Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Podcast

New year, new Axe of the Blood God! Our new Stars of Destiny tier has kicked off in earnest, and we had our first live taping of the podcast, followed by a special post-show discussion. That's right, for 25 smackeroos you can listen to us flub our lines and then get into a fight about Super Mario World vs Super Mario Bros. 3. Very rated R stuff. See, the R stands for "rad." This week's main show covers a bunch of stuff, including: - The great indie RPG 2022 preview! Some gorgeous retro-style fare is coming up, like Sea of Stars, SacriFire, and Eiyuden Chronicles Rising. - We're revisiting the Top 25 RPGs of All Time, and we want you to help us update our selection! - Square Enix is having NFT FOMO, and the world must suffer for it. - Eric is now a Final Fantasy XIV sicko. Ha ha…yes! Yessss! If you weren't able to pop to the post-show, we've got that for you, too. We talk about Sony's drive to produce only "prestige" games, and how that new philosophy will affect RPGs. Then everything breaks down into Super Mario chaos. Mama mia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're already three days into 2022! No refunds on the year, suckers. Don't worry, the Axe of the Blood God will be around to pick you up whenever you need it…and going by recent trends, everyone is going to be due for a pick-me-up somewhere between the first three and six months. Let's start the year strong with some spicy 2022 RPG predictions! Will we see anything to do with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 this year? Will we enjoy Elden Ring? Will Final Fantasy 16 make it out before year's end? (Funny you should ask…) Also in this episode: Nadia remembers quality Nintendo literature Yuji Naka is still plying his trade in the corner, like an exiled shoe-elf who hopes to return to his cobbler kingdom someday We read your RPG 202 feelings Here's to '22! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've had an amazing 2021, and we're hoping 2022 will be even better! Nadia, Eric, and Kat get together to share their hopes and dreams for the new year along with the following: - Info on a brand new tier! - Free and premium feeds being synced! - Upcoming specials! - And much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Kat, Nadia, and Eric say farewell to 2021 by looking back on the year's greatest RPG triumphs (and a few, er, not-triumphs). 2021 was a bit slim on major triple-A RPG releases, but there's been a great showing from smaller games, including SMT V, Tales of Arise, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Loop Hero, Ys 9, and so very much more. Oh, and there was also a new expansion for a certain online RPG that shall remain nameless. We can no longer say its name; it's become far too powerful. Please forget about the critically acclaimed MMORPG with the free trial that lets you play through all of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning expansion Heavensward. Also in this episode: Nintendo sure did drop an Indie Direct. Sea of Stars looks dope. OK, so you can't play Final Fantasy XIV, but you can play Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PC! Oh wait, it's kind of a mess. Kat is now besties with Henry Cavill. We will all miss her as she departs on her glorious new life as a Hollywood groupie. Wait, didn't Elton John write a song about this…? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the end of 2021, we're making a Pantheon of the Blood God available to all of our listeners as a special thank you for all of your support! In this edition of Pantheon of the Blood God, Kat and Nadia are joined by special guest Alex Donaldson to dive deep into Final Fantasy VIII! Once considered the series' black sheep, Final Fantasy VIII is now held in higher regard, but is it worthy of the Pantheon? Kat and Nadia have very different opinions on that front. Regardless, there's much to unpack about Square Enix's flawed masterpiece, and that's exactly what Kat, Nadia, and Alex do as they discuss its rapid development, its curious Junction System, its marvelous soundtrack, and wonderful elements like Triple Triad. Truly, it's far from perfect, but it's one of the most memorable RPGs ever made. Pantheon of the Blood God is a special monthly series of podcasts in which we take a deep dive into an RPG selected by the AOTBG community. Want to hear more? Check us out on Patreon: https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Live thy life to the fullest, but knowest thou always that the end walks ever closer." Is that an OK Urianger impersonation? Bah, whatever. Point is, Nadia, Mike, and Victor review Final Fantasy 14's Endwalker expansion in this episode. It's epic, it's guaranteed to move you to tears...and like everything else in this flawed universe, it can use some improvements. Tune your linkshell in! Spoiler Level: Red. Major spoilers for most of Endwalker's story. I suppose that goes without saying. However, there's very little discussion about the end area and end boss, since Victor's on the last leg of his journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kat's away this week on Axe of the Blood God, so Nadia takes the reigns, and chaos reins. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you. Eric is on-hand to help co-host, of course, and a very special guest enters the fray: Blood God Discord mod Valexia! The trio have a hearty discussion about LGBTQ+ representation in games, old and new, eastern and western. There's a long way to go, but there's been a lot of progress that's worth celebrating, too. Also in this episode: The Game Awards hate JRPGs :( Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is coming to PS4, Switch, and PC! Everyone's mad at Nadia because she liked that Imagine Dragons/Bastion song at the Game Awards Analogue Pocket orders are opening up. May the odds be ever in your favour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turn on Nickelodeon and feed your Tamagotchi, because it's time for the '90s PC RPG Quest here at Axe of the Blood God. John Walker of Buried Treasure joins Kat, Nadia, and Eric as they talk about this very tumultuous time in PC RPG history. The genre underwent enormous growth, but not before it suffered near-irrelevance amid the rise of DOOM and other first-person shooters.  There's a lot to cover, so feel free to fiddle with your Slap Bracelet while the crew talks. Just don't cut open the bracelet's fabric, take out the sharp piece of metal inside, and start hitting people with it. That's how Slap Bracelets get banned from schools. Not speaking from experience or anything, mind you. Enjoy the PC RPG Quest? Make sure to check out our episodes covering the 1970s and 1980s!  Also in this episode: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker queue times will kill us all Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's duplication glitches are making us nostalgic NIntendo Online's Expansion Pack kind of sucks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week was the Giving of Thanks, and Eric returned to his ancestral home to prepare the necessary sacrifices. That means Kat and Nadia are alone for this episode, just like the good ol' days of... er, maybe a month ago? Point is, this is a very chill episode.  Some of the big topics: - Is a Chrono Cross remake under development? - Who is an unsung RPG composer? - How excited are we for a Mass Effect TV show? Also in this episode: Neo The World Ends With You didn't do so hot because Square Enix kind of forgot to market it, and plans for the future of Blood God! A new tier approaches! Command? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we last met our Warriors of Light, they were confident they'd be Thal's balls-deep in Endwalker by this point. Fate had other plans in mind, as Endwalker won't be accessible until December 3. Hey, Final Fantasy XIV is a Square Enix RPG. It's never a surprise when the heroes' plans go awry in an RPG. Besides, the delay freed up some time to let us talk about a topic that kept eluding us: Endwalker story predictions! Hope you're sitting down, because Victor brought notes. What kind of dropout brings notes?! Spoiler Level: Red. Major spoilers for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. We bust out all biggest story twists and smallest plot tweaks for pretty much the entire episode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices