Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Podcast

Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest anime ever made, and with a live-action series headed to Netflix, now is the perfect time to revisit this animated classic! We're joined by What a Cartoon and Talking Simpsons Host Henry Gilbert to rank episodes 24 - 17, where we hit some of the following topics: - How did we get into Cowboy Bebop? - Is Sympathy for the Devil underrated? - How great is VT's cat? - And how do we feel about Gren in the year 2021? This episode is Part 1 of our big ranking of Cowboy Bebop, and it's available to both our Patrons and free listeners right now! Part 2 will be available next week , but paid subscribers can access it immediately! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Kat, Nadia, and Eric board the Magic School Bus and travel back to the very beginnings of JRPG development. PC98 Audi from Digital Foundry makes a guest appearance to delve deep into the machine that arguably started it all: The humble PC-88. Audi also has tons of history to share about the MSX, and other high-tech '80s stuff that was vital to the early evolution of JRPGs. Frankly, he's the proverbial Miss Frizzle on this trip. Without him, Kat, Nadia, and Eric would probably fall out of the bus and get eaten by a microprocessor. Also in this episode: Kat's in Super Robot War heaven, we have a trailer for Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher 2, and Square Enix is gonna make you wet with a new Star Ocean game. ["Hey Hey 16k" is by MJ Hibbett and the Validators. Enjoy your earworm] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Nadia, Kat, and Eric battle ogres with the help of a very special guest, Waah! Yes, our generous $100 Patron finally gets to shine on-stage, and he's picked a very cool topic: Square Enix's half-forgotten Ogre Battle series. This still-beloved string of strategy games was the precursor to Final Fantasy Tactics, and it's a darn shame it doesn't garner the acknowledgement it deserves. We'll fix that, though. Oh, we will definitely fix that. Also in this episode: Stardew Valley's creator is taking us to the Land of Chocolate, CD Projekt Red has some more delays for us, and the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy has reared its ugly, exhausting head once again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Smoke 'em if you got 'em because it's time for a brand-new episode of Sharlayan Dropouts--Axe of the Blood God's cool and fashionable Final Fantasy XIV podcast. This week, Nadia and Mike talk about what it was like to go hands-on with a preview build of the upcoming Endwalker expansion. (Victor, meanwhile, drools in equal parts anticipation and jealousy.) Look forward to a thorough breakdown of some of the new maps, including the Old Sharlayan hub town. Rest assured the rumours about Nadia dealing fogweed in the fifth floor washroom are greatly exaggerated. [Cough.] Also in this episode:  Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy, is in deep with Final Fantasy XIV. Very deep. We got 'im, fellahs. Plus, the Moogle Treasure Festival is on again, so prepare for Praetorium memes.  Spoiler Warning Level: Yellow. The content is pretty evenly parsed out in this episode. The first half up to 27:48 is news and discussion about what we've been doing in-game. There are very mild spoilers about A Realm Reborn's final dungeon, and we talk a bit about the games' trailers. From 27:48 on, the episode is almost exclusively spoilers about Endwalker's mechanics, the preview dungeon we played, etc.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There be dragons and dragon slayers in this week's episode of Axe of the Blood God. Faithful Patron Brian Cowan (thank you!) requested that Nadia, Kat, and Eric wade neck-deep into the fascinating historical muck that is Falcom's Dragon Slayer series. They talk about its origins, the people behind its development, and the reasons why this long-running series is one of the most important contributors to the RPG genre. Also in this episode: Nadia shares some FFXIV: Endwalker impressions, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was saved from the brink of oblivion, and there are no cross-saves in the PC port of Monster Hunter Rise because Capcom loves suffering. Oh, and Kat and Eric talk about Evangelion Thrice Upon a Time while Nadia plays Pokemon Go. The discussion, which is spoilerish, runs from 49:35 to 58:23. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Axe of the Blood God gets sPooOoOoky this week as Kat, Nadia, and Eric talk about "creepypasta" RPGs. Creepypasta is a weird term, but you're probably familiar with what it entails: Stories about haunted games that some poor hapless schmuck picked up at a flea market or whatever. Pokemon Lost Silver, BEN DROWNED, that one NES Godzilla cartridge that was filled with weird sprites and music...the list goes on. The trio also discusses RPG story moments that freaked them out. This episode is rated VS for Very Scary. Other topics this week: Thoughts on the shakeup at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Sora alighting in Smash like some kind of anime Jesus wearing oversized kicks, and the passing of Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who amongst us is truly righteous? It's probably not a great idea to look at Axe of the Blood God for paragons of virtue. That's why Nadia, Kat, and Eric invited Jason Wilson back this week to review Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. What's good? What's bad? Should you play? What are some good starting tips? Will you make friends with a horse that runs across roofs? You can if you believe you can. Also in this episode: Nadia keeps stanning Actraiser Renaissance, Amazon's New World MMORPG is a hit, and Jack from Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin said a bad word. We're telling mom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The '80s are alive and well in our souls -- and on Axe of the Blood God, too. This week, Nadia and Kat are joined by their good pal Jason Wilson as they continue the PC RPG Quest. It all started in the '70s, but PC RPGs got a major boost thanks to the rapid growth of the home computer market. It's a very important chapter of RPG history. After all, without Ultima, Wizardry, or SSI's Gold Box games, there'd be no Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. What a sick, sad world that would be. Also in this episode: A new Nintendo Direct brings a deluge of RPG news, and Super Mario now shares his soul with Chris Pratt. Mama Mia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a new month, which means the Sharlayan Dropouts have huddled themselves in the smoke hole again. (They just keyed Fourchenault's Chocobo chariot; best they lay low for a while.) Nadia, Victor, and Mike talk about the very lengthy Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter, and what it all means for the upcoming Endwalker expansion. That gaping hole in the moon...it's not going to get any bigger, right? Right. Also in this episode: Dragoons are pole dancing again, the Twins are overdue for their Elezen growth spurt, and Nadia learns you can't just breed brother and sister Chocobos in twisted eugenics experiments like you can in FFVII.    Spoiler Level: Yellow. The front end of the episode is largely spoiler-free, but we loosen up in the back half. Here are some handy-dandy time stamps: Up to 16:36 - News about the FFXV event, and discussion what we've been doing in-game. Some talk about raids, etc, but no major discussion about story events connected to them. Up to to 43:40 - Talk about the Live Letter and changes to FFXIV's classes. Some very minor spoilers that involve how each class has evolved since ARR. From 43:40 onward - Free discussion about Endwalker and the story beats leading up to it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Nadia and Kat get a little spoony and talk about one of the oldest and most controversial RPG classes: The Bard. Generous $50 Patron Drew Waranis requested we talk about these golden-throated music makers, and the Blood God is here to please. This episode dissects the history of the Bard, talks about the most famous bards in RPGs, and asks that one vital question: Do we need bards. Are they, like, cool, man? Also in this episode: Holy crap, Eastbound! Holy crap, Deltarune chapter 2! Holy crap, Tales of Arise already sold a million copies! What an exciting week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices