Image 1 — Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)
Image 2 — Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)
Image 3 — Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)
Image 4 — Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)
Image 5 — Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)

Echoes of Sekigahara = 10/10 (Spoilers)

I wasn't sure how the DLC would stack up against the main game, but honestly, I think it's every bit as good, if not better.

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Watching the Ashoro Foothills transform from a glorified foggy swamp into a beautiful, lush landscape after breaking the Viper's hold on the region was incredible. Between the new weapon types and skills, the side quests, Atsu's writing, and that unforgettable finale where bears and wolves fight alongside you (helping animals the whole time pays off), there's just so much to love. Most Wanted mode is another fantastic addition that gives you even more reason to keep playing.

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More importantly, I think this DLC is absolutely vital to understanding Atsu as a character. It adds so much depth to her story and gives us a better understanding of who she is beyond her quest for vengeance. I genuinely didn't expect Nagato to die, either. Atsu had already been through so much, and seeing her suffer yet another loss was heartbreaking. It doesn't feel like some optional side adventure. It feels like an essential part of her journey.

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Sucker Punch could have easily charged $30 for this and I wouldn't have complained. I could go on and on about how much I loved it.

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Absolutely phenomenal. Enjoy these screenshots I captured on PS5 Pro!

u/TylerJosephSmith — 6 days ago

I Turned The Entire Spotify Beatles Catalog Into 14 Massive Expanded Playlists (I’m Insane)

I’ve been working on this for a while and I’m finally ready to share it.
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I rebuilt The Beatles catalog into 14 expanded playlists: the 13 core albums plus Odds & Ends for material that doesn’t fit neatly anywhere else.
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The project is called THE LONG ONE.
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Originally I called it The Complete Sessions but that stopped feeling accurate. These aren’t strict session by session reconstructions and there’s still unreleased Beatles material in the vaults.
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I also considered Unfolded but eventually THE LONG ONE hit me like Hank Schrader on the shitter.
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Literally. I thought of it on the toilet.
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The name also has an actual Beatles connection since “The Long One” was a working title for an early assembly of the Abbey Road medley.
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The basic idea is to keep the original album sequence but expand each song into its own developmental history.
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A song may go:
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demo → rehearsal → early take → breakdown → backing track → alternate version → master → remix → BBC/live version
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Then it moves to the next song on the album.
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Keeping the original sequence intact matters a lot to me. One of my biggest pet peeves with expanded playlists is when album tracks get moved around just to make everything perfectly chronological. Once the songs are out of order it stops feeling like the album to me.
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So the rule became:
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Album order first. Song family second. Developmental order within the song. Recording date after that.
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Honestly my OCPD was never going to let me not do this once the idea got in my head.
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What started as “I should make some Beatles playlists” turned into spreadsheets tracking takes, mixes, recording dates, duplicates, source releases, alternate versions, sequencing and where everything belonged.
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I built these whenever I had time. After work, on lunch breaks, on weekends, late at night or whenever I could squeeze in more research and sorting.
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I also listen to music pretty much all day while I’m working so these playlists got a lot of actual listening time while I was building them.
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For closer comparisons my main setup is a wired DAC with closed back headphones using 40mm carbon fiber drivers, a brass surround, a 10Hz to 40kHz frequency response and hi res support.
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A lot of my testing was done through TIDAL. It can deliver HiRes FLAC up to 24 bit / 192 kHz when available compared with standard CD quality lossless at 16 bit / 44.1 kHz. With the wired DAC I can avoid Bluetooth compression and get a cleaner reference when comparing tiny differences between versions.
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That mattered for things like vocal placement, bass, drums, edits, tape noise, stereo imaging, alternate mixes and mastering differences.
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I’m also not making the playlists long just for the sake of being long. If two tracks are essentially the same performance and mix with nothing meaningfully different besides mastering I usually keep one. If there’s a real difference worth hearing I want it represented.
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For the songs The Beatles covered I also included the original artist’s version (when available) before their version because I like hearing what they were working from and then hearing what they did with it.
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The artwork became its own part of the project too. I’m not a graphic designer but The Beatles are my favorite band so I wanted each cover to actually fit the album or era rather than just using random photos or tossing together low effort AI slop thumbnails.
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I wanted the real Beatles on the covers and I wanted the images to actually mean something. They’re built around real historical Beatles photographs and source imagery from the appropriate periods. No fake Beatles, no AI generated artwork and no AI generated audio.
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THE LONG ONE
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Please Please Me
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Lm1jNnYzJjgyvI3eZluSU

With The Beatles
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2g8wxpeGrAD9Ahek7hmO8K

A Hard Day’s Night
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Eh32OaPUIPvudRwrHNbuP

Beatles for Sale
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1NrbRkPq9Q6bMdZtt0nBx5

Help!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jyl4W4adYhx6DlLcDNH5x

Rubber Soul
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ylyrP2m2cdbiGMNon0gRO

Revolver
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3r5slS3PFuQpyUoKIy0piX

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fnwgVK4IDQYtt9TIG3Aqk

Magical Mystery Tour
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4CYztMyeTe9nSigaUKfTqS

The Beatles (White Album)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4H95Q5SeJ14VMq3TTEECZj

Yellow Submarine
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1P0AMAItLUfAWFixVzcLYH

Abbey Road
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5W7aXn6FK9Jhw8NABpn9ru

Let It Be
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hR2ycrYYXcT7rQprIRqCs

Odds & Ends
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nM9LXcyLoY2mZl1wW1Jyj

And yes the Abbey Road playlist includes the actual Long One.
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The project is also available on Apple Music, TIDAL, Amazon Music and YouTube Music. I don’t have every individual playlist link organized for those yet but you can find them through my profiles:
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Apple Music⁠ | TIDAL⁠ | YouTube Music⁠ | Amazon Music⁠
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I’ll keep updating these whenever more official Beatles material comes out.
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If you notice something missing, duplicated, misplaced or incorrect let me know. I genuinely want the project to keep getting better and welcome any and all feedback.
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I’m sure only five people on Earth care about this at the level I do including me.
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So I hope the other four of you enjoy it.

Thank you.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 11 days ago

PS5 Pro: Why Does LG Game Optimizer Show 120 FPS in Balanced but 60 FPS in Performance?

As you can see, when I switch to anything besides Balanced mode, the FPS shown in LG Game Optimizer drops from 120 to 60.

I’m on a PS5 Pro with an LG G5. I also tried turning VRR off, but I get the same result.

Just to clarify, I’m looking at the FPS counter in LG Game Optimizer, not an Hz/refresh-rate reading. It specifically shows 120 FPS in Balanced mode, then 60 FPS in Performance and Quality.

I would’ve expected something more like:

Quality: 30 FPS
Balanced: 60 FPS
Performance: 120 FPS

Has anyone else with a PS5 Pro seen this? Is this normal behavior?

u/TylerJosephSmith — 2 months ago

In honor of the Heidenreich Giant Chawklit Bar SmackDown episode, here’s my gimmick from the Patreon gimmick segment SIX YEARS AGO: HERSHEY HARRY HARDKOCK! I could give you a million guesses and you’d never be correct about what it is.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 2 months ago

I LOVE JOHN BLUD (NO HOMO)

I’ve been listening to the podcast since around episode three. Pulse and Tony were already two of my favorite creators going all the way back to the WWE ’12 days. I wasn’t familiar with Marcus at first, but I went back and listened to the first few episodes I had missed.

I knew who NL was, but I didn’t really watch them, so I was definitely skeptical when Johnny came in to fill James’ spot. Listening to this intro back is funny because I had no idea he was about to become such a huge part of what makes DEADLOCK special.

It didn’t take long for him to win me over. Johnny fit in immediately. His impressions are top tier, his jokes are hilarious, and his chemistry with James is unmatched. They play off each other so naturally that it’s honestly hard to imagine the podcast without him now.

I still love Tony and James but it’s wild to remember there was ever a version of DEADLOCK without Johnny. He really does add so much to the show.

Anyway, thank you Mr. Blud. You da man.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

Haven’t had a bad ABE flavor yet. I don’t usually love raspberry (not even sure if that’s what this is) but this is 10/10.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

Fully Upgraded Bounty Master armor is OP. It took me a few tries, but I thought Shimura in Tsushima was way more difficult than Takezo. I haven’t finished the main story yet so please no spoilers.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

Finally, two bangers! This is the second Lost and Found I’ve had. I’d put it above a lot of other cotton candy flavors. 8/10. The Grizzly is also strong. 8/10!

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

The C4 isn’t bad, but I like the Fruit Juicy Red one more. 7/10. The ABE tastes like flat RC. Unfortunate that they couldn’t get the Coca-Cola collab but not surprising. 6/10

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

This one is bad. The aftertaste reminds me of the dirty dishrag my mom used to shove in my mouth if I used curse words. 3/10

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago

The El Jefe brand has been really good so far. I had pretty low expectations for the tamarind one, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. 5/10. The Lost and Found reminds me of Kool-Aid. 6/10.

u/TylerJosephSmith — 3 months ago