2024 Wrap-Up (Part 2)

The path of war is long, and it leads here. And I mean LONG. Like, really long. Almost two years long, it turns out. But we’ve finally arrived, we’ve finally entered the finale of Smashterpiece #50, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Against all odds we have arrived to liberate our people, or more specifically liberate your ears from not having a podcast to play in them. Sure, that may not be as glorious as Ike’s crusade to free a kingdom and return a princess to her home, but if you squint real hard you can barely tell the difference. We’re essentially heroes in basically the same exact way as Ike if you really don’t think about it! Could this be considered stolen valor? Probably.Join us next time as we all become orphans in Smashterpiece #51, MOTHER 3!

If you’re seeing this, you might be confused! This is not Smashterpieces, what manner of trickery is this? This is the first episode of Joe’s new podcast Pixel Symphonic, it’s being dropped onto this feed just this one time in order to make sure it reaches YOUR EARS! We hope you enjoy!—It’s time for the inaugural episode of a brand new outing! Pixel Symphonic is a show about video game music. We’re here to learn and talk about it with the people who make it, the people who listen to it, and everything in between. This new show will be releasing one episode a month, with a new guest each month.For my first guest it just felt right to bring on my old Original Soundchat cohost Peter Spezia. He may be retired and out of the game now, but there’s nobody else in the world I like talking about game music with more. Our conversation goes into how we got into video music through largely the same entry point, and also Peter’s favorite soundtrack from his adult years.This episode features music by Nor, Takahiro Nishi, Shogo Sakai, Masaaki Iwasaki, David Wise, Michiko Naruke, Jun Senoue, Nobuo Uematsu, Yuka Tsujioko, Kenji Ito, Jun Ishikawa, Noriyuki Iwadare, Kenichi Nishimaki, Yoko Shimomura, Shoji Meguro, and ACE.

Hello children, have you ever heard of WAR? Depending on who you ask about it, you may hear it described in a variety of ways. Some say it never changes. Some say it has changed. Some ask what it’s good for and others answer “absolutely nothing.” Here at the Smashterpieces School of Radiance we have our own answer: war is a ballista that crits several times in the span of a single battle. What the hell, man? That just doesn’t seem right, but the numbers don’t lie. The numbers only hurt.We’ll be back next time for our final installment of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, for war can only continue to march on.

Feels like just yesterday we were recording our 2024 Wrap-Up, and yet here we are. This year felt like it both went lightning fast yet also lasted a thousand years. It was a rough one, but here we still are. Usually I use these descriptions to be a goofy haha clown who thinks (incorrectly) that he is very funny, but in this specific instance I just don’t know if I feel it. I hope you enjoy this more laid back episode featuring us talking about some of our favorite media of the year, I hope it brings you comfort if you need it and I especially hope it turns you on to some stuff you might have missed.We’re still here, and we’ll be back with more Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance very soon. Hang in there, friends. Love you all, happy new year.

Don’t look at the calendar. Today we finally bring you the second part of our discussion on Smashterpiece #50, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance! Stop looking at it. There’s lots of stuff in this game, there’s swords, there’s magic, there’s uncomfortable conversations about racism and classism and how they shape the systems that build our societies, there’s people who can turn into cats. The date doesn’t matter, stop it. Ike’s got a big sword that he swings around and that’s pretty cool. I will take that calendar away I swear to god. Lethe is also very cute and I wish she’d disembowel me but we don’t have to worry about that. Fine, it’s been a full year, okay? Okay?? You happy now? Put the CALENDAR AWAY. YOU’RE RUINING THE HOLIDAYS.

Sorry I just woke up from a nap.… That can’t actually be the date, right?

It all began when I was just a kid, bouncing on my father’s knee. You see, I’m a podcaster, from a long line of podcasters. There was Podcastkhamen III, Ryuichi Podcast, Sir Augestine of Podcast, Drake Podcast, Old Sally Podcast, Otto Von Podcast, Bob Podcast, Salim al-Podcast, B.F. Podcast, Henriette Podcast, “Tennessee Kid” Podcast, Dev Podcasinda, Conner Podcast, Slaigh MacPodcast, Karin Podcastgiwa, Sir Galleth Podcast, Thaddeus Winslow Podcast III, and, of course, Serial.Join us next time as we go BAACK IN TIIIIIIIIIIIME!(Fire Emblem will continue soon, we promise, we’re not dead yet!)

Hey kids, upset that we only released a grand total of 7 episodes of Smashterpieces in the year 2024? Well, how about we make it up to you by giving you an episode that is way too long! It’s like three episodes in one! That’s how content works. There’s even a part 2 that will come out soon!Yeah!!

I present to you this lukewarm defense of the one named Boyd: yeah sure he sucks, and he’s bad at combat, and he got his ass beat by a child that one time, and the only girl his age thinks he’s a huge dumb loser, and nobody actually values his opinion, and he seems weirdly full of himself despite all the abuse, and he’s definitely never gonna be in charge of anything, and his brothers are both more liked than him somehow, and… sorry, I lost my train of thought, what were we talking about? Aw, whatever. Let’s just move on to part one of our discussion on Smashterpiece #50 (oh my god what do you mean 50): Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, this episode covering up to the end of Chapter 8. It’s the game with the swords and the grids and please stick around, yes I know the last one took a really long time but we’re- no hey come back, just give us a chance! Don’t take the kids!We’ll be back soon with more discussion on Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance!

Space. Some say it’s the final frontier, but I never watched Star Trek so honestly I wouldn’t say that. Nobody can hear you scream in space, though! … But I haven’t seen Alien, either. Neither of these things has anything to do with the topic of this episode, the only slight thread that can be found is the fact that they all take place in space to some degree. Sure, not entirely in space. In fact some might say the amount of times our subject isn’t in space is too many. That subject is Smashterpiece #49: Star Fox: Assault, where space ships are reportedly part of the whole experience. I don’t know where I’m going with this and the meds are kicking in. Which meds? Iunno, Peppy had a lot sitting on his desk and I just sorta went ham. The music in this game is pretty alright, though! I don’t like dinosaurs. Does anybody else see those bugs? Please call a doctor.Join us next time as we sharpen our swords and return to war in Smashterpiece #50, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance