The holiday release blitz continues, and we are having a ball – literally! With games like Ball X Pit, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and Once Upon a Katamari all placing spherical shapes in prominent roles (or rolls, to be theme-appropriate), we wanted to take a look at the top games where you play as a ball. 

After that, we give Ball X Pit some much-deserved praise, see what Double Fine has been up to with Keeper, and tell you about our time so far in Lumiose City with our initial takes on Pokémon Legends: Z-A. 

Question of the Week: What is a gaming hardware brand, trend, or product that needs to be revived?

Break Song is "I'm Having a Ball" by Steve Lang

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The hits just keep on comin’ with this week’s big release, Pokémon Legends: Z-A. As noted several times on this show, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was many people’s first official foray into the Pokémon universe (one of our hosts included), so this week we are taking a look at the best Pokémon spin-off games of all time, which may have gotten some of you listeners to try to catch ‘em all. 

After that, we let you know if Battlefield 6 is a return to form for the big EA shooter franchise, come clean about our latest addiction, Ball X Pit, then see what people are saying about the new ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X, and more!

Question of the Week: What was your first exposure to Pokémon?

Break Song is "The Pokémon Theme (Metal Cover Version)" by Skar Productions

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week's big release is Ghost of Yotei, which brings back one of our favorite features from its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima: the adorable foxes that lead you to Inari Shrines. These furry friends are essentially collectibles, which got us thinking about other games that let you collect animals.

After that, we give our impressions of Ghost of Yotei and other big new releases, including The Super Mario Galaxy Collection, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Then we talk about that Nintendo teaser animation and other news of the week. 

Question of the Week: What is a spin-off game that got you into the main series?

Break Song is "Animal" by Pearl Jam

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Oh, the ancient gods. What fickle sorts they were known to be. But if you managed to curry favor with these gods, they could also be quite generous with their gifts. This week, in celebration of the release of Hades II 1.0, special guest DocBrooke joins us to take a look at games where the gods bestow their blessings and gifts upon your hero to help them along their journey. 

After that, we talk all about Hades II, the new Super Mario Galaxy Collection, some big shakeups at Nintendo and EA, and how expensive gaming is getting. 

Question of the Week: How has the increased cost of gaming affected the way you game?

Break Song is "Zeus in the Architecture" by Art vs Science

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.