The Eurogamer Podcast

Today we're joined by Dicebreaker to learn a bit about board games.

Can it really be 20 years since the PlayStation 2 was released? We revisit a video game titan.

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie has had quite the journey - from its disturbing first reveal, which even Sonic's original creator wasn't happy with - to recently becoming a box office smash. But did we enjoy it? Join guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), guides writer Lottie Lynn (twitter.com/StormScribe), and our tech team's Thomas Marchant(twitter.com/hippopothomas) to discuss editor Oli Welsh (twitter.com/OliWelsh), who called it a a charmless cut-and-paste job in our Sonic movie review. Though others came away with more positive impressions, we did all agree it's probably a better Dr Robotnik origin story than a Sonic one. If you haven't seen the movie yet, we keep what there is to spoil to a minimum - but do announce when we discuss those moments ahead of time. You can read Eurogamer's Sonic the Hedgehog movie review here: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-13-sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-review-a-charmless-cut-and-paste-job

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

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

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

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

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/

Join guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100), news editor Tom Phillips (twitter.com/tomphillipseg) and guides writer Lottie Lynn (twitter.com/stormscribe) for a preview of what's coming in 2020, as well as a few predictions of our own. As mentioned, we recorded this before we broke up for Christmas, so expect a few unanticipated delays to slip through (such as Ori and the Will of Wisps to March 11th) from the dates we mentioned. And here's The Last of Us Part 2 interview we discussed towards the end of the episode: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-09-26-on-fridging-joels-return-and-revenge-a-short-chat-with-the-last-of-us-part-2s-writer Thanks for listening as always, and we'll be back on a regular schedule from mid-January. Happy New Year from us at Eurogamer!

As you might have seen on the site, we recently published our Games of the Decade, where we discussed 30 games that defined the last 10 years. As well as that list of 30, the original plan was to also choose one single game that best defined the decade. We discussed it a lot in the office, and we even got as far as recording a podcast, with the intention for our editor Oli Welsh to decide it live during that episode. And, as you might have seen, in the end we didn't do that. Still, we wanted to give you the episode anyway, because it's a good discussion about how we approach lists like this, and as you'll hear, why it's actually really hard to pin it down to just one definitive game. That said, at one point Oli got very close. Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back if you can correctly guess what it was ahead of listening... Here's features editor Christian Donlan, reporter Emma Kent (twitter.com/GoneEFK), deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100) and editor Oli Welsh (twitter.com/oliwelsh) to discuss Eurogamer's Games of the Decade choices. Our Games of the Decade archive: https://www.eurogamer.net/archive/games-of-the-decade

Stadia, the new streaming service from Google, has launched in state that, to quote Digital Foundry's tech review, is far from ready. Deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100) - who has been playing Stadia and reporting on the launch - guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) and reporter Imogen Beckhelling (twitter.com/immybeck) discuss its rough launch, from an unconvincing business model to accusations of promises broken over game performance, but also the potential of its promising tech and what Google should do next to win over players. Further reading: Stadia's bizarre business model means it's swimming upstream at launch: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-11-18-google-stadias-bizarre-business-model-means-its-swimming-upstream-at-launch Stadia tech review: the best game streaming yet, but far from ready: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-stadia-tech-review Digital Foundry on Red Dead Redemption 2: does Stadia live up to its pre-launch promises?: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-red-dead-redemption-2-stadia-analysis Google responds after Stadia owners accuse it of breaking promises over game performance: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-11-25-google-issues-statement-after-stadia-owners-say-it-broke-promises-over-game-performance

There's a lot of anticipation around this year's Pokémon game, Sword and Shield - it introduces the eighth generation of creatures, a new region based on the UK and is the first original Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, the end result is a bit of a disappointment. Guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), guides writer Lottie Lynn (twitter.com/Stormscribe) and USGamer's Hirun Cryer (twitter.com/HirunCryer) join Chris Tapsell (twitter.com/ChrisTapsell, who wrote our Pokémon Sword and Shield review) who explains why, despite taking one step forward in some areas - such as an excellent new roster and the introduction of the franchise's first open area - it takes two steps back almost everywhere else. You can read our Pokémon Sword and Shield review at Eurogamer.net: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-11-13-pokemon-sword-and-shield-review-a-shadow-of-a-former-great

After a huge departure for Call of Duty with Black Ops 4 last year - swapping out a traditional single-player story for a more in vogue battle royale mode - this year's game, Modern Warfare, is back-to-basics; a soft reboot which not only sees familiar faces returning, but also attempts to court controversy with its campaign. Unfortunately, despite being a fantastic looking, sounding and playing shooter, the campaign - as well as some of multiplayer - left us cold, with guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100), reporter Emma Kent (twitter.com/GoneEFK) and Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan (twitter.com/cataferal) explaining why. Also - an apology for the poor audio quality this week. You may have noticed recent episodes have sounded much better, but a technical hiccup meant we had to rely on a simpler set up again for this episode. Hopefully we'll have improved audio again for next time!

With the port of The Witcher 3 on Switch attracting a lot of new and returning players, we - editor Oli Welsh (who wrote our original The Witcher 3 review in 2015), senior staff writer Robert Purchase and video producer Zoe Delahunty-Light - decided to pool our Witcher knowledge to discuss the things you should definitely prioritise and watch out for on a new playthrough. You'll be Novigrad you listened!

As it's Sega Week on the site, we thought we'd run a bonus podcast paying homage to none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Instead of deciding the one definitive best Sonic game, we wanted to discuss the best of Sonic in all kinds of ways to celebrate his rather diverse past - from best 2D and 3D games, best racing game, best spin-off, and other increasingly niche categories - as well as remembering how we individually first came across Sonic in the first place. (Has anyone else met him?)

As you might have spotted on the site this past fortnight we've been busy looking at the rather brilliant Apple Arcade, talking about games such as Where Cards Fall, Hexaflip and What the Golf. Features editor Christian Donlan has been flying the flag for us, who - alongside editor Oli Welsh (twitter.com/OliWelsh) and guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) - discuss how Apple has managed to pull off one of the most satisfying new platform launches in recent memory - and not simply because it has the right games.

Following the likes of Cadence of Hyrule and Fire Emblem, Nintendo’s streak of incredible Switch games continues with a remake of a Game Boy classic. Guides Editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) and features editor Christian Donlan join news editor Tom Phillips (twitter.com/TomPhillipsEG) who explains how a special Zelda game has been preserved for a new generation of players, all while adding in some welcome quality of life touches and new ideas along the way, such as the Mario Maker-esque dungeon building mode. We also touch on some (fun!) development facts of the 1993 original and ask which other Zelda games deserve the remake treatment. Our Zelda: Link’s Awakening review: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-09-19-the-legend-of-links-awakening-remake-review-a-dream-come-true

They say puns are the lowest form of humour. And yet - if you're a long time reader of the site, you'll know we take them very seriously. With Eurogamer turning 20 years old this week, guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn), deputy editor Wesley Yin-Poole (twitter.com/wyp100), reporter Emma Kent (twitter.com/GoneEFK) and features editor Christian Donlan delve into our long tradition of straplines - something we put a surprising amount of time and effort into - for a special birthday episode.

The addition of overpowered mechs in Fortnite's latest season has riled up not only the pro players, but seemingly everyone else playing too. Guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) is joined by fellow Fortnite enthusiasts news editor Tom Phillips (twitter.com/TomPhillipsEG), reporter Emma Kent (twitter.com/GoneEFK) and features editor Christian Donlan to discuss how season 10's changes have affected the game, as well as a look back at Fortnite's short but incredibly dense history to see what defines a good season and how the game's constantly evolving nature can prove both a blessing and a curse.

It feels like the success of Fire Emblem: Three Houses has taken everyone a bit by surprise - we knew it'll be brilliant, but it's seen the best-selling launch for the series as far as UK charts go back and, perhaps as a result, has resulted in a lot of questions as people get to grips in what appears to be a very demanding game. The good news is the part-strategy, part social-sim is a lot more flexible than first appears, so guides editor Matthew Reynolds (twitter.com/Crazyreyn) sat down with reviews editor Martin Robinson (twitter.com/vics_viper, who wrote our review) and USGamer's Hirun Cryer (twitter.com/hiruncryer) to help answer the many questions - from the best House to choose from, whether the Classic 'permadeath' mode is worth it, and how it compares to Persona - you might have. Read Martin's review on Eurogamer.net: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-07-25-fire-emblem-three-houses-review-a-tactical-masterclass