Berries & Blades

Let's dodge some zombie bites, go sightseeing in HELL-A, and slay our way through hordes of mutated wretches. Join us for a conversation about a first-person, over-the-top zombie slayer called Dead Island 2.Welcome back to Hip Fire, a mini-series where we share our first impressions about a game after 5–10 hours of gameplay. In this episode, we discuss our co-op experience with Dead Island 2. This game is brutal and disgusting in all the right ways. It features a procedurally generated dismemberment system called FLESH that allows players to break bones and internal organs and destroy anything in their way. We dive into the diverse weapon sets, talk about the character selection screen, and Willie reveals which 70s rock band he can't stand. Joseph and Taylor break down the shortcomings of the game's dash mechanic, and we read a few reviews from Metacritic. Overall, we think Dead Island 2 is a lot of fun to play with friends and 100% worth trying out if you have a subscription to Game Pass.Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Are you up for another videogame-guessing showdown? This time we visit games from 2017, 2020, 2014, 2009, 1985, and the 1930s. Join us for another round of NOT the Leonard Maltin Game.In this episode, we revisit a guessing game called NOT the Leonard Maltin Game—inspired by The Leonard Maltin Game from Doug Benson's podcast called Doug Loves Movies. In short, each of us chooses a game and reads a maximum of ten clues for it. From least to most helpful, the other two co-hosts try to name the game with as few clues as possible. Also, I think we're getting better at it! We're limiting the spoilers here, but buried in the episode, Joseph—a pro gamer—guesses correctly with ZERO clues AGAIN, Taylor chooses the most obvious game he possibly could, and Willie pulls off an upset. Spoiler Alert: we might change the game's name to The Leonard Nimoy Game. Listen to find out why, lol. Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Sippin' whiskey in the morning, searching for Taco Cabanas, and slangin' since 81' with one of Houston's finest, Mattress Mack. Join us for another mashup of outtakes, hijinks, and other shenanigans.In this episode, we take you behind the scenes for a collection of audio clips that didn't make it into episodes 21–29. Mostly, these clips are a little too off-topic to include in regular conversations, so we're featuring them in this episode to celebrate one full year of the podcast. In addition to whiskey, Taylor likes to store his energy drinks in plastic bags and drink them warm and mentions how much he loves the game Dead Cells. We spend too much time talking about Taco Cabana and the "Cruncharito Supreme" and try to figure out what residents of Michigan call themselves. Willie and Taylor introduce Joseph to Mattress Mack, and then we circle back to talk about people getting stabbed in the Taco Cabana drive-thru. Anyway, "Doooon't gooooo chaaaasing waterballs."Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Our 8-bit Lord, who art in the digital realm, hallowed be thy game—Join us for a conversation about the gaming sins we've committed since our last Controller Confession.In this episode, we head into the confessional booth and ask the 8-bit Lord to forgive us for our rage quits and deliver us from glitches. One of us finally admits our love for Techtonica, and another confesses to spreading ourselves too thin by playing too many games. We also chat about inverted vs. non-inverted controls and 2-D platform games and get side-tracked by news from Microsoft. The last of us doesn't think Skull and Bones is a game worth $70 and flexes their Yakuza street cred all over your face—forever and ever, respawn after respawn. Amen.Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, Arvid Svenungsson, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

A box-office BOMB, confusion between Kevin James and Kevin Smith, and Gerard Butler does what he does best. Join us for a conversation about Gamer (2009), a movie that gets almost everything wrong.In this episode, we share our thoughts about Gamer, a science fiction action movie from 2009 starring Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall, and includes a mean-ass-looking Terry Crews. This movie is hard to defend, so we spend most of our time bashing it instead. We chat about the cinematography and actor performances and pay our respects to Ludacris. "I do feel you, my giant brother." Willie breaks down the movie's plot and references a 10,000-word blog post from a guy who thinks Gamer is "as radical as reality itself." Taylor struggles with a character named Gorge and how this movie portrays gamers, and Joseph thought John Leguizamo's performance was one of the highlights. Overall, this movie does a great job of NOT delivering anything beyond surface-level action scenes, but it does have an ethanol-powered vehicle in it—so there's that science, lol. "Let's Boogie Woogie Rock & Roll!"Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Explode into gold coins, a Battle Pass that's 95% worthless, and a gladiator-type arena filled with casino sound effects. Join us for a conversation about a free-to-play first-person shooter called THE FINALS.Welcome back to Hip Fire, a mini-series where we share our first impressions about a game after 5–10 hours of gameplay. In this episode, we talk about our co-op experience with THE FINALS. Taylor had a blast playing this game—like, literally a blast—since you can blow up almost everything in this game and found the lines for the in-game announcer poorly written. Willie was the only one of us to make it to THE FINALS in the game's tournament mode and thinks the game's XP progression is too damn slow. Joseph derails the conversation with Gerard Butler and thinks the starting cosmetics are garbage. So, spending money on the battle pass is probably a waste, but all three of us had a lot of fun playing one of the game modes called Bank It. Overall (considering it's free-to-play), we recommend this game to anyone who enjoys first-person shooters. Watch out for Orbital Lasers!Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Pure anticipation and speculation, and Space Jizz. Join us for a conversation about the 2024 games we're looking forward to the most.In this episode, we share our thoughts about the games we think will hit the hardest in 2024. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is on Joseph and Willie's shortlist. The air-dashing looks tasty, and we're dying for more time-shift shenanigans—while we wait for the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Willie breaks down the concept for Banishers: Ghosts of Eden, which sounds like a game of consequences, and promises to give an in-depth review of Rise of the Ronin if you buy him a PS5. Taylor (of course) brings up Light No Fire, a game scheduled for release in 2025 instead of 2024—because guidelines can't keep an AI-loving kid in check. Other games mentioned are Black Myth: Wu Kong, Star Wars: Outlaws, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and Mariachi Legends. Also, Taylor thinks Darth Vader looks like a loser. Please direct your hate at him.Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Wonder Flowers, the Koopa Clown Car, and the "Elephant Mario" in the room. Join us for a conversation about the first traditional side-scrolling Mario game in over a decade, Super Mario Bros. Wonder.In this episode, we share our thoughts about Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Willie drove 19 hours cross-country to visit Joseph, naturally leading to a couch co-op playthrough of the game. This game is pretty damn good, full of joy, and pulls inspiration from classics like Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3. Think of it like a souped-up version of those games, but with a ton more variety in the level designs—specifically in the Wonder Flower sections. We discuss the visual graphics, different level types (like Break Time and Search Party), new power-ups, the re-spawn mechanic, and the game's difficulty. Overall, Joseph thought the game was too easy, and Taylor talks about how impressed he is by the variety in the game. Willie breaks some news about the helicopter/bowl thing that Bowser flies around in and gives his critique about the music. If you're a big fan of Super Mario Bros. 1–3 and Super Mario World or looking for something family-friendly— you should 100% check this game out. HINT: don't miss out on the Special World!Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Starfield sucks, Lies of P deserves more credit, and "Flute Guy Goes Hard Again." Join us for a conversation about our favorite games of 2023 and our reactions to The Game Awards.In this episode, we share our Game of the Year picks and react to the announcements and winners at The Game Awards. To no surprise, Baldur's Gate 3 received the attention it deserved. Hello Games introduced Light No Fire—a new adventure game we're all excited about, and Hideo Kojima announced his new project called OD. Both games look great, but we were disappointed The Game Awards spent so much time on those presentations. We would have rather seen more award acceptance speeches on stage since—you know—it's supposed to be an award show. ANYWAY. We also discuss bangers like Lies of P, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Alan Wake II, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and Spider-Man 2. Overall, 2023 was an incredible year for video games, and we're looking forward to 2024. Thanks so much for listening to us this year, and special thanks to Christopher Judge for publically slamming the length of the newest Call of Duty single-player campaig...Please Wrap It Up - Geoff Keighley.Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com

Madam Bo gets knocked the F*CK out, Johnny Cage squares off against Kenshi, and for the first time, our friend Jack is a Kameo on the podcast. Join us for a conversation about our favorite fighting game of the year, Mortal Kombat 1.In this episode, we dive into the story of Mortal Kombat 1. Somehow—and even after 30 years—Netherrealm Studios is still weaving together a compelling narrative. The MK universe has gotten pretty complicated up to this point, but Mortal Kombat 1 (mostly) resets the timeline and rewrites the story. Taylor didn't play the game, so Willie and Joseph try to get him caught up. Jack breaks down the Invasions game mode, praises the game's visual graphics, and throws shade at the Dragon Crystals used for microtransactions. We also cover the main story beats, talk about voice-over performances, and highlight some of our favorite moments in the game. Overall, we all enjoy playing MK1, and it's super fun to watch competitively. We 100% recommend playing through the main story, and if fighting games aren't your thing—watch the cutscene movie on YouTube. FRIENDSHIP!  Here's the full transcript for this episode.If you like what you hear, the best way to support us is to tell people about the show. Please consider subscribing wherever you find your favorite podcasts.You can also keep us going with coffee refills on Ko-Fi.Follow @BerriesAndBlades on IG for in-game photography, video clips, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow BerriesAndBlades on Twitch for D&D and video game streams. The music you hear on the podcast is by ELFL, Lexica, and Christian Nanzell.berriesandblades.simplecast.com