Austin hasn't been in the office all week because, well, E3 is almost here. While spending a week in LA checking out various games, he hooked up with Rob to attend the big Destiny 2 event. After playing the game, the two of them huddled around some microphones, talked about their impressions, and answered reader questions about the game. The full crew will be back in rotation next week.

With Austin in Los Angeles for some pre-E3 events and Rob on vacation, we went looking for a familiar face to join us on the podcast today. Fortunately, we found friend of the pod Pat Baer, a New York-based comedian, wrestling aficionado, watcher of anime, and player of video games. (He's finished Person 4 five times. Five times!) Besides talking about anime for a surprising length of time, we checked in on Prey and Flinthook. In The Question Bucket, we're asked about how game publishers handle when (and if) to make new franchises, instead of sequels.

The game that everyone is playing is now the game that Waypoint is playing, as Patrick and Austin have decided to figure out what the heck is up with the shooting game with the super weird name, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. As it turns out, it's really damn good. Elsewhere, Danielle updates us her adventures in lesbian space, aka she's still super into Prey. Oh, and Patrick spent a few hours with the new Souls-like The Surge, which drags the genre into sci-fi. It's hard.

It's not very often that everyone at Waypoint is playing the same game simultaneously, but Prey has been scratching a lot of different itches for Austin, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick. Besides an update on our adventures in space horror, Rob provides an update on his raiding in Expeditions: Vikings, including whether or not it's a good fit for casual strategy fans. Over in The Question Bucket, we're asked whether we've ever accepted a job knowing we weren't fully prepared for it.

It’s a good time to be a fan of games like Deus Ex. Between Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, and this week’s Prey, we’re awash in immersive sims. Danielle, Austin, and Patrick have all put a few hours into the latest from Arkane Studios, while Rob probes us about the experience. Though most of our time was taken up by Prey, we still dip into The Question Bucket.

Though this latest episode of Waypoint Radio features a surprisingly long tangent about golf courses, we promise you that Austin, Rob, Danielle, and Patrick eventually get to video games. With Nintendo giving everyone a new reason to play their Switch—provided you, unlike Danielle, have already finished Breath of the Wild—we sent Austin to the local “cafe” (aka Dunkin’ Donuts) to research Mario Kart players in the wild. We also answer your questions, though not as many as we wanted to…because we talked about golf courses for a while?

In the sea of excellent video games that 2017 has brought us, Nier: Automata still managed to stand out. Designer Yoko Taro’s latest slice of emotional weirdness struck several us at Waypoint, and by the time the credits were rolling for the fifth time, the only thing on our mind was finding a place to spoil the shit out of the game. Thankfully, our former colleague at Giant Bomb, Alex Navarro, was also looking for a place to spoil the shit out of Nier: Automata. It should go without saying that if you haven’t played the game yet, don’t listen to this podcast.

It's a packed episode of Waypoint Radio this week, as Austin, Patrick, Rob, and Danielle embrace the warming weather to spend the hour talking about storytelling in games. Both Austin and Patrick wrote stories this week in response to an essay by academic Ian Bogost in The Atlantic titled "Video Games Are Better Without Stories," and used our time with the latest walking simulator, What Remains of Edith Finch, to speak more broadly.

Since the world of video games is (finally!) slowing down a little, Austin, Danika, and Rob talk about what they've been playing with their newly discovered free time... and, of course, they dip into the question bucket for a couple of doozies. There is Minecraft talk (including inspirational Minecraft rap), a discussion of Unexplored, and a look at various Waypointers' life paths, with a side helping of life advice. Remember, you too can submit questions to the crew by sending an email with the subject QUESTION to gaming@vice.com!

No one’s looking forward to the weekend more than the staff of Waypoint, who’ve slogged through colds and the flu all week long. But before a few days off arrive, it’s time for another episode of Waypoint Radio, wherein Rob, Danielle, and Patrick discuss Patrick's article about Telltale’s ongoing technical problems, the tiny details in video games that make us happy, and Danielle’s love for Capcom’s Disney Afternoon Collection, a wonderful tribute to the company’s NES games.

For the vast majority of people who cannot stand that it's Monday, we have something for you: a new episode of Waypoint Radio. Austin, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick huddled around some microphones to discuss the tension between explicit and systematic storytelling in games (as evidenced by games like Stellaris and Breath of the Wild), Patrick's inability to cope with Persona 5's social stresses, and more. During our tour of The Question Bucket, we grapple with the prospect of friends in your regular gaming group acting bad—the sexist, racist kind of bad.

Rob Zacny is no longer with is—don't worry, he only flew back home to California—but we couldn't resist bringing in another guest. Polygon's Phil Kollar is visiting New York, and despite worries that he'd get thrown in Internet jail for getting too close to us, he joined Austin, Danielle, and Patrick to discuss the state of Hearthstone, what the heck is going on with that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds game, and find out what's inside The Question Bucket. (And because we couldn't resist, there's some light discussion of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer.)

It's a big week for Waypoint Radio: Rob Zacny's in town! It's an extra special (and extra big) podcast today, as Rob huddled in the New York studio with Danielle and Austin, while Patrick joined from a not-quite-safe-from-nuclear-fallout home in Illinois. (It'll make sense, promise.) We touch on Austin finishing up Nier: Automata, reveal we'll be doing a spoilercast soon with a special guest, and discuss group impressions of an early version of the sci-fi Souls-like, The Surge. Our dip into The Question Bucket brings ruminations on the virtues of the mundane.

There aren’t as many “big” games coming out this month, but there’s still plenty to talk about, especially since April brings the release of Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee, their long-anticipated riff on Banjo-Kazooie. Patrick has been playing the game, as has Danielle, and the results are...not great. We use Yooka-Laylee as a reason to dive deeper into the merits of modernizing nostalgia, while Austin tries to provide some clarification on his bird opinions. Of course, we also dive into The Question Bucket, wherein we try to figure out who is The Velvet Underground of games.

Austin Walker decided to return to Stellaris this weekend, hoping to lead his bird society to the heights of galactic civilization, but when a space anomaly shows up, things go bad, leading to Danielle Riendeau and Patrick Klepek to nod, sigh, and wonder how things might have been different. Elsewhere, I talk about my fear of sea spiders in the underwater horror game Narcosis, and we return to The Question Bucket to ruminate on why some games have a backlash after they're released.

The people of Waypoint have Strong Feelings about Destiny, so we convened Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, Senior Editor Rob Zacny, and Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek to work through them. If you're a fan of hearing people talk about lore, do we have the podcast for you! We spend most of the time talking about Destiny 2, but worry not, The Question Bucket will return next week.

You’ve already finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, right? And completed the main quest for Mass Effect: Andromeda? You know that Persona 5 is next week, right?

With Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker coughing up a lung, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau picked up the slack on the podcast today. After spending 40 hours finishing up Nier, Patrick is unwilling to let the podcast move on before he makes the case for why it’s one of the best games this year, Danielle updates us on her Zelda adventures, we touch on the recent YouTube controversy involving JonTron, and see how far we can dip in The Question Bucket.

After a series of technical hiccups, we finally managed to record a podcast today—albeit one that's shorter than usual—for our celebratory 50th episode.

Prompted by a letter from a listener who couldn't get into The Witcher 3...wait, there are people who can't get into The Witcher 3? Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, all avid fans of The Witcher 3, instead came up with games we couldn't get into, despite the rest of the world telling insisting they were terrific. 

After a weekend where people proved, once again, that they can't be trusted with the Internet, a podcast was the only way for us to make sense of what happened.

Though Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker ran down his initial thoughts on Mass Effect: Andromeda on Friday, he was restricted from talking beyond the first few hours. That's no longer true! While giving us an update on his note-quite-enthusiast adventures in space, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau and Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek spent a long time geeking out over Nier: Automata, a truly weird and special game. And, of course, no podcast would be complete without a tour of The Question Bucket.

There are few franchises that made as much impact last generation as Mass Effect, which may help explain why there's so much anxiety over Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Both Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau have been playing (or watching someone play) Andromeda, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek has been watching, with some horror, as the Internet tear the game to shreds. Beyond impressions of Andromeda, we discussed our long history with the series, why there's so much pressure on the new game, and reach deep into The Question Bucket.

There’s never been a more perfect time to have too many games, given that part of the country may very well be buried under several feet of snow tomorrow.

It’s our fullest cast yet, with Social Editor Danika Harrod, Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau together to talk about their time at PAX East, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek and Senior Editor Rob Zacny hop on to chat Breath of the Wild, Nier Automata, tabletop war games, and pluck from The Question Bucket.

As thousands descend on Boston for PAX East, including a number of folks from Waypoint, don’t think that means we’d leave you hanging without a new podcast.

Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, Editor-in-Chief Austin Wallker, and Waypoint’s latest band member, Senior Editor Rob Zacny, managed to huddle around the mics. On today’s episode, they enrolled in Rob Zacny 101 to learn more about him, discussed what other games might learn from Breath of the Wild, and got a little dirty with The Question Bucket.

Last week was particularly exciting in video game land, with the Game Developer's Conference and the launch of Nintendo's brand new Switch console. Social Editor Danika Harrod joins Editor in Chief Austin Walker, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and myself for a discussion of Tacoma and other indie delights Danika saw on the show floor. There were snakes!

The discussion turns towards Breath of the Wild, which every non-Danika person on staff is currently playing, loving, and sweating over control-mapping. Then we take a quick dip in the question bucket and get ready for another big week at Waypoint.

As thousands of Nintendo fans nervously smash F5 on their Amazon order windows, hoping their machines show up, Waypoint Radio squeezed in a podcast.

At this point, both Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau have managed to put some time into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek is left to wonder when there will be a knock at the door. (There was, thankfully.) Besides Zelda, we share general Switch impressions, and use The Question Bucket to talk about fandom and Internet discourse.

Today's the day that critics get to weigh in on the Nintendo Switch's biggest launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Because we know that a lot of our listeners primarily get their Waypoint #content via this podcast, we decided to offer an audio version of Austin Walker's take on the game! 

If you'd like to read along or share this with a friend, you can head to waypoint.vice.com and find the full story there. As always, interaction with you is a big part of this new podcast, so make sure to send any questions you have for us to gaming@vice.com with the header "Questions." (Without the quotes!) We can't guarantee we'll answer all of your questions, but rest assured, we'll be taking a look at them.