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Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Missing the
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all right adventurers welcome back um
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today we're going to uh crack open this
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upcoming Indiana Jones game Indiana
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Jones and the great circle we've got
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this preview article here from PC Gamer
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and uh I got to say it's a little bit uh
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it's a little bit confusing yeah it
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really is I mean right off the bat
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they're calling it adventure action
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instead of action adventure which you
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know on the surface might not seem like
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a big deal but uh they're saying they're
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really trying to focus on Indie Spirit
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rather than you know just Mindless
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action okay yeah that's interesting I
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mean I think most people think of an
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Indiana Jones game they think you know
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Whip and uh running and gunning and uh
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you know big action set pieces but
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they're saying that's not really what
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this is going to be and I guess I'm a
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little skeptical because the preview
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goes on to say that actually stealth is
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like a really really big part of this
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game and I don't know about you but
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Stealth gameplay doesn't exactly scream
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Indiana Jones to me yeah no I I agree
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and it's funny because I was thinking
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about you know all those iconic scenes
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from the movies the uh you know the big
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daring Escape and a kind of
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improvisational combat where he's using
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his whip to disarm people and using his
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environment to his advantage and that
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doesn't really sound like stealth to me
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right and I think they're kind of trying
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to have it both ways because the preview
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says that the stealth mechanics are
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actually pretty forgiving like you can
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use environmental objects to take down
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enemies and apparently the guards are
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easily distracted and they'd rather get
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into fist fights than actually raise the
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alarm so it's more like slapstick
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stealth kind of yeah which you know
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maybe maybe that fits Indy's character
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in a way he's always you know thinking
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on his feet and making the best of a bad
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situation yeah and he's not like a you
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know a trained assassin or anything yeah
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he's an archaeologist who just happens
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to be really good at uh getting into and
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out of trouble yeah exactly so maybe
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this more chaotic you know
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improvisational approach to combat could
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actually work yeah I mean I'm willing to
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give it a shot but here's where I start
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to get a little worried the preview also
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mentioned that the guards aren't very
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intelligent and that the whole stealth
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system overall all seems a little bit
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simplistic which might be fun for a
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while you know but I'm kind of worried
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it's going to get repetitive pretty
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quick yeah I think that's a valid
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concern you know sneaking up on the same
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dumbu for the hundredth time it's not
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exactly going to be the most thrilling
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gameplay experience no and I think about
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games like Hitman and Splinter Cell
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where you know the stealth is so
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intricate you have to you know really
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think strategically and observe guard
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patterns and use the environment
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creatively this Indiana Jones stealth it
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sounds a lot more like a watered down
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version of that totally and it kind of
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makes me wonder if this like simple fun
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stealth is really going to be enough to
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carry an entire Indiana Jones game or if
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it's just going to feel kind of shallow
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and repetitive after a few hours I'm
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with you there so we've got the stealth
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which I'm a little bit iffy on but let's
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move on to the Giza level because this
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is where the preview really starts to
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raise some red flags for me especially
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when it comes to the open world sections
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you know some games have those big
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expansive environments like Red Dead
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Redemption or Assassin's Creed you have
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those huge maps that you can just get
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lost in yeah well it sounds like this
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Indiana Jones game is also trying to
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incorporate open world elements but
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based on the preview it's not really
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working yeah it sounds like they're
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struggling to balance that open world
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design with their you know emphasis on
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Stealth gameplay yeah the preview
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mentions there's like a lack of cover in
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this Giza level and the climbing
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controls are kind of clunky there these
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weirdly placed obstacles that just seem
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more frustrating than challenging it's
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almost like they're trying to force a
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stealth game into a world that wasn't
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really designed for it and then there's
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that disguise mechanic which uh is
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another thing that I'm not quite sure
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about I mean on the one hand being able
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to like blend in and walk past guards
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undetected that sounds like a classic
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Indiana Jones move pretty clever but if
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it makes the game too easy
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then you what's even the point of having
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stuff exactly like what's the challenge
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right so are we actually getting an
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Indiana Jones experience here or are we
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getting something else because you know
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I think about Indie I think about those
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moments where he's you know outsmarting
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his enemies using his environment to his
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Advantage those really clever escapes
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and I just don't really associate that
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with sneaking around the shadows for
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hours on end totally I'm right there
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with you so we've got some potential
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problems with the stealth mechanics and
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the open world elements seem kind of
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iffy but what about when the game
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actually moves away from stealth the
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preview mentions there's a tomb
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exploration section maybe that's where
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it really shines okay you've got my
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attention now let's talk tombs because
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if there's one thing that Indiana Jones
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knows how to do it's navigate a good
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booby trap tomb right well this is where
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things get even more uh interesting or I
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guess I should say concerning the
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preview doesn't exactly make the tomb
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exploration sound like a good time in
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fact it kind of makes it sound like even
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when they move away from stealth the
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game still stumbles wait hold on are you
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seeing the two Explorations at let down
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to this isn't sounding good we've got to
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unpack this tell me what's going on
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let's dive into those details after we
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hear from our sponsors we'll be right
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back all right so we're back and uh
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ready to raid some tombes or at least I
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thought we were but it sounds like maybe
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this tomb exploration is more of a tomb
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disappointment based on this preview
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yeah it really does seem like they put
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so much energy into making stealth like
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the main thing that other parts of the
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game kind of got left behind like the
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tombs yeah like the tombs exactly okay
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so tell me what wrong with the tombs
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like what are we talking about here well
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you know those classic Indie moments in
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the movies like The you know the
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intricate traps and Raiders and the
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whole you know deciphering the clues in
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Last Crusade it wasn't just action it
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was like these puzzles built into the
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environment you know this game it sounds
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like they went with the Tomb Raider
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tutorial level of puzzle design you're
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kidding me so no aha moments no real
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thrill of figuring things out not really
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from the sound of it they described the
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puzzles is super simplistic almost like
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they were just kind of thrown in there
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as an afterthought and then the
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platforming is clunky apparently and
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there's even a stamina bar that limits
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how much you can explore uh stamina bars
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always got to have a stamina bar but
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wait they compared this game to Tomb
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Raider and Uncharted in the article and
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those games you know they really set the
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bar when it comes to tomb exploration
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right right and the article says it
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falls short of both of those games like
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it doesn't have that open-ended
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discovery of Tomb Raider where you can
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really you know get lost in these
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ancient ruins and it doesn't have that
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really cinematic you know polished
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platforming of Uncharted either it's
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kind of stuck in this weird Middle
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Ground where it's not really delivering
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on what those games do so well so it's
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not really action and it's not really
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Adventure so far this is not sounding
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good is there anything this game does
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well can't be all bad right what about
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just like the overall presentation the
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Indiana Jones Vibe okay everyone take a
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deep breath because this is where things
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start to look up the article goes on and
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on about how amazing the visuals are
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apparently the atmosphere is really
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authentic the locations are like you
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know really faithful Recreations of the
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iconic places from the movies it sounds
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like they really melt the look of it
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okay P at least it looks like an Indiana
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Jones game yeah but visuals alone can't
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carry a game you know wait what about
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the story any hints about where this
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adventure takes us the story is another
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place where it seems like they really
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put in the effort it's set between
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Raiders and Last Crusade so it's like
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right in that sweet spot of the existing
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Canon and there are some familiar faces
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that pop up plus some new characters
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that the preview says feel like they
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actually belong in the Indie Universe oh
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and get this Troy Baker is voicing
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Indiana Jones Troy Baker no way he's
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amazing he's voiced so many great
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characters but wait a minute the article
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said something about him sounding like
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grumpy old Harrison Ford is that a good
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thing or a bad thing I think it's
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hilarious like they're acknowledging
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that you know Ford's not exactly a
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spring chicken anymore but they're still
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capturing that you know that Gruff kind
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of world weary charm he has I can't wait
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to hear it me too it's those little
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touches that really matter you know so
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we've got the visuals we've got the
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story and we've got Troy Baker but I
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know there's a butt coming there's
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always a butt there is and it's a big
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one it's like that moment when you find
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you know a beautiful ancient artifact
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and you open it up and uh boom it's full
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of spiders okay now I'm worried again
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what's the catch what's hiding in this
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game's metaphorical sarcophagus it's
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this weird disconnect between the
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presentation and the gameplay the
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preview describes this really emotional
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scene where Indie reunites with an old
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friend and it's like genuinely touching
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but then minutes later you're back to
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like stealing lemons from Nazi camps to
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refill your stamina bar oh no no no no
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it sounds like they're trying to have
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these big cinematic moments but then
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they undercut it with these silly gaming
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mechanics that just pull you right out
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of the experience exactly and it really
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highlights The Dilemma this preview
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presents you know we have a game that
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looks amazing and sounds amazing
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captures the whole Indiana Jones
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aesthetic perfectly but when it comes to
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actually playing the game you know the
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mechanics the feel of it that's where I
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have my doubts so what's the verdict is
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this game doomed to be a disappointment
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or is there still hope I we're all
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rooting for this to be a great Indiana
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Jones game right I mean it's Indiana
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Jones we haven't had a good indie game
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in like forever but honestly I'm walking
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away from this preview feeling really
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conflicted yeah I know what you mean
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it's like we're standing right on the
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edge of one of those know booby trapped
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pits and we can't decide whether to take
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the leap or just you know turn around
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and run I think it really comes down to
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you know what we as fans want from an
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Indiana Jones game are we okay with it
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just you know looking the part or do we
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need something more you know something
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with a little more substance I think for
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me it's about that feeling of Adventure
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you know like the sense of Discovery the
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like wo moments the movies are so good
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at it's not just about action it's about
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indie using his you know his brains and
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his wit to solve puzzles and outsmart
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the bad guys right it's got to feel like
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you're actually being Indiana Jones not
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just you know some guy in a fedora who
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happens to be good at stealth and that's
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where this preview just leaves me with
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so many questions yeah because it sounds
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like they're putting so much emphasis on
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the stealth which we already talked
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about it's not really ind's thing and
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even when they move on to stuff like the
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tombs it just doesn't sound like they're
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doing anything really interesting or
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Innovative with it it's like they took
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this you know like one of those generic
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action Adventures game molds and they
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tried to pour Indiana Jones into it and
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it's just not quite the right fit yeah
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that's a great way to put it you've got
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this like beautiful you know polished
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exterior all the Indiana Jones trappings
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but underneath it might just be Hollow
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which is a shame because they clearly
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got the presentation right you know the
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world the characters the atmosphere now
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all of that sounds spoton and Troy Baker
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you know he's an amazing voice actor
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that's a huge get for them seriously I
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could already hear him saying it belongs
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in a museum yeah in that perfect you
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know Harrison Ford Grumble but you know
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at the end of the day can all that
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polish can the visuals can the voice
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acting can all of that really make up
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for a gameplay experience that might
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just be you know kind of bland that's
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the question isn't it and this preview
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doesn't really give us the answer nope
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we're just going to have to wait and see
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what happens maybe it'll surprise us but
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for now it definitely gives us a lot to
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think about what do we want from an
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Indiana Jones game you know what are the
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things that absolutely have to be there
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what are the things that would make it
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truly special I think that's a great
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question for our listeners head over to
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our social media and let us know what
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you think are you excited for this game
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what are your hopes and fears what would
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make a truly great Indiana Jones game in
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your opinion we want to hear from you
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because ultimately this game lives or
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dies by the fans yeah right it has to be
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more than just a pretty face it has to
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capture you know what made those movies
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so iconic it has to have that Spirit of
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Adventure that sense of Discovery the
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like oh my God moments that make you
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want to grab your whip and go on an
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adventure yourself it it has to make you
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feel like you're not just playing a game
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but like you're living a lost chapter of
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Indy's story you know well said and on
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that note I think we're going to wrap up
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this deep dive thanks for joining us as
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we uh as we delved into the mysteries of
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Indiana Jones and the great circle until
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next time keep exploring keep
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questioning and uh keep those whips
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cracking
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