Live Genre Chronicles

After a very long intermission, we finally covered Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. We talked a bunch about why it took us so long to play this very short game that overall we feel very positively about, and along the way we talked about a bunch of other games this one might have influenced or been influenced by, and at one point a still-slightly-ill Becky ranted for like five minutes about 60-degr...

We covered Dragon's Dogma, discussing the obvious love and craft that went into designing its world, the intricate but sometimes awkward plotting, and the elaborate character systems. We also talk about comparisons to Dark Souls and Breath of the Wild (sorry). The article of Val's discussed early in this episode can be found here .

After an appropriately maternal 9-month hiatus (none of us actually had kids, don't worry), we get back together to discuss Mother 3, its cult status, troubled relationship with the twee americana of its predecessor and convoluted development history. Fair warning: we talk at length about racism in this game, and in particular about slurs for Romani people (and the way that these can vary with dif...

We discuss Wild Arms 2! Heroism, tokusatsu, what really makes for a bad localisation, character relationships and much more besides! Follow us on twitter:  https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We discuss the Final Fantasy VII Remake, part 1, just in time for the release of part 2! This was a real challenge to talk about because of how complicated the remake's relationship to the original is on so many different levels. We dug into the combat, the narrative expansions, the mix of underlying philosophies of the remake, and some of the things that make the original a great, but complex, cl...

We discuss The Caligula Effect 2, one of the coolest RPGs qua RPG stuff we've played in a good while. Also a game possessed of a fascinating cast of characters that raised all sorts of questions about representation and meaning, which is why it ended up being such a long episode... Follow us on twitter:  https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We talked about Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon! We talked mechs, difficulty, the entire intellectual history of the modern western world, 'videogameyness' vs. 'worldiness', how many things can one macguffin be a metaphor for, and more besides. Follow us on twitter:  https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We take a deep, long look at Vagrant Story! We talked about Yasumi Matsuno and his journey to (and from) Square Enix, auteur theory and its vices, Shakespeare and cultural legitimacy, and plenty more besides.  Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We covered Mega Man Battle Network 2! We talked about genre tropes and shonen anime, the limits of 'turn-based' as a description of combat systems, the history of the internet and digital internationalisation, transpacific racism and the legacy of American empire, and more besides. Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We kick our new show off with a doozy: Xenoblade 3 and all its xenopredecessors! Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

We're back with a new podcast, and to celebrate April Fools we recorded a whole extra episode! It's about Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, a Bioware-developed DS game from 2008 (it's actually not, it's mostly about us, our background, and what we do). Follow us on twitter:  https://twitter.com/NotReallyAGenre Join our discord:  https://discord.gg/veChUcbK3E

In this potentially final episode of the podcast, Val (@SylvanFlux) and Sam (@SamuelHowitt) discuss the first segment of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, covering the prologue and the Velen part of Act 1. This episode has a CONTENT WARNING for mentions of violence, suicide, homophobia, sexual assault, the brutalization of women, miscarriage, and abortion. "I can do you tragedy and women without queerness, an...

This is a pretty straightforward episode of rpg criticism, where we discuss Ara Fell by Stegosoft Games. Ultimately the game is pretty typical, even shallow at times. It has a lot of heart and stands out among its contemporaries, but what's that good for?  It's also the start of a new year for this podcast, which is exciting. Expect a new level of dedication, probably! Game on! Next game is Shadow...

Join Devon (@SylvanFlux) and Sam (@SamuelHowitt) as they traverse the final Witcher game before the legend they sought! This journey isn't over, but The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is!  This episode has a CONTENT WARNING for sexual assault! Send us your questions by tweeting us, or via email at  witchercast@jrpgsaredead.fyi! Music used, in order: Alexander James Adams - Wild Hunt Yoshino Yuuji -...

It took a long break, but our Witcher journey isn't over yet! Join Devon (@SylvanFlux) and Sam (@SamuelHowitt) in processing the first Witcher game! Send us your questions by tweeting us, or via email at  witchercast@jrpgsaredead.fyi! Music used, in order: Alexander James Adams - Wild Hunt Yoshino Yuuji - Wakaki Nendaiki Sakka

This was always bound to happen! Join us for the final episode of Dead Genre Chronicles, where we discuss Final Fantasy XIII, the Death of the JRPG incarnate, and all around unfairly maligned game. All it takes is a little change of paradigm to understand its quality! The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy. Thanks to them for the special final outro tune.

This is the wrap-up and anniversary episode for Dead Genre Chronicles! After the next game, Final Fantasy XIII, the podcast will be done! We discuss the reasons why in this episode. We mention the Discord, which can be found here: https://discord.gg/0mBAd1LyCyJFNLUx The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.

The DGC crew searches for the Reason behind the chaos as we trudge through Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, an Atlus RPG with a twofold reputation for its difficulty and its philosophizing. The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.

The DGC crew tackles Radiant Historia, an Atlus RPG focused on the exploits of Stocke, a man who is granted the ability to travel through his personal history in order to fix mistakes and, eventually, right the world's course. We're also joined by Ted (@teioh) on this episode! The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.

The Witcher book series comes to a close on this episode. Join Devon (@invisifool) and Sam (@SamuelHowitt) in accepting their mistake, and learn how this trainwreck of a saga ends. This episode has a general CONTENT WARNING for ongoing Witcher edginess. Send us your questions by tweeting us, or via email at  witchercast@jrpgsaredead.fyi! Music used, in order: Alexander James Adams - Wild Hunt Yosh...

The crew returns from a brief technical-difficulty-induced hiatus to talk about Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the briefest episode yet! The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.

The cast that comes out whenever decided that whenever is today. Standstill Girl is a very realized, curated, put-together tragedy... which maybe made it harder to talk about than what we've covered so far! Enjoy a lot of waffling and strained discussion and maybe some good points and maybe some other kinds of points. Content warning: Standstill Girl depicts or otherwise implies parental abuse, se...

Listen in as we discuss Exist Archive, a tri-Ace game burdened with being the spiritual successor to Valkyrie Profile! Marvel as we tear it apart! Discover who calls Yamatoga "daddy" first! The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.

Our prophesied journey through the Witcher novel saga reaches its penultimate stage as we discuss The Tower of the Swallow(s), a book about a tower named after either one or two birds! Devon (@invisifool) and Sam (@SamuelHowitt) discuss... a lot of things, as this book contains Plot! So much Plot. This episode has a general CONTENT WARNING for general edginess and a specific one for drug use. Send...

This month, we handle discussing Shadow Hearts, a rather stupid game that has its heart in the right place. And given that the monster designs include organs in the very wrong place, that's a feat! The music tracks used have been commissioned from Fuzzy Proxy.