(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:09:12) Development History

(00:21:01) Visuals and Art Style

(00:37:21) Mechanics

(01:03:12) Music and Sound

(01:21:50) Story, TV Ads, and Stuck on the PS3

(01:36:15) Wrapping Up

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Hey, all! Pixel Project Radio here!

To break up Fighting Game February, Rick and Bill (Gaming and Collecting; 3DO Experience; Geek Addicts) jump into the 3D Kingdom of Dotnia in 3D Dot Game Heroes! This game—with credits from Fromsoft and Atlus!—was released to general favorability in 2009 but never made a notable impression. Perhaps this is why it's marooned on the PS3 and the PS3 only to this day! This is a very special game, and in this episode Rick and Bill break down why it deserves far more love than it gets: the infectious music, the self-referential and -parodic writing, the gorgeous marriage of 2D and 3D, and more. 3D Dot Game Heroes does so much right. It deserves more recognition—and we're gonna tell you about it! Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Fighters, Vipers, and Cars. Oh My! | Fighters Megamix (Ep. 170)

(00:11:24) Development

(00:23:10) Game Modes and Characters

(00:44:33) Visuals: VF3 > FV

(00:55:13) Burnin' Music

(01:05:22) Gameplay

(01:18:47) Wrapping Up

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon! You can also click here to join the free Discord server or connect with the show on Bluesky and Instagram!

"Fighting Festival" is a worse name...but not inaccurate.

This week is all about the Sega crossover bringing together Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers (as well as a few other surprises): Fighters Megamix! Co-host Chris (Retro Hangover podcast) joins to PKG throughout this mashup that's either a marketing ploy or a good time, depending on who you ask. It brought the Virtua Fighter engine, it brought some (at the time) not-yet-released moves from VF 3, it brought the armor and stage destruction mechanics of Fighting Vipers...and it brought Sonic the Fighters and Daytona USA into the ring, too. This is a game that means so much to me (Rick) and immediately takes me back to being a wee lad playing the first console I ever owned. We hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Intro/What This Podcast Is

(00:10:13) Story and Lore

(00:19:37) Development

(00:26:26) Music

(00:38:20) Visuals and Art Style

(00:47:27) Mechanics

(01:19:28) Wrapping Up

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon! You can also click here to join the free Discord server or connect with the show on Bluesky and Instagram!

"Fighting February" has begun! We're trying something a little different this year and doing three fighting games this month. This episode features Under Night Inbirth, an anime fighter with combo-heavy gameplay and a supernatural-esque lore. Co-host and fighting game aficionado Raging Demon (Kommand List podcast) joins to parse out what makes this fighter so unique—and so criminally underrated. The insane story, the GRD system, the absolutely killer soundtrack...all this and more on this week's episode. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Rooflemonger's Beginner Guide (Under Night II)
Nihongogamer's 10 Under Night Tips

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Introduction to the Podcast

(00:04:07) Personal Histories and Community Forum

(00:12:42) Development and Design Philosophy

(00:30:51) Mechanics

(01:01:41) Music and Sound

(01:17:27) Lore and Story

(01:58:32) Wrapping Up

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also click the following to join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

"No cost too great. No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering. Born of God and Void."

We're finally doing it: might be pretty late to the party, but today we're talking all about Hollow Knight, the metroidvania that had — and arguably still has — the gaming world rapt since 2017. Co-host Doug (Nostalgium Arcanum, Playing by Ear) joins the show to look into just what makes this game work...and what makes it work so impeccably well. Hollow Knight is rich with thematic strands, lurid visuals, affecting music, and enough lore to make even the most dedicated Wiki editor blush. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Kotaku interview w/ Kirk Hamilton 
Team Cherry AMA 
Larkin Interview 
Full game script c/o mossbag



Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

Hey folks! Please enjoy this bonus episode from the Patreon vaults. This episode was recorded and released in January of 2025.

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for a fantastic year. Creating this podcast and bringing fiction off of the page/screen brings me a lot of meaning. Here's to 2026!

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also click the following to join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

"A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself."

The NieR Automata analysis concludes! Joined by Dave (Tales from the Backlog), we talk through the final three endings of the game in detail. One of the game's main themes — that of a Will to live, a meaning to life to stave off what has been variously called "The Absurd," "Nihilism," and more — is on full display as we see more characters than not grapple with it. Between what the game presents and the supplemental lore canon, there's loads to talk about. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Smash Interview with Yoko Taro
Interview with Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Intro Discussion

(00:15:26) Adam and Eve

(00:26:17) The Forest Kingdom

(00:35:44) Mecha-Kaiju

(00:40:38) The Copied City

(00:53:03) Become as Gods

(01:04:44) flowers for m[a]chines

(01:34:34) Route B

(02:07:28) Adam Captures 9S

(02:25:08) Revelations (Replicant Spoilers)

(02:43:28) or not to [b]e

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"And we need a God worth dying for."

The NieR Automata analysis continues! Joined by Dave (Tales from the Backlog) once again, we proceed through the ending of route A and through the entirety of route B. The view from 9S's perspective unearths new information not yet known to 2B...or to most of the YoRHa troops. How will 9S temper the friction between his loyalty — indeed, his "essence" — with an earth-shattering revelation? Further conversations on existentialism, Simone de Beauvoir, the importance of perspective, and more. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Smash Interview with Yoko Taro
Interview with Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Intro/What This Podcast Is

(00:02:25) Personal Histories

(00:13:08) Development

(00:31:59) Visual Design

(00:38:37) Mechanics

(00:51:48) Music and Sound

(01:00:28) Story Analysis: Let's Kill God

(01:26:18) Resistance Camp

(01:39:07) This Cannot Continue

(02:03:16) Pascal's Village

(02:24:23) Aliens' Return

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

"Stop calling me ma'am."

The analysis on NieR Automata begins! Rick is joined by Dave (Tales from the Backlog) to take an in-depth look at this marriage of Platinum Games's circumfluent battle style and Yoko Taro's philosophically-tinged narratives. NieR Automata is a game with two ideas at its core: existentialism (existence precedes essence); and the all-too-human penchant for "othering" those who are not in our in-group, often due to unwillingness to shift perspective. This episode covers up to learning the fate of the makers of the machines. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

Interview with Yoko Taro
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy



Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

(00:00:00) Intro/What This Podcast Is

(00:02:06) Personal Histories and Initial Thoughts

(00:12:10) Development

(00:16:02) Visuals

(00:26:58) Sound Design

(00:40:40) Narrative Discussion

(01:30:22) Ending Discussion

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!
You can also join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!

An oppressive system breeds a need to break free.

Rick is joined by Kate and Emily (No Small Games) to take a deeper look into Playdead's INSIDE, a horror-tinged puzzle-platformer released in 2016. Draped in an opaque narrative, INSIDE demands discussion from players—with the game and with each other—to parse out intent and impact. Between the three hosts themes of control, systemic oppression, free will vs determinism, and autonomy are explored, both in terms of gameplay and a suggested narrative. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!

LINK: INSIDE's Audio in a Human Skull



Thank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected]! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!