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Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help trans people, immigrants, and others targeted by our fascist government with this Big List Of Links.

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Episode 166 - Bipedal Hotties to the Front

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Zoe graces us all with her presence to regale us with tales of her time spent saving the galaxy and exploring the highs of Rapture and the lows of Columbia. Spoilers abound for the entire Mass Effect trilogy and Bioshock 1, 2, and Infinite.

Timestamps:

(00:19) Welcome to the Zo Rowe Show

(02:17) The Mass Effect trilogy

(57:25) The Bioshock trilogy

(1:35:50) What else have Willa, Robin, and Zoe been up to this week? (feat. His Motor Bike, Her Island, Project Hail Mary, The Mets, and knitting)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 165 - Video Games Have Not Come a Long Way Since Final Fantasy 13

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:12:31 GMT

This week, we've both been playing the hot new release that's taken the world by storm: the rhythm-based fishing game Sinker Sound. Then, Willa's adventures in the back catalog continue with Final Fantasy and Resident Evil, and Robin has played a pair of weird and wonderful indie sim games.

Timestamps:

(00:15) Donate to Robin’s truffle dog startup

(03:45) Gone fishin’ in Sinker Sound

(14:35) Games have not come a long way since Final Fantasy 13

(18:30) The Resident Evil Curriculum

(23:25) Cooking for critters in Creature Kitchen

(28:35) Petting slimes in Dungeon Bodega Simulator

(33:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. the hit television show Bones, the hit television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the hit television show One Piece)

Indie deckbuilder All Will Rise's dev joins No Games For Genocide boycott and plans to hand back funding it received from Microsoft

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 164 - Episode 168

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:00:00 GMT

This week, we remember the halcyon days of when we cared about Final Fantasy 14, experience what it’s like to watch a gaming awards show that doesn’t make you want to claw your own eyes out, and discover that every once in a while a lesbian with a sword isn’t enough to make your game good.

Timestamps:

(00:15) It’s all great over here

(01:45) Remember when we cared about Final Fantasy 14?

(07:40) The IGF Awards

(21:15) No Games for Genocide

(24:55) 1348 Ex Voto

(56:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. getting a camera, Dragon's Dogma Online)

Mentioned this week:

FFXIV Live Letter

IGF Awards

Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster on Resident Evil: Requiem

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 163 - Tom Cruise Missiles

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 11:42:11 GMT

Just because we haven't played Resident Evil: Requiem doesn't mean we can' talk about the discourse surrounding it and the franchise's odd position of rewriting vs reckoning with its past. Also: Silksong and Willa educating Robin on the Tom Cruise cake.

Timestamps:

(00:26) Daylight saving time kicks our ass (and then a weird rabbit hole of tangents)

(05:56) Resident Evil… Requiem… discourse (lightest of spoilers throughout)

(38:09) Resident Evil 2 Remake

(45:35) Robin finally likes Silksong

(56:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. getting a camera, Dragon's Dogma Online)

Mentioned this week:

Kaile Hultner on Marathon

Music

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Episode 162 - The G(irl Mode) Virus

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:00:00 GMT

We talk about Marathon and the state of live-service titles in this one, and we could not have predicted Highguard would announce its shutdown between recording and release. Then it's to the Spencer Mansion for Willa and to Next Fest for Robin.

Timestamps:

(00:18) Resident… Evil?

(01:24) Marathon

(15:14) Resident… Evil!

(25:40) Robin's selected Next Fest picks

(36:07) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Bridgerton season 4, putting yourself out there and making friends)

(37:00) Bridgerton spoilers start

(38:35) Bridgerton spoilers end

Mentioned this week:

SNL Iran cold open

Dotzip on Next Fest

The biggest gaming series are going indie

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 161 - All News Is Bad News

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:39:10 GMT

This week, everything is bad in the world of AAA, and not just for the usual reasons. After running through the latest disasters at PlayStation and the sinking ship that is Xbox, Willa once again puts on clown makeup to await the next game from Yoko Taro, and Robin takes solace in games that are just okay.

Timestamps:

(00:30) The Olympics, etc.

(08:50) Finally some gaming talk (it’s all bad)

(17:15) RIP Bluepoint

(30:10) A bunch of Yoko Taro news

(44:10) Robin self-medicating with 7/10 games

(57:33) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Love Story, A Year of Springs)

Mentioned this week:

Phil Spencer Retiring, etc.

Willa's Love Eternal review

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 160 - Chaser James Bond

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:00:00 GMT

This week, we do a quick Olympic check-in before running through the State of Play and its many (un)interesting announcements. Robin and Willa do, however, come up with a groundbreaking idea to fix 007. Then it's a pair of games, one new and one old.

Timestamps:

(00:38) More olympic talk

(03:25) State of the State of Play

(34:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Love Eternal , Verho - Curse of Faces)

Mentioned this week:

Harvestella Review: Sometimes the best gourmet meals are the simplest dishes

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 159 - Hockey Is Where The Lesbians Are

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 11:00:00 GMT

This week, we talk almost as much about the Olympics as we do about video games.

Timestamps:

(00:35) Video games? More like Winter Games

(16:20) Nintendo Direct happened this week

(25:45) Close enough. Welcome back, Dauntless.

(28:40) More Bioshock talk somehow

(35:00) Elden Ring with Seamless Co-op rips

(37:55) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The Starving Saints, Nothing)

(45:10) Olympics talk reprise

Mentioned this week:

Gore Verbinski's BioShock Movie Would Have Somehow Included Both of the Game's Endings

The Korrasami fic Willa likes

The Aerti fic Robin likes

The Toxic Positivity Problem by Critical Error

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 158 - Big Daddy Energy

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:49:39 GMT

Somehow Willa and Robin eventually get through the many detours of this episode (hand injuries, bisexual Zohran, etc.) to talk about some games. There is a report on Zoe saving the galaxy and heading to Rapture as well as Robin going up in Valkyrie Saga and Cairn.

Timestamps:

(00:11) Willa’s housewife injury

(03:06) Cursed blades RANKED

(04:06) Talking about not talking about critical discourse

(06:21) More detours, this time about Zohran Mamdani

(07:26) Mass Effect and BioShock in 2026

(27:37) Valkyrie Saga and Cairn

(46:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Recovery of an MMO Junkie , Journal with Witch)

Mentioned this week:

If You Ask Nicely by Autumn Wright

Meredith Gran on Post Games

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 157 - This One’s For The DO-11s

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 11:00:00 GMT

After taking a break for the longest week in human history (and the customary annual lay-off of one of our hosts), we’re back to talk about two interesting games: one we like and one we don’t. How novel.

Timestamps:

(00:10) The Gay Bachelor, etc.

(04:50) TR-49 (mechanical and light story spoilers start)

(23:30) TR-49 story spoilers start for real

(26:30) TR-49 story spoilers start for real for real

(40:05) Perfect Tides: Station to Station

(50:50) Spoiler for a very fun moment in Station to Station

(53:20) Spoilers end

(56:25) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Dolls Nest, Love Through a Prism)

Mentioned this week:

Meredith Gran AMA

Willa on TR-49 and Perfect Tides: Station to Station

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 156 - Surely We Will Get Better At Predictions One Of These Years?

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 11:00:00 GMT

It's prediction time! First we tally up the scores from 2025 to see who the winner of an undecided prize is. Then it's into the future as Robin, Willa, and Zoe (via Willa reading her notes because we won't let her back on the pod) tell you what 2026 will hold for gaming with 100% accuracy.

Timestamps:

(00:35) Robin's dogs, the Pitt, and some Mets talk

(03:43) Our 2025 predictions, which did not go as well as we hoped

(12:47) Making 2026 predictions that will absolutely come true

(26:39) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Hyperbeat, The Expanse)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 155 - Most Anticipated Games of 2026 (Unless They Get Delayed)

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 11:00:00 GMT

To ease into the new year Robin and Willa took it easy and are basically giving you the audio version of those lists every outlet puts out in January. We also talk about Zoe's exploits in Mass Effect and Robin's exploits in getting one over on her landlord.

Timestamps:

(00:12) It's raining cats and possibly ceiling debris

(1:22) A lot of 2026 games getting namedropped

(37:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. the Mass Effect Trilogy, letting Zoe cut your hair, The Twilight Zone, and violating your lease )

Mentioned this week:

dotzip on Perfect Tides

Dying MMO jam

Jennifer English being incredible at the Golden Joysticks

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 154 - The Fourth Annual Girl Mode Awards

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 11:00:00 GMT

It’s the Girlies! You know the drill. If you don’t, just listen and you’ll get it. It’s like an awards show but better.

Thanks for listening this year!

You can find a whole list of winners (with a couple of visual aids) here.

Timestamps:

(00:15) The Girlies!

(51:30) Spoilers for Carimara and Old Skies

(54:25) Spoilers end

(1:22:00) Spoilers for Carimara and Silent Hill f

(1:24:20) Spoilers end

(1:37:25) GOTY discussion

(1:43:30) Thematic spoilers for our pick

(1:48:30) Major story spoilers for our pick

Mentioned this week:

Neil Newbon being correct about generative AI

Additional music this episode:

Take me out to the ball game from Trombone Champ

Baby Steps background music

Era Calling from Angeline Era

Nina Pasadena from Skin Deep

I’m A Bitch, My Name’s Robert from Dispatch

I Am Gonna Claw (Out Your Eyes then Drown You to Death) from Hades 2

Robin’s Wanderstop review

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 153 - Finding Our Way Home in Wanderstop and Baby Steps

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:00:00 GMT

It’s the annual Girl Mode Game Exchange, the episode where we force each other to play one of our favorite games of the year, under penalty of death. This year, we chose Wanderstop and Baby Steps, two games about the struggle to find self-worth that take two very different paths to get there. Only one is obsessed with making you look at donkey dicks, for instance. This year, we were both pretty surprised by our reactions to our games and we didn’t even get furious with each other once, which I think is a first for one of these episodes!

!Spoilers for all of Wanderstop and Baby Steps!

Timestamps:

(00:10) The Great Girl Mode Game Exchange, aka, what we’re doing this week

(03:00) Wanderstop

(1:06:00) Excerpt from “The Everything” by C418 on the Wanderstop OST

(1:06:30) Baby Steps

(2:19:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. a very fucked up situation at Critical Reflex, letting Zoe cut your hair, Pluribus)

Mentioned this week:

Nicole Carpenter’s Wanderstop review

Gio Colantonio’s Baby Steps review

Walter Chaw on Avatar (I can’t remember if our mention of this made the final cut but it’s too late to go back and check and it’s really good either way)

I worked at the creepiest publisher in indie games (CRITICAL REFLEX)

Everything announced at The Game Awards

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 152 - Recession Indicator Lara Croft

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:00:00 GMT

This week Willa and Robin run through all the announcements at The Game Awards, including: Tomb Raider for the straights, DILF Leon, and Control with a man. Boooooo. Also, more Old Skies talk because it's just that good!

Timestamps:

(00:12) Zoe probably wants to stab Willa (medically)

(02:05) A lot of time spent on Game Awards reveals

(45:00) Less time on Day of the Devs and Wholesome Snack

(51:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Cheese Ball, Octopath Traveler 0, Old Skies)

Mentioned this week:

Everything announced at Day of the Devs

Everything announced at Wholesome Snack

Sharon Begley on James Watson

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 151 - The Finnish Independence Day Special

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:00:00 GMT

For what ended up being a shorter episode this week, Willa has returned to the land of chocobos and Robin has returned to the land of evil chocobos. Plus, skateboards, mechs, catgirl card games, and famous dead men.

Timestamps:

(00:15) Shoutout to Finland

(01:45) Why are we not playing Final Fantasy 11 right now?

(08:20) Skate Story

(12:30) Outward 2: A game that hates you

(18:40) Detective Instinct colon Farewell comma My Beloved

(22:20) Mirage Miracle Quest and Queen’s Domain demos

(25:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Tom Stoppard, Phantom Brigade)

Mentioned this week:

Robin's Metroid Prime 4 review

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Final Fantasy 11 chocobo sound effect from Sound FX Center

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150 - Do You Think Samus Listens To Girl Mode While Riding Through That Big Desert?

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:22:57 GMT

This week we are talking gays in space (Metroid Prime 4) and gays in time (more Old Skies) and then Willa and Robin pick what games to exchange for the end of year season because the Girlies will be here before you know it!

Timestamps:

(02:00) Too much talk about Willa's Thanksgiving movie watching

(07:10) Metroid Prime 4

(31:04) HORSES not "Horses"

(38:16) More Old Skies (also briefly Birdcage and Possessors)

(49:14) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The Matrix, Letters From Liselotte, Wicked and other Oz related media)

(55:00) End of year housekeeping

Mentioned this week:

Robin on HORSES

Letters From Liselotte

VGC’s Andy Robinson on Metroid Prime 4

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 149 - The Most Punchable Man in the World

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:00:00 GMT

This week, we start with hypothetically cool new hardware and Metroid Prime’s hot new feature: mansplaining. Then we move onto games we’ve played, focusing on anticipated talking-to-hot-women simulator Demonschool (unless it gets delayed again in the six hours before this episode posts).

Timestamps:

(01:45) The Girl Mode News Desk: Steam Machines

(15:50) Note: Myles MacKenzie died on the way back to his home planet

(30:00) Where are the Metroid Prime-likes?

(36:20) Videoverse

(47:00) Demonschool

(1:09:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Old Skies, more Atelier Ryza)

Mentioned this week:

Maddy Myers on Super Metroid

Alexa Ray Corriea’s “nag line discourse” post

Robin on Videoverse and Demonschool

Alyssa Mercante on The Game A wards Future Class

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Ep 148 - It's Terrible, I Could Not Recommend It More

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Episode 148 - It's terrible, I could not recommend it more

This one's got everything you love: Dunkalatte talk, Willa's neighbors doing construction in the middle of a recording, Robin playing a game where you are a little mouse, but the main event is – of course – Willa going on an extended rant about a game she hates that most people love.

Timestamps:

(00:14) Robin joins the Dunkalatte cult

(06:03) Blake Manor update and your reminder Lorelei and the Laser Eyes rocks

(09:53) Winter Burrow

(15:32 ) 20+ minutes of Willa ranting about Dispatch

(23:12) Dispatch spoilers start

(24:23) Dispatch spoilers end

(38:18) Ambrosia Sky

(48:55) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Blue Moon, stealing umbrellas, A Pizza Delivery, Verho, Atelier Ryza )

Mentioned this week:

Every 10/10 Game Informer has given

Willa's Dispatch thread on Bluesky

Gio on Dispatch at Polygon

Robin on The Seance of Blake Manor

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 147 - Girls' Night At Blake Manor

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 11:00:00 GMT

It’s the week after Halloween and we’re finally talking about horror games. After an extended bullshit session to start, we work our way around to mousegirl soulslikes, talking to ghosts with your crush, trick or treating, finding yourself on Bajor, and being the nosiest bitches at the seance.

Timestamps:

(00:15) A bunch of nonsense

(04:10) Anti-recommendation for Hinako Note

(07:30) Gamer news: Simogo

(09:30) Mouseward: A game for Robin

(12:05) Fear the Spotlight

(18:10) The Seance of Blake Manor

(48:45) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival, The O.C.)

Mentioned this week:

Moises Taveras on game remakes

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Ep 146 - Reaching Another Level of Suck

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:19:25 GMT

This week it’s a lot of slop talk. Remakes are slop. Cozy games are slop. Law & Order Executive Producer Dick Wolf is slop. Everything is slop. We also check in on Hades 2 and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

Timestamps:

(00:25) It’s all downhill from here

(02:27) More Hades 2

(06:35) Halo on PlayStation and why remakes suck

(18:52) Dick Wolf presents AI cop slop

(21:20) Cozy games discourse

(32:23) Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

(46:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Dinner parties, the bad Earthsea TV show, weird shit in your neighborhood, the library, Six Seasons cookbook)

Mentioned this week:

Jason Schreier on Xbox Layoffs

Polygon interviews Wolf Games

A wholesome plane has hit the second cozy tower

You Should Play Bad Games

Ashley Bardhan on Sleep Awake

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 145 - Destroy the WORLD-EGG.

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Jesus, it’s Next Fest again? Guess it’s time to talk about some demos.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Disrespecting Baja Blast

(2:20) Next Fest

(3:40) Opus Prism Peak

(8:15) Skate Story

(12:00) Sleep Awake

(16:15) Reanimal

(22:00) Constance

(25:00) Winter Burrow

(28:20) Ambrosia Sky

(32:40) Verho: Curse of Faces

(35:20) The Legend of Khiimori

(40:45) Mosaic of the Strange

(42:50) Dungeon Bodega Simulator

(46:30) Moonsigil Atlas

(49:20) Birdcage

(53:45) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Murder on the Orient Express, Murder on the Orient Express, Murder on the Orient Express, and Neuromancer)

Mentioned this week:

Ashley Bardhan (again) on Fatal Frame 2

Pauline Kael’s Raiders of the Lost Ark review

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 144 - The Soon To Be Mrs. Robin (Your Name Here)

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Episode 144 - The Soon To Be Mrs. Robin (Your Name Here)

Bad news, there is barely any beverage talk in this one. Good news, Robin is open to her hand in marriage being bought. Oh, we also spend a lot of time talking about the importance in having conviction in critical thinking and why Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is great

Timestamps:

(01:06) Learning about our audience

(3:36) Critic corner

(22:00) Robin’s spooky games (Vampire’s Best Friend, Sender)

(28:38) Play Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

(35:50) Carimara

(43:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. A Star Brighter Than The Sun, Fabula Ultima)

Mentioned this week:

Robin on Carimara

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 143 - A Poo-Based Ecosystem

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, we’re still talking a bit about Hades II, sandwiched between slime farms, psychic babies, Tetris-likes, and Willa’s beverage-based spinoff podcast.

Timestamps:

(00:40) More coffee talk

(5:40) Slime Rancher 2

(09:35) Hades 2 (mid-to-endgame spoilers start at 15:20)

(18:30) Goodnight Universe

(26:40) Falling Block Jam

(31:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, Baquiné, Dreams in Nightmares)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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142 - Good Games About Having Bad Times

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:44:16 GMT

This week Willa and Robin are talking about suffering… but for fun! Consume Me and Baby Steps take up most of the episode but there is still time for brief thoughts on Blippo, Hades 2, and Willa’s coffee tips.

Time stamps:

(01:15) Willa’s Dunkalatte tips

(04:55) Consume Me [Trigger Warning: discussion of eating disorders]

(27:20) Baby Steps

(44:27) Blippo+

(49:26) Willa’s early Hades II thoughts

(55:08) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. A Fragrant Flower Blooms In Dignity, Witch Hat Atelier)

Mentioned this week:

Coffee syrup differences

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 141 - Bug Horniness

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:59:00 GMT

This week we’re very tired and spend a long time talking about milk. I don’t know man. Then, Willa is apparently in the good part of Silksong and Robin talks about what she doesn’t like about Hades 2, a game that’s mostly good.

Time stamps:

(00:20) Coffee milk, Willa’s divorce, etc.

(05:30) So Willa’s been playing some more Silksong [Light Act 2 boss spoilers from 8:00-9:30]

(11:00) We should play Three Houses again

(12:30) A few more thoughts on Silksong

(17:40) This time Hades stars a girl

(37:45) Penguins

(39:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. FlyKnight, listening to the radio)

Noah Caldwell-Gervais on Souls inheritors

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 140 - The Penitent Bug Will Pass

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Yes, we talk about Hollow Knight: Silksong in this episode, but first Robin and Willa have to salivate over the reveal that we are getting a new Fire Emblem game next year.

Time stamps:

(00:20) Willa’s a tradwife

(02:54) Non-Fire Emblem Direct news

(14:00) Us being crazy about new Fire Emblem

(25:28) Shaw! (the Silksong segment)

(53:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Taking My Dark Knight Girlfriend To The Corner Store, Secret Mall Apartment, Katabasis)

Mentioned this week:

Nintendo Direct summary

Nicole Carpenter’s review of The Last of Us Part 1 at Polygon

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 139 - Messiah Complex (Not Ours)

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT

It’s been a while.

Follow along here.

Catch up here, here, here, here, and here.

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Ep 138 - Baby Died

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Robin and Willa played some games this week, just not the same ones. First up is the detailed world of Artis Impact, followed by the sleek and simple mechanics of Öoo. They both rock!

Timestamps:

(01:35) Worst Girl Mode episodes, ranked

(03:47) Artis Impact

(25:00) Öoo

(37:34) A short Peak update (it is still cool)

(38:18) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Alien: Earth, Berlin by Bea Setton)

Mentioned this week:

Willa on Artis Impact

Why We Can't Stop Mapping Elden Ring by Renata Price

Heartworm Is A Modern Take On Fatal Frame With Perfect Retro Aesthetics

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 137 - Giving Heartworm An A For Effort (And Leg Tattoos)

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, we watched Nintendo’s little showcase, which was fine. Then we both played Heartworm, a game that we like a lot, despite all the things we don’t like about it. Finally, Robin talks about some old lady shit and a new podcast, and Willa reads a good book.

Timestamps:

(01:06) A little Nintendo Direct

(03:25) Too cool for Americans

(04:45) Regarding mouth sounds

(06:05) The rest of Nintendo Indie World

(14:25) Heartworm

(37:50) Titan Quest II

(40:09) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Pure Colour, In Sequence, Queer Games Bundle 2025)

Mentioned this week:

Heartworm Grapples With the Trap of Nostalgia

Titan Quest II Takes All The Right Lessons From Its Classic Predecessor

The Edelgard affair tweet

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Ep 136 - The Philabieldia Philbies

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 18:27:30 GMT

We’ve got a grab bag of things this week (that includes mini grab bags hidden within). Robin and Willa discuss the latest Nintendo Direct, including everyone’s love of Philabieldia, and then go over previews for Battlefield (boo) and Silent Hill f (boo, but in a scary way not a bad way) before checking up on what games they’ve been playing.

Timestamps:

(02:30) Nintendo Direct gives us the good slop

(16:20) Preview corner with Battlefield 6 and Silent Hill f

(21:04) The Great Villainess… Again!

(27:48) The Robin game corner (Co-op Kaiju Horror Cooking and Time Flies)

(40:09) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Brendon Bigley's Metroid Fusion video, Stop Fucking Playing The Wordle, Hana's Light)

Mentioned this week:

Giovanni Colantonio on Battlefield 6

Fans need to understand Link and Zelda aren’t a couple

Music

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Episode 135 - Australian Puritans vs. Toxic Lesbians

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Everything that was bad last week is even worse this week. Itch has followed Steam in delisting a ton of games for either including offensive sexual content or just gay people. Who can even tell the difference? We follow that exasperating conversation with what we’ve been playing this week, mostly consisting of games about a whole bunch of toxic lesbians.

Timestamps:

(01:00) Everything got worse

(18:35) Toxic Yuri VN Jam

(29:10) The Great Villainess

(33:15) Metal Garden

(36:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Young Justice, The Raven Tower)

Mentioned this week:

Two articles from Ana Valens on game censorship

Everyone Is Beautiful and No One Is Horny

Developers Are Protesting As Adult Game Bans Come To Indie Storefront Itch.io

Steam Banning Some Adult Games Is A Big Deal Even If You Don’t Play Them

Stop Payment Processors from censorship!

Protect Queer Creators and Sex Workers

Maddy Myers on The Drifter

Music

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Episode 134 - The Cultural Vandalism Corner

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Episode 133 - The Cultural Vandalism Corner

This week Robin and Willa talk about the horrors of horse girl racing, the horrors of pulp point-and-click adventure The Drifter, the horrors of regulating games, and the beauty of the New York Mets baby, let's go Mets, it's all about the Mets!

Timestamps:

(00:13) Sponsored by TK water brand

(04:24) Umamusume: and they were roomates

(12:44) The Drifter: John Carpenter does point-and-click

(23:14) Wheels of Aurelia and Apple sucking as usual

(28:19) Valve cracks down on porn for stupid reasons. TRIGGER WARNING: sexault assault and rape mentioned

(34:04) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. TAMAYOMI: The Baseball Girls, Leviathan)

Mentioned this week:

Robin on The Drifter

Game Developer on Wheels of Aurelia

RPS on Valve’s porn crackdown

No Escape on Valve’s porn crackdown

Ana Valens on Valve's porn crackdown

And finally Robin on Valve's porn crackdown

Women are reclaiming their place in baseball

The girl who struck out Babe Ruth

Not Every Co-Op Game is “Friendslop”

Music

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Episode 133 - Train Your Horse, Girl

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMT

We took last week off from recording and, what do you know, we ended up playing a lot of games in the meantime. This time, we’re talking about girls who are horses, cats who are girls, and card games that are magic. This week also marks Press Start joining The Worst Garbage network so go check them out!!

Timestamps:

(00:25) We’ve gone to the audience

(03:10) Peak - It’s still good

(10:00) P5X - A Persona game with bad politics? Who would have thought

(19:25) Occlude - What if solitaire was fun

(26:45) Umamusume - The highs and lows of high school horse girl racing

(41:35) Everdeep Aurora - She’s a cat who’s a girl, not a cat girl

(46:30) Mass Effect - The best Mass Effect

(57:50) Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream - What if Fagin was a hot lady and not antisemitic

(1:08:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Dan Da Dan, Wildermyth Lays Bare the False Promises of AI Storytelling, Two Days Talking to People Looking for Jobs at ICE)

Mentioned this week:

No Phone Summer: It’s The Summer of the Retro Handheld

Hello Press Start!!!

Music

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Ep 132 - Some Games of the 21st Century

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMT

There has not been a lot of news for us to discourse about lately, so we are doing what every good content creator does for engagement: make a bad list. Come for Willa and Robin suffering through a task of their own making as they choose the best games of the 21st century, stay for updates on what Willa’s neighbor is doing with their backyard.

Timestamps:

(00:13) Judging our neighbors

(04:09) The best games of the 21st century (objectively)

(35:27) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Loco Motive, Peak)

Mentioned this week:

Robin on Peak

Mario Kart World Review: ALMOST the Best Mario Kart

Music

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Episode 131 - Big Fish Energy

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

We’re coming to you live from the heat dome this week, so assume anything wrong with this episode is due to our brains poaching in our skulls. In the meantime, we’ve been playing fishing games and porn games and old games and racing games and all kinds of other games and we’re here to talk about them in no particular order.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Welcome to the heat dome

(02:50) Sinker Sound

(17:10) L8R SK8R

(22:34) Mario Kart 8

(25:30) Aeromachina

(31:00) Signum Malum

(34:35) PSP Corner

(41:20) The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

(44:40) Ambrosia Sky

(46:25) Good Morning Drifter

(48:20) Squeakross: Home Squeak Home

(52:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Date Everything claims to be a dating sim, but it doesn't love or understand its own genre, good writers are perverts, leaving the party, F*ck it, Let's Make a Website!)

Mentioned this week:

Bloomed Wings

Baseball Explained by an Anime Girl

Prison Of Husks Feels Like Playing A Dream About Dark Souls

Music

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Episode 130 - Next Fest Demos and Mission Impossible Facts

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, we've played an unconscionable number of demos, so we run through a whole bunch of the ones we mostly liked at Steam Next Fest and the Tribeca Festival. Then, Willa interviews Tribeca Games vice president Casey Baltes with a tin can inside a submarine apparently and Robin tries her hardest to make it listenable.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Just a whole bunch of nothing

(04:35) Dice Gambit

(10:30) Cast and Chill

(14:00) Morse

(18:15) Prison of Husks

(28:30) MotionRec

(33:20) Coffee Talk Tokyo

(35:30) Project Arrow

(37:15) KuloNiku: Bowl Up!

(41:10) Dispatch

(47:15) MIO: Memories in Orbit

(55:45) Possessor(s)

(1:00:55) Absolum

(1:04:46) Death Howl

(1:09:00) Cairn

(1:13:10) Sleep Awake

(1:15:40) Take Us North

(1:22:35) Mixtape

(1:29:30) Casey Baltes Interview

(1:55:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a very good video about Dark Souls 2)

Mentioned this week:

I'm Bad at Video Games, So I Played Dark Souls 2

The Unearthed Treasure Room

Music

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Episode 129 - Walking Through A Half-Empty Mall

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

The worst part of the year was even worse this year. We slogged through Summer Game Fest and a few showcases that didn’t suck and now we’re here to talk about what we saw there and why everyone’s so mad.

CW: Discussions of disordered eating in Consume Me from 52:30 to 57:05

Timestamps:

(00:20) Our mortal enemy, summer

(01:30) State of Play had a few good games

(13:15) Ciri Showcase and Unearthed Treasure Room

(17:30) SGF was even worse than it always is

(33:00) Mina the Hollower is good as hell

(38:55) Remembering that good video games exist at Day of the Devs

(52:30) CW: Eating disorders Consume Me is unbelievably good

(57:05) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters and another cinematic masterpiece)

(1:04:30) Some announcements!

Mentioned this week:

Consume Me Turns Gaming’s Obsession With Stats Into A Trap For Players

You can now give us money if you really want to

Watch Annie and Robin on Twitch Wednesday at 7 pm ET!

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review: A Bountiful Blend of Life Sim and RPG

Music

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Episode 128 - Harvestella Sickos Rise Up

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

We have a handful of games to talk about this week, including an excellent new farming game, a so-so story from the creator of Katamari Damacy, and a turn-based RPG about death (no, not that one).

Timestamps:

(00:30) Corndog update

(04:10) Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is the second coming of Harvestella

(24:50) To a T is cute I guess

(40:55) Galactic Glitch is simple fun

(44:10) Danchi Days is delightful and weird

(50:25) The Time I Have Left now lives rent-free in Robin's brain

(57:15) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Hacks, You’re Wrong About - Coyotes! and Lesbian Seagulls)

Mentioned this week:

To a T Feels Like A Saturday Morning Cartoon’s Rough First Season

Gio’s good post

The Quest To Revive A Summer Festival Is Off To A Strong Start In Danchi Days

The best part of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is it explains nothing

Music

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Episode 127 - Adventures in Off-Brand Paris

Wed, 28 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Robin and Willa have a conversation no one will disagree with about a game everyone is being reasonable about. We talk through why Clair Obscur, the FRPG of the year, didn’t live up to the hype for either of us, and inevitably detour into why criticism is good and cool and doesn’t have to make you a killjoy.

Timestamps:

(00:30) Setting le tableau (or, don’t yell at us about Clair Obscur)

(03:40) Prologue: A Very Somber State Fair

(35:00) Act 1: Lost Syndrome

(45:45) Act 2: We Don’t Care That [REDACTED] [REDACTED]s

(53:00) Act 3: Every Frame A Painting

(1:04:50) Epilogue: Blaming Women

(1:18:18) Inspirations and comparisons

(1:29:40) Why everyone is being so weird about this game/why criticism isn’t a dirty word

(1:42:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Gundam GQuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown)

Mentioned this week:

Close Reading Is For Everyone

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s style is its substance

I Want to Be Potboy! (with Robin and Tori!) - Into the Aether

Music

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Episode 126 - A Beautiful Summer on Trash Island

Wed, 21 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT

CW: Brief reference to suicide between (01:05:00) and (01:05:45)

This week, Robin and Willa dive into the work of Selkie Harbour, developer of the recent (and excellent) Many Nights a Whisper. We get into the interesting parallels and outliers among the studio’s catalog and come away more excited about ice skating than we ever thought possible. We also completely spoil all of these very short games, so consider taking a couple hours to play through all of them if you don’t want to hear about them first!

Also check out Robin's recent appearance on Into the Aether, where she talks indie deckbuilders and Expedition 33 with Stephen and Press Start's Tori!

Timestamps:

(01:20) X-Men belongs to the dolls

(02:45) A walking tour of Selkie Harbour’s itch page

(6:15) A Message for the Stone King

(12:15) The Well

(19:30) Everything You Didn’t Get To Do

(31:50) Sunset Shift

(40:20) I.C.A. Calendar Photoshoot 2023 (see Robin's calendar here)

(46:10) Rêverie

(51:30) The Anglerfish Project

(58:35) Wrapping up Selkie Harbour

(1:00:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Easy Delivery Co., Apocalypse Hotel, a great piece on Superhot VR, Blue Prince)

A very good Christine Mi comic

Music

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Episode 125 - A Concerning Lack of Defenestration with Emmi & Annie Talk Indie!

Wed, 14 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Robin talks to the delightful hosts of the equally delightful Emmi & Annie Talk Indie podcast. We discuss a whole mess of games, with tangents on sexualizing playing cards, furry-friendly pizza restaurants, the games that taught us to type, and learning the name for a group of butterflies.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Introducing Emmi and Annie (who talk indie)!

(14:30) Making dogs immortal in Many Nights a Whisper

(43:30) A food service soap opera in The Chef’s Shift :3

(1:02:55) Christine Mi’s games make us want to make games

(1:23:00) Growing a story in Tiny Garden

(1:26:45) Worshipping the devil after gym class in Expelled!

(1:39:00) What else have Annie, Emmi, and Robin been up to this week? (feat. traumatic YA books, gacha-based disappointment, The Apothecary Diaries, Changes of Heart, Look Back, a 29-year-old calling herself old and instantly killing Robin)

Mentioned this week:

Listen to EATI!

Follow Emmi, Annie, and EATI on Bluesky

Annie, Emmi, and EATI’s websites

Dotzip on Worm Girlfriend Dating Simulator

Many Nights A Whisper Lets You Decide What Wishes Are Worth Granting

Music

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Episode 124 - Trying Not To Be A Total Bummer About Games Media

Wed, 07 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Like everyone else, we’re still reeling from the destruction of Polygon and Giant Bomb, but trying to do more than curl up into the fetal position about it. After the most constructive takes on games media we can muster, we talk through a few great games Robin's played recently, put a pin in a not-great one, and check in with Willa’s three favorite things (the Mets, weird New York lore, and gay mutants).

Timestamps:

(00:20) Meet today’s guest, Willa Rowe

(01:20) The shocking delay of GTA 6, which no one saw coming

(06:00) RIP Polygon and Giant Bomb

(12:30) The future of games media, if there is such a thing

(21:21) Navigating games journalism in its death throes

(25:20) You don’t need to pay $80 for games

(30:10) Many Nights a Whisper

(36:30) Ending spoilers for Many Nights a Whisper

(38:00) StarVaders fuuuuuucks

(40:05) We will talk about Clair Obscur at a later date

(41:05) Brief LudoNarraCon shoutouts

(43:30) Surprise Mets/Astoria the turkey update

(46:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The X-Men, Super Cub)

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Selkie Harbour

I Can’t Believe How Good StarVaders’ Deckbuilding Riff On Space Invaders Is

Willa’s deranged Clair Obscur thread

LudoNarraCon talks

The Senga Genesis post

Hazel’s Anime Countryside video

Read Autumn on Unwinnable

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 123 - The Magical Queer Teens Cinematic Universe with Autumn Wright!

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, critic and essayist Autumn Wright joins Robin to talk about Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, a game about growing up as a queer woman that’s just as messy as the real thing. We discuss how the game still works even when it’s fraying at the edges and wonder whether the mid-budget talky game can survive even if Don’t Nod doesn’t.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Welcome Autumn!

(24:50) Tape 1 ending spoilers

(29:10) Tape 1 Spoilers end/Tape 2 spoilers begin

(38:25) Tape 2 ending spoilers begin

(1:17:05) Tape 2 spoilers end/Don’t Nod and conversation games broadly

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Autumn on Bloom and Rage Tape 1 and Tape 2

Robin on Bloom and Rage Tape 1 and Tape 2

Follow Autumn on Bluesky

Sunderfolk Is An RPG Everyone Can Enjoy, But It Might Be Hard To Love

Music

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Episode 122 - Return of the Sphere Grid

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, we played a bunch of different games and now we’re gonna talk about them. I don’t know what else you want.

Timestamps:

(01:25) News we don’t care about and jokes we do

(03:00) Sunderfolk

(21:10) Mandragora

(29:30) Shadow of the Colossus

(35:50) Metroid Prime

(44:30) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Season of the Witch, The River Has Roots, Taco Bell Quarterly)

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Mandragora Is The Most Infuriating RPG I’ve Played This Year And I Can’t Put It Down

Five key takeaways from Supreme Court ruling

Music

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BONUS - Harry Potter and the Complicity of Games Media rerun

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 20:45:26 GMT

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:

(00:00) Intro

(04:40) The Flaco Report

(07:35) Hogwarts Legacy or: Why your trans friends seem so mad lately

(57:15) Robin tries and fails to recommend a game

(1:00:00) Oh god no we're talking about Harry Potter again

(1:03:40) Trans games you should play instead of Hogwarts Legacy

(1:11:30) What have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

UK Supreme Court Rules That Trans Women Aren’t Women under the Equality Act 2010

Mermaids

Gender Intelligence

Stonewall

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

A godawful Atlantic article we briefly make fun of

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 121 - We’re Still Waiting for Harvestella 2

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Since we’re sure you’re not sick of hearing about the Switch 2, we’re covering the Direct from a couple weeks ago before moving on to the Triple-i Initiative (featuring indie publisher Ubisoft) and a remake of The Talos Principle. Then, of course, Mets updates and baseball players who are “just roommates.”

Timestamps

(02:20) Switch 2 hardware

(16:40) Switch 2 games

(37:50) Triple-i Initiative

(48:45) The Talos Principle

(1:00:15) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. buying zines, Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne, and dotzip’s Pale Dot episode)

(1:09:00) The Mets/baseball players saying the f-slur update

Mentioned this week

The Triple-i Initiative

Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne

Exploring the Galaxy in Pale Dot - dotzip

TTRPGs for Trans Rights - Ohio

Music

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BONUS - TTRPGs for Trans Rights with Rue Dickey Rerun

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT

While we take the week off, we’re re-airing a 2023 interview with Rue Dickey, who’s currently organizing the TTRPGs for Trans Right Ohio charity bundle on Itch.io. In the episode, Willa and Robin speak to Rue about a similar, very successful bundle they organized for trans charities in Florida two years ago.

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 2023 bundle!

Timestamps

(00:10) What’s going on this week

(04:30) Our 2023 interview with Rue

Mentioned this week

Kaleidoscope Youth Center

TransOhio

A 2022 interview between Robin and Rue

Rue's website

Zebra Youth

Transinclusive Group

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 120 - My Big Lady Sense Is Tingling

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Nintendo sends off the Switch with one of the weirdest Directs ever and we’re here to talk through the 30 percent of it that was actually interesting to us. Then, after a brainstorming session about Sabrina Carpenter and Xenoblade Chronicles, we half-heartedly predict what’s coming at the Switch 2 Direct that you probably just watched.

Timestamps

(00:20) All of our beautiful boys are back

(04:30) Sicko Direct

(25:40) Our extremely noncommittal Switch 2 predictions

(36:55) The only good games media news in the past two years

(41:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Xenoblade Chronicles X, Ice Cream Fever, Fringe)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 119 - Non-Canonical Gay Stuff in Assassin's Creed Shadows

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Willa and Robin are playing the game everyone is playing for the first and maybe last time this year. Then, a game where you kill God, and an awards show that doesn't make you want to kill the concept of video games.

Timestamps

(00:20) Assassin’s Creed Shadows is pretty good for a AAA game

(49:20) Light spoilers for one Assassin’s Creed Shadows quest

(51:30) Attacking and dethroning God in 33 Immortals

(59:35) Sam Lake made me cry about video games at the GDC Awards

(1:07:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Expelled!, Deep Rock Galactic)

Mentioned this week

IGF and GDC Awards

Suikoden I And II HD Remaster Improves The Style, But Not The Substance, Of Two Classic RPGs

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 118 - Ceci N'est Pas Une Xenoblade Chronicles Game

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Willa and Robin have each played a big, anime-ass RPG, but only one turned out to be the right kind of boring.

Timestamps

(2:00) Atelier Yumia and the Bad Video Game Title

(15:40) What does it mean to remake a game?

(19:40) Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

(43:05) Reignbreaker, briefly

(45:20) Itch wildfire relief bundle roundup

(51:25) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Eternal Strands, OMEN, riding bikes)

Mentioned this week

Planescape Torment: Never meet other people’s heroes

Another Code: Recollection Creates a False Memory of the Past

You Can’t Buy Final Fantasy These Days*

Serre

Fuzz Dungeon

Super Lesbian Animal RPG

I don’t think I’ve walked this stretch of road before

Orb Tower

OMEN

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 117 - RETVRN to GameFAQs with Emily Price!

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

This week, certified Girl Mode Fave™ Emily Price joins Robin to talk about a few more Next Fest demos, 15th century Catholicism, playing soccer as a child, falling off mountains, what words to use to describe music, and why you should make a website. Check the links below for where to follow Emily!

Timestamps

(0:20) OMG it’s Emily Price!

(02:15) Next Fest chat

(5:20) Unpacking yourself from capitalism/you should start a blog

(10:45) Angeline Era

(19:00) Blue Prince

(31:00) Cairn

(38:20) Despelote

(47:30) Misericorde

(54:55) Wanderstop

(1:15:10) What else have Emily and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Under A Star Called Sun, Bitsy, a bunch of music)

Mentioned this week

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 116 - Steam Next Fest aka Gamer Christmas

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 11:00:00 GMT

After a brief but important look into the state of milfs in Pokémon, we dive into our favorite demos from this ~~year’s~~ quarter’s Steam Next Fest.

Timestamps

(1:15) Talking about not talking bout Pokemon

(04:00) Next Fest

(05:20) Skulker

(08:35) Neo Junk City

(12:20) Moves of the Diamond Hand

(13:50) Robin’s roguelike corner (As We Descend, Shuffle Tactics, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3, Kaamos)

(19:05) Demon Tides

(22:00) Haste

(24:50) Despelote

(27:00) Wheel World

(31:20) Static Dread

(34:50) Desert Angels

(37:20) To a T

(39:45) Out and About

(44:30) Is This Seat Taken?

(47:00) Jitter

(50:20) Dolls Nest

(53:10) Children of Saturn

(57:50) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. How Do We Relationship?, Split Fiction)

Secrets of the Voice Acting Process in Cabernet

Music

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Episode 115 - Drinking Blood For Fun And Profit

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

CW: Mentions of alcoholism in the Cabernet discussion (specifically from around 34:45 to 38:20)

This week we’re discussing Cabernet, a game with a lot to say about the social construction of vampires, the cyclical nature of authoritarianism, and blood play.

Editor’s note: I cut out us deciding not to discuss a game because we haven't played enough but left a few vague mentions of it in. It’s Cage of Roses, by one of our favorite VN developers, ebi-hime, so it’s probably good. I could go back and clean up the edit but who has the time?

Timestamps

(02:00) Cabernet

(13:30) More explicit story spoilers for Cabernet

(40:30) Vampyr

(47:00) Bloodlines

(54:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Avowed, a smorgasbord of vampire recommendations)

Mentioned this week:

VAMPYR: A COVID-19 Pandemic Perspective

How to protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help trans people, immigrants, and others targeted by our fascist government:

Call your elected officials to oppose anti-trans, anti-immigrant policies. It’s so easy, we promise!

Three big lists of trans advocacy orgs you should donate to and volunteer with

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 114 - Hold Onto Your P-Organ

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:00:00 GMT

We’ve watched the State of Play and played a bunch of games this week, so naturally we start off with an update on the 2005 Fantastic Four movie before getting to any of that.

Timestamps

(01:05) We’re a Fantastic Four podcast now

(04:00) State of Play

(08:20) The ones we’re kind of excited about

(26:05) The State of Play(ing Overwatch)

(34:40) Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

(39:50) Of the Devil

(44:20) Lost Records

(54:00) Possible extremely vague Lost Records spoilers

(59:10) Slightly less vague Lost Records ending spoilers

(1:02:30) End of Lost Records spoilers

(1:03:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Death Becomes Her, Moves of the Diamond Hand, Birds of Prey, Ted Lasso)

How to protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help trans people, immigrants, and others targeted by our fascist government:

Call your elected officials to oppose anti-trans, anti-immigrant policies. It’s so easy, we promise!

Three big lists of trans advocacy orgs you should donate to and volunteer with

LA Mutual Aid Network fire resources

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

The Fantastic Four trailer we talk so much about

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 113 - Doug Jones Simulator 2025

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

This week, we spend an unbelievable amount of time talking about the Fantastic Four before remembering we’re supposed to be a video game podcast and pivoting to World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV. Then, Sony said we’re not allowed to play Elden Ring, so we talk about some indies we’ve played instead.

Timestamps

(00:20) An incredibly long tangent on the Fantastic Four

(13:35) A shorter tangent on the Mets

(15:25) MMO corner with WoW and FFXIV

(30:55) Sony tells gamers to go touch grass

(35:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The Roottrees Are Dead, The Mountain Is As It Always Was, Monarch)

Mentioned this week:

It’s weird that HERBIE is here

WoW housing news

Christine Mi on itch

Emerging from the Loam in worm girlfriend dating simulator - dotzip

How to protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help trans people, immigrants, and others targeted by our fascist government

Call your elected officials to oppose anti-trans, anti-immigrant policies

Three big lists of trans advocacy orgs you should donate to and volunteer with

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Digital Archive at VGHF Library

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 112 - Another Great and Fun Week In The World

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:28:01 GMT

BioWare is 30 years old and collapsing (relatable amirite) so we’re talking about the legacy, decline, and doubtful future of a studio whose work we’ve both really enjoyed this week. Then, Willa has brainworms for a new anime movie and Robin has two certified sicko games to share with the class.

Timestamps

(01:45) Complaining/reminiscing about BioWare

(33:50) Two quick, less depressing shoutouts for the Video Game History Foundation and Trans Joy Jam

(39:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The Colors Within, Eternal Strands, Techno Banter)

Mentioned this week:

BioWare Studio Update

Arimia’s blog

Trans Joy Jam 2025

How to protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help:

Call your elected officials to oppose anti-trans, anti-immigrant policies. It’s so easy, we promise!

Three big lists of trans advocacy orgs you should donate to and volunteer with

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 111 - Space Cats and Trans Robots

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 18:01:44 GMT

This week, we played the sequel to one of our mutual favorite RPGs, and one of our most anticipated games of the year. Listen in to hear how that went, and be wary of spoilers! Check the timestamps! Take care, love you, bye.

Timestamps

(02:00) Non-spoiler Citizen Sleeper 2 thoughts

(46:00) Citizen Sleeper 2 spoilers start here!!!

(1:26:45) Citizen Sleeper 2 spoilers end here!!!

(1:32:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

How to protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Things are bad right now, but you can help make them better. Please take some time to consider how you can help trans people, immigrants, and others targeted by our fascist government:

Call your elected officials to oppose anti-trans, anti-immigrant policies. It’s so easy, we promise!

Three big lists of trans advocacy orgs you should donate to and volunteer with

LA Mutual Aid Network fire resources

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 110 - Squandering the Gift of Prophecy on Video Games

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Since there’s no big news from Nintendo or anything this week, we take this episode to go over last year’s gaming predictions and try to correctly guess more than one thing that will happen in 2025. Then, as you could have predicted, Robin has no memory of the past week and Willa talks about yuri.

Timestamps

(01:15) Our great 2024 gaming predictions

(19:00) Our hopefully better 2025 gaming predictions

(35:20) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week?

Mentioned this week

The Worst Game Jam 2025

LA Mutual Aid Network fire resources

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Metroid Prime has been making gamers love reading since 2002

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 109 - 2025 Is The Year Of Silksong (Definitely)

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 11:00:24 GMT

A new year is upon us, and everyone’s decided to keep making video games. This week, we ease into 2025 by running down some of the games we’re most excited about playing in the coming year.

Timestamps

(01:30) The Worst Garbage game jam announcement!!

(05:30) Our 2025 most anticipated games

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

Mentioned this week

The Worst Game Jam 2025

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

The thing they say they’re mad at never actually matters

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 108 - The Third Annual Girl Mode Awards

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 05:00:43 GMT

It’s time once again for the most important and sincere awards show in all of gaming: The Girlies! Listen in as we hand out awards new and old, from Best Game That’s Just Mid to Best Inanimate Object.

Thanks to everyone who started listening or stuck with us in 2024! Happy New Year!!!

Timestamps

(00:30) What are we doing here?

(02:40) The awards begin

(1:39:45) GOTY discussion

Mentioned this week

The Way They Walk in Liberl

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

Solace State and the Return of Bio-awareness in Cyberpunk

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Terror of Tamagotchi

Grief and Grace Along Route Zero

Planescape Torment: Never meet other people’s heroes

Ageism in Games: Stop Calling Old Games Outdated: A Self-Review of Anodyne

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Talking for 5 Hours About 1000xResist - dotzip

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 107 - Hekki Ghost

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 10:46:07 GMT

There’s no way most of you little freaks ended up on the nice list this year, but we’re bringing you a gift anyway. For this edition of our annual game swap, we’re talking about 1000xResist and Lovely Lady RPG, two games with so little in common I can’t even write a cute little quip comparing them here.

Timestamps

(02:30) 1000xResist

(1:34:30) Fixer’s Song by Alex Mah & A Sum

(1:35:10) Lovely Lady RPG

(2:37:20) Untitled by Lutzl & Digital Poppy

(2:37:55) Willa and Robin haven’t been up to anything else this week

Mentioned this week

1000xResist

Lovely Lady RPG

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

The Game Awards for Games Who Can't Afford the Game Awards

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 106 - A High Horse Standing On A Soapbox

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 11:00:02 GMT

The Game Awards found some exciting new ways to be disappointing this year, but Fumito Ueda also announced a game so who can really be that mad? We talk through this year’s “awards show” then catch up with our mutual obsession, a game about fishing and wearing dresses.

Timestamps

(00:30) You do not have to hand it to Geoff

(1:01:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Infinity Nikki, Reverse 1999, Caves of Qud)

Mentioned this week

Next week we’ll be discussing 1000xResist and Lovely Lady RPG!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Is it Wizardry? Is it Final Fantasy? No! It's Dungeon Antiqua

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 105 - We Are Fans of Things That Exist

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 10:51:42 GMT

We watched the PC Gaming Show as an amuse-bouche for The Game Awards, and found a few games to pique our interest plus one to pique our anger. Then we talk through a handful of games we’re either having fun with or anticipate doing so, and end by announcing our plans for the rest of the year, including what games we'll be discussing at length in the final episode of 2024!

Timestamps

(01:00) The ups and downs of the PC Gaming Show

(26:10) Toem 2 & Prisma sure look cool

(30:50) Dungeon crawling in Dungeon Antiqua

(37:20) Having fun being nice in Infinity Nikki

(46:20) Getting down to business (and announcing our annual game swap selections)

(58:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to? (feat. Sakura Quest, Girls Band Cry)

Mentioned this week

Khara, Sunrise Animate Gundam GQuuuuuuX TV Series

1000xResist

Lovely Lady RPG

Finding the You Inside in Psychroma - dotzip

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

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

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 104 - Final Fantasy XXVII

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 11:00:18 GMT

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

Listen to Mel Stone

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Liz Ryerson on The Indie Game Awards

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 103 - That's My Catboy!

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 11:00:34 GMT

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

Threshold

Sudden Death

Neurokino Retrograde

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Stunning Anime Look Back Appreciates the Work of Art

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 102 - What the Clapping Is For

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:00:37 GMT

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

Willa’s blog

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 101 - Having a Bad Time (Complimentary) in Mouthwashing

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 11:00:51 GMT

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

This post from Rowan Zeoli

Some help changing your name and gender marker

Willa’s blog

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Huge spreadsheets of mutual aid, justice orgs, and more

Prisonculture shares a lot of good resources on Bluesky

Let us know what we should add to this list!

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

Episode 100 - Two Years of Impeccable Taste

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:00:04 GMT

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)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Fulfilling Our Promise in Signalis w/ Girl Mode

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

Episode 99 - Friends Fear Me, Me Want Fish

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 10:00:58 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

Episode 98 - Demo Fiends with Rachel Watts!

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:00:09 GMT

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

Episode 97 - The Care and Feeding of a Big Magic Wolf

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:25:49 GMT

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

Episode 96 - Girls With Swords & Really Freaky Dudes

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 10:00:54 GMT

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)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Episode 26: Giant-Size Girl-Mode #1

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

Episode 95 - It's Time to Fuck With the X-Men

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 10:00:00 GMT

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 38: The Sisterhood of Evil Podcasters

Episode 56: Castle of Lesbianism

Episode 72: Goin' Down to Mutant Town

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

The Plucky Squire: The Kotaku Review

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

Episode 94 - The Memorial Grimace Podcast

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 10:00:39 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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

Episode 93 - Giving the People What They Want (Mets Updates)

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 10:00:53 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Nintendo Needs a Reason for the Girl to be the Hero

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Episode 92 - We've Been Cancelled by Sony

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 10:00:26 GMT

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

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”

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

dotzip talks for five hours about 1000xResist

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Episode 91 - Big Nap Energy

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 10:30:35 GMT

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 90 - Kratos Takes Manhattan

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 10:09:36 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

We played Valve’s secret new shooter, Deadlock

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Episode 89 - The Steam Deck Renaissance with Brendon Bigley!

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 14:30:42 GMT

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

The Bright Sword is a Radiant Reimagining of Arthurian Legend

Brendon’s blog, Wavelengths.online

Listen to Into the Aether!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 88 - We All Love Big Pretzels

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 14:13:21 GMT

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?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 87 - My Nintendogs Are Gonna Kill Me

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 19:52:35 GMT

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)

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 86 - You Deserve A Banh Mi

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 15:24:59 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 85 - Go Play Gravity Rush and Pray for the Mets

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 20:26:27 GMT

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

.45 Parabellum Bloodhound Trailer

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Is Xbox Game Pass really worth it anymore?

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Episode 84 - Looking Out for Number Zero

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 13:38:09 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 83 - The Best and Worst Games of 2024 (So Far)

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 13:55:07 GMT

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

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

The Bear Season 3 Premiere is A Messy Amuse-Bouche

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 82 - We're Gay for Baseball

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 13:37:07 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 81 - The Sword Issue

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:35:00 GMT

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Listen to us on Into the Aether!

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Episode 80 - The Beauty of an Ollie

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 14:56:51 GMT

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

Willa previews darkwebSTREAMER, Neva, and Skate Story

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 79 - Summer Game Fest: Better Than Expected Edition

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:54:01 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 78 - Summer Game Fest: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up Edition

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 18:04:28 GMT

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!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Druckmann's unedited transcript

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Episode 77 - ACAB Includes Duck Detective

Wed, 29 May 2024 14:38:28 GMT

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)

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 76 - Shoutout to Big Sippin

Wed, 22 May 2024 20:31:48 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

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maybe you’ll find me by theydevil

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Episode 75 - Bad News, Good Games

Wed, 15 May 2024 16:03:56 GMT

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Willa’s Crow Country review

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Episode 74 - The Fabled Short Episode

Wed, 08 May 2024 14:55:29 GMT

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!

Witching Stone

Robin continues talking about Witching Stone

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

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Stellar Blade and the Male Gaze

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Episode 73 - Good Week to Be a Monster Fucker

Wed, 01 May 2024 14:59:32 GMT

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

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Support bail funds for campus protesters!

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.

Palestinian Relief Bundle on itch

TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Palestinian Relief Bundle on itch

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Episode 72 - Goin' Down to Mutant Town

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:14:28 GMT

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

TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Jeff Strain’s extremely bizarre statement on Possibility Space

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Episode 71 - A Very Professional Episode

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 18:27:14 GMT

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

Willa’s Harold Halibut review

Into the Aether

Robin tells you to play Between Horizons in more detail

TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 70 - Sapphics Stay Winning

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 21:04:59 GMT

[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 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!!!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Palestine Relief Bundle on itch (coming April 12)

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 69 - That's the Sex Number

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 21:02:08 GMT

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

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!!!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Kotaku EIC Resigns Over New Editorial Edict

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Episode 68 - Dragon's Dogma 2 Is A Very Good Video Game

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:40:30 GMT

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!

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

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 67 - Into the Zack Dimension with Jade King!

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:22:47 GMT

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!

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

Jade’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review

Mentioned this week

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.

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 66 - How Do You Milk a Chocobo?

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 18:36:58 GMT

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?

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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

Mentioned this week

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Who’s Telling the Truth about Disco Elysium?

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Episode 65 - They Hated Me Because I Secreted Foam

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:47:09 GMT

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

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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

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Episode 64 - Your Art's Fucking Weird!

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 01:32:17 GMT

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/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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

The Murder Game Revolution That Has Gripped China

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Episode 63 - The Amazing Disappearing Games Industry

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:07:14 GMT

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

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Robin’s Prince of Persia review

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Episode 62 - Nintendo Will Buy the International Space Station In 2024

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 14:53:25 GMT

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

WIlla’s Another Code review

Willa on the Genshin Impact concert

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 61 - The Nintendo Switcheroo

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:14:02 GMT

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Willa and Robin's most anticipated games

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Episode 60 - Em-Dash Content

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 14:37:26 GMT

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 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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Send us questions and Girlies categories!

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Episode 59 - The Second Annual Girl Mode Awards

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 15:31:59 GMT

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Send us questions and suggest Girlies categories!

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Episode 58 - Gaslight, Gatekeep, Goddess

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 14:58:06 GMT

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Willa’s Winter Spectacular piece

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Episode 57 - Gaming's Biggest Waste of Time

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:44:45 GMT

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:

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.

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

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Towards a Free Palestine game jam

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Episode 56 - Castle of Lesbianism

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 14:56:53 GMT

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Towards a Free Palestine game jam

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BONUS - The Games That Made Us Remastered

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 21:29:43 GMT

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.

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

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 55 - The Game Awards But Good

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 21:07:36 GMT

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

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.

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

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Episode 54 - The Nostradamuses of Video Games

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 21:34:50 GMT

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.

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

Game Assist's "Gamers for Palestine" resource packet

Music

Street Food by FASSounds

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Episode 53 - One Year of Correct Opinions

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 14:39:06 GMT

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.

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

Games for Gaza

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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Episode 52 - Please Stop Making Games, We Can't Keep Up

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:32:29 GMT

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.

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

Games for Gaza