State of the Arc Podcast

Hyper Light Drifter is brilliant. The incredible depth of its narrative, delivered without a single word of text, is a testament to how creative and evocative its music, sound, and visuals are. Today, we dive into what makes this game so special and how it has inspired both of us to live our lives to the fullest. 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Setting Expectations On How We Do Analysis (3:20) 3. What Is Hyper...

It seems that with every new Japanese game released here in the States, there's another controversy about the translation. Most recently, we saw this with Metaphor: Refantasio, but the same thing happened with Unicorn Overlord and many others. This is true not only for games but also for anime and Manga. So today, we brought in Alexander O. Smith, a professional Japanese-to-English translator and...

After watching last week's State of Play presentation, we were surprised to see how upset people were about the Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster announcement. In today's episode, we'll discuss the uptick in gamer outrage and give our thoughts on the show's announcements! Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Responses To Last Week's Episode (2:01) 3. Thoughts on State of Play (20:50)

The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring concludes in such a beautiful way. Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, and then of course, the tragedies of Boromir and Gandalf. The 7 who remain of the fellowship must go their separate ways. And while the movie tells us time and time again that Frodo must do this alone, Sam comes with him. J.R.R. Tolkien chose to hinge hi...

There's been a lot of buzz about the slump the gaming industry is in for years now. Studio closures, big game failures, and an overall homogenizing of the AAA scene point to a possible collapse of the industry. Today, we discuss why this is happening and what--if anything--we can do about it. Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-a...

We need a Xeno detox! So, while we begin preparing for our next big game, we would like to make some exciting announcements about the future of this YouTube channel! Learn more about how we'll be approaching the show moving forward and how we'll go about doing TWO episodes a week moving forward! For anyone who tries to sign up for our new Patreon tier, I still haven't received a message from Patre...

The Fellowship of the Ring is a masterclass in how to creatively adapt a book while technically also skipping, say, 4 entire chapters without missing a beat. I am more amazed at what Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and the whole team pulled off. It rejuvenated J.R.R. Tolkien's work in a way that kept many of his important themes in it. We continue to analyze what made these movies so sp...

To skip the Childhood's End spoilers, move forward in the timeline from 1:54:32 to 1:57:00 Thanks to all the guests who joined us on this panel! TJTheEmperor: @TJTheEmperor Keith Comito: https://www.lifespan.io/ David Aidan In this final episode, we break down the plot and themes for the entire Xenosaga series now that we have finished everything. It is packed full of really interesting insights f...

Wow, what a great game! We'll have one more episode after this one so please comment with what you want us to talk about next time that we may have missed this time. **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795...

On this episode we are going over Chapter 7! It's a blast. Join us! **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ

Casen is out of town today, so I'm going back to touch on a few points we didn't have time to talk about last week. Thank you all for watching and contributing to this ongoing discussion!

After finding herself transported to Miltia 15 years in the past, Shion finds the rest of the group and investigates the area to find out what happened. Along their way, they come across Virgil engaged in combat with U-TIC realians. Seeing that he is badly injured, they decide to help him despite knowing he is the Blue Testament. They soon find an old church where they meet Febronia with a young S...

Well, well, well... you don't a much stronger start to a game than that! Xenosaga III REALLY impressed me in its opening act. This is by far the most polished product of this trilogy, and we're excited to share our incites with you on all the great symbolism and strong setups here. Following her resignation from Vector, Shion teams up with Scientia to investigate the company’s secrets while Allen...

Rather than taking advice from a Chad philosopher like Diogenes, we'll instead be diving into the deep end of virgin Friedrich Nietzche's thoughts. This is essential if one wants to understand the underlying meaning of Xenosaga, particularly this final entry in the series.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a monumental work of art. Both the book and the film. The movie came out in our early teen years and we read the books shortly thereafter. In this podcast, we attempt to understand and explain some of the differences between the book and the film, as well as where the film really shines and where it may fall short. We hope you enjoy this podcast...

Today, we'll be covering the story of how Shion finally got fired from Vector. While Jin Uzuki investigates Gnosis Terrorism—a new phenomenon in which Gnosis under a person’s control attack high-population centers—he finds a mysterious young Realian girl being taken care of by the Subcommittee on Close Encounters and Juli Mizrahi. The Subcommittee lab is attacked, and an agent named Doctus, who wa...

Today, we're bringing on an amazing panel of guests, including TJTheEmperor, Keith Comito, and David Garcia Abril, to discuss the execution of Xenosaga II's story and gameplay, what it was like playing this game for European audiences, how changes to voice direction made a big impact, and the philosophy of life extension.

After three weeks of consideration, it is now declared by law, by the authority vested in Resonant Arc, that Xenosaga Episode II is, indeed, good.

Despite attempts by many of you to convince us otherwise, we still really like this game! While visiting her brother, Jin, Shion blames his absence for the deaths of their parents during the Miltian Conflict. Meanwhile, during a procedure to analyze the Y-Data MOMO possesses, a virus implanted by Albedo activates, and MOMO fragments her own personality to keep Mizrahi's data secure. Shion, Jr. and...

Today we'll be turning the entire Xeno fanbase against us by defending Xenosaga II's character redesigns and story. This game is actually pretty good! Xenosaga Episode II opens amid the Militian conflict, fourteen years before the events of Episode I. Canaan and chaos are sent on a mission to investigate what is happening there and discover that Realians are being driven insane by the "Song of Nep...

Set 100 years before the events of Xenosaga Ep.1, Xenosaga: Pied Piper tells the story of cyborg Ziggurat 8 in his former life as human counter-terrorist agent Jan Sauer working for the Galaxy Federation. It centers on Sauer’s team as they track a serial killer known by the hacker alias "Voyager," who stalks and murders his victims, mostly children, inside the U.M.N., or Unus Mundus network, a uni...

Mike and Casen disagree completely on the value of The Legend of Korra as a follow-up series to Avatar: The Last Airbender. In this video, you'll see friends torn apart as they come to realize the person they once admired and respected is actually a bigot of the most heinous kind and must be eliminated for the betterment of humanity. The bloodbath that ensues has been documented here for your ente...

Michs is getting his Masters Degree in Theology at Harvard University, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about Final Fantasy X and the Yevon religion that rules Spira. No, we are not talking about Final Fantasy X-2. Maybe one day... In the mean time, enjoy this discussion we had. It touches on a variety of topics, ranging from Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, to the Bible, to po...

Journey is such an incredible game. It's an experience that will stick with you for years. The story for Journey is a distillation of the hero's journey, and presents it in a most beautiful and compelling way. Also, I hope you all love Dante's Comedia because we'll be diving into that a fair bit. Enjoy the discussion! **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 *...

This game has been a blast. Thanks for watching! **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: h...