The Inner Gamer Podcast

Hosted by The Inner Gamer

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455

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The Inner Gamer is a video game podcast exploring the world of video games and the industry surrounding them. Built for the casual gamer, we dive into all the games to weed out the games that are worth your time.

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August 11, 20262 hr 2 min

453: Halo Campaign Evolved, Funnel Runners and Ghost Recon Wildlands

This week, Brett, Austin, and Jason cover four very different corners of gaming — starting with Halo: Campaign Evolved. Brett played the entire thing with zero nostalgia, and the remake genuinely won him over. But the three new prequel missions, the only original content in the release, tell a different story: reused assets, thin characters, and a baffling choice to have a new character openly dismiss Master Chief. That firsthand breakdown gets weighed against the discourse, the layoffs that hit the studio a week after launch, and what it all means for a $50 price tag. From there, the crew takes a first look at Funnel Runners, an early access co-op survival game where the real threat is a terrifyingly realistic tornado — thin on content right now, but building real community buzz. Then it's a generational showdown on Ghost Recon Wildlands' 25th anniversary update: Jason's 195 hours deep, Brett's walking in cold, and the two compare notes on the new 4K/60fps upgrade, the Last Rites mission, and what Ubisoft's silence on Breakpoint says about where the franchise is really headed. Closing things out, Austin replays Spider-Man 2018 in the wake of Brand New Day's record-breaking box office run, using it as a lens for what Marvel's Wolverine — Insomniac's next big swing — might look like when it lands in September. Time-value takes, honest tradeoffs, and opinions throughout — no hype, just the real talk busy gamers actually need. Show Notes: 1:30 - Housekeeping 2:33 - Halo: Campaign Evolved's Biggest Flaw Isn't the Remake, It's What They Added 41:57 - Funnel Runners First Look: The Tornado Survival Game That Terrified Us in the Best Way 1:01:47 - Ghost Recon Wildlands Just Got a Free Upgrade — Is the 2017 Classic Still Worth It? 1:31:53 - Spider-Man 2018 in 2026: How Does It Hold Up? 1:58:14 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

July 28, 20263 hr 6 min

452: Palworld 1.0, Black Flag and Garden College Creator Zac Harvey Interview

Palworld just did something almost no Early Access game manages — it actually finished. Roughly a quarter of Early Access games on Steam ever reach a full release, and Pocketpair's 60-person team crossed the line with a doubled map, a reworked progression system, and no price increase for existing owners. We dig into why the survival-crafting, creature-collecting, base-automation mashup works when it shouldn't, and whether 1.0 is a "come back" moment or a "start fresh" commitment that busy players should think twice about. Then it's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, where the critics and the players are pointing in opposite directions. Reviews landed lukewarm while it sold two million copies in a day and set a franchise record for concurrent players on Steam. We make the case that the "inessential remake" take misses what's actually great here: a vast Caribbean built out of bite-sized islands packed with Legendary Ships, Mayan Stelae, caves, and underwater wrecks — a structure that respects a player working with 45-minute windows instead of full weekends. Community developer Zac joins us to talk about Garden College, the top-down RPG he's building, and what running and participating in game jams has taught him that solo project work never could. And we return to Sony's disc decision from a completely different angle — not the ownership debate we already had, but the dependency stack underneath it. PSN's July outage was reportedly tied to the same AWS infrastructure that delayed patient care and grounded travelers last October. Halo buyers who paid extra for early access couldn't launch a single-player campaign because login servers were overloaded. One man lost 25 years of purchased games to a hack and only got them back after his post went viral. The through line: how many companies have to be having a good day for you to play something you already paid for? Check out more of Zac's work here: https://zacmadeagame.itch.io/ Show Notes: 0:49 - Housekeeping 2:14 - Palworld Finally Grew Up — Was It Worth the Wait? 36:18 - Black Flag Resynced: The Ultimate Open World Game? 1:13:05 - The Sony Disc Debate Was Never About Discs 1:57:29 - Indie Game Development and Game Jams with Zac Harvey 3:02:05 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

July 14, 20262 hr 11 min

451: Soulframe, Gothic Remake and Assassin's Creed Black Flag

This episode, Brett, Austin, and Jason open with Soulframe, Digital Extremes' fantasy follow-up to Warframe — a game that's rough in the first few hours and genuinely unlike anything else once its combat and story systems click. With TennoCon 2026 just wrapped, they cover what's coming next for the game, including mounts, a new Fable, and a surprisingly candid comment from the dev team about building in public. From there, the conversation shifts to Gothic 1 Remake, a faithful rebuild of the 2001 cult classic that refused to modernize the one thing everyone expected it to: the total lack of hand-holding. Austin makes the case for why that trial-by-fire design is exactly what makes it special. The back half of the episode gets more pointed. Sony's announcement that it's phasing out physical PlayStation discs by 2028 sparked real backlash — and Brett, Austin, and Jason break down why the "everyone already prefers digital" argument doesn't hold up, using Sony's own PS3/Vita store closures and GOG's ownership model as the clearest counter-evidence. They close with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a genuinely well-built remake undercut by a storefront that's easier to reach than the save menu — and ask the bigger question: does backlash over monetization actually cost publishers anything when the sales numbers say otherwise? Whether you've got two hours a week or twenty, this episode is about time-value: what's actually worth your attention right now, and what's just noise dressed up as news. Show Notes: 1:01 - Housekeeping 2:33 - Soulframe First Look: The Fantasy Warframe You’ve Been Waiting For 36:00 - Gothic 1 Remake: The Game That Refuses to Hold Your Hand 1:00:33 - Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Nailed Everything Except Ubisoft’s Restraint 1:37:36 - PlayStation Just Created the Most Expensive Rental Service 2:07:16 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

June 30, 20261 hr 47 min

450: Meccha Chameleon, Empulse and the XBox Reset

This week on The Inner Gamer, Brett, Jason and Austin start with the indie story nobody saw coming: Meccha Chameleon, a $6 hide-and-seek party game from a nearly-solo Japanese dev team, sold millions of copies in days with zero marketing spend. They break down the skill-based mechanic that made it perfect for viral clips, the conspiracy theories that followed its success, and whether a tiny team can actually sustain support for a player base this size. From there, the conversation shifts to Empulse, 1047 Games' early access movement shooter chasing that old Titanfall feeling. The gameplay genuinely delivers — but with Splitgate 2's collapse still fresh, the guys dig into whether a no-microtransaction promise is a real change of heart or just the only move left for a studio rebuilding trust. The back half of the episode turns to the industry itself. Xbox's "reset" has gone from rumor to reality — real layoffs, real studio closures, and a console price hike happening at the same time the platform is trying to reassert exclusivity. And closing things out, Brett, Jason and Austin tackle the rising cost of being a gamer head-on, using GTA 6's tiered pricing and the Steam Machine's four-figure price tag to talk through what's actually worth paying for — and how to navigate a hobby that keeps getting more expensive. Show Notes: 1:09 - Housekeeping 1:59 - Meccha Chameleon Sold 10 Million Copies— What Nobody Is Talking About 19:19 - Empulse First Look: Good Game, Poor Track Record 48:47 - The Xbox Reset is Here, and It’s Worse Than We Thought 1:13:55 - Gaming Got Expensive — Permanently 1:43:12- Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

June 16, 20262 hr 36 min

449: 007 First Light, Windrose and Destiny 2's Final Update

This week on The Inner Gamer, we tackle a massive crossroad for the entire video game industry. We lead off with an in-depth review of 007 First Light, breaking down how IO Interactive successfully stepped away from their classic Hitman sandbox formula to deliver a tight, narrative-driven James Bond origin story that balances high-octane spy craft with incredible narrative momentum. Then, we are joined by a special guest to brave the waters of Windrose, the breakout Early Access pirate survival RPG, exploring whether its phenomenal "Soulslite" ground combat makes up for its arcade naval physics and the distinct lack of a solo pause feature. In our main segment, the crew splits down the middle in a fierce debate over Bungie's historic announcement to freeze development on Destiny 2 following the Monument of Triumph patch. Is cutting off a ten-year-old game a necessary, pragmatic evolution to focus all hands on Marathon, or is abandoning a premier multi-billion dollar franchise a critical corporate error under Sony's roof? Finally, we sift through the massive firehose of announcements from the Xbox Showcase, State of Play, and Summer Game Fest. We take around 15 of the biggest upcoming titles—including Marvel's Wolverine, Control Resonant, Halo: Campaign Evolved, and Gears of War: E-Day—and map them into a master thematic blueprint so you can cut through the marketing noise and find your next definitive gaming obsession before GTA 6 arrives to alter the landscape. Show Notes: 1:00 - Housekeeping 1:22 - 007 First Light: Did IO Interactive Just Make the Best Bond Game Ever? 34:53 - Windrose Review: Valheim Meets Black Flag, But Is It Worth The Grind? 1:12:23 - The Destiny Era is Over: Smart Pivot or Corporate Bankruptcy? 1:47:09 - From July to GTA 6: What to Expect in the Second Half of 2026 2:31:54 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

June 2, 20262 hr 37 min

448: Forza Horizon 6, Subnautica 2 and Lego Batman

Welcome back to The Inner Gamer, the roundtable podcast dedicated to analyzing the ideas, trends, and time-value decisions shaping modern video games. This week, we are kicking things off by driving straight into the stunning landscape of Japan with our full critique of Forza Horizon 6. While Playground Games has delivered an absolute mechanical and visual masterpiece, we examine the concept of "excellence fatigue". For busy professionals with tight schedules, does the game's relentless dopamine loop and identical progression structure turn a quick driving session into a trend-chasing live-service project that you've already experienced? Next, a special guest jumps onto the roundtable couch to help us navigate the alien oceans of Subnautica 2, freshly launched in Early Access. We look closely at how the development team has pulled off the impossible: adding native 4-player cooperative play to a franchise defined by crushing isolation without losing a single ounce of its trademark psychological tension. We explore the baseline stability of the build, the massive grassroots enthusiasm brewing inside the game's official Discord channels, and how its modular base-building automation and streamlined blueprint systems elegantly respect an adult's limited hobby hours. Finally, we shift our focus to the structural design trends splitting the soul of the modern industry. We audit LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, evaluating the creative friction that occurs when family-friendly plastic brickwork tries to copy the mature DNA of the Arkham franchise. We close the show by breaking down the newest GDC industry data revealing that over 70% of developers now rely on global co-development pipelines. Using case studies like Fable and Crimson Desert, we expose how fracturing a single game across multiple outsourced corporate entities creates the massive logistical bottlenecks behind modern 6-year development cycles and buggy launch-day builds. Show Notes: 1:01 - Housekeeping 3:34 - Forza Horizon 6 Review: A Near-Perfect Racing Game 43:07 - Bigger, Deeper, Better: Our First Look at Subnautica 2 1:16:35 - LEGO Batman: A Spiritual Successor to the Arkham Franchise 1:52:37 - Why Your Favorite Games Take 6+ Years to Make (And Arrive Broken) 2:32:49 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

May 19, 20262 hr 43 min

447: Mixtape, Embark Studios and 500 Hours in Deadlock

In this episode of The Inner Gamer, we pull back the curtain on the widening gap between stylistic hype and mechanical execution. We kick things off with a raw review of Mixtape, balancing its immaculate stop-motion aesthetic and killer soundtrack against a disappointing lack of player agency and core gameplay systems. We then shift our focus to the reality of live-service development sustainability through the lens of Embark Studios, discussing why their recent dev schedule slowdown is a necessary reality check for titles like The Finals and ARC Raiders. In the second half of the show, we tackle the macro-economics of the industry, tearing into the chaotic fallout of PlayStation’s aggressive live-service pivot. We connect the dots between executive misalignment, a $765 million Bungie write-down, the quiet commercial stagnation of Housemarque's Saros, and the emergency roadmap shifts reshaping Marathon. Finally, we head into the occult streets of the Interzone, bringing on a 500-hour veteran to deconstruct the exact mechanical hooks and high-level meta shifts that make Valve’s Deadlock such a dominant, rewarding competitive obsession. Show Notes: 1:04 - Housekeeping 2:12 - Is Mixtape a Masterpiece or Just a Beautiful Vibe? 35:23 - Why Embark is Changing the Rules for The Finals and ARC Raiders 53:40 - Playstation’s Live-Service Crisis: From Hero to Zero 1:26:41 - 500 Hours in Deadlock: The Anatomy of a Competitive Obsession 2:38:48 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

May 5, 20262 hr 2 min

446: Pragmata, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and Blast Rivals 2026

Is it possible for a $70 blockbuster to feel like it was actually designed for people with jobs and families? This week, we review Capcom's Pragmata and discuss why its bite-sized mission structure and emotional "Dad Hook" make it a gold standard for time-value in 2026. Then, we dive into the surreal world of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. We talk about why this "digital ant farm" is the ultimate zero-stress management sim and how its new inclusivity updates have modernized a cult classic. We also take a look at Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a game that was once a technical struggle but has found a second, silky-smooth life as a Switch 2 powerhouse that finally fills in the missing pieces of Zelda lore. Finally, we set the stage for the BLAST Rivals tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Whether you’re a Counter-Strike veteran or a casual spectator, we break down why CS2 remains the tactical king of esports and what we’re looking for as the world’s best teams descend on Texas. Show Notes: 0:53 - Housekeeping 1:52 - Pragmata Review: A High-Budget Game That Respects Your Time 33:28 - Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Review – Nintendo’s Weirdest Game is Back 1:03:03 - The Imprisoning War Explained: Why Age of Imprisonment is Essential Zelda Lore 1:26:36 - Inside BLAST Rivals Fort Worth: The $1,000,000 Battle at Dickies Arena 1:57:53 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

April 21, 20262 hr 12 min

445: John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, Slay the Spire 2 and Starfield

Is a game only worth it if you can play it forever, or is "fun" enough? This week on The Inner Gamer, we’re diving into the blood-soaked, synth-wave world of John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando to see if this vehicle-combat hybrid is the perfect "popcorn game" for your squad. We also head back to the Spire for an early look at Slay the Spire 2, discussing whether the controversial new balance patches are breaking the game or just making it better. Then, we revisit the stars. Three years after launch, Starfield has landed on PS5 with major updates that aim to turn a sterile galaxy into a lived-in home. We wrap things up with a heated roundtable on the "3-Hour Rule"—discussing why the gaming community needs to stop gatekeeping players who don't have 80 hours to spare. Whether you're a parent, a professional, or just someone with a massive backlog, this episode is about finding the games that actually deserve a spot on your hard drive. Show Notes: 0:58 - Housekeeping 2:55 - Toxic Commando Review: Pure, Unfiltered Co-op Joy 33:20 - Slay the Spire 2: Is the Sequel Already Better Than the Original? 1:01:40 - From Sterile to Soulful: How Starfield Found Its Heart (2026 Review) 1:33:25 - The 3-Hour Rule: When Is It OK to Quit a Game? 2:08:21 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

April 7, 20262 hr 56 min

444: Crimson Desert, Marathon and The Crew Motorfest

This week on The Inner Gamer, we dive into the "everything game" problem with our review of Crimson Desert. While it’s one of the most visually stunning open worlds ever made, does its overstuffed MMO-inspired DNA respect the time of a busy player, or is it just a beautiful collection of shallow systems? We also revisit Bungie’s Marathon a month after launch. The UI and art style are finally clicking for us, but with player counts stabilizing at a "niche" level and Sony’s $3.6 billion investment looming large, we ask: is this a slow-burn success or a corporate flop? In the second half, we highlight the incredible support behind The Crew Motorfest. With Year 3 adding NASCAR, RC cars, and a powerful Track Forge tool, Ubisoft has built a massive motorsports playground that still somehow flies under the radar. Finally, we discuss the "Overwatch Relaunch." By dropping the "2," shadow-dropping 5 new heroes (including Jetpack Cat), and overhauling the UI, Blizzard is making a loud cultural apology. We look at whether this meta-shift is enough to win back a community that’s been looking toward Marvel Rivals. Show Notes: 1:08 - Housekeeping 1:57 - Crimson Desert Review: The Most Beautiful Mess of 2026? 1:00:49 - Marathon One Month Later: Finding Flow in the Chaos 1:45:36 - The Crew Motorfest in 2026: The Best Volume of Content in Racing 2:09:47 - Overwatch 2026: The Soft Relaunch That Actually Worked? 2:49:42 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64