This week's big release is Ghost of Yotei, which brings back one of our favorite features from its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima: the adorable foxes that lead you to Inari Shrines. These furry friends are essentially collectibles, which got us thinking about other games that let you collect animals.

After that, we give our impressions of Ghost of Yotei and other big new releases, including The Super Mario Galaxy Collection, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Then we talk about that Nintendo teaser animation and other news of the week. 

Question of the Week: What is a spin-off game that got you into the main series?

Break Song is "Animal" by Pearl Jam

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Oh, the ancient gods. What fickle sorts they were known to be. But if you managed to curry favor with these gods, they could also be quite generous with their gifts. This week, in celebration of the release of Hades II 1.0, special guest DocBrooke joins us to take a look at games where the gods bestow their blessings and gifts upon your hero to help them along their journey. 

After that, we talk all about Hades II, the new Super Mario Galaxy Collection, some big shakeups at Nintendo and EA, and how expensive gaming is getting. 

Question of the Week: How has the increased cost of gaming affected the way you game?

Break Song is "Zeus in the Architecture" by Art vs Science

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

It's a big week for new game releases, and we have a whopper of a show to match. We start by taking a look back at game franchises where the first entry isn't necessarily a bad game on its own merits, but is probably the worst or least memorable of the bunch. 

After that, we race into the second segment to talk all about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Baby Steps, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and Silent Hill f. Then we cover the recent State of Play, news coming out of Tokyo Game Show 2025, Xbox price hikes, and more! 

Question of the Week: What's your favorite "black sheep" entry in a game franchise? 

Break Song is "Worst Comes to Worst" by Dilated Peoples ft. Guru

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Borderlands 4 is here! Or, as we like to call it around these parts, FOURderlands. Or maybe Borderl4nds? We're still workshopping it. Regardless of what you want to call the latest entry in the long-running series, there's no denying its importance in the shlooter genre, where it made a name for itself combining best-in-class shooting mechanics with cool characters and, of course, LOOT! This week, we take a look at other loot games that leave you in constant pursuit of that legendary piece of gear you've been chasing, and the dopamine hit that comes with it. 

After that, we give our impressions of Gearbox's latest, talk all about last week's Nintendo Direct, and more!

Question of the Week: What is the best piece of loot you’ve ever obtained in a game, and how did you get it?

Break Song is "Gimme the Loot" by The Notorious B.I.G.

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

After a long six years, Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here. Was it worth the wait? You'll have to listen to our New Releases segment to find out. But before that, we talk about some of our other most anticipated game releases that have kept us waiting for years. 

After that, we offer up our Silksong impressions and talk about other new releases, Street Fighter movie casting news, and more!

Question of the Week: Inspired by Everybody's Golf Hot Shots, what mash-up of two franchises would you like to see?  

Break Song is "The Waiting (Live)" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers featuring Eddie Vedder

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We are very much still in a ninja type of mood around these parts, with the recent release of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the upcoming release of Ninja Gaiden 4, and the very ninja-like Hornet, star of this week's big new release, Hollow Knight: Silksong. So we decided to sneak up and surprise you with a top 5 all about our favorite ninja games. 

After that, we talk about the recent Switch 2 upgrade pack for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, more Super Robot Wars Y, news about a new Rayman game in the works at Ubisoft, PlayStation 6 rumors, and more!

Question of the Week: What's your favorite game that took forever to be released but was worth the wait? 

Break Song is "I Am Ninja" by The Neu Tickles

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

It's his birthday, so we're letting TL take over the wheel -- or the cockpit, as it were -- to walk us through a retrospective of sorts about the various genres of mech video games, inspired by this week's release of Super Robot Wars Y. From fighters to tactical RPGs and everything in between, if you like games about giant robots you pilot and punch things with, this top 5 is for you. 

After that, we cover the other new releases this week, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, then offer up a few more thoughts on things we've been playing like Sword of the Sea, Mafia: The Old Country, and Death Stranding 2. 

Question of the Week: Which famous mech from pop culture would win in an ultimate mech battle royale and why?

Break Song is "When the Mechs Hit the Ground" by NerdOut

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Summer movie blockbuster season may be winding down, but we still have movies on the brain around these parts. So much, in fact,  that we wanted to talk about movie tie-in games. And who better to help us with that than special guest Steve Guntli from the excellent CinemArcade podcast? We are all familiar with the games that are generally regarded as the best movie tie-in games. So Steve is here to offer up some of his favorite movie games that you may not have heard of, in what we're calling the top 5 next best movie games.  

After that, we talk about Sword of the Sea, the recent PlayStation 5 price increases, Kirby Air Riders, Pokémon, and all the big news from Gamescom. 

Question of the Week: What previously unadapted movie needs its own game? 

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Let's face it, the games industry hasn't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows lately. As the late, great Dusty Rhodes would say, the industry has been facing hard tiiiiiimes, daddy. And yet, as a game player, there's a lot of really cool stuff to be excited about, including some recent trends and changes to the hobby that are just plain awesome. The VGA crew is here to help celebrate some of those recent changes in games.  

After that, we give our impressions of Mafia: The Old Country and Madden NFL 26, talk about news from the recent Nintendo Indie World Showcase, and more! 

Question of the Week: What was the first online experience you can remember having?

Break song is "Everything is Awesome (Tween Dream Remix)" by Garfunkel & Oates

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week's release of the prequel game Mafia: The Old Country is as good an excuse as any for us to get nostalgic and take a trip back in time to discuss games that did exactly that, as the VGA crew and special guest Greg Moore pick the best prequel games of all time.  

After that, we talk about Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, the new Shinobi: Art of Vengeance demo, the Fortnite Power Rangers crossover,  Nintendo price increase news, and more! 

Question of the Week: What guest character or franchise do you want to see in Fortnite next?

Break song is "Back in Time" by Huey Lewis & The News

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.