From developer Studio Zero and publisher Atlus (creators of the beloved Persona series) comes Metaphor: ReFantazio, the developer's first foray into the fantasy genre -- with a sprawling epic RPG that imagines a utopic new world and fights to make it real. Built upon radical ideas from as far back as 1516, Metaphor brings them to life for a new generation to draw strength from as the fight for liberation and equality across our real world continues.

The game was nominated for Game of the Year at this year’s Game Awards, where it won Best RPG, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction. Whether you're an art history nerd like Spencer or love little bat guys like Jamie, this rich tapestry of a game has something for everyone. What are you waiting for?! FANTASY IS ALIVE!

1:43 - Patreon shoutouts

6:43 - Our trip to New Orleans

12:50 - Metaphor ReFantazio conversation begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/zBu6hd3SypY

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

From Nomada Studio, the creators of Gris, comes new puzzle-platformer Neva: the moving tale of a young swordswoman named Alba and her lifelong bond with a magnificent wolf as they embark on a thrilling adventure through a rapidly dying world. And all we have to say is...HOW DARE YOU?! But forreal though, this game packs a ton of emotional weight in a short, beautifully wrapped package, with lessons on grief, growth, and the cyclical nature of life. Let's get into it!

1:01 - Patreon shoutouts

3:32 - Dragon Age: The Veilguard said trans rights

14:22 - Neva discussion begins

57:41 - SPOILERS begin

1:09:59 - SPOILERS end

"In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, This Dialogue Option Lets You Declare Your Character Is Trans" by Kenneth Shepard for Kotaku - https://kotaku.com/dragon-age-veilguard-trans-choice-rook-gender-pronouns-1851682607

"Neva Review: Parenting at the End of the World" by Mitchell Demorest for Slant Magazine - https://www.slantmagazine.com/games/neva-review/

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EWRIG2BF_-M

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Welcome to Part 2 of our PAX West 2024 coverage! PAX West is one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world, existing as a celebration of gaming and gaming culture and featuring panels, a massive expo-hall, and more. While there, Spencer and Jamie got hands-on demos with more than 40 games (!!!) and recorded interviews with over a dozen game-makers. We've boiled down our experience into the best stuff we saw presented for you in these two hefty podcast episodes.

Find the full list of all our favorite games from PAX, with links to Wishlist on Steam and learn more, on our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fill-up-your-our-112451704

0:45 - Patreon shoutouts

3:47 - Whisper of the House

9:24 - Winter Burrow, feat. an interview with Benjamin Salqvist (he/him), CEO & Creative Director at Pine Creek Games

18:13 - Moonlight Peaks

22:00 - Woodo

27:58 - Rooster, feat. an interview with Sticky Brain Studios Art Director Connie Choi (she/her)

37:29 - Moses & Plato - Last Train to Clawville

42:17 - Urban Myth Dissolution Center

47:34 - Drăculești, feat. an interview with Mads Mackenzie (they/them), Director at Fine Feathered Fiends

57:51 - Heartworm

1:02:35 - Love Eternal, feat. an interview with Lead Developer (among other titles) Toby Allden (they/them) from brlka

1:18:26 - Usual June

1:22:34 - Time Flies

1:28:17 - While Waiting, feat. an interview with Dong Zhou (he/him), Founder of Optillusion & Creative Director

1:34:39 - Spirit of Midnight

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

At the beginning of September, we spent a jam-packed whirlwind of a weekend at this year's PAX West Convention in Seattle, WA. A celebration of gaming and gaming culture featuring panels, a massive expo-hall, and more, PAX West is one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world with over 100,000 attendees present this year alone. We put our time there to good use, getting hands-on demos with more than 40 games and recording interviews with over a dozen game-makers, so now we're breaking down the best stuff we saw in two hefty episodes releasing a week apart. Here's Part 1, enjoy!

Find the full list of every game we're covering with links to Wishlist on Steam and learn more on our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fill-up-your-our-112451704

0:53 - Patreon shoutouts

3:58 - We went to fucking PAX West!!

16:45 - The Big Con

21:09 - Astro Bot

27:43 - Spiral, feat. an interview with Jess Vaillancourt (she/her), Project Manager at Folklore Games

37:35 - Seasonspree

41:51 - Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

47:08 - Beastieball, feat. an interview with Director Greg Lobanov (he/him) and Beastie Art Director Alexis Dean-Jones (she/her) from Wishes Unlimited

53:35 - Techno Banter, feat. an interview with Tom Tomaszewski (he/him), Head of Studio at publisher Crunching Koalas

1:02:36 - Outrider Mako

1:05:33 - Tears of Metal

1:10:14 - Feltopia, feat. an interview with Andrea Love (she/her), Creative Director at Wooly Games

1:17:40 - Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch

1:22:04 - Everdeep Aurora

1:27:49 - Herdling, feat. an interview with Co-Founder and Creative Director Don Schmocker (he/him) and 3D Artist Samuel Flores (he/him) from Okomotive

1:42:02 - despelote

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

You give me a genderless, silent protagonist, and you bet I will project ALL OF THE FEELINGS onto your tower defense game. A unique blend of action and strategy, Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess puts players in the role of Soh, protector of the maiden Yoshiro, as they slice with elegant, dance-like sword moves and strategically command villagers against ominous foes in their journey to cleanse their mountain home of corruption.

1:05 - Patreon shoutouts

4:34 - Yuri on Ice

9:20 - Creatures of Ava

12:37 - Kunitsu-Gami conversation begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/vFyXnYqPiaE

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

We do not choose what we inherit, but we can choose what we carry. This week we're joined by sunset visitor 斜陽過客 Creative Director Remy Siu and Narrative Designer Pinki Li to chat about their journey as indie devs bringing 1000xRESIST to life -- and the resonance that has been deeply felt by players within and outside of the Asian diaspora.

Hailed by PASTE Magazine as one of the best games in the genre AND one of the best games of the year (agreed), 1000xRESIST is a thrilling sci-fi adventure where a disease spread by an alien invasion keeps you underground. You are Watcher, dutifully fulfilling your purpose in serving the ALLMOTHER -- until the day you discover a shocking secret that changes everything.

1:11 - Patreon shoutouts

2:21 - Welcome Pinki and Remy!

11:29 - 1000xResist conversation begins

52:34 - 1:01:45 - SPOILERS!!

1:05:42 - 1:13:15 - MORE SPOILERS!!

Read the essay '1000xRESIST is a game for a post-2019 Hong Kong protest generation of diaspora children that doesn't exist yet' by kastelpls: https://cohost.org/highimpactsex/post/5960606-1000x-resist-is-a-gam

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/YIubeBZyPbM

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

This week on the podcast we're chatting about Akupara Games' CRYPTMASTER -- a bizarre dungeon-crawling adventure where words control everything. It's like Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, but with more necromancy. And we mean that in the best way possible.

0:55 - Patreon shoutouts

3:22 - We're going to PAX West!

6:28 - Cryptmaster conversation begins

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/RT775n2Zep4

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

This week we're joined by AstralShift's Kira (António Lopes / @kirariinn) to talk everything Little Goody Two Shoes -- a lush, gorgeously detailed horror-adventure-visual novel following Elise, a rebellious young woman daring to build a better life for herself in a deceptively peaceful small town. The game expertly explores the queer subtext beneath the horrors of witch hunts and religious ostracization, and we had an absolutely lovely time unpacking it with the game's lead artist and co-director!

PS - there's still time to enter our giveaway of a Steam key for Little Goody Two Shoes! Just visit patreon.com/pixeltherapypod and sign up as a free or paid subscriber! The winner will be notified on Patreon by this Sunday, May 5th. Thanks, AstralShift!

0:52 - Patreon shoutouts

3:04 - Introduction of Kira

7:19 - Discussion of Little Goody Two Shoes begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/wp8zS3TyjX8

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, originally released in 2013 to critical and fan acclaim, transformed the way many people thought about what games could be and laid the groundwork for director Josef Fares' later explorations in cooperative mechanics (y'all may remember his title It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021!). Lovingly remade by Italian developer Avantgarden, critics have been torn on Brothers 2024 -- but we sure aren't! Join us as we re-traumatize ourselves on this heartbreaking adventure while Spencer recaps their experience at GDC 2024.

For real though: Content warning for discussions of gameplay involving depictions of attempted suicide and death.

0:58 - Patreon shoutouts

3:09 - Spencer went to GDC

34:58 - Brothers conversation begins

1:07:27 - Content Warning: Mention of Suicide

1:10:35 - End of Content Warning section

1:17:09 - SPOILERS for Brothers

1:35:10 - End of Spoilers

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Etg-ZgICP-g

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Join us as we break down DON'T NOD's spiritual Vampyr successor, the doomed love story of ghost hunters Red and Antea in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

0:45 - Patreon shoutouts

3:05 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

9:10 - Showtime's The Curse

16:51 - discussion of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Cppl6h4hWh8

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod