Beyond

Whether you’d like a turn-based foray into a whole new fantasy realm, or a meticulously overhauled return trip to a familiar open-world, there’s plenty to keep you busy this week between Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. We’ve got plenty to say about these role-playing games, which are both doing very different things very well (and which of course have their own shortcomings.) But overall, the role-playing game genre seems alive and well. Baldur’s Gate 3 proved there’s plenty of demand for old-school isometric turn-based dungeon crawling, while Final Fantasy XVI and FF7 Remake/Rebirth have both broken into realtime action-heavy combat. We’re getting brand new IP like Clair Obscur and Metaphor Re:Fantazio, but plenty of classics are getting new leases on life, whether it’s in fully modern overhauls like Persona 3 Reload, or Dragon Quest’s HD-2D remakes. Heck, even Like a Dragon decided to ditch beat-em-up action for a turn-based party system. In other news, Jada and Nick have nice things to say about Unbeatable, which has a free demo on PSN and PC, and Max is obsessed with Bionic Bay, a puzzle-platformer that’s reminiscent of Limbo and Inside, but with a dash of Portal thrown in for good measure.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Nick Maillet, and is produced by Marhyan Franzen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by our pal Mike Drucker, stand-up comedian and writer, formerly of IGN, more recently of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and Full Frontal With Samatha Bee, and most recently the author of the book “Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games.” Drucker’s book is a semi-autobiographical trip down memory lane, recounting some hilarious and endearing anecdotes about growing up with gaming. So, we took the opportunity to reflect on some of our earliest memories of the PlayStation, and when we knew it would fare better than so many other Nintendo competitors. Looking ahead, there are rumors circulating yet again about a next-gen PlayStation Portable, or a portable PlayStation of some sort, which is in line with what everyone else is doing - but we do want Sony to do what everyone else is doing? The Steamdeck is an awesome machine, but it’s generous to call it handheld or portable device. The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting bigger, and more powerful, and for a lot of people, that’s great, but some of us are nostalgic for the days of gaming being a bit more… pocket sized. Meanwhile, we discuss this month’s Beyond Game Club game, Bloodborne. Have you heard of it? Well, too bad, you’re gonna hear even more about it.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Brian Atlano, Mike Drucker, and is produced by Nick Maillet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve got a jam-packed episode this week! First order of business, Blue Prince just dropped and it’s currently the best-reviewed game of the year so far, so what’s the big deal? We invited IGN’s executive reviews editor and Blue Prince reviewer Tom Marks to discuss the many brilliant things this roguelite first-person puzzle game does right, and the handful of nitpicks that keep it from being a totally smooth experience. But fans of The Witness, Return of the Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds will likely find something here to love. One thing we don’t love is the announcement of a very Bloodborne-coded FromSoftware game that’s not a Bloodborne sequel or even coming to PlayStation. The Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive multiplayer game The Duskbloods looks cool, but with a lot of caveats. Bloodborne turned 10 a couple weeks ago, so we’re celebrating the milestone with a return to Yarnham in this month’s Beyond Game Club. Also in this episode, Jada and Akeem sat down with performance-capture actor and stuntman Eric Jacobus to talk about what it’s like bringing some of gaming’s most brutal actions to live, from punching like Kratos to performing Fatalities in Mortal Kombat without anyone getting hurt, Eric had a ton of insight.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Tom Marks, Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, and is produced by Nick Maillet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Beyond Jada Griffin is hosting yet again! Joined by Travis Northrup, Cameron Kingdom Hearts Hawken, Kevin Diaz and Brian Altano makes an appearance for an Atomfall Interview with Ben Fisher - Head of Design at Rebellion - and Rebellion CEO and modern day knight, Jason Kingsley. We talk about Sony’s appearance at Cinemacon with unveiling dates for not one but two Spider-Man Movies, we speculate on the tiniest of updates on Ghost of Yotei, and we spotlight six more games to keep an eye on that we hope to play before 2026. We also announce Aprils game for Beyond Game Club and we hope that you will all join us as we play it. All this and more on this week's BEYOND!00:00:00 - Intro & Ghost of Yotei00:06:35- Blue Prince00:10:08 - Wildgate00:15:58 - Sunderfolk00:21:37 - Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter & Den of Wolves00:31:15 - Spine00:36:31 - Atomfall Developer Interview01:00:01 - IGN Live & What We’re Playing01:09:07 - Beyond Game Club Announcement01:13:23 - Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Beyond Jada Griffin is back in the host chair along with Akeem and Brian for one of our longest episodes in a while. They talk about the numerous anniversaries happening over at Sony this month including Bloodborne's 10th which Brian gets nostalgic for, PSP’s 20th anniversary, and God of War’s 20th anniversary all with 67 inches of Jormungandr for your pleasure. We also picked out five plus one bonus game to keep your eye out for in 2025 and spoiler most of them are out in just a few months! Jada then shares her favorite games she got to play at GDC, including some with some really strange controllers. Finally March’s Beyond Game Club comes to an end as they give their final thoughts on returning to Batman: Arkham Asylum nearly 16 years later. All this and more on this week's BEYOND!This week’s show is Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, Brian Altano, and is produced by Nick MailletBeyond! is a part of Geek Media Podcast Network, an IGN Entertainment Brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been in the works for years, and delayed by several months, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally here, and it’s worth the wait. Y’know, assuming you like big huge open-world games, don’t mind when Assassin’s Creed games veer into RPG territory, and are interested in the feudal Japanese setting. We’re all having a blast, and while it doesn’t break the mold or color too far outside the lines of previous entries, specifically the one used to make Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, it does a great job refining what worked best, creating a big huge playground for ninja and samurai mayhem that look absolutely stunning on the latest gaming hardware. The dual protagonists are endearing, and the different approaches to combat and exploration that Yasuke and Naoe’s playstyles allow for should help keep things fresh, even dozens of hours into the game. Now, the big question: what does this mean for 2025’s OTHER big huge open-world samurai game, Ghost of Yotei? Will it be a samurai showdown, or will a rising tide raise all ships? Either way, anyone who likes running around killing dudes with a katana and shuriken is eating good this year.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Mark Medina, Brian Altano, and is produced by Nick Maillet, Beyond! is a part of Geek Media Podcast Network, an IGN Entertainment Brand. Eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, we got some major news about The Last of Us. Unfortunately, that news amounted to Neil Druckmann saying “don’t bet on” a third game, and then the announcement of a limited edition The Last of Us Part 2 Dualsense controller. Though there’s a new season of the HBO series on the horizon, that’s got to be a bit of a drag for TLOU fans – but was there ever going to be a happy ending for this series, which basically takes place in a bad ending for humans, in general? In any case, this is par for the course for Naughty Dog, which has typically moved on from each franchise after a few games. Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter each got a trilogy and change, Uncharted stuck around for a fourth full installment, plus Lost Legacy, but considering the heavy subject matter and the amount of time the studio has spent on the series, maybe it’s time to move on to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet? That’s what Naughty Dog’s up to right now, but what about the rest of PlayStation Studios? We know about a few upcoming projects like Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei and Housemarque’s Saros, but the bulk of Sony’s first party development studios have been radio silent for quite some time - not counting a few closures, and announcements of cancelled projects. Finally, it’s not quite first party, but Death Stranding 2: On The Beach got a big 10 minute trailer gameplay reveal music video thing, and it looks gorgeous, but has us wondering how on board we are for more of Kojima’s drawn out cutscenes interspersed with trips to deliver peoples’ mail. Eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As part of this month’s Beyond Game Club, we’re revisiting Batman Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady’s debut game featuring the Dark Knight, which arrived in 2009 and laid the groundwork for Arkham City and Arkham Knight. As much as we adore the massive open-world Gotham City, in a lot of ways, Arkham Asylum is the perfect Batman game: a mix of action-packed combat and detective work in the form of puzzles and navigating the labyrinthine penitentiary for Gotham’s most twisted denizens. So, what went wrong? Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League swung for the fences in multiple directions at once and ultimately struck out, while Gotham Knights sent us back into Gotham, but not as the character we’d most like to play as. Is it so hard to make a good Batman game? Well, yes, it’s hard to make any game, good or otherwise, about anything, let alone a character with this much lore and history and reverence. But still, a Rocksteady take on Batman Beyond and/or the Arkham formula retooled in a Bruce Timm-style cel-shaded Gotham both seem like missed opportunities.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, Brian Altano, and is produced by Nick MailletEat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monster Hunter Wilds will soon be out in the wild, and this week we’re joined by IGN’s reviewer Tom Marks and resident Monster Hunter expert Case DeFrietas to talk about how the latest installment in Capcom’s most popular series pushing the franchise forward, discuss the numerous things it does right, but address one common complaint among reviewers, in that it’s too easy compared to the previous games. Plus, bad news just broke about WB Games, namely the closure of three studios, including Monolith, unfortunately putting an end to the long-awaited Wonder Woman project.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Casey DeFreitas, Tom Marks, and is produced by Nick Maillet. Beyond is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media network.Eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’ve got some games to talk about, including Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the latest installment in the long-running organized crime series that’s a bit less organized than usual, namely because it ditches the criminal underworld for the high seas. It may feature plenty of familiar backdrops and a few familiar faces (like most games in the series) it keeps things fresh by getting creative. What can other publishers learn from RGG Studios’ scrappy re-purposing of existing environments and systems? We compare and contrast the Yakuza games’ reception to others, like certain semi-annualized Ubisoft franchises. Meanwhile, Jada played a bunch of Warriors: Abyss, the roguelike spin on Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Max gave himself food poisoning in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Brian’s looking forward to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In other news, a company called DevynPC is offering a way to make your PlayStation 5 look a little less like a funky spaceship and more like a stock image of a generic game console, if that’s your thing.This week’s show is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Brian Altano, and is produced by Tayo Oyekan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices