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Community Showcase - May 2021 (Patreon)

Published:
2021-04-30 18:29:36
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Things are heating up as people start heading outside again and E3 (yes, E3!) grows closer every day. As if our lives didn't change enough in the last 12 months, they're about to change dramatically once again. It's always refreshing to get your perspective on gaming and personal events around the world, so it's with great anticipation that I (later than I should have) post this Showcase update, ready for all of your wonderful submissions. Ian Hinck will be joining me at 1 PM PT on Monday, May 3rd (in 3 days!). If you missed the monthly cut-off for this, or you know someone who did, or Patreon gobbled up your comment, you can always message us here on Patreon and we'll sort it out on our end.

Thank you for your continued support!

- Brandon

Comments

Alexander Zyryanov

Hello Brandon & Ian. Do you like when video games have bugs? I love it for many reasons. Glitches can give you an inside on how video games actually work. They can introduce fascinating troubleshooting puzzles that will make you feel really smart upon completion. They can personalize your gameplay experience by making some parts much easier or much harder. And if game isn’t that good, entertaining bugs can be the only reason to keep playing. It’s being 8 months, since my last tribute to this marvelous aspect of video games, so, without further ado, here’s a collection bugs from just a few games I've played recently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWvO2GKOeGg

Michelle Jackson

Hello Jones and Ian. Pretty basic game Dev update this month, just exploring some new areas and talking to some characters. I think this is the first time I’ve managed to share gameplay on an Ian month haha. L&R! https://youtu.be/p1feVexqKdI

Happy Gaming

Hello there Ian and Jones, This has been a busy month for us. My girlfriend finally got her second dose of vaccination and we’ve started doing more work to get prepared to move back to our home in Washington State. It’s a process that is extremely nerve-wracking given both the circumstances of the state of the world as well as how intimidating simple things that used to be normal are now. With more people being vaccinated, it was an eye opener to us that things are gradually changing and getting back to a place where things could be more comfortable. Beyond those stresses though, I was finally also able to get my first dosage as well. On the day I signed up to get it, I also received an email from Sony offering an invitation to purchase a PlayStation 5. After jumping at the opportunity, the page crashed when it redirected me in the queue. The support person I got in touch with also had no idea what went wrong. Eventually she gave a last hurrah of advice suggesting I just delete my history, cache, etc, before bouncing from the chat altogether. Lo and behold though, it actually worked, so on the same day I got my first vaccination, I also received my new PlayStation 5 in the mail. It was definitely a jackpot of a day I was able to score after a long period of tumultuousness. Initially I was hoping to have my review of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin done by the showcase this month, but the game is a bit longer than I anticipated, and the showcase crept up. So I put together a review this month for Journey with the three day turnaround. I had a script already mostly written from a while ago that I needed to revise and trim down, and get the rest of the recording process done especially fast, but am still very happy with the results. Expect my review of Sakuna for next month’s showcase. Like always, I’m more than happy for constructive criticism, and hope everyone enjoys the first three minutes of the review. If you’d like to watch the full thing, or check out my other reviews, feel free to check out my Patreon page at Patreon.com/HappyGaming to see more of my work. I hope everyone is staying safe, and are finding things to help keep you all feeling uplifted. Love you all, Brian from Happy Gaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSuPNQ3W9xM

James Davie

Hey Brandon and Ian, First off I’d like to start by addressing the Q&A question I sent in December relating to quotes from George Carlin and Jacque Fresco. I was quite taken aback by the Allies response to the quotes and I never intended for them to come off as incendiary and baiting, I just felt like asking a question that would challenge you guys to think and answer candidly about a topic that’s broad and juicy. I was enlightened by how Ian responded because he challenged the quotes that made me see them in a new way, which is what I appreciate and what I wanted from asking the question. Admittedly I believed strongly in most of those quotes, which may’ve came through as too forceful, but honestly I just wanted your takes because I value your points of view strongly. I’ve always associated Ian with whimsy and flamboyance, so for this month’s showcase I want to impart my own brand of those two things upon y’all. One of my best friends is a Welshman called Scott Jones and over the years I’ve written some truly bizarre fictional stories about him such as one where he makes pizzas that adhere to the kind of prostitutes the character version of himself likes to pick up. Another story called ‘Granny Bingo Bash’ features Scott dressing fancily and dancing his way to a bingo hall where he shows off his dazzling dance moves to a bunch of unsuspecting old ladies, giving one of them a dosy-dough along with shucking and jiving in a scene which I described as ‘entertaining and forgettable as a sprained hip’. Another includes Scott as a superhero of academia, where he delivers university degrees on time to everybody-but on one occasion he had to jump into a pond and rescue a degree from a thieving mallard. I surprise myself with what my brain comes up with at times. I'd like to see an EZA streaming show where once a month one ally sits down and takes in community requests of music or YouTube videos and react to them. I want to ask what are Ian’s favourite Academy Award nominated and winning films? My favourites include Mad Max: Fury Road, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and Goodfellas. Honestly I feel like many of us gravitate towards The Oscars but I think many of us put too much stock into who will win and we expect a result and get salty and agitated if our favourite film doesn’t win. Just like with the Mindful Games series-just breathe in and out…and lower your expectations-it’ll do your mental health a world of good. Lastly I want to say what happens is real but what you think should happen is not real. Thanks for all that you do. Love and respect.

Small Leviathan

Howdy folks! April 20th was my birthday, as it always is, and this year I got something I've wanted for a long time: a wacom tablet. I drew a lot as a kid but stopped when art classes were phased out of my studies, and I thought it was time to give it another go. My disability (which, TL;DR, causes small miscommunications when my brain sends signals related to motor skills to my nervous system) assures that I don't much to show for it yet, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Anyway, I wanna talk about two games I've been playing over the last week, starting with the more well-known one: Monster Hunter Rise. At the time of writing, I just got the first credits roll and I can already tell this is one of my favourite games in the series. I ended up having a lot of small issues with Monster Hunter World that I won't go into because they're not that interesting, and as a result Rise's many successes ended up feeling like a fantastic return to form. Kamura Village is a fantastic setting, and I much prefer the Wirebug and Silkbug system to World's Clutchclaw. Additionally, the new Wyvern Riding system is just stellar, it's so much more cool, rewarding and skillful than the old mounting system while also being far better balanced and integrated into the core combat system, as opposed to just spamming jump attacks for free knockdowns. Rise is excellent, and I sincerely hope it gets to have a long life like World (though preferably without the limited-time events). The other game I wanna talk about is a lot more obscure and smaller in both size and scope, but regardless is something I have not been able to stop thinking about since I beat it: Yuppie Psycho. Yuppie Psycho is a 2D survival horror game about a young man named Brian Pasternack who one day receives an invitation to work at the headquarter's of Sintracorp, the world's largest business, despite having no previous work experience and being vastly unqualified for the job. When he arrives he soon discovers that there is something deeply wrong with the company, and is informed that its woes are caused by a curse, and Brian has been hired to kill the person responsible. To that end Brian has to roam the offices, digging up both clues as to the identity of his quarry and tools with which to survive the hellish conditions of the workplace. Yuppie Psycho leans into its office theme for surreal and horrifying effect, and I often found myself thinking "I can't believe I'm seeing this" as I ran into (and from) some truly bizarre and terrifying situations and creatures. It's a truly intriguing game full of secrets, and I can't wait to jump right back in to see what more it has in store for me. Also, you save the game by photocopying your soul. Love and Respect, Small Leviathan

Brandon K Gann

I gave myself two months to replay every Ratchet & Clank before getting Rift Apart (sans the truly atrocious games: Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank, and Full Frontal Assault), but quintuple New Game+ on most (plus some being REALLY short), instead took just over three weeks. So, here’s my tiered ranking except for the awful ones: BAD: All 4 One (2011 – PS3): A bizarre experiment with terrible story, it’s built to be four-player co-op, but is playable solo with irritating companion A.I. It also plays unlike any of the others as the right stick isn’t the camera, but the weapon wheel. DECENT: Quest For Booty (2008 – PS3), Deadlocked (2005 – PS2), and Into the Nexus (2013 – PS3): QFB is the lone digital-only entry and bridges the two “proper” PS3 titles, but despite liking robot pirates, it’s EXTREMELY limited with ONLY seven barely upgradeable weapons and you can 100% it in three hours. Deadlocked is more than twice as long with a mission structure, taking two to five minutes per mission and New Game+ helps. ITN was a welcome return after A4O and FFA, with world exploration and a decent number of weapons, though not as deep as “regular” R&C’s. GOOD: Up Your Arsenal (2004 – PS2) and Going Commando (2003 – PS2): UYA is the third game and GC’s sequel, both iterating what came before. Of the two, I prefer GC’s worlds, weapons, and story. While UYA introduces Dr. Nefarious, GC has Angela Cross, a Lombax who is oddly never referenced again. But both games (and A Crack in Time) have the coolest area of the franchise: The Insomniac Museum, a 3D representation of Insomniac’s offices of the time, holding cut content, developer messages, and creatable effects and puzzles. They’re only unlockable by either doing and finding almost everything, or going to a very specific spot between 3 to 4 a.m. (because “Insomniacs…”). GREAT: R&C: Future: A Crack in Time (2009 – PS3) and Ratchet & Clank (2002 – PS2) Many pick A.C.I.T. as their favorite for good reasons: Diverse weapons, gameplay variety, unique worlds, stellar story, and one of the best-looking R&C’s. While all true, I like the first R&C more because of the worlds and story despite it not surpassing in any other metric, especially being the clunkiest to play and Ratchet is a JERK. EXCELLENT: Ratchet & Clank (2016 – PS4) and R&C Future: Tools of Destruction (2007 – PS3) I love everything in both: They look and play amazingly, weapons are the most interesting, and I’ve rarely had tech issues. Initially, I preferred the reboot, but this replay made me appreciate ToD more; the world selection is the best, the story incorporating both the robot pirates and Ratchet’s origin is the most enjoyable, and choices in the reboot hold it back. For example: Some of the best worlds from the original didn’t make the cut, the main villain from 2002 is transformed from intimidating to annoying, and the difference between the theatrical movie cinematics and the in-game cutscenes is noticeable and unnecessary.

César Villa

Hello Ian & Jones! I already abused the podcast to share my wife’s story with the PS5, so I’ll continue it here. Cliffs Notes for Ian. Back in November, after the wife watched Blood’s unboxing video of the PS5 she said she’d wait for the slim version, but a couple of weeks ago, the first time we actually saw it on stock she told me to get one without any hesitation. The PS5 arrived and just after watching the box her words were “wow, that thing really is huge! Why didn’t you stopped me from buying this gigantic thing?” One can never win, because I did remind her words to her that “she’d wait for the slim version” before buying and gave her plenty of opportunities to back off, but she didn’t listen. Anyway, we have a PS5 now and have been enjoying Astro bot quite a bit. Moving on, after Nintendo killed Super Mario Bros. 35 on April 1st, I went back to Resident Evil 4, and while I beat it 4 times during its time in the console, I still wanted more. That game is so good! I believe Ian was the guest in this show when I mentioned that I love the wii version because it was like having 2 games in one because of the control schemes. You can play with the classic controller for the original laser sight, or you can plug a nunchuck to the wiimote and almost have an “easy mode” because of how smooth it is to aim with the wiimote. I decided I would beat the game in both the normal and professional difficulty with both control schemes to prove my “easy mode” point, and my results were not as conclusive as I thought they would be. On normal I got killed 18 times with the classic controller and 24 with the wiimote, something I was not expecting. However on professional the point was more than proven because I got 199 deaths with the classic, vs only 78 with the wiimote. During these recent playthroughs I thought of a few challenges that could fit “Achieve it yourself” nicely, now I’ll have to wait for the season 4 challenge gathering post and convince Damiani that those are good; and hopefully I won’t torture Ben this time around. (Check Season 2 ep. 5 & Season 3 ep. 2 for context on that). And finally, thanks for setting up the “Patriot party”, Ian. It was a jolly experiment and one that worked way better than I expected. I hope you guys continue doing stuff like that, either continue watching “Patriot” or anything else. I nominate “The sound of Metal” because Huber has been hyping it up since it launched and recently it got all that Oscar buzz. That’s it for this month. Stay safe and healthy, allies. Estamos en contact, César.

Nathan Codiroli

Hello allies! In honor of finally receiving the vaccine I pay homage to my favorite doctor this month. 30 colors, 6,750 beads https://photos.app.goo.gl/qKSH88SynBoTive48 An additional note on Dr. Mario, level 20 is the highest level you can select in the menu, but if you beat that level it goes to level 21, with consecutive victories taking you to level 22, 23, 24, where it tops out. You will repeat level 24 until you lose. How do I know this? Because my mom is the greatest Dr. Mario player on earth. She tracks her wins on paper, with her record being level 56, or 36 consecutive victories on the highest level, on the highest speed, when she had to stop to make family dinner. And, unbeknownst to me until we were well beyond the "meet the parents" stage, I discovered that my now wife of ten years is nearly as good! Her record is in the 40s. I've heard that sons marry women that remind them of their mom, but I didn't see that one coming!

JessieBlu

Hello Jones, Ian, and Chat, Greetings from the Midwest! First, I want to apologize to you, Ian, for my Q&A submission. I know it was not actually a question but in my defense I was suffering through another migraine brought on by my second Covid vaccine shot and could only think of how much I love you all. And that I needed a hug. One way I would distract myself during the sharpest pains was mentally crafting a “return to the studio” video. Now, I’m not trying to pressure you AT ALL! Whether you do or don’t make one matters not, as the one I have below is the "perfect" idea in my head. Feel free to use or not use it, either way I have already “filmed and cut it” in my mind, but let me set it up for you… [Interior EZA Studio] Jones sits at the desk with a laptop. We hear sounds of someone entering the front door and climbing the stairs. Jones perks his head up, grabs a mask and a white card (the size of a vaccination card with obscured writing on it) and heads down the hall where he meets Ian at the top of the stairs, bag over one shoulder, mask on as well. Jones, now wearing the mask, holds up the white card by his face, eyes look expectantly. Ian holds a card up, eyes smiling. They embrace and start back down the hall. Ian enters the Control Room. Jones, about to head back into the Studio hears more feet on the stairs. His eyes light up and he rushes back to meet Bloodworth, Scene repeats with Jones holding up the card then Blood holding one up, embrace and Blood heads down the hall to the Library where he begins taking cables, controllers and games (etc) out of a bag. More feet on the stairs. Cut to Damiani holding up a white card, Jones lowers a card and they embrace. Damiani heads to the Streaming Room. He lovingly touches the “salad mic” and sits down in the chair. More feet on the stairs. Cut to white cards flashing, an embrace when the two pull apart we see its Don. He then heads to the Office. Next on the stairs is Brad. Cards, embrace, and Brad heads into the Greenroom. Puts a 6pack of Red Bull into the fridge, grabs a Coke. Brad sits in a chair and we hear the “Crisp Crack Clip”. Next we hear quick feet on the stairs. Jones holding up the card at the top gets shoved aside by Ben who says only “long commute” or “long car ride” (whichever he is more comfortable saying) and he rushes off-cam and into the Bathroom. We see only the door as it’s shut and the “Research” sign. (pardon my “bathroom humor” but its how I get every Ally in a different room, key for the next scene.) One last time, we hear feet on the stairs. Montage of each Ally looking up from what they’re doing in their respective rooms, some with confusion and some with excitement in their eyes. Closeup on Hubers face mask on, card held up he shouts “Allies Assemble!” All the Allies stand halfway out of the doorways of the rooms they were in. Jones is the closest because he already left the Studio to go to the stairs, hugs Huber first. As he proceeds down the hall he hugs each Ally in turn, by the rooms they left. Jones and the Allies Huber has already hugged, form a cluster behind him and Blood ends up on the other end of the group, so it ends in a big group-hug in the hall by the Streaming room with Bloods arms around one end of the group and Jones arms around the other end and Huber in the middle. After a second or two, Blood says, “Alright, enough of that. We’ve got work to do.” Jones says “He’s right. Let’s play some games.” Huber (and any Ally still wearing one) whips off his mask and tosses it in the air as the music from the end of the Original “Allies Assemble.” video plays. Anyway, thanks again for helping to keep me sane. I appreciate you continuing to give us a peek into your lives. Much Love and respect Jessie Blu

Eric Jackson

Hey there Brandon and Ian, I'm writing this just before the deadline as always. For this month I wanted to submit another piece of semi-crunchy VO in the form of a short story of my own. It was conceived last month, written on saturday, then recorded on sunday. I'm not as proud of it as I would like, but I'm happy and content enough given the labor I put into it in between planning for sunday night DnD. The levels are all over the place and the character work isn't great, but I'm happy to share it all the same with people I know will appreciate the subject matter. Love and Respect, Eric aka JacksOnDeck in twitch chat https://soundcloud.com/user-914390028/the-fall-of-old-yharnam --------------- (To be read after the audio.) P.S. Watch Box Peek

Keanu La'a

Hey Jones and Ian, I've been playing music for about twenty years now (ever since I was a kid), but I've never really tried my hand at writing songs much, or recording and producing my own music. I'm still dipping my toe in the water, but thanks to a bunch of influences - including one Ian Hinck - I've been trying my hand at recording music I compose. What follows is something I hope to do for every ally eventually, but no promises on any regularity - I wanted to imagine every Ally as an NPC in an RPG-style video game. They offer services or run shops for the player. And I wanted to write the music for every ally's shop. This is my entry for the mysterious drifter, only known by the name Jones. Jones can be found in the saloon at his usual table, sipping a cup of tall, dark, steaming brew. His loyal steed Sophie sits beneath the table, eyes locked on any stranger approaching her master. Word is, Jones used to be an expert ranger and tracker, and that for the right price he'll find anything for you - towers, collectibles, enemy locations, dungeon entrances - you name it. Anyways, I hope the both of you like it, it's very amateur because I'm still learning my way around synths and production techniques, but I tried my best. Ian I already have something I'm playing around with, so I hope I've improved by the next time you join the showcase. Thanks for the inspiration you guys, L+R. https://soundcloud.com/keanu-valen/the-mysterious-drifters-table Keanu La'a (aka Fleetw00d in Twitch Chat)

Jeremy Waltman

Hello Allies, You had kind words to say about the Weatherworn proof of concept trailer last year, and now the game is up and running. Weatherworn is an all-ages adventure about the young Pup and their grandfather Pap stranded on a dangerous world. It's a story-driven retro RPG, with a modern pace, about the seasons of life. New Trailer: https://vimeo.com/428911970 Pap is voiced by Dave Pettitt! You may know him as Master Asia from Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Sludge from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and the Narrator of Valiant Hearts video game. Pap & Pup are heading to Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1486180/Weatherworn_The_Adventure_of_Pap__Pup/?beta=1 More to come! L&R Jeremy

Sage_Mode_Q

Hey Brandon and Ian , like I’m guessing a lot of people will be saying in the showcase this month I am now fully vaccinated and am actually returning to work next week. I’m a manager at a movie theater here in Seattle and I’m pretty nervous about it. Not about doing the job but just having to deal with the public again, particularly people complaining about COVID policies. I have a very short fuse when it comes to those type of people so I’m just afraid about blowing up on some Karen my first or second day back who doesn’t wanna wear a mask. I live and take care of my father who is 70 years old and is a cancer survivor so his immune system is very compromised and I’m very protective of him so that’s why I really hate people who don’t take this COVID thing seriously. My one saving grace from all that stress is that after a couple months of slow game releases we are getting into a giant wave of AAA games coming out here all around the same time. Seriously with Nier, Returnal, RE Village, the Mass effect collection, and Ratchet all coming out how am I supposed to make time to play all these 😅. How do you and Ian go about making the decisions of what to play and prioritize when there’s a giant influx of games? Also wanted to quickly add that I planned on being in the shout out Tier for longer but due to some complications with me returning to work and my unemployment situation I wasn’t able to make that financial commitment and I know you hate when patrons say they’re sorry for changing their tiers but I just have to say it. Thanks for everything you guys do and mark my words this is the not the last time you have seen Sage mode Q in the shout out Tier at EZA! Eternal Love and Respect.

FromTheVoid

Hello Jones and Ian, For this community showcase I will send yet another bunch of obscure mario characters your way! This time its gonna be numbers 17, 16 and 15. I will just keep sending these to satisfy the need for Obscure Mario lore I know you all have. You can check the full video and a lot more on FromTheVoid Games channel on Youtube. Thanks, L&R FromTheVoid a.k.a. Arthur Henrique Chinaglia https://youtu.be/O53AmUjLDl0

R.F. Switch

Greetings Jones and Ian, For the past two months I’ve been heartbroken and depressed, put in a situation that caused myself and the other person involved to be hurt, and the only way to fix it is to do something I’m uncomfortable with: Talking about myself and speaking from the heart. As a person who has gone through decades of abuse from family, friends, and romantic partners, this is the hardest thing for me to do. I’m much better talking through Themis and her friends (and enemies). So, in order to help myself do better at this, I’m going to spend the next three minutes talking about myself a bit, specifically about what inspired Themis the Catgirl in the first place. Thank you all for allowing me this tiny space, I hope you enjoy it. Love and Respect, R.F. Switch P.S. I’ll be fully vaccinated this upcoming Monday, you should be too. (obviously, link below)

Anonymous

Hello Jones and Ian, Exciting news for my team and I at Wimpy Imp Games since we just launched To Hell With It on April 28th. Since Ian has not seen the game before I’ll repeat the games razor pitch to give him some context. To Hell With It is a 3rd person hack-n-slash game where you play as Aella; who finds herself battling through Hell's more obscure realms in a "down the rabbit hole" style adventure to retrieve her stolen cat. I included our games launch trailer which will show you parts for all three of our levels with a variety of cool combat clips. I am very happy with how the last month of development went and I personally think we launched a very cool product. The game is up on Steam for free and I would love for people in the Easy Allies community to check out the game and let us know what they think. Working on this game has been an amazing experience where I got to work with 18 extremely talented individuals for the past 7 months. I also wanted to give a quick shout-out to one of my other team members, Anthony Posseli, who I learned recently is also an Easy Allies fan. He recently added Ray Tracing and DLSS support to our game which I think is pretty neat considering the game is free. Our team can’t confirm if we are the only free game out there that supports Ray Tracing and DLSS but we know for sure there aren’t many. I would also like to thank everyone who has watched the community showcase the past two months that left us many positive comments in the Twitch chat. Seeing people get excited about something you’re working very hard on is always a really rewarding feeling and I hope we hear from some people in the Easy Allies community after they check out the game. For anyone who wants to keep up to date with the game they can follow us @WimpyImpGames on Twitter. Love & Respect, Eric Waugh Link to the launch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNWnVeZFRlg

Adam Hentschel

Hey Brandon and Ian! Unfortunately, we are without video this month as it’s been a little hectic balancing projects and work but I did manage to finish a rendition of a song by the name of “Ryland”, originally written by one of my favorite modern jazz guitarists, Julian Lage. Since this composition takes some inspiration from the blues as well as classic gospel harmony, my goal was to lean into those influences and create something a little more raw and emotive, both on the softer and louder ends of the spectrum. Thanks as always for hanging out with these submissions and I hope you enjoy this take on Julian Lage’s “Ryland”. Have a great May! Adam (Just for pronunciation’s sake, Julian’s last name is pronounced as “Laazh”, in the same vein as garage. Also, I’m aware it’s over the limit so feel free to cut it off whenever.) https://soundcloud.com/adam-hentschel/ryland

Ciaran Lyttle

Hi Jones and Ian! Remember how weird Death Stranding seemed when we first seen it, and the concept of everyone stuck in their home getting things delivered to them wasn't actual reality? Anyway, those original trailers were some of the best ever, and the music was a huge part of that. My girlfriend Sam joins me on this cover of Asylums for the Feeling from the original trailer, p.s. she's never sang for other people before, and I only convinced her to let me submit this because this community is always so love and respect. P.S Sam is a frequent viewer of reaction shots and wanted me to tell Ian that she listened to his reccomendation and finally watched Melancholia. Her review was "beautiful movie, but why did I watch this during a pandemic? Existential. Crisis." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEMUXKa9P7s Love and Respect Ciaran & Sam (P.S apologies if this has any copyright issues as it's a cover of liscenced music, hope this os ok. We're also over the time limit, please feel free to cut us off when appropriate)

lc

Hi Brandon, Hi Ian, Hope your Mays are off to a May-ghty good start. For this community showcase, I just wanted to showcase appreciation for stuff you’ve both done that’s had a positive impact on my life. Brandon, your Mindful Games series expanded the way I approach gaming. I’ve tried practicing sitting still with my thoughts and focusing on the environment around me before, but for whatever reason I hadn’t been consciously applying the practice to video games. I guess I’ve spent too much time focused on completing tasks as prompted by the game and not enough time appreciating the spaces the developers created to complete them in. Your insightful videos, and your guided meditations in particular, helped me to remember to slow down and take things in, and that for some games (for me, Breath of the Wild in particular), the mark of greatness isn’t just how much fun you have playing it, but how much fun you have when you set the controller down for a minute or two. Thank you for creating a series that helped me to realize that. Ian, you are a mad genius - emphasis on “mad”. I watched all ten minutes and twenty-nine seconds of your “Why Does This Make You Mad?” video. Coincidentally, it popped into my YouTube feed at a time when I was feeling down and frustrated myself. I can’t remember what “this” was for me at the time, so I’m not sure why it made me mad. What I do remember was that your video gave me a chance to sit with the question, and to give myself a chance to calm down and assess things with a clearer mind. (I then proceeded to bing watch all of your “Opinion Yell” videos for a good chuckle - and no, they did not make me mad.) I still think about that video, and that question, whenever I need to get myself out of a rut of negative thinking. Thank you for each of the ten minutes and twenty-nine seconds you spent asking it. Looking forward to your future content - it’s already made the world a much better place! Love & Respect, levelcapybara

Parasitepaladin

Hello Jones and Ian! Your friendly neighborhood wrestling fan here. Back from spending a bunch of money like I usually do. Found myself two photobooks of my favorite professional wrestler in Stardom and in general, Tam Nakano(Na-ka-no), and I just had to buy up ASAP since they are so hard to find. One even came with a cheki, which is a signed polaroid! Also grabbed a keychain of hers, so that is exciting. I have another photobook of her three person group, so my collection is slowly growing nicely. Purchased a signed and framed small picture, so that will get here whenever they are ready to ship out. Haven’t bought it yet, but will probably also buy a signed handprint/picture combo as well. Would like to have a nice little shelf filled with her merch at some point! Also I bought (if it is still available by the time the proxy service gets to it) a t-shirt and photobook for my second favorite wrestling in Stardom, Syuri. She is only my second favorite, I will be MUCH more conservative about spending money on her merch. And lastly I purchased an older music CD of some wrestlers theme songs, which is quite fun. I do love merch, and I feel like I am being slowly accepted into the Stadom subreddit since I make a post whenever a cool item goes on sale in the Stardom store. I want to spread that sweet merch hype. On the gaming side, somewhat recently I have played and beat River City Girls and Kirby Star Allies. Both fun in their own ways. Currently playing through Xenoblade Chronicles on Switch, and slowly reading my way through the visual novel House of Fata Morgana on PS4. Which I gotta say, is very dark. Lots of bad stuff happens in that game. Lots of triggering things in the game, but if that isn’t an issue for you, I’d recommend it to anybody who enjoys Visual Novels. The news of the older Playstation stores spooked me REAL good. So I panicked and bought a bunch of Playstation Classics. About $230 worth. WHICH ARE: Games I’ve already played/own and want easy access to on my PS3: Legend of Dragoon Wild Arms 1, 2 Pac-Man World Threads of Fate Parasite Eve 1, 2 Chrono Cross Games I haven’t played before or are way too costly to buy physical: Alundra Arc the Lad 1, 2, 3 Arc Areana: Monster Tournament Jumping Flash 1, 2 Echo Night Suikoden 2 Final Fantasy Tactics Classics I bought off the Japanese store: LSD: Dream Emulator Gunner's Heaven Panzer Bandit Ray Tracers Ehrgeiz (Which was an accident, I wanted Einhänder) The Adventure of Little Ralph I.Q. Intelligent Qube Rakugaki Showtime Gaia Seed I’m set on games for the next year! Which is good, since I should slow down with all the spending. And please check out Rakugaki Showtime! It is wild and would make a great group stream game. Love & Respect, Parasitepaladin

Samo Rozman

Aloha Brandon and Ian, May is my birthday month and my present this year is to be fully vaccinated by months end, so I can finally get out of the house on a regular basis. Also getting to watch Bad Batch is really good too. At the start of 2020, I shared a few Haiku's with you, with a promise that more poetry would be forthcoming. With last year being what it was, I worked on a few pieces off and on and have a completed poem for you, in addition to a bonus one from my younger, more introspective days. More in the works for later. (Document password is: EZA) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yzWeKZ6MDZDHjJzGWxaX0nnovA44zu84?usp=sharing With tomorrow being Star Wars Day and Disney parks finally starting to open up more, I would also like to share a slideshow video I put together from my 2014 trip to Walt Disney World for the first Star Wars Weekends after the acquisition by Disney. It was only my third trip to the park after first going in the 90s with my dad, just after Blizzard Beach opened, then once again in the early 2000s. Hopefully I'll get to go again soon. (The Star Wars-esque BGM is open license so don't worry about a copyright strike) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utGk4wNXrso As always Mahalo nui loa for everything you do, and May the Fourth be with you all, L & R, Samo Rozman @Namzor

AshesOfAranea

Hi Ian and Brandon, First of all some stuff that i think Ian and chat would want to know: The Insect Glaive got buffed a lot in MHRise, now all the aerial combos are doing basically the same damage as the ground ones, so finally anyone who agreed that Aerial IG is super fun (Basically everyone lets be real) can play the weapon the way they wanted from the start. They also added a new mechanic where your damage ramps up as you keep yourself doing flying combos, more about that in this video i am linking here for anyone interested to watch later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSCV7CttjTk Also sorry Ian, idk if you even remember us talking, but i kinda feel responsible for telling you about the lack of damage Aerial IG had in world, can't shake the feeling that i might have helped shake you off your favorite weapon. Really glad you enjoy Hunting Horn though, just wanted to bring this stuff up so you knew that Aerial IG isn't dead. Alright now lets get into it: This month i finished my latest journey through dragons dogma normal and hard mode, wiped the floor with all the bosses and got to level infinity. Since i don't want to spoil the end game for you Jones i'm just gonna kill that drake that wiped 2 hours of progress from the Dragons Dogma stream a few times. Bit of a bummer, had to take the song out of the video cause content id. I will leave in both videos links here, i appreciate anyone who could take the time later to watch the original. Trans Rights are Human Rights, Love & Respect. songless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3fKJwbQ6Jk songful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rv1DMHfsXU

Trung Nguyen

Hi Brandon and Ian. I have trouble playing RE4 because the controls are so different from what I'm currently familiar with. Ever feel that way? Bought a new TV but my PC decided to die on me at the sane time so I'm typing on my phone and it sucks. I intended to replace it anyway but all the stuff accumulated throughout a decade is stuck in there. Hope I can extract them easily from there at some point. And I've been on spending spree lately (a bicycle, a vaccuum cleaner, a TV) so timing is bad for it to happen. It is what it is I guess. Hope your month started off well. Thanks for the emotional playthrough EZ Update Ian. I felt it. And thanks Brandon for "It Takes Two" co-op. Think it's my favorite playthrough from either you or/and Blood. So good. L&R TearjuEngi Drawings: https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1380733959986905089?s=19 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1383375710182461440?s=19 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1386767742368366592?s=19 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1386913702826418179?s=19 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1387125142673833988?s=19

Asbo Zappruder

Good afternoon Allies, I hope you’re doing well. As I write this, I’m currently between doses of the Pfizer vaccine and I’ve been thinking a lot about how to wrap my head around this past year. This is something that we’ll be telling future generations about. It feels important to step back and think of something meaningful to tell them about how we got through this strange, extraordinary time. This, of course, leads us to Animal Crossing! Here’s what’s been happening on the island of Poppleton. 1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LOfPNr_d1pHQIJ-o-ajhuEjkb26J43aw/view?usp=sharing A dream came true for me when I was invited to appear on Poppleton’s favorite panel show: Errand Overlord. 2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EBEf3Eqkcy4YkCs_WGBvMM8DaV9wb3Bq/view?usp=sharing Thing started off well in the first challenge, where we were told to bring in the Puffiest Item. I and my pufferfish came in first place. 3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gqph3K8TOyYjtEXf_40Dbz0TmWQpalfI/view?usp=sharing But I knew I had stiff competition when I saw Patty’s entry for the Make the Best Thing Out of a Pumpkin challenge. 4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lCKMAxiZ8CeTp6xw-J1duH3zgBAS5DWU/view?usp=sharing I did pretty good in the Camouflage Yourself in a Room challenge. 5. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sbG-gnnssdUC1a0gHcgEC9OeNpAYq5pf/view?usp=sharing But Patty aced the Make a Music Video Version for a Nursery Rhyme challenge. It all came down to the final challenge: Throw an Orange Into the Bucket Without Touching the Rug. I was so happy when I won! 6. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l2r4t0O47ll7OJQe1Mi1tjnXKaQdOHbQ/view?usp=sharing But the video review revealed something shocking! 7. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G-1BvKgfzwuvERP8ykZklDhdZHngjTdM/view?usp=sharing I was disqualified. But, to both of our surprises, Patty didn’t win either. 8. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JftcsBsKjAuC5SAXo7XJLtqTD2Rwz1Z-/view?usp=sharing In the end, it was Frobert who had the most points and was declared the winner. Even though I didn’t win, I had a lot of fun and was so glad I was asked to appear. 9. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_AKafhN1PmwuQB4-E0hMjVBcMAig1dip/view?usp=sharing And I have pretty high hopes for my upcoming appearance on Anagrams and Math. Anyway, that was April. I’m almost positive May will be much calmer. Until then, Asbo Zappruder / screaming_argonaut

Kévin Gillet

Hello Brandon and Ian! For the second time in the showcase, here’s an original piece of music from that project where I created a fantasy world to contextualize the music I write as themes for places, characters, events from a shared universe. Last time, many months ago, I shared a Japanese-inspired theme that represented a magic spell from my people of Air. Now, after way too long, I finally did another piece for that project, and it’s a reinterpretation of the main theme, but for the Fifth Age of this world, when it becomes closer to sci-fi than fantasy. Which is basically my excuse to ditch the orchestral style for… SYNTHS. And no, I don’t have Ian’s treasure trove of sonic contraptions, so this is just made using KORG Gadget for the Switch (it’s back!) and some help from my Yamaha MOXF8 keyboard. Stay safe, stay strong, be kind! Love & Respect, Kévin Gillet Link to the music: https://youtu.be/JNwtHHktG2Q

Morgan Mohalla

Mr. Jones, and Hink, I think this may be my last showcase as a patron. It has been a blast but I am moving across the country to go to medical school. Sadly, I know I wont have the time I used to have for community participation. Mr. Jones, it really has been an honor and it goes without saying, but you are the best in the bizz. Always personable, respectful and considerate to the community....thank you. Ian- though I frequently disagree with you idiologically, I cant help but love and respect you and your work. You are genuine, unfiltered, reasonable and extremely creative. It is sad to hear that folks online give you such a hard time because you clearly pour your heart and soul into your work. I hope you can keep up the great work and be the better person by not losing faith in your fellow man even if they don't treat you as well as you deserve. If you will both indulge me, is there anything you recall about this ol patron that left an impact? (If you will really indulge me, below is what I tried to post last month for Brandon to read) Love and Respect to all of the all of the allies and community and hopefully I will return sooner than later. “For a number of years now, work has been proceeding in order to bring perfection to the crudely conceived idea of a transmission that would not only supply inverse reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, but would also be capable of automatically synchronizing cardinal grammeters. Such an instrument is the turbo encabulator. Now basically the only new principle involved is that instead of power being generated by the relative motion of conductors and fluxes, it is produced by the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive diractance. The original machine had a base plate of pre-famulated amulite surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a direct line with the panametric fan. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzlevanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented. The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semi-boloid slots of the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremie pipe to the differential girdle spring on the “up” end of the grammeters. The turbo-encabulator has now reached a high level of development, and it’s being successfully used in the operation of novertrunnions. Moreover, whenever a forescent skor motion is required, it may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration.”

Nextgenheff

Hey Ian and Jones, No Crusader kings update this month, due to monster hunter. I have played a lot of monster hunter rise with the new update. But, I have put more time into monster hunter stories on IOS. I was already interested in stories because stories 2 has looked so good. I pre ordered the collectors edition the night it was released. Then I saw the first one was on sale for $5 and said why not. Man I can’t believe I haven't played this sooner. First off it runs pretty good on mobile. While its not some graphical masterpiece its good enough. The only real issue is a lot of pop in, but that doesnt bug me that much. The story is pretty basic, but it drags you around a world that is really fun to explore. The foundation of the turned based combat is really simple and built around a literal Rock Paper Scissors mechanic. While it can seem random if you chose correctly each round of combat, certain monsters use at the most only two of the three options, and you can start to predict what they will do and how you should counter. After each fight you still get materials from the monsters and can forge new weapons and armor like the core games. While there are only four hunter weapon types in the game, they are really fleshed out and you continuously earn new skills for each type throughout the game. Finally, there are your monsties, “monster buddies”. Not every monster has a monstie version, but the majority of large monsters do. To get new monsties you have to go into monster dens and steal their eggs, which when you start to really think about it might be worse than hunters just going out and killing monsters, as you can train these monsties to help you “defeat” other monsters of its own species. The system for skills and abilities in place is yet another simple system on the surface like combat, but is even more complex when you start to delve into what you can do to strengthen your monsties. All of this makes me really excited for the switch sequel to see how they improve upon the features that already have a nice foundation . Just the fact that they announced they are adding two more weapon types makes me excited, on top of the fact I cannot wait to steal and hatch my favorite new monsters that were added in monster hunter world. If you can get a monstie of Nergigante and use his dive bomb move yourself… well, we will be talking about a game with real GOTY potential. Hope you guys had a good April and even better May, L&R Nextgenheff

Ben Fitter

Hey Ian and Jones! So, I had actually started preparing this song a few months ago for the next time Ian was on, but luckily it took a few months to rotate back around to his turn, so a couple fortunate things happened in the mean time. I was originally just gonna do a piano rendition, but thanks to Twitch chat I was able to team up with the one and only Ciaran Lyttle (MrConeman), who contributed more than I could have ever expected and even brought in his friend to provide vocals. Then in March, almost like fate, it just so happened that Jones serendipitously started a playthrough of this very game! Hopefully you both enjoy! https://youtu.be/XOe0_yYSvGA L&R - Ben F.

Beau

Hey Allies, Another ally last month commented about using anime as a good motivator for exercise. Unfortunately I forgot the ally's name but, I 100% agree! I was 165 pounds last year, when I started Watching Hajime No Ippo (Boxing Anime). It got me motivated to start weight lifting, for the first time. Then I Started watching Haikyuu (Vollyball Anime) and Run With the Wind ( Long distance Running Anime), which got me back into running. Now I'm at 128 pounds. You don't need Anime to get fit, but a good motivation can really help. Anyway, this month I'm sharing another devlog. L&R. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOY0gmuWVcA&list=PLTGR_gTQ0GUg8F02_Jd1ky0TIYzsPBz56&index=2

robert7lee

Greeting from England Brandon and Ian, This is a lazy submission as I’m trying to get through Assassins Creed Valhalla before Resident Evil Village is out and it’s taking up all my free time. I was working on putting together clips of my most funniest and memorable moments from Easy Allies for your anniversary but only had time for this one. This 3 minute clip out doesn’t do justice to how hilarious this segment is, this also sent me down a deep rabbit hole. I have included the link to the full podcast on this submission, it's brilliant. I wonder if you guys remember it. Community Showcase Submission https://youtu.be/rKzZtzGayxk Link to the full podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxJgHgacQ10 Love and Respect Robert Lee

Jason A. Sackel

This year, I have been a bit more responsible when it comes to putting money towards games. Is it a game I need to play right away? Is there a story that I am invested in to which I feel it would be hard to dodge spoilers? If I don't purchase it, will I feel like I am missing out? Well, I ended up making my first video game purchase of the year. I am of course talking about, Picross S6. Love it. Nothing negative to say about it. It's just great. I was debating about Monster Hunter Rise, given how much loved World. Something just wasn't clicking for me when I gave the demo a shot. The other game I debated was NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... as I had enjoyed playing NieR: Automata. After giving it some thought, I couldn't really recall any of the story from Automata so I questioned how invested I was to dive into Replicant ver.1.22474487139... straight away. I feel like I can just wait for it to go on sale before diving in, perhaps towards the end of the year. So yes, I fully intend to check out Replicant ver.1.22474487139... one day. Looking ahead, I do plan to pick up Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on launch. Not because of any affinity for the series, although I do enjoy those games. I feel like that game is still hiding things that may blow me away from a technical standpoint, and don't need a random gif via scrolling through Twitter to spoil it. It also simply looks fun. Although, I think the most exciting thing about the game is something that doesn't have any personal impact on me or a feature that I'll use at all. The accessibility options. It is also nice to not just see them being added, but given the spotlight as well. I hope they finally start to become a standard. That's all for gaming really. Watched some shows, like the MCU ones on Disney+. I really enjoyed the first few episodes of Wandavision. I just felt like it took a dive once they got to doing some of the explaining what was going on. I did enjoy Falcon and the Winter Soldier more than I thought I would. Also, Taskmaster continues to always be good fun. I do sometimes spiral down YouTube just looking up clips from comedians I get introduced to in that show. Usually clips from 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown or Would I Lie to You? I would also check out more things on HBO MAX, but that app runs like garbage, for me at least. I don't have any issue with watching anything on any other streaming service. Got through those Disney+ shows easy; Lupin and Queen's Gambit on Netflix, no problem. Movies too, no issues. I have zero confidence when it comes to watching anything on HBO MAX. On the plus side, it helps limit down options when deciding what to watch with dinner.

Nik Gothic

Hello everyone, here is my last part in my trilogy of videos, detailing my 20 favourite games. I regret to say this last one goes for 10 seconds past the limit because truncating the script is so difficult, although collectively, all three videos have a length of 8:22. So maybe by virtue of that I can get a free pass? If Brandon lets it slide, I won't tell anyone that he gave us short notice for this month's showcase (haha). I'm kidding of course, and I appreciate Brandon's dutifulness as a parent, and I know handling work time must not be easy at all, so I'm giving my proverbial cheers to you. Here it is! https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9oqrck9t09kn1r/Top%2007-01.mp4?dl=0 Youtube: https://youtu.be/v5gkrTwI2ZU And because Huber asked for it, I made a compilation featuring all three videos available for download. And so for everyone who's missed out and would like to see the whole thing, you can find the link over on the post on Patreon(if it's still there), or just come and ask me about it on Twitter. This has been fun making and I give thanks to the Easy Allies for giving me this space to express myself and steer my thoughts away from my loneliness. I'll see you next time. Compilation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g0h0c2ztfp1dgoj/Nik%20Gothic%27s%20top%2020%20video%20games.mp4?dl=0 YT: https://youtu.be/4D1Iing7neQ Nik Gothic (@Clownboss)

John Wingate

Wingatakus here Hey Brandon and Ian hope you guys are doing well. I hope you and the allies can check out my youtube channel GamePlayDismay sometime we do anime reviews movie reviews and currently playing Nioh 2 destiny 2 and Souls games. Also on twitch same name. Ian check out Roisin Machine the new album from Roisin Murphy its def one my top 5 albums of 2020 idk think you might like it. Anyway here's me killing a boss in Nioh 2. PS the wheel soul core is the best. Stay safe and L&R! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FZUbOFkwfo

Joseph Caruso

I'm running out of time to submit something for this month's community showcase so I'll just say a big thank you to Brandon Jones for creating Mindful Games. While mindfulness isn't something I'm personally passionate about, I truly enjoy this series and have shared it with friends and family because I believe it offers something lacking in videogames coverage. It's just so nice to get to experience relaxing visuals and sounds while absorbing some words of wisdom from Brandon or from the highlighted game itself, especially if it's a game I'm almost positive I'll never play, like Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I've come to realize some of my favorite moments from videogames are the relaxing parts. I'm still slowly playing through the second epilogue in Red Dead Redemption 2 and still the game feels like a slog and it's so repetitive, but after yet another seemingly pointless mission, the game will leave the player alone in the wilderness or in the quiet camp. It's the gorgeous graphics in a calm environment, or the simple conversations that I'm actually looking forward to when booting up the game. Jones, you have saved me countless hours of free-time by sharing what would probably be my favorite parts of games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla or Animal Crossing. I know it's a lot to ask, but I hope you do an episode of Mindful Games for Red Dead Redemption 2 someday, although I doubt you need anyone to twist your arm :-) The series has not yet convinced me to actively meditate, but I've been doing some back stretches on a daily basis and it's pretty meditative in that I'm not listening to anything other than the silence in my own home. Stay easy and mindful, fellow allies.

R.F. Switch

Make Mediocre Art With Alarming Frequency