1:15:46 Sophie joins the panel 2:57:07 Sophie joins the panel (again!)

You won't get better videogame discussion anywhere else. Ben is a gem.

Loved the Night in the Woods talk! Good to see an incredible game getting the recognition it deserves.

Ben I was just like Jones. You answered all my questions and calmed my worries. Can't wait to get Persona now. Mad Love and Respect dude.

*As I play video games on my left monitor with this video on the right* Kyle: "I think that people play video games with their phone open. I think that people play video games with another monitor open, watching something as they play video games."

Ben, your hosting skills have improved so much in the last year and its quite incredible. You also have a very natural flair for comedic timing. Keep up the good work!

These long podcast are great. This is like a week's entertainment for me when I'm on my way to work. Keep up the great work guys.

Thanks for the timestamps!!

I picture Blood jolly smile while riding Falco with the neverending story theme in the background:-)

The Final Fantasy 6 talk really made my night. Thanks guys :)

yusssss, Frame Trap is one of my Most favorite podcasts. Thanks to all of the Allies for you're tremendous content.

yes, just what I needed

Colour me intrigued. Very well-spoken commentary on Persona 5, Ben. You've convinced me to take the plunge.

i loved the conversation about turn based combat! you guys have a lot of really good points, i would love a part 2 with damiani. also i LOVE kyle's answers to the the girl friend zelda question, telling it like it is man

Ahhh this'll burn time until Persona!! Thanks Ben!

Thank you Ben, waiting for Persona 5 will be less painful now.

Thanks for another great episode guys! Cannot wait til I can listen to the Horizon spoiler case...I'm so close to the end but just relishing it.

I think I like frame trap more than I like video games. keep up the great work guys

Never ending story, awesome choice Blood! I still get goosebumps hearing/seeing "Bastian's happy flight"

I get the impression that BloodWorth would be good at fighting games; he adjusts to unique controls well and seems like he likes to experiment with his gameplay options

That Hottake was a nuke!

perfect timing. thanks allies

BEN YOU BEAUTIFUL MAN.

A nier automata podcast with spoilers just like your Horizon one would be the best thing ever Ben. You da best. :)

PERSONA! just around 4 and half hours! Love you benzilla

there's gonna be a day where one of the Allies, not sure who, but one day an Ally will leave and that day will be an awful day for me. I love you guys.

I've always been a huge fan of turn based RPG's, as well, especially when they shake up the formula. The Mario RPG's are great examples of taking a tried-and-true game mechanic and making it feel new. A personal favorite take on turn based combat is Panzer Dragoon Saga. It keeps the feeling of flight combat during fights by adding the importance of positioning in relation to your opponents while adding meters that would constantly fill and deplete, depending on the cost of moves and the form of your dragon. It's such a great take on turn based combat that I'm surprised that something like that hasn't shown up again in games.

2:23:32 Sophie checking to see if Ben has finally gone insane

I agree with Ben, Persona 5 does a great job of slowly introducing concepts to you. The first SMT game I played was Nocturne. It took me a while to just figure out how battles worked, the phases of the moon, negotiations, fusing, and more. Nocturne just throws you in and doesn't care if you know what's going on. I started playing Persona 3 and I remember thinking that the school stuff was intimidating, worrying about maintaining all of these relationships on top of dungeon crawling seemed like a lot of work. However, P5 does a great job of gradually introducing you to mechanics so you don't feel like you have a test on the first day of school.

the Ben sneeze was fantastic hahahhahha

It's so great to hear about Persona 5 while grinding the Monad dungeon in Persona 3 FES for a rare weapon's quest. I'm glad a lot of things carry over from 3 like register Persona in the compendium. I really miss Ben analysing games.

I don't understand those that say turn-based combat is bad or outdated. Chess is a competitive multi-player turn-based combat game and it seems to have held up for quite a while.

Awesome!

This may not be very useful feedback, but the show was super excellent this week.

I really like that you can talk to shadows again, like in the first persona game.

Nice to see that the goddess is back!

Snakepass gets 96% on Steam. Meaning 96% would recommend the game. This type of rating makes so much more sense than comparing arbitrary scores from different outlets.

Can't wait for EZACon 2020!

My wishes for 2017 of Easy Allies: The return of Trailer Score/Jones and a studio. I hope we'll get there!

Brandon was spot on explaining the ''performance based difficulty'' more games need to be about that.

Season 2's villain should be the backlog, and whenever someone comes on the podcast to talk about an old game they've played, we get a bit closer to conquering the backlog

On Blood's and the cast's conversation on Andromeda: there has been a substantially big announcement today, April 4th, about the incoming patch that is slated for April 6th that is going to fix what people are complaining about. This is staggering especially for a company run by EA. I find it a bit encouraging that they are willing to support the game to that level.

Tetris holds up pretty well

2:11:30 End of Persona 5 discussion and intro to Horizon

Ben FYI you can switch party members at any time in a dungeon. Go to stats on the menu, and you can swith them out. also minor gameplay /confidant spoiler there is confidant that will allow you to switch party members DURING BATTLE!

Ben's Octo-Dad explanation = The Last Guardian Shade thrown.

That conversation at 2:40:35 about ideal turn-based battles really appeals to me. I think it'd be great to have a turn-based battle system that incorporated a puzzle element through dialogue or trying to figure out enemy weaknesses. I don't have another game to compare it to, but something like Jojo's Stand battles (a wide variety of powers that don't necessarily involve combat) or Hunter x Hunters Nen battles (greater powers have greater drawbacks) would be something really interesting.

Just putting this out there (you DEFINITELY Don't have to do this whatsoever) but I would LOVE a show in which you guys (or a select few of the Allies) play a game in a lets play type esque style (with obviously your little twist in the mix!) food for thought 😃

With regards to comparing Mass Effect trilogy characters to Andromeda ones I'd like to play devil's advocate and say that after ME1 I wasn't nearly attached to Garrus as by the end of ME3. My opinion changed on a few characters at the end of ME1 all the way to ME3. I think it's a bit unfair to compare completely quite yet. First impressions while important don't always equal your final feeling. Love the show! Love you guys!

0:44 new Blood emot

It really sounds like Brandon got the exact same thing out of Wildlands as I did. I played that game for 80 hours. No regrets.

never stop building gundams

My 2nd favorite podcast right after the Easy Allies Podcast.

Krogan and Asari live for like, 1000 years, and the Initiative sent probes back to the Milky Way. It's very possible that some Asari / Krogan still have close family members alive in the Milky Way.

Final Fantasy 6 talk on a gaming podcast in 2017, glorious

turn-based combat is my absolute favorite. turn-based is love, turn-based is life.

Though Ryuji still follows the best friend type, I think he does a lot more different and interesting stuff in the story and character

i really need to see a spotlight on nier automata, that game did something unique ambitious and fascinating and uses the medium in a way that gives kojima a run for his reputation. pretty please

YES!!!! that HOTTAKE came right on time. I hate turn based combat and so I was hesitant on getting Persona 5 but now I'm gonna give it a shot

If you fellas need a tech expert/manager, I'd be happy to fill that roll. The only pay I require is Bloodworth hugs and pictures of Sophie.

that coffin in the background, is that where Don sleeps during daytime?

Now that you mentioned Reservoir Dogs. Just Dance should have a Tarantino mode, scenes and songs from his movies. :D Still, would make more sense than the Star Wars dancing game.

A fundamental problem that i have with some people's argument against turn based combat is that "if the combat doesn't make you think all the time is bad/ or a slog". 1. Not thinking while battling is not exclusive to turn based combat. 2. There are other aspects of jrpg combat there are important: Are the actions that i'm doing in combat cool? The animation of attacks and magic, the design of the enemies and allies, the battle music, the scenery... All those things serve any combat style but in the turn base combat you can appreciate every single one of those aspects at your pace. And when a cool event happens in a fight, like a old enemy showing up to help you, is all integrated perfectly in the structure of the turn base combat. Even jokes can be set up and delivered with perfect timing like in Earthbound and Undertale.

Watching this while downloading Purse-Own-A-FAIV!!!

4 Hours till P5

Ben, hate to correct you but on P5 you can switch party members at any time from the menu, not just in the safe room. I think just triangle and on status you can select which members you want.

Persona 5 is amazing! Been playing since Saturday.

For some reason I can't picture slimer so I'm just imagining a weird version of the green caterpillar from A Bugs Life

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ends on a pretty famous freeze frame.

HYPE

Have they talked about The Ringed City at all? I though the Allies might be interested in the last piece of Dark Souls content.

Freeze Frame Ending - Rocky ....great ending and for VR worlds - Nightmare before Christmas' world. (Halloween town)

The Colin situation gives me anxiety that a similar thing could happen at EZA. Keep spreading the L&R!

Nice haircut Kyle!!!

I bought Nier and I am loving it so much, glad to see I'm not the only one.

If you have the same persona that your fighting in a battle it make negotiations easier and a few social link ranks with Ryuji would give you an ability to instant win a battle against weaker enemies and some of them even run away

I hope more turn based Rpg's bring back the Legend of Dragoon style of combat, I felt it was very rewarding when you hit the full combo and dropping a combos against a boss could be fatal

My Classic game I'm playing is the Bioshock series I never got a chance too so I bought it and I'm really enjoying the first game an wondering how the second one will build upon and keep my interest in the Bioshock series

Why did they stop the frame trap section of frame trap?

My picks for the movie VR game: Mad Max Fury Road Ex Machina Avatar And of course, Chappie.

Regarding the HOTTAKE...A. I bet half the people who think turn based games need to go love playing hearthstone. B. For me, turn based battles are often more about the pay-off for preparation than the battles themselves. And I think JRPGS have, and still do, innovate and differentiate with the preparation aspect. For example, FF 12's party member system, and the often dismissed (but I love it) Junction system in FF8. About half of Personal is that preparation. Between your confidant leveling, Stat leveling, money making, equipment acquiring, and personal fusing, the game's structure is really centered around your preparation.

I really need to know if Kyle has played Werewolves Within. It would be so entertaining.

Kyle is in no need of a hair check on this day. My god.

Are you guys planning on making a review for Ghost Recon: Wildlands? I know both Michael Huber and Brandon Jones have played it and said it has flaws but is very fun, but I've still been waiting for an actual review. If not, that's fine as I just want to know.

dear lord, the things that Ben says about P5 remind me so much of Persona 2. combined with the insane style, the game is fucking irresistible to me. EDIT: Actually, I have a question about P5 for you, Ben, if you're reading this. One thing that I really liked about dungeons in P2 was that some of them had objectives that really spiced things up that weren't just "find the staircase to the next floor" or "keep going until you find the boss". For example, the first dungeon in P2 had the player destroy all clocks in the school, and another had you looking for a hidden story item but with a time limit - and the clock didn't pause during battles. Does P5 have similar scenarios? Thanks!

How can kyle say ME:A was a sure thing it would be game of the year? Remember when the reveal was game developers talking over concept art and footage then there were the stories of development woes, alpha footage at E3 and suddenly release after a month of harcore marketing. It had rushed written all over

Ben I get your point abiut demon negotiation but part of the fun in previous SMT games are those moments when you go , Wait ? what the hell just happened !!! where a demon gives you an answer that you wouldnt expect

EZA and Ben, on the whole turn-based combat discussion, I think a lot of people do actually enjoy it. But at the same time I know why I don't enjoy them, and Kyle and Bloodworth just made it more clear to me as to why. The reason I play video games is, first and foremost, for the immersion. I don't use my phone, watch Netflix, or stream while I play games. I am 100% focused on the game I am playing. Therefore, turn-based combat just isn't my thing. It breaks my immersion. Secondly, I like dexterity based games, which is another reason taking turns doesn't resonate with me. If I can physically pull off an attack and dodge without taking any damage, that is when I feel the best while playing games. It is the main reason that games like the Souls series and Kingdom Hearts are some of my favorite games. Actually, on that note, sure I started playing the KH as a kid because of the Disney stuff (since I had no relation to Final Fantasy, because of course... it was turn-based), but it was the actual combat that got me hooked. So that is just how I feel, and can imagine a lot of other people feel. Doesn't mean I want turn-based games to not be a thing, since I know plenty of people who enjoy them. Hope this all cleared some stuff up. L&R

I've played FF3 and FF4 on DS. Really enjoyed FF3, but burn out after a few hours of 4. Which Final Fantasy is a great entry point for newcomer.

I love you guys

It kills me that many skipped over Bravely Second. It improved on Default in almost every way and it doesn't repeat the massive problem that the first title had. Out of the many games i've played in the last several years Second always pops up in my head extremely fondly. More should play it.

As kyle talks about watching a second monitor, I'm watching this as I'm farming in Destiny lol

hoping for some nier automata discussion soon. great frame trap though!

Drew Scanlon left Giant Bomb to make a travel documentary and he got over 20k in a few days, Patreon is crazy

I haven't gotten to it yet, but so,etching I've been noticing the past few weeks is that the Hottakes have been relatively short, only 15 minutes or so. Is there a reason for that? Don't get me wrong, they're quality discussions, it's just something I've noticed

I got a call from my parents while i was watching this podcast letting me know that my dog, Cora, that has been with me for the last 15 years had to be put down. I drove out to my parents house to spend the day with her and I came back to where I had left the video at 1:16:05 to see Kyle & Brandon patting Sophie. Tell Sophie that she's a good dog and give her an extra pat for me.

I dated a girl who just loved to cuddle up with me and watch me play games for hours, and the game i was playing at the time was FF12. When we broke up I had a hard time going back to it, though i eventually did.

Kyle I'm like you, I'm never not watching or listening to something while gaming. Never. Either TV is on and I'm watching something with my fiancée or my iPad is on with KZfaq. Turn based makes that so much easier.

Also, audio is too quiet in this video for some reason. Just letting you guys know.

Can we make an effort to make sure a jumping maneuver in Snake Pass is forever known as a BloodJump #bloodjump