How to Write a Good Story for Shenmu

The first four hours of shenmu is just asking people if they've seen a black car and then ending up accidentally raising a cat. The divide between you and i liking each game this is great for maybe new listeners of the show to see. It's also an exemplifier of where you and i find the most joy in experiencing video games. You love story and theme and narrative but it's not like i don't like those things, he says. He gravitates more towards immersion and specifically like tone and vibe as opposed to final fantasy.

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It's finally here! After a summer break and over one-hundred games, Into the Aether returns for season six with a retrospective on the Sega Dreamcast library! Stephen and Brendon report back with a list of the 30 must-play games for the console in a discussion with producer AJ Fillari before drilling down and creating an ITA Top 5.

Thank you all for indulging us after our vacation, but we're so excited to be back!

You can find the full list of games discussed here: https://www.backloggd.com/u/brendonbigley/list/into-the-aether-the-sega-dreamcast-must-play-list/
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Find us everywhere: https://intothecast.online
Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intothecast

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Follow Stephen Hilger: https://stephenhilgerart.com/

Follow Brendon Bigley: https://threads.net/@brendonbigley

Produced by AJ Fillari: https://bsky.app/profile/ajfillari.bsky.social
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Season 6 Cover Art by Scout Wilkinson: https://scoutwilkinson.myportfolio.com/

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Timecodes:

(00:00) - Intro
(02:04) - Welcome to Into the Aether!
(15:02) - Quantifying "Dreamcast Vibes"
(20:05) - And I'm Brendon BIgley
(20:11) - The thing about the Dreamcast
(25:38) - How the episode is gonna go
(29:12) - It's 1999
(29:43) - The House of the Dead 2
(39:40) - Hydro Thunder
(46:41) - Soul Caliber
(58:42) - Happy Y2K
(01:03:38) - Mr. Driller
(01:08:03) - Cannon Spike
(01:14:49) - Grandia 2
(01:21:10) - Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
(01:27:47) - Skies of Arcadia
(01:34:08) - Seaman
(01:49:18) - Shenmue
(02:11:59) - The Virtua RPG
(02:14:59) - 2000 (continued)
(02:16:02) - Power Stone 2
(02:23:50) - Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001
(02:26:31) - D2
(02:34:35) - Legacy of Kain: Soulreaver
(02:39:01) - Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
(02:44:57) - Dead or Alive 2
(02:53:19) - Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio)
(02:59:26) - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
(03:05:03) - Techromancer
(03:07:55) - Resident Evil: Code Veronica
(03:16:23) - 2000 AND 1???
(03:16:44) - Reiterating why the Dreamcast collapsed
(03:19:58) - Project Justice
(03:25:15) - Phantasy Star ONLINE
(03:29:42) - Virtua Tennis 2
(03:35:11) - Bomberman Online
(03:39:13) - 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker
(03:41:47) - Putting a little bit of respect on Crazy Taxi
(03:42:24) - 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker
(03:42:42) - The Last of Our 2001 Games
(03:42:45) - The Last of Us???
(03:43:09) - Sonic Adventure 2
(03:54:36) - Rest in Peace Dreamcast (there are still games coming out tho)
(03:56:44) - Shenmue 2
(04:09:11) - Ikaruga
(04:14:10) - Space Channel 5 Part 2
(04:18:05) - ReZ
(04:29:30) - Mentioning (Honorably)
(04:30:02) - Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream
(04:32:19) - Air Force Delta
(04:33:02) - Mars Matrix
(04:33:32) - Elemental Gimmick Gear (EGG)
(04:35:51) - Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
(04:38:15) - ChuChu Rocket
(04:39:19) - Sega Bass Fishing
(04:39:33) - Dino Crisis
(04:39:57) - Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, come on
(04:40:00) - Star Wars Jedi Power Battles
(04:40:26) - Spider-man
(04:42:14) - That's it!
(04:42:55) - We did it
(04:43:14) - This is now when we do a top 5
(04:58:46) - Making the Aether Top 5
(05:03:52) - Testing the list
(05:06:49) - The Aether Top 5 Best Video Games for the Sega Dreamcast
(05:07:18) - Wrapping up

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