Into the Aether - A Low Key Video Game Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Wacky Wally’s Big Bassoon Solo (feat. Persona 5 Royal, Soulcalibur III, Marathon, and more!) Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

Oh god, Wally's up on stage at the open mic again. Get ready for ten more minutes of "Oh! Susanna" unless he finally learned how to play something new this month…

Discussed: Upcoming P4G bonus, Persona 5 Royal, the loop of Persona, our expectations for Persona 6, Resident Evil Requiem, the hunk of gaming, the history and the future of Resident Evil, Soul Calibur III, Marathon

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Follow Stephen Hilger: https://bsky.app/profile/stephenhilger.bsky.social
Follow Brendon Bigley: https://bsky.app/profile/bb.wavelengths.online
Produced by AJ Fillari: https://bsky.app/profile/ajfillari.bsky.social
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Season 8 cover art by Scout Wilkinson: https://scoutwilkinson.myportfolio.com/
Theme song by Will LaPorte: https://ghostdown.online/
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Timecodes:

(00:00) - Intro
(00:21) - Into the into the into the into the Aether
(01:29) - P4G Bonus Post-Mortem
(03:36) - Persona 5 Royal | First Surprise
(47:31) - Break
(47:32) - Resident Evil Requiem | I've got something to say
(01:06:52) - Soul Calibur III | Oh by the way
(01:18:17) - Marathon | Brendon made a video about Marathon!
(01:33:46) - Wrapping up

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Teddie is for Everyone (feat. Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, Slay the Spire II, Minishoot' Adventures, and more!) Mar 18, 2026

Show notes

Travel outside of any major metropolitan area. Escape the light pollution. Hike out to the middle of the woods. Climb the highest peak you can. On exceptionally clear nights, surrounded by your friends, look into the sky and you just might see him peering back.

Discussed: Our hero with a pizza, an impromptu Square Enix discussion, the strength of Team Asano, the future of Final Fantasy, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, final puzzles and true endings, the future of Paranormasight, the importance of niche appeal and modest success, Teddie, Slay the Spire II, the March "forever" games, Pokopia update, Minishoot’ Adventures

"Dissolving the past in the present in Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse"

A great interview with the director and producer of Paranormasight, Takanari Ishiyama and Kazuma Oushu, about the making of The Mermaid's Curse

Our Slay the Spire 2 Stream

NBZ's 2024 GOTY Video

(00:20) - Talkin' about Squeenix
(11:08) - Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse | While we're here
(32:28) - Send in your questions for the Persona 4 Golden bonus!
(33:44) - Break
(33:45) - Slay the Spire 2 Early Access | What if there was a game you could never win?
(56:43) - Pokopia update
(57:35) - Break
(57:36) - Minishoot' Adventures | Righting a wrong
(01:12:56) - Wrapping up

Scyther is my Roommate (feat. Pokémon Pokopia, Slay the Spire 2, and Resident Evil Requiem) Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

"Yo, Ditto, I gotta admit -- splitting the rent is almost as fun as gathering lumber!"

If anyone else said this to me, I would assume they were being passive aggressive. But not Scyther, my roommate. He's the coolest guy in all of Pokopia.

Discussed: Pokémon Pokopia, the DQ Builders 2 influence, Pokémon personalities, roommate Scyther, the future of Animal Crossing, the latter half of Resident Evil Requiem, the Jekyll and Hyde restaurant, why Claire Redfield should be in more games, Slay the Spire 2 Early Access, the unique challenge of making a sequel to a beloved roguelike, spring's arrival

Article about children's relationship with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy by Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor

Resident Evil Requiem: Dead Inside by Kerry Brunskill

Stephen's playthrough of Resident Evil Requiem

(00:00) - Intro
(00:27) - Pokopia | Into the Clayther
(44:13) - Break
(44:14) - Resident Evil Requiem | What if your housemates were evil?
(01:04:57) - Break
(01:04:59) - Slay the Spire 2 | 2 Spire 2 Slayrious
(01:25:15) - 2026 is done now, actually
(01:31:07) - Wrapping up

Buff Sam and Old Leon (feat. Resident Evil Requiem, Marathon, and Ys X) Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

If I do this squat, it'll be the most squats I've ever done outside of The Shire.

Discussed: Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom’s modern hits, Off-Broadway Skyrim, our experience with Resident Evil, Leon and Grace, camp, Ys X: Proud Nordics, modern Ys gameplay, Buff Sam, Trails of Cold Steel, Falcom Corner, Marathon Server Slam, battle royales and Destiny-likes, BB’s time with Destiny, extraction shooters, Super Monsanto, Big Defect

(00:00) - Intro
(00:19) - Resident Evil Requiem | Today's for the freaks
(55:00) - Break
(55:01) - Surprise! It's a Stephen segment
(55:50) - Ys X: Proud Nordics | Pronounced like "geese"
(01:08:44) - Trails of Cold Steel | Vita prep is ongoing!
(01:16:45) - Alabaster Dawn | Check out BB talking about more demos on Wavelengths!
(01:17:31) - Break
(01:17:32) - Variations on a Samwise
(01:18:05) - Marathon | Talking about Marathon
(01:49:19) - Wrapping up

Mud is Overpowered (feat. Mario Tennis Fever, Reanimal, Danganronpa, and Paranormasight) Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

Sakurai steps up to the podium, looking troubled. He's not his confident self this time around — and it's doubly weird that he's making this announcement live and in person instead of through some kind of Nintendo Direct. There's even regular press here, not just games media people. "We are removing Matthew McConaughey as Mud from Super Smash Bros. We are aware of rumors circulating regarding a licensing agreement lapsing or some kind of issue with having a real person present in the video game, but this is all just speculation. The truth is that we are removing Mud because he is overpowered, and in all of our internal testing there was no way to reign in his power while staying true to the character. Mud is just too good."

Discussed: Mario Tennis Fever, the Mario sports games, Baby Waluigi, Reanimal, various appeals of co-op play, weird stuff, Danganronpa, gamifying visual novels, games with a sense of place, Paranormasight the mermaids curse, underwater game music, Pokemon Black and White anniversary

Jake Steinberg's Mario Tennis Fever Review

Bowl of Lentils YouTube Channel

(00:00) - Intro
(00:27) - Mario Tennis Fever | We have the fever
(33:06) - Tiding from Kyle and Jenn to Joel K.!
(34:03) - Reanimal | Not the norm
(45:48) - Break
(45:49) - Weird Stuff February
(46:14) - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Febbruary
(01:18:11) - Break
(01:18:12) - Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse | The visual novel corner
(01:35:52) - Pokémon Black and White | NOT a segment
(01:40:56) - Wrapping up

Dice of Fate (feat. Danganronpa, Windblown, Under the Island, and more!) Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Sometimes life leads you down a certain path where you know exactly where, when, how, and why things should fall into their natural order. Other times, you need to dice of fate to give you a helping hand. And that's what life is all about.

Discussed: rolling a d10, Windblown, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the vibe of the Vita library, BB’s P4G update, rolling a 4, Culdcept, Smash Bros. for 3DS, Tabuu, Under the Island, the influence of Zelda, Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, the tragedy of Fatal Labyrinth

(00:00) - Intro
(00:48) - It's a die episode, baby
(01:53) - Windblown | Rolling a 1
(20:15) - Time To (roll the) DIE
(20:26) - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Rolling a 4
(40:12) - Break
(40:14) - The hot new die roll theme song
(40:45) - Culdcept Revolt | Rolling an 8
(43:31) - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS | The real game
(01:01:33) - Flipping a COIN?!
(01:02:26) - Under The Island | Rolling a... tails
(01:17:58) - Shiren The Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island | Let me do one more
(01:36:50) - Wrapping up

Highguard Accent (feat. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Nioh 3, and Monster Hunter Stories 3) Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Linguists are baffled. “There seems to be a new subcommunity in a niche online video game developing a totally new manner of speech by fusing what’s known as the ‘Valorant accent’ with idioms from medieval English,” writes a joint statement from The Linguistic Society of East and West.

Discussed: BB realizes he’s offline, Highguard, early impressions of Deadlock, Yoda in Soul Calibur, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, the pros and cons of remakes, the history of DQVII, Nioh 3, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Demo, new games on the horizon

"A History of Dragon Quest (and Why To Try It Now)"by Chris Plante
Harvestella Review by Kaile Hultner
PS1 Playlists:
The ten listener poll winners
The full playlist

(00:00) - Intro
(00:19) - Highguard | Brendon Offlineley
(12:09) - Dragon Quest VII Reimagined | The first game of the episode
(57:50) - Break
(57:52) - Nioh 3 | Kiefer's favorite game
(01:13:30) - Break
(01:13:32) - There was a Nintendo Direct
(01:15:14) - Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection | Another 3
(01:33:08) - On the horizon
(01:36:22) - Wrapping up

Joeylike (feat. Code Vein II, CAIRN, Nioh 3, and Fire Emblem: Awakening) Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

The makings of a Joeylike are pretty simple, all things considered: The player character needs to ask "how you doin'?" as often as possible. This generally makes Joeylikes easy to spot from a mile away, but it also means they come off as derivative. Attempts to change the Joeylike catchphrase are often disasterous.

Discussed: Code Vein II, Nioh 3's demo, Elden Ring: Nightreign, soulslikes, Joey from Friends, Fire Emblem Awakening, CAIRN

Check out Pixels and Polygons! - https://pixelsandpolygons.net/

(00:00) - Intro
(01:01) - Code Vein II | A soulsmuse-bouche
(29:35) - Nioh 3 Demo | A soulsmuse-bouche
(34:14) - Elden Ring: Nightreign | A soulsmuse-bouche
(51:01) - Break
(51:03) - Fire Emblem Awakening | The Console Wars are real
(01:07:53) - Pick a game and play!
(01:08:03) - Cairn | It's peak
(01:28:06) - Cairning up

You Remind Me of the Frog (feat. Tokyo Xanadu, 428: Shibuya Scramble, and more!) Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Jareth skulks through the castle and out the front gates while listening to their favorite podcast, hair somehow bopping to and fro while also locked into its gravity-defying shape. As he makes his way towards the lillies, a new song idea slams its way into his frontal lobe. It's a riff on another song he sang long ago. He croaks it into existence.

Discussed: strange recording arrangements, Persona 4 Golden, the final bosses of Persona, Tokyo Xanadu Ex+, the potential of a sequel, DnD with Brendon, 428: Shibuya Scramble, Code Vein II Demo, dreams of Tomodachi Life, and a handful of Switch games

Video essay mentioned about Tose

We encourage those who are able to donate to:
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee

"How To Help If You Are Outside Minnesota" from Naomi Kritzer's Blog

(00:00) - Intro
(00:19) - Into the recording setups
(04:53) - Persona 4 Golden | A well-balanced meal
(12:45) - Tokyo Xanadu ex+ | The third pillar of Falcom
(40:15) - Break
(40:17) - 428: Shibuya Scramble | Video games, but real????
(49:03) - PARANORMASIGHT SPOILERS
(49:11) - 428: Shibuya Scramble | Video games, but real????
(54:57) - Code Vein II | Secretly made by our favorite developers (maybe???)
(01:02:52) - Many games and the Switch 2 | A salve from the universe
(01:15:02) - Wrapping up
(01:16:59) - Fuck ICE, stand with your neighbors

Toot My Own Back (feat. Hytale, Escape From Ever After, Tekken 3, and more!) Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

I don't mean to hy my own tale about this, but I have some theories about Persona 6 that I'm feeling pretty confident about.

Discussed: Malort, steam heat radiators responding to negative temperature weather, Tekken 3, informed button mashing, Vital Shell, Cannon Spike-Likes, a reminder about the ps1 poll and goty giveaway, Escape From Ever After, next bonus ep, Persona 6 theories, Hytale

Cameron’s piece on Hytale

(00:00) - Intro
(00:42) - Celebrity encounters
(02:38) - Back in Chicago
(05:04) - Video games??? Maybe!
(08:10) - Tekken 3 | Your favorite game on the best CD player
(23:06) - Vital Shell | Spikelike
(24:35) - GOTY Giveaway!
(25:55) - Break
(25:56) - Escape from Ever After | Declining is not recommended
(48:43) - A bonus announcement?!
(57:19) - Break
(57:20) - Hytale | Stephen's Malort
(01:31:13) - Wrapping up

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