Stay ConnectedGirl Mode is a podcast (mostly) about video games by two trans women and gaming journalists where we talk about the latest news in the industry, our takes, weekly topics, and more about the Mets than you’re probably expecting.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Copyright: © Copyright Girl Mode Podcast
In our nice episode this week, we’re back to discussing Dragon’s Dogma 2 and other things that make us horny. Our Dragon’s Dogma talk is bookended by the new Ken Levine game that’s definitely not just the same thing as the other Ken Levine games and Robin talking about smut because we couldn't just act like adults and let it go unnoticed that this is episode 69.
Timestamps
(02:00) Why not give Ken Levine one more shot/player choice smoke and mirrors
(17:00) Play Nier Reincarnation while you still can
(19:15) Willa’s space lesbian harem update
(20:30) Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still a very good video game
(1:04:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?
Mentioned this week
Judas First Details: How Ken Levine Is Building on BioShock With 'Narrative LEGOs'
The best quest in Dragons Dogma 2 turns my weird hobby of NPC stalking into an actual objective
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Makes You Take Your Time, And That’s Great
Dragonsplague Is the Perfect Example of What Makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 Great
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Robin is finally alive again, and just in time to talk about the best game of the year. We start off with a little news blitz, from G/O Media still being a shitshow to a couple of devs saying things the industry absolutely needs to listen to at GDC. Then we settle in for about an hour of singing Dragon’s Dogma 2’s praises for what definitely won’t be the last time on this show.
Timestamps
(00:30) We’re alive!
(02:00) Jim Spanfeller is still a herb
(04:00) Planning our summer vacation in Eorzea
(7:15) Larian makes a good decision and Swen Vincke makes a good speech
(10:30) Xalavier Nelson Jr continues to be right in public
(11:45) Our vibes are not compatible with AI
(15:45) Simping for Dragon’s Dogma (and Miu)
(1:26:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?
Mentioned this week
Read last week’s blog on Tumblr or Cohost!
Kotaku EIC Resigns Over New Editorial Edict
Eurogamer covers Swen Vincke’s GDC speech
Xalavier Nelson Jr’s Black in Gaming Indie Developer Award speech
Austin Walker’s Four Thoughts on Dragon’s Dogma
Players Aren’t Happy with Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Microtransactions
There Are Better Things to Be Mad At Than Dragon’s Dogma 2 Microtransactions
Follow us or send us questions!
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Major FF7 Rebirth spoilers throughout! Explicit spoilers for Chapter 13 and beyond from 30:00 to 1:10:00!
Oooh, we’ve got an exciting one for you this week as we’re joined by very special guest Jade King, lead features editor of TheGamer! This episode is a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth spectacular, wherein we get deep on its narrative highs and lows, talk an awful lot about Advent Children, and spoil the hell out of the game, all while keeping it queer, of course.
Timestamps
(01:30) Breaking down Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth with Jade
(30:00) Ending spoilers begin
(1:10:00) Ending spoilers… end
(1:23:00) Bringing it back to queerness
(1:31:00) What else have we been up to this week?
Follow Jade King on Twitter and read her work at TheGamer!
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
Mentioned this week
Jade’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Gaming's Greatest Lesbian Scavenger Hunt
Tifa and Aerith are the Real Power Couple in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Robin’s interview with Xalavier Nelson Jr.
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reviews are out in the wild, so we can finally talk about (some of) our experiences with this fascinating, incredibly uneven game. We’re saving most of our thoughts for next week, so this week is safe for people wanting to avoid spoilers. But before we get to that, we’re talking Shadow of the Erdtree, Nintendo Direct, and more Unicorn Overlord!
Timestamps
(01:00) RIP Flaco, King of New York
(04:30) How ‘bout that Shadow of the Erdtree trailer?
(17:15) If you want to play Mother 3, you can play Mother 3/Willa was right
(19:00) The rest of the Nintendo Direct
(31:20) Willa is still the world’s best Unicorn Overlord player
(36:30) First thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Tifa and Aerith should kiss)
(54:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
Mentioned this week
I Need to Get Way Better at Elden Ring Before Shadow of the Erdtree Launches
Hidetaka Miyazaki talks to Eurogamer and IGN
Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reviews in Inverse, NYT, and NPR
FF7: Advent Children Paved The Way For Rebirth, For Better And Worse
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, we’re running through a whole lot of games, since Robin was too busy sleeping on Willa’s couch to record last week. First, we cover the most anticipated game of all: Foamstars. Then a demo for a little game called Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came out, and both of our hosts attended an exciting preview recently, but only one did so well she broke the game. We end with a whole lot of news, only some of which is about how fucked the games industry is!
(I also feel compelled to include an extra explicit content warning here for just so, so much talk about bodily fluids in the first five minutes.)
Timestamps
(01:20) Robin and the City
(03:15) The Children of the Bubble
(06:40) Kickin’ chairs with Cloud
(14:00) Willa is too much of a gamer for Unicorn Overlord
(33:00) The Game Awards’ Non-Evil Twin
(37:20) Somehow, Star Wars 1313 returned
(40:00) Happy 5th anniversary, Hollow Knight: Silksong!
(46:40) Microsoft makes fools of us all
(55:20) ZA/UM drama
(1:00:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?
Mentioned this week
Who’s Telling the Truth about Disco Elysium?
Willa and Robin on Unicorn Overlord
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, it’s been too long since we recorded to remember what we talked about. I think it was…video games? That’s right, it was State of Play! The Short Message was pretty bad. Zenless Zone Zero has cute anime girls. Some other stuff probably happened, too. Judging by the links in our text thread I guess we talk about Persona 3 Reload, Suicide Squad, and Bayonetta. Enjoy!
Mentioned this week
Persona 3 tweets
https://twitter.com/SkyKniight/status/1753461874526462371
https://twitter.com/NSuperGamerGuy/status/1753818881024819257
Persona 3 Reload Is a Messy but Necessary Remake
Persona 3 Reload Still Can’t Imagine A World That Respects Trans People
Persona 3 Remake Ditches the Classic RPG’s Best Character
You Could Just Keep Doing Dry January
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s been a pretty fucked up week for the games industry, so we’re starting with a lament for lost jobs and our grim outlook on how things are only going to get worse. Then we talk about Nier Reincarnation being deleted imminently and what it says about games preservation. We eventually move to cheerier territory by talking about what games we’ve been playing, including a couple Nier games, Final Fantasy XI, and Granblue Fantasy: Relink.
Timestamps
(00:45) Willa goes to Kotaku and we’re all very proud of her
(03:20) Layoffs are killing the games industry
(29:20) You should play Nier Reincarnation before it disappears
(41:40) We’re playing Nier Reincarnation before it disappears
(48:40) Final Fantasy XI check-in
(52:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?
Mentioned this week
The Murder Game Revolution That Has Gripped China
Pixar's Ratatouille, the state of media journalism, and why I'm a critic
Grief and Grace Along Route Zero
A Piece of Yoko Taro’s Nier Series Will Soon Disappear Forever
Gaming Layoffs Show AAA Developers’ Refusal to Support the Industry’s Future
So I Started Playing Final Fantasy XI in 2021...
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Zoe’s taking some time off so this week Robin is talking to Willa Rowe, who’s apparently a new writer at Kotaku. Good for her. After making a bunch of predictions for the upcoming year (which neither of us came up with minutes before recording started), we catch up with the latest FFXIV Fan Fest, share our first shaky steps into Vana’diel, and try to figure out what we really want in a Metroidvania.
Note: We recorded this episode before the horrible news of layoffs at Riot, which is why we don’t mention them when we talk about LoL. Solidarity with the folks affected there, and with everyone hurt by the cruelty of CEOs with howling voids where their hearts should be.
Timestamps
(00:20) Introducing our special guest host Willa Rowe
(03:50) Willa and Robin predict the future
(21:20) Catching up with FFXIV Fan Fest because we missed it again
(31:30) The year of Final Fantasy XI
(38:20) Metroidvanias need more catgirls
(1:04:00) Willa’s smart thoughts on memory and preservation
(01:13:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?
Mentioned this week
Robin’s Prince of Persia review
Willa on the Genshin Impact concert
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the last episode, we witnessed the amazing premonitory powers of Willa's girlfriend Zoe, so we're giving her control of the podcast this week out of a mixture of respect and fear. With Willa temporarily banished to the shadow realm, Zoe shares some of her favorite recent games with Robin, talks about the forgotten games of her youth, plays a round of "is this game ugly," and ends with her predictions for gaming in 2024, which will almost certainly all come true.
Timestamps
(00:20) Hi Zoe
(03:20) Zoe's year in games
(14:15) Why Chicory is great
(21:20) Good opinions about Hades and bad opinions about Final Fantasy
(28:10) Is this game ugly? (follow along here)
(52:00) Games for girls
(1:11:10) Zoe predicts the future
(1:22:00) What else have Zoe and Robin been up to this week?
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
Follow us or send us questions!
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’re easing into the new year, first by pretty much just reprising an article we already wrote about our most anticipated games of 2024. Then, we discuss how our “gamer resolutions” for 2023 went and talk about what we want to change in the coming year. Finally, we revisit Willa and Zoe’s predictions for 2023 in gaming and see how they both did!
Timestamps
(01:40) Our most anticipated games of 2024
(14:45) Punctuation Corner
(27:15) Gamer resolutions check-in
(51:30) Willa v. Zoe, Judge Robin presiding
(01:02:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?
Mentioned this week
Willa and Robin's most anticipated games
Willa talks to Yoko Taro and Doug Bowser
Robin really, really likes Sayonara Wild Hearts
The episode of Press Start we talk about
Music
Street Food by FASSounds
We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.
Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Demand a ceasefire from your representatives
Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet
Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
