Saber/Metrics

Last time on this podcast, we were kinda going easy on Shirou. Not so any longer. On this episode, we start getting to the section of the game where Shirou says some really whack shit about women, and he just doesn’t stop being bad. Thankfully, Archer and Rin are still here to keep him in check. This also marks the first time we really start to get to interact with Illya, which is…somewhat fraught. Our feelings on this visual novel are about to get a whole lot more complex.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Burst Up” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

The Grail War has begun. The main cast has been introduced. The exposition has been dumped. Now it’s time to really get into the thick of it. On this episode: Shirou gets deep into GENDER, Rin defeats her opponents (except Sakura) with facts and logics, Shinji continues to be a creep, and Saber just really wants to kill something, like right now.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Mighty Wind” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

It begins! Welcome to the first episode of “I Got Sucked Off [By Historic King Arthur]”, an actually-pretty-sincere critical analysis of the works of Kinoko Nasu, cofounder of Type-Moon. Although Tsukihime and its sequel were technically Nasu’s first works, we’ll be starting with his seminal (and most popular) creation: Fate/Stay Night. Are you someone who already loves the Nasuverse? Great! Hopefully you’ll discover new ways to appreciate it through our journey. Are you someone who has no idea what the fuss is about? Also great! We designed our format to be a hybrid of story summary and analysis, so you’ll be able to follow along even if you never read a single word of the visual novel.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “EMIYA #LEGACY” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

Before we officially don our Mystic Codes and descend into the Nasuverse, we have two final tasks that need to be done. As a request from good friend and fellow podcaster Maxie (you can find her in Eidolon Playtest), we talk about our very brief impressions of Cookie Run. And because our episode on Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle was lost due to hard drive failure, I really wanted to finally get a Dragon Ball episode out there, so Sierra graciously tried out Dragon Ball Legends with me. Join us as we discuss how perfectly okay both games are and just goof around for half an hour.

A while ago on this podcast, I talked about Final Fantasy Record Keeper, the gacha that burned me the most. Now it’s Sierra’s turn to do the same for Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. We discuss the ways it could have been great and the horrible grinding mechanics that hold it back. We also go back and check out Fire Emblem Heroes, a game with both tried and launch, to see if it’s as frustrating as we remember it being.

Okay, I’m just gonna be honest here: this episode is just shy of an hour and a half and we spend maybe 20 minutes talking about the actual game in the episode title. If you’re online as much as Sierra and I are, you may have come across this Vice article about how to have a “healthier” relationship system with Genshin Impacts gacha systems. Our own frustrations with that article and our growing discomfort with how even we’ve covered the games on this podcast led us to spend a significant chunk of time explicitly talking about the dangers of gacha games, being honest with our own experiences of how these games targeted our weaknesses and financially exploited us, and sharing techniques we’ve both used to resist the temptations inherent to these games. We also discuss our plans to transition this podcast away from gacha games and into a topic that we feel still suits the mixture of chaotic bullshit and genuine critical analysis we exude: the works of Kinoko Nasu.

It’s our first-ever double-feature for Gacha Journalism! Back when we initially recorded this episode, Genshin Impact just happened to come out the same week we decided to cover Honkai Impact 3rd, so we thought, “Hey, why not do both and compare the two?” What we discovered were two pretty solid games that may not be for everyone but fill specific niches very well.

This was inevitable. When Sierra and I started on this journey, we knew we’d eventually have to cover a game where the core premise is “inanimate objects become hot anime girls.” And well, here we are. So, is it just as trashy as we expected, or is it actually good? The answer to that is more complex than you might imagine.

We’ve finally arrived at one of the very first gacha games that made it big: Puzzle and Dragons. It was a big deal in the mobile-gaming space back in the day, and it’s still chugging along pretty well in 2020. Considering the last game we covered—Magia Record—is being shut down barely over a year after it finally got a global release, well, PAD’s longevity is pretty impressive. But does it still hold up when compared to newer, slicker gacha games? Shockingly, yes! On this episode, Sierra talks in-depth about why she still loves this game, and Dustin manages to discover a new appreciation for it (even if it still intimidates and overwhelms him).

This episode is technically a review of Magia Record, a mobile game sidestory for Madoka Magica. However, Sierra and Dustin mostly use it as an excuse to shit-talk Gen Urobuchi for a bit. Also, they have an in-depth discussion of their opinions on different styles of “grinds” by contrasting how progression works in Dissida Final Fantasy Opera Omnia and Granblue Fantasy. Oh yeah, and I guess they talk about Magia Record for a bit.