State of the Save

THE AUTUMN OF EVIL CONTINUES We really underestimated this one! Eric and Michael, defenders of the Resident Evil 3 Remake, decide to play the original game for the first time. What they thought would be a 4-hour cakewalk turned into a long night in Raccoon City with a boss who does Tekken Combos on you. That's right! Resident Evil 3: Nemesis beat us to a pulp! Did we "get good", or w...

THE AUTUMN OF EVIL STARTS NOW There's been a lot of talk online from fans about if Zach Cregger's new movie is really a Resident Evil movie. Eric and Michael have played a ton of Resident Evil and are here to set the record straight. They go over their spoiler-free thoughts before going all-in to dissect this movie. What did they think? FIND OUT! NEXT SHOWS: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Reside...

Eric and Michael went to Raleigh, NC to cover the Game and Geek Expo and interviewed game developers, including North Carolina's own Cliff "Cliffy B" Bleszinski. This bonus episode is a collection of every interview we did live from the show floor. The audio is a bit all over the place as a result, but we hope you enjoy it! Subscribe and leave a review — every rating/comment/thumbs u...

"The Unknown Journey Continues" The first-ever RPG summer comes to a close, as Eric and Michael defy destiny to discuss the very end of Final Fantasy VII Remake. What does Eric think of his first Final Fantasy? Does Michael still love Remake after playing the compilation of FFVII? FIND OUT! Plus, we discuss the next few episodes of the show: The Autumn of EVIL! Timecodes 0:00 - Housekeep...

Eric and Michael went to Raleigh, NC to cover the Game and Geek Expo to cover the convention, do some interviews, and talk to the developers behind a few Indie Games that are coming soon! In this recap episode, we talk about everything we saw, everyone we met, everything we played, and Eric interviewing one of his personal gaming icons. Subscribe and leave a review — every rating/comment/thumbs up...

State of the Save will be at the Game and Geek Expo in Raleigh, NC on September 5th and 6th! Get your tickets here: https://www.eventeny.com/events/ticket/?id=27975 Follow @StateOfTheSave on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for our coverage of GGE 2026! It's time to run up the pillar for an explosive start before the calm sets in before the finale of RPG Summer. *Due to Eric traveling and life s...

Ya'll need anything from Wall Market?! FFVII talk starts at 45:00RPG Summer hits the town for a night at the Wall Market to don our best dresses and fight a house from hell! We cover everything from leaving sector 5 to arriving back in Sector 7 through the Train Graveyard. PLUS: Michael talks about beating Super Mario Bros. for the very first time, and Eric gives his thoughts on Halo: Campaign...

FFVII talk starts at 41:44 RPG Summer continues with Part 2 of our massive Final Fantasy VII Remake gameclub, covering everything from the trek to Reactor 5 and beginning our journey back to Sector 7 with Aerith. Eric starts to have theories on the Ghosts, and Michael runs into a weird sequence coincidence during a side-quest. Plus, Eric gives his thoughts on the first half of the DOOM: The Dark A...

FFVII talk starts at 42:15 WE TALK ABOUT ONE MAJOR SPOILER FROM THE ORIGINAL GAME (THE END OF DISC 1) RPG Summer is here! Join us as we play Final Fantasy VII: Remake. Michael returns to the game after playing the original, and Eric comes in to experience the Final Fantasy series for the first time. But, unfortunately, we have to talk about the turmoil in the gaming industry, including the Xbox la...

CW: Child Death and SA ------------------------------------------------------- It all comes down to this: It's the end of The Last of Us . Michael and Eric break down this legendary game's ending, debating its different sides, if Joel did the right thing, and if the final encounter was just a bit too difficult. We also announce the start of RPG SUMMER with FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, and Mic...

Summer Games Fest 2026 - All Announcements and Trailers: ⁠https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GOaSEL1chVhc7_IyWvlYPhB3rO4hMwCJ4HkZ5hs7Z-E/edit?usp=sharing⁠ NOTE: WE RECORDED THIS BEFORE THE XBOX LAYOFF AND STUDIO CLOSURE ANNOUNCEMENTS! Summer Game Fest 2026 has come and gone. We cover all of the major shows from the past few weeks and break down our favorite reveals, trailers, and.....Tupac!?...

Summer Games Fest 2026 - All Announcements and Trailers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GOaSEL1chVhc7_IyWvlYPhB3rO4hMwCJ4HkZ5hs7Z-E/edit?usp=sharing LAST CALL FOR RPG SUMMER REQUESTS: ⁠⁠https://forms.gle/EscNFfQSHfTR1eMy7⁠ --------------------------------------------------- CW: Discussions of Suicide and Child Death ------------------------------------------------------- We continue our j...

SUBMIT YOUR REQUESTS FOR RPG SUMMER: ⁠https://forms.gle/EscNFfQSHfTR1eMy7⁠ Leave it to The Last of Us to completely screw up the naming convention of this show. It's time for a game known for its levity, the legendary The Last of Us. Is it still deserving of its place among gaming's best 13 Years later, or are the cracks starting to show? Find out what we think! (Just kidding, we're ho...

SUBMIT YOUR REQUESTS FOR RPG SUMMER: ⁠https://forms.gle/EscNFfQSHfTR1eMy7⁠ It's a BONUS SHOW! GET OVER HERE as we talk about Mortal Kombat II! We were defenders of the first movie, so with everyone saying that this one was the better movie, we decided to add to the discourse. Speaking of discourse, Eric finished Mixtape, a game that has been the target of some weird online culture war. Is it r...

SUBMIT YOUR REQUESTS FOR RPG SUMMER: https://forms.gle/EscNFfQSHfTR1eMy7 State of the Save returns to Perfect Dark to discuss the game's second half, and the wild turns it takes from UFOs and ancient alien wars to Presidential Clones and laptop turrets. We also talk about our plans for RPG Summer, how we got a working copy of The Last of Us, Pragmata, Stardew Valley Gamestop trying to buy eBay...

Perfect Dark talk starts at 45:00. Eric and Michael discuss the first half of Perfect Dark, the Rare N64 Classic that lives between the shadow of two monumental games of the FPS genre: Goldeneye and Halo. Does Perfect Dark earn its place as the 7th highest rated game on Metacritic, or is it the victim of a rapidly changing genre? We also talk about selling Metroid Prime 4: Beyond to buy better gam...

The cursed episode of State of the Save is here! Game disc errors, editing software crashes, random mid-show computer updates, it's all here! We give an update on what happened to The Last of Us episode, as well as make a pivot to our next game, Perfect Dark. We couldn't leave you all hanging, so what we have here is a random episode where Michael gives his final thoughts on Clair Obscur:...

Resident Evil 9: Requiem is here, and since Eric's copy of The Last of Us is late, we decide to gush over Capcom's newest game in the legendary survival horror franchise. Spoiler Warning around the 15-minute mark onwards, but yeah, we love this game. Join us next time for The Last of Us Episode 1, where we discuss the game up to when you enter Pittsburgh. Timecodes: 0:00 - Spoiler Free tho...

Here we go! It all came down to this: ~70 minutes of us talking about the legendary 71 Minute ending to the Metal Gear Solid Saga! Plus, we lay out the future of the show with our next game: The Last of Us! Prep shows work a bit differently now! Keep an eye out on our socials for a Video Prep Show hosted by Michael, breaking down what you need to know before playing along with us. Timecodes: 0:00...

It was the best of games, it was the worst of games. The coolest reveals, and the lamest reveals. The best action, and the worst action. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a tale of two games. What parts do Eric and Michael love and which ones make them wince? FIND OUT! Timecodes: 0:00 - Intro/State of Play announcements 12:15 - Distant Worlds: Final Fantasy Concert 14:20- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patri...

The GameClub format has returned! It's time that we wrapped up the Metal Gear saga with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This conversation covers the game's FIRST TWO ACTS! We briefly talk about the games we played over the Holiday break, with Michael talking about the flawed but ambitious Shadows of Doubt and the insane highs of completing Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. Eric al...

It's time for our End of the Year Holiday Special! Join State of the Save, as we break down our favorite games of 2025, our personal Game Awards highlights, and the game's we're looking forward to most next year. Also, our GameClub format returns in 2026! Join uas as we finish our multi-year long Metal Gear saga with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots! Want to play along: Finish...

This week on State of the Save , Michael and Eric dive into two famously ambitious but undeniably flawed games: Hulk for the PlayStation 2 and Obsidian’s cult-favorite spy RPG Alpha Protocol . From chaotic superhero destruction to branching espionage gone off the rails, both titles spark a deeper conversation about what makes broken-but-bold games so fascinating. Michael also shares his time with...

In this episode of State of the Save , Michael finally plays Halo 3: ODST … but before he can even talk about the game, he drops a long-kept secret about his personal history with the Halo franchise that changes everything. Eric takes on Return of the Obra Dinn , the critically acclaimed investigative adventure from Lucas Pope. With its meticulous logic puzzles and unforgettable art style, it pull...

Michael and Eric return for another episode of State of the Save , diving deep into two wildly different retro experiences. Michael takes on Metal Gear Acid for PSP—a tactical, card-based spin on the Metal Gear Solid series with a plot twist no one will see coming. He also celebrates rolling credits on Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles and admits to falling into Monster Hunter Generati...