bite sized: nate is locked and loaded

Hey guys, it's Nate and it's time for another bite sized. So tonight. Well, today I'm recording at night, but you could be watching or listening to this at any point in time. But I'm recording it. Record Nate. Talk pretty. Someday, not tonight or not today, whatever, whenever you're listening to it. I'm not talking pretty, but one of the things I wanted to do and Josh had done this a little, you know, a few weeks, months at this point in time, maybe ago, and had gone through his locked and loaded list for the beatdown meta that we introduced. The new rule where it's like you could set a list and those games are locked in and if you complete all the games, you know, there's, it's a, it's a way to get bonus points. But I wanted to talk a little bit about what's on my locked and loaded list, why I put it there, and essentially why I haven't been able to touch a single game on that list so far. So just. There's not really an order in here. I'm going to, actually, I'm using the Gigi app. You can, if you want to see this list and you follow me on Gigi, you. It's, it's there. It's 2025. Locked and loaded. I have 10 games and we're just going to start alphabetical order here. And the first one is 999. I have to just pull up my phone here. You guys are like, oh, this is Beth radio. Thanks, Nate. And I'm like, nine hours, nine persons, nine doors. This is one of Josh's favorites. You know, apparently this is a visual novel puzzle kind of thing. And I, I picked it up a while ago with the intent because this is something that, like this series, Josh really likes it, this one and the next one. And I forget what the next one's called, but there's a collection. I have the collection. I don't have the third game in that series yet, but anyways, I have 999, I have the next one. And I been meaning to play through this anyways because I think this might even be on our top 100 list. And I've just never played it. And so it's time to sort of remedy that. And I have kind of a weird relationship with visual novel style games, but I thought Josh really likes this one. Josh really recommends this one. So I'd give it a go. I just haven't sat down. Like visual novels, I think require like me to be in a certain headspace if I'm being honest, I'm just not kind of there yet. But I've been jumping around with some other stuff. So maybe, who knows, this might make an appearance in the foreseeable future. Next up, it's a Plague Tale Innocence, which is the first one. And I still like, I started this I think before A Plague Tale Requiem was. Was released like a year or two ago. I started this because I was like, I'm going to play through this and maybe I'll pick up Requiem. And I never did. I never finished this. I kind of got it's. And it's one of those things that the game really kind of interesting and it's cinematic but like gameplay wise I, I was kind of having problems like sticking with it. So it's. It's kind of one of those things that it's like nagged me a little bit. I don't really, I don't want to abandon it. I want to beat it. And it's. It's a gorgeous looking game and I'm kind of a sucker for those, those really epic set. Like it's like I'm. I'm kind of a sucker for that kind of. What's the word? That sizzle or that kind of like spectacle. And so I wanted to check it out. I still haven't gotten around. I haven't finished it yet. It's not an especially long game but I want to get around to it. Next up is. So yeah and I'll. I'll get to it at some point in time. It's like. But kind of. And what will emerge here is that I think a lot of the games on my list, none of them are super long, but all of them are going to require some commitment. And that's. You know, Josh and I just did the, the extended backlog report a couple like an episode or two, maybe last episode I think. Geez. Way. Way to be current with. With things, Nate. But. And it's just the season where I'm at. It's. It's hard to really sit down and dedicate some of that stuff. But next up it's Astrobot. And this is a game that. It's kind of funny because my wife and I were actually having a bit of a conversation. She. Her save file is on my PSM profile and she is way closer to being done with this. And so it's like. And I've kind of been, you know, for lack of a better term, kind of dogging it out. Like not, not really. Not really jumping in on this and so she. She was actually making some commentary tonight about how, like, she's gonna beat me. And I told her. I said, well, I said it's. I've kind of cleared my table of some other things and I think I'm gonna bear down on this game. And I'm. My goal is to not only beat it, but complete it before she does. So that means I. I gotta get cracking here asap. So I don't really have a good excuse for why I haven't played this. It's just 3D platform. Part of it is like 3D platforms or platformers are just sort of a genre that I struggle with as a general rule. I don't. I don't know, Platforming in and of itself, like, as sort of like the solemn mechanic doesn't do much for me. I don't mind it when it's part of like, a Metroidvania or an adventure game, but, like, if that's. If the whole thing is just kind of like roam around the world, it just doesn't do much for me. That being said, I do like this game. I think it's really pretty charming. I think it's pretty special. And I think that's a testament to the fact that, like, this and a couple of the 3D Mario games have been the only. Only things in this genre, in that genre that have got my attention. And. Yeah. So next up, it's Doom Eternal. And I had started this one a little bit ago. I was playing through it and I kind of like dipped off and. Or dipped out. And I'm going to go back to it. And it's like, it's definitely a game that I probably shouldn't bounce in and out of, because what's going to happen is I'm going to go back and I'm going to basically struggle for a while. I think what I might do is just replay, like, the earlier missions to sort of get back up to speed. But it's Doom and Doom Eternal and it's pretty freaking savage and just kind of hard to keep up with. And so I think. I just think that it's kind of one of those games that, again, like so many other things, I've just got to be kind of in the right headspace to be able to. To take it on. I was having a great time with it while I was playing it, but it is pretty intense and it is a game that I think that requires you to sort of be all in. And so that's. That's one that I think I'm just going to need to have some other like I'm going to want to carve out some time just to like dig in and like sort of like go, you know, go go nuts on it. Like. So next up is Dredge. And I picked this up a while ago because one, I'm kind of a sucker for just indie vibes. It's like it like there's a certain type of indie game that just kind of gets my attention and I had seen some trailers and seen heard some things and I just like the, the whole spooky fishing trip, cosmic horror thing. Whatever it's got going on is like there is a certain blend of that. Whatever that is has like it's got me. And so I was like, I saw this, I picked it up when it came the year it came out fully intending to play it. I think during Spooktober I still might push it back towards some of that because I feel like this would be like a really good Spooktober kind of filler episode or filler bite sized. But I'm. That's. That's one that it's like again kind of just. I. I've been meaning to play it since I bought it and I think Josh put it on his list as well. So I think like with the crossover there, like I said, maybe we could get a bonus Spooktober episode out of it, but I'm really stoked for that one. Gravity Rush Remastered so I own Gravity Rush on Vita. I own Gravity Rush Remastered. I own Gravity Rush 2. And these are these kind of like really interesting games that Sony doesn't do a lot of. I think this, this was Studio Japan before it got disbanded. And it's just. It's kind of the last sort of like the swan song of like that really kind of weird and creative Sony first party. Just super experimental like just vibe type game. And I've. I started it a while back and it just. And I've heard that the, the Vita version is like the optimal way to play it. But like I love my Vita, but it's kind of. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I'm gonna charge it up just to play Gravity Rush, but I have it on there. So I'm either gonn Gravity Rush Remastered or Gravity Rush on my PSR Vita and sort of knock that out at some point in time. It actually might be not a bad reason to pull my Vita out and sort of dust it off and play it. Yeah, I'm thinking about that. Yeah. Maybe Maybe next up is Metaphorio Fantasio. And this is like the one on this list that kind of gives it me the, the most. Ajita or Angst. This is going to be a big beefy boy, like easily. I see myself doing like 100 hours plus with this game and I'm, you know, I'm going to make no bones about it. I'm going to probably use a guide to just sort of shepherd me through that because this is a game that I really want to see everything it has to offer. But I'm, I'm kind of at an age and at a point in my life where like Easy Mode doesn't seem so bad and where I don't need to experience things super, super organically in order to appreciate them. And the, the reality is like I probably only have enough time to play this game once and so I'm going to play through it and I want to see everything that I possibly can. So I, I want to maximize that. I'm, I'm super stoked. The Persona, well, Atlas has just done a bang up job with these RPGs and, and this stuff and I just, I think Metaphor just looks really cool. I've avoided a good bit of just like I, I've heard some talk about it, but I've avoided a lot of it and I'm really excited to just see them step outside of the Persona realm and do something that's got some different vibes. And I, I did play the demo and I love the demo so, you know, can't, can't wait to get into that. But that's going to be, that's going to be one where it's like when I'm in this, it's going to be probably two or three months of nothing but this game. And so I, I want to, I want to, I want, I mean frankly, I want to get some more patron games out of the way before I feel comfortable and sort of really wrestling with this one. I'd probably like to have a few more games off my list, off my blocked and loaded list before I tackle this one. So this one is. Yeah, but when, when I go in, in on this one it's going to be sort of like just all in. So next up is Ratchet and Clank. And this is the. Not, this isn't, this isn't Rift Apart. This is just the, the PS4 reboot of Ratchet and Clank. And it's a game that I've been meaning. It's sort of like one of those, like it's been on my list for a long, long time and I just need to just pull the trigger. It's like I should really just play this like again it's. I don't know, I don't have a great excuse. It's just. It's been on my backlog for a while and I've been meaning to play it for a while and. But the locked and loaded thing, I was like, hey, what's something on there that I really have been kind of like dragging my feet on? And I was like ration clank. And it's not too long, it's not too, it's not supposed to be too, too long a game. We are at the next to last game here on the list and that's Returnal. Returnal is a game that I went way down the rabbit hole on this. Like I pretty much played nothing but this for a few months and I, I think I have like over 60 hours in it and like by all rights I should be done with this game but. But it does this weird like completionist thing to me where I want to have like the perfect run or it's like I want to explore and I want to see all the things and it's. I think just. I'm really. I just want to be done with this one and I, I have nothing but like praise to sort of throw at Housemark for this because you know they went from doing these sort of like 2D, maybe sort of like 3D, like 2 and a half D, 3D ish, kind of like arcade style games to making I. What I think is really one of the most interesting games I've played in a hot minute. So I want, I want to go back and it's like. It's the kind of like hardcore experience that I really get into that it doesn't feel, you know, it's definitely got sort of a souls ish thing where it's like the game, you. You play the game on its terms and there's not a lot of anything else. Last but not least is I've got Vanquish and this is an old. I think it was originally released on the PS3 and then the remaster version that and it was Bayonetta one or two came they were released on for PS4 and this is like. It's just one of those things. This is an old platinum game and it is just big dumb fun like popcorn. Just like this is like big dumb action movie the game and I've seen a good bit of it. I've played, I played a few hours of it years and years and years ago. The first time I saw this game was my best friend Parker, who's been on the show a couple times. He, he was playing it, I think on PS3 and we were just, I was just sort of in awe of just how kind of unhinged the game was. And so, yeah, I, yeah, yeah, I don't have much else to say other than just, yeah, it's vanquish and it's, it's sort of like it's on there because I've been wanting to play it for myself fore a while and it's, it's again like, it's like most of the games on this list, outside of metaphor are probably within that like 15 to 20 hour mark, which feels pretty doable for me for the most part, but we'll see. But you know, one of the things I talked about was like, you know, I think it was last year I beat 13 games. That's all I really played. And so there's 10 games on that list. And but to be fair, I'm. I'm already sort of, I'm mixing in some shorter things. Like yeah, I recently played through Mega Man X. Josh and I are going to do an episode on that. So I played through that. I, I run through the Banner Saga. But yeah, I've been running through some other stuff, some patron picks and just some other like other games to do content on. And so, yeah, I think maybe now's the time for me to sort of set my sights on some of this Locked unloaded list and sort of pick off some of those. But that's, that's it. I mean, that's really all I've got here, guys. I wanted to take a couple minutes and sort of run you through some of that list. Say. Yeah, yeah, so that, that's what I've got kind of coming on, like coming up for my locked and loaded stuff. And like I said, I'm planning on putting a dent in that here pretty imminently. Like, I think maybe even after I'm done recording, I might just hop on. I just hop on Astrobot and get to just not only catching up to my wife, but lapping her. So. Because that's, that's the goal like so. All right guys. Well, I'm Nate. This has been a bite size and you know, do the things until next time, you know. Yeah, just do the things later guys.