Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Podcast

It's time for another Pantheon of the Blood God, and this month we're joined by former CGW Editor in Chief Jeff Green to explore System Shock 2! Join us for a special preview as we explore its history and talk about why this classic horror RPG is so significant. To hear the rest of the show as well as the rest of our exclusive content, head over to our Patreon and sign up at the $10 of the show! L...

By the Dragonlord's pantaloons! Axe of the Blood God has hit episode 300, and we couldn't be prouder to bring it to you! Kat and Nadia hosted a live show, but if you missed out, here's the neat 'n clean audio for you. You can also watch a re-run at Kat's Twitch channel. This week, Nadia and Kat have a long leisurely talk with the Blood God audience about RPG "firsts." Which game gets the credit as...

Wowzers! Kat and Nadia are one episode away from the big 3-0-0! Despite being on the cusp of a momentous occasion, they decide to chill out this week and talk about action RPGs. What makes a good action RPG? How has the genre evolved from its earliest and most popular titles? Why are some RPG fans (Kat) a little salty about action RPGs’ very existence? The answers to these mysteries and more lie w...

Remember when corporations really tried to make 3D media a permanent thing? Axe of the Blood God remembers. In fact, this week our RPG Console Quest takes us back to the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld that projected images in 3D without the need for goofy glasses. The glasses-free 3D gimmick wore out its welcome pretty quickly. In fact, the Nintendo 3DS had an infamously rocky start that led to a massiv...

Two highly-anticipated games, Bravely Default 2 and Persona 5 Strikers, had the gall to come out simultaneously. Kat and Nadia are determined to give both titles equal attention, but that’s a lot of work for just two gals, awesome as they might be. That’s why freelance writer and very special guest Samantha Nelson joins us to gab about braving, defaulting, and why Yusuke is still Persona 5’s best...

With Kat out romping with faeries or whatever people do on vacation, Nadia is left to host an entire episode all by her lonesome. Or is she? This week, Nadia calls on a very old friend, Andrew Vestal, the former proprietor of the very first Final Fantasy site she visited when she connected to the internet in 1995. Nadia and Andrew ramble down memory lane and recall how RPG fandom was so very diffe...

It's once again time for Axe of the Blood God to evaluate a classic RPG for induction into the Pantheon of the Blood God, and this entry is one of the most controversial (and underrated!) games of them all. This month our $10+ Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about Final Fantasy VIII! In this free preview, Kat, Nadia, and special guest Alex Donaldson talk about the "cloud" hanging over the...

It’s a tough, tough world out there right now, and we hope you’re keeping well, Blood God listeners. This week, we take things Ys-y (HAH!) as Game Informer’s Kimberly Wallace joins Nadia in a lengthy discussion about Ys 9: Monstrum Nox. Does it live up to the lofty standards set by 2016’s Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana? Sit and listen before you inevitably drift down the road to your next adventure. Also...

Axe of the Blood God’s noble Console RPG Quest continues, and this week we dissect the RPG legacy of a very interesting system: The PlayStation 3. Sony’s first HD console was hobbled right from the start thanks to derisive memes, awkward accessories, programming troubles, and good old fashioned arrogance. To make things worse, the popularity of game consoles was on a major downswing in Japan, and...

Nadia and Kat host a live discussion with the Axe of the Blood God community! They share plans for an exciting community event for March, where Television of the Blood God stands following the conclusion of The Witcher, and plans for the next Pantheon pick. Plus, we take questions from the community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What an eventful week. Nadia's wayward Xbox Series X showed up on her doorstep (well, it showed up in the Walmart pick-up area), and we have a very special guest: Austin Walker of Waypoint and Friends at the Table! He talks to us about his one true love, Mass Effect, and gives us his thoughts on the upcoming remaster (23:20). He also talks about the different feelings JRPGs evoke versus Western RP...

It’s time to dish out some hugs and kisses to indie RPGs. This week, Kat and Nadia talk about the independently-developed RPGs they’re most excited for in 2021, including She Dreams Elsewhere, Cris Tales, Darkest Dungeons 2, and—dare we hope—Eastward. Also on the docket: Nadia has Ys IX impressions, Mass Effect’s alien sex is beautiful, and we have no idea what’s going on with the GameStop stock f...

The only thing you should fear more than the Blood God’s axe is the Blood God’s anime obsession. This week, Kat and Nadia talk to Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert talk about how anime and RPGs uplift one another. They also look back at RPGs based on licensed anime properties, and recall the Mighty Struggle™ that shaped and molded anime fans who traded VHS tapes before digital distribution saved us all...

Get out of your chair and start waggling because it’s time for the Axe of the Blood God Wii Console Quest! This week, Nadia and Kat discuss the strange, often troubled RPG history of Nintendo’s revolutionary console. Relive Operation Rainfall and recall how the fan-based movement pressured Nintendo into finally giving North America the still-beloved Xenoblade Chronicles. Plus, EA no longer has a S...

In our first ever Community Update, Kat and Nadia get together for a live conversation with Axe of the Blood God's community! They talk about which RPGs they've been playing of late, share an update on what's been happening with the show and Discord, and take questions from the audience on the best Chrono Trigger party, Persona 5 Strikers, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

It's officially 2021, and the brand-new year already seems poised to keep on dishing out the same trials and tribulations that made 2020 so special. Kat and Nadia take a nice break from the plague and strife to talk about what's in store for RPGs in the new year. Will we get our hands on Elden Ring? Can we really expect Final Fantasy 16 in 2021? And what about the mythological The Legend of Zelda:...

Axe of the Blood's special quest to rank all of the numbered Final Fantasy games (and their direct sequels) continues with the Top 10! With the help of special guest Ash Paulsen of Good Vibes Games, we talk about why Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV, and yes, Final Fantasy X-2, deserve to be remembered as the finest games the series has to offer... and as some of the finest video games of all ti...

Nadia and Kat kick off their episode-by-episode  exploration of The Witcher Season 1 with a discussion of how the show was made and a look at the first episode! Swords! Sorcery! A tower of naked women in a garden for some reason! Nadia and Kat break it all down while putting it into the context with the games. This episode is free to all listeners! If you enjoy it, subscribe and you will be able t...

The Axe of the Blood God Patreon is officially live! Nadia and Kat get together to talk about where the show stands in 2021, what listeners to the free feed can expect going forward, and some of the exciting new bonus content that we'll be releasing now that we're officially independent! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bloodgodpod Twitter: https://twitter.com/bloodgodpod Instagram: bloodgodpod Le...

To celebrate the launch of the Axe of the Blood God Patreon (http://patreon.com/bloodgodpod), we are undertaking a massive quest: a two-part ranking all of the numbered Final Fantasy games, as well as their direct sequels! For Part 1 we're joined by Game Informer's Kim Wallace to talk about Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy II, and other entries that remain controversial to this day. It's not all...

It's closing time for USgamer. Mat and Eric, the site's last guardians, join Nadia and Kat on the last Blood God produced under the USgamer banner. They recall their time with the site and reminisce about the weird things that happened at the events they attended. Finally, they wind down with a discussion about their favorite games of 2020. Thanks for the memories, USgamer, and here's to the Blood...

The end of 2020 draws near! Command? Nadia and Kat look back on a turbulent year and consider everything that's happened: game delays caused by COVID-19, Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition, the Cyberpunk 2020 goat rodeo, and so very much more. They also reflect upon the biggest RPGs of the year, from Final Fantasy 7 Remake to Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Polygon and RPG Site reviewers Carolyn Petit and Alex Donaldson join the show to analyze the biggest RPG of 2020: Cyberpunk 2077! They talk about the ways that it does (and doesn't) push the cyberpunk genre forward, its technical problems, and whether its handling of trans issues is as poor as it seems. [No spoilers!] Also, breaking down the Mass Effect reveal and more! Learn more about your ad ch...

With Cyberpunk 2077 finally due out this week, it's time to take a harder look at the studio that is CD Projekt. Where did it come from? How did it rise to the top of the RPG heap over the past generation? And what are some potential stumbling blocks it faces in the future? Nadia and Kat delve into all this, with additional chatter about Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Atelier Ryz...

This week we're taking a break and trying something new at Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Quiz Show! Kat plays host as Nadia, Eric, and Mathew Olson compete to see who knows the most about the role-playing genre (or can at least come up with the most amusing answers). It's RPG fun for the whole family! Plus, breaking down the follow-up to The World Ends With You, and more! Learn more about your ad c...