Like we had one decent snowfall and then it all melted within a week.

[00:01:27] It was knowing whether it makes no fucking sense.

[00:01:30] But, um, I turned 30 over the weekend.

[00:01:35] So, happy birthday.

[00:01:37] Happy birthday, buddy.

[00:01:38] Welcome to the 30 Club.

[00:01:40] Yeah, no, I have an excuse for why everything hurts every morning.

[00:01:45] To be fair, it was in July of last year.

[00:01:49] I tweaked my back like before I turned like right before I turned 30 and it's never been the same.

[00:01:55] It hasn't like I used to be able to do a lot more, but ever since I tweaked it, I'm like even had to go to the doctor and everything.

[00:02:02] Like I did what I could to rehab it, but if I exert too much, you know, then my back really starts bugging me.

[00:02:10] So, cause I had to like, I had to shovel the driveway and it, it gave me some issue, but it wasn't terrible.

[00:02:16] So, I just kind of paced myself through the shoveling.

[00:02:19] Cause yeah, shoveling eight inches of snow is, is never fun.

[00:02:23] But you, you, you, you put a podcast in, you go for it.

[00:02:27] Yeah.

[00:02:28] That's what I used to do back when I was still living at home.

[00:02:31] Um, yeah, I did.

[00:02:33] I picked up a few games though.

[00:02:34] Cause I got some gift cards.

[00:02:35] Um, I finally got Sonic X shadow.

[00:02:38] I'm going to hopefully play that some point this weekend.

[00:02:41] Can't wait to hear your opinion on it.

[00:02:43] I'm looking forward to playing it.

[00:02:45] Cause I've heard so many good things about it, which is rare for a Sonic game.

[00:02:48] Cause I swear everyone has to be decisive about these games.

[00:02:52] But, um, I, I feel with, with shadow, they just, it, it was them saying like,

[00:03:00] Oh, we should do something with generations.

[00:03:01] Cause it's a popular game.

[00:03:03] Um, and with the whole shadow with like the shadow, it being in the movie and it all just

[00:03:09] kind of came together at the right time.

[00:03:11] And yeah, shadow generations is, I compared it to Bowser's fury where it is such a nice

[00:03:17] condensed experience that points to the future of the franchise.

[00:03:22] You know, cause I think frontiers was a good idea, but definitely needed some polishing

[00:03:26] and shadow generations has a lot of that polish that I asked for.

[00:03:30] So if they're able to carry that into a frontiers too, or whatever they do next, the next Sonic

[00:03:36] game could be something really, really special that like nobody can say is bad that they have

[00:03:42] to universally be like, yeah, this is a good one.

[00:03:45] So, yeah, I mean, cause I've heard that like one of the most, one of the common, not really

[00:03:50] complaint, just a interesting observation is a lot of people always joke how the shadow

[00:03:54] portion, the writing is, is really good.

[00:03:56] And then you go back to generations, you realize the writing is kind of mediocre.

[00:04:00] Yeah.

[00:04:00] It was that era of the colors generations era was definitely the story was leaning more towards

[00:04:06] like a kid friendly kind of side.

[00:04:08] Cause you had Sonic 06 trying to take itself a little too seriously.

[00:04:12] And I think because of that, starting with unleashed, they were like, eh, let's tone it

[00:04:17] down a little bit so we can have like a more friendly appealing image for it.

[00:04:22] But with, I think it was with frontiers is when they got Ian Flynn, the guy who did all

[00:04:26] the Archie comics to actually write the games.

[00:04:28] I'm surprised it took them so long to do it.

[00:04:30] Like single-handedly saved the Archie comics.

[00:04:34] Like the guy who actually cares about the lore, like let's get him to actually write about

[00:04:39] this stuff.

[00:04:40] And one of the best things about frontiers was the writing.

[00:04:43] Cause you can tell the guy who's writing it like knows and cares about it and is taking

[00:04:48] it seriously in a way that the fans would appreciate, you know, like it's not pretentious or anything.

[00:04:54] It's just, it's doing what any good story I think should do.

[00:04:59] And the shadow generations carries on from that as well.

[00:05:03] So yeah, the writing is, is much better now.

[00:05:06] Nice.

[00:05:06] I'm looking forward to playing that.

[00:05:08] I also got the, um, the Ace Attorney investigations collection so I can finally legally play

[00:05:14] investigations too.

[00:05:15] Maybe one of these days I'll actually sit down and play an Ace Attorney game.

[00:05:19] I always say the first one, like if you, if you like the first one, then you'll probably

[00:05:23] like them all.

[00:05:24] Cause the first one's the easiest to get into or you can either do the first one or you

[00:05:29] can start with like the greatest attorney, which apparently is a really good starting point

[00:05:32] as well.

[00:05:33] Yeah.

[00:05:34] I thought about just getting that, that trilogy of the first three and just playing through

[00:05:38] that and seeing what I think and kind of going from there.

[00:05:41] Cause I know they're, they're pretty crazy and wacky and they might be games.

[00:05:45] I end up like completely loving.

[00:05:46] They seem like me games, you know, a lot of point and click stuff and weird wacky shit

[00:05:51] that happens, you know, it's adjacent to Layton, but it's not late.

[00:05:55] Yeah.

[00:05:57] Yeah.

[00:05:58] Yeah.

[00:05:59] I picked up that.

[00:06:00] And then the last game I bought was a, the only retro game.

[00:06:05] I got a copy of a Brigadine for the PS one, which was like one of the few Atlas games I'm

[00:06:10] still looking for.

[00:06:11] So I'm like one game away from completing my Atlas collection now.

[00:06:14] What's the last one?

[00:06:17] Tale Concertio, Contordio, whatever the one with like the little, it's like a little side

[00:06:20] scrolling platform where he plays like this little Fox character.

[00:06:23] Is that on game boy?

[00:06:25] No, it's on PS one.

[00:06:28] Okay.

[00:06:29] Interesting.

[00:06:30] Yeah.

[00:06:31] I just need that one.

[00:06:32] And then I'm, I have the full PS one set.

[00:06:34] Nice.

[00:06:35] Nice.

[00:06:35] So, so while you're doing that, since I've had some free time and it's, and the new year

[00:06:40] has rolled around.

[00:06:41] So I reset my, uh, my, my gaming catalog.

[00:06:44] I finished last year with 111 games.

[00:06:47] So if you go to my blue sky, you can see the list I posted up there.

[00:06:50] So now I'm on game three of the year, which is Batman Arkham Knight.

[00:06:55] Uh, me and Bill talked about this a good bit before the show.

[00:06:59] So we won't get too in depth.

[00:07:00] I will say Arkham Knight is, I've played all the others.

[00:07:03] So this is like my last one to complete the set.

[00:07:07] And it's good, but it suffers from being a bit too overblown and too massive and having

[00:07:16] a little bit too much stuff to do, especially if you want to try to get like, not just like

[00:07:21] the good ending, but an ending.

[00:07:23] You know what I mean?

[00:07:24] Cause when you finish the main story, there is kind of an ending, but it's just kind of

[00:07:30] like whatever, like it feels very cliffhanger.

[00:07:33] Cause the game is wanting you to do more of the stuff.

[00:07:36] And so you have to do enough of the stuff to actually get like a proper ending.

[00:07:40] So I'm, I'm working through that.

[00:07:42] So hopefully I'll get it done and that'll be game number three for the year already.

[00:07:45] Um, but yeah, a good game, but a lot, way too much.

[00:07:50] And it's on game.

[00:07:51] It's on game pass though.

[00:07:52] So if you have game pass, go for it.

[00:07:54] I think it's been on game pass since probably even before I got game pass.

[00:07:59] Cause when I got it, I saw the Arkham Knight was there, but I think I had a physical copy

[00:08:04] of it already cause it was cheap.

[00:08:06] And I was like, I'll just keep the physical cause it may leave game pass by the time I

[00:08:09] get around to playing it.

[00:08:11] It's been years and that thing is still there.

[00:08:13] And as far as I know, it's not leaving anytime soon.

[00:08:15] Yeah.

[00:08:16] It just might be, it just might be one of those games that just sticks around.

[00:08:20] Yeah.

[00:08:22] Also, if you're a switch owner, don't play the switch port.

[00:08:25] No, I've seen like footage of it and it is like terrible.

[00:08:29] Like it's one of the worst performing things I've ever seen in my life.

[00:08:34] Asylum and city are playable on switch, but my God, uh, don't play a night.

[00:08:41] Like from what I know, asylum runs pretty well.

[00:08:45] Um, city runs really well.

[00:08:47] In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the version of city on there is based on the Wii U port.

[00:08:52] I wouldn't be surprised.

[00:08:53] I don't know if it has the magic gloves.

[00:08:55] If it does, it definitely is the Wii U port.

[00:08:57] I don't think it does have those, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were like, well, we got

[00:09:01] city to run on the Wii U so we can get city to run on the switch.

[00:09:05] Easy peasy.

[00:09:06] And asylum was probably easy peasy as well.

[00:09:08] But night, like night uses the PS4 and Xbox one, like really hard to wear, even playing

[00:09:14] them on PS five or series X, which I'm playing night on series.

[00:09:17] Like it still looks really good.

[00:09:19] And it's probably doing some like boosting of the game.

[00:09:22] It's not like optimized for it, but it doesn't really need to be.

[00:09:25] It still looks and runs fantastically well.

[00:09:27] So the idea of playing that on a glorified tablet just sounds like a nightmare.

[00:09:33] Like I met, I I'm curious to how it runs on the steam deck.

[00:09:36] Yeah.

[00:09:36] Well, it's hard to say because the PC port is apparently still abysmal.

[00:09:40] Well, I know they fixed some of it, but I've heard it.

[00:09:44] I don't know.

[00:09:45] But it's still not very good.

[00:09:48] Yeah.

[00:09:48] So just, just get it on console.

[00:09:50] Just get a PS five or series and play it there because there's a lot there.

[00:09:54] If you're a Batman fan, it's a lot of Batman.

[00:09:58] It's a lot of Batman.

[00:09:59] What's crazy is I think I'm like not even 30 hours in, but it feels like I've put so much

[00:10:04] more time into it because there's, there's a lot to do, but it does some cool stuff.

[00:10:08] I still prefer asylum at the end of the day.

[00:10:10] Asylum is like the King, you know, like I just, I love that game.

[00:10:14] City is also fantastic.

[00:10:16] They're both great.

[00:10:17] And those are like high standards.

[00:10:19] There are those first two.

[00:10:21] Cause like, I don't think origins is completely terrible.

[00:10:24] Like it's the worst.

[00:10:25] It's the weakness of the four.

[00:10:27] Absolutely.

[00:10:27] It is.

[00:10:28] But I don't really think it's that bad.

[00:10:30] I think people are way too harsh.

[00:10:32] I think people are way too harsh on it.

[00:10:34] Honestly.

[00:10:34] I don't know.

[00:10:35] And, and, but yeah, it is the worst of the bunch and nights night is pretty good.

[00:10:39] But like when this game is done, I'm probably never going to play it again.

[00:10:43] And, but asylum is a game every once in a while I get a desire to go back and play it.

[00:10:47] Cause I'm like, oh, that's great.

[00:10:48] And you can beat that thing in like maybe 10 hours.

[00:10:51] Yeah.

[00:10:52] Yeah.

[00:10:55] But anyways, um, so news for the first of the, is the first proper episode of the year.

[00:11:02] So there really hasn't been much going on as far as I could see.

[00:11:07] There's been a lot of like switch to rumor stuff, but we're not really going to talk about

[00:11:10] facts.

[00:11:11] That's stupid.

[00:11:12] Yeah.

[00:11:14] When, when it's out, when it's unveiled, we'll talk about it, but you know, they'll get to

[00:11:19] it.

[00:11:20] My, my guess is they may announce it this month just to try to get ahead of some of these leaks

[00:11:24] because they're starting to get ridiculous.

[00:11:26] Yeah.

[00:11:28] It's I'm like looking down at all the, um, I'm like chip browsing a blue sky and I'm not

[00:11:34] really seeing any news updates.

[00:11:35] It's it seems we're kind of just at that early part of the year where there's really not a

[00:11:40] whole lot going on.

[00:11:42] Yeah.

[00:11:42] All really I'm seeing is yeah.

[00:11:45] Just a lot of like switch rumors stuff.

[00:11:49] Um, I'm just trying to see just, just a lot of random stuff.

[00:11:56] Um, uh, apparently that, uh, that, um, oblivion remake that was rumored, I think last year

[00:12:05] is like, I think it's probably going to get officially announced this year.

[00:12:11] Cause cause that rumor hasn't died.

[00:12:12] And I guess it's picking up a little bit of steam right now.

[00:12:15] Cause I guess a virtuose they're working on the MGS three remake.

[00:12:18] Like, and so something about like somebody's LinkedIn says, Oh, we got another UE five

[00:12:24] remake in the works.

[00:12:25] And people are like, Oh, it's probably oblivion.

[00:12:27] Cause we learned about it through the court proceedings from Microsoft.

[00:12:31] Um, speaking of rock steady, I guess they're getting a bunch of layoffs because, because

[00:12:35] of suicide squad.

[00:12:36] Um, which is a shame.

[00:12:39] I hope, I hope rock steady gets one more shot to make something to suicide squad.

[00:12:43] I feel was Warner brothers trying to jump on a trend five years past its due date.

[00:12:49] And that's kind of why suicide squad tanked.

[00:12:51] Um, and no, I know I'm not playing it.

[00:12:56] It's canon to the Arkham series.

[00:12:58] It is, but I'd rather play Gotham Knights.

[00:13:02] To be fair, Gotham Knights isn't good, but it's still.

[00:13:06] At least whatever a game, not whatever's to a site squads trying to be.

[00:13:10] Yeah, exactly.

[00:13:12] Um, trying to see if there's anything else that crazy going on.

[00:13:19] Um, let's see.

[00:13:21] Some more people left platinum.

[00:13:24] I mean, platinum is in a weird spot right now.

[00:13:26] Like a bunch of people are leaving, like not just me, but other people.

[00:13:29] And then platinum was like, Oh, this year's the 15th anniversary of Bayonetta.

[00:13:33] It's like, well, you're not starting off the year strong, but I mean, I don't know what

[00:13:37] that 15 year means.

[00:13:39] Cause it's like, they did Bayonetta three, a couple of years back.

[00:13:42] They did Bayonetta origins in 23.

[00:13:46] So I doubt they have anything Bayonetta in the works.

[00:13:49] Like there hasn't been that much time.

[00:13:51] As far, as far as I know, platinum is working on project GG, which is like Kamiya's like last

[00:13:57] big thing before he left.

[00:13:59] So I don't know.

[00:14:00] Platinum's in a weird spot right now.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:03] We'll have to see.

[00:14:04] Yeah.

[00:14:04] The only other thing I see is, um, Sega showed off a little bit of the new virtual fighter,

[00:14:09] even though it's, it says it's not actual gameplay.

[00:14:12] It's just like alpha engine footage, but I wouldn't be surprised if the game looks very

[00:14:17] similar to this.

[00:14:18] Um, and it looks great.

[00:14:20] Yeah.

[00:14:20] Looks awesome.

[00:14:21] Just happy to have virtual fighter back.

[00:14:24] Very much.

[00:14:25] So very much.

[00:14:26] So, but that's all really the news that I see.

[00:14:29] Nothing, nothing too crazy.

[00:14:30] So, um, I did want to bring up, we had talked about it before the show.

[00:14:34] We got new Nintendo music cause it's been like a couple weeks actually since the last

[00:14:39] drop.

[00:14:41] Oh yeah.

[00:14:41] That, yeah, it was probably like a Christmas break thing.

[00:14:44] Um, so yeah, I will do a, a live at the time of recording, uh, look to see what it is.

[00:14:52] Let's see.

[00:14:53] The app's gotten better about loading the first time it's gotten better about that.

[00:14:58] Maybe they heard me.

[00:15:00] Um, cause that's the thing.

[00:15:01] They never show you what's new.

[00:15:04] So you have to go in like search and try to pick out which one is the new one.

[00:15:09] Um, trying to see what sticks out.

[00:15:21] Hmm.

[00:15:22] A lot of dead air.

[00:15:23] Um, oh, is it Mario 64?

[00:15:27] No, nope.

[00:15:28] That was, that's been there.

[00:15:29] It's so I'll give you one hint.

[00:15:31] It's a, it's a sequel to a previous entry that was already added.

[00:15:36] I know rave wave race.

[00:15:38] Was it wave race?

[00:15:40] No, that was a few weeks ago.

[00:15:42] Okay.

[00:15:43] It's been a while since I've looked at it then.

[00:15:45] It's a very, it's a very mid game with a very decent soundtrack.

[00:15:51] That's a lot of Nintendo games.

[00:15:52] Um, there, somebody's going to be mad at me.

[00:15:57] Uh, it's not Splatoon 2, is it?

[00:16:00] Nope.

[00:16:01] Okay.

[00:16:04] Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Scarlet Sword Galaxy, Wii Sports, DS stuff, Gamekeep stuff.

[00:16:11] Fuck, what, which one is it?

[00:16:13] Uh, Donkey Kong Country 3.

[00:16:16] Oh, that wasn't there?

[00:16:17] Nope.

[00:16:18] You only had one and two.

[00:16:20] That's crazy.

[00:16:23] Okay.

[00:16:24] I wonder, I wonder if they're going to later give us the GBA soundtrack, which is completely different.

[00:16:30] The GBA one for three, yeah, is a different soundtrack.

[00:16:33] Um, man.

[00:16:36] It's very unfitting music in certain levels.

[00:16:38] Yeah.

[00:16:39] God, this thing is still so fucking anemic, it hurts me.

[00:16:42] I know.

[00:16:42] It's like Nintendo.

[00:16:43] This is not the way, but.

[00:16:46] Whatever, man.

[00:16:47] Whatever.

[00:16:48] Yeah.

[00:16:50] But anyways, we're here to, this is our first 3DO game of the year.

[00:16:55] Um, and it's a big one.

[00:16:56] Maybe not necessarily for the console, but I think it's like a big game kind of in general.

[00:17:01] A very important game in gaming history in a lot of ways.

[00:17:08] Um, we kind of have, we've touched on it in the past because we covered another game.

[00:17:12] Um, this particular developer, um, had also made, um, which was a flashback.

[00:17:19] Um, so for this episode, we're going to be talking about another world or as it's more commonly known around, um, in the North, in North America, out of this world.

[00:17:29] Yeah.

[00:17:30] Out of this world.

[00:17:30] But I think most people know it now as another world because that name has been standardized.

[00:17:36] Yes.

[00:17:36] And yes, while it was, I think it was developed and even published a little bit by a Delphine.

[00:17:42] The same people who did flashback.

[00:17:43] And my guess is it was flashback was heavily influenced by another world.

[00:17:48] Um, if you're talking about this game, the, you have to talk about one guy in particular, uh, Mr.

[00:17:52] I'm gonna try to say the right Eric Chahi.

[00:17:56] Yeah.

[00:17:56] Is that right?

[00:17:57] That sounds, it's French.

[00:17:58] So what the fuck do I know?

[00:18:01] I'm sure the Eric is pronounced differently because of, um, it's got the little accent.

[00:18:09] Eric maybe.

[00:18:10] Eric Chahi.

[00:18:12] Yes.

[00:18:12] Yes.

[00:18:13] The French boy, um, who, who made like one of the most influential games of all time and then kind of disappeared.

[00:18:21] And then made one of the most underappreciated games of all time and then disappeared again.

[00:18:26] Yeah.

[00:18:27] He's got an interesting history.

[00:18:28] We'll probably, I mean, we can discuss it right now.

[00:18:30] Like he was a French, uh, is, uh, like a French game designer, um, did a lot of work, um, on some stuff before this made like a game called future wars.

[00:18:41] Uh, like a game like Joan of Arc's, uh, like some, he worked with Broderbund, which is like, that's like a European company.

[00:18:48] Um, and then in the middle of all that decided to make, uh, this game, another world, a game that I believe took him quite a long time to make.

[00:18:57] Cause he did, I believe it was by himself.

[00:19:00] I believe he said something like he spent like, it was like a 16 hours a day or something on it.

[00:19:05] Just like plugging away.

[00:19:07] Yeah.

[00:19:07] Yeah.

[00:19:08] Um, and, and what was groundbreaking for it at the time was it, it was all like 2d polygons.

[00:19:14] Um, there were no sprites involved at all.

[00:19:17] Um, and it's very, it's a very cinematic presenting kind of a game.

[00:19:21] There's no HUD.

[00:19:22] There's no clear objective.

[00:19:23] There's not even really any dialogue.

[00:19:25] It's all mostly visual storytelling.

[00:19:28] And it's an incredibly, incredibly important groundbreaking game for the time because no, no other game did this back then at all.

[00:19:36] It's very interesting.

[00:19:37] He worked very closely with Broderbund and Broderbund was very, they're very well known for.

[00:19:44] They were one of the people behind, uh, Prince of Persia.

[00:19:47] I believe the original.

[00:19:48] Yes.

[00:19:49] Yes, they were.

[00:19:50] I believe they published it.

[00:19:51] I believe so.

[00:19:52] Cause, um, Prince of Persia was one of the first games to utilize rotoscope graphics in its, uh, in its design and gameplay.

[00:20:00] And this game heavily, uh, I think was heavily inspired by Prince of Persia, but took it in a completely new direction.

[00:20:08] Yeah.

[00:20:09] Yeah.

[00:20:09] Yeah.

[00:20:09] It doesn't use the exact same rotoscoping animation as Prince of Persia.

[00:20:13] Cause I know that the rotoscoping that they did for the original Prince of Persia was reused in later games because rotoscoping is a lot of work, especially back then.

[00:20:23] For those who don't know rotoscoping, you've probably, you may have heard of the term, but you're not quite sure what it is.

[00:20:28] It's the idea, it's the act of filming somebody like doing movements and then later drawing and animating over that.

[00:20:37] So if you look at footage of Prince of Persia, the, or even of another world, the movement of the character is very fluid and very human-like because they actually filmed somebody doing all of that stuff.

[00:20:49] And then went in later and storyboarded and animated it all frame by frame so that you can have sort of that fluid motion because that was a way to get past it.

[00:21:00] Um, back in the early days where it was hard to get like solid fluid 2d animation, you know, they want it to look more like, like a Disney movie kind of a thing.

[00:21:10] Yeah.

[00:21:10] And even films used it.

[00:21:12] I believe, uh, the Ralph Baschke Lord of the Rings movie from the seventies is all rotoscoped as well.

[00:21:17] So it's like a weird sort of cheat way to get some really interesting animation out, uh, out of like cartoons basically.

[00:21:25] And so that helps another world push it from just being any other game to being something more special and, and getting the moniker cinematic platformer.

[00:21:35] Yeah.

[00:21:35] That's like the big difference between another world and Prince of Persia.

[00:21:38] Prince of Persia is just a, it's a, it's a typical platformer that looks and that has very pretty graphics and animation.

[00:21:45] Another world is, it's like the, this was like before Kojima, this was like the, the, the real first like time when you took like a movie and made it a game in a lot of ways.

[00:21:56] And funnily enough, Kojima was inspired by this.

[00:21:59] And, and, and the thing is you can see that in here, like the way the intro starts out with your main guy who's named Lester, which I believe you would only know if you had the manual for the game.

[00:22:11] Which is really funny because Lester the unlikely is also a rotoscope.

[00:22:16] That's a very different game.

[00:22:19] Yeah.

[00:22:20] Yeah.

[00:22:20] I'm pretty sure the plot is, yeah, you're Lester and you pull up to like some lab where you're working on like particle acceleration.

[00:22:28] And then, you know, it's a lightning storm.

[00:22:31] So lightning hits it and that somehow trans transports you to another world.

[00:22:35] And then you spend the whole part of the whole plot of the game trying to basically escape from like this alien force who's trying to kill you.

[00:22:44] And a guy who, who is part of the alien race, but becomes your friend.

[00:22:48] His name's buddy, but I have a better name for him, which I believe is one of the few spoken words in the game.

[00:22:55] Popularized by, by game grumps, Mike or Luba.

[00:22:59] And I had forgotten that he said that until I start until I replayed it for the show.

[00:23:04] And then when he said, Mike or Luba, I went, Oh yeah, it's that guy.

[00:23:07] It's my crew, but guy.

[00:23:10] And, and yeah, and then you're kind of off to the races.

[00:23:12] The game doesn't tell you anything as far as like how to play it or anything.

[00:23:17] It is incredibly trial and error, but it's also very simple.

[00:23:23] You know, like you have, you have two buttons.

[00:23:25] I believe you have jump and action.

[00:23:27] Um, and so you kind of learn to figure stuff out as you go.

[00:23:32] And, and, and yeah, there are points in the game where you maybe inch a little bit and then die and then try it again.

[00:23:37] Um, but thankfully the checkpoints are hefty enough to where you don't mind dying a bunch because eventually you kind of figure it out.

[00:23:47] Yeah.

[00:23:48] Like it's one of those games where like the whole thing with the cinematic platformer is it's not about like speeding through the levels as fast as possible.

[00:23:55] It's really about taking it slow and figuring out the puzzles and like, it's, it's, it's basically like a realistic platformer in a lot of ways.

[00:24:04] Yeah.

[00:24:05] And the, the, in this game emphasizes the cinematic element of it.

[00:24:09] Cause this was a time where if you look back at gaming and say like 91, 92, there were other games trying to be more like cinematic games, trying to have like these more sort of like dynamic cut scenes and more in-depth stories and trying to, this was the time where the video game medium was evolving to where it's like, it doesn't have to be Mario.

[00:24:29] We can do more than this.

[00:24:32] I mean, look at like Ninja Gaiden, for example, or Vice Project Doom on the NES.

[00:24:36] These were definitely games that were trying to push the medium forward, but another world is one of those crucial games where it is a massive leap forward for what, for what gaming could be.

[00:24:49] And, and yeah, and you look at games like Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Flashback, even Eco.

[00:24:55] They all say they've drew inspiration from another world and I can very much see why.

[00:25:00] I mean, hell, even a lot of modern indie games that are maybe kind of cinematic platformer-y or have like emphasis on story and immersing you in these weird alien planets takes a lot from another world.

[00:25:13] The original Oddworld too has a very decent amount of.

[00:25:16] Yeah.

[00:25:18] I mean, that's another iconic cinematic platformer.

[00:25:20] That one's a bit more, definitely more story heavy.

[00:25:23] Yeah.

[00:25:24] Though I think, I think Oddworld kind of has fallen through the cracks a little bit and it's become kind of more of like a weird novelty series.

[00:25:32] It's the way that series progressed.

[00:25:34] Whereas another world, I mean, it has a sequel, Heart of the Alien, which is garbage.

[00:25:39] Yeah.

[00:25:39] Because, because it doesn't need a sequel, like the way, even though this game has a very interesting ending, it's fine that it ends the way it does.

[00:25:47] It does.

[00:25:48] You don't want to over-explain it because this game prides itself on not over-explaining.

[00:25:54] If anything, it under-explains.

[00:25:56] Like you don't learn anything about the planet, about any of the people living there.

[00:26:00] There's no like exposition moment or there's not like an aha moment where everything figures itself out.

[00:26:06] It almost is just like a nightmare.

[00:26:08] Oh, like that opening, the opening segment where you get out of the little water basin thing and then you start getting chased by that creature.

[00:26:16] Like that, even today, that scene like makes your heart race and like makes you tense because it's like, holy shit.

[00:26:23] Oh, yeah.

[00:26:24] You proceed to run into the aliens who you think are friendly and then they shoot you and you're like, fuck.

[00:26:31] And then one of them is your friend because I guess he's like a prisoner of them as well.

[00:26:35] And then the game just sort of unfolds from there, basically.

[00:26:39] And then you get the laser gun, which has all the, has like your regular shooting.

[00:26:44] You can hold it to get a shield.

[00:26:46] Then you can hold it even more to do like a big shot.

[00:26:49] And then by like the end of the game, they're asking you to do some pretty in-depth kind of combat moments for what the game does.

[00:26:56] And you'll die a lot because it can kind of overwhelm you here and there.

[00:27:01] But if you have enough patience, you can get through it.

[00:27:05] Like I think I beat it again.

[00:27:07] I think it took me like an hour and a half, maybe.

[00:27:09] It's not.

[00:27:11] It's a very short game.

[00:27:12] In fact, it's so short that when the game was getting ready to get released, they were asking Eric.

[00:27:19] If they could make the game longer because they thought it was too short.

[00:27:22] And I believe he did add a scene.

[00:27:24] Yeah, he added an extra level to the console versions.

[00:27:28] Yeah.

[00:27:28] What level was that?

[00:27:31] I honestly forget which one it was, to be perfectly honest.

[00:27:33] Yeah, because I played the 20th anniversary re-release.

[00:27:38] I had it.

[00:27:38] I was going to buy it on Steam.

[00:27:40] But I was like, wait a minute.

[00:27:41] Didn't I buy this like years ago?

[00:27:43] And I looked at my Switch and I had.

[00:27:45] So I just redownloaded it and played it on there.

[00:27:46] So I played the Switch version and then I also don't own the 3DO copy because this game's kind of expensive.

[00:27:53] But yeah, I did emulate the 3DO version out of curiosity.

[00:27:58] There is an interesting quirk to the 3DO version that I'm not sure how I feel about.

[00:28:04] The 3DO version interplay.

[00:28:06] So initially, I thought for the longest time Rebecca Heinemann actually ported this.

[00:28:11] But apparently that's a bit of misinformation.

[00:28:13] Apparently she did not actually do Another World.

[00:28:15] She did the Super Nintendo version of Another World.

[00:28:18] Yeah, because this game originally was, I believe, like Amiga and Atari ST and then was ported to PC and then like the Super Nintendo, the Sega Genesis, Mac.

[00:28:32] You know, it was ported to a lot of major stuff at that time, including 3DO.

[00:28:37] I believe Interplay was responsible for the 3DO port.

[00:28:40] I think you're right on that.

[00:28:42] Yeah, apparently there was supposed to be.

[00:28:43] Oh, yeah, there was a Jaguar version as well.

[00:28:46] Yeah, actually a pretty good port on Jaguar, all things considered.

[00:28:49] Well, funnily enough, how I first learned of this game was the Genesis version, because I think people were impressed that this game was even made for the Sega Genesis.

[00:28:58] Well, because the Genesis, the Genesis, because of its very fast CPU, could actually do polygons without the need for additional chips.

[00:29:11] And in a game like Another World, I think it was very possible to faithfully recreate the look.

[00:29:17] Because I actually read the interview Rebecca Heinemann did for the Super Nintendo version, and she specifically mentions the challenge of porting the game to Super Nintendo, mostly because Interplay was too cheap just to invest in a Super FX chip.

[00:29:32] Yeah, like it would have made the game really expensive, too.

[00:29:35] Yeah, so she had to do some wizardry to get that game running on Super Nintendo.

[00:29:40] Is this one of those where it's like the Genesis port is considered better?

[00:29:47] I've heard the Super Nintendo version is pretty good.

[00:29:49] The Genesis version is, I think, more impressive just because it natively runs on the system.

[00:29:53] Yeah.

[00:29:54] It's faster.

[00:29:55] Did Flashback even come on Super Nintendo?

[00:29:57] I don't think it did.

[00:29:59] I'm not sure on that.

[00:30:00] I don't think so.

[00:30:01] Yeah.

[00:30:01] Oh, no, no.

[00:30:02] It did, because remember my copy, for some reason, has the Super Nintendo strategy guide in it for whatever reason?

[00:30:09] Okay, yeah.

[00:30:09] Yeah, it did come out for that.

[00:30:11] Because I have the Super Nintendo.

[00:30:12] Yeah, Flashback came out for like everything at the time.

[00:30:15] Yeah.

[00:30:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:30:17] Interestingly enough, when Interplay ported Another World to 3DO, they decided to redo the backgrounds using raster graphics, which apparently Erica Chahill wasn't a fan of because it made the game look cheap.

[00:30:32] Yeah.

[00:30:33] Because when I was playing it, I was like, yeah, backgrounds don't look as good.

[00:30:36] Yeah, the backgrounds, they look, weirdly enough, kind of closer to the 20th anniversary edition that has like the redone graphics to where, I mean, they look okay, but it does kind of cheapen the game.

[00:30:49] But to be fair with the 20th anniversary edition, you have an option of going to the original like pixelated graphics.

[00:30:56] And they even give you various options for the soundtrack as well, like a complete remaster, like the CD version that was on like 3DO at the time, or like the very original version.

[00:31:06] Which is cool to have like those little options because the Another World port, there isn't a lot to it.

[00:31:12] Like there's not a huge amount of settings you can do or messing with the game.

[00:31:15] It's just a little bit of stuff and then you just go in and play the game.

[00:31:19] Yeah.

[00:31:20] It's a very, it's one of those games that you kind of, I know like if someone like kind of picks it up who knows nothing about it, they might scoff at the fact that it looks the way it does.

[00:31:31] But when you look at it from like the lens of like what this game did at the time it did, this game has like a weird beauty to it in the cheapness of it.

[00:31:41] I mean, it's one of the first video games you can make the argument of them being an art form.

[00:31:46] Like this feels like a very early example of the idea that video games are art because this game presents itself as a cinematic movie.

[00:31:54] And cinematic movies are considered art.

[00:31:56] Oh yeah.

[00:31:57] You know, I mean, I mean, it took a while for people to consider movies art, but we're well past that.

[00:32:03] Whereas video games still struggle with that moniker even to this day.

[00:32:08] But Another World was a very, very early example of no, this is how this interactive medium can be an art form.

[00:32:15] And playing the game does feel like an artful experience, you know, like something very primitive, but still holds a lot of weight to it.

[00:32:25] Especially when you care about the medium and the history of it and you want to see where things, like the lineage of video games.

[00:32:33] And the lineage of Another World still carries to this very day, which is impressive for a game that like, if you look up YouTube playthroughs of it's only 20 minutes long.

[00:32:42] And like, as we said, it's a very short game.

[00:32:46] There's not a lot to it.

[00:32:47] Even if you die a lot, it's not going to take you a super long time to beat it.

[00:32:50] And the few puzzles it has aren't super complicated.

[00:32:54] There's quite a few fail safes that are put into the game anyways.

[00:32:58] So it's not a game you will struggle that much through.

[00:33:02] Like that cutscene, the cutscene right after he gets shot at the beginning and he wakes up in prison, like where it kind of pans over to him behind the bars and then he opens his eyes.

[00:33:12] Like I'm always like that cutscene like sticks in my head because I just like it's very cool for the first time.

[00:33:17] You're like, wow.

[00:33:18] Like it's like the amount you and especially when you take into account, he made this basically by himself.

[00:33:24] Yeah.

[00:33:24] Yeah.

[00:33:25] And and he had no idea it would become such a big thing.

[00:33:28] Like I think it sold really well at the time and was praised very much by the critics, even though people were like, yeah, it's like it's really short.

[00:33:38] But they're like there.

[00:33:38] People recognized it was something special.

[00:33:42] So back then and you know, it kind of created these quote unquote cinematic platformer genre because if you look at say flashback flashback is copying from another world in many different ways.

[00:33:53] Oh, yeah, but flashback is much you could argue flashback is more of a game than another world, you know, because there's a lot more that happens in flashback and it and it sort of is structured more like a video game.

[00:34:05] Whereas another world is not really structured like a video game because there are levels and parts, but it's also seamlessly done.

[00:34:13] You wouldn't even think about it, you know, the way like a movie has specific scenes.

[00:34:18] But unless you're like really into it, you don't think about that kind of stuff.

[00:34:22] It just kind of flows naturally from one bit to the next.

[00:34:26] Yeah.

[00:34:26] Another world is like to me, one of the perfect examples of it's not quite a game.

[00:34:29] It's more of an experience.

[00:34:31] Yes, it is very much an experience in an unironic way.

[00:34:35] We said that ironically before.

[00:34:37] Yeah.

[00:34:38] Yeah, it's it's phenomenal.

[00:34:40] Like even still to this day, I think it's a really fucking cool game.

[00:34:44] Like I really enjoy it.

[00:34:46] Even with the primitive graphics, the atmosphere is like chef's kiss in this game.

[00:34:50] It is so the atmosphere is great.

[00:34:52] I love the primitive graphics, but they have a distinct style to them.

[00:34:57] The music is great.

[00:34:59] Like the music is very like ambient atmospheric.

[00:35:02] Like the water music is fantastic, though most games have really good water level music.

[00:35:11] And yeah, just the whole thing like it like its usage of like color and scope in just very little ways.

[00:35:17] Like when you're on that elevator with buddy and if you go to the very top, you look out that window and you just see the expansiveness of the planet that you're on.

[00:35:26] Just oh, yeah, it's all little stuff that you could miss entirely.

[00:35:30] But when you see that stuff, it really brings to life like how big this world is and like how much of like a weird impact you're having on it.

[00:35:40] You know, and it's reminds me a little bit of say like episode four from Star Wars where you're just kind of thrown into it.

[00:35:47] And you know, you don't get a lot of explanation for what's going on.

[00:35:51] And in fact, this game you get even less.

[00:35:54] But it wouldn't benefit from being like, oh, the name of the planet is this.

[00:35:58] And currently what's going on is this.

[00:36:00] And buddy is a prison prisoner because of this.

[00:36:03] And like they see you as like all that stuff would just kill it.

[00:36:07] Completely kill it because it's not meant to be an overly explained deep lore kind of a thing.

[00:36:15] You know, like it's a very interpret the whole point to me.

[00:36:20] Like I think the whole point of the story is it's supposed to be like for your own interpretation of like what's going on.

[00:36:25] Yeah, exactly.

[00:36:27] It's it's.

[00:36:29] It's a rare instance of like sci-fi that isn't like Star Trek doubt, you know, like as much as I love Star Trek and they'll like explain and go into the details of everything.

[00:36:40] But that's what Star Trek does, you know, and there's reasons for that.

[00:36:44] But this kind of doesn't really need to do that.

[00:36:47] And that's why I say the Heart of the Alien sequel that I didn't I didn't play it for this.

[00:36:54] I don't think you did either.

[00:36:56] Our good buddies at fine time have done a whole cinematic platformer series, which you all should check out.

[00:37:02] They do another world.

[00:37:03] They also do Heart of the Alien.

[00:37:05] And yeah, they don't talk up Heart of the Alien very highly.

[00:37:08] But to be fair, I don't think anybody ever really did.

[00:37:11] Well, it was a completely different team, completely different people behind it.

[00:37:15] It was it was Interplay trying to get a sequel out of it, trying to be like, oh, we could do more of this.

[00:37:20] And Chahi was like, it doesn't need it.

[00:37:22] They're like, you could, but it would have to be like the right thing.

[00:37:28] And it's not the right thing at all.

[00:37:30] Like, yeah, it isn't.

[00:37:32] And it's but the thing is, the Heart of the Alien doesn't taint another world.

[00:37:37] No, it's very to be honest.

[00:37:39] If you played Heart of the Alien without knowing it was connected to another world, you probably wouldn't even notice.

[00:37:44] No, you would know because the only version of it came out on the Sega CD and it was in a double pack.

[00:37:50] So when you bought Heart of the Alien for Sega CD, it gave you Out of This World and Heart of the Alien.

[00:37:55] A pretty solid deal.

[00:37:56] You got two games in it.

[00:37:58] But I'm just imagining playing another world and going straight into Heart of the Alien and noticing the drop off in quality.

[00:38:05] I might sit down and try to mess with it once.

[00:38:07] Which is actually kind of interesting.

[00:38:09] Like, I'm just reading some of the reviews for Heart of the Alien.

[00:38:11] It actually was heavily praised when it came out, which is kind of interesting.

[00:38:18] It might have been because it was still like a fresh thing.

[00:38:22] And Heart of the Alien, I think, does a good job of trying to stay connected to another world.

[00:38:27] In a lot of ways, like graphically, it looks about the same.

[00:38:31] The gameplay is the same.

[00:38:33] And it's a direct sequel.

[00:38:35] Like, basically, it picks up right after Another World ends.

[00:38:39] So you see all of that stuff.

[00:38:42] But really, there's a reason it's never been ported or re-released at all.

[00:38:46] And Another World has been ported and re-released so much.

[00:38:50] Like, you can play it right now on PC, Switch, your PlayStation, your Xbox.

[00:38:54] It's right there at the 20th anniversary, which I highly recommend getting.

[00:38:58] It is like the definitive version of that game.

[00:39:00] And it's worth playing.

[00:39:01] Like, if any of this is interesting to you.

[00:39:04] Like, we didn't specifically talk about the 3DO version outside of like the little bit in the backgrounds.

[00:39:09] Which, yeah, they do look kind of weird.

[00:39:11] But I think at the end of the day, no matter where you play this game, it doesn't matter.

[00:39:16] Because this game is an important piece of history that deserves your attention.

[00:39:21] If you care about the medium, which we assume you do, you're listening to this show.

[00:39:26] Like, reception-wise, like, we're not going to go super deep into it.

[00:39:29] Because there isn't really a lot of specific 3DO reviews.

[00:39:34] Like, most of the reviews, basically.

[00:39:36] The one 3DO review I found, basically, all the review does is complain that the 3DO version doesn't really add anything to the game.

[00:39:42] And I'm like, okay.

[00:39:44] So it's Another World, basically.

[00:39:46] I mean, I guess.

[00:39:47] But again, it's like, what do you add to this game?

[00:39:49] You know, there's really not much you can add to it.

[00:39:53] They tried to update the graphics, and it really didn't do much for it.

[00:39:56] Yeah, they don't look great, but I think you can look past it.

[00:40:00] Like, it doesn't taint the experience or anything.

[00:40:03] Yeah.

[00:40:04] Now, we did mention, obviously, Flashback, we had mentioned in a previous episode, is kind of a successor to Another World.

[00:40:12] But it didn't really feature any of the people.

[00:40:17] Well, actually, I think it featured some of the staff, but it didn't feature Eric doing the...

[00:40:23] Eric had nothing to do with Flashback.

[00:40:25] No, not at all.

[00:40:26] For some reason, I thought he was involved because of how similar they were.

[00:40:29] But Flashback is very much its own beast that I think Delphine...

[00:40:34] Probably somebody within the Delphine team that worked on this was like, oh, let's take this idea and do more with it.

[00:40:40] And Flashback feels more like a mixture of Another World and Prince of Persia.

[00:40:43] Like, kind of trying to put those two games together, in a way.

[00:40:47] Because Flashback, the rotoscoping, is much similar to Prince of Persia, and it has more of that kind of flow of the gameplay, but trying to retain the Other World, the experience of Another World.

[00:40:59] And I feel like I was too harsh on it.

[00:41:01] In our video, like, kind of looking back, you know, especially after playing this game, I was thinking about Flashback and trying to put it more in context.

[00:41:10] And it's like, yeah, that's, you know, maybe I should sit down and try to play it properly.

[00:41:15] Instead of trying to bitch fit about it.

[00:41:18] Yeah, I think the thing that hurts Flashback compared to Another World is Flashback is...

[00:41:23] It's not very forgiving, like this game is.

[00:41:26] That's true. It is very difficult.

[00:41:29] And Another World is not super hard.

[00:41:32] Well, it's not that...

[00:41:34] Even the challenge itself, like, aside, like, it's very forgiving in terms of its checkpoints, like we said, and just progression.

[00:41:40] Yeah.

[00:41:41] That being said, though, before we get to Must Play, OK, Stay Away, I do want to bring up...

[00:41:46] Because I...

[00:41:48] 50-50. We've said in the past we won't cover certain games, but we probably will.

[00:41:52] We should talk about Heart of Darkness just briefly.

[00:41:55] Yeah, well, yeah, Eric Chahi, he's only made four games.

[00:41:59] Well, at least, like, the games that are associated with him are, like, Another World, Heart of Darkness, From Dust, and Paper Beast.

[00:42:07] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:08] So, before we get into Heart of Darkness, From Dust was, like, a PS3, 360, like...

[00:42:13] It's like a God simulator kind of game.

[00:42:15] It was influenced by Populous.

[00:42:18] It's backwards compatible on the series.

[00:42:20] I've been meaning to give it a try, but it, like, never goes on sale.

[00:42:23] It looks interesting, and it was sort of his big return to gaming after Heart of Darkness.

[00:42:28] Because Heart of Darkness came out in 98, I believe.

[00:42:31] Like, if you look at his...

[00:42:33] Yeah, this is a bit of how long his games took.

[00:42:37] Another World 91, Heart of Darkness 98, From Dust 2011.

[00:42:43] And then Paper Beast was 2020.

[00:42:46] Yes.

[00:42:47] So, yeah.

[00:42:48] But, yeah, From Dust, it looks interesting.

[00:42:51] One of these days, I'll probably sit down and give it a shot, because it looks fascinating.

[00:42:55] And people liked it at the time.

[00:42:57] They're like, it's a unique kind of experience from a guy known for his unique experiences.

[00:43:02] And then Paper Beast came out in 2020.

[00:43:05] It's a VR game.

[00:43:06] There is a non-VR version called the Folded Edition, but it's only...

[00:43:11] The game's only on PlayStation and PC.

[00:43:14] It's on, like, the PlayStation 4 and 5 VRs.

[00:43:19] But the non-VR version, I believe, is only on Steam and PS4.

[00:43:27] So, unless you have a VR set, this is probably, like, a harder game to come by.

[00:43:33] I know nothing about Paper Beast.

[00:43:35] Its reviews are fine.

[00:43:37] Like, people seem to like it.

[00:43:39] And if I ever get a VR set, it'll probably be one of the games I check out.

[00:43:44] So, there we go.

[00:43:46] But, yeah, let's get to Heart of Darkness, which came out in 98.

[00:43:50] I believe it was originally announced in 95.

[00:43:53] But because...

[00:43:54] Yes.

[00:43:55] Chahi had...

[00:43:56] I read about the development of this game.

[00:43:57] Because he said going from just him to a team of people was really difficult.

[00:44:03] And that's kind of what made this game take longer than Another World.

[00:44:08] Because Heart of Darkness, I believe it was going to be, like...

[00:44:11] It was going to be, like, console exclusive to the Saturn at one point.

[00:44:15] It actually was originally stated for 3DO, believe it or not, at one point.

[00:44:19] Yeah, that's true.

[00:44:19] Yeah, it was going to be on 3DO.

[00:44:22] It's just a game that was, like, a development hell kind of game.

[00:44:25] Which is crazy to think because Another World came out.

[00:44:28] Its earliest release was November 91.

[00:44:30] And then Heart of Darkness came out July of 98.

[00:44:33] So, like, you know, seven years, roughly.

[00:44:36] Nowadays, we wouldn't think anything of that.

[00:44:38] Like, seven years?

[00:44:39] Sure.

[00:44:39] That's just how long some games take to make these days.

[00:44:42] But back then, that was seen as, like, development hell.

[00:44:46] Because it's like, you know, what the hell are you doing, right?

[00:44:48] And I don't know how much changes Heart of Darkness went through in that development cycle.

[00:44:55] But yeah, it was going to be on 3DO originally.

[00:44:57] There's a version for the Amiga CD32.

[00:44:59] The Jaguar CD.

[00:45:01] They were going to make it for the M2.

[00:45:05] But there's apparently a GBA port at one point in the works.

[00:45:09] But that never happened.

[00:45:10] It was going to be Saturn exclusive.

[00:45:12] But Sega pulled the plug on that because it was taking too long.

[00:45:15] So, it eventually just came out to PlayStation 1 and PC in 98.

[00:45:21] And this is a really interesting game.

[00:45:24] I've played a bit of it.

[00:45:25] I've never sat down and, like, tried to beat it.

[00:45:28] But I was always fascinated by this one.

[00:45:30] It's very similar to Another World, just in terms of, like, the kind of concept.

[00:45:35] Yeah, yeah.

[00:45:36] Because it's...

[00:45:37] Is it you get transported to Another World?

[00:45:39] Because I know it's like you're, like, a kid with, like, a weird thing on his head.

[00:45:43] And he's shooting a lightning gun at ghosts.

[00:45:45] Yeah.

[00:45:45] And his dog.

[00:45:46] His dog, like, gets lost in the world.

[00:45:48] So, you jump into the...

[00:45:49] You end up following the dog.

[00:45:51] And then you get transported to this bizarre world.

[00:45:54] The Heart of Darkness or some shit.

[00:45:56] And I always remember because, like, the game fucks with you so hard at the start.

[00:46:00] Because you start the game with the little laser gun.

[00:46:02] And then you get, like, three screens in.

[00:46:04] And it just gets, like, yeeted away.

[00:46:06] And you're like, nope, you're on your own, fucker.

[00:46:08] And it's like...

[00:46:10] Like, a shadow creature just straight up takes the gun, just smashes it.

[00:46:13] And it's like, nope.

[00:46:14] It's like, none of that fun stuff.

[00:46:16] And it's like, this game's gonna get hard, bitch.

[00:46:19] Basically.

[00:46:20] And yeah, I know that the game is well known for its difficulty.

[00:46:26] Like, it is...

[00:46:27] Like, I know the world isn't too bad, but Heart of Darkness, the little bit I've played of it,

[00:46:31] I was like, damn, this game is fucking hard.

[00:46:33] Heart of Darkness is brutal.

[00:46:35] It is a very difficult game.

[00:46:36] But it's a fast game and difficult.

[00:46:38] And it's not based on the book that was written in, like, the 1800s called Heart of Darkness.

[00:46:44] So, it's not based on that in any way.

[00:46:45] We're not here to talk about literature.

[00:46:47] So...

[00:46:48] But yeah, this game, it's weird.

[00:46:50] It became a bit of a hidden gem for the PS1.

[00:46:55] And yeah, it's a game that, I don't know, maybe in the future we might actually sit down and cover it properly.

[00:47:01] Maybe it's some way.

[00:47:01] I've always wanted to sit down and play this game.

[00:47:03] Because I think it's fascinating.

[00:47:04] It's a two-disc-er, isn't it?

[00:47:06] Mm-hmm.

[00:47:07] Double case.

[00:47:08] Mostly because there's a lot of CGI cutscenes.

[00:47:10] That's the main reason why it's two discs, but...

[00:47:12] It does have some funny death animations.

[00:47:15] Oh, yeah.

[00:47:16] This game...

[00:47:17] Heart of Darkness.

[00:47:19] The main reason I was so interested, because I picked it up not knowing the connection to another world.

[00:47:24] I picked it up just because I found the cover art striking.

[00:47:28] Like, it has a very distinct look to it that kind of, like, intrigues you.

[00:47:32] It's very Oddworld-ish, like, from a graphics standpoint.

[00:47:35] Yeah, it definitely looks like it's influenced by that.

[00:47:38] Like, the kind of weird, yeah, like, dark, gritty kind of vibe to it.

[00:47:43] Like, I can see why you wouldn't connect this to another world, because it doesn't...

[00:47:49] Once you see that...

[00:47:50] Once you know there's a connection, you can kind of see it.

[00:47:53] But outside of that, it's...

[00:47:56] You would just think it's like a flashback situation where it's like, oh, it's...

[00:47:59] You can see it's influenced by another world, but it's very much its own thing.

[00:48:03] Yeah.

[00:48:04] It's...

[00:48:04] The minimalistic storytelling is, like, the real thing that clued me in that I was like, oh, I see right here.

[00:48:10] Yeah, and that's what Shahi is known for.

[00:48:13] Like, not doing super deep, over-explaining stories.

[00:48:16] He likes to let the visuals kind of do the talking.

[00:48:20] Which I like, because it allows these games to, like, cross, like, language barriers.

[00:48:25] And they can kind of be their own thing.

[00:48:27] That's probably why Another World was so successful, like, probably even worldwide.

[00:48:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:48:31] Because you don't really need to know whatever they're saying.

[00:48:35] You can just kind of pick it all up, you know?

[00:48:37] And my Kaluba is yours.

[00:48:42] Yeah.

[00:48:45] So, must-play, okay, stay away.

[00:48:47] This one, I'm going to say it's a must-play.

[00:48:50] Oh, 1,000% must-play.

[00:48:52] Like, absolutely.

[00:48:55] Like, it's one of those games that's, like, definitely a must-play.

[00:49:00] You don't necessarily have to play the 3DO version.

[00:49:02] It doesn't really matter which version you play, as far as I know.

[00:49:06] But, yeah, this game is absolutely a must-play because it is important to the history of video gaming.

[00:49:12] And, surprisingly, it holds up.

[00:49:13] Unlike, say, Alone in the Dark, for example.

[00:49:16] Which is also very important.

[00:49:17] But it doesn't hold up.

[00:49:19] This nuts.

[00:49:20] Like, I still think this game is playable.

[00:49:22] Like, by a modern standard.

[00:49:23] Like, the difference between, like, this game and, like, Alone in the Dark is, Alone in the Dark is long.

[00:49:30] It's kind of a slog to play.

[00:49:32] And it hasn't aged well.

[00:49:34] This game is very short.

[00:49:36] It's very easy to pick up and play.

[00:49:38] And it's aged fairly well, all things considered.

[00:49:41] Yeah.

[00:49:42] And you can beat it in an afternoon.

[00:49:44] And then see the whole thing and be like, that was cool, man.

[00:49:46] And I think that's what, if anybody tried to play it now who was interested in it, would probably go, that was cool.

[00:49:53] You know, for what it is, you know.

[00:49:55] It's not going to be one of those, like, games you probably replay forever and ever and ever, you know.

[00:50:01] But it's a game that will probably stick with you, you know.

[00:50:04] And I do think about Another World once in a while.

[00:50:07] It's a game where, like, you'll see it and then you'll kind of be like, oh, Another World.

[00:50:12] I'll give that a run.

[00:50:13] You'll play through it.

[00:50:14] And you'll be like, that was fun.

[00:50:16] And then you'll put it away again.

[00:50:17] And you'll probably not think about it for a while.

[00:50:20] But then you'll come across it again and probably have the same experience.

[00:50:23] Yeah.

[00:50:23] And in an age where, as I was talking about, say, Arkham Knight, like, so many games are so big and full of fluff and just take forever to, like, get their point across and do what they need to do.

[00:50:34] That a game like Another World does everything it needs to do in such a short time that it feels refreshing.

[00:50:42] You know, it's so refreshing.

[00:50:45] And fitting it in with, like, anybody's, like, if you're, like, an indie game connoisseur, right?

[00:50:51] Like, this game would perfectly slide in there.

[00:50:53] Like, they probably wouldn't even know the difference, honestly.

[00:50:57] Because there are so many games, like, say, like, Crow Country that try to have that retro aesthetic that if you showed people Another World and said, oh, this came out, like, a couple years ago, they probably wouldn't think anything of it.

[00:51:08] You know?

[00:51:10] No, 100%.

[00:51:12] But easily one of the most iconic video games of all time.

[00:51:16] Absolutely.

[00:51:17] Like, definitely a game that once you're into, like, if you're like us who, like, go from, like, being, like, just, like, casual people to actually being interested in, like, the medium and wanting to play, like, the older stuff.

[00:51:31] And it becoming, like, a passion kind of a thing.

[00:51:35] Another World is one of the first games on that list to where it's, like, oh, you want to know about, like, games.

[00:51:39] Like, not just, like, the current stuff.

[00:51:42] Like, you want to know about games.

[00:51:44] Like, this is one of them you throw at them to be, like, yeah, you need to play this, man.

[00:51:48] Like, for sure.

[00:51:50] 100%.

[00:51:51] Yeah.

[00:51:52] Like, I'm sure there's, like, a 1001 video games to play before you die book or list or whatever.

[00:51:57] Guarantee you it's here.

[00:51:58] I'm pretty sure I have that, like, that Brett Weiss book, The 100 Games of All Time or something.

[00:52:06] I'm pretty sure it's in there.

[00:52:08] Yeah, there's a book.

[00:52:12] Let's see.

[00:52:12] There's a book by Tony Mott called 1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die.

[00:52:17] That came out originally in 2010, but I believe then, and so it goes from, like, 20, from, like, the early 70s to, like, 2010s, I think.

[00:52:31] I'm sure if I look hard enough, I could find the list, but I'm pretty sure another world's on that list.

[00:52:38] Nice.

[00:52:39] So, in fact, there's a web archive page of it.

[00:52:42] Let me see if it actually loads up.

[00:52:48] It's being very slow.

[00:52:50] Yep.

[00:52:51] Which, that's the thing.

[00:52:52] I don't have slow internet.

[00:52:53] It's just web archive is always slow.

[00:52:56] Are they getting attacked again?

[00:52:58] Yeah, they might be.

[00:52:59] That seems to happen every month now.

[00:53:02] Yeah, let's see.

[00:53:08] Let's see if I can just find the list somewhere else.

[00:53:12] Ah, here we are.

[00:53:16] And, yep, another world is on there.

[00:53:18] As it should be.

[00:53:21] There is one game in that list that is specifically a 3DO game on the list.

[00:53:26] Is it Wing Commander 3?

[00:53:27] No.

[00:53:29] Which one?

[00:53:30] It's a game we've covered.

[00:53:31] I have no idea which one.

[00:53:36] Return Fire.

[00:53:36] Oh, interesting.

[00:53:39] Yeah.

[00:53:41] Yeah.

[00:53:41] Because I know in the Brett Weiss book that I have, the only 3DO game I found in there was Wing Commander 3.

[00:53:49] I'll send you the list.

[00:53:51] Nice.

[00:53:52] My guess is the Wing Commander, it's probably like the PC version if it's even on here.

[00:53:57] Wing Commander 4 is on the list, but not 3.

[00:54:00] Huh.

[00:54:01] Some games they list as various.

[00:54:04] Yeah.

[00:54:05] Because there are some I'm seeing, I'm like, there was a 3DO version of that, but it's not like the 3DO version, you know?

[00:54:14] But, yeah.

[00:54:15] So, what are we going to play next week?

[00:54:20] Hmm.

[00:54:21] What do you want to play next week, Bill?

[00:54:24] I was thinking, it's been a while since we've covered a game of this style.

[00:54:30] Let me just bring up my list.

[00:54:35] I was thinking maybe we try Syndicate.

[00:54:38] Oh, that, what, the big RPG thing?

[00:54:41] The Bullfrog game.

[00:54:44] Yeah, let's do it.

[00:54:46] Oh, yeah, this game.

[00:54:47] Yeah, let's do it.

[00:54:48] It looks very interesting.

[00:54:50] It's kind of, it's got a look to it that I'm curious about experiencing.

[00:54:56] Yeah, let's do it.

[00:54:58] It looks very Peter Molyneux.

[00:55:01] It'll either be really good or...

[00:55:04] Was he connected to this one?

[00:55:05] Oh, he's a producer.

[00:55:07] It's Bullfrog, so I assume he at least was somewhat involved.

[00:55:11] Yeah.

[00:55:13] Yeah.

[00:55:14] Let's try Syndicate.

[00:55:16] Not the 2012 Syndicate.

[00:55:18] Not that one.

[00:55:20] Not Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which I do like.

[00:55:23] No.

[00:55:24] No, the weird God Sim action adventure thing that I'm not really sure what it is.

[00:55:32] We'll find out.

[00:55:33] That's what we're going to do.

[00:55:36] But anyways, guys, once again, thank you for joining us on the 3DO Experience.

[00:55:40] The 3DO Experience can be found on all the major podcasting platforms, particularly on Podcast and Spotify.

[00:55:45] And be sure to check us out over on the SuperPod Network.

[00:55:49] That is superpodnetwork.com.

[00:55:51] Awesome website where the whole bunch of different podcasts, videos, blogs.

[00:55:55] And be sure to check out all the other shows over there, including SuperPod Saga, Super Ghost Radio, Retro Rehab,

[00:56:01] Tommy's Video Game Ride Along, A Novel Console, Bar Silence, Fine Time, The Elder Trolls Gaming Podcast, Remember 64,

[00:56:09] Gaming Together, Friday Night Gamecast, Gaming and Collecting with Radio Experience, Geek Addicts,

[00:56:14] The Retro Wildlands, Press B to Cancel, The Pre-Order Bonus Podcast and The Mo Show.

[00:56:24] Is it just The Retro Mo Show?

[00:56:26] I like The Mo Show.

[00:56:29] I think he, yeah, Retro Mo Video Game Reviews.

[00:56:33] Yeah, I think it's Retro Mo.

[00:56:34] It's basically our buddy Mo, who has been a blogger on the site.

[00:56:39] He has a sub stack.

[00:56:39] It's just him doing an audio version of his blogs, basically.

[00:56:46] So if you don't want to read them and you want to listen to them, there's like a few of them already up.

[00:56:51] They're definitely well worth listening to.

[00:56:53] He's a big Kirby fan.

[00:56:55] He has a good one about emulation.

[00:56:57] So yeah, Mo's great.

[00:56:58] So recommend Mo.

[00:57:00] And also Tommy's Video Game Ride Along is no longer.

[00:57:04] He's done his last episode.

[00:57:05] Oh, has he?

[00:57:06] Yeah, he has ended the podcast and he's going to go to doing more blogs and stuff.

[00:57:13] So yeah, he said it kind of sparked his wanting to just write more again.

[00:57:18] Like talking about journalism just hasn't want to write.

[00:57:20] So go for it, buddy.

[00:57:21] You have that journalism degree.

[00:57:22] Use it.

[00:57:24] Yeah, I'll probably leave his name in the in the scroll just so if anyone wants to look at the back episodes, they can give it a shot.

[00:57:29] Oh, they're all worth listening to.

[00:57:31] They're all like really, really well done.

[00:57:33] And you get to hear a lot of like Tommy's sort of experiences, like trying to break into the industry and not having any connections, you know?

[00:57:43] Like it's funny, but like, but it's interesting to hear, you know?

[00:57:49] And you never know.

[00:57:50] He might bring it back at some point.

[00:57:53] Oh, that's true.

[00:57:55] But yeah.

[00:57:56] So once again, guys, thank you for joining us.

[00:57:58] And we will see you all later.

[00:58:01] Bye-bye.

[00:58:05] You're not playing on a 3DO system.