The Eurogamer Podcast

#72 - Dreams is great - but what is it, exactly?

We've been having a lovely time with Dreams, the Media Molecule game that's been in early access for almost a year, and in development before the PS4 was even revealed. Despite this, there are still questions about what Dreams is, and what you get and can do in the final game, so guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), features editor Martin Robinson (twitter.com/vics_viper), senior staff writer (twitter.com/Clert) and Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan (twitter.com/cataferal) try and put them to bed - from its short story mode and how much that matters, to whether opening creations up to self publishing or other forms of funding would be a good idea. Also - we recorded this episode on Monday, a whole day before Martin's dream mentioned in the episode intro turned out to be true. I'm hoping he dreams about Shenmue 4 next. Of course, audio might not do the game justice, so here's some further reading from Eurogamer's coverage of Dreams to help: The Dreams campaign is stylish but... is that it?: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-12-the-dreams-campaign-is-stylish-but-is-that-it Why did Dreams take Media Molecule seven years to make?: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-14-why-did-dreams-take-seven-years-to-make The best Dreams games we've seen so far: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-19-best-dreams-games The Power of Dreams: Game Creation - How Does It Actually work? https://www.digitalfoundry.net/2020-02-15-the-power-of-dreams-game-creation-how-does-it-actually-work

#71 - Delving into the many mysteries of Outer Wilds

Have you played Outer Wilds yet? You must! A glorious little solar system filled with dynamic forces! A time loop that encourages exploration! A puzzle to solve and a culture - several cultures - to uncover. And a game so good it was crowned Eurogamer's game of 2019. And yet some people have bounced off this game. The ship controls, the art style, the daunting task that lies ahead. In this week's podcast, guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) is joined by features editor Christian Donlan and USGamer's Jake Green (twitter.com/jake_k_green) to make the case for one of the most interesting games of, well, ever really - as well as a full spoiler discussion of our favourite moments and mysteries for those who have played it to the end. We have plenty of further reading for you this week, including two pieces from Donlan and Jake about the game: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/outer-wilds-review https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-12-31-outer-wilds-goty-2019 The Noclip documentary on how Outer Wilds was made, which we mention briefly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbY0mBXKKT0 And several books we discuss during the outro: 'Isaac Newton', 'Time Travel' and 'Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood' by James Gleick 'Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You: A Guide to the Universe' by Marcus Chown 'Driving Mr Albert' by Michael Paterniti

#70 - How tempting is Temtem in early access?

A quiet January for new releases has been helped with the arrival of Temtem, a Pokémon-inspired MMO available now in Early Access - which has caused enough of a buzz that servers have struggled to keep up with demand. Join a full compliment of guides staff - guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), guides writer Lottie Lynn (twitter.com/Stormscribe) and USGamer's Joel Franey (twitter.com/joelfraney) - who explain how close it is to Pokémon, how much the MMO parts matter, and between the queues to log in and other rough edges that come with any Early Access release, whether it's worth your time yet. If you want to read more, Lottie wrote a piece explaining why Temtem proves Pokemon is a genre of its own now, and if you are jumping in for the first time, our Temtem starters page can help with the all-important opening choice: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-24-temtem-proves-that-pokemon-is-a-genre-now https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-23-temtem-starters-crystle-smazee-houchic-7011

#69 - What makes Double-A games so special?

What makes a good Double-A game? You know, the games that might not have had the biggest budgets or the best marketing, but which still made your life a bit brighter with their gimmicks and sense of simple fun. We've been looking at Double-A games over the last few months with our new-ish feature series, and we wanted to delve into more about what makes a Double-A tick, the things that exclude a game from becoming Double-A, and also the next logical question - is there such a thing as Single-A? Join features editor Christian Donlan, guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) and Metabomb's Ed Thorn (twitter.com/FromEdward) on the podcast as we discuss what makes Double-A so special. And, once you're done, you can read our on-going archive of Double-A Team features here: https://www.eurogamer.net/archive/double-a-team

#68 - Delving into Netflix's fun, trashy The Witcher series

As you might have seen from the massive number of Steam player concurrents, a lot of people have had The Witcher on their mind since the release of the Netflix show, us included - so much so that we wanted to discuss it on the podcast. Join guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), reporter Emma Kent (twitter.com/GoneEFK), deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100) and USGamer's Hirun Cryer (twitter.com/HirunCryer) for their thoughts on the adaptation. Though we don't delve too deep into the story of the show, be warned there are a few spoilers along the way if you are planning on watching - so consider doing so before listening. Here's some articles we mentioned during the podcast for further reading: So you finished The Witcher on Netflix - what next? (Cian Maher): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-07-so-you-finished-the-witcher-on-netflix-what-next The internet's best covers of that Netflix Witcher song (Tom Phillips): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-06-the-internets-best-covers-of-that-netflix-witcher-song The Witcher 3 just had its biggest day ever on Steam, four years after release (Tom Phillips): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-02-the-witcher-3-just-had-its-biggest-day-ever-on-steam-four-years-after-release Geralt is the perfect hero for the soul crushing instability of our hellworld’s gig economy (Nic Reuben, VG247): https://www.vg247.com/2020/01/10/witcher-geralt-freelance-gig-economy/