Retrograde Amnesia: Comprehensive JRPG Retrospective

We. Are men. Of the sea. Or at least we try to be. Between the shards of these emotions we're discovering men who love to drink, clarifying the way to say words, debating more origin species of demi-humans, talking through the safety of combining inebriation and work assignments, learning a new card game, seeing what happens when antagonists are consumed by rage, and recognizing that treasure and...

Life is a movie that flashes back between floating platforms and floating ships. Between these dire circumstances we're evaluating Fei's exclusive friendship with portrait characters, sorting out the Ministry's latest AOL keywords, noting Bart and Rico's mutual admiration, learning some Gear aesthetic choices, watching Fei's miserable attempts to fish with his bare hands, accepting more Shevat rev...

Hello today. We begin with a routine check to see if this podcast is enhancing our damaging our love of Xenogears. We move on to lose faith in the acumen of our favorite doctor, determine the best air-jacking sequence in role-playing games, make sense of Deathblows, become suspicious of Hammer's connections, appreciate framing and directing decisions, acknowledge airship feints, hat-tip Grahf's no...

It's about that time, players. We're discussing giant robots and the feelings people are feeling while inside of them as we wipe the floor with villainous stooges, recognize the necessity of equipping items before a boss fight, question Citan's concern for the innocent, observe Rico's declining mental state, watch Elly turn face, and witness how much Fei loves heart-to-heart conversations before,...

We live in a new room. It has a playlist of one song. It never stops. We're also talking about Kislev's strength-based merit system, meeting a new candidate for Best Doctor, receiving advice from a toilet nun, interpreting Kislev's iconography, sending Rico's brain to hell, shutting Hammer up, jumping on a moving train without committing suicide, and being amused by Fei's resolve to "just go wild....

Behold the introduction of a brand new segment: Egregious Oversights and Corrections. After that we're bebopping back into Nortune's D Block where we try to avoid talking about Citan's deviancy, attempt to trash talk our arena battling opponents, use our weakness as strength, and listen to some D Block poetry. We also realize Hammer might be playing us, and determine Gundam is patient zero for mec...

It's episode 13, the best number. We begin with an outrageous Blue Guy/Red Guy Digital Thunderdome sequence before moving onto the Battle Arena and discovering someone tried to make a fighting game in the middle of this role-playing game. We also find Hammer The Supplier in our modern society, get body shamed by French cooks on a planet that doesn't have France, question whether Rico seeks justice...

Hey. We're in Nortune now, which means everything is different until it becomes the same again. Enigmatic forces of questionable benefit are everywhere. Prison initiation rituals are unavoidable. There are suspect choices on diversity and representation. Fei finally sleeps a lot. We also discuss pretentious attempts at creating introspection, our wish for a D Block Animal Crossing spinoff, bomb co...

It's Episode 11, our 12th episode. We open with Ramsus' nightmare and try to determine who's pulling the most strings. We battle with Elly's Loser Squad and watch Elly get dosed with space racism. We witness Vanderkaum realize his destiny, watch Ramsus transition from Powerful to Pathetic, note strong directorial decisions with archaic assets, identify who desires the power, and wonder if there re...

Schöne Grüße. Xenogears is a Japanese role-playing game, which means we have to wind up in a church. After poking around in Nisan we spend some time in its cathedral. Here we learn incest is an aspirational fantasy, contemplate the morality of genociding the Gonzales clan, and speculate Gnosticism's influence on Sophia, the Ethos, and Nisan. Later, we discuss Solarian abductions, conduct operation...

It is time for Episode Nine. After coming to Margie's rescue, Bart faces off against Ramsus. Then Fei comes to help! Then they run into Elly! Then Margie's stuffed animal is a real animal! We learn the necessity of deathblow combos, explore the lack of stride animations in non-essential characters, and also develop an utter mistrust of Citan. Remember, Xenogears' first law states that something mu...

Yes. This time we're exploring Aveh's capital, Bledavik, and plotting ways to bust Margie out of the prison she doesn't know she's in. We meet Ramsus, Miang, Shakhan, Vanderkaum, and an absolute wreck of a man who lives in the sewer. We wonder if gambling is the only human vice the stretches through time, speculate who's behind Dan's mysterious agency, and appreciate the interplay between fighting...

Salutations! In our latest installment, we explore the expansive accommodations of the Yggdrasil, muse over whether or not Bart has actual respect or ironic respect, suspect Old Mason made an unwise investment in higher education, and receive another heaving heaping helping of lore from Mason and Citan. And then, our first boss gauntlet against Gebler's finest knuckleheads. This podcast is brought...

Greetings! The wrasslin' boys Fei and Bart have fallen Gear-first into a dank cave system. We discuss the contextually appropriate but questionably alive organisms down there before we run into your classic old-sage-in-a-cave, Balthazar. This prompts a dive into the influence of gnostic Christian texts, speculation on the creation myth metaphor, Xenogears' internal god-tier systems, and the tight...

Hi. Before spending an entire episode on Xenogears' Desert Attack chapter, we inventory the accumulation of foreshadowing and its primary distribution method, Citan Uzuki. We go on to debate the logistical fallacies of Grahf's costume, spin our propeller-hats at Citan's conversation with "Emperor," and meet a surely band of sand pirates. We must find god's resting place and resurrect him. That is...

Hello! After a brief spell of hot-blooded desert carnage, Fei and Citan make their way to the artifact-hunting boom town of Dazil. We discuss the ethics of the Ethos organization, Citan's not very subtle manipulation of Fei, and the pointless but delightful omnipresence of Big Joe. Fei also has one hell of the time in the Aveh desert. Your hot-blooded desire for battle has not been tamed. Your bas...

Hello! Episode three consists entirely of rich narrative content experienced in Blackmoon Forest. We meet Elehayym Van Houten, a forest elf, a large boulder, and the Rankar Dragon. The trio of Fei, Elly, and Citan engage in self-doubt and determination around two (2) campfire sequences. A youthful reliance on Citan has, in our adult brains, transformed into supreme distrust. Does one really need t...

Hello! For our second episode, we're coming to terms with the PlayStation's size limit for polygonal levels, discussing Citan's precarious position as a father figure and puppeteer, going over battle system basics, and cherishing the emotional necessity of Mitsuda's "Knight of Fire." Remember: if you're a kid who falls into the cockpit of a giant robot and you're going through some emotional menta...

In the first proper episode of Retrograde Amnesia, we frame the anime introduction in the context of the time it was made and Xenogears' overarching narrative. We go on to debate the necessity and the rationale for an additional three layer-prologue before some discussion on Lahan Village and its freakish populace. We also talk the importance of portrait-characters, the deliciousness of technobabb...

In the pilot episode of Retrograde Amnesia, a podcast series covering Xenogears in exhaustive detail, we contextualize Xenogears in the professional (and our personal) climate of 1998. We clarify why we've decided to make this comprehensive podcast series, whether we expect Xenogears' themes and ideas to stand the test of time, and how to best play Xenogears with modern hardware. Episode Zero lets...