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Episode 170: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

Resident Evil month begins with a bang, just like Nemesis does.

Capcom was in a weird spot. They were developing several Resident Evil games at the same time, trying to make hay of a popular series while also preparing for the next generation of consoles. From that shuffle came what might be the most mechanically sound classic Resident Evil game. Nemesis is rich with ideas and also kind to the player, introducing a dodge mechanic and ammo crafting to make the game empowering while keeping it challenging. Guys, Nemesis is great.

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Listener Responses: September 2017 (Bat Month) Sep 28, 2017

Show notes

Tune your bat radios to our bat frequency to hear your bat thoughts.

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Episode 169: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Part 2) Sep 21, 2017

Show notes

Our discussion of Batman: Arkham Asylum continues (and concludes). Next week, we'll hear your responses to the games we covered during Bat Month!

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Episode 168: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Part 1) Sep 14, 2017

Show notes

Bat month continues with the reinvigoration of the franchise. This episode covers generalities and the first major area.

Batman had languished in mediocrity for almost two decades before Rocksteady brought it back from the brink. Arkham Asylum is remarkable not just for how influential it is, but for how well it works as a Batman simulator. Rocksteady would go on to perfect the formula with Arkham City, but their work began here... with a story about the Joker, his strong clowns, and the inmates running the asylum.

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Episode 167: Batman: The Video Game Sep 07, 2017

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The title seems redundant, but it's better than saying "Batman, the NES game. The one made by SunSoft. For the first movie, kinda."

This might be the hardest game we've done for the show, but we might also have lost track. This is a compact little platformer that is certainly of its era, but it's also a rare great licensed game. Borrowing elements from several other platformers, Ninja Gaiden most noticeably, SunSoft created a challenging and technical Batman game when mediocrity would have sold.

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Listener Responses: August 2017 (Final Fantasy IV) Aug 31, 2017

Show notes

This is the first of our monthly listener response episodes under the new model, gathering your thoughts on the Final Fantasy IV saga.

Up next in September, we have Bat Month. Which means the Batman NES game, and Batman: Arkahm Asylum. October brings us Resident Evil month, featuring Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and Resident Evil 7.

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Episode 166: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Part 2) Aug 24, 2017

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To the center of the moon, to the center of the series, and into the slog. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years takes a strange turn in its back half... a turn that isn't discussed very often because nobody really talks about The After Years. So, join us for the last few chapters of this wildly misguided game.

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Now Do Classical Gas - YouTube

Episode 165: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Part 1) Aug 17, 2017

Show notes

An unloved sequel to a beloved game makes for some rough play, as the FF4 formula wears out its welcome.

While Takashi Tokita was working to update Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS, he felt a longing to return to the Blue Planet and revisit the story of Cecil and the gang. What resulted was a strange plan: to release a sequel to an almost 20 year old game in episodic installments on Japanese mobile phones. By the time it arrived in America, nobody quite knew what to make of it, and neither do we.

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Episode 164: Final Fantasy IV (Part 2) Aug 10, 2017

Show notes

Picking up at Troia and the Tower of Zot, Gary and Kole conclude their discussion of the main game of Final Fantasy IV.

The next episode will cover the first several chapters of The After Years.

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Episode 163: Final Fantasy IV (Part 1) Aug 03, 2017

Show notes

It's a classic RPG that established many of the norms for a huge series. Does it hold up to modern scrutiny? This episode covers the generalities, and the events of the game up through Cecil's trial at Mt. Ordeals.

Final Fantasy IV was released in America for the SNES in 1991 as "Final Fantasy II", just a short year after the first Final Fantasy reached our shores. Timed to coincide with the release of a new system, it takes advantage of some of the new technologies that were freshly available at the time. The added scope was used to create a sweeping, narrative focused game that put broadly sketched characters and melodrama to the forefront. This decision came at the expense of some of the systems complexity of previous entries, marking Square's new priorities for RPGs as vehicles for story.

This first episode covers the portion of the game where Cecil, our main character, is working as a Dark Knight in the employ of Baron. Unsettled by his king's increasing militancy, Cecil abandons his kingdom after deciding he won't be a tool for further atrocities.

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Episode 89: Final Fantasy IV, plus some big news | Retronauts

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