Analyze This Podcast

I finally got my hands on one of my most anticipated games of 2025: The Outer Worlds 2. As a big fan of the first game, I went in hoping the sequel would expand on everything that made the original so memorable. While The Outer Worlds 2 delivers an overall enjoyable experience, some elements feel surprisingly average, leaving me with mixed feelings by the end.

Despite having a strong release, Battlefield 6 has struggled to keep up. The player base has dropped drastically as EA/DICE struggle to come out with quality content. It's a shame because I love the feel of this game as it reminds me of the Battlefield games I grew up with. However, I have mixed feelings thanks to questionable game design choices and for the fact that EA/DICE have struggled yet again with keeping up with the live service model.

Dying Light: The Beast is another fantastic entry in the franchise. The Beast continues to offer one of the best gameplay formulas out there. The combat is great. It’s as gory and as gruesome as it’s ever been. The game is just as fun when you aren’t chopping zombie heads off thanks to the parkour element. Techland created a perfectly sized open world game, and they were able to successfully integrate the parkour and combat systems into it. The Beast is a must play due to its stellar gameplay and linear focused narrative.

Mafia: The Old Country is a game that looks great but is lacking in content. It’s a classic single-player narrative experience that offers a fun story. But the storytelling and gameplay elements are limited due to the game’s length. I enjoyed my time with the title, but I was expecting a lot more from the fourth installment in this franchise.

Avowed is a solid game. The game features fantastic combat which is broken up into multiple systems. The world looks amazing and it is a semi open world game that gives you the right amount of content. The story may not be the best, but the gameplay will help you get through it. This game is worth a play through.

I think it is safe to say corporate greed has killed the game industry. It is no longer fun to play games. Hell, it isn't even fun to make games. The game industry is all about money now and it's less about the fun experience we used to have while gaming. Every game in every game genre is over monetized and game companies have placed unrealistic expectations on the developers.

I really enjoyed the second season of Andor despite not being the biggest fan of the first. Andor features some of the best storytelling and acting we have ever seen in this franchise. Andor gives us a mature and gritty story which is something I have wanted in Star Wars for a long time. The acting was great. The writing made sense. Even the dialogue heavy scenes were enjoyable. The story was tense and emotional. Season 2 perfectly wraps up the origin story of Cassian Andor and the rebellion.

It appears Kathleen Kennedy’s retirement is looming. Honestly, it can’t come soon enough. Star Wars is dying, and major changes need to be made to save the franchise. There needs to be leadership changes made to save the franchise. Kathleen Kennedy needs to go. Lucasfilm needs a new president. The company needs a president that care about Star Wars and will allow a true content creation team to run the show.

Star Wars Outlaws was a disappointment. I think the game had some really good ideas that never came to fruition. It is yet another typical open world game that is beautifully designed, but lacks variety in gameplay elements. The game is repetitive and the storytelling is weak, especially near the end of the game. This game could have been the GTA version of Star Wars, but it ends up being just another open world Ubisoft game.

I really enjoyed Skeleton Crew. I think it is a very good show. It's a fun adventure show that is perfect for getting younger people interested in Star Wars. Sadly, the show received poor reception due to the current state of the franchise. It sucks, but this will continue to happen until Disney and Lucasfilm change the way they do things. Regardless, I will explain why I think Skeleton Crew is worth the watch.

Black Ops 6 is pretty good. The campaign is the most controversial in the Black Ops series, but it is still a solid experience. Multiplayer is solid and the additions of the omni-movement system is huge. Zombies hasn’t been this fun in years. I just wish the developers would be more creative by crafting new maps and modes that go along with gunsmith and the new movement system. It’s also frustrating to see the developers get lazy and rely on AI to create cosmetics.

Star Wars used to be a fun, emotional, and unforgettable experience, filled with lore, legacy, and stories that stood the test of time. But under Disney’s reign, the franchise has lost its way. In this video, I share my frustrations with the current direction of Star Wars and why I feel pessimistic about its future. From the disrespect shown to George Lucas' original vision to the constant injection of agendas into the storytelling, it's clear that Star Wars isn't what it used to be. I also address the broken fanbase—a once passionate community now riddled with toxicity on all sides—and reflect on how the joy of discussing Star Wars has faded. Despite trying to remain hopeful and give new content a chance, I’m growing tired of the constant disappointment.

The Halo show has been cancelled after just 2 seasons. The show was a frustrating disappointment. The writers chose to ignore the source material and the storytelling decisions made were offensive to the franchise. The Halo universe is very interesting and it should have been very easy to make a fun and entertaining show based off of the games. I'd love to see a brand new Halo show or movie in the future, however, they need to clean house and start from scratch.

I am extremely disappointed in The Acolyte show. This was another flawed and controversial Star Wars show. The writing was bad, filled with plot holes, and left me more confused than anything else. I think this is the worst Star Wars show to come out. It would be nice if Disney and Lucasfilm would focus more on making fun Star Wars content and a little less on their crusade to fight toxic fans.

The Fallout show exceeded my expectations. This show can be put on the very short list of successful adaptions. The creators of the show respected the lore and various themes of the game franchise. Both the plot and characters had great development that really paid off by the time you get to the season 1 finale. Yes, there are some changes to the lore but there’s nothing that ruins the show or tarnishes Fallout’s legacy. Some of the changes are cool in my opinion. I highly recommend this show to anyone.

Xbox is in the worst state it could possibly be. Who would have thought they would be struggling this bad just a year after purchasing all those game studios. It’s shocking to see Xbox close studios that developed successful games and it’s truly unfortunate to see so many people lose their jobs. The people at the top need to be held accountable, but of course that never happens. Xbox is becoming so desperate that it is destroying itself. Shutting down studios, spending a ridiculous money on Game Pass, and releasing bad games might just lead to the downfall of Xbox. Can Xbox be saved at this point or has their fate been sealed?

Tales of the Empire was solid addition to the Tales series that Disney has created for Star Wars. Both sets of stories were interesting and emotional. It was nice to see the perspective of the bad guys for a change. You can argue that there are other characters far more worthy of having stories told about them in this series, but this was still fun to watch. I have a few critiques regarding storytelling decisions, but I highly recommend checking out the show. Don’t listen to all the noise out there about this show. It’s worth a watch.

The Bad Batch series is officially over. I would say it was a successful show. Season 3 was not the best, but the finale was awesome. The storytelling in the animated shows is always great. The growth of characters and their relationships with each other was very good. This was a fun show to watch, and I will always look back at it fondly.

After watching Rebel Moon Part 2, I think it’s fair to say that this project is a disappointment. I expected so much more from Zack Snyder. He hyped up his project by claiming it was going to be the next Star Wars and it failed to hit the mark. It didn’t have to beat Star Wars, but it could have used that franchise as a source of inspiration. Rebel Moon feels like a wasted opportunity because the plot was rushed in both movies. There were plenty of opportunities to build lore and expand on things and Zack did none of this. Rebel Moon is supposed to be a sci-fi space thriller and it felt nothing like that.

The first Gears of War game was awesome. It introduced us to a brand-new world. People need to remember that Epic Games was great before they created Fortnite. They created a unique story and gameplay elements that made Gears a must play game. Memorable characters, guns, and themes helped Gears stand out during a time when we saw the rise of any franchises, especially in the shooter genre. This game kicked off a great franchise that became a staple for Xbox for many years. If modern day developers need a source of inspiration for making a game that can turn into a successful franchise, they just need to look at Gears of War.

Quiet on Set was tough to watch, but it was an important watch. We need to know about what truly went on behind the scenes at Nickelodeon. It's sad and frustrating to learn about all the ways people were mistreated and basically tortured. This documentary is a good example of why we there are a lot of movements today going after people that have done horrible things. I now know why society has a huge intolerance for the inappropriate treatment of colleagues and employees today. This documentary ruined my childhood tv memories, but I'm glad it did.

Star Wars has existed for almost 50 years. The age range for the fandom is wide at this point. So with fans of all ages nowadays, who is Star Wars intended for? It's always been for kids apparently, but should the focus be on kids today now that many fans are older and would like to see more mature content? I would also argue that there's many scenes that are pretty rough for kids to watch and there's lore elements that are complex and hard to understand. I think those that create content for the franchise need to recognize just how old a large part of the fandom is now.

There was some improvement in the second season of the Halo show. It was much more interesting to watch and just like in the first season, the battles were very good. However, the creators doubled down on changing up the lore and focusing on characters that should not matter as much in this story. The season included many emotional moments and it set up season 3 nicely. However, the plot is still bloated with multiple storylines and most of them don’t need to be there.

It’s becoming increasingly frustrating for fans of both single player and co-op games. The increasing popularity in multiplayer games and live service has led to less single player and narrative based games. And gone are the days of playing through Halo and Gears of War campaigns with your buddies. Nowadays, every game must be connected to online and games that give off classic couch co-op vibes are plagued with live service elements. I want more games like the Last of Us and Uncharted because it’s nice to just kick back and relax while playing through a story mode. It also shouldn’t be that difficult to make fun online co-op games.

Open world games need to change. They become too big and repetitive. Developers need to focus more on quality over content. Random points of interest and meaningless collectibles need to stop being flooded throughout the map in these big games. Open world games today look gorgeous, and I don’t deny the amount of time and effort the developers put into making the games, but there must be some changes. Creating new mechanics for these games would freshen things up a bit.

I find myself frustrated with the Star Wars brand yet again and the cancellation of EA’s Mandalorian game. It is mind boggling to me that Disney and game developers don’t seem to care about making more Star Wars games. There are so many great ideas for games to make in this universe. The same can be said about movies and shows. There’s a lot of great lore just sitting around waiting for someone to use in some kind of project. As for the content that has been made over the past few years, it’s been an up and down experience. Some projects were good, and others ended up being controversial. Disney does not consider bringing in some of the best creative minds in Hollywood and has even backtracked on some of them in the past. So, when and how does the content get better? Star Wars has every reason to dominate the media industry today and it just doesn’t. For some reason the people that call the shots and those that make the content just can’t seem to get it right. It’s very frustrating.

I have mixed feelings about the gaming industry right now. I am the proud owner of an Xbox Series S and a PS5. So, I could play almost any game I want right now. However, the industry seems to be struggling to. AAA games are either flopping or disappearing. It looks like we will have to wait away for new games from staple franchises in the PlayStation catalogue. We have also witnessed 25,000 people lose their job over the past 3 years. Microsoft and Sony aren’t happy with their console sales and are reportedly looking into the next generation of consoles already. How does one stay happy when all of this is going on within the industry? Here’s my thoughts.

I look back at another one of my favorite game franchises, Brothers in Arms. This was a fantastic WW2 franchise that featured great tactical gameplay. Many people grew tired of the oversaturation of WW2 games back in the early 2000s. However, Brothers in Arms was the one WW2 franchise that stood out and that's due to its fantastic narrative and tactical shooter gameplay. I also appreciated the fact that the story and military tactics featured in the game were all based on real events and maneuvers from the war.

I want to look back at Cold War because it never got the love it deserved. It may not be one of the best games in the franchise, but it definitely has the most unique campaign. The vibes of this game are great thanks to the mix of 1980s culture and Cold War elements. I appreciated the old school shooter feel to this game. The game should be applauded for trying new game modes in multiplayer. The game also provided a smaller map to Warzone which changed up gameplay for the mode. Zombies had a great story plus the mixture of new gameplay elements and fan favorites made the gameplay very enjoyable.

I need to rant about some of my pet peeves in media today. Modern day show runners and video game developers have been making some frustrating decisions lately regarding the censoring of content and questionable storytelling decisions. I also think these actions are a disservice to the original creators of these shows, books, and games. The examples used during my rant include Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Witcher, Halo, Star Wars, and Call of Duty: Vanguard.

The Medal of Honor series is one of the best shooter franchises ever made. It is actually on the list for best selling video game franchises. Medal of Honor helped define the first person shooter genre going back to the 90s. The franchise made a name for itself back in the simpler times of gaming. Gaming in the early 2000s was all about the fun you had while playing through games. The Medal of Honor games might look simple, but there is actually more creativity there than you'd think. Let's look back at the Medal of Honor franchise.

In my opinion, Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie ever created. The movie is filled with thrilling moments and many emotional ones as well. Some of the greatest lightsaber duels can be found in this movie. Episode 3 is the perfect conclusion to not only the sequel trilogy, but to the entire Skywalker Saga. From the epic space battle start to the emotional binary sunset ending, Revenge of the Sith is most entertaining experience we have ever seen in Star Wars.

Stars Wars has kicked off 2024 with a bunch of headlines. Some of them are good and others have stirred up controversy yet again. Drama surrounds the Rey movie again for two reasons. The first is due to the backlash of an old quote from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the director of the film. A rumor followed soon after stating that the movie was being delayed indefinitely and that there were issues with the script. Then we got two awesome announcements. The Ahsoka show will be getting a second season and we will also be getting a movie starring the Mandalorian and Grogu. I want to recap these headlines and share my thoughts.

Rebel Moon had the potential to be really good. However, the story in part 1 is rushed and Zack Snyder took too many ideas from other movies. The movie tries to be original, but it falls short of being something very special and unique. I enjoyed the movie more than others and I do like Kora, the film's protagonist. The movie had a solid beginning and end. However, the middle is forgettable. The newly formed group of heroes never got a chance to shine. Despite some disappointment, I am looking forward to part 2.

It's time I give my full thoughts on the first season of Andor. Andor is a really good show. The production quality is high for this show. However, I do think it is overrated for a few reasons. I won't lie, I am a little petty when it comes to this show. That's because I don't understand why Disney and Lucasfilm put the ultimate effort into a show that is not as significant as some of the other shows out there like Kenobi, Mando, and Ahsoka. Some people say this is the best of Star Wars. I disagree despite it being a pretty good show.

It's been known for a while know that Starfield is a disappointing game. It failed to hit the mark for many gamers who were looking forward to playing it. The sad situation has gotten worse over the past few months due to Bethesda giving delusional responses to user reviews. The Bethesda fan boys have been ridiculous as well. I've encountered some rude and delusional people who will defined this game to the bitter end. So, I want to talk about Bethesda making the situation worse for this game and I also want to respond to the Bethesda fans that have been coming after me.

It’s been amazing to watch GTA and Fortnite grow into what they are today. Both games have stood the test of time and have gotten better and better over the years. We always wonder what makes a game next-gen. We have been waiting for that true next-gen experience to come out on PS5 and Xbox. But what if those games have been sitting in front of us all this time? GTA and Fortnite are the blueprints to the future of gaming. It’s not just about graphics and how big the map is anymore. It’s about the amount of content the games provide and the variety of gameplay experiences. Rockstar and Epic Games are perfect examples of what live service looks like in gaming. I think games like GTA and Fortnite are the future of gaming.

The Order: 1886 is a forgotten game from the PS4 era. I don't think I ever played a game that was so good in terms of quality but lacked so much due to weird decisions made by the developers. The game features a unique story and setting. It looks pretty good for a game that came out in 2015. The whole experience felt like a movie due to the cinematic approach the developers took with the graphics. The writing, voice acting, and characters are great. The game's one weakness comes from the pacing. The game is too short. Just when things get going, it begins to wrap up the story. This game deserves a sequel.

Star Wars is still trying to figure out how to bounce back from recent failures. The promotion of Dave Filoni is a step in the right direction. However, more must be done. The franchise needs to make new movies. It needs to get serious again. We need a new story that can drive the next era of Star Wars. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let Taika Waititi make a movie. It’s nothing personal. I just don’t think Star Wars needs a Taika Waititi film. This is not the time to make a movie full of humor and wit. We need legit storytelling with more of a serious tone. It’s time for Lucasfilm to make new content that will be talked about for generations to come just like it did when it first came out.

Dave Filoni has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer! I love this move for Lucasfilm. Dave deserves the opportunity to sit at the table when it comes to developing new content for Star Wars. I want someone who loves Star Wars and is well educated in what the franchise is about. Dave Filoni is qualified for that role. I want to see someone lead with passion and not some corporate person who only cares about the numbers for investors. If Star Wars is ever going to bounce back and be respectable again then it needs someone like Dave to help create the next era of content. Star Wars needs a plan with a focused vision on good storytelling and good characters. Dave at least deserves a chance at doing this.

After 92 hours, I completed all the main stuff in Starfield. It was a long journey that I won’t remember fondly. While my total playtime was increasing, my love for the game was decreasing. Ultimately, Starfield is a lackluster game. It’s big and bloated. It truly feels like a Bethesda game. That is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good if you like Bethesda’s formula. However, it’s bad that the game looks and feels like a game from 10 years ago with hardly anything new to add. Starfield is a solid experience, but it will never be one of the best games of this generation sadly.

Modern Warfare 3's campaign is pretty bad. It's a quick and bland experience. You can definitely tell that this was rushed. There is no excuse for this campaign to be so bad. They already had the blueprint for the story and it should have been a cakewalk using the legendary characters from the original trilogy. The open combat missions are the worst thing about this year's campaign. All you do is run around, fight enemies, and complete objectives. The Hollywood style flare that is usually found in a Call of Duty campaign is sorely missed this time around.

There have been many single-player stories in the Call of Duty Franchise. The story that stands out among them all is the campaigns from Black Ops 1 and 2. The story in these two games was awesome. The most creative storytelling in Call of Duty's history comes from Black Ops 1 and 2. Rather than make a generic war game centered around the Vietnam War and Cold War era, the developers decided to make a story that had deep plot featuring plot twists and many memorable moments. There are not many Call of Duty games that make you emotional and keep you on the edge of your seat. Black Ops 1 and 2 do both.

The original Modern Warfare trilogy put Call of Duty on the map for good. Yes, things took off for them because of multiplayer, but their campaigns were also good. The Modern Warfare trilogy featured great storytelling and shocking moments. There were also memorable characters as well. The story and characters from this trilogy are so influential that they are still being used today in the new Modern Warfare Trilogy. I miss these days because the developers gave us a campaign that was desired as much as the multiplayer was. That is because both were fantastic.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series where I will go back and talk about classic Call of Duty campaigns. I kick things off by taking a look back at some of the earliest campaigns in the franchise. Back when Call of Duty was known mostly as a World War 2 shooter. While the controls and graphics don't hold up today, the much simpler times meant the developers could put more care and effort into the story, voice acting, and level design.

I'm still haven't decided if I will be purchasing MW3. I was leaning towards no, but then I played the Beta. The beta was awesome. Call of Duty's gameplay gets better and better every year. I am so down to play on the OG MW2 maps. I'm a core multiplayer fan though and I am worried that Warzone, DMZ, and zombies will get more attention than the regular multiplayer content. That's where I am still undecided. I am increasingly becoming less interested in COD since it feels like Fortnite with the skins and whatnot now. Call of Duty is evolving in a great way (for the most part), but is it for me?

Sometimes I wonder where Star Wars would be today if Disney's tenure didn't start off so poorly. Maybe Star Wars would still be universally loved today. I've been thinking about this lately. I have come up with a few thoughts on some scenarios that could have made things better at the beginning of Disney Star Wars. So, here's my thoughts on how Star Wars could have been handled differently by Disney.

Battlefield 1 was such a great game. It is my favorite game in the franchise and it's one of my favorite shooters overall. The game was near perfect in all aspects. The campaign was new and unique. The multiplayer was great and the live service was actually really nice in this game. Let me explain why I enjoyed every part of this game.

I've put more time into Starfield since coming out with my initial thoughts video. I have yet to beat the game, but I have experienced just about everything this game has to offer. Starfield is a solid game. However, I find myself growing bored of it. It's a space game that appears to be big and large. Yet, it is so limited throughout many gameplay features. I'll give my thoughts on the exploring, ship combat/building, gunplay, narrative, and more.

I really enjoyed Ahsoka. I think it is one of the better Star Wars shows to come out. I thought the plot was very interesting with the mixture of old and new lore elements. I though the cast was solid, especially since a lot of these characters were introduced to live action for the first time. There was a lot of action and the nostalgia moments were emotional and very impactful to the franchise as a whole. Sadly, this show has received a ton of criticism. It's not perfect. I do have some issues with the writing in the first two episodes and the final two episodes. However, everything in the middle was amazing. This show deserves a lot of praise. This is true Star Wars storytelling.