Requiem for a Jill Sandwich with Nomad

Featured Image

Players

Squidge

Jay

Nomad

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Content Warning

We talk about Resident Evil a lot in this episode, from the first game to the most recent one. As such, and because these are horror games, this episode is not meant for the ears of the innocent.

Please listen responsibly.

Show Notes

As Squidge says in our new intro:

Squidge

From active timer battling to zombie slaying, Waffling Taylors covers video games and beyond. We are kicking off the new year and the new season of Waffling Taylors retro and beyond with a bang. Because why not?

Today we are joined by Nomad from the Retro Wildlands podcast. We’ve teased him in from the Wildlands to talk about Resident Evil. So when you’re ready, strap yourselves in for our episode on the Resident Evil franchise named Resident Evil Requiem for a Jill Sandwich.

I mean, that says it all really. And, believe it or not, Squidge came up with that off the cuff. He’s pretty good at words and that, is our Squidge.

But just what is the Retro Wildlands Podcast? Well, in Nomad’s own words:

Nomad

My podcast is about the games that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming wildlands. That sounds good, that’s my catchphrase.

But really what it is, is I’m a 38 year old guy who loves video games, and I’ve grown up playing games most of my young adolescent life and well into adulthood. My episodes are around games specifically, and what I try to do is I have my episodes around a couple of different parts. They’re one part review, they’re one part game overview, they’re one part my experiences and personal memories, and they’re one part nostalgia. Mix all that together and that’s my show. Basically my goal is if you’ve played a game before that I’m talking about, I hope you end my episode with a bunch of nostalgia and all them tingly feelings that you get. And if you’ve never played the game before, hopefully it’s a nice introduction into what the game is and maybe something you may want to play. And if not, maybe you just listen to me talk for an hour, and I killed a little bit of your time.

Because the guys were talking nostalgia and Resident Evil, Squidge brought up his Resident Evil 2 specific controller. This one:

we first mentioned this controller back in episode 7: Sega Wrist

It’s called the BIOHAZARD dedicated controller, and you can find out more about this controller over on the Resident Evil fandom wikia page for it.

Resident Evil (1996) & Resident Evil 2 (1998)

Squidge wanted to start the discussion with Nomad by talking about the first episode of his podcast - one which just so happened to cover the first Resident Evil game. In fact, he wanted to know why Nomad started with Resident Evil:

Nomad

So Resident Evil is where it all started for me as a gamer.

Now, that’s not to say that’s the very first game I ever played. I’ve been playing games since, more or less. The Cradle, the Nintendo at my grandmother’s house, the Super Nintendo that my parents got a couple of years after that. So I’ve had games. But it was Resident Evil that solidified my passion for video games.

Nomad then shares a story from the first episode of his podcast about how he first experienced Resident Evil. We’re going to leave the story out of the show notes, as there’s already two different sources for it (Nomad’s show, and this episode).

The effect that the Resident Evil series has had on popular culture cannot be understated, but also worth noting is the tension that the original brought to the table - if you’re willing to set the goofy voice acting to one side that is

Nomad

And the tension in that game was so thick and we had no idea what to expect.

I mean, Resident Evil is everywhere now. And most people, I would think, that are semi familiar with the series kind of know what it’s all about. But the very first time we played it, we didn’t know why zombies were in this mansion. We didn’t know why these dogs were running around. What is really going on here? And that mystery really drove us and we bonded over it.

And that whole experience, once we were done with it and put it away for something else, that’s what I knew. I want more of these experiences in my life. And Resident Evil was by far the biggest catalyst for me.

On the back of this, both Squidge and Jay share their stories on how they discovered Resident Evil, and Jay mentions the many different branching pathways through Jill’s scenario. And the guys agree that there are quite a few different ways to achieve certain story points. With just one example being:

Nomad

…off the very top of the staircase, a side room, you come across a long corridor that’s full of blood and someone’s injured and has been through there. And you come across Forest, I think his name was, another member of the Stars team.

Now, depending on when you decide to go up there, Barry may actually be up there and you have a conversation with him and he gives Jill the bazooka. But depending on what you do, he may not actually be up there sometimes.

And the little things like that, that influence the story, little decisions that you’re making that you don’t even realize that you’re making, really enhance that experience.

Most Memorable Games

Since this is a discussion about Resident Evil as a whole, Jay wanted to ask Nomad:

Jay

Out of the different games that this series has to offer, what would you say is your most memorable game to play?

And Nomad brought up an often-forgotten title in the series: Resident Evil Outbreak (and it’s sequel File #2). This title had a great twist on the Resident Evil formula, as it was multiplayer. The set up was the same (albeit with different characters): get out of the city, avoiding zombies and felling monsters, all the while solving puzzles. Unfortunately, it was released in the UK too late for Squidge or Jay to have played it online, but all three of the folks in this episode had played it, back in the day.

Nomad

You’re playing everyday survivors that are in Raccoon City and you’re put in I think the first game had five and the second had four scenarios where you’re given an objective, "get to this point", "evacuate from here", "find this thing", some sort of scenario. And it recreates the feeling of being a civilian in Raccoon City as the T virus is ravaging. Everything and everything’s all going to hell. And the reason that always stuck with me is that game series was way ahead of its time, and it was very, very fun to play.

And of course, any discussion on the Resident Evil games that we love, would not be complete without Squidge bringing up Resident Evil Gaiden for the Gameboy Color -the game that Squidge equates to Resident Evil x Rockband.

Jay

Resident Evil Gaiden as a Resident Evil: Rockband. I think I would play that game, like a Rockband, but with some of the songs from the many different Resident Evil games. I think that would be quite fun. Just jamming out to one of the Save themes on one of those plastic guitars. That’d be loads of fun.

And it’s clear to all involved that without Resident Evil Outbreak, we wouldn’t have had Left 4 Dead. Which would have been a real shame.

Talking of memorable games, Jay brought up the dog-smashing-through-the-interrogation-room-window part of Resident Evil 2 (1998), and Nomad expanded on it by saying:

Jay

Out of the different games that this series has to offer, what would you say is your most memorable game to play?

Nomad

It’s those scary moments where as you’re walking through and the camera shifts, you know it’s coming and it doesn’t come, and that anticipation just builds. But then you walk back like, "maybe it’s fine," and then it’s all over.

Squidge

And then you end up juggling the controller involuntarily.

The Thunder Plain Games

For those who are new to the pod, we have a section called “Thunder Plain Games” which might be vaguely reminiscent of a certain programme on BBC Radio 4

but for copyright reasons, it is completely different

Imagine that you are in Final Fantasy X, and the Thunder Plains is a place that you get banished to. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to open a portal to the Thunder Plains and, very nicely and politely, boot you through it. You will get help, maybe it will be tomorrow, maybe it will be in a week, maybe it will be in an hour.

To stop you from getting bored, we’ve said that we’ll keep the portal open and we’ll throw through up to three video games and everything you need to play them - including an Internet connection. The only rules are that you can’t ask for help, because help is on the way, and you can’t tell anyone that you’re in the Thunder Plains.

So our question is: were we to do throw, boot, or yeet you through the portal, which games are we throwing through with you?

Nomad’s Choices

When asked about whether he’d like to be taken to the Thunder Plains, Nomad said:

Nomad

As long as I don’t have to dodge lightning 200 times in a row to get an item, I’m all for it.

Nomad’s choices for his Thunder Plain Games were:

• Persona 4 Golden
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

During the Thunder Plains segment, Jay wanted to ask the group two side questions:

• Favourite first gen Pokémon starter

Nomad

Charmander.

Squidge

Charmander.

Jay

Bulbasaur.

Jay brought up his teeny-tiny Bulbasaur LEGO model, and here it is:

• What are some of your favourite silly things to do in Metal Gear Solid games?

Jay

I used to play the bit [of Metal Gear Solid 2] with Snake where you just running around and stealing everyone’s dog tags. I used to love doing that. Just sneak up behind someone and go, "freeze".

Squidge

The section as Raiden when I was outside, I used to like tranqing the birds just have Rose to have a go at me. It made my day, "would you stop attacking those birds?" Okay. "I told you, stop attacking them."

I used all my rounds up, and then I had to just batter people before I could get more ammunition because I was just shooting them birds. All the tranqs, I didn’t kill them. They just fell into the sea and floated.

But it was their fault I slipped on their bird poop. So I was just taking vengeance.

Nomad

Oh, that reminds me, too. Did either of you, when you played that game, when you were on that deck, look straight up in first person and just wait. If you do that, a bird will poop on you, and you will see it on your vision slowly falling down. So they get their just desserts, too, if you let them.

Back to the Thunder Plains, though.

• Stardew Valley

The following is a promo-spot for The Four Top Threes Podcast. Why not reach out today, if you’d like your promo included in a future episode of the podcast

Narrator

Welcome to FourTopThrees, where four friends list our top three things about a random subject of choice.

You might be wondering, "Hey, I already have, like, 75 other podcasts that is basically just four people that are friends talking bull$h!t at each other. Whjy should I be listening to this?" We are actually from four different countries, so we are hoping to bring four different perspectives on all of these topics that we are about to choose.

Person 1

You throw Lion King out there like a dirty rag, and then you pontificate over Lilo & Stitch.

Person 2

That’s very good.

Person 3

I have to try to give them back for just the … milk and bananas. I could have returned them, I haven’t opened them yet. Though I have spent the night with two of the milks.

Person 4

If turkeys could talk they’d sound like Mr. Meeseeks. "I wasn’t ready to live this long! Kill me!"

Narrator

You can find FourTopThrees wherever you find your podcasts, and we release at the end of every month.

Which game of the Resident Evil series do you get the most fun out of?

Squidge’s question might have seemed like an easy one to answer, but take a moment to really think about how many excellent entries there are in the Resident Evil series.

Nomad

Number one: Resident Evil 2, it’s top of my list. If I had to choose one. It’s the most memorable, arguably the best in the series. I absolutely enjoyed the idea behind how they presented that game.

You can play as two different characters, and depending on who you played as first, if you played as Leon Kennedy first, for instance, and you complete the game, you can save your game file, play as Claire, and run through the same scenario as her, as you’re intersecting in the police station with Leon and different events. And I think they called it a Zapping system. Don’t know where they got that name from, but what you do in Leon scenario A, could have Ramifications in Claire’s scenario B.

There were two other Resident Evil games that Nomad mentioned, but we’ll leave the titles as a secret

you’ll have to listen to the episode

but they are great titles in the series.

Get Control of Yourself

This is a segment that we like to do every so often, which is based on a tweet from SinceSpacies - who is an absolutely amazing person, by the way. Seriously, go follow him on Twitter

Due to the recent changes at Twitter, we are unable to embed tweets at this time. We apologise for the inconvenience.

The idea here is that we want to know which is the best and which is the worst controller of all time.

Nomad’s Best Controller

Unlike most of the other people who have been on the show, Nomad chose the PS4 (DualShock 4) controller as his favourite.

Nomad

The greatest controller I’ve ever used is the PlayStation Four DualShock Four controller

Now, the reason for this is allow me to get a little intimate. When I hold that controller, when I hold that controller, it just fits just right. The Xbox 360 controller was my runner up, but there’s just something about the PlayStation Four controller that just maybe it’s my big man hands. I don’t know what it is, but it just fits perfectly in my hands. But there’s other features about the controller that I really like, too.

Nomad’s Worst Controller

As with Morgan Ritson

who was on the show, back on episode 123

Nomad chose the N64 as the worst controller ever.

Nomad

So I was unfortunate enough to handle one of these controllers here and there when I was younger. Now, I never had a Nintendo 64, but a couple of my friends did. And when I’d go over, we’d play games like Super Smash Brothers, we’d play Starfox 64, that kind of thing.

But just let me ask all your listeners to close their eyes and imagine this controller in their hand and try to press every button that you can while holding this controller. Oh, wait, you can’t. Let’s move our hands over this way to the left and try to wrap it up from the underside. There’s certain buttons I still can’t press that drove me bonkers. And this controller is probably responsible for maybe arthritis I’m going to get as I get older, just by default.

External Links of Interest

• Join our Discord server and be part of future episodes
• Our Facebook page
• Us on Twitter
• Support us on Ko-Fi
• Retro Wildlands podcast
• BIOHAZARD Dedicated Controller

Music

Links to the music used in the podcast can be found below. Definitely check them out, because they're amazing tracks by awesome musicians.

• Intro music is Massive Scratch - Eight Bit/Chiptune
• Spoiler Break music is Spectrum (Subdiffusion Mix) by Foniqz (BandCamp)
• Pallet Cleanser music is Breath Deep Breath Clear (Wu Chi) by Siobhan Dakay
• Cartoon Slipping
• Thunder Plains - FFX OST © Square-Enix
• George Michael - Careless Whisper (Chiptune cover) by Kubbi
• hello there meme sound effect
• Massive Scratch - Eight Bit/Chiptune
• Resident evil (PS1) walkthrough - Shotgun exchange
• Resident Evil 1 - First Zombie & Remake
• Sad Violin - Sound Effect (HD)
• Something About Castlevania ANIMATED 🏰 (Loud Sound Warning)
• Outro Music is Massive Scratch - Eight Bit/Chiptune