Girl Mode (Girl Mode Podcast)

Having trouble tackling your backlog? Just remember that death comes for us all! Girl Mode gives you more helpful tips like this to deal with the constant influx of games and the struggle of how we ever beat any of them (like that will happen). Then it's the fun things we've been up to and a special musical ending.

Timestamps:

(0:17) Contemplating backlogs and our own mortality. 

(40:50) What have Robin and Willa been up to this week?

(44:23) Special musical surprise!

Intro music: Order by ComaStudio

Outro music: Fever Dream by The Dracu-Las

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It's a Girl Mode double feature! This week, Willa and Robin swap some of their favorite games of 2022, with unexpected results. We talk about what worked and didn't work for us in Sephonie and Signalis, a pair of games that couldn't look more different but are full of surprising parallels.

Then, it's the moment you've all been waiting for: Willa's festive jam tier list.

Timestamps:

00:30 Intro

03:20 Sephonie

36:00 Signalis

54:20 Major Signalis spoilers

1:28:20 What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music: Order by ComaStudio

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Gaming's biggest night is here. That's right, it's time for the Girlies!!! Robin and Willa do something no one else has thought of and hold an award show for the best (and not-so-best) games of the year. Who will take home the coveted award of Game of the Year? Listen and find out!

Timestamps:

00:15 The Girlies, gaming's biggest night

52:50 What have Willa and Robin been up to?

Music: Order by ComaStudio

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It's Final Fantasy's 35th anniversary this month! For the final Girl Mode episode of 2022, we talk about our history with the series, fret about its future, and discuss why FFXIV is peak Final Fantasy, all while Robin struggles to remember a single character other than Freya.

Music: Order by ComaStudio

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New year, same Girl Mode nonsense. To ring in 2023, we talk about the games (big and small) that we can't wait to play in the coming year as well as some more nebulous "gamer resolutions" that Willa and Robin will surely regret committing to come December 2023.

Timestamps:

(00:07) Intro

(00:57) Girl Mode's most anticipated games of 2023

(30:15) New Year's gamer resolutions

(41:00) What else have Robin and Willa been up to?

Things referenced:

Robin's interview with the creative director of Demonschool

Music: Order by ComaStudio

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We're kicking off 2023 by meandering through a few completely disparate topics, including Wizards of the Coast's busy week of pissing people off. Willa is the Elden Lord, Robin is previewing Fire Emblem Engage, and we're both confused about Blaseball. Somehow, we find another way to talk about Signalis.

Timestamps:

(1:00) Ranni and Millicent appreciation hour

(15:35) WotC makes a bunch of wild decisions

(24:20) Blaseball, our national plastime

(31:20) The first few hours of Fire Emblem Engage

(38:45) Signalis physical edition

(43:05) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music: Street Food by FASSounds

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This week we are here to kick ass and romance video game women, and we are all out of ass to kick. With Persona 3 and Fire Emblem Engage now out we discuss the pros and cons of each series and how well each franchise enables our desire to smooch as many characters as possible.

Timestamps:

(00:15) Persona and Fire Emblem Engage

(36:44) What have Robin and Willa been up to this week?

Articles referenced:

Robin's review of Fire Emblem Engage

Willa on Persona 3 Portable remaster

Willa on Saori from Persona 3 Portable

Music: Street Food by FASSounds

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This week, Willa and Robin talk about two recent video game adaptations: one that's going away too soon and one that we just can't get away from. We also learned that Marvel's Avengers was apparently still a thing, and Willa breaks Robin's heart with breaking news.

(0:40) R.I.P. Marvel's Avengers

(3:40) The Last of Us is one of the television shows ever made

(41:30) Nier Automata Ver1.1a, with a special appearance by crushing disappointment

(1:08:40) What have Willa and Robin been doing this week?

Music: Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Willa on TLOU's trust issues and Bruce Straley getting screwed over

Willa again on Nier Automata Ver1.1a Episode 1 and Episode 2

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Get ready to jam with Girl Mode as Willa and Robin talk about the overnight success of Hi-Fi Rush and rhythm games throughout the years in this musical-themed episode.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Hi-Fi Rush shadow drops into our hearts

(22:08) New wave rhythm games

(31:10) Old-school rhythm

(35:36) What have Robin and Willa been up to this week?

Articles referenced:

Diego Arguello on rhythm games for TechRadar

Music: Street Food by FASSounds

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Listen, this is a weird one. Robin got laid off so we spend the first part of the show bemoaning the state of games media and getting very sappy about our role in it. In a futile attempt to lift the mood, we then discuss comfort games: what we look for when we need a pick-me-up and some of our personal favorites.

As always, we end with the fun bird fact of the week.

Timestamps

(00:30) The layoff spectacular

(16:50) Comfort games!

(48:20) What birds have Willa and Robin been looking at this week?

Music: Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

"The Defector of Video Games"

Pittsburgh's peregrine falcon cam

Flaco the Eurasian Eagle-Owl

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The worst February of our lives continues with the release of Hogwarts Legacy. We discuss how the media failed to take its significance seriously, why our reactions are about more than just a game, and why, yes, supporting it does make you a bad person. 

We cap off this week’s fun-filled episode with a genuinely much cheerier segment recommending some great games by and about trans people that you should be playing instead.

(This episode touches on transphobia throughout. While there's no detailed discussion of any particular transphobic comments or acts, please proceed with caution.)

Timestamps:

(00:25) The Flaco Report

(03:20) Hogwarts Legacy or: Why your trans friends seem so mad lately

(53:00) Robin tries and fails to recommend a game

(56:00) Oh god no we're talking about Harry Potter again

(59:20) Trans games you should play instead of Hogwarts Legacy

(1:07:10) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Hogwarts Legacy does not deserve to be reviewed on its own merits - GamesHub

There Is No Magic in Hogwarts Legacy - Wired

Trans Witches Are Witches bundle

Trans game recommendations

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Folks, it's been a rough couple of weeks, so we're taking a break from reality to tackle one of the great questions of our time: Which video games are Die Hards? Tune in as we discuss whether all video games are actually about fighting your dad and develop a unified theory of all fiction.

Timestamps:

(01:20) Die Hards and Reverse Die Hards

(41:50) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Happy birthday:

Zoe

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Sony got Robin a State of Play for her birthday and she's hoping they kept the receipt. We talk about what worked and (mostly) what didn't, which characters we want to step on us, and say the words Naruto Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections out loud before ending with a pre-launch autopsy of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Timestamps:

(00:30) State of Play speedrun, featuring bone armor, cloud heads, and Juri Han's feet

(31:15) Suicide Squad: Kill Your Expectations

(46:45) What have you been up to?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

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This week, we're talking VR: when it works and (mostly) doesn't, why it still hasn't caught on, and what would actually make us abandon our feeble bodies for the virtual realm. Robin talks about a digital mouse that made her cry, Willa hosts another installment of Horny Vampire Corner, and as usual, we end the episode by deciding everything would be better if we were in charge.

Timestamps:

(00:30) The future of gaming is still kind of busted

(35:50) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Making Sense of VRChat from People Make Games

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There's a lot on our plates this week, so of course we start by talking about how hot 40-year-old Jill Valentine would be if Capcom weren't terrified of the idea of women aging. Then it's on to the Resident Evil 4 demo, Paradox Interactive's recent showcase and strategy games in general, and Willa's take on Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. We end the show with Twice and a giant block of cheese because we answer to no one.

(00:20) Milf appreciation minute

(04:15) Resident Evil 4 demo

(10:40) Paradox Interactive showcase

(21:40) Robin's week of strategy games and sniffles

(27:40) Willa really likes Bayonetta Origins

(40:45) What have Robin and Willa been up to this week?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Willa's review of Bayonetta Origins

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This week we fought demons, braved network connectivity issues, and thirsted over Lilith in the Diablo IV beta. Tune in for our takes on the good and bad in the beta and the gastronomically inadvisable way we got there.

Then one of the best-reviewed games of 2005 2023 leads us into our own considerably less positive feelings on gaming's ongoing obsession with remakes, and what it might be costing us.

Timestamps

(00:30) - Nier Automata Ver1.1a is back to not being back

(02:30) - Diablo IV, aka Flame Wall the video game

(33:00) - Remake fatigue or: There is no new game under the Sun

(57:10) - Somehow we're talking shit on FFXVI again

(1:00:20) - What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Jen Glennon on remakes

Helen Shaw on Parade

Kazuma Hashimoto on Resident Evil 4

Willa on Paradise Killer

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Previews for Arkane's capitalism simulator Redfall are out, hinting at a game with lots of good ideas built on a shaky foundation. Tune in to see if a few killer pull quotes are enough to get us on board.

Then we reject the very concept of timeliness to talk about Nier Automata, a game that Robin finally finished despite being a little baby who doesn't like when games are hard. We praise what may be the best ending in gaming, discuss the significance of robot genitals, and absolutely spoil the twist for Zoe.

As always, we end by talking shit on Final Fantasy, a series that we both purport to love.

Timestamps

(1:00) Are they really vampires if they aren't sexy?

(20:30) Do androids dream of deleted save files?

(54:40) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Giovanni Colantonio on Redfall

Robin Valentine on Redfall

TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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In this special bonus episode, Willa and Robin sit down with the multi-talented and extremely busy Rue Dickey to discuss the TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida bundle. The 500-game bundle has raised $234,000 so far for trans charities and is available until April 7!

Listen in as we discuss the realities of fundraising, why tabletop games are so darn gay, what YOU can do to help queer people around you, and of course our mutual love of tieflings. Plus, Rue shares some of their personal picks from the bundle!

Mentioned this week

TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida

Robin's interview with Rue on TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas

Follow Rue!

Zebra Youth

Transinclusive Group

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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[Spoilers abound for Life After Magic and Citizen Sleeper!]

This week, Willa and Robin take their final trip to Erlin's Eye, with the last episode of our 2022 GOTY Citizen Sleeper. We chart the very different paths we took to find community in the ruins of capitalism and get predictably choked up about it.

But first, we both played another game we can't stop talking about: the magical girl visual novel Life After Magic! Huh, it's also about searching for community in a world that doesn't want you to have it, imagine that. We cover its deft handling of difficult friendships, brilliant metaphors for angst and burnout, and a boatload of cute lesbians.

Timestamps

(00:45) Super special announcement!

(02:45) Life After Magic!

(27:40) Citizen Sleeper!

(57:45) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Willa on Life After Magic

Willa on Citizen Sleeper: Purge

Robin's interview with Citizen Sleeper dev Gareth Damian Martin

Listen to us on Press START!

Buy the TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida bundle!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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It's Episode 25, a fact that Robin refuses to celebrate with Willa for no clear reason. We didn't play any of the same things this week, so we meander through Willa's take on the Mario movie (it's fine), describe some tweets to each other (they're cute), and defend the honor of visual novels from lame-ass jokes (they're annoying). Then Kratos discourse continues to ruin Willa's life but neon computer people swoop in to save it.

Timestamps

(1:10) Mario saw 9/11

(6:10) Cute Twitter rodent corner

(12:30) Visual novels good, April Fool's day bad

(21:40) A very cinematic discussion of God of War Ragnarok

(29:00) Tron is love, Tron is life

Mentioned this week

Did Mario see 9/11? Jess Reyes reports

Kazuma Hashimoto on Ghost of Tsushima

Robin's ode to Freya Crescent

Willa on God of War Ragnarok's black and white mode

Willa's review of Tron: Identity

Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny by Raquel S. Benedict

Mouseley corner

https://twitter.com/salomoncallee/status/1638653931235540995

https://twitter.com/Agrimmora/status/1639260271628677121

https://twitter.com/meowwniz/status/1642351328255983623

https://twitter.com/KaatokunArt/status/1642542412022304768

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This week, we explore the lives of our ancestors: the various imps, demons, and mutants of the X-Men! Listen in as Willa bravely explains Omega-level mutants, trans allegories, and homosexuals with cool swords while Robin slowly breaks her spirit with incessant questions.

We'll be back to being mean about video games next week; part two of this sporadic series will appear when you least expect it.

Timestamps

(02:15) Willa's School for Inattentive Podcasters

(1:07:25) What have Willa and Robin been up this this week?

Follow along with the images Willa is confusing Robin with here

Apropos of nothing, you can donate to Transinclusive Group to help trans Floridians in need here

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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We're speedrunning a few new releases and announcements this episode, starting with the most important (read: gay) news of the week. Then we leave WLW corner to talk about another Nintendo indie showcase that has people continuing to be weird about Silksong, and discuss Unrecord, a cop game that promises it has nothing to say but still looks down on you for not respecting it. We end with Willa's lukewarm feelings on Coffee Talk 2.

Timestamps

(00:35) Have you ever cleaned your oven?

(02:00) Aloy has bitches now

(03:55) Nintendo Indie World was pretty good

(24:20) Unrecord looks like fashy trash

(39:55) Coffee Talk is fine

(45:00) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

The War Economy by Game Assist

Willa reviews Coffee Talk 2

hazel on YouTube

The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist by Brendan Keogh

maybe you'll find me by theydevil

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

You can support the Missouri-based LGBTQ advocacy organization PROMO here

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Robin kicks off this episode by ambushing Willa with a Pollyannaish take on the collapse of democracy before we move into our less optimistic feelings about the state of games journalism (stop me if you've heard this one before). The news of Waypoint's imminent closure has us in a dour mood that can only be salved by the beautiful murder machines in the new trailer for Armored Core IV, which we watch live. We end with a whirlwind tour of what we've been doing this week, from international travel to clawing our identities back from an uncaring legal system.

Timestamps

(00:35) Oh no Robin wants to talk about Zooey Zephyr again

(05:00) RIP Waypoint

(12:55) Why reviewing games is so fucked up part 10,000

(20:15) Waypoint eulogy continued

(24:45) Wow cool robot corner

(38:50) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Zooey Zephyr in Missoula

Patrick Klepek on reviewing AAA games

Austin Walker's Waypoint manifesto

Armored Core VI gameplay trailer

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

You can donate to the Pride Foundation, which supports queer communities across the U.S. Northwest, here.

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Willa and Robin are on their best behavior this week on account of a very special guest stopping by. The great Jess Reyes is here to tell us all about Honkai Star Rail, from her favorite team comp to how to pronounce names that we stubbornly refuse to get right. Tune in to hear about our favorite anime girls and maybe you'll even pick up some of Jess' absurd gacha luck.

You can follow Jess on Twitter @jpreyes__ and read her work on Inverse here

Timestamps

(00:50) Hi Jess!

(02:00) All aboard Honkai Star Rail

(43:10) What else have we been up to this week?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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While the rest of the world is building dick robots with everyone's favorite genderfluid elf, Willa and Robin spend this week gushing over the incredible demos at this year's Ludonarracon. Listen for our uncharacteristically positive takes on this year's upcoming narrative games, many of which still have demos available! To end the episode, Willa recommends her current horny fanfic obsession and Robin rants about capitalism again.

Timestamps

(00:55) Ludonarracon baybeeee!

(02:25) Midautumn

(06:45) Goodbye Volcano High

(13:55) Demonschool

(18:30) Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

(25:40) The Star Named Eos

(31:10) Stray Gods

(39:30) Sucker for Love: Date to Die For

(44:50) Times & Galaxy

(50:10) Slay the Princess

(56:30) Loco Motive

(1:01:30) 1000xResist

(1:05:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Demonschool dev reveals how Suikoden and cheesy horror shaped the spooky RPG

Slay the Princess serves up a wild horror twist on The Stanley Parable

Future Labors: Citizen Sleeper and Hardspace Shipbreaker in Conversation

Memory, Society, Hope, and Heartbreak by Marginalized Protagonists

‘Hardspace: Shipbreaker’ Understands the Joy and Grace of Good Work

Anchor

Steam pages for everything we played at Ludonarracon

Midautumn

Goodbye Volcano High

Demonschool

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

The Star Named Eos

Stray Gods

Sucker for Love: Date to Die For

Times & Galaxy

Slay the Princess

Loco Motive

1000xResist

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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It's normie week on Girl Mode, with Willa and Robin actually talking about AAA games for once. First, we discuss our time so far with Tears of the Kingdom, a good game with some big issues worth pointing out. Then Willa dives into her preview of Final Fantasy XVI, a game that's so just dark and gritty dude, and what it means for the series as a whole. We round out the week with video essays, board game talk, and seminal zines about trans pleasure.

Timestamps

(00:50) Tears of the Kingdom is neat and Link is a bottom

(27:25) Finally, a Final Fantasy game for grownups

(44:10) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Willa on Final Fantasy XVI

'Every Zelda is the Darkest Zelda' by Jacob Geller

Strong Songs on The Legend of Zelda

Space-Cast feat. Amabel Holland

Fucking Trans Women

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Somehow, not-E3 season is already upon us and Sony is first out of the gate to set the bar low. We run through a bunch of games we mostly can't tell apart before Robin falls into a fugue state and rambles about Dragon's Dogma 2 for a while. After Willa shares what she's been reading and watching this week, Robin gives a TotK check-in that's still pretty ambivalent about the whole thing. It's the episode that's technically not telling you to do anything illegal!

Timestamps

(00:30) PlayStation Showcase lightning round

(31:00) Willa regrets agreeing to the Dragon's Dogma segment

(44:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

PlayStation Showcase

Mission Impossible 2 silent cut

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Pride is here and we're celebrating by continuing to be gay. What starts as a fun conversation about queer characters ends up as a lament of mainstream queer representation and why it's so important for developers to do better.

(0:30) Happy Pride from two exhausted lesbians

(3:50) No cops at Pride (even in Overwatch)

(12:30) Return to the Homoverse

(20:00) A long rambling conversation about our frustrations with mainstream queer representation

(47:55) Willa drops the mic (or, the life-changing magic of seeing your favs kiss)

(53:45) Go get the Queer Games Bundle 2023 on itch.io

(55:15) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Pharah comes out

Why Are So Many Queer Characters Straight?

Yes, Dark Sun Gwyndolin Is A Trans Woman, No You Can't Have Her

Fire Emblem Engage needs to let its characters out of the closet

Queer Games Bundle 2023

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Summer game showcase season is in full swing, and may god have mercy on our souls. This week, we talk through the best and worst of Summer Game Fest, Day of the Devs, and too many other shows to list. From fluid herding gameplay to Willa declaring war on Atlus, we cover a lot of ground this time.

Timestamps

(00:30) It's the most insufferable time of the year

(11:30) Citizen Sleeper 2 GOTY 2024 and several lesser games

(32:10) Lies of Persona 3

(39:50) Day of the Devs restores Willa's will to live

(49:50) A tangent on FromSoftware and more good games

(1:01:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Unexplored 2

Sunshine Heavy Industries

Making a Monster by Game Assist

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Robin has finally played the Final Fantasy 16 demo, so we're back yet again to share our heretical opinions on Square Enix's next guaranteed 10/10 game. Then we turn to a topic that's much less harmful to chocobos, with Willa's trip to play Tribeca's official game selections in-person. We cut things short this week after Robin's computer goes on strike, a decision which we of course fully support, but Willa sticks around for a quick rundown of the new documentary about Hideo Kojima and the gorgeous narrative game Dordogne.

Timestamps

(02:35) Shiva edging in Final Fantasy XIV

(19:45) Willa's Tribeca troubles

(43:10) Hideo Kojima: Disappointing Willa

(46:00) We don't know how to pronounce Dordogne

Mentioned this week

Despelote feature in the Tribeca Games Showcase (not Day of the Devs obviously Robin)

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To get back into the swing after our week off, we're playing the hits this time by griping about games media and getting excited for indies. First up, Final Fantasy XVI inspires us to talk about the deeply frustrating state of video game reviews and why scores are the least important part of them. Then we move to sunnier territory by running down our favorite parts of the Annapurna Interactive Showcase, which was packed with beautiful, inscrutable games.

Timestamps

(00:40) Somehow Twitter is getting worse

(03:35) Why review scores are bad for everyone (especially indies)

(28:06) There's a Blade Runner game (and more Annapurna Interactive highlights)

(38:45) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Giovanni Colantonio's Final Fantasy 16 review

Robin's Killer Frequency review

Follow us on whatever

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Robin has been upgraded from unemployed to underemployed, so we spend this week talking about jobs. Specifically, job sims. What games belong in this extremely broad genre and do we like any of them? Why do people want to do free digital labor when they don't have to? Is Willa a time-traveling assassin? You'll find the answers to these questions and more in this week's episode.

(02:05) So, what is a job sim?

(17:10) Killing JFK is not a job

(23:10) Job sims for sickos (us)

(36:40) Why do we spend our free time pretending to work?

(45:00) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Future Labors: Hardspace Shipbreaker and Citizen Sleeper in Conversation

‘Hardspace: Shipbreaker’ Understands the Joy and Grace of Good Work

We've Gotta Stop Killing JFK

Artificial Loneliness

Indie Dev Nadia Nova Talks Building a Community Through Erotica

Follow us wherever

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In this issue, Willa emerges from a cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay with more stories of mutants, homosexuals, and homosexual mutants. It's the second part of our sporadic series on X-Men history, in which Willa covers roughly 40 percent of what she planned to and Robin occasionally knows what's going on. From sexy space wives to scratched corneas, we've got it all this week!

If you haven't heard it yet, start with part 1 here!

And you can follow along with the images we discuss here.

Timestamps

(01:00) Professor Willa's Remedial Mutant Summer School

(1:03:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Before We Were Trans

Cerebro's incredibly detailed history of Madelyn Pryor

Follow us on your hellsite of choice

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

We stand with the striking workers of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. You can donate to support entertainment workers during the strike here.

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We're talking about NEWS this week, because coming up with topics is HARD. Overwatch League may be over, Star Wars Outlaws may be a cooking sim, GTA 6 may finally be coming out, and AI definitely has no place in journalism. Then we have an extended segment on what we've been watching this week, including Robin's new favorite anime and the two — excuse me, three — biggest movies of the summer.

Timestamps

(2:00) We're still playing Honkai Star Rail

(11:30) Farewell to OWL

(17:50) Star Wars Outlaws and open-world exhaustion

(26:30) We're hyped for Glorbo

(30:30) Rural Japan Lesbian Polycule

(41:45) Mission: Barbenheimer

We stand with the striking workers of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, without whom none of the films we discussed today could exist. You can donate to support entertainment workers during the strike through the Entertainment Community Fund here.

Mentioned this week

How 'Overwatch' Lost, Then Found Again, the Things That Made It Special

The Anime Countryside

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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On today's episode, we run down the good, bad, and incredibly problematic news from the recent FFXIV Fan Fest. After speculating about Dawntrail's new jobs and thirsting over hypothetical future bunny girls, we turn our attention to what's quickly become the year's biggest RPG. We still haven't played much of Baldur's Gate 3, but we did both get to make hot trans tieflings in its character creator, so it's a 10/10 for us. Finally, Robin recommends some depressing podcasts, and Willa is in her happy place talking tons of shit about Stray Gods.

Timestamps

(1:50) Final Fantasy XIV: Colonialism Reborn

(36:40) More like Baldur's Great 3 amirite

(57:05) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Read Willa's Stray Gods review, it's really good

Follow us wherever you feel like it

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[Baldur's Gate 3 Act 1 spoilers from 3:20 to 53:25]

We're actually in sync with the rest of the world this week, meaning we've done nothing but play Baldur's Gate 3. We cover our favorite encounters so far, who we're smooching, thoughts on why BG3 would be better untethered from D&D, and of course our take on THAT video.

Timestamps

(00:20) Kafka check-in

(03:20) Karlach Appreciation Society

(53:25) The discourse discourse

(1:21:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

Xalavier Nelson Jr. on BG3 and "raised standards"

Baldur's Gate 3 is Causing Some Developers to Panic

Gareth Damian Martin on why devs aren't and shouldn't be panicking

Turns out the tweet about BG3's eurocentric character creator was from the great Sisi Jiang

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Love is in the air this week as we're still playing Baldur's Gate 3, a game about getting down with your problematic favs and I guess saving the world or whatever if there's time left over.

After sharing our thoughts on BG3's romance and why it's maybe been a little overblown, we talk about what does and doesn't work in game romance generally. Surprising no one, we end by recommending some indie games we think get it right.

Timestamps

(00:30) Romance, love, smooching, etc.

(02:20) Tiefling dating sim check-in

(29:20) Hades and other games that do it right

(56:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Willa on BG3's shocking lack of threesomes

Willa talks to Studio Élan

Arimia on Visual Novel Fest

There's by Girl by Angela He

♥girl things♥ by jaystarry

Sludge Bunny ("if you like punk rock or trans people")

Action Buttons Reviews Tokimeki Memorial

Girl Mode's Favorite Games for Cool Trans People

Follow us on sites in various states of collapse

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Willa visited her hometown this week, and somehow it made us both nostalgic. After playing Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Sea of Stars, we're talking about retro throwbacks — games that intentionally evoke their old-school influences. We cover what makes this sub-genre so popular, the different ways nostalgia can be deployed, and cats wearing mech suits.

Timestamps

(00:20) A whole bunch of bullshit

(07:15) Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Sea of Stars aren't quite scratching the itch

(29:40) Nostalgia as a genre

(55:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week

Willa on Shovel Knight

Robin on Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

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We're keeping it (relatively) short this week for purely thematic reasons and not because we're both tired and busy. Inspired by Sea of Stars' fishing, we talk about our favorite and least favorite minigames, including one that threatens to break up Girl Mode.

(1:00) What if we put a game inside of a game

(14:00) Willa decides to end Robin's life

(20:10) Blitzball, Gwent, and even more minigames

(38:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

Willa's fishing obsession

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This week's theme is "Robin and Willa have been too busy to talk so we're catching up now." We share what games we've been enjoying and not enjoying lately, Willa turns out not to be a very good detective, and Robin absolutely fails to guess Zoe's Baldur's Gate 3 companion tier list.

No timestamps this week because we talk about too much and I'm very busy :)

Mentioned this week

Willa on Assassin's Creed Mirage https://www.inverse.com/gaming/assassins-creed-mirage-modern-day

https://www.inverse.com/gaming/assassins-creed-mirage-demo

Giovanni Colantonio on what makes a game great

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Nintendo and Sony both bombarded us with promotional materials this week, so we're covering the Nintendo Direct and Sony State of Play. Then we talk about how much we love Armored Core 6, which we played only a few hours of before recording and it's all we can think about.

Timestamps

(01:00) Swordfighter Peach Appreciation Society

(16:45) Willa fixes FF7 Rebirth

(32:20) We're fully mech pilled

Mentioned this week

Red XIII riding a chocobo

The Scandalous Life of France's Bisexual Opera Icon

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us where you follow people

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This week, we start with Dragon's Dogma, Yakuza, and other updates from the games marketing event extended universe. Then we catch up with all the news we straightup forgot about last week, namely Unity fucking everyone over and Microsoft using court filings as a venue for legal exhibitionism.

Timestamps

(00:20) Rain (the video game) inspired by rain (the weather phenomenon)

(02:00) Even more showcase stuff

(15:50) Everyone hates Unity

(30:20) Microsoft's big oopsie

(56:50) The New York Times rediscovers video games

(1:05:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

The Curious Case of Dragon's Dogma 2's Steak

The Death of Unity

Leveling Up on the Video Game Beat

Kotaku's Xbox leak primer

Pseudoregalia fan art

https://twitter.com/rataGENKI/status/1704074914029048308

https://twitter.com/Fenarok/status/1704133583588209003

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us on social media

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You're not gonna believe this, but a conversation about a AAA action game leads into an extended lament for the state of the games industry in this episode. That's bookended by Willa failing to show sufficient respect for Dragon's Dogma 2, some really good Pokemon art, and Robin sharing good news on this show for once in her fucking life.

Timestamps

(00:30) Quokka Talk/Willa's new coworker

(05:30) Dragon's Dogma 2 is wasted on some people

(29:00) Assassin’s Creed Mirage And the Tragedy of AAA

(54:00) So Pokemon's collaborating with Hatsune Miku

(59:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Dragon's Dogma 2 Gives Capcom's Cult RPG a Second Chance

Willa's Assassin's Creed Mirage review

We didn't mention this but it's Robin's first piece back at Inverse and she really wants people to play Moonring

Dawn Service by Katie Dey

Cobalt Core

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us on whatever site you use to browse horny fan art

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We're confronting the mortifying ordeal of being known this week by discussing multiplayer games. What do we want from multiplayer, which games are better with an audience, and can you believe Willa didn't tell Zoe she was a fucking cop? Then, it's an extended segment on what we've been doing this week, since Robin can't shut up about her time as a cute little bug.

(00:45) The really old books cinematic universe

(06:00) What if video games but also other people

(39:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

Robin on We Were Here

Robin still can't shut up about Cocoon

A Deep Dive into the Queer Coding of Genshin Impact

On Exactitude in Elden Ring

How Can We Bear to Throw Anything Away?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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We've been playing an absurd number of demos this week, thanks to the return of the Steam Next Fest! Tune in to sample our tasting menu of games, including at least one we'll probably both be talking about obsessively for quite some time. Then, TV critic Willa Rowe stops by with her fall anime preview.

Mentioned this week

Way too many things so you're just going to have to listen to the episode <3

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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With spooky season in full swing, we decided to watch some of the "best" "horror" movies of all time this week. We may not be able to remember almost anything that happens in the Resident Evil movies, but we do have strong opinions about all of Milla Jovovich's haircuts.

No timestamps this week. It's all Resident Evil, babes!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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We spent the week catching up on some of the best games of the year in the lead-up to the Game Awards. Tune in to hear about some of the best games you might have overlooked of 2023, plus our thoughts on why graphics don't actually need to get any better.

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Mentioned this week

Samantha Greer on graphics discourse

Harper Jay on Star Wars: The Old Republic

Robin on Saltsea Chronicles

Willa on the folly of photorealism

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us online and send us questions!

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It's Girl Mode's first anniversary! We're celebrating by making our listeners come up with this week's topic, aka, answering listener questions. Tune in as we discuss our dream game mechanics, video games as short films, why we refuse to git gud, and our growing obsession with Final Fantasy XI.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent us questions and everyone who's listened to us! It means a lot and we hope you'll stick around for Girl Mode Year 2: The Dark Phoenix Saga.

Timestamps

(00:20) Happy birthday to us

(04:30) Question time

(1:11:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestinians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

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Games for Gaza

Buy e-sims to get Palestinians back online

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week

Esther Rosenfield on Alita: Battle Angel

Dia Lacina on Final Fantasy XI

Notes of a Crocodile

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The day before the Game Awards nominees were announced, the Girl Mode council convened to make our own predictions about what would be on the ballot. Tune in to witness our amazing powers of prophecy and/or deductive reasoning.

But first, we tackle our complicated feelings on the state of games media, as a new Defector of video games sprung up in the middle of another week of layoffs and shutdowns. It's inside baseball as hell this week, hope you're into that!

Timestamps

(00:30) Our thoughts on games media, part ten million

(24:00) We predict the future (which is now the past)

(1:05:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

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Buy e-sims to get Palestinians back online

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Listen this week as we have a normal, friendly conversation and never once shout at each other or cause trouble. We're following up last week's Game Awards predictions with the Official Girl Mode ballot in yet another installment of why Willa and Robin should be in charge of all games media.

Mentioned this week:

Towards a Free Palestine game jam

Press Start's Final Fantasy X episode

Follow us wherever

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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In the spirit of the games industry itself, today's episode is a completely unnecessary remaster. We took a break from recording this week, so we're filling the gap with a re-release of our very first episode, but this time run through some fancy filters to make it actually listenable!

We'll be back with a regular episode next time! Until then, we hope you enjoy this proof that we are actually getting better at this.

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Follow us places

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We're back from our week off with a giant-size return to the world of the X-Men. This time we tackle the dark ages known as the 1990s, when the X-Men took a detour from political allegory to the more business-friendly world of utter schlock. Join us as we catch up on what’s new in the lives of our old friends, our old friends’ clones, alternate dimension versions of our old friends, our old friends from the future, and our old friends as babies.

Listen to part one and part two of this series.

Follow along with the images in this episode here.

Timestamps

(00:30) Professor Willa returns to this timeline

(01:40:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us or email us

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

Demand a ceasefire from your representatives

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

Towards a Free Palestine game jam

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Alas, The Game Awards returned this week, and this time it was worse than ever. Tune in to hear the world record for how many times a human has said the word “frustrating” in an hour, plus some suggestions for shows you can watch that won’t fill you with fury. 

Timestamps

(00:30) Boy howdy The Game Awards was a nightmare

(45:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week:

Gamedev.world

DICE Awards

GDC Awards

New York Game Awards

Willa’s Winter Spectacular piece

Robin’s Winter Spectacular piece

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions and Girlies categories!

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

Demand a ceasefire from your representatives

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

Towards a Free Palestine game jam

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We’ve spent the past few weeks playing some of the year’s most fascinating games, and now we’re making it your problem! Our annual game exchange is now officially annual because we’ve done it twice. This year, we played Slay the Princess and The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, two games about choice, fate, and women with the power to destroy the universe. 

Heads up: We spoil the hell out of both games, and while we don’t talk in detail about their heavier themes, both games get pretty fucking dark. Please check out the content warnings for Slay the Princess and The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood before playing them!

Timestamps

(00:20) The 2nd Annual Girl Mode Game Exchange

(07:20) Why don’t we dive into Slay the Princess

(01:07:00) Let’s talk about The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

(2:06:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions and suggest Girlies categories!

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

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Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

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The moment you’ve been waiting for all year is here: it’s the second annual Girl Mode Awards! Tune in to gaming’s most illustrious awards show as we crown the winner of this year’s Most Exhausting Discourse, the Best Game That’s Just Mid, the coveted Most Realistic Trees, and more incredibly important honors.

This episode also caps off 2023 for Girl Mode, so we just want to say thank you to everyone for spending the year with us! We appreciate you very much. Yes, even you.

Timestamps

(00:20) The Girlies!

(01:34:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this year?

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions and Girlies categories!

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestinians

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Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

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We’re easing into the new year, first by pretty much just reprising an article we already wrote about our most anticipated games of 2024. Then, we discuss how our “gamer resolutions” for 2023 went and talk about what we want to change in the coming year. Finally, we revisit Willa and Zoe’s predictions for 2023 in gaming and see how they both did!

Timestamps

(01:40) Our most anticipated games of 2024

(14:45) Punctuation Corner

(27:15) Gamer resolutions check-in

(51:30) Willa v. Zoe, Judge Robin presiding

(01:02:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Willa and Robin's most anticipated games

Willa talks to Yoko Taro and Doug Bowser

Robin really, really likes Sayonara Wild Hearts

The episode of Press Start we talk about

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions!

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

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Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

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In the last episode, we witnessed the amazing premonitory powers of Willa's girlfriend Zoe, so we're giving her control of the podcast this week out of a mixture of respect and fear. With Willa temporarily banished to the shadow realm, Zoe shares some of her favorite recent games with Robin, talks about the forgotten games of her youth, plays a round of "is this game ugly," and ends with her predictions for gaming in 2024, which will almost certainly all come true.

Timestamps

(00:20) Hi Zoe

(03:20) Zoe's year in games

(14:15) Why Chicory is great

(21:20) Good opinions about Hades and bad opinions about Final Fantasy

(28:10) Is this game ugly? (follow along here)

(52:00) Games for girls

(1:11:10) Zoe predicts the future

(1:22:00) What else have Zoe and Robin been up to this week?

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Follow us or send us questions!

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Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

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Zoe’s taking some time off so this week Robin is talking to Willa Rowe, who’s apparently a new writer at Kotaku. Good for her. After making a bunch of predictions for the upcoming year (which neither of us came up with minutes before recording started), we catch up with the latest FFXIV Fan Fest, share our first shaky steps into Vana’diel, and try to figure out what we really want in a Metroidvania.

Note: We recorded this episode before the horrible news of layoffs at Riot, which is why we don’t mention them when we talk about LoL. Solidarity with the folks affected there, and with everyone hurt by the cruelty of CEOs with howling voids where their hearts should be.

Timestamps

(00:20) Introducing our special guest host Willa Rowe

(03:50) Willa and Robin predict the future

(21:20) Catching up with FFXIV Fan Fest because we missed it again

(31:30) The year of Final Fantasy XI

(38:20) Metroidvanias need more catgirls

(1:04:00) Willa’s smart thoughts on memory and preservation

(01:13:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Robin’s Prince of Persia review

WIlla’s Another Code review

Willa on the Genshin Impact concert

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions!

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

Please consider donating or otherwise standing up to support Palestinians in the wake of Israel's attacks.

Medical Aid for Palestianians

Palestine Red Crescent Society

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

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Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Cartoonist Cooperative’s e-SIM fundraiser

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It’s been a pretty fucked up week for the games industry, so we’re starting with a lament for lost jobs and our grim outlook on how things are only going to get worse. Then we talk about Nier Reincarnation being deleted imminently and what it says about games preservation. We eventually move to cheerier territory by talking about what games we’ve been playing, including a couple Nier games, Final Fantasy XI, and Granblue Fantasy: Relink.

Timestamps

(00:45) Willa goes to Kotaku and we’re all very proud of her

(03:20) Layoffs are killing the games industry

(29:20) You should play Nier Reincarnation before it disappears

(41:40) We’re playing Nier Reincarnation before it disappears

(48:40) Final Fantasy XI check-in

(52:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Xbox is Not Your Friend

The Murder Game Revolution That Has Gripped China

Pixar's Ratatouille, the state of media journalism, and why I'm a critic

Accord's Library

Grief and Grace Along Route Zero

A Piece of Yoko Taro’s Nier Series Will Soon Disappear Forever

Gaming Layoffs Show AAA Developers’ Refusal to Support the Industry’s Future

This wild LoveLive tweet

So I Started Playing Final Fantasy XI in 2021...

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

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This week, it’s been too long since we recorded to remember what we talked about. I think it was…video games? That’s right, it was State of Play! The Short Message was pretty bad. Zenless Zone Zero has cute anime girls. Some other stuff probably happened, too. Judging by the links in our text thread I guess we talk about Persona 3 Reload, Suicide Squad, and Bayonetta. Enjoy!

Mentioned this week

Persona 3 tweets

https://twitter.com/SkyKniight/status/1753461874526462371

https://twitter.com/NSuperGamerGuy/status/1753818881024819257

Persona 3 Reload Is a Messy but Necessary Remake

Persona 3 Reload Still Can’t Imagine A World That Respects Trans People

Persona 3 Remake Ditches the Classic RPG’s Best Character

Suicide Squad Is Fine

Bayonetta 3 broke my heart

You Could Just Keep Doing Dry January

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions!

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Medical Aid for Palestianians

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This week, we’re running through a whole lot of games, since Robin was too busy sleeping on Willa’s couch to record last week. First, we cover the most anticipated game of all: Foamstars. Then a demo for a little game called Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came out, and both of our hosts attended an exciting preview recently, but only one did so well she broke the game. We end with a whole lot of news, only some of which is about how fucked the games industry is!

(I also feel compelled to include an extra explicit content warning here for just so, so much talk about bodily fluids in the first five minutes.)

Timestamps

(01:20) Robin and the City

(03:15) The Children of the Bubble

(06:40) Kickin’ chairs with Cloud

(14:00) Willa is too much of a gamer for Unicorn Overlord

(33:00) The Game Awards’ Non-Evil Twin

(37:20) Somehow, Star Wars 1313 returned

(40:00) Happy 5th anniversary, Hollow Knight: Silksong!

(46:40) Microsoft makes fools of us all

(55:20) ZA/UM drama

(1:00:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Who’s Telling the Truth about Disco Elysium?

These speeches from Larian

The Book of Love review

ZA/UM layoffs

This wild rich lady story

Willa and Robin on Unicorn Overlord

Music 

Street Food by FASSounds

Send us questions!

We stand for a free Palestine, and against the occupation, oppression, and genocide perpetrated against its people.

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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reviews are out in the wild, so we can finally talk about (some of) our experiences with this fascinating, incredibly uneven game. We’re saving most of our thoughts for next week, so this week is safe for people wanting to avoid spoilers. But before we get to that, we’re talking Shadow of the Erdtree, Nintendo Direct, and more Unicorn Overlord!

Timestamps

(01:00) RIP Flaco, King of New York

(04:30) How ‘bout that Shadow of the Erdtree trailer?

(17:15) If you want to play Mother 3, you can play Mother 3/Willa was right

(19:00) The rest of the Nintendo Direct

(31:20) Willa is still the world’s best Unicorn Overlord player

(36:30) First thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Tifa and Aerith should kiss)

(54:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

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Street Food by FASSounds

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Mentioned this week

I Need to Get Way Better at Elden Ring Before Shadow of the Erdtree Launches

Hidetaka Miyazaki talks to Eurogamer and IGN

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reviews in Inverse, NYT, and NPR

FF7: Advent Children Paved The Way For Rebirth, For Better And Worse

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Major FF7 Rebirth spoilers throughout! Explicit spoilers for Chapter 13 and beyond from 30:00 to 1:10:00!

Oooh, we’ve got an exciting one for you this week as we’re joined by very special guest Jade King, lead features editor of TheGamer! This episode is a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth spectacular, wherein we get deep on its narrative highs and lows, talk an awful lot about Advent Children, and spoil the hell out of the game, all while keeping it queer, of course. 

Timestamps

(01:30) Breaking down Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth with Jade

(30:00) Ending spoilers begin

(1:10:00) Ending spoilers… end

(1:23:00) Bringing it back to queerness

(1:31:00) What else have we been up to this week?

Follow Jade King on Twitter and read her work at TheGamer!

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Street Food by FASSounds

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Mentioned this week

Jade’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Gaming's Greatest Lesbian Scavenger Hunt

Tifa and Aerith are the Real Power Couple in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Robin’s interview with Xalavier Nelson Jr.

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Robin is finally alive again, and just in time to talk about the best game of the year. We start off with a little news blitz, from G/O Media still being a shitshow to a couple of devs saying things the industry absolutely needs to listen to at GDC. Then we settle in for about an hour of singing Dragon’s Dogma 2’s praises for what definitely won’t be the last time on this show.

Timestamps

(00:30) We’re alive!

(02:00) Jim Spanfeller is still a herb

(04:00) Planning our summer vacation in Eorzea

(7:15) Larian makes a good decision and Swen Vincke makes a good speech

(10:30) Xalavier Nelson Jr continues to be right in public

(11:45) Our vibes are not compatible with AI

(15:45) Simping for Dragon’s Dogma (and Miu)

(1:26:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

Read last week’s blog on Tumblr or Cohost!

Kotaku EIC Resigns Over New Editorial Edict

Eurogamer covers Swen Vincke’s GDC speech

Xalavier Nelson Jr’s Black in Gaming Indie Developer Award speech

Austin Walker’s Four Thoughts on Dragon’s Dogma

Players Aren’t Happy with Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Microtransactions

There Are Better Things to Be Mad At Than Dragon’s Dogma 2 Microtransactions

Blade Maidens

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In our nice episode this week, we’re back to discussing Dragon’s Dogma 2 and other things that make us horny. Our Dragon’s Dogma talk is bookended by the new Ken Levine game that’s definitely not just the same thing as the other Ken Levine games and Robin talking about smut because we couldn't just act like adults and let it go unnoticed that this is episode 69.

Timestamps

(02:00) Why not give Ken Levine one more shot/player choice smoke and mirrors

(17:00) Play Nier Reincarnation while you still can

(19:15) Willa’s space lesbian harem update

(20:30) Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still a very good video game

(1:04:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to?

Mentioned this week

Judas First Details: How Ken Levine Is Building on BioShock With 'Narrative LEGOs'

The best quest in Dragons Dogma 2 turns my weird hobby of NPC stalking into an actual objective

I put nearly 100 hours into Dragon's Dogma 2 before I realised it was all just a tutorial for the Warfarer vocation

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Makes You Take Your Time, And That’s Great

Is outrage all that’s left?

Dragonsplague Is the Perfect Example of What Makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 Great

See Zoe’s play!!!

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[CW: mentions of queerphobia, racism, and nazi imagery. We keep it as light as possible under the circumstances but please proceed with caution.]

Now that we’ve lured people in with Dragon’s Dogma 2 and sex stuff, we’re going back to what this podcast is really about — yelling about bigots! First, we talk about Rebekah Valentine’s recent reporting on Life is Strange developer Deck Nine, and how one shitty dude can make life miserable for a lot of people. Then we move on to Helldivers 2 and Signalis, two games that had a lot of fascists up in arms for very stupid reasons over the past week. I swear it’s not as much of a bummer as it sounds!

Timestamps

(00:15) Traditional episode 70 check-in

(08:00) Deck Nine’s very bad iceberg or, why we can’t have nice things

(28:20) Oh god, we have to talk about Mark Kern

(33:40) We get to talk about Signalis again, but at what cost?

(40:00) It’s hard to satirize fascism with fascists enjoying it because they’re too stupid to get that it’s satire

(58:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to (aside from tearing their hair out)?

Mentioned this week

How Many Clicks Does It Take To Get to the Center of Diablo?

How Hidden Nazi Symbols Were the Tip of a Toxic Iceberg at Life Is Strange Developer Deck Nine

Nick Calandra’s good thread about Mark Kern

For some Helldivers 2 players, the fascist role-play has gone too far

callie’s good thread about Signalis

See Zoe’s play!!!

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This week, we’re rounding up a whole mess of news, from the good (female Hrothgar) to the bad (Willa has lost interest in Star Wars Outlaws) to the incredibly bizarre (Possibility Space closing in the strangest way possible). Plus, we decide who would be better at making Final Fantasy than Square Enix in a totally serious and well-informed segment.

Timestamps

(01:30) Get out of here, Han Solo

(08:50) Triple-i or, what if we made indie more like AAA?

(22:30) The Final Fantasy Garage Sale

(43:20) Hrothgirls!

(46:00) “Two tickets to Sifu, please” - No one ever

(49:40) Cataclysm Classic

(54:30) Possibility Space closes with a tantrum but we’re still not sure why

(58:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Jeff Strain’s extremely bizarre statement on Possibility Space

Willa’s Harold Halibut review

Into the Aether

Robin tells you to play Between Horizons in more detail

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This week, we’re starting an all new Girl Mode continuity as we dive into Grant Morrison’s apparently incredible run on X-Men. It’s unsurprisingly our longest episode ever, and Robin even gets so into the description of these comics she forgets to pester Willa for large portions of the show!

Follow along with what we’re looking at here!

Listen to parts one (Ep. 26), two (Ep. 38), and three (Ep. 56) of our X-Men series!

Timestamps

It’s all X-Men baby!

Mentioned this week

Palestinian Relief Bundle on itch

TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle

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This time, we’re mercifully bringing you a shorter episode to follow our longest episode ever last week. We spend most of our time on a spoiler-filled discussion of Sucker for Love: Date to Die for, a horror/comedy/romance visual novel that has us both under its spell. Then we make a quick return to the land of sexist grifters to put a cap on the year’s dumbest gaming controversy surrounding Stellar Blade. Then Willa tells you about her favorite new way to play visual novels, and Robin tells you about some very good fish.

Timestamps

(1:00) Sucker for Love: Date to Die for makes monster fuckers of us all

(45:00) No one is coming to take your video game boobies away

(54:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Stellar Blade and the Male Gaze

Horror and Romance Make Surprisingly Good Partners In Sucker for Love: Date to Die For

This Horror Dating Sim Sets A Hot New Standard

Hades II Is The Kind Of Hot We Need Right Now

Send us questions/fish content

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Street Food by FASSounds

Support bail funds for campus protesters!

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We’re keeping things nice and short this week, because we already shared our best/most deranged thoughts with the good people of the Press Start podcast! Here on our feed, we’re talking about Hades 2, Crow Country, and the upcoming Steamworld Heist 2. It’s frankly the most buttoned-up we’ve ever been, so make sure you give Press Start a listen for more of our usual energy (weird, off-putting, horny).

Timestamps

(1:00) Press Start Girl

(2:40) Hades 2

(14:30) Crow Country

(26:00) Steamworld Heist 2

(31:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

Listen to Press Start!

Willa’s Crow Country review

Witching Stone

Robin continues talking about Witching Stone

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We’re starting the week with bad news, including some pretty shocking layoffs at Microsoft, but it gets better from there. We move next through some of the best indie releases of the week before ending with the best indie game of the year, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

Timestamps

(1:00) Somehow, Stray Gods returned

(4:00) Microsoft fucked up

(19:00) A fantastic week for indie games

(35:00) We’re seeing it all through Laser Eyes

Mentioned this week

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes reviews from Robin and Willa

maybe you’ll find me by theydevil

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We spent this week playing some great demos at Ludonarracon so we’re running down a few of the best that you should have on your list! Then, we check in on some disappointing changes and Mountain Dew-flavored events coming to Final Fantasy XIV!

Timestamps

(1:20) Our favorite Ludonarracon (not Next Fest) demos

(42:30) FFXIV Live Letter, RIP Astrologians

(1:04:30) Reminder: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is very good

(1:08:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

9 Demos You Need To Play During Steam’s LudoNarraCon 2024

Uh-oh, I Already Hate What Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Is Doing To This Job

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This week, Robin had too much coffee and she’s here to YELL. Fortunately, there’s plenty to YELL about, from Neil Druckmann (again) to AI (again) to layoffs (again). After lots of shouting, we finally talk about a whole bunch of things we actually liked this week to prove that we’re not haters 100% of the time.

Timestamps

(1:10) More like Neil Suckmann am I right

(11:20) The Hellblade 2 detour

(22:40) And one more thing about Neil Druckmann

(29:00) The Minecraft detour

(32:00) IGN, what the fuck are you doing?

(45:00) Games you should and shouldn’t play (feat. Paper Trail, Duck Detective, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and The Rogue Prince of Persia [I keep saying Evil Twin when I mean Evil Empire])

(1:08:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. the spy thriller genre, Jenny Nicholson, and I Saw the TV Glow)

Mentioned this week

Follow Alice Bell and Brendan Sinclair

That very bad Neil Druckmann interview (lmao they pulled this down, here's our annotated version)

Druckmann's unedited transcript

The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel

The Buzzy A24 Film Making Trans and Queer Viewers Feel Seen

A very good review of I Saw the TV Glow I found after recording

And an interview with Jane Schoenbrun on Gender Reveal

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OK, this episode is very late so I’m posting it without show notes or you’d have to wait even longer. We talked about Summer Game Fest and how Geoff Keighley wants you to calm down about it, State of Play and how we wish someone would have warned us it would be bad ahead of time, and an inexplicable amount of baseball. Enjoy!

Watch Drawfee’s charity stream June 8 at 2 p.m. Eastern

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We’re rounding up some of last weekend’s game showcases, and mostly focusing on what we actually liked there for once! Despite Geoff Keighley’s dire warnings, SGF was pretty good this year, at least according to Robin who’s typing this right now. Then, Willa walks us through her demo of Citizen Sleeper 2, which Robin is definitely not envious of, before Joanna Dark barges in.

Timestamps

(00:40) Welcome to Keigh3

(02:00) How to watch (and not watch) games showcases

(11:00) Games we liked at SGF (feat. Neva, Blumhouse games, Alan Wake, Outersloth, and more)

(30:30) Games we liked at Day of the Devs (feat. basically everything at Day of the Devs)

(44:30) Picking a bone with Devolver 

(48:20) Honorable mention for Ebitapes

(52:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (Willa’s Citizen Sleeper 2 preview)

(1:07:20) The Perfect Dark interruption (not in real time because there was a lot of dead air)

(1:10:55) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (Robin played some demos)

Mentioned this week

Citizen Sleeper 2 Ups The Ante With A Bigger And More Dangerous World

How the fight for bodily autonomy shaped 2022's most fascinating video game

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Fresh off SGF, we’re covering even more showcases this week, with Ubisoft Forward and Willa’s takes on the Tribeca games selection. We’re also running down some great Steam demos for games that should be on our radar. And if that’s not enough for you, Into the Aether invited us to be guest hosts this week (for some reason) along with Emily Price, Tamoor Hussain, and AJ Fillari, so please check it out!!!

Timestamps

(00:40) We’re on Into the Aether baybeee!

(02:50) Half of Girl Mode is excited for Star Wars Outlaws

(10:45) Both of us are intrigued by Assassin’s Creed Shadows

(19:20) Some of our favorite Next Fest demos! (feat. Tormenture, One Button Bosses, Dice & Fold, Whimel Academy

(36:30) Willa’s field report from Tribeca Festival

(1:06:45) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Ring Fit Adventure and Valorant on console)

Mentioned this week

Listen to us on Into the Aether!

Willa previews darkwebSTREAMER, Neva, and Skate Story

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We survived the game showcase gauntlet and our reward is one more game showcase — but good this time! This week is a Nintendo Direct spectacular covering everything from the Apple Arcade jailbreak to the surprisingly controversial Legend of Zelda game where we finally get to fucking play as Zelda.

Timestamps

(01:00) Nintendogz, Catgirl Simulators, and the Nintendo Direct

(04:10) Mario and Luigi: Brothership

(09:00) Fantasian and Hello Kitty escape Apple Arcade (plus “other stupid announcements”)

(19:00) Dragon Quest trilogy

(32:00) Metroid Prime 4 and the Nintendo Switcheroo

(36:20) Put some respect on Zelda’s name

(59:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Metroid Prime and Arcane)

Mentioned this week

Princess Zelda Doesn’t Need A Sword to Be A Hero In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

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As usual, we kick things off this week with Willa’s thoughts on the Mets, then move into Willa’s thoughts on Endwalker (which she likes less than the Mets). After an Alan Wake detour, we then dive into the excruciating but still funny Shadow of the Erdtree difficulty discourse and other meandering thoughts about Elden Ring. Let’s go Mets!

Timestamps

(00:30) Willa is here to talk about the Mets

(11:30) Endwalker is generally bad, but also good (or vice versa)

(29:40) Night Springs is also good

(35:50) *sigh* Elden Ring difficulty discourse

(56:50) Baseball lore

Mentioned this week

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Was A Flawed Finale I'll Never Forget

If Shadow of the Erdtree Feels Too Hard, Try Playing Like Hidetaka Miyazaki

Elden Ring balance update makes the first half of the DLC easier, so you don't have to be as good as games journalists

Jose Iglesias singing OMG!

Elden Ring streamers Robin has been watching: Alyska, elliejoypanic, ohlindsey, skyytea, wraff

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We’re halfway through 2024, so this week we’re running through our GOTFHOTY (Game of the First Half of the Year) picks and of course talking shit on this year’s most beloved games that we don’t like.

Timestamps

(00:30) Copious table setting

(03:30) Six months of being haters (the worst game of the year)

(19:00) Games we need to go back to

(24:00) Underrated games

(26:20) Surprise Mets break

(28:00) Back to 1000xResist (and more underrated games)

(34:00) Lots of Hoyoverse talk

(46:00) What we’re looking forward to in the next six months

(51:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

"Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria" Part 1: The Cooties Theory of Transgender Identity

‘The Bear’ Season 3 review: Carmy bears down on success, with uneven results

The Bear Season 3 Premiere is A Messy Amuse-Bouche

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There’s lots of news to cover this week, so we’re spending half an hour talking about Endwalker instead. Also the Mets missed their shot this week and we’re bummed about it.

Timestamps

(00:30) Having a non-apocalyptic one

(01:30) Mets update

(04:00) Spooky scary bag head man

(07:00) Xbox Game Pass sucks now

(16:40) Jeanne d’Arc hive rise up

(19:00) Willa finished Endwalker/Tons of FFXIV spoilers

(45:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Flock, Spy x Family, Assassins)

(57:00) Mets update update

Mentioned this week

Is Xbox Game Pass really worth it anymore?

Final Fantasy 14’s Post-Endwalker Story Feels Like A Mini-Expansion In The Best Way

Flock Is A Delightfully Chill Birdwatching Game I Can’t Stop Playing

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We’re running through some news updates first this week, from alarming details about the death of one of the best game studios ever to Overwatch’s latest attempt to convince us it’s good again. Then we talk through some recent games we’ve been getting into, and by recent we mean some of them are 20 years old.

Timestamps

(00:20) The Mets are not doing great

(03:20) Spooky scary bag head man update

(8:20) Japan Studio you will live forever in our hearts

(13:00) Congrats Bethesda *The Internationale begins playing*

(16:00) Juno came from space to make Willa play Overwatch again

(21:30) Recent games roundup (feat. Riven, The Star Named Eos, Jeanne d’Arc, Cataclismo, Diablo 2, Nobody Wants to Die)

(49:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Spy x Family, Mayonaka Punch, Interview With A Vampire, An Education in Malice)

Mentioned this week

Overwatch 2's new space girl healer takes the throne as one of the most strategically satisfying heroes in the game

.45 Parabellum Bloodhound Trailer

Parasite Eve-Inspired Cyberpunk Game Announced, Looks Cool As Hell

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Like most weeks, there’s a lot of bad news this week, as we talk through the death by restructuring of Humble Games and Ubisoft making everything worse by both-sidesing racism. Then we pull out of a nosedive with a SAG-AFTRA strike and the formation of a massive game dev union at Blizzard, complete with a little union 101 session courtesy of a listener’s questions and quotes from World of Warcraft senior producer Samuel Cooper!

Timestamps

This is already coming in late so no timestamps, sorry!

Mentioned this week

Assassin's Creed Developers Didn’t Have To Explain Their Game

Kazuma Hashimoto on Ubisoft bullshit

Humble Games Lays Off All Employees, Carries On In Name Only

Humble Games ‘Restructuring’ Shows There’s No Easy Answer to Gaming’s Layoff Crisis

World of Warcraft Devs Form Blizzard’s First Wall-to-Wall Union 3 Years After Walkout

Five Years Later, Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Best Character Is Still Edelgard

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Shockingly, the news remains bad, so we’re keeping it short this week for the good of all of our mental health. We cover the Olympics, Star Wars Outlaws, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and another awful week for the games industry and games media.

Timestamps

 (01:00) I guess this is a sports podcast now

(11:50) Maybe Star Wars Outlaws will be good?

(15:40) Let’s get sad! (RIP Game Informer, fuck GameStop forever)

(21:20) We’re transitioning into Pokémon

(29:50) Let’s get sad again (RIP a bunch of Bungie staff, fuck Pete Parsons forever)

(32:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. SteamWorld Heist II, Babel by R.F. Kuang)

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Borderlands the movie is out and we couldn't be more excited to hear about how terrible it is. After that, we realize that a sequel to The Order 1886 would be the best game ever, get cautiously excited about two newly announced spiritual sequels, and talk about a couple of new games we actually liked.

Timestamps

(01:30) A vault full of disappointing bullshit

(15:00) The Order 1986

(24:00) ONE BTN BOSSES

(27:30) Creatures of Ava

(35:00) Dishonored 3, kind of

(40:30) Is this Terranigma 2?

(45:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

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With Willa fleeing the country for reasons I can’t disclose here, Into the Aether cohost Brendon Bigley stopped by to chat this week! We cover Shy Guy Surfing, Brendon’s most formative childhood game, the surprising 2024 release he can’t stand, and of course, where the key grips stand on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Timestamps

(00:30) What’s your deal, man?

(16:00) Shy Guy Surfing and other actual games

(20:30) The game that made Brendon

(33:00) Shit-talk corner

(40:00) The Deadlock Saga

(54:00) What else have Brendon and Robin been playing/doing? (feat. a game I don’t want to spoil, Fields of Mistria, Man I Just Wanna Go Home, and Minishoot Adventures)

Mentioned this week

We played Valve’s secret new shooter, Deadlock

The Bright Sword is a Radiant Reimagining of Arthurian Legend 

Brendon’s blog, Wavelengths.online

Listen to Into the Aether!

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Willa makes her triumphant return and we celebrate by talking about everything we liked and mostly didn’t from Gamescom Opening Night Live. We cover takes both good and bad, commit to playing yet another game we definitely don’t have the time for, and run through the best (and in one case worst) of what we’ve been playing, watching, and eating this week.

Timestamps

(02:40) Gamescom sure did happen

(05:40) We love shorter(ish) games

(11:30) Secret Levels looks whatever

(25:50) Peter Molynieux please never change

(29:00) This time for sure for real we will play Monster Hunter

(31:20) Misc. Gamescom

(41:20) Willa’s plane games (feat. A Highland Song, Arranger)

(47:00) The duality of Square Enix (feat. Visions of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)

(57:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Christopher Nolan's entire filmography, Forever by Charly Bliss, and a baking revelation)

Mentioned this week

Shorter standalones like Dying Light: The Beast are "the future of games"

A List Of Every Game Featured In Amazon’s Promising ‘Secret Level’ Show

So yeah, since we recorded this, Wizards of the Coast walked back its most recent idiotic move. Here’s a great explainer from Ash Parrish on the whole debacle: D&D publisher walks back controversial changes to online tools

Video game lawyer Haley Maclean explains copyright law

Monument Valley 3 Looks So Good You Might Actually Remember Netflix Games Exists

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In today’s episode, we’re feeling normal about last week’s sicko-centric Nintendo Direct double feature. We cover a surprisingly stacked set of announcements, revisit the dating sim discourse that will never die, and predictably have different reactions to a re-release of a certified Old Person Game.

Timestamps

(01:30) Two normal people talk about the Indie World Showcase

(14:00) Date Everything and the return of dating sim discourse

(23:50) Nintendo Direct: Dorks and Losers Edition

(49:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Alien: Romulus, dotzip’s 1000xResist episode, The Rings of Power, and Star Wars Outlaws)

Mentioned this week

dotzip talks for five hours about 1000xResist

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After an exciting announcement about the podcast, we have a wide-ranging show this week, covering the return of sword discourse, two recent PlayStation games we feel weird about, and some brief thoughts on a whole bunch of news that broke this week. 

Timestamps

(00:30) We’re officially garbage

(04:30) Echoes of Wisdom and the return of sword discourse

(19:50) RIP Concord

(27:50) Astro Bot looks like a cheerful nightmare

(33:20) Willa’s gone space fishing

(36:00) FFXIV players get weird about a trans woman

(40:00) Arcane season 2 looks good as hell

(42:40) What is Dragon Age: The Veilguard is good?

(52:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Rings of Power, Twin Peaks)

Mentioned this week

Nintendo Needs a Reason for the Girl to be the Hero

Concord’s rocky launch is less complicated than you think

Astro Bot - Bot On Melancholy Hill

How Apex Legends made its first trans woman more than “the transition story”

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This week we played Astro Bot, a cheerful platformer/Sony commercial that everyone loves. After predictably finding a lot not to love about it, we run through the rest of our week, careening wildly from Chappell Roan to Flappy Bird and more.

Timestamps

(00:20) Hello new listeners

(06:25) Let’s go Mets!

(08:30) Astro Bot, brought to you by Sony

(41:00) News grab bag (fun edition)

(46:00) Robin played some cool indie games (feat. Pyrene, Caravan Sandwitch)

(52:00) News grab bag (bad edition)

(57:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

Mentioned this week

Astro Bot is a Colorful Playground Built on Top of Studios Sony Crushed

Check Out This Amazing Paintbrush Controller Someone Made For FF14's Brush-Wielding Pictomancers

Pyrene Combines Two Popular Genres to Build Something Totally Unique

Caravan SandWitch Is A Slow-Paced Journey I’d Gladly Take Again

Annapurna Video-Game Team Resigns, Leaving Partners Scrambling

Flappy Bird Is Back But This Time It Sucks

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Robin and Willa have both played The Plucky Squire, a kids’ game with some questionable puzzle design that we’re both pretty fond of nonetheless. Then we talk about some things we’re considerably less fond of, namely, just about every decision PlayStation has made recently (except a beautiful new controller).

Timestamps

(00:50) More Mets news

(04:20) The main event (The Plucky Squire)

(25:20) Plucky Squire spoilers begin

(32:20) Plucky Squire spoilers end

(42:10) Sony being Sony (releasing unnecessary remasters)

(48:25) We will stop complaining about Astro Bot when Sony sends us PlayStation anniversary controllers

(52:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The People's Joker, Steam Deck x PlayStation Remote Play)

Mentioned this week

The Plucky Squire: The Kotaku Review

UFO 50 review: the 8-bit era returns in this fantastic retro collection

Pirate Kart Dot Com

Indiepocalypse

Horizon Zero Dawn and Freedom Wars Remasters Show the Ups and Downs of the Remake Trend

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A runtime this long can only mean one thing. Our X-Men series continues this week as Willa and Robin examine the comics of noted shithead Joss Whedon. 

You can follow along with this week's visual learning material here.

If you're new to the show (hi, hello, so glad you're here), you may want to listen to the rest of our X-Men history lessons here before diving in!

Episode 26: Giant-Size Girl-Mode #1

Episode 38: The Sisterhood of Evil Podcasters

Episode 56: Castle of Lesbianism

Episode 72: Goin' Down to Mutant Town

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This week, we’ve both played some games but none of the same ones, so we’re telling each other about Echoes of Wisdom, Metaphor: Refantazio, UFO 50, and (extremely briefly) Diablo 4. And yes, we also talk about the Mets.

Timestamps

(01:05) The Mets are getting close (to the world series)

(09:40) Echoes of Wisdom

(30:20) Metaphor: Refantazio

(56:00) UFO 50 

(1:10:40) One minute of Diablo 4

(1:12:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. More Than a Married Couple But Not Lovers, Horimiya, We Had No Rules, Will & Harper)

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We got to play one of our mutual most anticipated games of the year this week and were apparently the only people not won over by its big sad wolf. We also talk about how fucking good Citizen Sleeper still is, and cover a new tabletop-inspired tactics game that’s very fun but maybe a little misguided.

Timestamps

(1:00) Let’s continue going Mets 

(5:20) Neva didn’t make us cry, it just make us bored

(25:00) Neva spoilers begin

(31:25) Neva spoilers end

(39:30) I can't believe Citizen Sleeper 2 is good

(1:00:30) Sunderfolk is fun, but who is it for?

(1:29:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Joker: Folie à deux, Birds of Prey, Rings of Power, As We Descend)

Mentioned this week

Robin on Neva and Sunderfolk

Willa on Neva and Sunderfolk

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Willa has taken a vow of silence in honor of her beloved Mets, so this week Robin is joined by writer, editor, and podcaster Rachel Watts! Our giggly, tangent-filled conversation covers our favorite demos from the most recent Steam Next Fest, with lots of recommendations for promising upcoming indie games. 

Timestamps

(00:30) Hello Rachel Watts!

(03:45) Citizen Sleeper 2

(08:15) *computer voice* Wormhole

(14:25) Great God Grove

(21:20) 30 Birds

(27:20) Scarlet Deer Inn

(34:15) Proverbs

(38:20) Keep Driving

(45:50) Touch Type Tale

(50:55) Sorry We're Closed

(56:50) Mainframes 

(59:50) Is This Game Trying to Kill Me?

(1:08:00) Trip 

(1:13:30) Spilled!

(1:18:05) What else have Rachel and Robin been up to? (feat. touching grass and Barbarian)

Mentioned this week

Rick Lane’s Demo Disc

Rachel and Robin’s demo lists

Follow Rachel on Twitter and Bluesky

Listen to Indieventure

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With her parasocial World Series hopes dashed, Willa has returned to the podcast to talk shit about Overwatch and the U.S. Copyright Office and listen to Robin yap about Dragon Age and Webfishing. 

Timestamps

(02:00) The final Mets update

(07:50) Overwatch 2 wants to be Overwatch 1 (and it should)

(13:35) All our homies hate the Entertainment Software Association

(22:45) Dragon Age: The Veilguard is pretty alright

(40:10) Dragon Age spoilers begin

(55:15) Webfishing is the best game in the world

(58:15) Masahiro Sakurai’s video game school is closed

(1:02:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. a whole bunch of vampire movies and The VVitch)

Mentioned this week

Fulfilling Our Promise in Signalis w/ Girl Mode

Can an online library of classic video games ever be legal?

What's New in Game History!

Steam’s Strange New Online Fishing Game Is Like Animal Crossing’s Evil Twin

Webfishing is the ultimate yapping game

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games: Finale Special

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It’s our second anniversary AND our 100th episode, a scheduling feat you wouldn’t believe was on purpose even if we tried to convince you it was. We take the time to answer some questions sent in by listeners over the past year, touching on our favorite games and inspirations, some podcasting inside baseball, and of course, the Mets.

Thanks for listening!!

Timestamps

(03:45) First gaming loves and breaking our parents’ rules

(11:55) The Girl Mode canon

(18:50) Sports games and comics

(26:20) Our critical inspirations

(32:50) X-Men by Girl Mode Studios

(36:45) Fixing the video game timeline

(44:00) Finding our podcasting voice/underdiscussed games/the Mets as RPG protagonists

(56:10) Thanks for listening!

(59:25) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, The Vampire Lovers, Late Night with the Devil)

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Listen. We’re not doing great and we suspect you’re not either. After a brief chat about the election and Willa’s recent layoff, we dive into Mouthwashing, an emotionally challenging game that made us both feel like shit and is undoubtedly one of the year’s best. 

If you’re looking for something positive to do with your energy after you’ve processed the results of the election, check the end of the shownotes for some hopefully helpful links.

Timestamps

(00:30) What a week it’s been (derogatory)

(01:20) Hey please take care of each other, things are pretty fucked

(07:45) The second annual layoff spectacular

(11:05) Cheering ourselves up with Mouthwashing, the saddest game ever made

(25:20) Mouthwashing spoilers begin [CW: mentions of sexual assault, suicide, alcoholism]

(55:20) Spoilers for Silent Hill 2 and Signalis, somehow

(1:04:00) The Mouthwashing scene that gave Robin a mental breakdown

(1:11:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Dungeon Inn, Witching Stone, Arcane season 2)

Mentioned this week

Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free

This post from Rowan Zeoli

Some help changing your name and gender marker

Willa’s blog

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Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Here are some links that can help you get started:

Lots of resources from Critical Distance

Find local mutual aid groups

Get free masks and Covid-19 tests

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

How to Change Your Legal Name and Gender 101

LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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This week, we’re doing Game Awards discourse, playing a couple new and not-so-new games, and showing preferential treatment toward one listener with a return to our email pile.

Timestamps

(01:15) Who handles the fire in your relationship?

(4:40) It’s Game Awards discourse season!

(23:00) Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is fine

(27:10) Dragon Quest 3 (but not the one you’re thinking of)

(35:50) Sorry We’re Closed looks better than it feels

(42:35) Reading Ashley’s email

(1:05:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Look Back, riding bikes, generic fantasy)

Mentioned this week

Stunning Anime Look Back Appreciates the Work of Art

Willa’s blog

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Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Here are some links that can help you get started:

Lots of resources from Critical Distance

Find local mutual aid groups

Get free masks and Covid-19 tests

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

How to Change Your Legal Name and Gender 101

LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Let us know what we should add to this list!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re mainly talking about Final Fantasy XIV Mobile and The Game Awards. Guess which one we get really riled up about.

Timestamps

(01:50) FF14 Mobile 

(22:20) An incredibly cynical look at The Game Awards

(52:40) The Indie Game Awards seem cool-ish

(57:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Threshold, Sudden Death, Neurokino Retrograde, Wicked)

Mentioned this week

Liz Ryerson on The Indie Game Awards

Threshold

Sudden Death

Neurokino Retrograde

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Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Here are some links that can help you get started:

Lots of resources from Critical Distance

Find local mutual aid groups

Get free masks and Covid-19 tests

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

How to Change Your Legal Name and Gender 101

LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Let us know what we should add to this list!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re both sleepy from cooking and/or eating big meals this week, so we’re meandering through a discussion of Fantasian Neo Dimension, Sony’s latest bad idea, and Ewan McGregor’s penis.

Timestamps

(00:40) Willa’s gonna tell you a little bit about Thanksgiving

(05:15) Fantasian Neo Dimension and Final Fantasy chat

(22:55) Arcane Season 2 (is bad)

(32:50) The PS5P

(38:30) Slitterhead minute

(41:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. The Golden Compass, Velvet Goldmine, Stonetop)

Mentioned this week

Japanese RPGs are thriving this decade, so why isn't Final Fantasy?

Listen to Mel Stone

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Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Here are some links that can help you get started:

Lots of resources from Critical Distance

Find local mutual aid groups

Get free masks and Covid-19 tests

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

How to Change Your Legal Name and Gender 101

LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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