Half-Glass Gaming [Episode 21] : But Worst of All Was the Unicorn

witcher 3 yennefer

In this episode, we look back at the sheer insanity of November, 2015. Josh explains failure at NaNoWriMo and the origin of the Call of Duty franchise before the gang jumps into a pretty extensive conversation on Fallout 4. It’s first-person vs. third-person, Skyrim vs. every other Bethesda game, polyamory vs. monogamy, and Piper vs. everyone in the world besides Josh.

Of course, we’ve finally acquired a few decks of Gwent cards, so we talk about that as well. Even though we’ve managed to mention The Witcher 3 in every episode of this podcast so far besides one, we still manage to dig into some new territory with Hearts of Stone, the upcoming Witcher movie, Yennefer as a hunchback, and sex atop a stuffed unicorn.

Oh, and Mandi reads aloud some passages from the Witcher books, which is an experience you don’t want to miss.

Grab some headphones and enjoy some Half-Glass Gaming!

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Elizabeth Thompson
Elizabeth Thompson
8 years ago

This is legitimately one of my favorite episodes, I think. I mean, being able to do some Real Gaming ™ was pretty great, but it was a lot of fun to learn about popular media in other cultures, and we talked about some pretty great things.

– The Reverend

JulianWhatThe
8 years ago

Did you trademark the term Real Gaming (R)?

Jimmy Mamatas
Jimmy Mamatas
8 years ago

I’m a bit disappointed I wasn’t the first to comment this week! Next week, I’ll have to try a bit harder. I did enjoy this episode, even though I can’t picture myself playing The Witcher 3. Perhaps I’ll play a game of Gwent instead.

Elizabeth Thompson
Elizabeth Thompson
8 years ago
Reply to  Jimmy Mamatas

Don’t be sad. I’m nocturnal, so I could be around the second the episode went up. Plus, I was actually there, so I know what’s in the episode without having to listen 😛

– The Reverend

JulianWhatThe
8 years ago
Reply to  Jimmy Mamatas

Hey Jimmy, as long as you continue to be a devoted listener and continue to post them comments that’s what is important. And as far as Gwent, you aren’t missing much. The Witcher 3.. now that is a different story. Good on ya Jimmy.

mako33
mako33
8 years ago

Knew this would be good when I saw the title. Love Wednesdays.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  mako33

Thanks for the kind words!

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  mako33

Thanks for the kind words!

Jelly Genesis
Jelly Genesis
8 years ago

I love the revelation that the weirdest stuff from The Witcher 3 is from the books. I’ll have to read them sometime soon.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Jelly Genesis

Yes. I have not read them either, but after this episode, I really want to. They sound like they’re probably really great!

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Jelly Genesis

Yes. I have not read them either, but after this episode, I really want to. They sound like they’re probably really great!

Jelly Genesis
Jelly Genesis
8 years ago
Reply to  Josh Wirtanen

I just downloaded the first one to my Nook. Crossing my fingers that it’s good.

Jelly Genesis
Jelly Genesis
8 years ago
Reply to  Josh Wirtanen

I just downloaded the first one to my Nook. Crossing my fingers that it’s good.

Thief921
Thief921
8 years ago

Who needs Piper when Curie is around?

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Thief921

I’ve recently swapped out Piper for Cait. I maxed out friendship with Piper, which grants a perk that gives you bonus XP every time you discover a new location. It’s a really great perk to have early in the game. Now I’m trying to get some of the perks that come with maxing out other characters.

However, there’s something about Piper’s voice that I find appealing. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I like it.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Thief921

I’ve recently swapped out Piper for Cait. I maxed out friendship with Piper, which grants a perk that gives you bonus XP every time you discover a new location. It’s a really great perk to have early in the game. Now I’m trying to get some of the perks that come with maxing out other characters.

However, there’s something about Piper’s voice that I find appealing. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I like it.

Evander
Evander
8 years ago

Everybody’s playing Fallout now. I’m still playing Splatoon.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Evander

Splatoon is really great.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Evander

Splatoon is really great.

Specter
Specter
8 years ago

Mandy sounds like she’s in a Witcher anime. I find her voice so cute.

discipleofpizza
discipleofpizza
8 years ago

You guys love Gwent so much. I won the first game I played, than lost my ass and my best cards so I just said fuck it.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago

I hated Gwent the first time I played it. It grew on me over time, though, and now I adore it. (Inside the game. IRL it’s kind of a slog.)

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago

I hated Gwent the first time I played it. It grew on me over time, though, and now I adore it. (Inside the game. IRL it’s kind of a slog.)

Tyrant Fluffy Pants
Tyrant Fluffy Pants
8 years ago

I like TW3 too but its BS that Bloodborne keeps getting passed over for it. Gameplay wise its better in every way. Playing TW3 after it is like trying to control a refridgerator.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago

I would agree that Bloodborne has some really great, refined gameplay. As someone who doesn’t like the Souls games, Bloodborne was still one of my favorite games this year. (For the record, I completed both Bloodborne and The Witcher 3, but I haven’t finished the DLC for either game yet.)

I just feel like, gameplay aside, The Witcher is a far deeper game, in terms of story, lore, characters, world building, etc. Bloodborne does a lot of what I love about video game storytelling, which is giving you little pieces of a story that you uncover through gameplay and have to piece together yourself. The Witcher less so, but it was constantly surprising throughout (until the very end, I suppose).

I’m sure we’ll talk about this in the end-of-the-year special we’re preparing for you guys, but the Witcher was constantly setting up patterns and then subverting them in really cool ways. It was about making you comfortable thinking this quest would be exactly like the last 3 you just did, then peeling back the curtain and showing you it was setting up a surprise you could have never expected. It’s probably the best storytelling I’ve ever seen in an open world game, because it’s constantly self-aware that it’s an open world game, and it works really hard to avoid the tropes of the open world genre while tricking you into thinking you’re experiencing those tropes.

All in all, I think it’s safe to say that 2015 was a year that was about pushing video game narrative in ways it’s not really been pushed before, and the Witcher 3 represents that better than Bloodborne does. For me, Game of the Year isn’t so much “Best Game of the Year,” but “Game that Defines the Year” or “Game that Best Encapsulates What Video Games Were Trying to Do in This Year.”

Tyrant Fluffy Pants
Tyrant Fluffy Pants
8 years ago

I like TW3 too but its BS that Bloodborne keeps getting passed over for it. Gameplay wise its better in every way. Playing TW3 after it is like trying to control a refridgerator.

Jdcomix
Jdcomix
8 years ago

Gwent is alright but it defenitely needs more indepth card interaction. I’m more interested in collecting cards than actually playing the game.

Josh Wirtanen
Admin
Josh Wirtanen
8 years ago
Reply to  Jdcomix

I love Gwent inside the Witcher. In real life though, it feels kind of tedious.

Jdcomix
Jdcomix
8 years ago

Gwent is alright but it defenitely needs more indepth card interaction. I’m more interested in collecting cards than actually playing the game.

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