Misspent Youth

#21 Erika Vale

My Rule is as many controllers as possible.

This week we welcome Erika Vale to the podcast, host of Bristol Video Games Social. Erika tells us what it’s like to host a regular gaming-centric event, the paradox of having social anxiety and being a confident host, and what providing such a social space means to her.

Also we talk Game Gear and Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon’s Trap, weird and wonderful platformers, JRPGs as comfort food, world design within Soulsborne titles, the strong personality of Vib Ribbon and Gitaroo Man, and the part that Final Fantasy XIV played in Erika’s transition.

Follow Erika on Twitter @MeadowDrone

Odai Quaye (Audible Autism, STGWeekly) talks to Robert about growing up in the late 90s/early 00s as a young black game enthusiast in North London during the postcode wars, the magical off-kilter library of the PlayStation 1, and how indispensable MAME and emulation is in preserving wonderful media.

Also, we discuss the state of grime and drill in 2018, fighting game trauma, Suzuki Bakuhatsu, Data East Jank and Trio the Punch, Shaq Fu diss tracks, British video games TV, G.R.O.W.L, and Meat Loaf.

Follow Odai on Twitter @wheresmygift, and check out his blog Nomatrix12.

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Prolific composer 2Mello (Regular Human Basketball, Read Only Memories, Waypoint) joins us to talk about his early experiences with QBasic and NES, and his journey into becoming a full time musician and his unlikely route into composing game soundtracks. We talk about his releases Return of the Soul and Memories of Tokyo-To, and he shares exclusive details on his upcoming Silent Hill-inspired concept album.

Also, we talk faking piety to play Super Metroid, what sets Hollow Knight apart from its peers, the tenets of good horror, and the joy of Hideki Naganuma and Shibuya-kei.

Follow Matthew on Twitter @MelloMakes, check out his own Podcast The Sample Study, and please consider backing his Patreon.

Note: Since the recording of this podcast, Mello released D&B album Trunk Fiction, which you should definitely hear.

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Anne Lee (Chic Pixel) joins us this week to share tale of her terrifying encounter with Oddworld posing a rocky start to her relationship with video games, eventually followed by an enthrallment with Final Fantasy VII and a lifelong fascination and academic interest with Otome and Boys’ Love media. Now working within the industry as a translator and localizer, we discuss questions of licensing and regulation posed to visual novels and H-games, and the bittersweet reality of creativity under NDAs.

Also, we talk Chic Pixel’s Community Game-A-Long, practicing Japanese through Tokimeki Memorial Girls’ Side 2, having problematic faves, her work as marketing consultant for JAST BLUE’s upcoming Sweet Pool localization, and why Falcom is cool as heck.

Follow Anne on Twitter @apricotsushi and Instagram @apricotsushi. If you want to know more about Otome, be sure to read her excellent overview of Koei’s Ruby Party imprint at Waypoint.

Also, be sure to snag Cat Painter (iOS/Android), which Anne localized!

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Jeremy Wyatt (Astral Era Podcast) joins us this week to discuss faith and queer identity; particularly, how Final Fantasy Tactics allowed him recontextualize his evangelical upbringing and come to terms with his homosexuality. Jeremy talks about his family's struggle with poverty and addiction, as well as time as an outreach worker for at-risk youth. Together we discuss our individual issues with organized religion, and our love of Supergiant's Pyre depiction an uplifting and progressive character of faith.

Also we talk Arizona's regressive politics, queer identity, Westboro Baptist Church, falling asleep in job interviews, friends in the church, secret baptisms, what it means to make your own family, and Robert uses Pastor K as an excuse to rave about Night in the Woods yet again.

Follow Jeremy on Twitter @Homoagogo.

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Freelance writer and game developer Becky Cunningham (RPGamer, OpenCritic) joins us this week to talk about her early experiences with the Apple ][ and how her love of SF and fantasy literature led to a lifelong relationship with interactive fiction, adventure games, and RPGs, and how she discovered she was genderqueer along the way. She also tells me about her upcoming otome game based on Robin Hood, from the perspective of Made Marian.

Also, we talk cowardly paladin love interests, large kitties, the otome renaissance, fiddling with DOS for hours, game critique formats, spousal warcraft warfare stalemates, why FFVIII is a bad first JRPG, and when it's time to let go.

Follow Becky on Twitter @BeckyCFreelance, and be sure to get in touch with her if you're an artist who'd be interested in working on her game.

This episode of Misspent Youth is dedicated to the memory of Michael A Cunningham, editor in chief of RPGamer, who sadly passed on a few days ago. This week's guest Becky Cunningham, no relation, was a former coworker and a good friend of his. I only interacted with Mac a handful of times online, but he was a passionate and thoughtful individual who will be missed by those who knew him and those who followed his work.

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Intermission "Beneath the Mask" by Shoji Meguro (from Persona 5)
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ​​​​​​​

Denise Ward (Morning Green Tea & Incorrect Vermintide) joins us this week to discuss falling in love with video games through a neighbour's Sega Saturn; the aesthetics of Nights intro Dreams, in particular. After playing cult PS1 JRPG Legend of Legaia, she began to foster relationships with individual games' lore, leading her to look at the medium in a new light, while also becoming frustrated with the hegemonic interests of the industry.

Also, we discuss being a female-presenting nonbinary person online, falling in love with games without necessarily playing them, preteen fascinations with fatalities, incels, fragile masculinity, topiary simulators, finding friends through LAN parties, being a decent person, tfw you get the skull, and Robert gets accused of being a Hanzo Main.

Follow Denise on Twitter @DrFesty and Instagram @DrFesty. Be sure to check in to @GothTeamEpic's debut Twitch stream of Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor on Saturday 22nd September, 8pm BST / 3pm EST / 12pm PST !!

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Intermission "Dreams of Love & Literature" by Dan Salvato (from Doki Doki Literature Club)
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions on abuse and suicide.

Freelance writer Nick Ransbottom joins us this week to speak about the role narrative games have played in his life, and the impact they made during hardships. We discuss his fraught relationship with his family following his coming out, and his viewpoint on What Remains of Edith Finch as an individual living with cystic fibrosis.

Also, we about how Sonic the Hedgehog's water levels traumatized a generation, Ni no Kuni 2's blasé attitude toward genocide, fatshaming in The Caligula Effect, and the terrifying appeal of Kingdom Hearts 2's endless summer prologue.

Follow Nick on Twitter @theeziokenway, and be sure to read his pieces I Love You, Man: Exploring Platonic Love in Final Fantasy XV and Trauma and Video Games: How Kingdom Hearts Helped Me Cope With Childhood Abuse.

Intro Music "Summer Vacation in Scanline" by Nurvuss
Intermission "URE-P" by Shigeru Tomita (from Rune Worth)
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ

Game designer and programmer Raven Mulvaney joins Misspent Youth to talk the role Pokémon played as an alternative means of communication in her youth, and how Treasure's Gunstar Super Heroes inspired her to start making her own games. We discuss her numerous projects, including an RPG that teaches Gaelic, and her upcoming Vive game Transition Level which you can play now.

Also: How Christine Love's Digital: A Love Story appeals to extremely online introverts, why Naughty Dog can only intersperse queer romance with extreme violence, hopes and anxieties for Fallout `76, and the respectful etiquette of Dark Souls online.

Follow Raven on Twitter @ravennoises and itch.io at aka-y.

We welcome Alva Chua back to discuss representation and performativity within games, and how it relates to her past career as a pro-domme. We also touch on contextualizing trans experience through genre, negotiating empowerment, where the lines in fantasy begin and end, games' terrible track record of portraying BDSM, and we critique VA-11 HALL-A and The Red Strings Club, as well as Waypoint's review of the latter title.

Follow Alva on Twitter @vinomatic, and come to her performance at Tweak #2 in London on Thursday 16 August.

This episode contains spoilers for The Red Strings Club, Catherine, Digital Devil Saga, and Danganronpa.

Intro Music "Gyaru-kei Digital" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ
Outro Music "トワイライトでHEART-BEAT" by パフェ♥カフェｐａｒｆａｉｔ♥ｃａｆｅ