Yes, bricks.

There's a fun disconnect when I talk about Pokopia with my girlfriend. She is presently unable to play it, so most of the interactions have been questions about things she's seen online, or asking if I've encountered certain favorites of hers. Most of the time this is a fine and wholesome interaction.

I sent her a picture of a snoozing Mosslax and it seemed to bring her much joy. The other side of the coin is when I describe the highly transactional relationships I've formed with the other residents of my various towns.

Ditto needs bricks. This is the singular impediment to building this house that will allow me to finally put Rotom in a house. Rotom's homelessness is the single impediment to leveling up the town and getting access to the store item I need one town over. This should be a simple task - I can craft all kinds of things with ease. But no, I need bricks. And needing bricks means I need Charmander.

Hours earlier I had handed this little orange bastard a bunch of clay, and he happily promised to turn them into the bricks I desired. But now he has vanished. To me, this is a problem. I'm trying to ask other Pokémon where I can find him, and they unhelpfully gesture towards a cave system. Unhelpful is the name of the word - I've spent all my time restoring the buildings, clearing debris, and throwing a party for these ingrates. Meanwhile Bulbasaur is running up to thank me with a stick.

This stick is not special, it is indistinguishable from the 98 other sticks already in my inventory.

I see this as the machine in rebellion. "Just stay near your house so I can get these bricks!" The girlfriend sees this as charming. They're doing their best, and helping so hard.

We cannot play these sorts of games together.

So yes, James has Pokopia, and it's really hard to talk about. Guillaume has impressions of Zelda-shooter Minishoot' Adventures and and weird horror game Indika. Jon is playing Returnal and the long-promised Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. Greg has an update on Resident Evil Requiem and has caught the Mario Tennis Fever.

New Business is a single topic this week: we got a Simpsons' image macro asking about reinvigorating amiibo. It goes in a dark direction.

• (00:10:00) New Business - Pokemon Pokopia.
• (00:45:43) Indika.
• (00:59:23) Minishoot' Adventures.
• (01:11:10) Returnal. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Deluxe Edition.
• (01:29:11) Resident Evil Requiem. Mario Tennis Fever.
• (01:52:51) Listener Mail - Our mission: reinvigorate amiibo.

This episode's ending music is "Stage BGM #1" from Silver Surfer. Composition by Tim Follin. It was selected by Greg. All rights reserved by a literal unknowable chain of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies.