It’s the battle of the babes this month on Sharlayan Dropouts as we go wall-to-wall to figure out
which hotties buff our hosts to max potency. That’s right, we’re ranking the Top 12 stone foxes,
the veritable mamacitas, of Final Fantasy XIV. Listen as Victor Hunter, Nadia Oxford, Mike
Williams, and Eric Van Allen tell on themselves for your enjoyment. Find out if your favs made
the list! And if they didn’t, head on over to patreon.com/bloodgodpod to get Discord access and
yell at us about it there! Spoiler Level Orange: This is a scattershot discussion that touches upon a few elements from a
several different storylines including Endwalker 6.3 and Save the Queen, though light on actual
detail and context.

Eric had to shoulder the entirety of the show last week because Kat went skiing and Nadia had the audacity to catch COVID, but the gang is well and truly back together this week! Writer and WaPo editor Alyse Stanley joins the crew to talk about Fire Emblem Engage, a.k.a Aquafresh Teen Dragon Force. Just kidding. The Blood God loves the toothpaste hero, and we love Fire Emblem Engage in general. How much? Plug this week's show into your ears and find out. Also in this episode:

• Yes, you can get married in Final Fantasy XIV
• Industry layoffs, oh God why
• Kat is playing Crisis Core. GONGAGA
• We re-visit Tales of Vesperia. Is it Pantheon material, or nah?
• That one time Nadia found a naked lady in her Super Nintendo game

Kat and Nadia are both out this week, so Eric shifts into a different gear to chat about the mech-fantasy RPG Chained Echoes with Friends at the Table's Austin Walker! The pair discuss 2022's late-in-the-year surprise hit and why it's captured their hearts, as well as their Steam Decks. All that, plus:

• A primer on the ongoing Wizards of the Coast / OGL news
• Who would you want making a Hunter x Hunter game?
• A surprise end-of-pod guest appearance

All that and more on this week's episode of Axe of the Blood God. Check it out!

The year is coming to a close, and so we're looking back on all the role-playing games 2022 delivered. Kat, Nadia, and Eric are joined by the Sharlayan Dropouts Mike and Victor to help break down all the happenings in the RPG world this year, including:

• Square Enix's fall blunderbuss of RPGs
• The magic of Elden Ring
• Can an RPG truly have it all in Xenoblade Chronicles 3?

All this and more, including one last holiday Nostalgia Nook/Pit. We hope all our listeners and backers are having a wonderful holiday time, and we'll see you soon in the new year for a fresh batch of RPG goodness.

Fans of Ivalice, the history of visual novels, and the works of Jean-Luc Godard might just find something to sink their teeth into this episode. Victor explores the many twists and turns in the surprisingly robust history behind Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn’s Summoner weapon, The Veil of Wiyu in this first episode of a recurring series that aims to shed light on the real-world inspirations behind the weaponry of Final Fantasy XIV. If you want to see more dedicated episodes like this be sure to let us know at @SharlayanPod or @BloodGodPod on Twitter or on the official Axe of the Blood God Discord server available to $1 subscribers at patreon.com/bloodgodpod. SPOILER LEVEL GREEN: Not a spoiler to be seen. A few references to some contextless plot details for various games in the series but nothing to keep you from enjoying this episode regardless of where you are in your journey.

Music:

• Down the Up Staircase - Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
• Save / Load Screen - Final Fantasy Tactics
• Protagonist’s Theme - Final Fantasy Tactics
• Trisection - Final Fantasy Tactics
• Not Alone Jazz Arrangement - JAZZ - FINAL FANTASY -
• Fear After - Final Fantasy Tactics
• Green Eyed Love - Mayer Hawthorne
• James Bond Theme (From Dr. No) - Monty Norman
• Under the Imperial Flag - Sakura Wars 3
• I feel like I’ve heard that one before - Final Fantasy Tactics

Sources:

• Marathon Gaming Retrospectives - https://tinyurl.com/y5evjjbt
• Final Fantasy Wiki - Sound Novels - Oeilvert - https://tinyurl.com/ze3zd8vx
• Hardcore Gaming 101 - The Tale of Oeilvert - https://tinyurl.com/2p9mrzb7
• FFT Sound Novel Let’s Play by Nekomakine - https://tinyurl.com/msnvnupe

The universe has survived another bout of Geoff Keighly's Game Awards, where the real awards are the memes mined from cynical adults' Twitter timelines. Does that work grammatically? Eh, whatever. Point is, Geoff Keighly threw a party and now there are new RPGs to talk about. Which Nadia and Eric do with the help of very special guest Lucas White.  Another important topic of discussion: The overlooked RPG gems of 2022. A whole heap of games dropped way too late to get that sweet, sweet December recognition, and the Blood God crew does its best to give them a nice boost. Also in this episode:

• The real treasure in Dragon Quest Treasures are the Slime friends we made along the way.
• Holy crap! Hades II is coming!
• Holy crap! Chained Echoes is really good!
• A riveting tale of Sonic the Hedgehog and election fraud.

This week on Axe of the Blood God, friend of the pod Len joins Kat, Nadia, and Eric as they talk about one of this year's most popular RPG sub-genres: The strategy game. From turn-based to real time, from revision to brand-new IP, there was a lot going on with the strategy genre this year. And, uh, there still is! The year's not quite over! How does one find the time and money to love them all? Also in this episode:

• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Takes
• Speaking of strategy games, how's Marvel's Midnight Suns?
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is a pleasant flight so far
• What's the worst game you ever got as a gift?

POST SHOW Len joins the Axe of the Blood God's weekly ride into hell via the post show. There's a hodgepodge of discourse this week, including "Hangovers suck," and how each of us would fix the Game Awards. Half the awards are currently belted out in the thirty seconds a nominated developer might theoretically get up to use the can, so maybe putting a stop to that kind of thing is a first step.

For the June 2021 edition of Pantheon of the Blood God, Kat, Nadia, and Eric take a deep dive into the first game of the Mass Effect series! They trace its origins as the follow-up to Knights of the Old Republic, delve into its soundtrack, and pick its five best moments. Then comes the big conversation: Is Mass Effect worthy of inclusion in the Pantheon of the Blood God? Pantheon of the Blood God is a series devoted to diving into the very best RPGs of all time. You can find full catalog on our Patreon at https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod or on our website at https://bloodgodpod.com/series/pantheon-of-the-blood-god/!

Hop on the airship back to your hometown and listen to your favourite Final Fantasy XIV podcast, now on the free feed! The Dropouts bring a very special guest to family dinner, author of Fight, Magic, Items, Aidan Moher, to discuss the impact FFXIV has had on the JRPG and MMO genres over the years. Plus it’s the first annual Holiday Gift Guide; our hosts give you the perfect gift ideas at any budget for the FFXIV fan in your life. And stick around for a very special segment that will no doubt be a recurring fan-favourite for years to come… SPOILER LEVEL GREEN: Rest easy, slowpokes, there’s not a spoiler to be found for malms. A perfect episode to jump into regardless of where you’re at in your journey!

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Digital Foundry's John Linneman joins Kat, Nadia, and Eric for a detailed discussion about Star Ocean: The Divine Force. It's been a Canis Major's age since Square Enix did anything with Star Ocean, and the Blood God crew is ashamedly not up-to-date on the series. That's why John is here. (Also, it's because he's cool). Is the new game everything Star Ocean fans have been waiting for? Find out. Also in this episode:

• Don't sleep on Harvestella, it's pretty dang good
• Mass Effect 5 exists
• Mazeltov to Ash Ketchum for becoming the Galar Region champion with the aid of a Pokemon that's too horrifying to exist
• Nadia made friends with some crows, then accidentally pissed them off with pistachios