Can Square Enix Be Saved and Does It Need Saving?

Capitalism continues to function as intended with the closure of several studios by Microsoft. What's the future of Game Pass? What will RPGs on Microsoft platforms look like going forward? And how many lives need to be ruined by rich people before we bring back the thing that rhymes with "creatine'? Kat, Nadia, and Eric discuss this and so much more on this episode of Axe of the Blood God! Tune in to live recordings of the show every Saturday morning at https://www.twitch.tv/bloodgodpod Also in this episode: Animal Well Hades 2 Kat holds her FFXIV playthrough for a $20,000 ransom Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 03:52 - Main Topic - Microsoft 47:28 - Random Encounters 1:0:0 - The Tavern, More or Less 1:32:32 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Human - [The Killers] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A slew of un-announced titles from Square Enix have just been skewered by the masamune in a grand restructuring. In the wake of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's sales, where does our beloved JRPG machine go from here? The odds of getting a Various Daylife 2 seem slimmer than ever. Kat, Nadia, and Eric discuss the future of the house that Final Fantasy built and more on this week's episode! Listen AD-FREE and get hundreds of hours of bonus episodes by subscribing at patreon.com/bloodgodpod Also in this Episode: Starfield Update! 9S' Therapist Knock-knock it's Knuckles! This Week in Gekkoukan continues! Stay off the Jibanyan couch Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 04:16 - Main Topic 55:52 - Random Encounters 1:02:56 - The Tavern 1:32:48 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best! - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Wait for Truth - [Live-A-Live] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's re-litigate like it 2015! Does Fallout 4 deserve the hate that it gets in certain circles? With the current-gen update and the TV series bringing Fore-out back to the Fall-front it's time for Kat and Eric to go head-to-head and determine if Fallout 4 is one of the greats of the genre or deserves to be cast into the Pandaemonium pit. Also in this episode: Eiyuden Chronicles' bumpy patches Metaphor ReFantazio Kat rides a rollercoaster and finishes Unicorn Overlord in that order This Week in Gekkoukan Reload continues! Hades 2 tech test impressions Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 08:16 - Main Topic - Fallout 4 42:04 - Random Encounters 1:02:24 - The Tavern 1:26:24 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Crawl Out Through the Fallout - [Sheldon Allman] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you consider inflation that's really only gonna get you as far as seventy-ish heroes. Either way the spiritual successor of Suikoden has arrived! Is it worth the wait? Did they manage to fit all them heroes into the Switch version? Eric, Nadia, and special guest Lucas White discuss this much-anticipated crowd-funded torch-bearer of the late Yoshitaka Murayama's legacy. Also in this episode: Class of Heroes Nier: AutoNadia Hades 2 Turtle Power Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 05:52 - Main Topic 56:32 - Random Encounters 57:36 - The Tavern 1:26:24 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] MEGALOMANIA (RF Remix) - [RF] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know Walton Goggins has his own distillery? You can buy Walton Goggins-branded gin if you want. And if you, like me, happily embrace any opportunity to see beloved character-actor Walton Goggins on screen then boy howdy the new Fallout show is for you! A veritable overpour of Goggins -- much like how one might make a generous cocktail with the fine spirits from Walton Goggins' distillery! How many more times can I type 'Walton Goggins'?! At least once more; Walton Goggins! Kat, Nadia, and Eric discuss what makes a good video game adaptation, if Square can make a hit movie, and whether there's beef between Bethesda and Obsidian! Also in this episode: More Slay the Spire Why tipping for video games is a CEO grift Possibility Space's bizarre and tragic shutdown Final Fantasy's difficult position Kat played Warhammer Eric's return to Chrono Trigger Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 08:00 - Main Topic 46:00 - Random Encounters 1:08:00 - The Tavern 1:34:40 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Guardia Millennial Fair - [Beer SQ] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They share more than just fireballs! Kat and Eric are joined by special guests Brenden Groom and Mitchell Saltzman to discuss why these are two genres that taste great together! What fighting games would make a great RPG? What RPG would make a great fighting game? Where is there already plenty of crossover? And why is 2B in all of them anyway? Also in this episode: Tidus is fine The return of Kat's Persona 3 Quest!! Kissin' cousins Content Warning Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 04:30 - Main Topic 51:32 - Random Encounters 52:40 - The Tavern 1:19:44 - Industry Story time Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best [Breath of Fire III] Seeking Victory [Tales of Legendia] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hope you like car wrecks because this week's episode of Axe of the Blood God is hosted by Nadia Oxford. With Kat Bailey out on another cigarette run and Eric's vocal cords being shredded apart by PAX Pox, Nadia's forced to try and keep order. This week's guest is writer Jesse Vitelli, who has plenty to say about Visions of Mana, Dragon's Dogma 2, and how to get banned from Chuck E Cheese for life. Also in this episode: Balatrio? Baltaro? Balto? 20th Century [Digital] Boy Five Nights at Frederick's Canadian customs Asks Nadia the Forbidden RPG Question Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro/Dragon's Dogma 31:12 - Visions of Mana Impressions 43:08 - Random Encounters 55:43 - The Tavern 1:08:50 - Nadia and Jessie's Nostalgia Bog Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best [Breath of Fire III] Pub Polka [Dragon Quest IX] Dedicated to Moonlight [Final Fantasy XIV] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is this, a crossover episode?! Our old pals Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert of Retronauts, Talking Simpsons, and What A Cartoon fame stop by the Blood God studios to offer their animation history expertise while discussing some of the biggest games of the year as well as the classics they've been catching up on. Also in this Episode: Why manga is more successful than Western comics No more Baldur's Gate from Larian Bob Cing's the praises of Another Code The golden age of Streetpassing Free stuff Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 4:48 - Main Topic 46:24 - Random Encounters 1:29:16 - Kat's Industry Storytime Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best! - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] On the Lakefront - [Another Code R] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vanillaware has done it again; defying conventional wisdom, they've gifted us the most Sega Saturn game we've seen in ages. Emerging from an alternate universe where Ogre Battle was revered as much as it's tile-based cousins, Unicorn Overlord is here. Does it conquer this oft-unexplored branch of the SRPG family tree or is it a little too uni-corny? Join Kat, Nadia, and Eric as they discuss this exciting new entry in Vanillaware's off-beat canon. Either way there will be some VERY GOOD character designs. Also in this Episode: Backpack Battles More Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth talk! ERIC PIT?! Damedol Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 4:48 - Main Topic - Paying Tribute to Akira Toriyama 59:04 - Random Encounters 1:02:22 - The Tavern 1:23:50 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best! - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Farde mal Diavolo - [Unicorn Overlord] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Akira Toriyama died on March 1, leaving behind a legacy that includes Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and an incredible impact on both games and anime. With Eric out, Kat and Nadia are joined by Victor Hunter and Ash Paulsen to break down he changed RPGs, our memories of watch Dragon Ball, and more.  Also in this Episode: Kat is obsessed with Unicorn Overlord! Still more Final Fantasy VII Rebirth chatter! Game rentals and puzzle solving! And much more Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 5:00 - Main Topic - Paying Tribute to Akira Toriyama 45:00 - Random Encounters 50:00 - The Tavern 1:35:00 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best! - [Breath of Fire III] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Melancholy - [Dragon Quest VI] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices