Critical Diversions

Against all the odds, we're still here, and back once again to talk about games. This week in particular, it's just more Star of Providence, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Monster Hunter Wilds, as well as some Chrono Trigger 30th anniversary non-game projects and a pervert clicking GameCube analog sticks into a microphone

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

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Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at Fort Famly & The Greenhouse on Mars

Our break music this week was "The Glasshouse with Butterfly" from Machinarium, composed by Tomas Dvorak

On this week's show, Matt's putting on his big boy apology pants and kissing Capcom's ring, at last swearing loyalty to Monster Hunter once again. In other games, Star of Providence continues to be one of the best games ever made, Spelunky 2 got a native PS5 version, and Matt's playing dumb amounts of Mario's Picross on GameBoy.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

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Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at Fort Famly & The Greenhouse on Mars

Our break music this week was "Metro City (Japan, Day)" from Astro Boy on PS2. Astro Boy was composed by:

Takashi Yoshimatsu

Yutaka Minobe

Naofumi Hataya

Mariko Nanba

Teruhiko Nakagawa

Fumie Kumatani

Hideaki Kobayashi

Norihiko Machida

On this week's episode, Matt opens up the glaze factory for Star of Providence, boldly declaring it to be one of the best roguelites he's ever played. He's also doing the opposite of glazing for Pokémon Legends Z-A, the latest disappointment that Nintendo dorks will endlessly bemoan when it comes out later this year. Also, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii continues, and find out the status of his wife and Monster Hunter Wilds.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at Fort Famly & The Greenhouse on Mars

Our break music this week was Passing Breeze (Lounge Suite) by Remorse

On this chaotic edition of the Weekly Diversion, Matt's regaling y'all with the harrowing journey of a cat that ate a bit of plastic, as well as his overall thoughts on Wario Land 4 and his wife's first few hours of getting her sea legs in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. In the news, we've got the return of both Samurai Pizza Cats and Tony Hawk, as well as evil billionaires up to nasty shit.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at Fort Famly & The Greenhouse on Mars

Our break music this week was “Pitch Black Intrusion” by Filippo Vicarelli from the Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania DLC

On this dummy thick episode of the show, Matt's fighting a cat and trying to find time to talk about games, including Ultros, Echoes of the Plum Grove, Cuisineer, and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. And after the break, he's going over the recent Playstation State of Play, aka that trailer for Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was good as hell.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at Fort Famly & The Greenhouse on Mars

Our break music this week was Good Taste, composed by Ryo Fukuda for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

This week on the show: Matt watched Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Castlevania Nocturne season 2, one of which continues the series tradition of being the best damn video game adaptation there's ever been, and the other is Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In terms of games, he's got some things to say about Laika: Aged Through Blood, as well as Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. And for some reason he's playing Dark Souls Remastered again.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at

This week on the show, Matt's not doing so hot either, both physically and existentially. Time to talk about some video games then, baby. Such as Super Mario 64, 2Synth, and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

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Matt's review of 2Synth

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at

This week on the show: Matt's finally finished Brothership. Shockingly, he has things to say. We're also talking about the massive 1.2 update for Infinity Nikki, a first-party SNES game from 1998 releasing outside of Japan for the first time, the cancellation of Earthblade, and the recent Xbox Developer Direct.

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at

Our break music this week was Jellyfish Hall from Mario & Luigi: Brothership, composed by Hideki Sakamoto

Matt's back with your normally scheduled, recorded at 6am bleary-eyed and sick programming! We're catching up on games from the past few weeks, including Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, Blade Chimera, and (as always) more Infinity Nikki talk. And I guess the Switch 2 reveal happened or something.

Matt's Game of the Year 2024 writeup

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

Bit Harmony on Spotify

Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at

Our break music this week was the OC ReMix 'Spacious Beauty' by timaeus222

You're invited! It's time for the second annual game of the year awards from your local internet facilitated games club, this time presented by Infinity Nikki (but not really). What took home the #1 spot? Which games were tragically left off the list? Who/what did/received the most glazing? It's time to find out...

Check out Bit Harmony: A Video Game Music Podcast!

Bit Harmony on Apple

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Become a Patron of All N!

Matt Murray on Blue Sky - @mattmurray.bsky.social

Podcast art and Momo Award episode art by Natascha Murray

Natascha Murray on Blue Sky - @couchmochi.bsky.social

The various Critical Diversions theme songs were made by Mic Fox. Check out all of his cool stuff over at

Songs used in this episode:

Stormy Saxophone '96 - SNK Sound Team

Traveling the Warp Pipe - Yasunori Mitsuda (Mario Party)

Play a Mini-Game! - Yasunori Mitsuda (Mario Party)

Timis's Beauty Lab (Aroma Extraction Room) - Artur Baryshev (Infinity Nikki)