Speaker 1:
0:00
Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.
Speaker 2:
0:05
Gaming. Wait for it Anime PLUS ULTRA.
Speaker 1:
0:11
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino.
Speaker 2:
0:14
Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it. This is the Wait For it Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait For it Podcast. I'm your co-host, phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino.
Speaker 1:
0:40
And I'm your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty. And we are here wrapping up Patreon month with the game room, where it happens, where patron of the show, stefan, recommended a game that, up until its recommendation, neither of us thought we'd ever be playing. But after sinking quite a few hours, myself and Phil struggling to get through it Quite a few hours, myself and Phil struggling to get through it we are here to talk about Slay the Spire and talk about our experiences with this game.
Speaker 2:
1:11
You didn't have to bring up like struggling, like right in the beginning he is having a hard, hard time and I can't wait to get into it. A difficult time, yes. A good time also, yes. So we'll talk about that, just to get that away, before Stefan immediately goes to DM me and yell at me.
Speaker 1:
1:29
That's why I did it that way I wanted to set the stage, god.
Speaker 2:
1:34
But, yes, very excited to wrap up Patreon month, which has been a huge success. So make sure you check out the previous two episodes before this If you want to find out what else our patrons, our Weight Watchers, have recommended to us, and excited for this to happen again in the future, perhaps with some other recommendations. But, yeah, going to talk about a roguelike deck building game that certainly never came across our peripheral at any point. So really really glad that we were taken out of our comfort zone a little bit and we will discuss that here today. So I'm really really glad that we were taken out of our comfort zone a little bit and we will discuss that here today. So, if you wanted to listen to any of the other video games that Eric and I take a trip down memory lane about and or even try out for the first time, make sure you stick around to the end of the episode, which will let you know where you can find all the rest of our content. But let's dive into a slay.
Speaker 2:
2:22
The spire, released in 2019, once again, a roguelike deck building game developed by indie studio mega crit and published by humble bundle. Released in, like I said, roughly 2019. It has a bunch of iterations. You can play it on game pass, which is great. It's also on ios and android, and in slaypire, the player attempts to ascend a spire of multiple floors created through procedural generation, as one of four characters battling through enemies and bosses. Combat takes place through a collectible card game-based system, with the player gaining new cards as rewards from combat and other means requiring the player to use strategies of deck-building games to construct an effective deck to complete the climb. So, eric, as you have alluded to, you poured a lot more time into this than I have. So what was your kind of understanding or what did you know of games such as this, specifically when we're talking about deck building?
Speaker 1:
3:22
I mean, we collected yugioh and pokemon in our younger days, but we've never really dove into anything quite like this when we're talking about not even just the gaming space, but just the tabletop in general yeah, I'd be curious which ones we kind of look up and find of like really common games back when we were in high school because, like I know that this isn't like new but I also know it's unique in the sense of the way that it's built and the way that you play through it and the the repetition of the game. So my experience is very minimal but I've always kind of like known of games like this. This particular one never heard of. But at the same time, and while it's not just a pc game, it's really playable best on pc. I think I think it really lends itself well to pc and because we didn't get our pcs until last year, that's something we kind of strayed away from. Like I would have never looked at this on xbox game pass or on a console and thought, yeah, that's going to play really well with a controller. So I never really thought to look at those games.
Speaker 1:
4:30
But Slay the Spire turned out to be the exact game that I wanted to play on a PC and we had friend of the show Jay on earlier this year where he asked me point blank like you don't play the switch very often, you wouldn't get a steam deck. And I told him there are no games that I think I'd play. Well, we found one. It's slay the spire what do you mean?
Speaker 2:
4:55
you can play it on on your phone. You don't need to get, we don't need to spend 300 on a steam deck.
Speaker 1:
5:01
I don't want to play it on my phone, too bad Gross.
Speaker 2:
5:06
Think about a whole different genre this is getting off topic A whole different group of people that play mobile video games.
Speaker 1:
5:15
We don't like to bully.
Speaker 2:
5:15
We don't like to bully people, but gross, so, yeah. So, like you said, we we made this transition me a little bit before you, but we both made this transition, and a lot of our friends have into PC gaming and this game, like you said, is really perfect for that, and I think one of the best things about being able to find more games via indie developers such as this is we no longer abide by the. Well, this game looks pretty. I want to play it.
Speaker 2:
5:47
Some of the games we have played that are the most fun not only this, but we're talking about repo, a more recent one, schedule one. Um, you know, we had a lot of fun, uh, even though we need to revisit it because stefan yells at us. Pico park, right. That's a pixelated game that was incredibly frustrating, but a lot of fun. You know, you're talking about long-term games such as what was that? God? What's the game?
Speaker 2:
6:08
Not animal crossing, the, the one that jordan and them play all the time, stardew valley stardew valley, right, these games that are not your, your typical triple a like. Look at my graphics, look at the visuals. There is so much to be found, uh, if you just look around a little bit and you rely on the people who have been here for the longest time that are still not recommending that we've ever played WoW or League of Legends, just so you guys just just said. That is always remain constant. But this is, even though I struggled in terms of the difficulty, I immediately found myself jumping right back in. So this wasn't like, for example, the crab game, where I was getting my dick kicked in and I was like I don't want to play this game, Whatever it doesn't matter, it's not going to come up again.
Speaker 1:
6:54
That's crazy.
Speaker 2:
6:56
I didn't want to play that game anymore. Even when I got the gun and started cheating this, I would immediately lose and be like what am I doing wrong? And I will. I will still continue to revisit this and and get through like struggle my way through, uh, one of these full runs which I was not able to do, which I know a lot of people are going to be yelling at their phone, computer, whatever right now. But it's so accessible and it's such a good jumping off point. For someone who has never played something like this, and I think that's why, for those of you that have not jumped into it and who have been maybe a little apprehensive about something like this, this is really something that's like the perfect jumping off point for you to get into.
Speaker 1:
7:36
Yeah, and I do think you can play it. You know we gave shit earlier to the mobile players. We're sorry about that. You could play this on mobile.
Speaker 1:
7:43
You can play this on on console. Uh, those things are available to you and it is an option. I just really enjoy playing it on pc and I just couldn't envision it. I feel like that's like the best way to probably play a game like this, because there's not much involved, it's not much about the controls, as it is the strategy, and when you're going through these runs and you're going through these acts you're making a lot of decisions, decisions that could cost you or could win you the entire thing. So it's really important to kind of go through that and have the best possible experience.
Speaker 1:
8:22
I think PC does that and when I came into this game phil, I immediately knew because this was a kind of decision we had to make slay the spire or balatro, and balatro we heard a lot about because it was nominated for game of the year last year. But man, am I glad we started with slay the spire because, as someone who has now played both, I couldn't imagine going into Ball of Troll first. A little bit more intense, although it's a quicker game experience. This is just more immersive and it just gives you so many more different layers and so many more different avenues to be able to play the game your way, and I really like that about this. It's a really, really fun time, and one that I think people shouldn't miss out on. I won't be so bold to say this yet, so I'm going to wait, but, phil, I mean, like as far as games that I've played, this one I'm going to think about for a long time.
Speaker 2:
9:23
Yeah, because one thing that and I think Bolotro is the same. Again, I haven't played it and I haven't come away from this wanting to play Bolotro. I think what's really what really helps with this is because it has the turn-based approach and because there is the visual of the enemy, as opposed to a Bolotro, where it's certainly a lot different. I totally lost my train of thought. I was going somewhere and then I was making a different point and then I what did you just say? Oh, you said you're gonna be thinking about this for a long time. Yeah, because because you can put this down for months and then just dive right into it, as opposed to when I put down a game like cyberpunk or assassin's creed I, it's almost like you have to relearn the mechanics of the game. It's not the case here. What I just really need to get better at is learning the ins and outs of building the correct deck and prioritizing one thing over another, and that's really fun.
Speaker 2:
10:19
To me, that's a really exciting thing, and you may think that for those of you haven't played it, you may think that like that's not your type of thing, but like it's really no different than getting upgrades in a different game. You just don't have direct like atomical control of the character that you're playing. You're playing these cards and then you're getting new cards and having to weigh the getting potions and when do I rest, when do I upgrade? And I think that in and of itself is kind of like really the antithesis of what a video game is supposed to be. So I was very, very pleasantly surprised by this, and it's a game that is not going to be deleted as soon as this episode is over. I'm going to continue to play it and it's a lot of fun. I would say, like you said we've already echoed, the best way to play this for sure would be on your PC.
Speaker 1:
11:07
Yeah, and one of the things about this game that I definitely enjoyed is, after over 30 hours put into it and multiple successful runs into act three, I have not successfully completed act four which is not always an option, uh, for those of you that are familiar with the game but the main three acts, and once you get past them you think the game is over, but it's not.
Speaker 1:
11:36
There are also additional things that you can do, called ascensions, where the game basically gets harder. There's just more stuff to combat and fight through. But because there's this kind of looming act four that is very difficult to complete. I mean that that's the vibe from people that play this game that I've gotten is that it's a constant red herring as far as trying to build your. You're trying to build a deck just to get past, uh, to the end of act three, but you almost have to also work on a deck for act four specifically, which is really difficult, and there's a lot of strategy and stuff that can happen that can be frustrating. I'm playing a game right now called blue prince, which has a lot of roguelike elements but frustrates the hell out of me and it's not really very good at explaining.
Speaker 2:
12:29
I don't know that you're enjoying it.
Speaker 1:
12:32
I, I keep going back to it though that's the thing, and I don't know if it's because I'm having a good time or because I loathe myself, I'm not sure A little bit. Both, both, both, both is good, both is good, can't do it, can't do it. Stars, stars. So we, uh, yeah, yeah, guys, slay the Spire, I just think, has all the all of those things, those elements working for it, has all the all of those things, those elements working for it, and, you know, like a balatro or like a blueprint, some of these other roguelikes that are different, even fundamentally in the case of blueprints, which is more puzzles, balatro, still with cards, I just think.
Speaker 1:
13:10
Slay the spire. Phil, you said it is the most accessible and I'm really glad that you liked it, because I was worried. I was worried that you were not going to enjoy this. So to hear that you plan on continuing to play it is promising and, uh, definitely, a sequel coming out this year, I think yeah, and definitely I was going to say uh is perfect timing because slay the spire 2 is supposed to release this year.
Speaker 1:
13:35
so, phil, you have no interest in playing a game like Ballatro, which is different, although I think you would be more inclined to play it now but Slave Aspire 2, is that something you could potentially see yourself picking up or playing at any point?
Speaker 2:
13:52
On Game Pass. Yes, I would not buy it, although I mean, if this went on sale for like not that I need to if it if it ever left game pass and it was on steam for like 10, $15, absolutely. But yeah, I think if it came up on game pass then I would. But I have to get to the first one first. So, but no, absolutely, I'm glad that there is a space for, uh, for, for games like this and uh, uh that it's so highly touted that it you know that it was, uh, it warranted a sequel, so interested to see what kind of things they could do differently in the second one. But yeah, I would definitely check it out. What was your, what's your experience with permadeath games? Have you ever done anything like that? I'm trying to think if there was anything that has compared that we've ever played the only thing like. I think death loop was kind of like a permadeath game and that game sucked. So, uh, I never played like permadeath on the last of us, because I'm not insane, you know yeah, you're not.
Speaker 1:
14:54
You're not a criminal so I can't think of anything that I played.
Speaker 2:
14:58
A state of decay actually would be like maybe the only thing yeah and that's just. Any of your survivors can die. You just replace them with other characters, so it's not like your whole game. Oh, watchdogs legion that was also not very good. Uh well, state of decay is good. Yeah, you saved the k. Yes. Watchdog legion, no boo. Yeah, that's like the only things that I've ever experimented with when it comes to like permadeath that I can think of I think I'm right there with you.
Speaker 1:
15:26
Permadeath, roguelike souls, like, like a lot of these games, phil, are games that we just never, never really got into.
Speaker 2:
15:35
You know, surprised you were never an x-com guy feels like x-com would be up your alley I guess.
Speaker 1:
15:40
So I've always seen, seen it and I always dismissed it, but I hear great things about it. Nick, on the Creator Spotlight episode that is coming up, mentions it as a game he's played. I know Stefan's played it as well. So, no, this definitely has opened the door and obviously I mentioned this on one of the streams. If you didn't know, we are streaming on Twitch and I'm now joining the party, but I mentioned that, like these roguelike games are games of comfort now because you can go in and out so seamlessly.
Speaker 1:
16:11
I also really like, specifically for Slay the Spire, these different characters that you can play. Each one has such a unique style that it also mixes things up. You would think it would get boring with just four characters, but it really doesn't. I'd be very curious if the second one had the option to have more characters or any customization that goes along with that. But, phil, I don't know how much we can really dive into further with how much you have played the game. I think what I'll ask is what has your strategies been or what have been some of your biggest learning curves in the game for the runs that you have been most successful in?
Speaker 2:
16:54
So the one, the character I've been the most successful with, is the second character. What is? Which character is that?
Speaker 2:
17:02
uh the silent yeah, that was the one I was the most successful with and I found that I think I over committed to defense and there's still a little bit about that that I I don't quite understand. So I am looking to like get with you and Stefan to explain it to me and Jay to explain it to me a little bit more. But when I focus more on defense and just kind of let the attack opportunities present itself, that's when I did my best. But when I get to that, when I've gotten to that second level, I just run into somebody like in the middle who, just because of the different effects that's what's really happening is like I'm getting to the point where, like, my defense doesn't do as much anymore, my attack doesn't do much anymore, and I know that I'm I'm prioritizing the wrong thing at some point. So I think I get so focused on getting through the run that I like the first part that I'm not looking far enough ahead and then that's detrimental. But that's why I had the most success with that character.
Speaker 2:
18:04
It's probably my favorite out of the three. I've only used three, but I've used the third one the least amount. That's the one I understand the least amount as well. The first character. You know it's pretty straightforward.
Speaker 1:
18:13
But yeah, yeah, the.
Speaker 1:
18:15
The defect is, uh, the one with all of the orbs yes and played correctly, he could be extremely op, but I would agree with the silent I I like the silent the most. I had the most success with ironclad, I think because of the hp and the fact that there is a little bit of a boost there. But yeah, that's really interesting because you know, when we're talking about the game, like there's so many different strategies and there's just again, it depends on the path that you're taking. For me, I tend to really find myself going after the path that has the most elites in it, so the bigger bosses in the map, before you get to the final boss, because I want those relics. So I'm really kind of relic hunting in addition to building my deck, where, with you, I mean, if you're building defense, you're probably gonna want to try to hit up some more shops or get more potions to combat the issues with the effects, because, like it sounds like you need a dexterity potion.
Speaker 2:
19:12
Really like kicking the shit out of me yeah, so what's like? The. What's the? Do you prioritize gold or do you spend it as soon as you get it?
Speaker 1:
19:24
it depends. One thing I'm doing more. One of the tips my brother gave me was to remove cards, so anytime I'm in a shop I try to get into a habit. So what's the point of?
Speaker 2:
19:34
that is to kind of to free up because you don't want a bunch of clutter, essentially right like it's essentially clutter or the same card and all that.
Speaker 1:
19:41
Yeah, like yeah, so it's. It's a matter of clutter, but it's also a matter of if you have a curse, but sometimes those curses could be a benefit, depending on the relic that you have. So it's all just about strategy. At the end of the day. I would say, if you're building a defense deck, that is okay, but then you want to start getting rid of some of those base defense cards Because they're not going to. You're probably building up defense cards that also have a perk and then more.
Speaker 1:
20:07
But when you get those, you get a row of defend cards the standard ones and you lost the effect on your block. You're kind of screwed, and then you don't have enough energy to be able to play all of them. So yeah, that's a lot to do with it. I would say that I tend to lean more on attack variations, and this is also something that my brother has helped me with. But I've always tried to have a good balance, and just more recently I've started to play with attack variations.
Speaker 1:
20:37
So I that that would be my recommendation, because you can defense all you want, but it's really about when you take the damage, because you're gonna take damage like you're gonna, you're gonna get rocked some somewhere along the lines. It's a matter of when and making those moments count. So that's, uh, probably my biggest advice is, even if you're making a defense-based uh deck, it's really about that at the end of the day, because you, uh, you fight that gremlin, uh, king, the red one with the club, you play skills and his strength goes up. Don Don't, if you have a defense deck, you're screwed, you're immediately screwed. So yeah, that's kind of where I stand on it.
Speaker 2:
21:23
Yeah, but definitely a lot of fun and, like we said, would certainly recommend it to anybody that has not checked it out. So yeah, eric, anything else that we need to mention about Slay the Spire before we wrap up an incredibly successful three for three Round of applause for the Weight Watchers, which means next time you're going to overcorrect and offer a shit three times, so be prepared for that.
Speaker 1:
21:49
And again, these are definitely three things that Phil, specifically, I think would have possibly disliked all three.
Speaker 2:
21:57
So the fact that we got through all three.
Speaker 1:
21:59
Pretty good, pretty good guys, and uh yeah, patreon month. Uh, was successful, but there will be another one down the road. We'll talk a little bit more about Patreon and how you can get involved. As far as Slay the Spire goes, though, phil, not much more to add based off of how much you have played. I definitely don't want to spoil too much for yourself or for others that might be listening to this and wondering what this game is all about.
Speaker 1:
22:24
Again, a game that I have sunk a lot of hours into, a game that will stay installed on my desktop and a game that I will jump into seamlessly whenever I choose to do so, whether it's to start a run or to pick up a run in the middle of it. It's the game film. It's a game that I have not experienced in a while where I just so seamlessly could play a fight a day in a run. So if I wanted to play act one and there are 10 fights I could spread that across 10 days. Not feel like I'm missing out even that out. Spread that out. And not feel like I'm missing anything where, with your traditional single player games and story-based games, that's not what you want to do. It's really about that repetition, staying immersed. This game, phil, is just a walking immersion and I am so happy I've added it to my rotation.
Speaker 1:
23:21
You mentioned Slay the Spire 2 is a game that if it, like you know, went on sale, you'd probably try it out. Or if it was on Game Pass, I would give them my money. I would absolutely give them my money, and I can't wait to see what happens. I am going to go to my bold statement to wrap it up. This might be one of my favorite games that I've ever played, just ever, and I just I think it's because it's so accessible. The replayability is there, it's unique, it's stylish, it's creative, it's fun, all of those things. Uh, again, I need to really sleep on it, but leading up to this episode, that's the statement. I'm going to leave it on.
Speaker 2:
24:01
Yeah, I had this up while editing. I had it on another screen, I would edit and then I would go back to the game, so something accessible like that. Like you know me, I always have to be me and Stefan are the same in this way, Like we're always engaged in something. So like I'm watching a movie on one screen and I'm playing Jurassic World, Evolution 2 and the other, so this is in that, this will be in that rotation. Now I would just jump in and play it while I'm also watching a movie. So, yeah, I mean, I think really the only thing left to say is you know, Mark McGuire, he's on fire. Slay the Spire.
Speaker 1:
24:32
Legas in five, lakers in five. That was crazy, that was crazy. I was like Mark McGuire, that was so good, that was so good.
Speaker 2:
24:46
Oh God, so yeah, guys.
Speaker 1:
24:48
Did you write that down? No, you just came up with that.
Speaker 2:
24:52
I was trying to think of what rhymed with Spire over the last while you were talking about how much you enjoyed the game.
Speaker 1:
24:58
That shit hit me like a ton of bricks. What was it? You said Mark McGuire, and then what?
Speaker 2:
25:03
He's on fire.
Speaker 1:
25:03
Slay the spire, fire Lick is a five, lick is a five. That was so good. Holy shit, I'm overwhelmed.
Speaker 2:
25:12
Well, if you are overwhelmed and you're like man I wish I had more WaitForIt podcast to listen to make sure you click the Linktree link in the show notes of this episode. And we really appreciate everybody's all of our Weight Watchers for participating in Patreon month. It was so much fun. We'll tell you a little bit more about Patreon here in just a moment, but you can find all of our content right there on that Linktree link. I'll show some media pages All of our content right there on that link tree link. I'll show some media pages.
Speaker 2:
25:37
The most important ones to keep up with are TikTok, instagram, our flourishing Discord community. We upload videos over on YouTube and we are now streaming every single week. So that has been a whole lot of fun. Eric and I are both also on personal journeys Eric as far as uploading content for to become a content creator full time, and myself with voice acting. So please support us, tag us, let us know that you're listening, let other people know that you're listening. All that support goes a very, very long way and we are truly overwhelmed with everything that we have received so far as far as feedback and everything like that.
Speaker 1:
26:09
But if you want to participate in the next Weight Watchers Patreon month, Eric will let you know how you can do that and where you can find some more information on all of that. Yeah, so growing that platform has been a lot of fun and that introduced Patreon month for the month of April. We had so much fun getting that together and the engagement on that platform. We're looking to do another one later on in the year. Big shout out to our current patrons Briar t3, kato cory from the world is my burrito podcast, and vintage and bridget from retro av rewind. We really appreciate the support there.
Speaker 1:
26:45
And I have to add nick casbaro, uh, the author of vidalirium. That is something that recently happened and he is going to be our next episode, final episode for April. So make sure to look out for that and for Patreon. You can check out everything that we have to offer, from bonus episodes to early access. It can all be yours. But if you don't have the means, all of the free stuff is great as well the likes, the comments, the shares, the engagements, the listens. The list goes on and on, and we thank you for each and every one of those actions. With all that being said, my name is Mr Eric Almighty, that is my co-host, phil the Filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes every Wednesday for the podcast, including bonus content on Twitch and TikTok, and all you got to do is wait for it.
Speaker 2:
27:38
So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment Wait for it. Gaming, Wait for it. Anime Plus Ultra.
Speaker 1:
27:49
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered and all you got to do is wait for it.
Speaker 2:
28:11
This is the Wait For it Podcast.
