Our first podcast recorded in 2017 is also our longest yet, packing in a ton of impressions from John and Chris on many gaming-related topics (And one movie as well).  John details his most memorable experiences at the recent gaming convention MAGFest (DAVID WISE!) and dishes out his thoughts on the recent tearjerker fantasy film A Monster Calls, followed by shared impressions of Nintendo's big Switch stream, and thoughts on what we've seen regarding the system and its lineup so far.

Afterwards, we lose our limbs and dive into the kooky, fantastical world of Ubi Soft's long-running Rayman franchise.  This includes recalling the series' heyday as a numbered series, its change in direction brought on by the Raving Rabbids, its rebirth as an old-school sidescroller with Origins & Legends, and even touching on the cartoon series you probably didn't know existed.  We discuss how fine-tuned the gameplay has become, the one aspect of the older games John misses most, and more Billy West than you'd ever expect.

02:11 - MAGFest 2017

08:44 - A Monster Calls (Spoiler-free review)

23:14 - Nintendo Switch presentation thoughts

46:22 - Rayman retrospective (1, 2, 3, Raving Rabbids, Origins, & Legends)

A new year also brings a personal first, as this episode gives us our first guest in the form of John's brother and fellow geek Patrick.  After Chris and both brothers catch up regarding their individual holiday gifts and experiences, Patrick and Chris share their overall thoughts on Rogue One (No spoilers here, as John hadn't seen it at the time of this recording) and some overall thoughts and memories of Star Wars in general.

But no, that's not why you're listening to this episode, is it?  We let Patrick choose this episode's main topic, and it's resulted in one of our longest discussions yet, as we tackle the behemoth that is the Pokemon franchise and our memories of it from the beginning, particularly the main games, the anime, and some of the spinoff titles, including a recent smartphone title you might have heard about.  High points include Patrick's angry letter to Niantic, Chris's tragic story involving Pokemon Snap & Australia, and how Meowth of all characters tugged at John and Patrick's heartsrings the most in the anime.

Timestamps:

7:10 - Rogue One spoiler-free review

20:38 - Pokemon retrospective

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