Abnormal Mapping

If you can believe it, it’s been six years of doing Abnormal Mapping and we’ve not once done an episode on a Mario platformer despite Jackson literally playing every single one since we started the podcast. That ends now as we both enjoy the last unplayed Mario for each of us and dip into the ups and downs of the Wii classic??? Mario Galaxy 2! We put our foot down about Yoshi, complain about the m...

After five years and many hundreds of hours our long Final Fantasy adventure is at an end as we pry open the doors on one of the most divisive games in the history of the franchise. What do we find in the land of Ivalice, aside from crystals and swords to cut the crystals with? How do we feel about Vaan in 2019? Is the format of an MMO truly a good way to play a single player game? We’re going to...

We’re finally here at the end of the longest year in the history of long, bad years. We barely played any games this year, so pulling together our favorite songs was a mighty task, but we weren’t going to let you walk away empty-handed. Also, let’s be real, it’s way harder to find ten good games than games with good music. Good game music is easy. You here me, Capcom?? EASY! THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR...

For our latest patreon request, we bring back our old Gameography format and take a look at fifteen games from game maker Nina Freeman. Her most famous game is Cibele but we’ve played all of the avaliable single player games and are here to have a discussion about them. They’re really good and interesting and while we don’t do these styles of episode much anymore, it was an incredibly rewarding ex...

Joined by Aisling ( @heartjanedoe ), we take a journey to the ancient times of the mid 2000s, when the only thing cooler than tank-tops was the movie Blade II. Some say this remains true to this day. This episode was brought to you by Aisling Quinn , thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can guest on an episode of us...

We are joined once again by our friend Crystal (@ArcaneCrystal) to bring you the hardest hitting takes on the games of one Richard B. Riddick, the world's deadliest Digimon Protagonist. This episode was brought to you by Crystal, thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can have an episode of us playing whatever you want...

Abnormal Mapping returns with a voyage to the land of primates as we enjoy the machinations of dual shocks, world domination, and 3D platforming. Join us as we are surprised by one of our blind spots and play one of the best games we've played on this podcast! This episode was brought to you by Matt McCoolski , thanks to his support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon....

We enter our eighth decade of podcasts by checking back in on our friends in Spira two years after Sin was defeated and the day was saved. What has happened to the world? How has everyone carried on outside the spectre of death? And what, exactly, is up with Nooj's everything? All this and more as the Gullwings take to the skies and we take to our walkthroughs of the most complex Final Fantasy yet...

Welcome to our summer soundtrack episode! It's been six months since game of the year, so it's time to check in with all the music of all the games we've played in this hell year of 2018 so far. Please enjoy two hours of tunes! We are, as always, a patreon supported show. Go to patreon.com/abnormalmapping to help us keep making podcasts .Thank you. Color Pulse (Off the Hook) by Toru Minegishi, Ryo...

It is the ides, and we are bringing you a special early Abnormal Mapping! We've got our mid-year soundtrack episode coming out at the end of June, so today we're releasing our June Game Club: a discussion about Fullbright's latest game, Tacoma. We talk corporate dystopias, walking simulators, character interaction and gush about how impressive the central conversation playback mechanic is. It's so...

Another month comes to a close and we're here to bring you another episode of the hit video game podcast: Abnormal Mapping! This time we're looking at Murdered: Soul Suspect, arguably the final big B-Game of the 360 era, the last gasp of a now forgotten time. But is it any good? Does it hold up in 2018? What is it? These questions and more will be answered within. It's a good show! This month is b...

We might never miss a month but it feels like it's been a thousand years since we've podcasted given how fast the world goes and the strange recording schedule of our seventy sixth episode. Please join us for two hours split across an entire month as we reflect on the games we've played, the games we wish we were playing, and how nothing will ever actually change in this space. Ever. If you would...

Abnormal Mapping returns with a dive into the history of Nintendo's favorite greed magnate, a man of refined tastes and great financial need, the second most handsome foil in all of Video Games, Wario! We're joined by a special guest today to discuss non-linearity, the weirdness of a game without death, and just how cool the Game Boy Color aesthetic can be. Join us, on this most lusty adventure! C...

Abnormal Mapping is back with a special guest and a long-lived game stricken from Em's backlog forever as Six Dettmar joins us to talk about marriage, weapon triangles, permadeath and more as we explore the strange turn of events that is Fire Emblem: Awakening! With Jackson gone, we get deep in the weeds on fantasy nonsense, anime tropes, and how sometimes what makes a game popular is really hard...

Abnormal Mapping returns in 2018 with our first Patron-guested episode as we rise to our most massive challenge yet—the iconic Shadow of the Colossus! Em's re-evaluation of a long-disliked game and Jackson's resolve to place an old game in context go head to head as we talk about horses, monsters, remakes, and just how far games have come since 2005. This episode is as wild as any giant beast, and...

Hello everyone and welcome to the very last Abnormal Mapping of 2017! The year is over, we're all bundled up in the tepid cold of this global warming reality playing whatever we decided to get done over holiday break, and that means it's time for us to bring to you the lengthy catalogue of games we played in this hell year of two thousand seventeen.  In this THREE (3) [III] hour podcast we ha...

Welcome to the penultimate podcast of 2017! We've managed to make it through this hell year and we figured we'd wrap up our normal game club episodes in style by talking about two of our favorite games and one game that makes us look back on games of yore and how we feel about them as people who still engage with them in 2017. Look forward to further adventures of the Abnormal Mapping crew in 2018...

We head into the distant past and the world of legend this month to discuss one of the critical darlings of the early 00s and its filmic adaptation. What does it mean to re-envision a game before retro throwbacks? How influential can one game be to the idea of cinematic narrative experiences in this space? And most importantly, how can they ruin it trying to turn a video game into the next Pirates...

NICE! Welcome to our weed-numbered episode of our ongoing Final Fantasy Adventure as we cover a game not called Final Fantasy Adventure, but instead take a deep dive into Spira and the wonders and horrors within. Please join us as we curse our old man, remember a time when everyone was laughing but only we meant it, and answered the age old question: what if Final Fantasy XIII was good? To support...

In the second episode of Abnormal Mapping, Em and Jackson have breaking news about the new console generation, Em discovers a beloved franchise maybe isn’t as beloved as they thought it would be, and Jackson hears a question so profound it makes them drop their coffee cup. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon . Any amount of support helps a ton! You...

Hello friends! This week we're doing an extra special grab bag of things. Please enjoy this far reaching discussion of five game club games: Ridiculous Fishing , Bernband , Radiator 2 , Gravity Bone , and Balloon Fight . Thanks to everyone who suggested these games on our Patreon. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon . Any amount of support helps a...

The mappers find themselves in a glitch world, where the insomnia madness encroaches and the very internet begins to disintegrate. Our intrepid heroes carry on, reversing the course of last month’s progress to embrace the numbers and meters of ye olden games, and ride this regression wave directly into the past to confront the satanic baby of Johns Carmack and Romero within its pixelated heavy met...

On this month's Abnormal Mapping we have a nice treat for you: playing a game, and watching the tie-in movie! The game is good fun, the tie in movie is an unholy abomination, and the podcast is very entertaining! Join us, my lord, and indeed let's embark upon a journey of donut fuelled revenge with Maxy Max and the Payne Bunch. Things Discussed: Max Payne, Jazzpunk, This Dead Rising Video, Max Pay...

Legends tell of a man, a quiet man, a man who jumps and a man who spins, a man who one day—this day—must rise and save us all. But that man was not available, and so it falls upon this paper plumber to embark upon a journey to the stars to save a princess oft and once more kidnapped. The Mappers embark upon this man’s journey through a twisted land of pun-laden characters and self-aware deconstruc...

This month we bookend our newest episode with our oldest episode and cover the first Devil May Cry! Inspired by our very first Meta Mapping and voted on by our Patrons, we dig into the past of character action games and Dante, son of Mundus for a trip into all thing stylish and stupid. Come for the combos, stay for the angst. We even touch a bit on old standbys Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta! This epi...