A RITUAL CIRCLE OF ARIAS OF THE NIGHT MOON: Mentioned last week, both Andrew and D. Bethel have put some time into the newest Igavania game––meaning a Metroidvania game specifically made by Koji Igarashi––Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and they are enjoying the presence of both nostalgic throwback and interesting choices that move the genre forward.

RELEVANT LINKS:

• Diaz, Ana. "EA Calls Its Loot Boxes 'Surprise Mechanics,' Says They're Used Ethically." Polygon. Vox Media, 21 June 2019.
• The amazing Igarashi video where he introduces the graphics overhaul made to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
• Part 1 of D. Bethel's playthrough of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

• Shortcast 62 - Not the Episode Title (06 July 2018): Where D. Bethel discussed playing Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.
• Shortcast 67 - Baguettevania (24 August 2018): Where Andrew and D. talk about another Metroidvania, Dead Cells (and Andrew comes up with a convincing definition for "Metroidvania").
• Episode 159 - Toxic Delivery Mechanism (12 October 2018): Where Andrew discusses Timespinner and its version of slavish devotion to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• Social: Andrew - Twitter & Instagram, D. Bethel - Twitter & Instagram
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

FEATURED MUSIC:

• "Disco Medusae" and "District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompotech.com)
  • Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
• Clip from "Harvester of Sorrow" by Metallica (written by Hetfield/Ulrich) from ..And Justice For All (Elektra Records, 1988).

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts talk about new things involving their favorite things. For example, Andrew discusses his time playing the Modiphius tabletop RPG, Star Trek Adventures and how it adapts all aspects of the long-lasting franchise, and D. Bethel makes his defense for 20th Century Fox's Dark Phoenix.

RELEVANT LINKS:

• Kit, Borys. "'We Were Wrong': Behind Fox's Dark Phoenix Debacle." The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, 10 June 2019.
• Newby, Richard. "The Quiet Strengths of Dark Phoenix." The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, 08 June 2019.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

• Episode 35 - Aural Improvisation (6 Feb. 2015): Where Andrew relates his experience with Cubicle 7's Doctor Who tabletop RPG.
• Episode 126 - Not Choosable Parts (10 March 2017): Where D. Bethel ruminates on the most recent Fox X-film, Logan. He definitely rants in this episode, as well.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• Social: Andrew - Twitter & Instagram, D. Bethel - Twitter & Instagram
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

FEATURED MUSIC:

• "Disco Medusae" and "District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompotech.com)
  • Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

E3 2019: This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been a strange one with big players absent and new hardware on the horizon, but it's still bringing announcements and trailers to make our jaded hosts excited.

Games discussed: Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Fallout 76, Pokémon Sword/Shield, among others.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

• Episode 54 - Noun the Adjective (19 June 2015): When Andrew and D. Bethel talked about the Final Fantasy VII Remake announcement at E3 2015.
• Shortcast 54 - Cameo Train (11 May 2018): The last time we said "Cameo Train" was in this episode where Avengers: Infinity War was discussed.
• Shortcast 59 - Lizard Man Fantasies (15 June 2018): D. Bethel and Andrew discuss E3 2018.
• Textured in Fear (24 May 2019): Our hosts dissect a recent trailer (with gameplay––pre-E3) for Final Fantasy VII Remake.

RELEVANT LINKS:

• "Spotlight: Games at E3" (14 June 2018): Where D. Bethel recounts his favorite trailers from E3 2018.
• Alexandra, Heather. "Cyberpunk 2077 Artist Says Controversial In-Game Image is Commentary on Corporations." Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group, 12 June 2019.
• Tamburro, Paul. "How GOG and CD Projekt Red are Ruining Their Public Image." Game Revolution. Evolve Media, 23 Oct. 2018.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page.
• Social: Andrew - Twitter & Instagram, D. Bethel - Twitter & Instagram
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

FEATURED MUSIC:

• "Disco Medusae" and "District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompotech.com)
  • Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License .

APOLITICAL APOCALYPSE: A recent article at VG247.com interviewed (as part of the piece) games designer and writer, Chris Avellone––writer/designer of games such as Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II–––who argued not only that his writing was without any political inspiration nor had any political agenda (small "p"), but that he "[didn't] condone developers who [wanted] to do political games or make a statement" (McKeand). In fairness, the quote has since been edited by VG247.com, replacing "condone" with "condemn", softening Avellone's criticism a little bit, stating that Avellone wrote "doesn't condone" accidentally and his actual sentiment is more clearly presented with the correction. Still, this makes us think––are games (or any text in popular culture) apolitical, or can they be? Andrew and D. Bethel investigate how this is a problem.

RELEVANT LINKS: 

• McKeand, Kirk. "Can Stories Be Apolitical? We Asked Some Video Game Writers and Narrative Designers." VG247.com. Gamer Network, 31 May 2019.
• Sinclair, Brendan. "(Religious Game) Developer or Religious (Game Developer)?" GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network, 04 Jun. 2019.
• The Wikipedia overview of the literary theory of New Historicism.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

• "Episode 91 - Trying to Keep Sharp." (08 Apr. 2016) Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the controversy around the inclusion of a trans character in Baldur's Gate: The Siege of Dragonspear.
• "Shortcast 53 - Aggressive Compliments." (04 May 2018) Where the Battletech pronoun controversy is discussed.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page.
• Social: Andrew - Twitter & Instagram, D. Bethel - Twitter & Instagram
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

FEATURED MUSIC:

• "Disco Medusae" and "District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompotech.com)
  • Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License .