Hop on the airship back to your hometown and listen to your favourite Final Fantasy XIV podcast, now on the free feed! The Dropouts bring a very special guest to family dinner, author of Fight, Magic, Items, Aidan Moher, to discuss the impact FFXIV has had on the JRPG and MMO genres over the years. Plus it’s the first annual Holiday Gift Guide; our hosts give you the perfect gift ideas at any budget for the FFXIV fan in your life. And stick around for a very special segment that will no doubt be a recurring fan-favourite for years to come…

SPOILER LEVEL GREEN: Rest easy, slowpokes, there’s not a spoiler to be found for malms. A perfect episode to jump into regardless of where you’re at in your journey!

The weather is truly colorful and crisp — provided you live in the northern hemisphere and aren't currently in the grip of a climate change-fueled heatwave. Either way, it's a good time to stay indoors and play the piles of RPGs that are currently available, including DioField Chronicles, Mario + Rabbids, Valkyrie Elysium, Persona 5 Royal, Nier Automata, and Trails from Zero. You could also go outside, but you might, like, see a bug or something. Ew.

This week, Kat, Nadia, and Eric are joined by a very special writer friend, Scott White. Scott helps fill in the gang on some of the more important RPGs that have recently landed, including the excellent Trails from Zero, and the reasons why it's a great entry point for the Trails series.

Also in this episode:

• Kat loves the Steam Deck now, we all saw her in the closet, kissing the Steam Deck
• Final Fantasy XVI is looking pretty dope—and pretty inspired by Final Fantasy VI.
• How's the new Mario and Rabbids game? "It's-a great! Woo hoo!"
• This week on Autumn of Avatar: Book 2 comes to a close, and the kids are not all right.

In the Post Show

Blood God pal Scott White sticks around for this week's Axe of the Blood God post-show, which is piled with morsels of great RPG talk. For starters, can anyone out there think of a Christmas-themed RPG? Anyone? Bueller? Also, Eric talks Texas. Yee haw, and etcetera! Available exclusively to members on the Stars of Destiny tier!

For this week's episode we're joined by the very talented folks behind 99 Potions, Fantbyte's dedicated RPG podcast that was unfairly cut short by the site's recent layoffs. In solidarity with our fellow creators, we invited Nere, Michael Higham, Andrea Shearon, John Warren, and Natalie Flores on the show to pour one out for a great website, talk about what they've been playing, and delve into some of their problematic favorite characters.

Also in this episode:

• One more Xenoblade Minute with Michael
• Eric has thoughts on DioField Chronicle
• And Autumn of Avatar wraps up Book 1!

Time Stamps

0:00 - 07:00: Intros and housekeeping

7:00 - 1:00:00: What we've been playing

1:00:00: Random Encounters

1:03:00: Problematic Faves

1:35:00: Autumn of Avatar, Book 1 Finale

1:50:00 - Pouring one for Fanbyte + Outro

In the Post Show

Nere, Michael, and Andrea stick around with Eric to talk about their favorite alcohol, discuss the reaction to unfinished assets from the GTA Mega Leak, and much more. This segment is available exclusively to our Stars of Destiny Patrons!

This week on the Axe of the Blood God RPG podcast, Kat is out and Nadia learns one more time that it's really just that easy to take an inherently chaotic podcast and make it twice as dizzying. Friend of the show (and Nadia's former employer in the long ago and far away) Anthony John Agnello stops by for a visit and talks all about the huge RPG news deluge that occurred with last week's Nintendo Direct. A new Final Fantasy Theatrhythm game! A new Fire Emblem game! A name for the Breath of the Wild sequel! Farming! Farming! Farming!

Also in this episode:

• How nice is Zack Fair's hair? (So nice.)
• Harvestella is weird but good!
• Holy crap! Suikoden remasters!
• Things are heating up in Autumn of Avatar. 
• RIP Fanbyte. :(

This week, Axe of the Blood God tackles the 2022 fall RPG preview—which feels like a nutty thing to say, since summer only started yesterday. Right? Right…?

Oh.

Thankfully, RPGs help take away the sting of passing time for a little while. And it so happens the last quarter of 2022 is loaded with some bangers. Persona 5 for Nintendo Switch! Tactics Ogre Reborn! Valkyrie Elysium! Not to mention a couple of small indie games called Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. What a way to end the year that gave us Elden Ring and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Also in this episode:

• Mickey is a sad divorced dad in his new Animal Crossing-style game ("ah-ha!")
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 chapter 5 ruined Nadia's life
• Kat's going to Japan and Nadia and Eric are not :(
• Nadia ruined the Autumn of Avatar forever

Handy-dandy timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

5:08 - What we're playing

40:04 - Random encounters

44:56 -  Main topic: The fall RPG preview

1:12:17 - Autumn of Avatar

1:35:15 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook

The fall season is upon us, and more fantasy shows than you can shake a wizard's staff at are popping up! Since RPGs and fantasy have a fair bit to do with one another, we brought on IGN's Alex Stedman to chat about House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power, how RPGs and fantasy tales intersect, and kick off our Autumn of the Avatar!

All that, plus:

• Eric dives into the film history of Immortality
• The crew debates space vs. dragons
• We're oo-surping things now

It's a slim week at the Blood God, so we dipped into our rainy day bucket of topics to discuss Sony's first-party games. Does it need more first-party offerings, or should it stick to its third-party deals? We discuss all that and more, including:

• Final Fantasy XIV goes Stardew Valley
• Kat is getting back to Sunbreak
• Nadia demonstrates why we don't have shop class anymore

This week on Axe of the Blood God: It's letter tiiime, it's letter tiiime! Kat, Nadia, and Eric answer questions asked by YOU, our grand Blood God listeners! What is the gang's favorite class in Xenoblade Chronicles 3? What new regional forms should appear in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet? Is it really that bad for an RPG to clock in at 100+ hours? All these burning questions and tons more get answers this week.

Also in this episode:

• Is it finally okay to love Xenoblade's Nopons, or is said love still forbidden and unholy?
• Nadia chilled at the Final Fantasy: A New World concert.
• Delays, delays, delays. Lots of games are being delayed. But that's not so bad, really.

In the Post Show

This week on Axe of the Blood God's always-tasteful post show, Kat reveals she's going to Japan next month, and solicits cool things to do while she's in Tokyo. Nadia recalls her time in Shinjuku, and encourages everyone to visit the Dragon Quest cafe and eat a meat dumpling shaped like a Slime. It's the only true path to world peace. The post show is available to our Stars of Destiny Patrons here: https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod

It's another busy week on Axe of the Blood God. Two hefty topics are packed into one convenient episode: New Pokemon Scarlet and Violet information, on top of the beginning of the Nihon Falcom Developer Quest. Listen in as Kat, Nadia, and Eric talk up the Pokemon of the Paldea region, and try to figure out the whole deal with Terastallized (i.e. rock candy) Pokemon. After that, the gang chats about the beginnings of Nihon Falcom, the studio responsible for a lot of excellent RPGs going way, way back, including the Ys series, the Trails games, and much more.

Also in this episode:

• The entirety of planet earth is playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3
• We have a new selection for the Pantheon Game Club! Hint: It's Falcom related
• Nadia was Scary Spice for a little while. Just long enough to flummox Toronto's bus system

In the Post Show

Kat is forced to bail(ey) early on this week's post-show, so Nadia and Eric have free run of da joint. This week's topic is food, food, food. Barbeque. Brisket. Hungarian goulash. Beets and horseradish. Would you eat gefilte fish? You should try it sometime. Gosh, even writing this stirs up the appetite. Available via Patron: https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod

Axe of the Blood God is sponsored by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/bloodgod to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + Free Threat Protection + 1 additional month for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!

The Axe of the Blood God charity stream is over, and somehow Kat, Nadia, and Eric came out the other side with their limbs and sanity intact. They also came out with $10,000+ raised for Trans Lifeline! That's worth a limb or three.

This week's show has a brief post-mortem of the charity stream before the gang gets down to business: An informed conversation about the Gundam series' endless supply of inspiration for RPGs. What do RPGs, particularly Japanese RPGs owe to the classic anime? In short, just about everything—and not simply cool mech suits.

Also in this episode:

Nadia finished Omori and is left with feelings of warmth and cheeriness
The new Genesis Mini is gonna rule!...if you live in Japan
No, Nadia didn't drown a kid. He just got a little wet

In the Post Show

Summer of Gundam proceeds apace in this week's post show. The crew talks about the coolest Gundam models across the years, from the most battle-effective to the most edgelord-adjacent. (Hint: This is where Gundam Wing comes in.) Nadia's opinion is basically "robot smash other robot good, he he he." This is recorded live and available to our Stars of Destiny Patrons!

For the December 2021 edition of Pantheon of the Blood God, Kat and Nadia are joined by Fanbyte's Nerium Strom and Michael Higham for an exploration of Persona 5! During their lengthy discussion, the group discusses just some of the following:

- Its outstanding soundtrack
- Its attempt to challenge the status quo in Japanese society
- Its remarkable sense of style
- Being constantly told to go to bed by a cat

... And much more!

Then the verdict: Is Persona 5 worthy of inclusion in the Pantheon of the Blood God? Listen and find out!

This episode was unlocked for Axe of the Blood God listeners during the recent charity stream benefiting Trans Lifeline! New episodes are released each month for $10 Patrons and above. 

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Kat and Eric are joined by not one, but two Alexes to break down the summer showcases! RPG Site's Alex Donaldson and freelancer Alex J. Kane are here to discuss the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, as well as the whole of Summer Game Fest.

Also in this episode:

• Eric and Alex D. talk Three Hopes early impressions
• Alex K. talks KOTOR 2's solid Switch port
• Kat laments the meta-ness of it all
• Fortnite?

This week on Axe of the Blood God, Kat rejoins Eric and Nadia after her adventure on the high seas. She's a little unsteady on her legs, not to mention lightly brined by sea salt, but that's not about to stop her from talking about everything that's going on this week in RPGs. And a loaded week it is, mateys. We've got impressions of the Final Fantasy XVI trailer, as well as opinions about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's chonky pigs and small olives.

Also in this episode:

• Eric's finally playing Suikoden 2
• The upcoming Dragon Age game has a title. Progress!
• Nadia layeth the smackdown on Seymor in Final Fantasy X
• "I am Malenia, blade of–" [Vomits everywhere]

On the Post Show

On this week's post-show, Kat tells us about the joys of sailing the high seas–e.g. seasickness and other cool things that happen on the water. There's also a deep discussion about sports, Street Fighter 6, and how awesome Cody is. (So awesome.) The Post Show is available to the Stars of Destiny tier and above!

• Miyazaki (not that one) thinks Radahn is the best Elden Ring boss. 
• Give us more Dragon's Dogma, Capcom. (Please.)
• The Summer Game Fest creeps ever closer. What will we see?
• Sony is making bad decisions about its retro games again.

It's time at last to share our newly-revised list of the 25 best RPGs of all time! For much of 2022 we've been slowly collecting potential nominees for an update to the list that we made several years ago. Now it's time to share that list for all to see! 

To make this list we took the list of nominees plus the original list and made our own Top 25s, with the games that were on all three lists going straight into the Top 25. From there we embraced debate with discussions including:

• Whether or not Mass Effect should be included a trilogy
• Eric calling Skyrim the "McDonald's hamburger of RPGs."
• Multiple RPGs being rescued from the dead 
• Whether it's time to anoint brand-new #1!

For your convenience, we've shared time codes below.

Time Codes

4:40: We share our personal Top 25 RPG lists

21:35 - The Initial Cutdown + Wild Card Picks + Listener Poll

36:35: Games That Made At Least Two Lists

140:25: Finalizing the List

2:23:00: Ranking the Games

2:50:20: The Top 25 RPGs Of All Time

Thanks again for joining us in this very fun project! We'll probably be circling back and rebuilding given that there always amazing new RPGs being released. But in the meantime, we're excited to hear your thoughts!

The three co-hosts have been reunited after many weeks apart, and just in time to talk about a whole bunch of news! There's a new generation of Pokémon on the horizon, Triangle Strategy is out, and we're all still talking Elden Ring. It's quite a time for RPGs, even if they're all getting swallowed up by FromSoft's latest.  

Also on the show: 

- Eric becomes Wolverine Jesus

- Nadia discovers how to work a Nintendo

- Kat gears up for some old-school Pokémon catching

- We take a look at the first round of March Madness voting!

Links mentioned in the show:

- Eric's segment "Piplup Step": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm0nLJuRNbw

- Donate to Ukraine: https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine

- Equality Texas: https://www.equalitytexas.org/

- TENT: https://www.transtexas.org/

Greetings, disciples of the Blood God. Kat is not with us this week; she's going to try her hand at being a pirate on the open seas.

There's an excellent chance she'll be back next week, though. Despite what the Peter Pan song tells you, the pirate's life is not for everyone.

Nadia and Eric manage to scrounge together a great show anyway, because it's Elden Ring week! No worries—there are no spoilers on the show, but we did get Isla Hinck from Easy Allies and Jesse Vitelli of PrimaGames to talk about their reviews for this highly anticipated (and critically acclaimed) open world game from FromSoftware.

Also on this episode:

• No, seriously, Elden Ring's review scores are truly, truly, truly outrageous
• Nadia gives her impressions of Final Fantasy VI: Pixel Remaster
• Valve God Gabe Newell is confirmed Final Fantasy XIV trash
• The story of Ganon, the golden retriever that humped everything

With the RPG deluge continuing, Kat and Nadia are joined by Caty and Mike to pick through the biggest releases, including Trails of Cold Steel 3, Disco Elysium, and Little Town Hero. Plus, we talk Witcher 3 on Switch, whether it's been a good generation for games, and more!

We're almost finished the 16-bit era in our Console RPG Quest, but first we have to talk about some of the lesser-known consoles of the period. We take a shotgun approach in this episode, covering the RPG histories of the 3DO, Jaguar, NeoGeo, and CDi (they exist!) Also, we say a few words about AlphaDream as it files for bankruptcy, and talk more about portable RPGs.