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Zeldavania

Zeldavania

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A MISERABLE PILE OF SECRETS: Our hosts spend a bit of time reminiscing on the 25th anniversary of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night––the video game that put the “-vania” in “Metroidvania.”

WEEK IN GEEK: After a week off, our hosts have been busy being nerdy! Andrew finally caught up with all the Spider-Man movies while D. Bethel dipped another toe into deck-building video games with the very popular Slay the Spire, developed by MegaCrit.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Nerd Business” (31 July 2014): Where Andrew and D. Bethel first discuss Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a game that matters.
  • “Trusty Rusty” (10 August 2018): Where Andrew talks about the video deck-building game adapted from a physical one, One Deck Dungeon.
  • “We Still Don’t Know $#!&” (31 May 2019): On the show’s fifth anniversary, our hosts discuss the prevalence of “RPG elements” throughout, basically, all video games at this point.
  • “Good Gamefeel” (28 June 2019): Where our hosts discuss the first non-Castlevania Metroidvania game developed by the adopted father of the series––Koji “Iga” Igarashi––Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
  • “Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel plays his first real roguelike deck-building game, Meteorfall: Journey.
  • “Smell the Duke” (04 February 2022): Where D. Bethel plays a bit of the clever deck-building game, Griftlands.
  • “Bigger Than the Batman” (11 March 2022): Where D. Bethel talks about the indie game currently on his docket, A Plague Tale: Innocence.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Bigger Than The Batman

Bigger Than The Batman

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew watches the most recent entry into the Scream franchise, while D. Bethel finds mild catharsis in the not-at-all-cathartic game from Asobo Studios, A Plague Tale: Innocence.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Inserting Spaces

Inserting Spaces

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STANDING WITH UKRAINE: Our hosts take a minute to discuss the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

REVIEWING REVIEWS: The release of FromSoftware’s newest game, Elden Ring, has many people talking about reviews due to the fact that many outlets rated the game 10/10 (or whatever metric they use) while the reviewers openly admit that they didn’t finish the game (this was due to FromSoftware releasing review codes to websites really late). This lead D. Bethel and Andrew to consider what the role of a review is––heck, what even is a review when the gamut runs from professional reviews to user-written Amazon reviews.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Starting By Starting” (03 January 2020): Where D. Bethel discusses his time playing Frogwares’ The Sinking City.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Shadow Johnson

Shadow Johnson

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PIXEL REMASTER REMARKS: The release of Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster is finally upon us and Andrew has a few––very short––thoughts about it.

DOCTOR WHAT?: It was announced that––despite an existing tabletop role-playing game existing––there would be a new Doctor Who roleplaying game based on the fifth edition (5E) of Dungeons and Dragons. And people have opinions.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Aural Improvisation” (6 February 2015): Where Andrew first discussed Cubicle 7’s “bespoke” original tabletop RPG based on Doctor Who.
  • “The Badger Abides” (7 February 2020): Where Andrew talks about the work of Evil Hat Games and their tabletop RPGs.
  • “Exposure Creates Tolerance” (17 September 2021): Where Andrew talks about the first four games in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series.

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Flabbercast

Flabbercast

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TRAIN SUPLEX: The trailer for the next and last (of the current set) of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series from Square Enix, Final Fantasy VI, has been released and our hosts have some thoughts (and nitpicks).

NFTHAC0: TTRPG Twitter caught on fire when discussion erupted around the possibility that Dungeons & Dragons developer, Wizards of the Coast, might be considering getting into the NFT game.

RESCUE THE RANGERS: A trailer for an upcoming movie based on Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers dropped and it…it…I have no words, for good or for ill. We’ll wait and see.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Milkbloods” (9 April 2021): Where our hosts first discussed the threat of NFTs.
  • “Crypto ATM” (8 October 2021): Where our hosts discussed the threat of NFTs for the second time.
  • “An Accident of Flavor” (12 November 2021): A third time when our hosts discussed the threat of NFTs (when video game companies first announced their support).

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Touching Down (Duck Love)

Touching Down (Duck Love)

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew dives into the world of JRPG job systems with Bravely Default 2, while D. Bethel finds more Metroid to love as he replays Batman: Arkham Asylum.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Scotch Tape and Hope” (4 December 2015): Where D. Bethel discusses his love of the Batman: Arkham series of games, specifically Batman: Arkham Knight.
  • “Editing Is Magic” (13 July 2018): Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss Chris Kohler’s book, Final Fantasy V.
  • “Ghost Games” (15 October 2021): Where D. Bethel shares his initial thoughts about Metroid Dread.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • A comparison video showing the original Boba Fett voice and the revision that included Temuera Morrison’s redubbing:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Smell the Duke

Smell the Duke

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SHIFTING SANDS: For a short bit, our hosts discuss The New York Times paying a large amount for the popular website-based word game, Wordle, as well as the announcement that Sony intends to buy the former Microsoft-owned studio, Bungie.

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew peruses the rule book for Renegade Game Studios’ new licensed tabletop RPG, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, while D. Bethel is intrigued and impressed by the newest release from Klei Studios, Griftlands.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “The Space Dog and Bacchus Show.” (21 August 2014): Where Andrew interviews game designer, Kai Cambra.
  • “Applejacks. Hot Dogs. Thursday. Fire Truck.” (13 May 2016): Where Andrew talks about playing Klei’s Invisible, Inc.
  • “States of Play” (30 August 2019): Where Andrew develops an obsession with Klei’s Oxygen Not Included.
  • “Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel discusses his time with a real deckbuilding mobile game, Slothworks’ Meteorfall: Journey.
  • “Makes a Taste” (13 March 2020): Where Andrew discusses playing the tabletop superhero RPG, The Spectaculars.
  • “Films in Quarries” (18 June 2021): Where Andrew first discusses his current obsession with sentai shows.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Televisionatic

Televisionatic

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STAR TREK CORNER: D. Bethel is still getting excited about Star Trek: The Next Generation, so our hosts spend some time discussing the end of TNG‘s season 3 and the start of season 4.

NEWS CRUISE: With all the news coming out in the last few weeks, our hosts decide to skim over a handful over them, including Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard; an indie developer complaining about there being too many indie games; and comics writer, Tom Taylor, taking on Comics Gate head-on.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

All Threes

All Threes

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew dives into the quote-unquote reboot of CSI in Paramount+’s CSI: Vegas and is perplexed. D. Bethel reads another book about video games! This time it’s Super Mario Bros. 3 by Alyse Knorr as published by Boss Fight Books.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Editing is Magic” (13 July 2018): Where our hosts discuss the Boss Fight Book, Final Fantasy V by Chris Kohler.
  • “Little Paper People” (02 November 2018): Where D. Bethel discusses the Boss Fight Book, Shovel Knight by David L. Craddock.
  • “Prime Time Crime” (05 March 2021): Where Andrew talked about another new procedural show, the CBS reboot of The Equalizer.
  • “In the Reward Zone” (06 August 2021): Where D. Bethel discusses the Boss Fight Book, Final Fantasy VI by Sebastian Deken.
  • “Doctor Ennui” (27 August 2021): Where D. Bethel discusses another new procedural show, Big Sky.
  • “Unbridled Hedonism” (03 December 2021): Where our hosts discuss whether Disney+’s Hawkeye should be giving more credit to Hawkeye comic creators Matt Fraction and David Aja.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Scary Gongs

Scary Gongs

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KOTICK TOCK TIME’S UP: This week, after a scathing report, employees of Activision/Blizzard walked out calling for the expulsion of the company’s CEO, Bobby Kotick. Our hosts examine the situation and how it symptomizes larger aspects of video game culture.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Less-Impressive-Than-Expected No. 7” (01 July 2017): Where our hosts discuss the “interesting” game from a creator of Mega Man, Mighty No. 9.
  • “Sword Club” (30 July 2021): Where Andrew and D. Bethel talked about Activision Blizzard being investigated by the state of California.

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