Deep Listens

In this episode Gino, Pete, and Noelle discuss Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and mental health! We discuss Hellblade's representation of mental illness, how Senua's conception of reality results in several cool mechanics, and where the tension between representing struggle and fun gameplay. We also discuss the game's Norse Mythological setting and how it deploys that setting to reinforce its central themes. It's viking time yet again!

This episode Gino and Pete recap some of the highlights from the Extra Life 2017 stream and the games they played. This includes Brave Fencer Musashi, Hatoful Boyfriend, Hello Kitty Cube Frenzy, Project Gotham Racing, Chrono Cross, FFX-2, and Silent Hill. We also discuss some lessons from Extra Life that we'll take into next year's Community Endurance Run.

In this episode Gino and Chris "ZombiePie" -REDACTED- discuss Hatoful Boyfriend as punishment for Gino missing a show a few months ago. We discuss the quality of the game's pigeon romance simulation and it's clever writing. Gino then laments the game's failure at critiquing the Dating Sim genre. We finish up by ranking Hatoful Boyfriend among all of the games Chris has forced Gino to play.

In this episode Gino and Pete are joined by special guest Ian From the Internet to discuss Slime Rancher. We talk about the game's central gameplay loop and how quickly it wears thin. We also discuss some of the late game slime ranching techniques. We then take to the esoteric to talk about racial mixing among slimes and where Slime Rancher fits in the ever-expanding space western sub-genre.

In this episode, co-conductors Gino and Chris "ZombiePie" -REDACTED- take some listener questions, discuss chapters 3 and 4 of Final Fantasy X-2, and debut a new feature for future FFX-2 episodes. We take questions on the appropriateness of ketchup as a pasta sauce additive, the FF TCG, and Chris's absurd idea to perform a "Four Job Fiesta" during his first playthrough of FF5. We then make ourselves sad by talking about the many, many flaws of the middle sections of FFX-2. We wrap things up by finding love again during a concert in the rain. This game people. This fucking game.

In this episode Gino and Pete are joined by special guest Mello "2Mello" Mello to talk about the excellent Taiwanese horror game Detention. We start off by responding to some listener feed back and discussing whether our absentee host, Billy, is in fact the cold blooded assassin he claims to be. We then delve into Detention, it's setting, and it's incredible story. We wrap up by discussing horror games in general and what makes specific horror games great.

In this episode Gino, Billy, and Pete finish up Persona 5 after Devin had to drop out due to other commitments. But make no mistake, the analysis is still as pointed as ever! The crew answers a bunch of listener feedback including looking into how JRPGs came to be bloated with subsystems and assigning JRPG side-characters to each recurring guest. We then delve into the endgame of Persona 5 and discuss how the game stigmatizes the ordinary, argues for radical political action, and still manages to slightly disappoint. Jump in for the exciting conclusion to a great discussion of a great game!

This is a follow up episode to our last interview with Kyle after GP New Jersey. Thanks to his Top 8 finish in New Jersey, Kyle was able to compete in Pro Tour Hour of Devastation in Kyoto! He explains how he prepared for the tournament, what deck he played, how he did, and how he spent is first trip to Japan! We then transition to discussing Ixalan and the cards we think will impact new Standard. We close out with some rapid-fire questions.

In this episode Gino and Pete are joined by Deep Listens superfan and Neku appreciator Kyle "RekiWylls" Young to discuss The World Ends With You. We start by responding to some feedback from Kyle on our Pyre discussion and that game's storytelling style. We then discuss the numerous unnecessary and inscrutable mechanics in TWEWY. Pete then leads a discussion on TWEWY's unique perspective on trendiness and consumer culture.

In this episode Gino, Billy, Pete, and Devin discuss the events of Persona 5's fifth and sixth dungeons. This one is a chock full o' spoilers and logistical questions.