Send us a text

There's always room for more Yakuza, ahem, I mean Like a Dragon, and that's the whole focus of this episode as Buzz and Porter talk about their time with the recently released "Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii" (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega/SEGA of America).

And yeah, it's just a really good game, so if you were looking for about fifty minutes of people really enjoying a video game for a change, then you're in luck. You can also head over to https://www.duncerevolution.com/post/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii-review to read our written review as well.

We avoid any plot relevant spoilers and stick to discussing events that occur within the first few hours of the game, because we're damn decent like that.

We also briefly chat about NetEase laying off the American Marvel Rivals team and wonder if you can ever make a game successful enough to avoid being laid off?

Send us a text

It's another one of those episodes were the ghost of Audio Christmas Past, Present, and Future decide to haunt production, but we soldier on anyway. So, yes it was late, but at least it arrived!

Also, you will hear us talk about Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as if it is still not out when it is in fact already out by the time you hear this, so just be cool about it. In fact, you're guaranteed zero spoilers this way because we stick to only talking about the demo, so look at that, you can listen worry free now. I wouldn't mind a thank you very much for that actually.

But to the meat of the matter - Porter gives us his impression on the recently released Civilization 7, a game which seems to have the fanbase fairly polarized. Meanwhile, Buzz also discusses his time with WARRIORS: Abyss, a game that isn't abysmal, just not very memorable.

I would type more malarkey here to make it look like I am contributing, but I need to go see if I can figure out that new Sigil tool before tomorrow's session.

Send us a text

It's another character class centered episodes as we chat about everybody's favorite goody two shoes: the Paladin. Once again, Buzz sits down with a veteran level and current player in his campaign, Will, to chat about the class Will is actively playing.

But first, we talk a little shop and about the nature of reviews, doing justice to creators vs. being consumer advocates when critiquing a piece of media, and the overall state of the industry lately. If you just want to hear some good old fashioned TTRPG talk, skip to around the 18 minute mark (18:00).

We also find some time to have some very early thoughts about the 2024 Monster Manual, which has a surprising number of excellent updates. Will also returned from a trip to NYC, where he saw not one, but two DND live shows and shares his experiences at the theatre.

I know the more hip generations talk about whether someone has "aura" or not, but I don't think they mean in the way a Paladin does....or do they?

Send us a text

(It's not just a potentially randy joke in the title, it's also a Nosferatu (2024) reference....in fact let's say it was a Nosferatu reference first in case this isn't allowed or something, and any other interpretation wasn't our intent all along. Smoooooth.)

No, but obviously we are discussing Warhorse Studio's "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2" (published by Deep Silver), the sequel in what is now a series of Late Medieval action RPGs with some deeply immersive elements. To be completely at the Renaissance Fair about it, we get a little more critical in this episode as we get into the finer details of the game play. But, we did end up giving it a good score overall.

What's that you say? You weren't aware we were also officially reviewing games now? Well guess what, we are! And you can check out Buzz' written review on our new website, www.duncerevolution.com, if you're more into reading or need to see a numeric score for some reason.

We also briefly talk about the PSN monthly gift game for February 2025 "High on Life" and the "Monster Hunter Wilds" beta, you know, if you happened to be able to play it when the PSN finally came back online this past weekend...

Send us a text

So, to keep it brief, Porter played Mahjong IRL with some middle aged ladies in his neighborhood and he couldn't get enough of it. So then he went home and booted up Yakuza Kiwami to continue to playing the Microsoft Solitaire equivalent of Mahjong. And now he might actually finish Yakuza Kiwami (and it's about time).

But first we start off with something slightly newer: Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (Jump Over the Age, 2024), a fresh take on cyberpunk, resource management, and most of all, dice rolls.

And for no good reason, Buzz played some Dead By Daylight and learned the skill gap is real and that he will probably just stick to watching drag artists stream it on Twitch.

Also, we come to the agreement that Goro Majima is probably the best character in any video game and we cannot wait for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Send us a text

If you couldn't tell by the episode title, Buzz is somewhat excited to have received the latest Nippon Ichi Software SRPG "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero" early. In fact, not even some weird cold symptoms could keep him from mouth-breathing his way through some early impressions.

Meanwhile, Porter shares his experiences with the surprise drop that was Ninja Gaiden 2: Black from Koei Tecmo. And since we let him get away with honestly too much on this podcast, Porter also shares his recommendation for the comic series "Die" (2018-2021, Image Comics). No, but actually it sounds really good.

And because of the previous item, we get sidetracked talking about isekai as a genre and how the deep VRMMO plots could lay off some of their contrivances.

"My life is like a videogame, trying hard" - no it's not. Stop. We got real problems to contend with and serious turmoil on a global scale. Now let's play some D&D...

Send us a text

Will joins the party again as we swap old stories of our time around the table fighting everyone's favorite vampire, Count Strahd von Zarovich. We deftly work our way from Ravenloft's humble origins in 1983 to the more contemporary Curse of Strahd module from 2016 and its revisions since.

Spoilers for both the Curse of Strahd and Vecna: Eve of Ruin modules for D&D 5e (2014). We don't delve too heavily into plot spoilers, but if you plan to play through this module as a player, you might want to save this episode for after your campaign. However, if you're a DM, come on in and learn some tricks to really mess with your players!

Naturally we meander all over the place, covering such topics as Mordenkainen's magnificent marketing schemes for spell names, why owning a piece of property may be one of the greatest plot hooks of all time, and how many times you can pull the doppelganger trick on your players (Answer: infinite number of times).

So, push that girl into the healing pound, take a few levels in Cleric, and grab some Strahd electrum as we dive headlong into Barovia!

Send us a text

Board game talk on your video game podcast!? Blasphemy!

No, daddy chill, because Final Girl is, like, just that good. For real, for real.

Anyway... We do spend a good first chunk of this episode talking about the excellent and modular board game "Final Girl" from Van Ryder Games. From the innovative dual cover peel-off design of the boxes to the mix-and-match game play of killers and settings, it's quickly becoming one of the best things we have played so far this year. (And I don't mean that as a backhanded compliment either. Like, yeah it's January and early in the year, but trust us, it's really good)

Now back onto digital media. We have been playing a smattering of games as the year finally kicks off, including Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered from NIS (all in anticipation of an actual Phantom Brave sequel later this month!), Dynasty Warrior: Origins, Tales of Graces f Remastered, and Citizen Sleeper. Oh, and I try to convince Porter to play Disgaea, because you can't break the fourth wall if it was never there in the first place.

Oh, and uh, the Switch 2 is a thing. But that's all we know.

~I want Chanel 9 boots/'Cause we are living in a material world/And I am a final girl~