Backloggers Anonymous

It's time for another three parter here at Backloggers Anonymous! Angelo is joined by Jaime and Julian to talk about a pretty big game that two thirds of the cast have never played: Final Fantasy X. Now, after a three hour FF episode of Nerds Without Pants you might think that Julian doesn't have much more to say about fantasies that are final, but you would be wrong. Seriously, we can't get this guy to shut up!

If you haven't played Final Fantasy X before, this is the episode that will (hopefully) get you playing along with us. Julian puts some perspective on where the franchise was at the time, and how fan reaction to this particular game has changed over the years. We talk about the battle system, some eerie similarities to Final Fantasy XIII, and digress all over the place.

We hope you enjoy the show, and if you're playing along, we'll be talking about the start of the game all the way up to the Macalania Cloister of Trials. Join us, won't you? And if you recently played through, please comment, but try to keep spoilers to a minimum, at least until we get to the next episode.

You know who deserves respect? Anybody who finishes this game. Seriously. While we generally came away from Alundra with really positive feedback, some of those puzzles were either frustratingly difficult to the point of seeming almost unfair, or just trite and boring. Untangling word puzzles to talk to dead saints in a particular order isn't really anybody's idea of a good time, neither are some of those pillar-pushing puzzles. But hey, if you pulled it off and wanted to hear what we thought (or even if you gave up), click on the play button and find out.

For our next show, we're going to be tackling our first really huge game: Final Fantasy X. Yeah, I know I said we won't do AAA games, but considering the recent re-release and the fact that there's actually quite a few of us (myself included) that haven't played the game, I decided to make an exception. It also sounds like the game isn't exactly a flawless gem (that voice acting.... ugh....), which always makes for some great discussion. Hopefully you're all on board for that.

Well, since Alundra is finished, let us know what you thought in the comments. Even if I don't always reply, I do read over every comment on this show, and we love hearing your thoughts. You can also message me using the site's system if you want. I'm always open to ideas, suggestions, and game recommendations. Enjoy!

This time on Backloggers, I'm joined by two new guests, Chris and Jamie, to discuss our second retro game, the Playstation classic Alundra. On the block for discussion are some of the other games in the "Stalker" franchise (it's not what you think!) Working Designs legacy and our relative histories with their titles, and our familiarity with similar games, like the Zelda franchise.

So, not gonna lie, this game doesn't always play fair like we discuss on the show, so if you've decided to play along, be prepared. We've decided this will be a two part show, so we'll see you in a few weeks. Have fun!

Here it is at last, folks: the conclusion of the Backlogger's journey into Asura's Wrath! Julian and Angelo are once again joined by internet gamer sensation and all around pleasant person Erika Szabo. There's lots to talk about, so let's jump right in.

Things kick off with the one-two punch of the dumbest episode in the game and the most epic episode in the game. The crew talks at length on the hilarity of a hot spring scene and the insane and awesome implications of battling on the moon. Yes, the freaking moon!

The episode by episode recap focuses on how super cool (and dreamy) Yasha is, Julian's new-found frustrations with the one on one battle mechanics, and the incredibly interesting Buddhist elements that infuse this over the top action game. The conversation gets deep at times, something nobody on the show was expecting.

Things wrap up with a spirited debate over the "true" ending to the game. Is it ethical? Does it really ruin the accomplishment of finishing the game when there's a hidden cliffhanger that leads into DLC? And how is that DLC, exactly? Julian gives it an assessment, and both he and Erika try to convince the (very) grumpy Angelo of its merits.

We hope you enjoyed this series of Backloggers! Come back next time as Angelo and some fresh faces discuss Alundra for PSX.

Welcome back to Backloggers! We're waist deep in Asura's wrath in this episode. Before listening you should have played up to the end of episode 9. Come join Julian, Angelo, and special guest Erika Szabo as we talk all about Asura.

We start out by getting Angelo and Erika's initial impressions on this very divisive game. Angelo is pleasantly surprised at how much he likes it, but at the same time is frustrated by its shortcomings. Erika is 100% on board with what Capcom and Cyber Connect 2 pulled off, and both agree that they can't wait to finish the game. Even Angelo's wife has been enjoying it!

We close out with an episode by episode breakdown of the story. As the discussion flows, we end up finding some more depth to the character of Asura than what's explicitly depicted on screen. Like any great anime, there are plenty of talking points and elements to disect, and that's exactly what we do.

Next episode, we finish the game! If you're playing along with us (or played the game in the past) , throw some comments our way and we'll try to work them in to our closing discussion. Until then, enjoy Asura's Wrath, and check out Erika's impressions of Bravely Default. Not really related, but it comes from Japan as well, so, yeah!

Hey there, Julian here. Yeah, I'm not your usual Backloggers Anonymous host, but we're tackling a game that I have a really huge soft spot for: Asura's Wrath.

We are joined by Nerds Without Pants fan favorite Erika Szabo who takes her place as our resident anime expert. This is important, because Asura's Wrath is a huge, mushy love letter to Japanese animation, which you can read all about in my review. We spend the first part of the show talking about our personal history with anime, as well as some of our all-time favorite shows.

After that, we delve into the topic of the dreaded Quick Time Event (or QTE if you're funky). This is also a big deal, as Asura's Wrath is almost entirely QTE based. Opinions vary among the three of us, but I do a pretty good job of getting Angelo and Erika excited for this play through.

Finally, we wrap up with some talk on DLC (this game had a "huge" controversy concerning its DLC), and some favorite anime recommendations.

This game is quite a trip, and I hope you'll join us. If you do, play through the first 9 episodes. That should take you about 2-3 hours, and then get ready for part 2 of the show, where we talk about the insanity thus far!

First off, I'm sorry about the audio. Technical issues caused my feed to sound a little on the distorted side. It's not horrible, but it's noticeable. I believe I've found the cause of the problem and fixed it, but unfortunately this recording is what it is.

We talk about, well, a lot of stuff. The game has its highs and lows, but for me one of the lowest points was the music. We get into it for a few minutes on the show, but it's a real shame to see a franchise that lodged so may amazing tunes in gamers' heads take a departure into the bland. In a world where Dark Souls has a dark fantasy theme and had an orchestrated, ambient score that showed no fear of melody, I expected much more from this game.

It's not all doom and gloom though, like most of the games we tackle, the game has its quality elements. On the whole, I enjoyed my time with Lords of Shadow. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below!

Next time, Julian snatches the show away from me and brings frequent NWP guest Erika Szabo on to discuss Asura's Wrath. Be sure to check it out!

So, this was supposed to be a Halloween special, but clearly we're a little bit late for that. Oh well. 

This time we're tackling Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, which is a game both Julian and I have meant to get around to playing, but never got around to for one reason or another. Unlike most of our podcasts, we don't really have anybody on board who has played this game before, so we spent most of the 'cast talking about our history with Castlevania titles, some Konami titles, and Tiger handheld LCD games.

Yeah, I know. But it's related, trust me.

In the course of the podcast, we referenced a re-release of this title that included the DLC and Mirror of Fate. That's out now and priced very well at $39.99, so if you want to play along with us, picking the game up this way isn't a bad option.

As usual, we'd love to get some feedback from the community, so let us know what you think and if you'll be playing along with us. If you've got some great talking points or stir up some good discussion, we'll try and work it into the next recording as well.

So, we wrapped up El Shaddai, and, for better and for worse, our expectations were pretty spot on. As you might imagine considering our previous podcast, stuff got deep again. We also had some theories and conjecture about a lot of the messages and artistic choices present in the game. Even if El Shaddai ended up not being for you, we hope you'll listen anyway to see what we took away from it. 

Enoch

As usual on our follow up podcasts, be aware that this is loaded with spoilers. We assume that, by this point, you've either played the game or given up on it, so if that's not the case, finish up first (it's only about 10 hours tops) then give it a listen. 

Ishtar. Interesting resemblance right?

It's also a good time to remind our listeners that Richard did some great (although also spoiler filled) write-ups on El Shaddai. You can find them in the show notes on our first podcast discussing this game, and don't forget to check out Richard Clark's work over at Christ and Pop Culture and Game Church. Thanks again for joining us Richard!

Yes, that's right, we brought in a special guest for this one: Richard Clark of, well, half the internet really. Mostly he's known for his work at Christ and Pop Culture and Game Church. For our intentions however, it's his work covering our next game, El Shaddai, that got my attention. He's written pretty extensively on the game, and we're very happy to have him on board for these next two podcasts.

 

I'll be honest, this is probably one of the best recordings we've done so far. What started off as pretty standard fare conversational topics ended up getting deep. Really deep. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but make sure to give this one a listen. Also, be sure to check out Richard's work on the game:

Review for Killscreen.comEditorial for Paste

And then a four-part series for GameRanx. WARNING! THESE CONTAIN SPOILERS!

 

El Shaddai as a Roadmap to a Religious Game 

El Shaddai and the Importance of Choice 

El Shaddai: Choice Made Flesh in Lucifel and Enoch 

A Game about Faith on a Personal Scale