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We made it, allies! The last Showcase of the year. Joining me to spread some Thanksgiving thanks and Winter cheer will be the eternally effervescent Kyle Bosman. We'll be devouring all of your poems and pictures, musings and music, next Tuesday, December 3rd, at 11 AM PT. Leave your stuff in the comments below and, as always, reach out to me on Twitter or at my email (brandon at easy allies) if anything on Patreon goes awry, or (as some of you have started doing) you want to keep your contributions a secret until the stream.

- Brandon


SHOWCASE GUIDELINES

No submissions will be accepted past December 3rd, 2019, at 12:00 AM PT.

While you retain all rights to your content, by submitting here you’re giving Easy Allies the right to show the content in our monthly Community Showcase live stream.

You may submit a comment, an image, or an audio/video file. If you’re submitting anything other than a comment, please host the file elsewhere and link it on Patreon. You can make a tweet or Instagram post with your image, or link the audio/video from a YouTube account, etc.

If you’re posting a video, photograph, or drawing, keep your comment limited to a description of the work. Leaving a piece of art, or a video, in addition to a long comment is a bit disrespectful of people who just leave comments. If you’re posting a lot of images, we will only show a maximum of 9, of our choosing unless you specify otherwise.

Comments have been known to disappear from Patreon posts, unfortunately. Double check that your post remained active before the day of the Showcase. Leaving a comment helps to keep it from vanishing. If you’re submitting text, save a copy locally in case you have to re-post.

Any text to be read should be 500 words or less. Any video or piece of music should be 3 minutes or less. If the entry is longer, we will edit it down to a manageable length. We reserve the right to remove any content we find offensive.

Only one entry per month. Unless you specify what you’d like us to focus on, we’ll always use the last post from each Patron.

You may comment on any submissions, but keep original posts focused toward the Showcase so no submission is overlooked.

Comments

Anonymous

Game Dev Update: https://youtu.be/JpDj05rW7CI Link to the EZA Cookbook (mentioned briefly in the video, not my submission): https://www.dropbox.com/s/morpwf116tddcpg/Good%20Vibes%20Grub.pdf?dl=0

Anonymous

Merry December Kyle and Brandon! Last year I shared with you an animated short I made for Christmas. It was a lot of work, incredibly stressful and I had almost no free time leading up to December, so of course I've done it again and would love to share with you and all the allies. (I don't think Christmas crackers are a really a thing in the U.S. but I hope you enjoy anyway) https://youtu.be/r71PVU0avSk Thanks for another great year, can't wait to see how Box Peek wraps up. Love and respect Dave Cleland PS. Yes, Maya is still widely used and no, it does not work like that.

Anonymous

Hey Jones and Kyle! Just messing around and trying to make different videos. Execution leaves much to be desired as I'm not great at editing, but still had fun making it nonetheless. Later! https://youtu.be/NEoDEQKO9e8

Anonymous

KAAAAAA MEEEEEE HAAAAA MEEEEEE HAAAAA MEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Anonymous

Hey Jones and Kyle, In the last few months since I got laid off, I began working on a Tales of retrospective with a friend. The first episode is out! The first three minutes of the video is pretty much the prologue so it works out really well! Please enjoy! P.S. Retrospectives are hard and time consuming. I totally get why you want to back off of them for now! https://youtu.be/2ksMey2vEUo

Anonymous

uwu edit: AAAA I hope I'm not too late!! I haven't done much these past few months between work and such but here's some old poetry 💖 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W7LJISmrsaK3jU6kXLy9jO-I4VSqTHy-lZCyy5ZiwWw

Anonymous

Hello Brandon and Kyle! While Kingdom Hearts is very dear to the hearts of many (including myself), I think we can all agree that the series can sometimes fluctuate in quality from time to time. However, in my eyes, one aspect has always stayed consistently wonderful and that is the music of Yoko Shimomura. For my submission this month, I’ve arranged one of my favorite boss themes from Kingdom Hearts II, “The 13th Struggle”. I hope you all enjoy! Adam Hentschel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abafqMBraX0

Megan Linart

Hey guys i'm finally ready to write this final review for Twilight Breaking Dawn part 2, after the mess that was part one at least 2 has some actual things happening but its still bad, so the film starts immediately after part one where bella wakes up a vampire. She finally meets her daughter Renesmee (yes, that's a real name that someone came up with)..Then shortly after the cullens notice renesmee is growing at a rapid pace. rapid as in growing 8 years over the course of a few months. Eventually word of the child gets to the vampire council the volturi and they think she is an “immortal child” which were children turned they were all killed off centuries ago because they couldn't be controlled so they are coming to kill renesmee, the next half of the film is the cullens going around the world to other vampire clans to gather as many witnesses as they can to prove she isn't one for some reason, All culminating to a sick battle between the clans and the volturi where heads are ripped off, the earth splits and a bunch of vampires are thrown into this huge magma pit, main characters die, its awesome...until we all realize the battle is all a dream and the film ends. As you can probably tell I hate this movie, the plot it quite literally thrown together, extremely pointless and has no stakes or consequences..no one develops or grows it’s just a boring convoluted chore to watch. The music continues to be pretty good and that battle scene is truly awesome and quite shocking for a twilight move. But because its not even real I just dont care.. I love the first three films because they are full of camp and goofiness that i can appreciate but these two are just so stretched thin and im happy to pretend they don't exist..2 out of 10. I hope you all liked my twilight reviews, this truly is a bizarre series of films for me as the quality is just plain terrible but i find immense enjoyment watching them, how they were so huge is really beyond me but i'm so happy they exist and is truly a piece of cinematic history I hope never gets lost. see you guys next month where ill be talking about the TV series Skam..have a safe and happy holiday Allies and Chat!

Anonymous

Hi Jones, Kyle and Allies. Here's a highlight from my Kingdom Hearts II playthrough a while back. Shout-out to Adam Hentschel, who also brought Kingdom Hearts content this month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-LjXEa7Rk

BeardedScotsman86

Hey Brandon and Kyle, Started off the month with the Mafia III DLCs. I enjoyed the first 2 DLCs, although the third had some drawn out bits. The first sends you to a new area where a racist sheriff is abusing his power. The next sends you off to an island to help out the CIA. The third is just focused in the main city area, with a cult that keep finding a way to get you to inhale drugs. After Far Cry 4, I realised I dislike drugged sequences, which is probably why it felt drawn out. Next game up was Batman: The Enemy Within. What a fantastic Batman story. After each episode, I watched Bruce vs Batman on EZA Plays. Was so much fun to see where the story differed when Brandon played it. The first 4 episodes were almost identical, no matter the different choices made. Within a few minutes of a major difference, the story came back around to the same point. Episode 5 on the other hand was completely different. I had completely different scenes for the whole episode which really surprised me. I then moved on to the DLC for Diablo III. It just consisted of playing through the games story with the new class. The big negative here was the trophies. They forced you to play through in a set way throughout to unlock them all. By the end of the story, I was missing one which left me killing the same 3 enemies in the same manner over 250 times.  For the majority of this month was spent playing Vikings: Wolves of Midgard. A Diablo style game that discourages you from mixing up play styles. You can pick any of the 5 class types you want and switch your weapons to change class, but you only get 2 gift points to spend on each level unlock, and the 5 class trees are completely separate. So if you spend 10 points in bows, and then switch to duel wielding, you will have no perks. You only get to use your perks with a bow equipped. This is a long platinum that requires 3 full playthroughs of the game. 1 normal playthrough, 1 new game plus playthrough, and then 1 playthrough on the hardest difficulty in Valhalla mode (1 life, if you die then your character is unusable). After doing 1 full playthrough and half on new game plus, I moved on to my 1 life playthrough. A lot of time was spent backing up my save so I could restore it if I died. I accomplished this, but completely burnt out of the game. I have probably put in around 60-70 hours and still have to finish my new game plus playthrough. As a break from this, I moved on the Crash Bandicoot Warped. From beginning to end, I had the platinum in less than 3 days. This is by far the easiest of the trilogy. Still a lot of fun though. Love and respect, BeardedScotsman86

Brandon K Gann

Before getting started on my GOTY list, I want to give special commendation to a game I’ve seen in its entirety but have not played: Resident Evil 2 Remake. I really believe it’s better than most of my list. With that in mind, these are the nine games I played this year. At ninth and dead last is Wolfenstein: Youngblood. As I said a few months ago, it became Disappointment of the Year through horrible pacing, mission structure and other problems, despite solid gunplay and the dynamic between the Blazkowicz twins. Coming in eighth is Creature in the Well. I love the concept and mechanics, but some of the latter dungeons and puzzles were more luck than skill based, but still a decent time. I hope we get a sequel. Seventh is Borderlands 3. Always getting a unique gun and not once did I feel I got something a second time kept the in the moment gameplay fresh, plus having multiple planets was neat, but the writing, map size, certain quests, and tech issues hold it back from being better. Number six is Metro: Exodus. I got into Metro when I saw this game’s reveal at E3 2017, and by the time I played Exodus, I had a good idea what to expect. While the middle of the game wasn’t all that enjoyable and the ending kind of landed with a thud, the rest of the game was memorable and I look forward to replaying it. Now into the top five, next up is Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. While there wasn’t enough content at launch to last longer than a weekend, and the post-launch addition of microtransactions is really angering, it doesn’t take away that, at the time, this was a fun revisit down memory lane. In fourth place is Observation. Easy Update sold me on the getting the game, but what made me like it enough to finish is the unique mechanics and premise. Despite an ending that left me feeling meh, it can be done in a single sitting like Creature in the Well. Taking the bronze medal is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Just coming off this, but I really enjoyed the exploration and combat. It would be higher except for two reasons: One, tech problems, as they’re the biggest objective flaw and two (and much more distressingly): Spiders. Why do developers just HAVE to have spiders in their games?!?! My runner-up is Gears 5. I’m very happy with the latest installment as every mode is accessible in some way, even for solo players like me. My lone problem is a particular story moment, but overall, Gears 5 is excellent from gameplay to design. And my 2019 Game of the Year is… Kingdom Hearts III And for me, I’m conflicted. Being a Kingdom Hearts fan from the beginning, it’s difficult to separate that deep running bias from a critical eye, but when I look at this year in full, this was my favorite game despite its issues.

Anonymous

Happy December Kyle and Jones! I was inspired by some music by Marcus D who does SNES remix music (check out the album Retro'd on Spotify), and by Kyle who has always been an inspiration to me and gave me the idea for this sort of video from his musical freestyling. This was a project that would have been made in a shorter time but depression and actual production conflicts inflated the ETA I expected. Back on my feet now and finished this specifically for a Kyle showcase. Hope you guys all enjoy! Love you all and thanks for everything you do! Love and respect, Brian from Happy Gaming https://youtu.be/ZSDHJiGcYxc

Anonymous

Hello Kyle & Brandon! November was a bad month gaming wise. Nothing went as planned, so this is going to be one of those weird tangential comments. Let’s start with clarifications. Jones, Damiani answered the question exactly as I would last month. I consider “Four Swords” the worst game in the Zelda Franchise. And Kyle, last time you were here I confused you about the Veronica Mars timeline. It goes like this: The show had a 3 season run from 2004 to 2007; then it got canceled. They made a movie in 2014 with a Kickstarter founding, which I backed and got all my rewards. Then they made 2 books that continued the story and all things Veronica stopped again, until last July when a Hulu original revival series was released. Since there is no Hulu here in México I was left out of the fun until October 22nd when the series got a DVD release. I ordered it immediately and got it, but I still haven’t watched it because something got in the way… The cinema chain I use here in México has this loyalty program with benefits including giving back 10% of whatever is spent in their complexes and coupons for free rents on their online platform. It’s actually a pretty sweet deal, getting movies for watching movies. Earlier this year, just before the release of Game of Thrones season 8, they revealed that one could get access to HBO thru their streaming platform, and one could even pay with the points earned in the loyalty program. Since I hadn’t watched any GOT thrones before I saw no benefit for me at the time, but hey, it’s cool having the option. Then on the last days of October I got an email from the chain with a promo code: a free month of HBO; and while I knew I couldn’t possibly watch 8 seasons of GOT in a month, I took the offer wondering what advantage I could get. And this is where you come in, Bosman. You know what was the first thing I watched, don’t you? I give you 10 seconds. After browsing the different series available, I started with Barry because I remembered a frametrap conversation on it; and while the first season didn’t do much for me; I can tell you that when I was done with the second one I realized that I was now hooked and would have to wait a long time to know what comes next. And pretty much that was this last month, I used any spare time to watch everything I could from HBO and abandoned gaming. Now the trial is over, but I will for sure renew the subscription on the last day of the year using my points before they expire; so I may finally give that “Game of Thrones” thing a try. That’s it for this month, have a wonderful time in the holidays, allies. Love & Respect, César.

Anonymous

Hey there Brandon and Kyle! So recently I was kinda bummed out because we reached the end of November or more specifically reached the time when Doom Eternal was originally supposed to come out. For context this is easily my most anticipated game of recent memory as Doom is such a beloved franchise for me. The delay itself I can deal with as it was done to further polish the final product but still, not being able to play it now when I've been looking forward to it all year still kinda stings a little. So what do I do in the meantime? Well I've been looking to find a creative outlet to keep my video editing skills in check and thought it'd be a fun idea to make a goofy retrospective series on what else... Doom! So I present to you here the first in what I hope will be a series of videos for this showcase. https://youtu.be/W_WidIRwOOI Think of this video as a Pilot though as it was kind of made on short notice and I'm looking to improve the pacing more on the next one. Hopefully my personal insights and dumb jokes will be enough to win you over, if not then I'll be sure to try harder next time. Thanks for all that you do and as always.. Love & Respect to you all. Jack Price

Anonymous

Happy Holidays, Everyone. https://youtu.be/BvV_xU5I9lE

Anonymous

Good afternoon gentlemen, It’s December which means it’s time reflect on this past year. Oh, wait, no. This year sucked. Ew. Keep that away from me. There are actually two things that I managed to accomplish in 2019. 1) Keeping musical theatre on the all-business Cuppa Jones and 2) teaching Kyle what a Pittsburgh toilet is. That’s pretty much it, though. December actually means a lot of time spent in the kitchen: baking cookies, making appetizers, cleaning up, and, of course, hiding. So today I want to turn the spotlight on three radio shows I’ll be listening to while in the kitchen. There will be two sitcoms and a panel show, all from the thankfully region-free BBC Radio 4. The first sitcom is Bleak Expectations by Mark Evans. This is the exceptionally silly one. It’s the Dickens parody that also includes a Martian invation, an army of the undead, and dinosaurs. It’s the one where our orphaned hero, Pip Bin, faces off against the the villainous Gently Benevolent (deliciously played by Anthony Head). It’s pure absurdity and I love it. The second sitcom is Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore. This one is a bit more grounded. It’s a workplace sitcom where the workplace is a charter plane. The main appeal is its characters and the cast is pretty outstanding. The owner is played by UK sitcom vet Stephanie Cole and her dim but enthusiastic son is played by Finnemore himself. The co-pilot, the smooth and clever one, is played by Roger Allam who, depending on your frame of reference, is best known as Javert in the original production of Les Mis or the villain in Speed Racer. The other pilot is awkward, uptight and bad at everything, including flying. You can probably tell from this description who plays him and you’re right: Benedict Cumberbatch. Finally, the panel show is The Unbelievable Truth. Here are the rules: there are four contestants. Each contestant gives a lecture on a given topic. The lecture must be all lies except for five facts that must be smuggled in. The other contestants guess what the facts are. I love most panel shows but this is one of my favorites. It’s a proper game that you can play along with (the points do matter), it has trivia, and it has fun banter. It’s number three on my list of panel shows I’d love to see the Allies shameless rip off (#1, of course, is Taskmaster and #2 is Would I Lie to You?) The host is panel show MVP David Mitchell. If you don’t know him by name, you’ve probably see a GIF of him dressed as a Nazi asking, “Are we the baddies?” (And my username, Asbo Zappruder, comes from the Mitchell and Webb radio sketch show.) Contestants have included Veep-creator Armando Iannucci, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, and no fewer than two Bake Off hosts: Sue Perkins and Sandi Toksvig. Anyway, that’s how I’ll be surving the holidays. Hope yours are nice as well!

Anonymous

Hello Brandon & Kyle. At this time next year some of us will be playing on next-gen consoles. So let’s talk about ray-tracing. This summer I upgraded my PC and I can tell you: ray-tracing isn’t just a new buzzword. It’s a game-changer. You may think that ray-tracing is just a visual enhancer that allows mirrors, water and other reflective surfaces to better reflect things. This is true of course and it’s really nice to see what’s happening behind by looking at the glass window. However that isn’t the most impressive thing. The most impressive thing is lighting. Here’s my screenshot from Metro: Exodus: [show image 1] It nice & cozy and there are numerous tiny details that make this train compartment look like a real place. But look at the same room with the ray-tracing: [show image 2] Look at the luggage on the top bed. Small empty spaces between individual items are no longer as brightly lighted as the room, which makes it look like an actual stack of objects rather than independently rendered items that was photoshopped into a scene. Also weird glow on the right side of the bed is completely gone. Now the scene not just looks real, it feels real. Here’s another screenshot from Metro: Exodus: [show image 3] This corner is a “stealth” zone in the game, and enemies don’t see the player standing there. Yes, it’s not the brightest spot, but unless you are a dumb NPC from a stealth game, you should be able to see a standing person with this amount of ambient lighting. Now look at the same place with the ray-tracing: [show image 4] It’s much easier to believe that someone can hide in this corner. This makes AI’s behavior much more realistic, which makes it easier to get immersed into the game’s world. Also I usually don’t get scared even when I play horror games, but in Metro: Exodus I was legitimately afraid of dark places, because enemies can hide in shadows as well as the player. But, ray-tracing is not the same as turning down the brightness, because you can still see everything if you pay close attention to the environment. And since you can identify and avoid all threats, it’s a fear you CAN overcome. This was a completely new experience for me and I don’t think it’s possible without ray-tracing. So please be excited for the future of gaming. I was expecting a lot from this technology and as you can see it surpassed even my wildest expectations. P.S. Just because Brandon loves screenshots, here’s some more from another great game with ray-tracing support. [images 5-7] (4K images are here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14oyYsl_Xw35RwPla8pE5HRLGoXOdiinU )

Anonymous

Good evening, friends and Allies! My initial plan for this Showcase was to link to a full-length review I had written of Pokémon SwSh. Only thing is I never wrote it. I STARTED writing it, but as I went along I realized there's a lot of aspects of the games I have absolutely nothing to say about. As a result, here are some more focused thoughts, instead. I liked Sword and Shield a lot, they're even some of my favourite games in the series, but that enjoyment comes with more caveats than ever because it's hard not to overlook SwSh's very glaring issues. To me, these games show obvious signs of being rushed, and I think the move to Switch has made the series reach a point where fan expectations and technologic capabilities have exceeded what Gamefreak can build in the very short development cycles they get for these games. It's my belief that if we want Pokémon to change drastically, we're also going to have to demand we get new games less often, too, because one new Pokémon game a year is simply not sustainable. But if SwSh has so many issues, why did I like it so much? It's mostly down to what I'm looking for in a Pokémon experience, and that is above all the world. Simply put, I sincerely believe Galar to be the best region in any game so far. The wide variety of wonderful landscapes and cities in the game were a genuine treat to discover, and I found myself slowly walking through almost the entire game just to soak in the sights and the sounds of these spaces. While I know a lot of people have issues with the story (and it is a very safe story, admittedly) I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in SwSH. This is the first time to me where the whole gym badge-collecting thing has felt like a meaningful part of the world and I think dressing the whole thing up in real-life sports trappings worked really well. I also really loved how much the game uses crowd cheering and chanting as part of the audio, and it's a piece of diegetic sound that really gives the world a ton of flavour. And I have to admit that despite its lack of ambition I really did enjoy the story. There's a lot of just straight-up wonderful scenes that are realized perfectly thanks to a lot of great character animations and camera angles. There's also some thematic stuff going on in the narrative to, as it seems intent on exploring the idea of living up to another's legacy in a variety of ways. It's not done deeply or particularly intelligently, but a game story being about ANYTHING is rare in this day and age. Ultimately, I will remember SwSh for its big moments and small moments. For dramatic setpiece battles and countryside strolls. Legendary monster fights and playing fetch with my tiny lizard friend. It would be disingenuous of me to deny all of Sword and Shield's faults, but it'd be equally disingenuous to deny how much I loved my time in Galar. L&R, Small Leviathan

Anonymous

Greetings Kyle and Jones! An introduction. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C5W0Jo_jdUhhGTOvKjvh7BkQHgjiFsLF/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/140QpCI-cY-VfUDoX3h4oCjdBKBXzn7_o/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_d_i0NpGM5t8tdS8yoPmfiZm78wjmWoU/view?usp=sharing Much love and respect, Sara Imshaug Zephyr Moon

Anonymous

December 2019 Showcase Hello Jones and Kyle, Let me start by saying …Kyle! How dare you!! You know what you did! The worst part is you’re enjoying every minute of it!! Box Peek…It’s amazing how something so seemingly simple could be anything but. It is with mixed emotions I face the final episode this Friday. I look forward to the Q&A with Amanda because I have a lot of questions for her since I have made such progress this year towards my VO goal, but I refuse to glorify Kyle! My submission this month is a gift, well part of a gift. It is a 3min edit of a 10min file I voiced and recorded. A few months ago when I mentioned to my mother about wanting to do VO for children’s books and video games and posting demos online, I said I had to have original material that I would probably have to write myself. This woman who had never been supportive of my vocal talents in the past, mentioned a creative writing course she took the year I graduated high school and said if I wanted to use her stories I was “more than welcome”. She brought them over a few days later and I began transposing them from pin-feed printouts back into digital text. The following is an edited version of my performance of her story “The Berry Pie” which I plan to give her for Christmas with the full version being made available after the showcase. I didn’t want to just send the first 3 min of the file like last month’s submission, because I wanted the listeners to hear the resolution. I apologize in advance for some of the “janky” edits but it’s tough to cut when the lines have been read to have more words after. Kyle, I’m sure you can relate…Audio editing is hard! Anyways, congratulations on finishing Box Peek and good luck with whatever project you take on next. We believe in you and love you… even though you rip out our hearts! PR12 4-> <3L&R Jessie Blu

Anonymous

PR12 4-> <3 Thank you https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Owjtg0XzaYhLD6uPCzD9NJICqUDKJB7/view?usp=drivesdk Finished project link: The Berry Pie

Stefano

Ciao Kyle Jones (best name for a generic videogame protagonist btw), long time patron, first time submitter here. My favorite videogame genre is undoubtedly 3rd person Action/Adventure. We had so many gems and masterpieces of this genre in the last few years, but this month i want to celebrate some of the games that made me fall in love with the genre when i was younger, that all came out between ’99 and 2001. First up: RUNE. An amazing atmosphere and setting and great combat for the time. Oh, and you’re a Viking! (SHOUT-OUT to Huber). It’s the first game i’ve ever seen use dismemberment of enemies and it blew my mind. Well it wasn’t the only game to use it though. Second up: Severance: Blade of Darkness. In my mind a precursor to Dark Souls (even if it feels weird saying it) mostly for the deliberate movement and combat approach. I really loved both these games growing up, and as you could imagine it was a dream for me when the Souls series came out. Next up is ONI from Bungie. An amazing combination of 3rd person shooting and hand-to-hand martial arts combat, never seen anything like it up to that point. Sci-fi setting with anime aesthetic and cutscenes? Sign me up. Even if the level design and locations are bland by today’s standard, and if you really think about it, it feels like a bootleg Ghost in the Shell, I bet Kyle would love this game. Last but not least: Shadow Man. Holy crap this game scared me as a kid! Possibly the most unsettling atmosphere i experienced in those times, it remained impressed in my mind for years to come. Never finished it sadly. These are 4 games that shaped my taste in videogames growing up (played all these on PC btw), and i sometimes think back on them whenever i play a modern masterpiece in the genre. Have you played any of these? If so what memories do you have of it? What are some less known old gems in this genre you’d like to recommend to people, or you think fondly of? (besides Zeldas and the like). Thank you Allies for everything you do, you are a very bright spot in this world for many of us. L&R Stefano, from Italy. PS: Kyle, if you can give me a JoJo style nickname i’d be forever happy. PPS: Jones, Half Life 2 deserves to be in the Hall of Greats, don’t give up on it!

Anonymous

Hey there Jones and Kyle! Another piano cover this month, but first some context. Brandon Plays Pokemon was one of the first pieces of EZA content I ever watched, and has long been my favorite. But, with the addition of live reactions and amazing artwork, Silver Squad might have overtaken it. It is a highlight of every week and I'd like to thank you guys for streaming it. Inevitably, the idea of playing generation 3 has come up during streams, games which Kyle has dumped on on multiple occasions. In the July Patreon Q&A, Kyle said the games have bad music and should not be included on a list of great GBA soundtracks. Well, Pokemon Emerald version is my favorite video game of all time, as well as my favorite game soundtrack of all time. So, I recorded my favorite tune from gen 3 in hopes that you enjoy. L&R as always, - Ben https://youtu.be/U7IEOunGmUI

Anonymous

Hey Kyle, great Job on Box Peek. The best thing about the show is how it subverts expectations. Episode 7 literally shook me to my core with how dark it was. Playing on the expectations of the hero always coming in to save the day, and in a kid's show like Power Rangers or Voltron, where the party always gets out of a tough situation. That's what we expect, and to hit us with a character burning alive while he screams out for his friend, gotta say, I love it. I really dig how season 2 is going, the juxtaposition between season 1 and 2 makes it that much better. You're an amazing writer Kyle and you should be proud of what you've made, I can't wait for the final episode.

Anonymous

Good morning, Jones and Kyle! Well, I don't have any new D&D poetry ready this month... However, i do have a different kind of poem! I wrote about how I have some pretty bad anxiety, but some very good friends to set me at ease, this one written for the ones I met through Easy Allies! Hope y'all enjoy <3 doc link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hlVVYG4T_mwRkUsaOrA10iknp8B8aZJ3y4YCxc9CyUY/edit?usp=sharing L&R, Spencer (@spoolesofthread)

Anonymous

Hey Jones and Kyle, It's been the roughest month of my life, but I just want to say I really appreciate all the streams, specifically Kyle's friday night adventures, the Pokemon silver playthrough and most importantly, the return of Gundam streams. Since there hasn't been time in the Gundam streams to show off what chatters are working on, I thought i would show them off here. The Nerf Pistol at the end isn't just a paint job, I modded it by changing out the spring, making it shoot Nerf balls at 140 FPS rather than the stock 90, and boosted the ammo capacity from 5 to 6. https://imgur.com/a/Z1KD87G L&R, JT (Hellyahh in twitch chat)

Anonymous

Hey all, How do these showcases always sneak up on me?! Perhaps Im just always unprepared. At the start of this month I definitely had more gaming ambition than ultimately got completed, but still, not bad all things considered! To start, I started and completed the main story of Pokemon Sword! A mixed but ultimately fun experience which I will be podcasting with Michelle (@childofaeolus) which should be recorded by the time of this showcase! Look for it on our Twitter’s! Without reiterating myself too much here, I had a fun time with the game - though thought it shared many shortcomings the series has had since X & Y. The new Pokemon designs however are some of the strongest ever - and the entire Rolycoly line is a 10/10.(Also since Kyle is here, Platinum is in the top 3 of Pokemon games largely due to its bonkers story. One of the (personal) greats.) What has taken up more of my month has been Disney+. Im very much enjoying this service, though with the exception of classic Simpsons, it has basically existed to get me in the mood for Star Wars. I was able to finish the last season of Rebels, of course dive into the excellent Mandalorian, and start a rewatch of all 10 films by the time 9 is released (2 down). Though I own all the movies on blu-ray, there’s a real convenience to being able to lay in bed and pull them up from my PS4. Its also prompted me to get back into reading some of the formerly-canon comics, which Marvel has been rereleasing in collections. Shoutout to the ‘Infinities’ book which features an alternate take on the original trilogy based on the early concept of the series, and an alternate universe take with things like Vader joining the light. This fall has been hitting me hard with a bout of seasonal depression, so firstly a real thanks to you all and your content on the days I was feeling in the dumps (Silver Sauad, Box Peek, and the Podcast get special mention here). To any others feeling down this fall, know that it helps to talk about these things with others - as Ive learned a lot of us are feeling it (and Holiday lights/decorations help). So, yes! I love December, and Ive been having a blast purchasing gifts for others. Hopefully next showcase Ill have more gaming related updates with the holiday break giving me much more free time (and likely new games)! A quick final aside and (advice?) to any fellow college students. Literally reach out to whoever you can contact for your heavy hitting papers. I sent a random email to Michael Dukakis to see about a quote for a paper and actually got one, so go for it! Best wishes, and happy holidays! Tyler G @tmgm528 (And if I could get a quick wish of luck for my finals next week, and hopefully snagging an incredible internship I applied for!)

Anonymous

Hey Brandon and Kyle, This month I played a bit of Ringfit Adventure and half of Luigis Mansion 3 then I had a couple weeks where I just didn't have the energy to game. Ughh. Anyway I got Pokemon Shield later than most because of a $750 electricity bill but now have 80 Pokemon with no badges. Cheers. Hope Kyle hates this. 3 spoiler free images. https://twitter.com/StevenBeaumont7/status/1201083196097458177?s=09 https://twitter.com/StevenBeaumont7/status/1201083302305681408?s=09 https://twitter.com/StevenBeaumont7/status/1201083437441937408?s=09

Anonymous

Hi Kyle and Brandon. Watched Joker. Phoenix's performance and cinematography were great(the one in the shadow <3). Movie itself was pretty meaningless(especially that one scene was SO unnecessary). [6.5] Played Death Stranding. Loved it even during boring or awkward moments(facepalm worthy). BB is just adorable. [8.5] [These are not facts. Just my own opinion. Deal with it.] And here are drawings I did this month: 1.Just wanted to do one with a beach. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1201023905684549632 2. Restrained. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1201023722758512641 3. BB Kojima. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1201027235253235713 4. Sometimes when you're so tired that you just don't have energy to do anything. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1201025265771700224 5. When there is no pizza left after Dante arrives back at the office(forgot to put angry symbol)... https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1195365929162547200 6. ...and Trish, one of the culprits whistle pretending not knowing anything... https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1195366158549082112 7. ...and Lady, the other culprit looks away. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1195366339122257921 8. For a bonus. I drew Vergil. https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1201028136495915013 That is all for this time. Love and Respect TearjuEngi

Anonymous

"Kojima doesn't want you to suffer, he wants you to reduce the suffering of others" - Girlfriend Reviews

Anonymous

Hello Silver Squad! I'm enjoying the many streams you are doing these days (it's almost too much to keep up with!), and particularly Pokémon Silver! Thank you both for making this! Also, Achieve It Yourself was really great, and Box Peek is on top form! Congratulations to Kyle for some truly impressive shots across the latest episodes! As for me, earlier this month I started having Breath of the Wild's Hyrule Castle theme stuck in my head (again). But then, I don't know why, I started hearing it not in its original minor scale, all heavy and gloomy, but in the major scale, glorious and regal. So here's what I made this for this month: I first transcribed the original music, and then took it from G minor to G major, and now it sounds like Breath of the Wild's Hyrule Castle is still full of life, before the Calamity. I hope you enjoy! (PS: it loops at 2:15, you can stop at this point) Love & Respect, Kévin Gillet Link to the music: https://youtu.be/ofzRKyQ28WQ

Anonymous

Hello Jones and Bosman! I had briefly touched on it last month, but this go around I wanted to dive a bit deeper into the double feature from Night School Studio, Oxenfree and Afterparty. I picked up Oxenfree a few months ago, but it was just hanging out on my backlog since then. Once it was spooky season, it was time to start it. Of course, I had heard how much people liked this game but I had no idea how emotional it would be. I loved it so much, that I immediately bought Afterparty, ready for more. While it definitely had some odd technical hiccups, which were annoying but didn’t ruin anything, Milo and Lola’s adventure in hell was right up my alley. While so many games are unable to set themselves apart, Afterparty commands its vibe so well. That music? The voice acting? The engrossing story and gorgeous world? Chef Kiss. Now, I’m probably going to spend most of my time on my biggest November game. It had me attached to my Switch for many hours. Mario and Sonic… No I’m just kidding. IT’S POKEMON SWORD BABY. Ok, so let’s get it out of the way. Was this the console Pokemon game I had been dreaming of for over 20 years? In some ways, absolutely. In others? Absolutely not. But so much of the discourse around this game has been focused on the negatives that many of my favorite parts have gone entirely ignored, so that’s what I want to talk about today. Light spoilers incoming. First, I love Sobble, and found his evolutions to be pretty fun. Inteleon’s Sniper Shot is legitimately one of my new favorite move animations. I made extra effort to find new favorite monsters and to disagree with Bossy, Hatterene never left my party (love my trans rights witch!) Dynamaxing is somewhat basic, but it did add a bit of weight to those big matches. And the way a Pokemon reacts to getting hit by something real powerful like a Hyper Beam? So dramatic. But my number one favorite part of Sword comes towards the end of the game, when I finally get to do something I’ve always wanted in one of these games. Tournament Arc! Oh man it felt so fun to go through an actual tournament, complete with a bracket and mini-story within. I just want more of that. Finally, I played through the Tomb Raider reboot for the first time in a few years and sadly, it doesn’t hold up very well. Lara’s companions are so thinly written that when deaths occurred, I couldn’t be bothered to care. Playing it the same year as Last of Us and Uncharted 4 probably didn’t help its case. I still love searching for treasure, but every negative Ian brings up against those games is magnified in Tomb Raider. Until next month, when I’ll talk about Jedi Fallen Order and maybe some other stuff. Thank you for Box Peek. Love and Respect, GOTYlocks

Liz Castro

Hello Pokemon buds! I've been playing Shield and am enjoying it, especially since I received the Switch Lite for my birthday. The commute home (on bus) has never been more enjoyable. Just wanted to do a quick update -- last year, around this time, Girls Do Gaming was just a glimmer in the eye of a few of my students. This week, we will be hosting a Mario Kart tournament for the school. Our club went from just a few girls to about twenty and it makes me so, so happy to be able to give my students space and resources to bond over gaming. I brought my Super NES mini to school for them to play and a couple of frosh girls have "discovered" Earthbound and are in love. I added Monopoly to our tabletop rotation and my husband has donated his old PS4 to our club even. I am so grateful for his support, and am so blessed to be able to help these girls express their gaming selves. Some context: the school where I teach serves mainly low income families, is an all girls school, and has a population made up overwhelmingly of Latinx students. For many of our parents, interest in video games is codified as male -- an attitude that is changing but that I also grew up with -- and so having this club in this school run by girls of colors is immensely significant to me and to them. I want to thank you (Easy Allies) for being there, for existing, for being enthusiastic about games and about people, and for building this community that has allowed me to grow into a games appreciator. Much Love and Respect - Liz Castro (stuffinmybeard on Twitch)

Anonymous

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite games with bad review scores. #1 Darkest of Days (FPS on 360/PC from 2009) 47.2% on Game Rankings and 44% on Metacritic with a 49% User score. This game is not good, but it has a really cool concept. For time travel reasons you're tasked to go to various places in time and protect some important people who are out of place in the timeline. One of the first levels you get sent to the American Civil War and at one point you're given a futuristic assault rifle with a red dot sight to help even the odds. That's all I needed to love this bad game. You go to other wars and use future tech when it's safe to do so and it's all ridiculous. There needs to be more time travel games. #2 Operation Darkness (Strategy RPG on 360 from 2008) 50.1% on Game Rankings and 46% on Metacritic with a 70% User score. This is a turn-based strategy game like Fire Emblem but with guns, set in an alternate WWII. You control a group of Allied Special Forces, (some of whom are werewolves) and you fight Nazi's, (some of whom are vampires who control the undead). The main complaints in reviews are about the muddy graphics, the bad camera and the hard difficulty. If you can get over that stuff and you think a werewolf punching a tank for massive damage sounds cool, then you might like this game too. #3 Star Wars Rebellion (4X Strategy on PC from 1998) 50.3% on Game Rankings and no score on Metacritic but a User score of 86%. GameSpot scored it a 4.5 out of 10 yet it's one of my favorite games of all time. Most of the game you play looking at a map of the galaxy, trying to take control of planets and systems through diplomacy or other means. You play as the Rebels or the Empire with the goal of destroying the enemies headquarters or complete galactic victory. The original release came with one of those THICC instruction guides. It's hard to describe what's cool about it because there's too much. Like the Empire can build the Death Star and go around blowing up planets but the Rebels always have a chance to blow up the Death Star if they have Starfighters. The space battles are in 3D and I did have to get those Voodoo2 dll files from that sketchy site Kyle mentioned when trying to get Droid Works running. I think the site is ok but don't take my word for it. At least Rebellion is on Steam and runs on Windows 10. There's even an active discord link on the forums with people who can help you get it running. Anyway, a couple months back I ended up playing about 40 hours in one week. It's still addictive and still holds up today. Thanks for listening and keep up the good work!

Anonymous

Hello Kyle and Jones, unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the art I wanted for the showcase this month so instead here are some random pies from November (a lot of Pokemon art was done this month) Anyways congrats Kyle on Box Peek, it is truly something special and thanks Allies for everything you do. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xV_mYY1TvHvAe9Y4pkPIJFxZDXt0h-bO

Anonymous

I want to talk about how both children and adults fantasize about videogames. As kids, I remember running around the local playground, pretending to be characters from Chrono Trigger, before the game was even released. Our only concepts of the conflicts to act out came from our interpretations from a preview of the game in a magazine. After discovering turn based RPGs, I remember trying to convince other kids to "take turns" when we would act out battles outside. But this behavior of frequent videogame imagination stuck with me even into my young adults years. After playing Resident Evil REmake, my little brother and I would walk around like Chris or Jill in that silly tank-control gait, listening for how loud our footsteps would echo in any given stairwell, or empty hallway. The Admissions building for the college I ended up graduating from was a contender for most-Resident-Evil-like, according to my brother during my initial visit when he walked around the old building like an idiot pretending to be Chris Redfield. I guess it had an influence in my final college choice. Something Brandon said during an episode of Cup of Jones about camping helps me feel like I'm not crazy. He said that spending time in nature, an activity that should totally remove oneself from virtual worlds, often resulted in him fantasizing about videogames. It's a phenomenon I can totally relate to, at least I used to. Sadly I feel like the imaginative part of my brain is rarely active these days when it comes to the possibilities of the present and future of videogames. Naturally, as a 34 year old man I don't act out videogame fantasies anymore, but at least I can live vicariously through my niece and nephew. For context, my older brother very rarely plays videogames but he tries to play mainline sequels in select franchises like Zelda, Metroid, and Metal Gear Solid, so I sold him my WiiU just so he could play Breath of the Wild. He only has time to play it during family time, and his three and five year old kids have become completely enamored. I am so thrilled that anytime I see the niece and nephew they primarily reference Zelda. I mean, they're kids, they could be obsessed with any given ubiquitous intellectual property aimed at them like Paw Patrol or Disney Princesses, but of all things for them to get obsessed with, it's Breath of the Wild. I can get the three year old to eat his food by acting like a Hinox, pretending like I'm going to take his food. Their father can get them interested in cooking by acting like Link the first time he cooks a new recipe. Perhaps videogames and real life each make the other more fun. I hope the Allies and viewers have lots of innocent videogame fantasies to think back on. I'm looking forward to the Box Peek finale but not looking forward to the show ending.

Anonymous

Hey Brandon and Kyle, Due to my new job my gaming time was drastically reduced in November and I almost forgot to write this post. I am currently laying in bed on Monday evening and write this post on my phone. I think I made it in time, so here we go: I was only able to finish one game this month: season two of Telltale's Batman series titled "the enemy within". I finished almost all telltale games (except for the last walking dead season and the borderlands season) and even though season one of "the walking dead" is probably their most significant  achievement, both Batman seasons are my personal highlight. Telltale was able to put a unique spin on a beloved franchise and I thoroughly enjoyed how existing characters were interpreted. Harley Quinn and the Riddler were great additions to the cast. The character arc of John Doe (and the amount of impact player choice has on his development) was one of the better "character stories" in any telltale style game. The moment credits started rolling was honestly the first time where I was "sad" about the closure of Telltale, since we will never get a continuation of this Batman story.  Of course I always felt sorry for the people who lost their job, but I was fine with never playing a new telltale  story in "the wolf among us" or "guardians of the Galaxy" franchise. However, their "reinvention" of the Batman-verse is truly something special and I cannot recommend it enough to any Batman or adventure game fan. For December I am really looking forward to my holiday break in which I hope to finish up Dishonored 2 and take a deep dive into Jedi fallen Order. Have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Love and respect Thim PS: Kyle- congratulations on season two of box peak. The show is a pure joy to watch and I love the mixture of anime tropes, stupid jokes and unique storytelling ideas

Anonymous

Hello Kyle and Jones. Greetings Chat. We are finally on the last month of the year, and in general has been a positive one, of course, there have been things that I wish were different but that is what makes our lives interesting. This time I want to share the games that I enjoyed this year the most, this doesn’t mean they are necessarily the best, but the ones that resonate better with me, so let’s start: -Resident Evil 2: There is not much to say that hasn’t been said before. This game is GOTY material and probably will be one of the best of the generation. -Kingdom Hearts 3: Probably not the best in the series, however the game does have a heart. I loved every moment of it. -Devil May Cry 5: Probably my favorite DMC ever, fast paced and as crazy as ever. The game looks stunning on 4K and runs almost perfect. -Fire Emblem Three Houses: I actually played over 100 hours of this game, it was too much fun. It had a lot of Persona vibes and I really liked that. -Judgment: To be honest, I think this was the best game of the Yakuza series, I cannot recommend this game enough, and the best of everything there is no need to play any other Yakuza games to enjoy it. -Destiny 2 Shadowkeep: I have over 1200 hours on this game, probably means I love this it :) -Jedi Fallen Order: Got to give a big shout out to Respawn, considering what Star Wars means for most people, I can safely say they surpassed most expectations we could have. I have played other games besides those, but I had a lot of enjoyment with the ones mentioned before. Finally, I just want to say a few things. Thank you so much for this year of content as Easy Allies, I really appreciate everything you guys do for the community and most of the changes done this year have been for the best. My highlight each week is the Silver Squad stream, watching Jones enjoying Pokemon and Kyle biting his tongue trying to avoid saying too much is just great. I wish you all the Allies and chat happy holidays, I hope you enjoy your time with your family and friends, and of course play as many video games as humanly possible. Amor y Respeto. Miguel.

Anonymous

Hi Brandon and Kyle! I wanted to something extra special this month, but as I have been away most of november staying at a hotel for work, I havent been able to do much at all. Instead I thought I would just share some bits and bops about my gaming this month. I have put about 20 hours into Death Stranding, even though its not even near as many as I would of liked, I must say I really really enjoy it. Just exploring and delivering things are such a nice break from other "normal" games. The story is starting to pick up a bit as well, so looking forward to see where it goes. I have also, finally, reached level 60 in Classic wow and have joined this lovely guild with tons of people from all walks of life. I used to play A LOT of WoW back in the day (vanilla to Cataclysm). So now I'm just gonna focus on having fun and let things take its time. I am also looking forward to Christmas, as I get to fly home to Sweden and see my family again, been too long since I was home last time. Finally I just want to remind people that Titanfall 2 are free on PS+ this month. If you havent already, PLEASE pick it up, even if you just play the campaign once. That said though, the multiplayer (and PvE mode) is great and I would be more than happy to give any new players some help in the multiplayer if needed! (Being Lotias on PSN) Can I also just say how awesome this community are? Great people and even on the lowest of days, people here can really lift me up. Love and Respect Lotias

Anonymous

Hi! First I want to thank all of EZA for this great year, this was my first year supporting with Patreon and it has been really fun. There is always something great to look forward to each week and that's a good feeling. This month I only finished two games, the first one is Luigi's Mansion 3. This was easily one of the best Switch games in 2019, the team at Next Level did an amazing job with the hotel design and the graphics. Probably my only complaint is that the rewards for finding secrets are almost non existent. The second game is Pokemon Shield! The week that I played this game was the best one of this month. lots of great new pokemon, building my team was a joy and the gym challenge was pretty exciting. I would have loved that the entire story focused only in this challenge while having more things to do between the gyms instead of the dumb story that felt very tacked on, especially the ending bits. It was a fun ride and I hope Game Freak gets more budget and time for the next one, usually the second generation on the same system is much better than the previous one, like Black/White for the DS and Sun/Moon for 3DS. I can't say if Gold/Silver is better than Red/Blue as I am playing the former for the first time along with Silver Squad! I was really enjoying my time with Death Stranding, going through the journey with the help of others make this a unique game. I was deep in Chapter 3 just putting some music in people's structures but Pokemon came out one week after and haven't gone back since then. Finally the game I waited over a year to play, that one game is Life Is Strange 2! Played through all four episodes the past week and it has been way better than I expected. It's a bit sad that its not getting much attention as the first one and I think the name may be one of the reasons. It suggests that is a sequel to the previous game and that's not the case at all, it goes on a completely different approach and I really appreciate that. Can't wait for the season finale next Tuesday and the spoiler mode afterwards! That's all! Amor y respeto para todos desde Chile! Tomás

Anonymous

Hey Allies! My first and only submission to the showcases was a Smash montage of my Pokemon Trainer but this time I would just like to submit one match. At the time I played this match, it was right after Hero was released and elite smash was filled with about 90% Heros trolling. And this one went so far as to get one of the most gimmicky stages in the game for our match. As you’ll see, his plan backfired and I think most people can appreciate a troll’s plan blowing up in their face. To be honest, that first stock was an accident as I didn’t realize I had fully charged Squirtle’s water gun, but hey, I’ll take it! And the last stock might be my favorite thing I’ve ever done in Smash. But every stock taken in this match was because of the stage. And just for Kyle, I threw in a jolly Tropical Freeze song for those who don’t enjoy Smash all that much. Thanks for all you guys do! Love & Respect! -Beeks Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF1FDKYFzJM

Anonymous

Hey Allies! English isn't my first language, so apologies for any mistake. I'm a flight attendant from Chile, this is my first post since I joined patreon one year ago, just to support you. I usually find myself saying "I love these guys, I love their content" when I'm walking around catching up to the podcast or any other video. I'll keep this short, due to that I suffer from anxiety and even writing this has taken me a lot of tries, but I wanted to tell you that you guys are awesome! Keep up the good work, here's to a great 2020 and Happy Holidays! L & R -David

Anonymous

Hola Kyle y Brandon, Originally, I joined Twitter in order to follow the 9 Allies (and maybe Wario64 as well) but found myself enjoying the art and commentary from the EZA community too. While meeting other folks in the process, I wanted to give thanks to some of the amazing artists I’ve had the privilege of interacting with. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KQ9hkHPw879y8KjSLNQeFDUg74a6VnKd (Pics have been labelled as described below) Pic1: Here is my growing collection of some of Teeg’s (@TeeKetch) work. Also, glad that I got the chance to meet him earlier this year. Pic2: This drawing of Urbosa was thanks to Ray (@Rayluaza) and part of his Patreon Tier Reward a while back. This was one of three options I gave him, and so glad he chose this one. Pic3: Next was a commission that Noah (@noahrayne) did for me. It was a gift for my wife for Mother’s Day. Drawing of her and her mother who she lost at a young age. Pic4: Next one is a commission recently done by Steve (@steven_purifoy) of my kids. It’s a Christmas gift for my wife whose favorite cartoon growing up was Rugrats. Pic5: Saw Jenn (@youchube) post some cool backgrounds on an older community showcase and decided to purchase some items I enjoyed. Little did I know she’d get me into loving Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Pic6: Met Aaron (@AaronBolducArt) at the same event I met Teeg at, and very much glad I did. Pic7: Bought these shirts from Cal (@thecalgee) after seeing these cool takes on breakfast cereals my sisters and I would eat growing up during the month of October. Pic8: Finally, an “adult” coloring book I bought from John (@sumrow). Haven’t colored anything for myself, or that wasn’t Nickelodeon based, in ages. And of course, thanks to the Order of the 9 for bring all these amazing people into my life in some way, shape, or form. Amor y Respeto, Juan Rolón Jr.

Anonymous

Howdy Allies, Hope you both are well, This comes fresh off the heels of Black Friday so I wanted to share a moment I just recently experienced that Papa Jones will one day get to enjoy very soon... I bought my 4-year-old son his FIRST video game. "The Lego Marvel Collection" for PS4. I'm hoping it was a good choice, I figure it's characters he recognizes, couch co-op, unlimited continues, nothing overly violent. Also, a bit curious if Jones has given much thought to what might be his son's first game. This is my second time showing some of my drawings, thank you once again for the kind words last month <3. This time I thought I'd share something that I think only the Allies will really understand... When I was a kid I wanted to make a video game, as I'm sure many of us did. However I grew up in Amish country, and a job in the game industry was a pipe dream for a kid in the 80's who lived in a village where cows outnumber people 10 to 1. That never stopped me though from just drawing all those monsters, and characters, and maps, and cities, and all that other wonderful video game goodness. Fast Forward to today however and I'm a 36-year-old cable guy working for Comcast and priorities/responsibilities have changed but I never stopped building my world and keep adding to it when I can and though it will never come to fruition it's an honor just to have a small portion seen by you two fine gentlemen.<3nR Skim Milk https://bit.ly/33Fe8DO https://bit.ly/2LvEPoj https://bit.ly/2DGLRSO https://bit.ly/2RajEM1 https://bit.ly/2PbnmSO

Anonymous

Hello Jones & Kyle & CHAAAATTTT Here is part four of the Shenmue [EAZ-DUB]. Starring in order of appearance: Michael Huber Kyle Bosman Daniel Bloodworth and Brandon Jones. https://youtu.be/eXo9rpi8Pp8 Happy Holidays All of the Love All Of The Respect Dan Allen Detroit, MI PS: The last Year+ of shenanigans from the EZA DUB Project can be found at youtube.com/litmitmedia.

Anonymous

Oooee how’re my scrappy little pigs doing? As promised, I upped my pledge in honor of Don’t Call Me Mama, which has put me in the community showcase tier. So now that the holidays are almost upon us, I’ve decided to share some themed artwork. Never having been too keen on the typical holiday fare I went about brainstorming something fresh. Without further ado, move aside Rudolph and all your riffraff, I present to you a collection of brand new holiday appropriate characters with accompanying blurbs of the poetic variety: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LQnwPPH4igWAvUS9A L&R, Neil B @MayorMcFrumples

Anonymous

Well, here we are again. Last month a game I had waited a long time for came out. Shenmue 3. I popped that disc in, and "Unrecognized Disc" popped up on my screen. Great day for my disc drive in my PS4 to die. Well, not die die. It still reads discs of games that are installed. It does not read blu-ray movies at all though. Well, let's hope for backwards compatibility. Actually, I was inclined to think of it as a sign to start going digital only. Here is the thing though, super sales are going on... some newer games are like 10, 15 bucks off. Online store, 59.99 still. I wish games adapted the whole physical disc comes with a digital copy thing that movies do. Sure, yes, people would be able to buy a copy and then give the physical to someone else or sell it to GameStop, but you'd have to be pretty desperate to take their bullshit trade in values. So, I took my copy and a bunch of other games to GameStop to get some PSN gift cards to buy a digital copy of Shenmue 3. Looked at what games I had gotten free via PS Plus, didn't want anymore, etc. Works out with packing, cause I'm moving, bought a condo. Actually, I'm probably doing the closing as you read this. Probably signing my name more times than bugs I accounted in Spider-Man. I should probably be packing instead of typing this. For boxes, I just keep stopping at the liquor store on my way home from work asking if they have a surplus of boxes they could part with. My movers are gonna think I have a problem. It's that I own too much junk. Still got two weeks till moving day. Should be plenty of time... Oh dear lord, I only have two weeks till moving day. I am so........ So, Shenmue 3. Loved it. I just love how it is a true sequel. Some of the dialogue is really bad, but in like a charming sort of way that is very Shenmue. The game is Shenmue with all the weird quirks. There was one scene I had to upload to Twitter where I am pretty sure someone was missing from the scene entirely... and I kinda loved it. It reminded me of that time in Horizon where I freed a village area before talking to a dude, and then the dude explained how people were locked up and it showed like an empty prison because I already freed everyone and had to talk to him again to acknowledge I even did it. Oh, in Shenmue 3 if I did something someone asked me to do, Ryo would say he did it already. So that's something. I just really kinda like how unapologetically the series sticks to what it is. Also, I have been watching The Mandalorian. Hey, look at that! Something Star Wars that I genuinely enjoy watching! Miracles can happen!

Anonymous

Hey Brandon and Kyle I’ve noticed a trend in my showcase posts. I almost always talk about Pokemon when Kyle is on and why stop now! Taking inspiration Kyle and Dan on the Couch, I’m going to give 3 loves and 3 hates for Pokemon Shield. Just a warning there will be some light spoilers. Hate #3 Fossil Monstrosities In Shield you revive fossil Pokemon with the assistance of Dr. Cara Liss, a truly awful person who slaps together miss-matched pieces of fossils and calls it a day. These poor, suffering creatures are freezing, cant breath, can’t walk or have an upside down head. While this was a clever idea, seeing these abominations struggle to live and knowing I was complicit in it was just too much. Love #3 The Ball Guy The ball guy is a wonderful weirdo who hangs out around the various gyms and gives you rare pokeballs. What makes the ball guy great is that they’re apparently the greatest mystery in the entire region. No one knows who they are, their gender, they’re age or even where their pokeballs come from. Hate #2 Boring routes and towns The routes in Shield are often bland and short, consisting of straight lines and far too few trainers. Another problem is that since there are so few HMs or HM equivalents that reveal new paths, there rarely feels like a reason to return. Towns have the same problem of being heavily shrunken down. Even the large cities feel small, especially compared to past cities like Castelia or Lumiose. Love #2 Reimagined Pokemon league One of the aspects I always found odd about the previous generations was how the Pokemon league seemed so secretive. This is a world that revolves around Pokemon and Pokemon battles and yet the battles are in closed off buildings and mountain castles. Imagine if the only people allowed to attend the World Cup were players in the World Cup. Shield’s trainer journey being a publicized event helps make the world feel more believable. Hate #1 Rushed Story Pokemon Shield follows the plot structure established in Ruby and Sapphire of the trainers journey intermixed with a region wide threat. The problem is that this region wide threat awkwardly presents itself right in the middle of the championship tournament. Before this moment the only hints to this threat are a couple murals and tapestries. Say what you want about Sun/Moon being too cutscene heavy but at least that story had a clear start, middle and end. This story should have either been fleshed out more or held back for after you become champion, because how it’s placed now is frankly bad. Love #1 Wild Area While Galar fails in its routes and towns, the wild area is a fascinating and fun place. I had a great time traveling around looking for new Pokemon and how they change based on weather, searching out hidden items and going through dynamax raids. The wild area does fail in some ways, mostly that sudden weather and habitat changes make it feel a little too much like a theme park, however the freedom and scope of the wild area still make it worthwhile. L & R

Anonymous

Not sure this will do anything, but the show is tomorrow; you may wanna edit you comment.

Anonymous

Not sure this will do anything, but the show is tomorrow; you may wanna edit you comment.

Anonymous

Not sure this will do anything, but the show is tomorrow; you may wanna edit you comment.

Anonymous

Here's my community showcase submission entry which will hopefully not be flagged as spam this time: https://youtu.be/4fp3TU90dY4

Anonymous

I am submitting this so late. I have been too distracted playing Diablo 3 on Switch and did not record anything new. I wanted to share a song I have been played in stream that used to be in Pop'n Music, but was removed. However using a mod, I was able to put it back in, and I was shocked to find this song in the game. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/A1ZsHTgr97k

Anonymous

greetings and happy hoildays jones and bosman hope you having a good final month of the year.Lots of great games and with the wake of disney plus many old shows and classic movies Shoutouts to the green eggs and ham series on Neflix was a fun series to watch and good animation and well done vo. Klaus for a great movie to get you in the chrismas spirt,and finally the 3rd season of dragon prince witch jones fetures the voice talent of chris metzen formal bilzzard founder and voice actor supreme. I have started my 3rd complete watchthrough of the one piece anime currently in the 190's and good to soak it in agian. The One piece manga has been on fire lately following a flashback with the most out of control amazing char ever.Fully caught up in the manga version of Demon slayer and man that art blows me away no wonder its fighting one piece for the top in japan right now.Also in anime my hero season 4 is great,Food wars season 4 is just nuts it has a scene where someone suffers from a butter genjustu,and fire force which for a shonen anime has little to no filler at all in it. Now to games many games starting with Luigis mansion 3 beated 100% completion.This game who the game awards didnt put in art direction cause it blows all others out the water. and i can confirmed GOTY 2019 for me for all the love and care Next Level Games did on this still Shocks me.Ring fit adventure still getting through it and having a blast wish i could commit more time on it soon finally breaking lvl 100 and the game feels like theres another 40% left to go but i will get there.and finally Pokemon all i can really say i like it theres a few issues here and there but i do love all the new pokemon theres not one i dislike at all and love the new models of the old ones too.love the gmax pokemon designs they basically say what if this pokemon was a kajiu and as a fan of old kajiu movies some blew me away in design ideas.and cant wait to see what they do for the rumored gen 4 remake.hope you all have a great hoilday love and repect corey jackson.

Anonymous

I don't have anything to share this month, so I'll use this space to wish everyone and their families a happy holiday season and new year! See you all at the Box Peek Season 2 finale!

Anonymous

Greetings Brandon and Kyle! This month I am submitting a very bizarre video-comic parody I made for the showcase. https://youtu.be/AB9owGLcyMU <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AB9owGLcyMU" width="560"></iframe> L&amp;R, Ian - @alexander_arts

Anonymous

*Comment Protection!* - This video is only 2 mins long but I drew about 40 images to make it, so it wasn't easy, even though it's super rough and sketchy. I hope people enjoy it, but it's my first time making something like this really, so I hope to get some feedback. After working on it for a while, I can't even tell if it's funny or not anymore.

Alex Stories

Hopefully made it in time... Disney + is a huge hit with everybody talking about The Mandalorian, Ducktales or their nostalgic series of choice like X-men, Simpsons or Darwing Duck. But i wanna hear your thoughts on what could very well be the objective best things on the platform... Gravity Falls and the Pixar SparkShorts. Earlier this year Pixar released for free on youtube 3 animated shorts done by new up and coming directors from the studio. Purl being the first tackling women in the workplace was a hit to be sure but what came next is literally my favorite thing this year... Kitbulll. A 2d short from the known 3D studio took the world by storm with an extremely simple but captivating relationship between a pitbull and a kitten that emotionally took the internet by storm. Now Pixar has released Float with upcoming shorts Wind coming on December 13th and Loop the final SparkShort for now coming in early 2020. Gravity Falls on the other hand is an animation great, Not underseen by any means but the lack of discourse online whist nostalgic clearly weaker shows just because of the time they were made in are getting all the focus. There was a time where you could watch a new Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty episode in the same week and choosing which was better was nigh impossible. Which says a lot as Rick and Morty is S-tier, so i implore the allies in chat or watching later to check it out if you are in any way a fan of animation. Like Avatar The Last Airbender it has a clear direction and earned ending making it one of the greats! Thoughts on these and i'm wondering what you think is truly must-see content on Disney + that you feel is not talked about enough right now?

Alex Stories

Alex Hirsh is all in on animation right now on Netflix where on a podcast with Justin Roiland he shares how Netflix has given him a truck of money and full creative freedom so we can expect big things from both Netflix animation and the creator of Gravity Falls in 2020.

Anonymous

Hi there! Several months ago (coincidentally the last time Kyle was on the showcase) I submitted a trailer for my new indie game along with a more personal thank you for keeping your content lighthearted and fun. I've been a longtime fan of the Allies, but owe you even more than usual after a rough year... throughout 2019 I underwent several months of extensive radiation and chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma cancer, and found myself falling back on your videos, podcasts, and streams as a comforting presence in the midst of some challenging days and nights. I'm happy to announce that my cancer officially in remission as of September! I am eternally grateful for your role in my recovery and ask only that you continue to share your passion and infectious enthusiasm for games with the world. In addition, I managed to launch my game on Steam Early Access and thought some of the EZA community might be interested in taking a look. A Story Beside is a cozy top-down adventure that tells the story of Lyric, a humble innkeeper in a small mountain village. As you might imagine, a lot of my heart and soul has gone into this project, which became an outlet for my mental and emotional energy throughout this entire process. Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/634410/ Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/vn0hLCA Thank you once again for everything you do. My sincerest wishes of love and respect to all the allies! David Grund Wayward Prophet

Anonymous

Aloha Brandon &amp; Kyle, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. I was working on something similar for last month's showcase, but got wrapped up in a bunch of IRL stuff and just couldn't make the deadline. "The best laid plans of mice and men", as they say. So for this month, I wanted to discuss what a great time it is to be a Star Wars fan right now. Jedi Fallen Order released last month and I've been enjoying almost every minute of it. I'm playing it on Story difficulty (because of my still injured left hand), but am finding the story, combat, and visuals to be excellent on all counts. It can get rather annoying though, when you keep throwing yourself off various ledges because your left thumb just doesn't want to cooperate. Then we have the weekly episodes of "The Mandalorian". I haven't had such a good time watching a Star Wars property since Rogue One I think. I enjoyed Solo and Last Jedi of course, but this show just brings a unequaled grin to my face every Friday. I really appreciate the Western/Samurai influences as well, as a throwback to the original trilogy. Then in just over 2 weeks, we have Episode IX releasing in theaters capping off the Skywalker Saga. We're finally going see the (as Huber says it) 'culmination' of over 40 years of storytelling. A quick PSA to the Allies; if you have the time and money, I highly recommend reading the "Resistance Reborn" and "Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire" books to get ready for the upcoming movie. It will provide a bunch of context to the time between Episodes VIII and IX, and I think greatly enhance your viewing experience. I read most of the "Journey to" content before each of the last two movies and found this to be the case. I also found out recently that my Gamertag/Online Alias is officially part of the Star Wars canon now for some reason. Its quite shocking to see something you've used for the past 2 decades or so, in a Star Wars comic. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Namzor Finally I'm also showing off some of the LEGO sets I bought during Triple Force Friday in October, and built during last month's Gundam stream. The AT-ST is from "The Mandalorian" and the Resistance A-Wing is from Episode IX. Hope you all have a jolly December. Mahalo nui loa for everything you do. L &amp; R, Samo Rozman @Namzor https://imgur.com/a/RCsYjeI

Anonymous

Hello Jones, Bosman, and Allies! Happy holidays everyone! I had to complete the hat trick and submit a combo video for Yamcha. Super hyped for 2020 (FF7 Remake, Cyberpunk 2077, and Last of Us Part II) – see you all in the new year! Note: please turn down audio for chat (love you chat) https://youtu.be/LaLOMGNcpCY <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LaLOMGNcpCY" width="560"></iframe> L&amp;R, Accounts Payable (“AP”)

EasyAllies

Jones here! Just grabbed the last comment. See you tomorrow!

EasyAllies

I think I'm missing submissions from discardedDigit and Jordan Kirk. If yours vanished, re-post below and I'll try to grab them before I head into the office in the morning.

Anonymous

I updated my comment with a video link. Hopefully it makes it into the showcase, but I'll understand if not!

Anonymous

The Hello allies. Sorry it took so long, but I've been super busy... anyways rather than making you all search for my original post I thought I'd just post the link to my finished project here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Owjtg0XzaYhLD6uPCzD9NJICqUDKJB7/view?usp=drivesdk I also wanted to let you know I created a soundcloud account for my storybook files, including last months Love Can Be Magical file, since they are so long and hope to continue using it in the future for other projects not showcase related. You can find it by searching for me or #EZAShowcase since these are the only two posted so far. Thanks again for everything you all have done for me. I legit wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this community and how accepting and supportive you all are. I am thankful and humbled and eternally grateful. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜L&amp;R Jessie_Blu