The Book of Mudora

We answer an email about The After Years , as well as emails sent from June 2026 to August 2026, discussing both Zelda and Final Fantasy ! Some topics include Faris’ best design, the portrayal of revolutions in fiction, and games that just have too much content.

We play the final episode of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years . Despite our struggles with this game, in part due to an aggressive play schedule, The After Years is a worthwhile entry in the series that does some interesting things with the episodic format.

We play Final Fantasy IV: The After Years , the episodically-released sequel to Final Fantasy IV . This week's episodes are, in order, Palom's Tale, Edge's Tale, Porom's Tale, Edward's Tale, and The Lunarians' Tale. The After Years reveals itself to be an uneven but not meritless experience that values slow character development over fast-paced drama.

We play Final Fantasy IV: The After Years , the episodically-released sequel to Final Fantasy IV . This week's episodes are, in order, Ceodore's Tale, Kain's Tale, Rydia's Tale, and Yang's Tale. The After Years is often tedious to play compared to the relatively propulsive Final Fantasy IV, but it's still an interesting experiment in the contemporary trend of episodic gaming.

Crystal tells Monica and Cameron about her time playing the base Bastok storyline of Final Fantasy XI . Watch Crystal and Ava’s whole journey through FFXI on YouTube!

We answer emails sent from December 2025 to June 2026, discussing both Zelda and Final Fantasy ! Some topics include the potential matrilineality of the Hyrule royal family, the value of protagonists that lack identity, and tips for Ganon to conquer Hyrule permanently.

We play Final Fantasy XII from the Ridorana Cataract to completion. The game is really good!

We play Final Fantasy XII from arriving at Balfonheim Port until deciding to leave for the Ridorana Cataract. Where other Final Fantasy games struggle to write one compelling villain, XII has no fewer than four!

We play Final Fantasy XII from leaving for the Stilshrine of Miriam until arriving at Balfonheim Port. XII ’s Dungeon:Cutscene ratio suddenly spikes, but the story still delivers!

We play Final Fantasy XII from leaving for the Land of the Garif until deciding to head for the Stilshrine of Miriam. XII reintroduces sister drama to Final Fantasy !

We play Final Fantasy XII from arriving in Bhujerba until completing events on the Shiva. XII continues to impress by elegantly interweaving political drama and character drama!

We play Final Fantasy XII until just before heading to Bhujerba. XII is one of Cameron and Monica's favorites, and it makes a strong first impression on Crystal too!

We discuss Akira Kurosawa's influential 1958 adventure film The Hidden Fortress, which influenced Final Fantasy XII !

We discuss Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete , the feature-length animated film that continues the story of Final Fantasy VII.

Continuing their project to replay every Zelda game for the series’ 40th anniversary, Cameron and Monica discuss Link’s Awakening.

We talk for 1.5 hours about the 1.5 minute teaser for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2026)! What does Ocarina mean to us, what is its historical importance, and what are the avenues for its reinterpretation?

Cameron and Monica discuss their favorite games of 2025, as they previously wrote about for Gamesline.net ! Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers Begin at 0:13:55 Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers End at 0:20:41 Blue Prince Spoilers Begin at 0:29:28 Blue Prince Spoilers End at 0:33:15 DK Bananza Spoilers Start at 0:49:30 DK Bananza Spoilers End at 0:52:55 Metroid Prime 4 Spoilers Begin at 1:35:04 Metroid Prime 4 Spoile...

Continuing their project to replay every Zelda game for the series’ 40th anniversary, Cameron and Monica discuss A Link to the Past .

We discuss Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishō~ , a novella sequel to Final Fantasy X-2 , and Final Fantasy X -Will-, a 30-minute audio drama sequel to the novella. Both were released in 2013 in association with the HD remasters of FFX and FFX-2 . These sequels are poorly received by most fans, but we quite like them!

We discuss Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission , the roguelike bonus campaign included in Final Fantasy X-2 International that serves as an epilogue to the main game. In Last Mission , Yuna, Rikku, and Paine have substantive conversations with each other.

We play through Chapters 4 and 5 of Final Fantasy X-2 , which leaves us with mixed feelings as we complete the main game.

We play through Chapter 3 of Final Fantasy X-2 , where we lose patience with the game’s disjointed and shallow storytelling.

We play through Chapter 2 of Final Fantasy X-2 , which highlights that the tertiary characters of Spira are not that compelling.

We play through Chapter 1 of Final Fantasy X-2 , which leaves us with an enthusiasm for the game's style.

We discuss Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm , a 15-minute bonus cutscene that served as an epilogue to Final Fantasy X International , and was later framed as the prologue to Final Fantasy X-2 .