MisanthroPlay

We've got a thing for Spring. Alva and Robert discuss quality(?) TV programmes Gundam Unicorn, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, and Hannibal, before moving on to what games they've been playing (or not playing).Games discussed: Zanki Zero, Katana Zero, Heaven's Vault, Mortal Kombat 11, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and AI: The Somnium Files.

we talk smack on reactionary shitheads within game development, before we move on to discuss our thoughts on Resident Evil 2 Remake, Devil May Cry 5, The Division 2, and Warframe.follow Robert on twitter @nurvuss, Alva @vinomatic, and check out Robert’s Twitch stream, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night.

Alva and Robert look at video game marketing from the 80s to the 00s in America and the UK, and ruminate on Sonic the Hedgehog pissplay and Rayman’s gargantuan dong. We also talk about how to host your AMA on a message board for racist paedophiles, and Ape Out’s troubling equation of jazz with primal savagery.We Play: Ape Out, La Mulana.

It’s the start of MisanthroPlay Season 5(!!) and we attended the Sunless Skies launch event at Failbetter Games’ South London office. We talk a little bit about that experience, and a whole lot about the first 10 hours of Sunless Skies, an unconventional and fiercely literary RPG that understands the potential of steampunk without stumbling down the usual pro-imperialist pratfalls. Also, We Talk about the latest Final Fantasy XIV announcements, Subnautica, Resident Evil 2, and Ace Combat 7.Shortly after recording this podcast, it was announced that Spatsz of the French cold wave duo KaS Product had passed away. The intermission music in this week’s episode is KaS Product’s “Loony Bin” in tribute.

We’re here to talk about the games of 2018, and read some listener mail.The Anticapitalism AwardBroken RealityFortune 499Donut CountyHoledownStop Trying So HardAgonyShadow of the Tomb RaiderGod of WarFar Cry 5Octopath TravelerRed Dead Redemption 2Detroit: Become HumanBest Art Direction428: Shibuya ScrambleCrossCodeDonut CountyDragon Quest 11Octopath TravelerPokemon Let's GoReturn of the Obra DinnBest Re-released 8/16-bit gameCrystalisPhantasy StarThunder Force IVBest Old GameMinecraftMega Man XLuminesNo Man's Sky NEXTShin Megami Tensei IfBiggest MessFallout 76 (GDPR)TellTale ClosureThe Quiet ManPlayStation MiniBiggest DisappointmentDeath MarkSega Classic Mega Drive CollectionFavorite MomentDrinking in Valentine, Red Dead 2Wulfric and the Old Lady, Xenoblade Chronicles 2Intro, Yakuza 6Pokemon in the worldQueerest GameHeaven Will Be MineAssassin's Creed OdysseyTiniest GameDonut CountyThe Haunted Island: A Frog Detective GameBlack BirdWorst TrendLate Stage CapitalismAlva’s Game of 2018Into the BreachRobert’s Game of 2018Monster Hunter: World

Happy Holidays! Robert Fenner and Alva Chua catch up on what games they want to (or don’t want to) play over the Winter Holidays; namely, Tetris Effect, Far Cry 5, Hollow Knight, Soul Calibur VI, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Hacknet.See you in 2019!

Alva Chua explains to Robert Fenner who Bungie are, from Alex Saropian’s bedroom game Operation Desert Storm, to Halo, to their beloved/maligned Paul McCartney-featuring Destiny, and how the developer has weaved their approach to storytelling throughout their history. Join us to learn about sword logic and waterbeds.

Robert and Alva discuss Red Dead Redemption 2, and how to examine a game surrounded by unacceptable labour practices.We Play: Pokémon Let’s Go, Evee! The Lost Child, Mega Man X, and SNK 40th Anniversary Collection.And hey. Nice.

Robert and Alva are back to share some of their favourite video game music with each other, and with you.Tracks featured:Hustlers’ Concept - “Loin” (from Black/Matrix)Atsunori Namba - “Samurai Gunman ~ Shin Za Zaan” (from Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman)Masashi Hamauzu - “Aussenwelt” (from SaGa Frontier II)Rob Hubbard - “Loading” (from Sanxion)Masafumi Takada - “Where Angels Play” (from Killer7)Zuntata - “Daddy Mulk” (from The Ninja Warriors)Hidehito Aoki - “City 1 ~ School Revisited” (from Revelations: Persona)John Foxx - “Into the Wonderful” (from Gods)Kenichiro Fukui - “Badlands” (from Einhänder)Masashi Hamauzu - “DG - ‘Sadness’” (from Unlimited Saga)Jake Kaufman - “Caught Red Handed” (from Mighty Switch Force)Toshiko Tasaki - “Kuzunoha Detective Agency” (from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner)

We bring out the calipers to talk about the problematic legacy of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and how games such as Bloodborne, Cultist Simulator, Sunless Sea, and Garfield Kart make a case for cosmic horror to leave the author behind.We Play: Call of Cthulhu, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Death Mark.Music this week is “Imps of the Perverse” and “The Evil Clergyman” by Rudimentary Peni

Content Warning: discussions on dysphoria, dysmorphia, anorexia, depressionThis week, Robert and Alva have an extended discussion on their own experiences with gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia, and the general horror and malaise of existence, before exploring a trio of excellent games that explore these themes: Sundae Month’s Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor, Kitty Horrorshow’s Anatomy, and Anna Anthropy’s dys4ia.We also have a related conversation on the now-outdated Cyberpunk 2077 transphobic tweet debacle (since the recording of this podcast, CDPR’s social media manager has been outed as a proper bigot chud), and the trans character Rosetta seen in the Valkyria Chronicles 4 demo.We Play: Food Fantasy, Shin Megami Tensei Dx2, Dead Cells.

Robert and Alva are BACK, to talk about the symbiotic relationship between video games and tabletop games. We talk Steve Jackson Games, Operation Sundevil, the weird systems of Palladium's Robotech RPG, Baten Kaitos, Fallout's origins as a GURPS adaptation, and how apps are becoming more and more ubiquitous as gamemaster stand-ins.We Play: Cultist Simulator, Mad Max, and Battletech.

The servers may be dead, but MisanthroPlay lives: Alva and Robert discuss the impact of Demon's Souls, FromSoft's unlikely and esoteric action RPG that would forever change the face of video games. Even after all these years, we still don't know how World Tendency works.Also, We Play Far Cry 5, Swords of Ditto, Sky Rogue, and a return to No Man's Sky.

In the final episode we recorded in 2017, Alva and Robert look at Red Candle Games' debut Detention, a horror adventure set in a Taiwanese high school during the height of the White Terror. Beware of spoilers.We Play: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Horizon: Zero Dawn NotesThe White Terror228 IncidentUnder the Shadow trailerThe Diamond RealmMisanthroPlay Episode #47 Fear and Loathing on the Crusade Trail 1095-1099Cee-loHeibai WuchangChenghuangshenM.R James - The Haunted Dolls' House

Supergiant Season carries on with 2014's Transistor, a hybrid of turn-based strategy and real-time combat wrapped around an existential cyberpunk mystery. We walk through the game before sharing our interpretations of the story. It's a thoughtful and ponderous title brimming with style and substance, and one we're thrilled to dig into. NotesParadigm shiftEdward BernaysRobert's Bastion OST PicksTerminals MarchSlinger's SongBrusher Patrol

Somehow, Robert has never played a Supergiant game. Alva, in her infinite wisdom, suggested that MisanthroPlay spend the next 6 weeks looking at all three of their games. This week, we start at the very beginning with Bastion (2011), the Soul Blazer-meets-Spaghetti Western action RPG with the dynamic narrator. We talk about the mechanics, the plot, and the message at its core.In We Play, we play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and have complicated (but ultimately positive) feelings about. Also, Robert loses his Vita and gets it back through a Faustian deal.Content Warning: It's flu season here in London, so regrettably we're pretty sniffly this week. We have fired each other from the podcast to make up for this grievous mistake. Please stay tuned for NotesSupergiantPxToneSupergiant BandcampKotaku: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 ReviewMisanthroPlay Episode #06 (Xenoblade Chronicles X discussion)

We talked about the striking games of witchy Portland-based developer Rani Baker back in Episode #51, so we thought it was about time to just have her on the show! Rani Baker joins Alva and Robert to discuss her games, her creative process, her inspirations, and haunted technology.You can find Rani's work at Itch.io, GameJolt, Bandcamp, and Cracked, among other places. Be sure to check out her upcoming game DEATH SWORD, which you can currently help to crowdfund, and please consider supporting her on Patreon. NotesPenguin SoftwareMacVentureAdventure Game Studio (AGS)Game EditorStencylEllie - Help Me Out, Please.... Android / iOSA Mind Forever VoyagingSuspendedThere Is No GameSteam: The Stanley ParableSteam: The Beginner's GuideThe Buzz Report: Why I think it's okay to get a refund for The Beginner's GuideCorrelated Contents: Is There a Community Outside this Text?LOCALHOSTArc SymphonyThe Milgram ExperimentSteam: Shadowgate 2014House of LeavesSomethingAwful: Instructions for a FruitStealth Redux198X XMAS WISHBOOK

Seeing as our last episode was late, we've decided to spoil you with another episode this week. Robert and Alva catch up on what they've been playing this week, starting with a shout-out to Jordan Reyne's 600,000 word interactive novel Choice of the Cat, before discussing how to navigate Chaos;Child's depiction of women through a post-Weinstein lens. We also have a frank discussion on whether Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus's "No More Nazis" advertising campaign is cynical, uplifting, or both; appreciate Natsume's fine localization work on Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals; have unmitigated joy in Super Mario Odyssey; and we even do some investigation into the heart of the RuneScape cartel. NotesFighting FantasyGrailQuestPolygon: Touring the Living Remains of an 11-Year-Old MMO (Phil Kollar on Everquest 2)GameFaqs Estopolis (Lufia 1) Box ArtMisanthroPlay Episode #10 A Procedurally Generated PodcastRomhacking.net: Arabian Nights: Sabaku no Seirei OuHardcore Gaming 101: Chaos SeedThe Onion: ‘It’s Simply Bursting With Creative Wonder,’ Says Reviewer Of New Game Where Mario Sometimes Dresses As ChefPolygon: Sonic Forces ReviewGiant Bomb: Sonic Forces Quick Look   polygon sonic forces review

It's the second of the month, so grab this pod and come on! Robert and Alva reconvene after a month of thrills, chills, and spills, to tell you what they've been playing. This week, we chew over the new Shadow of the Colossus remake, Romancing SaGa 2, Celeste, Iconoclasts, Full Metal Furies, Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection, and a certain re-release makes us bring out that age old chestnut: is Bayonetta feminist? We'll be back in two weeks with an episode on the recent server shutdown of Demon's Souls, so write in with your thoughts and memories. 

Surprise! Cocoa Controller's Samer Farag joins Robert for an in-depth and spoiler-filled discussion of Doki Doki Literature Club, a romance visual novel about Japanese high school girls, poetry, and definitely nothing else. It's best that you play it before listening, and you definitely should, as it's both free and short.Happy Valentimes, MisanthroPals! NotesDoki Doki Literature Club websiteNeon Genesis Evangelion Episode 26 SnippetTeam SalvatoRPGFan: Doki Doki Literature Club Review (by Robert)DDLC Wiki: Monika's Talk (spoilers)Monika's TwitterItch.io: LOCALHOSTSteam: VA-11 HALL-A