Side Quests

In this episode, I talk to Russell Gordon, who is also The Iron Mage. He’s a musician who is trying to get into the business of scoring video games. In the first part of our conversation, I find out what games Russell has been playing recently, what he is currently playing, what games he’s looking forward to, and his all time favorites. We also find out how the composer of the Side Quest theme song is doing during the pandemic.

I only completed fourteen games in 2019, and I wrote even fewer reviews. Toward the end of the year, I all but stopped doing episodes of Side Quests. Well, 2020 is a new year.In my first episode for the new year, I start by recapping my year in games, for 2019, with a quick note about what I though of each. I follow that with a portion of my list of games that I would like to complete in 2020 and why I want to play them.Finally, I very briefly talk about Side Quests in 2020.

While the podcast still plans to focus on video games and video game related topics, I am going to try and focus a little more on the musical aspect of games. But, I still have ideas that I haven't gotten to and I'm sure more will come along. So, while it should focus more on music in the grand scheme, it won't be about music exclusively.Other than talking about all of that, this episode is also a (late) companion to July's TWRM Radio mix, "Pelagic." I talk about video game music used for sea...

In the conclusion of the dialogue between The ABXY Mage and his legendary and loquacious friend, The Well-Red Mage, they begin by spending a little more time on their favorite--and the objectively greatest--game ever: Chrono Trigger. This bags another funny story from Red about a mispronunciation from his past.Next, they get into the many interesting names and locations in Final Fantasy IX, a game which The Well-Red Mage definitely knows more about than The ABXY Mage. Speaking of games Red kn...

In part two of the discussion with The ABXY Mage and The Well-Red Mage, they talk about how they mispronounced different video game words when they were stupid, little kids. Some of these include Ryu, from Street Fighter, the difference between mana and manna (and how you pronounce each of them), and a hilarious Mega Man story from Red. This, later, leads to more Mega Man related talk, mostly about Dr. Wily.But first, they talk about a bunch of different Zelda names and terms including that w...

In this episode, The ABXY Mage and The Well-Red Mage talk about different ways to pronounce various video game names, places, beasts, etc.They start with a simple example of Mar-ee-o vs. Mary-o and how location can determine how you pronounce different terms. Then, they move on to voice acting and how some people still manage to mispronounce words that are said, out loud, in games. They touch on the occasional instance when voice acting, years later, can betray what you were so sure was the c...

In the third, and final, part of their conversation on non-final bosses, The ABXY Mage, The Bizzaro Mage, and The Off-Centered Earth Mage talk about some their favorite boss battle songs, and they also discuss the pros and cons of multi-stage bosses.After that, they take a dive into "bad" bosses: boss fights restricted by mechanics, good games with not-great bosses or boss battles, and bullet-sponge bosses. This takes them into a discussion about Final Fantasy XV's Adamantoise and finally, a ...

The ABXY Mage, The Bizzaro Mage, and The Off-Centered Earth Mage continue their talk about boss fights by covering their favorite game genres for boss battles, as well as the annoying, wussy bosses that rely on minions to do their dirty work for them.We also get into bosses with weak spots, the difference between glowing targets and logical weaknesses, and our ideas for an accessible middle-ground between the two. Finally, we touch on health bars vs. visual cues; is it possible that some feat...

Memorable bosses and memorbale boss fights are one of the enduring characteristics of video games. And, we don't just mean final bosses. In fact, for this episode of Side Quests, we decided not to talk about final bosses at all. Instead, we focus on the minibosses you fight on your way to the final confrontation.Of course, since we're talking bosses, The ABXY Mage, The Bizzaro Mage, and The Off-Centered Earth Mage end up talking about multiple Final Fantasy and Soulsborne games. We also talk ...

Have you ever wondered what the mages are like? Have you ever wanted to know more about who they are and why? Well, that's where this new series comes in.Q&ABXY is a series of interviews consisting of listener, follower, contributor, and fellow mage questions all aimed at getting to better know the authors of The Well-Red Mage.In this first episode, The ABXY Mage answers questions given to him about his taste in games, his favorite soundtracks, what movies he would change, and various imp...