All My Best Friends Are Digital – Details, episodes & analysis

Sometimes the only way to show that you love is to complain and nitpick, and that's exactly what Caitlin and Mark do with Fire Emblem--a game they both enjoy but think is sometimes borderline absurd. 

What We're Playing

01:04 Mark: Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments, 2024)

08:47 Caitlin: Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm (Gearbox, 2024)

13:14 GOOF: Metroid (R&D Team 1 and Intelligent Systems, 1986) and Metroid: Zero Mission (R&D Team 1, 2004)

25:10 Feature Game: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems, 2019)

SHOUT

50:51 Caitlin: Goblin Cleanup (Crisalu)

52:13 Mark: Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Capcom)

Caitlin reciprocates this week by trying ICO, one of Mark's all-time favourites. They also both explore the coming-of-age story I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, in which you play as... well, let's not undermine the excellent title, shall we?

What We're Playing

00:53 Caitlin: Rabbit and Steel (mino_dev, 2024)

08:45 Mark: Valkyrie Profile (tri-Ace, 1999)

15:11 GOOF: ICO (Team ICO, 2001)

29:54 Feature Game: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway, 2022)

48:09 Spoilers Begin

56:32 Spoilers End

SHOUT

58:48 Caitlin: Fields of Mistria (NPC Studio)

59:24 Mark: Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm (Gearbox Software)

It is pretty depressing that Tango Gameworks' reward for the ebullient and excellent Hi-Fi Rush was closure, but we get our own closure by eulogizing their work. There's also much discussion of action RPGs this week, assuming a broad enough definition.

What We're Playing

01:02 Mark: Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco, 2021)

08:09 Caitlin: Diablo IV (Blizzard, 2023)

12:54 GOOF: Legacy of the Wizard (Nihon Falcom, 1989)

24:28 Feature Game: Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks, 2023)

SHOUT

48:27 Caitlin: Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (Blizzard)

49:53 Mark: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (From Software)

We shot them up last week, and this week we are beating them up. One wonders what them did to deserve all this violence, but we move on to more pressing questions--such as, what ground food is best? And, how many mechanisms is too much, and how many light years past that is Astral Ascent? 

NB: The name of that weird creature in Golden Axe and Altered Beast is a "chicken leg." 

What We're Playing

00:55 Caitlin: Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead, 2024)

06:00 Mark: Streets of Rage 4 (Dotemu, 2020)

11:48 GOOF: Alien vs. Predator (Capcom, 1994)

19:37 Feature Game: Astral Ascent (Hibernia Workshop, 2023)

SHOUT

53:52 Caitlin: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare)

56:41 Mark: Metal Slug Tactics (SNK)

Mark is some sort of degenerate killjoy who doesn't like Tolkien much, but can Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor win him over regardless? Caitlin's death-march through all the Final Fantasy games continues, as does the mining of classic titles from the NES to fuel GOOF.

What We're Playing

01:04 Caitlin: Final Fantasy II (Square)

07:26 Mark: Have a Nice Death (Magic Design Studios)

12 :17 GOOF: Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (Namco)

23 :53 Feature Game: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith)

44:23 Spoilers begin

50:04 Spoilers end

SHOUT

51:57 Caitlin: LEGO Horizon Adventures (Guerilla)

53:39 Mark: Dreamcast Capcom VS SNK 2 in English and Terry Bogard in Street Fighter 6 (Capcom and kind of SNK)

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice tackles the issue of having a mentally ill protagonist head-on. How successful is the portrayal? And how good is the game itself? And perhaps most importantly, can we all get on the same page and acknowledge that Cain from Final Fantasy II (or IV, for you purists) was a massive douche?

What We're Playing

01:12 Caitlin: Hellcard (Thing Trunk, 2024)

05:14 Mark: Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster, 2022)

12:07 GOOF: Final Fantasy (yes, the FIRST one) (Square, 1987)

26:58 Feature Game: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory, 2017)

52:42 Spoilers begin

1:06:14 Spoilers end

SHOUT

1:06:46 Caitlin: Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail (Square Enix)

1:08:20 Mark: Hades II (Supergiant)

Caitlin said Valkyrie Profile was one of her top 10 games of all time, so let's take a deeper look! Mark reciprocates by listing his own top 10.

What We're Playing

00:41 Mark: Earth Defense Force 4.1 (Sandlot, 2016)

11:15 Caitlin: Flock (Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg, 2024)

17:24 GOOF: Valkyrie Profile (tri-Ace, 1999)

35:35 Mark's Top 10 Games of All Time

36:07 Honourable Mentions

Destiny/Destiny 2

Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Risk of Rain Returns

44:47 Top 10

Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters

Vagrant Story

ICO

Silent Hill 2

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

Mass Effect

The King of Fighters XIII

Spec Ops: The Line

Persona V Royal

Hades

1:11:20 SHOUT: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare)

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a strange and unexpected offering, an odd delight amongs a sea of derivative games. Caitlin then reveals her gaming autobiography, her top games of all time.

What We're Playing

02:03 Caitlin: Slay the Spire (Mega Crit, 2019)

06:00 Mark: Pokémon Pinball (HAL Laboratory, 1999)

Tech Dweeb's 10 Must Play Retro Pinball Games: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2X1tC9DjjQ&pp=ygUSdGVjaCBkd2VlYiBwaW5iYWxs

13:15 Feature Game: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Capcom, 2024)

Special Bunraku Performance: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=124HrR-M0iQ

27:19 Caitlin's Top 10 Games of All Time

28:30 Honourable Mentions

Suikoden 

Undertale

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Final Fantasy XVI

33:43 Top 10

Chrono Trigger

Baldur's Gate 3

Hades

Valkyrie Profile

Mass Effect

Shadow of the Colossus

Dragon Age: Origins

Final Fantasy VI

The Witcher 3

Red Dead Redemption 2

SHOUT

58:44 Caitlin: Slay the Spire 2 (Mega Crit)

59:33 Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero)

Quintet released some bangers on the SNES: ActRaiser, Soul Blazer, and Illusion of Gaia. How does their last one--Terranigma--measure up? And how much chill do you want in your journalism? Or, for that matter, your video games? Caitlin and Mark talk about Times & Galaxy.

What We're Playing

01:04 Mark: TMNT: Splintered Fate (Super Evil Megacorp, 2024)

07:30 Caitlin: Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail (Square Enix, 2024)

12:43 GOOF: Terranigma (Quintet, 1995)

26:51 Feature Game: Times & Galaxy (Copychaser Games, 2024)

37:55 Spoilers Begin

42:44 Spoilers End

SHOUT

49:37 Caitlin: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Retro Studios)

51:25 Mark: DNF Duel (Arc System Works)

If you had told us that we would be loving speedrunning in a first-person platformer, i.e. Neon White, we would not have believed you. If you had told us that Caitlin would still be knee-deep in Unicorn Overlord and underimpressed by one of Mark's all-time favourites, we would have easily believed you. 

What We're Playing

03:19 Caitlin: Unicorn Overlord (Vanillaware, 2024)

04:48 Mark: Journey to the Savage Planet (Typhoon Studios, 2020)

GROB commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESsRiSbIuKM&pp=ygUham91cm5leSB0byB0aGUgc2F2YWdlIHBsYW5ldCBncm9i

10:56 GOOF: Prince of Persia (Broderbund, 1989)

24:30 Feature Game: Neon White (Angel Matrix, 2022)

SHOUT

55:17 Caitlin: The Garden Path (carrotcake)

56:36 Mark: Whisker Squadron: Survivor (Flippfly)